Sora

Sora is the main protagonist of the  series. He is a playable character in , Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, he is only playable in Mission Mode. In Kingdom Hearts coded, a virtual version of him is the protagonist.

Sora lives on the Destiny Islands with his best friends Riku and Kairi, and all three of them dream of venturing from Destiny Islands to find out what lies beyond. His home was consumed by darkness, sending him on a journey to many worlds across the Realm of Light. An upbeat youth, he travels with his new friends Goofy and Donald Duck in search of his missing friends, and uses his newly acquired weapon, the Keyblade, to put an end to the threats that destroyed his world.

Sora is the original persona of his own Heartless and Roxas, the source of Xion's memories, the source of Naminé's original body, the former bearer of Ventus's heart, and the physical template of Vanitas.

Development
Although Square Enix originally wanted Mickey Mouse to be the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, and Disney wanted Donald Duck as the protagonist, the role was eventually set as Sora, because Tetsuya Nomura wanted a human protagonist. Early on, Sora was designed as a young lion/human hybrid, wielding a chainsaw-like weapon with a lion's head Keychain. The merging of Sora's design with elements from Square's proposal is referenced by his original costume, which shares many elements with Mickey's. Sora's final design in the first Kingdom Hearts has a color scheme which evokes Mickey's, seen as their white gloves, red shorts, and yellow shoes.

Before Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
After Ventus's heart is damaged by the creation of Vanitas, Master Xehanort brings the unconscious Ventus to the Destiny Islands. Here, Sora's newly born heart encounters Ventus in his Dive to the Heart. He offers to join hearts with Ventus to prevent his heart from deteriorating any further until Ventus's heart can heal on its own. This connection mends Ventus's damaged Station, and as a side effect, it causes Vanitas's face to resemble Sora's.

Sora and Riku grow up together on the Destiny Islands as best friends and rivals. They are often seen around the islands battling with wooden swords, racing, and competing in any other way they can think of.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
When Sora is four years old, he encounters Terra and Aqua, two Keyblade wielders, on separate occasions. He never speaks with Terra, but they see each other from a distance. Terra shows no interest in Sora because he is unable to sense his potential, and is instead drawn to Riku. When Aqua meets Sora and Riku, she senses that their friendship parallels that of Ventus and Terra, and she tells Sora to protect Riku if he ever falls into darkness. Sora, despite his confusion, agrees.

Later on, Sora and Riku rest on a beach. When they prepare to go home, Sora suddenly feels sad, sensing Ventus's pain thanks to their previous encounter. Riku tells him that maybe someone in another world is in pain and encourages him to reach out with his heart. Sora successfully calls to Ventus, whose heart has been lost after the destruction of Vanitas and the χ-blade. Ven's heart makes its way to Sora's Station in the Dive to the Heart, and Ven asks if it can stay with Sora while he sleeps. Sora, wanting to make Ven better, happily accepts, and Ven's heart is absorbed into his own.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Sometime later, a young girl named Kairi arrives at the Destiny Islands from another world during a nighttime meteor shower. Not long after that night, Sora and Riku explore a small, hidden cave on their islands, in search of a "howling monster". They are disappointed to find only a featureless door in the "Secret Place", and they decide to someday leave the island and have real adventures. As they leave, they decide to go see "the new girl", and Riku, unbeknownst to Sora, looks back at the door to see the Keyhole of the Destiny Islands.

Sora and Riku befriend Kairi, and the three quickly become inseparable as they play together on the islands. Sora and Kairi draw pictures of themselves in the Secret Place. During the next several years, they often wonder about what lies beyond their small world, prompted by the mystery of Kairi's forgotten home.

Kingdom Hearts
Several years later, Sora, Riku, and Kairi start building a raft, in the hopes of sailing to other worlds. Sometime during construction, Sora dozes off on the beach, and has an odd, prescient dream, in which a mysterious voice guides him through a dark realm where he fights strange monsters. Sora is awakened by Kairi, and he resumes helping with the preparations for their voyage. Over the next couple days, he searches the island for building materials and provisions, while taking the time to play-fight with his friends and compete with Riku. Riku repeatedly teases Sora over his relationship with Kairi, and hints that he should share a paopu fruit with her. Sora enters the Secret Place while foraging, and draws himself giving a paopu fruit to Kairi on the wall. He suddenly encounters a shadowy figure who speaks of the world being consumed by darkness and taunts Sora about his ignorance of the outside world before disappearing.

That night, a severe storm hits the small island. Sora comes to check on the raft, and he finds a strange, dark force hovering overhead, and the islands overrun with Shadows. He finds Riku, who simply tells him that the door has been opened to the outside world and that he is not afraid of the darkness beyond it. As Sora tries to reach towards Riku, the two begin sinking into darkness. However, before Sora is swallowed by darkness, he receives the Kingdom Key, which dispels the darkness around him. He uses it to fight his way to the Secret Place, where he finds Kairi in a daze. Before he can get to her, the mysterious door bursts open with a blast of dark wind. Kairi disappears and Sora is blown outside, where he faces a Darkside on the rapidly disintegrating island. The two are swept away into the darkness.

Sora falls through a Corridor of Darkness into Traverse Town, where he finds more Heartless before meeting Leon and Yuffie, who explain the nature of the Keyblade, the Heartless, and Ansem to him. When they are attacked by Heartless, Sora is forced to part with Leon and Yuffie. He makes his way to the town's Third District where he meets Donald Duck and Goofy, and the three of them take down a swarm of Heartless and the Guard Armor. After introductions, Donald and Goofy ask Sora to come with them to other worlds, as per King Mickey's request, and Sora agrees, hoping to find Riku and Kairi.

After traveling to numerous worlds, they find Riku on a return trip to Traverse Town. Sora discovers that Riku is also searching for Kairi. Riku shows a surprising affinity for the Keyblade, taking it from Sora right from under his nose, before returning it at will. Sora and Donald argue about whether Riku can travel with them, but Riku disappears. Satisfied with the knowledge that Riku is fine, Sora resumes his quest to find Kairi, unaware that Riku is slowly being turned against him by Maleficent.

As his journey continues, Sora makes many new friends throughout many worlds, and he becomes much closer to Donald and Goofy as well. He also repeatedly crosses paths with an increasingly hostile Riku, and in Neverland, Riku finally turns on Sora, revealing that he has been given the power of darkness and has found Kairi, before summoning AntiSora and throwing Sora into the hold of Captain Hook's ship.

Sora, undeterred, continues on to Hollow Bastion, where he encounters Riku once again. Riku reveals that he is the true master of Sora's Keyblade, taking it for his own. Donald and Goofy reluctantly follow Riku, as per King Mickey's instructions, and Sora is left alone with the Beast, armed with only a Wooden Sword. The two make their way into the Entrance Hall of the castle, where they are temporarily separated. Riku confronts Sora again, accompanied by Donald and Goofy. When Sora refuses to back down, Donald and Goofy step in to defend him from Riku's attacks. With his heart strengthened by his bonds of friendship, Sora reclaims the Keyblade, and the three defeat Riku, who retreats. Continuing through the hordes of Heartless infesting the castle, they make their way to the Chapel, where they fight and defeat Maleficent.

When they reach the Grand Hall, they find Kairi's supine body. Riku, now possessed by Ansem, reveals that Kairi has lost her heart, and that it is inside Sora. Ansem attempts to extract Kairi's heart from Sora with the Keyblade of heart, in order to complete the final Keyhole. Sora fights back and defeats Ansem, but in order to save Kairi, Sora stabs himself in the chest with Ansem's Keyblade, freeing Kairi's heart and turning Sora into a Heartless. While in his Heartless state, Sora follows Donald, Goofy, and Kairi as they leave the castle. Kairi is somehow able to recognize him and restore him to his body. The group flee the growing flood of Heartless and retreat to Traverse Town, where Sora prepares to return to Hollow Bastion and free Riku from Ansem. Kairi gives Sora her Lucky Charm, and tells him that she will be with him wherever he goes.

Sora returns to Hollow Bastion and successfully seals the final Keyhole. He is then reunited with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith, who tell him that Hollow Bastion was their previous home. The newly revived Princesses of Heart tell Sora that Ansem has departed for another world. Sora and company track Ansem to the End of the World, a Heartless world made of the remnants of all the worlds destroyed by the darkness. Sora, Donald, and Goofy find Ansem on the remains of Destiny Islands, where they fight with him. Their battle brings them to the endless abyss just outside the Door to Kingdom Hearts, where they finally defeat Ansem and his World of Chaos. In desperation, Ansem tries to open Kingdom Hearts, but as Sora realizes that beyond the door is light, that light bursts out and seemingly destroys Ansem.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy attempt to close the door before the Heartless can come through from the Realm of Darkness, and they are helped from the other side of the door by a freed Riku, as well as King Mickey, who holds back the Heartless. As the door closes, Riku asks Sora to take care of Kairi, and Sora and Mickey use their Keyblades to seal the Door to Darkness, leaving Riku and Mickey on the other side. As the End of the World breaks apart, Sora finds Kairi and promises to return to her before they are separated once again, with Kairi returning to Destiny Islands. Sora, Donald, and Goofy end up on a path in a grassy field, thinking about how to find Riku and Mickey, when Pluto appears with a letter from Mickey, and they follow him into the distance with renewed hope.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
After following Pluto all day, Sora, Donald, and Goofy set camp on the path. During the night, Sora wakes up and follows the path to a crossroads. A mysterious man in a hooded black coat appears and tells him, "Along the road ahead lies something you need. However in order to claim it you must lose something that is dear to you". The man disappears down a path, and Sora, followed by Donald and Goofy, follows the path to Castle Oblivion. When they suddenly get the feeling that their missing friends are inside the castle, they enter, and the stranger reappears to introduce them to the castle's strange mechanics.

The three travel from floor to floor, exploring memory-based facsimiles of worlds they have visited in the past, and learning lessons about memory from their residents. They eventually discover that their memories are disappearing as they continue, along with the contents of Jiminy's Journal. They also encounter other members of the mysterious Organization XIII, who taunt and coax Sora along the way. Gradually, Sora begins to remember a girl he once knew on the Destiny Islands, Naminé. As his memories paradoxically become stronger, and upon discovering from Larxene that Naminé is being held in the castle, Sora becomes determined to find her.

After Sora clears the seventh floor of Castle Oblivion, he encounters Riku, who declares that he will be the one to rescue Naminé and that she doesn't want to see Sora. The two fight multiple times in the castle's halls, with increasing ferocity. As Sora's memories of Naminé become stronger, and as his memories of Kairi fade away, Sora becomes obsessed with finding Naminé. Vexen, hoping to undermine Marluxia's plans, warns Sora not to blindly trust his memory, after luring him into a memory-based Twilight Town; however, before Vexen can tell Sora about the memories from "the other side of [his] heart" and the existence of Roxas, he is eliminated by Axel.

Riku appears before Sora again, as he leaves the eleventh floor. They discover that they both have exactly the same memories of Naminé, as well as identical charms, supposedly given by Naminé. Riku angrily fights Sora, calling his charm fake, and runs off after being defeated. Sora becomes even more fixated on finding Naminé, and Donald and Goofy worriedly warn Sora to be careful. Sora accuses them of wanting him to abandon Naminé, and runs off in a fury and enters the next memory-world, Destiny Islands, alone. After defeating the Darkside, Sora finally meets Naminé, who has escaped Marluxia's custody at Axel's prompting. Naminé tries to remind Sora of Kairi, but Riku interrupts, challenging Sora again for the right to protect Naminé. In order to stop Riku, Naminé breaks the memories in his heart. Larxene arrives, and she reveals that Riku is a replica created by Vexen and that Naminé has been manipulating both his and Sora's memories as part of Marluxia's plot to take control of the Organization by controlling Sora. When Larxene attacks, Donald and Goofy arrive to support Sora, who manages to eliminate her.

Naminé explains how she manipulated everyone's memories at Marluxia's command, but Sora forgives her, stating that his feelings are real, even if his memories aren't. Sora, Donald, and Goofy head for the thirteenth floor to face Marluxia, so that Naminé can restore their memories, while Naminé stays behind with the Riku Replica. Upon entering the thirteenth floor, the three promise to stick together, even if they lose the rest of their memories. They eventually come across a battle between Axel and Marluxia, arriving in time to see Axel preparing to attack Marluxia through his shield, Naminé. Sora challenges Axel, after saying that Marluxia will be next. Marluxia escapes during the battle, as does Axel upon his defeat.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy track down Marluxia, who commands Naminé to erase Sora's memory and destroy his heart. Naminé refuses, but Sora tells her to do so in order to protect herself. The Riku Replica arrives, having come to his senses, and he separates Naminé from Marluxia while Sora takes him on. Although Sora wins, Marluxia reveals that he was fighting a decoy. Sora leaves Naminé in the Riku Replica's protection while he, Donald, and Goofy enter Marluxia's room to face him. After a grueling battle, Marluxia is destroyed, and Sora locks the door to the room. The Riku Replica leaves, and Naminé has Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter pods so that they can sleep while she reassembles their memories. Although the process will cause them to forget Naminé, Sora promises that the memory of her will stay in his heart and that he'll find her again. Right before he goes to sleep, Naminé tells Sora to focus on remembering Kairi, as the memory of her will illuminate his other memories, which are lost in shadow.

In the meantime, the real Riku, who has appeared in the lowest basement of Castle Oblivion and made his way up to the second basement, meets Naminé, who brings him to where Sora's pod is. Riku refuses her offer to seal his darkness inside his heart, saying jokingly that he can't tell off Sora for sleeping if he himself is asleep. He leaves, telling Naminé to take care of Sora.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Several weeks after Sora goes to sleep, Naminé and DiZ move the pods to Twilight Town's Old Mansion, making it their base of operations. During the course of restoring Sora's memories, Naminé discovers that some memories are not returning. She realizes that the cause is the existence of Roxas, Sora's Nobody, and Xion, a replica created by Organization XIII. Xion, designed to become a duplicate of Sora, absorbs Sora's memories through Roxas, which causes her to dream, to collapse during missions, and, eventually, to take Sora's form. Eventually, the flow of memories slows to a stop, even after Xion is defeated and returns to Sora. In response, DiZ sends Riku to capture Roxas, with the intention of merging him with Sora.

Kingdom Hearts II
During Roxas's six days in the Simulated Twilight Town, Sora's restoration picks up dramatically, causing Roxas to dream every night and to black out randomly during the day. Late in the first day, Sora subconsciously reaches out to Roxas, and on the fourth day, he speaks to Kairi when Roxas accidentally connects with her. Roxas finally sees Sora on the sixth day, when he finds the pods in the simulated Mansion's basement.

After sleeping for most of a year, Sora, Donald, and Goofy awaken in the basement of the real Old Mansion with their memories from before Castle Oblivion restored. They leave and explore Twilight Town, with Sora feeling a strange familiarity with the town. They meet Hayner, Pence, and Olette, who claim to have seen Mickey near the Train Station. They are ambushed at the station by Dusks, but they are saved by Mickey, who dispatches the creatures and directs them to board a specific train. Hayner, Pence, and Olette arrive to see Sora off, and Sora is briefly overcome by emotion.

The train takes them to the Mysterious Tower, where they encounter Pete, who has been working under Maleficent. After defeating Pete's squad of Heartless, they ascend the tower to meet the sorcerer Yen Sid. Yen Sid fills the trio in on the current state of the worlds, as well as introducing them to the Nobodies and Organization XIII. Afterwards, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather provide Sora with new clothes containing new powers, and Yen Sid sends them on their way in the Gummi Ship.

Their first stop is Hollow Bastion, currently being reconstructed by the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, made up of Leon and company. Organization XIII sets a group of Nobodies on the town, but Sora and Leon drive off the attackers. The members of the Organization appear briefly to confront Sora before leaving, except for Xigbar, who hangs back to comment cryptically about Sora's similarity to Ventus before exiting. Shortly after, the Keyblade opens the Gate to the next world, and Sora and company head out. They visit a number of worlds, defeating the Heartless unleashed upon them by the Organization and Pete, as well as meeting old and new friends.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy are summoned to Disney Castle which is under attack by the resurrected Maleficent, who has sent Pete into the past to destroy the castle's Cornerstone of Light, which protects it from darkness. With Merlin's help, Sora ventures into the past and manages to stop Pete, saving Disney Castle from being taken over by Maleficent.

On a return trip to Twilight Town, they fight off a horde of Nobodies led by Saïx. Saïx expresses concern for Sora's safety, informing him that his fellow member, Axel, intends to turn him into a Heartless, and warning him not to be reckless, lest he end up like Riku. After Saïx leaves, Hayner, Pence, and Olette find Sora and tell him about Kairi appearing in Twilight Town before being taken away by Axel. Sora leaves for the next world, resolving to find Kairi and Riku.

After visiting several worlds, Sora returns to Hollow Bastion to find even more Heartless and Nobodies running rampant. He, Donald, and Goofy head to Ansem's study, where Leon has discovered the computer of Ansem the Wise. When Sora and Donald are careless with the terminal, the Master Control Program digitizes the trio and sends them into Space Paranoids, where they meet Tron. Tron helps Sora, Donald, and Goofy open a path back to the outside, and with the help of King Mickey, who has come to Ansem's study, they help Tron access Ansem's dataspace, the DTD. Along the way, they thwart the efforts of the MCP to hijack the dataspace and destroy Hollow Bastion, taking out the Hostile Program in the process. After exiting the system, Sora, Donald, and Goofy speak with Mickey, who reveals to them that the "Ansem" they defeated was a Heartless who had been impersonating Ansem the Wise, and that his Nobody counterpart heads Organization XIII.

Organization XIII sets off a massive invasion of Hollow Bastion, and the residents start taking on waves of Heartless and Nobodies. Sora, Donald, and Goofy enter the battle, against King Mickey's orders, and they fight and defeat Organization member Demyx. However, while defending Mickey, Goofy is struck by a boulder sent flying by a Heartless, and he appears to have been killed. Enraged, the group forges on without him, fighting through swarms of Heartless, but Goofy soon comes to and rejoins them. After taking on a massive army of Heartless, Sora confronts the Organization's leader, Xemnas, who Mickey realizes is the Nobody of Ansem's apprentice, Xehanort. Xemnas retreats, with Mickey right behind, and Axel appears before Sora, and he reveals that Xemnas's plan is for Sora to release hearts by defeating Heartless. Before he can say more, he is interrupted by Saïx and flees. Saïx informs Sora that he has custody of Kairi and that the goal of the Organization is the formation of Kingdom Hearts. Sora is overwhelmed by despair, but Maleficent's intervention allows Sora, Donald, and Goofy to escape. Sora then resumes his quest, determined to find Riku and Kairi and stop Xemnas once and for all.

The trio resume their travels across the worlds, hoping to find a way to Organization XIII's headquarters, and despite Sora's worries about using the Keyblade, they continue taking out the Heartless and Nobodies the Organization has released into the worlds. They also counter a number of Organization members' plots, eliminating Xaldin along the way. Eventually, they return to Twilight Town, where they find Hayner, Pence, and Olette at the Old Mansion, looking for clues leading to an alternate Twilight Town. They are ambushed by Nobodies, but Mickey arrives to assist. They enter the mansion and use the basement computer to enter the simulated Twilight Town's mansion, where they find a passageway. They are ambushed within by a horde of Nobodies, but Axel arrives to help, and he sacrifices himself to wipe out the enemies. As he lays fading away, Axel apologizes for kidnapping Kairi and opens a portal to the Organization's world, The World That Never Was.

While traveling through the Dark City, Sora is confronted by Roxas, who transports them to his Station of Awakening. Roxas attacks Sora relentlessly out of anger, demanding to know why Axel chose to help Sora rather than transform Sora into a Heartless and revive Roxas as he originally planned. After Sora defeats Roxas, he returns to the real world to rejoin Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. They make their way to the Organization's castle, where Kingdom Hearts is nearly complete. Sora makes his way through the castle with Donald and Goofy while Mickey goes ahead. Saïx corners the three in the Hall of Empty Melodies and sets a massive swarm of Heartless on them, but the battle is joined on the upper level by Kairi, who was freed by Naminé, and Riku, in the form of Xehanort's Heartless, while Maleficent and Pete take the opportunity to infiltrate the castle. While Mickey reunites with DiZ, really Ansem the Wise, Xigbar takes out the remaining Heartless and challenges Sora, while calling him by Roxas's name and cryptically comparing him to his predecessors. Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat him and work their way to the upper level, where Sora is reunited with his friends. Together, the group continue onward, and Sora encounters and destroys Luxord and Saïx. He then learns from Riku that Roxas is his Nobody and reveals how he fought him after leaving the Organization and wished he could've met him. They then reach Mickey and Ansem, who tries and fails to seal Kingdom Hearts by encoding it as data. The encoder explodes, severely damaging Kingdom Hearts, restoring Riku to his true form, and apparently killing Ansem. The damage to Kingdom Hearts causes an endless wave of Heartless to spawn, but Maleficent and Pete hold them off while everyone heads for Xemnas.

At the Alter of Naught, at the top of the castle, the group confronts Xemnas as he contemplates the broken Kingdom Hearts. Sora fights Xemnas one on one in Memory's Contortion, and defeats him. Xemnas then merges with the remains of Kingdom Hearts, transforming the interior into a facsimile of the World that Never Was. Sora and company pursue him and manage to defeat him and his draconian fortress. While Xemnas apparently fades back into darkness, Roxas and Naminé appear before Sora and Kairi before merging with them. While everyone starts leaving through Naminé's Corridor of Darkness, the portal suddenly closes, stranding Sora and Riku. Xemnas reappears, but after a series of grueling battles, they finally destroy him. Sora and Riku wander until they reach the Dark Margin, where Sora reads a bottled letter from Kairi that has washed onto the shore. The Door to Light appears before them and sends them back to the Destiny Islands, where they are reunited with Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. Sora happily returns Kairi's Lucky Charm to her. Sometime later, Sora returns to the Secret Place and sees Kairi's drawing giving him a paopu fruit.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Mickey digitizes Jiminy's Journal in order to find the source of a mysterious message, and creates a Sora made of data in order to rid the journal of countless bugs. Eventually, Data-Sora and Mickey find a data version of Naminé, who reveals that she was responsible and the message is for the real Sora, who as the "Key that Connects Everything", must venture out on another quest to find and rescue those connected to his heart who are suffering, namely the real Naminé, Roxas, Xion, Axel, Terra, Aqua and Ventus. Mickey sends Sora a bottled letter to inform him.

On Destiny Islands, Sora asks Riku what he thinks the door to light was. Riku replies that it was Sora's heart; "It's always closer than you think". Kairi runs up to them breathlessly with Mickey's letter, which Sora reads with Riku and Kairi.

Blank Points


Having read Mickey's letter, Sora decides to venture out to find Terra, Aqua and Ventus. Kairi loans him her Wayfinder once again.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
In response to the imminent return of Master Xehanort, Sora and Riku are summoned to the Mysterious Tower in order to take the Mark of Mastery exam and become Keyblade Masters. Despite having the enormity of Master Xehanort explained to him, Sora initially objects, convinced that he can already defeat Master Xehanort, but when Riku agrees to the exam as a way of proving that he has overcome his darkness, Sora also agrees. Yen Sid sets the pair the task of entering the Sleeping Worlds and awakening seven worlds which were left submerged in sleep following Ansem's defeat.

Sora and Riku's journey begins on Destiny Islands, on the day it sunk into the Sleeping Worlds, but they soon move on and Sora finds himself in Traverse Town, where he discovers his new attire and abilities. After meeting up with Neku Sakuraba, Joshua and Rhyme who tutor him, Sora leaves on his new journey, venturing across more sleeping worlds, meeting new friends, and battling new villains. However, several times along the way, Sora comes into contact with a mysterious young man with ties to Master Xehanort, who is accompanied by figures like Ansem and Xemnas, whom Sora believed to have been defeated long ago.

After Sora seals all seven keyholes in the Sleeping Worlds, he finds himself in The World That Never Was instead of the Realm of Light, and he is confronted by Xigbar, who explains that he and his companions had been engineering Sora's arrival in their domain from the start. Placed within a dream version of the Dark City, Sora speaks with the mysterious young man, who reveals that he is actually the younger self of Master Xehanort, who was paid a visit long ago by the disembodied Ansem, via time travel. Ansem had then sent Young Xehanort through time to gather many different incarnations of Xehanort while arranging Sora's journey. As he travels through the dream city, Sora encounters illusions of Naminé, Xion, Roxas, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus along the way, occasionally hearing Riku's voice encouraging him not to fall for the illusions and stay awake. Upon encountering Roxas, his Nobody passes on his memories and felt the pain he suffered. Eventually, Sora approaches the castle and encounters both Xemnas and Xigbar, who explain that the true purpose of Organization XIII was to create thirteen vessels to harbor the essence of Master Xehanort, and their intended thirteenth vessel is Sora himself. Sora refuses to allow it, and, spurred on by the thoughts of those connected to him, he fights and defeats Xemnas. However, Sora's heart is badly weakened, and he falls into a deep sleep, while Young Xehanort takes him to the Castle That Never Was. As he drops into the darkness, Ventus's heart envelops him in Ven's Keyblade Armor.

Riku tracks Sora to the castle and only barely manages to save Sora from the newly-revived Master Xehanort, with help from Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Lea. Sora, still comatose, is brought back to the Mysterious Tower, where Yen Sid tells Riku he now has the power to wake Sora up. Riku dives into Sora's Dive to the Heart, where he captures the fragments of Sora's shattered heart and battles Sora in Ventus's armor, which has been possessed by the Armored Ventus Nightmare. Riku defeats the Nightmare, then meets projections of Roxas, Ventus, and Xion, deep inside Sora's heart. A data projection of Ansem the Wise informs Riku that Sora has awakened and tells him about Ansem's Code, data hidden within Sora, and about Sora's power to connect with people's hearts. Riku returns to the real world and reunites with Sora.

With the exam at an end, Yen Sid names Riku as a Keyblade Master, and, despite having failed, Sora congratulates Riku. Shortly afterwards, Sora leaves on a new journey, traveling to the sleeping Traverse Town, where he is reunited with the Spirit Dream Eaters.

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-
After finishing thanking all the Spirits for their help in the Sleeping Worlds, Sora returns to the Mysterious Tower. Donald and Goofy ask Sora what took him so long, but he decides to tease them and tell them it is a secret. Upon entering Yen Sid's study, Sora learns from Yen Sid that Lea, Riku, and Mickey had departed to fulfill their own tasks. Disappointed, Sora is scolded by Donald for taking too long to say good-bye to the Dream Eaters. Yen Sid then informs Sora that nearly being turned into a vessel for Xehanort has robbed him of most of his powers and strength and advises Sora to seek training with Hercules, who had also lost and regained his strength.

In the Gummi Ship, Sora contemplates on how to reach other worlds now that all the highways they used are closed, leaving them unable to travel anywhere except Disney Castle and Destiny Islands. While stumped as to what to do, Sora hears Goofy recall Yen Sid saying "let your heart be your guiding key". This inspires Sora to use his Keyblade to open a Gate. Excited to have finally made progress, Sora announces that their next destination is Olympus Coliseum.

Kingdom Hearts III
Sora awakens in the Dive to the Heart, after looking through memories of his past he ends up at the edge of The Final World where he encounters and defeats a semi-transparent Darkside.

Per Master Yen Sid's instructions, Sora, Donald, and Goofy travel to Olympus to seek training from Hercules. As they reach the world, they encounter Hades, who uses the titans to attack Thebes and claim his place in Olympus. As they form an alliance to save the civilians from the Heartless, Sora asked Hercules how he regains his strength to save the people he loves. Hercules replies that he regains his strength when Megara is in danger. After saving the civilians from the heartless, Megara returns with Pegasus to inform Hercules that Olympus is in danger and he heads back to Olympus to save Zeus and the rest of the Gods. When they reach Olympus, they see Hades and the rest of the Titans, who plan to confine Zeus and the rest of the Gods with ice and lava. After rescuing Zeus and the gods, Hercules punches Hades on the face before he leaves Olympus. As Hercules wanted to answer Sora's question, he realizes that he should figure out his own ways to regain his strength by fighting "with all his heart".

At the Mysterious Tower, Sora reported to Yen Sid that he might not be able to regain his strength at the time being. Despite the worries of acquiring the power of waking, he remains optimistic and believes that he can relearn his powers and skills. They are greeted by Riku and Mickey, who is assigned to find Aqua in the Dark World but no avail. As they suspect that Aqua might have fallen into the great abyss of darkness, Sora volunteers to save Aqua from the Dark World. After receiving his new garments from Yen Sid and the fairies, he receives a heartbinder as a good luck charm before traveling to another world. In the Gummi Ship, Chip and Dale report to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, via Gummiphone, with new instructions on using the Gummiphone and a brief conversation with Ienzo. As Donald and Goofy learn that Sora has another heart resided inside of him, which Sora believes is Roxas's, Ienzo decides to further study Sora's physical condition and the other heart that's resided in him since he was very young.

Sora proceeds to Twilight Town to initially create data and a vessel for Roxas. As they are walking around the town, they recollect old memories of encountering Maleficent, Xigbar, and Pete as well as Sora's encounter with Roxas in the data Sleeping Worlds. Goofy explains the data Sleeping Worlds is part of the test to see whether Sora is able to face his fears and past hurts. Sora further explains that losing friends and "having no one to turn to was the worst kind of hurt" but it is a process to appreciate his friendships with Riku and Kairi.

As Sora is determined to find Roxas, his conversation is cut short by Nobodies and hordes of Heartless. After saving Hayner, Pence, and Olette, Sora and friends explain to them the digital version of Twilight Town, where the data versions of themselves befriended Roxas. In the Old Mansion, Sora initially plans to use the Simulated Twilight Town to bring back Roxas, however after being pressured by Xemnas and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Sora chooses to restore Roxas into the real Twilight Town. As he converses with Riku regarding the replica program, Sora learns that Roxas can only be resurrected by making a vessel for him to live.

After adventuring through various worlds with Donald and Goofy, the trio proceed to Destiny Islands where Sora finds the Master's Defender lying abandoned in the sand. Sora proceeds to the Dark World via the Secret Place, only to see Riku and Mickey battle with Anti-Aqua, who has succumbed to the Darkness. He helps both Riku and Mickey to save Aqua and bring her back to the Destiny Islands. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua then venture out to Castle Oblivion of which Sora, Donald, and Goofy have lost their memories. Aqua summons the Master Defender Keyblade and unlocks Castle Oblivion transforming it to its original form, the Land of Departure.

Together, they enter the main hall to find Ventus, still sleeping due to his heart residing inside Sora. Vanitas soon arrives, having used Aqua to track down Ventus's whereabouts. Aqua takes it upon herself to battle Vanitas while ensuring Sora, Donald and Goofy remain out of the battle. After the fight, Vanitas attempts to break the barrier to get to Ventus when Aqua shields Ventus with her body and is knocked out. Sora, in a desperate attempt to help Aqua, manages to unlock Ventus's heart from within himself and wakes Ventus from his comatose state, saving Aqua and forcing Vanitas to retreat.

The group return to the Mysterious Tower to rendezvous with Riku, Mickey, Kairi and Lea. Aqua reminiscences over Sora, Riku, and Kairi having met them when they were children. Lea and Ventus also have a reunion with Ventus learning that Lea is now a Keyblade Wielder. Sora mentions to the group that he wishes that Terra, Roxas, and Naminé could be there with them while Aqua, Ventus, Lea, and Kairi taking responsibility for each missing person. Yen Sid tells the group to prepare for the final battle to come. Sora, Riku, and Kairi return to the Destiny Islands for one last moment of peace where Kairi asks Sora to exchange paopu fruit. They hope to keep each other safe in the battle.

The seven Guardians of Light along with Donald and Goofy arrive at the Keyblade Graveyard, ready to clash with the Real Organization XIII. They are greeted by Master Xehanort. Gradually, Xemnas, Ansem, Vanitas and Young Xehanort also arrive to taunt the seven guardians of their impending failure. The seekers of darkness then unleash a massive swarm of Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed for the Guardians to fight.

After defeating the swarm of enemies, Sora, Donald, and Goofy catch up to the other guardians of light. The guardians come across Terra-Xehanort, who then overpowers the guardians, critically injuring Lea and Ventus before being thwarted by Donald. While the guardians are incapacitated, a Demon Tide appears and consumes all the guardians except for Sora and Riku. After seeing this, Sora breaks down in tears, saying that his friends gave him strength and he's useless on his own. Riku says he doesn't believe that and makes a last stand to defend him before both are consumed by the Heartless.

Sora wakes up in The Final World where he encounters the Nameless Star as well as a bodiless Naminé. Sora is guided back to the realm of light with the help of Kairi and Chirithy and uses the power of waking to revive his friends. However, Young Xehanort warns that abusing this power will result in him losing his own heart again.

Returning moments before their defeat, Sora helps the guardians of light eliminate most of the Organization's members; in the process, Terra regains control of his body and reunites with Aqua and Ventus, while Lea reunites with a restored Xion and Roxas, both of whom had their hearts freed from Sora's into new replica bodies.

When only Xehanort remains, he provokes Sora into attacking him by destroying Kairi's body, allowing Xehanort to acquire the χ-blade and summon Kingdom Hearts. Using Xehanort's power of time travel against him, Sora, Donald, and Goofy transport him to his boyhood training grounds of Scala ad Caelum, where they defeat him. After the other Keyblade wielders rejoin the trio, Eraqus's spirit emerges from Terra's body and convinces Xehanort to surrender. Xehanort and Eraqus depart together to Kingdom Hearts, while Sora and his friends use the χ-blade to close Kingdom Hearts and return to their own time.

Trying to save Kairi, Sora uses the power of waking again to revive her; despite the risk of becoming lost forever, Sora promises to return.

Sora appears in The Final World and explains his situation to Chirithy under the belief that using the Power of Waking to save Kairi shouldn't be that hard, considering he had already saved six hearts before. Chirithy explains to Sora what will happen if he saves Kairi, he will lose the power of waking and will vanish from the world and be unable to return. Sora throws caution to the wind and expresses his desire to save Kairi. Chirithy then explains what Sora must do. He must travel back in time and connect with the hearts of the Seven Guardians of Light during the final showdown at the Keyblade Graveyard.

Sora then proceeds to connect with Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Roxas, and himself. Needing only two more connections, Sora was forced to witness Xehanort slaying Kairi again but proceeds to Scala ad Caelum before his past self arrives with Donald and Goofy. Sora then chases an image of Kairi and collects five fragments of her heart. After collecting them Xehanort arrives and tells him he is too late while turning his attention to his past self who has just arrived in Scala. Sora quickly connects with himself again and traces his connection between himself and Riku while the latter was fighting off the Replica Xehanorts with the other guardians. Sora then connects with Mickey and aids him in finishing the battle. With seven connections, Sora finally re-completes Kairi to her original form.

The two quickly embrace, but their reunion is cut short with the arrival of the Replica Xehanorts, now fused into Armored Xehanort. Kairi and Sora then proceed to battle Armored Xehanort and succeed. After the two assist the other guardians in closing Kingdom Hearts, they then leave for their own time. Sora takes Kairi to the final world and introduces her to Chrithy. He states he wants to bring Chrithy home to his friend, as waiting while you can do something is pointless. Sora and Kairi proceed to visit the various locations the other guardians left after Sora's initial departure, even releasing Naminé's heart from Kairi.

Sora's friends gather at the Destiny Islands, where Kairi stays beside Sora before he fades away.

Sora awakens in Quadratum. Disoriented, he walks the streets observing where he is, eventually finding himself at a staring at a.

Sora wakes up in a nighttime version of The Final World. He then calls out to anyone who can hear him. He soon hears a voice and runs towards it. When finding the source of the voice he recognizes the mysterious person as Yozora. Yozora asks Sora how he knows who he is while also making it clear Yozora knows who he is. Yozora states that he doesn't normally look the way he does now and tells Sora that they aren't in the real world right now. Yozora summons his weapons and the two youths soon teleport over to Quadratum on top of the 104 building. Yozora states after accidentally stumbling there and going through some trials he was asked to "save" Sora. Sora questions why he would summon his weapons. Yozora doesn't answer and the two proceed to fight.

After Yozora is defeated, he states that his powers must not be needed yet. Sora asks him what he meant by that, but Yozora shrugs off the question and disappears while smiling. A flash of light appears and Sora then appears in The Final World. Sora then wonders if any of this is real and states nothing is making sense to him.

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
While Kairi search for clues to Sora's whereabouts by looking over her memories of him and their friends, she finds herself in the Final World and is attacked by a memory of Master Xehanort. Before dealing a blow to Kairi, Sora's heart protects her and fights the memory of Xehanort, though his voice cannot reach them. After Xehanort is defeated, Sora's heart leaves Kairi's. Learning that Sora is in a different world of fiction, Riku leaves to search for him in Quadratum.

Kingdom Hearts IV
In the Kingdom Hearts IV announcement trailer, Sora wakes up in Quadratum and is greeted by Strelitzia.

Disney Emoji Blitz
Sora was added to Disney Emoji Blitz on January 17, 2019 via an in-game update and was added to the game to commemorate the release Kingdom Hearts III. His special ability is "My Friends are my Power." After matching enough Sora emojis, Donald, himself, and Goofy will appear on-screen in descending order. One of them will then clear an entire section of the board. Donald will clear the top section, Sora the middle, and Goofy the bottom.

World of Final Fantasy
Sora appears in  as a downloadable Summon, and was added to the game to commemorate the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. He wears his KH3D outfit and wields the Kingdom Key, and when summoned, he fires Blizzard to freeze the enemies, strikes them with his Keyblade by performing Shock Dive, then finishes them off with a fusillade of Ragnarok. Sora speaks during his summon sequence in the Japanese version, but is silent in the overseas release.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the final downloadable playable character as part of "Fighters Pass Volume 2". He wields the Kingdom Key and wears his outfit from Kingdom Hearts. His Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III outfits, along with his Valor Form, Wisdom Form, Ultimate Form, and Timeless River form appear as variations.

Design
Sora's birthday is March 28, the out-of-universe date when Kingdom Hearts was first released. Sora is four years old during the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, fourteen during Kingdom Hearts through Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and fifteen during the events of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. A year after the events of Kingdom Hearts III and following his disappearance from the World, Sora is currently sixteen.

According to Tetsuya Nomura, Sora is 160 cm (5'3"), but he did not specify which game. However, Sora seems to be on the short side no matter the game, even around other teenagers and adults.

Sora is a teenage boy with spiky brown hair (although in Kingdom Hearts II his hair does change from a dark brown to a more caramel color), blue eyes, tanned skin, and lanky build. Sora's general appearance does not change that much throughout the series, but he does grow taller, gained a slightly different hair style, tanner skin, a slightly deeper voice, and more matured looks. Sora goes through many costume changes throughout the series. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and certain scenes in Kingdom Hearts, a younger version of Sora appears. As a child, Sora's hair was lighter than it was in Kingdom Hearts, more closely resembling his hair color in Kingdom Hearts II, and it was not as spiky.

Sora's name is Japanese for "Sky" (空).

Personality
Sora has a brave and heroic personality, meaning he will willingly risk his life even for people he barely knows. He is extremely loyal to his friends, and has been shown to be extremely forgiving to Riku for his misdeeds, as well as highly protective of both him and Kairi. Sora is an eternal optimist, always looking on the bright side of the situation at hand. Although he can be simple-minded at times, he has a strong sense of justice. Sora has matured greatly over a year's time, shown on the multiple opportunities when he takes charge of his group.

Sora has a remarkable capacity to forgive, even to his sworn enemies; when Maleficent loses control of the Heartless to Organization XIII and is overwhelmed by Dusks in order to allow Sora's group to escape, Sora is clearly concerned for her and is only stopped from helping her by being restrained by Donald. Another prominent example is when he forgives Naminé for rewriting the majority of his memories, despite the severity of her doings. He also expressed a willingness to thank Xehanort's Heartless (who was actually Riku taking on his form) for saving Kairi, despite his past animosity towards the villain. On the other hand, Sora shows little tolerance for cowardice and selfishness, criticizing both Hades and Iago, though ultimately forgiving the latter when he proved genuinely sorry for his actions. Sora has even been shown to try and bring others to his side if he feels he can connect with them, such was the case with Vanitas after the latter explained the connection between himself, Sora, and Ventus.

In Kingdom Hearts, he initially puts Riku and Kairi above all else; when telling Tarzan which friends he is missing, he starts to mention Donald and Goofy, but stops himself and instead says he is looking for Kairi and Riku. However, he starts to see the other friends he's made as just as important, eventually telling Hercules that the strength of his heart comes from Donald and Goofy. His initial mindset is seen again in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, as when his memories are altered during the ascent of Castle Oblivion, he begins putting Naminé above all else and briefly argues with Donald and Goofy, leaving them behind before they save him from Larxene. By Kingdom Hearts II, he puts Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy on an equal level. A prominent example of this is when Goofy is apparently fatally injured after getting hit in the head by a rock to protect King Mickey during the Battle of Hollow Bastion; Sora is clearly traumatized by Goofy's apparent death, refusing to believe that he is dead. He highly cherishes his friends and believes his friendships give him strength. In Kingdom Hearts III, he breaks down in tears after his friends are taken by the Demon Tide, declaring that he is nothing without his friends, though Riku provides him with encouragement to press forward to save them.

Sora possesses a rather strong competitive streak, as he often competes with Riku over numerous things, like the race at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts to share a paopu fruit with Kairi. Also, when he asks to fight Hercules alone in the Hercules Cup, Donald calls him a show-off, and Goofy says in Chain of Memories, "Whenever there's a contest, you're always rarin' to sign up". Sora also appears to have confidence in his abilities to the point of slight arrogance; in Dream Drop Distance, Sora initially objects to taking the Mark of Mastery exam under Yen Sid, claiming that he is already unbeatable even after the threat of Master Xehanort has been explained to him. It is only after Master Xehanort damages Sora's heart and almost turns him into a vessel for his own heart when Sora realizes his shortcomings when compared to a Keyblade Master, and humbly accepts his failure of the exam, even after Riku saves him and becomes a Master himself, only being happy for him.

Sora has often been seen to be highly gullible and oblivious to what should be obvious. For example, he fell for Mulan's attempt at passing for a man, to which Mushu stated that Sora "could fall for anything". However, he doesn't let his enemies fool him nearly as easily, as for example he doesn't fall for Xemnas's attempt to play on his sympathetic side. Sora is often quick to anger whenever he's confused or being deceived, like in Chain of Memories, and can be somewhat immature at times. He is also quite impulsive, as he tends to jump into things without thinking them through beforehand.

As a rustic islander, Sora is technologically illiterate. He is confounded by computer vernacular, does not know how to correctly make or receive calls on the Gummiphone, and relies on when using computers. Moreover, Sora was left completely confused and clueless when Hiro Hamada tried to explain his Micro-bot creation to him and Goofy. Despite this, he takes to piloting the Gummi Ship as well as the Gigas robots quite readily. Similarly, he is inexperienced in courtly etiquette, often coming off quite forward, casual and direct to people for whom Donald and Goofy rush to show obeisance.

As a result of his islander lifestyle, Sora has a fondness for pirates. In Kingdom Hearts, Sora has a toy ship in his room and wishes to be captain of the raft. When thinking about what to tell Kairi of his journey, Sora pinpoints flying and pirates as the best parts. In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora is awed to meet Jack Sparrow, a genuine pirate, whom respectfully calls "captain". In Kingdom Hearts III, Sora is gifted a ship by Calypso while in The Caribbean; he is ecstatic to finally have his own ship, so he can "sail free as the wind". He shows interest in learning about the Pirate Code from Jack, in order to better act as a pirate. Also due to him, growing up as an islander, Sora is used to warm, sunny weather, and not cold and snowy weather as seen when arriving in Arendelle, but he gets used to it overtime.

Throughout the series, Sora has been shown to harbor strong feelings for Kairi, and vice versa. This is first shown when Riku challenges him to a race where if Riku wins, he gets to share a paopu fruit with Kairi, which obviously makes Sora uncomfortable. He draws himself giving Kairi a paopu fruit on the wall of the Secret Place so they can stay connected. Throughout the series Sora's fondness for Kairi is hinted numerous times, notably when Sora sees other couples (such as Jack Skellington and Sally, William Turner and Elizabeth Swann) interacting, as well as the fact that Donald and Goofy often point it out. Saïx refers to Kairi as "the fire that feeds Sora's anger", while Naminé refers to her as Sora's light. Xion resembles Kairi due to Sora's memories of her, and Roxas refers to Kairi as "the girl [Sora] likes". This culminates on the day before the final battle where they exchange paopu fruit.

Sora also holds strong affection for his best friend, Riku. When Aqua meets the two boys in Birth by Sleep and asks if he likes Riku, he enthusiastically confirms this, declaring that they're best friends. Sora eventually makes good on his promise to her to look after Riku in the first Kingdom Hearts, traveling to the End of the World to save him from Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Sora is also shown to care deeply for the Riku Replica in Chain of Memories, attempting to bring him home and becoming appalled when Naminé shatters his heart, as he believed he was the real Riku. In Kingdom Hearts II, when he realizes he's been reunited with Riku in The World That Never Was, he drops to his knees and breaks down crying in relief, sobbing as he holds Riku's hand in both of his own. Their Combined Keyblade in Dream Drop Distance bears a paopu fruit as the charm once the two halves are merged together. After Riku awakens from his dive into Sora's heart, the latter tackles him with a hug, overwhelmed with joy at Riku's safe return. He is also ecstatic to hear that Riku passed the Mark of Mastery exam and gives him a half-hug, even though Sora failed his own test. In Kingdom Hearts III, when he arrives in San Fransokyo, Sora pulls out his Gummiphone and exclaims that he has to tell Riku how great it is, despite having not actually seen nor done much in the world thus far. When Chip and Dale inform Sora, Donald, and Goofy that they've lost contact with Riku and Mickey, Sora becomes immensely upset, immediately traveling to the Destiny Islands afterward and using Master's Defender to open an entrance to the Realm of Darkness so he can provide support in battle for Riku. Additionally, in a 2013 interview about Kingdom Hearts III, series producer Shinji Hashimoto stated in an interview that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku's relationship, and how it evolves over time.

Sora is not as conscious about maintaining the world order as his comrades, so he is more open talking about the Heartless to victims in the worlds he visits. Additionally, Sora never ceases to be amazed about the different appearances he takes in worlds like Halloween Town, Atlantica, Timeless River, the Pride Lands, Toy Box and Monstropolis in order to blend in.

Abilities
Sora gained the ability to temporarily wield the Keyblade intended for Riku, Terra's successor, when he reached out and touches the light of Riku's heart during the Heartless invasion of the Destiny Islands. Although Riku takes the Keyblade from him in Hollow Bastion, the strength of Sora's heart allows him to reclaim the Keyblade, permanently.

The default form of Sora's Keyblade is the Kingdom Key, which uses a as its token.

Sora is capable of wielding two Keyblades at one time, through the Synch Blade ability, due to his possessing Ventus's heart within his own. He temporarily loses this power when Roxas is born, as Ven's heart remains within his physical body. The ability returns once Roxas is absorbed by Sora at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II. While using Drive Forms, he can summon the second Keyblade himself, but he can also wield someone else's Keyblade, such as when Riku lends Sora his Way to the Dawn during their final battle with Xemnas. During his fight with Roxas, Sora can steal Roxas's Keyblades and use them telekinetically, in conjunction with his own Keyblade.

Sora is also very skilled in various basic magic spells (such as Fire, Blizzard, or Thunder), even more so after training with Merlin. These spells allow him to weaken Heartless that are more vulnerable to certain elements. He can also use Cure to heal himself and his allies from injuries as well as restore HP and revive a fallen party member.

With a Summon Gem, Summon card, Summon Charm, or Heartbinder in hand, Sora gains the ability to summon specific characters by calling out to them with his heart, at the temporary sacrifice of his party members, to aid him in combat. Each character has a unique set of skills and powers that prove useful to Sora in his quests. He first gains the ability to Summon in Kingdom Hearts when he is handed the Earthshine gem by Leon, and brings it to the Fairy Godmother, who allows Simba to appear in spirit form at Sora's call and fight beside him. Throughout his quest, he finds and restores three more Summon Gems, and can even summon two other characters directly from other worlds, those being Tinker Bell and Genie. He loses all of the Summon Gems when the worlds are restored. In Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, he Summons allies through Cards based on his memories of each character. In this game, he can use all his previous summons, with the addition of Cloud. In Kingdom Hearts II, Merlin gives Sora a Summon Charm, being for Chicken Little, that allows him to call on certain characters from other worlds to aid him in battle. He acquires three further Summon Charms as he traverses the worlds, including those of Genie and Peter Pan. In Kingdom Hearts III, Yen Sid gives Sora a Heartbinder, the first being for Meow Wow, that enhances his gift for connecting with others. Throughout his journey, he acquires four more Heartbinders for Wreck-It Ralph, Stitch, Ariel, and Simba.

Originally lacking any formal training, Sora relies on a style developed from his play-fighting days, in which he rests his Keyblade pointing away from him towards his right side and attacks with sweeping, two-handed strikes, similar to a club, to beat his foes into submission. This style is also mimicked by Roxas and Xion. His offensive nature and raw determination make him an unstoppable powerhouse, and with the addition of a basic repertoire of techniques and spells, few are able to fight on his level. As he develops as a Keyblade wielder and eventually with proper training, he displays extra finesse and agility with his motions, and is more experienced in using the environment and his enemy's momentum to unleash more powerful techniques, in the form of Reaction Commands and Flowmotion. He also begins to incorporate his spells into his sword techniques, usually favoring light-based magic, to create a plethora of commands that attack on both a physical and magical level.

Outside of battle, Sora is shown to be have some talent for singing and dancing, as he is frequently paired up in Sebastian's musical numbers with Ariel, who is renowned in Atlantica for her singing voice. He is skilled at dancing on dry land as well, as seen during the festival in The Kingdom of Corona. Sora becomes a skilled cook under Little Chef's guidance.

Like all Keyblade wielders, Sora demonstrates physical abilities of a superhuman level. In the Deep Jungle, he shows great durability when he falls a great distance and crashes headfirst through the roof of the treehouse, emerging alive and seemingly uninjured, but slightly dazed. Similarly, when Sabor slashes him with his claws and knocks him back into a wall, he quickly gets up and fights back—at one point, Sora is thrown hard enough that the impact demolishes a building, but Sora himself is mostly unharmed. He can glide and in some circumstances fly, usually when in an open void. He is capable of leaping incredible distances, such as jumping up to the ceiling of the ballroom in Beast's Castle and between buildings and Xemnas's two cannons in the final battle with him in Kingdom Hearts II. Sora is able to cut through solid concrete and other durable forms of matter, even whole buildings. He is also strong enough to spin and throw Jafar in his gargantuan Genie form by grabbing him by the tail. He can teleport when he uses the "Warp Snipe" Reaction Command, the Teleport Sleight, Final Form's Final Arts, sometimes when he Risk Dodges or the powers of Ultimate Form.

Sora's memories seem to bind every character in the story, connecting them to himself in some way. Ansem the Wise, after the plans he set up for the boy while in sleep go awry, theorized that Sora's selflessness and ability to connect with others' hearts may have been the reason how he returned to his human form after being turned into a Heartless without needing to destroy Roxas prior. Furthermore, Ansem believed that Sora may also have the power to bring back those that have been lost or no longer exist.

Kingdom Hearts
Sora is the player character of Kingdom Hearts. Sora's initial stats and the levels at which he gains new skills are determined by what the player chose and gave up during the Dive to the Heart, with the Dream Sword determining the Strength stat and rate of gaining physical-based action abilities, the Dream Rod determining the starting MP and AP stats as well as rate of gaining magic-based abilities, and the Dream Shield determining Defense and the rate at which survivability-based abilities are learned. Likewise, the EXP required for Sora to level up at various stages in the game is determined by what choices the player makes to Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. Regardless of what the player chose, Sora will always have base 18 HP at level 1 and cap out at 84 base HP at level 100

Sora initially starts with almost no combat capabilities in the command menu, however he soon gains the Keyblade as his main weapon. Sora unlocks magic as the player progresses, with the available types of magic being Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, Aero, Gravity and Stop. Sora can also utilize the special abilities of a summon at the cost of both party members for as long as he has sufficient MP.

In certain conditions, Special Abilities such as Sonic Blade or Ars Arcanum can appear for Sora to use. These abilities take the form of highly powerful and typically extended attacks. Special Abilities often contain special effects such as invulnerability during their use, however come at a high MP cost.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
In Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Sora wields many of his powers from Kingdom Hearts, however this time relies on Battle Cards to execute them, with his Keyblade combos being used with subsequent uses of Attack Cards, spells being used with Magic Cards, and summons through Summon Cards. Sora has no ability to guard attacks, however he can still Dodge Roll. Sora can also call in party members using cards that occasionally appear in the arena.

Many of Sora's abilities are used through combining three cards to create a Sleight, which typically are more advanced and powerful than the use of a single card at a time, however permanently discard the first card used in the Sleight. Provided that the value of Sora's cards are higher than those used of his opponents, he can both break their cards and prevent his own from being broken.

Kingdom Hearts II
In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora shares the same attacks, abilities, and stats as when the player was controlling Roxas. As in Kingdom Hearts, what the player chose in the Dive to the Heart will influence the rate at which Sora learns certain abilities. His basic combo is much stronger than in previous games and he eventually gains the Drive Form ability, which utilizes the Drive Gauge to radically alter how Sora fights and is controlled, with special modifications to physical combat, magical capabilities, and even the use of a second Keyblade depending on which Form is used. Forms must be used cautiously however, as entering one can potentially cause Sora to enter Antiform, which grants Sora tremendous physical power at the cost of all other commands.

The types of magic available to Sora as the player progresses are Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, Reflect, and Magnet. Sora can once again use Summons, with the length of which determined by the Drive Gauge rather than the MP Bar. Sora is also able to use Limits, powerful multi-segmented attacks that provide him invulnerability while teaming up with a party member at the cost of all his MP.

Pride Lands
While in the Pride Lands, Sora gains a new set of abilities to accommodate his Lion Form. Sora's Growth Abilities are unavailable in this form; instead Lion Form allows Sora to greatly increase his running speed with. While in Lion Form, Sora cannot hang from ledges or use Drive Forms and Summons, however his running and jumping speed is increased by x2.2 the speed of his normal form, his maximum ground and air combo length is increased by 2, and his magic is usable while moving.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Sora is unlocked as a playable character through Sora's Awakening, which can be purchased at the Moogle Shop for 2000 Heart Points once all 93 Missions have been cleared with a full Mission Gauge, all Treasure Chests, all Unity Badge, all Ordeal Badge, and all Ordeal Blazon. Sora plays very similarly to Roxas and Xion, with balanced stats, the Keyblade as his weapon, and many of the same attack combos. Sora's Limit Break is Ragnarok, which causes Sora to shoot bursts of projectiles from his Keyblade.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
As opposed to Riku, the other main playable character of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Sora is able to utilize his Dream Eaters to perform Link Attacks and Dual Attacks, which call upon the Spirits to perform special and powerful attacks.

Sora's exclusive s largely include -type techniques such as Salvation and Spark, as well as his Special Abilities from Kingdom Hearts such as Ars Arcanum and Sonic Blade.

Playable character
In Kingdom Hearts III, Sora controls much lighter and faster than in previous games, and can easily maintain combat in the air for long periods of times. It is easier to prevent Sora from getting caught off guard as his attacks can now quickly be cancelled out of mid-animation with abilities such as Air Slide, which is one of his greatest mobility assets. Sora gains the ability to Formchange his Keyblade into a variety of weapons, such as shields, hammers, and arrowguns. These Formchanges vary depending on the Keychain.

Sora has many options in terms of magic, with the available spells being Fire, Water, Blizzard, Cure, Thunder, and Aero. How Sora executes his magic depends on his current Formchange. Sora can also use Link Summons to restore his HP and utilize special and powerful commands from the chosen Summon.

Building up the Situation Gauge grants many new opportunities for Sora in battle, such as Grand Magic, Formchanges, and Team Attacks. Utilizing these properly can provide the edge for Sora at crucial moments. Shotlocks are also available to Sora for additional burst damage opportunities, as well as providing an easy way to close the gap between enemies using Airstep.

By default, Sora's maximum combo length is 4, however this can change if abilities such as Combo Plus are equipped. Furthermore, Sora can augment the attacks of his basic combo by equipping certain Action Abilities.

Underwater
While in The Caribbean and during the boss fight with Xehanort in Scala ad Caelum, Sora can become submerged underwater, wherein his movement and combat abilities are altered to suit the new environment. Sora can freely ascend and descend as well as performing dodges and increasing his swimming speed by propelling himself forward, and he gains a new combo set as well as new sea-based styles for his magic. While in The Caribbean, Sora can emerge from the underwater state by ascending to the surface, and likewise can enter the underwater state by using the "Dive" option while swimming. Sora cannot use Links while underwater.

Sora's maximum combo length while underwater is fixed at 4.

Party member
In Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind, Sora can appear as a party member if the player chooses to play as Riku, Aqua, Roxas, or Kairi during the Re Mind scenario. Sora retains much of his original moveset for his basic combo and can support the player character with Curaga.

Notes and references
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