Sora (Life & Death)

Sora (ソラ, Sora) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Life or Death.
Sora is the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series. Originally a normal boy who sought to venture from the Destiny Islands and explore worlds, Sora embarks on a quest to reunite with his best friends, Kairi and Riku, after their home world was consumed by darkness. During his quest, Sora obtains a mysterious weapon known as a Keyblade, allies with Goofy and Donald Duck to journey to various worlds in order to help each other reunite with their respective allies, and unravels the mysteries of both the Keyblade and the darkness that consumed the Destiny Islands and numerous other worlds.
Sora is voiced by Haley Joel Osment in the Western versions of Life or Death while Miyu Irino voices him in the Japanese version of the game. 
==How to Unlock==
Sora is available from the start of a new game and doesn't need to be unlocked.
==Moveset==
* Sora can crawl.
* Sora has a special double jump that propels him in a floatier, curved trajectory with significantly more height. This trait is shared with Ness, Mewtwo, Lucas, and Kazuya.
* The Kingdom Key's hits generate a cartoony star effect and a unique hit sound, emulating the Kingdom Key's hit effects from the Kingdom Hearts series. The cartoony star effects are carried over for when Sora uses bladed battering items, such as Death's Scythe's neutral and dash attacks, as well as all attacks that use the Beam Sword and Killing Edge.
* Upon Sora landing the final hit in Stamina Mode, a slow motion zoom effect occurs that fades the screen to white before the Announcer says "Game!" This is a callback to the visual effects seen when landing the finishing blow against a major enemy in the Kingdom Hearts games. If Sora KOs more than one opponent for the final blow, the Announcer will instead say "Game!" much earlier while the slowdown takes place after.
* When Sora holds an item, he holds it and the Kingdom Key in the same stance used during his Valor Form in Kingdom Hearts II. This also changes both his tiptoeing and walking animations to have him hold the Kingdom Key over his shoulder. The animations of Sora's neutral attack, forward tilt, dash attack, and forward smash when holding a battering item resemble various dual wielding attacks from the Kingdom Hearts series, namely attacks executed in Valor Form.
 	Name 	Description
Neutral Attack 	N/A 	A lunging downward strike, followed by a forward thrust, followed by a spinning outward strike. Unlike other neutral attacks, holding the attack button will automatically transition into the second and third hits. It has moderate startup, as the first hit comes out at frame 5. It also has a hitbox that extends so high above Sora that it can even hit opponents on the lower platforms of Battlefield. This perk also makes it useful for catching jumps. Although it deals respectable damage, the third hit is weak and the move's overall frame data is rather lacking. It resembles the standard attack combo as it appears in the original Kingdom Hearts.
Forward Tilt 	N/A 	An upward strike. Part of a 3-hit combo: if tapped or held, he then performs a forward thrust and a lunging downward strike. A bit slower than his neutral attack, but much stronger. Uniquely for a natural combo, the first hit knocks away opponents if it is canceled, but continuing with the second hit allows the rest of the hits to connect. When canceled, the first hit deals more damage and knockback, to the point that it KOs at high percentages while near the edge. Holding the attack button is recommended if the player wishes to use the three hit combo, as tapping is not as consistent and may stop on the first hit. Its first hit heavily resembles the Slapshot.
Up Tilt 	N/A 	Twirls the Kingdom Key overhead before catching it. Deals multiple hits, similarly to Palutena's up tilt. Although its vertical range is lacking, the first hit has a hitbox in front of Sora that launches an opponent into the subsequent hits, similarly to Sephiroth's up tilt. Its final hit's launching angle and knockback make it reliable for starting combos at low percentages, and decent for setting up aerial pressure beginning at mid percentages. It resembles one of Sora's actions when performing the "Reflect" Reaction Command against Final Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II, the Tornado as it appears in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, and the Chain Rave.
Down Tilt 	N/A 	A kneeling inward swipe.
Dash Attack 	N/A 	A modified baseball slide. Travels a good distance, which makes it effective both as a burst option and as a 2 frame punish. Although situational, its clean hit can KO at very high percentages while near the edge. It heavily resembles the Sliding Dash as it appears in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
Forward Smash 	N/A 	A lunging, outward strike. Compared to the rest of Sora's moveset, it is very strong, thus making it a go-to finisher. Like Toon Link's forward smash, its range is can be rather misleading; in Sora's case, it is because the clean hit lasts for only 2 frames, and its hitboxes have very mediocre horizontal range. KOs Mario at 74% at the edge.
Up Smash 	N/A 	An upward thrust that emits a flash of light at the tip of the Kingdom Key. Like up tilt, it has a hitbox in front of Sora that launches opponents into the main hit. However, this hitbox cannot hit prone opponents. The second hit is quite large and has a sweetspot at the tip of the Kingdom Key that deals more knockback. As a trade-off, the second hit does not have much horizontal range. In addition to having decent startup, hitting at frame 11, it is among the stronger up smashes in the game, KOing Mario at 100% from ground level, though it does possess considerable ending lag. It resembles the Magic Flash.
Down Smash 	N/A 	Hops and then thrusts the Kingdom Key into the ground, emitting a shockwave. The sweetspot is near the Kingdom Key, whereas the sourspot is the remainder of the shockwave. Like King K. Rool, Ridley and Incineroar's down smashes, Sora's hurtbox shifts upward during his hop, allowing him to evade attacks with low hitboxes. It also renders Sora intangible upon startup, making it even easier to evade opposing attacks. However, the hop makes the attack slow to start, thus making it more effective for edge getups or reads. The sweetspot is powerful enough to KO Mario at 82% while near the edge and inflicts considerable shield damage. To match its animation, the Kingdom Key's hitbox actually enters the ground upon hitting it, which allows it to hit through shallow surfaces. On the other hand, the sourspot is less effective for KOing. It heavily resembles the Finishing Leap.
Neutral Aerial 	N/A 	A somersaulting strike. Part of a 3-hit combo: if tapped or held, he then performs an upward strike and a downward strike. Each hit causes him to float slightly, similarly to Bayonetta's forward aerial. The first hitbox has a wide, lasting hitbox, allowing it to be used out of a short hop to initiate aerial combos. While the first hit reaches all the way behind Sora, the back hit does not chain properly into the second and third hits. Falling during either the first or second hit allows Sora to extend his combo using other moves, including forward smash for a KO combo at around 100%. Hitting all three hits usually requires Sora to stay in place, as the opponent may fall out if he drifts forward. Repeatedly using the first two hits can let Sora constantly juggle an opponent offstage, and thus exhaust their recovery options. Its first hit resembles the Air Spiral.
Forward Aerial 	N/A 	A downward strike. Part of a 3-hit combo: if tapped or held, he then performs an upward strike and a somersaulting strike. Each hit causes him to float slightly, similarly to Bayonetta's forward aerial. Falling during the first two hits allow Sora to extend his combo using other moves. Hitting all three hits usually requires Sora to drift forward; this property easily allows it to drag opponents near the side blast lines. The third hit deals decent diagonal knockback, making it extremely effective as an offstage finisher. The first hit can be canceled by fast falling, which can combo into forward smash for a KO combo at around 100%.
Back Aerial 	N/A 	Turns around to perform an outward strike.
Up Aerial 	N/A 	A backflipping, upward arcing strike. It has surprisingly high knockback, making it a strong KO option especially due to Sora's high aerial mobility, and allows it to KO out of a down throw or down tilt. Its hitbox remains active until the very end of the strike, similarly to Roy's up aerial.
Down Aerial 	N/A 	A buzzsaw-like series of slashes performed by backflipping repeatedly with the Kingdom Key in tow. Upon landing, Sora poses with the Kingdom Key against his shoulder. It is a stall-then-fall and has a long-lasting hitbox. Sora can recover if he uses the move offstage, so long as he does not initiate it at the edge. As a result, the move is an effective yet risky edgeguarding option, since Sora can go extremely deep offstage with it and then use his double jump, Aerial Sweep, and/or Sonic Blade in order to recover.
Grab 	N/A 	Reaches out with one hand. Sora's grab range is poor, even compared to other swordfighters. However, it has quick startup.
Pummel 	N/A 	Hits the opponent with the Kingdom Key's hilt.
Forward Throw 	N/A 	Swings the Kingdom Key downward teeth-first, bouncing the opponent in front of him.
Back Throw 	N/A 	A giant swing. It can deal collateral damage to bystanders and acts like most other back throws, being an effective KO option at reasonable percentages. It heavily resembles the Blow-off, and vaguely resembles the second portion of the "Merge" Reaction Command from Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.
Up Throw 	N/A 	Heaves the opponent upward with his free hand. It resembles the first portion of the "Merge" Reaction Command from Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.
Down Throw 	N/A 	A one-handed body slam. It vaguely resembles the "Fail-Safe" Reaction Command in Kingdom Hearts II.
Neutral Special	Magic 	Casts one of three different magic spells in sequence: Firaga, Thundaga and Blizzaga, with each use cycling through the spells in the list according to the command icon above his damage meter. The spell list does not reset upon Sora being KO'd, and each first midair use of each spell causes Sora to stall his descent, allowing for a maximum of three stalls before landing. Firaga is a fireball that moves horizontally, which can be tapped to fire continuously, and acts as a conventional projectile, though it does not have high knockback and doesn't travel very far. It is also capable of locking. Fire also has high hitstun and relatively low ending lag, allowing it to be used as part of combos. Thundaga generates three descending thunderbolts in front of Sora one at a time, which can combo into each other; they cover less distance in the air but are very effective for edgeguarding or coverage in front of Sora due to their vertical coverage and proximity to one another. The final bolt KOs Mario at the ledge at 155%, though it can potentially KO significantly earlier offstage if the victim is hit by the upper half of the first two bolts. Blizzaga fires a stream of short-ranged ice crystals similarly to Blizzard, which has a very high chance of freezing opponents and granting an opening, even if only one segment of the attack connects. All three moves are counted as energy projectiles, and can thus be absorbed, reflected and Pocketed. However, all Pocketed versions are difficult to use, since they are either weak or possess vertical hitboxes. Blizzaga can also combo into Aerial Sweep and KO around 120%.
Side Special 	Sonic Blade 	A high-speed thrust. Like Quick Attack, Sonic Blade allows Sora to change his travel trajectory more than once in order to increase his travel distance by moving to the chosen direction, with a maximum of three thrusts. The first thrust will always travel horizontally. Holding different buttons lets Sora control his travel: If the directional keys are held, Sora aims towards that direction. If the special button is held, the move automatically locks onto the nearest enemy with a target and automatically tracks them, while slightly increasing the knockback of the final hit. Letting go of the directional keys and special buttons cancels the move early. Each thrust travels less distance and increases the ending lag, though its combined distance grants Sora a good recovery. However, it is rather slow, making it interruptible by opponents. Sora is rendered helpless at the end of the move.
Up Special 	Aerial Sweep 	Leaps in a spinning motion to perform a series of alternating inward and outward strikes. Although it is very similar to Spin Attack, Aerial Sweep deviates from it by propelling Sora into the air, even if it is initiated on the ground. Its last hit has impressively high knockback, which makes it a potent KO option. It can also function as a combo finisher, which can KO early in the air, especially due to Sora's effective aerial prowess. KOs Mario at 112% when initiated from the ground. However, its hitboxes are slightly inconsistent to the point that they are not guaranteed to link together, and opponents can fall out of it. Aerial Sweep also grants Sora a strong recovery, thanks to its ability to be canceled into Sonic Blade to maximize his recovery distance if it is used right before it renders Sora helpless.
Down Special 	Counterattack 	Parries and then counterattacks any incoming attacks with an upward strike. Against non-projectile attacks, Sora briefly rears back while the victim is momentarily thrown off balance in the form of their grab release animation (similarly to Blade Counter) before he retaliates with the upward swing. Against projectiles, Sora immediately retaliates and reflects the projectile with a 1.4× damage multiplier. However, it is unique as it deflects projectiles behind him, meaning it is mainly used to negate projectiles in 1-on-1 situations unless the opponent is close enough to get hit by the Kingdom Key's strike. Like Gut Check and Scintilla, the counter detection for Counterattack is placed in front of Sora, which can leave him vulnerable to attacks from behind. However, unlike those moves, Counterattack does not check for the direction of the attack, meaning that hitboxes that reach the detection box from behind can still trigger counterattack and will cause Sora to automatically turn around. The counterattack staggering enemies is a reference to gaining a Tech Point when Guarding in the original Kingdom Hearts.
Final Smash 	Sealing the Keyhole	Fires a beam from the tip of the Kingdom Key that summons a huge Keyhole. Anyone trapped inside is locked behind by a Super Smash Bros. variant of the Door to Darkness, and Sora seals the Keyhole with the same beam, causing the Door to explode. Any opponents whose damage has accumulated to 100% by the time the explosion occurs is automatically KO'd.
==Other Animations==
Animation 	Description 	Notes
On-Screen Appearance 	Glides in from the background, lands, and hops happily while hoisting the Kingdom Key in the air before assuming his battle stance. 	
Taunt 1 	Casts Stopga, Aeroga, or Curaga, which cycle similarly to Magic. However, these spells are merely aesthetic and do not have any effect on gameplay. Sora calls out "Time!" (時よ！, O' Time!), "Wind!" (風よ！, O' Wind!), and "Heal!" (癒しよ！, O' Healing!) for each respective spell. 	
Taunt 2 	Faces the screen and twirls his Kingdom Key in front of himself while grunting. This resembles one of his victory animations in the Olympus Coliseum. 	
Taunt 3 	Hops while raising his fist in the air and saying "Here we go!" (行くよ！, Let's go!). This resembles his animation after successfully hitting star-marked notes in Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. 	
Star KO 	 	
Screen KO 	 	
Character Selection Screen	 	
Crowd Chant 	Soooo - ra! 	
Victory Pose 1 	Hops while raising his fist in the air, similarly to his down taunt. Upon landing, he spins the Kingdom Key around, and then rests it on his shoulder while saying "Yes." (良し, Alright.) This is similar to one of his victory animations when he wins a round in one of the cups from the Olympus Coliseum area in the original Kingdom Hearts, which in turn resembles Cloud Strife's victory animation in Final Fantasy VII. The pose at the end is similar to the one he assumes in Tetsuya Nomura's artwork from Kingdom Hearts and, by extension, his P1/P5 fighter renders. Uniquely, if Sora uses his Timeless River render, he'll briefly close his eyes after resting his Kingdom Key on his shoulder. 	
Victory Pose 2 	Swings the Kingdom Key forward once, then twirls it while turning around before resting it on his shoulder while showing his back toward the screen. This is also another one of his victory animations in the Coliseum, which in turn references Squall Leonhart's victory pose in Final Fantasy VIII. 	
Victory Pose 3 	Thrusts the Kingdom Key forward and turns it (as if locking/unlocking something), then quickly spins it around and points it upward while holding it with both hands. This slightly resembles the summoning animations in Kingdom Hearts. 	
==Role in Classic Mode==
Like all other fighters, Sora appears in Classic Mode. Sora's Mini-Boss is unknown. 
===Sora Ending===
==Role in The Kiss of Death==
==Alternate Costumes==
Image	Number	Color	Notes	Unlockable?
 	01 	 	 	Default
 	02 	 	 	Default
 	03 	 	 	Default
 	04 	 	 	Default
 	05 	 	 	Default
 	06 	 	 	Default
 	07 	 	 	Default
 	08 	 	 	Default
 	09 	 	 	Unlockable
 	10 	 	 	Unlockable
 	11 	 	 	Unlockable
 	12 	 	 	Unlockable
 	13 	 	 	Unlockable
 	14 	 	 	Unlockable
==Smash Taunts==
===Palutena's Guidance===
===Snake's Codecs===
==Fighter Spirits==
Sora's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Sora in The Kiss of Death allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Life & Death.
File:SoraKH.png
File:Sora (KHIIFM) KHIIHD.png
File:Sora SSBL.png
File:Sora KHIII.png
==Trivia==
Category:Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Life or Death