Editing Riku

[[File:The Outside World 01 KH.png|thumb|Riku, Sora, and Kairi often spend the evenings at a tree on an attached islet.]]

[[File:Shadow Sora 02 KH.png|thumb|Riku retreats with Kairi and summons AntiSora to battle Sora.]]

[[File:Closing the Door 04 KH.png|thumb|Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi before the Door to Darkness is closed.]]

[[File:In a Flash of Darkness 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|Ansem possesses Riku for an instance and eliminates Lexaeus.]]

[[File:Where the Road Leads 01 KHRECOM.png|thumb|Riku walking the road to dawn.]]

[[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.]]

[[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 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.

[[File:Versus Riku-Ansem KHII.png|thumb|200px|A hooded Riku confronts Sora in The Land of Dragons.]]

[[File:To End Everything 01 KHII.png|thumb|Riku and Sora prepare to battle Xemnas.]]

[[File:Beneath the Hood 04 KHREC.png|thumb|Jiminy's Journal taking Riku's form.]]

[[File:Power Over Time 02 KH3D.png|thumb|Riku faces off against Young Xehanort at the Sanctum of Time.]]

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.

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]].

[[File:2.9 - The First Volume 04 KH0.2.png|thumb|Riku and Mickey head off with their new duds.]]  

[[File:Braving the Darkness 01 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|Riku and Sora join their powers to take out the Demon Tower.]]

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.

[[File:Ending 11 KHIII.png|thumb|200px|Riku watches Kairi and Sora sitting by the paopu tree.]]

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>

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.  

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.  

 

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]].

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.

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]].

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.

His limit, Eternal Session, unleashes a joint attack between Sora and Riku that expels high amounts of damage.

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]].

|'''{{c|Auto Limit|support ability}}'''

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.

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.

{{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|'''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.}}