Editing Kairi

{{Game|KH1|FM1|COM|REC|KH2|FM2|KHC|358|BBS|FA}}
{{InfoCharacter
|name=Kairi 
|kana=カイリ 
|romaji=''Kairi''
|image=[[Image:KH2 Kairi.jpg|190px]]
|world=[[Radiant Garden]]
|world2=[[Destiny Islands]] <small>''(KH - KHII)''</small><br>[[Traverse Town]] <small>''(KH)''</small>
|role=Ally, [[Princess of Heart]], Keyblade Wielder
|first=''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''
|engvoice=[[wikipedia:Hayden Panettiere|Hayden Panettiere]] <small>(''KH'', ''KHII'')</small><br>[[wikipedia:Alyson Stoner|Alyson Stoner]] <small>(''Re:COM'', ''Days'')</small>
|japvoice=[[wikipedia:Risa Uchida|Risa Uchida]]<br>Sumire Moroboshi <small>(Young Kairi)</small>
}}

{{Q|Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you.|Kairi to Sora}}
'''Kairi''' is one of several original characters appearing in ''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'', ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', and also one of the main characters in the series. Kairi lives on [[Destiny Islands]] along with her two best friends, [[Sora]] and [[Riku]]. She is fourteen at the start of ''Kingdom Hearts'', and fifteen during ''Kingdom Hearts II''. Since she would be reappearing in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'', she would be four years old then since ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' is set ten years before ''Kingdom Hearts'' itself. Kairi's name is derived from the Japanese word for "Sea." 

==Journal Entries==
===''Kingdom Hearts''===
====First Entry====
''Islander. Kairi, Sora, and Riku were best friends. They built a raft to sail out and see new worlds. The three were separated when a mysterious force struck the Destiny Islands. Thus did Sora's search for Kairi begin.'' 

====Second Entry====
''Kairi, Sora, and Riku always hung out together. When their island vanished, Kairi lost her heart. It turned out that it was hidden within Sora's. As one of the princesses with the power to unlock the secret Keyhole, Kairi restored Sora's heart when he was turned into a Heartless.''

===''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''===
''Sora's childhood friend.'' 

''Sora's journey began as a search for Kairi, who disappeared when their island home was swallowed by darkness.'' 

''Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora she and the islands were saved.'' 

''She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.'' 

====Reverse/Rebirth====
''Riku and Sora's friend growing up.'' 

''Kairi vanished when their home islands were devoured by darkness. Riku and Sora both journeyed to find her.'' 

''Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora, she and the islands were saved.'' 

''She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.'' 

===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
====First Entry====
''Longtime friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses with ties to the Keys and Keyholes. Not long ago, when she was lost in the darkness, Riku and Sora both tried to save her, each in his own way.'' 

''Thanks to them, Kairi was able to return to her home islands, but her memories of Sora were gone, and she soon stopped visiting the island where they once played.'' 

====Second Entry====
''Longtime friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses with ties to the Keys and Keyholes.'' 

''She had lost her memories of Sora, and after they returned, she wanted to meet him more and more with every passing day.'' 

''Falling through an unexpected hole into the darkness, she arrived in Twilight Town and befriended Hayner, Pence, and Olette before being captured by Axel.'' 

''Kairi is fervently hoping to meet up with Sora once more.''

==Story==
=== ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' ===
{{spoiler}}
[[File:Aqua,_Mickey,_Kairi.jpg|thumb|Kairi, Aqua, and Mickey in Birth by Sleep]]
Kairi was born in the [[Radiant Garden]], where she was living with her [[Kairi's grandmother|grandmother]]. One day, she is chased by a group of [[Unversed]] and encounters [[Aqua]] and [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]], whom both can sense a pure light in her heart, proving that she is a Princess of Heart. When she is about to become captured by the enemy, Aqua and King Mickey combine their forces to protect her. After the Unversed were defeated, King Mickey gets called away. Kairi then gives Aqua the flowers she picked before the Unversed appeared, which become the [[Destiny Place|Destiny Place Keyblade]], which Aqua returns by putting a protection charm on her necklace, and then she returns to her grandmother, who begins to tell her the story of the light and the darkness.

During the ending credits, she is seen picking flowers in a large garden. She looks up to the bright sky, thinking about her friends.
{{Spoilerend}}

===''Kingdom Hearts''===
====From Radiant Garden to Destiny Islands====
{{Q|Say, Kairi. What was your hometown like?|Sora to Kairi}}
[[File:YoungKairiRender.jpg|thumb|left|110px|Young Kairi in Kingdom Hearts]] 
One year after the events of ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', the Radiant Garden became shrouded by darkness and everyone was scattered across the universe. Kairi appears off the coast of the Destiny Islands during a meteor shower, due to Aqua's magic that was used on Kairi one year earlier.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania|Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''' "Nine years before ''Kingdom Hearts'', Kairi was thrust into the outside world, and found herself on Sora and Riku's world. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness thought that she had been able to search for a Keyblade wielder, but what actually saved her was the magic spell Aqua had put on her."</ref> Sora, then five years old as well, carefully approaches her and asks, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Sometime later, Sora and Riku were in the Secret Place and talking about "the new girl at the mayor's house". This provides the player a kind of insight into her origins: Kairi is not a native of the Destiny Islands, and is adopted by their mayor.

====Leaving Destiny Islands====
[[Image:Kairi-cg-character-model.jpg|Kairi from ''Kingdom Hearts''.|thumb|150px|right]]
{{Q|So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?|Kairi to Riku}}
Kairi later becomes very close friends with Sora and Riku who playfully compete for her attention. She often supports these competitions, although she does not know they were contests for her affection and not just innocent rivalry. She bears no memory of her life before the Islands, and her mysterious past sparks curiosity in Sora and Riku, who are anxious to leave [[Destiny Islands]] and see other worlds. This leads the trio to build a raft in the hopes of traveling to other worlds. However, before they can leave, their islands are attacked by the [[Heartless]], and Sora finds Kairi in their Secret Place. She turned towards him, looking sad and a little ill, then a huge gust of wind swept through a door in the back of the cave and Kairi flew towards him. Sora opened his arms to catch her, but she vanished right as she was about to be swept into his embrace.

During this time, it is speculated that Kairi's heart chose Sora as a vessel and when she passed through him, her heart was left behind in him while her body vanished to some distant world.
[[Image:Sora_and_Kairi_at_sunset.jpg|thumb|left|Sora and Kairi watch the sunset]]
She then becomes the game's driving force, as much of the game's story centers around Sora's and Riku's attempts at finding Kairi. However, Riku is hostile to Sora (having been manipulated by [[Maleficent]] into believing that Sora no longer cared for either Kairi or himself).

Throughout Sora's journey, he encounters multiple images of Kairi without knowing about Kairi's heart being a part of his. First, when he wakes up in a motel room after his fight with [[Leon]], and sees [[Yuffie]] in Kairi's form and mistakes her to be Kairi until she tells him who she is. Later when he visits the Magician's Study behind the door of the Third District, Kairi appears to him and tells him how much the study reminds her of their Secret Place, but she disappears when [[Goofy]] calls to him. When Sora crash lands into [[Deep Jungle]], she reappears again for a short moment, right behind [[Tarzan]], then disappears again. Finally, before setting off to [[Hollow Bastion]], Goofy and [[Donald]] encourage Sora to believe in himself, then Kairi says from within "I believe in you." before pulling him into one of her lost memories about her [[Kairi's grandmother|grandmother]] telling her younger self a story about the light. These encounters speculate that Kairi was experiencing Sora's journey from within his heart, including befriending Donald and Goofy.

Riku finds her first, but she is in a comatose state, with a vacant, lifeless expression and a limp body. She'd lost her heart and because of her Princess status, her body remained untouched by the darkness that usually produced a Heartless. With empty promises by Maleficent, Riku was convinced that he alone could locate Kairi's heart and restore her to health. When inside [[Monstro]], Riku attempts to kidnap [[Pinocchio]] in hopes to use his heart to restore Kairi's. This act confuses Sora as he hasn't learned of her fate. His attempt fails and he is forced to retrieve.

In [[Neverland]], Sora finally encounters her body, along with a painful reunion with Riku; who is very defensive about her and ends up locking her in a room with [[Wendy]] so that Sora can't get to her. When Sora reaches the room below her cell, he extends his hand towards her, desperately hoping for a reaction as he is just now discovering the full lengths of Kairi's condition. Unconsciously, her hand twitches before going still again, much to Sora's relief. Riku then takes her away yet again, having new knowledge of where Kairi's heart might be. After the defeat of [[Captain Hook]], [[Goofy]] ponders aloud whether or not Kairi had indeed lost her heart, but Donald, not wanting to upset Sora, promptly shushes him. Sora, however, appears to be in denial, pondering over his disbelief that he could fly and whether or not Kairi would believe him.

Their friendship severed for the time being, Sora continues his journey, destined to clash with Riku in the near future once again over Kairi.

====Hollow Bastion====
{{Q|This time, I'll protect you!|Kairi to Sora's Heartless (whilst shielding him from the Heartless attack)}}
Eventually, Sora follows Riku and Maleficent to the world of [[Hollow Bastion]] where he too learns of Kairi's fate. However, [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem]], while possessing Riku, reveals that Kairi's heart has been resting within Sora all along, which explains all the visions he has had of her during his journey. Furthermore, Kairi is one of the [[Princesses of Heart]], a maiden whose heart holds no darkness, and is needed to open the [[Final Keyhole]]. He then attempts to take her heart from Sora, but he defends himself to protect it. After winning a fight and driving Ansem from Hollow Bastion, Sora sacrifices himself using the [[Keyblade of People's Hearts]] to free Kairi's heart, and is turned into a [[Shadow Form|Shadow Heartless]]. Awakened as her heart is finally restored, Kairi runs towards him, but as soon as her fingers touch him, he vanishes. Refusing to believe that Sora was gone, Kairi prepared to fight the Shadow Heartless that surrounded her, along with&nbsp;Donald and Goofy.

However, once Ansem reappears and Riku stops him from attacking Kairi, she flees. Devastated, she, along with Donald and Goofy, attempt to escape from Hollow Bastion. But just as they are cornered by the Heartless, she recognizes [[Sora's Heartless]] from the crowd and manages to bring Sora back from the darkness by embracing him and promising to protect him. The group escapes Hollow Bastion, revealed to be Kairi's home world, and find shelter in [[Traverse Town]] where she could be protected by [[Leon]] and the others.

Sora finds Kairi in the underground water tunnel after talking with Leon. She states absentmindedly how much this place reminds her of their Secret Place. While lost in darkness, Sora witnessed one of Kairi's memories of her as a little girl wandering around the Hollow Bastion library with [[Kairi's grandmother|her grandmother]]. Sora mentions this and it is revealed that after her heart was restored, Kairi could remember certain things from her past. Though Kairi wants to help rescue Riku and stop the darkness from emanating, Sora convinces her to stay put, not wanting her to get hurt and also joking that she would be in his way; he also acknowledges that, since their hearts were one, they will always be together. During this conversation, it was revealed that Kairi's voice brought him back from the darkness. Kairi gives in and gives Sora her [[Lucky Charm]], which doubles as the [[Oathkeeper]].

====Temporary Departure====
{{Q|Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too! I'll come back to you - I promise!|Sora to Kairi}}
In the game's final cutscene, she appears on a section of [[Destiny Islands]] after Sora's final battle with [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem]], likely confused. Sora runs up to her, a little too late as the world is breaking apart, restoring all the previously destroyed worlds. Just before she is sent back, Sora promises that he will come back to her as soon as he finds Riku and [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]]. She is then transported back to Destiny Islands without him, wistfully watching the island regenerate around her with Sora's goodbye still fresh in her mind.

After the worlds are restored, Kairi visits in the Secret Cave, looking at the pictures that she and Sora have drawn over the years. Once she sees the picture that Sora had drawn of him giving her a [[Paopu Fruit]], she is moved to tears and adds to it; now the picture depicts herself and Sora exchanging two halves of a Paopu fruit. This could be interpreted as a sign that Kairi loves Sora, or simply that she truly does want to remain an eternal part of his life.

===[[Another side, Another story...]]===
[[File:Kairi Another-Side-Another-Story.jpg|right|thumb|Kairi in ''"[[Another side, Another story...]]"''.]]
This is a secret movie. The screen blacks out, and quotes fly by, ending with ''"We'll go together"''. A flash, then the words ''"Kingdom Hearts"'' appears. It fades to a [[Destiny Islands|beach]] where Kairi looks at a meteor fall.
Her appearance is somewhat different than her usual in this short movie. She is seen wearing a sleeveless white shirt, a red skirt and having long hair.

===''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''===

{|border="0" align="right"
|[[Image:KH COM-Kairi.png]]
|[[Image:Kairi-normal.jpg]]
|}

Although Kairi did not directly appear in ''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'', she did play a very important role. She served as a constant figure of light for both Sora and Riku and fervently awaited their return on Destiny Islands. 

====Sora's Story====
In Sora's story [[Naminé]] tried to take Kairi's place in Sora's heart. However, she said that she could never really replace Kairi and that she was only Kairi's shadow, meaning she is her Nobody. In ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'', Kairi's image showed up on Destiny Islands when Sora remembered that the one he holds dear to is Kairi, and not Naminé. When Sora was about to go to sleep she told him that if he remembered Kairi's name, his memories would restore faster. So he looked deep into his heart and found Kairi. 

====Riku's Story====
In [[Naminé#Reverse\Rebirth|Riku's story]], Zexion tormented Riku with an illusion of Kairi, just as he had with Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. Naminé also took Kairi's form to help Riku control the light and darkness in his heart before the final face-off with the devious Nobody. 

In the credits for ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'', Kairi is shown to still be waiting for Sora and Riku's return.

===''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days''===
Kairi makes a brief appearance in ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]''; after Roxas wakes from his coma on day 49, Xion gives him a seashell. When Roxas puts it up to his ear, a flashback from ''Kingdom Hearts'' is shown, depicting Sora and Kairi on a beach looking at the sunset. Later, during Xion's nightmare, another flashback of Kairi is shown as she is waking up Sora. Kairi is also mentioned by Riku and [[Xion]] when they were in a conversation on [[Destiny Islands]].

During this time, Kairi is assumed to be living a normal life on [[Destiny Islands]] where she waits for Riku and Sora's return, though her memories of Sora are probably vague because of Naminé's interference with her memories. With the two of them away, her only company becomes [[Selphie]], [[Tidus]], and [[Wakka]]. Roxas saw a memory of Kairi during a mission in Destiny Islands and remarks that she looks like Xion.

===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
====Recovered Memories====

[[Image:KHII-Kairi SchUni-CG.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Kairi in her school outfit from ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'']]
Kairi, now fifteen years old, lives her life normally on Destiny Islands. She attends school regularly along with her friend Selphie and has noticeably aged, having longer hair and more defined features. It can be assumed that she has spent most of her time focusing on her studies, thinking about the boy she's forgotten, and hanging out with Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus - all of whom have returned to Destiny Islands safely. She's also become slightly more withdrawn because of Sora's absence, with wisdom beyond her years. She's not as brash and bold as she was in the first game, but she's still pretty sociable. She understands that both Riku and Sora have great destinies and duties to fulfill, but that still doesn't keep her from pondering taking action and searching for them on her own. 

She misses Sora, but most of her memories of him have faded away because of Naminé's interfering with his own memories. One day, while walking home from school with Selphie, her heart is put into contact with a young boy named [[Roxas]], later revealed to be Sora's [[Nobody]]. It appeared that Roxas was trying to contact Naminé, Kairi's Nobody, and ended up reaching her instead. During this conversation, Roxas brings up Sora, and, when Kairi inquires about his name, Sora himself, despite being in stasis, somehow uses Roxas as a conduit to talk to her, chastises her for forgetting his name, and jokingly gives her a hint ("Starts with an 'S'!"). Soon afterwards, Kairi sends [[Kairi's Letter|a letter in a bottle]] out to sea in hopes that it would reach Sora one day, and immediately remembers his name and possibly everything else about him. (''"Starts with an 'S'... Right, Sora?"'') 

It is worth noting that this was the only conversation Kairi and Roxas had throughout the whole game.

====Kairi's New Quest to Find Sora and Riku====
{{Q|Maybe... waiting isn't good enough.|Kairi}}
One day, [[Axel]] comes to the Destiny Islands and tells Kairi to come with him. She refuses until Axel summons a group of Nobodies. A bark behind her gives her another option. She then runs off into a nearby portal with [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey's]] dog, [[Pluto]], into [[Twilight Town]] and meets [[Hayner]], [[Pence]] and [[Olette]]. She hits it off with them, immediately fitting in with the three and going as far as to explain who she is searching for. To her joy, Hayner, Pence, and Olette know Sora, assuring her that she could stay in Twilight Town until his next visit.

Unfortunately, she is found again by Axel and forcibly taken by him, Olette, Hayner, and Pence's attempts doing nothing to prolong it. However [[Saïx]] finds Axel with Kairi and takes her to [[the World That Never Was]] as a prisoner, stating that she is the "fire that feeds Sora's anger." Kairi is devastated, thinking all hope is lost until she is freed by her Nobody, Naminé. Naminé uses a Corridor of Darkness to allow them to escape the cell, telling Kairi to trust herself.

====United Guardians of Destiny====
{{Q|This is real.|Kairi to Sora as she embraces him}}
The two's attempt to escape is stopped by Saïx and two [[Berserker]] Nobodies who offer to take Kairi to Sora. Once she refuses, Saïx gets ready to send the Nobodies to attack the two girls only to be saved by a cloaked figure. Naminé hints at who the cloaked figure is, causing him to pause as Kairi strides towards him to remove the hood. Her guess is correct and it is indeed Riku even though his appearance has changed to that of Xehanort's Heartless, she takes this in stride and is just happy to be reunited with Riku. Riku leads her to Sora and is attacked by a group of Heartless. He hands Kairi a [[Destiny Place|Keyblade]], and they successfully fend off the remaining Heartless. She is then reunited with Sora with a touching hug between these two. She stopped Ansem (Riku) from leaving and showed Sora that Ansem was really Riku. 

The three along with Donald and Goofy face off with Luxord and Saïx to get to Xemnas. Kairi is a pillar of support during these battles more than an actual participant - as Luxord's battle leaves them caged by cards and Saïx uses a shockwave to force both her and Riku (Riku uses his body to shield her) behind a barrier so he can battle alone with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. 

After Sora and Riku defeat Xemnas, Naminé appears and creates a portal, where Donald, Goofy and Mickey go through leaving Sora, Kairi and Riku. Kairi walks towards her and Sora follows Kairi. Kairi thanks her as Naminé tries to make Sora remember her, but Sora gets confused. Roxas comes out of him. Naminé and Roxas accept their fate together to live inside Sora and Kairi as they fuse with their original selves. Kairi walks into the portal, but when Sora and Riku follow the portal disappears and they fight Xemnas again.

====Finally Home====
{{Q|You're home.|Kairi to Sora after he returns to Destiny Islands with Riku}}

[[File:Kairi's letter.jpg|thumb|Kairi's letter to Sora]]
After they defeat Xemnas, they arrive to the shore of [[Dark Meridian]]. Kairi's letter appears to them and Sora reads it. The Door To Light appears and the two boys go through it and arrive at Destiny Islands shores as Kairi shouts for them. Sora swims excited towards her but Donald and Goofy jump to Sora and Mickey to Riku. They hug Sora, as Sora shows her the lucky charm and replies to Kairi "We-We're back!" and Kairi corrects "You're home" and extends her hand as Sora takes her hand and at the same time returning the lucky charm to her. 
For a brief moment, Roxas and Naminé are shown smiling back at each other, just as Sora and Kairi are.

Shortly after King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, [[Jiminy Cricket|Jiminy]], [[Scrooge McDuck|Uncle Scrooge]], [[Dewey]], [[Louie]] and [[Huey]] return to [[Disney Castle]], Sora and Riku talk about the Door to Light until Kairi appears running to them, shouting their names. Sora turns to her and asks "Hey, What's up?" and Kairi hands him a letter in a bottle that displays King Mickey's seal. The trio immediately open the letter and read it, though its contents are hidden from the player.

===''[[Kingdom Hearts coded]]''===

[[File:Kairi_coded_empty_shell.jpg|thumb|left|130px]]
A data version of the then-fourteen-year-old Kairi was slated to appear in [[Neverland]] alongside the then-fifteen-year-old [[Riku]]. Like in the first game, her body is shown as a mere empty shell. However, the scene was cut from the final version. Instead, they appear in a hidden cutscene, showing them in Traverse Town.

During the end of ''Kingdom Hearts coded'', the real Kairi, along with the real Sora and Riku, reads [[Mickey's Letter]], corresponding to the final scene of ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
<br clear=all>

===''[[Reconnect. Kingdom Hearts]]''===
{{Spoiler}}
Afterwards, Sora sits on the Paopu tree while holding the message from King Mickey, staring off into the sunset. After Sora tells Riku that he has made a decision, Kairi walks up to them. Sora tells her that everyone is suffering and waiting, and that he has to put back everything that is connected to him. She then hands him her lucky charm and tells him to hurry back.{{fact}}
{{Spoilerend}}

==Personality==
Kairi is caring, kindhearted and not afraid to speak out her mind. However, she is determined and courageous when someone she cares about is in danger, often risking her own safety to help that person. She's also become slightly more withdrawn because of Sora's absence, has obtained wisdom usually beyond someone of her age. She's not as brash and bold as she was in the first game, but she's still pretty sociable. She also makes friends easily, quickly befriending Hayner, Pence, and Olette in Twilight Town. She's usually always very cheerful and upbeat and seems to be bit of a tomboy as well. In contrast to Sora and Riku, who were both bothered by not knowing about Kairi's hometown, she took it in stride and was able to look at the positives about living in the Destiny Islands. She is loyal and headstrong, and she can be rather stubborn sometimes.

It is worth noting that though the bond between the three friends is extremely strong, both boys are shown to have strong feelings for Kairi, although she seems to return the affections only for Sora. Numerous hints of a possible romantic relationship between her and Sora&nbsp;are as follows in chronological order:

*During the sunset before the Heartless invasion of Destiny Islands, Kairi tells Sora "''Don't ever change.''"

*Before fading away on Destiny Islands when the darkness swallows it up, she lingers towards Sora, extending her hand before the darkness forces her into Sora. During the game, Sora has become a vessel for Kairi's heart.

*When Sora sacrifices his own heart to restore hers, Kairi is visibly shaken and refuses to believe that Sora may be dead, shouting "''No, he can't be. I won't let him go!''"

*During their escape from Hollow Bastion on the first visit, Kairi hugs Sora (who is still a Heartless) to protect him while she, Donald, and Goofy are attacked by numerous [[Shadows]].

*Before Sora returns back to Hollow Bastion for Riku, Kairi gave him her lucky charm and tells him "''Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you.''"

*In the ending sequence to the first ''Kingdom Hearts'', she is genuinely moved to tears after seeing that Sora had made the drawing of him extending a [[Paopu Fruit]] to her in their Secret place. After that, she draws herself giving him a paopu fruit.

[[File:Sora kairi hug.jpg|thumb|Kairi hugging Sora in the Castle That Never Was]]
*Throughout ''Chain of Memories'', though she doesn't physically appear, her image spurred Sora on and even Naminé said that she was "the one he truly cared for" when she apologized for changing his original memories of her.
*Riku says to Xion that Kairi is someone very special to Sora.

*She wouldn't go to the small island where they had once played until she remembered everything about Sora.

*While everyone remembers Riku, Kairi is the only person to retain any kind of memory of Sora, even if it is only that she has forgotten him.

*Almost immediately after her communication with Roxas, she sent adrift to sea a letter she wrote for Sora the day before.

*After explaining her story to Hayner, Pence and Olette, Olette comments on "What a romantic story!" it was.

*While imprisoned in World That Never Was, she became upset to know she was the reason Sora was killing Heartless for the Organization.

*When trying to escape with Naminé and asked by [[Saïx]] if she wanted to see Sora, she replies "''I do, more than anything.''"

*When she finds Sora, she attempts to attack the Shadow Heartless unarmed while trying to assist him.

*When they reunite, Kairi quickly runs over and hugs Sora to make sure that he is really there.

*Shortly after, if a player talks with Kairi, she says "I wanted to see you so badly. I missed you so much!" to Sora.

*While escaping from the [[Castle That Never Was]], Kairi tells [[Roxas]] and [[Naminé]] that she and Sora will be together every day.

==Appearance==
Kairi's appearance shows the most growth with aging of the trio of main characters. Kairi originally appears as a girl with short, dark red hair and violet-blue eyes, along with a pale complexion. She wears a summer theme outfit with a short skirt and large shoes, keeping with the characters' outfit theme. She wears a white shirt with many bands and belts as well as a bracelet. Kairi's appearance never changes from that until ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' where she is shown to have grown. Kairi is taller, her hair is a darker red, and has longer hair with more developed features than her fourteen year old appearance. She holds two outfits while this happens, her school girl outfit which [[Selphie]] also wears to some sort of school on [[Destiny Islands]], and then her main outfit which mainly contains a hooded pink strapless mini-dress made up with three zippers (two appear to be just decorative) as well as a white halter top underneath her mini-dress, a black belt reminiscent of suspenders with a note book shaped bag attachment, and large lilac shoes keeping up once again with her trio of friends. As a child, she wears a white apron-like shirt with blue flowers and a blue line across the chest, a pink skirt with a white line on it and large, white shoes with pink and purple lines on it.

Kairi is seen as a young girl in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep'' and some scenes in the original ''Kingdom Hearts''. As a child, Kairi's hair is a bit longer than it is in ''Kingdom Hearts'', and she wears white shoes that resemble slippers with two stripes, one lilac and one pink, on each side. She wore a short, white dress with a thin, lavender stripe near the top and a wavy cut at the bottom. The bottom of this dress is decorated with lavender X's. Kairi also seems to wear a second, slightly longer dress under the white one, this second dress being pink with a white stripe at the bottom.

She is also shown to have worn the same necklace all her life. The only time she is shown not wearing it is in her school outfit.

==Abilities==
===Powers as a Princess of Heart===
Because Kairi is a Princess of Heart, her heart possesses no darkness within it, leading to the unique birth of [[Naminé]] when she accidentally gives it to [[Sora]], who later sacrificed himself to restore her heart. Should her heart be lost, her body will remain in a dormant state until it returns, as revealed in the first game when her heart was lost.

*Like the other princesses, she has the power to open the [[Final Keyhole]] to [[Kingdom Hearts (world)|Kingdom Hearts]] in Hollow Bastion once she is gathered with the rest of the princesses. This could be considered to be performed in some form of ritual.

*Kairi also appears to have some kind of latent magical ability, as seen when she manages to restore Sora's humanity after he becomes a Heartless. However, it could imply that she is only able to call restore him because they share the strongest connection.

*Since the other Princesses of Heart possess the abilities to hold back darkness and upgrade other people's powers, it is no doubt that Kairi can do so as well.

*Aqua casted a charm on Kairi in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'' so that if she was ever captured by darkness, her light would lead the way. In an interview, Tetsuya Nomura stated it was this charm that lead Kairi to [[Destiny Islands]].

*It seems fairly probable that, like [[Alice]], Kairi is not a princess in the literal sense of the word. There is little evidence to support a royal lineage, and several facts (such as [[Ansem the Wise|Ansem]] being the ruler of [[Radiant Garden]]) would tend to contradict the suggestion. Nonetheless, the possibility is not ruled out entirely.

*She additionally has the ability to sense darkness, as the other Princesses of Heart are able to tell Sora of a [[End of the World|great darkness]] nearby. It may also imply to why she was looking ill when Destiny Islands was devoured by the darkness before she disappeared.

===Keyblade Wielding===
[[Image:Kairikeyblade.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Kairi holding Destiny Place]]
Kairi's abilities in combat are limited. Kairi isn't able to do much when she is in danger, and frequently depends on Sora or Riku to come to her aid; this also results in her sometimes being captured, which is seen when Axel merely grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her along without any problems. During the events that take place in the [[World That Never Was]], Riku hands her a [[Destiny Place|Keyblade]] crafted from his memories of Destiny Islands, and allows her to wield it so that she may combat the Heartless. Kairi is able to wield the Keyblade due to her having been touched by Aqua's Keyblade many years earlier.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania|Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''' "The Keyblade inheritance ceremony is performed with a Keyblade master touches someone using a Keyblade. When Kairi was running away from the Unversed in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' she grabbed Aqua's keyblade, which performed the ceremony. That is why she is able to use a Keyblade in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' to help Sora."</ref> She is shown to be fairly competent with it, and was shown to take out several Heartless on her own in cut-scenes.

==Theme==
{{CharTheme
|game=Kingdom Hearts
|themename=Kairi I
|themefile=Kairi_I.ogg
|themecomposer=
|themesections=
|themename2=Kairi II
|themefile2=Kairi_II.ogg
|themecomposer2=
|themesections2=
|themename3=Kairi III
|themefile3=Kairi_III.ogg
|themecomposer3=
|themesections3=
}}
{{CharTheme
|game=Kingdom Hearts II
|themename=Kairi
|themefile=Kairi.ogg
|themecomposer=
|themesections=
|themename2=
|themefile2=
|themecomposer2=
|themesections2=
|themename3=
|themefile3=
|themecomposer3=
|themesections3=
}}
<br clear=all>

==Trivia==
* Part of her name ("''Kai''") is the Japanese word for "sea" (海; her whole name is homophonous with the word for "nautical mile" (海里 or 浬)).

* Kairi is the first female in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series to wield a Keyblade but is non playable, though it is unknown if she kept it afterwards. She has shown so far to have limited combat skills in most of her appearances, but after Sora meets up with her and Riku and they destroy a wave of Heartless, [[Donald Duck|Donald]] exclaims, "Kairi, you were great!" suggesting she is, in fact, able to hold her own in battle.

* The reason to why Kairi returned to Destiny Islands instead of Hollow Bastion, where she truly comes from, is because people return to the world they were on before it was devoured by darkness. It may also have something to do with the old saying "Home is where the Heart is".

* It can be noted that the very last scene of "[[Another side, Another story...]]" shows a prototype of fifteen-year-old Kairi watching a meteor shower, which is Sora and Riku returning home in ''Kingdom Hearts II''.

*In ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'', Roxas writes in his diary about a girl that looked like Xion, after returning from a mission in Destiny Islands. This girl is assumed to be Kairi.

*Interestingly, Kairi and [[Aqua]] seem to think alike, particularly the star-shaped good luck charms made from Destiny Islands' seashells and paopu fruits. Kairi gave the one she made of seashells to Sora, making him promise to return it so they would be together again. Aqua made three out of the skins of paopu fruits, she kept one for herself and gave the other two to her friends [[Terra]] and [[Ventus|Ven]], saying that with these they are connected. This similarities may not be just a coincidence since Aqua met Kairi in Radiant Garden.

*Like [[Sora]] becoming friends with [[Donald Duck|Donald]] and [[Goofy]], and [[Riku]] and [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]]; Kairi may have found [[Pluto]] as her Disney friend in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', as he keeps her company during her capture in [[The World That Never Was]].

==References==
{{Reflist|1}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:YoungKairi.jpg|Young Kairi artwork from Kingdom Hearts.
Image:Kairi.jpg|Kairi artwork from Kingdom Hearts.
Image:Kairi Kingdom Hearts II.jpg|Kairi's school outfit artwork from Kingdom Hearts II.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Naminé]]
*[[Xion]]
*[[Aqua]]
{{Princesses of Heart}}
{{BBS}}
{{KH1}}
{{358}}
{{COM}}
{{KH2}}
{{Coded}}
[[de: Kairi]]
[[fr:Kairi]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts characters]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories characters]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts II characters]]
[[Category: Destiny Islands]]
[[Category: Princesses of Heart]]
[[Category: Keyblade Wielders]]
[[Category: Allies]]
[[Category: Original characters]]
[[Category:Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden]]
[[Category:Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep characters]]
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Game|KH1|FM1|COM|REC|KH2|FM2|358|KHC|RCO|BBS|FMB|DDD|DHD|KHX|AFP|KH3|3RM|MOM|FA}}
+{{Game|KH1|FM1|COM|REC|KH2|FM2|KHC|358|BBS|FA}}
-{{suite}}
+{{InfoCharacter
-{{Youmay|the character|[[Kairi (track)|the musical theme]]}}
-{{cleanup|KH2 and KH3 sections are script regurgitation}}
-{{Character
 |name=Kairi
-|katakana=カイリ
+|kana=カイリ
-|romaji=Kairi
+|romaji=''Kairi''
-|type=Entelechy
+|image=[[Image:KH2 Kairi.jpg|190px]]
-|de=Kairi
+|world=[[Radiant Garden]]
-|fr=Kairi
+|world2=[[Destiny Islands]] <small>''(KH - KHII)''</small><br>[[Traverse Town]] <small>''(KH)''</small>
-|es=Kairi
+|role=Ally, [[Princess of Heart]], Keyblade Wielder
-|image=[[File:Kairi KHIII.png|350x400px]]
+|first=''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''
-|charworld1=Radiant Garden
+|engvoice=[[wikipedia:Hayden Panettiere|Hayden Panettiere]] <small>(''KH'', ''KHII'')</small><br>[[wikipedia:Alyson Stoner|Alyson Stoner]] <small>(''Re:COM'', ''Days'')</small>
-|charworld2=Destiny Islands
+|japvoice=[[wikipedia:Risa Uchida|Risa Uchida]]<br>Sumire Moroboshi <small>(Young Kairi)</small>
-|charworld3=Traverse Town
-|enva=Hayden Panettiere
-|envan=<br>(''KH'', ''KHII'', ''BbS'')
-|enva2=Alyson Stoner
-|enva2n=(''ReCoM'', ''0.2BbS'', ''KHIII'', ''MoM'')
-|enva3=Ariel Winter
-|enva3n=(Young Kairi)
-|java=Risa Uchida
-|java2=Sumire Morohoshi
-|java2n=(Young Kairi)
-|game1=Kingdom Hearts
-|game2=Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
-|game3=Kingdom Hearts II
-|game4=Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
-|game5=Kingdom Hearts coded
-|game6=Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
-|game7=Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
-|game8=Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-
-|game9=Kingdom Hearts III
-|game10=Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
-|KHnormalname=Kairi I
-|KHnormalfile=Kairi I KH.ogg
-|KHnormalname2=Kairi II
-|KHnormalfile2=Kairi II KH.ogg
-|KHnormalname3=Kairi III
-|KHnormalfile3=Kairi III KH.ogg
-|KH2normalname=Kairi
-|KH2normalfile=Kairi KHII.ogg
-|BBSnormalname=Kairi
-|BBSnormalfile=Kairi KHBBS.ogg
-|journalKH='''First entry'''<br>Islander. Kairi, Sora, and Riku were best friends. They built a raft to sail out and see new worlds. The three were separated when a mysterious force struck the Destiny Islands. Thus did Sora's search for Kairi begin.<br><br>'''Second entry'''<br>Kairi, Sora, and Riku always hung out together. When their island vanished, Kairi lost her heart. It turned out that it was hidden within Sora's. As one of the princesses with the power to unlock the secret Keyhole, Kairi restored Sora's heart when he was turned into a Heartless.
-|journalSS=Sora's childhood friend.<br><br>Sora's journey began as a search for Kairi, who disappeared when their island home was swallowed by darkness.<br><br>Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora she and the islands were saved.<br><br>She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.
-|journalRR=Riku and Sora's friend growing up.<br><br>Kairi vanished when their home islands were devoured by darkness. Riku and Sora both journeyed to find her.<br><br>Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora, she and the islands were saved.<br><br>She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.
-|journalKH2='''First entry'''<br>Longtime friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses with ties to the Keys and Keyholes. Not long ago, when she was lost in the darkness, Riku and Sora both tried to save her, each in his own way.<br><br> Thanks to them, Kairi was able to return to her home islands, but her memories of Sora were gone, and she soon stopped visiting the islet where they once played.<br><br>'''Second entry'''<br>Longtime friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses with ties to the Keys and Keyholes.<br><br>She had lost her memories of Sora, and after they returned, she wanted to meet him more and more with every passing day.<br><br>Falling through an unexpected hole into the darkness, she arrived in Twilight Town and befriended Hayner, Pence, and Olette before being captured by Axel.<br><br>Kairi is fervently hoping to meet up with Sora once more.
-|journal358='''HD 1.5 ReMIX'''<br>Childhood friends with Sora and Riku. She was once targeted by the forces of darkness for being a Princess of Heart. Back at Destiny Islands, she waits for Sora and Riku's return.
-|journalBBS=A girl with the mysterious ability to drive the Unversed away. Her heart is pure light.
-|journalCOD=A girl born in Radiant Garden. Life carried her to the Destiny Islands, where she met Sora and Riku.<br><br>Kairi is a princess of heart, and the forces of darkness tried to bend the pure light within her to sinister purposes; for a long time, she and Sora and Riku were separated. After a long journey, though, they were brought back together, their lives at last normal again.
-|journalDDD=Sora and Riku's childhood friend.<br>As one of the seven princesses, she became a target of the forces of darkness, but thankfully Sora and Riku came to the rescue. She is waiting in the Destiny Islands for their safe return.
-|journalUX='''Illustrated Kairi'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)<br>Sora and Riku's childhood friend. A caring and kindhearted girl.<br><br>'''KH Kairi'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)<br>Sora and Riku's childhood friend.<br><br>'''KH II Kairi/Uniform Kairi/Illustrated KH II Kairi'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS II (2005)<br>Childhood friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses.<br><br>'''Sora & Riku & Kairi'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)<br>Three friends who live in Destiny Islands.<br><br>'''HD Sora & Kairi (EX)'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)<br>The Keyblade-wielding hero, and one of his childhood friends.<br><br>'''KH 0.2 Kairi'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS 0.2 (2017)<br>Childhood friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses.<br><br>'''KH II Kairi <nowiki>[EX+]</nowiki>'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS II (2005)<br>Childhood friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses.
-|journalKH3=Sora and Riku's childhood friend. As one of the seven princesses of heart, she became a target of the forces of darkness, but thankfully Sora and Riku came to the rescue.<br><br>She now trains with Lea as a Keyblade wielder herself to prepare for the final battle ahead.
 }}
 {{Q|Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you.|Kairi to Sora}}
-'''Kairi''' is one of the several major original characters in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series. Her major roles are in ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}'', ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'', and ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]''. She has also appeared in other games as a minor supporting character.
+'''Kairi''' is one of several original characters appearing in ''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'', ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', and also one of the main characters in the series. Kairi lives on [[Destiny Islands]] along with her two best friends, [[Sora]] and [[Riku]]. She is fourteen at the start of ''Kingdom Hearts'', and fifteen during ''Kingdom Hearts II''. Since she would be reappearing in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'', she would be four years old then since ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' is set ten years before ''Kingdom Hearts'' itself. Kairi's name is derived from the Japanese word for "Sea."
+==Journal Entries==
+===''Kingdom Hearts''===
+====First Entry====
+''Islander. Kairi, Sora, and Riku were best friends. They built a raft to sail out and see new worlds. The three were separated when a mysterious force struck the Destiny Islands. Thus did Sora's search for Kairi begin.''
+====Second Entry====
+''Kairi, Sora, and Riku always hung out together. When their island vanished, Kairi lost her heart. It turned out that it was hidden within Sora's. As one of the princesses with the power to unlock the secret Keyhole, Kairi restored Sora's heart when he was turned into a Heartless.''
+===''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''===
+''Sora's childhood friend.''
+''Sora's journey began as a search for Kairi, who disappeared when their island home was swallowed by darkness.''
+''Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora she and the islands were saved.''
-Kairi is a [[Princess of Heart]] and is the only Princess of Heart to remain among the [[New Seven Hearts]]. Kairi is the original persona of [[Naminé]] and physical template of [[Xion]]. Kairi was born in [[Radiant Garden]] and currently lives on [[Destiny Islands]] along with her two best friends, [[Sora]] and [[Riku]]. Kairi eventually trains as a [[Keyblade wielder]] to help her allies as one of the seven [[Guardians of Light]].
+''She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.''
+====Reverse/Rebirth====
+''Riku and Sora's friend growing up.''
+''Kairi vanished when their home islands were devoured by darkness. Riku and Sora both journeyed to find her.''
+''Kairi was held captive by the Heartless, but thanks to Sora, she and the islands were saved.''
+''She waits there for Sora and Riku's return.''
+===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
+====First Entry====
+''Longtime friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses with ties to the Keys and Keyholes. Not long ago, when she was lost in the darkness, Riku and Sora both tried to save her, each in his own way.''
+''Thanks to them, Kairi was able to return to her home islands, but her memories of Sora were gone, and she soon stopped visiting the island where they once played.''
+====Second Entry====
+''Longtime friend of Riku and Sora, and one of the Seven Princesses with ties to the Keys and Keyholes.''
+''She had lost her memories of Sora, and after they returned, she wanted to meet him more and more with every passing day.''
+''Falling through an unexpected hole into the darkness, she arrived in Twilight Town and befriended Hayner, Pence, and Olette before being captured by Axel.''
+''Kairi is fervently hoping to meet up with Sora once more.''
 ==Story==
-===''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''===
+=== ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' ===
-[[File:Magic to Keep Kairi Safe 02 KHBBS.png|thumb|left|A young Kairi with Aqua and Mickey after they rescued her from the Unversed.]]
+{{spoiler}}
-Kairi was born in Radiant Garden, where she lives with her [[Kairi's Grandma|grandmother]]. One day, she is chased by a group of [[Unversed]] and encounters [[Aqua]], who senses a pure light in her heart, since she is a [[Princess of Heart]]. Frightened, Kairi touches Aqua's Keyblade, resulting in Aqua unintentionally [[bequeathing]] Kairi her own Keyblade. As she and Aqua are about to be attacked, [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]] arrives and Aqua evacuates Kairi before returning to fight alongside Mickey.
+[[File:Aqua,_Mickey,_Kairi.jpg|thumb|Kairi, Aqua, and Mickey in Birth by Sleep]]
+Kairi was born in the [[Radiant Garden]], where she was living with her [[Kairi's grandmother|grandmother]]. One day, she is chased by a group of [[Unversed]] and encounters [[Aqua]] and [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]], whom both can sense a pure light in her heart, proving that she is a Princess of Heart. When she is about to become captured by the enemy, Aqua and King Mickey combine their forces to protect her. After the Unversed were defeated, King Mickey gets called away. Kairi then gives Aqua the flowers she picked before the Unversed appeared, which become the [[Destiny Place|Destiny Place Keyblade]], which Aqua returns by putting a protection charm on her necklace, and then she returns to her grandmother, who begins to tell her the story of the light and the darkness.
-After the Unversed are defeated, King Mickey and Aqua talk about the light they sense in Kairi's heart, and Mickey suggests that they team up, but is called away immediately afterwards. Kairi then gives Aqua the flowers she picked before the Unversed appeared as thanks for helping her (which becomes the [[Destiny's Embrace]] keychain). In return, Aqua puts a protective charm on Kairi's necklace and tells her, "One day when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another, someone to keep you safe". Kairi thanks Aqua and then returns to her grandmother, who begins to tell her the story of the light and the darkness, while Aqua believes their meeting may not have been a coincidence.
+During the ending credits, she is seen picking flowers in a large garden. She looks up to the bright sky, thinking about her friends.
+{{Spoilerend}}
-After [[Terra-Xehanort]]'s defeat, Kairi is seen picking flowers in a large garden. She looks up to the bright sky, looking as if she sensed something. As she does, her necklace emits a weak glow.
+===''Kingdom Hearts''===
+====From Radiant Garden to Destiny Islands====
+{{Q|Say, Kairi. What was your hometown like?|Sora to Kairi}}
+[[File:YoungKairiRender.jpg|thumb|left|110px|Young Kairi in Kingdom Hearts]]
+One year after the events of ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', the Radiant Garden became shrouded by darkness and everyone was scattered across the universe. Kairi appears off the coast of the Destiny Islands during a meteor shower, due to Aqua's magic that was used on Kairi one year earlier.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania|Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''' "Nine years before ''Kingdom Hearts'', Kairi was thrust into the outside world, and found herself on Sora and Riku's world. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness thought that she had been able to search for a Keyblade wielder, but what actually saved her was the magic spell Aqua had put on her."</ref> Sora, then five years old as well, carefully approaches her and asks, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"
-===Between ''Birth by Sleep'' and ''Kingdom Hearts''===
+Sometime later, Sora and Riku were in the Secret Place and talking about "the new girl at the mayor's house". This provides the player a kind of insight into her origins: Kairi is not a native of the Destiny Islands, and is adopted by their mayor.
-{{Q|I've told you before, I don't remember... Nothing... Well, I'm happy here... But you know, I wouldn't mind going to see it.|Kairi to Sora about her forgotten hometown}}
-One year later, Radiant Garden became shrouded by darkness as the Heartless began to appear in large numbers throughout the realm of light as a direct result of Terra-Xehanort and the rest of Ansem the Wise's apprentices' inhumane experiments on the heart. Kairi was eventually targeted and stalked by the Heartless, forcing her to run to the castle gates in an attempt to escape the creatures. Terra-Xehanort, who was controlling the Heartless for his own goals, then abducted her and sealed her in a pod as part of a device created to send her adrift within the ocean between worlds. Xehanort believed Kairi to be a Princess of Heart and, as such, she would theoretically find her way to a Keyblade wielder's world, but warned her that if she were to end up on the other side of reality, they would fail in this search.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory}}
-Kairi would eventually make her way to the Destiny Islands. While Xehanort believed this was because her heart resonated with a Keyblade wielder's, her arrival was actually due to the protection spell Aqua had cast on her one-year earlier.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''', '''Interviewer:''' "Why did Kairi end up with Sora and Riku?" / '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' "It has to do with Aqua's 'magic'. Nine years before ''Kingdom Hearts'', Kairi was thrust into the outside world, and found herself on Sora and Riku's world. Ansem Seeker of Darkness thought that she had been able to search for a Keyblade wielder, but what actually saved her was the magic spell Aqua had put on her." [https://www.khinsider.com/news/BBS-Ultimania-20-Mysteries-Solved-2546 Translation via Lissar].</ref>
+====Leaving Destiny Islands====
+[[Image:Kairi-cg-character-model.jpg|Kairi from ''Kingdom Hearts''.|thumb|150px|right]]
+{{Q|So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?|Kairi to Riku}}
+Kairi later becomes very close friends with Sora and Riku who playfully compete for her attention. She often supports these competitions, although she does not know they were contests for her affection and not just innocent rivalry. She bears no memory of her life before the Islands, and her mysterious past sparks curiosity in Sora and Riku, who are anxious to leave [[Destiny Islands]] and see other worlds. This leads the trio to build a raft in the hopes of traveling to other worlds. However, before they can leave, their islands are attacked by the [[Heartless]], and Sora finds Kairi in their Secret Place. She turned towards him, looking sad and a little ill, then a huge gust of wind swept through a door in the back of the cave and Kairi flew towards him. Sora opened his arms to catch her, but she vanished right as she was about to be swept into his embrace.
-{{canon
+During this time, it is speculated that Kairi's heart chose Sora as a vessel and when she passed through him, her heart was left behind in him while her body vanished to some distant world.
-|In the manga, Kairi washes up on the shore. Sora, then five years old as well, carefully approaches her as she awakes and asks, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"
+[[Image:Sora_and_Kairi_at_sunset.jpg|thumb|left|Sora and Kairi watch the sunset]]
-|width=60%
+She then becomes the game's driving force, as much of the game's story centers around Sora's and Riku's attempts at finding Kairi. However, Riku is hostile to Sora (having been manipulated by [[Maleficent]] into believing that Sora no longer cared for either Kairi or himself).
-}}
-Sometime later, Sora and Riku were in the Secret Place and talking about "the new girl at the mayor's house".
+Throughout Sora's journey, he encounters multiple images of Kairi without knowing about Kairi's heart being a part of his. First, when he wakes up in a motel room after his fight with [[Leon]], and sees [[Yuffie]] in Kairi's form and mistakes her to be Kairi until she tells him who she is. Later when he visits the Magician's Study behind the door of the Third District, Kairi appears to him and tells him how much the study reminds her of their Secret Place, but she disappears when [[Goofy]] calls to him. When Sora crash lands into [[Deep Jungle]], she reappears again for a short moment, right behind [[Tarzan]], then disappears again. Finally, before setting off to [[Hollow Bastion]], Goofy and [[Donald]] encourage Sora to believe in himself, then Kairi says from within "I believe in you." before pulling him into one of her lost memories about her [[Kairi's grandmother|grandmother]] telling her younger self a story about the light. These encounters speculate that Kairi was experiencing Sora's journey from within his heart, including befriending Donald and Goofy.
-Kairi later becomes very close friends with Sora and Riku. As children, Kairi and Sora drew pictures of themselves in the Secret Place. Sora and Riku playfully compete for her attention and Kairi often supports these competitions, although she does not know they were contests for her affection and not just innocent rivalry. She bears no memory of her life before the Islands, and her mysterious past sparks curiosity in Sora and Riku, who are anxious to leave Destiny Islands and see other worlds. This leads the trio to build a [[Highwind (raft)|raft]] in the hopes of traveling to other worlds.
+Riku finds her first, but she is in a comatose state, with a vacant, lifeless expression and a limp body. She'd lost her heart and because of her Princess status, her body remained untouched by the darkness that usually produced a Heartless. With empty promises by Maleficent, Riku was convinced that he alone could locate Kairi's heart and restore her to health. When inside [[Monstro]], Riku attempts to kidnap [[Pinocchio]] in hopes to use his heart to restore Kairi's. This act confuses Sora as he hasn't learned of her fate. His attempt fails and he is forced to retrieve.
-{{-}}
-=== ''Kingdom Hearts'' ===
+In [[Neverland]], Sora finally encounters her body, along with a painful reunion with Riku; who is very defensive about her and ends up locking her in a room with [[Wendy]] so that Sora can't get to her. When Sora reaches the room below her cell, he extends his hand towards her, desperately hoping for a reaction as he is just now discovering the full lengths of Kairi's condition. Unconsciously, her hand twitches before going still again, much to Sora's relief. Riku then takes her away yet again, having new knowledge of where Kairi's heart might be. After the defeat of [[Captain Hook]], [[Goofy]] ponders aloud whether or not Kairi had indeed lost her heart, but Donald, not wanting to upset Sora, promptly shushes him. Sora, however, appears to be in denial, pondering over his disbelief that he could fly and whether or not Kairi would believe him.
-[[File:Across the Ocean 01 KH.png|thumb|Kairi and Sora dream of sailing to other worlds as they watch the sunset.]]
-Kairi wakes up Sora from a surreal dream and tells him to collect supplies for their raft. Later, while watching the sunset, she jokes about leaving without Riku, then tells Sora not to change. However, before they can leave, their islands are attacked by the [[Heartless]], and Sora finds Kairi in their Secret Place. She turns towards him, looking sad and a little ill, and then a huge gust of wind sweeps through a door in the back of the cave and Kairi flies towards him. Sora opens his arms to catch her, but she vanishes right as she is about to be swept into his embrace.
-{{canon
+Their friendship severed for the time being, Sora continues his journey, destined to clash with Riku in the near future once again over Kairi.
-|In the ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'' novel, Kairi tries to secure the raft shortly before the fall of Destiny Islands and her disappearance. Riku gives her the same offer he would soon give Sora, to take her to the outside world by "another way". As the storm rages, he tells her to wait in front of the door inside of the Secret Place while he looks for Sora, neither of them knowing what would eventually happen to her.
-|width=60%
-}}
-During this time, it is speculated that Kairi's heart chose Sora as a vessel and when she passed through him, her heart was left behind in his own while her body vanished to some distant world. She then becomes the game's driving force, as much of the game's story centers around Sora's and Riku's attempts at finding Kairi. However, Riku is hostile to Sora, having been manipulated by [[Maleficent]] into believing that Sora no longer cared for either Kairi or himself.
+====Hollow Bastion====
+{{Q|This time, I'll protect you!|Kairi to Sora's Heartless (whilst shielding him from the Heartless attack)}}
+Eventually, Sora follows Riku and Maleficent to the world of [[Hollow Bastion]] where he too learns of Kairi's fate. However, [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem]], while possessing Riku, reveals that Kairi's heart has been resting within Sora all along, which explains all the visions he has had of her during his journey. Furthermore, Kairi is one of the [[Princesses of Heart]], a maiden whose heart holds no darkness, and is needed to open the [[Final Keyhole]]. He then attempts to take her heart from Sora, but he defends himself to protect it. After winning a fight and driving Ansem from Hollow Bastion, Sora sacrifices himself using the [[Keyblade of People's Hearts]] to free Kairi's heart, and is turned into a [[Shadow Form|Shadow Heartless]]. Awakened as her heart is finally restored, Kairi runs towards him, but as soon as her fingers touch him, he vanishes. Refusing to believe that Sora was gone, Kairi prepared to fight the Shadow Heartless that surrounded her, along with&nbsp;Donald and Goofy.
-Throughout Sora's journey, he encounters multiple images of Kairi without knowing about Kairi's heart being a part of his. First, when he wakes up in a motel room after his fight with [[Leon]], and sees [[Yuffie]] in Kairi's form and mistakes her to be Kairi until she tells him who she is. Later when he visits the Magician's Study behind the door of the Third District, Kairi appears to him and tells him how much the study reminds her of their Secret Place, but she disappears when [[Goofy]] calls to him. When Sora crash lands into [[Deep Jungle]], she reappears again for a short moment, right behind [[Tarzan]], then disappears again. Finally, before setting off to [[Hollow Bastion]], Goofy and [[Donald Duck]] encourage Sora to believe in himself, then Kairi says from within "I believe in you." before pulling him into one of her lost memories about her grandmother telling her younger self a story about the light. These encounters speculate that Kairi was experiencing Sora's journey from within his heart, including befriending Donald and Goofy.
+However, once Ansem reappears and Riku stops him from attacking Kairi, she flees. Devastated, she, along with Donald and Goofy, attempt to escape from Hollow Bastion. But just as they are cornered by the Heartless, she recognizes [[Sora's Heartless]] from the crowd and manages to bring Sora back from the darkness by embracing him and promising to protect him. The group escapes Hollow Bastion, revealed to be Kairi's home world, and find shelter in [[Traverse Town]] where she could be protected by [[Leon]] and the others.
-Riku finds her first, but she is in a comatose state, with a vacant, lifeless expression and a limp body. She'd lost her heart and because of her Princess status, her body remained untouched by the darkness that usually produced a Heartless. With empty promises by Maleficent, Riku was convinced that he alone could locate Kairi's heart and restore her to health. When inside [[Monstro]], Riku attempts to kidnap [[Pinocchio]] in hopes to use his heart to restore Kairi's. This act confuses Sora as he hasn't learned of her fate. His attempt fails and he is forced to retreat.
+Sora finds Kairi in the underground water tunnel after talking with Leon. She states absentmindedly how much this place reminds her of their Secret Place. While lost in darkness, Sora witnessed one of Kairi's memories of her as a little girl wandering around the Hollow Bastion library with [[Kairi's grandmother|her grandmother]]. Sora mentions this and it is revealed that after her heart was restored, Kairi could remember certain things from her past. Though Kairi wants to help rescue Riku and stop the darkness from emanating, Sora convinces her to stay put, not wanting her to get hurt and also joking that she would be in his way; he also acknowledges that, since their hearts were one, they will always be together. During this conversation, it was revealed that Kairi's voice brought him back from the darkness. Kairi gives in and gives Sora her [[Lucky Charm]], which doubles as the [[Oathkeeper]].
-[[File:Shadow Sora 02 KH.png|thumb|left|Riku retreats with Kairi in Captain Hook's ship.]]
+====Temporary Departure====
-Riku then brings Kairi to [[Neverland]], first bringing her to the clock tower. Sora finally encounters her body, along with a painful reunion with Riku; who is very defensive about her and ends up locking her in a room with [[Wendy]] so that Sora can't get to her. When Sora reaches the room below her cell, he extends his hand towards her, desperately hoping for a reaction as he is just now discovering the full lengths of Kairi's condition. Unconsciously, her hand twitches before going still again, much to Sora's relief. Riku then takes her away yet again, having new knowledge of where Kairi's heart might be. After the defeat of [[Captain Hook]], Goofy ponders aloud whether or not Kairi had indeed lost her heart, but Donald, not wanting to upset Sora, promptly shushes him. Sora, however, appears to be in denial, pondering over his disbelief that he could fly and whether or not Kairi would believe him.
+{{Q|Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too! I'll come back to you - I promise!|Sora to Kairi}}
+In the game's final cutscene, she appears on a section of [[Destiny Islands]] after Sora's final battle with [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem]], likely confused. Sora runs up to her, a little too late as the world is breaking apart, restoring all the previously destroyed worlds. Just before she is sent back, Sora promises that he will come back to her as soon as he finds Riku and [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]]. She is then transported back to Destiny Islands without him, wistfully watching the island regenerate around her with Sora's goodbye still fresh in her mind.
-Their friendship severed for the time being, Sora continues his journey, destined to clash with Riku in the near future once again over Kairi. Eventually, Sora follows Riku and Maleficent to the world of Hollow Bastion where he too learns of Kairi's fate. However, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, while possessing Riku, reveals that Kairi's heart has been resting within Sora all along, which explains all the visions he has had of her during his journey. Furthermore, Kairi is one of the Princesses of Heart, a maiden whose heart holds no darkness, and is needed to open the [[Final Keyhole]]. He then attempts to take her heart from Sora, but he defends himself to protect it.
+After the worlds are restored, Kairi visits in the Secret Cave, looking at the pictures that she and Sora have drawn over the years. Once she sees the picture that Sora had drawn of him giving her a [[Paopu Fruit]], she is moved to tears and adds to it; now the picture depicts herself and Sora exchanging two halves of a Paopu fruit. This could be interpreted as a sign that Kairi loves Sora, or simply that she truly does want to remain an eternal part of his life.
-[[File:Sora's Back 02 KH.png|thumb|Kairi embraces Sora and manages to bring him back from the darkness.]]
+===[[Another side, Another story...]]===
-After winning a fight and driving Ansem from Hollow Bastion, Sora sacrifices himself using the [[Keyblade of heart]] to free Kairi's heart, and is turned into a [[Shadow Form|Shadow Heartless]]. Awakened as her heart is finally restored, Kairi runs towards him, but as soon as her fingers touch him, he vanishes. Refusing to believe that Sora is gone, Kairi prepares to fight the Shadow Heartless that surround her, along with Donald and Goofy. However, once Ansem reappears and Riku's spirit stops him from attacking Kairi, she flees. Devastated, she, along with Donald and Goofy, attempt to escape from Hollow Bastion. But just as they are cornered by the Heartless, she somehow recognizes [[Sora's Heartless]] from the crowd and manages to bring Sora back from the darkness by embracing him and promising to protect him. The group escapes Hollow Bastion, revealed to be Kairi's home world, and find shelter in [[Traverse Town]] where she could be protected by Leon and the others.
+[[File:Kairi Another-Side-Another-Story.jpg|right|thumb|Kairi in ''"[[Another side, Another story...]]"''.]]
+This is a secret movie. The screen blacks out, and quotes fly by, ending with ''"We'll go together"''. A flash, then the words ''"Kingdom Hearts"'' appears. It fades to a [[Destiny Islands|beach]] where Kairi looks at a meteor fall.
+Her appearance is somewhat different than her usual in this short movie. She is seen wearing a sleeveless white shirt, a red skirt and having long hair.
-Sora finds Kairi in the underground water tunnel after talking with Leon. She states absentmindedly how much this place reminds her of their Secret Place. While lost in darkness, Sora witnessed one of Kairi's memories of her as a little girl wandering around the Hollow Bastion library with her grandmother. Sora mentions this and it is revealed that after her heart was restored, Kairi could remember certain things from her past. Though Kairi wants to help rescue Riku and stop the darkness from emanating, Sora convinces her to stay put, not wanting her to get hurt and also joking that she would be in his way; he also acknowledges that, since their hearts were one, they will always be together. During this conversation, it was revealed that Kairi's voice brought him back from the darkness. Kairi gives in and gives Sora her [[Wayfinder|lucky charm]], which doubles as the [[Oathkeeper]].
+===''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''===
-[[File:Closing the Door 05 KH.png|thumb|left|Sora promises Kairi that he will return to her.]]
+{|border="0" align="right"
-After Sora's final battle with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, the world is breaking apart as the worlds that were destroyed previously began themselves. Trapped on a section of Destiny Islands, Sora runs to Kairi and promises that he will come back to her as soon as he finds Riku and King Mickey. She is then transported back to Destiny Islands without him, wistfully watching the island regenerate around her with Sora's goodbye still fresh in her mind.
+|[[Image:KH COM-Kairi.png]]
+|[[Image:Kairi-normal.jpg]]
+|}
-After the worlds are restored, Kairi visits the Secret Place and looks at the pictures that she and her friends had drawn over the years. After spotting the picture that Sora had drawn of him giving her a [[paopu fruit]], she is moved to tears and adds onto it, so that it depicts herself and Sora exchanging paopu fruit.
+Although Kairi did not directly appear in ''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'', she did play a very important role. She served as a constant figure of light for both Sora and Riku and fervently awaited their return on Destiny Islands.
-{{-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories''===
+====Sora's Story====
-When Sora and Riku arrived at [[Castle Oblivion]] during their search for a way home, members of [[Organization XIII]] began their plans to manipulate them as they journey through the castle.
+In Sora's story [[Naminé]] tried to take Kairi's place in Sora's heart. However, she said that she could never really replace Kairi and that she was only Kairi's shadow, meaning she is her Nobody. In ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'', Kairi's image showed up on Destiny Islands when Sora remembered that the one he holds dear to is Kairi, and not Naminé. When Sora was about to go to sleep she told him that if he remembered Kairi's name, his memories would restore faster. So he looked deep into his heart and found Kairi.
-In order to gain control Sora, [[Marluxia]] orders Naminé to use her powers to strip Sora's memories of Kairi and replace them with her instead. However, Naminé knew she could never truly replace Kairi in Sora's heart, and saw herself as merely Kairi's shadow. Kairi's image shows up at Destiny Islands when Sora remembers that the one he holds dear to his heart is Kairi, not Naminé. When Sora is about to go to sleep, Naminé tells him that if he remembers "the one most important to him" his memories will restore faster, so Sora looks deep into his heart and finds Kairi.
+====Riku's Story====
+In [[Naminé#Reverse\Rebirth|Riku's story]], Zexion tormented Riku with an illusion of Kairi, just as he had with Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. Naminé also took Kairi's form to help Riku control the light and darkness in his heart before the final face-off with the devious Nobody.
-While traveling through the castle, Riku desperately tried to control the darkness within him, but [[Zexion]], wanting Riku to succumb it, torments Riku with an illusion of Kairi, as well as with illusions of Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, and Sora. However, Naminé takes Kairi's form to help Riku control the light and darkness in his heart before the final face-off with the devious Nobody.<!--write this in-universe and in chronological order, make it into a cohesive story-->
+In the credits for ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'', Kairi is shown to still be waiting for Sora and Riku's return.
 ===''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days''===
-[[File:Promise in the Light 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|Kairi stands by the shore of Destiny Islands, awaiting Sora and Riku's return.]]
+Kairi makes a brief appearance in ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]''; after Roxas wakes from his coma on day 49, Xion gives him a seashell. When Roxas puts it up to his ear, a flashback from ''Kingdom Hearts'' is shown, depicting Sora and Kairi on a beach looking at the sunset. Later, during Xion's nightmare, another flashback of Kairi is shown as she is waking up Sora. Kairi is also mentioned by Riku and [[Xion]] when they were in a conversation on [[Destiny Islands]].
-While Kairi continues to wait for Sora and Riku to return home to Destiny Islands, her memories of Sora fade due to Naminé's interference. Selphie occasionally finds her waiting at the beach, but not knowing who for.{{ReCoM}}
-Kairi appears in [[Roxas]] and [[Xion]]'s dreams and memories, due to pieces of Sora's memories finding their ways to them. After Roxas wakes from his coma, Xion gives him a seashell, and when Roxas puts it up to his ear, he sees a memory that depicts Sora and Kairi on a beach looking at the sunset. Later, in Xion's nightmare, Kairi is seen waking up Sora. Roxas sees a memory of Kairi during a mission in Destiny Islands and remarks that she looks like Xion. And during Xion's coma, she dreams of the time when Sora sacrifices himself to restore Kairi's heart in Hollow Bastion. Kairi is also mentioned by Riku and Xion when they were having a conversation on Destiny Islands.
+During this time, Kairi is assumed to be living a normal life on [[Destiny Islands]] where she waits for Riku and Sora's return, though her memories of Sora are probably vague because of Naminé's interference with her memories. With the two of them away, her only company becomes [[Selphie]], [[Tidus]], and [[Wakka]]. Roxas saw a memory of Kairi during a mission in Destiny Islands and remarks that she looks like Xion.
-Because Xion is an imperfect Replica of Roxas, created from Sora's leaked memories as a fail-safe in case both Sora and Roxas proved to be useless to Organization XIII's plans, her appearance greatly resembles Kairi, since Sora's memories of Kairi were the strongest ones when she was created.
 ===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
-{{Q|Maybe waiting just isn't enough." <br> "One of life's little rules. Don't think; act.|Kairi ponders about seeing Sora, only to be surprised by Axel}}
+====Recovered Memories====
-[[File:A Letter to a Boy 01 KHII.png|thumb|left|Kairi sends a bottled letter to Sora out to sea.]]
-One day, while walking home from school with Selphie, her heart is put into contact with a boy named Roxas, later revealed to be Sora's [[Nobody]]. Although neither of them understand it at the time, Naminé's encounter with Roxas connected his heart with Kairi's, and when Roxas has a near-death experience after falling off the clock tower, his heart reaches out for help and contacts Kairi's.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''''', '''DiZ''': "Naminé's encounter with Roxas put his heart in contact with Kairi's. And that, in turn, affected Sora."</ref> Confused, Roxas asks about the strange boy in his dreams and Kairi asks for his name, prompting Sora's heart to join in to jokingly chastise her for forgetting and give her a hint. Soon afterwards, Kairi sends [[Kairi's Letter|a letter in a bottle]] out to sea in hopes that it would reach Sora one day, and immediately remembers his name.
-[[File:Axel Closes in on Kairi 01 KHII.png|thumb|Axel offers Kairi to come with him to see Sora.]]
+[[Image:KHII-Kairi SchUni-CG.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Kairi in her school outfit from ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'']]
-One day, as Kairi waits for Sora's return at the beach, [[Axel]] appears, offering to take her to  see Sora. Suddenly, [[Pluto]] appears to warn Kairi. Axel summons a group of [[Dusk]]s, but she escapes with Pluto into a nearby portal. She finds herself in a mysterious corridor, briefly seeing [[Riku-Ansem|a hooded figure]], then arrives in [[Twilight Town]] and meets [[Hayner]], [[Pence]] and [[Olette]]. She befriends them, learning they met Sora and that he promised to visit again.
+Kairi, now fifteen years old, lives her life normally on Destiny Islands. She attends school regularly along with her friend Selphie and has noticeably aged, having longer hair and more defined features. It can be assumed that she has spent most of her time focusing on her studies, thinking about the boy she's forgotten, and hanging out with Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus - all of whom have returned to Destiny Islands safely. She's also become slightly more withdrawn because of Sora's absence, with wisdom beyond her years. She's not as brash and bold as she was in the first game, but she's still pretty sociable. She understands that both Riku and Sora have great destinies and duties to fulfill, but that still doesn't keep her from pondering taking action and searching for them on her own.
-Unfortunately, she is found by Axel and forcibly taken by him, with Olette, Hayner, and Pence unable to stop him. However [[Saïx]] finds Axel with Kairi and takes her to [[The World That Never Was]] as a prisoner, stating that she is the "fire that feeds Sora's anger". Kairi is devastated, thinking all hope is lost until she is freed by her Nobody, Naminé. Naminé uses a Corridor of Darkness to allow them to escape the cell, telling Kairi to believe in herself.
+She misses Sora, but most of her memories of him have faded away because of Naminé's interfering with his own memories. One day, while walking home from school with Selphie, her heart is put into contact with a young boy named [[Roxas]], later revealed to be Sora's [[Nobody]]. It appeared that Roxas was trying to contact Naminé, Kairi's Nobody, and ended up reaching her instead. During this conversation, Roxas brings up Sora, and, when Kairi inquires about his name, Sora himself, despite being in stasis, somehow uses Roxas as a conduit to talk to her, chastises her for forgetting his name, and jokingly gives her a hint ("Starts with an 'S'!"). Soon afterwards, Kairi sends [[Kairi's Letter|a letter in a bottle]] out to sea in hopes that it would reach Sora one day, and immediately remembers his name and possibly everything else about him. (''"Starts with an 'S'... Right, Sora?"'')
-[[File:It's Not a Dream... 01 KHII.png|thumb|left|Kairi hugging Sora in the Castle That Never Was.]]
+It is worth noting that this was the only conversation Kairi and Roxas had throughout the whole game.
-The two's escape is halted by Saïx; he offers to take her to Sora, but Kairi refuses. Suddenly a cloaked figure attacks Saïx, who withdraws. Naminé calls the figure Riku; before he can leave, Kairi removes his hood, revealing Riku is trapped in the form of Xehanort's Heartless. She takes in stride, happy her friend is safe. Riku leads her to Sora and is attacked by a group of Heartless. He hands Kairi a [[Destiny's Embrace|keyblade]], and they successfully fend off the remaining Heartless. She is then reunited with Sora with a touching hug between these two. When Riku attempts to leave, Kairi has Sora talk sense into him; she helps Sora see Riku's heart within "Ansem".
-The three along with Donald and Goofy face off against [[Luxord]] and Saïx to get to [[Xemnas]]. Kairi acts as a pillar of support during these battles more than an actual participant - as Luxord's battle leaves them caged by cards and Saïx uses a shockwave to force both her and Riku (using his body to shield her) behind a barrier so he can battle alone with Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
+====Kairi's New Quest to Find Sora and Riku====
+{{Q|Maybe... waiting isn't good enough.|Kairi}}
+One day, [[Axel]] comes to the Destiny Islands and tells Kairi to come with him. She refuses until Axel summons a group of Nobodies. A bark behind her gives her another option. She then runs off into a nearby portal with [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey's]] dog, [[Pluto]], into [[Twilight Town]] and meets [[Hayner]], [[Pence]] and [[Olette]]. She hits it off with them, immediately fitting in with the three and going as far as to explain who she is searching for. To her joy, Hayner, Pence, and Olette know Sora, assuring her that she could stay in Twilight Town until his next visit.
-After Sora and Riku defeat Xemnas, Naminé appears and creates a portal, where Donald, Goofy and Mickey go through leaving Sora, Kairi and Riku. Kairi walks towards her and Sora follows Kairi. Kairi thanks her as Naminé reminds Sora of their promise. Roxas comes out of Sora. Naminé and Roxas accept their fate together to live inside Sora and Kairi as they fuse with their original selves. Kairi walks into the portal, but when Sora and Riku follow the portal disappears and they fight Xemnas again.
+Unfortunately, she is found again by Axel and forcibly taken by him, Olette, Hayner, and Pence's attempts doing nothing to prolong it. However [[Saïx]] finds Axel with Kairi and takes her to [[the World That Never Was]] as a prisoner, stating that she is the "fire that feeds Sora's anger." Kairi is devastated, thinking all hope is lost until she is freed by her Nobody, Naminé. Naminé uses a Corridor of Darkness to allow them to escape the cell, telling Kairi to trust herself.
-After they defeat Xemnas, they arrive at the shore of the Dark Margin. Kairi's letter washes up on shore and Sora reads it. The Door To Light appears and the two boys go through it and arrive at Destiny Islands shores as Kairi shouts for them. Sora excitedly swims towards her but Donald and Goofy jump at Sora first and Mickey jumps at Riku. Smiling at each other, Kairi welcomes Sora back home as he hands her back the good luck charm.
+====United Guardians of Destiny====
-{{-}}
+{{Q|This is real.|Kairi to Sora as she embraces him}}
+The two's attempt to escape is stopped by Saïx and two [[Berserker]] Nobodies who offer to take Kairi to Sora. Once she refuses, Saïx gets ready to send the Nobodies to attack the two girls only to be saved by a cloaked figure. Naminé hints at who the cloaked figure is, causing him to pause as Kairi strides towards him to remove the hood. Her guess is correct and it is indeed Riku even though his appearance has changed to that of Xehanort's Heartless, she takes this in stride and is just happy to be reunited with Riku. Riku leads her to Sora and is attacked by a group of Heartless. He hands Kairi a [[Destiny Place|Keyblade]], and they successfully fend off the remaining Heartless. She is then reunited with Sora with a touching hug between these two. She stopped Ansem (Riku) from leaving and showed Sora that Ansem was really Riku.
-===''[[Kingdom Hearts coded]]''===
+The three along with Donald and Goofy face off with Luxord and Saïx to get to Xemnas. Kairi is a pillar of support during these battles more than an actual participant - as Luxord's battle leaves them caged by cards and Saïx uses a shockwave to force both her and Riku (Riku uses his body to shield her) behind a barrier so he can battle alone with Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
-[[File:Epilogue 01 KHREC.png|thumb|Kairi along with Sora and Riku read the King's letter.]]
-While Sora and Riku are talking about the Door to Light, Kairi runs up to them, shouting their names. Kairi hands Sora a letter in a bottle, containing King Mickey's letter. The trio immediately open the letter and read it.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts II}}
-===''[[Blank Points]]''===
+After Sora and Riku defeat Xemnas, Naminé appears and creates a portal, where Donald, Goofy and Mickey go through leaving Sora, Kairi and Riku. Kairi walks towards her and Sora follows Kairi. Kairi thanks her as Naminé tries to make Sora remember her, but Sora gets confused. Roxas comes out of him. Naminé and Roxas accept their fate together to live inside Sora and Kairi as they fuse with their original selves. Kairi walks into the portal, but when Sora and Riku follow the portal disappears and they fight Xemnas again.
-Sora sits on the Paopu tree while holding the message from King Mickey, staring off into the sunset. After Sora tells Riku that he has made a decision, Kairi walks up to them. Sora tells her that everyone needs him, and that he has to go because he is who he is because of them. She then hands him her lucky charm and tells him that she'll see him soon.
-{{-}}
-===''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]''===
+====Finally Home====
-[[File:Terra and Aqua 01 KH3D.png|thumb|left|Illusions of Kairi and Riku in The World That Never Was.]]
+{{Q|You're home.|Kairi to Sora after he returns to Destiny Islands with Riku}}
-In The World That Never Was, [[Young Xehanort]] forces Sora into a second sleep, during which he dreams of the various people connected in his heart. One of these figments takes the form of Kairi, who is walking side by side with Riku, away from Sora. She then takes the appearance of Aqua, while the figment of Riku turns into [[Terra]], and Sora takes on [[Ventus]]'s appearance. Sora is incredibly confused, especially when Aqua and Terra turn around and walk away from him again, morphing back into Kairi and Riku. Ignoring the voice of Riku in the back of his head telling him to wake up and choosing instead to follow the pain in his heart, Sora chases after them as they flicker back and forth between his friends and Aqua and Terra. A long-forgotten memory of meeting Aqua on the islands nearly twelve years prior is recalled before Sora is ejected from his dream, landing in front of [[Xigbar]].
-[[File:Another Guardian of Light 04 KH3D.png|thumb|Kairi is summoned by Master Yen Sid to be trained as the seventh Guardian of Light.]]
+[[File:Kairi's letter.jpg|thumb|Kairi's letter to Sora]]
-As Xigbar and Xemnas reveal the [[Real Organization XIII|true nature]] of the Organization to Sora, he is outraged by their disregard for the value of people's hearts. When Xigbar brings into question the strength of Sora's own heart, he pauses momentarily before saying with conviction that the Keyblade may not have chosen him, but that he was proud to be connected to those who it did choose. Kairi momentarily appears behind him, Keyblade in hand, alongside all the other friends connected in Sora's heart. The immense power of all the intertwined hearts unnerves Xigbar, who flees, leaving Xemnas to battle with Sora.
+After they defeat Xemnas, they arrive to the shore of [[Dark Meridian]]. Kairi's letter appears to them and Sora reads it. The Door To Light appears and the two boys go through it and arrive at Destiny Islands shores as Kairi shouts for them. Sora swims excited towards her but Donald and Goofy jump to Sora and Mickey to Riku. They hug Sora, as Sora shows her the lucky charm and replies to Kairi "We-We're back!" and Kairi corrects "You're home" and extends her hand as Sora takes her hand and at the same time returning the lucky charm to her.
+For a brief moment, Roxas and Naminé are shown smiling back at each other, just as Sora and Kairi are.
-Later on, with the knowledge that Master Xehanort is organizing a new Organization XIII, one made from thirteen different incarnations of himself, Master Yen Sid orders Riku to retrieve the seventh Keyblade wielder, Kairi, in order to train her for the battles ahead.
+Shortly after King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, [[Jiminy Cricket|Jiminy]], [[Scrooge McDuck|Uncle Scrooge]], [[Dewey]], [[Louie]] and [[Huey]] return to [[Disney Castle]], Sora and Riku talk about the Door to Light until Kairi appears running to them, shouting their names. Sora turns to her and asks "Hey, What's up?" and Kairi hands him a letter in a bottle that displays King Mickey's seal. The trio immediately open the letter and read it, though its contents are hidden from the player.
-{{-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-''===
+===''[[Kingdom Hearts coded]]''===
-[[File:2.9 - The First Volume 02 KH0.2.png|thumb|left|Kairi asking Yen Sid how she can be of use in the upcoming battle against Xehanort.]]
-Right after being brought to the [[Mysterious Tower]], Kairi is brought up to speed about the threat of the [[real Organization XIII]] and the fates of [[Terra]], [[Aqua]], and [[Ventus]]. Mickey reveals to Kairi and Riku that Aqua sacrificed herself to help keep the Heartless from attacking Riku back when the [[Door to Darkness]] was being sealed. After [[Yen Sid]] assigns Riku and Mickey to rescue Aqua, Kairi asks what she should do. Kairi learns that [[Merlin]] will instruct her in how to use her Keyblade alongside [[Lea]], whom she is shocked to hear is the original form of [[Axel]]. However, both Mickey and Riku assure Kairi that Lea is now an ally, and even helped them save Sora from Xehanort. After Yen Sid gifts Riku and Mickey with new garments to protect them against the darkness, Kairi leaves to undergo her training.
-{{-}}
-===Between ''Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-'' and ''Kingdom Hearts III''===
+[[File:Kairi_coded_empty_shell.jpg|thumb|left|130px]]
-As Kairi trains with Lea, she is a little scared of him, even as he constantly apologizes for kidnapping her when he was Axel. However, Kairi warms up to Lea as their training progresses and they start getting to know each other, seeing him as someone she can't bring herself to hate when she learns that he also has a friend that he is trying to save. Kairi notices that Lea sometimes stares at her face, and asking him what's wrong, Lea would say he doesn't know, but feels like it's something he should remember.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts Orchestra -World Tour-}}<!--http://kh13.com/news/exclusive-canon-back-story-for-kingdom-hearts-iii-shown-at-kingdom-hearts-orchestra-world-tour-in-japan Translation via @momo_krys]-->
+A data version of the then-fourteen-year-old Kairi was slated to appear in [[Neverland]] alongside the then-fifteen-year-old [[Riku]]. Like in the first game, her body is shown as a mere empty shell. However, the scene was cut from the final version. Instead, they appear in a hidden cutscene, showing them in Traverse Town.
-===''Kingdom Hearts III''===
+During the end of ''Kingdom Hearts coded'', the real Kairi, along with the real Sora and Riku, reads [[Mickey's Letter]], corresponding to the final scene of ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
-Kairi writes a letter to Sora when she notices Lea staring at her again; she knows he's trying to remember something. Asking Lea not to hold back during their next match, Kairi sparks a memory of Xion, causing Lea to cry. Lea apologizes for worrying her. Kairi tells him to stop apologizing; he agrees if she  calls him "Axel" from now on, to which she agrees to.
+<br clear=all>
-[[File:Nothing's As It Should Be 01 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|Kairi and Lea prepare for the journey ahead as their training comes to an end.]]
+===''[[Reconnect. Kingdom Hearts]]''===
-Shortly after, Merlin drops off new clothes for Kairi and Lea made by the [[Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather|Good Fairies]]; Kairi changes into hers and cut her hair. She tells Lea that she wants Naminé to live as her own person. Lea then proceeds to talk about Ventus and how they became friends and how Roxas looked identical to him.
+{{Spoiler}}
+Afterwards, Sora sits on the Paopu tree while holding the message from King Mickey, staring off into the sunset. After Sora tells Riku that he has made a decision, Kairi walks up to them. Sora tells her that everyone is suffering and waiting, and that he has to put back everything that is connected to him. She then hands him her lucky charm and tells him to hurry back.{{fact}}
+{{Spoilerend}}
-When Kairi and Lea finish their training, they return to the Mysterious Tower with Sora, Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and the newly restored Aqua and Ventus. Aqua recognizes Kairi as the little girl she and Mickey saved in Radiant Garden many years ago, and though Kairi admits she does not recall much of her time on Radiant Garden, she thanks Aqua for saving her.
+==Personality==
+Kairi is caring, kindhearted and not afraid to speak out her mind. However, she is determined and courageous when someone she cares about is in danger, often risking her own safety to help that person. She's also become slightly more withdrawn because of Sora's absence, has obtained wisdom usually beyond someone of her age. She's not as brash and bold as she was in the first game, but she's still pretty sociable. She also makes friends easily, quickly befriending Hayner, Pence, and Olette in Twilight Town. She's usually always very cheerful and upbeat and seems to be bit of a tomboy as well. In contrast to Sora and Riku, who were both bothered by not knowing about Kairi's hometown, she took it in stride and was able to look at the positives about living in the Destiny Islands. She is loyal and headstrong, and she can be rather stubborn sometimes.
-[[File:The Paopu Fruit 01 KHIII.png|thumb|left|200px|Kairi exchanges paopu fruit with Sora.]]
+It is worth noting that though the bond between the three friends is extremely strong, both boys are shown to have strong feelings for Kairi, although she seems to return the affections only for Sora. Numerous hints of a possible romantic relationship between her and Sora&nbsp;are as follows in chronological order:
-Sora, Riku, and Kairi return to Destiny Islands the day before the final battle. Kairi sits with Sora on a [[paopu fruit]] tree and gives him a fruit. The two vow to protect each other, exchanging their fruits.
-When everyone arrives at the [[Keyblade Graveyard]], they are attacked by Terra-Xehanort, who knocks out Ventus and Lea. Terra-Xehanort tries to strike Kairi down, but Sora shields her. Donald blasts Terra-Xehanort away with Zettaflare, but collapses. Riku and Kairi then check on an unconscious Lea while Aqua checks on Ventus. A [[Demon Tide]] appears and drags everyone into the giant storm of Heartless.
+*During the sunset before the Heartless invasion of Destiny Islands, Kairi tells Sora "''Don't ever change.''"
-Kairi remains trapped in the darkness, hoping with all her might for Sora not to fade, allowing him to be sent to [[The Final World]]. Sora uses the [[power of waking]] to save Riku, Lea, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Aqua, and Ventus; Kairi meets him on his way back to the Keyblade Graveyard. Kairi tells Sora that she believed he wouldn't fade away, and that saved him. Sora then tells Kairi he feels strong with her. Kairi holds Sora's hand and proceeds to take him back to the Keyblade Graveyard to redo their previous fight.
+*Before fading away on Destiny Islands when the darkness swallows it up, she lingers towards Sora, extending her hand before the darkness forces her into Sora. During the game, Sora has become a vessel for Kairi's heart.
-They once again encounter Terra-Xehanort, but he is intercepted by the [[Lingering Will]], sent by Naminé. In place of Terra-Xehanort, thousands of Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed appear. [[Yen Sid]] appears to light a path for the guardians, who head to face the Organization. Xehanort arrives with his Organization and creates a labyrinth to separate everyone to battle separately.
+*When Sora sacrifices his own heart to restore hers, Kairi is visibly shaken and refuses to believe that Sora may be dead, shouting "''No, he can't be. I won't let him go!''"
-[[File:Kingdom Hearts 01 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|Xehanort destroys Kairi's body.]]
+*During their escape from Hollow Bastion on the first visit, Kairi hugs Sora (who is still a Heartless) to protect him while she, Donald, and Goofy are attacked by numerous [[Shadows]].
-Kairi and Lea face off against Xion and Saïx. After a while, Sora appears to help. Saïx goes berserk and blows back Kairi and Sora. As he moves to finish them off, Lea stands in the way. The tide swiftly changes when Xion regains her present-day heart and switches sides and Roxas revives as his own person. During the fight, Sora and his friends move in for an attack on Xemnas; after a brief clash, Kairi is weakened alongside Sora with the power of nothingness.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind}} This ultimately allows Xemnas to grab Kairi and take her as a hostage, and he teleports away with her. After the defeat of Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort, Xehanort summons the unconscious Kairi to his side. Sora tries to rescue her, but Xehanort strikes her with his Keyblade, crystallizing and shattering her body to pieces, thereby angering Sora into the final clash necessary for recreating the [[χ-blade]].
-Unbeknownst to the guardians, Xehanort keeps Kairi's heart in seven pieces as his final insurance for his plan, hiding two fragments within Riku and Mickey's hearts, and scattering the other five throughout [[Scala ad Caelum]] when he is unexpectedly sent there. After defeating Xehanort, Sora uses the power of waking in the hopes of saving Kairi. As the rest of the guardians of light fend off the [[Replica Xehanort]]s, Sora assembles all of Kairi's fragments and connects the guardians' hearts to recomplete Kairi. The replicas fuse into a copy of Armored Xehanort and fight Sora and Kairi, but the two are able to vanquish Armored Xehanort.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind}}
+*Before Sora returns back to Hollow Bastion for Riku, Kairi gave him her lucky charm and tells him "''Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you.''"
-[[File:Ending 05 KHIII.png|left|thumb|200px|Sora has his last moments with Kairi.]]
+*In the ending sequence to the first ''Kingdom Hearts'', she is genuinely moved to tears after seeing that Sora had made the drawing of him extending a [[Paopu Fruit]] to her in their Secret place. After that, she draws herself giving him a paopu fruit.
-Afterwards, Sora takes Kairi to The Final World, where she meets [[Chirithy]]. Sora convinces the Chirithy to go with them to find its lost friend. Sora and Kairi watch the fireworks at [[Disney Castle]], reunite Chirithy with [[Ventus]] at the [[Land of Departure]], watch the sunset at [[Twilight Town]], and help revive [[Naminé]] at [[Radiant Garden]] before returning to the Destiny Islands. They share one last moment at the paopu tree before Sora vanishes from sight.
-Shortly after Sora's disappearance, Kairi believes that something in her heart holds a clue to locating Sora. She goes to Radiant Garden and puts herself to sleep while Ansem the Wise, [[Ienzo]], and [[Even]] examine her heart in hopes of finding a clue about Sora's whereabouts and is still sleeping, even after a year of progress. During her sleep, Kairi has a dream about The Final World.
+[[File:Sora kairi hug.jpg|thumb|Kairi hugging Sora in the Castle That Never Was]]
+*Throughout ''Chain of Memories'', though she doesn't physically appear, her image spurred Sora on and even Naminé said that she was "the one he truly cared for" when she apologized for changing his original memories of her.
+*Riku says to Xion that Kairi is someone very special to Sora.
-===''Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory''===
+*She wouldn't go to the small island where they had once played until she remembered everything about Sora.
-As Kairi sleeps, she seeks clues to Sora's whereabouts by looking over her memories of him and their friends, recounting their adventures over the years. Her search eventually ends with her in a replica of the Final World, where she finds her heart shattered. As she collects her heart fragments, she is accosted by a memory of Master Xehanort. Angered at his role in spiriting her from Radiant Garden, altering her fate, and causing Sora's disappearance, Kairi engages Xehanort in battle, but the elderly Keyblade Master overpowers her, taunting that she will never find Sora in there. Before he can deliver the final blow, Sora takes over her body and defeats Xehanort, freeing the final fragment of her heart. Before disappearing, Xehanort reminds her of the words he had said to her before he had cast her from Radiant Garden as a clue to Sora's whereabouts.
-Waking up in Radiant Garden, Kairi recounts Xehanort's final words to her, with Ansem the Wise surmising Xehanort is talking about a world beyond reality. When Riku arrives to check on Kairi's memories, they both share their findings but are interrupted by the Fairy Godmother, who reveals that Riku and Kairi are two of three keys to Sora's disappearance. The Fairy Godmother transports herself and the two Keyblade wielders to the Final World, where they meet the third key, the [[Nameless Star]]. When Riku and Kairi recount their findings, the star recognizes the city Riku described as [[Quadratum]]. Riku uses the star as a portal to go to Quadratum, but as much as Kairi wants to join him, she realizes that she is nowhere near Riku and Sora's level. With Riku gone, Kairi returns to the Mysterious Tower and chooses to stay behind to train under Aqua's tutelage.
+*While everyone remembers Riku, Kairi is the only person to retain any kind of memory of Sora, even if it is only that she has forgotten him.
-==Other appearances==
+*Almost immediately after her communication with Roxas, she sent adrift to sea a letter she wrote for Sora the day before.
-===''Kingdom Hearts χ''===
-[[File:In the Age of Fairy Tales KHUX.png|thumb|left|Kairi listens to her grandmother recount the story of light and darkness.]]
-Kairi and her grandmother appear briefly in the opening cutscene as a page of the Book of Prophecies. Kairi listens to her grandmother tell the story of light and darkness  while they are picking flowers, with the story serving as foreshadowing of future events.
-===''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''===
+*After explaining her story to Hayner, Pence and Olette, Olette comments on "What a romantic story!" it was.
-In ''{{ssb|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate}}'', Kairi appears in the central clock Stations in the [[Dive to the Heart]] sections of the {{ssb|Hollow Bastion}} stage, as an obtainable {{ssb|spirit}} in Sora's {{ssb|DLC Spirits (mode)|Spirit Board}}, and is represented by {{ssb|Daisy (SSBU)|Daisy}} in {{ssb|Spirit#Spirit Battles|Spirit Battle}}.
-==Design==
+*While imprisoned in World That Never Was, she became upset to know she was the reason Sora was killing Heartless for the Organization.
-Kairi is four during ''Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep'', fourteen during ''Kingdom Hearts'', and fifteen during ''Kingdom Hearts II'', ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'', and ''Kingdom Hearts III''. After one year has passed since Xehanort's ultimate defeat, Kairi is currently sixteen.
-Kairi has dark red hair, violet-blue eyes, a pale complexion, and a necklace with a pearlescent bead that is only absent when she wears her school uniform.
+*When trying to escape with Naminé and asked by [[Saïx]] if she wanted to see Sora, she replies "''I do, more than anything.''"
-As a child, as seen during ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' and scenes from ''Kingdom Hearts'', her hair is a little longer than it is when she's fourteen; she wears a white apron-like shirt with blue flowers and a blue line across the chest, a pink skirt with a white line on it and large, white shoes with pink and purple lines on them.
+*When she finds Sora, she attempts to attack the Shadow Heartless unarmed while trying to assist him.
-At age fourteen during ''Kingdom Hearts'', she wears a white top with a black one underneath (the black one shows at her collarbone and at the hem) which slightly exposes her navel, purple bike shorts underneath a purple skirt with a blue belt, and white slip-on shoes with purple caps. She also features a black choker, a yellow wristband as well as a purple arm band on her left arm and a pair of bracelets on her right arm. Kairi's hairstyle is based on {{w|Utada Hikaru}}.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania]]''''', '''Tetsuya Nomura''': "Her hair is a secret homage to Utada Hikaru, who provided the theme song.." [https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519 Translation via Goldpanner]</ref>
+*When they reunite, Kairi quickly runs over and hugs Sora to make sure that he is really there.
-In ''Kingdom Hearts II'', Kairi is taller and resembles a teenager more as opposed to a child, her hair is longer and has become a darker shade of red, and her bangs part to the opposite side. She dons two outfits in ''Kingdom Hearts II'': her school uniform which has a white shirt of which she has rolled up the sleeves, a sky blue striped tie which she has slightly loosened up, a matching skirt with navy knee-high stockings and black shoes; and then her main outfit which mainly contains a pink strapless mini-dress made up of three zippers (two appear to be just decorative) as well as a white halter top underneath her mini-dress with a black hood. She also sports three bracelets on her left wrist, a black belt reminiscent of suspenders with a note book shaped bag attachment, and lilac sneakers.
+*Shortly after, if a player talks with Kairi, she says "I wanted to see you so badly. I missed you so much!" to Sora.
-In ''Kingdom Hearts III'', after receiving a new outfit from Yen Sid, Kairi decides to cut her hair, which now reaches slightly to her shoulders. The outfit is a unique hooded pink-and-black dress, with two small black Chirithy ears. There are black ruffles on one side of her skirt and plaid on the other, and she wears black bike shorts underneath it. She sports thick belted black boots. She wears thin white bracelets on her left wrist and a thick wristband on her right wrist.
+*While escaping from the [[Castle That Never Was]], Kairi tells [[Roxas]] and [[Naminé]] that she and Sora will be together every day.
-Kairi's name is derived from the Japanese word for {{nihongo|"sea"|海|Kai}}, though her full name is homophonous with the word for {{nihongo|"nautical mile"|海里|Kairi}}.
+==Appearance==
+Kairi's appearance shows the most growth with aging of the trio of main characters. Kairi originally appears as a girl with short, dark red hair and violet-blue eyes, along with a pale complexion. She wears a summer theme outfit with a short skirt and large shoes, keeping with the characters' outfit theme. She wears a white shirt with many bands and belts as well as a bracelet. Kairi's appearance never changes from that until ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' where she is shown to have grown. Kairi is taller, her hair is a darker red, and has longer hair with more developed features than her fourteen year old appearance. She holds two outfits while this happens, her school girl outfit which [[Selphie]] also wears to some sort of school on [[Destiny Islands]], and then her main outfit which mainly contains a hooded pink strapless mini-dress made up with three zippers (two appear to be just decorative) as well as a white halter top underneath her mini-dress, a black belt reminiscent of suspenders with a note book shaped bag attachment, and large lilac shoes keeping up once again with her trio of friends. As a child, she wears a white apron-like shirt with blue flowers and a blue line across the chest, a pink skirt with a white line on it and large, white shoes with pink and purple lines on it.
-==Personality==
+Kairi is seen as a young girl in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep'' and some scenes in the original ''Kingdom Hearts''. As a child, Kairi's hair is a bit longer than it is in ''Kingdom Hearts'', and she wears white shoes that resemble slippers with two stripes, one lilac and one pink, on each side. She wore a short, white dress with a thin, lavender stripe near the top and a wavy cut at the bottom. The bottom of this dress is decorated with lavender X's. Kairi also seems to wear a second, slightly longer dress under the white one, this second dress being pink with a white stripe at the bottom.
-Kairi is generally caring, kindhearted, and not afraid to speak her mind. She's usually always very cheerful and upbeat. She is loyal and headstrong, and she can be rather stubborn sometimes.
-She is determined and courageous when someone she cares about is in danger, often risking her own safety to help them. Her bravery can be somewhat reckless. Examples of her bravery are when she embraced Sora as a Heartless even though it could be dangerous, when she offered to journey with Sora despite not having a Keyblade, when she jumped into a Corridor of Darkness despite not knowing where it could lead, causing Axel to comment she has guts, and so on. She dislikes feeling useless, making her determined to help fight against the Heartless as Keyblade wielder.
+She is also shown to have worn the same necklace all her life. The only time she is shown not wearing it is in her school outfit.
-In contrast to Sora and Riku, who were both bothered by not knowing about Kairi's hometown, she took it in stride and was able to look at the positives about living in the Destiny Islands. Despite this, she still has a strong sense of adventure, helping out with the raft. She also ran into a Corridor of Darkness, despite that she may never return, although she knew that other worlds existed and knew the portal may lead her to Sora and Riku, with Sora having a Gummi Ship.
+==Abilities==
+===Powers as a Princess of Heart===
+Because Kairi is a Princess of Heart, her heart possesses no darkness within it, leading to the unique birth of [[Naminé]] when she accidentally gives it to [[Sora]], who later sacrificed himself to restore her heart. Should her heart be lost, her body will remain in a dormant state until it returns, as revealed in the first game when her heart was lost.
-As a child in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', she is shown to have some affection for flowers, as she appears with flowers in her hand and is picking more during the final credits. But she won't hesitate to give them away in gratitude, like giving them to Aqua as thanks for saving her from the Unversed. Also, her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, has a floral design.
+*Like the other princesses, she has the power to open the [[Final Keyhole]] to [[Kingdom Hearts (world)|Kingdom Hearts]] in Hollow Bastion once she is gathered with the rest of the princesses. This could be considered to be performed in some form of ritual.
-In ''Kingdom Hearts'', she is seen with a rather playful, spunky side. For example, if Sora wins the race, she calls him "Captain Sora." While gathering supplies for the raft, she reveals that she is not fond of mushrooms, wondering why she and her friends should even take them on the raft.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''''', '''Kairi:''' "Mushrooms grow in shady spots, right? To be honest, I don’t even like them. Thanks, Captain Sora!"</ref> She can also make comments about situations for the sake of teasing, like she joked about leaving without Riku.
+*Kairi also appears to have some kind of latent magical ability, as seen when she manages to restore Sora's humanity after he becomes a Heartless. However, it could imply that she is only able to call restore him because they share the strongest connection.
-In ''Kingdom Hearts II'', however, she becomes more mature and is saddened by Sora's absence, but obtains wisdom beyond her age. She is not as brash and bold as she was in the first game, but is still sociable, as she quickly befriends Hayner, Pence, and Olette in Twilight Town before being kidnapped by Axel.
+*Since the other Princesses of Heart possess the abilities to hold back darkness and upgrade other people's powers, it is no doubt that Kairi can do so as well.
-Kairi appears to retain fear of anyone who has wronged her in the past, such as her former kidnapper, Axel; when she heard Lea would be training with her to master a Keyblade, she became quite frightened at the prospect. However, she soon overcame this thanks to Mickey and Riku telling her that Lea had helped save Sora.
+*Aqua casted a charm on Kairi in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]]'' so that if she was ever captured by darkness, her light would lead the way. In an interview, Tetsuya Nomura stated it was this charm that lead Kairi to [[Destiny Islands]].
-While sharing a deep friendship with Sora and Riku, Kairi seems to be particularly important to Sora, and vice versa. Kairi's feelings for Sora have been hinted at several times. She jokes about her and Sora taking the raft, just the two of them. She embraces Sora's Heartless as the other Shadows jump on them. She gives him her Wayfinder in hopes it will bring him back to her. The face sketch on said Wayfinder resembles Sora. She sheds a tear when she sees that Sora added a paopu fruit to their drawings of each other they did as kids, and even adds another. Kairi was the only person on the Islands to have any recollection of Sora, and felt guilty that she couldn't remember his voice, face, or even his name. When Kairi tells the Twilight Trio about how she was looking for Sora, Olette says that it was "a romantic story". When Saïx asks her if she wanted to see Sora, she answers "I do, more than anything." After reuniting with Sora, she hugs him, confirming it's really him, while Donald and Goofy looked on as if they were intruding. When Sora tells her that he has to leave again, she just smiles and, once again, gives him her Wayfinder.
+*It seems fairly probable that, like [[Alice]], Kairi is not a princess in the literal sense of the word. There is little evidence to support a royal lineage, and several facts (such as [[Ansem the Wise|Ansem]] being the ruler of [[Radiant Garden]]) would tend to contradict the suggestion. Nonetheless, the possibility is not ruled out entirely.
-While training with Lea, she states while writing a letter to Sora that she likes to talk with him even if its on paper. Her feelings for Sora were confirmed the day before their final battle. While Sora and Kairi are sitting on the paopu fruit tree, she hands him a paopu fruit. She states that she wants to be a part of Sora's life no matter what. After both of them promise to keep each other safe, they exchange paopu fruits together. When Sora finds himself near death in Limbo, it was revealed by Naminé that Kairi was the person keeping him from completely fading away into the afterlife. When Sora finds her, they happily join hands. Kairi states that she believed that he wouldn't give up. When Sora states he feels strong with her, she looks away and holds his hand to proceed with their final battle. When everyone is on Destiny Islands having fun, Kairi is away from the group and sits on the Paopu fruit tree with Sora holding his hand. Kairi smiles while looking at him, and sheds a tear when Sora fades away and continues to stay there after he is gone. She willingly puts herself into a deep sleep so that Ansem may analyze any clue within her heart about Sora.
+*She additionally has the ability to sense darkness, as the other Princesses of Heart are able to tell Sora of a [[End of the World|great darkness]] nearby. It may also imply to why she was looking ill when Destiny Islands was devoured by the darkness before she disappeared.
-Despite her skill with the Keyblade, she seems to hold some degree of doubt in her abilities, with her battle quotes consisting of her psyching herself up by saying things like "I'll try!" or "Please work!"
+===Keyblade Wielding===
+[[Image:Kairikeyblade.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Kairi holding Destiny Place]]
+Kairi's abilities in combat are limited. Kairi isn't able to do much when she is in danger, and frequently depends on Sora or Riku to come to her aid; this also results in her sometimes being captured, which is seen when Axel merely grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her along without any problems. During the events that take place in the [[World That Never Was]], Riku hands her a [[Destiny Place|Keyblade]] crafted from his memories of Destiny Islands, and allows her to wield it so that she may combat the Heartless. Kairi is able to wield the Keyblade due to her having been touched by Aqua's Keyblade many years earlier.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania|Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''' "The Keyblade inheritance ceremony is performed with a Keyblade master touches someone using a Keyblade. When Kairi was running away from the Unversed in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' she grabbed Aqua's keyblade, which performed the ceremony. That is why she is able to use a Keyblade in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' to help Sora."</ref> She is shown to be fairly competent with it, and was shown to take out several Heartless on her own in cut-scenes.
-==Abilities==
+==Theme==
-===Princess of Heart===
+{{CharTheme
-As a Princess of Heart, Kairi's heart holds the power to open the [[Final Keyhole]] that leads to [[Kingdom Hearts]] when she is joined by the six other princesses. Should her heart be lost, her body will remain in a dormant state until it returns, since her heart has no darkness in it to produce a regular Nobody. However, when her heart was removed from Sora's, the special [[Nobody]] [[Naminé]] was created from his body and soul.
+|game=Kingdom Hearts
+|themename=Kairi I
+|themefile=Kairi_I.ogg
+|themecomposer=
+|themesections=
+|themename2=Kairi II
+|themefile2=Kairi_II.ogg
+|themecomposer2=
+|themesections2=
+|themename3=Kairi III
+|themefile3=Kairi_III.ogg
+|themecomposer3=
+|themesections3=
+}}
+{{CharTheme
+|game=Kingdom Hearts II
+|themename=Kairi
+|themefile=Kairi.ogg
+|themecomposer=
+|themesections=
+|themename2=
+|themefile2=
+|themecomposer2=
+|themesections2=
+|themename3=
+|themefile3=
+|themecomposer3=
+|themesections3=
+}}
+<br clear=all>
-*She has the power to hold back darkness using the light stored in her heart, a power which she and the other princesses can utilize alone.
+==Trivia==
-*Her heart, in addition with the other Princesses of Heart, can be used to create the [[Keyblade of Heart]].
+* Part of her name ("''Kai''") is the Japanese word for "sea" (海; her whole name is homophonous with the word for "nautical mile" (海里 or 浬)).
-{{canon
-|According to Axel in the manga, Kairi is able to travel through the Corridor of Darkness without any negative effects because she is a Princess of Heart.{{?}}<!--cite to quote-->
-|width=60%
-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
+* Kairi is the first female in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series to wield a Keyblade but is non playable, though it is unknown if she kept it afterwards. She has shown so far to have limited combat skills in most of her appearances, but after Sora meets up with her and Riku and they destroy a wave of Heartless, [[Donald Duck|Donald]] exclaims, "Kairi, you were great!" suggesting she is, in fact, able to hold her own in battle.
-[[File:The Final Key 01 KHIIIRM.png|thumb|Kairi breaking Xemnas' Ethereal Blades.]]
-Initially, Kairi's abilities are rather limited in combat, and she cannot do much in danger. Oftentimes, she must rely on Sora or Riku to come to her aid, and as such, is easily captured, like when Axel merely grabbed Kairi by the wrist and dragged her away with him without much effort.
-{{canon
-|In the manga, she is shown to be more aggressive and tries to put up a fight, throwing punches at Nobodies and biting Axel's hand.
-|width=60%
-}}
-Despite her limited experience in fighting, she is shown to be naturally competent with a Keyblade once she receives it, and easily took down two Heartless on her own and defended herself along with Riku until Sora arrived. Her potential as a Keyblade wielder is recognized by Yen Sid, who has Riku bring her to him to begin her own Keyblade training.
-===''Kingdom Hearts III''===
+* The reason to why Kairi returned to Destiny Islands instead of Hollow Bastion, where she truly comes from, is because people return to the world they were on before it was devoured by darkness. It may also have something to do with the old saying "Home is where the Heart is".
-After completing her training with [[Lea]], Kairi is shown to be a fairly competent fighter despite her relative inexperience. She is able to go toe-to-toe with much more experienced and powerful foes such as Xion and Xemnas, even dispersing the latter's Ethereal Blades and forcing him on the defensive until he is forced to use Nothingness to stop her. With Sora's help, she is even able to heavily damage and defeat the Armored Xehanort. Despite this, she does not have the reaction speed that other experienced wielders have, and as such, she is nearly struck down by Terra-Xehanort, and is kidnapped by Xemnas. This is displayed again in her later fight against the memory of [[Master Xehanort]] in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory]]'', where is she shown to be a crafty and pragmatic fighter who focuses on trying to catch her opponent off-guard.
-====Playable character====
+* It can be noted that the very last scene of "[[Another side, Another story...]]" shows a prototype of fifteen-year-old Kairi watching a meteor shower, which is Sora and Riku returning home in ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
-[[File:Strike Shift KHIIIRM.gif|thumb|left|With enough distance between her and an enemy, Kairi can throw her Keyblade and teleport to it.]]
-Kairi is playable during the final battle of ''[[Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind]]'' against the replica Armored Xehanort, and her playable form is similar to her as a party member. She has access to Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Curaga, Waterga, and Aeroga, as well as having a [[Hi-Potion]], an [[Ether]], and a [[Refocuser]] in her items. Her Shotlock is [[Heart of a Princess]], which allows her to rain down orbs of light on the battlefield. When Kairi is a certain distance away from an enemy, she can use [[Strike Shift]] to quickly teleport to them, which will cause her to use [[Spiral Bloom]] as her combo finisher; otherwise, her default finisher involves her spinning her Keyblade around her, then catching it and performing a final slash. Like Riku and Aqua, Kairi defends using a barrier, and can use her unique counterattack called [[Starcracker]], and when her Situation Gauge is full, she can activate the powerful [[Seven Wishes]] command, which allows her to attack an enemy up to seven times.
-In the fight against Armored Xehanort, Kairi is able to team up with Sora to use the [[One Heart]] [[Team Attack]].
+*In ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'', Roxas writes in his diary about a girl that looked like Xion, after returning from a mission in Destiny Islands. This girl is assumed to be Kairi.
-====Party member====
+*Interestingly, Kairi and [[Aqua]] seem to think alike, particularly the star-shaped good luck charms made from Destiny Islands' seashells and paopu fruits. Kairi gave the one she made of seashells to Sora, making him promise to return it so they would be together again. Aqua made three out of the skins of paopu fruits, she kept one for herself and gave the other two to her friends [[Terra]] and [[Ventus|Ven]], saying that with these they are connected. This similarities may not be just a coincidence since Aqua met Kairi in Radiant Garden.
-As a party member, Kairi is balanced between Physical attacks and magic, and is also able to support her allies with [[Cura]]. She can hit long range targets with her [[Flower Shoot]] ability, or combo them up close with Spiral Bloom. In the fight against Saīx, Kairi will prioritize attacking Xion.
-Kairi's base stats are 205 [[HP]], 100 MP, 44 Strength, 45 Magic, and 42 Defense.
+*Like [[Sora]] becoming friends with [[Donald Duck|Donald]] and [[Goofy]], and [[Riku]] and [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]]; Kairi may have found [[Pluto]] as her Disney friend in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', as he keeps her company during her capture in [[The World That Never Was]].
-{|border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" align="center" width=700px
-!style="{{style|kh3|a}}; font-size:12px" colspan="6"|Actions
-|-style="{{style|kh3|b}}; font-size:11px"
-!colspan="2"|Ability
-!Total Power Modifier
-!Attribute
-!Status Effect
-!Description
-|-
-|colspan="2"|{{nihongo|'''Attack (Combo)'''|たたかう (コンボ)|<br>Tatakau (Konbo)}}
-|2.8
-|Physical
-|—
-|Attacks four times with weapon.
-|-
-|colspan="2"|'''[[Flower Shoot]]'''
-|1.5
-|Fire
-|—
-|Fires a projectile.
-|-
-|colspan="2"|'''[[Spiral Bloom]]'''
-|4.8
-|Physical
-|—
-|Somersaults and lunges at the target.
-|-
-|colspan="2"|'''[[Cura]]'''
-|—
-|—
-|—
-|Restores 170(+Kairi's magic stat) HP to the target and 110(+Kairi's magic stat) HP to nearby allies. Uses up all remaining MP.
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|a}}; font-size:12px" colspan="6"|Support Abilities
-|-style="{{style|kh3|b}}; font-size:12px"
-!Ability
-!AP
-!colspan="4"|Description
-|-
-|'''[[Double Team]]'''
-|—
-|colspan="4"|Deal extra damage when attacking the same target as the player character.
-|}
-===Keyblade===
+==References==
-[[File:The Heroes, Together Again at Last 02 KHII.png|thumb|left|Kairi holding Destiny's Embrace.]]
+{{Reflist|1}}
-During the events of [[The World That Never Was]]  in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', she receives a Keyblade from Riku, and is able to wield it due to being accidentally bequeathed by Aqua.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''', '''Interviewer:''' "Why can Kairi use a Keyblade?" / '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' "Because she was touched by Aqua's Keyblade. The Keyblade inheritance ceremony is performed with a Keyblade Master touches someone using a Keyblade. When Kairi was running away from the Unversed in ''Birth by Sleep'' she grabbed Aqua's Keyblade, which performed the ceremony. That is why she is able to use a Keyblade in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' to help Sora." [https://www.khinsider.com/news/BBS-Ultimania-20-Mysteries-Solved-2546 Translation via Lissar].</ref>
-The default form of her Keyblade is the [[Destiny's Embrace]], which uses a paopu fruit as its token.
+==Gallery==
-<center>
 <gallery>
-File:Destiny's Embrace KHII.png|[[Destiny's Embrace]]
+Image:YoungKairi.jpg|Young Kairi artwork from Kingdom Hearts.
+Image:Kairi.jpg|Kairi artwork from Kingdom Hearts.
+Image:Kairi Kingdom Hearts II.jpg|Kairi's school outfit artwork from Kingdom Hearts II.
 </gallery>
-</center>
-==Notes and references==
-{{reflist}}
+==See Also==
+*[[Naminé]]
+*[[Xion]]
+*[[Aqua]]
 {{Princesses of Heart}}
-{{Party}}
+{{BBS}}
-{{KeybladeK}}
 {{KH1}}
+{{358}}
 {{COM}}
 {{KH2}}
-{{358}}
 {{Coded}}
-{{BBS}}
+[[de: Kairi]]
-{{DDD}}
+[[fr:Kairi]]
-{{AFP}}
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts characters]]
-{{KH3}}
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories characters]]
-{{MOM}}
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts II characters]]
-[[Category:Princesses of Heart]]
+[[Category: Destiny Islands]]
-[[Category:Keyblade Wielders]]
+[[Category: Princesses of Heart]]
+[[Category: Keyblade Wielders]]
+[[Category: Allies]]
+[[Category: Original characters]]
+[[Category:Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden]]
+[[Category:Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep characters]]