Editing Riku

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{{InfoCharacter
|name=Riku
|image=[[Image:KH2-Riku cg.jpg|200px]]
|game=Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II
|kana=リク
|world=[[Destiny Islands]]
|role=Keyblade Master
|first=''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''
|voice= [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gallagher David Gallagher] (English)<br>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Miyano Mamoru Miyano] (Japanese)}}
{{Q|But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!|Riku}}
'''Riku''' is the best friend and rival of [[Sora]], the main character of ''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''. His name is derived from the Japanese word for 'land'.

==Journal Entries==
===''Kingdom Hearts''===

*'''First Entry'''

''Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. He hated the monotony of island life and built a raft with Sora and Kairi to explore the outside world. Riku seems to have vanished along with the Destiny Islands.''

*'''Second Entry'''

''Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. When the Destiny Islands vanished, so did he. By the time Riku reappeared, Sora had already found new friends, so Riku didn't rejoin him. Riku is willing to go to any length to save Kairi--even join forces with Maleficent.

*'''Third Entry'''

''Riku gained immense power through the forces of darkness. But ordinary humans are no match for the darkness, and it is gradually consuming his heart.''

*'''Fourth Entry'''

''When Kairi lost her heart, Riku allied himself with Maleficent to save her. Riku was actually the rightful master of the Keyblade, but once he chose darkness over light, the weapon chose Sora instead. Ansem exploited Riku's weakness of heart and possessed him.''

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

''Baited by the darkness and used by Maleficent and Ansem, Riku once fought against Sora.''

''In order to seal the door to darkness, Riku stayed with the king on the other side.  His current whereabouts are unknown.''

''Sora journeys in the hopes of finding Riku.''

*'''''Reverse/Rebirth'''''

''A boy who was born and raised on a small group of islands.''

''Riku dreamt of seeing other worlds, and so he forsook the islands--only to be seduced by the power of darkness.''

''Enslaved by Ansem, pursuer of darkness, Riku clashed with his childhood friend Sora.  But in the end, he was able to regain himself, and together with Sora closed the door to darkness.''

''Still, the dark wounds in Riku's heart have yet to mend.''

===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
'''Xehanort's Heartless'''

''The form Sora's longtime friend Riku chose.''

''Though Xehanort tried to control Riku from within, Riku's heart proved stronger. But the only way to wield the darkness fully was to become it.''

''Riku began calling himself "Ansem," perhaps as a sign of resolve. He would live in darkness if that's what it took to wake Sora.''

'''Riku'''

''Sora's longtime friend. He had clad himself in darkness in order to wield it, and had even changed in appearance.''
''But when the real Ansem's Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploded, Riku returned to his old form.''
''You could say it was a miracle- worked by a heart no darkness could eclipse.''

==Story==

===Early Life===

[[Image:KHRikuCG.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Riku as he appears in the first Kingdom Hearts.]]

Riku's story begins a number of years before the night of the heartless invasion on [[Destiny Islands]]. On an earlier night, there is a meteor shower and [[Kairi|a mysterious girl]] appears on the islands.  Apparently, Kairi is from another, far off world, and is now stuck on the Destiny Islands, with no way to return to her home. The two and Sora, another resident of the Isles, quickly forge a powerful friendship. Soon after Kairi's arrival, Riku and Sora go to the secret place, a small cave that they frequently explored. Sora finds it fascinating, but soon decides to take his leave. Before leaving, Riku catches sight of an enigmatic door. From this day on Riku became obsessed with finding out what lies beyond the door, wondering if it could perhaps be a passageway to another world, such as Kairi's.

===Journey off Destiny Island===

Riku appears as a cool and collected 15-year-old, a year older than his best friends Sora and Kairi, living on Destiny Islands. The three spend their days constructing a raft and gathering supplies, so that they might one day set out and search for other worlds. He and Sora share a fierce but good natured rivalry, competing over who is stronger in battle as well as over Kairi's affections, among other things. Despite the fact that their arguments are of good intention, Riku is known to irritate Sora by being a bit of a sore loser and (in the original Kingdom Hearts Manga: volume 1) very pushy involving his fight over Kairi, shown when he tells Sora that, if the latter does not share a paopu with Kairi soon, he will. All three of them, as well as the other children that live on the islands, spend most of their time on the smallest island, acting as their own personal playground.

However, things take a drastic turn on the night before their journey. Riku, likely unable to leave the islands without knowing the truth, opens the door in the secret place (something he saw while very young, but was perhaps too overwhelmed to open it just then) and the [[Heartless]], beings of darkness, invade the islands, seeking out the world's heart. Both afraid that a storm would destroy the raft, Kairi and Sora also set out for the island. Sora finds Riku first. However, while Sora is concerned for his friend's safety, Riku is only obsessed with finally escaping the island. Darkness surrounds the two, and Riku disappears into it, while Sora gains the [[Keyblade]].

===Invitation to Darkness===

Riku eventually ends up in [[Hollow Bastion]] via the [[Corridor of darkness]], separated from his friends. There he is found by [[Maleficent]] and offered shelter and protection.

Though Riku is provided a place to stay, Maleficent begins corrupting his mind, convincing him that Sora has replaced him and Kairi with [[Donald|Donald Duck]] and [[Goofy]]. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who has lost her heart to the darkness, is to ally himself with her and her band of villains, while abandoning Sora. After reuniting with Sora in [[Traverse Town]], Riku begins to agree with Maleficent and officially starts his stay with her, however he is still highly suspicious of her motives.

As the days progress, Riku becomes steadily angrier at Sora, convincing himself to hate his old friend. He obtains a blade from Maleficent called the [[Soul Eater]] and teaches himself to use it, believing it will aid him in his search for Kairi's heart.

With his mind corrupted, Riku again meets Sora in [[Monstro]], intending to use [[Pinocchio]] to help him find out a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio ends up captured by a giant Heartless called the [[Parasite Cage]], forcing Sora and Riku to work together, somewhat against Riku's wishes.

Riku later appears at [[Neverland]], traveling on [[Captain Hook|Captain Hook's]] ship, where Kairi's body is held. Riku also now shows that he has gained the power to control the Heartless, a gift granted to him by Maleficent. He then goes to Sora, revealing that he has Kairi's body in his possession. The two argue, and Riku retreats after creating [[Anti-Sora]], a dark reflection of Sora, with his newly acquired dark powers. However, before he heads back to Hollow Bastion, he instructs Captain Hook that the captured [[Wendy]] is not a Princess of Heart. Riku takes Kairi and recklessly returns to Maleficent's castle via the Corridors of Darkness without a vessel, a foolish act that strains even his powerful heart. While he is drained from the trip, Maleficent unlocks the last of Riku's power and the boy's heart is plunged into almost complete darkness.

At [[Hollow Bastion]], Sora again meets Riku, and defends the wounded [[Beast]] from a swift death by Riku's blade. But the Beast is hardly one of Riku's major concerns, as Riku reveals his true purpose for confronting Sora. He is able to will the Keyblade into his grasp. Riku explains that Sora was only a temporary recipient, telling him that he was "just the delivery boy" and that Riku is the true Keyblade master. After leaving Sora with the toy sword he used on the Destiny Islands, he departs, Donald and Goofy following him as per [[King Mickey|the King's]] orders, though regretfully.

Though Sora is significantly weakened, he makes his way to the foyer of the castle, with the help of Beast. Riku, having taken on a new appearance with the increasing strength of his dark powers, tells him to quit, but Sora refuses to leave without Kairi. Riku, intending to prove to Sora that he is the stronger of the two, attacks his old friend, only for Donald and Goofy to go to his aid after finding themselves unable to betray Sora after all that they had been through together. With the strength of his friends, Sora regains the Keyblade, becoming the true master, and drives Riku into retreat once more.

===Becoming the Darkness itself===

[[Image:DarkRiku.jpg|thumb|right|153px|Riku possessed by Xehanort's Heartless, holding the Dark Keyblade.]]

Eventually, Riku manages to escape, but is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. A [[Xehanort's Heartless|mysterious voice]] somehow contacts him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku himself was weaker than Sora. However, the mysterious voice, now slowly taking a shape, presents Riku with an offer he can not resist, a Keyblade of his own. Under the influence of jealousy and rage, Riku agrees to become one with the Darkness, only to become possessed by the mysterious voice itself.      

The new Riku then presents himself to Maleficent and warns her of the dangers of unlocking the Final Keyhole. When she claims not to be afraid, Riku shows a new, dark Keyblade created with six of the seven princesses' hearts. However, it doesn't react to the keyhole. Realizing it is still needing Kairi's heart to be complete, Maleficent heads off to handle Sora and co. After Maleficent is defeated by Sora, Riku appears with his Keyblade and explains that unlike Sora's Keyblade, this Keyblade possesses the ability to unlock a person's heart, and Riku demonstrates this by piercing Maleficent's chest, allowing the immense darkness that is attracted to her to overtake her heart, transforming her into a giant dragon. While this form proved a far deadlier enemy to Sora and his friends, it still was defeated and killed.

[[Riku (Enemy)|Riku]], calling himself [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness]], later confronts and battles Sora (who is cut off from Donald and Goofy) at the Final Keyhole. He hopes to release Kairi's heart from within Sora's, so that she, being the final [[Princess of Heart]] can open the Keyhole. He fails, but Sora impales himself anyway to save Kairi. With Sora gone, [[Xehanort's Heartless]] attacks Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, but they are saved by Riku, who is using the last of his strength to hold the dark powers of his possessor off. 

Riku's rejection of Xehanort's Heartless leads to an internal struggle between the two, which Riku ultimately loses. This causes Riku to lose control of his body once more, while Xehanort's Heartless gains it fully.

A newly restored Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, eventually make their way to the [[End of the World]], the home of the heartless. There they once again confront Xehanort's Heartless and defeat him after a series of battles at the Door to Darkness. Riku is then restored, and appears on the other side of the Door to Darkness, aiding Sora in closing it, but unable to cross it, as only pure darkness can go back and forth through the door. Waiting to enter the [[Realm of Light]] are thousands upon thousands of heartless, who only cause further problems for the two friends. However, King Mickey, appearing for the first time in the game, ward them off, with a powerful golden colored Keyblade. The King and Sora then proceed to close the door, Sora on the outside, Mickey within. Riku is stuck on the other side of the door with the King, but not before he told Sora to " take care of Kairi".

===Awakening===

[[Image:KHCoM-Riku.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Riku from Chain of Memories]]

Riku awakes in the lowest basement of [[Castle Oblivion]], being led there by his heart resonating with Sora, who also happens to be in Castle Oblivion, though on the ground floor. A dark card and [[DiZ|a disembodied voice]] present themselves. The Voice offers Riku the chance to sleep and forget his troubles as well as the light, or take the card and take the first steps toward the truth. Riku takes the card confidently.

Riku arrives in none other than Hollow Bastion, though only a version of it crafted from his memories. However, though Hollow Bastion is the same as he remembered it, he is unable to find anyone. All the while he searches, the Voice speaks to and mocks the young teenager.

At long last, Riku meets someone: [[Maleficent]]. Maleficent taunts him and his refusal of the darkness, but Riku fights Maleficent, hoping to prove that he is above the darkness. He is victorious.

Riku leaves Hollow Bastion, only to see the true form of Castle Oblivion. The Voice again comes to Riku, but this time reveals himself to be Xehanort's Heartless, who wants to take over Riku again. However, though Xehanort's Heartless is powerful, King Mickey comes to aid Riku with his light. Riku then manages to fend off Xehanort's Heartless for the time being. But before he leaves, the Heartless leaves Riku with some world cards and the ability to wield his inner darkness as a weapon.

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===Meeting the Replica===

Riku soon realizes that he has the power to detect the "smell" of darkness, and is discouraged by it, though King Mickey comforts him. However, King Mickey can only appear to Riku as a projection, for he is still in the Realm of Darkness. Still, with King Mickey's encouragement, Riku ascends the basements of Castle Oblivion in order to rid himself of his darkness. Meanwhile, as Riku travels through the lower levels of Castle Oblivion, Sora ascends the upper floors, being manipulated by [[Marluxia]], a member of the mysterious [[Organization XIII]] and the lord of Castle Oblivion. But three other Organization members, [[Vexen]], [[Lexaeus]], and [[Zexion]] work to counter Marluxia by using the dark-wielding Riku against the light-wielding Sora.

To further the trio's goals, Vexen independently appears before Riku and Riku wonders if Vexen is with Xehanort's Heartless. But Vexen cryptically responds that he is with "[[Xemnas|another Ansem]]". Still, Riku fights with Vexen, seeing him as an enemy. But the battle only helps Vexen, who uses the data he gathered from the battle to create a [[Riku Replica]]. The replica soon comes to battle Riku, mocking Riku's fear of the darkness while the replica embraces it. However, Riku proves victorious, and the replica runs off.

Soon, Xehanort's Heartless appears again, saying that the replica is a model of what Riku should be. But Riku only reaffirms his desire to conquer his darkness.

Passing through much of the castle (the bulk of Sora's story is complete, and [[Larxene]] and Vexen are dead) Riku finds Lexaeus. Lexaeus, like the others, tells him that he should accept the darkness again, because if he doesn't, his journey will end here. The two fight, and Riku barely finishes the mighty brute. As a last move, Lexaeus covers the room in darkness as Xehanort's Heartless moves in to take his heart. Mickey saves him again and manages to bring him out of the darkness.

Riku comes closer to the ground level, just as Marluxia's scheme fails and Sora finishes him off. Riku senses Marluxia's defeat, and Zexion quickly arrives on the scene to explain it. But he also reveals that Sora is the one who did the deed, much to Riku's surprise. Zexion quickly asks if Riku is capable of seeing Sora, for Riku shouldered the darkness for so long, and Xehanort's Heartless still resides in his heart. Riku tries to resist Zexion's comments, but Zexion ultimately gives him a world card...of Destiny Islands. Riku enters.

===Twilight===

In Destiny Islands, Riku meets all of his friends, but they are all silent and they eventually disappear, even Kairi. Zexion throws all of Riku's fears at him at once, telling him he's responsible for causing them to disappear, and that he belongs to the darkness now. He finally transforms an illusion of him into a Darkside Heartless, telling him this is what he has become. Riku beats back the Heartless as Zexion disguises himself as Sora. He tells him that it's finally time to face the light.

Riku sinks into the light as he begins fade, but Naminé appears in the form of Kairi and tells him that he can't. Light can't beat him, neither can darkness, so he should accept both, then he won't be afraid anymore. He awakens his dark power again, admitting that it's a part of him and not evil, beating back Zexion. He disappears, but is quickly killed by the Riku Replica with Axel.

Riku nearly makes it to the main floor as Xehanort's Heartless appears to control him, but King Mickey beats him back again and finally appears for real. Riku is relieved at finally having a real friend with him. Mickey explains that he found a card which showed him Riku's heart and he followed it back to him. Riku uses the card, and ends up in Twilight Town. Xehanort's Heartless appears again, but Riku tells him that he's not "Ansem", because his scent is not darkness--it is something else. Riku also sees that this man is the Voice that presented itself at the beginning of his journey. The Voice finally introduces himself as DiZ. Riku asks him what he really wants from him, and DiZ tells him he wants him to choose between Light and Darkness, because he lies in-between. The decision will be decided with [[Naminé]], who Riku looks for. 

However, the Riku Replica manages to find him, and demand another fight to prove him "worthy". The replica intends to kill Riku in order to become real, but fails. However, Riku comforts him by saying that the replica's heart will go to the same place as the real one's, before the replica vanishes out of existence.

Riku meets up with Naminé. who is with Sora in his memory cell, and explains the situation. She offers to seal away Xehanort's Heartless and Riku's darkness, so that he may forget them, but will have to sleep to do so. Riku refuses, hoping to win on his own, and leaves a satisfied Naminé. However, before he departs, he tells Naminé that he knows that it was her who appeared to him as Kairi, commenting that they smell the same.

===Way to the Dawn===
  

[[Image:Blindfoldriku0.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Riku with a blindfold over his eyes and wearing a [[Black Cloak]]]]


After meeting Naminé, DiZ appears again to Riku and the King (who notes that DiZ seems familiar). Knowing his choice, DiZ gives Riku a card that will draw out Xehanort's Heartless. After DiZ leaves, Riku tells King Mickey to destroy him if Riku fails to stop Xehanort's Heartless, but the King refuses, saying he'll only help him regain control, and never harm him. Riku concedes.

Riku faces Ansem for one final battle alone. Ansem asks why he still refuses him if he accepts darkness now, but Riku merely says "I just can't stand your foul stench". They fight and the last of Xehanort's Heartless is destroyed, but not before he says a part of him is still in Riku, and he shall return.

Riku and Mickey wait at the front entrance. Riku tells him that he can't go home yet as "Ansem's" shadow still lingers in him, but Mickey says the darkness is a part of him. Darkness is not all bad, because Riku has chosen a road he never thought of before, one of both Light and Darkness. They leave, taking Organization cloaks that DiZ gave them prior to confronting Xehanort's Heartless, and DiZ appears for one final question: if he shall take the "road to light" or the "road to darkness". Riku chooses neither, he'll take the middle road, "The Road to Dawn". Riku and King Mickey eventually made it out of the plains and separate after Riku realized he couldn't completely rid himself of the darkness festering in him. Deciding to return to DiZ and offer his help, Riku dons a blindfold, for "his eyes couldn't lie" about his darkness which he is preparing to use and wished Mickey not to witness firsthand.

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===Allying with DiZ===

[[Image:Riku_as_Ansem.png|right|thumb|Riku in the form of Xehanort's Heartless]]

He allies himself with DiZ, as they have a common goal: to help Sora awaken (though Riku finds his memories of Sora fading, being a side-effect of Naminé's toying with Sora's memories). Riku wants no part in DiZ's revenge. Nonetheless, DiZ asks Riku to kidnap [[Roxas]], the Nobody of Sora, who has been having trouble regaining his memories. If he and Roxas join, Sora should be able to reawaken. Riku enters the Realm of Darkness, and corners Roxas in [[The World That Never Was]], they seem to stalemate. Riku then realizes if he is to win in the Realm of Darkness, he must submerse himself in the same darkness. As a result, Riku unleashed his darkness, taking on the form of [[Xehanort's Heartless]] as a side effect. Riku easily defeated Roxas, and returns him to DiZ's base underneath the abandoned mansion in [[Twilight Town]], introducing himself as "Ansem". 

Roxas' memory is erased by DiZ and he is placed into a [[Virtual Twilight Town]], to live out his days until the time comes for him to meet Sora. Meanwhile, Riku watches over Roxas, periodically entering the town in order to keep Roxas ignorant to the truth, including keeping Naminé from saying anything important to Roxas. He also takes some keepsakes of Roxas' during some of his visits.
Eventually, when the time comes for Roxas, Riku makes sure to prevent the Nobodies from flooding the town. Soon, the goal Riku had been searching for is finally reached: Roxas joins with Sora. Though DiZ ordered him to eliminate Naminé, Riku handed her to the now-renegade [[Axel]] of Organization XIII before leaving DiZ.

===Joining Sora===

[[Image:Kh2rikuart.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Riku, around the age of 16]]

Riku, after Roxas joins with Sora, comes into contact with King Mickey. Riku begs King Mickey not to reveal his whereabouts and condition to Sora, and the King reluctantly agrees. He then leaves the King the digital versions of Olette's munny pouch and Roxas' crystal orb that he had pilfered from Roxas earlier.

Later, Axel tries to kidnap Kairi in an attempt to use her to turn Sora into a Heartless so Roxas would be reborn. However, Riku rescues Kairi, and takes her to Twilight Town, where she meets [[Hayner]], [[Pence]], and [[Olette]], but never reveals his identity. However, Axel again appears, but another member of Organization XIII, [[Saïx]], manages to kidnap Kairi, with the intent to use her to fuel Sora's rage. At the battle for Hollow Bastion, Sora, Donald, and Goofy end up in an empty realm, where Riku arrives. He says nothing to them, and only leaves the trio a box that contains [[sea-salt ice cream]] and a [[picture]] of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette in front of the haunted mansion.

Riku also arrives at the [[Land of Dragons]], trying to warn the Emperor of a Heartless dragon that [[Xigbar]] created. But he ends up meeting Sora, and Sora attacks him, thinking Riku to be an Organization member. However, Sora sees that Riku is wielding the Soul Eater, and begins to suspect Riku's identity. But Riku still goes ahead with his mission, and warns the Emperor (but had to defeat [[Li Shang|Captain Shang]] in order to do so). When Sora talks to the Emperor, the wise ruler's description of the man further cemented Sora's idea that the man he fought was Riku.

Riku later appears in the World That Never Was, after Naminé rescues Kairi. The two are faced against Saїx, but Riku quickly comes to the rescue, his Soul Eater having now transformed into a Keyblade called [[Way to the Dawn]]. Naminé calls Riku by name, and disappears. Kairi, excited to see Riku, removes his hood, but is met with the face of Xehanort's Heartless. She takes it in stride, seeing the true Riku underneath his current form.

Kairi later is attacked by Heartless on her way to see Sora, being saved by Riku. He then gives Kairi [[Kairi's Keyblade|a mysterious Keyblade]] so that she may fight. And after Sora defeats Xigbar, he and Kairi reunite. Riku tries to take his leave, but Kairi stops him. She then reveals Riku's identity, and with some concentration, Sora also sees Riku underneath his dark appearance, and is overjoyed to the point of tears. Riku explains that he did not want to be found, thanks to his appearance, and confirms Sora's suspicions of the clues they found- namely, the ice cream and Roxas' photo. Still, he and the others make their way up the castle, defeating the remaining Organization members save for [[Xemnas]]. 

Near the top, Riku reunites with King Mickey and DiZ, his true name being Ansem the Wise, who is using a machine to try and encode Kingdom Hearts into data. Xemnas also arrives, and he and Ansem the Wise trade bitter words. The machine then explodes, unable to handle Kingdom Hearts, killing Ansem the Wise while causing countless hearts Xemnas had collected into Kingdom Hearts to rain down on the world, creating a slew of Heartless. The explosion also restores Riku to his original form, though he is still remorseful. After some encouragement, Riku transcends the rest of the castle, abandoning his cloak and blindfold. He and the others also encounter Maleficent and [[Pete]], who decide to hold off the hordes of Heartless that are overtaking the castle, but only so that they will eventually take the castle for their own.

[[Image:Kh2endin_4_0001.jpg|thumb|Riku and King Mickey at Destiny Islands]]

Riku and the others then confront Xemnas, refusing his demand to gather more hearts. Xemnas then removes Sora from the area, fighting him one on one, with everyone else calling out to him. When Sora returns, they see that Xemnas has already reached Kingdom Hearts, and disappears into it. A door, constructed by the will of the worlds, appears, and the three wielders of the Keyblade open it up and follow Xemnas. After a tough battle, Naminé appears again, opening up a corridor of darkness that leads to Destiny Islands, as Riku can no longer use them. However, Xemnas attacks, riding on a gigantic robotic dragon, and separates Sora and Riku from the others. After a series of battles, the two of them are drawn into nothingness by Xemnas and face in a final, exhausting battle. Towards the end after the final attack used by Xemnas, Sora is left open and Riku takes a blow intended to finish off his friend, which allows Sora to finish Xemnas off with both Riku and Sora firing a beam of light from Sora's keyblade. However, after the battle they end up in the Realm of Darkness. Having the time to finally talk, the two reconcile with each other. Riku then comes across a letter in a bottle, written by Kairi, and gives it to Sora, believing him to be the proper recipient. Sora then manages to open the Door to Light, as King Mickey predicted, and the two return home, reuniting with their friends.

Some time later, Sora, Riku, and Kairi receive a letter from the King. The contents are a mystery.

==Future Games==

===[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep]]===

A younger Riku has been seen in a screenshot of [[Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep]], where he is seen training his fighting skills with Sora.

===[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]===

Riku plays an important role in the game's story. He is first seen meeting with the King in the forest outside the Twilight Town Mansion, where he is in his Xehanort's Heartless form. The King then calls the Keyblade to him, ready to fight, not knowing who he is. To let the King know it's him, Riku puts his blindfold on, which makes him turn back to normal, leaving the King looking surprised.

He appears on the bridge in [[Beast's Castle]], where he fights Xion. After the battle, a defeated Xion lies on the ground, while Riku pulls her hood off and pulls up his blindfold to take a good look at her. When he sees her face, he acts shocked and begins asking her where she got the Keyblade, claiming that it must be a fake, which Xion denies.
[[Image:Riku_xion_ds.jpg|thumb|left|Riku talking to [[Xion]]]]
He is later seen conversing with Xion again at the [[Destiny Islands]], where Xion asks him about "The girl who is always with Sora", where Riku tells her that [[Kairi]] is the girl Sora really cares for. Even though Xion doesn't want to return to her true self yet, Riku tries to persuade her to do so, in which Xion asks if he means Kairi. He has also been shown holding an apparently-dying Xion in his arms.

He is also seen in a couple of scenes in the room where Sora sleeps, conversing with [[Diz]].

It's been confirmed that Riku may be the final boss of the game, in which the game would end with the battle between him and [[Roxas]] depicted in several scenes in KH1 and KH2, including the secret endings [[Another Side, Another Story]] and [[Deep Dive]].
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===[[Kingdom Hearts Coded]]===

A data version of Riku has a brief appearance in virtual [[Destiny Islands]] and [[Neverland]] only to be like he was before anything happened after his world disappeared.

==Personality==

In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Riku is a calm, cool, collected (and not to mention cocky) teen who is not afraid to go far beyond his limits. This shows through when he shows no fear in stepping into the dark portal when Destiny Islands was being consumed by darkness, along with his statement "I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

He also showed a strong competitive streak, along with a bit of jealousy. He shows his competitive side when he challenges Sora, saying that his heart is stronger than Sora's heart. It is not actually said aloud, but thanks to Maleficent, he became increasingly jealous of Sora. It started with him finding out about Sora's new friends, and his thinking that he had been replaced. The jealousy grew when he learned about Sora possessing the Keyblade. The jealousy turned into rage, resulting in the battles against Sora throughout KHI, and his possession by Xehanort's Heartless.

Though his traits were not too favorable in KHI, he becomes more heroic in ''Chain of Memories''. Riku has many realizations. One of these realizations was him realizing that he let his heart become weak. From that moment on, he began to shy away from the darkness in his heart. Through the scores of fights and battles in Castle Oblivion, he makes another big realization: he can't get rid of the darkness in his heart. He matured immensely, and along with leaving his past behind him, he also left a lot of his unfortunate traits.

In ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he shows a great amount of loyalty and care for his friends. To save Sora, he did everything he could to bring Roxas to DIZ to make Sora whole again...including becoming Ansem. As Sora journeyed on between the worlds, he dropped Sora some valuable clues, such as the sea-salt ice cream and the picture.

When he finally is found in The World That Never Was, he repeatedly shows regret, telling Sora that "he didn't want to be found," and almost refusing to come back to Destiny Islands because of his wrongdoings.

Another good personality trait he showed was a strong protectiveness over his friends. He never wanted Sora and Kairi to find out about the time he spent in the darkness. He nearly sacrificed himself to protect Sora from Xemnas' attacks, leaving him injured after the final battle.

==Battle technique and weaponry==
In comparison to Sora's two-handed style and Roxas' dual-weaponry, Riku attacks with a fast one-handed style with his [[Soul Eater]]/[[Way to the Dawn]]. Riku attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat, and is just as able with his weapons as Sora is with his. His strength and agility are best demonstrated on Destiny Island, where he is known as the strongest child on the island ([[Tidus]] remarked that he, [[Wakka]], and [[Selphie]] were defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him), and possesses an athletic springing kick if knocked down. Riku's other main form of attack is ''Dark Firaga'', in which he fires multiple blue fireballs of dark energy. Though Sora has bested Riku on several occasions (mostly when Riku was being manipulated by Maleficent and Xehanort's Heartless), it is still unclear whom is stronger. Riku's strength is demonstrated in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', when Roxas tells Sora during battle that he has defeated Riku - when Sora repeats Roxas's claim to Donald and Goofy, Donald exclaims "But nobody could defeat Riku!"

When Xehanort's Heartless tempered the darkness in his heart, Riku was able to turn into his Dark Form which increased his powers and granted him the Dark Keyblade. Riku's enhanced dark powers under possession are ''Dark Raid'', where he throws a spinning Dark Keyblade, ''Dark Break'' where he performs a powerful jump attack, and ''Dark Aura'' where he dashes around the arena at high speed slashing all in his path. When he used the power of darkness (and ended up looking like Xehanort's Heartless), he could use some of "Ansem's" attacks, as well as temporarilly possessing Ansem's [[Guardian]].

When he is playable in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'', he is given a preset deck in each world that cannot be changed and changes automatically during gameplay. By breaking his opponent's cards, Riku acquires "DP", which let him transform into his Dark Form. Dark Form, along with giving him increased speed and strength, gives him access to [[sleights]] that mimic his special attacks from Kingdom Hearts. Outside of Dark Form, any combination of stocked cards counts as a sleight and costs Riku a card, so he cannot perform combo attacks as easily as Sora can. Instead, he has access to a unique system of battle called "card dueling", which allows Riku to stun opponents and perform special commands by breaking their cards multiple times. Overall, in contrast to Sora who must rely on sleights and combos to fight, Riku's playing style is more up-front, relying on card duels and breaks to acquire DP and enter Dark Form.

When he turned into his "true form" in the end of Kingdom Hearts II, His powers increase dramatically and he gained his keyblade "Way to the Dawn". As a party member, Riku possesses various abilities that combine his dark powers with Sora's light powers. Riku can use ''Dark Aura'' to fire Dark Firaga when Sora completes a combo, can use ''Dark Shield'' to project a barrier, and possesses numerous other powers. In his [[Limit]] with Sora, Eternal Session, Riku is able to project waves of dark energy from his Keyblade in addition to unleashing fast combos and Dark Firaga barrages. At the end, Sora and Riku toss their Keyblades together to act as a super-damaging magnet.

==Quotes==
===Kingdom Hearts===
*''"Giving up already? C'mon Sora, I thought you were stronger than that."''
*''"Once we set through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"''
*''"Take care of her."''
*''"What? You'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?"''
*''"Now, open your heart! Surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!"''
*''"So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the keyhole with your power! Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"''
*''"Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less."''

===Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain Memories===
*''"I'm... fading... Fading away... into the light..."''
*''"You and Kairi smell the same."''
*''"Fair enough, Mickey"''
*''"Your Majesty, I'm so flattered. I don't know what to say."''

===Kingdom Hearts II===
*"''C'mon, Sora. You've got to pull it together.''"
*"''I didn't want you to find me.''"
*"''I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on. Sora never did pick the brightest friends.''"
*"''Cause I'm not a total sap like you''"
*"''I told you. I didn't want to be found. Not like this... I couldn't. I fought with Ansem. With...Xehanort's Heartless--when it invaded my heart, and I won. But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself.''"
*"''This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness.''"

==Battle Quotes==
===Kingdom Hearts===
*''"My turn!"''
*''"Ha!" ''
*''"Ya!"''
*''"Here it comes!" ''
*''"Darkness!"''
*''"Behold the power of darkness!"''
*''"Welcome to oblivion!"''
*''"Surrender!"''
*''"Don't tell me you're giving up already!"''
*''"No...not yet..."''

===Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories===
*''"Ya!"''
*''"Rah!"''
*''"Ha!"''
*''"Take this!"''
*''"Like it?"''
*''"Just me!"''
*''"Come on!"''
*''"Your Majesty!"''
*''"Times up!"''
*''"Darkness!"''

===Kingdom Hearts II===
*''"That's it!"''
*''"Thanks!"''
*''"Is that all you got?"''
*''"Out of my way!"''
*''"Time's up!"''
*''"Sorry..."''
*''"I'll take 'em." ''
*''"Prepare to lose it all!" ''
*''"Ha!" ''

==Attacks & Abilities==
===''Kingdom Hearts''===
In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Maleficent gives Riku the power to control the Heartless for a short time. Later, Maleficent unlocks his dark powers which he has used throughout the series. Xehanort's Heartless, who was believed to be Ansem at the time, possessed Riku and gave him all of his power. In ''Chain of Memories'', Riku was able to escape the Realm of Darkness through the subconscious use of his dark powers. Riku also gained full control over his dark powers and finally defeated Xehanort's Heartless.

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

'''Dark Mode'''<br />

'''Activation & Description''': Dark Mode can be activated when you have accumulated the maximum dark points (DP) through card breaks. In Dark Mode, Riku's skills are powered up, and you have more sleights to choose from. DP is lost when your card is broken or you receive damage. Riku returns to normal when the DP gauge reaches zero. To increase DP during Dark Mode, choose Darkness Boost when leveling up. The more DP you have, the longer you will stay in Dark Mode.

'''Dark Break'''<br />

'''Description''':  Leap into the air and attack enemies from above. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
'''Card value''': Three Soul Eater cards, total value of 5-15.

'''Dark Firaga''' (non-elemental)<br />

'''Description''': Expel Dark energies in a searing blast. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
'''Card value''': Three Soul Eater cards, total value of 16-25.

'''Dark Aura'''<br />

'''Description''': Rush enemies repeatedly with blade in hand. only available in Dark Mode.<br />
'''Card value''': Three Soul Eater cards, total card value of 27.

'''MM Miracle'''<br />

'''Description''': The king restores HP, and stuns and deals damage to all enemies.<br />
'''Card value''': Two or three King Mickey cards are needed to stock, no card value limited.

'''Impulse'''<br />

'''Description''': Knock foes into the air before a slam down to the ground, damaging multiple enemies.<br />
'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break three cards with a time limit of four seconds.

'''Dark Impulse'''<br />

'''Description''': Knock foes into the air before a hard slam down to the ground, damaging multiple enemies. Only available in Dark Mode<br />
'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break three cards with a time limit of four seconds.

'''Maelstrom'''<br />

'''Description''': Unleash a spinning attack on the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy.<br />
'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break five cards with a time limit of six seconds.

'''Dark Maelstrom'''<br />

'''Description''': Unleash a powerful spinning attack on the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break five cards with a time limit of six seconds.

'''Barrage'''<br />

'''Description''': Throw the Soul Eater towards the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy.<br />
'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break seven cards with a time limit of eight seconds.

'''Dark Barrage'''<br />

'''Description''': Throw multiple Soul Eaters towards the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break seven cards with a time limit of eight seconds.

'''Holy Burst'''<br />

'''Description''': Riku and The King spin around together shooting balls of light at surrounding enemies. <br>
'''Card value''': King Mickey (first), two Soul Eaters.

'''Inverse Burst'''<br />

'''Description''': When Riku is in his Dark Mode, Riku shoots balls of Darkness while The King shoots balls of light.<br>
'''Card value''': King Mickey (first), two Soul Eaters.

===''Kingdom Hearts II''===

As a party member, Riku is very similar to Beast from [[Kingdom Hearts]], in the sense that  he is the final party member, as well as being the strongest. He has high strength magic, and above-average defense. He has some of the best abilities such as MP Hastega. Also his main action abilities: Dark Aura and Dark Shield, are activated upon the player's command, which helps him conserve MP for Cure Potion, which fully heals any ally. Riku's greatest asset is his Limit: Eternal Session, which is tied with Sora's Trinity to unleash the best Limit in the game. He can equip one accessory and two armor pieces. Riku's abilities are as followed:

* '''Dark Aura''': Riku fires multiple Dark Orbs at the enemy. Available as a Reaction command after Sora finishes a combo.
* '''Dark Shield''': Riku creates a barrier to protect Sora.
* '''Cure Potion''': Riku heals a party member to max HP; costs 99 MP.
* '''Item Boost''': Boosts the effectiveness of healing items like Potions.
* '''MP Hastega''': MP recovery rate is greatly increased.
* '''Defender''': Increases defense when HP is critical.
* '''Second Chance''': Ensures 1 HP is retained after being hit with a critical attack.
* '''Once More''': Ensures 1 HP is retained after being hit with a combo attack.
* '''Auto Limit''': Sets the Reaction command to [[Limit]], if a Limit has been equipped.
* '''Hyper Healing''': Quickly revives a fallen party member and restores their HP.
* '''[[Limit]] Ability''': Eternal Session.

Riku is also temporarily playable during the final battle with Xemnas. During this time, he has only three commands - ''Dark Aura'', Attack, and Jump.

==Forms==
*'''Dark Form'''<br>
While using the power of the darkness, Riku could transform into a dark version of himself and use his dark power against his opponents.<br>In ''Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories'', he transforms by saying "Darkness".

*'''Halloween Town'''<br>
In ''Re:Chain of Memories'', he turned into a darker version of himself when he travels to [[Halloween Town]].

*'''Xehanort's Heartless'''<br>
While fighting and losing to [[Roxas]], Sora's Nobody, Riku takes on the form of Xehanort's Heartless to make himself stronger. He continues to be in this form until Ansem's device explodes, causing him to finally return to his true form.

==Trivia==
*Roxas' battle with Riku, as seen in ''Another Side, Another Story'', involves him running up the side of Memory Skyscraper and passing by Riku as he leaps off. A similar scene happens when Sora and Xemnas later battle in the same area.
*While Riku's name means 'land', [[Terra]]'s name means 'earth' in Latin. Any connection between the two is unconfirmed. However, similar name meanings also apply with [[Sora]]/[[Ven]] and [[Kairi]]/[[Aqua]].
*Even though Riku is a wielder of the Keyblade, he can't use any of Sora's [[keychains]] while he is in the party.
*Riku is the only character in the Kingdom Hearts Universe series who calls Mickey by his name at the King's request.
*Even though Riku was jealous of Sora's friendship with Donald and Goofy, he ended up having a similar relationship with King Mickey.
*When playing as Riku in Kingdom Hearts II with the aid of a cheat device, his combos can be endlessly looped.
*Riku's roles in the various games have varied greatly - during his time through ''Kingdom Hearts'', ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he has been an optional miniboss, a support character, a boss again, a boss a third time, a playable character, a boss a fourth time, a party member, and a temporary playable character.
*Riku is one of the two only characters to possess more than one Keyblade within the storyline, the other being [[Roxas]].
*During the final battle with Xemnas, if Riku dies, the game will be over. This is similar to fighting [[Barbossa]] in [[Port Royal]]. If [[Jack Sparrow]] died, it was Game Over.

==See also==

* [[Riku Replica]]
* [[Soul Eater]]
* [[Way to the Dawn]]

{{Party}}

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts characters]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts II characters]]
[[Category: Chain of Memories characters]]
[[Category: Destiny Islands]]
[[Category: Allies]]
[[Category: Bosses]]
[[Category: Keyblade Wielders]]
[[Category: Travelers]]
[[Category: Enemies]]
[[Category: Coded characters]]
[[Category: Villains]]
[[Category: HellFire Club]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts II]]
[[Category: 358/2 Days]]
[[Category: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]
[[Category:Original characters]]

[[de: Riku]]
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Game|KH1|FM1|COM|REC|KH2|FM2|358|KHC|RCO|BBS|FMB|DDD|DHD|AFP|KH3|3RM|MOM|FA}}
+{{FA}}
-{{suite|Riku}}
+{{InfoCharacter
-{{Youmay|the character|{{c|Riku|track|the musical theme}}}}
+|name=Riku
-{{Character
+|image=[[Image:KH2-Riku cg.jpg|200px]]
- |name=Riku
+|game=Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II
- |image=[[File:Riku KHIII.png|350x400px]]
+|kana=リク
- |katakana=リク
+|world=[[Destiny Islands]]
- |romaji=Riku
+|role=Keyblade Master
- |fr=Riku
+|first=''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''
- |de=Riku
+|voice= [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gallagher David Gallagher] (English)<br>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamoru_Miyano Mamoru Miyano] (Japanese)}}
- |es=Riku
+{{Q|But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!|Riku}}
- |pt=Riku
+'''Riku''' is the best friend and rival of [[Sora]], the main character of ''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''. His name is derived from the Japanese word for 'land'.
- |type=Entelechy
- |charworld1=Destiny Islands
- |charworld2=Hollow Bastion
- |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
- |enva=David Gallagher
- |enva2=Ty Panitz
- |enva2n=(Young Riku)
- |java=Mamoru Miyano
- |java2=Eiji Shima
- |java2n=(Young Riku)
- |KH2normalname=Riku
- |KH2normalfile=Riku KHII.ogg
- |CODnormalname=Riku
- |CODnormalfile=Riku KHREC.ogg
- |358normalname=Riku
- |358normalfile=Riku KHD.ogg
- |s1=Riku-Ansem
- |s2=Ansem, Seeker of Darkness
- |s3=Riku Replica
- |s4=Data-Riku
- |journalKH='''First entry'''<br>Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. He hated the monotony of island life and built a raft with Sora and Kairi to explore the outside world. Riku seems to have vanished along with the Destiny Islands.<br><br>'''Second entry'''<br>Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. When the Destiny Islands vanished, so did he. By the time Riku reappeared, Sora had already found new friends, so Riku didn't rejoin him. Riku is willing to go to any length to save Kairi--even join forces with Maleficent.<br><br>'''Third entry'''<br>Riku gained immense power through the forces of darkness. But ordinary humans are no match for the darkness, and it is gradually consuming his heart.<br><br>'''Fourth entry'''<br>When Kairi lost her heart, Riku allied himself with Maleficent to save her. Riku was actually the rightful master of the Keyblade, but once he chose darkness over light, the weapon chose Sora instead. Ansem exploited Riku's weakness of heart and possessed him.
- |journalSS=Sora's childhood friend.<br><br>Baited by the darkness and used by Maleficent and Ansem, Riku once fought against Sora.<br><br>In order to seal the door to darkness, Riku stayed with the king on the other side. His current whereabouts are unknown.<br><br>Sora journeys in the hopes of finding Riku.
- |journalRR=A boy who was born and raised on a small group of islands.<br><br>Riku dreamt of seeing other worlds, and so he forsook the islands—only to be seduced by the power of darkness.<br><br>Enslaved by Ansem, pursuer of darkness, Riku clashed with his childhood friend Sora. But in the end, he was able to regain himself, and together with Sora closed the door to darkness. Still, the dark wounds in Riku's heart have yet to mend.
- |journalKH2='''Ansem'''<br>Mysterious wielder of darkness.<br><br>What could his true purpose be?<br><br>'''First entry'''<br>The form Sora's longtime friend Riku chose.<br><br>Though Xehanort tried to control Riku from within, Riku's heart proved stronger. But the only way to wield the darkness fully was to become it.<br><br>Riku began calling himself "Ansem," perhaps as a sign of resolve. He would live in darkness if that's what it took to wake Sora.<br><br>'''Second entry'''<br>Sora's longtime friend. He had clad himself in darkness in order to wield it, and had even changed in appearance.<br><br>But when the real Ansem's Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploded, Riku returned to his old form.<br><br>You could say it was a miracle—worked by a heart no darkness could eclipse.
- |journal358='''HD 1.5 ReMIX'''<br>Childhood friends with Sora and Kairi. He donned the Organization's black coat pretending to be a member, and investigates their actions while waiting for Sora's memories to be restored.
- |journalBBS=A little boy who yearns to see the outside world. Terra chose him to inherit the power of the Keyblade.<br><br>Riku deeply cares for his friend Sora, and believes the strength he needs to protect people awaits him somewhere in the wider world.
- |journalCOD=Sora's best friend. They grew up together on the Destiny Islands. But Riku was so desperate to leave their small, stifling home that he succumbed to the darkness. Eventually, he and Sora clashed.<br><br>Fortunately, he met Mickey. With his new friend's help, Riku learned to turns his wrongs into rights, and eventually became one of Sora's greatest, unseen allies.
- |journalDDD=A boy who wields a Keyblade. His battles to save the worlds have often pitted him against the darkness in his own heart.<br><br>Now, he is braving the Mark of Mastery examination to find out if he is still worthy of the Keyblade.
-|journalUX='''KH Riku/Illustrated Riku'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)<br>A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi.<br><br>'''KH II Black Coat Riku A/KH II Black Coat Riku B'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS II (2005)<br>A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi who's fought Sora in the past.<br><br>'''KH II Riku'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS II (2005)<br>A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. Reliable and inquisitive.<br><br>'''KH CoM Black Coat Riku'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS CoM (2004)<br>A childhood friend of Sora who struggles with the darkness inside.<br><br>'''Illustrated Riku B'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS CoM (2004)<br>A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. He dreamed of going off to the outside world.<br><br>'''KH 3D Riku'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS 3D (2012)<br>A Keyblade-wielding boy who takes on the Mark of Mastery exam.<br><br>'''HD Riku'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS 3D (2012)<br>A young Keyblade wielder who attempts the Mark of Mastery exam to test his potential.<br><br>'''Sora & Riku & Kairi'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)<br>Three friends who live in Destiny Islands.<br><br>'''KH II Riku & Mickey'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS II<br>A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi, and the king of Disney Castle.<br><br>'''Sora & Riku & Meow Wow'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS 3D (2012)<br>A Medal celebrating KH 2.8.
-|journalKH3=A true Keyblade Master and childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. Though he struggled with the darkness in the past, he learned to control his heart and successfully earned the Mark of Mastery.<br><br>In order to gather the remaining guardians of light to confront Master Xehanort, Riku and King Mickey have gone searching for the lost Keyblade wielders who vanished over ten years ago.
-}}
-{{Q|If the world is made of light and darkness... We'll be the darkness.|Riku to Sora in the Realm of Darkness}}
-'''Riku''' is one of the main characters in the ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|series}}'' series. He is the secondary antagonist of ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}'', and a major playable character in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]''. He has lesser playable roles in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]'', only for individual battles. In ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'', he is playable in [[Mission Mode]].
-He lives on [[Destiny Islands]] with his best friends, [[Sora]] and [[Kairi]], and all three of them dream of venturing from Destiny Islands to find out what worlds are out there. This dream comes true, although Riku becomes influenced by the [[darkness]] and struggles to find a place as Sora's ally. He eventually does and also becomes a [[Keyblade Master]] after passing his [[Mark of Mastery exam]].
+==Journal Entries==
+===''Kingdom Hearts''===
+*'''First Entry'''
+''Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. He hated the monotony of island life and built a raft with Sora and Kairi to explore the outside world. Riku seems to have vanished along with the Destiny Islands.''
+*'''Second Entry'''
+''Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. When the Destiny Islands vanished, so did he. By the time Riku reappeared, Sora had already found new friends, so Riku didn't rejoin him. Riku is willing to go to any length to save Kairi--even join forces with Maleficent.
+*'''Third Entry'''
+''Riku gained immense power through the forces of darkness. But ordinary humans are no match for the darkness, and it is gradually consuming his heart.''
+*'''Fourth Entry'''
+''When Kairi lost her heart, Riku allied himself with Maleficent to save her. Riku was actually the rightful master of the Keyblade, but once he chose darkness over light, the weapon chose Sora instead. Ansem exploited Riku's weakness of heart and possessed him.''
+===''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''===
+''Sora's childhood friend.''
-==Development==
+''Baited by the darkness and used by Maleficent and Ansem, Riku once fought against Sora.''
-In the ''[[Director's Secret Report XIII]]'', it is stated that one of the four untold stories is "the period of Riku's absence", though that has not been further delved into.
-==Story==
+''In order to seal the door to darkness, Riku stayed with the king on the other side.  His current whereabouts are unknown.''
-===''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''===
-[[File:Legacy 01 KHBBS.png|thumb|left|200px|Riku is chosen as Terra's successor.]]
+''Sora journeys in the hopes of finding Riku.''
-When [[Terra]] visits Destiny Islands, he can already sense Riku's potential, and asks why Riku wants to leave his island. Riku tells Terra that [[Master Xehanort|someone]] else left the island long ago, and visited other worlds. Riku states that he would like to leave his world too in order to become strong enough to protect his friends and everything else he holds dear. During their conversation, Terra sees a vision of a white-haired man who then transforms into Riku's sixteen-year-old self. This convinces him to choose Riku as his successor, and lets Riku [[Bequeathing|hold his Keyblade to test his strength]]. He convinces Riku to keep their conversation a secret to preserve the world order.
+*'''''Reverse/Rebirth'''''
+''A boy who was born and raised on a small group of islands.''
+''Riku dreamt of seeing other worlds, and so he forsook the islands--only to be seduced by the power of darkness.''
-He and Sora later encounter [[Aqua]], who finds their friendship similar to that of hers, Terra's and Ven's, and asks Sora to protect Riku if he ever loses his path.
+''Enslaved by Ansem, pursuer of darkness, Riku clashed with his childhood friend Sora.  But in the end, he was able to regain himself, and together with Sora closed the door to darkness.''
-Sometime afterwards, Riku and Sora are resting on a beach under a starry sky at night. When they are ready to go home, Riku sees Sora's sudden tear of sadness and says that perhaps someone from another world is feeling sad somewhere and suggests that Sora try and reach out to him. After Sora reaches out to [[Ventus]], they both look up at the starry sky.
+''Still, the dark wounds in Riku's heart have yet to mend.''
-===Between ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' and ''Kingdom Hearts''===
+===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
-Sometime later, a young girl named Kairi arrives at the Destiny Islands from [[Radiant Garden|another world]] during a nighttime meteor shower. Not long after that night, Sora and Riku explore a small, hidden cave on their islands, in search of a "howling monster". They are disappointed to find only a featureless door in the "Secret Place", and they decide to someday leave the island and have real adventures. As they leave, they decide to go see "the new girl", and Riku, unbeknownst to Sora, looks back at the door to see the [[Keyhole]] of the Destiny Islands.
+'''Xehanort's Heartless'''
-Riku, Sora, and Kairi quickly forge a powerful friendship. During the next several years, they often wonder about what lies beyond their small world, prompted by the mystery of Kairi's forgotten home.
+''The form Sora's longtime friend Riku chose.''
-===''Kingdom Hearts''===
+''Though Xehanort tried to control Riku from within, Riku's heart proved stronger. But the only way to wield the darkness fully was to become it.''
-{{Q|Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!|Riku to Sora as the Destiny Islands are consumed by darkness}}
-[[File:The Outside World 01 KH.png|thumb|Riku, Sora, and Kairi often spend the evenings at a tree on an attached islet.]]
-Riku, Sora, and Kairi continued to live on the Destiny Islands together. The three work together to construct a [[Highwind (raft)|raft]] and gather supplies so that they can set out and search for other outside worlds. While Riku and Sora continue their rivalry through duels and races, Riku takes jabs at Sora over his relationship with Kairi, telling him that if Sora loses their race over the raft's name, he gets to share a [[paopu fruit]] with Kairi- although if spoken to afterward, he will claim it was "just a joke".<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts (game)|Kingdom Hearts]]''''', '''Riku''': "What's that? Oh, the paopu thing? It was just a joke. You should have seen your face."</ref>
-On the night before their journey, Riku opens the door in the secret place and the [[Heartless]] invade the islands. Kairi and Sora each set out for the island to make sure their raft is safe. Sora finds Riku, but finds that Riku is only eager to escape the islands. Darkness surrounds the two, and while Riku disappears into it, Sora gains the [[Keyblade]].
+''Riku began calling himself "Ansem," perhaps as a sign of resolve. He would live in darkness if that's what it took to wake Sora.''
-{{canon
+'''Riku'''
-|In the ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'' novel, Riku has a short discussion with Kairi, who came to help secure the raft during the storm. He 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%
-}}
-Riku eventually ends up in [[Hollow Bastion]] via the [[Corridor of Darkness]], separated from his friends. There, he is found by [[Maleficent]], and she offers him shelter and protection.
+''Sora's longtime friend. He had clad himself in darkness in order to wield it, and had even changed in appearance.''
+''But when the real Ansem's Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploded, Riku returned to his old form.''
+''You could say it was a miracle- worked by a heart no darkness could eclipse.''
-In exchange for Riku's cooperation in gathering the [[Princesses of Heart]], she agrees to find Kairi and bring her to him. During this time, Riku comes to possess a blade of darkness called [[Soul Eater]]. Riku comes across Sora in [[Traverse Town]]. He takes possession of Sora's Keyblade for a few moments before giving it back to Sora, much to Sora's surprise, and then he suddenly leaves. Watching Sora from a distance, Maleficent turns Riku against Sora, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for traveling with [[Donald]] and [[Goofy]]. However, Riku is still highly suspicious of her motives.
+==Story==
-During Sora and [[Aladdin]]'s fight with [[Jafar]] in [[Agrabah]], Riku takes [[Jasmine]] to Hollow Bastion under Maleficent's orders. Maleficent reveals the whereabouts of Kairi's [[body]]. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who appears to have lost her [[heart]] to the darkness, is to gain access to [[Kingdom Hearts]].
+===Early Life===
-[[File:Playing Games 01 KH.png|thumb|left|Riku teases Sora and runs off with Pinocchio.]]
+[[Image:KHRikuCG.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Riku as he appears in the first Kingdom Hearts.]]
-Riku meets Sora again in [[Monstro]], intending to use [[Pinocchio]] to help him find a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio is captured by the [[Parasite Cage]], and Riku works together with Sora, Donald, and Goofy to save him. Afterwards, Riku kidnaps Pinocchio, and is pursued by Sora, Donald, and Goofy into Monstro's stomach. Riku asks Sora to join him and help him rescue Kairi, but Sora refuses, knowing that Riku's methods are wrong. When the Parasite Cage returns, Riku vanishes into a Corridor of Darkness.
-[[File:Shadow Sora 02 KH.png|thumb|Riku retreats with Kairi and summons AntiSora to battle Sora.]]
+Riku's story begins a number of years before the night of the heartless invasion on [[Destiny Islands]]. On an earlier night, there is a meteor shower and [[Kairi|a mysterious girl]] appears on the islands.  Apparently, Kairi is from another, far off world, and is now stuck on the Destiny Islands, with no way to return to her home. The two and Sora, another resident of the Isles, quickly forge a powerful friendship. Soon after Kairi's arrival, Riku and Sora go to the secret place, a small cave that they frequently explored. Sora finds it fascinating, but soon decides to take his leave. Before leaving, Riku catches sight of an enigmatic door. From this day on Riku became obsessed with finding out what lies beyond the door, wondering if it could perhaps be a passageway to another world, such as Kairi's.
-Maleficent bestows the power of darkness on Riku, giving him the power to command the Heartless. He then goes to [[Neverland]], traveling on [[Captain Hook]]'s ship, where Kairi's body is being kept. He appears before Sora, showing him Kairi's body. Sora warns Riku that the Heartless will eventually turn on him and devour his heart, but Riku refuses to listen and retreats after using his new powers to summon [[AntiSora]]. However, before he heads back to Hollow Bastion, he tells Captain Hook that the captured [[Wendy]] is not a Princess of Heart. Riku takes Kairi and recklessly returns to Maleficent's castle via the Corridors of Darkness without a vessel, putting a strain on his heart. While he is drained from the trip, Maleficent unlocks the last of Riku's dark power.
-{{canon
+===Journey off Destiny Island===
-|
-If Sora goes to Monstro after encountering Riku and Kairi on Captain Hook's ship, "Riku" shows up to kidnap Pinocchio. When Sora encounters "Riku" with Pinocchio, "Riku" mockingly asks Sora if he has forgotten his best friend, to which Sora responds that he is not Riku. "Riku" then summons the Parasite Cage and leaves through a portal of darkness.
-}}
-At Hollow Bastion, Sora again meets Riku, stopping him from taking down the wounded [[Beast]]. Riku and Sora briefly talk then forcibly summons the Keyblade away from him, telling him that he was "just the delivery boy" and that Riku is the true Keyblade master. After leaving Sora with a [[Wooden Sword]] he used on Destiny Islands, he departs, and Donald and Goofy reluctantly follow him as per [[Mickey Mouse|The King]]'s orders.
+Riku appears as a cool and collected 15-year-old, a year older than his best friends Sora and Kairi, living on Destiny Islands. The three spend their days constructing a raft and gathering supplies, so that they might one day set out and search for other worlds. He and Sora share a fierce but good natured rivalry, competing over who is stronger in battle as well as over Kairi's affections, among other things. Despite the fact that their arguments are of good intention, Riku is known to irritate Sora by being a bit of a sore loser and (in the original Kingdom Hearts Manga: volume 1) very pushy involving his fight over Kairi, shown when he tells Sora that, if the latter does not share a paopu with Kairi soon, he will. All three of them, as well as the other children that live on the islands, spend most of their time on the smallest island, acting as their own personal playground.
-Sora makes his way to the foyer of the castle, with the help of Beast. Riku, taking on a new appearance with the increasing strength of his dark powers, tells him to quit, but Sora refuses to leave without Kairi. Riku, intending to prove to Sora that he is the strongest of the two, attacks his old friend, but Donald and Goofy go to Sora's aid, finding themselves unable to betray Sora after all that they had been through together. With the strength of his friends, Sora reclaims the Keyblade, and drives Riku to fight him.
+However, things take a drastic turn on the night before their journey. Riku, likely unable to leave the islands without knowing the truth, opens the door in the secret place (something he saw while very young, but was perhaps too overwhelmed to open it just then) and the [[Heartless]], beings of darkness, invade the islands, seeking out the world's heart. Both afraid that a storm would destroy the raft, Kairi and Sora also set out for the island. Sora finds Riku first. However, while Sora is concerned for his friend's safety, Riku is only obsessed with finally escaping the island. Darkness surrounds the two, and Riku disappears into it, while Sora gains the [[Keyblade]].
-Riku, defeated, manages to escape, but he is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. [[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness|Ansem]] in his brown robe appears to him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku's was weaker than Sora. However, the figure tells him that plunging himself into darkness will make his heart stronger. Riku does so, and he is possessed by the dark figure.
+===Invitation to Darkness===
-The possessed Riku then comes before Maleficent, and warns her of the dangers of unlocking the [[Final Keyhole]]. When she claims not to be afraid, Riku shows her the [[Keyblade of heart]] created from six of the seven princesses' hearts. However, it doesn't react to the Keyhole. Realizing it is still needing Kairi's heart to be complete, Maleficent heads off to handle Sora and company. After Maleficent is defeated by Sora, Riku appears with his Keyblade and explains that unlike Sora's Keyblade, this Keyblade possesses the ability to unlock a person's heart, and Riku demonstrates this by piercing Maleficent's chest, allowing the immense darkness that is attracted to her to overtake her heart, transforming her into a giant dragon. When Maleficent is defeated again, he reappears, commenting on how Maleficent was being used by the Heartless from the start before disappearing again.
+Riku eventually ends up in [[Hollow Bastion]] via the [[Corridor of darkness]], separated from his friends. There he is found by [[Maleficent]] and offered shelter and protection.
-[[File:The Seeker of Darkness 01 KH.png|thumb|left|Ansem possesses Riku's body.]]
+Though Riku is provided a place to stay, Maleficent begins corrupting his mind, convincing him that Sora has replaced him and Kairi with [[Donald|Donald Duck]] and [[Goofy]]. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who has lost her heart to the darkness, is to ally himself with her and her band of villains, while abandoning Sora. After reuniting with Sora in [[Traverse Town]], Riku begins to agree with Maleficent and officially starts his stay with her, however he is still highly suspicious of her motives.
-[[Game:Riku|Riku]], declaring himself to be Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, confronts Sora in the Grand Hall and reveals that Sora has Kairi's heart in his body. While Donald and Goofy look on, Riku and Sora clash again, with Ansem's presence amplifying Riku's dark powers. He fades away when he is defeated, but after Sora stabs himself with the Keyblade to release Kairi's heart and disappears, Ansem reveals himself and attacks Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. Riku uses the last of his strength to hold back his possessor, and yells to the others to run. This leads to an internal struggle between the two that Riku ultimately loses; Riku's heart is sent to the [[Realm of Darkness]]{{Storylink|Kingdom Hearts Final Mix}} while Ansem takes complete control.
-[[File:Closing the Door 04 KH.png|thumb|Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi before the Door to Darkness is closed.]]
+As the days progress, Riku becomes steadily angrier at Sora, convincing himself to hate his old friend. He obtains a blade from Maleficent called the [[Soul Eater]] and teaches himself to use it, believing it will aid him in his search for Kairi's heart.
-A newly restored Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, eventually make their way to the [[End of the World]]. There, in the remnants of Destiny Islands, they once again confront Ansem, who has full control of Riku's body, and defeat him after a series of battles at the [[Door to Darkness]].
-The overwhelming light of [[Kingdom Hearts]] envelops and destroys Ansem, allowing Riku to take back his body. He is restored in the Realm of Darkness, but is quickly targeted by a massive swarm of Heartless. Fortunately, Aqua and Mickey spot him, and Aqua uses her Keyblade to restrain the Heartless, unobserved by the boy, allowing Mickey and Riku to escape.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-}}
+With his mind corrupted, Riku again meets Sora in [[Monstro]], intending to use [[Pinocchio]] to help him find out a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio ends up captured by a giant Heartless called the [[Parasite Cage]], forcing Sora and Riku to work together, somewhat against Riku's wishes.
-The pair make it to the Door to Darkness, but are unable to cross through the door themselves, as they are not from the Realm of Darkness. They aid Sora in closing it to prevent a horde of Heartless from crossing through, but not before Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi. This leaves the pair trapped in the Realm of Darkness, looking for another way out.
+Riku later appears at [[Neverland]], traveling on [[Captain Hook|Captain Hook's]] ship, where Kairi's body is held. Riku also now shows that he has gained the power to control the Heartless, a gift granted to him by Maleficent. He then goes to Sora, revealing that he has Kairi's body in his possession. The two argue, and Riku retreats after creating [[Anti-Sora]], a dark reflection of Sora, with his newly acquired dark powers. However, before he heads back to Hollow Bastion, he instructs Captain Hook that the captured [[Wendy]] is not a Princess of Heart. Riku takes Kairi and recklessly returns to Maleficent's castle via the Corridors of Darkness without a vessel, a foolish act that strains even his powerful heart. While he is drained from the trip, Maleficent unlocks the last of Riku's power and the boy's heart is plunged into almost complete darkness.
-===''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories''===
+At [[Hollow Bastion]], Sora again meets Riku, and defends the wounded [[Beast]] from a swift death by Riku's blade. But the Beast is hardly one of Riku's major concerns, as Riku reveals his true purpose for confronting Sora. He is able to will the Keyblade into his grasp. Riku explains that Sora was only a temporary recipient, telling him that he was "just the delivery boy" and that Riku is the true Keyblade master. After leaving Sora with the toy sword he used on the Destiny Islands, he departs, Donald and Goofy following him as per [[King Mickey|the King's]] orders, though regretfully.
-{{Q|Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road."<br>"Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?"<br>"No. It's the road to dawn.|Riku and DiZ}}
-Riku awakens in the Realm of Darkness. An unseen presence gifts him a magic [[world card]] and asks him to choose between slipping back into slumber, or taking the card and making his way toward the truth. Riku decides that going back to sleep would be boring, and confidently takes the card.<!--KH3d seems to claim he wakes in the Realm Between: "Meanwhile, Riku had found his way out of the realm between light and darkness."-->
-After Riku takes the card, he goes through a corridor of darkness constructed by Organization XIII to the lowest basement of [[Castle Oblivion]], which has taken the form of Hollow Bastion by crafting itself from his memories.{{storylink|Secret Ansem's Report 11}} Though Hollow Bastion is the same as he remembered it, he is unable to find anyone. While he searches, the voice speaks to and mocks the young teenager. At long last, Riku meets someone: Maleficent. Maleficent taunts him and his refusal of the darkness, but Riku fights and defeats her, hoping to prove that he is above the darkness.
+Though Sora is significantly weakened, he makes his way to the foyer of the castle, with the help of Beast. Riku, having taken on a new appearance with the increasing strength of his dark powers, tells him to quit, but Sora refuses to leave without Kairi. Riku, intending to prove to Sora that he is the stronger of the two, attacks his old friend, only for Donald and Goofy to go to his aid after finding themselves unable to betray Sora after all that they had been through together. With the strength of his friends, Sora regains the Keyblade, becoming the true master, and drives Riku into retreat once more.
-[[File:Ansem's Offer 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|left|Mickey lends Riku his light.]]
+===Becoming the Darkness itself===
-Riku leaves Hollow Bastion, only to see the true form of Castle Oblivion. The voice again comes to Riku, but this time reveals himself to be Ansem, who wants to take over Riku again. However, though Ansem is powerful, King Mickey comes to aid Riku with his [[light]]. Riku then manages to fend off Ansem for the time being. Before he departs, the Heartless leaves Riku with some world cards and the ability to wield his inner darkness as a weapon.
-Riku soon realizes that he has the power to detect the "smell" of darkness, and is discouraged by it, though King Mickey comforts him. However, King Mickey can only appear to Riku as a projection, for he is still in the Realm of Darkness. Still, with King Mickey's encouragement, Riku ascends the basements of Castle Oblivion in order to rid himself of his darkness. Meanwhile, as Riku travels through the lower levels of Castle Oblivion, Sora ascends the upper floors, being manipulated by [[Marluxia]], a member of the mysterious [[Organization XIII]] and the lord of Castle Oblivion. But three other Organization members, [[Vexen]], [[Lexaeus]], and [[Zexion]] work to counter Marluxia by using the dark-wielding Riku against the light-wielding Sora.
+[[Image:DarkRiku.jpg|thumb|right|153px|Riku possessed by Xehanort's Heartless, holding the Dark Keyblade.]]
-To further the trio's goals, Vexen independently appears before Riku and the latter wonders if Vexen is with "Ansem" (Xehanort's Heartless). Vexen cryptically responds that he is with "[[Xemnas|another Ansem]]". Still, Riku fights against Vexen, seeing him as an enemy. However, the battle only helps Vexen, who uses the data he gathered from the battle to create a [[Riku Replica|replica of Riku]]. The [[replica]] soon comes to battle Riku, mocking Riku's fear of the darkness while the replica embraces it. However, the real Riku proves victorious, and the replica runs off. Soon, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, appears again, saying that the replica is a model of what Riku should be, but Riku only reaffirms his desire to conquer his darkness.
+Eventually, Riku manages to escape, but is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. A [[Xehanort's Heartless|mysterious voice]] somehow contacts him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku himself was weaker than Sora. However, the mysterious voice, now slowly taking a shape, presents Riku with an offer he can not resist, a Keyblade of his own. Under the influence of jealousy and rage, Riku agrees to become one with the Darkness, only to become possessed by the mysterious voice itself.
-[[File:In a Flash of Darkness 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|Ansem possesses Riku for an instance and eliminates Lexaeus.]]
+The new Riku then presents himself to Maleficent and warns her of the dangers of unlocking the Final Keyhole. When she claims not to be afraid, Riku shows a new, dark Keyblade created with six of the seven princesses' hearts. However, it doesn't react to the keyhole. Realizing it is still needing Kairi's heart to be complete, Maleficent heads off to handle Sora and co. After Maleficent is defeated by Sora, Riku appears with his Keyblade and explains that unlike Sora's Keyblade, this Keyblade possesses the ability to unlock a person's heart, and Riku demonstrates this by piercing Maleficent's chest, allowing the immense darkness that is attracted to her to overtake her heart, transforming her into a giant dragon. While this form proved a far deadlier enemy to Sora and his friends, it still was defeated and killed.
-Passing through much of the castle (by this time, the bulk of Sora's adventure is complete, and [[Larxene]] and Vexen have been eliminated) Riku finds Lexaeus. Lexaeus, like the others, tells him that he should accept the darkness again, because if he doesn't, his journey will end here. The two fight, and Riku only manages to wear him down. As Riku moves in for the finishing blow, Lexaeus summons his herculean strength and knocks Riku unconscious with his Axe Sword. Lexaeus decides to eliminate him since taking him down was too much trouble, but as he does, he notices Riku becoming possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. This catches Lexaeus off-guard, and the possessed Riku takes the opportunity to put an end to him. Although Lexaeus is defeated, Riku ends up having a struggle with Ansem that he nearly loses. Just before the dark being can overwhelm Riku, Mickey saves him again and manages to bring him out of the darkness.
-Riku comes closer to the ground level, just as Marluxia's scheme fails and Sora finishes him off. Riku senses Marluxia's defeat, and Zexion quickly arrives on the scene to explain it. But he also reveals that Sora is the one who did the deed, much to Riku's surprise. Zexion quickly asks if Riku is capable of seeing Sora, for Riku shouldered the darkness for so long, and Ansem still resides in his heart. Riku tries to resist Zexion's comments, but Zexion ultimately gives him a world card of Destiny Islands.
+[[Riku (Enemy)|Riku]], calling himself [[Xehanort's Heartless|Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness]], later confronts and battles Sora (who is cut off from Donald and Goofy) at the Final Keyhole. He hopes to release Kairi's heart from within Sora's, so that she, being the final [[Princess of Heart]] can open the Keyhole. He fails, but Sora impales himself anyway to save Kairi. With Sora gone, [[Xehanort's Heartless]] attacks Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, but they are saved by Riku, who is using the last of his strength to hold the dark powers of his possessor off.
-In Destiny Islands, Riku meets all of his friends, but they are all silent and they eventually disappear, even Kairi. Zexion throws all of Riku's fears at him at once, telling him he's responsible for causing them to disappear, and that he belongs to the darkness now. He finally transforms an illusion of him into a [[Darkside]] Heartless, telling him this is what he has become. Riku defeats the Heartless as Zexion disguises himself as Sora. He tells him that it's finally time to face the light.
+Riku's rejection of Xehanort's Heartless leads to an internal struggle between the two, which Riku ultimately loses. This causes Riku to lose control of his body once more, while Xehanort's Heartless gains it fully.
-Riku sinks into the light as he begins to fade, but [[Naminé]] appears in the form of Kairi and tells him that he can't fade, because light can't destroy him, and neither can darkness, so he should accept both to drive away his fears. He awakens his dark powers again, admitting that it's a part of him and not evil, defeating Zexion. Zexion disappears, but is quickly eliminated by the Riku Replica with [[Axel]].
+A newly restored Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, eventually make their way to the [[End of the World]], the home of the heartless. There they once again confront Xehanort's Heartless and defeat him after a series of battles at the Door to Darkness. Riku is then restored, and appears on the other side of the Door to Darkness, aiding Sora in closing it, but unable to cross it, as only pure darkness can go back and forth through the door. Waiting to enter the [[Realm of Light]] are thousands upon thousands of heartless, who only cause further problems for the two friends. However, King Mickey, appearing for the first time in the game, ward them off, with a powerful golden colored Keyblade. The King and Sora then proceed to close the door, Sora on the outside, Mickey within. Riku is stuck on the other side of the door with the King, but not before he told Sora to " take care of Kairi".
-Riku nearly makes it to the main floor as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, appears to control him, but King Mickey defends Riku again and finally appears for real. Riku is relieved at finally having a real friend with him. King Mickey explains that he found a card which showed him Riku's heart and he followed it back to him.
+===Awakening===
-[[File:The Last One-on-One 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|left|Riku fighting Riku Replica in the memory-based Twilight Town.]]
+[[Image:KHCoM-Riku.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Riku from Chain of Memories]]
-Riku uses the card, and ends up in [[Twilight Town]]. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, appears again, but Riku tells him that he is not "Ansem", because his scent is not darkness—but rather something else. Riku also sees that this man is the voice that presented itself at the beginning of his journey. The voice finally appears and introduces himself as [[Ansem the Wise|DiZ]]. Riku asks him what he really wants from him, and DiZ tells him he wants him to choose between light and darkness, because he lies in-between. The decision will be decided with Naminé, whom Riku looks for. However, the Riku Replica manages to find him, and demands another fight to prove him "worthy". The replica intends to destroy Riku in order to become real, but fails. However, Riku comforts him by saying that the replica's heart will go to the same place as the real one's, before the replica vanishes out of existence.
-Riku meets up with Naminé, who is with Sora in his memory pod, and explains the situation. She offers to seal away Ansem and Riku's darkness, so that he may forget them, but will have to sleep to do so. Riku refuses, hoping to win on his own, and leaves a satisfied Naminé. However, before he departs, he tells Naminé that he knows that it was she who appeared to him as Kairi, commenting that they smell the same.
+Riku awakes in the lowest basement of [[Castle Oblivion]], being led there by his heart resonating with Sora, who also happens to be in Castle Oblivion, though on the ground floor. A dark card and [[DiZ|a disembodied voice]] present themselves. The Voice offers Riku the chance to sleep and forget his troubles as well as the light, or take the card and take the first steps toward the truth. Riku takes the card confidently.
-After meeting Naminé, DiZ appears again to Riku and the King (who notes that DiZ seems familiar). Knowing his choice, DiZ gives Riku a card that will draw out Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. After DiZ leaves, Riku tells Mickey to destroy him if he fails to stop Ansem, but he refuses, saying he'll only help him regain control, and Riku concedes.
+Riku arrives in none other than Hollow Bastion, though only a version of it crafted from his memories. However, though Hollow Bastion is the same as he remembered it, he is unable to find anyone. All the while he searches, the Voice speaks to and mocks the young teenager.
-Riku faces Ansem alone for one final battle. Ansem asks why he still refuses him if he accepts darkness now, and inquires if Riku is still scared of the darkness. Riku denies this and merely says, "I just can't stand your foul stench." They fight and the last of Ansem is destroyed, but not before he says a part of him is still in Riku, and that he shall return.
+At long last, Riku meets someone: [[Maleficent]]. Maleficent taunts him and his refusal of the darkness, but Riku fights Maleficent, hoping to prove that he is above the darkness. He is victorious.
-[[File:Where the Road Leads 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|Riku walking the road to dawn.]]
+Riku leaves Hollow Bastion, only to see the true form of Castle Oblivion. The Voice again comes to Riku, but this time reveals himself to be Xehanort's Heartless, who wants to take over Riku again. However, though Xehanort's Heartless is powerful, King Mickey comes to aid Riku with his light. Riku then manages to fend off Xehanort's Heartless for the time being. But before he leaves, the Heartless leaves Riku with some world cards and the ability to wield his inner darkness as a weapon.
-Riku and Mickey wait at the crossroads. Riku tells him that he can't go home yet, as Ansem's shadow still lingers in him, but Mickey says the darkness is a part of him. Riku, who now forms an equally strong bond to the King as Sora's friendship to Donald and Goofy, calls Mickey by his name at the King's request. They leave, taking Organization [[black coat]]s that DiZ gave them prior to confronting Ansem, and DiZ appears for one final question: if he shall take the "road to light" or the "road to darkness". Riku chooses neither; he instead chooses to take the middle road, "the road to dawn".
-Riku and Mickey eventually make it out of the plains and to Hollow Bastion. They separate after Riku realized he couldn't completely rid himself of the darkness festering in him. Deciding to return to DiZ and offer his help, Riku dons a blindfold, so that "his eyes couldn't lie" about the darkness that he is preparing to use.
 {{-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days''===
+===Meeting the Replica===
-{{Q|You could say I am...the biggest nobody of them all.|Riku to Xion}}
-[[File:Distress 01 KHD.png|thumb|left|Riku defeats Xion, and begins to question her identity.]]
-Riku faces off with [[Xion]] on the bridge in [[Beast's Castle]]. Knocking her out, Riku removes Xion's hood, curious about what she looks like. Moving his blindfold off one eye to get a good look at her, he becomes shocked by her appearance. Riku interrogates her as to her identity and use of the Keyblade, while Xion demands to know why he's dressed as a member of the Organization. Telling her it's to make sure Sora sleeps in peace, Riku tells Xion that her [[Keyblade]] is a sham. Angered, Xion attempts to retaliate, but Riku gives her a chop to the back of neck, knocking her down. Riku advises her to leave the faithless Organization. When Xion calls him a fake, Riku accepts the comment, denigrating himself for his own mistakes in accepting the darkness. He leaves Xion to scream in anger.
-{{canon
+Riku soon realizes that he has the power to detect the "smell" of darkness, and is discouraged by it, though King Mickey comforts him. However, King Mickey can only appear to Riku as a projection, for he is still in the Realm of Darkness. Still, with King Mickey's encouragement, Riku ascends the basements of Castle Oblivion in order to rid himself of his darkness. Meanwhile, as Riku travels through the lower levels of Castle Oblivion, Sora ascends the upper floors, being manipulated by [[Marluxia]], a member of the mysterious [[Organization XIII]] and the lord of Castle Oblivion. But three other Organization members, [[Vexen]], [[Lexaeus]], and [[Zexion]] work to counter Marluxia by using the dark-wielding Riku against the light-wielding Sora.
-|In the [[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (manga)|manga]], Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the [[Kingdom Hearts (novels)|novel]], it's implied he sees her briefly as Sora at the Destiny Islands.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts (novels)#Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days|Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days novel]]: '''''"Feeling uneasy, Riku lifted his blindfold just a bit to look at her. And just for an instant…she looked like someone else. Not Kairi or Naminé— but ''him''."</ref>|width=60%
-}}
-[[File:Disorder 01 KHD.png|thumb|Riku tells Xion she has to come up with a solution which works best for her and everybody else.]]
+To further the trio's goals, Vexen independently appears before Riku and Riku wonders if Vexen is with Xehanort's Heartless. But Vexen cryptically responds that he is with "[[Xemnas|another Ansem]]". Still, Riku fights with Vexen, seeing him as an enemy. But the battle only helps Vexen, who uses the data he gathered from the battle to create a [[Riku Replica]]. The replica soon comes to battle Riku, mocking Riku's fear of the darkness while the replica embraces it. However, Riku proves victorious, and the replica runs off.
-Many weeks later, Xion leaves the Organization and visits Destiny Islands. Her confused memories give her an intense nightmare shared with Roxas involving Zexion and Riku's battle at Castle Oblivion's facsimile of Destiny Islands. Riku finds Xion and comforts her. He recalls a prior conversation with Naminé discussing what he needs to do to awaken Sora. After Xion wakes up on Destiny Islands, she inquires about Sora and the "girl he's always with", to which Riku explains that the girl is Kairi, a special friend of Sora's, and that the reason Sora is unable to wake up is that some of his memories are held within Xion. Despite needing Xion to reunite with Roxas and Sora, Riku gives her time to decide what she wants to do, with the advice that she should choose what is best for everyone. For a while, both Riku and Xion spend time together.
-After some time, Xion leaves with Riku to stay at DiZ's base in Castle Oblivion. [[Roxas]] and [[Axel]] continue to search for her across the worlds, and finally make contact in [[Twilight Town]], but Xion quickly takes her leave while Riku stays behind to distract them.
+Soon, Xehanort's Heartless appears again, saying that the replica is a model of what Riku should be. But Riku only reaffirms his desire to conquer his darkness.
-Later, Riku and DiZ check up on Sora's progress at Twilight Town. Naminé was not sure if she would meet Riku again, as they originally met when Sora was sleeping in Castle Oblivion. She discusses her difficulty trying to help recover Sora's memories, saying that both Roxas and Xion need to disappear in order to wake Sora up. Eventually, Sora's recovery comes to a complete standstill, and Riku volunteers for DiZ to take out Roxas.
+Passing through much of the castle (the bulk of Sora's story is complete, and [[Larxene]] and Vexen are dead) Riku finds Lexaeus. Lexaeus, like the others, tells him that he should accept the darkness again, because if he doesn't, his journey will end here. The two fight, and Riku barely finishes the mighty brute. As a last move, Lexaeus covers the room in darkness as Xehanort's Heartless moves in to take his heart. Mickey saves him again and manages to bring him out of the darkness.
-The next day, Riku reunites with Xion at Beast's Castle again. Riku tells Xion to visit Naminé at Twilight Town so that she can make an informed decision on what she should do with herself.
+Riku comes closer to the ground level, just as Marluxia's scheme fails and Sora finishes him off. Riku senses Marluxia's defeat, and Zexion quickly arrives on the scene to explain it. But he also reveals that Sora is the one who did the deed, much to Riku's surprise. Zexion quickly asks if Riku is capable of seeing Sora, for Riku shouldered the darkness for so long, and Xehanort's Heartless still resides in his heart. Riku tries to resist Zexion's comments, but Zexion ultimately gives him a world card...of Destiny Islands. Riku enters.
-[[File:The King and Riku Reunited 01 KHD.png|thumb|left|Riku asks Mickey to protect and guide Sora, Donald, and Goofy upon their awakening.]]
+===Twilight===
-In [[The Woods]], King Mickey runs across [[Riku-Ansem]] and prepares to attack, supposing him to be Xehanort's Heartless, but calms himself when Riku replaces his blindfold and returns to his normal form. Riku informs the King that he is leaving to fight a member of the Organization, and asks Mickey to protect Sora in the event that he does not return.
-Riku then encounters Roxas at [[Memory's Skyscraper]] as the latter begins a rampage to free Kingdom Hearts. Then, Roxas climbs the Memory's Skyscraper and throws Riku the [[Oblivion]] Keyblade, as they both take out the remaining [[Neoshadow]] Heartless. Riku and Roxas are both jolted by the fading memories it communicates of a now-erased Xion, and bemusedly finish off the remaining Neoshadows before turning on each other. Demanding to know why Riku stands in his way, Roxas explains that he is seeking to retrieve his lost friend by freeing Kingdom Hearts, but is angered when Riku responds that Xion's memories are already too far gone to save her. A furious Roxas is initially able to gain the upper hand, but is knocked down just when victory seems in sight.
+In Destiny Islands, Riku meets all of his friends, but they are all silent and they eventually disappear, even Kairi. Zexion throws all of Riku's fears at him at once, telling him he's responsible for causing them to disappear, and that he belongs to the darkness now. He finally transforms an illusion of him into a Darkside Heartless, telling him this is what he has become. Riku beats back the Heartless as Zexion disguises himself as Sora. He tells him that it's finally time to face the light.
-[[File:The Beginning of Everything 01 KHIIFM.png|thumb|Riku gives in to his darkness in a last-ditch effort to take out Roxas.]]
+Riku sinks into the light as he begins fade, but Naminé appears in the form of Kairi and tells him that he can't. Light can't beat him, neither can darkness, so he should accept both, then he won't be afraid anymore. He awakens his dark power again, admitting that it's a part of him and not evil, beating back Zexion. He disappears, but is quickly killed by the Riku Replica with Axel.
-Riku returns the Oblivion to the unconscious Roxas and prepares to transport him, but is surprised when Roxas revives and once again attacks; in response, Riku jostles his sleeping memories by taunting Roxas as he once did Sora, inducing Roxas to respond as Sora would and confirming Riku's suspicions of Roxas: that he is Sora's [[Nobody]]. Even more enraged, Roxas slashes at Riku with the Oblivion and it passes on one final memory of Xion, which implore Riku to save Roxas by stopping him. Left with no other choice, Riku releases the darkness imprisoned in his heart and takes on Ansem's form permanently. Riku realizes that if he is to win in the Realm of Darkness, he must submerse himself in the same darkness. He quickly dispatches Roxas, then returns him to DiZ's base at the Old Mansion, where he introduces himself as "Ansem".
-===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
+Riku nearly makes it to the main floor as Xehanort's Heartless appears to control him, but King Mickey beats him back again and finally appears for real. Riku is relieved at finally having a real friend with him. Mickey explains that he found a card which showed him Riku's heart and he followed it back to him. Riku uses the card, and ends up in Twilight Town. Xehanort's Heartless appears again, but Riku tells him that he's not "Ansem", because his scent is not darkness--it is something else. Riku also sees that this man is the Voice that presented itself at the beginning of his journey. The Voice finally introduces himself as DiZ. Riku asks him what he really wants from him, and DiZ tells him he wants him to choose between Light and Darkness, because he lies in-between. The decision will be decided with [[Naminé]], who Riku looks for.
-{{Q|We must defeat Xemnas. He's the Organization's last survivor. C'mon.|Riku}}
-[[File:His Name is Ansem 01 KHII.png|thumb|left|200px|Riku introduces himself as Ansem.]]
+However, the Riku Replica manages to find him, and demand another fight to prove him "worthy". The replica intends to kill Riku in order to become real, but fails. However, Riku comforts him by saying that the replica's heart will go to the same place as the real one's, before the replica vanishes out of existence.
-Riku continues to ally himself with DiZ, as they have a common goal: to help Sora awaken (though Riku finds his memories of Sora fading, being a side-effect of Naminé's toying with Sora's memories). Roxas's memory is erased by DiZ and he is placed into [[The Other Twilight Town]], to live out his days until the time comes for him to meet Sora. Meanwhile, Riku watches over Roxas, periodically entering the town in order to keep Roxas ignorant to the truth, including keeping Naminé from saying anything important to Roxas. He also takes some keepsakes of Roxas's during some of his visits. With all these deeds done, Riku finally demands to know what DiZ's true objective is. Upon hearing that it is merely revenge (DiZ does not disclose against whom it is), Riku clenches his fist, shocked and disgusted at how DiZ is merely using him and Sora for his own selfish reasons.
-Eventually, when the time comes for Roxas, Riku makes sure to prevent the Nobodies from flooding the town. Soon, the goal Riku had been searching for is finally reached: Roxas joins with Sora. Though DiZ orders him to eliminate Naminé, Riku, feeling DiZ had no right in deciding  her fate, decides to hand her to the now-renegade Axel of Organization XIII before leaving DiZ.
+Riku meets up with Naminé. who is with Sora in his memory cell, and explains the situation. She offers to seal away Xehanort's Heartless and Riku's darkness, so that he may forget them, but will have to sleep to do so. Riku refuses, hoping to win on his own, and leaves a satisfied Naminé. However, before he departs, he tells Naminé that he knows that it was her who appeared to him as Kairi, commenting that they smell the same.
-Riku later comes into contact with King Mickey. Riku begs King Mickey not to reveal his whereabouts and condition to Sora, and the King reluctantly agrees. He then leaves the King the digital versions of Olette's [[Munny Pouch]] and Roxas's crystal orb that he had pilfered from Roxas earlier. Riku left these items behind to clue them in on the virtual Twilight Town's existence and to help them learn about Roxas. At Sunset Hill, as Axel and Naminé ponder about their fate as Nobodies, Riku allows them to leave, thanking them both for helping him and Sora throughout their first conflict with the Organization in Castle Oblivion a year earlier. Riku, along the other two, then escape Twilight Town via a Corridor of Darkness created by Axel. Riku then spends his time countering the Organization at every chance he gets, as well as keeping a watchful eye on Sora.
+===Way to the Dawn===
-Later, Axel tries to kidnap Kairi in an attempt to use her to turn Sora into a Heartless so Roxas would be reborn. However, Riku rescues Kairi by opening a Corridor of Darkness, and takes her to Twilight Town, where she meets [[Hayner]], [[Pence]], and [[Olette]], but never reveals his identity. At [[Battle of the 1000 Heartless|the battle for Hollow Bastion]], Sora, Donald, and Goofy end up in an empty realm, where Riku arrives. He says nothing to them, and only leaves the trio a box that contains [[sea-salt ice cream]] and a [[Picture|picture of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette in front of the haunted mansion]] before immediately departing.
+[[Image:Blindfoldriku0.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Riku with a blindfold over his eyes and wearing a [[Black Cloak]]]]
-[[File:Versus Riku-Ansem KHII.png|thumb|200px|A hooded Riku confronts Sora in The Land of Dragons.]]
-Riku also arrives at [[The Land of Dragons]], trying to warn [[the Emperor]] of a Heartless dragon that [[Xigbar]] had created. However, he ends up meeting Sora, and Sora attacks him, thinking Riku to be an Organization member. When Sora sees that Riku is wielding the Soul Eater, he begins to suspect Riku's identity. Advancing forward, Riku still goes ahead with his mission and warns the Emperor, but had to defeat [[Li Shang]] in order to do so. When Sora talks to the Emperor, the wise ruler's description of the man further cemented Sora's idea that the man he fought was Riku; though unaware of why he is wearing the coat, Sora is nonetheless relieved to know that Riku is safe.
-At some point following this encounter, Riku gained the ability to transform his [[Soul Eater]] into a true Keyblade. Its appearance reflected his nature of being between light and darkness, so he gave it an appropriate name: [[Way to the Dawn]].
+After meeting Naminé, DiZ appears again to Riku and the King (who notes that DiZ seems familiar). Knowing his choice, DiZ gives Riku a card that will draw out Xehanort's Heartless. After DiZ leaves, Riku tells King Mickey to destroy him if Riku fails to stop Xehanort's Heartless, but the King refuses, saying he'll only help him regain control, and never harm him. Riku concedes.
-Upon learning that the Organization had kidnapped Kairi to force Sora to slay Heartless for them, Riku heads to the [[Castle That Never Was]] and protects Naminé and Kairi from [[Saïx]] after Naminé has freed Kairi from her prison. To Kairi's surprise, Naminé calls Riku by name, and disappears. Though Riku attempts to depart when Saïx escapes, he is stopped by Kairi and [[Pluto]]. Kairi, excited to see Riku, removes his hood, but is met with the face of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Though Riku felt ashamed to be seen in the form of their old enemy, Kairi took it in stride, as she could see the real Riku beneath the façade.
+Riku faces Ansem for one final battle alone. Ansem asks why he still refuses him if he accepts darkness now, but Riku merely says "I just can't stand your foul stench". They fight and the last of Xehanort's Heartless is destroyed, but not before he says a part of him is still in Riku, and he shall return.
-Kairi later is attacked by Heartless in her attempt to help Sora, and saved by Riku. He then gives Kairi the [[Destiny's Embrace]] Keyblade so that she may fight. After Sora defeats Xigbar, he and Kairi reunite. Riku tries to take his leave, but Kairi stops him. She then reveals Riku's identity, and with some concentration, Sora also sees Riku underneath his dark appearance. The revelation makes Sora overjoyed to the point of tears. Riku explains that he did not want to be found, thanks to his appearance, and confirms Sora's suspicions of the clues they found - namely, the ice cream and Roxas's photo. Afterwards, he and the others make their way up the castle, defeating the remaining Organization members save for [[Xemnas]]. During this time, Riku reveals the truth about Roxas to Sora, and realizes that he never had to fight him; Roxas had left Organization XIII because he had wanted to meet Sora in the first place, and would most likely have met him either way over time.
+Riku and Mickey wait at the front entrance. Riku tells him that he can't go home yet as "Ansem's" shadow still lingers in him, but Mickey says the darkness is a part of him. Darkness is not all bad, because Riku has chosen a road he never thought of before, one of both Light and Darkness. They leave, taking Organization cloaks that DiZ gave them prior to confronting Xehanort's Heartless, and DiZ appears for one final question: if he shall take the "road to light" or the "road to darkness". Riku chooses neither, he'll take the middle road, "The Road to Dawn". Riku and King Mickey eventually made it out of the plains and separate after Riku realized he couldn't completely rid himself of the darkness festering in him. Deciding to return to DiZ and offer his help, Riku dons a blindfold, for "his eyes couldn't lie" about his darkness which he is preparing to use and wished Mickey not to witness firsthand.
-[[File:Goodbye, King Mickey 03 KHII.png|thumb|left|Riku is restored to his original form.]]
+{{-}}
-Near the top, Riku reunites with King Mickey and DiZ, who reveals himself to actually be Ansem the Wise. Ansem is using a [[Kingdom Hearts Encoder|machine]] to try and encode Kingdom Hearts into data, but Xemnas confronts him, and they trade bitter words. The machine then explodes, unable to handle Kingdom Hearts, sending Ansem the Wise to the Realm of Darkness while causing countless hearts Xemnas had collected into Kingdom Hearts to rain down on the world, creating a slew of Heartless. The explosion also cleanses Riku's heart and restores Riku to his original form, though he is still remorseful. After some encouragement, Riku traverses the rest of the castle alongside Sora, abandoning his cloak and blindfold. He and the others also encounter Maleficent and [[Pete]], who decide to hold off the hordes of Heartless that are overtaking the castle, but only so that they will eventually take the castle for their own.
-[[File:To End Everything 01 KHII.png|thumb|Riku and Sora prepare to battle Xemnas.]]
+===Allying with DiZ===
-Riku and the others then confront Xemnas, refusing his demand to gather more hearts. Xemnas then removes Sora from the area, fighting him one on one, with everyone else calling out to him. When Sora returns, they see that Xemnas has already reached Kingdom Hearts, and disappears into it. A door, constructed by the will of the worlds, appears, and the three wielders of the Keyblade open it up and follow Xemnas. After a tough battle, Naminé appears again, opening up a corridor of darkness that leads to Destiny Islands, as Riku can no longer use them since Ansem's darkness is no longer in his heart. However, Xemnas attacks, riding on a gigantic robotic dragon, and separates Sora and Riku from the others.
-After a series of battles, the two of them are drawn into nothingness by Xemnas and face off in a final, exhausting battle. Towards the end of the battle, Sora is left open and Riku takes a blow intended to finish off his friend, giving Sora the opportunity to beat Xemnas into submission, after which Riku and Sora fire a beam of light from Sora's Keyblade which finishes off the Superior. After his defeat, Sora and Riku face an onslaught of [[Dusk]]s ready to fulfill their master's final order to eliminate the [[Keyblade wielders]], but Sora and Riku successfully destroy them and escape the realm, entering the Dark Meridian.
+[[Image:Riku_as_Ansem.png|right|thumb|Riku in the form of Xehanort's Heartless]]
-[[File:Ending 04 KHII.png|thumb|left|Riku and King Mickey reunite at Destiny Islands.]]
+He allies himself with DiZ, as they have a common goal: to help Sora awaken (though Riku finds his memories of Sora fading, being a side-effect of Naminé's toying with Sora's memories). Riku wants no part in DiZ's revenge. Nonetheless, DiZ asks Riku to kidnap [[Roxas]], the Nobody of Sora, who has been having trouble regaining his memories. If he and Roxas join, Sora should be able to reawaken. Riku enters the Realm of Darkness, and corners Roxas in [[The World That Never Was]], they seem to stalemate. Riku then realizes if he is to win in the Realm of Darkness, he must submerse himself in the same darkness. As a result, Riku unleashed his darkness, taking on the form of [[Xehanort's Heartless]] as a side effect. Riku easily defeated Roxas, and returns him to DiZ's base underneath the abandoned mansion in [[Twilight Town]], introducing himself as "Ansem".
-Riku, severely exhausted and injured, asks Sora to sit with him on the shore. Having the time to finally talk, the two reconcile with each other. Riku then comes across a letter in a bottle, written by Kairi, and gives it to Sora, believing him to be the proper recipient. Sora then manages to open the [[Door to Light]], which they walk through. Riku and Sora found themselves falling through the sky and into an ocean. Bewildered, they hear Kairi's voice calling out to them and are greeted by their friends from [[Disney Castle]]. While Sora shares a hug by Goofy and Donald, Riku happily reunites with Mickey.
-{{-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts coded''===
+Roxas' memory is erased by DiZ and he is placed into a [[Virtual Twilight Town]], to live out his days until the time comes for him to meet Sora. Meanwhile, Riku watches over Roxas, periodically entering the town in order to keep Roxas ignorant to the truth, including keeping Naminé from saying anything important to Roxas. He also takes some keepsakes of Roxas' during some of his visits.
-[[File:Beneath the Hood 04 KHREC.png|thumb|Jiminy's Journal taking Riku's form.]]
+Eventually, when the time comes for Roxas, Riku makes sure to prevent the Nobodies from flooding the town. Soon, the goal Riku had been searching for is finally reached: Roxas joins with Sora. Though DiZ ordered him to eliminate Naminé, Riku handed her to the now-renegade [[Axel]] of Organization XIII before leaving DiZ.
-{{main|Data-Riku}}
-A [[Data-Riku|data version of Riku]] is created by the digitization of [[Jiminy's Journal]] and becomes a vessel for the memories contained in the Journal. He appears as Riku does in ''Kingdom Hearts''.
-One of the memories hidden in the Journal<!--when is it revealed?--> depicts Riku meeting Ansem on Destiny Islands.
+===Joining Sora===
-In the Destiny Islands room of the Dataspace's Castle Oblivion, Data-Riku reveals to Sora the memory of Riku on the Clock Tower.
+[[Image:Kh2rikuart.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Riku, around the age of 16]]
-<!--
-In one of the memories recovered from the Journal, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, and Riku encounter each other shortly before Destiny Islands is completely swallowed by the darkness. At the last minute, Ansem opens a portal for Riku, allowing him to escape. move to KH section, storylink to coded
-In another memory, revealed to [[Data-Sora]] in the digital version of Castle Oblivion, Riku stands on top of the [[Clock Tower]] with an unconscious Kairi, looking out at the moon. move to KH section, storylink to coded-->
+Riku, after Roxas joins with Sora, comes into contact with King Mickey. Riku begs King Mickey not to reveal his whereabouts and condition to Sora, and the King reluctantly agrees. He then leaves the King the digital versions of Olette's munny pouch and Roxas' crystal orb that he had pilfered from Roxas earlier.
-After the [[Datascape]] simulation finishes, King Mickey goes to talk to Yen Sid, who advises him to summon Sora and Riku for a [[Mark of Mastery exam]]. Mickey writes a letter to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, which he sends in a bottle to Destiny Islands.{{storylink|Blank Points}} As they sit on the beach, Sora and Riku watch the waves and comment that Destiny Islands is a small world, but also part of a much bigger one, then jump to discussion about the Door to the Light. Kairi then appears with [[Mickey's letter]], which the trio reads together.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts II}}
+Later, Axel tries to kidnap Kairi in an attempt to use her to turn Sora into a Heartless so Roxas would be reborn. However, Riku rescues Kairi, and takes her to Twilight Town, where she meets [[Hayner]], [[Pence]], and [[Olette]], but never reveals his identity. However, Axel again appears, but another member of Organization XIII, [[Saïx]], manages to kidnap Kairi, with the intent to use her to fuel Sora's rage. At the battle for Hollow Bastion, Sora, Donald, and Goofy end up in an empty realm, where Riku arrives. He says nothing to them, and only leaves the trio a box that contains [[sea-salt ice cream]] and a [[picture]] of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette in front of the haunted mansion.
-{{-}}
-===''Blank Points''===
+Riku also arrives at the [[Land of Dragons]], trying to warn the Emperor of a Heartless dragon that [[Xigbar]] created. But he ends up meeting Sora, and Sora attacks him, thinking Riku to be an Organization member. However, Sora sees that Riku is wielding the Soul Eater, and begins to suspect Riku's identity. But Riku still goes ahead with his mission, and warns the Emperor (but had to defeat [[Li Shang|Captain Shang]] in order to do so). When Sora talks to the Emperor, the wise ruler's description of the man further cemented Sora's idea that the man he fought was Riku.
-After reading Mickey's letter, Sora sits on the paopu tree while holding it and staring off into the sunset. Riku walks up to him and asks if he has decided, and Sora says that he has. He later smiles at Sora's decision to venture out to find [[List of Glossary terms#Hearts Tied to Sora|those connected to him]].
-===''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''===
+Riku later appears in the World That Never Was, after Naminé rescues Kairi. The two are faced against Saїx, but Riku quickly comes to the rescue, his Soul Eater having now transformed into a Keyblade called [[Way to the Dawn]]. Naminé calls Riku by name, and disappears. Kairi, excited to see Riku, removes his hood, but is met with the face of Xehanort's Heartless. She takes it in stride, seeing the true Riku underneath his current form.
-{{Q|Consume the darkness, return it to light.|Riku's resolve to not fear his past}}
-[[File:The Mark of Mastery Exam 02 KH3D.png|thumb|left|Yen Sid prepares Sora and Riku for their Mark of Mastery exam.]]
-Riku accompanies Sora to the [[Mysterious Tower]] in response to a call from [[Yen Sid]] to undertake the Mark of Mastery exam in order to prepare for the coming return of [[Master Xehanort]]. Once told of the threat Master Xehanort poses, Riku does not hesitate to take the exam, seeing it as an opportunity to see whether or not he is worthy of wielding the Keyblade, especially after his past with the darkness. For their exam, Riku and Sora are sent to the [[Sleeping Worlds]], where they are to awaken several worlds that were restored following the defeat of Ansem, but remained in a state of deep sleep.
-Riku and Sora's journey starts on Destiny Islands, but they soon move on, and end up in Traverse Town, where Riku ends up separated from Sora, but discovers his new attire and abilities. After meeting up with [[Joshua]], [[Shiki]] and [[Beat]] who tutor him, Riku sets off on his journey alone, venturing across several worlds, meeting new friends and battling new villains. But along the way, Riku comes into conflict several times with a mysterious young man with ties to Master Xehanort, accompanied by Ansem himself, who remind Riku of his past experiences with the darkness and try to get him to succumb again, but Riku refuses, reminding Ansem that he walks the road to dawn. He also encounters [[Dark Riku]], who he believes to be his dark side during his travels.
+Kairi later is attacked by Heartless on her way to see Sora, being saved by Riku. He then gives Kairi [[Kairi's Keyblade|a mysterious Keyblade]] so that she may fight. And after Sora defeats Xigbar, he and Kairi reunite. Riku tries to take his leave, but Kairi stops him. She then reveals Riku's identity, and with some concentration, Sora also sees Riku underneath his dark appearance, and is overjoyed to the point of tears. Riku explains that he did not want to be found, thanks to his appearance, and confirms Sora's suspicions of the clues they found- namely, the ice cream and Roxas' photo. Still, he and the others make their way up the castle, defeating the remaining Organization members save for [[Xemnas]].
-[[File:Power Over Time 02 KH3D.png|thumb|Riku faces off against Young Xehanort at the Sanctum of Time.]]
+Near the top, Riku reunites with King Mickey and DiZ, his true name being Ansem the Wise, who is using a machine to try and encode Kingdom Hearts into data. Xemnas also arrives, and he and Ansem the Wise trade bitter words. The machine then explodes, unable to handle Kingdom Hearts, killing Ansem the Wise while causing countless hearts Xemnas had collected into Kingdom Hearts to rain down on the world, creating a slew of Heartless. The explosion also restores Riku to his original form, though he is still remorseful. After some encouragement, Riku transcends the rest of the castle, abandoning his cloak and blindfold. He and the others also encounter Maleficent and [[Pete]], who decide to hold off the hordes of Heartless that are overtaking the castle, but only so that they will eventually take the castle for their own.
-However, once all the seven [[Sleeping Keyhole]]s in the Dreaming Realm are sealed, Sora ends up trapped in sleep in [[The World that Never Was]], and Riku rushes to his rescue upon realizing this. He finds Sora in a comatose state inside the Castle, his heart having been damaged by Xemnas and the young man himself. The young man turns out to be an incarnation of Master Xehanort in his youth, who has been traveling to different periods in time to recruit several other incarnations of Xehanort together. Riku attempts to awaken Sora, but the darkness from Sora's nightmare turns into the [[Anti Black Coat]] that engages Riku. Riku manages to defeat the Anti Black Coat and carries on through the castle, eventually coming face to face with Ansem. Ansem reveals that Riku is actually a [[Dream Eater]], and, over the course of the exam, has been purifying Sora's dreams of [[Nightmare]]s. Ansem attempts to take over Riku's body again, but remembering his secret encounter with Terra, Riku resolves to make his inner darkness his own power for good and make Ansem become part of his light. Then the two battle each other once more. Ultimately, Riku prevails and eventually makes his way to the true Sleeping Worlds version of Where Nothing Gathers, where he finds Sora on an Organization XIII throne. [[Young Xehanort]] blocks Riku's way, but Mickey comes to Riku's aid by casting a [[Stopza]] spell. Young Xehanort, however, is unaffected by the spell and knocks Mickey aside to battle Riku. After a fierce struggle, Riku defeats Young Xehanort. However, the victory is short-lived, as Master Xehanort is finally revived and joined by the rest of his new Organization, among them are Young Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas.
-Master Xehanort fills Riku and Mickey in on his past attempt to create the [[χ-blade]] by pitting Ventus and [[Vanitas]] against each other. The plan failed, but he had a backup: Master Xehanort had Young Xehanort create the [[real Organization XIII]] made of Master Xehanort himself and twelve vessels to harbor a piece of his heart in order to create thirteen darknesses to battle seven lights and recreate the χ-blade. The thirteenth vessel was intended to be Riku but he became unfit as he built a resistance to darkness. The Organization then sought to use Roxas, but he became too self-aware and returned to Sora, so now Sora has been chosen to be the last vessel. Riku and Mickey attempt to save Sora from Master Xehanort but are restrained by Ansem and Xemnas before [[Lea]] arrives and saves Sora. Ansem summons his [[Dark Figure]], who grabs Riku and Mickey, but the Guardian is defeated by Donald and Goofy, who arrive via Mickey's old [[Star Shard]]. His plans temporarily derailed, Master Xehanort retreats with his Organization.
+[[Image:Kh2endin_4_0001.jpg|thumb|Riku and King Mickey at Destiny Islands]]
-[[File:Sora's Keyblade 01 KH3D.png|thumb|left|Riku uses the Kingdom Key to awaken Sora's heart.]]
+Riku and the others then confront Xemnas, refusing his demand to gather more hearts. Xemnas then removes Sora from the area, fighting him one on one, with everyone else calling out to him. When Sora returns, they see that Xemnas has already reached Kingdom Hearts, and disappears into it. A door, constructed by the will of the worlds, appears, and the three wielders of the Keyblade open it up and follow Xemnas. After a tough battle, Naminé appears again, opening up a corridor of darkness that leads to Destiny Islands, as Riku can no longer use them. However, Xemnas attacks, riding on a gigantic robotic dragon, and separates Sora and Riku from the others. After a series of battles, the two of them are drawn into nothingness by Xemnas and face in a final, exhausting battle. Towards the end after the final attack used by Xemnas, Sora is left open and Riku takes a blow intended to finish off his friend, which allows Sora to finish Xemnas off with both Riku and Sora firing a beam of light from Sora's keyblade. However, after the battle they end up in the Realm of Darkness. Having the time to finally talk, the two reconcile with each other. Riku then comes across a letter in a bottle, written by Kairi, and gives it to Sora, believing him to be the proper recipient. Sora then manages to open the Door to Light, as King Mickey predicted, and the two return home, reuniting with their friends.
-Riku brings Sora's comatose body back to the Mysterious Tower and dives into Sora's heart with the [[power of waking]]. In the process, he is forced to battle Sora, clad in Ventus's [[Keyblade Armor]], which has been corrupted by a [[Armored Ventus Nightmare|Nightmare]]. Riku defeats the Nightmare and uses Sora's Keyblade to enter a memory of the Destiny Islands, deep inside Sora's heart. Here he meets projections of Roxas, Ventus, and Xion, who each ask a question before disappearing. After answering the three questions, Riku finds a bottle in the surf, and a data projection of Ansem the Wise approaches him. Ansem tells Riku about [[Ansem's Code]], research data contained in the bottle that he had hid inside Sora while he was asleep. He muses about Sora's ability to connect with others' hearts, and how it may be able to bring back those that have been lost. He tells Riku that by defeating the Nightmare and answering the three questions, he has successfully awakened Sora. Riku returns to the real world, reuniting with Sora and the others, and Yen Sid names Riku as a [[Keyblade Master]]. Riku and the other are shocked when Lea vows to catch up with him, reveals his plan of becoming a Keyblade Master, and successfully — albeit accidentally —  summons his Keyblade [[Bond of the Blaze]].
-As his first duty as a Keyblade Master, Yen Sid orders Riku to bring Kairi to him to undergo training with her Keyblade in order to counter Master Xehanort's new Organization.
+Some time later, Sora, Riku, and Kairi receive a letter from the King. The contents are a mystery.
-{{-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-''===
+==Future Games==
-[[File:2.9 - The First Volume 04 KH0.2.png|thumb|Riku and Mickey head off with their new duds.]]
-After bringing Kairi to be trained as a Keyblade wielder, Riku listens to Yen Sid's plans to protect the other [[Princesses of Heart]] and to bring back [[Terra]], [[Aqua]] and [[Ventus]]. Mickey reveals to Riku that Aqua was with him back when they sealed the [[Door to Darkness]], but she stayed behind to stop a swarm of Heartless which were chasing Riku.
-Outraged by the story, Riku demands to know why Mickey kept this secret, but Yen Sid explains that because no one was capable of entering the [[Realm of Darkness]] and saving Aqua at the time, he forbade Mickey from ever telling anyone about Aqua as precaution against reckless rescue attempts; while Riku would have understood the danger of such an action, Sora would have cast caution to the wind and jumped at the chance to help. However, now they are both strong enough to mount a successful attempt, and when Kairi teases Riku for his eagerness, he explains how he is learning to follow his heart like Sora. When Kairi shows anxiety at training with Lea, [[Axel]]'s human form, Mickey and Riku reassure her that he is trustworthy and he even saved Sora. Yen Sid provides Mickey and Riku new clothes from [[Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather]] which will shield them from the dark realm's darkness, so Riku and Mickey head off to save Aqua, with their new gear in tow.
+===[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep]]===
-{{-}}
-===''Kingdom Hearts III''===
+A younger Riku has been seen in a screenshot of [[Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep]], where he is seen training his fighting skills with Sora.
-{{Q|Sora. You don't believe that. I know you don't.|Riku encourages his friend.}}
-[[File:Reunion 01 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|left|Riku leaves his broken Keyblade for Riku Replica.]]
-Riku and King Mickey enter the [[Dark World]] in search of Aqua, losing her trail at the Dark Margin. A [[Demon Tower]] attacks and swallows Riku. After drowning in its darkness, Riku is saved by his replica's disembodied heart. His Keyblade is broken after the battle and Mickey convinces him to regroup and resupply. Before leaving, Riku plants his broken Keyblade on the beach for the Riku Replica to collect.
-At the Mysterious Tower, Riku and Mickey are instructed by Yen Sid to search for Aqua in the worlds she had visited. After receiving the [[Braveheart]] from [[Merlin]], Riku travels with Mickey to [[Radiant Garden]], the last place Aqua visited. They discuss Xehanort's plans, realizing that when Aqua saved Terra, he was possessed by Xehanort. After meeting [[Ienzo]] and discussing the replica project, Riku concludes the Organization is planning to use replicas due to [[Even]]'s disappearance.
+===[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]===
-[[File:Braving the Darkness 01 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|Riku and Sora join their powers to take out the Demon Tower.]]
+Riku plays an important role in the game's story. He is first seen meeting with the King in the forest outside the Twilight Town Mansion, where he is in his Xehanort's Heartless form. The King then calls the Keyblade to him, ready to fight, not knowing who he is. To let the King know it's him, Riku puts his blindfold on, which makes him turn back to normal, leaving the King looking surprised.
-With no new leads, Riku and Mickey travel back to the Dark Margin. Attacked again by a Demon Tower, Mickey is disarmed and trapped within it. [[Anti-Aqua]] reveals herself and takes Mickey's [[Star Cluster|Keyblade]], planning to use it to the escape. Riku declines his replica's offer to return [[Way to the Dawn|his Keyblade]] before facing Aqua and the Heartless. Faltering, he speaks Sora's name. Sora then arrives to Riku's aid before freeing Aqua from the Darkness.
-After preparing for the final battle at Yen Sid's tower with the completed [[Seven Guardians of Light]], Riku accompanies Sora and Kairi to [[Destiny Islands]] where he converses alone with his replica, who states he has "one last thing to do".
+He appears on the bridge in [[Beast's Castle]], where he fights Xion. After the battle, a defeated Xion lies on the ground, while Riku pulls her hood off and pulls up his blindfold to take a good look at her. When he sees her face, he acts shocked and begins asking her where she got the Keyblade, claiming that it must be a fake, which Xion denies.
+[[Image:Riku_xion_ds.jpg|thumb|left|Riku talking to [[Xion]]]]
+He is later seen conversing with Xion again at the [[Destiny Islands]], where Xion asks him about "The girl who is always with Sora", where Riku tells her that [[Kairi]] is the girl Sora really cares for. Even though Xion doesn't want to return to her true self yet, Riku tries to persuade her to do so, in which Xion asks if he means Kairi. He has also been shown holding an apparently-dying Xion in his arms.
-The next day, Riku joins the other guardians in the [[Keyblade Graveyard]], where [[Terra-Xehanort]] attacks, critically injuring several guardians before being ejected from the battlefield. A massive [[Demon Tide]] soon appears, devouring all the guardians, except Sora and Riku. When Sora breaks down in despair, Riku sacrifices himself for Sora's sake, putting his faith in Sora to save all of their friends.
+He is also seen in a couple of scenes in the room where Sora sleeps, conversing with [[Diz]].
-Riku's heart makes its way to [[The Final World]]'s facsimile of [[Olympus]], where it is captured by a [[Lich]] before being freed and returned to the Keyblade Graveyard by a newly restored Sora. When Sora frees the rest of his friends' hearts, they reappear together, moments before Terra-Xehanort first appeared.
+It's been confirmed that Riku may be the final boss of the game, in which the game would end with the battle between him and [[Roxas]] depicted in several scenes in KH1 and KH2, including the secret endings [[Another Side, Another Story]] and [[Deep Dive]].
+{{-}}
-[[File:Final Confrontations I 01 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|left|Riku fights against Dark Riku as Ansem watches.]]
+===[[Kingdom Hearts Coded]]===
-This time, they are rescued by the [[Lingering Will]], allowing Riku and the others to fight off the incoming Heartless while Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat the Demon Tide. Finally, they advance to face the Organization within the Skein of Severance. Riku battles [[Dark Riku]], [[Xigbar]], and Ansem alone. When Sora joins the battle, Ansem leaves. Upon Dark Riku's defeat, the Riku Replica reveals Dark Riku is his past self and removes Dark Riku's heart from his body, leaving the vessel behind for Naminé. After Xigbar's defeat, Sora leaves to assist the other guardians, and [[Demyx]] arrives to retrieve Dark Riku's vessel on Ienzo's orders while Riku tells him to handle it with great care.
-Riku then meets Sora and Mickey again after nine seekers of darkness have been defeated. Ansem, Xemnas, Master Xehanort, and his younger self remain, and Master Xehanort reveals that their four clashes would forge the final keys he needed to form the [[χ-blade]]. Riku claims that even if Master Xehanort manages to open Kingdom Hearts, they would simply close it again. The two groups clash, and all but Master Xehanort are eliminated. As Ansem fades away, he and Riku reminisce on the journey they shared.
+A data version of Riku has a brief appearance in virtual [[Destiny Islands]] and [[Neverland]] only to be like he was before anything happened after his world disappeared.
-With one key left to forge, Xehanort reveals the kidnapped Kairi and slays her in front of them. Riku and Mickey are then frozen by a Stopza spell, and Xehanort summons Kingdom Hearts. The other guardians arrive as the spell wears off, and Riku presents the idea of using Xehanort as a [[portal]] and trapping him in it long enough to finish him. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy go to fight Xehanort, Riku joins the other Keyblade Wielders in holding off the power of Kingdom Hearts.
+==Personality==
-[[File:Ending 11 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|Riku watches Kairi and Sora sitting by the paopu tree.]]
+In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Riku is a calm, cool, collected (and not to mention cocky) teen who is not afraid to go far beyond his limits. This shows through when he shows no fear in stepping into the dark portal when Destiny Islands was being consumed by darkness, along with his statement "I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
-Once Xehanort is defeated, Riku and the others follow their hearts to Sora. They lend their power to Sora as he uses the χ-blade to seal Kingdom Hearts away. Returning to the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora decides to use the power of waking to rescue Kairi. Though Mickey tries to argue, Riku convinces him to let Sora follow his heart.
-Some time later, Riku takes Sora's [[Gummi Ship]] to Radiant Garden to collect Naminé, and returns with her to Destiny Islands along with all the guardians and their friends. He runs a race with Terra and Roxas before looking toward the paopu tree where Kairi sits with the fading image of Sora.
+He also showed a strong competitive streak, along with a bit of jealousy. He shows his competitive side when he challenges Sora, saying that his heart is stronger than Sora's heart. It is not actually said aloud, but thanks to Maleficent, he became increasingly jealous of Sora. It started with him finding out about Sora's new friends, and his thinking that he had been replaced. The jealousy grew when he learned about Sora possessing the Keyblade. The jealousy turned into rage, resulting in the battles against Sora throughout KHI, and his possession by Xehanort's Heartless.
-Riku begins having a strange dream where he wakes up in [[Quadratum]]. Disoriented, he walks the streets observing where he is, eventually finding himself at a {{w|Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building|large building}}, unaware that [[Yozora]] watches him from atop.{{storylink|Yozora (video)|Yozora}}
+Though his traits were not too favorable in KHI, he becomes more heroic in ''Chain of Memories''. Riku has many realizations. One of these realizations was him realizing that he let his heart become weak. From that moment on, he began to shy away from the darkness in his heart. Through the scores of fights and battles in Castle Oblivion, he makes another big realization: he can't get rid of the darkness in his heart. He matured immensely, and along with leaving his past behind him, he also left a lot of his unfortunate traits.
-Since Sora vanished, Riku and all his allies have been searching wherever they can think of; lasting well over a year with no results. After seeing Terra, Aqua, and Ventus leave to search the [[Dark World]], Riku visits the [[Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee|Radiant Garden Restoration Comittee]] in the hopes they have any clues. Informing them that [[the King]]'s group has had no luck in searching past worlds Sora's been to and that Ansem the Wise has not been able to find a lead in Kairi's dreams, Riku gains a sliver of hope in data on the Organization [[Cid]] compiled on his computer.
+In ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he shows a great amount of loyalty and care for his friends. To save Sora, he did everything he could to bring Roxas to DIZ to make Sora whole again...including becoming Ansem. As Sora journeyed on between the worlds, he dropped Sora some valuable clues, such as the sea-salt ice cream and the picture.
-Despite "breaking through" the powerful data, there is no additional information. However, the arrival of [[Fairy Godmother]] changes the mood; Riku reveals his dream of looking for Sora, being told that there might be a lead in his dreams and those of two others.
+When he finally is found in The World That Never Was, he repeatedly shows regret, telling Sora that "he didn't want to be found," and almost refusing to come back to Destiny Islands because of his wrongdoings.
-===''Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory''===
+Another good personality trait he showed was a strong protectiveness over his friends. He never wanted Sora and Kairi to find out about the time he spent in the darkness. He nearly sacrificed himself to protect Sora from Xemnas' attacks, leaving him injured after the final battle.
-Afterwards, Riku reunites with Ansem the Wise and his apprentices to find that Kairi has awakened. The two share their findings and with Fairy Godmother's help, she refers to him and Kairi as two of the three keys that can help find Sora. The Keyblade wielders are brought to the Final World, where they meet the third key, the [[Nameless Star]] informing her what has happened the star recognizes the city Riku described as Quadratum. With that, he uses the power of awaking and the Nameless Star as a portal to go to Quadratum, leaving Kairi to tell the others where he had gone.
-==Other appearances==
+==Battle technique and weaponry==
-===''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''===
+In comparison to Sora's two-handed style and Roxas' dual-weaponry, Riku attacks with a fast one-handed style with his [[Soul Eater]]/[[Way to the Dawn]]. Riku attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat, and is just as able with his weapons as Sora is with his. His strength and agility are best demonstrated on Destiny Island, where he is known as the strongest child on the island ([[Tidus]] remarked that he, [[Wakka]], and [[Selphie]] were defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him), and possesses an athletic springing kick if knocked down. Riku's other main form of attack is ''Dark Firaga'', in which he fires multiple blue fireballs of dark energy. Though Sora has bested Riku on several occasions (mostly when Riku was being manipulated by Maleficent and Xehanort's Heartless), it is still unclear whom is stronger. Riku's strength is demonstrated in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', when Roxas tells Sora during battle that he has defeated Riku - when Sora repeats Roxas's claim to Donald and Goofy, Donald exclaims "But nobody could defeat Riku!"
-In ''{{ssb|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate}}'', Riku appears in the central clock, 2 o'clock, and 4 o'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|Corrin (SSBU)|Corrin}} in {{ssb|Spirit#Spirit Battles|Spirit Battle}}.
-==Design==
+When Xehanort's Heartless tempered the darkness in his heart, Riku was able to turn into his Dark Form which increased his powers and granted him the Dark Keyblade. Riku's enhanced dark powers under possession are ''Dark Raid'', where he throws a spinning Dark Keyblade, ''Dark Break'' where he performs a powerful jump attack, and ''Dark Aura'' where he dashes around the arena at high speed slashing all in his path. When he used the power of darkness (and ended up looking like Xehanort's Heartless), he could use some of "Ansem's" attacks, as well as temporarilly possessing Ansem's [[Guardian]].
-{{main|Form:Riku}}
-Riku is five years old during ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', fifteen during the events of ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'', sixteen during the events of ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II'', and ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''. Riku is currently seventeen after a year following Xehanort's death and Sora's disappearance in ''Kingdom Hearts III''.
-Riku is a teenage boy with silver hair with bangs, pale skin, bright blue-green eyes (green in ''Kingdom Hearts III''), and a muscular build. Since he is a year older than Sora and Kairi, Riku is the tallest of the trio. Riku's hair was originally shoulder-length, but in ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II'', his hair has grown longer until it reaches his upper back. Sometime before ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'', he cut it short to the length it was when he was a child. Much like Sora, while his general appearance does not change much throughout the series, Riku receives several costumes and form changes during the course of his adventures.
+When he is playable in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'', he is given a preset deck in each world that cannot be changed and changes automatically during gameplay. By breaking his opponent's cards, Riku acquires "DP", which let him transform into his Dark Form. Dark Form, along with giving him increased speed and strength, gives him access to [[sleights]] that mimic his special attacks from Kingdom Hearts. Outside of Dark Form, any combination of stocked cards counts as a sleight and costs Riku a card, so he cannot perform combo attacks as easily as Sora can. Instead, he has access to a unique system of battle called "card dueling", which allows Riku to stun opponents and perform special commands by breaking their cards multiple times. Overall, in contrast to Sora who must rely on sleights and combos to fight, Riku's playing style is more up-front, relying on card duels and breaks to acquire DP and enter Dark Form.
-Riku's name is derived from the Japanese word for {{nihongo|"Land"|陸|Riku}}.
+When he turned into his "true form" in the end of Kingdom Hearts II, His powers increase dramatically and he gained his keyblade "Way to the Dawn". As a party member, Riku possesses various abilities that combine his dark powers with Sora's light powers. Riku can use ''Dark Aura'' to fire Dark Firaga when Sora completes a combo, can use ''Dark Shield'' to project a barrier, and possesses numerous other powers. In his [[Limit]] with Sora, Eternal Session, Riku is able to project waves of dark energy from his Keyblade in addition to unleashing fast combos and Dark Firaga barrages. At the end, Sora and Riku toss their Keyblades together to act as a super-damaging magnet.
-==Personality==
+==Quotes==
-{{Q|I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And... suppose there are other worlds... then that means ours is just a little piece of something much greater.|Riku, to Sora and Kairi}}
+===Kingdom Hearts===
-In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Riku is a calm, cool, collected teenager who is not afraid to go beyond his limits. He showed no fear in stepping into the dark portal when Destiny Islands was being consumed by darkness. He seemed to be aware of Sora's romantic feelings toward Kairi, and enjoyed teasing him about it, such as challenging Sora to a race, and saying that if he wins, he gets to share a paopu fruit with her, purely to get a reaction out of Sora. This also exemplifies his competitive nature.
+*''"Giving up already? C'mon Sora, I thought you were stronger than that."''
+*''"Once we set through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"''
+*''"Take care of her."''
+*''"What? You'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?"''
+*''"Now, open your heart! Surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!"''
+*''"So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the keyhole with your power! Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"''
+*''"Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less."''
-Riku became thoroughly jealous of Sora after learning about his possession of the Keyblade and of his new friends. He even openly accused Sora of forgetting about him and Kairi since he was not also actively looking for a way to retrieve Kairi's heart. That envy eventually corrupted his perspective of their friendship into a rivalry, much to Sora's confusion, and resulted in his battles with Sora and his eventual possession by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.
+===Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain Memories===
+*''"I'm... fading... Fading away... into the light..."''
+*''"You and Kairi smell the same."''
+*''"Fair enough, Mickey"''
+*''"Your Majesty, I'm so flattered. I don't know what to say."''
-While his traits weren't very heroic for most of the first game, Riku becomes much more noble by the end. Since Riku had done everything he had out of care for Kairi, when Ansem was about to use him to use her along with the other six Princesses of Heart to open the Final Keyhole, he finally broke free and held off Ansem long enough for Donald, Goofy and Kairi to escape. When Riku finds himself in the endless abyss near the Door to Darkness, he is on his knees, overwhelmed with guilt for what he has done and, in ''Kingdom Hearts III'', considers the time he was consumed by darkness to be his "hour of weakness".
+===Kingdom Hearts II===
+*"''C'mon, Sora. You've got to pull it together.''"
+*"''I didn't want you to find me.''"
+*"''I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on. Sora never did pick the brightest friends.''"
+*"''Cause I'm not a total sap like you''"
+*"''I told you. I didn't want to be found. Not like this... I couldn't. I fought with Ansem. With...Xehanort's Heartless--when it invaded my heart, and I won. But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself.''"
+*"''This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness.''"
-In ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'', Riku makes many self-realizations, one of which is that he had let his heart become weak, and sometime after that, he would shy away from the darkness within it. Through his battles in Castle Oblivion, he makes another big realization: he can't get rid of the darkness in his heart and decides to use it without turning away from the light like before, declaring his path down the "road to dawn," also signifying his effort for redemption. Additionally, he forms a strong bond with Mickey during their time together in Castle Oblivion and later begins to address him familiarly throughout the rest of the series.
+==Battle Quotes==
+===Kingdom Hearts===
+*''"My turn!"''
+*''"Ha!" ''
+*''"Ya!"''
+*''"Here it comes!" ''
+*''"Darkness!"''
+*''"Behold the power of darkness!"''
+*''"Welcome to oblivion!"''
+*''"Surrender!"''
+*''"Don't tell me you're giving up already!"''
+*''"No...not yet..."''
-In ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he shows a great amount of loyalty and protectiveness for his friends. He never wanted Sora and Kairi to find out about his time spent in the darkness and did everything he could to bring Roxas to DiZ to make Sora whole again, even going as far as giving up his physical form and assuming Ansem's. As Sora journeyed through the worlds, Riku left him valuable clues, such as the sea-salt ice cream and the picture of the Twilight Town gang, and almost died to protect him from Xemnas' attacks, which left him greatly injured after the battle. When he is finally found in the World That Never Was, he repeatedly shows signs of immense regret for his previous behavior. He could not understand how Sora is so willing to forgive him, telling him that he didn't actually want to be found, and almost refusing to come back to Destiny Islands because of his shame for his wrongdoings. Though Riku humbles significantly over the course of the series, he still retains a lighthearted and jokingly arrogant side, referring to Sora, Donald and Goofy as "wise guys" to [[the Emperor]], cracking a joke about Donald and Goofy's intelligence, and calling Sora a "total sap" before joining forces to confront Xemnas.
+===Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories===
+*''"Ya!"''
+*''"Rah!"''
+*''"Ha!"''
+*''"Take this!"''
+*''"Like it?"''
+*''"Just me!"''
+*''"Come on!"''
+*''"Your Majesty!"''
+*''"Times up!"''
+*''"Darkness!"''
-When he was young, Riku had been curious about everything that is outside of his world. Over time, his curiosity became an obsession, and he eventually opened his heart up to darkness in order to escape his "prison surrounded by water," as phrased by Ansem. This obsession completely vanishes throughout the year of Sora's slumber, most likely because of all the trouble it brought into his formerly simple life and how foolish he ended up acting once his curiosity was sated. When he returns to Destiny Islands in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he still comments on how small a world it is, but agrees with Sora's remark that it is part of one much bigger. This shows that Riku has a much better view of his homeworld than before, making him all the more content.
+===Kingdom Hearts II===
+*''"That's it!"''
+*''"Thanks!"''
+*''"Is that all you got?"''
+*''"Out of my way!"''
+*''"Time's up!"''
+*''"Sorry..."''
+*''"I'll take 'em." ''
+*''"Prepare to lose it all!" ''
+*''"Ha!" ''
-Riku is shown to be fiercely dedicated to his best friend Sora throughout the series. In ''Birth by Sleep'', when first meeting Terra, Riku claims that he wants strength so he can protect his friends from harm. As Kairi had not yet arrived on the islands, it can be assumed he's talking about Sora.  Although many of Riku's actions in the first game were uncaring and cruel, it's shown his jealousy is spurned on in no small part by his feelings of being abandoned by Sora for Donald and Goofy.  In ''358/2 Days'', nearly everything Riku does is to ensure Sora eventually wakes up from his sleep to get his memories back. He even goes so far as to battle Roxas and then tap into his inner darkness to defeat the Nobody so he'll be forced to return to Sora, not caring if he's trapped in Ansem, Seeker of Darkness's form forever. In ''Kingdom Hearts II'', despite not wanting Sora to see what his appearance has become, he leaves clues for him as to Roxas's identity and works behind the scenes to support his best friend. Riku unconsciously dives into Sora's dreams in ''Dream Drop Distance'' after seeing Xehanort's Heartless on the Destiny Islands when they enter the Realm of Sleep, becoming a Dream Eater and remaining within Sora's own dreams throughout most of the game to protect him from Nightmares. Their [[Combined Keyblade]] also bears a paopu fruit as the charm once the two halves are merged together. After all of the other Guardians fall to the Demon Tide at the Keyblade Graveyard in ''Kingdom Hearts III'', Riku sacrifices his own life to give Sora the motivation to continue on and save their friends from their fate. Additionally, in a 2013 interview about ''Kingdom Hearts III'', series producer Shinji Hashimoto stated that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku's relationship, and how it evolves over time.<ref>[https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players '''''How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players'''''], '''Shinji Hashimoto''': "The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up."</ref>
+==Attacks & Abilities==
+===''Kingdom Hearts''===
+In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Maleficent gives Riku the power to control the Heartless for a short time. Later, Maleficent unlocks his dark powers which he has used throughout the series. Xehanort's Heartless, who was believed to be Ansem at the time, possessed Riku and gave him all of his power. In ''Chain of Memories'', Riku was able to escape the Realm of Darkness through the subconscious use of his dark powers. Riku also gained full control over his dark powers and finally defeated Xehanort's Heartless.
-==Abilities==
+===''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories''===
-{{Main|Game:Riku}}
-Like Sora and Roxas, Riku can wield the Keyblade, though he can wield both his own and others since Terra chose Riku to inherit the Keyblade in ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Ultimania|Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania]]''''', '''Interviewer''': "Why was Riku chosen as the original wielder of the Keyblade?" / '''Tetsuya Nomura''': "To use a Keyblade you must have been chosen to inherit as well as been chosen by the Keyblade itself. In ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', you could see that Terra performed the ceremony with Riku, and that is why Riku was able to take the Keyblade that Sora used." [https://www.khinsider.com/news/BBS-Ultimania-20-Mysteries-Solved-2546 Translation via Lissar].</ref> In comparison to Sora's two-handed style and Roxas's dual-weaponry, Riku attacks with a fast one-handed style with his Soul Eater/Way to the Dawn, where he has a rather unique and signature fighting stance, where Riku holds his weapon above himself at his following side/arm (being his right arm) and puts his leading left hand out with its open palm being shown.
-Riku attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat in one-handed strikes ranging from thrusts to wide strikes focusing on more on slashing motions as opposed to Sora's clubbing/pummeling style, and is just as adept with his weapons as Sora is with his. His strength and agility are best demonstrated on Destiny Island, where he is known as the strongest child on the island (Tidus remarked that he, Wakka, and Selphie were defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him), and possesses an athletic springing kick if knocked down.
+'''Dark Mode'''<br />
-Though Sora has bested Riku on several occasions, it is still unclear who is truly stronger. Riku is also shown to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as shown in ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'', in which he easily knocks down a charging Xion with a single punch after dismissing his Soul Eater weapon. Riku showed another glimpse of his strength in ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'' by defeating Xion with ease and holding his own against Roxas. Riku's strength is acknowledged in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' when Sora and Donald express their disbelief that Riku could be defeated by anyone.
+'''Activation & Description''': Dark Mode can be activated when you have accumulated the maximum dark points (DP) through card breaks. In Dark Mode, Riku's skills are powered up, and you have more sleights to choose from. DP is lost when your card is broken or you receive damage. Riku returns to normal when the DP gauge reaches zero. To increase DP during Dark Mode, choose Darkness Boost when leveling up. The more DP you have, the longer you will stay in Dark Mode.
-At first, Riku had no powers whatsoever, although he was a rather strong individual. After arriving in Hollow Bastion he gets his weapon, Soul Eater. It gave him a slight increase in power, but as seen in the battle versus the Parasite Cage, he was only slightly more powerful than on the islands.
+'''Dark Break'''<br />
-Sometime after Monstro, Riku made a pact with Maleficent. This gave him three new abilities: The ability to summon and control Heartless, the power to traverse the worlds using Corridors of Darkness, and finally the ability to craft Anti forms. He demonstrated the first two abilities several times, and the third he used on [[Sora]] to create many AntiSoras and one complex one wielding a shadowy Keyblade.
+'''Description''':  Leap into the air and attack enemies from above. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
+'''Card value''': Three Soul Eater cards, total value of 5-15.
-After Sora left Neverland, Riku returned to Maleficent who gave him a large increase in his dark abilities. This allowed him to draw on dark energies to increase his physical power and clothe himself in an organic-looking suit of darkness. While in this [[Dark Mode]] he could zip around the battle field at an incredible speed and each blow from his Soul Eater dealt large damage. However, this form was taxing on his heart as seen after his battle with Sora in Hollow Bastion.
+'''Dark Firaga''' (non-elemental)<br />
-It is revealed that Riku was to be the original recipient of the Keyblade, but when he opened the Door to Darkness in Destiny Islands, plunging that world into Darkness, it instead chose Sora. However, in Hollow Bastion, Riku took the Keyblade from Sora by using the sheer strength of his heart, though when he uses the darkness within himself, his power over the Keyblade weakens and it returns to Sora who had proven the strength of his own heart.
+'''Description''': Expel Dark energies in a searing blast. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
+'''Card value''': Three Soul Eater cards, total value of 16-25.
-When Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, possessed his body he gained incredible new powers, but he was now stuck permanently in dark form because of the darkness pouring out of him. In addition, he took six of the seven Princesses' hearts and used them to form the [[Keyblade of heart]]. Riku's enhanced dark powers under possession are Dark Raid, where he throws a spinning Dark Keyblade, Dark Break where he performs a powerful jump attack, Dark Firaga where he counters a spell by shooting an orb of dark energy, and Dark Aura where he dashes around the arena at high speed slashing all in his path.
+'''Dark Aura'''<br />
-When he is playable in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]'', he is given a preset deck in each world that cannot be changed and changes automatically during gameplay. By breaking his opponent's cards, Riku acquires "DP", which let him transform into Dark Mode. Dark Mode, along with giving him increased speed and increased strength, gives him access to [[sleight]]s that mimic his special attacks from ''Kingdom Hearts''. Outside of Dark Mode, any combination of stocked cards counts as a sleight and costs Riku a card, so he cannot perform combo attacks as easily as Sora can. Instead, he has access to a unique system of battle called "card dueling", which allows Riku to stun opponents and perform special commands by breaking their cards multiple times.
+'''Description''': Rush enemies repeatedly with blade in hand. only available in Dark Mode.<br />
+'''Card value''': Three Soul Eater cards, total card value of 27.
-Overall, in contrast to Sora who must rely on sleights and combos to fight, Riku's playing style is more up-front, relying on card duels and breaks to acquire DP and enter Dark Mode. In this game, Zexion said his scent is very similar to Xemnas's. In gameplay, it is also shown that Riku can run faster and jump higher than Sora.
+'''MM Miracle'''<br />
-At the end of ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'', he used the power of darkness to help him defeat Roxas. This surge of power distorted his physical form, causing him to appear identical in appearance to Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. While trapped in this form he could use Xehanort's Guardian and use some of Ansem's attacks for a limited time in addition to his other powers. Riku's power increased in this form shown when he easily defeated Roxas as well as easily overpowering Saïx, forcing the latter to flee.
+'''Description''': The king restores HP, and stuns and deals damage to all enemies.<br />
+'''Card value''': Two or three King Mickey cards are needed to stock, no card value limited.
-Riku's Soul Eater changes into Way to the Dawn sometime between the second visit to Land of Dragons and [[The World That Never Was]]. When he turned into his "true form" in the end of ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', his powers of light increased dramatically while his powers of darkness decreased. As a party member, Riku possesses various abilities that combine his dark powers with Sora's light powers. Riku can use a new Dark Aura that fires Dark Firaga orbs that inflict a [[Stop]] effect whenever Sora completes a combo, Dark Shield to project a barrier of darkness, as well as to numerous other powers.
+'''Impulse'''<br />
-In his Limit with Sora, [[Eternal Session]], Riku is able to project waves of dark energy from his Keyblade in addition to unleashing fast combos and Dark Firaga barrages. At the end, Sora and Riku toss their Keyblades together to act as a super-damaging magnet.
+'''Description''': Knock foes into the air before a slam down to the ground, damaging multiple enemies.<br />
+'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break three cards with a time limit of four seconds.
-It should be noted, though, that despite the fact that Riku is a wielder of the Keyblade, he can't use any of Sora's [[Keychains]] while he is in the party.
+'''Dark Impulse'''<br />
-In ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]'', the Way to the Dawn is snapped in half by a [[Demon Tower]] in the [[Realm of Darkness]]. Riku leaves it behind for the Riku Replica, and goes to ask [[Yen Sid]] to help him get a new Keyblade to replace it. This Keyblade, [[Braveheart]], resembles a modern car key, and has a [[Hidden Mickey]] as the Keychain, similar to the one on the [[Kingdom Key]].
+'''Description''': Knock foes into the air before a hard slam down to the ground, damaging multiple enemies. Only available in Dark Mode<br />
+'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break three cards with a time limit of four seconds.
-<center><gallery>
+'''Maelstrom'''<br />
-File:Soul Eater KH.png|[[Soul Eater]]
-File:Kingdom Key KH.png|Sora's [[Kingdom Key]]
-File:Keyblade of heart KH.png|[[Keyblade of heart]]
-File:Oblivion KH.png|Roxas's [[Oblivion]]
-File:Way to the Dawn KHII.png|[[Way to the Dawn]]
-File:Braveheart KHIII.png|[[Braveheart]]
-File:Riku's Bladecharge KHD.png|The [[Bladecharge|charged]] Oblivion
-File:Riku's Bladecharge 2 KHD.png|The charged blade in Riku's Limit Break
-</gallery></center>
-===''Kingdom Hearts''===
+'''Description''': Unleash a spinning attack on the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy.<br />
-In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Maleficent gives Riku the power to control the Heartless for a short time. Later, Maleficent unlocks his dark powers which he has used throughout the series. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness possessed Riku and gave him all of his power. In ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'', Riku was able to escape the Realm of Darkness through the subconscious use of his dark powers. Riku also gained full control over his dark powers and finally defeated Ansem.
+'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break five cards with a time limit of six seconds.
-===''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories''===
+'''Dark Maelstrom'''<br />
-As a playable character, Riku has limited options in term of abilities as his default form only allows the use of his [[Soul Eater]] card. This form of attack is slow and sluggish however it deals a heavy amount of damage, especially when combos are used. Stocking attack cards together can let Riku perform a slightly quicker combo. By using [[King Mickey]]'s friend card, Riku can restore his HP with the [[MM Miracle]] ability, which can be empowered by stocking multiple Mickey cards together. Other perks Riku has access to include [[Potion]]s, [[Hi-Potion]]s, and [[enemy card]]s. Instead of [[Dodge Roll]], Riku has access to a sluggish tumble in [[High-Speed Step]].
-After accumulating enough [[DP]] on the [[DP Gauge]], Riku enters [[Dark Mode]], where he is faster, stronger and capable of using an array of special abilities. His regular combo is heavily upgraded as his combo finisher has the opportunity to stun enemies. His High-Speed Step becomes a clean dash. Most importantly, Riku has the ability to use three new sleights in Dark Mode by stocking together three attack cards. The sleight chosen depends on the sum of the card values. The lowest value sleight, [[Dark Break]], causes Riku to leap into the air and attack enemies from above. [[Dark Firaga]] shoots a bolt of dark energy at an enemy. Lastly, [[Dark Aura]], a sleight requiring the max value of 27, allows Riku to rush enemies repeatedly from all directions and then release a mass of dark energy at the end.
+'''Description''': Unleash a powerful spinning attack on the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
+'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break five cards with a time limit of six seconds.
-In ''Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories'', Riku can engage in card duels, and if he wins, he can perform a Duel Sleight. The Duel Sleight depends on the enemy and how many cards he needs to break to win the duel: [[Impulse]], [[Maelstrom]], or [[Barrage]]. The former deals damage to multiple enemies while the other two are concentrated on one enemy. Dark Mode upgrades the Duel Sleights into {{c|Dark Impulse|rec}}, [[Dark Maelstrom]], and [[Dark Barrage]]. He can also combine a Mickey friend card with two Soul Eater cards to perform [[Holy Burst]], with Dark Mode upgrading it into [[Inverse Burst]].
+'''Barrage'''<br />
-===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
+'''Description''': Throw the Soul Eater towards the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy.<br />
-As a party member, Riku is very similar to Beast from ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}'', in the sense that he is the game's final party member, as well as the strongest. He has high strength, magic, and above-average defense. He has great flexibility in that he can deal high amounts of damage and he has the capacity to heal and block attacks.
+'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break seven cards with a time limit of eight seconds.
-Riku's main action abilities are executed as reaction commands that become available after certain situations. He can use [[Dark Aura]] after Sora performs a combo finisher to fire multiple dark orbs that stun enemies. When Sora takes damage, Riku can cast [[Dark Shield]] to protect him. Riku can also use one non-reaction command ability, [[Cure Potion]], which restores the party to maximum health.
+'''Dark Barrage'''<br />
-His limit, Eternal Session, unleashes a joint attack between Sora and Riku that expels high amounts of damage.
+'''Description''': Throw multiple Soul Eaters towards the enemy. Damage is concentrated to one enemy. Only available in Dark Mode.<br />
+'''Activation''': Win a duel that requires you to break seven cards with a time limit of eight seconds.
-He has access to some of the most useful support abilities, such as [[MP Hastega]], [[Second Chance]], and [[Once More]], in addition to ones with more miscellaneous effects, such as [[Item Boost]], [[Defender]], {{c|Auto Limit|support ability}}, and [[Hyper Healing]].
+'''Holy Burst'''<br />
-Riku is also temporarily playable during the final battle against Xemnas. During this time, he has only three commands: Dark Aura, [[Attack]], and [[Jump]].
+'''Description''': Riku and The King spin around together shooting balls of light at surrounding enemies. <br>
+'''Card value''': King Mickey (first), two Soul Eaters.
-Riku starts with 100 [[HP]] and 100 [[MP]]. He has 2 [[armor]] slots, 1 [[accessory]] slot, and 6 [[item]] slots, four of which start equipped with [[Potion]]s and the other two with [[Ether]]s.
+'''Inverse Burst'''<br />
-{{frm-atk-o|o=*|kh2=*|aa=*}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Ground Combo'''|地上コンボ|<br>Chijō Konbo}}|att|Physical|Side: x0.65<br>Vertical/Thrust: x1.0|—|△|X|11=Attacks by continuously swinging weapon.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Aerial Combo'''|空中コンボ|<br>Kūchū Konbo}}|att|Physical|Side: x0.65<br>Vertical: x1.0|—|△|X|11=Floats in the air and swings weapon repeatedly while chasing enemies.}}
-{{frm-atk|'''[[Dark Aura]]'''|mag|Physical|x0.25|—|X|X|11=Stops enemy movements with dark magic spells as commanded when Sora's combo is about to end. MP Cost: 10}}
-{{frm-atk|'''[[Dark Shield]]'''|mag|Physical|x2.0|—|X|X|11=Blocks enemy attacks with a shield of darkness as commanded. MP Cost: 10}}
-{{frm-atk|'''[[Cure Potion]]'''|—|—|—|—|—|—|11=Restores 60% of a selected ally's maximum HP. Effect is boosted by 1.5× if Item Boost is equipped. MP Cost: 99}}
-{{frm-c}}
-{|border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" align="center" width=900px
-!style="{{style|kh2|a}}; font-size:12px" colspan="3"|Support Abilities
-|-style="{{style|kh2|b}}; font-size:12px"
-!Ability
-!AP
-!Description
-|-
-|'''[[Item Boost]]'''
-|2
-|Increases effect done with healing items on the field by 50%. Equip more to increase the effect.
-|-
-|'''[[MP Hastega]]'''
-|5
-|Increases MP restoration speed by 75% after MP is fully consumed. Equip more to increase the effect.
-|-
-|'''[[Defender]]'''
-|3
-|Increases defense by 3 in a pinch. Equip more to increase the effect.
-|-
-|'''[[Second Chance]]'''
-|4
-|Ensures 1 HP remains after taking massive damage.
-|-
-|'''[[Once More]]'''
-|4
-|Ensures 1 HP remains after taking damage from a combo.
-|-
-|'''{{c|Auto Limit|support ability}}'''
-|1
-|Automatically sets the Reaction Command to Limit, if Limit is usable.
-|-
-|'''[[Hyper Healing]]'''
-|3
-|Quickly revives a fallen Party Member and greatly restores their HP.
-|}
-===''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days''===
+'''Description''': When Riku is in his Dark Mode, Riku shoots balls of Darkness while The King shoots balls of light.<br>
-[[File:Gameplay (Riku) KHD.png|thumb|Riku in Mission Mode.]]
+'''Card value''': King Mickey (first), two Soul Eaters.
-Riku is unlocked as a playable character in [[Mission Mode]], after being promoted to "Agent" rank on Day 172. He wields his [[Soul Eater]] as well as the [[Oblivion]] and [[Way to the Dawn]] Keyblades, which are labelled in-game as a "Sword" weapon category. Riku's combo attacks contain quick and powerful strikes and his combo finishers usually hit more than one enemy, making him decent in crowd control. Riku's stats rate him above average, with decent strength and HP. Riku excels in the Critical area, with high Critical chance and bonus. However, his magic leaves something to be desired. Riku's Limit Break, [[Darkstrom]], causes him to dart around the field and attack enemies. In the Final Limit, Riku's weapon is enveloped in light, which he uses to swing at enemies, similar to Roxas's and Xion's [[Black Hole]] Limit Break, although Riku's swings are noticeably slower.
-===''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''===
+===''Kingdom Hearts II''===
-When Riku and Sora enter Sleeping Worlds, Riku unknowingly enters Sora's dreams. In doing so, he takes on the role of a Spirit Dream Eater. He has the ability to fuse with Spirits in his party, letting him use [[Link Style]]s.
-Unlike Sora, Riku uses many {{c|Dark|Element}}-type techniques, like [[Dark Break]], Dark Aura, and [[Dark Splicer]]. He also shares many exclusive combat commands with Terra from ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', such as [[Zantetsuken]], [[Sacrifice]], [[Meteor]], [[Limit Storm]], and [[Meteor Crash]]. He uses similar action commands to Aqua, such as [[Dark Barrier]] and [[Doubleflight]].
+As a party member, Riku is very similar to Beast from [[Kingdom Hearts]], in the sense that  he is the final party member, as well as being the strongest. He has high strength magic, and above-average defense. He has some of the best abilities such as MP Hastega. Also his main action abilities: Dark Aura and Dark Shield, are activated upon the player's command, which helps him conserve MP for Cure Potion, which fully heals any ally. Riku's greatest asset is his Limit: Eternal Session, which is tied with Sora's Trinity to unleash the best Limit in the game. He can equip one accessory and two armor pieces. Riku's abilities are as followed:
-According to Young Xehanort, near the end of his Mark of Mastery exam, Riku's long-time exposure to darkness and the power he gained from accepting himself have made him immune to its corrupting qualities, preventing him from becoming one of Master Xehanort's new vessels.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]''''', '''Young Xehanort''': "Yes. We originally had our sights set on you. But, you developed a certain... resistance to darkness."</ref>
+* '''Dark Aura''': Riku fires multiple Dark Orbs at the enemy. Available as a Reaction command after Sora finishes a combo.
+* '''Dark Shield''': Riku creates a barrier to protect Sora.
+* '''Cure Potion''': Riku heals a party member to max HP; costs 99 MP.
+* '''Item Boost''': Boosts the effectiveness of healing items like Potions.
+* '''MP Hastega''': MP recovery rate is greatly increased.
+* '''Defender''': Increases defense when HP is critical.
+* '''Second Chance''': Ensures 1 HP is retained after being hit with a critical attack.
+* '''Once More''': Ensures 1 HP is retained after being hit with a combo attack.
+* '''Auto Limit''': Sets the Reaction command to [[Limit]], if a Limit has been equipped.
+* '''Hyper Healing''': Quickly revives a fallen party member and restores their HP.
+* '''[[Limit]] Ability''': Eternal Session.
-===''Kingdom Hearts III''===
+Riku is also temporarily playable during the final battle with Xemnas. During this time, he has only three commands - ''Dark Aura'', Attack, and Jump.
-====Playable character====
-Riku is briefly playable after completing [[Olympus]] and once more after completing [[The Caribbean]] and [[San Fransokyo]]. Both times, he faces against a Demon Tower. Riku's stats closely correspond to Sora's stats at Level 65, and are equal to Aqua's. He has access to Thundaga and Curaga for magic and has a single Hi-Potion and Ether, although they replenish between battles. Riku does not have access to Shotlocks (except in ''Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind'') or Formchanges. Riku attacks swiftly and many of his attacks are wide and are performed with a 360° turn.
-During the first fight, he wields his [[Way to the Dawn]] Keyblade. His guard is a joint barrier with Mickey, which can be followed with a joint Counter Blast. During this fight, Riku's finisher is called [[Double Duel]]. When performing this move, Riku and Mickey both perform a buzzsaw move similar to [[Shadowbreaker]]. In the second fight, Riku wields the [[Braveheart]] Keyblade, and his unique finisher is [[Dark Firaga]], which performs identically to its ''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]'' appearance.
+==Forms==
+*'''Dark Form'''<br>
+While using the power of the darkness, Riku could transform into a dark version of himself and use his dark power against his opponents.<br>In ''Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories'', he transforms by saying "Darkness".
-In ''Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind'', while fighting Dark Riku and Xigbar, Riku can use the [[Dark Divide]] Shotlock, which has a maximum lock of 28 and bears a similar appearance to his Dark Firaga finisher.
+*'''Halloween Town'''<br>
-{|align="center"
+In ''Re:Chain of Memories'', he turned into a darker version of himself when he travels to [[Halloween Town]].
-|-valign="top"
-|
-{|border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="width:150px"
-|-
-!colspan="2" style="{{style|kh3|a}}"|Stats
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Maximum HP
-|235
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Maximum MP
-|100
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Strength
-|44
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Magic
-|45
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Defense
-|42
-|}
-|
-{|border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="width:300px"
-|-
-!colspan="2" style="{{style|kh3|a}}"|Equipment
-|-
-!colspan="2" style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Weapon
-|-
-|[[Way to the Dawn]]<ref>First battle.</ref><br>[[Braveheart]]<ref>Second battle.</ref>||Strength +5, Magic +5
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|Items
-|[[Hi-Potion]]<br>[[Ether]]
-|}
-|
-{|border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="width:150px"
-|-
-!colspan="2" style="{{style|kh3|a}}"|Shortcuts
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|{{button|c}}
-|[[Thundaga]]
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|{{button|t}}
-|[[Curaga]]
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|{{button|s}}
-|[[Hi-Potion]]
-|-
-!style="{{style|kh3|b}}"|{{button|x}}
-|[[Ether]]
-|}
-|}
-{{frm-atk-o|#DC143C|o=*|ba=*}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Lower Left Ground Swing'''|地上左下振り|<br>Chijō Hidarishita Furi}}|att|Physical|1.0|8|0|1|X|1|—|First ground combo. Will be replaced by the second ground combo if the target is at mid-long range, or the third ground combo if surrounded by multiple enemies. Will also be replaced by the "Leftward Aerial Spinning Swing" attack if the target is located up high.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Ground Thrust & Upward Swing'''|地上突き&振り上げ|<br>Chijō Tsuki & Furiage}}|att|Physical|1.0+0.2|8+2|0|0.5+0.5|X|—|—|Second ground combo. Will be replaced by the "Leftward Aerial Spinning Swing" attack if the target is located up high.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Rightward Spinning Ground Swing'''|地上右回転振り|<br>Chijō Migi Kaiten Furi}}|att|Physical|1.0|8|0|0.3|X|—|—|Third ground combo. Will be replaced by the "Leftward Aerial Spinning Swing" attack if the target is located up high.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''3-Part Diagonal Ground Swing'''|地上斜め3回振り|<br>Chijō Naname 3-kai Furi}}|att|Physical|0.3+0.3+1.0|2+2+8|0+0+1|0.3+0.3+1|X{{note|O for final hit}}|—|—|Ground combo finisher. The last hit launches struck enemies skyward.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Rising Leftward Spinning Swing'''|上昇左回転振り|<br>Jōshō Hidari Kaiten Furi}}|att|Physical|0.5|3|0|1|X|1|—|Used when the target is up high.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Lower Left Aerial Swing'''|空中左下振り|<br>Kūchū Hidarishita Furi}}|att|Physical|1.0|8|0|1|X|1|—|First aerial combo. Will be replaced by the "Air Thrust & Upward Swing" attack if the target is at mid-to-long range.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Air Thrust & Upward Swing'''|空中突き&振り上げ|<br>Kūchū Tsuki & Furiage}}|att|Physical|1.0+0.2|8+2|0|0.5+0.5|X|—|—|Second aerial combo.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Lower Right Aerial Spinning Swing'''|空中右下回転振り|<br>Kūchū Migishita Kaiten Furi}}|att|Physical|1.0|8|0|0.3|X|—|—|Third aerial combo.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''5-Part Diagonal Aerial Swing'''|空中斜め5回振り|<br>Kūchū Naname 5-kai Furi}}|att|Physical|0.3(x4)+1.0|2(x4)+8|0(x4)+1|0.3(x4)+1|X{{note|O for final hit}}|—|—|Air combo finisher. The last hit knocks struck enemies back to the ground.}}
-{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Leftward Aerial Spinning Swing'''|空中左回転振り|<br>Kūchū Hidari Kaiten Furi}}|att|Physical|0.5|3|0|1|X|1|—|Used when above or below the target.}}
-{{frm-atk|l=*|Counter Blast|mag|Neutral|2.0|10|1|0|O|—|—|Press {{button|x}} after a successful block to send surrounding foes flying. (Reprisal)}}
-{{frm-atk|l=*|Double Duel|att|Dark|1.0(x5)+2.0|0|1(x6)|0|O|—|—|Mickey and Riku approach the target while spinning around and swing their weapons repeatedly.}}
-{{frm-atk|l=*|Dark Firaga|mag|Dark|1.0(x16)|0|1(x16)|0|X|—|—|Fires 16 homing dark fireballs from the tip of the Keyblade.}}
-{{frm-atk-m|l=*|Thundaga|(standard)|mag|Thunder|2.6|20|1|1|X|—|Electrify (100%/10 seconds)||(finisher)|mag|Thunder|3.1|20|5|0|X|—|Electrify (100%/10 seconds)}}
-{{frm-atk|l=*|Thundaza|mag|Thunder|10.55|0|5|0|X|—|Electrify (100%/10 seconds)}}
-{{frm-atk|l=*|Curaga|mag|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|Restores 210(+Riku's magic stat) HP to the target and 130(+Riku's magic stat) to nearby allies. Uses up all remaining MP.}}
-{{frm-c}}
-====Party member====
+*'''Xehanort's Heartless'''<br>
-Riku becomes a party member at the Keyblade Graveyard in a fight against Xigbar and Dark Riku, and against Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort. As a party member, Riku performs the same techniques as he did against the Demon Tower and Anti-Aqua. Riku will often perform Dark Firaga, which helps deals a lot of damage against the three Xehanorts.
+While fighting and losing to [[Roxas]], Sora's Nobody, Riku takes on the form of Xehanort's Heartless to make himself stronger. He continues to be in this form until Ansem's device explodes, causing him to finally return to his true form.
-Riku's base stats as a party member are 235 [[HP]], 100 MP, 44 Strength, 45 Magic, and 42 Defense.
+==Trivia==
+*Roxas' battle with Riku, as seen in ''Another Side, Another Story'', involves him running up the side of Memory Skyscraper and passing by Riku as he leaps off. A similar scene happens when Sora and Xemnas later battle in the same area.
+*While Riku's name means 'land', [[Terra]]'s name means 'earth' in Latin. Any connection between the two is unconfirmed. However, similar name meanings also apply with [[Sora]]/[[Ven]] and [[Kairi]]/[[Aqua]].
+*Even though Riku is a wielder of the Keyblade, he can't use any of Sora's [[keychains]] while he is in the party.
+*Riku is the only character in the Kingdom Hearts Universe series who calls Mickey by his name at the King's request.
+*Even though Riku was jealous of Sora's friendship with Donald and Goofy, he ended up having a similar relationship with King Mickey.
+*When playing as Riku in Kingdom Hearts II with the aid of a cheat device, his combos can be endlessly looped.
+*Riku's roles in the various games have varied greatly - during his time through ''Kingdom Hearts'', ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he has been an optional miniboss, a support character, a boss again, a boss a third time, a playable character, a boss a fourth time, a party member, and a temporary playable character.
+*Riku is one of the two only characters to possess more than one Keyblade within the storyline, the other being [[Roxas]].
+*During the final battle with Xemnas, if Riku dies, the game will be over. This is similar to fighting [[Barbossa]] in [[Port Royal]]. If [[Jack Sparrow]] died, it was Game Over.
-{|border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" align="center" width=700px
+==See also==
-!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)}}
-|5.1 [ground], 7.0 [air]
-|Physical
-|—
-|Swings weapon repeatedly.
-|-
-|colspan="2"|'''[[Dark Firaga]]'''
-|6.4
-|Dark
-|—
-|Fire a ball of dark flames that splits into multiple fireballs at a target. MP Cost: 10
-|-
-|colspan="2"|'''[[Shadowbreaker]]'''
-|8.0
-|Dark{{note|Neutral for eighth and subsequent hits}}
-|—
-|Spins diagonally and swings weapon while moving at high speed. MP Cost: 10
-|-
-!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.
-|-
-|'''[[Damage Control]]'''
-|4
-|colspan="4"|Halve the damage you take when your HP is at 25% or below. Stack the ability to increase the effect.
-|}
-==Notes and references==
+* [[Riku Replica]]
-{{reflist}}
+* [[Soul Eater]]
+* [[Way to the Dawn]]
 {{Party}}
-{{KeybladeRk}}
-{{Form}}
+[[Category: Characters]]
-{{KH1}}
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts characters]]
-{{COM}}
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts II characters]]
-{{KH2}}
+[[Category: Chain of Memories characters]]
-{{358}}
+[[Category: Destiny Islands]]
-{{Coded}}
+[[Category: Allies]]
-{{BBS}}
+[[Category: Bosses]]
-{{DDD}}
+[[Category: Keyblade Wielders]]
-{{AFP}}
+[[Category: Travelers]]
-{{KH3}}
+[[Category: Enemies]]
-{{MOM}}
+[[Category: Coded characters]]
-[[Category:Allies]]
+[[Category: Villains]]
-[[Category:Antagonists]]
+[[Category: HellFire Club]]
-[[Category:Keyblade Masters]]
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts]]
-[[Category:Spirit Dream Eater]]
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts II]]
+[[Category: 358/2 Days]]
+[[Category: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]
+[[Category:Original characters]]
+[[de: Riku]]