Naminé: Difference between revisions

{{Youmay|the character|[[Naminé (track)|the musical theme]]}}

{{Character

  |name=Naminé

'''Naminé''' is the [[Nobody]] of [[Kairi]]. She first appears in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]'', and plays a minor role in ''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''.

==Story==

===Before ''Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-''===

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

A captive of the Organization, Naminé resides in the upper floors of Castle Oblivion. When Sora enters the castle, Naminé is forced by [[Marluxia]] and [[Larxene]] to manipulate Sora's memories, slowly causing Sora, [[Donald Duck]] and [[Goofy]] to forget many friends and events prior to their arrival. She also uses her influence to cause Sora to believe that she is a very important friend that he has forgotten. Marluxia forces Naminé to undergo this manipulation so that Sora may become a puppet under Naminé's, and therefore Marluxia's control, allowing Marluxia to overthrow [[Xemnas]].

Meanwhile, Naminé is also forced to implant false memories into the [[Riku Replica]], so that he thinks he is the real [[Riku]]. However, like Sora, he is led to believe that Naminé is his long lost friend and that he made the same promise to Naminé.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]''''', '''Replica Riku:''' "There was a meteor shower...this one night when she and I were little... Naminé got scared and said, 'What if a shooting star hits the islands?' So I told her: 'If a shooting star comes this way, I will protect you!' / '''Sora:''' "You made a promise! With a toy sword!" / '''Replica Riku:''' "What... How do you know about that?"</ref> Replica Riku even has an identical lucky charm, though this one is only a transformed card.

Naminé's conscience eventually helps her to overcome the loneliness and fear that caused her to go along with Marluxia's scheme, and she reveals herself to Sora after being released by [[Axel]]. She appears to Sora in the memory version of [[Destiny Islands]] as he is conversing with the memory version of herself. Naminé tells him that she had never been in his heart, despite what his memories show him, and urges him to remember Kairi, whose existence is special to him.

After the battle, Naminé explains her actions and motivations to Sora, and expresses deep regret, thinking that he will not forgive her. Much to her surprise, Sora is completely forgiving, though he does admit that he isn't happy about what she has done. When asked if anything can be done to restore their old memories, Naminé says she can do so, but only after they defeat the lord of Castle Oblivion, Marluxia, on the 13th floor. Sora goes to fight him, leaving the replica under her care. However, as she is watching over the replica, Marluxia arrives and kidnaps her.

Marluxia puts Naminé to good use when Axel confronts him about his plot to overthrow the Organization. Marluxia uses Naminé as a human shield, but Axel is undeterred, saying that he will go through her to defeat him, much to her shock. Luckily, she is saved from this by the timely intervention of Sora, though he fails to stop Marluxia from escaping with her. Sora then defeats Axel and moves on to Marluxia, who orders Naminé to completely shatter Sora's memories and destroy his heart, when he sees that in his current state, Sora is of no use to him. Even so, Marluxia believes he can eventually restore Sora and make him his puppet. Remembering Sora's kindness towards her, Naminé refuses the order. When Marluxia threatens to defeat her, Sora urges Naminé to erase his memory and destroy his heart, if it means saving her from Marluxia's wrath. In the end, she is saved by the Riku Replica's arrival. Sora, Donald, and Goofy then initiate one final battle against Marluxia, as the replica guards Naminé.

Naminé and Riku meet again later at the urging of [[Ansem the Wise|DiZ]] and she reveals Sora's comatose condition to him. She offers Riku a chance to seal away the darkness in his heart, though he, too, would have to sleep like Sora. Riku ultimately chooses to face the darkness on his own, and Naminé sees that he has made the right choice. He also reveals his suspicion that it was Naminé who appeared to him as Kairi, which she confirms, although she is surprised that he realized. Riku notes that the two "smell the same", before going off to face his darkness. Knowing that Castle Oblivion is still under the control of the Organization, DiZ convinces her to move Sora, Donald, and Goofy to his laboratory in [[Twilight Town]] for safekeeping.

{{-}}

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

Naminé desires to see Roxas, having developed a connection with him, as his situation is quite similar to her own in Castle Oblivion, and she enters the digital Twilight Town herself. There, she meets him and acts as a guide for him when he is attacked by Nobodies. After Roxas's [[Dive to the Heart]], Naminé meets with him again, saving him from the darkness that bursts forth from the [[Twilight Thorn]]. She plans to reveal the truth of who he really is, but is stopped by Riku, claiming that it is better if Roxas did not know the truth. Even so, their encounter puts Roxas into contact with Kairi the next day, when Kairi manages to remember Sora's name.

On the following day, Naminé and Roxas meet again, and she reveals to Roxas his status as a Nobody, his relationship with [[Axel]], and his connection to Sora. Upon seeing Roxas's reaction to the revelations, she apologizes and remarks that "some things really are better left unsaid".

[[File:The Three on Sunset Hill 01 KHIIFM.png|thumb|left|Riku-Ansem entrusting Naminé to Axel.]]

Later, in [[The World That Never Was]], Naminé breaks into the Organization's stronghold, rescuing [[Pluto]] and Kairi from their cell in the dungeon. They then proceed to find Sora, though Naminé's close proximity to her true counterpart causes her to blink in and out of existence as they apparently begin to join together again. While searching for Sora, they are intercepted by [[Saïx]]. However, Riku arrives and manages to drive him off. Naminé then tells Riku that he can take over from this point, and vanishes.

After the first battle with the Kingdom Hearts-powered Xemnas, Naminé appears another time, though in a transparent state, and opens up a pathway to Destiny Islands. Apparently, only Sora, Riku, and Kairi can see her, as [[Mickey Mouse|Mickey]], Donald, and Goofy have no idea where the pathway came from (however, the French version alters this; when the Corridor to Destiny Islands is opened, Donald asks, "Who was that girl?" to which Mickey replies, "I'll explain to you some other time." Having said thus, Mickey, Donald and Goofy enter the corridor, leaving Sora, Riku, and Kairi behind to speak to Roxas and Naminé).

Kairi thanks Naminé for her help. Naminé then tells Sora that they meet again, though he does not understand what she means due to his loss of memories of Castle Oblivion. At that moment, Roxas projects himself from Sora, and the two Nobodies meet once more, just as Naminé promised. The two realize that not all Nobodies are doomed to fade into the darkness, as they were able to meet their original selves, and though they are no longer independent, they will live on through Sora and Kairi. Sora and Kairi promise their counterparts that they will be together every day, and without regret, Naminé finally joins with Kairi, completing her.

===''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]''===

While trapped in a dream in The World That Never Was, Sora sees a sad Naminé in front of a set of stairs.  Upon seeing Sora, Naminé quickly runs away until Sora catches up to her. She looks back and, while Sora tries to tell Naminé something, Xion appears in her stead.

{{-}}

===''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]''===

[[File:Ending 04 KHIII.png|thumb|left|Naminé reunites with Riku in her new body.]]

{{-}}

===''[[Blank Points]]''===

Naminé finishes a drawing of Sora on the paopu tree in the White Room of the [[Old Mansion]] in Twilight Town and says Sora's name.

==Design==

Due to the unusual nature of her birth, Naminé was born without memories. As a result, she had no basis of free will, and simply followed the orders of whoever was close to her, effectively making her very submissive, quiet, and fragile in personality. However, as revealed in ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'', Nobodies like her could grow new hearts, which is why she is able to express true emotions.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]''''', '''Xemnas:''' "A heart is never lost for good. There may have been variances in our dispositions, but a number of us unquestionably showed signs of a burgeoning replacement. Once born, the heart can also be nurtured. Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind and convince it to renounce its sense of self. But understand, one can banish the heart from the body, but the body will try to replace it the first chance it gets, for as many times as it takes."</ref> During her time in Castle Oblivion, Naminé begins exhibiting the capacity for emotions. In fact, Naminé later reveals that she agreed to use her powers to draw Sora to Castle Oblivion and manipulate his memories was due to a sense of loneliness she felt from being isolated from others for so long.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]''''', '''Naminé:''' "I was alone for so long. I couldn't bear it anymore... So I beckoned your heart to lead you here. And I'm so glad you found me."</ref>

Unlike [[Roxas]], Naminé had spent the majority of her life in a solitary manner. The only social contact she had was with her captors, [[Organization XIII|the Organization]], along with her collaborators in restoring Sora's memory: [[DiZ]] and [[Riku]]. As a result, Naminé did not forge any strong bonds with people and was quite resigned to her fate as simply being a part of Kairi. When she met Sora in [[The Final World]], she said it was only Roxas that everyone missed; she considered herself to be no-one important. However, Sora encourages her to live as her own person; this is even further backed up by the [[Riku Replica]], who gave up the chance to have a new body for the sake of leaving a blank [[replica]] for Naminé's heart.

Unlike other humanoid Nobodies, Naminé's talents do not lie in battle, but in the ability to control memories, making her a "witch". The ability comes from the fact that she is formed from Sora's soul and body, rather than Kairi's. Because of this connection, Naminé can move around the "links" of his memories that are located within his heart to her liking, as well as the ones of those who are connected to Sora. She can even sever them completely, turning the victim into little more than an empty shell, such as the Riku Replica when he threatened to defeat Sora. In addition, she can create objects affected by the new memories, evidenced by turning a card into a good luck charm for the Riku Replica and altering the appearance of Kairi's [[Wayfinder|Lucky Charm]] to resemble that of a [[paopu fruit]].

Naminé's power can also allow her to lock away the darkness in hearts by removing all memory of it.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories]]''''', '''Naminé:''' "It's not your memories. It's your darkness. In your heart there is darkness, and in that darkness is Ansem. He may be at bay for now—but eventually he'll wake, and he will take over you just like he did before. But I have powers you can use. With my powers, I can put a tight lock on your heart. That way, Ansem could never come out from inside you." / '''Riku:''' "What happens to me if I let you do that? Will I forget everything like Sora? [...] I'll have to." / '''Naminé:''' "The darkness in you will be sealed tight just like your memory. You'll stop remembering the darkness. You'll go back to how you were. Riku, please choose."</ref>  

An additional limitation is that Naminé is unable to restore memories that are real if they have been tainted by fake memories she created. Due to rewriting Sora's memory in Castle Oblivion, Naminé was unable to restore the memories of his actual experience there; thus Sora's memory abruptly ends right as he got to the castle.<ref>'''''{{c|Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories}}''''', '''Naminé''': "First I will have to undo the links I made. [...] You won't be able to remember anything about what happened here. I'm sorry. It's the only way."</ref>

===Other abilities===

==Notes and references==

{{reflist}}

{{NobodyDirectory}}

{{358}}