Riku

Riku is the best friend of Sora, the main character of Kingdom Hearts. His name means 'land'.

Kingdom Hearts
Riku is the oldest of the group on Destiny Islands. (Sora and Kairi are a year younger at age 14.) He constantly is competeting with Sora. Together, with Sora and Kairi, Riku works on building a raft to try to sail to other worlds. In a period of days, the raft is built and ready. on the day they intend to sail though, their world is attacked by dark beings known as the Heartless. Sora upon finding out, runs to Riku who stands on a miniature island, looking at an orb of darkness in the sky. Riku exclaims to Sora that it is a way to see other worlds. Sora still is worried but prepares to go with Riku. Suddenly a circle of darkness surrounds Riku, and begins to wrap around him. In a flash of light, Riku dissappears and Sora disscovers the keyblade. Later on, Riku appears in Traverse Town, fighting some heartless. Afterwords, he goes to Sora. He and Sora converse about other worlds and Sora asks Donald Duck if Riku can journey with them. Donald refuses, and suddenly, Riku dissappears. He later watches Sora converse with Leon and the others about finding Riku. Maleficent convinces Riku that Sora has replaced him with new friends and has him join the Heartless. Riku appears once more in Monstro, kidnapping Pinnochio, and trying to get Sora to befriend him. Finnally, Riku appears in Never Land, with Kairi, who, appears to have lost her heart. But here, Riku has the abillity to control Heartless and even makes a shadow-like version of Sora! In Hollow Bastion, Riku steals the keyblade and tosses Sora his wooden sword. (the weapon Sora uses in the begginning of the game.) Donald and Goofy follow Riku believing his words about Sora being, 'just the delivery boy'. Afterwords, Sora gets the keyblade back and his friends join him in and epic fight against Riku. Riku returns once more, but seems to have merged with the mystrerious man in the brown cloak that Sora met on Destiny Islands. Riku now has a Dark Keyblade, which he uses to convert a weak maleficent into her dragon form. After words, Sora fight Riku again and defeats him, but this time Riku has been possessed by Ansem. After the Battle, Riku turns into Ansem completely, but after Sora releases his heart to free the seven princesses, Ansem comes to get Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. Riku appeared like a ghost and somehow held back Ansem. In his final appearance in the game, Riku is behind the door to darkness helping King Mickey and Sora close it for good.



Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Riku and King Mickey go into the basement of Castle Oblivion and move upward towards the ground floor, whereas in Sora's part of the Game, he must reach the top. Riku uses a set deck in contrast to Sora collecting his deck. Riku, whislt moving upwards, battles the mysterious Organization XIII. Riku eventually meet Namine, a mysterious girl who says she can lock the darkness inside him or leave him be. Riku decides to face the darkness himself and after telling King Mickey he told him he made the right choice. near the end Riku fights a replica of himself made by the Organization and later kills the members that created it. And near the time he leaves the castle, Riku battles Ansem himself and becomes free of that darkness around him. When outside, a mysterious man meets him, and gives them a two paths to choose, "The road to the light, or the road to the darkness?". (Riku and King Mickey now have donned Organization XIII cloaks.) Riku chooses the middle path and the DiZ (the mystery man) says, "Do you mean the twillight road to nightfall?". And Riku answers, "No, the road to dawn."

Kingdom Hearts II: Roxas' story
Riku first appears in an openning cutscene from the first Kingdom Hearts battling Sora with the dark keyblade, and later in the cutscene is running up stair ways oppisite Sora in Castle Oblivion and is shown battling Ansem. Riku continues to be shown in various cutscenes in Roxas' story as he dreams about Sora and memories about Sora's past return. In another cutscene, a blind-folded Riku appears and helps Roxas in a battle at The World That Never Was, taking one of Roxas' two keyblades. As the scene progresses, Riku starts to battle Roxas asking him how he has a keyblade. (Riku wears the Organization XIII cloak from Chain of Memories.) Riku is beaten there, but would later return in the form of Ansem. (Xehanort's Heartless. Still with the Organization XIII cloak.) In Xeahnort's Heartless' form, Riku would appear at various times taking items from Roxas in the game.



Kingdom Hearts II: Sora's Story
Sora first encounters Riku in Land of the Dragons while Riku is in Xeahnort's Heartless' form, with the Organization XIII Cloak and the hood covering his face. Sora battles Riku, mistaking him for an Organization member. Later on it is revealed by the emporer that Riku came to warn him that the organization XIII had turned a dragon into a heartless and had sent it to attack the town. (Sora and Co. had just killed it by the way.) Riku appears again in Xaehnort's Heartless' form to save a kidnapped Kairi from Saix, an Organization member, and gave Kairi a keyblade. (He had one allready.) Kairi joined forces with Riku and battled Heartless whilst Sora and Co., fought Xigbar, an Organization XIII member. Sora finnally reached Riku and Kairi when Riku went to run off. Kairi stopped him from doing so and called him Riku in front of Sora. (Namine had allready identified Riku to Kairi so she knew the secret.) Sora began crying and saying how much he missed him until Riku calmed him down saying he, 'didn't want to be found'. Riku went along with the others killing off the last surviving Organization members until they reached King Mickey and DiZ. (The Real Ansem and the mysterious man Riku had met in Chain of Memories.) Ansem the wise had been using a machine to transfer Kingdom Hearts into data. Ansem was very sad and after a confrontation with Xemnas, the nobody of Xeahnort and the leader of Organization XIII, the machine he was using exploding, killing Ansem, as the man had wished it to. Riku suddenly appeared as Riku when he was blindfolded, and the reason he wore it was, 'because his eyes couldn't lie'. (His eyes were turning yellow, like Xeahnort's Heartless.) He took it off, revealing his regular eyes, which were bright blue and he took off the Organization XIII cloak. Though he looked much older, Riku still acted like himself and joined Sora in battle against Xemnas. Riku afterwords explained about Roxas being Sora's nobody but, when Namine gave them a portal to leave, Riku and Sora did not make it in time, and it was revealed to them that they had not killed Xemnas. They immeadiately went to battle, and after finnally killing Xemnas Riku came out of the battle severely wounded, and the two appeared on a dark island. The two agreed the realm of light was safe now and that they would now help free the realm of darkness. Suddenly on the beach they found a poem, from Kairi. (Kairi had sent it previously in the game.) Upon reading it, the door to light openned, the two walked through, appearing on the Destiny Islands.