Drift Fleet App

[keythatconnects]

IN-CHARACTER:
Character name: Sora
Character journal: keythatconnects
Series name: Kingdom Hearts

Canon notes: Sora is being taken from after the final cutscenes of Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage. This means he's 15/16-ish right now, recently had all of his abilities stripped because of his encounter with Xehanort's multiple selves, and was on his way to the Coliseum to re-train.

When KHIII comes out next year I may canon update him, though that will, of course, happen a few months after the game comes out and will be communicated with the mods at that time.

Species: Human

History: Sora's page on the Kingdom Hearts wiki is here.

Personality: Sora is eternally optimistic. He always tries to look on the bright side of things. Even when things are bad, he tries to find the good within it and focus on that. A prime example of this behavior happens in the very first Kingdom Hearts game during the Neverland section. Sora has just discovered that Kairi lost her heart and is a coma. He also has further confirmation that Riku has sided with the dark and was forced to fight a couple of tough battles. Things are bad. Donald and Goofy even express worry that he will be sad because of that but instead, Sora focuses on how awesome it was to fly and how much he can't wait to tell Kairi about it. He is often described as being very bright and upbeat. He works to maintain this and often chooses to only think about the things that are positive. This doesn't always work but during the times when Sora feels overwhelmed by sadness or doubt, he relies on his friends to help see him through.

In truth, his optimism is a sign of his emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is probably Sora's greatest strength. He had a high level of it even when he was a child - as seen by him offering to help Ven's shattered heart. This means that he is often 'in-tune' with the feelings and emotions of his friends and knows what to do to cheer them up. To name a few examples, when Beast is being manipulated by the Organization Sora knows a pep talk with a strong focus on Belle will snap Beast out of it, when Simba is plagued by self-doubt and haunted by a ghost of Scar Sora knows that taunting Simba will enrage him to action and help him regain his ability to fight, when Riku expresses doubts about how he will be able to face everyone again Sora makes him laugh by making a funny face. Sora doesn't have a 'one size fits all' answer to providing emotional support to his friends but rather customizes his approach to suit the person he is speaking with. This is something he understands on a basic, intuitive level and it has served him well when it comes to connecting to the hearts of his many friends.

Another very important but often overlooked aspect of emotional intelligence is a low level of tolerance for emotional manipulation and the ability to see through people attempting it. This is why in Kingdom Hearts II Sora is so callous to the Organization members. He is able to sense their intentions to emotionally manipulate him and he doesn't have sympathy for people who do that. In the same vein, he also cannot stand selfishness or cowardice. This does not mean that Sora is not easy to manipulate in other ways, but it means that when someone tries to play with his emotions to get him to do something he can usually tell and doesn't have the patience for that sort of thing.

Sora tends not to like to think too hard. He doesn't like a lot of puzzles or convoluted machinations. This makes it seem like he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He can also sometimes be very oblivious, even to things that others would have caught onto. An example of this is in 3D when he is told ahead of time that the Sleeping Worlds will sometimes have memories of people who aren't there anymore and yet when Sora finds people who are his friends he expects them to know him. It takes a couple times of this happening before he finally remembers that they aren't really there and the memory of them won't know him. He also has no knack for technology like computers and displays very little patience for learning more about any of these things - though there is a certain level of 'wow that's cool!' with computers.

Part of the reason that Sora doesn't think ahead as much is that he has a tendency to live day-to-day, moment-to-moment, following his heart. This is a trait that many of his friends - Riku especially - repeatedly mentions as something they admire about him. He fully embraces the idea that his heart will guide him and believes that as long as he's doing the right thing, the thing his heart tells him to do, things will work out in the end. This also means that he is very heroic. He doesn't hesitate to jump into battle if it means defeating creatures of darkness or protecting innocent people. He prides himself on his ability to do both.

He is extremely dedicated to his friends. He is loyal to the point of putting their needs and thoughts above all else. He always wants to do right by them even to the point of self-sacrifice. This is seen when he gives up his own heart in order to give Kairi back hers or how he openly puts himself in harm's way to give Hercules time to rest. He doesn't pause to think about jumping into the thick of things when it means protecting his friends.

It is important to note though that he also has a very loose definition of what it means to be his friend. There are people he is extremely close to - Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy - but there are also people he meets and then two seconds later will call them his friend. This is highlighted during the Traverse Town plot of 3D when Sora meets Neku and goes from introducing himself to declaring he'll do whatever he can to help Neku with the Game in the span of a handful of sentences. It is even something Neku notes in an incredulous way and Sora just smiles and insists that he means it. The fact is, he really does mean it. When he decides he likes someone he wants to always be there for them.

That said, Sora can sometimes have a bit of a temper. He gets upset when he feels talked down to, especially when people doubt his ability because of his age. He sometimes lets his emotions get the better of him by expressing frustration or anger when he experiences them. He also has no qualms calling people "stupid" when he thinks they are being stupid - here's looking at you, Riku. This sometimes leads to fights between him and Donald, who has an even hotter temper, with poor Goofy being in the middle of it. That said, once he cools down he usually realizes he needs to apologize and he is quick to forgive people who ask for it. He does this with Neku even though Neku was planning to give him up to 'the guy in the black coat' and, perhaps more notably, he almost instantly forgives Riku for everything that happened in Kingdom Hearts. When someone does something bad but had a good reason for it, or was tricked into it, or shows a true desire to make up for it, Sora is one to never hold the past against that person.

Despite everything that he has been through and done, Sora is still very much a teenager, he likes to have fun and likes to playfully tease his friends. He thrives on competition and is easily goaded into any kind of competition - the Underworld Coliseum matches are a sign of that. He can also get easily excited about things that others might think of as childish such as meeting Santa or getting to be pirates.

All of this doesn't mean that Sora takes his role lightly. Despite his sometimes childish nature, he knows all of the worlds are counting on his (and his friends') ability to stop Xehanort. This isn't something that he treats casually as he will give his all to defend the light.


Abilities: Sora is a Keyblade wielder which means that he has access to a powerful sword-like weapon called the Keyblade. The Keyblade enables him to fight creatures of darkness and also unlocks pretty much any kind of lock - from physical locks to computer programs that are 'locked down.' Being a Keyblade wielder also gives him access to some pretty powerful magic including elemental offensive magic, a reflect shield that throws projectiles and spells back at the person who was attacking Sora, a defensive wind-based spell, gravity-based spells, a healing spell, and a handful of others. The basic spells he learns are heavily inspired by the Final Fantasy franchise meaning they follow the -ra, -aga, -za format (ex: the lowest level of a fire-based spell is Fire, then it goes to Fira, then Firagra).

He is very agile in his fighting style, with a strong focus on acrobatic flips and spins. He usually darts or flings himself around the battlefield as he brings the Keyblade down on his foes. He can also gain powerful finishing moves to his combo attacks.

The Keyblade also has some super specific abilities. Only its chosen wielder can use it. If anyone else tries, it will disappear in a flash of light and then re-appear in the wielder's hands. It can lock the 'Keyholds' to worlds and can open gateways to other worlds through a connection to representative items on the worlds. There is also the possibility of learning how to unlock sleeping hearts, but Sora missed out on that ability - it was gained by Riku instead.

Despite all of his powers and abilities, at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream, Drop, Distance Sora had all of his abilities and powers stripped from him. This means that he is already nerfed when it comes to magic and such. He can re-learn these things and was sent to Olympus Coliseum to do just that. This set up is literally going to be used to explain why the player has to start at basically square one with him in Kingdom Hearts III so it works here too. He will still have a very basic combo in sword fighting but he basically has lost most of his knowledge of magic and many of his physical skills.

The only thing that will have to be changed for this game is that Sora will be unable to call the Keyblade to him when he arrives. He will not have access to the weapon which usually magically materializes when he calls out to it. I'm going to say that if he keeps trying to call it, he's going to end up with a headache or something as the augment has to stop the magic from working. It will be very unpleasant for him.

Augment Skillset: Security

Sample:
Sora was on the Summer TDM here and here

I also have an AU prose log for him here