Donald Duck

**Donald Duck** is one of the main characters from the *Kingdom Hearts* franchise.

A fiery-tempered magician and a member of King Mickey's court at Disney Castle, Donald Duck was sent to find and follow the Keyblade bearer. He joins up with Sora to help him save the worlds and becomes one of his closest friends.

In the XP4 fics, Donald is set to appear in a future XP4 storyline.

## **Appearance**

Donald is an anthropomorphic duck with white plumage, a yellow-orange bill, legs of the same color, light blue eyes, and a short tuft of feathers on his head, visible under his hat. His outfit is a modified version of his original blue sailor's suit (in fact, he wears his original clothes in the opening of *Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories*). His blue hat, which resembles a beret, has a belt in place of a normal brim, and sports a zipper that spans the length of the hat. His high-collared jacket is navy blue with sky blue lining and cuffs. There are three pouches, all of which are blue with yellow lining, along the middle of the jacket; the center pouch is secured by a flap, while the other two use silver zippers.

The middle pouch is framed by two other silver zippers that span the entire length of the jacket, from the top of the collar to the bottom. He has a short, blue cape with yellow lining that he wears draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a silver strap. Donald also wears a thick, gold bangle on each of his wrists, and, like his cartoon version, he does not wear pants.

In *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep*, Donald is seen in a much different outfit during his tutelage under Yen Sid. Donald's hat in now much taller and resembles a stereotypical witch's hat, as well as the hat on his Mage's Staff. It is dark blue, has a wide brim with gold lining, and the tip curls in a very angular fashion. His navy jacket is now much longer and has a blue addition to the bottom that covers the lower half of his body. The sleeves are long and resemble those of a sweater, sporting vertical creases. The jacket now has two large, yellow buttons down the front, a gold-lined pattern of ovals, rather resembling Mickey Mouse's ears, on the lower half, and a blue belt tie around the waist.

Donald also wears a shorter, light blue coat over his jacket, this one with more bell-like sleeves, gold lining and cuffs, a turtleneck-esque collar, and the two silver, vertical zippers present in his jacket in *Kingdom Hearts* and *Kingdom Hearts II*. Donald's webbed feet are also slightly different in this appearance, as the toes are less distinguished.

## **Personality**

Donald is the most aggressive member of the group. Though he has mastered spells, Donald is very reckless and is the comic relief in many games. Initially, he and Sora often argued, but in the end grow into a deep friendship. Donald is also very protective over Goofy and King Mickey as he is the most worried in Castle Oblivion when he fears he will forget about Mickey, and also in *Kingdom Hearts II* when Goofy is thought to be dead.

He immediately runs into the battle after that. All in all, deep within Donald's short tempered and impatient nature he is actually good hearted, as he would sacrifice anything for the sake of friendship; this is proven twice in the games, when he initially leaves Sora to follow Riku after he obtained the Keyblade, but eventually chooses to return to his side; also when the King orders him and Goofy to take Sora from Hollow Bastion to look for Kairi and Riku, but chooses against his orders to help Leon and the others protect Hollow Bastion. He also seems to be afraid of Daisy as shown at Disney Castle when she yells at him for missing their date.

He also has somewhat of a greedy side, as commented when Sora and Goofy expressed worries that Donald would lose himself to the curse of the Aztec gold in Port Royal; or when Abu stole a sparkling ruby and Donald became infatuated with it.

## **Abilities**

In contrast to Goofy who is a supportive party member, Donald focuses on his magic in battle. He equips rods, and is capable of conjuring all the magic that Sora has learned (excluding Summon magic).

Overall, Donald is a good support in terms of offense, as well as healing Sora in tight situations. He is also shown to be a fighter on an "okay" level, able to fight his enemies with his staff if his magic runs out. His Limit commands unleash a variety of powerful magical attacks in the form of rockets and fireworks.

Donald is the main spellcaster in the party so his MP is high to make up for his low HP. Donald attacks using magic and as such his abilities focus on increasing his magic power. Donald can learn the following abilities during the game:

* **Berserk**: Boosts attack power when HP is critical. Learned at Level 10.
* **MP Haste**: Increases rate of MP restoration. Learned at Level 15.
* **MP Rage**: Restores MP when attacked. Donald learns this ability twice, at Level 20 and Level 40.
* **Second Chance**: Ensures 1 HP is retained after being hit with a critical attack. Learned at Level 25.
* **Treasure Magnet**: Attracts HP/MP and Munny balls. Donald learns this ability twice, at Level 30 and Level 45
* **Second Wind**: Recovers from KO quickly. Learned at Level 35.
* **Jackpot**: Receive more HP/MP and Munny balls from enemies. Learned at Level 50.
* **Lucky Strike**: Increases the chance of an enemy dropping a rare item. Learned at Level 55.
* **Cheer**: Increases Summon's MP gauge. Learned after defeating Maleficent.
* **High Jump**: Allows Sora, Donald and Goofy to jump to a higher extent. Obtained in a box in Monstro's mouth.
* **Mermaid Kick**: Allows Sora, Donald and Goofy to swim at incredible speeds and withstand water pressure. Obtained in the first fight against Ursula.
* **Glide**: Allows Sora, Donald and Goofy to float through the air. Obtained after sealing the Keyhole in Neverland.
* **Superglide**: Allows Sora, Donald and Goofy to float through the air at an extended speed. Obtained after defeating Chernabog in the End of the World.

Donald shares the spell elements that Sora obtains, meaning that his repertoire of magic grows in lock-step with Sora's. However, this is not always followed within the game's plot; for example, in his introductory scene, Donald uses a Thunder spell to shock Goofy out of sleep, despite not being able to use the spell when he joins Sora later. Donald's spells are divided into three main categories, and the frequency at which he draws from each category can be set by the player. However, the exact spell he uses in combat is in the end due to his own situational AI.

* **Offensive Magic**: Donald will cast Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder to attack.
* **Defensive Magic**: Donald will cast Aero and Cure to protect his allies and himself.
* **Advanced Magic**: Donald will cast Gravity and Stop to inflict debilitating status effects on opponents.

Donald's Limit abilities let him execute powerful magical attacks with Sora, blasting fireworks and rockets at their enemies. Unlike in the first game, Donald's magic is limited to Fire, Blizzard, Thunder and Cure. Donald can equip two armor pieces, three accessories, and three items. While he is present with Sora and Goofy to perform the Trinity Limit, Donald will pull nearby enemies in front of them and blast them with fireworks and then perform the final blow to inflict the damage. His abilities are as follows:

* **Donald Thunder (Japanese: ドナルドサンダー）**: Donald will cast his version of the Thunder spell. Donald summons a bolt of lightning to strike enemies with. Donald begins the game knowing this.
* **Donald Cure　(Japanese: ドナルドクアル）**: Donald will cast his version of the Cure spell. Donald uses his magic to heal an ally or himself. Donald begins the game knowing this.
* **Donald Fire　(Japanese: ドナルドフアイア）**: Donald will cast his version of the Fire spell. Flames manifest around Donald to damage nearby enemies. Acquired after defeating Possessor.
* **Donald Blizzard**: Donald will cast his version of the Blizzard spell. A chunk of ice is shot from his staff. Acquired after leading Abu to the jewel pedestal in the Cave of Wonders.
* **Fantasia**: The Limit, Comet, becomes available. Sora can move freely to attack enemies while Donald casts colorful fireworks.
* **Flare Force**: The Limit, Duck Flare, becomes available. Sora can move freely to attack while Donald launches many rockets.

## **Trivia**

* Donald is one of five characters to break the series' fourth wall. In *Kingdom Hearts*, during the scene in which Donald and Goofy speak with Aerith, Donald appears to move the "camera" down so that he is properly visible. The others are Genie, Smee, a Moogle, and Mushu.
* Donald's court wizard attire slightly resembles a black mage from the *Final Fantasy series*, as well as his original staff.