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casualtheoriesandthoughts · 3 years

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Terra and the metaphysics of Kingdom Hearts

SPOILER ALERT about Re:Mind ahead . . . . . . I’ve been replaying KH titles recently after playing Re:Mind, trying to make sense of all the elements of the KH universe. Something I’ve noticed is the depth of what might be called metaphysics in Kingdom Hearts, especially as it relates to hearts. What are hearts, and what is their relationship to existence in Kingdom Hearts? This is particularly relevant to the events of Birth By Sleep (BBS) where several characters are lost to the darkness or otherwise have their existences compromised in some way.

I’m aware that Kingdom Hearts is either deliberately opaque when it comes to the workings of its universe, and at times even inconsistent due to some questionable writing lol. But I kind of want to work out some of the kinks here anyway! BBS is where some of the most interesting metaphysical things happen in my opinion, especially with Terra.

Terra’s takeover by Master Xehanort and Ventus’ whole story raise a lot of questions about what it means to exist as a being in Kingdom Hearts. We never get a clear explanation of what’s going on heart-wise with Terra, as even though Terra is saved by Aqua, he is still dormant and Xehanort (albeit with memory loss) ends up being the dominant personality. However, Terra’s fate reveals really interesting things about the KH universe (at least as far as my speculation goes).

Terra-Xehanort’s Nobody and Heartless

At the end of Terra’s story in BBS, Master Xehanort sets his own heart free from his body and forcefully takes Terra’s body from him. So Terra-Xehanort is Xehanort’s heart inside Terra’s body, wresting control away from Terra’s heart (which is still inside his body!) and submerging it in his darkness. This is indicated by Xehanort’s claim that Terra’s darkness will sustain him. At this point, both Terra and Xehanort’s hearts are in Terra’s body.

Aqua’s intervention seems to be the reason he loses his memory though, making it unclear whose persona Terra-Xehanort truly embodies. After recovering his memories as Master Xehanort, Terra-Xehanort (under the name of Ansem), proceeds to separate his heart and body (as well as those of the other apprentices). This creates a Heartless and Nobody: Ansem SoD and Xemnas, respectively.

But whose Heartless and Nobody are they? We know that a Nobody can only be produced by a being with a strong heart and will who loses their heart to darkness, which then produces a similarly strong Heartless. However, Ansem SoD and Xemnas both resemble Terra more than Master Xehanort. This has precedent, as Roxas resembled Ventus rather than Sora (since Ventus resided in Sora’s heart, similar to Terra inside Xehanort’s). Ventus and Sora’s heart were joined, and some have speculated that the relationship is similar for Terra and Xehanort. For that reason some say that Ansem SoD and Xemnas are the shared Heartless and Nobody of Terra and Xehanort.

However, they are not the only beings that are born from this event; there’s also the Guardian which accompanies Ansem SoD (as well as Terra-Xehanort in his complete form). This is a kind of Heartless, which implies darkness produced from someone’s heart. I believe that it can only be Terra’s, as Xehanort’s darkness manifested as Ansem SoD. This is further supported by the fact that during KH3, Terra’s heart is released from the Guardian, rather than Terra-Xehanort’s own body. It means that Terra’s heart was swallowed by his own darkness inside his heart, and was bound to the will of Xehanort.

So, maybe Ansem SoD isn’t Terra’s Heartless, but simply Xehanort’s Heartless who took on the appearance of Terra due to originating from Terra-Xehanort? But what about Xemnas? Xemnas retains Xehanort’s memories, but possibly also Terra’s as shown in KH2FM cutscenes about Xemnas’ visits to the Chamber of Repose. He calls Aqua’s armor his “friend”, and he is apparently aware of Ventus’ in the Chamber of Waking (though apparently never finds it). The KH Fandom Wiki seems to consider Xemnas the shared Nobody of Xehanort and Terra, but it’s difficult to say. But according to Master Yen Sid, the formation of a Nobody is predicated on the strength of the will of the original person, and despite holding Terra’s memories, Xemnas’ will, motives and acts point to a greater identification with Xehanort than Terra.

The Lingering Will

This brings us to Terra’s own will: the Lingering Will. It is Terra’s armor bound by his thoughts and most powerful feelings; Naminé describes it as “Terra’s sadness, anger, lament”, and she is able to beckon it forth using her powers that manipulate the memories of those tied to Sora. This seems to imply that Terra’s memories are a part of the Lingering Will. Its independence from Terra’s body and being driven by Terra’s emotions raise important questions about what the Lingering Will actually is.

It’s worth noting that Terra’s emotions that create the Lingering Will are at least partially negative ones, and I haven’t seen anyone point out the similarity between it and the Unversed. The Unversed were the main enemies of BBS, though they are stated to be born from Vanitas. There are unique exceptions to many common beings in the KH universe: Naminé, Anti-Aqua, and Riku as a Dream Eater. The Lingering Will may well be one of them, and it seems plausible to think of it as a special kind of Unversed.

It’s not a Nobody because it lacks the body of Terra, but possesses Terra’s abilities and Keyblade (which is similar to Vanitas’ relationship to Ventus). The main difference between the Lingering Will and Vanitas is that the latter is fully sentient, with a distinct sense of self while the former seems to have non-negative feelings (such as the desire to protect Ventus and Aqua, and to make things right). The latter also rules out it being a Heartless, especially if the Guardian can be rightfully called Terra’s true Heartless. For something as ambiguous as the Lingering Will, the description of “not well-versed in one’s own existence” seems to fit perfectly.

This is my first post of probably quite few, because this blog is mostly just to write down theories I have as a fan. I’m not planning to use this account super often, but please feel free to discuss or share your thoughts!

#kingdom hearts #terra #lingering will #khbbs #khre:mind #kh3 #heartless #nobodies #fantheories #kh fandom

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themissmusings · 5 years

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I think we can all agree that kh3′s attempt at relationships was Not Great™. I’m fully convinced that the writing staff for Osaka Team hasn’t had human contact outside of their development building in years, because these were the most stiff and awkward characterizations who only talked via facetime I have ever seen.

But it’s quite possibly the worst and most ridiculous take to pretend that Riku and Kairi have never had a relationship outside of Sora just because kh3 was shit at portraying it. it’s.... It’s not even just bad, it’s blatantly incorrect lol.

I know they didn’t really talk in 3, so I sort of understand where it’s from. But for that to even be a workable thought, you have to ignore every scene at the start of Riku speaking to and of Kairi fondly. You have to ignore one of Riku’s primary motivations throughout the entirety of KH1 (news flash, it wasn’t just Sora). You have to ignore how Riku was able to fight off Ansem’s control just to allow her to escape. You have to ignore that Riku’s last words to Sora in kh1 was to ‘take care of her’. You have to ignore that Namine used Kairi’s voice and likeness to pull him out of the darkness in CoM because she was that important to him. You have to ignore how far out of his way he went to save and protect Kairi, even before she was trapped in the Org13 castle. You have to ignore how happy she was to see him even when he looked like their former enemy. You have to ignore that he gave her her keyblade. You have to ignore how Kairi is the one that made sure Sora was able to see Riku at all past his facade as Ansem SoD.

The fact that their relationship isn’t as developed as Riku and Sora’s doesn’t suddenly mean it never existed. Sora met Aqua for all of 5 minutes when he was 4 but ‘wOW SO mOM ThATs hEr SoNS’. Riku and Sora can still have their Miracle Bromansu and still have a healthy friendship with a female of their age because that is what normal humans do with normal human contact and normal humans do not trade off their entire friend group for the other singular human they are dating nor does dating said singular human suddenly make the entire other gender the anti-labu labu militia.

Just say you’re not secure enough to write or ship your uwu yaoiz with a non-motherly girl anywhere near them without devaluing her in some way.

#kairi #riku #kingdom hearts #kh3 #kh critical #i guess #anyway I literally dont care what you ship; go forth sor/iku babies and spread your content to the winds #but stop demonizing kairi just because some of yall never grew up past your misogynistic fujoshi phase #and realized that girls existing near your gay ship doesn't mean she's going to leap out of the land of fiction and tear it out of your hand #the boys can be gay who actually cares. make them kiss. but kairi can still be friends with those gay boys bc thats what a human does #wow so wild galaxy brain

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