- "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
—Riku
Riku is one of several original characters appearing in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts II, and also one of the main characters in the series. Riku lives on Destiny Islands. He is the best friend of Sora and Kairi. Riku is fifteen years old at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and sixteen during the events of Kingdom Hearts II. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, he is five years old since it's a prequel set ten years before the start of Kingdom Hearts. Riku's name is derived from the Japanese word for "Land".
Story
Riku's story begins a number of years before the night of the Heartless invasion on Destiny Islands. He and Sora have always trained and pushed each other to make one another stronger. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Terra can already sense Riku's potential. During their conversation, Terra sees a glimpse of Riku's future self, as a strong, dark armored man about Xehanort's age, and later the sixteen year old young man that he becomes in Kingdom Hearts II and asks Riku why he wants to go to other worlds. Riku replies with "I want to be stronger." At the end of their conversation, Terra hands Riku his Keyblade to test his strength. He also mentioned that another boy left the islands long before Terra arrived.
After the ending credits, Riku and Sora are seen resting on a beach under a starry night. When they are ready to go home, Riku sees Sora's sudden look of sadness and says that perhaps someone from another world is feeling sad somewhere and suggests for him to try and reach out to him. After Sora reached out to Ven, they both look up at the starry sky.
Kingdom Hearts
Early Life
On an earlier night, there is a meteor shower and a mysterious girl appears on the islands. Apparently, Kairi is from another, far off world, and is now stuck on the Destiny Islands, with no way to return to her home. In an Ansem report, this world is revealed to be Radiant Garden. The two and Sora, another resident of the Isles, quickly forge a powerful friendship. Soon after Kairi's arrival, Riku and Sora go to the secret place, a small cave that they frequently explored. While there, the two spot a mysterious door, though neither one can find a way to open it. The two decide to leave, but Riku manages to get a glimpse of Destiny Islands' Keyhole. From this day on Riku became obsessed with finding out what lies beyond the door, wondering if it could perhaps be a passageway to another world, such as Kairi's.
Journey off Destiny Islands
Riku appears as a cool and collected 15-year-old. He and his best friends Sora and Kairi live on the Destiny Islands. The three spend their days constructing a raft and gathering supplies, so that they might one day set out and search for other worlds. He and Sora share a fierce but good natured rivalry, competing over who is stronger in battle, among other things. Despite the fact that their arguments are of good intention, Riku is known to irritate Sora by being a bit of a sore loser and (in the original Kingdom Hearts manga, Volume 1) very pushy involving his fight over Kairi, shown when he tells Sora that, if the latter does not share a paopu fruit with Kairi soon, he will. All three of them, as well as the other children that live on the islands, spend most of their time on the smallest island, acting as their own personal playground.
However, things take a drastic turn on the night before their journey. Riku, likely unable to leave the islands without knowing the truth, opens the door in the secret place (something he saw while very young, but was perhaps too overwhelmed to open it just then) and the Heartless, beings of darkness, invade the islands, seeking out the world's heart. Both afraid that a storm would destroy the raft, Kairi and Sora set out for the island. Sora finds Riku first. However, while Sora is concerned for his friend's safety, Riku is only obsessed with finally escaping the island. Darkness surrounds the two, and Riku disappears into it, while Sora gains the Keyblade.
Invitation to Darkness
Riku eventually ends up in Hollow Bastion via the Corridor of Darkness, separated from his friends. There, he is found by Maleficent and she offered shelter and protection.
Though Riku is provided a place to stay, Maleficent begins corrupting his mind, convincing him that Sora has replaced him and Kairi with Donald Duck and Goofy. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who has lost her heart to the darkness, is to ally himself with her and her band of villains, while abandoning Sora. Not long after, he meets Sora in Traverse Town, takes a look at his Keyblade, holds it for a few moments, and gives it back to Sora without it teleporting from his hand - a foreshadowing of Riku's role as a Keyblade wielder. After his reunion with Sora in Traverse Town, Riku begins to agree with Maleficent and officially starts his stay with her; however, he is still highly suspicious of her motives.
As the days progress, Riku becomes steadily angrier at Sora, convincing himself to hate his old friend. He obtains a blade from Maleficent called the Soul Eater and teaches himself to use it, believing it will aid him in his search for Kairi's heart.
With his mind corrupted, Riku meets Sora once again in Monstro, intending to use Pinocchio to help him find a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio ends up captured by a giant Heartless called the Parasite Cage, and Riku is forced (somewhat against his own wishes) to work together with Sora, Donald, and Goofy to save him. Afterwards, Riku kidnaps Pinocchio, and is pursued by Sora, Donald, and Goofy into Monstro's stomach. Riku asks Sora to join him and help him rescue Kairi, but Sora refuses, knowing that Riku's methods are wrong. When the Parasite Cage returns, Riku vanishes into a dark portal.
Riku later appears at Neverland, traveling on Captain Hook's ship, where Kairi's body is held. Riku also now shows that he has gained the power to control the Heartless, a gift granted to him by Maleficent. He then goes to Sora, revealing that he has Kairi's body in his possession. Sora warns Riku that the Heartless will eventually turn on him and devour his heart, but Riku refuses to listen and retreats after creating Anti-Sora, a dark reflection of Sora, with his newly acquired dark powers. However, before he heads back to Hollow Bastion, he instructs Captain Hook that the captured Wendy is not a Princess of Heart. Riku takes Kairi and recklessly returns to Maleficent's castle via the Corridors of Darkness without a vessel, a foolish act that strains even his powerful heart. While he is drained from the trip, Maleficent unlocks the last of Riku's power and the boy's heart is plunged into almost complete darkness.
At Hollow Bastion, Sora again meets Riku, and defends the wounded Beast from a swift death by Riku's blade. But the Beast is hardly one of Riku's major concerns, as Riku reveals his true purpose for confronting Sora. He is able to wield the Keyblade. Riku explains that Sora was only a temporary recipient, telling him that he was "just the delivery boy" and that Riku is the true Keyblade master. After leaving Sora with the toy sword he used on the Destiny Islands, he departs, Donald and Goofy following him as per The King's orders, though regretfully.
Though Sora is significantly weakened, he makes his way to the foyer of the castle; with the help of Beast. Riku, having taken on a new appearance with the increasing strength of his dark powers, tells him to quit, but Sora refuses to leave without Kairi. Riku, intending to prove to Sora that he is the strongest of the two, attacks his old friend, only for Donald and Goofy to go to his aid after finding themselves unable to betray Sora after all that they had been through together. With the strength of his friends, Sora regains the Keyblade, becoming the true master, and drives Riku into retreat once more.
Becoming the Darkness itself
Eventually, Riku manages to escape, but is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. A mysterious voice somehow contacts him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku himself was weaker than Sora. However, the mysterious voice, now slowly taking a shape, presents Riku with an offer he can not resist, a Keyblade of his own. Under the influence of jealousy and rage, Riku agrees to become one with the Darkness, only to become possessed by the mysterious voice itself.
The new Riku then presents himself to Maleficent and warns her of the dangers of unlocking the Final Keyhole. When she claims not to be afraid, Riku shows a new, dark Keyblade created with six of the seven princesses' hearts. However, it doesn't react to the keyhole. Realizing it is still needing Kairi's heart to be complete, Maleficent heads off to handle Sora and co. After Maleficent is defeated by Sora, Riku appears with his Keyblade and explains that unlike Sora's Keyblade, this Keyblade possesses the ability to unlock a person's heart, and Riku demonstrates this by piercing Maleficent's chest, allowing the immense darkness that is attracted to her to overtake her heart, transforming her into a giant dragon. While this form proved a far deadlier enemy to Sora and his friends, it still was defeated and killed.
Riku, calling himself Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, later confronts and battles Sora (who is cut off from Donald and Goofy) at the Final Keyhole. He hopes to release Kairi's heart from within Sora's, so that she, being the final Princess of Heart can open the Keyhole. He fails, but Sora impales himself anyway to save Kairi. With Sora gone, Xehanort's Heartless attacks Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, but they are saved by Riku, who is using the last of his strength to hold the dark powers of his possessor off.
Riku's rejection of Xehanort's Heartless leads to an internal struggle between the two, which Riku ultimately loses. This causes Riku to lose control of his body once more, while Xehanort's Heartless gains it fully.
A newly restored Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, eventually make their way to the End of the World, the home of the Heartless. There they once again confront Xehanort's Heartless and defeat him after a series of battles at the Door to Darkness.
Riku is then restored, and appears on the other side of the Door to Darkness, aiding Sora in closing it, but unable to cross it, as only pure darkness can go back and forth through the door. Waiting to enter the Realm of Light are thousands upon thousands of Heartless, who only cause further problems for the two friends. However, King Mickey, appearing for the first time in the game, wards them off with a powerful golden colored Keyblade. The King and Sora then proceed to close the door, Sora on the outside, Mickey within. Riku is stuck on the other side of the door with the King, but not before he told Sora to "take care of her," meaning Kairi.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Awakening
Riku arrives in none other than Hollow Bastion, though only a version of it crafted from his memories. However, though Hollow Bastion is the same as he remembered it, he is unable to find anyone. All the while he searches, the Voice speaks to and mocks the young teenager.
At long last, Riku meets someone: Maleficent. Maleficent taunts him and his refusal of the darkness, but Riku fights Maleficent, hoping to prove that he is above the darkness. He is victorious.
Riku leaves Hollow Bastion, only to see the true form of Castle Oblivion. The Voice again comes to Riku, but this time reveals himself to be Xehanort's Heartless, who wants to take over Riku again. However, though Xehanort's Heartless is powerful, King Mickey comes to aid Riku with his light. Riku then manages to fend off Xehanort's Heartless for the time being. But before he leaves, the Heartless leaves Riku with some world cards and the ability to wield his inner darkness as a weapon.
Meeting the Replica
Riku soon realizes that he has the power to detect the "smell" of darkness, and is discouraged by it, though King Mickey comforts him. However, King Mickey can only appear to Riku as a projection, for he is still in the Realm of Darkness. Still, with King Mickey's encouragement, Riku ascends the basements of Castle Oblivion in order to rid himself of his darkness. Meanwhile, as Riku travels through the lower levels of Castle Oblivion, Sora ascends the upper floors, being manipulated by Marluxia, a member of the mysterious Organization XIII and the lord of Castle Oblivion. But three other Organization members, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion work to counter Marluxia by using the dark-wielding Riku against the light-wielding Sora.
To further the trio's goals, Vexen independently appears before Riku and Riku wonders if Vexen is with Xehanort's Heartless. But Vexen cryptically responds that he is with "another Ansem". Still, Riku fights with Vexen, seeing him as an enemy. But the battle only helps Vexen, who uses the data he gathered from the battle to create a Riku Replica. The replica soon comes to battle Riku, mocking Riku's fear of the darkness while the replica embraces it. However, Riku proves victorious, and the replica runs off.
Soon, Xehanort's Heartless appears again, saying that the replica is a model of what Riku should be. But Riku only reaffirms his desire to conquer his darkness.
Passing through much of the castle (the bulk of Sora's story is complete, and Larxene and Vexen have been eliminated) Riku finds Lexaeus. Lexaeus, like the others, tells him that he should accept the darkness again, because if he doesn't, his journey will end here. The two fight, and Riku only manages to wear him down. As Riku moves in for the finishing blow, Lexaeus summons herculean strength and knocks Riku unconscious with his Axe Sword. Lexaeus decides to eliminate him since taking him down was too much trouble, but as he does so, he notices Riku becoming possessed by Xehanort's Heartless. This catches Lexaeus off-guard, and the Xehanort-possessed Riku takes the opportunity to kill him. Although Lexaeus is defeated, Riku ends up having a struggle with Xehanort's Heartless that he nearly loses. Just before the dark being can overwhelm Riku, Mickey saves him again and manages to bring him out of the darkness.
Riku comes closer to the ground level, just as Marluxia's scheme fails and Sora finishes him off. Riku senses Marluxia's defeat, and Zexion quickly arrives on the scene to explain it. But he also reveals that Sora is the one who did the deed, much to Riku's surprise. Zexion quickly asks if Riku is capable of seeing Sora, for Riku shouldered the darkness for so long, and Xehanort's Heartless still resides in his heart. Riku tries to resist Zexion's comments, but Zexion ultimately gives him a world card of Destiny Islands. Riku enters.
Destiny Islands
In Destiny Islands, Riku meets all of his friends, but they are all silent and they eventually disappear, even Kairi. Zexion throws all of Riku's fears at him at once, telling him he's responsible for causing them to disappear, and that he belongs to the darkness now. He finally transforms an illusion of him into a Darkside Heartless, telling him this is what he has become. Riku beats back the Heartless as Zexion disguises himself as Sora. He tells him that it's finally time to face the light.
Riku sinks into the light as he begins to fade, but Naminé appears in the form of Kairi and tells him that he can't fade, because light can't beat him, and neither can darkness, so he should accept both to drive away his fears. He awakens his dark power again, admitting that it's a part of him and not evil, beating back Zexion. Zexion disappears, but is quickly killed by the Riku Replica with Axel.
Riku nearly makes it to the main floor as Xehanort's Heartless appears to control him, but King Mickey beats him back again and finally appears for real. Riku is relieved at finally having a real friend with him. Mickey explains that he found a card which showed him Riku's heart and he followed it back to him. Riku uses the card, and ends up in Twilight Town. Xehanort's Heartless appears again, but Riku tells him that he's not "Ansem", because his scent is not darkness--but rather something else. Riku also sees that this man is the Voice that presented itself at the beginning of his journey. The Voice finally introduces himself as DiZ. Riku asks him what he really wants from him, and DiZ tells him he wants him to choose between Light and Darkness, because he lies in-between. The decision will be decided with Naminé, who Riku looks for.
However, the Riku Replica manages to find him, and demand another fight to prove him "worthy". The replica intends to kill Riku in order to become real, but fails. However, Riku comforts him by saying that the replica's heart will go to the same place as the real one's, before the replica vanishes out of existence.
Riku meets up with Naminé. who is with Sora in his memory cell, and explains the situation. She offers to seal away Xehanort's Heartless and Riku's darkness, so that he may forget them, but will have to sleep to do so. Riku refuses, hoping to win on his own, and leaves a satisfied Naminé. However, before he departs, he tells Naminé that he knows that it was her who appeared to him as Kairi, commenting that they smell the same.
Way to the Dawn
After meeting Naminé, DiZ appears again to Riku and the King (who notes that DiZ seems familiar). Knowing his choice, DiZ gives Riku a card that will draw out Xehanort's Heartless. After DiZ leaves, Riku tells King Mickey to destroy him if Riku fails to stop Xehanort's Heartless, but the King refuses, saying he'll only help him regain control, and never harm him. Riku concedes.
Riku faces Ansem for one final battle alone. Ansem asks why he still refuses him if he accepts darkness now, and inquires if Riku is still scared of the darkness. But Riku denies this and merely says "I just can't stand your foul stench". They fight and the last of Xehanort's Heartless is destroyed, but not before he says a part of him is still in Riku, and he shall return.
Riku and Mickey wait at the front entrance. Riku tells him that he can't go home yet as "Ansem's" shadow still lingers in him, but Mickey says the darkness is a part of him. Darkness is not all bad, because Riku has chosen a road he never thought of before, one of both Light and Darkness. Riku, who now forms an equally strong bond as Sora's friendship to Donald and Goofy, calls Mickey by his name at the King's request, making him the only character to do so in the Kingdom Hearts universe. (Excluding Queen Minnie)
They leave, taking Organization cloaks that DiZ gave them prior to confronting Xehanort's Heartless, and DiZ appears for one final question: if he shall take the "road to light" or the "road to darkness". Riku chooses neither, he'll take the middle road, "The Road to Dawn". Riku and King Mickey eventually made it out of the plains and separate after Riku realized he couldn't completely rid himself of the darkness festering in him. Deciding to return to DiZ and offer his help, Riku dons a blindfold, for "his eyes couldn't lie" about his darkness which he is preparing to use and wished Mickey not to witness firsthand.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Riku plays an important role in the game's story. He is first seen on the bridge in Beast's Castle where he fights Xion. As a defeated Xion lies on the ground, Riku pulls off her hood and pulls up his blindfold to get a good look at her. When he sees her as Sora, he is shocked and begins asking her how she can use the Keyblade, calling it a sham and worthless. Angered, Xion demands what right he had to say such a thing and attacks him, only to be knocked down single-handedly. Riku then tells her to "find a new crowd."
After Xion left the Organization, the two stayed away in Castle Oblivion. As Roxas and Axel continue to search for her around the worlds, they finally make contact in Twilight Town. Xion quickly takes her leave and Riku stays behind to distract them.
While cradling Xion in his arms during her nightmare, Riku recalls his conversation with Naminé in the white room about her, discussing what has to be done for Sora to wake up. In addition to being with Xion during her nightmare, he is also in her nightmare alongside Zexion. Xion collapses in pain while hearing the hurtful speech Zexion gave Riku from Chain of Memories. She then turns into Roxas, Riku, and finally Sora. After Xion wakes upon Destiny Islands, she expresses her curiosity about "Sora and that girl he's always with", in which Riku tells her that Kairi is someone very special to Sora. He tells her that she is the reason Sora is unable to wake up because part of his memories are inside of her. Even though Xion is unsure of where she truly belongs and what the right choice is, Riku gives her some time to think about it. He is also seen conversing with DiZ next to the pod Sora sleeps in.
Riku is shown meeting with King Mickey in the forest outside the Twilight Town Mansion, where he is in his Xehanort's Heartless form. The King then calls the Keyblade to him, ready to fight, not knowing who he is. To let the King know it's him, Riku puts his blindfold on, which makes him return to normal, surprising the King. He informs Mickey that he will be fighting an Organization member soon, and may not survive, forcing the King to promise to protect Sora.
Riku is the final boss of the game, as the game ends with the battle between him and Roxas depicted in several scenes in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, including the secret endings of Another Side, Another Story and Deep Dive. He also appears as a playable character in multiplayer mode. To unlock him, the player must play story mode up to day 171 and unlock the rank of Agent.
Kingdom Hearts II
Allying with DiZ (Ansem the Wise)
He allies himself with DiZ, as they have a common goal: to help Sora awaken (though Riku finds his memories of Sora fading, being a side-effect of Naminé's toying with Sora's memories). DiZ asks Riku to kidnap Roxas, the Nobody of Sora, who has been having trouble regaining his memories. If he and Roxas join, Sora should be able to reawaken. Riku enters the Realm of Darkness, and corners Roxas in the World That Never Was. In their battle, they seem to stalemate, although Roxas manages to strike him back, seemingly crippling Riku's left hand. Riku then realizes if he is to win in the Realm of Darkness, he must submerse himself in the same darkness. As a result, Riku unleashed his darkness, taking on the form of Xehanort's Heartless as a side effect. Riku easily defeated Roxas, and returns him to DiZ's base underneath the abandoned mansion in Twilight Town, introducing himself as "Ansem".
Roxas' memory is erased by DiZ and he is placed into a Virtual Twilight Town, to live out his days until the time comes for him to meet Sora. Meanwhile, Riku watches over Roxas, periodically entering the town in order to keep Roxas ignorant to the truth, including keeping Naminé from saying anything important to Roxas. He also takes some keepsakes of Roxas' during some of his visits. With all these deeds done, Riku finally demands to know what DiZ's true objective is. Upon hearing that it is merely revenge (DiZ does not disclose against whom it is), Riku clenches his fist, shocked and disgusted at how DiZ is merely using him and Sora for selfish reasons.
Eventually, when the time comes for Roxas, Riku makes sure to prevent the Nobodies from flooding the town. Soon, the goal Riku had been searching for is finally reached: Roxas joins with Sora. Though DiZ orders him to eliminate Naminé, Riku desires no part in DiZ's prejudice revenge and hands her to the now-renegade Axel of Organization XIII before leaving DiZ.
Rogue Actions
Riku, after Roxas joins with Sora, comes into contact with King Mickey. Riku begs King Mickey not to reveal his whereabouts and condition to Sora, and the King reluctantly agrees. He then leaves the King the digital versions of Olette's munny pouch and Roxas' crystal orb that he had pilfered from Roxas earlier.
Later, Axel tries to kidnap Kairi in an attempt to use her to turn Sora into a Heartless so Roxas would be reborn. However, Riku rescues Kairi, and takes her to Twilight Town, where she meets Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but never reveals his identity. However, Axel again appears, but another member of Organization XIII, Saïx, manages to kidnap Kairi, with the intent to use her to fuel Sora's rage. At the battle for Hollow Bastion, Sora, Donald, and Goofy end up in an empty realm, where Riku arrives. He says nothing to them, and only leaves the trio a box that contains sea-salt ice cream and a picture of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette in front of the haunted mansion.
Riku also arrives at the Land of Dragons, trying to warn the Emperor of a Heartless dragon that Xigbar created. But he ends up meeting Sora, and Sora attacks him, thinking Riku to be an Organization member. However, Sora sees that Riku is wielding the Soul Eater, and begins to suspect Riku's identity. But Riku still goes ahead with his mission, and warns the Emperor (but had to defeat Captain Shang in order to do so). When Sora talks to the Emperor, the wise ruler's description of the man further cemented Sora's idea that the man he fought was Riku.
The Ultimate War
Riku later appears in the World That Never Was, after Naminé rescues Kairi. The two are faced against Saїx, but Riku quickly comes to the rescue, his Soul Eater having now transformed into a Keyblade called Way to the Dawn. Naminé calls Riku by name, and disappears. Kairi, excited to see Riku, removes his hood, but is met with the face of Xehanort's Heartless. She takes it in stride, seeing the true Riku underneath his current form.
Kairi later is attacked by Heartless on her way to see Sora, being saved by Riku. He then gives Kairi a mysterious Keyblade so that she may fight. After Sora defeats Xigbar, he and Kairi reunite. Riku tries to take his leave, but Kairi stops him. She then reveals Riku's identity, and with some concentration, Sora also sees Riku underneath his dark appearance. The revelation makes Sora overjoyed to the point of tears. Riku explains that he did not want to be found, thanks to his appearance, and confirms Sora's suspicions of the clues they found- namely, the ice cream and Roxas' photo. Still, he and the others make their way up the castle, defeating the remaining Organization members save for Xemnas. During this time, Riku reveals the truth about Roxas to Sora, and realizes that he never had to fight him; Roxas had left Organization XIII because he had wanted to meet Sora, and would most likely have met him either way over time.
Near the top, Riku reunites with King Mickey and DiZ, his true name being Ansem the Wise, who is using a machine to try and encode Kingdom Hearts into data. Xemnas also arrives, and he and Ansem the Wise trade bitter words. The machine then explodes, unable to handle Kingdom Hearts, killing Ansem the Wise while causing countless hearts Xemnas had collected into Kingdom Hearts to rain down on the world, creating a slew of Heartless. The explosion also restores Riku to his original form, though he is still remorseful. After some encouragement, Riku transcends the rest of the castle, abandoning his cloak and blindfold. He and the others also encounter Maleficent and Pete, who decide to hold off the hordes of Heartless that are overtaking the castle, but only so that they will eventually take the castle for their own.
Riku and the others then confront Xemnas, refusing his demand to gather more hearts. Xemnas then removes Sora from the area, fighting him one on one, with everyone else calling out to him. When Sora returns, they see that Xemnas has already reached Kingdom Hearts, and disappears into it. A door, constructed by the will of the worlds, appears, and the three wielders of the Keyblade open it up and follow Xemnas. After a tough battle, Naminé appears again, opening up a corridor of darkness that leads to Destiny Islands, as Riku can no longer use them. However, Xemnas attacks, riding on a gigantic robotic dragon, and separates Sora and Riku from the others. After a series of battles, the two of them are drawn into nothingness by Xemnas and face in a final, exhausting battle.
Towards the end after the final attack used by Xemnas, Sora is left open and Riku takes a blow intended to finish off his friend, which allows Sora to finish Xemnas off with both Riku and Sora firing a beam of light from Sora's keyblade. After the fall of Xemnas, Sora and the injured Riku face an onslaught of Dusks ready to fulfill their master's final order: eliminate the Keyblade wielders. However, the Dusks disintegrate back into nothingness, and Sora and Riku escape the realm, entering the Dark Meridian.
Home At Last
Having the time to finally talk, the two reconcile with each other. Riku then comes across a letter in a bottle, written by Kairi, and gives it to Sora, believing him to be the proper recipient. Sora then manages to open the Door to Light, as King Mickey predicted, and the two return home, reuniting with their friends. While Sora shares a hug with Donald and Goofy, Riku shares his own moment with King Mickey. Ironically, even though Riku was once jealous of Sora's friendship with Donald and Goofy, he ended up having a similar one with Mickey.
Some time later, Sora and Riku observe the waves of Destiny Islands, saying that it's a small world but also part of a much bigger one, then jump to discussion about the Door to the Light. Kairi then appears with a letter from the King, the contents obscured from the player's view.
Kingdom Hearts coded
A data version of Riku has a brief appearance in virtual Destiny Islands and Neverland only to be like he was before anything happened after his world disappeared.
In one of the cutscenes, Xehanort's Heartless and Riku encounter each other right after Sora disappeared to Traverse Town, shortly before Destiny Islands was completely swallowed by the darkness. In the last minute, Xehanort's Heartless opens a portal for Riku, allowing him to enter and arrive in Hollow Bastion.
Later on, the mysterious black coated figure is revealed to be a Data Riku, similar to Data Sora. Riku explains that the Jiminy's Journal chose him as the vessel for the memories in the journal, and in a sense he is the Journal incarnate. In the Data Olympus Coliseum, the Data Riku/Journal says to Data Sora the reason he didn't reveal himself to him earlier is because he wanted Sora to become stronger. He discusses with Sora whether they are data or artificial but the Riku/Journal said it doesn't matter as long as they made an impact to the world and it helps their friends. It is revealed the reason the video kept showing things Jiminy never wrote about is because it shows the Journal's sleeping memories. Even the Riku/Journal incarnate doesn't know the reasons behind the mysterious messages appear in the journal, the Bug Blocks that appear in the Data Worlds, or what is happening to the Data World.
Personality
- "I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And... suppose there are other worlds... then that means ours is just a little piece of something much greater!"
- —Riku, chatting with Sora and Kairi.
In Kingdom Hearts, Riku is a calm, cool, collected teen who is not afraid to go far beyond his limits. This shows through when he shows no fear in stepping into the dark portal when Destiny Islands was being consumed by darkness, along with his statement "I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Also, he seems to be aware of Sora's romantic feelings toward Kairi and often teases him for liking their friend (maybe for the reason he has feelings for her as well), such as when he challenges Sora to a race, Sora saying that if he wins, he gets to become captain of the raft they're constructing; Riku ups the ante by saying that if he wins, he gets to share a paopu fruit with Kairi.
He also showed a strong competitive streak, along with a bit of jealousy. He shows his competitive side when he challenges Sora, saying that his heart is stronger than Sora's heart. It is not actually said aloud, but thanks to Maleficent, he became increasingly jealous of Sora. It started with him finding out about Sora's new friends, and his thinking that he had been replaced. The jealousy grew when he learned about Sora possessing the Keyblade. The jealousy turned into rage, resulting in the battles against Sora throughout Kingdom Hearts, and his possession by Xehanort's Heartless.
Though his traits were not too favorable in Kingdom Hearts, he becomes more heroic in Chain of Memories. Riku has many realizations. One of these was him realizing that he let his heart become weak. From that moment on, he began to shy away from the darkness in his heart. Through the scores of fights and battles in Castle Oblivion, he makes another big realization: he can't get rid of the darkness in his heart, and decides to use it without turning from the light like before. He matured immensely, and along with leaving his past behind him, he also left a lot of his unfortunate traits.
In Kingdom Hearts II, he shows a great amount of loyalty and care for his friends. To save Sora, he did everything he could to bring Roxas to DiZ to make Sora whole again, going so far as to give up his physical form for that of Xehanort's Heartless. As Sora journeyed on between the worlds, he dropped him some valuable clues, such as the sea-salt ice cream and the picture.
When he finally is found in the World That Never Was, he repeatedly shows regret, telling Sora that "he didn't want to be found," and almost refusing to come back to Destiny Islands because of his wrongdoings.
Ever since he was young, he had been curious with everything that is outside of his world. Over time, his curiosity became obsession and he began to think of his world as a prison surrounded by water. When the Heartless came, he led them to the Keyhole of Destiny Islands in exchange for a trip to another world. This obsession greatly diminishes throughout the year of Sora's slumber, most likely because he had already seen many other worlds that the curiosity disappeared. When he returns to Destiny Islands in Kingdom Hearts II, he still comments it as a small world, but agrees with Sora's remark that it is only a part of one that's much bigger. This marks that Riku has a better view of his home world rather than imagine it as a prison.
Another good personality trait he showed was a strong protectiveness over his friends. He never wanted Sora and Kairi to find out about the time he spent in the darkness. He nearly sacrificed himself to protect Sora from Xemnas' attacks, leaving him injured after the final battle.
Though Riku matures significantly over the course of the series, he still seems to retain some of his old Kingdom Hearts self, particularly his sense of humor; he refers to Sora, Donald, and Goofy as "wise guys" when talking to the Emperor, cracks a joke about Donald and Goofy's intelligence at their expense ("Sora never did pick the brightest friends."), and calls Sora a "total sap" when going to confront Xemnas.
Appearance
Riku stands with features similar to other characters. His hair is silver and his eyes are aqua (which turn yellow when he becomes Xehanort's Heartless form) and has a more pale complexion like Kairi compared to Sora. Riku also is more muscular than Sora showing how at first it seems that he is "better at stuff" than Sora. Riku's appearance changes more with his clothes than his actual physical appearance as he only holds two major changes. In Kingdom Hearts II he shows these changes as he becomes darkness itself in the form of Xehanort's Heartless. This results from him having to transform to defeat and capture Roxas. Near the final battle of Kingdom Hearts II against Xemnas, Riku returns to his normal form except with longer hair and surprisingly paler eyes. He also has more defined features and is much taller. He has four different outfits, his first being a yellow shirt mimicking a tank top with baggy blue jeans connected to suspenders with large shoes (in keeping up with Sora and Kairi's feet appearance). This outfit is changed when Riku turns to his normal form in Kingdom Hearts II; this time he has a black zip-up tank-top and a white and yellow vest over it, his pants are a pair of baggy blue denim jeans, and his feet down to a more normal size with a simple pair of sneakers.
Also in his Kingdom Hearts II attire, there appears to be a white band on his left wrist, which is most likely an injury due to the strike to that particular wrist dealt by Roxas during their fight at the Memory Skyscraper in 358/2 Days. Riku's outfit in Dark Form seems to resemble that of Vanitas' outfit, holding the Heartless emblem on the chest and is a mixture of blue and purple with a white grass-like skirt on the bottom. Riku's last clothing change is at the end of Chain of Memories, the majority of Kingdom Hearts II, and all of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as he wears the Black Cloak worn often by other characters. When he is not in the guise of Xehanort's Heartless, he wears a blindfold to suppress his darkness.
Roles, Battle Techniques and Weaponry
Riku's roles in the various games have varied greatly - during his time through Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days, he has been an optional miniboss, a support character, a boss again, a boss a third time, a playable character, a boss a fourth time, a party member, a temporary playable character, a chase event, a boss a fifth time (the final boss) and a fully playable multi-player character.
In comparison to Sora's two-handed style and Roxas' dual-weaponry, Riku attacks with a fast one-handed style with his Soul Eater/Way to the Dawn. Riku attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat, and is just as able with his weapons as Sora is with his. His strength and agility are best demonstrated on Destiny Island, where he is known as the strongest child on the island (Tidus remarked that he, Wakka, and Selphie were defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him), and possesses an athletic springing kick if knocked down. Though Sora has bested Riku on several occasions, it is still unclear whom is stronger. Riku is also shown to be skilled in hand to hand combat, as shown in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, in which he knocks down a charging Xion with a single punch after dismissing his Soul Eater weapon. Riku's strength is demonstrated in Kingdom Hearts II, when Roxas tells Sora during battle that he has defeated Riku - when Sora repeats Roxas's claim to Donald and Goofy, Donald exclaims "But nobody could defeat Riku!", and Sora agrees.
At first, Riku had no powers whatsoever, although he was a rather strong individual. After he met Maleficent for the first time she gifted him with his weapon, the Soul Eater. This gave him a slight increase in power, but as seen in the battle versus the Parasite Cage, he was only slightly more powerful than on the islands.
Sometime after Monstro, Riku made a pact with Maleficent. This gave him 3 new abilities; The ability to summon and control Heartless, the power to traverse the worlds using Corridors of Darkness, and finally the ability to craft Anti forms. He demonstrated the first two abilities several times, and the third he used on SoraAnti-Sora's and one complex one wielding a shadowy Keyblade. to create many
After Sora left Neverland, Riku returned to Maleficent who gave him a large increase in his dark abilities. This allowed him to draw on dark energies to increase his physical power and cloth himself in an organic-looking suit of darkness. While in the dark form he could zip around the battle field at an incredible speed and each blow from his Soul Eater dealt large damage. However, this form was taxing on his heart as seen after his battle with Sora in Hollow Bastion. Riku was the original owner of the Keyblade but when he open the Door to Darkness in Destiny Islands he didn't get it because of the darkness.
Sora got it instead. However, in Hollow Bastion Riku took the Keyblade from Sora by the strength of his heart, but when he uses darkness his power over the Keyblade weakens and it returns to Sora because his heart grows stronger because the bonds of his friends.
When Xehanort's Heartless possessed his body he gained incredible new powers, but he was now stuck permanently in dark form because of the darkness pouring out of him. In addition, he took six of the seven Princesses' hearts and used them to form the Keyblade of People's Hearts. Riku's enhanced dark powers under possession are Dark Raid, where he throws a spinning Dark Keyblade, Dark Break where he performs a powerful jump attack, Dark Firaga where he counters a spell by shooting an orb of dark energy, and Dark Aura where he dashes around the arena at high speed slashing all in his path.
When he is playable in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, he is given a preset deck in each world that cannot be changed and changes automatically during gameplay. By breaking his opponent's cards, Riku acquires "DP", which let him transform into his Dark Form. Dark Form, along with giving him decreased speed and increased strength, gives him access to sleights that mimic his special attacks from Kingdom Hearts. Outside of Dark Form, any combination of stocked cards counts as a sleight and costs Riku a card, so he cannot perform combo attacks as easily as Sora can. Instead, he has access to a unique system of battle called "card dueling", which allows Riku to stun opponents and perform special commands by breaking their cards multiple times.
Overall, in contrast to Sora who must rely on sleights and combos to fight, Riku's playing style is more up-front, relying on card duels and breaks to acquire DP and enter Dark Form. In this game, everyone in the Organization said his scent is very similar to the Superior.
In the end of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, he used the power of darkness to assist him in the fight against Roxas. This caused him to transform into a copy of Xehanort's Heartless. While trapped in this form he could use Xehanort's Guardian Heartless and use some of Xehanort's attacks for a limited time in addition to his other powers.
He gained his "Way to the Dawn" Keyblade sometime between the second visit to Land of Dragons and The World That Never Was. When he turned into his "true form" in the end of Kingdom Hearts II, his powers of light increased dramatically while his powers of darkness decreased. As a party member, Riku possesses various abilities that combine his dark powers with Sora's light powers. Riku can use a new Dark Aura that fires Dark Firaga orbs that inflict a stop affect whenever Sora completes a combo, Dark Shield to project a barrier of darkness, as well as to numerous other powers. In his Limit with Sora, Eternal Session, Riku is able to project waves of dark energy from his Keyblade in addition to unleashing fast combos and Dark Firaga barrages.
At the end, Sora and Riku toss their Keyblades together to act as a super-damaging magnet. It should be noted, though, that despite the fact that Riku is a wielder of the Keyblade, he can't use any of Sora's keychains while he is in the party. Also, Riku is one of the three only characters to possess more than one Keyblade within the storyline, the other two being Roxas and Sora.
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