[Application for Wonderful Worlds]

[darkest_fears]

Player

Name: Nil
Personal Journal: big_obnoxious_font
Contact Info: AIM – lolsoraismylief || PLURK – NilNova || EMAIL – liljuunanadroid@yahoo.com
Timezone: EST
Characters Played: None.

Character

Name: Riku
Source: Kingdom Hearts (OU)
Type: Reaper
Canon Point: Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, post secret ending.
History: KH wiki. For his death, I’ll just be handwaving something happening in the Lanes Between after the secret ending. Riku will probably interpret the events as blacking out and ending up in another strange world, until other evidence proves otherwise.

Personality: Of all the characters in the series, Riku has arguably gone through the most changes as a person. It used to be that, at best, a stranger’s first impression of Riku would be that he was a brooding and serious-minded individual that rarely cracked a smile and clearly thought a little too much. At worst, he was jerkish, arrogant, and rude.

Now that he’s become a Keyblade Master and has learned he’s immune to Darkness, the source of his old insecurities, much of that has changed. He’s still a thinker, picking up on events quickly when talking to any of the Xehanorts or theorizing with Joshua. He still isn’t one to talk about rainbows and sunshine and hearts and light, or at least not as much as the majority of the KH cast. But otherwise, his edges are softer, and he’s much more confident in himself. In order to put the present in perspective, however, maybe I should start from the beginning.

In KH1 and Chain of Memories, Riku grows from being a bullheaded and reckless teenager into a grim and mellowed young adult. But while he’s rash and stubborn, even at this point he’s not gullible. When Maleficent offers him aide in KH1, professing to care for him like a son, Riku smacks her hand away and says “I seriously doubt that.” In 3D, he still holds this skepticism towards shady characters when he’s hesitant to trust Joshua, and acts reserved with villains such as Frollo. But at the time in KH1, the distrust doesn’t keep him from being on the ‘wrong side’ for a while longer, showing his stubbornness. Later, come 358/2 Days and KH2, he still stubbornly resolves to sacrifice his appearance (and the hope of him ever going home and seeing his friends again) in order to defeat Roxas so Sora will wake up. But in this case, while it’s still a rash action, it isn’t blindly so – he took Roxas out through sheer grim determination while being fully aware of what the consequences would be. His guilt and self-doubt due to his actions in KH1, and the desire to wake Sora, were what made it an easy choice for him to make.

And from the point of view of one who cares about him, this was probably one of Riku’s greatest flaws – the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and his arrogance in KH1 tanked all the way down to being self-confidence issues with a side of guilty self-sacrifice. Riku is very hard on himself and sets high standards, which would normally be healthy except for the fact that he’ll tear himself to pieces if he doesn’t meet them, not to mention refuse to listen to anyone else’s advice or encouragement. He’s gotten better about this recently, wanting to save Sora while also coming back safely at the end of 3D as opposed to sacrificing himself in an exchange (though, if necessary, he would probably still do that), but even now, memories of accepting the Darkness hang over Riku’s head like a storm cloud. He agreed to taking the Mark of Mastery exam primarily because of his self-doubt, and while becoming a Keyblade Master has boosted his confidence in himself, his humbling experiences in the past will never be forgotten – his eagerness to help find Pinocchio in Monstro a definite contrast to kidnapping the puppet in KH1.

In the present, Riku acts as Sora’s foil. Despite Sora being considered a kind and pure-hearted individual by many of the “good guys”, Riku is less judgmental of others because of his own experiences with being on the wrong side, feeling conflicted, and feeling negative things. He picked up this trait after Chain of Memories once he recognized his mistakes in KH1. In 358/2 Days, even though Xion is one of the biggest things keeping Sora asleep, Riku encourages her to make her own decision of whether or not to return to Sora, instead of forcing her to go along with his own self-interests. He does not bear any prejudice against Nobodies in KH2 just because of what they are, fighting only those that are a threat. He pities Roxas and what happens to him and speaks about him in KH2 as a different person than Sora, acknowledging Roxas’ individuality. When DiZ tells him to eliminate Axel and Naminé, also in KH2, he instead gives Naminé over to Axel and allows them to escape, since he “owes” Axel for Castle Oblivion. Even after the events of KH1, at the end of KH2 he expresses no malice towards Maleficent and Pete. Even in 3D, in the Musketeers world, his reaction to seeing Pete is the equivalent of a weary sigh. These are all distinct contrasts to Sora’s rather simplistic sense of justice. It also helps that Riku is in general just very sharp, suspicious, and observant of the people around him, allowing him to make judgments of his own instead of being enlisted to defeat “threats” without question. Riku goes out of his way to make sure he’s always informed of what’s going on.

Riku still has some edges about him that aren’t all business. He can still be a sore loser, and may jokingly brag about himself and tease people he’s friendly with. He’s got a dry sense of humor, mainly geared to poke fun at others (Daisukenojo is a weird name), and if he ever acts like a sap in a lighthearted situation and he’s called on it he may deny it and cover it up with a jerkish statement. (After all, when encouraging Sora at the very end of KH1, he taunts him with “C’mon, Sora, I thought you were stronger than that.” The fact that he repeated this line later when fighting Roxas to prove his connection to Sora just shows that he’s a sentimental jerk.) He’s also fiercely protective of his friends, even while trying to cover his trail or when acting subconsciously. He helps Sora from behind the scenes all throughout KH2, leaving hints about Roxas and such along the way. He saves Kairi from being kidnapped by Axel by coaxing her through a Corridor of Darkness to instead wind up with Hayner and co. in Twilight Town. He acts as a support to Xion when she discovers what she is, and keeps Naminé safe by handing her over to Axel. In 3D, he gets noticeably more involved in the Fantasia and Musketeer worlds when he meets Mickey and Minnie, respectively, people that are already established as friends of his. He even dives into Sora’s dreams as a Dream Eater, subconsciously, because he saw Xehanort’s Heartless at the beginning of 3D and became worried. So he always means well despite his flaws – but like he tells Sora at the end of KH2, he has problems just following his heart. Even though he’s doing better now, he acknowledges his hypocrisy at giving Quasimodo advice and stumbles over himself later when talking to him, Esmeralda, and Phoebus about his own feelings, showing that he’s still not always comfortable. If someone asks directly about how Riku is feeling, he’ll generally change the subject, not respond, or use simple words like “sad” or “mad”. Emotional eloquence still isn’t really his strong suit.

Riku also can get a little fussy or overbearing if he’s worried or in a position of responsibility, and this has become especially apparent with the release of 3D. In Chain of Memories he told Naminé about Sora’s laziness when building the raft at the beginning of KH1, and this is mirrored again at the end of 3D when he affectionately says the same to Mickey and co. Even if it’s teasing, it still comes from fussing. In Traverse Town, Shiki “bullies” Riku into looking after her (after Riku assuming that she’s hitting on him and backpedals, just another example of his socially awkward fail), and when she runs ahead out of sight and screams, Riku sighs and begins to bitch about how he can’t be expected to take care of people that won’t let him do so – or something like that, as his dialogue is cut off. Even in other worlds, such as the Country of the Musketeers, he does what he does in order to pick up Sora’s slack. Really, 3D is basically “Riku Fusses Over Sora and Other Friends: The Game,” each world illustrating something different and important about his friendship with Sora and, to a lesser extent, the rest of his friends.

All of the traits above, even his misguided actions in KH1, come out of Riku always striving to be good enough, smart enough, and strong enough to protect the things important to him. When he’s a child talking to Terra he admits this frankly, later saying this again when he battles Xehanort’s Heartless in The World That Never Was. His guilt and low self-worth comes from him feeling he failed his friends, his showing off comes out of trying to prove he’s good at things so other people don’t have to be. Where Sora smashes his hands on a keyboard while yelling at a computer, Riku easily jumps on a hovercraft and pilots it while fighting off a giant Nobody. While Sora plows through and gets involved in people’s problems and is led around by the nose by the Organization, Riku walks ahead planting hints and knows exactly what’s going on the whole time. While Sora falls deeper into sleep, Riku overcomes his own self-doubt in order to do everything he can to wake him up. His need to go out and see other worlds and get stronger was what started the events of KH1, and he still hasn’t quite shaken the feeling of being trapped when home is such a “small world.” This is all because Riku prioritizes experience over everything, ensuring he can handle anything that comes his way. Because if he can, he’ll always be there to protect the things that matter.

Abilities: Riku is fairly buff and athletic in general, even without the aid of the Keyblade and the extra abilities it grants. (His default dodge in Chain of Memories and Dream Drop Distance is a handspring, for example.) In 358/2 Days, he exhibits some hand-to-hand combat skills when subduing Xion as well. As Yen Sid acknowledges in 3D, much of his fighting prowess is self-taught over the course of the series, and all of the running/jumping/wrestling/swimming he did with Sora and Kairi on Destiny Islands pre-KH1 aided that.

Perhaps his strangest ability is being able to “smell” darkness, a skill he gains in Chain of Memories, which allows him to recognize beings simply by the properties of what they are (Somebody, Nobody, etc.) as well as navigate his surroundings without sight (that blindfold thing). Even after losing some of his control over the Darkness when he regains his true form in KH2, he still has his Dark Barrage (Dark Firaga) ability, Dark Break, Dark Shield, Dark Aura, and now also Dark Roll with the release of 3D.

Riku has additional abilities granted to him by his Keyblade. Keyblades can unlock virtually any lock, allow the use of magic spells such as Blizzard and abilities such as Strike Raid, can disappear and reappear when dismissed/summoned, can teleport in order to return to its wielder, and modifies its offensive/magical properties when modified by special key chains. As of 3D, he can use most any of the spells and abilities that Sora can, only with more emphasis on Darkness-based abilities and less emphasis on Light-based ones.

In Wonderful Worlds, his Keyblade will not be able to unlock anything requiring a Keypin, and will also not be able to let him hop worlds.

Entry Fee: N/A
Starting Pin: N/A
Samples: His thread on the test drive meme, and his thread with Sora! Many are still ongoing.