Monstro

Monstro is a character introduced in . He is a so gargantuan that he is able to swim the Ocean Between and act as a world, and has a reputation for swallowing anything that crosses his path, even entire ships.

Monstro's innards serve as a world in  and Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, and as a subworld of Prankster's Paradise in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Monstro himself serves as the boss of the Monster of the Sea battle in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix.

Kingdom Hearts
Monstro is so enormous that its playable map is bigger than that of some other worlds, such as Wonderland. If one leaves Monstro and tries to go a different direction, they'll be caught by Monstro again and he'll appear twice on the map. Sometimes, attempting to return to Monstro will not work, as Monstro will temporarily leave his spot; Goofy will express his relief at this and the party will have to come back later.

Monstro has one of the most confusing layouts of any world; it is essentially an interconnecting maze. It takes a lot of patience and a little ingenuity to traverse through Monstro. Many openings lead into different parts of the same room, allowing for much confusion of anyone trying to work their way through. As the surfaces in each area look the same, the only visual differences in the Chambers are the ledges, the treasures, and the occasional Barrel and debris found in them. In addition, the Chambers are marked only with numbers and are not traveled through in numerical order. Finally, Monstro defies anatomy as it is known, so natural assumptions such as going "down" to reach his stomach, for example, do not hold (the party has to climb up his throat).

Sora and his party enter through the Kuchi (口), the largest room in the world. Here, among the piles of wood and shipwrecks, the party will come across Geppetto and Pinocchio, as well as one of the world's Save Points. Troublesome Pinocchio leads the party down the into the whale's innards.

Fukubu Ichi (腹部1) is the arrival point for the party here. The lowest door leads to a dead-end at Fukubu San (腹部3), marked by a large piece of debris blocking off the other lowest exit. The door on the ledge of Chamber 1 will take the party to Fukubu Ni (腹部2), which leads to Chamber 3 going down, and to Fukubu Go (腹部5) going up. Fukubu Mu (腹部6), which comes soon after, stands out because it is formed like a set of stairs. Chamber 5 will also send the party to Fukubu Yon (腹部4), from which the Chō (腸) and the first battle with the Parasite Cage can be found, as well as another Save Point.

Returning to the Mouth and using High Jump - which can be a found in a chest near Geppetto at this point - the party can at last reach the Nodo (のど), a tall, pink chamber with a series of ledges to ascend. At the top, the party can reach the Ibukuro (胃袋) and the second boss battle against the Parasite Cage.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
In Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories a memory version of Monstro can be explored at Castle Oblivion. The world is explored through boxed-in areas which draw inspirations from the various Chambers from the previous game. In cutscenes, areas such as ' and the ' are visited. The battle against the Parasite Cage takes place in an area similar to the, though the floor is mostly covered in stomach acid and there are no platforms along the wall to jump on. Lastly Sora visits an area similar to the during a rumble against some Shadows. However, the area is a lot bigger with a circular arena in the middle.

Kingdom Hearts
Sora, Donald, and Goofy are flying away from Agrabah to get to their next destination, when they spot something huge flying towards them on the Gummi Route. They quickly realize it is a massive whale, but cannot get out of the way before the beast swallows their ship whole.

Inside Monstro's flooded mouth, the trio finds Pinocchio again and meets his father Geppetto in a broken ship. While speaking with Geppetto, Pinocchio slips off to explore Monstro. Sora and his party quickly run after the puppet into the bowels of Monstro. There, he finds Riku; the two friends exchange some quick words before Riku runs off with Pinocchio, hinting at Riku's newfound darker nature.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy chase the two through the whale, until they eventually finds them in a large circular chamber: the bowels of the beast. Pinocchio is taken captive inside the Parasite Cage Heartless. Sora and Riku team up to take down the Heartless, but are unable to completely destroy it. Riku takes Pinocchio; his words hint to Sora that there is something different about his old friend. Sora tracks the puppet to the Stomach, where Riku and the Heartless attempt to take Pinocchio's heart, but fails. Riku flees as Sora enters the belly of the beast where he defeats the Parasite Cage once and for all and rescues Pinocchio.

From all the commotion in his organs, Monstro spews out the Gummi ship and the trio to prevent any more trouble. Pinocchio and Geppetto also escape and set up a shop in Traverse Town.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Sora, Donald, and Goofy visit a recreation of Monstro in Castle Oblivion. There, the events of Sora's first visit to Monstro are reenacted, minus Riku's involvement in the events that transpired. Both the chase for Pinocchio and the puppet's reunion with Jiminy are very similar. The party again fights the Parasite Cage, though only once this time. Pinocchio is told to be brave, his struggles eventually getting him out of the Heartless's maw-like belly. Sora, Donald, and Goofy also fight with several Shadow Heartless ensues in order to make Monstro spit out Pinocchio and Geppetto, as per the puppet's suggestion that a big enough struggle would cause the whale to sneeze. They succeed.

Meanwhile in the Basement, Riku explores the replica of Monstro, encountering and defeating the Parasite Cage.

Origin
Monstro appeared in Walt Disney's 1940 animated feature, . He is based on from 's 1883 book . He is first mentioned in a message from the Blue Fairy about Geppetto, who, sailing to find Pinocchio, has been swallowed by Monstro. Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket search for him, but are frustrated by the fear the various sea creatures display at the mention of Monstro's name. After finally discovering Monstro sleeping, he suddenly awakens upon witnessing a school of tuna swimming nearby and swallows them, but also consumes Pinocchio, who discovers Geppetto in Monstro's throat. There, Pinocchio decides to free them by starting a fire, the smoke of which prompts Monstro to sneeze them out, whereupon he gets angry and pursues them. However, he fails to kill them and when Pinocchio pulls Geppetto into a cove, Monstro smashes against the rocks surrounding it.

Heartless
Note: After rescuing Kairi from Hollow Bastion, Monstro will begin collecting sets of Heartless from every world except Atlantica, Halloween Town, Hollow Bastion, and End of the World. Each time Monstro is entered at this point, it will have its normal set of Heartless, as well as the Heartless set of a different world. The auxiliary set will change each time Monstro is reentered.

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