Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

The Grid

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This article is about the world in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
You may be looking for the world in Kingdom Hearts II.
The Grid

The Grid KH3D.png
The Grid Logo KH3D.png
Japanese ザ・グリッド

Romaji Za Guriddo
Games Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

Origin Tron: Legacy (2010)
Themes Header.png

KH3D tracks
Field theme - Access the Grid
Battle theme - Digital Domination
Other worlds
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts
Dive to the Heart | Destiny Islands | Disney Castle
Traverse Town | Wonderland | Olympus Coliseum
Deep Jungle | Agrabah | Monstro
Atlantica | Halloween Town | Neverland
100 Acre Wood | Hollow Bastion
End of the World | Realm of Darkness
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Castle Oblivion | Twilight Town
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts II
Mysterious Tower | Radiant Garden
The Land of Dragons | Beast's Castle | Timeless River
Port Royal | Pride Lands | Space Paranoids
The World That Never Was | End of Sea | Keyblade Graveyard
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts coded
Datascape
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Land of Departure | Mirage Arena
Dwarf Woodlands | Enchanted Dominion | Castle of Dreams
Disney Town | Deep Space
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
La Cité des Cloches | The Grid | Symphony of Sorcery
Country of the Musketeers | Prankster's Paradise
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]
Daybreak Town
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]
Game Central Station | Niceland | Cy-Bug Sector | Candy Kingdom
Introduced in Kingdom Hearts III
The Final World | Secret Forest | Olympus
Toy Box | Kingdom of Corona | Monstropolis
Arendelle | The Caribbean | San Fransokyo
Scala ad Caelum | Quadratum

The Grid is a Sleeping World that is featured in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. It is based on the Disney film, Tron: Legacy, and is one of two worlds to be based on the Tron franchise, the other being Space Paranoids.

Development[edit]

The Grid was originally intended to be playable only for Riku, while Sora would visit the "original Tron World". Nomura instead scrapped this idea and had both Sora and Riku visit The Grid.[1]

In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, when Sora awakens in the arena, the crowd can be heard chanting "Disk Battle!", followed by chanting Rinzler's name as he rises into the arena with CLU. Both of these chants were removed from the English version.

Setting and Areas[edit]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]

Much of The Grid is designed the same. The beginning area for Sora, the City ( Gai?, lit. "District"), features numerous tall structures, streets, crosswalks and large slopes that allow vehicles passage to the Throughput (連絡通路 Renraku Tsūro?, lit. "Accessway"). The Throughput appears similar to an urban, digital plateau, with numerous hexagonal and octagonal platforms risen. Beyond this area is the Bridge ( Hashi?), a closed area that encompasses only part of the long-passing bridge of Tron City. Taking the Recognizer in the previous area leads to the Docks (地下ドック Chika Dokku?, lit. "Underground Dock"), a large hexagonal platform with a central elevator and two Solar Sailers ready for departure. The upper levels of this area feature a number of turrets, locked gates and another elevator. The Solar Sailer (ソーラーセイラー Sōrā Seirā?) carries numerous open cargo containers, with turrets that must be destroyed to fully traverse this area. Ahead of this is the Rectifier 1F (レクティファイア:1F Rekutifaia: 1F?), the first floor of CLU's massive ship. A large amount of cargo containers are scattered in the area, with some planes along the side, a small hall to the left is the entryway to the Rectifier 2F (レクティファイア:2F Rekutifaia: 2F?), the second floor of CLU's ship which is a number of walkways above the first floor with a Recognizer that allows passage to an area non-accessible by foot. Additionally, there is an elevator in the area that leads to the Throneship (スローンシップ Surōnshippu?), CLU's personal command ship. It has three rooms, the first being the entry, colored orange, the second being a light blue but darkly-lit room where numerous Black Guards spawn and finally, a large triangular-shaped orange room that houses Flynn's Identity Disk.

Among these areas are four areas that are not exclusively part of the city, the first is the Arena (スタジアム Sutajiamu?, lit. "Stadium"), a small octagonal area where Sora battles Rinzler. The Portal: Stairs (ポータル:エントランス Pōtaru: Entoransu?, lit. "Portal: Entrance"), a long path with numerous turrets and a save point and the Portal (ポータル:中枢 Pōtaru: Chūsū?, lit. "Portal: Center"), a large circular platform. Finally, there is the Light Cycle Arena (アリーナ Arīna?, lit. "Arena"), a wide arena with a race track encompassing it.

Story[edit]

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts[edit]

Before Radiant Garden's fall, Ansem the Wise had come upon the Grid and copied its data at the time before it was destroyed to create Space Paranoids for both his world's town maintenance and for his personal research.[2][3] The world the Grid was within was one of the worlds that was swallowed in darkness. Although it was freed from the Realm of Darkness after Sora defeated Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and purged the End of the World, it remained asleep as one of the Sleeping Worlds, and the Grid became plagued by Nightmares.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]

Side: Sora[edit]

Sora arrives at The Grid and, recognizing his clothes, believes himself to be back in Space Paranoids. He spots a Recognizer and chases after it. Soon, several Black Guards attempt to arrest him, identifying him as a stray program, but he escapes. He soon encounters Rinzler and they prepare to fight, but Rinzler suddenly leaves. Sora is then met by Kevin Flynn, his son Sam, and Quorra, who is fascinated by Sora's Keyblade. When Sora mentions that he knows Tron, Flynn explains that the figure that Sora encountered was Tron, reprogrammed by CLU to serve him. Sora offers to restore Tron, and Quorra agrees to take him to the Rectifier.

The two of them take a Solar Sailer to the Rectifier, where they are ambushed by Rinzler. Sora attempts to get Rinzler to remember his past as Tron, but Rinzler suddenly counterattacks, then kidnaps Quorra. Sora is confronted by the unknown youth, accompanied by Xemnas, who explains that this is the world where Ansem the Wise got the data for Space Paranoids, then muses about the nature of data and memory, asking Sora if he is sure his memories are his own before leaving through a Corridor of Darkness. The mysterious youth opens the doors behind Sora, cryptically telling him that data cannot dream and that this is not a dream, but reality. Sora is blown out the doors by the wind, finding himself in the Disk Wars stadium, where he encounters CLU and Rinzler. CLU offers to release Rinzler in exchange for the Keyblade, but Sora refuses. Rinzler attacks Sora, who fights back when Quorra tells him he can get through to Rinzler.

Sora defeats Rinzler and reprograms him back to Tron, but CLU appears and attempts to take out Sora with his Disk. Tron manages to push Sora aside and deflect the hit, but the ricochet takes out the floor beneath him, causing him to fall below the stadium, failing to reach Sora's outstretched hand. CLU then leaves to recapture Rinzler, saying he'll deal with Sora later. Sora is saddened from failing to save his friend, but Quorra comforts him.

Shortly after, while considering Xemnas's words, Sora finds the Grid's Keyhole and unlocks it.

Side: Riku[edit]

Riku riding a Light Cycle.

Upon entering the Grid, Riku notices his new clothes and wonders whether the world is special. He is soon confronted by several guards, who identify him as another stray program. To learn more about the world, he allows himself to be captured by the guards. He is transported on a Recognizer along with Sam Flynn, who tells him where he is. Riku brought to the Light Cycle track, where CLU pits him against several Black Guards on light cycles, and during the race battle, the Commantis appears on the track and attacks. Riku fends it off, then escapes the track by blasting a hole in a wall.

He meets up with Sam, who tells him about his father, who has been stuck on the Grid for twenty years, hiding from CLU. The two of them head for the Portal leading to the real world, where Sam plans to delete CLU. Sam goes on ahead for a bit, and Riku later catches up with Sam, Kevin, and a catatonic Quorra. The group head for the Underground Docks to take a Solar Sailer to the Portal, and on the way Riku watches Flynn repair Quorra while he talks about the nature and origin of the ISOs, of which Quorra is the last, and how his and CLU's search for perfection led to their destruction. Riku reflects on how Flynn's story compares to Xehanort's, how their single-minded curiosities led to destruction and pain.

CLU's forces located them and force them onto a new course, but Quorra gets herself captured to give the others a chance to reach the Portal. Sam and Riku head off to CLU's Throneship to recover Flynn's Identity Disc and rescue Quorra, while Flynn goes to commandeer a ship. Although they recover the disc, Rinzler arrives with Quorra in custody. Sam and Riku attack Rinzler, with Riku knocking him off the ship with a Wall Kick. They take Quorra and join Flynn on a glider, which they take to the Portal.

There, they encounter CLU, who summons the Commantis to stop them from going further. Riku takes on the Dream Eater in battle and destroys it. While Flynn baits CLU with his disc, Sam and Quorra head for the Portal. However, CLU discovers that Flynn switched discs with Quorra, and he attempts to jump the now-open bridge to the Portal. Sam uses Flynn's disc to activate the Portal, and when CLU tries to enter it, even with Riku blocking his path, Flynn suddenly draws CLU to him and absorbs him, disappearing in the process. The Portal closes with Sam and Quorra on the other side, and the Keyhole appears to Riku as he contemplates the significance of Portals.

Characters[edit]

Character Design[edit]

Like in Space Paranoids, Sora and Riku are converted into data and change forms accordingly. The forms resemble the outfits worn by other characters in the film. They both wear dark blue suits with light blue circuitry and visors characteristic of participants in the Grid's Disk Wars competition. While cosmetic, they also gain Identity Disks on their backs. Sora's form also slightly resembles his Space Paranoids design, but without the prongs and the blue skin color. Their Keyblades become jet-black with light-blue circuitry.

Enemies[edit]

Dream Eaters[edit]

Other[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ Space Paranoids replaced by The Grid in KH3D
  2. ^ Kingdom Hearts II, Tron: "A computer system---for processing data. This system is a copy of one created by a corporation called ENCOM. The original program was destroyed."
  3. ^ Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Xemnas: "Once, my master, Ansem, found an old system and made a copy of its Master Control Program...and used it to serve his own ends. This is the original data of that system."