Universe of Kingdom Hearts: Difference between revisions

The {{nihongo|'''Realm of Light'''|光の世界|Hikari no Sekai}} is a Plane of Existence made up mostly of [[light]] and makes up almost half of the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' universe, similar to the Realm of Darkness. Like the Realm of Darkness, the Realm of Light has a [[Keyblade]], notably the [[Kingdom Key]], which chose [[Sora]] as its wielder. Most of the game's worlds are found here, save for those in the Realm of In Between, like [[Twilight Town]], [[Castle Oblivion]], and [[The World That Never Was]]. It can be presumed that most of the Worlds accessible by the [[Gummi Ship]] are either within the Realm of Light, or are related to it, like Twilight Town.

The door leading to the Realm of Light is called the '''Door to Light'''. It's opposite counterpart is the [[Door To Darkness]]. It was the door Sora and Riku went through while they were stuck in the Realm of Darkness. It is not sure what caused the door to appear, one reason could be, as Riku pointed out at the end of the game was the light within Sora's Heart which was brought out by [[Kairi's Letter]].

The {{nihongo|'''Realm of Darkness'''|闇の世界|Yami no Sekai}} is a Plane of Existence made up of [[Darkness]] in people in every world. As with the Realm of Light, this realm has a [[Keyblade]] which chose [[King Mickey]] as its wielder. [[Kingdom Hearts (Combined Heart)|Kingdom Hearts]] is found here. This is also the home of all the Heartless, as this is where the most powerful ones can be found. Sora fought [[Xehanort's Heartless]] in [[Kingdom Hearts]].  

Sora, Donald, Goofy visit the Realm of Darkness after being saved from [[Saïx]] by [[Maleficent]] in [[Hollow Bastion]],  where they encounter a man in a black cloak, later revealed to be Riku. Riku leaves a box with a picture of [[Hayner]], [[Pence]], [[Olette]], and [[Roxas]] and a bar of [[sea-salt ice cream]]. In this same realm, the Keyblade reacts to the ice-cream and Sora opens a pathway. This is the first time that Sora, Donald, and Goofy are able to make their way to the Realm of Darkness in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''.

It reappears in the end of ''Kingdom Hearts II''. After defeating [[Xemnas]], [[Riku]] and Sora end up on the Dark Meridian. Suddenly, after Sora reads a [[Kairi's Letter|letter from Kairi]], a [[Door To Light|door]] appears leading them to [[Destiny Islands]]. In ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'', Roxas converses with Xemnas at the Dark Meridian.

According to '''[[Director's Secret Report XIII|Another Report]]''', Nomura states that the Dark Meridian is "the tip of a world", i.e. the boundary between Darkness and In Between. Sora and Riku were on the coast of the side of In Between, and were looking over the sea in the Realm of Darkness. Having said thus, the Door to Light which appeared in the ending scene is reminiscent of a quote which recurs in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, albeit in different words: "Deep in the Darkness, there is Light".

The '''Realm of In Between''' (or the '''Realm of Twilight''') is the third Plane of Existence in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts series]]'', and lies between the Realm of Light and Realm of Darkness.

Thus far the only known Worlds to exist in this plane are: [[Traverse Town]], [[Castle Oblivion]], [[Twilight Town]] and [[The World that Never Was]]. Each world tied closer to the Realm of Light or the Realm of Darkness, with the exception of Twilight Town, which exists exactly in the middle. [[Yen Sid's Tower]] also exists in this Realm.

The '''Realm of Nothingness''' is the fourth Plane of Existence. Nothing exists here and if one stays in there for too long, they will cease to exist. The only way to survive here is to remember your past.

==Worlds==

 

 

 

There are over twenty worlds that have appeared in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series so far.  Most of them are based on [[wikipedia:The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]'s animated features and contain locations and characters from or inspired by the films.  As a result, worlds are greatly varied in appearance, style, and nature, as their sources range from the oldest cartoons created by Disney to more current movies in the Disney canon.  The oldest source is the 1928 cartoon "[[wikipedia:Steamboat Willie|Steamboat Willie]]", used as a basis for [[Timeless River]], while the most recent inspiration for a world from Disney's animated features is 1999's ''[[wikipedia:Tarzan (1999 film)|Tarzan]]'', the source for [[Deep Jungle]].  In ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', two live-action films, ''[[wikipedia:Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl|Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Tron (film)|Tron]]'' served as the foundation for the worlds [[Port Royal]] and [[Space Paranoids]].

 

In addition to the Disney-based worlds, eight worlds are exclusives that were created by game developers [[wikipedia:Square-Enix|Square-Enix]] just for the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series.  They are not part of the Disney film canon, nor Square-Enix's games canon, but do tend to be populated with Square-Enix characters, especially from the ''[[w:c:finalfantasy:Main_Page|Final Fantasy]]'' series, as well as the occasional Disney character or original characters created just for ''Kingdom Hearts''.

 

===World party members===

 

 

''Kingdom Hearts II'' increased the number of worlds with party characters to nine, putting a party member in almost every Disney-based world. Three characters from ''Kingdom Hearts'' returned for battle: [[Aladdin]], [[Jack Skellington]], and [[Beast]], although Beast was moved from Hollow Bastion to his own world. [[Ariel]] reappeared in Atlantica, but no longer as a party character, [[Peter Pan]] became a [[Summon]], and [[Simba]] became a party member. Also the game added two party members with the same name as another; Jack Skellington and [[Jack Sparrow]]. This is rectified for gameplay that Sora refers to Jack Sparrow as Captain. To make the world-based party members more useful, special attacks were developed for each character that Sora could call on in the heat of battle. ''Kingdom Hearts II'' also included the first ''Final Fantasy'' party character, [[Auron]], and allowed Sora to fight alongside his best friend, [[Riku]].

 

 

 

 

 

In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', many stars disappeared. In [[Mickey's Letter|Mickey's letter to Donald]] (before Destiny Islands is attacked by the Heartless), [[King Mickey|Mickey]] mentions the fact that the stars have been disappearing, one by one, and so he went to find out why. When [[Donald Duck|Donald]] and [[Goofy]] first arrived at [[Traverse Town]], they discovered a star corresponding [[Destiny Islands]] fade out of existence. They were restored after [[Sora]] and his friends stopped [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem]]'s plan to plunge the world into darkness.

Travel between the worlds is normally impossible. The worlds are all protected by dimensional barriers that prevent outsiders from entering for the most part. However, these barriers can be broken, resulting in a meteor shower in that world.

 

In ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', [[Sora]], [[Donald]], and [[Goofy]] use the [[Gummi Ship]] to travel between worlds on the World Map, an event that serves as a mini-game between areas.  Some worlds require certain special [[Gummi Blocks]] to access; for example, a special Navigation Gummi must be installed by [[Cid]] to unlock a second set of worlds in ''Kingdom Hearts''. Once they reach them, the party can enter and then depart each world through its [[Save Point]]s.

 

Three worlds can only be accessed by entering through other worlds and do not directly require use of a Gummi Ship:

*[[100 Acre Wood]] via Pooh's book in [[Traverse Town]] (''Kingdom Hearts'') and [[Hollow Bastion]] (''Kingdom Hearts II'').

 

 

* Utilizing the Corridors of Darkness; this is a faster means of travel than the Gummi Ships, but those who use them are at great risk of being destroyed by the darkness.

* Teleportation; [[Merlin]] was able to teleport himself, Sora, Donald, and Goofy from [[Hollow Bastion]] to [[Disney Castle]].

 

According to the story told by [[Kairi]]'s grandmother in the Hollow Bastion's Library, long ago there was one single world, that was constantly bathed in the warmth of [[Light]]. When people began to fight over the Light within their world, [[Darkness]] appeared in their hearts, and the world was consumed. However, fragments of light remained within the hearts of children. From this light, children were able to rebuild the lost world. But darkness still existed, that's why the worlds are separate from each other, divided, waiting for the true light to return. (It should be noted that this story is considered to be a fairy-tale, and should not be considered an accurate account of history).

 

Prior to ''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'', the worlds were surrounded by barriers, to prevent outside interference, making it impossible for different worlds to have contact. The arrival of the [[Heartless]] caused the barriers between the worlds to crumble and disappear, and some worlds were even consumed by the Heartless.  [[Gummi Blocks]] are actually pieces of these broken barriers.  The metaphysics of this prior to ''Kingdom Hearts'' is unknown, but will probably be revealed in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]''.