Agrabah

Agrabah is a world from the Kingdom Hearts series. It features scenery and characters from Disney's 1992 film "Aladdin", including the Cave of Wonders. However, the world takes drastically different forms between versions.

Agrabah also appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, featuring Roxas and Organization XIII.

The ruler of this world is the Sultan, who has never been shown in the Kingdom Hearts games.

Kingdom Hearts
The world of Agrabah is basically divided into two parts. The first part is Agrabah itself, where the Sultan's Palace is located. Sora and his party arrive in the Plaza here, where they are confronted by their first enemies in the world. Connecting through a door is a Storeroom, with no enemies and a save point, as well as a few other goodies. Heading north from the Plaza heads to Main Street; shimmying up the nearby pole will take Sora's group to Aladdin's House and another save point. Continuing north takes them to the Palace Gates, where the massive Pot Centipede battle begins. Heading west from Main Street sends them into the Alley, while entering the high entrance to the east goes into the Bazaar. These areas interconnect on many levels, both high and low.

Leaving the city takes Sora's group to the Cave of Wonders, but the Cave of Wonders Guardian, which resembles a tiger's head and serves as the cave's entrance, must be fought as a boss battle before the party is permitted to enter. Heading in, the group enters the Entrance, with a single boulder trap. Going forward leads them to the Hall, a massive room full of traps such as boulders, squirting water, and, of course, Heartless. Heading through the door on the opposite side leads to the Bottomless Hall, a narrow ledge next to a deep chasm. By dropping into the ravine in the Hall, Bottomless Hall, or the Entrance, Sora and his group are sent into a set of lower chambers. Continuing foward through the Bottomless Hall takes the party to the final room, the Treasure Room; it is from here that they eventually gain access to the Lamp Chamber and the Jafar boss battle.

The lower chambers are mostly full of water and are navigated by swimming. The Dark Chamber holds a save point, a handy place for making sure Aladdin is in your party to successfully gain all of the lower chamber treasures. The Relic Chamber and the Silent Chamber also hold various treasures and triggers that only Abu can access.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Agrabah is recreated inside Castle Oblivion as a figment of Sora's and Riku's memories.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Agrabah is most based upon its first creation in the first game, with certain changes. In this game, the Cave of Wonders is also available.

Kingdom Hearts II


Agrabah itself takes on a much different appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. It only has two areas, but each of these areas are larger with many bridges and pits. Aside from the main city, the Bazaar holds many enemies, though no shops. However, the Peddler's Shop, the headquarters of the mischievous merchant who causes much of the chaos in the game, has a Moogle shop in it. The Palace can also be reached through the main city.

Going outside the Palace Walls gives Sora's group more options. The first, and in the beginning, only option available is the Cave of Wonders. However, the Cave of Wonders of Kingdom Hearts II is completely different. It has but one floor, divided into the Valley of Stone and the Stone Guardians. The focus of the Cave this time is the Chasm of Challenges. Here, the gang must defeat a number of Heartless in a short amount of time. If they succeed, they can enter the Treasure Room.

In the second part of the game, the other area from the Palace Walls opens up, the Sandswept Ruins, which can only be negotiated by Sora riding alone on Carpet. He can use Carpet to reach the Ruined Chamber, which helps he and his party unlock the secret of Jafar in this game.

Kingdom Hearts
The story starts with Jafar looking for Princess Jasmine, but Iago tells him that she's nowhere to be found. Maleficent turns up, telling him that Jasmine is essential for their plan. She also warns Jafar to be careful not to lose his heart, but Jafar shrugs it off, telling her that her 'concern is touching, but hardly neccessary.' As Maleficent and Jafar move out to continue searching for Jasmine, the latter peeks out from behind a stall. Later, Sora and the gang meet Jasmine in the alley, before Jafar appears and kidnaps her. Just before she disappears, she tells Sora, Goofy and Donald to find Aladdin in the desert. As they run out of the town and into the desert, they find the flying carpet, which takes them to the location of the Cave of Wonders, although the entrance is closed. There, Aladdin is stuck in a pit of sinking sand, and is being set upon by heartless. Sora and co. attack the heartless, but there's too many. Aladdin pulls himself out of the sand and wishes that the heartless were gone. Genie appears and makes them disappear. As they fly back to the town on the carpet, Genie talks about how he's a prisoner in the lamp, and Aladdin promises to set him free with his third wish. Aladdin, Sora, Goofy and Donald confront Jafar in front of the palace, where he's with Jasmine. Aladdin uses his second wish to save Jasmine, but Iago steals the lamp, and Genie disappears, dropping Jasmine in a pot, which then becomes part of the Pot Centipede Jafar creates. Jafar and Jasmine disappear, but the protagonists don't discover this until after the Pot Centipede is destroyed. They then run after Jafar who has run to the Cave of Wonders. The Cave's tiger-head guardian attacks them, having been possessed by the heartless. As they fight it, Jafar and Jasmine are in the lamp room, where the former uses his first wish to reveal the keyhole. Maleficent then appears, and Jafar suggests turning Riku against Sora. Sora, Aladdin, Goofy and Donald then run in, seeing Maleficent. She disappears quickly, while Jafar uses his second wish to get Genie to fight alongside him against Sora. when Sora defeats Jafar, he uses his last wish to turn himself into a genie. Sora attacks Iago to get him to drop Jafar's lamp, and rubs it, sending Jafar inside. Unbeknown to Sora at the time, Riku has kidnapped Jasmine and taken her to Hollow Bastion. The group discover Jasmine is missing, and Sora quickly seals the keyhole before more Heartless appear. They use the carpet to fly back to Agrabah, where Aladdin uses his final wish to set Genie free, who then joins Sora in order to find Jasmine.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Agrabah returns in the memories of Sora. Sora, Donald, and Goofy see Aladdin getting attacked by the Heartless. They help him, but become overpowered by the Heartless. Aladdin brings out his lamp and calls forth Genie to get rid of the Heartless for his first wish. Genie appears and gets rid of the Heartless. Now Aladdin has two wishes left. Sora and the others decided to go with Aladdin to the palace. Along the way, Goofy asks Aladdin why he is going to the palace. He said that he needs to get the lamp to the palace right away. He had acquired the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Genie said that he has been in the lamp for 2,000 years. He's getting tired of granting everyone wishes. So Aladdin promises to free Genie with his last wish. But first, there is one thing he really wants. He really wants to meet Jasmine, Princess of Agrabah. Its hard for a street rat like like Aladdin to get a chance to see Jasmine. He got help from Jafar, the royal vizier, to meet Jasmine. Genie thought Aladdin can go see her as a prince. So they Hurry to the palace. On their way, they see Jasmine getting attacked by Heartless. Aladdin had no choice but to use his second wish to save Jasmine. Genie got rid of the Heartless, but more came back. After they defeat the Heartless, Jafar appears and takes away the lamp. He is going to use the lamp to get Jasmine for himself. Jafar uses his first wish to bring Jasmine to him. Genie takes Jasmine and Jafar escapes. Aladdin has lost Jasmine & the lamp, but Sora tells him not to give up. Aladdin takes Sora's advice and had an idea to get the lamp back. Sora, Donald, & Goofy follow Jafar to the palace. Sora and co. are about to engage in battle when Aladdin appears. Jafar tells Genie to get rid of him. Genie punches Aladdin out of the way, Genie takes this command as a wish and unbeknownst to Jafar, he uses his. However, Jafar uses his 2nd wish. Jafar uses his final wish to become an all, powerful Genie. But Sora gets the lamp back and seals Jafar in the lamp. Then, Aladdin uses his final wish to free Genie from the lamp. Aladdin decided that he wants Jasmine to see him for who he really is. This memory ends as Aladdin says goodbye to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Roxas's first mission to a new world, outside of Twilight Town and The World that Never Was, begins on his 26th day in the Organization. He is dispatched to Agrabah with Xigbar, and together the two of them investigate the city, finding that all does not appear to be well - the town is full of sand, the stores are empty, buildings seem to have been recently damaged, and lumber and rope can be seen all around the city alongside what look like quick repairs. All this seems to be the result of sandstorms like the violent one currently raging out in the desert.

Xigbar and Roxas spy Aladdin and Jasmine discussing the town's situation, and after finding a vantage point where they can listen without being seen, they overhear that Aladdin has been working non-stop to shore up the city in preparation for the next sandstorm. Jasmine is worried about him, and suggests they ask the Genie for help - but Aladdin is determined to protect Agrabah with his own strength. He and Jasmine head off to continue their work.

Xigbar decides that there's no need to investigate the palace, so he and Roxas are about to head home - when suddenly Roxas is overcome by a strange vision, images of Xion and a blonde girl drawing pictures in a white room. He falls over, unconscious.

It's over three weeks before Roxas has recovered from his sleep, and returns to Agrabah. During a routine mission to release hearts from Heartless, he again comes across Jasmine and Aladdin worrying about an impending sandstorm - and about the recent appearances of Heartless around the city. Roxas also spies Aladdin scolding Apu for stealing, but keeps out of sight and returns to the Castle once his mission is done.

Another three weeks later, and Roxas is sent back to Agrabah with Axel. Upon arriving in the city, he's struck by a strange vision of a boy in red clothes, and feels as if the boy has once stood in the same spot that he has. What was meant to be a simple mission to release hearts is interrupted by the appearance of Pete, who seems to be searching for something. Axel decides on the spot to change their mission goal - Roxas is apprehensive about ignoring his orders without permission, but Axel assures him that a guy this suspicious is worth checking out. And besides, they can destroy some Heartless afterwards. They sneak around the town, following Pete until he reveals a secret door to the desert, and a path to the Cave of Wonders. Axel says that discovering the Cave is enough work for the day, so after defeating the nearby Heartless, they head home.

Roxas returns with Xion to investigate the Cave three days later. They rescue Apu from a swarm of Heartless, and it turns out the small gemstone the monkey was carrying is a key to unlock the deeper rooms of the Cave. They fight their way through Heartless to a dead end, where they find a statue holding some kind of treasure... and are confronted by Pete, who attacks them, ranting that they'll never get hold of the magic lamp that is rightfully his. Pete is defeated, but the noise and violence causes a cave-in, and Roxas and Xion escape to the desert.

There they suddenly find themselves face to face with a flying Carpet, and a magical being who introduces himself as the Genie formerly of the magic lamp. They were crossing the desert when the Carpet thought it recognised Roxas. But the carpet must be mistaken, because Roxas doesn't recognise either of the strange pair.

The Genie explains that the two of them had been travelling the world, but had been worried about their friends at home and were on their way back to check up on Agrabah. The Genie is particularly worried about his "best friend" Al - a term Roxas doesn't understand. When the Genie hears of the danger to the town, his first reaction is to rush off to help, but Roxas explains that Aladdin wants to rebuild the town with his own strength. A somewhat deflated Genie concedes that it's important to respect his friend's wishes... but he does magically stop the sandstorm.

Three weeks later, Roxas finds Jasmine and Aladdin glad that the sandstorm has subsided - now they can go outside the city again. But the Heartless are still posing a problem. And sure enough, when Roxas heads outside the city limits he encounters a huge Heartless, the Antlion. He defeats it after a long battle in the desert. Soon afterwards Roxas finds Aladdin commenting that the Heartless' numbers seem to be decreasing. While Roxas spies on Aladdin and Jasmine's conversation, the Genie joins him again to see how things are going with Aladdin and the princess. Genie decides not to go and greet his friend so as not to get in the way; just knowing his friend is safe is enough to keep him happy.

Roxas completes several more routine missions to Agrabah, but when he and Xion visit the city on his 321st day in the Organization, something doesn't feel right. He brushes off Xion's concern, and they head to a deep part of the Cave of Wonders that has been uncovered by the previous cave-in. There they find the old, sealed keyhole - and Xion is struck by a vision of a boy locking it. She suddenly realizes that the boy looks a lot like Roxas, but the two are attacked by a large Heartless before she can say anything. Roxas finds himself struggling to wield his Keyblade, but Xion is on fire - she expertly dispatches the Heartless, and helps Roxas to his feet. Roxas assures her that he's just tired.

When Roxas is sent to Agrabah one last time on his 354th day, he finds a strange, silver, hovering device in the middle of the room with the old keyhole. He's swarmed by Heartless, and although he manages to fight them off he finds himself really struggling, and wondering when he became so weak. As he's about to return home, he pauses in the desert, suddenly wondering just why he keeps carrying out missions for the Organization he knows so little about. He doesn't even know who he really is, or where he came from, and things are falling apart with his friends - is The World that Never Was really where he wants to return to? As he looks up at the stars, he sheds a single tear. He decides that he's going to find out about himself, whatever it takes.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * The Chasm of Challenges remains open to try again after the initial trial.
 * The Magic Carpet Mini-game through the Sandswept Ruins opens after Agrabah is completed.
 * One of the Skateboarding games, Sand Slider, can be found here.

Trivia

 * Strangely enough, the only character of the Aladdin main cast that is always absent in the games is Jasmine's father, the Sultan of Agrabah. Despite him having a large part in the stories of the movies and the TV show, the Sultan has yet to appear in the Agrabah world or in any Kingdom Hearts game. He was mentioned in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, though.


 * The Royal Palace where Jasmine lives has yet to be visited. Additionally, her pet tiger, Rajah, and Razoul, the Captain of the Guard, have yet to make an appearance. All of this could be touched upon in future installments.


 * In the first Kingdom Hearts, Agrabah's story follows that of the original Aladdin, while in the second game, the world's plot is similar to that of Aladdin: The Return of Jafar, the series' second movie.


 * One screenshot from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days shows Roxas interacting with Genie, showing that there will be a plot, but as this takes place between the two games, and the third Aladdin movie's events wouldn't happen before Kingdom Hearts II, it can be assumed their will be no storyline similarities to anything from the Aladdin universe.
 * Agrabah is one of four worlds (The others being Beast's Castle, Halloween Town, Port Royal) to use a prop from the movie on the World Map. (Port Royal has the exception of the Skull from the movie's poster and movie cover)


 * Agrabah appears in all games besides Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Hints

 * If you want to level up quickly (on Kingdom Hearts), there are four Black Fungus Heartless in the Bazaar. If you can slay all four of them, you get 384 exp total. Can be great for those who want to level up quickly for any boss in the world.