It sure is a lovely day for the second user-submitted editorial to see the light of day, wouldn't you agree? This time forum member Cutsceneaddict sent us an editorial about five important lessons in the KINGDOM HEARTS series. Please enjoy!
5 Lessons that Kingdom Hearts Has Taught Me
By Cutsceneaddit
There’s a special something about Kingdom Hearts. For years I’ve tried to put my finger on the definition of this something, but I’ve never come up with a satisfying answer. One thing I know for sure is that—personally—no other video game franchise has been so influential and thought-provoking as this one. A deceptive depth underlies its simplistic, Disney-esque feel. Its characters have grown on me—and almost grown up with me—to the point where I regard them as “old friends.” The lessons I’ve learned from this franchise as a whole can’t all be listed here, but I’d like to highlight some of them, none-the-less. They have touched my life and influenced my convictions, and for that I believe they deserve recognition.
Lesson 1: Even Nobodies are Somebodies
I want to highlight Xion in particular for this point. Xion’s story is easily the most heart-breaking in the franchise. She comes into existence as nothing more than a tool to further the Organization’s schemes. In the most literal sense of the word, Xion is a true “nobody”—a being who never really existed at all—just a physical embodiment of Sora’s memories.
And yet Xion makes an impact on those closest to her—Roxas and Axel. These three form an unbreakable friendship—so strong, in fact, that Xion is willing to sacrifice her existence in order to see it protected.
One of the most misunderstood scenes in 368/2 Days shows Roxas cradling a dying Xion. Just before her death, Roxas gasps out, “No! Xion… who else will I have icecream with?” Fans often joke about the naivety of this line, not realizing just how powerful it is. Xion has made such an impression on Roxas that, without her, Roxas can see only an empty hole in his life. Those simple memories of sharing icecream together on the clocktower have become more important to Roxas than anything else—his accomplishments, his standing in the Organization, even the truth about his existence, perhaps. After all, it was Xion that encouraged him to find the truth behind his unanswered questions. With her death, that encouragement has also ceased to exist.
And yet, even whilst dormant in Roxas’ memories, Xion still manages to influence him. During Roxas’ final battle with Riku, Xion telepathically interacts with both combatants, ultimately setting her friend on a path to rejoining Sora and discovering his ultimate purpose. In the end, Xion lives on—in the heart of Roxas, which is truly the heart of Sora. Her influence helps to shape Roxas and grow him as a person. In this way, Xion is far more than a collection of embodied memories. She had more “heart” than most of the Organization. Her memory will forever linger in the mind of the one person that was closest to her.
All that to say this: I find Xion highly inspirational. She stands out from the cast because she proves a powerful point—that everybody has a purpose… even if it seems that that individual was “never meant to be” or “never should have been.” Without Xion, Roxas would have probably never struck out on his destiny to rejoin Sora, and Axel may have developed in a dramatically different light—one that did not expand his heart and emotions quite so much.
Lesson 2: Your Past is not Your Future
From the moment that Riku discovers the Darkness, he sets himself on a shadowy path to redemption. He stumbles between the Light that is his friends and the Darkness that lies buried in his heart. His personal journey is filled with self-regret, anger, and mistakes, and yet Riku never lets himself give up on reestablishing himself as a true friend to Sora and Kairi.
Looking at the latest installment in the series, Dream Drop Distance, it’s incredible to see Riku’s unwavering dedication to his friends—especially near the end, in which he takes up the Keyblade and goes to Sora’s aid. Looking at Riku’s early years, in which he openly humiliated, and even turned his Keyblade against, Sora, it’s difficult to believe that he’s even the same character.
It’s obvious that Riku has regrets about tampering with the Darkness, but he accepts his past and moves on. By the end of the Mark of Mastery exam, Riku realizes that his future doesn’t have to reflect his past. Does he still struggle with Darkness? Of course. Xehanort’s Heartless seems to haunt his every step, and yet Riku acknowledges this as his personal demon and grows stronger each time he does battle with it. His heart eventually becomes so powerful that when Xehanort’s Heartless approaches him for the final time, Riku is able to ward him off, simply by raising his Keyblade. In the end, his mistakes and his painful road to redemption give him a quiet strength that even Sora cannot understand, having never gone through the same experiences.
Riku is my favorite character for this very reason—he is relatable. I’m sure that, like me, a lot of fans look to him as a beacon of hope—that no matter the opposition, it can be overcome; no matter what the past holds, it does not have to dictate the future. Each day is a new opportunity to set things right. Each opportunity is a challenge to grow. Each growing pain makes you stronger as an individual.
Lesson 3: Trust Until Given Reason to Doubt
Sora’s name has all but become synonymous with naivety, and yet a closer inspection of his seemingly reckless behavior reveals something much deeper beneath the surface: trust. No matter who Sora encounters—whether it be angsty Neku or imperiled Alice—his automatic response is always either: “Can I help?” or “Let’s be friends!” Sometimes it’s both. In the same mouthful.
This default trust is shocking, especially when you consider the amount of deception that Sora has encountered in his lifetime. In Kingdom Hearts, Riku—his best friend—betrays and fights against him. In Chain of Memories, Sora learns that Namine has been deceiving him all along, and yet he still chooses to protect her at the risk of his memory being lost. Unlike Roxas, who experienced similar deceptions his entire life, Sora never loses his faith in others. I believe that the answer to this miraculous trust lies in the fact that Sora holds deep-rooted friendships with those that he meets. He stands on a belief that a true friend is someone that you can trust unconditionally—and accept unconditionally. In that light, Sora finds it easy to trust and even easier to forgive a fault.
It is because of characters like Sora that I’ve begun to give others more trust and more benefit of the doubt. I hold a faith in my friends that says, “I trust you because you’ve never given me reason to doubt.” But, like Sora, I also understand that we are all imperfect human-beings. Forgiveness is a necessary ingredient, and it is certainly the fastest way to mend a broken or strained relationship.
Lesson 4: Love is the Strongest Weapon of All
Kingdom Hearts is full of love, although if you’re searching for it in a romantic sense, you’ll be looking in all the wrong places. Let me clear up my definition of love in order to explain this point. By my definition of love, I mean a selfless, unconditional, accepting love—not a boyfriend/girlfriend romancey-kind-of love. In Kingdom Hearts, this kind of love fills the game. When Sora proclaims that, “I don’t need a weapon. My friends are my power!” he’s speaking of this unbreakable bond of love that he shares with them. Sora realizes, long before any other characters does, that the power of love is stronger than the Keyblade itself. Through his concern—his love—for his friends, Sora is able to heal the mental and emotional wounds of many characters, and even aid in the redemption of Axel and Riku. Though a mighty weapon, the Keyblade could never perform such acts.
The power of love presents itself in the father/son relationship that exists between Terra and Master Eraqus in Birth by Sleep. Although we are told little about either characters’ pasts, it is quite clear that Terra views the Master as his own father, even going so far as to call him such during his final battle with Xehanort. Perhaps Terra was an orphan, brought in—like Ventus—to Eraqus’ care when he was young. Whatever the terms of their first meeting, the results were magnetic.
Unfortunately, Eraqus suffered from excessive worry and lack of trust, having been betrayed by his friend Xehanort in the past. This fear leads to his strict aversion of Darkness and an almost scrutinizing surveillance of Terra the moment that his pupil shows outer signs of his inner Darkness. Though his love for Terra never comes into question, Eraqus’ fears eventually lead to a severe misunderstanding and a deadly Keyblade battle with Terra, in which Eraqus is mortally wounded. As the Master’s life fades away, a strange phenomenon occurs. Both Terra and Eraqus simultaneously come to terms with each other, recognizing their personal faults and silently asking the others’ forgiveness.
After Terra’s own demise at the hands of Xehanort, his heart proves stronger than the evil one thought possible. It soon becomes apparent that someone new is residing in the former pupil’s heart—Master Eraqus. Even in death—even in the face of personal failure—Terra and Eraqus never lose the love that they have for each other. It is this act of love that gives Terra the strength to face years of helplessness, imprisoned in the confines of Xehanort’s dark existence.
“I'm not afraid of what the darkness holds now. Even if you do wrest control of my heart from me--even if you cast me into the deepest, darkest abyss--you'll never sway me from the one cause that pushes me to keep on fighting. Whatever the cost, I'm ready to pay it.”
With those words—and only the spirit of his beloved Master to guide him—Terra prepares for the battle ahead. He knows that he can win. The power of love has shown him that.
I am a strong believer in “overcoming evil with good” through the power of love, and Kingdom Hearts has served to reinforce this theory in my mind. No matter the fault and no matter the wound, love cures and makes right. Even the most wicked evils do not stand a chance in the face of it.
Lesson 5: We Are All a Part of Each Other
I thought it would be appropriate to close with this point, as it is one of the strongest underlying themes of the series: we are all a part of each other, and together we form something greater. “The three of us will always be one,” says Aqua, and even when she, Ventus, and Terra, are separated by death, Darkness, and deception, they never lose sight of this belief.
Sora sums it up in a climatic pre-battle speech with his best friend Riku: “Although my heart may be weak, it’s not alone. It’s grown with each new experience, and it’s found a home with all the friends I’ve made. I’ve become a part of their heart just as they’ve become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then… If they don’t forget me… Then our hearts will be one.”
This network of friends—linked through the power of love—leads to one individual sharing hearts with many others. In this way, nobody is an island unto themselves. With each contact made, a piece of one individual forever connects with another—influencing him, healing him, or harming him. When hearts grow strong, they form legacies, and those legacies keep friends and memories eternally alive. Lea (who later becomes Axel) had a thing or two to say about this topic in Birth by Sleep, “I want everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people's memories, I can live forever.”
This undying legacy creates a sort of immortality for the individual. It gives him purpose and assures him that—even in the most trying of times—he or she is never alone. The minds and hearts of his friends are ever with him, and, because of that, he has nothing to fear. In almost every Kingdom Hearts game, the main characters become separated from each other—forcefully or otherwise—for an extended period of time. Yet, throughout this separation, they never forget that they are together in spirit. Sora first realizes this after his reunion with Kairi, “I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along,” he says.
For me, this has served as a reminder to influence carefully. With each contact I make, I am—in some way—shaping each person I meet, and I want to shape them (or become a part of them) in only a positive way. Understanding this concept brings a huge responsibility into focus. I can say with certainty that Kingdom Hearts has given me a lot to chew on in this particular area.
More importantly though, I have been reminded that I’m never truly alone. I have people and friends who I have impressed and been impressed upon… People who care about me and want the best for me. People that I can open my heart to, or simply sit on a clocktower and eat some Seasalt icecream alongside. It’s a good feeling, and it’s truly comforting to know that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life, just because you were in it.
Closing
I feel like I could expand this list forever. Kingdom Hearts has been a major part of my inner influence map, and its prominence only grows with each new installment to the series. I owe this franchise for a lot of things—expanding my creativity, getting me into Disney, introducing me to an amazing story filled with vibrant characters…
…But most of all, perhaps, I owe Kingdom Hearts for simply being a part of my life. It’s taught me lessons about friendship, purpose, destiny, and love that I will never forget.
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