#riku analysis

[chernaboggin]

Riku's implied parental issues

I noticed a few things when I wrote a summary of Riku's story in KH1.

Riku was the most invested in leaving the island. Kairi and Sora were into the raft plan, but they seemed to enjoy it more as a fun building activity. They're happy to dreamily speculate about travelling, but don't seem to think it will actually happen. Riku’s the only one who’s itching to leave for the sake of getting to be somewhere else. He’s also the only one to mention that they’ll be abandoning their families, the other two don’t really think about it.

Riku falls for Maleficent as a surrogate mother figure and gets possessed by Ansem (Xehanort) as a result. Riku redeems himself by holding Ansem back at a key moment, and helping Sora close the door to Kingdom Hearts. He is rewarded with Mickey Mouse as his new parent surrogate.

Riku (A) was the only one who really wanted to leave the island, (B) he jumped at the first surrogate mother he could, then (C) jumped at the first surrogate father figure he could

conclusion: what was going on in Riku's home

: _(

[blowingoffsteam2]

Don’t mind me over here just getting emotional again about how plainly and sweetly they presented an allegory for being in the closet in Riku’s side of Notre Dame.  It culminates in this scene at the end of the world:

Quasimodo: “Master Frollo- he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart.  You helped me see that Riku.”

Riku: “I was...speaking from...personal experience.” (And of course, the fist clench that even Quasimodo takes notice of- Riku’s tell that he’s holding back feelings)

Phoebus: “I’d say you still keep a lot locked inside.”

It’s telling that the camera then pans to Esmeralda  whose people have been endlessly persecuted for nothing but “loving their freedom” as she says and forced to live in hiding.  A very recognizable experience for lgbt people through history as well.

Esmeralda: “We all do that sometimes.  There are just some things we need to keep separate from the world at large, at least until we have time to figure them out.”

She knows very well that sometimes an identity needs to stay hidden until “the world at large” will be able to accept it, or until we can fully understand it ourselves.  She gives Riku a gentle, reassuring smile, and its clear they understand each other.

Before KH3, I wasn’t sure this scene was written intentionally to be an allegory for being in the closet (well...allegory might not be the right word, because Riku is), but after KH3 made Riku’s feelings practically explicit I honestly do think this scene was written with that in mind.  And the way it was handled with such gentle care is really touching.

[darkvolley]

Fenrir anon here. I wasn’t complaining, I was just pointing it out because I thought it was funny. I’m sad that Way to the Dawn is gone but I agree it’s like a visual representation of Riku moving on. Based on the look of it I can’t help but think it’s a more defensive based key. It’s so large and wide like a shield, like he’s going to use it to protect everyone.

Apologies for assuming then! It's hard for me to tell when something's meant to be funny or a joke when it's just written word. Plus I'm bad at that in general, lol.

It is a shame about Way to the Dawn tho. It did capture Riku's former character quite well. But yeah, moving on means leaving some things behind.

I never considered Braveheart leaning more towards defense tho. When I think defensive, I imagine some kind of hilt and BH doesn't exactly have that.

It does have this part tho and I can see that point being the focus of any shielding. It's wider than the rest of the blade at least.

And now that I'm thinking about this. A lot of other Keyblades have fancy, over the top designs. Realistically, if you want to shield people then something wider and with no major gaps would be the best option.

Sorry for choosing Kairi to pick on, but let's compare it to Destiny's Embrace since that's thr first one to pop into my mind.

Again, realistically you're not gonna be able to defend against much with just a stick and some flowers that leave a lot of open gaps. Maybe a weapon could get locked in, but it would end up more like two deer with their antlers locked and Kairi wouldn't be able to counter very easily.

BH is wide and solid. There are no gaps so it can defend against a lot more. The divots could cause an opponent's weapon to get locked in a bit and the sleekness makes it easy for Riku to counter.

Riku wants to do a lot of protecting now too. So perhaps BH and it's simpleness but wideness is a symbol of that. It's good for protecting his friends and that's what he wants.

[blowingoffsteam2]

“I’ve always been jealous of Sora.  I thought that so many times and I think so even now. I’ve always thought that this feeling was tainted by darkness, but now it’s different.  This feeling made me stronger. I became stronger because I had a partner to compete with. Light and Darkness are opposites; Darkness becomes stronger thanks to the light’s shadow and it makes the light shine brighter.  Now I can understand the meaning of these words.”

“The light illuminates the darkness that is hidden within my heart.  And that light is you, Sora.” - SOURCE

Ok I’ve been screaming about this quote and Riku’s philosophical musing about light and dark all day on Twitter but I want to bring some of my thoughts over here (Sorry if you’ve already seen these on Twitter).  Long story short, Riku is SUCH A GOOD CHARACTER and “Consume the darkness, return it to light” is the perfect summation of how Riku transforms his negative feelings into positive action.

Riku acknowledging that even after kh1, the envy he felt for Sora didn't go away, but he instead used it to become stronger. He understands that Sora helped illuminate these dark parts of himself so that he could instead use them for good. This is also something so important to portray- that a lot of times feelings that are usually labeled as bad, like Riku's envy, can't just be turned off. They don't automatically go away.  The more we try to ignore and push them away, the more damaging they become, like in KH1. But if we are able to recognize them and accept them, we can turn them into a force for good. Riku was envious of Sora because he wanted to be more like him, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. So Riku uses this new awareness to become better, stronger, for Sora and himself.

At this point in KH1, Riku wanted to "win" once and for all.  This would’ve thrown light and dark out of balance and would have made Riku weaker in the end.  By DDD, he has understood that he and Sora need each other, that they make each other stronger just by being who they are.

Riku sees Sora as his light, who illuminates the dark corners of his heart, bringing them into the light for him to be able to understand and transform into something good.  Riku will be that light for Sora now too, illuminating the darkness of Sora's heart.

[blowingoffsteam2]

In the KH1 opening, Riku extends his hand out to Sora not once, but twice.  We all recognize the parallel of the first one, when he wants Sora to leave the islands with him.  It is the moment the tidal wave- symbolizing darkness- is towering over him but hasn’t yet submerged him:

But the second time?  He is underwater, fallen to darkness:

Maybe you initially thought it was a reference to the same scene like I did.  But I was wrong.  Riku asks Sora a second time to join him, with the same gesture.

“We can do it together.”

Each time this happens represents a significant turning point for Riku.  The first is his initial fall to darkness, Sora’s rejection of him in the second causes him to fall even further and cements his path.

[blowingoffsteam2]

1 of 3: This is my first time submitting something, and I do not know where to start seeing as I have few things, which I might ask over time. I am a little nervous, actually. I decided to start off small. Some other things I want to ask, though, can be long, so I need to condense down. Haha. Anyways, I keep on thinking of what Riku says towards the end of Kingdom Hearts III: "Let him go, Mickey...His heart and his mind are made up. Now believe in him."

2 of 3 There was a certain quote that I kept on thinking of: “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If not, it was never meant to be.” When I looked up the quote, some meanings/interpretations were given: “Some interpret it as a description of fate. Only fate can determine whether a relationship was meant to be. So, if you let someone go, they will come back if that’s your destiny.” Another interpretation was: “…you cannot force someone to love you.You have to give them the freedom to choose.” Every time I think of Riku letting Sora go and watching him leave, I can’t help but feel heartbroken for him. The secret ending, however, makes me a bit happy, seeing as their reunion is just around the corner. Sorry about having to put this in three parts. I really wanted to express my thoughts on that quote and the decision Riku made.     

Thanks for submitting this!  Don’t worry about how long your asks get, I love seeing other peoples’ thoughts, and this right here is something I’ve been wanting to talk a bit about myself too.

I know a lot of people were upset that Riku let Sora go, saying it was ooc or whatever, but honestly…I couldn’t disagree more.  Riku being the one- of all the others- to have complete faith in Sora and let him go was such an important moment for his character.  The conflict with Riku in KH1 was born out of Riku’s possessiveness of Sora, that as much as he tried to pretend otherwise, he was unable to let Sora go because he was so terrified of being abandoned. So in order to try to protect himself from being hurt and not have to face this fear, he lashed out.  

But true love is not possessive, and it does not try to prevent the other person from following their heart.  This is what Riku has learned through the series. There’s no doubt he still holds that fear of abandonment to some degree, but because he understands himself so much better now, he’s able to not let it control him, and to not let it turn into possessiveness over the one he loves.  

And of course, he knows now that “letting Sora go” does not mean letting go of his connection to him.  All it means is letting Sora be Sora, and trusting in him- which is exactly what Sora needed in KH3.  He needed someone to believe in his own strength, to show that he wasn’t worthless on his own. This is what Riku did for Sora in the Keyblade Graveyard and in the ending.

That quote is perfect. "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If not, it was never meant to be.”   Since the end of KH1, Riku has never once expected anything in return for what he’s done for Sora.  He allows Sora to be free to follow his heart, because after all, that’s what he admires most about him.  And I think we’ve already been shown time and time again that Sora will ALWAYS come back to Riku. If the end of KH3 is any indication this pattern will continue- with the added implication that Sora is now actively trying to discover and make his way “home”.  A home that may not be what he first expected…

[darkvolley]

I’ve seen so many people complaining about Riku’s keyblade saying it looks like a car key. If they’re complaining about it then they probably would hate to see the Fenrir keyblade.

I mean, it's really more of a house key actually but that doesn't really help. But anyway, it being based off that kind of key isn't a problem at all. Yes, Fenrir already exists so Braveheart shouldn't really be mocked for being shaped like a real kind of key.

I do have a problem with it tho. Way to the Dawn perfectly encapsulated Riku's story. He chose not to go down purely a road of light or darkness. He chose the middle, and WttD represented that. He has moved on from that now tho. He isn't constantly consumed by guilt about all the things he did during KH1 anymore. So it's understandable that he would also move on from the Keyblade that reminds him of that.

But then what does Braveheart represent? It's just silver and sleek. It's called Braveheart which I feel suits him. He's brave for still standing after everything he's been through and he's got one hell of a strong heart now for it. But with no name I can't discern what the Keyblade is supposed to mean. It fits aesthetically cuz it's silver and black, but where's the meaning?

I suppose you could say it's similar to Sora's Kingdom Key in that it's their main Keyblade but it doesn't represent anything. KK has a crown shape, but what else about it says 'Sora' other than all the years of association with Sora? If we were looking at KK for the first time what would we say it represents? I dunno. I can't tell. So I believe BH is supposed to be Riku's equivelant to KK. It's a shame it doesn't appear to have more meaning to it, but if it's meant to be his 'default' Keyblade then I'm not too bothered.