Storm Rider

The Storm Rider (ストームライダー) is a gargantuan Heartless boss that Sora fights during Kingdom Hearts II while in The Land of Dragons.

The Storm Rider is a Chinese dragon turned into a Heartless by Xigbar. It can control lightning and thunder, so Thunder magic is useless. It attacks the Imperial city of the Emperor. The vulnerable parts of the Storm Rider are the horns on its head. These two points are how Sora dealt damage and defeated the Heartless.

Kingdom Hearts II
''A giant Heartless that appeared in the sky of the Land of Dragons. An intense battle was fought by Sora above the palace.''

Originally a creature that gave strength to the earth and people, it was turned into a Heartless.

Strategy
Firstly, it may be wise to equip the party with Lightning-resist armor before heading out to battle the dragon, since all its most powerful attacks are of that element. Once the battle is underway, Sora will start out on the Heartless' back. You can choose to either attack the dragon's head directly, or attack the horns near the wings. If you choose to attack the wings, and destroy both of them, Storm Rider will collapse on the ground and Sora will be able to unleash some more powerful attacks (eg: Drives) without the risk of falling off. The Storm Rider will try and perform a barrel roll to shake Sora off (this becomes a double barrel roll later in the fight), you should counter this with the reaction command, which lets you stay on and keep attacking.

Should you get knocked off the dragon's back (it may well be impossible to stay on anyway), the giant heartless will begin attacking you. It generally floats over a corner of the palace courtyard before attacking. It can energize six lightning bolts with it's wings and fling them at Sora; using Reflect is recommended as the bolts home in on Sora. The Storm Rider can also dash across the courtyard, dropping a series of bombs on the party, this is the dragon's only non-elemental assault, and Sora should dodge it by running out of the way if possible. When Storm Rider gets low on health, it lands on the bridge on the southern side of the courtyard. Walls made of electricity form and close the party into a corridor directly in front of Storm Rider. The heartless then fires a massive beam of lightning down the corridor, inflicting immense damage. This attack can be very difficult to avoid.

Also note that this a very time-consuming battle.

Trivia

 * Besides Mushu, the Storm Rider is the only dragon featured in The Land of Dragons. Also, its journal entry described it as a being "that gave strength to people" prior to becoming a Heartless, in the same way how revered dragons are as symbols of strength and power in China.


 * Sora can grab one of the Storm Rider's horns to avoid being flipped off the dragon.


 * When charging Lightning Beam, Storm Rider resembles Bahamut from Final Fantasy X when using Mega Flare.


 * The Storm Rider was a dragon that was turned into a Heartless, however it has an emblem suggesting that it was artificially made.


 * In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, Storm Rider has a golden color swap.


 * Storm Rider is also the name of an attraction at Tokyo DisneySea.

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