I want to make this thread for a short, informative insight into the world of Kingdom Hearts for those who are new to it and want to know much about it. With it I also want to write a collective about the most important things like overall story and characters but it will also contain spoilers.
It is currently under construction.
Kingdom Hearts
The very essence of existence in Kingdom Hearts' story. As there is light and darkness as a co-existence, light normally standing for good things and darkness normally standing for bad things or sides of being, there usually nothing that does not consist of light and darkness. The purest form of Kingdom Hearts is the power of absolute good, the light, however as light is not with the exception of the princesses of hearts and Ventus once, not without darkness, even Kingdom Hearts partly stands for darkness itself (obviously still the main part is supposed to be the good thing). This is also connected to a legend in which light has been overwhelmed by darkness but still existed as a weak ray of hope, just waiting to fully return again.
Kingdom Hearts is practically everywhere as it is the heart of all worlds and the heart of all hearts per sé. It can manifest as light and dark and as doors and portals that are a part of it and can lead you to the other side of the world. Those portals normally are connected to your heart, which of course is your very essence, is connected to everything important to you and also a part of Kingdom Hearts.
As light and dark exists there is a realm of light and one of darkness. Then there is a realm in-between. The realm of darkness has rarely been seen except for the likes of Sora, Riku, Xemnas and others who have been sitting on a beach at the edge of in-between and darkness to look and listen to the wave sounds of the dark side of the Destiny Islands that Riku remembers as still sounding the same. Several other times the realm of darkness has also been visited, so is Aqua for example as well currently lost in darkness and between the two forces.
Kingdom Hearts in very important, sometimes more complete, more bigger or special forms were summoned by Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort as Heartless "Ansem" in form of the "door to darkness" which destroyed his body by Kingdom Heart's light surprising and overwhelming him, Xemnas' artificial Kingdom Hearts, an important door manifested by Kingdom Hearts and several doors like doors of light for the characters that they needed and did not expect like Sora and Riku who opened the door as the door was always a part of his heart. Those that appeared through Xehanort's incomplete incarnation or his Nobody Xemnas are "Kingdom Hearts incanarnation of men" while the purest form is the one manifested through the Kye-Blade.
Keyblade
An ancient weapon wielded by chosen warriors. The keyblade reflects the power of the wielders' heart. It can be used to lock and unlock everything, even hearts can be released with it from living bodies. The keyblade is the only weapon that can be used to destroy a Heartless for good, otherwise the heart will manifest again in Heartless form.
Keyblades exist from the realms of light and darkness. There are even many special keyblades such as the Way to Dawn that symbollizes the harmony of light and dark. This is the weapon wielded by Riku. Mickey wields the Keyblade of Darkness which he has found in the Realm of Darkness and used to seal the door to light/darkness together with Sora. Then there is also the Keyblade of Heart, a keyblade manifested from the collective of hearts of pure light. This keyblade was used by Xehanort as Heartless so he could open the Door to Darkness manifest of Kingdom Hearts in which the everlasting light of Kingdom Hearts awaited him.
The most ancient keyblade is the Kye-Blade, a manifest of a unity of pure light and pure darkness that have joined. This keyblade is supposed to open the way to the purest form of Kingdom Hearts and unleash the Keyblade War again, which is what Xehanort wants to be reborn in a new and more powerful form after things have returned to a state in which they have not existed for a long time.
Heartless
The most common incarnation of "monsters" in Kingdom Hearts.
A Heartless is a being manifested by the darkness of a heart overwhelming this heart (ironic: Heart-Less). The person, if it is a person, becomes this Heartless and continues to exist in this new form. Other than a Nobody a Heartless is actually the individual being/self and consciousness of the "Somebody" (the original form) while the Nobody is nothing but a copy that got its own life.
The Heartless consists of:
- The Heart and with it the core of the actual person (existence as self and consciousness)
as well as the feelings that the Heart contained (the "lack" of feelings" is especially for Nobodies used to be called "non-existent" even though they are existing as person)
- The memories of the life as Somebody
- The darkness that overwhelmed the Heart and forms a new body to take control of the person and let an instinct of collecting Hearts control it instead (the Heartless body can still be close to the normal one)
Being very instinctive, even though they are actually the original person of the Somebody, the person if not powerful enough cannot do much against the power of darkness and pretty much is under complete control. There are Heartless though that still were able to retain control, at least partly and even had kept their body or regained it.
Famous Heartless:
Xehanort - Xehanort in Terras Body became a Heartless as he wanted to get closer to Kingdom Hearts by getting closer to darkness. He kept control but was in disguise for a long time until he was able to rebuild a body similiar to his Terra body by fusing with Riku's heart.
Sora - Sora became a Heartless Shadow by unlocking his heart in which Kairi's (and so herself) was sleeping. It was shown how he was slowly getting into the shadows but he still was so much under control that his connection with Kairi helped him to find her and she was able to rebuild his body - though incomplete without Roxas who got the fragment of his body, mind and a part of his heart, Sora was still more than a Heartless with human body. Still he was incomplete, even if he himself as person was alright.
Maleficent & Scar - Maleficent's dragon form is both her super form long before the story with Sora starts as well as her Heartless form revealed through Ansem's keyblade. Maleficent was even powerful enough to come back after she has been destroyed.
When Scar was about to die in the battle against Simba (and was not eaten by Hyenas like in Lion King canon) he survived actually (or was brought back) by turning into a Heartless. Envying Simba and not accepting him as the king his Heart was consumed by his dark feelings and used his body with his self existing living for a final battle.
Nobody
Once a person becomes a Heartless, the body fragment (ironic: No-Body), as well as mind power and a part of the person's heart starts living on its own. It develops an own consciousness and becomes another living being.
A nobody consists of:
- a newly born consciousness that means a new individual being that has not existed before the somebody has become a Heartless
- the body part
- the mind power
- a piece of heart and a reconstruction of heart
- a copy of the somebody's memories
Nobodies are very intelligent beings and seem to "not exist" because the lack feeling but they trick people exactly the way they want. They have hearts and feelings but are trying to act as if they haven't or even as if they have even though people think they haven't. With the memories of the somebody they think like they have existed with the Somebody's life before so Xemnas for example acts like he is Xehanort or was Xehanort once but the truth is, a nobody is something new. You cannot become "not yourself" literally and the Nobody's consciousness also did not exist before. Therefore, while Heartless are the actual people, people like Xemnas and Roxas are new individuals that were born through the original and while they are a part of the original, they are other than the Heartless not the actual being that the Somebody also is (Like Ansem is Xehanort for example or the Shadow is Sora but Xemnas is not really Xehanort, not because he lives another life but because the individual consciousness of Xehanort or Sora not their own). Nevertheless Nobodies are still a fragment of the original being, the Somebody and even though the actual consciousness lives on in the Heartless, Nobodies very well are also an important part of the same complete existence that the Somebody is.
Characters:
Sora
The chosen one and protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts story. Sora is one of many teenagers who call the "Destiny Islands" their home. For a long time now he has left them together with his two best friends, Riku and Kari who are keyblade warriors as well.
Sora's greatest strength is the power his heart draws from the love and friendship that connects him with those who he'd call most precious. When it comes to that he is never actually unarmed and can always count on, no matter the form.
Fighting Xehanort in his Heartless form and Xehanort's nobody fragment Xemnas, Sora was given more than just one difficult task to master, leaving multiple fates of other worlds aside which were to save by him and his friends, even Mickey's faithful companions Donald and Goofy befriended with the young keyblade wielder and they overcame their obstacles together with their teamwork.
There is nothing Sora values more than his friends. Even in the darkest times he appreciated how much he can actually count on them. People he would never want to lose and whose friendship he really needs in the long battle against Xehanort.
Sora consists of two other fragments that have become own individuals until they reunited with him - Roxas, who was born as Sora's nobody and his clone Xion, a "girl" who was supposed to absorb his being. Roxas reunited with Sora through Ansem the Wise, Riku and his own acceptance in the end while Xion decided to sacrifice her life so Sora would not fade away by her absorbing and erased her individual existence out of everyone's memories to only exist as an actual part of Sora again.
Riku
Sora's best friend since they were kids. Riku is the kind of cool guy Sora can always count on but still is his ultimate rival. Their bond could not be stronger though and has never been destroyed, even in moments when darkness lured Riku away. His way of thinking brought Riku much trouble, even let himself confront Sora while cooperating with Xehanort, however in the end he always proved how much of a friend he actually is. Even his acceptance of darkness brought its advantages as it was worth it for him because he has found Kairi's body and his continous battle against Xehanort in his heart made him resilient against darkness so much that he even overwhelmed Xehanort's consciousness. Yet the part that still lives on of Xehanort in Riku's heart when Xehanort wandered around as the heartless "Ansem" tests him again, even when Xehanort, using multiple time periods, faces off against them. Riku however, has proven to be way stronger tahn Sora in many terms. And he has shown to be able to protect his friends his own way, using the power of twilight, the harmony of light and darknes which enabled him to confront Xehanort even if Sora himself was not able to.
His dedication helped him to become a keyblade master.
Kairi
Born in Radiant Garden and landed on the Destiny Islands as a child, Kairi has become of the best friends of Sora. A friendship, that means much more for the both of them.
Kairi is a princess of heart, meaning her existence leads to the door to darkness and light, another form of the Kingdom Hearts. During the events on their home islands when darkness overwhelmed the world, Kairi, without knowing left her body and hid inside of Sora, staying unconscious for that time. When her body was found and she, the heart, was reunited with her own shell after leaving Sora, Roxas was born, a nobody that consists partly of Sora's fragments and as much of an individual as other nobodies like Naminé, Kairi's nobody who also has been born while Kairi played hide and seek with her own existence, or Xemnas and others are.
She is not as experienced as Sora or Riku but she is also a chosen one and not less dedicated to do what is necessary to help her friends as much as the others are.
Xehanort
A dark keyblade master. Xehanort, the most powerful of all keyblade wielders, reaches out for more power and to get it he wants to use the core of every light and darkness, two forces that always co-exist and find their own roots in form of the "Kingdom Hearts", a natural force that means the origin of all hearts and with it all life.
Using his incredible, overwhelming power and his manipulative abilities, Xehanort planned to reach the pinnacle of strength since he was a young man, visited by his future self to tell him of it and giving him the power to manipulate time, keeping an endless cycle alive without beginning or end of this power transfer.
He appears many times just to reach his goal before he fails again, no matter the shape he has every time. Trying to connect his heart with other entities, making them parts of himself, he has been confronted by Riku in the past to fail temporary. As an old man, the dark keyblade master, defeated by Terra after summoning Kingdom Hearts he prevented himself from dying by fleeing into Terra's body and keeps himself in form of his consciousness/heart alive just to fail in a fight against Aqua which was the prelude of his loss of memories that did not allow him to know about his normal life. His darkness continued to exist as much as before though and his wish to get Kingdom Hearts was not forgotten, so he let go of Terra's body and embraced the darkness to keep himself alive in form of a Heartless that seemed to ease the way of getting access to Kingdom Hearts in his eyes. The body he left behind, being connected to him in a way, together with his mind power, a part of his memories and a piece of his heart that reconstructed the rest on its own, an individual consciousness, Xemnas was born. Not Xehanort and yet a part of him that remembered the life of his original being, a life that Xemnas never actually has lived, a life in which he as a person has never actually existed. Being one with the entirety of Xehanort however Xemnas also through his connection was a part of Xehanort's plan to get 13 people together which shall be connected with him. In a great battle against Sora, Riku and the others, after absorbing an artificial and damaged Kingdom Hearts, Xemnas has been destroyed. However, Xehanort as Heartless as well as Xemnas were supposed to exist for way longer, it being because Xehanort tortured Riku as a part of his dark side until Riku got control over it or both of them reappearing through the process of time travellling just to challenge the heroes again.
The battle against Xehanort and the pieces that come from him like Xemnas or have been connected with his heart has not ended yet. And it needs everything Sora and the others have to give so they can defeat him for good.
Xehanort and Xemnas existence:
Gag: Going by the roumaji, Ansem and Xemnas stand for Xehanort fragments, that start with "A" and "Z", the beginning and end, you could say (though Xemnas is inteded with an "x" nontheless).
(SPOILER)Timeline:
- Xehanort lives on Destiny Islands, desires to leave the world
- Hh as the Heartless Ansem visits himself via time travelling and
gives that power to the Young Xehanort as well as explains the plan
of what is supposed to happen
- Xehanort leaves the Destiny Islands and learns with Eraqus under their new master
to become Keyblade Wielders
- Xehanort visits more worlds and also travels through time to the events of Dream Drop Distance as he wants to be a part of the 13 Seeker of Darkness union
- both Xehanort and Young Xehanort having become masters and Xehanort forgetting everything about Dream Drop Distance after he returns, he grows up, visits more worlds and again learns of the power of Kingdom Hearts as well as the Kye-Blade
- as he grows older he wants a new vessel to actually witness the Keyblade War alive - this also is used for getting multiple vessels later, also he wounds Eraqus after telling him and Eraqus trying to stop him
- he learns Eraqus has students and holds a grudge against him, finding his own student Ventus who proved himself to be too weak for his new vessel he extracted Ventus' darkness and manifested Vanitas out of Ventus who is supposed to fight his original self later and control him to make the Kye-Blade, the Keyblade that exists together with Kingdom Hearts in process of pure light and darkness harmonizing
- he brings Ventus to Eraqus so he could take care of him and his light and strengthen Ven
- Eraqus invites Xehanort to the Mark of Mastery for Aqua and Terra, Xehanort apologizes for what he did to him earlier just so Eraqus would not notice his plan
_______________________
- Xehanort stars as guest for the Mark of Mastery lesson, Terra fails other than Aqua and the dark master finds a potential shell in Terra
- He manipulates Terra, meanwhile sends his student Vanitas to terrorize the worlds with Unversed and challenge the three students of Eraqus with those monsters and his Vanitas' own skills
- Terra's darkness gets stronger to provide an appropriate shell, Ventus gets stronger and soon ready for the battle against Vanitas
- Aqua tries the group to be kept together
- Terra choses Riku as successor, Aqua accidentally choses Kairi
- Ventus gets to know about the plan and tells Eraqus so both agree in his demise being the end of it
- Terra is lead to protect Ventus and defeat Eraqus, his darkness has reached a fitting level for Xehanort
- All 3 heroes face Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard where he tells them of his plan
- Terra fights Vanitas and Xehanort until Vanitas is ordered to attack Ventus so Aqua protect her friend
- Aqua is knocked out after the battle with Braig who is supposed to distract her while Ventus is fighting Vanitas
- Ventus fights Vanitas while Terra fights Xehanort, the Chi-Blade is forged and Vanitas takes control over Ventus' body
- Xehanort, defeated by Terra, takes control over his body
- Aqua fights Vanitas while Ventus fights Vanitas within, Mickey joins the heroine
- Though Xehanort has control on the surface, Terra tries to withstand as Eraqus helped him training such a thing
- Xehanort and Vanitas are defeated, the Chi-Blade is destroyed
- Aqua hides Ventus' body while he himself, his heart, hides in Sora's
- She finds Xehanortin Terra's body who begins to question his identitiy until he remembers, after a battle with him he tries to free Terra's heart so he coud keep control easier
- Aqua gives up the protection of her keyblade armor so she can safe Terra's body from darkness - she herself gets lost in the realm of darkness
-Xehanort is found by Ansem the Wise and has lost his memories, a bit of Terra is still fighting him but Xehanort still has kept control - even while not remembering something his evil character has remained
- Aqua fights herself through the Realm of Darkness with Eraqus' keyblade
Kingdom Hearts: Biography and Story Report Thread (Characters, Story, Relevant Stuff)
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