Aqua

Master **Aqua** is one of the main protagonists in *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep*, and the main protagonist of *Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-*. She is one of the Keyblade Wielders before Sora. Like Terra and Ventus, it's her dream to become a Keyblade Master. She is the only one out of the three to achieve that goal and earn the title of 'Keyblade Master'.

Her name is Latin for "water", while Kairi's name in Japanese means "sea". The only connection between the two is that Aqua met Kairi in Radiant Garden in *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep* and put a protective spell on her necklace, which later brought Kairi to Destiny Islands. Kairi, by accidentally touching Aqua's Keyblade during this time, also inherited the Keyblade from Aqua. The official Japanese website refers to Aqua as the "Dancing Waters Forming Bonds" (絆繋ぐ舞水, *Kizuna Tsunagu Busui*?).

## Appearance

Aqua looks slightly like Kairi, but older. Aqua has blue eyes, and her hair is blue and relatively short. She wears a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. She wears a silver badge similar to badges also worn by Ven and Terra, though Terra's is gold. On Aqua's arms are white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. She also wears a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. She wears what appear to be black stockings or socks on her legs which reach to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs.

Aqua also bears two strips of blue cloth that drape over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner. Finally, she wears pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp "hook" on the outer side of each.

By touching the piece of armor hanging on her arm, Aqua will become full clad in her Keyblade Armor. In *Birth by sleep*, Aqua's armor is mostly colored in shades of silver, black, grey and blue. Notable additions include a silver breastplate resembling an upside-down crescent moon and a dark-visored helmet. Her helmet, like Ventus and Terra's, bears two prongs on either side, with her silver ones wrapping around the sides and angling diagonally downwards. Her cape is that of a dusty-rose color.

In *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep*, Aqua's armor remains largely unchanged, though she loses her cape and grey becomes a more dominant color than black or blue. She also gains more armor near her upper legs and hips.

During the development for *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep*, Aqua's outfit was altered, as Tetsuya Nomura considered her exposed back to be too revealing, ultimately resulting in an outfit that is neither too conservative nor too revealing. As well, her eyes and hair were originally darker.

Artwork of Aqua from *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep's* promotional artworkshows her hair spiking near the back of her head and falling just past her neck, as opposed to the spikes being splayed to the side and the back stopping short of the base of her neck.

## Personality

Aqua shows some similarities to Kairi, which she shows by making good luck charms for her friends. She also has a devotion to her friends similar to that of Sora's, for she did everything in her power to protect Ventus from harm and even sacrificed herself to save Terra. She is also similar to Sora in that she holds a strong sense of justice and desire to do what is right. Her judgments between what is right and wrong are never misplaced, although Ventus and Terra sometimes lose sight of the right thing to do. Her personality is serious, kind, strong willed, intelligent, and responsible, as she is the most reliable of the three.

She is always worrying about Terra and Ventus, who are two of her closest friends. She has been shown to be blushing and embarrassed when Zackasks her out on a date, shaking her head and arms in an attempt to compose herself. She seems rather modest, as despite becoming a master already, she still referred to herself as a trainee. The only time she referred to herself as "Master Aqua" was toward the end, when she fights the possessed Terra.

Aqua may debatably be the true hero of Birth by Sleep. She was the only one officially dubbed a Keyblade master, and unlike Terra, she never strayed from the path of light and her actions were all selfless and intended to help her friends, and to free the worlds from sinister forces. Despite this, her bluntness in talking with Terra and Ventus unintentionally pushed them further down their paths and into Master Xehanort's trap, indicating a "react" personality, rather than an "act" personality.

## Powers and Abilities

Aqua is described by Tetsuya Nomura as being "tricky". A magic-based fighter with agility to boot, she's capable of doing cartwheels while attacking with her Keyblade. While she's more than capable physically, her prowess lies with a more magic-oriented fighting style, being versed in all forms of it.

Aqua is second only to Master Xehanort in terms of magic amongst Keyblade Users, displaying superior skill to both Terra and Ven as well as later Keyblade users such as Sora and Riku. She has her own special variations of the Fire, Ice, and Thunder spells, and can cast the Reflect spell indefinitely without tiring, effectively giving Aqua a 360 degree defensive zone. She can also augment her jumping abilities with magic. She is slower than Ventus, but is faster than Terra, with her slender frame making her a difficult target. Small petals also appear when she summons her Keyblade.