Aurora

Aurora, also known as Briar Rose, is a princess and one of the Princesses of Heart from the  series. Her appearance is taken directly from Walt Disney's . Although her original voice actress, Mary Costa, was alive at the time of  development (and is still alive today), Aurora spoke in dialogue boxes for her first appearance, and Jennifer Hale replaced Costa for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Kingdom Hearts χ
Sixteen years later after cursing Aurora, Maleficent discovered Aurora living under the assumed name Briar Rose and arranged for her curse to take effect.

When the fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) took her back to her kingdom on her sixteenth birthday, the witch put her under a spell to prick her finger on a spindle and placed her in the tallest tower of the castle where she slumbered. At the same time, Prince Phillip was captured and taken to Maleficent's castle to keep the princess from ever awakening.

Between Kingdom Hearts χ and Dark Road
Aurora was born as the princess of Enchanted Dominion. At infancy, the evil fairy Maleficent laid a curse on the infant. The three good fairies bestowed the princess the gifts of beauty, singing voice, and a ray of hope. To keep her safe, she was renamed "Briar Rose" and relocated to the forest of her world with the three fairies caring for her.

Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
During their World Tour in preparation for their Mark of Mastery exam, the Keyblade wielders Vidar, Vala, Vali, Hoder, Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigurn visited the Enchanted Dominion, where they learned about the curse placed on Princess Aurora by Maleficent. The group question whether to help Aurora or to not interfere with the world's order, ultimately deciding to rest the night and ask Master Odin when they return. However, during the night, Hoder attempts to save Aurora by herself and confronts the evil fairy, resulting in her death at the hands of Maleficent's dragon form and Baldr's Darkness, with Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigurn following suit at their attempts to avenge Hoder.

Between Kingdom Hearts Dark Road and Birth by Sleep
Over the years, Aurora was raised by the three good fairies and eventually had dreams of Prince Phillip. On a chance meeting, Aurora encountered Prince Phillip outside of her dreams, and the two spent their day together. However, when Prince Phillip asked for her name, Aurora rushed away, telling him to meet her at her cottage in the glen.

Soon after this encounter, Aurora fell into deep slumber as a result of Maleficent's curse, and she was laid to sleep atop the castle's tower.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
When Terra arrives at the Enchanted Dominion and reaches the castle's tower, he meets Maleficent, who uses the darkness in his heart to temporarily take control of his body and forces him to take Aurora's heart. Her heart was kept in Maleficent's castle until Ventus comes to retrieve it with the three fairies. Although her heart returned, the curse is not broken. Prince Phillip eventually escapes with Aqua's aid and reaches the tower where he kisses Aurora and breaks the spell.

Some time after the battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, she and Prince Phillip are seen dancing in the audience chamber of the castle. Feeling disapproval over their respective colors, the two fairies, Flora and Merryweather, relentlessly change the color on her dress with magic.

Kingdom Hearts
Sometime years later, Aurora is captured once more and her world was devoured by the darkness.

Aurora's likeness is seen on one of the pillars in Sora's Dive to the Heart. She is depicted in a state of sleep, as Maleficent had already imprisoned and captured her.

She is first seen in Hollow Bastion when Maleficent attempts to open the Final Keyhole. Maleficent had placed Aurora in a standing glass case in the wall, alongside the other Princesses of Heart. Her heart leaves her when the Keyhole is partly opened, but is returned to her when Sora sacrifices his own heart to save her and the other Princesses, particularly Kairi. Upon awaking, Aurora stays in Hollow Bastion with the other five Princesses to keep the darkness from consuming the world. She also reveals Maleficent's origins to Sora. After Sora sealed the Keyhole, she and the other princesses remain in Hollow Bastion to protect it, along with the Beast, Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith.

When Sora finally seals Kingdom Hearts, Aurora is returned to the Enchanted Dominion.

Kingdom Hearts II
The DTD dataspace in Space Paranoids is sealed with a password composed of the seven Princesses' names: "Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella, Kairi".

Design
Aurora is a fair-skinned woman with indigo eyes and waist-length, curly, blonde hair. In Kingdom Hearts, Aurora's hair was a brighter shade of blonde.

As the princess, Aurora wears a long-sleeved, strapless and pleated sky-blue gown with a white collar, as well as a gold necklace and tiara crafted by her three fairy godmothers. The Station depicting Aurora in Sora's Dive to the Heart depicts Aurora in a black headband and a similar dress that has a purple midsection, violet arms, and a violet lower half.

As Briar Rose, Aurora is barefoot, and wears a three-quarter sleeved grey dress with a folded, white collar and a black corset, as well as a black headband.

Aurora does not appear to age throughout the ten years between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts.

As with several other characters, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX reused the Birth by Sleep character model for Aurora in its port of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.

Abilities
As a Princess of Heart, the purity of the light in her heart makes her immune to the darkness, to the point that she can not only brave locations like the Corridors of Darkness that would normally engulf a heart, but even sense and push back darkness that threatens to overwhelm others. Furthermore, when united with the other princesses, her heart is an essential ingredient in summoning the Keyblade of heart and opening the Final Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts.

In addition, she has the power to provide magical power to others, as shown when she provided a Fire element to Sora.

Origin
Aurora is inspired by the titular character of the classic fairy tale , written by Charles Perrault. While her inspiration was unnamed in the original tale, her real name, Aurora, comes from the ballet adaptation The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky, while her name under the fairies' care, "Briar Rose," stems from the Brothers Grimm retelling.

In the film, Aurora is the only child of King Stefan and Queen Leah. At infancy, Maleficent curses her so that, on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Thanks to the aid of the three good fairies, Aurora's curse is softened. Rather than die, Aurora would fall into a deep sleep, one which she could only be awoken from by "true love's kiss". To keep her safe, she is renamed Briar Rose and relocated to the forest of her world with the three fairies caring for her. On a chance meeting, Aurora encounters Prince Phillip, to whom she was betrothed (unbeknownst to her). Upon learning the truth about her parents, Aurora is led to the castle, where Maleficent leads her to the spindle, and when Aurora pricks her finger on it and falls asleep, the fairies place her in the tallest tower. However, Prince Phillip eventually defeats Maleficent and saves Aurora. The film ends with Aurora and Phillip dancing together.