Gauges

Various types of Gauges appear throughout the Kingdom Hearts series.

HP Gauge
The HP Gauge represents the remaining and total amounts of a character's Hit Points. It consists of a green bar that encircles or sit below or beside a sprite of the character's profile, with the level of green indicating the current level of HP. When the character takes damage, the level of green in the gauge will drop. Additionally, depending on the game, the gauge may flash or shake, and the sprite may flinch or flash. When HP reaches a critically low level, the gauge will flash red, and an alarm will sound. The character's sprite may also change to indicate danger. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, the HP gauge includes a yellow portion that indicates when a Limit Break may be used. It also flashes yellow when collecting Mission Point prizes in Mission Mode.

The player character's HP Gauge is located on the bottom-right corner of the screen, top-left in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, together with most of the gauges that may be present during gameplay, such as the MP Gauge, the Drive Gauge, the D-Link Gauge, and the Clock Gauge. If there are any party members, their individual HP gauges will be displayed above the player character's.

In every game but Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, the player character's HP Gauge will increase in length when their maximum HP increases, whether upon gaining a level or receiving a bonus. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, once the HP Gauge reaches a certain length, the green HP bar is overlaid by a second, blue bar, which will be depleted before the green bar when damage is taken. In Kingdom Hearts, a party member's HP gauge increases in length when maximum HP increases, but in subsequent games it does not.

Enemy HP gauges are displayed on-screen when the Scan ability is equipped, except in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, where they are displayed automatically. In Kingdom Hearts, enemy HP gauges appear at the top-left of the screen; in subsequent games, they appear at the top-right. In Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, enemy HP Gauges that extend beyond a single bar have differently-colored bars layered on top of each other that must be depleted one at a time. Interestingly, if an enemy in Kingdom Hearts had more health than could be displayed in five bars, such as Sephiroth, it would appear as if no damage was being dealt, until the amount of remaining health fell to within range of gauge. Starting with the release of Kingdom Hearts II, enemy HP gauges that extend beyond one bar have green, rectangular icons beneath the current HP bar, each one representing a full HP bar yet to be depleted.

Drive Gauge
The Drive Gauge is introduced in Kingdom Hearts II, where it is located above the MP gauge. The Drive Gauge is filled by by dealing damage to enemies, picking up Drive Orbs, or using Drive Recovery or High Drive Recovery items; additionally, the Damage Drive ability fills the Drive Gauge proportionally to the damage taken by Sora, while the Drive Boost ability makes the Drive Gauge fill more quickly during MP restoration.

Using Drive Forms and Summons costs certain numbers of bars from the Drive Gauge. The Drive Gauge starts out with a maximum of three bars, and additional bars are earned by defeating certain bosses: Captain Barbossa, the Hostile Program, Saïx and Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts II, Captain Barbossa, the Hostile Program, Sephiroth, Xemnas's final form, Marluxia's Absent Silhouette and the Lingering Will in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.

Using Valor Form, Wisdom Form, or a Summon costs three bars from the Drive Gauge, using Master Form or Limit Form costs four bars, using Final Form costs five bars and entering Anti Form costs all remaining bars.

Form Gauge


Entering a Drive Form transforms the Drive Gauge into the Form Gauge, which determines how long Sora can stay in that form. The Form Gauge begins at its maximum and depletes over time, and using a form's abilities and dealing large amounts of damage cause the gauge to deplete more quickly, while the Form Boost ability makes it deplete more slowly. When the gauge completely empties, Sora reverts to his normal form. Each Drive Form has its own Form Gauge, which has an maximum that starts at three bars and increases by one each time the Drive Form is leveled up, up to nine bars.

Summon Gauge


Calling on a Summon transforms the Drive Gauge into the Summon Gauge, which determines how long a Summon can remain in the field. The Summon Gauge begins at its maximum and depletes over time, and using a Summon's Limit causes the gauge to deplete more quickly, while attacking enemies will slightly fill it, and the Summon Boost ability makes it deplete more slowly. When the gauge completely empties, the Summon is dismissed, and Sora's party members return. The Summon Gauge has an maximum that starts at three bars and increases by one each time the Summon Level increases, up to nine bars. Each bar that depletes from the Summon Gauge earns a point of experience towards the Summon Level, which applies to all of Sora's Summons.

Focus Gauge
The Focus Gauge is a gameplay element exclusive to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Its shape resembles the Drive Gauge, and it is located to the left of a character's portrait on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. The more focus Terra, Aqua, and Ventus have, the more time they have to lock-on for their Shotlock. The gauge can be refilled by hitting enemies, much like the Drive Gauge, and by using Ethers. It can also be filled with the Focus Block and Focus Barrier commands, where the gauge is filled on successful blocking of enemy attacks, and the Damage Syphon ability, where the gauge is filled when taking damage from enemy attacks.

D-Link Gauge
The D-Link Gauge, which appears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, represents the player's ability to use Dimension Links. The gauge is located above the player character's HP gauge, and it is filled by picking up D-Link Prizes or by using a Balloon Letter. When the gauge is full, it glows slightly, and the player can activate a D-Link. The gauge will deplete gradually as the D-Link stays active, and the D-Link will automatically end if the gauge empties completely. Collecting D-Link Prizes while the link is still active keeps the gauge from fully depleting, extending the time for which the link can be used.

In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, using an Illusion command replaces the D-Link gauge with an Illusion gauge.

Drop Gauge
The Drop Gauge is a gameplay element exclusive to Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Its shape resembles a longer version of the Drive Gauge, and it is located to the left of the character's portrait on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. It gradually decreases as the player progresses through a world's story and once it is empty, Sora goes into a mode of sleep and the player is put in control of Riku in the world he or she was last in. As before, if the gauge empties while playing as Riku, the player will again take control of Sora. This process of switching playable characters can be done manually by pressing and choosing Drop from the menu. The Drop Gauge is now majorly a gradient of indigo-to-teal-to-blue with an underlining gradient of pink-to-cream. The gauge's second bar is colored bright yellow.

The Drop Gauge was initially colored with a gradient of indigo-to-pink-to-cream.