Sora's Character Throughout Kingdom Hearts

Sora's character is built into the coding to the engine of the entire series.

People seem to hate on how kh3 sora was a lot more friendly towards the org members but i thinks thats because in DDD he learns that the organizations nobodies have hearts and that they can become people again. While in kh2 he was told they werent supposed to exist as if they were like heartless. And it doesnt help that they kept taunting him about the fate of riku and the kidnapping if kairi.

I'll add that not just in KH2, but pretty consistently throughout his playable appearances we see that Sora has a habit of wearing a smile to mask his frustration, sadness or weariness. He often tries to hide those feelings from Donald and Goofy, with limited success, and I think it's a nuance that a lot of KH fans either tend to overlook or just assign to their favorite version of the character.

I love Sora from the start of his journey, all the way to the end of kingdom hearts 3. Sora is my favorite throughout the entire kingdom hearts franchise.

I’ve had a journey with Sora as a character. I actually started the series with Days. And between that, and just my own preferences, Roxas ended up being my favorite protagonist of the series. To the point where I was kinda angry alongside him when the series said “No. Sora is the real protagonist.” It really drove home the tragedy of Roxas’ story for me, but also made me approach the other games with a little bitterness at first. Don’t get me wrong, I never disliked them, or even Sora. But there was a part of me that was always wishing it was Roxas instead. But over time I grew to appreciate Sora as a character, especially after finally playing Re:CoM. (Skipped it at first with just a tl;dr) The way he interacted with the characters of that game, especially Namine, showed me something that gave me a new appreciation for Sora. He’s not stupid, even if he occasionally has his moments. And he’s not naive, either. He’s stubborn. When he trusts others, it’s not because he doesn’t think things through at all. And it’s not because he’s too naive to consider that they might betray him. Instead, it’s because in spite of it all, he stubbornly chooses kindness. Chooses to believe in people. And it’s that hard-headedness that inspires other characters to live up to the trust he places in them. That stubbornness that makes them want to believe as well. And it’s that quality of his, not his strength, not his cleverness or lack thereof, but the ability to inspire others to be better that makes him the protagonist the series needs. I’ll always be a little sad that it’s not Roxas’ story. But I at least know now that it’s in good hands.

I like his development! So to me it feels wrong to say that one version of Sora is my favorite. He's a great character and he changes over the course of the plot, that's enough, I think. He's adorable and I think we need more main characters like him

Sora the boy who taught me optimism. The boy who taught me to have a big heart. These people whom say he has no personality, y’all are crazy. This boy is a fucking hero!

An angle I tend to look at Sora with is the idea that he has no idea who he actually is and so he just adapts and behaves the way others want. Remember, he has been connected to Ven (who has many of Sora's characteristics and quirks that may have been Ven's originally because he came first and had an actual personality before Sora was able to really be a person) since he was born and then at only four years old (when most children really start to develop a personality) he took Ven completely into his heart. That had to have had an effect on him. We see as early as KH1 that Sora adapts to people around him with the infamous "no frowning, no sad face. this ship runs on happy faces!" scene where Donald and goofy basically tell him to not show his actual feelings because their mission needs him to be happy, at least outwardly. Sora throughout the games struggles to keep on a happy facade, to the point where you can tell he is ignoring and brushing his feelings aside, never taking his own feelings and how others treat him too seriously. But we know they affect him. Sora, at the end of the day, is a child that cares so much for other people that he ignores his own problems (both because he sees them as not as important, and also perhaps because at this point he doesn't know how to deal with them) and focuses on helping others even at risk to himself. He is constantly criticised and held to impossible standards, with his incredible achievements downplayed while the others around him who have done way less get far more praise. Sora deserves way more love because if I were him, at fifteen/sixteen, I would've probably had a breakdown far earlier than the bad ending.

I never thought about how much Roxas’ feelings influenced Sora in KH2, the only time it truly clicked was when the tear is shed as he is leaving twilight town

It honestly surprises me how Sora's character development is so underrated by the Kingdom Hearts fandom, to the point I hear them say he has no character development.

I think something I like about Days is that it shows Sora from a disconnected view point where he feels like a legendary hero while also making him something that a person who's first game is days dread because he is Xemnas's goal with both Xion and Roxas.

I can’t honestly listen to anyone who’d randomly dislike Sora, he’s so kind.

Sora’s emotions and personality in KH2 were heavily influenced by Roxas. It was almost more like you were really playing as Roxas the entire time. As Diz said “You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He’s far too nice for his own good.”

You forgot to mention that Sora first connected with Ventus during the BBS prologue when Sora was still a newborn.

Great video! While i understand that people might like his personality more in certain game or another, i do think that his story works way better if you see it as just one. From Dream Drop Distance, in my view he took it lightly because he tought everything was part of the test. And while the novels aren't fully canon, i liked how much more clear things were the KH3D novel, even with just some phrases more, basically, he did tought everything was a test, even Xemnas and all, but very later on when he meets YX again he got suspicious of what he says, and then he decided to keep going deeper on his dreams because this could help him find out what was going on, now unsure if it was still a test, simple, but imo way more clear

I hope Sora will still be his happy-go-lucky self in KH4, more mature of course, but part of his charm is his super happy self! :D

The only thing that bothers me about Sora is that sometimes I feel like the series plays up his ignorance as genuine stupidity. Here's two examples to show what I mean. KH1: Sora tries to stop Donald from leaving Deep Jungle before they can check for Riku and Kairi, accidentally crashing the ship in the process. He didn't mean to crash the ship, but he's worried about his friends and made a reckless move, something that is consistent with later points in the series where he does things like try to go into the Realm of Darkness without protection or even the whole bit with the Organization using Namine to gaslight him in Chain of Memories. KH2: Sora tries to check Ansem's computer for information on Riku and Kairi. When he can't find the information, he immediately tries to break it. This is after improperly tampering with the computer caused the MCP to begin aggressive actions against the resident of Hollow Bastion and after Leon stressed the importance of Ansem's computer and the information inside. While Sora might be frustrated, I can't see him allowing his anger to inconvenience other people he considers his friends. As a small aside, I do like a subtle detail related to the KH1 incident: as the series goes on, Sora goes on to become the main pilot of the Gummi Ship, meaning he does eventually learn from his mistake.

KH3 Sora is the best. He's peak. Reason why is because he's maturing. I would go on details as to why, but I think I'll just drop this video instead. Watch Titan trainer video about how not only the Disney worlds matter in the game, but also helps develop his character.

Sora isn't naturally happy-go-lucky, though. Right from the jump in KH 1, our first experiences with him are that he thinks deeply about the world around him and gives more gravity to dreams and possibilities than Riku, often getting teased for it. Yes, he isn't necessarily a more grounded person for it, but his key personality traits weren't optimism, they where a willingness to take things like faith and friendship more seriously than the "mature" Riku. It's this contemplative (notably not necessarily competent) Sora that gets lost as the series progresses. The Sora in III tends to play the clown too much. If he is still ruminating as deeply as he is in 1 and 2, I honestly really didn't see it in the events of 3.

Great video! I LOVE Chain of Memories Sora, so complex with the situation occurring around him. Definitely one of my favorite iterations of his character. Forgiving Namine, even after what she did, it really shows off his sweet cinnamon roll heart. Could be the lack of Roxas showing through, though, who knows.