Guardian Form

Guardian Form
Toy Box Monstropolis The Caribbean San Fransokyo
Japanese	ガーディアンフォ一ム
Rōmaji	Gādian Fōmu
Keyblades	Hero's Origin, Hunny Spout, Classic Tone

Guardian Form is a Form specializing in defensive techniques which appears in Kingdom Hearts III. It is triggered by Hero's Origin, Hunny Spout, and Classic Tone.

The Formchanges are Counter Shield (Hero's Origin), Hunny Blasters and Hunny Launcher (Hunny Spout), Boom Hammer and Clock Drill (Classic Tone).

Development

Guardian Form was referred to as Guard Form (ガードフォーム, Gādo Fōmu) in early gameplay notes.

Design

Guardian Form turns Sora's coat, gloves, and shoes yellow, with a checkered diamond pattern on his pants. Guardian Form alters Sora's appearance in other worlds:

• In his Toy Box form, Sora's jacket turns into a lemon yellow and his blocks are golden yellow and black.

• In his Monstropolis form, Sora's jacket turns to Guardian Form and his fur turns neon yellow with orange stripes.

• In his The Caribbean form, Sora's cuffs and bandana turn to a dark yellow color, his hat has three diamonds, and the coattail also has a diamond pattern on it. His waist coat is yellow and black. Sora's hat has three diamonds on it with crossing diagonal lines going through them.

Mechanics

Guardian Form is focused on Sora's defensive capabilities, granting abilities such as Second Chance, Withstand Combo, Defender, and its unique abilities Barrier and Counter Blast.

Abilities

Abilities
Ability		Description
Aerial Recovery		Press after taking damage in the air to right yourself.
Barrier		Press to guard against attacks from all directions.
Counter Blast		Press after a successful block to send surrounding foes flying. (Reprisal)
High Jump		Leap high into the air. The longer you hold , the higher the jump.
Combo Master		Continue combos even if your swings miss the enemy.
Second Chance		Always retain at least 1 HP if you are hit while you have 2 HP or more.
Withstand Combo		Always retain at least 1 HP if you are hit while you have 2 HP or more. You will remain protected throughout the enemy's combo.
Hidden Potential		Gain additional Strength and Magic when battling powerful foes.
Defender		Potentially increase Defense by 2 when your HP is at 25% or below. Stack the ability to increase the odds.
Guard/Block: △ = Can be blocked; O = Can be blocked and interrupted (melee) or deflected back (projectile); X = Cannot be blocked.

Strategy

Guardian Form is primarily centered around defense and survivability. Guardian Form prioritizes guarding more than dodging, as its abilities Barrier and Counter Blast grant greater versatility when guarding and counterattacking. As Guardian Form can be accessed very early through Hero's Origin, most of Guardian Form's support abilities provide the most utility early on when such abilities would normally not otherwise be gained, such as the immensely useful Second Chance and Withstand Combo. Even when Sora is higher level, such abilities are still valuable assets of Guardian Form especially if Sora did not choose Power of the Guardian during the Dive to the Heart.

When survivability is needed most, it may be helpful to equip Keyblades with Guardian Form Formchanges over Keyblades with similar Formchanges belonging to other Forms, such as Hunny Spout over Shooting Star, or Classic Tone over Favorite Deputy.