#mirage split keyblade

[hollowwhisperings]

Riku & Keyblades: ???

It's been a bit since my last bit of KH tinhatting but I was looking at keyblades again and

HOW DOES HE KEEP SUMMONING THESE THINGS??

Keychains, I get! Something something, connecting with people's hearts, keyblades are "heart" swords, boom: your heartsword now resembles whomever you just trauma-bonded with! "Befriended", same thing.

BUT HOW IS RIKU MAKING NEW HEARTSWORDS??

Riku starts out as the "Chosen" of the Light Realm's Kingdom Key but, due to his being preoccupied by Teen Angst (Gay Panic), the Key instead passes to Riku's "Chosen": Sora. This is Keyblade 1.

Kingdom Key is happy to stick with Riku's Chosen but Riku's Villain Arc requires him to be armed so... Riku materializes a WHOLE SECOND KEYBLADE (how?? he's only got one heart! it wasn't like Terranort had one to spare!) to use instead of Kingdom Key. It starts out as the appropriately ominous "Soul Eater" (Devil Wing ft Eyeball) but turns into the much cooler "Way to the Dawn" (Devil AND Angel Wings ft Eyeball) when Riku has his Redemption Arc. Keyblade 2.

Then Maleficent somehow makes a "Keyblade of Hearts" via... daring Riku to de-heart some Disney Princesses? HOW DID SHE EVEN KNOW THIS WOULD WORK?? Why couldn't Xemnas have done this?? Why RIKU??? Is this the Darkness prodding Mal along or..? ugh, Keyblade 3.

It's very quickly brushed aside, in the midst of a big epic reunion between the Destiny Trio, but Riku casually pulls out a shiny new keyblade from nowhere and magically makes Kairi the wielder of "Destiny's Embrace". Aqua accidentally nudging toddler!Kairi with a keyblade always vibed like a red herring tbh: heartswords should require INTENT before being passed down! YET! SOMEHOW?? Untrained Riku can just... mediate on a heart's behalf? idk, man, nomura ain't said nothin'. Keyblade 4.

Fast forward to Dream Drop Distance where Riku AND Sora are now able to manifest their heartswords TO each other, across time and space, because... Best Friendship? Dream Eater & Dreamer? True Love? It's not a dream-only thing either - they summoned this "Combined Keyblade" (there's no official name for it yet but it's more commonly known as "The Gayblade" because... Rainbows) during the Aqua Rescue at the Dark Margin. Keyblade 4½ (Sora has joint custody).

Between the canonical appearances of The Glowing Rainbow Duet Heartsword in DDD & KH3, "Way to the Dawn" breaks. Riku leaves the broken heartsword for Repliku to use (oof), something something thinks of Sora yearningly, new keyblade summoned: "Braveheart" AKA Modern!Kingdom Key AKA Keyblade 5.

THAT'S FIVE FRIGGIN KEYBLADES! "Manifested" by Riku and handed out to FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE: Sora; Riku Replica; Terranort's Heartless; Kairi; and Riku himself.

(anyone else remember that one interview where Nomura casually implied Riku wasn't or wasn't entirely human? no? i haven't been able to track it down but it's haunted me ever since: what do you mean "what" Riku "really is" has yet to be revealed??? is he NOT just a dude from Xehanort's home world who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ephemer?? is Riku a changeling??? Kingdom Hearts' Humansona?? *pterodactyl shrieking*)

Oh and, just to feel even more agonized at how mysterious Riku somehow still is, I had a closer look at the symbolism of his keychains:

Keychains of Braveheart (L) and Kingdom Key (R). Mickey's Kingdom Key-D is This but "gold".

Something something the "Lucky Symbols" in KH3 aren't Mickey? What else could this be? Two moons much too close to one planet? A botched venn diagram?? Infamous World Destroyer, Eater of Worlds, Kirby???

Keychains of The Gayblade (L) and "Destiny's Embrace" (R).

Selphie says in KH1 that sharing one paopu fruit is romantic; Kairi says in KH3 that eating two paopu fruit, separately, means Friends Forever... there's a metaphor for Compulsory Heterosexuality in here somewhere, I just know it.

Keychain of Riku's "Way to the Dawn" (L) and the symbol for HEARTLESS (R)???

How heartbroken WAS this kid?!?

Keychains of the Uncombined Gayblade: Riku's Mirage Split (L) and Sora's Nightmare's End (R).

Oh, look! It's the "Riku" Symbol! AGAIN. ???

top: Keychains of KH2's Ultima Keyblade (L) & Brain's "Master's Defender" (R). mid: Ultima Keychains of BBS (L) and KH1 (R). bot: Ultima Keychains of DDD (L) and KH3 (R).

The outlying symbol amongst all the Ultimas is known in the Ultimania as "the symbol of Terra and his Friends". Its earliest known appearance is in Scala ad Caelum and it's just similar enough to Riku's Heart Symbol to feel like an intentional resemblance.

Yeah, this + "Riku is the Light" + "Riku casually becoming a different species (for Sora)" has just further cemented my supposedly crack "Prince of Kingdom Hearts!Riku" theory isn't that crack-y afterall.

(dw guys: riku's not OP bc he forfeited his crown to his True Love when they were toddlers so King Sora of Kingdom Hearts = VALID! riku is just out here, our local half-devil half-angel, handing out new heartswords as the plot requires. what, like it's hard?)

...KH4 can't come soon enough. Hopefully Disney doesn't implode under the evils of its Empire before Squeenix grabs all the copyright permissions they need for all this. ugh, I need to find better screenshots. x_x