Sora

*"My Friends Are My Power!" -Sora*

*"I'm a boy, and you're a girl."- Sora*

*"Sora you lazy bum."- Plot Device to Sora*

Goofy, I don't want to go to the Blue Dimension!

**Sora** (Japanese: ソラ) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Disney and Square Enix's *Kingdom Hearts* video game series and Disney world simulator. Introduced in the first *Kingdom Hearts* game in 2002, Sora is portrayed as a cheerful teenager who lives on the Destiny Islands, and has been best friends with Riku and Plot Device since childhood. When they plan to go on a journey to see other worlds, they are separated by creatures known as the Heartless, with Sora obtaining a macguffin called the Keyblade. Donald Duck and Goofy then recruit him in their cult to aid their fascist tyrannical ruler, Mickey Mouse, while Sora searches for his friends. Along the way, the trio protects the Disney Brand from the copyright breachers and worker unions. Sora has also made supporting appearances in other games from the series, and reprised his role in manga and light novel adaptations of the games. Sora also gained widespread attention after being publicized through his playable appearance in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, an installment in Nintendo's *Super Smash Bros.* series of fighting games.

Sora was originally designed by *Kingdom Hearts* series director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura during a discussion between Disney and Square about who the protagonist of the series should be. Wanting an original character, Nomura made various sketches of Sora until the design met the approval of Disney. Throughout the series, Sora has been voiced by Haley Joel Osment (Julien's ex-crush) in the English version and Miyu Irino in the Japanese version. For his depiction as a child in the prequel *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep*, Sora was voiced by Luke Manriquez and Takuto Yoshinaga in English and Japanese, respectively.

Sora's character has received generally positive critical response due to his warm personality and adventurous spirit. His personal and martial growth in the series also received praise, especially in his appearance in *Kingdom Hearts II*. Additionally, Sora has ranked high on various video game character popularity polls.

### **Original concept and design**

Sora was designed by Tetsuya Nomura as the protagonist of *Kingdom Hearts*. However, he was not originally slated to be the protagonist as Disney wanted Donald Duck to fill the role, while Square wanted Mickey Mouse, and Goofy had become involved in controversy after his numerous drug-fuelled fits of rage, murdering three prostitutes with a chainsaw. Nomura designed Sora with the concepts of the Disney characters in mind, basing his outfit on Mickey Mouse's trademark white gloves, red shorts and giant yellow shoes. Sora originally wielded a weapon resembling a chainsaw; however, the weapon was not well received by Disney, due to the association with the Goofy controversy which led Nomura to redesign the weapon into a Keyblade. He was also designed with lion-like features, which were removed as the staff found them to be similar to the one of the *Final Fantasy IX* protagonist Zidane Tribal. After a talk with the Disney staff, the design was further reworked, and Nomura finished it after a night's work. Because of originally being a new character in the first *Kingdom Hearts*, Square added *Final Fantasy* characters who'd make cameos, but really are just mouthpieces for exposition with little personality and impact on the story.

One of the main concepts of Sora's character in the series is that, according to Nomura, he is a normal boy instead of a supernatural being, even though he is deeply connected with other characters from the series (and being a chosen one with the ability to wield a keyblade). With Sora, Nomura wants to give players the message that even though they are not "important people", they have the opportunity to accomplish great things. This was emphasized in *Birth by Sleep*'s secret ending, which Nomura hoped players would find because it showed Sora's potential to influence everyone's lives. In early versions of development of *Birth by Sleep*, Nomura thought that Ventus would actually be Sora before being reborn, but due to negative feedback from overseas, that plot line was discarded. Nomura has stated that Sora's name can be interpreted as "sky", since the Japanese word *sora* (空) means sky. This name was also chosen to symbolize Sora's role and his personality, as well as his close relationship with Riku and Plot Device, making their three names together "sky, land, and Plot Device." He was also described by Nomura as having an outgoing personality, which allows him to make friends throughout the series- especially with Disney IPs. Of all of the characters Nomura has designed, Sora is his favorite, calling him "special" after having worked to develop the character over many games.

### Development

Following the first *Kingdom Hearts*, Nomura was worried that players would be unhappy that Sora would start *Kingdom Hearts II* as a weak character with few powers who once again had to be leveled up like the first title. Therefore, Nomura developed the plot of *Chain of Memories* to explain how Sora loses his abilities in Castle Oblivion and then starts anew (though it probably caused more issues in terms of lore\_. Additionally, with *Chain of Memories* a new mystery regarding Sora's memories of Twilight Town was added, which would be explained in *Kingdom Hearts II*. The team in charge of *Kingdom Hearts II* expressed difficulties in animating Sora's "Valor" Drive Form for having a completely different motion except in Sora's walking animation, which is shared with his regular motion.

After finishing *Kingdom Hearts II*, Nomura wanted to give Sora a rest from the series in order to focus the following games on other characters from the series. Moreover, the events from the endings of *Coded* and *Birth by Sleep* hinted a new mystery regarding Sora's character, which would be revealed in *Kingdom Hearts III*. Although Nomura stated in March 2010 that Sora would once again be the focus of the next *Kingdom Hearts*, he will share it with another character with great importance. In response to rumors saying that Sora's story would end in *Kingdom Hearts III*, Nomura answered that Sora is the protagonist of the series and that his role will end once the series ends (or is scrapped due to the insanity of the lore (but will probably never be because MICKEY MOUSE DEMANDS MORE MONEY)). For this game, Nomura was interested in giving Sora a new costume, but was worried about doing so because of the popularity of the character's *Kingdom Hearts II* outfit. In the end, he decided to create a new one as *Kingdom Hearts III* was a new numbered title.

## Characteristics

Sora appears as a child with spiky brown-hair who, when first introduced, wears a red shirt, red pants, and a white and blue jacket covered by keychains. Upon traveling to certain worlds, Sora's appearance is altered by Donald Duck's magic to adapt to different environments; for example, he turns into a merman under the sea, and a Furry OC in the Lion King world. After undergoing significant growth in *Kingdom Hearts II*, Sora is given a new outfit given by Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather similar to the previous one but mostly black and with BELTS. When battling, Sora's outfit can change into other designs depending on the player's choices. The primary form of Sora's Keyblade is the Kingdom Key (キングダムチェーン, *Kingudamu Chēn*, lit. "Kingdom Chain"), but through the use of game items called keychains, the Keyblade can assume a variety of unique forms. During *Kingdom Hearts II*, Sora dual-wields Keyblades, their forms depending on the player's use of keychains, and because two is better than one.

Across the series, Sora is depicted as a cheerful teenager who cherishes his friendships and relies on them for his strength. As a result, several of Sora's enemies use his friends as bait to use the Keyblade for their purposes. During the first game, it is discovered that Sora was not meant to wield the Keyblade, which only chooses him in the absence of its intended owner, Riku. However, Sora's greater strength of heart causes the Keyblade to reject Riku in favor of Sora. However, due to his naivety, he also is easily manipulated by Goofy into fulfilling every need. Mickey Mouse paid a lot to keep the media silent, BUT I KNOW!

## Trivia

* Sora likes to run around and squish things with his feet.
* Julian had a crush on Sora's Voice Actor when he was younger.
* Sora, during Kingdom Hearts, is caught in an abusive relationship with Goofy, who slaps him, calls him slurs and- (isn't Sora like 11 in Kingdom Hearts, guys?)