The Story of Kingdom Hearts

[Sprow]

the story of K I N G D O M H E A R T S

Kingdom Hearts begins on Destiny Islands, where Sora, Riku and Kairi live. The three friends want to leave the islands to explore new worlds and have prepared a raft for this purpose. One night, the islands are attacked by darkness and shadow creatures. Sora seeks out his friends, finding Riku, who disappears into darkness. At the same time, Sora obtains the Keyblade. The islands are destroyed, and Sora is left adrift. Meanwhile, King Mickey Mouse has left his world to deal with the increasing darkness and left instructions for mage Donald Duck and knight Goofy to find the "key".


Donald and Goofy use a Gummi Ship to travel to Traverse Town, to where Sora has drifted. Sora encounters the shadow creatures again, and meets Leon, who explains the shadow creatures are Heartless, creatures that consume hearts, and that the Keyblade is the only weapon capable of defeating them. A man named Ansem, the leader of Leon's home world, is said to have studied the Heartless. Sora meets Donald and Goofy and the three decide to travel together: Donald and Goofy to find Mickey, and Sora to find Kairi and Riku. The three go to various worlds based on Disney films, finding that the Keyblade also locks "Keyholes", passages that the Heartless use to take the heart of a world. A group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent, seek out the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock the Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts, a repository of knowledge and power and the source of all hearts. This group includes Riku, whom Maleficent promises she will help in finding Kairi. Maleficent sows distrust in Riku, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for new friends and the Keyblade. An increasingly antagonistic Riku finds Kairi's body, but cannot find her heart.


Sora and his friends eventually arrive at Hollow Bastion, the homeworld of Ansem and the headquarters of Maleficent. Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora, claiming that he was simply the "delivery boy". Donald and Goofy, taking their order to follow the "key" seriously, leave with Riku. Sora challenges Riku, stating that his heart derives strength from his friends; his friends return to him, as does the Keyblade. Shamed, Riku meets a cloaked man who goads him to give into the darkness. The three engage and kill Maleficent but then meet a strangely-behaved Riku with a Keyblade that unlocks hearts. Sora finds Kairi's body and Riku, who reveals himself to be Ansem, possessing Riku's body. Ansem explains that Kairi is a Princess of Heart and that her heart was trapped within Sora's body since the Destiny Islands were destroyed. After defeating Ansem, Sora uses Ansem's Keyblade to unlock his heart, releasing both his and Kairi's heart. Kairi's heart returns to her body, in turn completing the final Keyhole, while Sora's heart becomes a Heartless. Sora is restored to human form by Kairi's heart and he resolves to follow Ansem.


Ansem is found in End of the World, the combined remnants of worlds taken by the Heartless. Ansem explains his belief that darkness is the heart's true essence, and he seeks Kingdom Hearts, as that would be the ultimate darkness. However, upon opening the door to Kingdom Hearts, it reveals its light, killing Ansem. Beyond the door are Mickey and Riku, and they help Sora and the others close the door, as there are many Heartless beyond it. Mickey and Sora use their Keyblades to lock the door. The worlds reconstruct themselves, separating Sora and Kairi. The game concludes as Sora, Donald, and Goofy resolve to find Riku and Mickey.

the story of K I N G D O M H E A R T S: C H A I N of M E M O R I E S

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories takes place directly after the ending of the first game, Kingdom Hearts. Sora and his friends Donald, Goofy and Jimminy Cricket are walking down a winding path, when a mysterious man dressed in a black, hooded coat appears. He directs Sora towards a massive fortress called Castle Oblivion and then disappears. When the travelers enter, they find the mysterious figure again. When Sora and his companions attempt to engage the figure, they find that their abilities seem to have no effect. The figure explains that they forgot all of their abilities when they entered the castle. He continues by creating a deck of cards made from Sora's and his friends' memories, and tells them that everything they encounter in this castle will be based on their memories. The higher they go, the more memories they will lose in the process.


Meanwhile, floors below, Riku has been transported from the realm of darkness and fights his personal demons as he battles upward from the basement levels of Castle Oblivion. Neither Riku nor Sora are aware that they are being manipulated by a mysterious group called the Organization. Marluxia, the Organization's lord of Castle Oblivion, hopes to control Sora with Namin?'s memory altering powers and use him to overthrow the rest of the Organization. Zexion and Lexaeus seek to counter Marluxia using Riku as their pawn. As Riku ascends Castle Oblivion, he, like Sora, encounters various members of the Organization. Vexen fights Riku to obtain his data and creates a replica of him. The replica embraces the darkness and believes himself to be stronger. After the Riku Replica battles Riku and flees, Vexen decides to use the Replica against Sora, after reworking the Replica's memory with Namin?'s powers.


As Sora ascends through the castle, he battles Larxene, a co-conspirator in Marluxia's plot. Afterwards, he remembers the name of a friend of his that he forgot: Namin?. He learns that she is being held in the castle, and continues to ascend, clashing with the Riku Replica who now believes himself to be the real Riku. After witnessing the death of Vexen, Sora learns about his shifting memories and Marluxia's plans from Namin?; Axel, another Organization member who serves as a double agent, had allowed Namin? to meet Sora to foil Marluxia's plans. Sora forms an alliance with the Riku Replica?who discovers that his memory was also altered by Namin??and they fight to the top of the castle and defeat Marluxia. Namin? then puts Sora and his friends into pod-like machines to help them regain the memories they lost in the castle, even though they would forget the events that transpired in the castle.


As this occurs above, Ansem, who took over Riku's body in the previous game, attempts to regain control of Riku below, but is continually thwarted with the intervention of King Mickey. On the way, Riku battles another Organization member named Lexaeus, who sacrifices himself to force Riku's darkness to the surface. Later, Riku confronts by Zexion, a manipulative Organization member now seeking to dispose of Riku, but Riku embraces his darkness and overcomes him. Arriving in Twilight Town, Riku meets DiZ, an enigmatic man interested in Riku and sends him to speak with Namin?, but the Riku Replica, who now seeks to justify his existence, fights Riku. After eliminating the Replica, Riku learns from Namin? that what remains of Ansem lives in his heart. Riku chooses to face him and DiZ pulls Ansem from Riku's heart to battle. After defeating Ansem, Riku learns that as long as he has darkness at his command, Ansem still resides within him. He sets out with King Mickey as his companion.

the story of K I N G D O M H E A R T S II

Kingdom Hearts II begins one year after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Sora, Donald and Goofy have been asleep for the past year to regain their lost memories. Meanwhile, Roxas is trapped in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town created by DiZ so that Roxas, the Nobody of Sora, may merge with his original self to restore Sora's power. This done as part of DiZ's revenge on Organization XIII. DiZ's plans are threatened when Organization XIII's Nobodies infiltrate the virtual town, but Roxas finally merges with Sora. Sora, Donald and Goofy wake up in the real Twilight Town and King Mickey Mouse and Yen Sid send them on another journey. Their goal is to find Riku and stop the plans of Organization XIII, who control the Nobodies?the body and soul left over when a heart is turned into a Heartless. Sora also receives a new set of clothes that allow him to fuse with party members to gain special abilities, known as Drive Form. Afterwards, Maleficent is resurrected and joins with Pete to continue her quest for power.


Sora travels to many Disney-themed worlds, both old and new, and resolves the troubles caused by Organization XIII, the Heartless, Maleficent and Pete, and local villains. Meanwhile, Kairi is kidnapped by Organization XIII. During a visit to Hollow Bastion, they again meet King Mickey, who reveals the true nature of Ansem, the antagonist of Kingdom Hearts. The Ansem who Sora defeated was actually the Heartless of Xehanort, a student of Ansem the Wise. Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, reveals himself to be the Nobody of Xehanort. Organization XIII's plan is revealed: they seek the power of Kingdom Hearts, which is the sum of all the hearts that Sora released by destroying the Heartless with his Keyblade. Sora then revisits the worlds to solve lingering problems and new complications, while seeking a path to Organization XIII's base of operations.


Through a passageway in the virtual Twilight Town, Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive at the World That Never Was, the headquarters of Organization XIII, with Kingdom Hearts looming overhead. There, Sora finds Kairi and Riku, who reveals the nature of Sora's and Roxas' relationship. Mickey meets DiZ, who reveals himself to be Ansem the Wise. Ansem the Wise uses a device that dissipates some of Kingdom Hearts' power, but a system overload causes the machine to explode and kill Ansem. At the top of Organization XIII's castle, Sora and his friends battle Xemnas, who uses the remnants of Kingdom Hearts to power his multiple forms. After Xemnas' defeat, Sora and Riku are reunited with their friends at Destiny Islands, their home. The game concludes as Sora, Kairi and Riku read a mysterious letter stamped with King Mickey's seal.

the story of 3 5 8 / 2 D A Y S

Unlike most Nobodies, the newly born Roxas lacks knowledge of his past life as his original self, Sora, had been restored to his original form, but grows a personality as time passes. Roxas is first discovered in Twilight Town by Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, and recruited as its thirteenth member. Each day, Roxas is sent on missions to other worlds, alone or accompanied by a fellow member, to destroy vast quantities of Heartless with his Keyblade and release stolen hearts, learning that his actions will further the Organization's ultimate goal to summon Kingdom Hearts and allow them to become complete beings.


Over his first few days in the Organization, Roxas is placed under the mentorship of the member Axel. The two end up becoming close friends and meet up with each other at the Twilight Town clock tower each day after missions to eat sea-salt ice cream together and talk about what's on their minds. One day, Axel is stationed at Castle Oblivion along with a group of other members, leaving Roxas to be partnered with a girl named Xion, the Organization's fourteenth member who was inducted shortly after Roxas and, like Roxas, has no memory of her past and has the power to wield the Keyblade. Xion begins to open up to Roxas, who suggests that she becomes friends with him and Axel once he returns. However, Roxas soon falls into a coma and does not revive until several weeks later.


As DiZ and Namin? watch over Sora while he sleeps to restore his altered memory after the events of Chain of Memories, Roxas begins to experience the process for himself, growing increasingly curious about why he can wield the Keyblade. In addition, he learns that all of the Organization members stationed at Castle Oblivion have been annihilated. Roxas is saddened by his friends' disappearance, but Axel soon reappears. However, Xion has mysteriously lost her ability to use the Keyblade. Roxas and Axel cover for Xion until she finally remembers how to summon the Keyblade via retraining, and the three become close friends.


Later, Xion is thrown into disarray over the nature of her existence after battling and losing to Riku, who is working behind the scenes dressed as an Organization member, and distances herself from her friends to learn more about herself. She eventually discovers that she is not a Nobody, but an imperfect replica of Sora created from his scattered memories by Xemnas, who plans to use her and Roxas as alternatives, in case Sora proves useless to their cause. Furthermore, Namin?'s attempts to restore Sora's memories affect not only Roxas, but Xion as well, preventing Sora from regaining his memories. Torn between staying with her friends and merging with Sora as per Riku's advice, Xion eventually decides to make the decision best for everyone and attempts to escape from the Organization, particularly when her powers begin to increase dramatically while Roxas inversely grows weaker. However, she is forced to fight off her friends, who are ordered to track her down whenever she escapes. Understanding the situation, Axel eventually allows Xion to escape, but loses Roxas's trust. Upon learning the truth about Xion from Xemnas, Roxas begins to doubt the Organization's motives and his own identity. Finally frustrated with his unanswered questions, Roxas leaves Organization XIII, leaving Axel dejected.


At Twilight Town, Roxas is attacked by Xion, who reveals that she had been created by Xemnas to absorb Roxas and become the "real" Sora. However, after a grueling battle, Xion allows Roxas to defeat her and requests that he release Kingdom Hearts and put an end to Xemnas's plan before her body dissipates and return to Sora, causing everyone's memories of her to slowly vanish. While heading back to do so, hoping to revive Xion and renew his friendship with her and Axel, Roxas encounters and battles Riku, who was dispatched by DiZ to capture him. When Riku is defeated, he taps into the suppressed darkness in his heart, granting him the power necessary to subdue Roxas, but also giving him the body of Ansem, who resides in his heart. Riku subsequently brings Roxas to DiZ, who inserts Roxas into a virtual simulation of Twilight Town without any of his Organization memories so that Roxas may eventually merge with Sora and complete the restoration of his memories, setting the stage for Kingdom Hearts II.

the story of B I R T H BY S L E E P

The story begins in the Land of Departure, where a trio of friends and Keyblade wielders?Terra, Aqua, and Ventus (Ven for short)?train under the Keyblade Master Eraqus to become Keyblade Masters themselves. Terra and Aqua take an exam to achieve the Mark of Mastery, but only Aqua passes while Terra fails due to the darkness in his heart. Shortly after the test, Master Xehanort disappears, and a horde of mysterious creatures called the Unversed begin to appear throughout the worlds. Eraqus learns from the sorcerer Yen Sid that the Princesses of Heart are in danger from the Unversed, and orders Terra and Aqua to destroy the Unversed and find Xehanort. Ven is driven into following Terra against Eraqus' wishes by Vanitas, Xehanort's apprentice, and Aqua is sent to watch over Terra and bring Ven back to the Land of Departure.
Upon arriving in several worlds, Terra, Aqua, and Ven encounter various Disney characters, fighting off many Unversed along the way. Among the characters they meet is Mickey Mouse, the apprentice of Yen Sid, who is also on a mission to destroy the Unversed, albeit against Yen Sid's wishes. Terra ends up attracting the attention of several Disney villains, who offer him the whereabouts of Xehanort in exchange for assistance in their own agendas. Upon finding Xehanort, Terra is instructed by him to destroy Vanitas, as he is revealed to be the Unversed's source. The three briefly reunite at Radiant Garden where Aqua and Ven confront Terra about his actions, but he leaves to continue Xehanort's mission.


Ven comes across Xehanort, who reveals his intentions to use Ven's heart and fuse it with his other half, Vanitas' heart to create a final Keyblade known as the χ-blade. He sends him to the Land of Departure to confront Eraqus, saying he knows the truth about him. Eraqus tries to kill Ven to prevent Xehanort's plans from succeeding, but Terra, who was also sent to the Land of Departure by Xehanort, faces Eraqus to protect Ven. Upon his defeat, Eraqus is vanquished by Xehanort, who covers the Land of Departure in darkness and tells Terra to go to a world known as the Keyblade Graveyard, threatening him about his friends' fates. Ven is similarly instructed to do the same by Vanitas, as is Aqua by Yen Sid after he informs her of Eraqus' death.
Terra, Aqua, and Ventus gather at the Keyblade Graveyard, where Xehanort appears with Vanitas and reveals his plan to use the χ-blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts and unleash the secrets of the Keyblade War onto the various worlds. In the following battle, Xehanort takes over Terra's body as his heart is swallowed by darkness, but Terra's will remains within his discarded suit of armor, which comes to life as the Lingering Sentiment and defeats Xehanort. Meanwhile, Ventus is forced to fuse with Vanitas to create the χ-blade and battles Aqua alongside Mickey while the real Ven engages Vanitas in a metaphysical battle within his mind. Aqua shatters the χ-blade as Ven destroys Vanitas from within, though Ven's heart is sent into a deep sleep as a result.


Upon learning that Ven will not awaken, Aqua brings his body to the ruins of Land of Departure, where she seals the world's keyhole and transforms it into Castle Oblivion to ensure Ven will not be disturbed. Aqua then goes to Radiant Garden, where she fights Xehanort, who still possesses Terra's body. The battle rages until Terra's presence manifests, resulting in Xehanort unlocking his own heart and falling into the Realm of Darkness. Aqua saves Terra but becomes trapped in the Realm of Darkness in the process. Xehanort, who has lost his memories, is discovered and taken in by Ansem the Wise, ruler of Radiant Garden, as his apprentice. Ven's heart then reconnects to young Sora's and is able to rest within his heart. In the game's secret ending, which takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, Aqua comes across Ansem the Wise in the Realm of Darkness and learns from him about Sora, who has the power to save those connected to his heart, including Terra, Ventus, and Aqua herself. Sora, having learned of their fates from King Mickey, decides to undertake another quest in order to find and save them.

the story of D R E A M D R O P D I S T A N C E

Following the destruction of Ansem and Xemnas at the hands of Sora and Riku, Xehanort is revived. In response, Yen Sid puts Sora and Riku through a Mark of Mastery exam in order for them to become full-fledged Keyblade Masters and counter the coming return of Master Xehanort. As part of this trial, the two are separated from each other and sent to worlds previously destroyed by the Heartless that have since been restored, though now in a state of "deep sleep" that disconnects them from the other worlds.


These seven worlds are plagued by Dream Eaters ? creatures born from darkness that seek out the sleeping worlds' Keyholes. Sora and Riku's given task is to reawaken the sleeping worlds by unlocking the seven Keyholes they find there and then return to the realm of light, recruiting benevolent "Spirit" Dream Eaters to guide them and battle the malevolent "Nightmare" Dream Eaters, after which they will be deemed Keyblade Masters.


During the exam, Sora and Riku cross paths with the resurrected "Ansem" and Xemnas, as well as a younger incarnation of Master Xehanort from an alternate past. The three bring Sora to the World That Never Was, where he learns of Organization XIII's true purpose?to serve as vessels for Master Xehanort to place pieces of his heart inside, thereby transforming them into clones of Xehanort. Sora is forced into a comatose state by the young Xehanort and his heart is swallowed by darkness, though it is protected by Ventus's suit of armor residing within him


Riku goes to rescue Sora, only to be confronted by the young Xehanort, who unveils a new Organization XIII comprised of the newly revived Master Xehanort and his eleven vessels, whom Xehanort plans to pit against seven Keyblade wielders and recreate the χ-blade. Master Xehanort tries to turn Sora into his last needed vessel, but Sora is rescued by Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Lea?the revived human form of the original Organization's Axel?after which Xehanort and his other vessels retreat.


Sora's body is brought back to Yen Sid's tower, where Riku enters his body and releases Sora's heart from Ventus' armor, now possessed by a Nightmare. After Sora reawakens, only Riku is declared a Keyblade Master by Yen Sid, and Lea reveals himself to have become a Keyblade wielder. Undaunted by his failure, Sora embarks on a new journey by himself to train. While Sora travels to Traverse Town in order to meet all his Dream Eater friends, Ventus is shown still being at Castle Oblivion, but suddenly starts smiling a bit. The game's secret ending shows Yen Sid planning to gather seven Keyblade wielders to combat the new Organization and prevent Xehanort from bringing about another Keyblade War. To this end, Yen Sid has Riku bring Kairi to him so she can be trained to wield the Keyblade she received from Riku in Kingdom Hearts II.


Credit goes to Wikipedia for the information on Kingdom Hearts. If you want any further information, please visit wikipedia or the KH wiki.