Terra

Unreleased

Terra is a character who will appear in the upcoming game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. From the view of the story, it is revealed he is the Keyblade Wielder before Sora. He first appeared in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II titled The Gathering. The video was continued in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, titled Birth by Sleep. In the video Terra was shown fighting against Master Xehanort and Vanitas with companions Aqua and Ventus. He is the oldest and leader of the three Keyblade Warriors.

While Terra means "Earth" in Latin, Riku's name in Japanese means "Land." Any connection between the two is unconfirmed, however similar name meanings also apply with Kairi and Aqua and with Sora and Ventus.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Terra makes his first appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series, as far as chronology goes, in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Part of a Keyblade wielding trio comprised of himself and friends Aqua and Ventus, he is one of three characters the player can choose from at the beginning of the game, having his own scenario or storyline that supposedly will tie into the other two storylines of the game, upon their completion. His journey begins in the Land of Departure, taking the Master Qualification Exam alongside Aqua.

Terra is seen to arrive at the Enchanted Dominion, coming before the evil witch Maleficent in the tower where the sleeping Princess Aurora lies. She tells the Keyblade warrior of seven hearts of pure light, and how whomever brings the seven together will be ruler of the worlds. She sends Terra on a mission that would later be hers to gather them from their home worlds, Terra believing these seven Princesses of Heart to be the key to learning about Master Xehanort's wishes. Terra later battles a large Unversed, the Wheel Master, in King Stephen's Throne Room, coming out victorious and embarking on his quest while Maleficent concocts a scheme to cause friends Ven and Aqua to lose faith in him. What is this plot, exactly? Using her utmost conniving, Maleficent wishes to tell Aqua and Ven that Terra has succumbed to the darkness.

When Terra arrives in Castle of Dreams on his quest for the Princesses of Heart, he finds himself face to face once again with the dreaded Unversed. On the search for Master Xehanort and the heart of pure light said to reside in the world, Cinderella, the Keyblade master even has to protect the princess in the Grand Hall of Prince Charming's Castle against the beasts. He later converses with Aqua about the true intention of the bald enigma, Xehanort, and his apprentice. He also hints toward the Princesses of Heart, Aqua questioning who or what they were. Terra also found himself in cohorts with Lady Tremaine at one point in this world's storyline.

When Terra found himself in Dwarf Woodlands, a world said to contain another Princess of Heart, Snow White, battling the Unversed once again. He eventually finds the young princess in a lush meadow, the Keyblade warrior surprised when the girl calmly noticed him without shock. Terra found himself before yet another Disney Villain on his quest for the Princesses of Heart, this time the Evil Queen. When asked about Snow White, the princess with a "heart of pure light", the Queen retorted, "The heart does not interest me. I am not interested in something that can fade away so easily."

Terra travels to the world of Deep Space. Unknowingly aiding the mischievous Experiment 626 with his escape from a prison spaceship set for a desert asteroid, the Keyblade warrior must destroy the large blasters that constantly shoot at the little alien, also battling his "cousin", Experiment 221.

Terra also travels to Neverland at an unknown point of time in his journey, confronting Captain Hook and seems to ready to fight Peter Pan. While he confronts Peter Pan, they seem hostile to each other and they prepare to fight each other, his Keyblade has a keychain.

Terra visits the Destiny Islands on his journey. While all seems peaceful to the Keyblade master, he sees two boys, one at age four and the other at age five, sword-fighting on the beach.

Terra comes to Radiant Garden. He finds his friend Ventus, wounded by a currently unknown cause. The Keyblade warrior carries his friend, arm wrapped around his shoulder, throughout the Dark Depths, protecting him against every threat they come up against. When the young Keyblade wielder awakens, Terra confirms their friendship, thanking Ven for being a friend to him.

At some unknown point in time Terra cofronts Master Xehanort at the Gathering Place. During their conversation Master Xehanort is claiming that those on the side of darkness could not wield the Keyblade and were monsters, he begged Terra to "correct his mistake." Whether this "mistake" is taking on the apprentice or siding with darkness is currently unknown. This discussion did not last, however, Terra then asking what had become of a "friend's" heart. He summoned his massive Keyblade, the next events in this climatic showdown unknown as of yet.

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
In the "Birth by sleep" cinematic, unlocked at the end of Final Mix, the story is continued; the three are portrayed as the protagonists against Master Xehanort and his companion, and he, like the others, wields a Keyblade. He begins the battle by rushing at Master Xehanort, but the old man avoids him by separating himself from the others with a makeshift cliff. Terra is hit by a blast of lightning from the old man's guardian, but ignores him to pursue Master Xehanort.

He is at first unable to reach the man because of the cyclone of Keyblades, but after being aided by Aqua's magic, he is able to reach the man's cliff and attack him. The old man, wielding a Keyblade of his own, is able to fend him off with a freezing spell. Once the old man gets a hold of Ven, a younger knight, Terra is thrown off the cliff by the Keyblade cyclone, ending his involvement in the struggle. He is seen one last time after the appearance of Kingdom Hearts, when he takes off his helmet to gaze up at it, while his eyes turn yellow.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, a secret boss known as the Lingering Sentiment appears. Although it is not confirmed, it is believed to be Terra. It first mentions Aqua and Ven and mistakes Sora as "the one he has chosen" (possibly Riku, who was originally chosen by the Keyblade), then wonders if Sora is "Xehanort" before finally attacking him. Unlike Sephiroth, another secret boss in the game, the Sentiment fights against both Sora and his main companions, Donald and Goofy. After losing once, he can be challenged again, this time saying that he has nothing more to give to Sora except his hatred for "Xehanort". It's unclear why he actually attacks Sora, though he may just be testing his abilities just as Xemnas had been. After the fight, he acknowledges Sora as a Keyblade Master.

The Lingering Sentiment is the most powerful enemy in Final Mix, and is arguably the hardest boss in the series.

The Gathering
In the opening of the secret trailer, Terra, in his knight's armor seems to be standing triumphantly, holding his massive Keyblade behind his back. He then notices something from off screen and jumps down. As he walks away, the object he was standing on blows away into dust. As Terra walks to the middle of the crossroads, Aqua appears from another direction, along with Ven appearing in the opposite. Three Keyblades lie in the center: Kingdom Key, Way to the Dawn and Kingdom Key D. Terra picks up the Kingdom Key while Aqua picks up Kingdom Key D and Ven picks up Way to the Dawn. Then they all notice a shadowed figure off in the distance.

Birth by sleep
While the three of them are standing, Master Xehanort and his Apprentice Vanitas are approaching them. Terra first rushes over to the two and Xehanort raises a cliff and this beginning there battle. By time Terra arrives he is beginning to fight him but he was over powered by Xehanort. Then he saw Ventus was attacking him behind but he got caught and Terra got blown away. After Master Xehanort open Kingdom Hearts, Terra looks at it and his eye color changes to yellow.

Abilities
Terra is the most powerful of the trio in terms of the damage aspect. He uses slow, but very heavy and hard-hitting attacks to decimate his enemies. On top of that, he has access to both a variety of magical spells as well as heavy physical strikes. His known Mode Changes are:


 * Fatal Mode: A powerful fighting style that utilizes slow, but heavy hits to their maximum.
 * Rock Breaker: After fulfilling certain requirements, Fatal Mode changes into Rock Breaker. A powerful and long-ranged style that works best on the ground, it summons three large earth crystals from the ground to damage enemies.
 * Thunder Bolt: A swift mode change that unleashes powerful lightning upon attacks.
 * Fire Blazer: A ranged and versatile mode change that focuses the Keyblade to erupt flames while attacking.
 * Dimension Link: A mode that allows Terra to summon characters from other worlds to aid him in battles.
 * Shoot Lock: Star Burst: Multiple blasts of light fire from his Keyblade to hit the enemies. The input command is to continuously press O. “Fly shining blasts of light!” “Rapidly press the button to release the Finish command.”

Personality
He is the oldest and leader of the three Keyblade warriors. He has a calm and cool exterior but he hides a heart that would fight for his friends. He and Ventus have a strong relationship because he said Ventus had saved his life before. His personality seems to have some similarities with Riku's personality.

Appearance
Terra is a tall young man with brown hair, blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Like his friends, Terra wears two intersecting straps over his chest, though his red ones are rather different, dropping much lower down and almost resembling criss-crossed suspenders. Also unlike Aqua and Ven, Terra does not wear his badge (which is gold as opposed to the others' silver) on these straps. Instead, he wears it on his belt. He wears a skintight, black, high-collared shirt, showing that he is rather muscular. Terra's pants bear a distinct feudal Japanese style; his belt is tied rather like an obi sash and he seems to wear hakama (traditional Japanese pants distinguished by the large pleats). His hakama are dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which are undone. The rest of the pants are tan with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem. Terra wears a plain black wristband on his right arm, while his left arm is significantly more armored.

Like Aqua and Ven, Terra wears armor on one arm, with his bearing similarities to both of his companions. Terra's armor shares the large, ornate crest (colored gold) with Ven and the long, segmented section (each segment alternating between dark grey and dark red) with Aqua, though Terra's is much longer, reaching all the way to the bottom of his hand. He also wears a black, fingerless glove on his hand and what appears to be a black gauntlet on his forearm, over the segmented armor, which also has small pieces of dark red armor on it. Finally, his armored boots are dark brown and gold.

When in his suit, Terra is clad from head to toe in armor, mostly in shades of dark brown, gold, and red. Notable additions to his armor include upturned, sharp red hooks on the backs of his boots, a navy blue cape, and a dark-visored helmet. This helmet sports two tall, red prongs on either side, rather resembling the head of the Egyptian jackal-headed god, Anubis.

Trivia

 * Terra will be voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu, who previously voiced Setzer (a character originally from Final Fantasy VI) in Kingdom Hearts II.


 * In one of Terra's "modes", he uses his Keyblade to shoot magic bullets, similar to Sora's Wisdom Form.


 * Terra's belt buckle slightly resembles the symbol of the Nobodies, except turned upside down and yellow. The badges on Ven's and Aqua's chests and Master Erauqs's belt have the same form as Terra's buckle, except white. In its current position, it vaguely resembles the symbol of the Heartless.


 * Terra may become the second superboss in the series to gain a playable role, succeeding Xemnas. However, this is still debatable, as it is not yet known whether the Lingering Sentiment is actually the same Terra from "Birth by sleep".


 * It is unknown as to why Terra continues to ally with the Disney Villains on his quest for the Princesses of Heart. It is possible that they aid him in locating the Princesses of Hearts which lead him to find Master Xehanort.


 * With the above mentioned name similarities, it is interesting to note that both Terra and Riku have helped Maleficent achieve what she wants and that they both seemingly "turned" to darkness.

Videos
Terra