Monday, April 9, 2018

Character Analysis:Sora


In case you were wondering

I think it's best to completely disregard gameplay mechanics like needing AP points to equip a certain number skills, as well as certain machinations in regards to magic use, and what certain “abilities” are categorized from game to game. From what I can tell the combat system of each KH game changes fairly significantly in some regards between installments and trying to reconcile the differences would be way more trouble than it’s worth.

I'm also not going to bother caring about which abilities Sora knows or has forgotten from game to game. He’s “lost” all of his abilities about 4 times now(castle oblivion erased his memories in COM, his year long sleep before Kh2 erased his abilities, Yen sid made him forget his abilities to relearn them again in DDD, and the ending events of DDD were revealed to have sent him back to square once again in 0.2).It’s pretty commonplace, and a blatant plot contrivance designed to justify the player having to start from level 1 in each game. Even if you did take it into account, at maximum level and potential Sora almost always has the exact same, or similar movesets with a few added abilities depending on what mechanics a new game wanted to introduce.

-Sora forgetting his abilities at the start of COM:https://youtu.be/2IEXi05h32k?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh6SsgPLH6uXx2I36M-xJ_ow&t=156

-Sora in 2 explicitly wakes up without his abilities from the first game.

-Yen sid telling sora he needs to https://youtu.be/X6PoNmPznqM?t=535

-Yen sid basically saying he forgot his abilities from DDD in 0.2 https://youtu.be/_6Vbftm4GxE?t=3290

That being said I tried to organize abilities like they where in DDD for the most part, because that’s what made the most sense to me from a cursory respective.

Also I couldn't be bothered to find pics of Sora performing all his moves, so don't be surprised if you see another character in place of him.

Kingdom Hearts lore for dummies

This video is actually a surprisingly decent recap of all the events in the series. It’s about 3 minutes long https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNF4sr9pHTg

Game trailers actually released a series of in depth explanations about the series, including a longer 50 minute series recap along with explanations on Sora’s connections to other characters, the main villain, time travel, and background lore



Amazing sombody translated some of the KH world guide. This has the definitions on concepts from the franchise(this includes the keyblade, what heartless and nobodies are, ect) http://kh13.com/news/information-from-the-kingdom-hearts-series-memorial-ultimania-translated

This is a direct interview witht the series creator, where he talks about some world building aspects of the series https://www.khwiki.com/Director%27s_Secret_Report_XIII#Part_1_-_ABOUT_THE_WORLD_OF_KINGDOM_HEARTS

A person on reddit explaining the concept of time travel in KH https://www.reddit.com/r/KingdomHearts/comments/43e66o/time_travel_explained/

The kingdom hearts 2 manga apparently was never fully translated. Lukily I found a site with the raws for the final few chapters http://hyperion2009.tumblr.com/post/134248759768/kh2-chapters-66-67-68-69-raws-i-need-to-take

Kingdom hearts has various hidden “reports” written by characters knowledgeable on the world mechanics and lore. 

A detailed written synopsis of each game, and a general timeline, here and here.

Background

Age: 16 years old by the time the events of Dream Drop Distance occur.

Height: Many fanboys argue over Sora’s actual height due to the heights of characters in Kingdom Hearts being pretty bullshit. However, Sora’s standard Kingdom Key has been stated to be 3.5 feet in length. So, factoring out the spiky hair in the original Kingdom Hearts character artwork, and doing some simple cross multiplication shows Sora should be a little over 5 feet tall in Kingdom Hearts (5.2431 feet to be specific). He’s stated to have grown a few inches during his time sleeping prior to Kingdom hearts II as well.

Though I will note Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud is supposed to be 5’7, yet is clearly WAY more than 7 or so inches taller than Sora. Even in Kingdom Hearts II where he’s gone through his growth spurt he still looks like a midget alongside Squall who is between 5’8 and 5’10. The problem occurs if you compare him to the characters who inhabit the Pirates of the Caribbean world as well, who can be presumed to be comparable in size to their real-life actors. For example: Orlando Bloom is 5’11, yet Sora doesn’t even reach up to Will Turner’s shoulders even when factoring in his spiky hair. Based off this it’s likely he’s under 5 feet tall.

Sora was born and raised on the Destiny Islands alongside his friend and rival Riku, who he regularly competed against, be it in sword sparring sessions or foot races. At age 4 he encountered Terra and later Aqua, 2 of the protagonists to Birth by Sleep, where he promised to Aqua he’d protect Riku if he ever fell into darkness. The 3rd protagonist to Birth by Sleep, Ventus, would have his lost heart fused to Sora’s by the end of the game.

A year later Kairi moved to Destiny Islands, and became friends with Sora and Riku. Having grown curious of what ‘other worlds’ are out there, the 3 decided to build a raft to take them off the Destiny Islands and see new places. Unfortunately, a storm hit and The Heartless (embodiments of the darkness in people’s heart) invaded the island before they could do this. It was at this point that Sora first gained access to his Keyblade, fought through some Heartless and Darkside, and eventually was transported to a new world, Traverse Town.

There he met Donald and Goofy, and his true adventure to find Kairi, help Donald and Goofy find their king (Mickey), seal the Keyholes to each remaining world, which would in effect prevent more Heartless from arising, free Riku from the darkness that controls him, defeat Maleficent and an ensemble of other Disney villains, and finally Ansem, The Seeker of Darkness began.

His memories were then altered, but eventually returned to their original state by the witch, Namine, who he saved from Marluxia, the lord of Castle Oblivion, in Chain of Memories. By the start of Kingdom Hearts 2 Sora awakened from the memory pod he was put into at the end of Chain of Memories where he faced the Heartless and newly revived ensemble cast of Disney villains again, as well as a new threat, Organization XIII. Finally comes the newest game Sora has played a significant role in, Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, where Sora was tasked with becoming a full-fledged Keyblade Master by completing the Mark of Mastery exam, and ventured into a Dream World to once again visit a multitude of Disney universes, and fight Dream Eaters.

Ultimately Riku was named a Keyblade Master instead of him, but Sora didn’t necessarily ‘fail’ the exam. In the end he returned to Traverse Town to train and improve his abilities. In 0.2 he started to prepare for the final showdown with xehanort and recusing various maligned characters over the years.

Arsenal
Keyblade
A mystical weapon of great magical power. It’s been used throughout generations by various masters and warriors. It’s Sora’s preferred melee weapon

There are 3 types of Keyblades: Light, Darkness, and Heart. Sora’s specifically is Light. The blade initially chose Riku as its user, but upon seeing the darkness in Riku’s heart went with Sora instead. The Keyblade can appear in Sora’s hand whenever he wishes it to, even if it has been knocked away from him, can only be wielded by whoever it chose to be wielded by (in this case Sora), grants him new abilities as he uses it and grows stronger (I.E levels up), has shown that it can hit back some small projectiles such as shots fired by Xigbar's weird Needler-looking gun, beams fired by the World of Chaos, ice fired by the Ice Titan, ETC, and can open and close just about anything locked. The most notable of those things being locked chests, and the ‘Keyholes’ of various worlds.

-Sora first getting the keyblade in KH https://youtu.be/Wdrw71_xSEE?t=3394
-sealing the keyhole in wonderland in KH https://youtu.be/BEYErSu9RXA?t=6310
-Sora can also use the beams of light shot from his keyblade as an attack in KH2 https://youtu.be/_vocDalCY8c?t=1627

-Sora forcing the keyblade back into his possession from Riku in KH https://youtu.be/Ctv3yTUmQuc?t=1469
-Bringing the keyblade back to him after Roxas pins it down in place in KH2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G13Bv0-aZJY&feature=youtu.be&t=3h27m57s

-Reflecting some energy arrows from the character xigbar in KH https://youtu.be/_KCqLfGquPE?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1009
-Reflecting energy blast from drones sent out by the lingering will in KH2 https://youtu.be/feoIOM3PWQc?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=362

It’s stated they were forged by man during the age of fairy tales and any non-light agent cannot withstand it. This along with their effectiveness in slaying Heartless makes it clear the Keyblade has evil-slaying properties similar to a traditional holy weapon. A lot of people like to joke about it being a blunt beating stick and not a sword, but appearances can be deceiving. It’s very clear the Keyblade has some cutting power behind it seeing as how Sora can cut through skyscrapers and a Hydra head using the weapon.

-It's apparently also effective against the undead in KH2 from example https://youtu.be/9R-JZYLOVQg?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=446

Sync blade
The ability to use two keyblades simultaneously during a fight. It’s a very rare ability and Sora specifically has the potential to pull it off because of his unique connection to the previous keyblade wielder ventus. Basically at the end of kingdom hearts birth by sleep a keyblade wielder by the name of Ventus engaged in a battle that significantly damaged his “heart” and left his body in a comatose state. His heart then somehow sought refuge in the body of a young sora(most likely due to a previously established connection where a young Sora’s “heart” had healed damage done to Ventus's “heart in a prior conflict). Due to having Ventus heart within him, he can wield the keyblade Ventus used when he was alive in addition to his own.

Interestingly this ability is most prominently displayed when Sora takes on his various “drive forms” and he has yet to duel wield outside of that. However his nobody roxas can dual wield in base which has lead to speculation that sora should as well, since they for the most part share abilities and are counterparts to each other.

Sora briefly wielding two keyblade when he took on the valor form for the first time in KH2 https://youtu.be/KNYQgmamRBk?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=2435

Keychains
A keyblades appearance, abilities and stats can be modified via attaching various keychains to the end of it. The exact mechnations of these objects aren't very well explained, though typically the keychains characters get and use have some sort of personal significance or a connection to those they’re close to.

Sora has no spinoff material that consistently shows what alternate forms he prefers the Keyblade to be in. However seeing as how he needs at least 2 Keyblades to properly use his “Drive Forms” it stands to reason he has done some experimenting. Based off of his personality and the the people he is friends with we’ve made a few guesses as to which would be his favorites. Though anyone interested can see the specs for the rest of the Keyblades here.

Keyblade forms
Kingdom Key
The default appearance Sora’s weapon takes up, as well as its ‘true’ form. It’s 3 feet in length, boosts its user’s defense when they’re in a critical state, and is more or less the jack of all trades weapon.

Oathkeeper
The Keyblade takes this form when equipped with a good luck charm created by Kairi out of a Thalassa Shell, and is symbolic of Sora’s memories of Kairi. Sora has a lot of friends, but we figured if there were 2 other possible Keyblades he’d use aside from Kingdom Key it would be the ones that symbolize his 2 childhood friends.

He later gained the weapon for sealing the Keyhole to Twilight Town. It’s capable of performing multiple critical blows, enhances his magic and summoning capabilities, and extends the amount of time Sora can remain in a Drive Form.

Oblivion

The next weapon is Symbolic of Sora’s memories of Riku, and suitably looks incredibly emo. Using it reduces the user’s total Magic power somewhat, but gives a colossal boost in attack power, and allows the Drive Gauge to be restored whenever MP being refilled.

Ultima
However, if someone is going for the most powerful weapon Sora has wielded they’d want to go with the Ultima Weapon. It doubles the rate at which MP is recharged with MP Hastega, doubles the chance of landing a critical blow, boosts the amount of overall magic its user has, and is statistically more powerful in both magic and attack power than the other 2 mentioned weapons.


Equipment

Fairy clothing(made up name)
Sora's clothing in Kingdom Hearts II, and the one he most consistently wears since were made by Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. According to them his clothes help him, “only as much as his growth allows”, are linked to his heart, and are what allows him to use his Drive Forms, which we’ll talk about later.


Armor and accessories
Aside from his outfit there are various pieces of equipment throughout the series that bolster his defense and reduce damage from certain elemental attacks. At at maximum he can have about 3 slots open for accessories and 3 for armor the last time they played a major function in KH2. Given the customizable nature of these accessories we’ll have to do some guess work in regards to what he would probably have. Though focusing on the best armor/accessories he can get from side quests or main story events he most likely would have had to have completed seems like a good bet.

-It seems to be possible to get more than 3 slots in some games. I’ve seen people with at least 4 for accessories and armor in 2 final mix for example https://youtu.be/sMOUTcYqvVk?t=33

Accessories

Ribbon
Increases defense and increases resistance to fire, blizzard, dark and thunder elements by 20%
 -Sorra has this by default in easy mode in KH.

Luck ring
Increases drop rate for items.
-Can be gained in KH2 after completing the pain and panic cup.

Ifrit belt
Reduces fire damage by 40%, and increases strength
-Can be gained by completing one of the trinity mark side quests in KH

Armor

Protect belt
A piece of armor that greatly increases defense.

- Sora can get it by completing the Cerberus cup.

Acrisius  +
Increases defense and increases defenses against fire, blizzard, thunder by 25%
-One of the strongest pieces of armor in KH2

Grand ribbon
Greatly increases defense and increase resistance against dark,fire, blizzard and thunder based attacks by 25+.
-Gained by completing one of the puzzle sidequests in KH2.

Special Abilities

Magical commands
The ability to use magic, which the keyblade specifically seems to be able to facilitate and strengthen the ability for characters to perform. It should be specifically noted that Sora does not need to actually be holding onto his keyblade in order to use magical attacks, as he was still able to use magic in KH1 when Riku stole his blade during the first run of hollow bastion.

-Sora using magic without a keyblade in KH: https://youtu.be/Ctv3yTUmQuc?t=720

However it has been implied or shown in games that if sora were to have his keyblade outright destroyed than he may be left unable to use magic, the most prominent example being when it happened to the “data” sora in KH coded. Though given the artificial nature of the keyblade that was destroyed in that game and given it was a data sora in that game, I’m unsure if that would apply to the real one.

Anyway magic does take a sort of stamina to cast, which is typically reflective of an MP gauge in most games. The exact mechenations of how you fill this MP bar and how quickly it refills changes from game to game however. In KH1 it refills after every hit sora lands on the enemy. In KH2 once the bar is emptied it recharges over a period of a minute or so. In DDD most of the “magic” attacks have a set cooldown for individual spells. The only consistent basis for the magic in the series is that Sora can’t spam spells in rapid succession.

-Additionally most spells have several “tiers” of strength. If you’ve played final fantasy or various RPGs before, you’ll probably understand the concept. Typically most spells have 3 tiers, each with similar but strengthened effects.

Fire magic
Fira/Fira/firaga
Fire magic typically produces a large ball of flame with slight homing properties. In KH2 it creates a ring of fire around sora when he uses it, damaging nearby enemies. The balls or rings get larger or more powerful with each tier.


Firaga burst
Summons a giant ball of fire into the air, which then rains down shimmer fire balls onto the immediate area damaging opponents.


Mega flare
Creates a large screen wide fiery explosion that damages all nearby opponents.

Raging storm
Summons 3 pillars of flame that orbit a character dealing damage to opponents.


Blizzard magic
Blizzard, Blizzara/blizzaga
A spell that typically launches a series of large icicles at an opponent, that can pass through them while dealing multiple hits. It gets larger and more powerful in each tier.

Using an ice spell in the manga http://www.mangareader.net/kingdom-hearts/13/6

Ice splitter
A Spell that creates a giant pillar of ice that sora then smashes through, making shards fly everywhere to damage opponents.


Deep freeze
Creates a large tornado of ice around Sora, the freezes nearby opponents solid in a block of ice.

Ice barrage
Allows Sora to summon giant ice crystals underneath an opponent to impale and launch them into the air.


Thunder Magic
Thunder/thundara/thundaga
A series of spells that calls down bolts of electricity from the sky. The amount called down increases depending on the level of the spell.


Triple plasma
Summons and shoots three spears of electricity at an opponent.


Healing spells
Cura/cura/Curga
A spell that allows the user to heal themselves and nearby allies of damage. In some games the “Mp charge state” where the user cannot use any other magic, is activated after using any of the tiers of this spell.


Ensuna
A supportive spell that removes all status ailments inflicted on a character. You can see a list of common kingdom hearts status effects here


Neutral spells
Zero gravity/Gravira/graviga/graviza
A series of spell that create progressively large anti-gravity fields that send opponents into the air while causing damage. The Graviza variant can also pull opponents towards Sora.


Gravity/Gravira/Graviga
A gravity based spell that creates a sphere that crushes opponents against the floor. Typically does a set amount of damage.


Magnet/Magnera/Magnega
A spell that creates a powerful magnetic force that draws opponents in towards sora and deals light damage. More powerful versions last longer and pull opponents in from further away.

Reflect/Reflera/Reflega
A spell that creates a light based shield that can block physical and projectile attacks. If timed correctly blocking an attack will also send out a spray of light magic that damages foes. The shield and damage done increases with the level of the spell.

Quake
Creates an earthquake that damages ground laden enemies.


Balloon/Balloona/Baloonga
Spells that summon magical balloons that scatter along a battlefield and can explode to cause damage of stun upon contact with an opponent. The highest level also creates a large balloon, that explodes into smaller ones.


Tornado
Creates a giant tornado Soa can aim and maneuver around a battlefield to damage opponents

Aero/Aerora/Aeroga
Creates either a powerful gust of wind that damages nearby opponents, or a wind barrier that halves damage for a short period of time.


Light spells
Spark/Sparka/Sparkga
Summons magic light crystals that revolve around Sora and deal damage to his opponents.


Faith
Creates one or several pillars of light that can expand outward to damage opponents. Also heals sora slightly in DDD.


Normal/status ailment spells
Mini
A spell that shrinks opponents to a miniscule size, decreasing their attack and defensive power.


Blackout
A spell that blinds an opponent, which causes a loss of coordination when aiming, movement and vision.


Time bomb
Turns enemies into time bombs, which explode after a certain amount of time has passed.


Confuse
Puts an opponent into a confused state, where they may attack allies or actively use abilities to benefit Sora.

Bind
Spell that forcibly inflicts the bind status, and keeps opponents bound to one place(though they can still attack and act from it).


Poison
Spell that poisons enemies, making them take steady damage over a time period.


Slow
A time based spell that inflicts the “slow” status ailment, slowing down their movement for a set amount of time.


Sleep/sleepra/sleepga
https://www.khwiki.com/images/thumb/1/1a/Sleep_KHBBS.gif/300px-Sleep_KHBBS.gif
A spell that inflicts a sleep status affect, leaving an opponent in sleeping state. Will often wake up after being attacked.


Stop/Stopra/Stopga
A time stop spell that causes the stop statues effect, leaving an opponent frozen in some sorta time statues unable to move or act.

Vanish
A spell that makes Sora invisible for a short period of time.


Attack commands
Basic combo moves
Basic or simple attacks that can typically be added into a standard combo of keyblade attacks, to set an opponent up for more specific magical, and physical finishes.

-for the most part they aren't worth mentioning in full.

Slapshot
An uppercut slash with the keyblade. It’s harder to knock back Sora after the attack, even if it’s blocked or parried.


Sliding dash
An attack where Sora will stab his keyblade into the ground and pivot around it to propel himself into a powerful horizontal kick.


Vortex
 A spinning keyblade attack that brings sora closer to an opponent.

Ariel sweep
A spinning jumping keyblade attack that can hit multiple times.

Upper slash
A keyblade slash that hits from underneath, and knocks an opponent into the air.

Horizontal slash
A powerful left or right mid air horizontal keyblade slash.

Dodge slash
A series of three rapid keyblade swings that can more easily parry attacks from opponents.

Flash step
A dashing attack where Sora keeps a guard with his keyblade, that can more easily parry or break a defense of an opponent.


Vicinity break
A powerful spinning keyblade attack, that releases a short aura of energy damaging opponents.


Aerial dive
A quick series of 4 somersaults with the keyblade outstretched.


Air spiral
A mid air flip that damages enemies.

Combo finishers

More powerful attacks that typically are added onto the end of combos at a finishing attack for minor enemies. A few of them are equipable as separate skills outside of a combo system in DDD.

Blitz
An attack that consists of one or more jumping overhead strikes on the enemy with the keyblade.


Hurricane blast
A series of rapid vertical moonsaults with the keyblade, that keeps Sora suspended in the air for a few seconds.


Ripple drive
An attack that creates an energy aura that damages all the opponents that are caught in it.


Stun impact
An attack that creates a large burst of energy from the keyblade that damages opponents and stuns them.


Gravity break
A magic infused keyblade strike that has the attributes of a gravity spell.


Zantetsuken
Essentially an imitation of one of those quick draw sword slash techniques. It has some gravity magic based attributes in KH


Finishing leap
An attack wear send an explosive bit of energy from his keyblade out below an enemy, propelling himself and the opponent into the air.

Guard break
A short powerful thrust good for breaking an opponent's guard.

Explosion
A move that generates explosive spheres of magic around Sora, dealing damage to opponents.

Ariel finish
A rapid spinning attack in a spherical fashion in the air.

Magnetic burst
Draws opponents towards sora with a magnet like spell, before creating an explosion of energy that deals damage.


Special attacks
More powerful physical and keyblade based attacks, that typically require MP, or have to be used as separate skills in most of the games they appear.

Sonic blade
A series of powerful high speed thrusting attacks(typically around 7-11) that cover an area of a dozen feat or so.


Ars Arcanum
An attack where Sora’s keyblade will be enveloped in a golden aura, before performing a series of powerful rushdown keyblade slashes(often in the air).


Strike raid
An ability where Sora will throw his keyblade at opponents like it’s a spinning buzz saw, and command it to return to him multiple times. Typically involves at least 5 throws.


Ragnarok
An attack that starts with a Keyblade slash combo, and ends with creating a dozen energy bullets from the tip of the keyblade that home in on an opponent.


Quick blitz
A quick overhead bashing keyblade attack.


Blizzard edge
An overhead bash attack infused with ice magic, that creates a spike of ice.


Slot edge
A series of overhead slashes, which when time correctly, can produce items like health or money.


Spark dive
A move where Sora will envelop himself in an electric aura, before diving into an enemy to deal damage.


Poison dive
A diving attack that creates a toxic aura that poisons opponents.


Drain dive
A diving attack that creates an aura that drains HP from an opponent.


Thunder dash
A powerful dashing attack enveloped in electrical energy.


Spark raid
Basically a variation of the raid attack, but with the keyblade surrounded by light magic, that disperses if it hits a target.

Circle raid
A variation of the raid attack, that sends a keyblade revolving around sora instead of straight forward. Has a 50% chance of inflicting bind.


Ariel slam
A powerful strike that knocks an opponent into the air, followed by a downward strike that catapults them into the ground.


Gravity strike
A spin attack infused with magic that can cause enemies to go into a zero gravity state.


Confusion strike
A keyblade strike that has the potential to confuse opponents.


Tornado strike
An attack that creates a vapid whirlwind that damages and knocks opponents into the air.


Prism windmill
An attack that spins the keyblade in a windmill fashion  to deal damage.


Timestorm
A version of prism windmill, but with the potential to inflict the stop status effect.


Fire windmill
A version of prism windmill, but with the potential to ignite an enemy, making them take consecutive damage from burn.


Icebreaker
A mid air spinning attack imbued with ice energy.


Shadowbreaker
A mid-air spinning attack imbued with dark magic.


Magnetic spiral
An attack that creates a magnetic pull to bring opponents to sora, before attack them with a spin attack.


Salvation
Probably Sora’s strongest attack. Creates tons light pillars that damages enemies, as well as healing him a minute amount.


Collision magnet
Allows sora to grab an opponent with a magnetic rope of force and them throw them into another obstacle.


Break time
A series of dance moves that somehow heals sora, or refills other respective gauges in DDD.


Defensive commands
Typically moves or physical abilities specifically aligned with defensive stances or blocks.
-most are common sense and not worth mentioning

Block
A standard blocking motion, typically done via using the keyblade. In some cases you can use it to felect small projectiles back at an opponent.

Sliding block
A blocking motion that works as Sora moves forward from his position.

Reprisal commands
Generally abilities specifically focused around counters or recovery from attacks.
-most aren't worth specifically pointing out.

Block counter
A basic counter slash initiated from a block.

Counter attack
A basic countering keyblade slash, which can be initiated from a “parrying” attack.

Counter rush
A more powerful series of keyblade slashes that can initiated form block.

Ariel recovery
A move that allows sora to recover and regain balance after being knocked into the air in a stunned state.

Retaliating slash
 Basically a recovery move from being knocked into the air in a stunned state, which allows you to attack right after.

Payback raid
A raid attack that can be initiated from being knocked into the air in a stunned state.

Steep climb
A second jumping twirling slash after an opponent has been knocked into the air.

Sliding sidwaller
A sliding maneuver followed by a keyblade spin attack.

Movement commands
Abilities that aid in movement and mobility.

High jump
A high jump. It allows sora to jump higher in the air than his standard.

Air slide
What it says on the tin. A dashing maneuver that sends Sora forward a few feat through the air.

Sonic impact
A bashing air slide-ish attack.

Double impact
A second bashing air dash attack that can be initiated from a sonic impact move.

Dodge roll/slide roll
A basic rolling maneuver used to dodge attacks. The slide roll simply adds on an air slide beforehand.


Glide/super glide
Basically the ability to “glide” in the air. Sora learned how to perform the ability after visiting neverland in the first game. When using it Sora will slowly descend, and can well glide over distances in a manner akin to a flying paraglider.


Flight
The ability for true flight. Sora normally can only use this ability in the world of neverland, when exposed to the magic of tinkerbell. That being said he has accessed the ability twice before outside of that world, once when fighting the boss Chernabog and a second time when fighting Ansem in KH.

-He randomly has access to flight during his fight with chernabog in KH https://youtu.be/GR6oNEmHljY?t=3942
-Sora was clearly falling during the final fight of KH, but somehow activated the flight abilities again through sheer force of will in KH https://youtu.be/CEpLZT14QsM?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh6SsgPLH6uXx2I36M-xJ_ow&t=918

-how easily he can access this ability should be is for debate.

Ariel dodge
What essentially amounts to a double jump. You can use it to more easily dodge attacks in mid air.


Flowmotion
A new form of dramatic parkour introduced in DDD. It surrounds the user in a energy aura and allows them to perform a myriad special actions, including pole swings, wall jumps, rail grinds, and various momentum baes physical attacks and throws.


Supportive/Stat Abilities
Beyond his weapons, attacks, magic, and Drive Forms Sora has access to a large pool of perks and buffs in the form of Abilities. Many of Sora’s special attacks are technically categorized as abilities in most games, but others have more supportive effects that could be vital. Notable support abilities include.

Scan: Allows Sora to see the remaining health of an opponent.

Berserk: Increases attack power at low health.

Second chance: Allows Sora to survive fatal hits, assuming he has more than a sliver of HP left.

Once more: Allows Sora to survive consecutive combo attacks that would have killed him, assuming he had more than a sliver of HP.

Leaf bracer: Prevents sora from being interrupted from healing by attacks.


Damage drive: Restores the drive gauge as sora takes damage

MP Rage: Restores Sora’s magic power as he takes damage

MP Hastaga: Doubles rate of MP replenishment

Draw: Draws collectable items to a player.

Damage control: Lowers damage taken by 50% at low health.

Protega: Reduces damage taken by 40%

Cure, Water, Fire, blizzard and thunder boost: Increases effectiveness of respective type spells.

Fire, Water, Blizzard, thunder, Dark, light screen: Increases resistance to respective spells

Mini, Blind,confusion,Bind,poison, slow, sleep, stop block: Various abilities that prevent associated status effects(size alteration, mind alteration, binding, position, sleep, time alterations, ect).-these are “stats abilities” in DDD and you typically need an associated dream eater in the party to use them. It’s unclear what this means for games after DDD, since Sora seems to have retained his ability to summon dream eaters in the newest KH3 trailer.

Misc skills
Teleportation: Sora can apparently teleport short distances. One of his reaction commands in KH2 involves him teleporting over an area of a dozen feat or so while fighting xigbar. He also specifically has a move called teleport in chain of memories, which allows him to warp in front of opponents.

-Using the teleport slight to warp in front of an enemy in COM https://youtu.be/olS992WYw34?t=594
-Sora teleporting to kick back energy shots made by the character xigbar in KH2 https://youtu.be/xk6YTwseHvI?t=84

Misc sleights: There are various misc attacks in chain of memories that are “combination moves” based on combining the cards used in that games combat system. A large majority of them have overlap with attacks Sora has used in other games, but there are a few were exclusive to chain of memories. They mainly include elemental variants of the raid attack, certain salvation-ish attacks, and a handful of physical strikes  You can see a list of all sleights here http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/Sleight

Summoning: Sora has been able to summon characters through various methods in each of his games, similar to final fantasy. This has typically either been done through the use of gemstones containing a comatose characters essence, or by using special charms to teleport allies to him. It should be noted that all characters summoned have free will and choose to help Sora. Even summoned characters from the first game specifically mention remembering Sora, if he met them again in later games after being permanently restored from comatose states.

-Simba recognizing him in KH2, due to being summoned in KH https://youtu.be/H6L_iEGipz0?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1615
-Technically Tinker Bell is a summon and in theory should be able to give sora her magic to fly if he needed it.

Dream eaters: Basically pokemon monsters Sora can recruit in the realm of sleep in DDD. It’s been confirmed in the newest Kingdom hearts 3 trailer that he can apparently still summon them in the waking world.

Telekinesis: Sora has some minor TK abilities, most prominently when he duel wields keyblades in his drive forms.
-Using TK in his final form in KH2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma6TY7ZtEQI
-Using telekinesis to briefly seize control of Roxas’s keyblades in KH2 https://youtu.be/hT5qpMSdnMY?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=207

Limits: Super powerful attacks Sora can use at the expense of his entire MP bar in KH2. They’re all require secondary characters to perform however, so Sora can’t really use them in a single fight.

Keyblade armor:  In a pinch ven’s heart can manifest his keyblade armor around Sora, which protects from the influence of darkness(this didn’t work out so well in the game however).

-You might be able to argue about semantics of Sora knowing or probably being able to learn skills or abilities used by Roxas and data Sora given his connection to them, though that seems like way more trouble than it’s worth.

Drive Forms
As mentioned before Sora’s new clothes in Kingdom Hearts II allowed him to take on more powerful forms that boosts his combo potential, and various physical abilities. These are known as Drive Forms. Sounds neat right? Well, the catch is Sora can normally only use these forms by fusing with one, or both of his party members. Because of this the vast majority of his drive forms, wisdom, valor, master and final are unusable during a normal fight. Though luckily there are two exceptions to the rule(sorta). He can access a form called the limit form on his own in KH 2 final mix. There’s also a dark like “anti” form, though mechanically the game doesn’t let him use it party members aren't at least in his vicinity. Drive forms only last a limited amount of time, which is displayed as gauge in game.  You normally recover it via collecting specific orbs, using recovery items, or having certain abilities that facilitate filling it.

-It is possible absorbing party members may be a mechanic, given Sora didn't do this when he originally gained the valor form in a cut-scene. Sora also is going to be accessing drives through a different method in KH3 for that matter.

Limit form
The single character kingdom hearts final 2 final mix exclusive form. Ironically how useful it is can be  is up for debate. Mechanically its purpose in kingdom hearts 2 was to allow Sora to access skills or abilities that where available in to him in his first game, but not in his second. However from a logical perspective many of the “abilities” exclusive to the form in KH2 shouldn’t be impossible for Sora to use in base (for example rolling) and most of its attacks have returned to be used by sora again in base in later games.

That being said comparing the limit form to base Sora, many of the attacks with overlap used in this form seem to be  more powerful than they originally where. This includes Sonic Raid, Strike Raid, Last Arcanum, Zantetsuken, Ripple Drive, Hurricane Period, Slapshot, Sliding Dash, Aerial sweep, and dodge rolling.


The limit form also does have a handful of truly exclusive attacks and abilities. Including
Zantetsu Counter: A Zantetsu move started from a counter.
Reflect combo: Allows Sora to stop a combo with a guard.
HP Gain: the forms most important trait. An ability that restores Sora’s health whenever the special attacks associated with this form, land on an opponent.

-Many of the attacks with this form were re-framed as “limits” in KH2, though keep in mind the attacks aren't normally organized that way in most games.

Anti form
A side effect of Sora becoming a heartless and if he abuses the power of drive forms in KH. It’s basically a more feral drive form that has a random chance occuring every time he uses a form beside his final form. It’s faster, and uses dark energy so it’s not totally useless, but Sora can’t heal when using it, or revert back to normal until the form expires.

-explanation and showcase of the anti-form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spOsvQ1QHqI
-Mechanically the game doesn’t allow Sora to enter the form if he’s alone(or under other circumstances). Though this may be more for gameplay balance however.

Feats

Strength
Chucked around the Volcanic Lord heartless in KH2 http://youtu.be/3lLxrbx970w?t=3m47s

Sora can parry a blow from the massive ground shaker heartless in KH2 https://youtu.be/mE9SgjY2-TU?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1137

Being able to parry and strike this giant small building sized storm rider heartless a dozen feat into the air in KH2 https://youtu.be/WC5d7YB6UFw?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1021

Smashing the character saix into a stone wall with enough force to leave a significant indent in the KH 2manga https://mangapark.me/manga/kingdom-hearts-ii/s2/c65/8

Slicing through about 5-7 layers worth of skyscrapers when fighting xemnas. Worth noting they aren't hollow, and are specifically shown to be solid in DDD https://youtu.be/_vocDalCY8c?t=100

Knocking a skyscraper a dozen feet away with enough force to break through Xemnas’s armor in KH2 https://youtu.be/_vocDalCY8c?t=1102

Worth noting Sora can overpower the strength of the gigantic rock titan in KH3(I realize the game isn’t out yet, but this is official footage) https://youtu.be/GjuykVQIS1U?t=22

Durability
Survived a crash from the cockpit of the Gumi ship, during a malfunction when going to the deep jungle in KH https://youtu.be/LvYaueUZS9w?t=2979

Can technically hit by these huge lasers from one of the final boss stages of KH2 and not die https://youtu.be/_vocDalCY8c?t=183

Being set on fire by an opponent in the KH manga http://www.mangareader.net/kingdom-hearts/12/7

Sora once crashed the Gumi ship into a meteor while piloting it in the KH manga offscreen http://www.mangareader.net/kingdom-hearts/14/8

Sora has some transmutation resistance. He can be turned into, or trapped in a book by the organization member Zexion, and somehow still fight his way out in KH 2 https://youtu.be/lG2qV1hK6hg?t=2674

Sora can also be turned into a living dice by the character Luxord, and can apparently break out of the form given a bit of time https://youtu.be/_KCqLfGquPE?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1713

Luxhord and certain nobody enemies can also transform Sora into a card like state, which he breaks out of given some time in KH2 https://youtu.be/Q0AhpIeelAw?t=83

Sora can survive a blow from the massive groundshaker heartless in KH2 https://youtu.be/mE9SgjY2-TU?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1137

Surving this crash into water from hundreds of feat in the air, after going through the door to light in KH2 https://youtu.be/d73MLlWck4Q?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1941

Speed
Sora can time bullets shot from Barbossa's gun.

Can avoid attacks by Xemnas, who easily moves faster than the human eye can track given the after-images he creates.

The beams from sora’s keyblade can easily reach as far as halloween towns moons in a few seconds in KH(I’ve seen this put around 1.3c)  https://youtu.be/ppJvf-MLHNo?t=3002

Fast enough to run up the side of a building In KH2 https://youtu.be/OzDkdB2HIFA?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=938

Easily jumping dozens of feet in the air while slicing through buildings in KH2 https://youtu.be/_vocDalCY8c?t=124

Deflecting the laser blasts of Xemnas from dozens of angles for a little over a minute in KH2. Note they’re easily deflecting 100s of lasers from each angle every second or so. It’s hard to say outright if these are legit lasers since they are apparently formed from nothingness powers, but they do behave like lasers. https://youtu.be/_vocDalCY8c?t=1554

Fast enough to dodge air to ground lightning strikes from ursula in DDD https://youtu.be/eHTKvchI_DM?t=235

Scaling
Hercules
Hercules is a pretty good source of strength scaling. Sora has fought him more than once in tournaments and even discounting his own movie, he has huge feats of strength that would be relevant to his endurance.

Strong enough to throw the rock titan what must be hundreds of feet into the air. https://youtu.be/bpCXglqu2lg?t=18

Fighting hercules
KH2:https://youtu.be/eFscjwIOoZk?t=381

-In addition to Hercules. Some also scale Sora to his father Zeus, when he moved stars/planets to make constellations in KH2.  

Xehanort incarnations
Obviously Xehanort being the series main villain means Sora has to deal with the general power and abilities his incarnations have more than once.

Master xehanort used some sort of telekinesis to raise massive island sized chunks of stone, one which hit Terra directly in BBS. Given Sora’s fight against Terra’s lingering will and other xehanorts, this is pretty relevant to him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eSvkNxObu8&feature=youtu.be&t=287

Xemnas at full power was controlling a massive small town sized mechanization of to fight sora with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vocDalCY8c

Xemnas is strong enough to telekinetically through and move his huge solid buildings https://youtu.be/rNDRXo-wSp8?t=7617

Lingering will
The lingering will is a reanimated set of armor based on Terra’s lingering mental presence in BBS, and uses his keyblade to fight. Beside the fact this being was strong enough to defeat master Xehanort 1 on 1, it provides a good scaling option for Sora in the matter of Speed. In life Terra could transform his keyblade into a “glider” which he could use to travel to other planets/worlds using pathways called the lanes between(corridors of space, that can bypass world barriers). Not only is it highly likely that the distance traveled most likely requires FTL speed, but Terra has fought using his keyblade glider in transit and actually has had actual spaceships pull up beside it in transit(those from Lilo and stitch which have to have FTL functions). The lingering will uses his keyblade glider during attacks on Sora,which means Sora can react to said speeds.

Terra using his keyblade glider in BBS https://youtu.be/Gz8fQT8nZiU?t=2127

The lingering will using Terra’s keyblade glider during his fight in KH2 https://youtu.be/9wjCxe1tYA0?t=253

Terra fighting while riding on it https://youtu.be/o3NSAfqjy8k?t=1916

The keyblade glider also shown to be flying at comparable speed to an actual spaceship in transit https://youtu.be/o3NSAfqjy8k?t=1955

-It’s worth noting monstro bassically caught the gumi ship off guard in the first game and swallowed it despite an attempt at evasive maneuvers. Given the gumi ship itself is also akin to space ship, and Monstrol later becomes a boss/allie in BBS and DDD, this kinda speed isn’t inconsistent.

Kingdom hearts
So how strong is kingdom hearts? It’s pretty relevant given that that xehanort makes numerous attempts to control  it and Xemnas fused with “a” kingdom hearts for more power in KH2. It’s worth noting that many of the kingdom hearts seen in series are technically different, with the main gimmick being that they are aggregations of “hearts” from living beings or worlds. The one in the first game is constructed by the power of countless hearts of planets, and the more relevant one used by Xemnas was made via countless hearts of people. Many people consider feats regarding them planet/star level.

When the kingdom hearts in 2 got damage, you can clearly see there are thousands upon thousands worth of hearts contained in it, each with the power to correspond to heartless https://youtu.be/f3aBVqOFUao?t=329

The hearts of all the world being brought back into the realm of light, after kingdom hearts is sealed off in the first game https://youtu.be/jlRiCfmiaKw?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh6SsgPLH6uXx2I36M-xJ_ow&t=20

The “true” kingdom hearts is even said to be able to reshape reality itself.

Disney in general
One of the more contested elements of Kingdom hearts, is exactly how seriously do you take scaling to some Disney characters? Particularly do you run under the assumption that any of the feats a given character has performed in one of their cannon movies, but not on screen in the KH series, is valid. The answer to that is...maybe?  The director of the series has gone on record recently saying that Kingdom hearts 3 will take place during toy stories canon timeline. Likewise the upcoming big hero 6 world for KH3 is specifically stated to take place after the events of the first movie. Thought that being said the fact that previous worlds have taken place in “parallel” timelines to the original has also been acknowledged. Making it a bit of a case by case thing.

-Saying the big hero 6 world will be set right after the movie http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-08-17-kingdom-hearts-3-to-feature-disneys-big-hero-6

My personal guess the vast majority of details and background lore of most disney characters and worlds are intact, with the exception of Sora and/or other KH specific characters changing elements of how worlds plotlines develop once they get introduced.


Experience
Kingdom hearts

Defeated the heartless darkside https://youtu.be/Wdrw71_xSEE?t=3537

Defeated the hellhound cerberus https://youtu.be/LvYaueUZS9w?t=2228

Defeated clayton along with a giant lizard heartless https://youtu.be/LvYaueUZS9w?t=6780

Defeated a jafar, and genie jafar  https://youtu.be/qm5cypwK-TM?t=3755

Defeated a giant shape shifting ursula https://youtu.be/z3RwJR2E12U?t=4509

Fighting oogie boogi in KH:https://youtu.be/qDg2W9bIpHk?t=3314

Fought and defeated maleficent in her normal and dragon form https://youtu.be/EdM5NgIbIks?t=143

Defeating an ansem possessed Riku https://youtu.be/EdM5NgIbIks?t=1483

Fighting ansem the seaker of darkness in his base form https://youtu.be/CEpLZT14QsM?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh6SsgPLH6uXx2I36M-xJ_ow&t=266

Defeating Ansem after he takes on the form a giant cthulhu monster https://youtu.be/CEpLZT14QsM?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh6SsgPLH6uXx2I36M-xJ_ow&t=900




Fighting Yuffie and leon from FF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GLoKJ0zmQM

Chain of memories

Fought and defeated the Organization member larxene https://youtu.be/1k3C5zbdM-A?list=PLhcSrKyqhfh6SsgPLH6uXx2I36M-xJ_ow&t=218






Kingdom Hearts 2
Deating the mulan villain shan-yu https://youtu.be/u4RrAeVv7z0?t=2548


Fighting a recreation of organization member zexon https://youtu.be/lG2qV1hK6hg?t=2598

Fighting the hydra from hercules https://youtu.be/lG2qV1hK6hg?t=3363



Defeating the villain barbosa from pirates of the caribbean https://youtu.be/9R-JZYLOVQg?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=2646

Defeating a heartless version of scar from lion king https://youtu.be/H6L_iEGipz0?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=2428

Fighting a recreation of the organization member lexaus https://youtu.be/65irYYy8BzU?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=355






Fighting organization 13 second in command xigbar https://youtu.be/_KCqLfGquPE?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=949



With the aid of hercules, was able defeat the villian hades https://youtu.be/fy8d31km0Rw?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1060


Somehow could beat an evil genie jafar into submission https://youtu.be/E1wa682ATHo?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=1315


Fighting the leader of organization 13, xemnas in his base form https://youtu.be/OzDkdB2HIFA?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=913

Fighting the final forms of xemnas, which include destroying a giant nobody battleship he rides on, along with himself with added abilities https://youtu.be/d73MLlWck4Q?list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB&t=77

Defeated Terra’s “lingering will” in KH2, which was powerful enough to match the power of Master xehanort when he originally possed Terra’s body in BBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feoIOM3PWQc&index=55&list=PLhFrPub2aXHBqHdvkGwo6g3jUSh2JSZIB

Fighting Cloud, Leon, Tifa and Yuffie at the same time https://youtu.be/UlCDkEwHkl0?t=86

Dream Drop Distance
Fighting Rinzler(tron)https://youtu.be/q4NiNtuGYz0?t=6908

Fighting pete and the beagle boys https://youtu.be/9ZkmRYSYep8?t=6067

Fighting Xemnas again https://youtu.be/rNDRXo-wSp8?t=7247

Manga and mic
Has the common sense to aim for a heartless eyes, when he realizes its a weak spot http://www.mangareader.net/kingdom-hearts/4/8

Merlin has taught him or tutored him in magic several times

Is being taught how to use the keyblade better by yen sid as of DDD

Sora has been able to follow the plot of Kingdom hearts. This is one of the greatest intelligence feats ever displayed by a character in death battle.

Summary

Many of sora’s abilities are or were initially self taught, though he’s been mentored in the ways magic by the magician merlin in several games, and has specifically been studying how to use the keyblade “properly’ by the previous master yen sid as of DDD.

In terms of accomplishments, Sora is surprisingly robust in context, having defeated some of the most powerful, skilled and trained villians in the disney arsenal. This includes those such as Malificent, Jafar, Hades, Shan-Yu, Ursula, and Barbosso, all of which are either long lived beings, have regularly taken part in wars/combat, were masters of mystical arts prior to meeting sora and in some cases had taken on god like forms that wouldn’t have been possible to take down in their original continuities(Genie jafar for example). Maleficent is also impressive due to her being the backbone of a lot of the heartless forces, and even having revived herself from the dead more than once.

For that matter, Sora is easily shown himself to be capable to matching the final fantasy characters in kingdom hearts, at least as they exist in this continuity. Not only has he teamed up with auran before in the colosseum world, but he can fight and beat Leon, Cloud, yuffie, and tifa during tournament matches in KH 1 and 2(sometimes at the same time). He’s also fought and matched Sephiroth at least twice in combat as a bonus boss in 1 and 2.

He’s dealt with 3 different species of monster, heartless, nobody and dream eaters.Finally obviously Sora has had to deal with the ever evolving shenanigans of Xehanort. Personally the fact his brain hasn’t exploded due to the ever increasing complexity of his plans is already an accomplishment, but overall to date he’s personally stopped his ansem, xemnas, and young xehanort incarnations from wreaking havoc. This include defeating the strongest heartless and the organizations aligned with them.

Weaknesses
The biggest hindrance Sora has is his reliance on his friends. Almost all of his notable victories have involved the help of Goofy, Donald, Riku, or some other ally. Even in games like Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance where Sora "fights on his own', he has the option to summon dream eaters to fighting alongside him. Many of his best attacks and forms need also outside help to access as well. Sora also is kind of naive, which makes him prone to manipulation by villains like Xehanort . 

Conclusion
Advantages
Can teleport
Various movement abilities to allow for near flight(or flight if you stretch it)
Various moves for bringing opponents closer to his position
A well varied magic and attack arsenal
Multiple healing options
Ways to heal or prevent most common status effects
Some abilities can prevent fatal blows
Has various broken status spells he can inflict, the most haxy being time stop
Fairly decent amount of abilities and equipment that increase physical stats.
High stat trinity, particularly with scaling involved.

Disadvantages
Magic can’t be spammed.
A lot of abilities that require outside help
Naive and easy to manipulate

1 comment:

  1. Good to know. But you are missing sora keyblade features which you can get from Swords Kingdom UK.

    ReplyDelete