Riku

Riku is an antagonist in *Kingdom Hearts NEO.* Once Sora and Kairi's best friend, his pride and his obsession with Kairi caused a rift between him and them.

## Appearance

Riku has cyan eyes and long, silver hair. He is more muscular and taller than Sora and has paler skin. He wears a vest that is yellow in front and black on the back, and blue jeans under large blue wading pants, secured by black straps at the ankles. He wears stylistically large blue and grey shoes, with two straps, and yellow accents.

## Personality

Riku is strong-willed and confident, at times arrogant. He cares about his friends the most. He is also rather competitive.

However, he easily gets jealous, as he ends up believing Sora betrayed him upon finding him with Donald and Goofy. His arrogance also makes him gullible, as it was Maleficent who made Riku believe Sora betrayed him. It could be said that Riku's fatal flaw is his pride, as Sora being chosen by the Kingdom Key and befriending Donald and Goofy caused Riku to believe all of Maleficent's lies.

## Relationships

### Sora

Sora used to be Riku's best friend, but his pride caused him to believe Sora betrayed him. This was exploited by Maledicent.

### Kairi

Riku has an obsessive, onesided crush on Kairi. Aside from his pride, it was Riku's crush for Kairi that caused his downfall.

### Bowser

Arguably, Bowser is the only one Riku trusts upon leaving Destiny Islands. Bowser was constantly undermining Maleficent's lies and advising Riku to give Sora the benefit of doubt. When Riku wonders whether Sora would chose a make-believe friendship over a real one, Bowser implies that Riku himself, by trusting Maleficent, chose a make-believe friendship over Sora. Nevertheless, Bowser wants Riku's good.

## Biography

Riku, Sora and Kairi wanted to leave Destiny Islands, though the former two were doing it just for kicks; Kairi wanted to see what happened to her old home. The three tried building a raft. However, on the night before they set sail, the Unversed attacked. Riku saw this as an opportunity, and tried to convince Sora to come with him, but Sora refused.

Riku then ended up on an unknown world, where he was found by Maleficent. She gave him shelter and protection, and her boss gave him the power to use the darkness, as well as the Soul Eater. Maleficent made a deal with Riku: if he finds several princesses, she would help him find Kairi.

Riku comes across Sora in Traverse Town. He takes possession of Sora's Keyblade for a few moments before giving it back to Sora, much to Sora's surprise, and then he suddenly leaves. Watching Sora from a distance, Maleficent turns Riku against Sora, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for traveling with Donald and Goofy.

Riku later appeared in Agrabah: first when Jafar was using the Sultan's ring to find "the diamond in the rough", secondly when Jafar was exposed as an ally of Maleficent. In this last instance, he also kidnapped Jasmine. Maleficent then reveals the whereabouts of Kairi's body and send Bowser to help Riku pick it up. However, Bowser had suspicions on Maleficent and told Riku to give Sora the benefit of doubt.

Riku meets Sora again in Monstro, intending to use Pinocchio to help him find a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio is captured by the Parasite Cage, and Riku works together with Sora, Donald, and Goofy to save him. Afterwards, Riku kidnaps Pinocchio, and is pursued by Sora, Donald, and Goofy into Monstro's stomach. Riku asks Sora to join him and help him rescue Kairi, but Sora refuses, knowing that Riku's methods are wrong. When the Parasite Cage returns, Riku vanishes into a Genesis Portal.