Summary
Some people thinkthe Disney worldsare inKingdom Heartsjust for the fun of it - and that may be partly true - but a big reason why they’re included is so that the characters can be used as narrative parallels to the games’ original characters.
These parallels give us a deeper understanding of character motivations and arcs. If you just take a bit of time to dig beneath the surface of what’s being shown to you, a lot can be revealed. Some are more obvious than others, but these are some of the most important character parallels shown in the games so far.
7Riku / The Beast
Kingdom Hearts 2
Riku and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast are a fairly obvious parallel in Kingdom Heart 2, but it’s an important one all the same. Riku is transformed into Ansem, in the same way the Prince was transformed into the Beast.
Other than this visual parallel, their feelings regarding their transformation are very similar. The Beast is ashamed of his appearance and doesn’t want others to see him; Riku doesn’t want Sora to see him as Ansem, and tries to avoid revealing himself until Kairi forces him to.
6Sora And Repliku (Acting As Riku) / Belle And The Beast
Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories
Thanks toSoriku Ultimania’s ‘“That Person” —How a Pronoun Revealed the Heart of a Story— Part II’ essayfor pointing this one out!
Chain of Memories is a game with a lot of narrative layers, with many of them unfortunatelylimited to the original Japanese script. In the English version, though, we can still see the basis of narrative parallels between how Belle and the Beast act, and how Sora acts with the Riku Replica (who he still believes is the real Riku).
The Beast comes to rescue Belle, but Belle refuses his help, the same way that Sora comes to rescue Riku from Castle Oblivion, but the Riku Replica rejects him. In the original Japanese script, the dialogue between Beast and Belle, and Sora and Repliku, are almost identical, strengthening the connection between them further.
5Sora, Riku, And Kairi / Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, And Wendy
Kingdom Hearts
The dynamic between Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and Wendy is extremely similar to that of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, in that order. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell have been best friends for a long time, and then suddenly Wendy comes along and Tinkerbell gets jealous. Sound familiar?
While Riku doesn’t play mean tricks on Kairi behind Sora’s back, hedoesend up letting Destiny Islands be consumed by darkness, which is arguably worse.
Wendy also has to learn that you may’t be a child forever and you have to grow up, which could end up being similar to Kairi’s arc in the next saga. She may not want things to change, but she has to leave Neverland sometime.
4Sora And Riku / Sleeping Beauty And Prince Phillip
Dream Drop Distance
The entirety of Dream Drop Distance parallels the story of Sleeping Beauty. Sora is (unknowingly) asleep the entire time, and Riku uses the Power of Waking to wake up Sora’s heart, which is almost exactly the same as Prince Phillip waking up Princess Aurora.
Tumblr user blowingoffsteam2 found that the parallel goes deeperthan just the Disney movie, however. They pointed out a connection between Sora wearing Keyblade armor when trapped in a deep sleep and Brunhild from Norse mythology, which is closely associated with the original Sleeping Beauty fairytale. In the myth, Brunhild is found wearing armor while asleep, and only wakes when the armor is cut from her, which is similar to how Sora awakens in DDD.
3Sora And Kairi / Sora And Winnie The Pooh
Kingdom Hearts 3
In Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora is mysteriously missing from the cover of Winnie the Pooh book, and when Sora enters the 100 Acre Wood again, Pooh seems relieved and tells him, “You’re home.” After being away from the 100 Acre Wood, Pooh feared that Sora had forgotten him and his friends, so Sora makes sure to spend time with them and tells Pooh he could never forget him. Sora appears on the cover again once their connection is reforged.
Similarly, Sora and Kairi’s connection weakened throughout the series, as Sora spent so much time adventuring in different worlds rather than with Kairi. In ReMind, they rebuild their connection. As many fans have pointed out, Sora and Kairi sitting together on the Paopu fruit tree exactly mirrors Sora and Pooh’s positions on the cover of the Winnie the Pooh book, showing how Sora had to reconnect with both of his friends.
2Riku / Hercules, Anna, Eugene
Kingdom Hearts 3’s Disney worlds are perhaps the most heavy-handed with their parallels. In 2.9, Sora meets Hercules in Olympus, hoping to learn more about how Hercules regained his powers.
In their conversations, Sora learns that Hercules' power came from wanting to protect Meg, a person who is precious to him.In the Japanese script, the phrase Hercules uses is “taisetsu na hito”, roughly meaning a precious/important person, which Riku then uses when talking to Mickey in the Realm of Darkness to describe why he’s feeling more confident. He has the power to protect someone who is precious to him.
As Sora is adventuring through the Disney worlds later on in the game, he witnesses numerous sacrifices - Anna sacrifices herself for Elsa (Anna also uses “taisetsu na hito” in the Japanese script) and Eugene for Rapunzel. Both are rewarded with the person who’s important to them being revived.
In the Keyblade Graveyard, this all comes to a head when Riku and Sora are the only ones left standing before the Demon Tide. Riku sacrifices himself for Sora so he has a chance to save them all, mirroring the lessons Sora learnt so far on his journey.
1Riku / Cinderella
Kingdom Hearts 3 Limit Cut Episode
Riku just gets all the Disney character parallels, doesn’t he? In the Limit Cut episode of Kingdom Hearts 3, everyone is busy looking for Sora. Out of nowhere, the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella appears, asking to speak to Riku because Merlin and Yen Sid were worried about him.
The Fairy Godmother then reveals that Riku’s dreams will be a key to finding Sora - he wasdreaming about finding him in the KH3 secret endingandhe is Sora’s Dream Eater, after all. Interestingly, there’s also a Kingstagram loading screen from Riku, where he posts a picture of Sora with his caption:
Dreams… wishes… hmm. What could this be referencing? Oh yeah. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes. That famous song from Cinderella.
