Aurora

"I'm just glad he didn't steal my heart like Princess Whatever-It-Was."

—Braig to Master Xehanort about Aurora.

Aurora, alias Briar Rose, is a princess and one of the Princesses of Heart from the Kingdom Hearts series. Her appearance is taken directly from Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty". Although her original voice actress, Mary Costa, was alive at the time of Kingdom Hearts development (and is still alive today), Aurora spoke in dialogue boxes for her first appearance, and Jennifer Hale replaced Costa for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Story

Before Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Aurora is the child of King Stefan and Queen Leah, born into a kingdom called Enchanted Dominion. At infancy, the evil fairy Maleficent laid a curse on the infant, proclaiming that, on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. The three good fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather), softened Aurora's curse with Merryweather's gift. Rather than dying, Aurora would fall into a deep sleep, one which she could only be awoken from by "true love's kiss". Flora and Fauna bestowed the princess the gifts of beauty and singing voice. To keep her safe, she was renamed "Briar Rose" and relocated to the forest of her world with the three fairies caring for her. On a chance meeting, Aurora encountered Prince Phillip, to whom she was betrothed (unbeknownst to her) and had several dreams of. When the fairies took her back to her kingdom on her sixteenth birthday, the witch put her under a spell to prick her finger on a spindle and placed her in the tallest tower of the castle where she slumbered. At the same time, Prince Phillip was captured and taken to Maleficent's castle to keep the princess from ever awakening.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Phillip kisses Aurora and breaks the spell keeping her asleep.

By the time Terra arrives at the Enchanted Dominion, Aurora has already been placed in a deep slumber under the influence of the curse laid by Maleficent. When Terra reaches the tower and meets Maleficent, she uses the darkness in his heart to temporarily take control of his body and forces him to take Aurora's heart. Her heart was kept in Maleficent's castle until Ventus comes to retrieve it with the three fairies. Although her heart returned, the curse is not broken. Prince Phillip eventually escapes with Aqua's aid and reaches the tower where he kisses Aurora and breaks the spell.

Sometime after the battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, she and Prince Phillip are seen dancing in the audience chamber of the castle. Feeling disapproval over their respective colors, the two fairies; Flora and Merryweather, relentlessly change the color on her dress with magic.

Kingdom Hearts

Sometime years later, Aurora is captured once more and her world was devoured by the darkness. It is unknown at what point of the original story Aurora was taken to Hollow Bastion by Maleficent (as there is a ten year gap between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts).

Aurora's likeness first appeared in Kingdom Hearts on a red-tinted pillar in the Awakening world. She was depicted in a state of sleep, suggesting that she had already been captured and imprisoned by Maleficent at this point.

She is first seen in Hollow Bastion when Maleficent attempts to open the Final Keyhole. Maleficent had placed Aurora in a standing glass case in the wall, alongside the other Princesses of Heart. Her heart leaves her when the Keyhole is partly opened, but is returned to her when Sora sacrifices his own heart to save her and the other Princesses, particularly Kairi. Upon awaking, Aurora stays in Hollow Bastion with the other five Princesses to keep the darkness from consuming the world. She also reveals Maleficent's origins to Sora. After Sora sealed the Keyhole, she and the other princesses remain in Hollow Bastion to protect it, along with the Beast, Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith.

When Sora finally seals Kingdom Hearts, Aurora is returned to the Enchanted Dominion.

Kingdom Hearts II

Aurora's name is part of the password to access the DTD in Space Paranoids. In password form, her name is the third.

Appearance

Aurora is a fair-skinned woman with indigo eyes and waist-length, curly, blonde hair. In Kingdom Hearts, Aurora's hair was bright blonde, her eyes were grey.

As the princess, Aurora wears a long-sleeved, strapless and pleated sky-blue dress with a white collar, as well as a gold necklace and tiara crafted by her three fairy godmothers. The Station depicting Aurora in Sora's Dive to the Heart depicts Aurora in a black headband and a similar dress that has a purple midsection, violet arms, and a violet lower half.

As Briar Rose, Aurora is barefoot, and wears a three-quarter sleeved grey dress with a folded, white collar and a black corset, as well as a black headband.

Aurora does not appear to age throughout the ten years between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts.

Abilities

Powers as a Princess of Heart

Because Aurora is a Princess of Heart, her heart holds part of the essential power to open the Final Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts, which can only be opened when she is gathered with the other six princesses.

She also has the power to hold back darkness using the light stored within her heart, a power which she and the other princesses can utilize alone. When she is gathered with the other princesses, this power's effect increases. The exact way she fights off darkness is unclear, but it would seem to be perfectly natural as Maleficent once said that her heart is completely untouchable by the darkness.
In addition, her heart (along with that of the other princesses) can be used to create the Keyblade of People's Hearts, which allows the bearer to unlock anyone's heart.
Aurora (along with the other princesses) can also upgrade other people's powers, as revealed when they upgraded Sora's Fire spell to Firaga.
She additionally has the ability to sense darkness, as shown when the Princesses tell Sora of a great darkness nearby.

Origin

Aurora is the only child of King Stefan and Queen Leah, and originally resided in a kingdom. At infancy, Maleficent laid a curse on her, proclaiming that, on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Thanks to the aid of the three good fairies (Flora, Fauna and Merryweather), Aurora's curse was softened. Rather than die, Aurora would fall into a deep sleep, one which she could only be awoken from by "true love's kiss". To keep her safe, she was renamed Briar Rose and relocated to the forest of her world with the three fairies caring for her. On a chance meeting, Aurora encountered Prince Phillip, to whom she was betrothed (unbeknownst to her). Also she was put under a spell to prick her finger and put in the tallest tower. After a battle she was kissed and the curse was broken. In the end, she's seen dancing with Prince Phillip.

Trivia

Strangely, in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Aurora's bed vanishes, as does Aurora herself when completing Terra's and Ventus's scenarios in her world, when she should be asleep in her bed. Though more than likely for the story of the world, it means that Aurora is awake due to Aqua helping Prince Phillip rescuing her.

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