#rikus sacrifice in kh3

[holleighgram]

Would be pretty wild if Sora's memories of Riku are his light, and be losing them, he is also losing the light in his heart that makes him the loving Sora we all know?

Take Repliku for example- there was no Ansem in Repliku. The main thing about Repliku was that his memories of Sora were messed with.

And it made him a MASSIVE dick that just wanted marinate in Darkness.

Memories of Sora are integral to him being a good person.

What if the reverse is the same?

We all know Sora's Darkness is more prominent the more the story progresses and it's gearing up to be something he is going to grapple with. Sora has been burying trauma and hurt. He has actively been CHOOSING to forget these heartbreaking memories.

In fact, I think this memories loss/light loss is going to be a VERY important theme in the next saga.

This story is about balancing extremes.

Sora WANTS to forget the "Dark" parts of his and Riku’s relationship. But he cant just sift memories of Riku apart to forget the "Dark" and keep only the "Light".

So by willing away those Dark memories, he's unwittingly willing away Light memories as well.

Which is why we see him forget Riku's Sacrifice, and then also Riku's Light leading him back to the Graveyard.

A "Dark" memory is repressed, and so is a "Light" one.

SO

If, for whatever reason, Sora IS losing his memories of Riku-- particularly the memories of Riku being his light- it has a very negative affect on his heart? We could even see Sora temporarily becoming an antagonist.

We've fought Riku as Sora so many times. It would just be a sweet thematic balance to be able to fight Sora as Riku in order to save him.

It's been said over and over that these two art intertwined-- that they balance each other. Their memories of eachother a formative peices of their hearts. They have each shaped eachother into the person they are.

And imnlaying it all out on the table here: this is why I (personally) feel their relationship (romantic or platonic) is the central theme of the story rather than any other characters:

They are eachorher's light AND their darkness.

Their greatest joy and deepest sorrow.

Their best friend and hardest enemy. (Fighting Ansem and Xehenort weren't nearly as emotionally arduous to fight)

This is a story about accepting both, because that means accepting the entirety of the people you love-- the good and the bad. The light and the dark.

This post got away from me. What was I saying?

[coffeemira]

i knew a lot of the theorizing around sora forgetting riku’s sacrifice was influenced by khux, but actually watching it for the first time (the fandub is amazingly well done and genuinely fun to watch btw) it’s all clicking into place for me in a way it didn’t before

[mythicalartistx]

KH3 Worlds ACTUALLY Matter and show Major Parallels and Foreshadowing through Sacrifice and Separation

The worlds in KH3 are often seen as just retelling of the Fairytales but with added Sora and his friends or Organization members. Because of this they're often disliked especially when there are some sections that are scene for scene and Sora and the others might not be present for this.

However, if you get passed the fact it's a retelling of the movie and get into how it connects with Kingdom Hearts story, they actually play a major role.

Olympus: Sacrifice

Olympus shows themes of sacrifice and love. It shows that Hercules didn't think and all he knew was that Meg was in trouble and threw himself in harm's way to save her. He sacrificed himself by doing that but also sacrificing his godhood to be with Meg. He would have to be separated from Meg and that's not the kind of life he would want to live.

Later on Riku ends up doing the exact same thing. When Sora feels powerless and all alone he sacrifices his being and life for Sora. And I could also argue he does it out of love because when he does this he doesn't necessarily think of his actions but does it to his devotion to Sora and protecting him like he always promised Terra.

Corona: Sacrifice

In the Tangled world, Rapunzel is willing to sacrifice her freedom to save Flynn's life and become separated from the outside world she's grown to love forever.

However, Flynn decides that her freedom is more important and sacrifices himself by cutting her hair which could make her lose the power to heal.

Rapunzel is also compared to Riku because they both so desperately felt trapped. Riku felt trapped at the island and wished to leave and explore other worlds with Sora and Kairi to point where if the raft didn't work out, he would open the door to darkness. I'll also like to include they both felt that someone they were close to left them for others.

Toy Box: Separation

In Toy Box, we learn of how Woody and Buzz among a few other had separated from half of their group. However, they are later seen that the world was split in half and are separated from their beloved friends. They realize at the end their friends who they've been separated from that they are always connected through their hearts.

And this goes back to how Sora will soon be separated from everyone and become stuck at the Quadratum. It also shows that he is always connected to them through his hearts and that's how he uses/and abuses the power of waking through that connection.

Arrendale: Sacrifice

When Elsa is about to get slashed by Hans' sword, Anna who is in the brink of death rushes in and saves her by taking the hit instead. She freezes at the same time and makes it so the sword shatter from her entire body becoming ice. She sacrifice her life for her. Elsa manages to thaw her and the cold weather by the act of love.

Which Riku then does the act of love when he sacrifices his life for Sora. Riku is also compared to Elsa on how they both pushed the people they loved/ cared about away to protect them.

Monstropolis: Separation

In this world, Sullie goes through separation of being away from Boo. They have to separate so Boo will be safe.

This also refers to how Sora ends up in the Quadratum from bringing back Kairi and abusing the power of awakening by using it too many times.

100 Acre Woods: Separation

In this world, Pooh talks to hope they're growing apart and that he misses Sora. Sora feels sad that they're not as close. The eventual outcome is that he'll always be in his heart no matter what.

I feel like this refers to him and Kairi not being as close as they were before. Ever since KH1 things changed between them and she changed. She's no longer the Kairi he knew and they are slowly growing apart. (Which is honestly sad). It also shows that even if he's by himself in the Quadratum he'll have everyone in his heart no matter how far away they are.

Fransankyoto: Separation + Sacrifice

Unlike the others I decided to say this world shows both. In the past, Hiro's brother separated from him when he sacrificed himself to try to find and save the teacher. This is also reflected in the past when beymax also stays behind to sacrifice himself so Hiro can then leave.

It helps shows the connections that no matter how far they are away, the people you love and care for will be in his heart. This shows that to help save everyone he used his connection to his friends to bring them that. It furthers that he won't be alone in the Quadratum and that Riku was able to go to him in MOM because of this.

PoTC: Separation

Finally in the pirates world, we show separation. After Will gets stabbed and he is made Captain of the Flying Dutchman, he faces separation from the one he loves Elizabeth. Only every 10 years are they able to see each other.

This foreshadows both being separated from the ones Sora loves and bringing back all his friends' hearts when Will's life almost gets taken when he gets stabbed. Being apart for 10 years also could lead to how it will take at least a year to find Sora in the Quadratum.

[blowingoffsteam2]

Riku’s “strength to protect what matters/my precious person” was never about physical strength, even though Riku might have thought it was at one point. It was about love. His strength IS love. That’s why Riku appears to “fail” physically when trying to protect Sora in the keyblade graveyard. He didn’t fail, he protected Sora’s heart.

[didsomeonesayventus]

thinking about how way to dawn really was like the most iconic keyblade ever that so neatly summarized riku's journey and ideals and had so much meaning and history and so uniquely his and kh3 really threw it away for a fucking car key

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

I’m sure she knows how much you love her.

bonus:

[verathena14]

So if you're gonna think twice, baby, I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know.

soooo tennelle's new "riku is gay" addition made me feel Emotions (tm) and I was compelled to finish & post this sketch that had been sitting barely drawn in my sketchbook for a while oof

[cloudofash]

"With All My Heart" Comparison between Hercules in KH2 and Riku in KH3

This is a parallel that is often mentioned but I haven't seen anyone do a deep dive into the actual scenes in KH2 and compare them to Riku in KH3. I would like to take time to do this now.

Hercules saves Meg, his God powers awaken and he realizes that his powers have returned due to sacrificing himself for Meg and fighting for her with all his heart. Then laughs and says in response to Sora "People do crazy things when they're in love".

------

Riku realizes he has found the strength to protect "his precious person" (per OG Japanese dialogue). Sora yet again says "No crazy stunts" this time to Riku. Riku pulls a crazy stunt, sacrificing his own life, to protect Sora even if he knows it's to no avail. Riku perishes and his body floats in the Realm of the Gods, the same way Hercules awakened as a God when he saved Meg.

It's nearly a 1:1 parallel, the only exception is that Hercules' sacrifice, realization and admittance of his love happens in one cutscene while Riku's sacrifice and realization are stretched across KH3 and we have yet to see his admittance. Despite this, it's extremely on the nose, especially where Sora repeats the phrase "No reckless stunts" to Riku after saying such to Hercules in Kh2. Even more pointed with Riku's body winding up in the Realm of the Gods, floating above The Sun God's, Apollo's, Delphic Tripod. The only thing we're missing from this Hercules / Riku comparison is Riku admitting to pulling this crazy stunt because he's in love. Pending KH4 hopefully.

It's so direct that there isn't even much for me to analyze or add, I'll just let the screenshots do the talking.

[theophagie]

Rotating kh3 in my head, shaking, screaming, crying, etc etc etc. Like they did all that. Everything starts with "Sora has to figure out how to regain his strength and goes to talk to Hercules about it". And then it goes, "When Hercules tells Sora that he's powered by love? Yeah in the meantime this conversation about Riku's development is also taking place, and the words used in jp are the same. Btw 👍"

And even then it's still not done because it turns back around and goes, "Oh, you're also going to see the lengths Riku is willing to go to follow up on this resolution. Btw 👍 Self sacrifice out of love is also one of the themes of the game and something that Sora is made to witness multiple times prior to this moment. Btw 👍"

Girl!!!... Except, when you think about it...... the big news was Riku acknowledging his feelings (directly) and how his objective has evolved over time (indirectly), but are his actions that much of a surprise?

Well. Considering the precedents... no, not really

And then I think about how separation is the other lesson that Sora learns about in kh3 and I want to explode even more... "Cherish the time you have or have had with someone and keep them in your heart, but be prepared to be apart or let them go" yeah about that. About that.

... Except it's not so easy, is it? _(:l 」∠)_ Because at face value this might come across as Riku having been "ahead" of Sora on yet another matter from the start, but the guy has a certain... habit of downplaying his own importance to Sora or to matters regarding him, something that's kind of outright spelled out in MoM. He lists off what everyone has been doing to find clues on Sora's whereabouts, faltering when it comes to Kairi, but he doesn't include himself in the conversation. What has he been doing? We don't know!! And then there's the matter of his recurring dream, of his hesitance to believe that yes!!! It is important, he is important!!!!!! Aaaarggggghhhhhhhh...........

Loving and believing in someone no matter what are lessons that Riku has learned... not giving up on the hope that separation doesn't have to be permanent? Not so much, at least not when it comes to his personal involvement, not until he was told multiple times that yes!!! He is the one that has to go!!!!!! And it absolutely kills me, because it's like. "Huh, I wonder what other time something like this or along these lines might have happened. Even one example would be enough......"

"............ Huh"

[sorikufeels]

i’ve seen people complain about how square keeps making sora more dumb and i get that and agree sometimes because i do think that there are some moments where sora is definitely smarter than depicted. however, i sometimes i think it fits and its not because he is actually dumb but because he’s had his mind messed with a lot. and it was messed with during his formative years. in later games, sora is often forgetful, asking what other characters consider to be dumb questions, and shown being slow on the uptake. these things make sense when you consider that:

a) sora’s had his memories scattered and rearranged

b) had an entire year of his adolescence (an important time for brain development) forfeited to a coma in order to fix said scattered memories

c) has been manipulated and the victim of mind games multiple times

d) incurred heaping amounts of trauma in a very short amount of time

don’t get me wrong, i feel like sora is definitely smart in his own way and deserves to have more moments to shine in that regard, but when there’s moments where he forgets things or isn’t able to connect the dots as quickly as everyone else, it makes sense to me. it feels logical, understandable. when those moments happen and other characters make fun of him, i’m always like this kid’s brain has gone through hell and back, it’s a miracle it’s still functioning at all so give him some slack for fucks sake!

he’s still missing memories and it seems like he’s lost more in kh3 (if we’re assuming he forgot about riku’s sacrifice and the realizations he had regarding riku as the light) and might continue to keep losing them in kh4. his mind has suffered a lot and i wish the other characters would be more understanding. but for me, when i see him acting “dumb,” it doesn’t always feel out of character given what he’s gone through. he’s not dumb, his mind has just endured a lot and it makes sense that there are lasting effects from those events.

i have no idea if this is intentional, though lol if it’s not, then square, stop making him so dumb because he’s way smarter than that and you know it.

but if it is intentional, then i love it because it gives me so much satisfaction when events have tangible lasting effects, especially in ways that aren’t outright stated. it would also be cool if this was intentionally supposed to be a factor in sora’s self worth arc. because of his perceived increase of “dumbness,” other characters make fun of him more, making him feel worthless and wrecking his self esteem even further. it’s not his fault he’s having a hard time but he doesn’t understand why it’s happening and it’s another thing for people to shit on him for and eventually he’s going to snap or break under the pressure from all that shit. if this or something like it is the intended outcome, i think that would sick

[daylighteclipsed]

Hey. If Riku’s sacrifice/act of true love for Sora in KH3 is what allows the light to persist and changes the outcome of the war. Does that mean it wasn’t written in the Book of Prophecies

[holleighgram]

The Power of Waking= The Power of True Love

Power of True Love= Strength to protect your most cherish Person

The edges of sleep and death touch

We have seen an "act of true love" bring a person back from "death" (Phillip and Aurora, Eugene and Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa, Snow White and whoever the fuck that guy is, Ash an Pikachu in Pokémon 2000

We have seen "sleep" parallel death before in the series

But what couple have Sora and Riku been paralleled most closely to? Beast and Belle. In the movie, Beast sacrifices himself to protect Belle. This sacrifice makes Belle realize her feelings of true love, breaking the curse and saving him.

Hey

HEY

GUESS WHAT HAPPENED IN KH3

And ONLY THEN does Sora use "all his heart" (power of waking) to save Riku and the others.

It's important that he saves Riku first because that is what

But Soras heart is so full of love for all his friends that he abuses the power and spreads himself too thin and pays the price.

But hey, don't you also have to use the Power of Waking to enter the Realm of Darkness?

Well suddenly Riku is in trouble and Sora is like, "Oh wait THAT'S where I left my door to Darkness, silly me."

But it GETS BETTER.

These two have been able to get to the Realm if Darkness before in KH2.

But what preceeded that?

Oh.

OH.

Riku gets murked, and then Sora carries him on and theybhave their heart to heart before a light appears and they make it to the Realm of Darkness.

Riku STARTED DDD with already having the Power of Waking as he dived into Sora's Sleep subconsciously to protect him.

Sora has big ol heart and and no clue whats going on with and it just thinks "Riku's always picking up the slack for me" but "what the heck is true love?"

Meanwhile, Riku:

[landprince]

sora's died for a friend before and has laughed it off. no big deal. just stabbed himself in the chest and miracle of miracles he came back safe and sound no worse for wear.

but I want him to have not forgotten riku's sacrifice to save him in kh3

to die for someone is a lot. it's the ultimate form of love in someone's mind most times.

and I want sora to be so so terrified of losing riku, especially to protect him of all people, that he gets even more reckless with his life and is the first to jump in front of riku to take the hit, to take the bullet.

he'll laugh it off afterwards, that's what sora does, but he's clinging to riku's hand the whole time. grip so strong riku thinks a finger might be numb by now.

and I want riku to not remember any part of the sacrifice for sora. I want him oblivious and short-tempered whenever sora protects him in any form, because "I love you, I'm older than you, I'm supposed to protect you"

and I want sora's eyes to show fear and loss one can't imagine unless they've gone through it before while he laughs and finally releases riku's hand and apologizes in that carefree-but-not-quite way of his that he'll stop putting himself in danger if he can help it.

but he can't help it. he does it again and again and again and riku tells him next time you won't be so lucky and sora laughs while trying not to cry.

[lightandfellowship]

It's interesting how KH3's themes are sort of a response to the themes of the games that came before it.

The Kingdom Hearts series is no stranger to tragedy, bittersweet endings, and forced separations. Sora, Kairi, and Riku are separated at the end of KH1. Sora and Namine are (figuratively, through memory loss) separated at the end of CoM. Roxas and Namine lose both their friends and themselves at the end of KH2. Roxas, Xion, and Axel are separated at the end of Days. Aqua, Terra, and Ven are separated at the end of BBS. And so on. Over and over again the series softens the blow of these tragic separations by reminding both the characters and the audience that distance can not break the bonds of love, that your friends will always be with you in spirit if not in body. And though its true that distance alone can not break your bonds, sometimes it feels like this idea is moreso a response to the inevitable tragedy that's to come, a way for the characters to cope with the cruel realities that they're forced to deal with, realities they would have never chosen for themselves under normal circumstances.

But KH3 is all about these past tragedies and injustices being fixed. Righting wrongs. Closing the distance. Refusing to believe that this path of loss and sacrifice and separation is how things should be. KH3 says: "Yes, separation is not the end of the world, but you don't have to settle for that. It doesn't have to be this way. There's a precious joy to be had in spending time together, in hearing the laughter of others, in sharing food and pleasant activites, in feeling the touch of a hand in yours. In having your own body and identity to experience these things with. And if you search hard enough, if you love hard enough, if you believe with all your heart that you'll get to see your loved ones again, you can be together. One day."

It makes it all the more tragic that when Sora finally comes to this realization, he has already doomed himself to even further separation, the distance between him and his loved ones growing so large that you couldn't even fathom it as he's flung into a completely different reality.

Just as the surrounding puzzles pieces are finally put back where they belong, the center piece that connects them all, the heart of the puzzle—Sora—becomes profoundly lost.

[blowingoffsteam2]

Something that always bothered me that I haven’t been able to figure out: How Maleficent has a realization and says that the black box doesn’t exist yet. How could that be when we saw it exist in the past. It could just be that it means Luxu hid the box in “unreality”- in other words, it technically didn’t exist in their reality. But then why would it suddenly “exist” again? What caused it to exist? What if, going off the idea of the “abyss” being created by the separation of “heaven and earth”, Riku’s sacrifice or whatever happened with Sora’s heart as a result created the abyss (time-wimey stuff accounting for how the box could be hidden in it long ago)? aka the underworld, the chasm, “Khaos”. Or at least, created the bridge to it that allowed Luxu to retrieve the box.

It also makes me think of what YMX was talking about in the toy story world. “In this world toys have hearts, and those hearts come from a powerful bond. So what happens when those bonds are stretched to their limit? When they are worlds apart, can cloth and plastic hold onto their hearts? All I needed was a wedge to widen the divide. Someone like you to fill them with distrust and doubt. And that chasm you created can be filled with a vast darkness.”

[mythicalartistx]

Riku is a Disney Princess and here's why...

Riku displays Princess features

He's just so Princess. And I've been thinking why is he so princess what is it that makes him like this

So I turned to the official Disney princesses and the comparison is something else.

Kingdom Hearts itself does this all the time with how Riku or Sora acts and gives phenomenal parallels through the categories

Animal Sidekick

Royal Bloodline

Central Character

Prince

Adventure

Disney Princess Parallels

Animal Sidekick

One of the mainly criterias are animal Sidekicks, but wait Riku doesn't have one does he?

Guess again.

He in fact does, and so does Sora.

Let's take a look at Dream Drop Distance— a game where Riku displays affection and is accompanied by these silly little guys known as Dream Eaters and his main one is Komory Bat.

The novels add some great details and scenes where they show affection to Riku. They help him fight as well as rub against him.

How could you not find them so adorable and want one?

Royal Bloodline

The next thing is royalty and just note I'm using only knowledge we definitely know or implied, sorry no bloodline theories. In the criteria most princesses are princesses from having a royal bloodline or displaying some act of heroism.

And throughout the series we see these qualities of heroism.

Starting out in darkness, he redeems himself by displaying heroic qualities as any 15 yo in fiction.

In the second game, Riku helps defeat Xemnas, the ultimate bad of the group they were trying to defeat.

After KH1, he deeply regrets his actions and sacrifices himself multiple times, such as pushing Sora out of the way during the final Xemnas battle. Instead of Sora getting hit, he does himself. In DDD, he then displays skills to accept himself and who he is while also rescuing Sora from darkness.

He even states, "...Are you what's trapping him in that nightmare? Cause if you are... I'm what nightmares fear!"

P.S. the JPN translation of the scene is: If you're a nightmare, I'll eat/devore you

And in KH3 not only does he comfort Sora when he feels down, but he sacrifices his own life for Sora's in the keyblade graveyard

Central Character

Riku is one of the main characters, he is the second important character— the first being Sora. Riku actually is in more games than Sora. In 358/2 Days, Sora is not in the game. He is only shown through flashbacks, but Riku he is there. He interacts with Xion and Roxas. Then in DDD the game centers around him more than it really does Sora.

But even in the other games he is still important. Without him, all of the games would be different. No character could take his place.

If Riku simply didn't exist, there would be no one trying to bring destiny islands to darkness. Terra and Aqua wouldn't have gone to Destiny Islands since they came there following Riku's light.

Kairi also would never have gone there because there is no keyblade wielder there. Sora would probably make friends with the other Islanders and he wouldn't have gone on an adventure and there would be no one bringing the princesses to Maleficent.

Prince

Not every princess has a prince, but he certainly does. And Sora is certainly his.

Riku even called him a prince before

They would have a mutual relationship of both saving and comforting the other.

They both have a care and understanding. Sora always thinking of his princess and Riku does all he cans for his prince. They rescue the other multiple times, they sacrifice for the other, and the two even fight together

Adventure

Not every princess goes on an adventure, but Riku certainly does. He goes from using darkness to feeling at his lowest point where he has to accept himself and his darkness (and even possible romantic feelings for Sora his prince).

He then spends a year trying to defend his prince and sacrifices his form to help him awaken. Then he becomes a version of himself that is almost like a monster and refuses to let anyone see him like that.

But when Sora does he doesn't care Riku is still his friend, his princess. It doesn't change a thing and Riku is still Riku. And Sora loves who he is

This gives so much fairytale prince and princess vibes.

They both work together and save the day and after being stuck in darkness they're okay cause the two are together. Then a light appears and the adventure seems to be over..

But no, they both take an exam for becoming keyblade masters. Riku goes through it trying to understand himself and how he feels about Sora and his darkness. He becomes a dream eater for his prince,

Who says princesses can't do rescuing too?

In Recoded, Riku gets kidnapped by Maleficent and Pete and Sora his prince goes in search to save him.

His next journey arrives when he goes through the realm of darkness to search for a missing keyblade wielder. And when Riku is against her he calls out Sora's name and Sora, his prince comes to the rescue. Together they help free her from the darkness. Then after Riku sacrifices himself for Sora, Sora saves him by putting his heart back to his body.

And Riku is on his way to find his prince once again at the end of KH3... His adventure is still ongoing...

Fairytale Parallels

There are so many fairytale Parallels in Kingdom Hearts. Riku sacrificing himself with every little things reflecting a Disney princess.

In the beginning Riku wishes to explore other worlds and leave his island. Many of the Disney princesses also expressed this desire.

Ariel—who is basically a scholar, wants to know more as well as go to the human world.

Belle wants to go on an adventure that's more than her simple everyday life.

Rapunzel wants to go outside to see the world but also see floating lanterns.

Anna— who has barely any social interaction, is tired of being shut away from the world and wants to also experience it.

Riku also gets tricked/manipulated by darkness. While the other princess don't become an antagonist for the first game like he does, they do get tricked or manipulated.

Ursula tricks Ariel into signing a contract to make her into a human where Ursula hopes to eventually become the ruler of Atlantica when Triton trades places with her.

The evil queen manipulates Snow White into taking a bite of her apple after feeling bad for her.

Maleficent tricks Aurora into touching the spindle of the spinning wheel, causing her to die.

Mother Gothel manipulates and gaslights Rapunzel through her entire upbringing.

Raya gets tricked by Namaari into showing her the chamber with the magical gem

Anna gets tricked by Hans into thinking he's the one so he could rule her kingdom.

Riku makes sacrifices throughout the series like when he does it for Sora in kh3 or even sacrificing his form when fighting Roxas to wake Sora up. In general he sacrifices himself for Sora, as well does Sora sacrifice himself too and there are also many princesses who also make sacrifices

Mulan, wanting to protect her father, she sacrifices herself when she takes his place in the war.

While he's not technically a Disney prince, Hercules sacrifices himself to make the dive and save Meg. Hercules also gave up his strength for her but she pushed him out of the way of a pillar to then save him as well. This relates how Sora and Riku both constantly sacrifice for the other.

Anna sacrifices herself for Elsa by freezing to death.

Belle sacrifices her freedom to save her father.

Rapunzel was willing to sacrifice her freedom to save Flynn's life.

And there we have it, I'm sure there are many more examples then what I said but Riku is a Disney princess and should definitely be added to the line up.