Riku

Riku
	Kingdom Hearts
	First entry; Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. He hated the monotony of island life and built a raft with Sora and Kairi to explore the outside world. Riku seems to have vanished along with the Destiny Islands.; ; Second entry; Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. When the Destiny Islands vanished, so did he. By the time Riku reappeared, Sora had already found new friends, so Riku didn't rejoin him. Riku is willing to go to any length to save Kairi--even join forces with Maleficent.; ; Third entry; Riku gained immense power through the forces of darkness. But ordinary humans are no match for the darkness, and it is gradually consuming his heart.; ; Fourth entry; When Kairi lost her heart, Riku allied himself with Maleficent to save her. Riku was actually the rightful master of the Keyblade, but once he chose darkness over light, the weapon chose Sora instead. Ansem exploited Riku's weakness of heart and possessed him.
	Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
	Sora's Story; Sora's childhood friend.; ; Baited by the darkness and used by Maleficent and Ansem, Riku once fought against Sora.; ; In order to seal the door to darkness, Riku stayed with the king on the other side. His current whereabouts are unknown.; ; Sora journeys in the hopes of finding Riku.; ; Reverse/Rebirth; A boy who was born and raised on a small group of islands.; ; Riku dreamt of seeing other worlds, and so he forsook the islands—only to be seduced by the power of darkness.; ; Enslaved by Ansem, pursuer of darkness, Riku clashed with his childhood friend Sora. But in the end, he was able to regain himself, and together with Sora closed the door to darkness. Still, the dark wounds in Riku's heart have yet to mend.
	Kingdom Hearts II
	Ansem; Mysterious wielder of darkness.; ; What could his true purpose be?; ; First entry; The form Sora's longtime friend Riku chose.; ; Though Xehanort tried to control Riku from within, Riku's heart proved stronger. But the only way to wield the darkness fully was to become it.; ; Riku began calling himself "Ansem," perhaps as a sign of resolve. He would live in darkness if that's what it took to wake Sora.; ; Second entry; Sora's longtime friend. He had clad himself in darkness in order to wield it, and had even changed in appearance.; ; But when the real Ansem's Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploded, Riku returned to his old form.; ; You could say it was a miracle—worked by a heart no darkness could eclipse.
	Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
	HD 1.5 ReMIX; Childhood friends with Sora and Kairi. He donned the Organization's black coat pretending to be a member, and investigates their actions while waiting for Sora's memories to be restored.
	Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
	Sora's best friend. They grew up together on the Destiny Islands. But Riku was so desperate to leave their small, stifling home that he succumbed to the darkness. Eventually, he and Sora clashed.; ; Fortunately, he met Mickey. With his new friend's help, Riku learned to turns his wrongs into rights, and eventually became one of Sora's greatest, unseen allies.
	Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
	A little boy who yearns to see the outside world. Terra chose him to inherit the power of the Keyblade.; ; Riku deeply cares for his friend Sora, and believes the strength he needs to protect people awaits him somewhere in the wider world.
	Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
	A boy who wields a Keyblade. His battles to save the worlds have often pitted him against the darkness in his own heart.; ; Now, he is braving the Mark of Mastery examination to find out if he is still worthy of the Keyblade.
	Kingdom Hearts Union χ
	KH Riku/Illustrated Riku; KINGDOM HEARTS (2002); A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi.; ; KH II Black Coat Riku A/KH II Black Coat Riku B; KINGDOM HEARTS II (2005); A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi who's fought Sora in the past.; ; KH II Riku; KINGDOM HEARTS II (2005); A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. Reliable and inquisitive.; ; KH CoM Black Coat Riku; KINGDOM HEARTS CoM (2004); A childhood friend of Sora who struggles with the darkness inside.; ; Illustrated Riku B; KINGDOM HEARTS CoM (2004); A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. He dreamed of going off to the outside world.; ; KH 3D Riku; KINGDOM HEARTS 3D (2012); A Keyblade-wielding boy who takes on the Mark of Mastery exam.; ; HD Riku; KINGDOM HEARTS 3D (2012); A young Keyblade wielder who attempts the Mark of Mastery exam to test his potential.; ; Sora & Riku & Kairi; KINGDOM HEARTS (2002); Three friends who live in Destiny Islands.; ; KH II Riku & Mickey; KINGDOM HEARTS II; A childhood friend of Sora and Kairi, and the king of Disney Castle.; ; Sora & Riku & Meow Wow; KINGDOM HEARTS 3D (2012); A Medal celebrating KH 2.8.
	Kingdom Hearts III
	A true Keyblade Master and childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. Though he struggled with the darkness in the past, he learned to control his heart and successfully earned the Mark of Mastery.; ; In order to gather the remaining guardians of light to confront Master Xehanort, Riku and King Mickey have gone searching for the lost Keyblade wielders who vanished over ten years ago.

Riku
Japanese	リク
Rōmaji	Riku
Voice actors	(Ja:) Mamoru Miyano; Eiji Shima (Young Riku); (En:) David Gallagher; Ty Panitz (Young Riku);
Homeworld	Destiny Islands; Hollow Bastion;
Games	Kingdom Hearts; Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories; Kingdom Hearts II; Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days; Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep; Kingdom Hearts coded; Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance; Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-; Kingdom Hearts III; Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
Variations
• Riku-Ansem; • Ansem, Seeker of Darkness; • Riku Replica; • Data-Riku;
KHII tracks
	Character theme - Riku
KHD tracks
	Character theme - Riku

Oh no! The water! I'm in big trouble if I don't fetch it!

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Issues: KH3 section contains some speculation and script-regurgitation

"If the world is made of light and darkness... We'll be the darkness."

—Riku to Sora in the Realm of Darkness

Riku is one of the main characters in the Kingdom Hearts series. He is the secondary antagonist of Kingdom Hearts, a major playable character in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He has lesser playable roles in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III, only for minor battles. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, he is playable in Mission Mode.

He lives on Destiny Islands with his best friends, Sora and Kairi, and all three of them dream of venturing from Destiny Islands to find out what worlds are out there. This dream comes true, although Riku becomes influenced by the darkness and struggles to find a place as Sora's ally. He eventually does and also becomes a Keyblade Master after passing his Mark of Mastery exam.

Story

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Riku is chosen as Terra's successor.

When Terra visits Destiny Islands, he can already sense Riku's potential, and asks why Riku wants to leave his island. Riku tells Terra that someone else left the island long ago, and visited other worlds. Riku states that he would like to leave his world too in order to become strong enough to protect his friends and everything else he holds dear. During their conversation, Terra sees a vision of a white-haired man who then transforms into Riku's sixteen-year-old self. This convinces him to choose Riku as his successor, and lets Riku hold his Keyblade to test his strength. He convinces Riku to keep their conversation a secret to preserve the world order.

He and Sora later encounter Aqua, who finds their friendship similar to that of hers, Terra's and Ven's, and asks Sora to protect Riku if he ever loses his path.

Sometime afterwards, Riku and Sora are resting on a beach under a starry sky at night. When they are ready to go home, Riku sees Sora's sudden tear of sadness and says that perhaps someone from another world is feeling sad somewhere and suggests that Sora try and reach out to him. After Sora reaches out to Ventus, they both look up at the starry sky.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts

Sometime later, a young girl named Kairi arrives at the Destiny Islands from another world during a nighttime meteor shower. Not long after that night, Sora and Riku explore a small, hidden cave on their islands, in search of a "howling monster". They are disappointed to find only a featureless door in the "Secret Place", and they decide to someday leave the island and have real adventures. As they leave, they decide to go see "the new girl", and Riku, unbeknownst to Sora, looks back at the door to see the Keyhole of the Destiny Islands.

Riku, Sora, and Kairi quickly forge a powerful friendship. During the next several years, they often wonder about what lies beyond their small world, prompted by the mystery of Kairi's forgotten home.

Kingdom Hearts

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

—Riku to Sora as the Destiny Islands are consumed by darkness

Riku, Sora, and Kairi often spend the evenings at a tree on an attached islet.

Riku, Sora, and Kairi continued to live on the Destiny Islands together. The three work together to construct a raft and gather supplies so that they can set out and search for other outside worlds. While Riku and Sora continue their rivalry through duels and races, Riku takes jabs at Sora over his relationship with Kairi, telling him that if Sora loses their race over the raft's name, he gets to share a paopu fruit with Kairi- although if spoken to afterward, he will claim it was "just a joke".^[1]

On the night before their journey, Riku opens the door in the secret place and the Heartless invade the islands. Kairi and Sora each set out for the island to make sure their raft is safe. Sora finds Riku, but finds that Riku is only eager to escape the islands. Darkness surrounds the two, and while Riku disappears into it, Sora gains the Keyblade.

This information is based on alternate scenes or materials and is not considered canon within the overall plot of the series.

In the Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories novel, Riku has a short discussion with Kairi, who came to help secure the raft during the storm. He gives her the same offer he would soon give Sora, to take her to the outside world by "another way". As the storm rages, he tells her to wait in front of the door inside of the Secret Place while he looks for Sora, neither of them knowing what would eventually happen to her.

Riku eventually ends up in Hollow Bastion via the Corridor of Darkness, separated from his friends. There, he is found by Maleficent, and she offers him shelter and protection.

In exchange for Riku's cooperation in gathering the Princesses of Heart, she agrees to find Kairi and bring her to him. During this time, Riku comes to possess a blade of darkness called Soul Eater. Riku comes across Sora in Traverse Town. He takes possession of Sora's Keyblade for a few moments before giving it back to Sora, much to Sora's surprise, and then he suddenly leaves. Watching Sora from a distance, Maleficent turns Riku against Sora, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for traveling with Donald and Goofy. However, Riku is still highly suspicious of her motives.

During Sora and Aladdin's fight with Jafar in Agrabah, Riku takes Jasmine to Hollow Bastion under Maleficent's orders. Maleficent reveals the whereabouts of Kairi's body. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who appears to have lost her heart to the darkness, is to gain access to Kingdom Hearts.

Riku teases Sora and runs off with Pinocchio.

Riku meets Sora again in Monstro, intending to use Pinocchio to help him find a way to save Kairi's heart. However, Pinocchio is captured by the Parasite Cage, and Riku works together with Sora, Donald, and Goofy to save him. Afterwards, Riku kidnaps Pinocchio, and is pursued by Sora, Donald, and Goofy into Monstro's stomach. Riku asks Sora to join him and help him rescue Kairi, but Sora refuses, knowing that Riku's methods are wrong. When the Parasite Cage returns, Riku vanishes into a Corridor of Darkness.

Riku retreats with Kairi and summons AntiSora to battle Sora.

Maleficent bestows the power of darkness on Riku, giving him the power to command the Heartless. He then goes to Neverland, traveling on Captain Hook's ship, where Kairi's body is being kept. He appears before Sora, showing him Kairi's body. Sora warns Riku that the Heartless will eventually turn on him and devour his heart, but Riku refuses to listen and retreats after using his new powers to summon AntiSora. However, before he heads back to Hollow Bastion, he tells Captain Hook that the captured Wendy is not a Princess of Heart. Riku takes Kairi and recklessly returns to Maleficent's castle via the Corridors of Darkness without a vessel, putting a strain on his heart. While he is drained from the trip, Maleficent unlocks the last of Riku's dark power.

At Hollow Bastion, Sora again meets Riku, stopping him from taking down the wounded Beast. Riku and Sora briefly talk then forcibly summons the Keyblade away from him, telling him that he was "just the delivery boy" and that Riku is the true Keyblade master. After leaving Sora with the toy sword he used on Destiny Islands, he departs, and Donald and Goofy reluctantly follow him as per The King's orders.

Sora makes his way to the foyer of the castle, with the help of Beast. Riku, taking on a new appearance with the increasing strength of his dark powers, tells him to quit, but Sora refuses to leave without Kairi. Riku, intending to prove to Sora that he is the strongest of the two, attacks his old friend, but Donald and Goofy go to Sora's aid, finding themselves unable to betray Sora after all that they had been through together. With the strength of his friends, Sora reclaims the Keyblade, and drives Riku to fight him.

Riku, defeated, manages to escape, but he is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. A cloaked figure appears to him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku's was weaker than Sora. However, the figure tells him that plunging himself into darkness will make his heart stronger. Riku does so, and he is possessed by the dark figure.

The possessed Riku then comes before Maleficent, and warns her of the dangers of unlocking the Final Keyhole. When she claims not to be afraid, Riku shows a new, dark Keyblade created with six of the seven princesses' hearts. However, it doesn't react to the Keyhole. Realizing it is still needing Kairi's heart to be complete, Maleficent heads off to handle Sora and company. After Maleficent is defeated by Sora, Riku appears with his Keyblade and explains that unlike Sora's Keyblade, this Keyblade possesses the ability to unlock a person's heart, and Riku demonstrates this by piercing Maleficent's chest, allowing the immense darkness that is attracted to her to overtake her heart, transforming her into a giant dragon. When Maleficent is defeated again, he reappears, commenting on how Maleficent was being used by the Heartless from the start before disappearing again.

Ansem possessing Riku's body.

Riku, declaring himself to be Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, confronts Sora in the Grand Hall and reveals that Sora has Kairi's heart in his body. While Donald and Goofy look on, Riku and Sora clash again, with Ansem's presence amplifying Riku's dark powers. He fades away when he is defeated, but after Sora impales himself with the Keyblade to release Kairi's heart and disappears, Ansem reveals himself and attacks Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. Riku uses the last of his strength to hold back his possessor, and yells to the others to run. After they leave, Riku and Ansem are pulled into the darkness coming from the Final Keyhole.

This information is based on alternate scenes or materials and is not considered canon within the overall plot of the series.
If Sora goes to Monstro after Riku has been possessed by Ansem, "Riku" shows up to kidnap Pinocchio, when Sora encounters "Riku" with Pinocchio, "Riku" mockingly asks Sora if he has forgotten his best friend, to which Sora responds that he is not Riku. "Riku" then summons the Parasite Cage and leaves through a portal of darkness.

Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi before the Door to Darkness is closed.

A newly restored Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, eventually make their way to the End of the World. There, in the remnants of Destiny Islands, they once again confront Ansem, who has full control of Riku's body, and defeat him after a series of battles at the Door to Darkness.

After Ansem's defeat, Riku is restored in the Realm of Darkness, but is quickly targeted by a massive swarm of Heartless. Fortunately, Aqua and Mickey spot him, and Aqua uses her Keyblade to restrain the Heartless, unobserved by the boy, allowing Mickey and Riku to escape. Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-

The pair make it to the Door to Darkness, but are unable to cross through the door themselves, as they are not from the Realm of Darkness. They aid Sora in closing it to prevent a horde of Heartless from crossing through, but not before Riku tells Sora to take care of Kairi. This leaves the pair trapped in the Realm of Darkness, looking for another way out.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

"Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road."
"Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?"
"No. It's the road to dawn."

—Riku and DiZ

Riku awakens in the Realm of Darkness. An unseen presence gifts him a magic world card and asks him to choose between slipping back into slumber, or taking the card and making his way toward the truth. Riku decides that going back to sleep would be boring, and confidently takes the card.

After Riku takes the card, he goes through a corridor of darkness constructed by Organization XIII to the lowest basement of Castle Oblivion, which has taken the form of Hollow Bastion by crafting itself from his memories. Secret Ansem's Report 11 Though Hollow Bastion is the same as he remembered it, he is unable to find anyone. While he searches, the voice speaks to and mocks the young teenager. At long last, Riku meets someone: Maleficent. Maleficent taunts him and his refusal of the darkness, but Riku fights and defeats her, hoping to prove that he is above the darkness.

Mickey lends Riku his light.

Riku leaves Hollow Bastion, only to see the true form of Castle Oblivion. The voice again comes to Riku, but this time reveals himself to be Ansem, who wants to take over Riku again. However, though Ansem is powerful, King Mickey comes to aid Riku with his light. Riku then manages to fend off Ansem for the time being. Before he departs, the Heartless leaves Riku with some world cards and the ability to wield his inner darkness as a weapon.

Riku soon realizes that he has the power to detect the "smell" of darkness, and is discouraged by it, though King Mickey comforts him. However, King Mickey can only appear to Riku as a projection, for he is still in the Realm of Darkness. Still, with King Mickey's encouragement, Riku ascends the basements of Castle Oblivion in order to rid himself of his darkness. Meanwhile, as Riku travels through the lower levels of Castle Oblivion, Sora ascends the upper floors, being manipulated by Marluxia, a member of the mysterious Organization XIII and the lord of Castle Oblivion. But three other Organization members, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion work to counter Marluxia by using the dark-wielding Riku against the light-wielding Sora.

To further the trio's goals, Vexen independently appears before Riku and the latter wonders if Vexen is with "Ansem" (Xehanort's Heartless). Vexen cryptically responds that he is with "another Ansem". Still, Riku fights against Vexen, seeing him as an enemy. However, the battle only helps Vexen, who uses the data he gathered from the battle to create a replica of Riku. The replica soon comes to battle Riku, mocking Riku's fear of the darkness while the replica embraces it. However, the real Riku proves victorious, and the replica runs off. Soon, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, appears again, saying that the replica is a model of what Riku should be, but Riku only reaffirms his desire to conquer his darkness.

Ansem possesses Riku for an instance and eliminates Lexaeus.

Passing through much of the castle (by this time, the bulk of Sora's adventure is complete, and Larxene and Vexen have been eliminated) Riku finds Lexaeus. Lexaeus, like the others, tells him that he should accept the darkness again, because if he doesn't, his journey will end here. The two fight, and Riku only manages to wear him down. As Riku moves in for the finishing blow, Lexaeus summons his herculean strength and knocks Riku unconscious with his Axe Sword. Lexaeus decides to eliminate him since taking him down was too much trouble, but as he does, he notices Riku becoming possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. This catches Lexaeus off-guard, and the possessed Riku takes the opportunity to put an end to him. Although Lexaeus is defeated, Riku ends up having a struggle with Ansem that he nearly loses. Just before the dark being can overwhelm Riku, Mickey saves him again and manages to bring him out of the darkness.

Riku comes closer to the ground level, just as Marluxia's scheme fails and Sora finishes him off. Riku senses Marluxia's defeat, and Zexion quickly arrives on the scene to explain it. But he also reveals that Sora is the one who did the deed, much to Riku's surprise. Zexion quickly asks if Riku is capable of seeing Sora, for Riku shouldered the darkness for so long, and Ansem still resides in his heart. Riku tries to resist Zexion's comments, but Zexion ultimately gives him a world card of Destiny Islands.

In Destiny Islands, Riku meets all of his friends, but they are all silent and they eventually disappear, even Kairi. Zexion throws all of Riku's fears at him at once, telling him he's responsible for causing them to disappear, and that he belongs to the darkness now. He finally transforms an illusion of him into a Darkside Heartless, telling him this is what he has become. Riku defeats the Heartless as Zexion disguises himself as Sora. He tells him that it's finally time to face the light.

Riku sinks into the light as he begins to fade, but Naminé appears in the form of Kairi and tells him that he can't fade, because light can't destroy him, and neither can darkness, so he should accept both to drive away his fears. He awakens his dark powers again, admitting that it's a part of him and not evil, defeating Zexion. Zexion disappears, but is quickly eliminated by the Riku Replica with Axel.

Riku nearly makes it to the main floor as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, appears to control him, but King Mickey defends Riku again and finally appears for real. Riku is relieved at finally having a real friend with him. King Mickey explains that he found a card which showed him Riku's heart and he followed it back to him.

Riku fighting Riku Replica in the memory-based Twilight Town.

Riku uses the card, and ends up in Twilight Town. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, appears again, but Riku tells him that he is not "Ansem", because his scent is not darkness—but rather something else. Riku also sees that this man is the voice that presented itself at the beginning of his journey. The voice finally appears and introduces himself as DiZ. Riku asks him what he really wants from him, and DiZ tells him he wants him to choose between light and darkness, because he lies in-between. The decision will be decided with Naminé, whom Riku looks for. However, the Riku Replica manages to find him, and demands another fight to prove him "worthy". The replica intends to destroy Riku in order to become real, but fails. However, Riku comforts him by saying that the replica's heart will go to the same place as the real one's, before the replica vanishes out of existence.

Riku meets up with Naminé, who is with Sora in his memory pod, and explains the situation. She offers to seal away Ansem and Riku's darkness, so that he may forget them, but will have to sleep to do so. Riku refuses, hoping to win on his own, and leaves a satisfied Naminé. However, before he departs, he tells Naminé that he knows that it was she who appeared to him as Kairi, commenting that they smell the same.

After meeting Naminé, DiZ appears again to Riku and the King (who notes that DiZ seems familiar). Knowing his choice, DiZ gives Riku a card that will draw out Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. After DiZ leaves, Riku tells Mickey to destroy him if he fails to stop Ansem, but he refuses, saying he'll only help him regain control, and Riku concedes.

Riku faces Ansem alone for one final battle. Ansem asks why he still refuses him if he accepts darkness now, and inquires if Riku is still scared of the darkness. Riku denies this and merely says, "I just can't stand your foul stench." They fight and the last of Ansem is destroyed, but not before he says a part of him is still in Riku, and that he shall return.

Riku walking the road to dawn.

Riku and Mickey wait at the crossroads. Riku tells him that he can't go home yet, as Ansem's shadow still lingers in him, but Mickey says the darkness is a part of him. Riku, who now forms an equally strong bond to the King as Sora's friendship to Donald and Goofy, calls Mickey by his name at the King's request. They leave, taking Organization black coats that DiZ gave them prior to confronting Ansem, and DiZ appears for one final question: if he shall take the "road to light" or the "road to darkness". Riku chooses neither; he instead chooses to take the middle road, "the road to dawn".

Riku and Mickey eventually make it out of the plains and to Hollow Bastion. They separate after Riku realized he couldn't completely rid himself of the darkness festering in him. Deciding to return to DiZ and offer his help, Riku dons a blindfold, so that "his eyes couldn't lie" about the darkness that he is preparing to use.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

"You could say I am...the biggest nobody of them all."

—Riku to Xion

Riku defeats Xion, and begins to question her identity.

Riku faces off with Xion on the bridge in Beast's Castle. Knocking her out, Riku removes Xion's hood, curious about what she looks like. Moving his blindfold off one eye to get a good look at her, he becomes shocked by her appearance. Riku interrogates her as to her identity and use of the Keyblade, while Xion demands to know why he's dressed as a member of the Organization. Telling her it's to make sure Sora sleeps in peace, Riku tells Xion that her Keyblade is a sham. Angered, Xion attempts to retaliate, but Riku gives her a chop to the back of neck, knocking her down. Riku advises her to leave the faithless Organization. When Xion calls him a fake, Riku accepts the comment, denigrating himself for his own mistakes in accepting the darkness. He leaves Xion to scream in anger.

{{canon |In the manga, Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the novel, it's implied he sees her briefly as Sora at the Destiny Islands.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag In comparison to Sora's two-handed style and Roxas's dual-weaponry, Riku attacks with a fast one-handed style with his Soul Eater/Way to the Dawn, where he has a rather unique and signature fighting stance, where Riku holds his weapon above himself at his following side/arm (being his right arm) and puts his leading left hand out with its open palm being shown.

Riku attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat in one-handed strikes ranging from thrusts to wide strikes focusing on more on slashing motions as opposed to Sora's clubbing/pummeling style, and is just as adept with his weapons as Sora is with his. His strength and agility are best demonstrated on Destiny Island, where he is known as the strongest child on the island (Tidus remarked that he, Wakka, and Selphie were defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him), and possesses an athletic springing kick if knocked down.

Though Sora has bested Riku on several occasions, it is still unclear who is truly stronger. Riku is also shown to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as shown in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, in which he easily knocks down a charging Xion with a single punch after dismissing his Soul Eater weapon. Riku showed another glimpse of his strength in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days by defeating Xion with ease and holding his own against Roxas. Riku's strength is acknowledged in Kingdom Hearts II when Sora and Donald express their disbelief that Riku could be defeated by anyone.

At first, Riku had no powers whatsoever, although he was a rather strong individual. After arriving in Hollow Bastion he gets his weapon, Soul Eater. It gave him a slight increase in power, but as seen in the battle versus the Parasite Cage, he was only slightly more powerful than on the islands.

Sometime after Monstro, Riku made a pact with Maleficent. This gave him three new abilities: The ability to summon and control Heartless, the power to traverse the worlds using Corridors of Darkness, and finally the ability to craft Anti forms. He demonstrated the first two abilities several times, and the third he used on Sora to create many AntiSoras and one complex one wielding a shadowy Keyblade.

After Sora left Neverland, Riku returned to Maleficent who gave him a large increase in his dark abilities. This allowed him to draw on dark energies to increase his physical power and clothe himself in an organic-looking suit of darkness. While in this Dark Mode he could zip around the battle field at an incredible speed and each blow from his Soul Eater dealt large damage. However, this form was taxing on his heart as seen after his battle with Sora in Hollow Bastion.

It is revealed that Riku was to be the original recipient of the Keyblade, but when he opened the Door to Darkness in Destiny Islands, plunging that world into Darkness, it instead chose Sora. However, in Hollow Bastion, Riku took the Keyblade from Sora by using the sheer strength of his heart, though when he uses the darkness within himself, his power over the Keyblade weakens and it returns to Sora who had proven the strength of his own heart.

When Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, possessed his body he gained incredible new powers, but he was now stuck permanently in dark form because of the darkness pouring out of him. In addition, he took six of the seven Princesses' hearts and used them to form the Keyblade of heart. Riku's enhanced dark powers under possession are Dark Raid, where he throws a spinning Dark Keyblade, Dark Break where he performs a powerful jump attack, Dark Firaga where he counters a spell by shooting an orb of dark energy, and Dark Aura where he dashes around the arena at high speed slashing all in his path.

When he is playable in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, he is given a preset deck in each world that cannot be changed and changes automatically during gameplay. By breaking his opponent's cards, Riku acquires "DP", which let him transform into Dark Mode. Dark Mode, along with giving him increased speed and increased strength, gives him access to sleights that mimic his special attacks from Kingdom Hearts. Outside of Dark Mode, any combination of stocked cards counts as a sleight and costs Riku a card, so he cannot perform combo attacks as easily as Sora can. Instead, he has access to a unique system of battle called "card dueling", which allows Riku to stun opponents and perform special commands by breaking their cards multiple times.

Overall, in contrast to Sora who must rely on sleights and combos to fight, Riku's playing style is more up-front, relying on card duels and breaks to acquire DP and enter Dark Mode. In this game, Zexion said his scent is very similar to Xemnas's. In gameplay, it is also shown that Riku can run faster and jump higher than Sora.

At the end of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, he used the power of darkness to help him defeat Roxas. This surge of power distorted his physical form, causing him to appear identical in appearance to Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. While trapped in this form he could use Xehanort's Guardian and use some of Ansem's attacks for a limited time in addition to his other powers. Riku's power increased in this form shown when he easily defeated Roxas as well as easily overpowering Saïx, forcing the latter to flee.

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. It should be noted, though, that despite the fact that Riku is a wielder of the Keyblade, he can't use any of Sora's keychains while he is in the party. Also, Riku is one of the three only characters shown being able to summon more than one Keyblade at once, the other two being Roxas and Sora.

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.

Soul Eater
Sora's Kingdom Key
Keyblade of heart
Roxas's Oblivion
Way to the Dawn
Braveheart
The charged Oblivion
The charged blade in Riku's Limit Break