Mickey Mouse

King Mickey, often referred to as The King or Your Majesty, or simply Mickey Mouse, is the king of Disney Castle and a recurring character in the Kingdom Hearts series. He travels the worlds battling the forces of darkness and is a Keyblade Master, and the chosen Keyblade wielder for the Realm of Darkness, though he follows the path of light. Originally believing that the darkness had to be eliminated, he eventually realized that light and darkness are interdependent and cannot exist without the other due to his encounters with Riku.

While only being 2' 3" (69 cm) tall, King Mickey is an incredibly powerful character in the Kingdom Hearts universe, as shown when he defeated three Darkside Heartless in a single blow whilst inside the Realm of Darkness. First studying under Yen Sid, Mickey is possibly the inventor of Gummi Ships, the first to realize the threat of darkness spreading between worlds, and one of the characters most strongly affiliated with light, including Sora. His strength is not always readily apparent, as his character remains very simple spoken, colloquial, and lighthearted, but contrary to this appearance, King Mickey has played a major role in all Kingdom Hearts games.

Kingdom Hearts
''King of Disney Castle. He set out to learn more about the darkness, and left instructions for Donald and Goofy to find and follow the key bearer. No one knows where King Mickey is now, but they are determined to find him.''

He made his debut in "Steamboat Willie" (1928).

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
The king who reigns over Disney Castle.

He set off alone to protect his world and all worlds from the dominion of the dark.

When Riku fell into the realm of darkness, the king showed him the way, but the two were separated when the door to darkness was closed.

Kingdom Hearts II
Steamboat Willie (1928)
 * First entry

''The king of Disney Castle. It's been a while since he set off alone to fight the darkness threatening the worlds.''

King Mickey and Riku stayed behind the realm of darkness to keep the Heartless from escaping again.

Donald, Goofy, and Sora will keep searching until they're reunited with the King.

Steamboat Willie (1928)
 * Second entry

''The king of Disney Castle. He was the first to realize what a threat the darkness was, and the first to act. King Mickey travels across the worlds, battling the Heartless and searching for an answer to the riddle of Organization XIII and the Nobodies.''

After many great battles, the King seems even more determined than ever to fight against the darkness.

Steamboat Willie (1928)
 * First entry (Timeless River)

''It's King Mickey all right, but in this world, he doesn't have a lot to say, and he doesn't look exactly like the king we all know.

His Majesty's acting like he's somebody completely different. I wonder what's going on.''

Steamboat Willie (1928)
 * Second entry (Timeless River)

''It's King Mickey, but back when he was working on Pete's steamboat.

One thing sure hasn't changed—His Majesty was just as brave back then as he is now.''

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Steamboat Willie (1928)

''King of Disney Castle. He put aside his training under Yen Sid and ran off when he heard the worlds were in trouble.''

So far his travels from world to world have been mostly accidental, since he cannot control the Star Shard he "borrowed."

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
''The king of Disney Castle. Just like Sora, he wields a Keyblade. In the past, he traveled from world to world to watch over Sora, Donald, and the others, and guide them in their journey to save all worlds from the forces of darkness.''

Once the crisis was averted, Mickey returned to Disney Castle to live a peaceful life with his friends there.

Before Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
When he was young, Mickey worked as a deck hand with his captain, Pete. He and Pete sailed the steamboat Willie throughout Timeless River. This past association causes Pete to refer to Mickey as "the Boat-Boy King."

When Sora comes from the future using a door in the Hall of the Cornerstone, he, along with the future versions of Donald Duck and Goofy, mistake Mickey for being himself from the future. Four times, Mickey appears at the scene of trouble; either in peril (or appearing to be so), saving the day, or both. On one such occasion, his house is attacked by hordes of Heartless and a mini black hole that sucks up all his furniture. After each time Sora helps him out, Mickey shakes his hand and leads him to another scene of peril.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
While Terra, Ventus, and Aqua search for Master Xehanort and Vanitas, King Mickey undergoes the Mark of Mastery Exam under the supervision of Yen Sid at the Mysterious Tower, accompanied by Donald and Goofy, by which he uses the Star Seeker Keyblade. Later on, Mickey runs away without Yen Sid´s permission, using a Star Shard that allows him to travel throughout other worlds, however, it works rather randomly, as he has not learned how to control it. Terra witnesses the King's leave when he first visits the tower.

It is revealed that Mickey had been taken to the Keyblade Graveyard when Terra saw him disappear. The Star Shard knew that Mickey needed to be there to save Ventus. When Ventus loses a fight with Vanitas, he steps in to help. They successfully drive him off before Mickey's Star Shard brings them to Radiant Garden. He later teams up with Aqua (after Ven attempted to get inside the Radiant Garden castle), rescuing a young Kairi from the enemy's attempt to capture her. He is whisked off to Neverland when the battle ends, telling Aqua to not worry about him.

While exploring Neverland he was ambushed by Vanitas and knocked unconscious, who then proceeded to kidnap Mickey and take him to the Keyblade Graveyard. Ven goes to try and help Mickey when he finds out about it, only to both get sucked into a vortex. Mickey is left stranded in space before Aqua finds him and takes him back to the Mysterious Tower.

At the climax of the game's story, he helps Aqua battle Ventus, who is possessed by Vanitas, and eventually guides them to the Mysterious Tower, where they discover that Ventus's heart has left his body. At the end of the game, Mickey sorrowfully hands in the Star Shard and his Star Seeker Keyblade, thinking he has failed to reach his goal and disappointed his master, and begins to leave. Before he departs, however, Master Yen Sid hands him back the Keyblade with a smile, showing him that he is indeed worthy of the title of Keyblade Master. Mickey then happily accepts it.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Upon realizing the threat that the darkness presents, Mickey sought out help for his concerns, and the danger he seems to expect. By using the barrier's material itself to make a Gummi Ship, Mickey travels to Radiant Garden and meets Ansem the Wise. Mickey befriended Ansem, and tells Ansem of his concern of the growing darkness between the worlds. It was also here that Mickey meets Xehanort. Meeting him seems to disturb the King.

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts marks the first appearance of Mickey in the series. Before actually appearing onscreen, Mickey gives instructions to his subjects through a message from Pluto. Not seen until the end of the game, in Kingdom Hearts, King Mickey left his home, Disney Castle, leaving a note instructing Donald and Goofy to "find the Key".

In his journeys, King Mickey had passed the Corridor of Darkness at Traverse Town and found the Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness. Within the Realm of Darkness, he meets Riku, asking him about his heart.

At the end of Kingdom Hearts, he helps Sora to seal Kingdom Hearts to prevent the Heartless from escaping it. It was the choice of Mickey and Riku to stay behind in the Realm of Darkness that started Sora, Donald and Goofy on their quests in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Sora, Donald and Goofy initially enter Castle Oblivion believing the King to be there, but that is not the case until Riku appears in the basement of the castle. He appears many times to Riku while he battles his inner darkness as his light, until they finally come face to face. Meeting DiZ, Mickey begins to suspect his true identity.

Right before Riku goes on to face Ansem, he tries to make Mickey promise to destroy him if Ansem conquers him, but Mickey dismisses it and promises to break through to his power and save Riku. Riku wins the battle, but Ansem tries to trap him into darkness and Mickey takes him back to the light. Through this experience, Mickey forms a similar friendship with Riku as Donald and Goofy with Sora. Riku even calls him by his name "Mickey" from this point forward.

After leaving the Castle, the King and Riku eventually part ways.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
King Mickey appears in the Twilight Town woods facing Riku, who has taken on the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Mickey readies to attack as Riku calmly ties his blindfold into place, and looks shocked at Riku changing appearance. Then they make a promise not to tell Sora what happened to him when he wakes up.

King Mickey is playable in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days's Mission Mode, wearing his Organization XIII cloak. To unlock him, complete every mission, which will make the item "Return of the King" available from the Moogle shop. Purchasing it will unlock him.

Kingdom Hearts II
In Kingdom Hearts II, Mickey appears far more often then he had in the previous Kingdom Hearts games. He is a playable character under certain circumstances.

Sometime after Riku left DiZ's employ, he encounters Mickey and gives him the Munny Pouch that he had stolen from Roxas in the Simulated Twilight Town. Not wanting Sora and Kairi to know about his condition, Riku pleads with Mickey not to reveal his whereabouts or his condition to Sora, and Mickey reluctantly agrees.

Mickey later arrives to help Sora fend off the Nobodies that attacked them in Twilight Town posing as somewhat of a fake Organization XIII member. After the battle, he hands Sora the pouch of munny Riku gave him and instructs him to visit his mentor, Yen Sid, running off afterward. Yen Sid reveals that Mickey's reasons for leaving Disney Castle in the first game was to investigate the mysterious outbreak of Heartless and the more mysterious Organization. Mickey makes several appearances throughout the game, and is even playable when Sora is defeated in certain boss battles; if Sora is defeated in these boss battles, Mickey appears and fights the boss until he himself is defeated or Sora is revived; in either event, he leaves the battlefield as quickly as he arrived.

At Hollow Bastion, Mickey reveals the truth about "Ansem", but is reluctant to reveal any information on Riku. He then aides the group in fending off the Heartless that Maleficent has summoned to destroy Radiant Garden. Initially, he orders Sora, Donald, and Goofy to leave Hollow Bastion and leave the Heartless to them, but Donald and Goofy go against his orders when they realize how desperate Sora is to help Leon. He later confronts them after they defeat Demyx, at first appearing angry, but soon simply decides to allow them to help.

When Goofy apparently dies after taking a nasty blow to the head while saving Mickey from the same fate, Mickey swears that the Heartless would pay and permanently discards his Organization XIII disguise, and they are all relieved to discover that Goofy was only unconscious. When he and Sora confront Xemnas, he jumps after Xemnas into a corridor of darkness before it closed, thus preventing Sora, Donald and Goofy from going after him, but since he appears later in Twilight Town, it is apparent that he could not follow Xemnas all the way. Sora and the others meet him in Twilight Town, where they find a way into The World That Never Was through the Simulated Twilight Town DiZ had created. When they enter the world, Mickey goes ahead of Sora to look for Ansem the Wise. He eventually finds him, and rescues him from death. Ansem then attempts to use his machine to convert Kingdom Hearts into data, but was unsuccessful and vanishes when the machine explodes.

Mickey then confronts Xemnas with Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy, and watches as Xemnas opens Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas then blocks out King Mickey and Kairi from participating in the final fight, first by launching a building at him and Kairi, closing Kingdom Hearts, and then closing the dark portal to the Destiny Islands, preventing Mickey, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy from returning to aid Sora and Riku.

After Sora and Riku end the Organization's plot, Mickey waits with Donald, Goofy, and Kairi on Destiny Islands for their return. Once they do, he runs to Riku and congratulates them both for defeating Organization XIII. During the end credits, King Mickey is seen returning with Donald, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Pluto, and Jiminy to Disney Castle, where he reunites with his wife Queen Minnie.

They then share a cartoonish kiss, ending the sequence for Disney Castle. After the credits, it is revealed that he has sent Sora, Riku and Kairi a bottled letter.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Mickey digitizes Jiminy's Journal to investigate a mysterious message saying: "We must return to free them from their torment". When the digital system gets blocked, he decides to create a data version of Sora to solve the problem.

Following the digital Sora's time in Traverse Town, he is attacked by Heartless. After disposing of them with the Star Seeker, he tries to leave the library to check the castle, but finds himself locked in, along with Jiminy, Donald, and Goofy. Somehow, they have been transported into the digital journal itself. While in the journal, he joins forces with Data-Sora and the journal itself (in the form of Riku) to dispatch the Heartless and debug the digital world. After defeating Sora's own Heartless, who was corrupting the journal, Mickey and his friends are returned to the real world when the debugging is completed, but a message claiming that a door to a new world has opened appears on the screen. Preparing for another adventure, Mickey requests to be taken into the digital world again to solve this new mystery.

Inside, he escorts Data-Sora throughout Castle Oblivion until they encounter the data version of Naminé, who tells them about Terra, Ventus, Aqua, and the reason behind the Bug Block corruption, which was caused by the real Naminé when she removed Sora's memories and later restored them. After everything in the journal was restored, Mickey returns to the real world to write the letter to Sora to tell him about those who need him to heal their sadness, and a new journey begins.

Later, Mickey reports to Yen Sid that he believes he has finally found where Ventus's missing heart is, leaving only Terra's heart to be found. Their discussion quickly shifts towards the topic of Master Xehanort, who Mickey is stunned to learn will return due to the defeat of his Heartless, Ansem, and his Nobody, Xemnas, and the subsequent restoration of Xehanort. Fearing that there may be more than a "single one of Xehanort", Yen Sid orders Mickey to bring Sora and Riku before him so that they may take the Mark of Mastery exam.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Mickey, along with Donald and Goofy, were briefly seen in the 2011 TGS trailer, being present as Yen Sid prepares to give Sora and Riku their Mark of Mastery exam.

Appearance
Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse with black fur, round ears of the same color, and a thin, long, black tail. His usual outfit in the Kingdom Hearts series is a modified version of the one he wears in modern Disney cartoons. He wears a short-sleeved jacket with white lining. The top half of this jacket is black, while the bottom half is red, and there are two yellow straps dangling in front of it. His pants are red and sport a zipper going down the front of each leg. Each leg also has a yellow pouch with a black strap that partially cover the zipper, as well as a blue strap on the outer side of each pant leg. Mickey wears very large, yellow shoes with grey backs and two orange, intersecting straps attached to the front of each shoe.

This design was eventually used as a base to create Sora's outfit in the first Kingdom Hearts. As he is not physically present until the final cutscene, at which point he is still only a silhouette, Jiminy was incapable of recording the King's outfit in the journal. However, if one looks closely, Mickey is wearing his normal Disney attire from his cartoons.

Long ago, when Mickey was a resident of Timeless River, he looked different than he did in the present day. He is colored in grayscale like the other inhabitants of the world. He is modeled after his appearance in older Disney cartoons like Steamboat Willie. Mickey's face is white and his eyes are simple black ovals. His fur is black, as are his ears, which are simple black circles. Like in the older cartoons he is from, no matter which direction Mickey himself is facing, his ears are always facing the screen. He wears the famous white gloves common to many older Disney characters. His shorts are white and have two buttons on the front. His shoes are also white, and he does not wear a shirt. Mickey also sports a thin, long tail.

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Mickey wears a black vest with white lining, two yellow buttons near the bottom, and a zipper that only reaches about halfway down the vest. Under this vest he wears a short-sleeved shirt that is seems to be the same black, white-lined color scheme as his vest, though the cuffs of the sleeves are red. His pants are red and quite baggy. The pockets have white lining. Similar to Goofy, the front of Mickey's pant legs are pulled up slightly by elastic, blue straps. Mickey's shoes here are also yellow, but the tips and lower halves are black and the soles are white. Each shoe has two blue straps that intersect over the top of the shoe.

While training under Yen Sid during Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Mickey's outfit is virtually identical to the way it looks in Kingdom Hearts II, except for the color: Mickey's clothing is colored in greyscale, losing all the colors it had, save for black, white, and grey, making it similar to Sora's outfit in Kingdom Hearts II. He also attacks using the teeth of his Star Seeker as opposed to the broad edge of the Kingdom Key D in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, adding more contrast between his appearances in both games.

During Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and the early stages of Kingdom Hearts II, Mickey wears the black coat, gloves, and shoes that Organization XIII members wear. Though largely the same as the other coats, Mickey's apparently has contortions in the hood for his ears, and the drawstrings on his version sport Hidden Mickey symbols on the tips. In all of his appearances, except for when he wears the black coat, Mickey dons the famous, white gloves common to most older Disney characters.

Origin
Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Although it is commonly thought that "Steamboat Willie" was his first cartoon, it was actually "Plane Crazy" where he made his debut 6 months before. The reason for this is that Steamboat Willie was the first cartoon Mickey appeared in which had sound, as well as Mickey being characterized very differently in Plane Crazy. Since then, Mickey Mouse has become one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, existing for 82 years.

Abilities
King Mickey is extremely skilled with a Keyblade, despite him being one of the only two Disney characters capable of wielding one. He uses his size and agility to maximize his advantages and wear down his foes, flipping and spinning attacks, and finishing them with wide strokes of his blade. It is possible to assume he gained his abilities from his training with Yen Sid. It's also known that Mickey has used two Keyblades: Star Seeker and the Kingdom Key D, a Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness. Due to his small size, Mickey has also shown to have great agility, as he is usually seen doing back flips while using his Keyblade. King Mickey wields his Star Seeker in Kingdom Hearts coded, just as he did in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. When Sora and the others try to seal the Door to Darkness in Kingdom Hearts, they see King Mickey destroy Darkside Heartless with ease.

In terms of magic, Mickey is also very apt. Kingdom Hearts II demonstrated Mickey's ability to use "Pearl," a clearly light based spell, and "Holy", the ultimate light magic. Also in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, he is shown to heal Ventus with Cure after Vanitas beat him.

Mickey is very able outside of combat, as well. He has spent a large amount of time in the Dark Realm, and his Dark Realm Keyblade, the Kingdom Key D, is a polar opposite to Sora's Light Realm Keyblade, the Kingdom Key. As a testament to his heart's strength, Mickey has never once fought with his inner darkness. He can travel easily within the Corridor of Darkness and seems to be completely unaffected by it. Based on the Ansem Reports, Mickey is said to have discovered the properties of Gummi material and used it to travel to other worlds.

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, The King is a friend card used solely by Riku. This card will summon King Mickey, healing Riku slightly, hurting all enemies and stunning them for a short time, and restocking Riku's deck. Stocking these cards will allow you to use the only sleight you can as regular Riku, MM Miracle. It increases the amount you are healed and the damage done to enemies. It is one of the few ways Riku can heal himself, the other being the Oogie Boogie enemy card. In Re:Chain of Memories only, Riku can also perform the Holy Burst and Inverse Burst Sleights with King Mickey, in normal and Dark Mode respectively, in which Mickey hovers and shoots orbs of light from his Keyblade.

D-Link
In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Mickey becomes a D-Link for Ventus and Aqua. While using him as a D-Link, they can either create an aerial attack or release multiple spheres of light to inflict damage on the enemy.

Kingdom Hearts II
In certain battles against bosses, if Sora is defeated, an alternate menu option will appear. Instead of the normal "Continue" and "Load Game," Sora is then given the options "I won't give up!" and "It's all over..". If "I won't give up!" is chosen, the player will be able to play as Mickey temporarily. This can happen a number of times in one battle.

In battle, Mickey can perform two attacks: the first being simply Attack, and the other being Pearl, a magical attack that damages the opponent with a homing ball of light. Like Sora, allows the player to jump and  performs reaction commands. However, Mickey's only reaction command is to slowly charge his Drive Gauge. Once the Drive Gauge is full, Mickey can activate Healing Light, which will fully recover Sora's HP and MP and causes the player to continue playing as Sora. If Mickey is defeated before using Healing Light, Mickey will instead use a potion to heal Sora so that he regains half of his HP, although his MP will remain the way it was before he was defeated.

While Mickey can deal damage, it is impossible to actually defeat a boss as Mickey due to the fact that he lacks a finishing move. However, Mickey is very powerful and one could use him to beat the boss to the point where only Sora can finish the battle before reviving him.

These are the battles in which King Mickey can appear:


 * Shan-Yu
 * Thresholder and Possessor
 * Shadow Stalker/Dark Thorn
 * Cerberus
 * Hydra
 * Blizzard Lord and Volcano Lord
 * Storm Rider
 * Xaldin
 * Grim Reaper (Battle 1)
 * Armored Xemnas (Battle 1)

Quotes

 * "Don't worry, there will always be a door to the light."
 * "Donald, Goofy, thank you."
 * "Now Sora, let's close this door for good."
 * "Donald, Goofy, take Sora and get going!"
 * "Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete."
 * "Please, Sora, I made a promise."
 * "Your darkness belongs to you, just like your light does."
 * "You gotta board the train and leave town! Hurry, the train knows the way!"
 * "Keyblades are not something you use just to bully somebody around!"
 * "They'll pay for this."

Trivia

 * On May 18, 2009, Mickey's voice actor, Wayne Allwine, passed away from complications due to diabetes. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days became the last work in which Allwine provided the voice of Mickey Mouse (and his final performance overall), and the English versions of the game were dedicated in his memory; the new official voice actor for him is Bret Iwan, who gave his first full performance as Mickey in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and later voiced him in Kingdom Hearts Re:coded.

Gallery
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