Drive Form

Drive Forms (ドライヴフォーム, Doraivu Fōmu) are special forms that appear in Kingdom Hearts II. Through the magic of the clothes that Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather gave him at the Mysterious Tower, Sora is able to temporarily take on a new appearance that grants him a separate set of abilities, often through merging with his allies. Use of Drive Forms is regulated by the Drive Gauge. Sora's use of Drive Forms is mechanically similar to Riku's Dark Mode and Link Styles, or Terra, Ventus, and Aqua's Command Styles.

Mechanics

Entering a Drive Form immediately refills Sora's HP and MP Gauges, but more visibly, it gives his outfit a style bearing the color and symbols of that Form, while replacing his normal Action and Growth abilities with a new list of Action, Growth, and Support abilities, while retaining his equipped Support abilities. These changes can go so far as to grant dual Keyblade wielding or variations of Sora's Magic spells. Each Form can gain experience and levels up in a unique way while the Form is active, independent of other Forms and Sora's own experience level, and every Form excluding AntiForm can reach Level 7. In addition, every Form has an associated Growth ability that grows as the form does, and, with the exception of AntiForm, upgrading the Form's Growth ability allows Sora to use that ability in his Standard Form, albeit at a lower level.

If Sora is in any Drive Form besides AntiForm when a cutscene begins, he will appear in the cutscene in that Drive Form. The cutscene will be otherwise unchanged, and Sora will handle his main-handed Keyblade as he normally would, regardless of whether the form grants dual-wielding or not.

If Sora mounts a skateboard while in a Drive Form, he will not revert to his normal form even when the gauge is depleted.

Forms

There are six Drive Forms in total. All but one can be triggered on command from the list of Forms within the Command Menu, while the last, AntiForm, is a penalty form that randomly activates if Drive Forms are used in excess, except for Final Form.

Valor Form allows Sora to wield two Keyblades of the player's choosing at the same time, complete with stat boosts and abilities. It specializes in physical combat, but can't cast spells, contrasting to Wisdom Form, thereby greying out the Magic option in the command menu. Its special ability is the High Jump, which can also be obtained for normal Sora at higher levels. Sora wears red clothes with a red fleur-de-lis symbol. It uses Goofy's power and is based on him, making him disappear for the duration of the form, and costs 3 Drive Points to use. Sora's running speed is noticeably enhanced in this form. This form gains experience with each successful hit on an enemy, making it the easiest form to level up. Sora gains this form when he obtains his new clothes from the fairies at Yen Sid's Tower.

Wisdom Form lets Sora float across the ground like on a skateboard, and uses a single Keyblade to shoot enemies with magical bullets, but not physically strike. It is a Magic-based form, in contrast to Valor Form's physical combat. Its Action abilities allow Sora to not only cast magic faster, but increase the power, even alter the appearance and effect of most magics' finishers. Its special ability is Quick Run, which is a fast dashing technique to move quickly through areas or dodge attacks, even defying gravity over pits and ledges until it ends. Sora wears blue clothes with flame symbols on it. It uses Donald Duck's power and is based on him, making Donald disappear, and costs 3 Drive Points. This form gains experience whenever a Heartless is destroyed. It is obtained after Timeless River is completed.

Limit Form, exclusive to Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, lets Sora channel specific abilities from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. Its special ability is Dodge Roll, a small leap forward that defends Sora from all attacks, and reflects projectiles. The color scheme of Sora's clothes in this form change to that of his original clothes from Kingdom Hearts to reflect this. When triggered, both partners stay by Sora's side and do not disappear, making it especially useful during tough battles, along with a cost of 4 Drive Points. This form gains experience whenever a Limit Finisher Reaction Command is used and only counts when the Limit hits an enemy successfully. It is obtained when Sora obtains Oathkeeper in his second visit to Twilight Town. This is the only form that Sora can trigger alone.

Master Form is a combination of both Valor and Wisdom forms. It uses two Keyblades, one controlled through telekinesis and the other with the hand. It specializes in both Magical and Physical Combat. Its special ability is Aerial Dodge, a second midair jump that blocks attacks (and reflects projectiles). Sora wears yellow clothes with a cross motif. It is based on King Mickey and uses both partners and 4 Drive Points. This form gains experience via collecting Drive Orbs. Every small orb is worth 1 EXP while every big orb is worth 3 EXP. It is obtained in Hollow Bastion by speaking to King Mickey before the Battle of the 1000 Heartless and during the events of Space Paranoids.

Final Form allows Sora to access his full power and wield two Keyblades through telekinesis. Its special ability is Glide, which allows the user to fly briefly. Sora wears silver clothes with the symbol of a crown. It is based on Roxas's fighting style and uses both party members and 5 Drive Points. This form gains experience whenever a Nobody is destroyed. It is obtained randomly after Sora fights Roxas in The World That Never Was, at which point it begins activating randomly when other Forms are chosen much like Antiform; however, after it has been activated once, it is added to the Form Menu and can be accessed at will. Final Form is the only form that will not Lead to Antiform is used excessively.

AntiForm, unlike the other forms, can only be activated randomly, and is essentially a penalty form triggered by overuse of the Drive Forms aside from Final Form. It specializes in fast, bestial attacks using Sora's claws, capable of incredible and long-lasting combos, but lacks the ability to cast spells, guard, recover HP, or use the Keyblade or Reaction Commands. The likelihood of activating AntiForm is governed by an invisible indicator called Anti Points, a hidden counter that increases when any form aside from Anti or Final Form is used or depending on the situation, such as a boss fight, Organization XIII fight, etc. In this form, Sora takes on the appearance of a Pureblood Heartless, with yellow eyes, no emblem on his body, and a dark mist rising from its now fully-black Form. It uses both partners, consumes the entire Drive Gauge, its Form gauge is preset at 5, and can only be reverted if there are no enemies in the field or when the Form Gauge is fully depleted. Sora is then left with a completely empty Drive Gauge at 0. This is the only form that cannot level up, either the form itself or Sora.