Kingdom of Corona

The Kingdom of Corona is a world in Kingdom Hearts III. It is based on the Disney film, . It is a coastal kingdom whose princess, Rapunzel, was kidnapped by the witch Mother Gothel.

Development
During Square Enix's E3 Conference on June 16, 2015, Sora was shown exploring areas of Kingdom of Corona. During the Square Enix Presents segment of E3 2015, Kingdom Hearts III director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that the Kingdom of Corona was one of the first worlds to be considered for Kingdom Hearts III.

During the D23 Expo Japan 2018 convention, Tetsuya Nomura explained that gameplay footage of Kingdom of Corona was delayed due to needing time to refine the rendering of Rapunzel's hair, which is designed to interact with the terrain of the world.

This is the first world in the series where a party member, Rapunzel, is no longer available after the world is completed.

Settings and Areas
The Kingdom of Corona is primarily a forest world which the party journeys through in bringing Rapunzel to the Kingdom.

The world is divided into two regions: the Forest and the Kingdom.

The Forest
The Forest (森) encompasses most of the world. The world begins by Rapunzel's Tō (塔). The outside area is fully exploreable though the inside of the tower can not be entered. Heading through the cave entrance leads to the Kyūryō (丘陵), where the Orange Flan is directly located outside the cave's entry point. East of the area is a small cave where at the north end contains a battlegate. Heading west leads more forest exploration. Throughout the world are signs marked as "Corona" which points to the direction where the Kingdom is.

Following the Hills is the Numa (沼), a large, dark, misty swamp area. Heading towards the end of the area is a vertical cliff ascent leading to continued forest exploration in the Kyanpu (キャンプ), a small resting area, and then the Shitchi (湿地). The wetlands is a large region comprised of large orange rock structures. Within the world's story visit, Rapunzel must be used in order to traverse the large gaps between this area's regions. Within the area's central rock structure is an exploreable mining area. Heading out the exit and continuing east leads to another Corona sign. Left of the sign is a downward region containing a battlegate. Overlooking this region is a dam structure. Continuing on the path to Corona lead to the Hana no Gunseichi (花の群生地). This area is primarily a downward hill descent (comprised of yellow and purple flowers) which leads to the Kishibe (岸辺). If the party wishes to journey up the hill, airstepping through the branches can be used to do so much more quickly. East of the shore is the bridge leading to the Kingdom.

The Kingdom
The Kingdom (コロナの町) is the world's town area comprised of many of the kingdom's citizens. The initial area is the Ōdōri (大通り): a long shopping district which leads to circular central hub where a mural of the King, Queen and baby Rapunzel are located. Westward is a downwards path leading to the Funatsukiba (船着き場).

Before Kingdom Hearts III
Born with the golden hair with healing magic, Rapunzel was kidnapped by Mother Gothel ever since Rapunzel was a baby. Mother Gothel raised Rapunzel ever since, warning Rapunzel of the dangers of the outside world. This eventually led to Mother Gothel psychologically manipulating Rapunzel to stay in a hidden tower and never set foot outside. Every year on her birthday, Rapunzel would secretly peer out through the tower window to view the floating lanterns. Unknown to Rapunzel, the floating lanterns were set by Rapunzel's biological parents, the king and queen of Corona.

Kingdom Hearts III
Sora, Donald, and Goofy idly wander through the forest of Corona, not knowing their reason in visiting such a tranquil world. The trio runs into Flynn Rider, who is trying to escape from a group of Heartless. As the trio prepares to take down the Heartless, Flynn quickly flees.

After taking down the group of Heartless, Sora wonders where Flynn went, and the trio backtrack to a dead end of the forest. Presumed that Flynn escaped safely, Sora accidentally discovers a secret passage hidden by foliage. The trio follows the secret passage to the hidden tower, where Flynn is being held captured by Rapunzel. Rapunzel makes a deal with Flynn, by returning his satchel in exchanged for a safe round journey to view the floating lanterns.

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy reunite with Flynn, Rapunzel for the first time sets foot outside. Though she is initially elated at being outside for the first time, she quickly gets into an internal war with herself while Flynn recruits Sora and company as his "sidekicks" to fight the Heartless. During their journey, Sora helps Rapunzel enjoy the outside world, such as playing in the water and saving a group of rabbits. Back in the tower, Gothel discovers that Rapunzel has gone missing and encounters Marluxia, who strikes a deal with her to find Rapunzel.

The group stumble upon a flower-like pod, which soon reveals itself to be a Reaper Nobody. Rapunzel and Flynn flee the scene as Sora and company fight the Nobodies. The Reapers' master, Marluxia, arrives and advises Sora to keep an eye out for Rapunzel. Sora and company then search for Rapunzel in a marsh and encounter Gothel, who deems them useless after they tell her they have no idea where Rapunzel is.

At a campsite, Rapunzel and Flynn encounter Maximus, a horse who was chasing after Flynn, and convince him to join them on their journey. Sora and company reunite with Rapunzel and Flynn, and make their way towards the Kingdom. During the Kingdom's festival, Rapunzel encounters a mural displaying the Kingdom's lost princess. Following a dance in the town square, the town releases the lanterns as Rapunzel and Flynn watch. However, Flynn leaves Rapunzel due to having to do something important, and Rapunzel, after encountering Marluxia, is "saved" by Mother Gothel.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy encounter Nobodies during the festival and pursue Gothel after seeing her abduct Rapunzel. Blocking their path, Marluxia explains that Rapunzel is one of the New Seven Hearts, a group of seven maidens who inherited the light of the Princesses of Heart, and knocks Sora out to prevent him from saving Rapunzel. Back at Gothel's tower, Rapunzel realizes that she is the lost princess and attempts to relinquish herself from Gothel's control, but Gothel explains that Flynn is under arrest and thus cannot save her.

The next day, Flynn escapes captivity and rides on Maximus to save Rapunzel from Gothel. After waking Sora up, Flynn arrives at Gothel's tower, only to be stabbed by Gothel. Rapunzel offers to save his life, but he uses a shard of broken glass to cut off her hair, causing Gothel to age to death and fall off the tower. Marluxia then appears and turns Gothel's disintegrated remains into the Grim Guardianess Heartless, deeming her presence a threat to the Organization's plans.

After Sora and company defeat the Grim Guardianess, Rapunzel attempts to heal Flynn, her tears containing the remnants of her hair's powers and reviving him. The two reunite with Sora and company, with Rapunzel planning to return to her real family and Flynn embracing his birth name of Eugene Fitzherbert.

Meanwhile, Maleficent and Pete are disappointed that they still have not found the whereabouts of the Black Box. While Pete is skeptical of the box's existence, Maleficent is confident that the box exists and decides to follow the Organization, who is also seeking it.

Sometime after Xehanort's defeat, Rapunzel and Eugene embrace in the town square.

Characters

 * The King and the Queen are shown on a in the kingdom.

Notes and references
Kingdom of Corona Kingdom of Corona