Ventus: Paladin in the making?

[SuperMillionaire]

I don't know about you, but since Ventus has this "purity of light" essence about him, I can see traits in him that are very paladin-like. He kinda reminds me of Cecil Harvey from Final Fantasy IV, a kind-hearted knight who ends up becoming a paladin. Do you see Ventus becoming a Paladin after he is rescued by Sora? And if not, do you still see paladin-like traits in him?

[Pheesh]

I'm not sure if what you've said about him being rescued has any spoiler qualities to it, but if it (or anything else) does then can you remember to put tags around it. The game only came out a little while ago, and not everyone's been able to get a copy yet.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

It is sorta is a spoiler. (SPOILER)Basically, it is what BbS in the secret video hints to what the next major instalment, i.e. KH3, will be about.

As for the question at hand?

No, not really. First, his fighting style, from what I gathered (playing Ventus last), is more of quick/agile type. Paladins, traditionally, are more sturdy and have tank-like qualities to them. Second, Paladins tend to be Lawful Good. Ventus is not lawful at all, otherwise (SPOILER)he would never have disobeyed Master Eraqus and left The Land of Departure. Sure, he does have a bit of the selfless hero thing going on, but that's about it.

[SuperMillionaire]

I'm not going to reveal the entire story, but many should have already bought the game by now anyway.

As for my original question, Summoner, I suppose that's a good point, considering you brought up the alignment system from Dungeons and Dragons, but personally, when it comes to soldiers in battle, there are two types: warrior and guardian. A warrior is someone who fights offensively, to attack the enemy. On the other hand, a guardian is someone who fights to protect. Ventus seems to strike me more as a guardian, as well as a pacifist (as quoted by Vanitas): one who tries to avoid unnecessary fighting.

Also, I should note that while Ventus and Aqua are much like Sora and Kairi, it would seem to me as if they had their genders switched around; Aqua strikes me as a female Sora (quite brash), and Ventus strikes me as a male Kairi (not very brash). Both Ventus (after his rejected darkness was extracted from him) and Kairi have hearts that are made from the purest of light, and ended up losing their hearts at one point. The difference between the two is that Ventus has more "fight" in him than Kairi has in her (although she did wield a Keyblade, and that's because she touched Aqua's Keyblade). Nonetheless, I think Ventus is more like Kairi than Sora, and Aqua is more like Sora than Kairi.

[Pheesh]

I have to save up to buy a PSP as well as the game and I'm not the only one who couldn't buy it as soon as it came out, I think for the first month or so it'd be appreciated if you'd just wrap anything that will reveal a plot point.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I'm not going to reveal the entire story, but many should have already bought the game by now anyway.

As for my original question, Summoner, I suppose that's a good point, considering you brought up the alignment system from Dungeons and Dragons, but personally, when it comes to soldiers in battle, there are two types: warrior and guardian. A warrior is someone who fights offensively, to attack the enemy. On the other hand, a guardian is someone who fights to protect. Minor spoilerVentus seems to strike me more as a guardian, as well as a pacifist (as quoted by Vanitas): one who tries to avoid unnecessary fighting.

Also, I should note that while Ventus and Aqua are much like Sora and Kairi, it would seem to me as if they had their genders switched around; Aqua strikes me as a female Sora (quite brash), and Ventus strikes me as a male Kairi (not very brash). Again, minor spoilerBoth Ventus (after his rejected darkness was extracted from him) and Kairi have hearts that are made from the purest of light, and ended up losing their hearts at one point. The difference between the two is that Ventus has more "fight" in him than Kairi has in her (although she did wield a Keyblade, and that's because she touched Aqua's Keyblade). Nonetheless, I think Ventus is more like Kairi than Sora, and Aqua is more like Sora than Kairi.

I brought up D&D because it is a classic example of what a Paladin is. Also, again Ventus' fighting style is does not fit a paladin's style. Ventus is about the agile, quick attacks that might lack the power of Terra's but makes up for it in speed. Paladins are known for their strength and defensive abilities, neither of which is Ventus' forte. Also, there are more than just "warriors" and "guardians" as far as soldiers are concern. Whilst ignoring the more advance classes, if you look at the basic fighting styles/classes there are in most RPGs (Japanese and Western), fighting games, or any other similar thing, there are tons more. Simply put, Ventus does not conform with traditional role of a paladin. Perhaps, with your highly polarized view he does, but with mainstream ideals Ventus' fighting style is more like a typical damage dealer's like a thief/stealth class (less stealth in this case and more about the quick manuvering).

Ventus is pretty brash considering (SPOILER)he completely ignores everyone telling him to go home and then decides that he should be killed after finding out the truth. If that is not brash, then I do not know what is. Also, the game intentionally draws parallels between Sora & Ventus, Riku & Terra, and Kairi & Aqua. While not clones of one another, they are highly similar and is emphasized by their names too.

[SuperMillionaire]

Indeed, but Ventus is less brash than Sora is, and Aqua is more brash than Kairi is. That's why, in my opinion, Ventus is more like Kairi than Sora.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

A flower is more brash than Kairi but that is because Kairi didn't do much until KHII, and even then it was only after she got kidnapped. Then again, she was either: comatose (KHI) and stuck alone on an island with no way off. So yeah, she did not have much choice. As for Aqua? She is hardly brash herself, give an instance of her doing something brash. If anything, she's the most conscientious out of the three (same can be said of Kairi in regards to Riku and Sora). Plus there are a lot more personality traits, other than brashness that make Sora and Ventus similar.

[SuperMillionaire]

Most certainly, Summoner; Ventus and Sora both have very upbeat attitudes, but there are differences between them. Aqua and Kairi also share some traits, but again, in my opinion, Aqua seems to be more like Sora than Kairi. The only pair that I can think of as being almost (but not exactly) alike is Terra and Riku. Aqua and Ventus are a bit mismatched with Sora and Kairi.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I never said that they were identical, I only stated that they are very similar. Also, your only reason, so far, for saying that Aqua is more like Sora is based on Aqua being rash, which she is not especially compared to either Ventus or Terra. So it holds a very tenuous thread, especially given the fact that (SPOILER)Kairi inherits Aqua's keyblade in KHII and that Ventus' heart is in Sora. Like I said before, their names give it away: Ventus, Aqua and Terra are Latin for wind, water and earth respectively. Sora and Riku are Japanese for sky and land/shore while Kairi has to do with the ocean/sea. It not only shows that they are connected but also that they share similar narratives and personality traits.

[SuperMillionaire]

True, but again, (SPOILER)Ansem the Wise compares Aqua more to Sora, and I have to agree with that, and Ventus and Kairi both possess a "purity" about them that is greater than Aqua, Sora, Tera, and Riku. That's why I see Ventus to be more like Kairi than Sora. Yes, Ventus and Sora share the "sky" theme, and Aqua and Kairi share the "sea" theme, but in my opinion, I feel as though Aqua and Ventus are Sora and Kairi in opposite-gender bodies.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I will concede that both Ventus and Kairi have pure hearts. Kairi because she's a Princess of Heart and Ventus because (SPOILER)Xehanort extracted his darkness to make Vanitas. That is true. However, before (SPOILER)Xehanort brings Ventus to Eraqus, they stop on Destiny Island where a light of a new born heart comes to Ventus and heals/joins with his broken heart to repair it. Also, stating that eventually he will get back the part that he lost (i.e. the part in Vanitas that contained his darkness). Most likely this heart was either Riku's or Sora's. Given the fact that Sora's Heart is the one that is said to connect all Hearts that he encounters as well as the fact that Ventus' Heart takes refuge in Sora after the end of the game, I'd say it is a safe bet that it was Sora's that healed Ventus' heart. Plus the fact that Aqua, upon landing on Destiny Island, was struck by the fact of how similar Sora and Riku were to Ventus and Terra, to the point of worrying wherein she made Sora promise to always be by Riku's side and prevent him from straying to the Darkness. Oh, another thing, Roxas is practically a spitting image of Ventus.

I am not saying that Aqua and Sora don't have things in common, they do; however, the similarities between Sora and Ventus are staggering and much more numerous than those between Aqua and Sora. The connection between Aqua and Sora is very much a tenuous one compared to that between Sora and Ventus.

[SuperMillionaire]

That heart was indeed Sora's, because it caused Vanitas to resemble Sora. And because Ventus entered Sora's heart, that altered Roxas' appearance.

It would seem as though Ven had better control over his darkness than Terra did, which would appear to me that his inner light was dominating his heart, so the only was for Xehanort to bring it out was to extract it, because Ven was too reluctant to use that darkness. Once his darkness was extracted, Ven's heart was pure light, just like Kairi's heart.

So, in your opinion, even though the connection between Aqua and Sora is certainly tenuous, like you said, do you still view the connection between Ventus and Kairi to be a little less tenuous than the one between Aqua and Sora?