Riku

Class/Classes: Keyblade Master - Abilities

Riku

Riku, Sora, and Kairi continued to live on the Destiny Islands together. The three work together to construct a raft and gather supplies so that they can set out and search for other outside worlds. While Riku and Sora continue their rivalry, Riku takes jabs at Sora over his relationship with Kairi, telling him that if Sora does not share a Paopu Fruit with Kairi soon, he will.

On the night before their journey. Riku opens the door in the secret place and the Heartless invade the islands. Kairi and Sora each set out for the island to make sure their raft is safe. Sora finds Riku, but finds that Riku is only eager to escape the islands. Darkness surrounds the two, and while Riku disappears into it, Sora gains the Keyblade.
Riku eventually ends up in Hollow Bastion via the Corridor of Darkness, separated from his friends. There, he is found by Maleficent, and she offers him shelter and protection.

In exchange for Riku's cooperation in gathering the Princesses of Heart, she agrees to find Kairi and bring her to him. During this time, Riku comes to possess a blade of darkness called Soul Eater. Riku comes across Sora in Traverse Town. He takes possession of Sora's Keyblade for a few moments before giving it back to Sora, much to Sora's surprise, and then he suddenly leaves. Watching Sora from a distance, Maleficent turns Riku against Sora, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for traveling with Donald and Goofy. However, Riku is still highly suspicious of her motives. During Sora and Aladdin's fight with Jafar in Agrabah, Riku takes Jasmine to Hollow Bastion under Maleficent's orders. Maleficent reveals the whereabouts of Kairi's body. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who appears to have lost her heart to the darkness, is to gain access to Kingdom Hearts.

Riku meets Sora again in Monstro, intending to use Pinocchio to help him find a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio is captured by the Parasite Cage, and Riku works 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 Corridor of Darkness.

Maleficent bestows the power of darkness on Riku, giving him the power to command the Heartless. He then goes to Neverland, traveling on Captain Hook's ship, where Kairi's body is being kept. He appears before Sora, showing him Kairi's body. Sora warns Riku that the Heartless will eventually turn on him and devour his heart, but Riku refuses to listen and retreats after using his new powers to summon AntiSora. However, before he heads back to Hollow Bastion, he tells 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, putting a strain on his heart. While he is drained from the trip, Maleficent unlocks the last of Riku's dark power.

At Hollow Bastion, Sora again meets Riku, stopping him from taking down the wounded Beast. Riku then forcibly summons the Keyblade away from Sora, 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 Destiny Islands, he departs, and Donald and Goofy reluctantly follow him as per The King's orders.

Sora makes his way to the foyer of the castle, with the help of Beast. Riku, taking 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, but Donald and Goofy go to Sora's aid, finding themselves unable to betray Sora after all that they had been through together. With the strength of his friends, Sora reclaims the Keyblade, and drives Riku to fight him.

Riku, defeated, manages to escape, but he is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. A cloaked figure appears to him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku's was weaker than Sora. However, the figure tells him that plunging himself into darkness will make his heart stronger. Riku does so, and he is possessed by the dark figure.

The possessed Riku then comes before 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 company. 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. When Maleficent is defeated again, he reappears, commenting on how Maleficent was being used by the Heartless before disappearing again.

Riku, declaring himself to be Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, confronts Sora in the Grand Hall and reveals that Sora has Kairi's heart in his body. While Donald and Goofy look on, Riku and Sora clash again, with Ansem's presence amplifying Riku's dark powers. He fades away when he is defeated, but after Sora impales himself with the Keyblade to release Kairi's heart and disappears, Ansem reveals himself and attacks Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. Riku uses the last of his strength to hold back his possessor, and yells to the others to run. After they leave, Riku and Ansem are pulled into the darkness coming from the Final Keyhole.

A newly restored Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, eventually make their way to the End of the World. There, in the remnants of Destiny Islands, they once again confront Ansem, who has full control of Riku, and defeat him after a series of battles at the Door to Darkness.

Riku is restored after Ansem's defeat, and he appears on the other side of the Door to Darkness, aiding Sora in closing it, although unable to cross it himself. Waiting to enter the Realm of Light are thousands upon thousands of Heartless, which only causes further problems for the two friends. However, King Mickey wards them off with his Keyblade. The King and Sora then proceed to close and lock the door from either side, and Riku is stuck in the Realm of Darkness with the King, but not before he tells Sora to take care of Kairi.

Sometime after these events, Riku encounters Xion on the bridge in Beast's Castle. As she lies defeated, Riku pulls off her hood and pulls up his blindfold to get a good look at her. He is shocked by her appearance. Riku interrogates her as to her identity and use of the Keyblade, while Xion demands to know why he's dressed as a member of the Organization. When Riku calls Xion's Keyblade a sham, she angrily reacts but is slapped down, with Riku advising her to leave the faithless Organization, while denigrating himself for his own mistakes in accepting the darkness.

Soon after, Xion leaves the Organization and joins up with Riku. He takes her to Destiny Islands, where her confused memories give her an intense nightmare shared with Roxas involving Zexion and Riku's battle at Castle Oblivion's facsimile of Destiny Islands. While comforting her, Riku recalls a prior conversation with Naminé discussing what he needs to do to awaken Sora. After Xion wakes up on Destiny Islands, she inquires about Sora and the "girl he's always with", to which Riku explains that the girl is Kairi, a special friend of Sora's, and that the reason Sora is unable to wake up is that some of his memories are held within Xion. Despite needing Xion to reunite with Roxas and Sora, Riku gives her time to decide what she wants to do, with the advice that she should choose what is best for everyone.

After some time, Xion leaves with Riku to stay at DiZ's base in Castle Oblivion. Roxas and Axel continue to search for her across the worlds, and finally make contact in Twilight Town, but Xion quickly takes her leave while Riku stays behind to distract them.

Later, Riku and DiZ check up on Sora's progress, and DiZ commands that Riku finally act to resolve the Xion situation. In The Woods, King Mickey runs across Riku-Ansem and prepares to attack, supposing him to be Xehanort's Heartless, but calms himself when Riku replaces his blindfold and returns to his normal form. Riku informs the King that he is leaving to fight a member of the Organization, and asks Mickey to protect Sora in the event that he does not return.



Sure enough, Riku runs into Roxas at Memory's Skyscraper as the latter begins a rampage to free Kingdom Hearts. Then, Roxas climbs the Memory's Skyscraper and throws Riku the Oblivion Keyblade, as they both take out the remaining Neoshadow Heartless. Riku and Roxas are both jolted by the fading memories it communicates of a now-erased Xion, and bemusedly finish off the remaining Neoshadows before turning on each other.

Demanding to know why Riku stands in his way, Roxas explains that he is seeking to retrieve his lost friend by freeing Kingdom Hearts, but is angered when Riku responds that Xion's memories are already too far gone to save her. A furious Roxas is initially able to gain the upper hand, but is knocked down just when victory seems in sight. Riku returns the Oblivion to the unconscious Roxas and prepares to transport him, but is surprised when Roxas revives and once again attacks; in response, Riku jostles his sleeping memories by taunting Roxas as he once did Sora, inducing Roxas to respond as Sora would and confirming Riku's suspicions of Roxas: that he is Sora's Nobody. Even more enraged, Roxas slashes at Riku with the Oblivion and it passes on one final memory of Xion, which implore Riku to save Roxas by stopping him. Left with no other choice, Riku releases the darkness imprisoned in his heart and once again takes on Ansem's form, this time permanently. Riku realizes that if he is to win in the Realm of Darkness, he must submerse himself in the same darkness. He quickly dispatches Roxas, then returns him to DiZ's base at the Old Mansion, where he introduces himself as "Ansem"


Riku continues to ally 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). Roxas's memory is erased by DiZ and he is placed into a Simulated 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's 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 his own 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 prejudicial revenge and hands her to the now-renegade Axel of Organization XIII before leaving DiZ.

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's 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 by opening a Corridor of Darkness, and takes her to Twilight Town, where she meets Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but never reveals his identity. However, Axel again appears and kidnaps Kairi, but another member of Organization XIII, Saïx, manages to take Kairi away from Axel, 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 before immediately departing.

Riku also arrives at The Land of Dragons, trying to warn the Emperor of a Heartless dragon that Xigbar created. However, he ends up meeting Sora, and Sora attacks him, thinking Riku to be an Organization member. When Sora sees that Riku is wielding the Soul Eater, he begins to suspect Riku's identity. Advancing forward, Riku still goes ahead with his mission and warns the Emperor, but had to defeat Li 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; though unaware of why he is wearing the coat, Sora is nonetheless relieved to know that Riku is safe.

Riku later appears in the 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. To Kairi's surprise, Naminé calls Riku by name, and disappears. Though Riku attempts to depart when Saїx escapes, he is stopped by Kairi and Pluto. Kairi, excited to see Riku, removes his hood, but is met with the face of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. She takes it in stride, seeing the true Riku underneath his current form.

Kairi later is attacked by Heartless in her attempt to help Sora, and saved by Riku. He then gives Kairi the Destiny's Embrace 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 in the first place, 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, sending Ansem the Wise to the Realm of Darkness while causing countless hearts Xemnas had collected into Kingdom Hearts to rain down on the world, creating a slew of Heartless. The explosion also cleanses Riku's heart and 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 off 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, Sora and Riku successfully destroy them but as they were escaping he was pulled through the void into the world of Oephus.

The next thing he knew he was falling through the sky and crashed down into the sea. Then he was sinking traveling farther and farther down into the sea before he felt arms pulling him up. When he woke up he found himself laying in a bed the sound of a girls voice saying it seems you're finally awake. He started to sit up only to be pushed back down and told he needed to rest. He did for the next few days and once able was up and moving only he couldn't quite remember how or why he was here. He knew his name and friends but everything was foggy. The family that had saved him was small and worked out at sea catching fish to eat and trade. They took him in and took care of him without asking anything, but he couldn't just do nothing. He soon found himself working and helping the family with their fishing trade. Life was good but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.

He had said with the family for a month in Laaz Basin before he told them that he would leave and travel in hopes of finding something or someone that could help him with his memories. He also needed to try and find his friends if there was a chance that they were out there somewhere looking for him as well he couldn't just sit back living in comfort when they could need him. With that he said his goodbyes and headed out on his search, his first time would be the trading port the the father of the family he had been with told him about. He said many people tend to go through there so there was a chance he might find someone he knew or that had an idea of how he had gotten here.

Riku took one more look back at the small home of the family that had helped him all this time. He hadn't thought he would have found the peace that he did, more so since he didn't even know how or why he had ended up there but he was grateful. With that last look upon the family he secured the small pack onto his back and walked off heading toward the tradeport. The family had offered him one of their boats but he couldn't take it, that was how they made their living and they had already done enough for him. "Well I won't get anywhere just standing here thinking about it. Plus there's still a chance Sora and the others are out there."

Riku had searched for the blindfold that had been his companion though his travels for as much as he could remember but it wasn't there. He shook his head wishing he could remember the blank spots that plagued him. Riku headed up the hill with the sight of Laaz Basin behind him as he moved forward. He would find his answers and his friends no matter what. He made his way into the tree line as Laaz Basin fell from view. "Just wait for me guys I'm on my way."

•