Destiny Trio

The Destiny Trio, also known as the Paopu Trio, is the fan name for the main trio of Sora, Riku, and Kairi—best friends since childhood—in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. 
"Destiny Trio" usually refers to the canon Kairi & Riku & Sora friendship, though sometimes may also be applied to a non-canon romantic Sora x Riku x Kairi ship, which is otherwise often referred to as SoRiKai. 
==Canon background==
==Meta and popularity==
*Many fans appreciate this friendship.https://cloudgeals.tumblr.com/post/53676458807/sora-cried-when-he-found-riku-and-got-down-on-his
*Some fans feel that the three-way friendship dynamic lacks a tangible presence in the series for all its nominal importance, particularly the Kairi & Riku friendship.https://kh-info-block.tumblr.com/post/118929832906/not-denying-that-riku-kairi-is-the-weakest-arm-ofhttps://nadziejastar.tumblr.com/post/190901554985/another-thing-what-really-frutrated-me-about-kh3 
*Other fans believe this to be intentional, based on multiple comments from series creator Tetsuya Nomura about exploring the theme of childhood friends growing distant as they get older.https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story
==Kairi & Riku==
Most fans view that all three as being best friends who all care about each other more or less equally.https://www.tumblr.com/peebls/95202599349/okay-so-ive-been-hearing-that-some-of-you However, some believe that Kairi and Riku are not as close to each other as they are to Sora based on the fact that the two are rarely ever shown interacting with each other one-on-one onscreen. This is a common point of contention in the Sokai vs Soriku ship war due to both ships revolving around Sora. Among fans who support this interpretation, opinions vary as to the specifics of how Riku and Kairi feel about each other: 
* Some headcanon them actively disliking each other and only tolerating each other for Sora's sake.
* Others see them as friends of Sora who hang out together when Sora is there and get along just fine, but otherwise aren't close friends with each other.
* Another contingent argues that while Riku and Kairi were close friends growing up and clearly still care about each other in canon, their lack of one-on-one interactions indicate that they've grown distant from each other due to some unresolved issues between them.
** Kairi's sassy joke - During a private conversation in the first game, Kairi says that she and Sora should steal the raft and abandon Riku. After Sora reacts with bewilderment, she laughs and says that she's just kidding. Some fans believe that she actually meant it and that it's a sign of her not really caring about Riku. Others believe that she genuinely was joking, but argue that it's still mean of her to say even as a joke, given how building the raft was Riku's idea in the first place and he had been the one to do most of the work building it. Some fans also headcanon that Riku somehow overheard Kairi, and that her words contributed to his decision to plunge their world into darkness by feeding into his existing fears about being left behind. The fact that Kairi's joke hasn't received any follow-up in canon is headcanoned as Kairi and Riku each being afraid to bring it up due to their individual insecurities and mutually choosing to tensely avoid the subject rather than address it. Some fans view this headcanon as pinning responsibility for Riku's villain arc on Kairi, contriving hurt that she never canonically caused; some also point out that Riku and Sora never feel the need to apologize for their jokes or for hitting each other with wooden swords--raising suspicions that some fans are subjecting Kairi to an unfair double-standard.
** Riku's villain arc in the first game - Many fans headcanon that a rift formed between Kairi and Riku because Kairi disliked Riku's competitive behavior and his objectification of her in the first game's canon, and she sensed darkness and ambition corrupting him, even before his villain arc properly began.https://kh-info-block.tumblr.com/post/91418936746/at-the-beginning-of-kh1-when-kairi-says-to-sorahttps://www.tumblr.com/nadziejastar/190901554985/another-thing-what-really-frutrated-me-about-kh3[https://old.reddit.com/r/KingdomHearts/comments/cgszcl/comment/eukqary/https://sharingthesamesky.tumblr.com/post/153333661650/1-i-love-your-meta-on-riku-3-im-watching-a-lp Some believe that Riku genuinely felt deep concern and care for Kairi, as evidenced by Maleficent using Kairi as leverage for his cooperation, and he eventually lost sight of prioritizing Kairi's well-being as he was influenced by darkness; others believe that Riku only ever saw Kairi as an object to compete with Sora and to gain his attention; still others believe that it could have been some mixture of the two.https://kh-info-block.tumblr.com/post/97592523851/is-riku-still-in-love-with-kairi Most fans agree that Kairi doesn't have any grudge over Riku's villain period, but some interpret their personal relationship as still suffering damage caused by his past treatment of her.
==Fanon and tropes==
*Sora and Kairi goof off while Riku tries to be the responsible, protective one.
==Fan works==
===Fan art===
Image:2012-08-10 もやし ｼｬｱｯﾁｯ Riku Sora Kairi.jpg|ｼｬｱｯﾁｯ！ by もやし (2012)
Image:2017-08-08 Oa-chi Destiny Trio.jpg|Destiny TrioWBM by Oa-chi (2017)
*KH - Splash MountainArchived by rasenth (2011), commissioned by Luz-Hikari
*KH- selfieWBM by Pun-Rii (2017)
*~Pixelated Destiny Trio~Archived by gummishiptardis (2018)
*通りすがりの島組。Archived by KOVALT_04 (2019)
*"time together"WBM by sm0vs (2019)
*fan comicArchived by arinky-dink (2020)
*https://nanariemi.tumblr.com/post/722131814628655104/found-this-artwork-i-drew-back-when-sora-was
*https://www.deviantart.com/kingdomblade/art/The-Three-Mouseketeers-444168212
*https://www.deviantart.com/slimebaby/art/KH-FRENZ-GRAB-MY-244605463
*https://twitter.com/smovs/status/1369005968105889803
*https://twitter.com/RAGEWANG/status/1508634094871228423WBM
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/72826356
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/29282251
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/26155033
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/10337650
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/82483849
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/82415960
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/72278645
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/11582142
*https://brigriv.tumblr.com/post/638079313088069632/riku-is-good
*https://gloomi.tumblr.com/post/182876949270/its-been-like-14-years-when-will-my-girl-finally
*https://star-shapedfruit.tumblr.com/post/159800418531/kingdomkett-sorikai-face-holds-original
*https://www.deviantart.com/niki-te/art/Sanctuary-35208234
*Kingdom Hearts I + II + IIIWBM by miyuliart (2018)
*https://hakeism.tumblr.com/post/652186503594786816/an-old-doodle-i-never-posted
*https://twitter.com/rouwan/status/1459718235620663299
*http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=49098664
*http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=46299146
*https://twitter.com/Nijuukoo/status/1445518009867505669
*https://www.deviantart.com/shamisen/art/Kingdom-Hearts-Trio-1102799
*https://yellowtrinity.tumblr.com/post/715165897772384256/little-destiny-trio-for-nims-bday
*https://tambermizukiart.tumblr.com/post/719749391373811712
*https://cypjj.tumblr.com/post/725376958947557376/i-got-the-chance-to-draw-this-2-page-comic-for-the
*https://somnimagus.tumblr.com/post/701290914799304704/found-a-bottle-of-old-wishes*
*https://hakeism.tumblr.com/post/639790145393016832/i-was-going-to-draw-treasure-planet-version-but
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/103481110
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/29282251
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/69242263
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80236067
*https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/27039009
====Redraw KH animatic meme====
*https://twitter.com/KingdomKii/status/1584558643864694785
*https://sammilimyy.tumblr.com/post/698012525619527680/theres-a-art-challenge-on-twitter-to-redraw-this
*https://twitter.com/TamTam8813/status/1592457592001159168
*https://lightwithinthedarknessu.tumblr.com/post/700095969306492928/there-was-a-challenge-to-redraw-scenes-from-the
*https://twitter.com/tamber_mizuki/status/1658428750533476353/photo/3
*https://twitter.com/TamTam8813/status/1592457592001159168
===Meta===
*"Japanese Version of Sora’s Reunions with Riku and Kairi" and "The Destiny Trio Friendship in 0.2" by phoenix-downer (2018)
*Re: "When riku says 'to protect what matters' who is do you think he is referring to? A part of me believes he is referring to only sora and it pains me"archive.ph by bluerosesburnblue (2019)
*meta on the crumbs of Kairi and Riku friendship by nadziejastar (2020)
*https://h-worksrambles.tumblr.com/post/685607336957591552
*https://www.tumblr.com/peebls/95202599349
*https://h-worksrambles.tumblr.com/post/685607336957591552/for-whatever-reason-today-i-had-a-bunch-of-brain
*https://khtrinityftw.tumblr.com/post/182984673457/why-the-kh-kh2-destiny-trio-is-the-best-human-trio
*https://startplayerone.tumblr.com/post/104908263454
*https://themelodicenigma.tumblr.com/post/688609270705635328/sora-is-unsure-how-to-define-his-relationship
*https://teganberry.tumblr.com/post/182989985069/the-destiny-trio-is-far-from-over
*https://kh-info-block.tumblr.com/post/137375610351/a-little-off-topic-but-what-were-your-thoughts-on
*https://kh-info-block.tumblr.com/post/131428617821/what-do-you-think-is-the-relationship-between-riku
===Fan fiction===
*"The Flowchart"WBM by forkflinger (2018)
*"The Islands Don't Computer (or Gummiphone) but They Try" by Unformal Sorrelle
*"Wrap your wings around my body" by Yzafre
=== Zines ===
* Entwined in Trine (2021)
* Set Sail! (2023)
==External links==
===Fan pages and communities===
*FanFiction.Net (FFN): Hand in Hand
*LiveJournal (LJ):
*DeviantArt (DA): Land-Sea-Sky, RiKaiSo
*Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts) works on Archive of Our Own (AO3)
*Tumblr: thelandseasky, Ask the Destiny Trio, onedestinytrio
*#島っ子 on Pixiv
==References==
Category:Kingdom Hearts Relationships
Category:Social Media Feature-Platonic Tuesday