Kingdom Hearts (game)

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This article is about the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series. For other uses of "Kingdom Hearts", see Kingdom Hearts (disambiguation).

Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Kingdom Hearts begins on Destiny Islands, where Sora, Riku and Kairi live. The three friends seek to leave the islands to explore new worlds and have prepared a raft for this purpose. One night, the islands are attacked by darkness and shadow creatures. Sora seeks out his friends, only to find Riku. He disappears into darkness and Sora obtains the Keyblade. Despite Sora's efforts at battling the shadow creatures, the islands are destroyed, and Sora is left adrift. Meanwhile, King Mickey Mouse has left his world to deal with the increasing power of darkness and left instructions for mage Donald Duck and knight Goofy to find the "key".

Donald and Goofy use a Gummi Ship to travel to Traverse Town, where Sora has drifted. Sora encounters the shadow creatures again, and meets Leon, who explains the shadow creatures are Heartless, creatures that consume hearts, and that the Keyblade is the only weapon capable of defeating them. A man named Ansem, the leader of Leon's home world, is said to have studied the Heartless. Sora meets Donald and Goofy and the three decide to travel together: Donald and Goofy to find Mickey, and Sora to find Kairi and Riku. The three travel to various worlds based on Disney films, finding that the Keyblade also locks "Keyholes", passages that the Heartless use to take the heart of the world. A group of Disney villains, led by Maleficent, seek out the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock the Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts, a repository of knowledge and power and the source of all hearts. This group includes Riku, who Maleficent promises will help find Kairi. Maleficent sows distrust in Riku, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for new friends and the Keyblade. An increasingly antagonistic Riku finds Kairi's body, but cannot find her heart.

Sora and his friends eventually arrive at Hollow Bastion, the home world of Ansem and the headquarters of Maleficent. Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora, claiming that he was simply the "delivery boy". Donald and Goofy, taking their order to follow the "key" seriously, leave with Riku. Sora then challenges Riku again, stating that his heart derives strength from his friends; his friends return to him, as does the Keyblade. Shamed, Riku meets a cloaked man who goads him to give into the darkness. The three engage and kill Maleficent but then meet a strangely-behaved Riku with a Keyblade that unlocks hearts. Sora finds Kairi's body and Riku, who reveals himself to be Ansem, possessing Riku's body. Ansem explains that Kairi is a Princess of Heart and that her heart was trapped within Sora's body since Destiny Islands was decimated. After defeating Ansem, Sora uses Ansem's Keyblade to unlock his heart, releasing both his and Kairi's heart. Kairi's heart returns to her body, in turn completing the final Keyhole, while Sora's heart becomes a Heartless. Sora is then returned to human form by Kairi's heart and resolves to follow Ansem.

Ansem is found in End of the World, the combined remnants of worlds taken by the Heartless. Ansem explains his belief that darkness is the heart's true essence, and he seeks Kingdom Hearts, as that would be the ultimate darkness. However, upon opening the door to Kingdom Hearts, it reveals its light, killing Ansem. Beyond the door are Mickey and Riku, and they help Sora and the others close the door, as there are many Heartless beyond it. Mickey and Sora use their Keyblades to lock the door. The worlds reconstruct themselves, separating Sora and Kairi. The game concludes as Sora, Donald, and Goofy resolve to find Riku and Mickey.

Worlds

• Awakening
• Destiny Islands
• Traverse Town
• Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland world)
• Olympus Coliseum (Hercules world)
• Deep Jungle (Tarzan world)
• Agrabah (Aladdin world)
• Monstro (Pinocchio world; not an actual world)
• Atlantica (The Little Mermaid world)
• Halloween Town (Nightmare Before Christmas world)
• Neverland (Peter Pan world)
• Hollow Bastion (Final Fantasy world)
• End of the World (partially Fantasia world)
• Hundred Acre Wood (Winnie-the-Pooh world)

Final Fantasy Cameos

Tidus, Wakka and Selphie all live in the Destiny Islands Wakka and Tidus Being from Final Fantasy X and Selphie from Final Fantasy VIII. Leon is also from Final Fantasy VIII (but his name is Squall Leonheart) and Cloud, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie and Sephiroth are all from Final Fantasy VII. The game also uses other Final Fantasy icons. Moogles make an appearance and provide item synthesis. Several weapons, such as Lionheart and Save the Queen, share names with other weapons from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series. The name of the raft Riku had suggested was Highwind, is a reference to the airship of Final Fantasy VII. The magic-naming system in Kingdom Hearts (ie. Cure, Cura, Curaga, etc.) is reminiscient of Final Fantasy magic. The names of various spells are the names of Gummi blocks, and various summons, weapons, bosses, and monsters are the names of Gummi ships blueprints.

Final Mix

see article Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix