Sora: Difference between revisions

Although Square Enix originally wanted [[Mickey Mouse]] to be the main protagonist of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, and Disney wanted Donald Duck as the protagonist, the role was eventually set as Sora, because [[Tetsuya Nomura]] wanted a human protagonist. Early on, Sora was designed as a young lion/human hybrid, wielding a chainsaw-like weapon with a lion's head Keychain. The merging of Sora's design with elements from Square's proposal is referenced by his original costume, which shares many elements with Mickey's. Sora's final design in the first ''Kingdom Hearts'' has a color scheme that evokes Mickey's, seen as their white gloves, red shorts, and yellow shoes.

During Roxas's six days in [[The Other Twilight Town]], Sora's restoration picks up dramatically, causing Roxas to dream every night and to black out randomly during the day. Late in the first day, Sora subconsciously reaches out to Roxas, and on the fourth day, he speaks to Kairi when Roxas accidentally connects with her. Roxas finally sees Sora on the sixth day, when he finds the pods in the simulated Mansion's basement.

After sleeping for most of a year, Sora, Donald, and Goofy awaken in the basement of the real Old Mansion with their memories from before Castle Oblivion restored. They leave and explore Twilight Town, with Sora feeling a strange familiarity with the town. They meet [[Hayner]], [[Pence]], and [[Olette]], who claim to have seen Mickey near the Train Station. They are ambushed at the station by [[Dusk]]s, but they are saved by Mickey, who dispatches the creatures and directs them to board a specific train. Hayner, Pence, and Olette arrive to see Sora off, and Sora is briefly overcome by emotion.

The trio resume their travels across the worlds, hoping to find a way to Organization XIII's headquarters, and despite Sora's worries about using the Keyblade, they continue taking out the Heartless and Nobodies the Organization has released into the worlds. They also counter a number of Organization members' plots, eliminating [[Xaldin]] along the way. Eventually, they return to Twilight Town, where they find Hayner, Pence, and Olette at the Old Mansion, looking for clues leading to an alternate Twilight Town. They are ambushed by Nobodies, but Mickey arrives to assist. They enter the mansion and use the basement computer to enter The Other Twilight Town's mansion, where they find [[Twilight Town#Betwixt and Between|a passageway]]. They are ambushed within by a horde of Nobodies, but Axel arrives to help, and he sacrifices himself to wipe out the enemies. As he lays fading away, Axel apologizes for kidnapping Kairi and opens a portal to the Organization's world, [[The World That Never Was]].

As Sora is determined to find Roxas, his conversation is cut short by Nobodies and hordes of Heartless. After saving Hayner, Pence, and Olette, Sora and friends explain to them the digital version of Twilight Town, where the data versions of themselves befriended Roxas. In the Old Mansion, Sora initially plans to use The Other Twilight Town to bring back Roxas, however after being pressured by Xemnas and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Sora chooses to restore Roxas into the real Twilight Town. As he converses with Riku regarding the [[Replica|replica program]], Sora learns that Roxas can only be resurrected by making a vessel for him to live.

When only Xehanort remains, he provokes Sora into attacking him by destroying Kairi's body, allowing Xehanort to acquire the [[χ-blade]] and summon Kingdom Hearts. Using Xehanort's power of time travel against him, Sora, Donald, and Goofy transport him to his boyhood training grounds of [[Scala ad Caelum]], where they defeat him. After the other Keyblade wielders rejoin the trio, [[Eraqus]]'s spirit emerges from Terra's heart and convinces Xehanort to surrender. Xehanort and Eraqus depart together to Kingdom Hearts, while Sora and his friends use the χ-blade to close Kingdom Hearts and return to their own time.

Sora's birthday can be considered to be March 28, which is the out-of-universe date when ''Kingdom Hearts'' was first released.<ref>[https://www.khinsider.com/news/New-KINGDOM-HEARTS-3-info-from-SE-Cafe-Osaka-Preview-Night-10468 '''''Square Enix Cafe Osaka Preview Night'''''], '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' "Like other Disney characters, you can consider Sora's birthday to be the day of his screen debut (March 28)."</ref> Sora is four years old during the events of ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', fourteen during ''Kingdom Hearts'' through ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'', and fifteen during the events of ''Kingdom Hearts II'' and ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''.<!--Kingdom Hearts Memorial Ultimania: https://imgur.com/Eivoae3--> A year after the events of ''Kingdom Hearts III'' and following his disappearance from the World, Sora is currently sixteen.  

In ''Kingdom Hearts'', he initially puts Riku and Kairi above all else; when telling [[Tarzan]] which friends he is missing, he starts to mention Donald and Goofy, but stops himself and instead says he is looking for Kairi and Riku. However, he starts to see the other friends he's made as just as important, eventually telling Hercules that the strength of his heart comes from Donald and Goofy. His initial mindset is seen again in ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'', as when his memories are altered during the ascent of [[Castle Oblivion]], he begins putting [[Naminé]] above all else and briefly argues with Donald and Goofy, leaving them behind before they save him from Larxene. By ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he puts Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy on an equal level. A prominent example of this is when Goofy is apparently fatally injured after getting hit in the head by a rock to protect King Mickey during the Battle of Hollow Bastion; Sora is clearly traumatized by Goofy's apparent death, refusing to believe that he is dead. He highly cherishes his friends and believes his friendships give him strength. In ''Kingdom Hearts III'', he breaks down in tears after his friends are taken by the [[Demon Tide]], declaring that he is worth nothing without his friends, though Riku provides him with encouragement to press forward to save them.

Sora is capable of wielding two Keyblades at one time, through the [[Synch Blade]] ability, due to his possessing Ventus's heart within his own.<ref name=SoraDual>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''', p. 617; '''Interviewer:''' "Why can Roxas dual-wield?" / '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' "Sora can wield two Keyblades at once because he has Ventus's as well as his own. As Roxas is a part of Sora, he also can use two. In ''Days'', Roxas awakened his ability to dual wield after fighting Xion. In ''KHII'', once Sora absorbs him, he can also dual-wield." [https://www.khinsider.com/news/BBS-Ultimania-20-Mysteries-Solved-2546 Translation via Lissar].</ref> He temporarily loses this power when Roxas is born, as Ven's heart remains within his physical body.<ref>[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania|'''''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' Ultimania''']], '''Interviewer:''' "Is it possible that Roxas has a heart?" / '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' "It is thought that it could be Ventus’ heart... As was said in Q1, he has taken a lot of himself from Ventus. But perhaps when Sora and Roxas were separated, Ventus’ heart stayed in Roxas?" [https://www.khinsider.com/news/BBS-Ultimania-20-Mysteries-Solved-2546 Translation via Lissar].</ref> The ability returns once Roxas is absorbed by Sora at the beginning of ''Kingdom Hearts II''.<ref name= SoraDual /> While using [[Drive Form]]s, he can summon the second Keyblade himself, but he can also wield someone else's Keyblade, such as when Riku lends Sora his [[Way to the Dawn]] during their final battle with Xemnas. During his fight with Roxas, Sora can steal Roxas's [[Oathkeeper & Oblivion|Keyblades]] and use them telekinetically, in conjunction with his own Keyblade.

While in [[The Caribbean]] and during the boss fight with Xehanort in Scala ad Caelum, Sora can become submerged underwater, wherein his movement and combat abilities are altered to suit the new environment. Sora can freely ascend and descend as well as performing dodges and increasing his swimming speed by propelling himself forward, and he gains a new combo set as well as new sea-based styles for his magic. While in The Caribbean, Sora can emerge from the underwater state by ascending to the surface, and likewise can enter the underwater state by using the "Dive" option while swimming. Sora cannot use Links while underwater.

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Vertical Wave'''|バーティカルウェーブ|<br>Bātikaru Wēbu}}|att|Physical|0.6 per hit|0|0|1 per hit|X|—|—|Sora performs a downwards flipping slash, unleashing a short-ranged shockwave.}}

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Pulse Wave'''|パルスウェーブ|<br>Parusu Wēbu}}|att|Physical|0.2 per hit|0|0|0.2 per hit|X|—|—|Sora thrusts forwards three times, spawning bubbles that home in on targets.}}

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Reverse Jet'''|リバースジェット|<br>Ribāsu Jetto}}|att|Physical|0.5 per hit|0|1 per hit|0.4 per hit|X|—|—|Combo finisher. Sora spins the Keyblade like a propeller, generating a burst of wind.}}

In ''[[Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind]]'', Sora can appear as a party member if the player chooses to play as Riku, Aqua, Roxas, or Kairi during the Re Mind scenario. Sora retains much of his original moveset for his basic combo and can support the player character with [[Curaga]].