As this is an all-encompassing article, beware of **major spoilers** for 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep, as well as some minor spoilers for Dream Drop Distance and other Kingdom Hearts games.
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There’s a special something about Kingdom Hearts. For
years I’ve tried to put my finger on the definition of this something, but I’ve never come up with a
satisfying answer. One thing I know for sure is that—personally—no other video
game franchise has been so influential and thought-provoking as this one. A
deceptive depth underlies its simplistic, Disney-esque feel. Its characters
have grown on me—and almost grown up with
me—to the point where I regard them as “old friends.” The lessons I’ve learned
from this franchise as a whole can’t all be listed here, but I’d like to
highlight some of them, none-the-less. They have touched my life and influenced
my convictions, and for that I believe they deserve recognition.
Lesson 1: Even Nobodys are Somebodys
I want to highlight Xion in
particular for this point. Xion’s story is easily the most heart-breaking in
the franchise. She comes into existence as nothing more than a tool to further
the Organization’s schemes. In the most literal sense of the word, Xion is a true
“nobody”—a being who never really existed at all—just a physical embodiment of
Sora’s memories.
And yet Xion makes an impact on those closest to
her—Roxas and Axel. These three form an unbreakable friendship—so strong, in
fact, that Xion is willing to sacrifice her existence in order to see it
protected.
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| Roxas, Xion, and Axel share a peaceful moment before the storm. |
One of the most misunderstood
scenes in 368/2 Days shows Roxas cradling
a dying Xion. Just before her death, Roxas gasps out, “No! Xion… who else will
I have icecream with?” Fans often joke about the naivety of this line, not
realizing just how powerful it is. Xion has made such an impression on Roxas
that, without her, Roxas can see only an empty hole in his life. Those simple
memories of sharing icecream together on the clocktower have become more
important to Roxas than anything else—his accomplishments, his standing in the
Organization, even the truth about his existence. After all, it was Xion that
encouraged him to find the truth behind his unanswered questions. With her
death, that encouragement has also ceased to exist.
And yet, even whilst dormant in
Roxas’ memories, Xion still manages to influence him. During Roxas’ final
battle with Riku, Xion telepathically interacts with both combatants,
ultimately setting her friend on a path to rejoining Sora and discovering his
ultimate purpose. In the end, Xion lives on—in the heart of Roxas, which is
truly the heart of Sora. Her influence helps to shape Roxas and grow him as a
person. In this way, Xion is far more than a collection of embodied memories.
She had more “heart” than most of the Organization. Her memory will forever
linger in the mind of the one person that was closest to her.
All that to say this: I find Xion
highly inspirational. She stands out from the cast because she proves a
powerful point—that everybody has a purpose… even if it seems that that
individual was “never meant to be” or “never should have been.” Without Xion,
Roxas would have probably never struck out on his destiny to rejoin Sora, and
Axel may have developed in a dramatically different light—one that did not
expand his heart and emotions quite so much.
Lesson 2: Your Past is not Your Future
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| Riku wearing a blindfold to keep his Darkness at bay. |
From the moment that Riku
discovers the Darkness, he sets himself on a shadowy path to redemption. He
stumbles between the Light that is his friends and the Darkness that lies
buried in his heart. His personal journey is filled with self-regret, anger, and
mistakes, and yet Riku never lets himself give up on reestablishing himself as
a true friend to Sora and Kairi.
Looking at the latest installment
in the series, Dream Drop Distance,
it’s incredible to see Riku’s unwavering dedication to his friends—especially
near the end, in which he takes up the Keyblade and goes to Sora’s aid. Looking
at Riku’s early years, in which he openly humiliated, and even turned his
Keyblade against, Sora, it’s difficult to believe that he’s even the same
character.
It’s obvious that Riku has
regrets about tampering with the Darkness, but he accepts his past and moves
on. By the end of the Mark of Mastery exam, Riku realizes that his future
doesn’t have to reflect his past. Does he still struggle with Darkness? Of
course. Xehanort’s Heartless seems to haunt his every step, and yet Riku
acknowledges this as his personal demon and grows stronger each time he does
battle with it. His heart eventually becomes so powerful that when Xehanort’s
Heartless approaches him for the final time, Riku is able to ward him off,
simply by raising his Keyblade. In the end, his mistakes and his painful road
to redemption give him a quiet strength that even Sora cannot understand,
having never gone through the same experiences.
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| Riku shielding Sora from Xemnas' Ethereal Blades. |
Riku is my favorite character for
this very reason—he is relatable. I’m sure that, like me, a lot of fans look to
him as a beacon of hope—that no matter the opposition, it can be overcome; no
matter what the past holds, it does not have to dictate the future. Each day is
a new opportunity to set things right. Each opportunity is a challenge to grow.
Each growing pain makes you stronger as an individual.
Lesson 3: Trust Until Given Reason to Doubt
Sora’s name has all but become
synonymous with naivety, and yet a closer inspection of his seemingly reckless
behavior reveals something much deeper beneath the surface: trust. No matter
who Sora encounters—whether it be angsty Neku or imperiled Alice—his automatic
response is always either: “Can I help?” or “Let’s be friends!” Sometimes it’s
both. In the same mouthful.
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| Sora reaches out to Namine. |
This default trust is shocking,
especially when you consider the amount of deception that Sora has encountered
in his lifetime. In Kingdom Hearts,
Riku—his best friend—betrays and fights against him. In Chain of Memories, Sora learns that Namine has been deceiving him
all along, and yet he still chooses to protect her at the risk of his memory
being lost. Unlike Roxas, who experienced similar deceptions his entire life,
Sora never loses his faith in others. I believe that the answer to this
miraculous trust lies in the fact that Sora holds deep-rooted friendships with
those that he meets. He stands on a belief that a true friend is someone that
you can trust unconditionally—and accept unconditionally. In that light, Sora
finds it easy to trust and even easier to forgive a fault.
It is because of characters like
Sora that I’ve begun to give others more trust and more benefit of the doubt. I
hold a faith in my friends that says, “I trust you because you’ve never given
me reason to doubt.” But, like Sora, I also understand that we are all
imperfect human-beings. Forgiveness is a necessary ingredient, and it is
certainly the fastest way to mend a broken or strained relationship.
4. Love is the Strongest Weapon of All
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| Sora embodies trust, optimism, and the importance of forgiveness. |
Kingdom Hearts is full of love, although if you’re searching for it
in a romantic sense, you’ll be looking in all the wrong places. Let me clear up
my definition of love in order to
explain this point. By my definition of love,
I mean a selfless, unconditional, accepting love—not a boyfriend/girlfriend
romancey-kind-of love. In Kingdom Hearts,
this kind of love fills the game. When Sora proclaims that, “I don’t need a
weapon. My friends are my power!” he’s speaking of this unbreakable bond of
love that he shares with them. Sora realizes, long before any other character
does, that the power of love is stronger than the Keyblade itself. Through his
concern—his love—for his friends,
Sora is able to heal the mental and emotional wounds of many characters, and
even aid in the redemption of Axel and Riku. Though a mighty weapon, the
Keyblade could never perform such acts.
The power of love presents itself
in the father/son relationship that exists between Terra and Master Eraqus in Birth by Sleep. Although we are told
little about either characters’ pasts, it is quite clear that Terra views the
Master as his own father, even going so far as to call him such during his
final battle with Xehanort. Perhaps Terra was an orphan, brought in—like
Ventus—to Eraqus’ care when he was young. Whatever the terms of their first
meeting, the results were magnetic.
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| Eraqus fades into the Light after a mortal injury. |
Unfortunately, Eraqus suffered
from excessive worry and lack of trust, having been betrayed by his friend
Xehanort in the past. This fear leads to his strict aversion of Darkness and an
almost scrutinizing surveillance of Terra the moment that his pupil shows outer
signs of his inner Darkness. Though his
love for Terra never comes into question, Eraqus’ fears eventually lead to a
severe misunderstanding and a deadly Keyblade battle with Terra, in which Eraqus
is mortally wounded. As the Master’s life fades away, a strange phenomenon
occurs. Both Terra and Eraqus simultaneously come to terms with each other,
recognizing their personal faults and silently asking the others’ forgiveness.
After Terra’s own demise at the
hands of Xehanort, his heart proves stronger than the evil one thought
possible. It soon becomes apparent that someone new is residing in the former
pupil’s heart—Master Eraqus. Even in death—even in the face of personal
failure—Terra and Eraqus never lose the love that they have for each other. It
is this act of love that gives Terra the strength to face years of
helplessness, imprisoned in the confines of Xehanort’s dark existence.
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| Terra considered Eraqus his father. Artwork by Yobe Ninda. |
“I'm not afraid of what the
darkness holds now. Even if you do wrest control of my heart from me--even if
you cast me into the deepest, darkest abyss--you'll never sway me from the one
cause that pushes me to keep on fighting. Whatever the cost, I'm ready to pay
it.”
With those words—and only the
spirit of his beloved Master to guide him—Terra prepares for the battle ahead.
He knows that he can win. The power of love has shown him that.
I am a strong believer in “overcoming
evil with good” through the power of love, and Kingdom Hearts has served to reinforce this theory in my mind. No
matter the fault and no matter the wound, love cures and makes right. Even the
most wicked evils do not stand a chance in the face of it.
Lesson
5: We Are All a Part of Each Other
I thought it would be appropriate to
close with this point, as it is one of the strongest underlying themes of the
series: we are all a part of each other, and together we form something
greater. “The three of us will always be one,” says Aqua, and even when she,
Ventus, and Terra, are separated by death, Darkness, and deception, they never
lose sight of this belief.
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| Wayfinders symbolize the eternal connection of friendship in Birth by Sleep. |
Sora sums it up in a climatic pre-battle
speech with his best friend Riku: “Although my
heart may be weak, it’s not alone. It’s grown with each new experience, and
it’s found a home with all the friends I’ve made. I’ve become a part of their
heart just as they’ve become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and
then… If they don’t forget me… Then our hearts will be one.”
This network of
friends—linked through the power of love—leads to one individual sharing hearts
with many others. In this way, nobody is an island unto themselves. With each
contact made, a piece of one individual forever connects with another—influencing
him, healing him, or harming him. When hearts grow strong, they form legacies,
and those legacies keep friends and memories eternally alive. Lea had a thing or two to say about this topic in
Birth by Sleep, “I want
everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people's memories, I can live forever.”
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| Seasalt Icecream is a symbol of friendship in 358/2 Days. |
For me, this has
served as a reminder to influence carefully. With each contact I make, I am—in
some way—shaping each person I meet, and I want to shape them (or become a part
of them) in only a positive way. Understanding this concept brings a huge
responsibility into focus. I can say with certainty that Kingdom Hearts has given me a lot to chew on in this particular
area.
More importantly
though, I have been reminded that I’m never truly alone. I have people and
friends who I have impressed and been impressed upon… People who care about me
and want the best for me. People that I can open my heart to, or simply sit on
a clocktower and eat some seasalt icecream alongside. It’s a good feeling, and
it’s truly comforting to know that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life,
just because you were in it.
Closing
I feel like I could
expand this list forever. Kingdom Hearts
has been a major part of my inner influence map, and its prominence only grows
with each new installment to the series. I owe this franchise for a lot of
things—expanding my creativity, getting me into Disney, introducing me to an
amazing story filled with vibrant characters…
…But most of all,
perhaps, I owe Kingdom Hearts for
simply being a part of my life. It’s taught me lessons about friendship,
purpose, destiny, and love that I will never forget.
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| The Destiny Islands trio watch the sun set as they dream about their futures. |
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