Pretty sure Kingdom Hearts is the only Disney video game where the protagonists get possessed, turn into beings of darkness, get locked away from friends and family, stab themselves, completely lose their individuality, have their hometown destroyed, watch their friends die, kill their father figure, and completely fade from existence to the point where even memories of their existence are gone. Rated E for Everyone.
I'm surprised Sora's sacrifice isn't on here. I mean he committed suicide in a Disney game in front of Disney cartoon characters. Literally took a keyblade and stabbed himself. Like....WTF
The end of Birth By Sleep is extremely dark, but I'd say the most specific part is the fate of Aqua. She had to fight a possessed Ventus AND Terra.. imagine having to fight your two best friends. On top of that she sacrificed her self, trapped in the Realm of Darkness for going on 12 years all in vein. Terranort ended up causing all kinds of destruction for her noble deed. On top of that, she left Ventus locked in Castle Oblivion.. in the end she sounds so sad that she couldn't come through for Ventus in the end. Knowing as long as she's in the Dark Realm, Ventus is in a coma.
I love how birth by sleep introduces three characters you don't care about in the beginning then you fall in love with all three of them and BOOM, they are all gone. That was some really good story telling.
I´d call the end of BBS a draw... literally nobody "wins" actually nothing went exactly as planned on both sides. Both sides took heavy dmg and nobody got what he wanted
Actually in a sense Xahanort did win as far as beating the 3 protagonists of BBS is concerned. He also managed to forge Kingdom Hearts two other times after his "death", and resurrect. I'd call that a W against them at least.
omnicloudv7 I agree that you can actually call it a win included you count his actions after/before his "death" (god I´m still not sure I got the whole thing with all those Xehanorts XD) I gotta look around a bit more
Iritable Otaku **completely innocent civilian man running for his life, stumbling, falling over and, with a horrified expression on his face, watches helplessly as his heart leaves his body and turns into an eldritch manifestation of his own negative emotions** Nope. Not at all. In fact, if you think about it, the basic premise of Kingdom Hearts' mooks is kind of uplifting and not in any at all way horrifying. And, since the Heartless are what they are, it's not like _absolutely anyone who has ever experienced negative emotions_ can turn into one of them, just like that. Heck, it's not even like there are _tens of thousands_ of them already. Nope, we're all family friendly and hugs and cuddles all around here. Yup.
About something said in the #2 spot. I know Master Eraquis "saw darkness in Tera's heart", but I don't feel that justifies not giving Tera the Mark of Mastery. When Tera felt himself start to give into the darkness during his fight with Aqua, he immediately shut it off to fight with his own power. That shows he's made conscious effort to improve himself. Why wouldn't a person like that be a good keyblade master?
mikewithglasses102 Master Xehanort set him up. Something to the effect of him manipulating Terra's darkness to make it seem more present than it actually was. Not exactly sure, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Also, keep in mind Master Eraqus's complete hatred of darkness (ironic, no?)
Kartik Ayysola In a way...It's funny how Master Eraqus to stop Terra from falling into the darkness but ends up causing Terra's downfall to darkness. Because of his hatred of darkness; He cause Terra to fall and play right into Master Xehanort's hands.
Birth By Sleep is to Kingdom Hearts what Crisis Core is to Final Fantasy VII. Sad, you know its coming, but you still choke up and cry and feel this hollowness in your heart. I did actually cried at the end of both games.
+sharpshot545 wait.. are you serious? I mean, have you not played Birth By Sleep? I mean sure Xion's death was sad and I cried for her but in bbs ALL of them had very sad heartbreaking endings O.o
I did but at least they each kept their existance. Xion was literally erased. It wasn't just her becoming a heartless or joining kingdom hearts, every memory of her that ever existed was erased, allowing the reality to unfold that she had technically never existed. The realization of that being the end of a possible Roxas and Xion thing was heartcrushing. Roxas couldn't care about Xion's death or even acknowledge that it happened because those memories don't exist anymore. That realization kinda opened my eyes to the existential nightmare that is reality.
The original Chain of Memories was a lot darker than the exhibited Re:Chain of Memories. Axel personally severed Vexen's spine while he begged for mercy, and Zexion's death was... well, left up to the imagination, which any good horror writer will tell you is the best way to disturb your audience.
what about Roxus sacrificing himself to restore Sora consciousness. Then he's friends (in the real world) say they feel like they are missing someone (Roxas). That would even put emos sob stories to shame.
The Earls Renegade didn't Ansem put him in a digital version of Twilight Town where Roxas is friends with them? So his friendship was just simulated, meaning never real?
For me, possibly the darkest moment in Kingdom Hearts is when Xion shows up wearing Sora's face and then turns on Roxas. Dark because of how disturbing it was - in fact, Days has a number of dark moments, like Xion and Riku's fight, and Roxas hallucinating. But I'm shocked Xion turning into Sora didn't make this list.
There is one dark moment that I'd hoped to see on this list. Xion's death in 358/2 days. The way Roxas is forced to fight the person he'd been chasing after for half the game, only to slowly have all memory of her erased afterwards. The game basically aims a gun at your heart and makes you pull the trigger. It presented a fate worse than death, being erased.
I feel that Vexen's death in the original GBA Chain of Memories was more dark than the remake, and in the manga Axel literally rips through Vexen's torso.
There have been at least 4 characters in this franchise that have committed suicide, Xion, Sora, Roxas and Axel. If I am missing anyone please let me know.
*Cough* *cough* Crushing a kids head slowly, freezing him, and throwing him off a cliff.... what makes it worse is how you can see the fear in ven’s eyes and how much he struggled
Yes, the end of BBS was definitely the darkest. Left me feeling like I failed the characters. Especially Terra since he was my first and favorite character pick. I hope they're able to save him somehow. Throughout his story, he meant well. He just approached things the wrong way and was so fixated on one thing and that was finding MX.
Im glad the Chain of Memories deaths made it in here. Those moments as a kid were just some of the most "OH DAMN!" moments i've ever seen. Scenes like that solidify Chain of Memories as my favorite KH game, it was something we never saw before and don't really get to see again, just watching characters getting axed off really added to sense of helplessness that made me love Chain of Memories.
If I remember correctly Master Eraqus death was originally much darker like I believe originally after the fight Xehanort would come in and deal the final blow on Eraqus
The whole ending of Birth by Sleep was extremely dark. Terra got his body taken over by Xehanort, and Ventus was put into a deep sleep and has yet to wake up. Aqua got the worst fate though in my opinion. She had to fight Terra, one of her closest friends. And then she sacrificed herself to save Terra by falling into the Realm of Darkness herself (which is pretty much the KH equivalent of hell), and has been roaming around for up to 10 or so years with no hope of escape. And all while this has been happening, her sacrifice seemed to be all in vain with Terra/Xehanort still being outside causing havoc. All of the endings, especially the secret episode with Aqua, shocked me the first time I played them. Their fates were so tragic and upsetting. But ‘dark’ is a good word to use to describe it.
When I played CoM I was thinking about this one trope where when Sora would exit the place like a completely different person, you know, these life changing locations: Like Jennifer in the clock tower mansion and Fionna in the Demento mansion,, Max in the dark room or even Spirited Away as an entirety (doesn't always have to be bad) Sora clearly gets pissed off and confused the most in this game, maybe even lowkey traumatised, but in the end, thanks to that slumber, he leaves as if nothing happens. Subverted with Aqua, Kingdom hearts 0.2 and 3 showed us she's despairing (I tought, losing her insanity, but the ending monologue made me quite hopeful for her) the Kingdom hearts 3 reveal finally showed us what's become of Aqua's enduring all the suffering. Love the video, but don't you think the deaths could be in the same spots..? Edit: wait I take my words back
The ending of DDD was pretty dark. The whole idea of Ansem, Xemnas, and all the other Xehanorts being alive and active really destroying all the efforts of KH1 and KH2. To know darkness is even stronger than it's ever been was a really unnerving moment.
Of all the endings in BBS, I would say Ventus' ending was the happiest of them all. The reason is that we know what happened to him and we know where he is. His body is in Castle Oblivion, and his heart lies in our protagonist, Sora. Also, Nomura stated that Aqua didn't just wander in the Realm of Darkness for 10 years. She is obviously doing something we just won't know until most likely after KH3, in KHBBS Vol. 2(SPECULATION). And Terra is somewhere as something (its heavily implied he is still out there, not the Lingering Will, but as something else), mainly because his body was just destroyed, like we don't even know how he can come back at this point.
If I had to pick two dark moments it would be Xehanort's final desperate attempt to drive out Terra's heart and Sora's descent into darkness in Dream Drop Distance.
y'know, when you put thought into chain of memories and factor out what Namine told Roxas what she was doing with sora, you can figure out that Chain of Memories was just a dream while sora was asleep in the pod in KH2. Also, Before they go to sleep, Jimminy writes "Thank Namine", but when they wake up, he forgets that he wrote it down, which made KH:Recoded's events being caused by Jiminy's mess-up
There's plenty of other dark moments you missed... like the Xemnas activating Xion's programming and forcing her to attack Roxas... the story behind Vanitas' creation... Xehanort abducting Sora and trying to possess him... Roxas basically going insane after Xion's death and Riku having to succumb to his inner darkness in order to stop the kid from doing something stupid... or how about the entire concept of Xehanort's vessels? Ripping out people's hearts so that it's easier to possess them is pretty fracking dark too.
I just love the way in Japanese version Axel says "Ja ne, senpai" as he snaps his fingers. (Well, the goodbye is cool too, but this moment in the Japanese version was just omg, I can't get over it)
I just realized, when Sora smiles and sheds a single tear shortly after Roxas commits sort-of-suicide by submission, it's not the first time he did that. The only other scene in the entire franchise where Sora makes that exact expression is immediately followed by him committing Seppuku. We already know that Roxas was still in control of Sora's emotions that early, which means smiling while shedding a single tear is both the first and last thing Roxas does as an individual, both times acting through Sora.
I liked the ending to BBS it's like revenge of the sith you know it's going to end badily in this one but you already know that another generation from heros will arise. Also blank points also gives the 3 main charecters in this a sliver of hope for the future.
The original GBA version of #3 was actually far darker. Axel actually impales Vexen with his chakram, where in the remake, it was censored to him snapping his fingers and having Vexen incinerated.
This should have been a top 10 darkest moments, but I still feel like Riku Replica's death was the darkest moment in KH chain of memories. Everyone forgets about him (just like he said they would)
So, I really hope that somebody does die in KH3, not because I hate the characters, but because Xehanort hasn't really directly KILLED anyone important. Sure, there was Eraquas, but he wasn't there most of the game. He only caused major devastation, but not death. I kinda want to see, like, almost a mirror image of BBS, but with the next generation, and a different ending. Riku fights him alone, Sora fights Vanitas, maybe even fighting together with Ventus, Kairi playing a huge role, more than Aqua, and then some plot twist, like Vanitas and Ventus actually fusing, Kingdom Hearts finally being opened, or summoned, or activated, or whatever the hell it does, and then Sora vs Xehanort, Keyblade vs X-Blade, and maybe some other stuff. Also, spoilers.
I really hope Kairi isnt given more time than aqua. Its too late for that. Maybe next arc. Aqua has been through so much and deserves something more than Kairi.
Honestly the biggest dark and/or saddest moment was in kingdom hearts dream drop distance when tron was your enemy and couldn't remember Sora at all and the end of the boss fight cutscene
I totally agree with ur list! Especially the comments u made for 4&3! I have always said that KH:CoM or KH:Re:CoM I was the darkest as well as my top 3 favorite games. Axel got away with cursing in KH:CoM and in every CoM game two characters met a shocking end. To me Vexen's death was more freaky and dark bcuz as we play the game we still have all the information behind the organization, what it wants and so on. And Vexen dying, for anyway, felt almost out of the blue. Even after I played it on KHII.5 I still felt like it was shocking and freaky and dark. Anyway good job on the list!
What about frollo's suicide?! It is true that it was the most darkest moment in kingdom hearts, plus everybody was also creeped out by how he was acting
Ever since I finished Terra's story, I was like "nope, nope, NOPE!".... to this day, I still haven't beaten the game (didn't even start ven's & Aqua's story) I really should finish the game but *sigh*
Actually, Axel didn't kill Zexion and Vexen because they were traitors. He actually knew full well that they were loyal to the Organization. He killed them/had them killed in order to get Saix that much closer to Xenmas. We can infer in BBS that Isa very much admired Ansem the Wise and he kept trying to get into the castle to talk to him, I'm guessing hoping to be allowed to be one of his apprentices, and Lea would go with him to support him every step of the way, because that's just the kind of friend he is. So, having no heart anymore but still having his loyalty to his old friend, Axel decided Castle Oblivion was the perfect opportunity to get rid of two of the members who were standing in Saix's way. I feel like maybe he didn't realize that Saix wasn't really himself anymore at that point, that he had been Norted.
Zexion is actually one of my favourite Organisation XIII member, second has to Larxene and third Axel but so unfortunate that we didn't see so much of Zexion OR Larxene in the Kingdom Hearts series :(
Hey, I have a question. I know Aqua is trapped in the realm of darkness, and I haven't played BBS so forgive me if this has already been covered. But why can't she find her way out like Riku did? Riku entered the realm of darkness directly through the door to darkness, yet he exited it, and gained resistance to darkness. Is there something preventing her from doing it, that didn't happen to Riku? If anyone knows I'd love it if you could tell me. Thank you.
+Elijah Bailey Riku had assistance. Aqua has yet to have anyone come in and help her. Mickey says in a recent trailer that he saw her, but that's about the extent of the help she gets from anyone. It's not really covered directly, so don't worry.
Finally, Vexen's death has a bit of attention! Even though I may be the only one who actually liked Vexen, it was still horribly cruel, even to the people who didn't like him at all. I think..
Time moves differently in the realm of darkness. So it might be possible aqua hasn't aged. I think to aqua it's either been hours or days since she's been trapped there. But I'm not sure anymore if she's still there after I finished pkaying Kh2.5
I do agree with you Cynical about the end of BBS it did surprise me a little bit but not that much because I 50% expected it to happen but still it left a hole in my heart
You gotta admit, the fight at the keyblade graveyard was more dark in KHII. We see the trio suffer physical wounds shown in all graphic glory. Watching Xehanort tighten his grip on Ventus' helmet to the point where the visor was cracking, all while dangling him over a deep ledge, was just as upsetting in the KHII secret ending, as we knee Ventus' keyblade get shattered, in turn shattering the illusion that the KH protagonists were safe, thus making it more believable that Venuts wood have died had he hit the ground.
what, no mention of the end of destiny island?: 1. Riku and Sora being swallowed by darkness(Sora is left due to keyblade) 2. Kiri acting like a soulless husk and vanishing into thin air in front of Sora 3. The world that the three of them and grown up on and all of their families(sora's anyway) swallowed by darkness also almost completely destroying the one reassurance they had of being able to come back.4. The darkside represented the darkness in Sora's heart, it represented Sora being consumed by darkness and likely his fear in physical form. His previous fight with it could have been attributed to part of a bad dream but at that point there was no way to pass it off as a dream. 5. The fact that most of it followed light-hearted playing on the beach.
I'm really quite surprised you didn't mention Xehanort's involvement in Eraqus' death. It's pretty well implied he struck the final blow on his own (former) friend and fellow keyblade master. That's probably the darkest part of the whole scene. Also, while I know this is more tragic/ sad than dark, the way Xion and Roxas were used, manipulated, and ultimately pitted against each other in a fight to the death (best friends fighting to the death), I really can't believe this wasn't on here.
omg yes I agree with everything! especially number one! after I beat all the endings I was like "shit this game is extremely sad" but still so awesome. hope they get saved somehow in kingdom hearts 3
don't you find it moving and almost eye tearing that at the end of birth by sleep terras will in its armour with on his knees with his keyblade down holding on to himself in a position trying not to lose himself for over 10 years? And sora sees him in KH2 final mix in that exact same position? I thought what happened to aqua was horrible, but I honestly don't know like terra is pretty much stuck struggling to hold himself. Just so deep
Think about it, Disney movies in the 80's 90's were full of deaths. How is this something new and shocking in Kingdom Hearts, where both Final Fantasy and Disney put iconic deaths in their material. I'll name a few (The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Bambi, The Fox and the Hound, Aladdin, Tarzan) It's meant to be an eye opener in these games
This should be a top 10, we still have sora’s sacrifice, Xion’s death and that she is forgotten, roxas’s entire life tbh, the keyblade war and the entirety of CoM (witnessing Sora lose his memory bit by bit)
all of these are so true, and for once ive played thru all of these games XD, and just wondering can you do a vid about Vanitas and the Riku replica returning in kh3? because im sure a lot of ppl are wondering about them
Here's something I have questioned ever since BBS: What if Aqua didn't save Terra from being succumbed by the dark realm by jumping in, sending her armour AND glider with him? Terranort would have been in the realm of darkness, Aqua would be in the light still looking for a way to save Ven. I think I would have loved to see that scenario, but I am excited for kh2.8 AND of course 3.
on the topic of number 2, it could be sad but not dark as what Eraqus was doing was definitly wrong, he even admitted it himself, later they explained that like Riku discovers that darkness isn't inherently evil, light isn't inherently good, and Eraqus was blinded by light and that's why he was so obsessed with destroying darkness and since Ventus fighting Vanitas would help the forces of darkness, he decided to destroy Ven without caring for him until after the battle with Terra when he shows regret for doing it
Excluding kingdom hearts 3 ... which will come out in 20 days ... my darkest kingdom hearts moments 5-night of fate ... it’s a cliche in rpg that the hometown is bound to be destroyed , but I was rendered speechless at how nightmarish the way destiny Islands got consumed by darkness ... and if you have noticed , in the final battle you see the details of it changing . 4-Phantom Aqua .... originally I wanted to say the secret ending for birth by sleep , because it shows our girl Aqua , the purest , bravest and kindest character in kingdom hearts slowly losing the battle against the darkness that’s slowly crawling in her heart . However , I found her Phantom to sum all those and more ... not only it shows how her heart was getting weaker against the darkness , but throughout the dark dwarf woodland in a fragmentary passage , the Phantom keeps taunting her and it’s so dark and depressing 3-Chain of memories truth reveal ( sora va laraxene second fight ) ... when I found out that everything the game ever told me was a lie I was shocked ... I didn’t know why I was fighting anymore . Some maybe were on Donald and Goofy's side and thought something was wrong . However , I was a kid when I played this so I was as shocked as Sora because I 100% believed that saving Naminé was my task and nothing was strange lol . Also seeing sora losing a fight for the first time ever , without Donald and goofy by his side was really depressing 2- the keyblade war ... as dark as the concept of this war is , and as much as I wanted to give it the no1 spot ... since it’s was on a Japanese exclusive game " >:( " and since it showed cartoonish graphics , it didn’t have so much impact on me . 1- birth by sleep final battle ... this was the first time in my entire life that I see a villain winning the decisive battle .
I'm guessing everyone forgot about the fact that Ven asked Aqua and Terra to kill him when they first meet up in the keyblade graveyard.
kimzee59 That wasn't technically dark imo. He just didn't want his friends to be in danger.
That would be part of the Ending of Birth By Sleep.
Exactly
Only if he had to fight Vanitas
You calling that are dark moment compared to venita's trying to kill aqua that's child's Play
Pretty sure Kingdom Hearts is the only Disney video game where the protagonists get possessed, turn into beings of darkness, get locked away from friends and family, stab themselves, completely lose their individuality, have their hometown destroyed, watch their friends die, kill their father figure, and completely fade from existence to the point where even memories of their existence are gone.
Rated E for Everyone.
lmfao you know for kids
This comment is awesome!
amari hunter
I try my best, thanks. :3
+InspiredAspirin I cried. From laughter. I must be a villain. XD
It's E 10+ but still, I agree. Kingdom hearts is really dark at many, many, MANY points.
I'm surprised Sora's sacrifice isn't on here. I mean he committed suicide in a Disney game in front of Disney cartoon characters. Literally took a keyblade and stabbed himself. Like....WTF
I guess you could say it's included with Riku?
Kain Liason But it didn't involve Riku. It was Sora's decision.
well at least square enix doesnt mind adding some blood :P
***** true dat, even sexual themes so i think they didnt mind dat at all
That scene made me cry. Especially when Donald kept yelling Sora
The end of Birth By Sleep is extremely dark, but I'd say the most specific part is the fate of Aqua. She had to fight a possessed Ventus AND Terra.. imagine having to fight your two best friends. On top of that she sacrificed her self, trapped in the Realm of Darkness for going on 12 years all in vein. Terranort ended up causing all kinds of destruction for her noble deed. On top of that, she left Ventus locked in Castle Oblivion.. in the end she sounds so sad that she couldn't come through for Ventus in the end. Knowing as long as she's in the Dark Realm, Ventus is in a coma.
I totally agree with you, Aquas fare out of the three has got to be the saddest :(, the secret ending though
agree
*fate*
Owen Ramos what
No I fixed a mistake in my comment from before lol:).
I love how birth by sleep introduces three characters you don't care about in the beginning then you fall in love with all three of them and BOOM, they are all gone. That was some really good story telling.
I´d call the end of BBS a draw... literally nobody "wins" actually nothing went exactly as planned on both sides. Both sides took heavy dmg and nobody got what he wanted
Actually in a sense Xahanort did win as far as beating the 3 protagonists of BBS is concerned. He also managed to forge Kingdom Hearts two other times after his "death", and resurrect. I'd call that a W against them at least.
Xehanort kind of Won he got a vessel and the others were extremely crippled.
omnicloudv7 I agree that you can actually call it a win included you count his actions after/before his "death" (god I´m still not sure I got the whole thing with all those Xehanorts XD) I gotta look around a bit more
Kain Liason he lost control over it
That just makes the plot more diffrent
Kingdom Hearts... You know, _for kids_.
GrahamChapman **sounds of Vexen being burned alive** Yeah...for kids...
GrahamChapman Rated E, for everyone! For kids, for Grandma, safe, friendly fun for the whole family!
LOL XD
Zinervawyrm **Eraqus being murdered in the background** Yeah...totally...Definately not dark or unfriendly in any way.
Iritable Otaku
**completely innocent civilian man running for his life, stumbling, falling over and, with a horrified expression on his face, watches helplessly as his heart leaves his body and turns into an eldritch manifestation of his own negative emotions** Nope. Not at all. In fact, if you think about it, the basic premise of Kingdom Hearts' mooks is kind of uplifting and not in any at all way horrifying. And, since the Heartless are what they are, it's not like _absolutely anyone who has ever experienced negative emotions_ can turn into one of them, just like that. Heck, it's not even like there are _tens of thousands_ of them already. Nope, we're all family friendly and hugs and cuddles all around here. Yup.
GrahamChapman **Ven getting dropped off a cliff 20 feet behind us** Yep. And Birth By Sleep is the happiest and most lighthearted game in the series.
About something said in the #2 spot. I know Master Eraquis "saw darkness in Tera's heart", but I don't feel that justifies not giving Tera the Mark of Mastery. When Tera felt himself start to give into the darkness during his fight with Aqua, he immediately shut it off to fight with his own power. That shows he's made conscious effort to improve himself. Why wouldn't a person like that be a good keyblade master?
mikewithglasses102 Master Xehanort set him up. Something to the effect of him manipulating Terra's darkness to make it seem more present than it actually was. Not exactly sure, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Also, keep in mind Master Eraqus's complete hatred of darkness (ironic, no?)
Kartik Ayysola In a way...It's funny how Master Eraqus to stop Terra from falling into the darkness but ends up causing Terra's downfall to darkness.
Because of his hatred of darkness; He cause Terra to fall and play right into Master Xehanort's hands.
Birth By Sleep is to Kingdom Hearts what Crisis Core is to Final Fantasy VII.
Sad, you know its coming, but you still choke up and cry and feel this hollowness in your heart.
I did actually cried at the end of both games.
exactly! I definitely agree :-(
The only part that came close was Xion's death.
+sharpshot545 wait.. are you serious? I mean, have you not played Birth By Sleep? I mean sure Xion's death was sad and I cried for her but in bbs ALL of them had very sad heartbreaking endings O.o
I did but at least they each kept their existance. Xion was literally erased. It wasn't just her becoming a heartless or joining kingdom hearts, every memory of her that ever existed was erased, allowing the reality to unfold that she had technically never existed. The realization of that being the end of a possible Roxas and Xion thing was heartcrushing. Roxas couldn't care about Xion's death or even acknowledge that it happened because those memories don't exist anymore. That realization kinda opened my eyes to the existential nightmare that is reality.
I cry everytime I play or watch the part where Terra kills Master Eraqus. Sorry not sorry.
Should have replaced number 2 with the creation of Vanitas
then there's kingdom Hearts chi's story line
Yup ;^;
Chi or X
Birth By Sleep was soo messed up at the end that made it soo amazing OMG THE FEELS!!!
The original Chain of Memories was a lot darker than the exhibited Re:Chain of Memories. Axel personally severed Vexen's spine while he begged for mercy, and Zexion's death was... well, left up to the imagination, which any good horror writer will tell you is the best way to disturb your audience.
what about Roxus sacrificing himself to restore Sora consciousness.
Then he's friends (in the real world) say they feel like they are missing someone (Roxas). That would even put emos sob stories to shame.
that's a sad moment
The Earls Renegade didn't Ansem put him in a digital version of Twilight Town where Roxas is friends with them? So his friendship was just simulated, meaning never real?
For me, possibly the darkest moment in Kingdom Hearts is when Xion shows up wearing Sora's face and then turns on Roxas. Dark because of how disturbing it was - in fact, Days has a number of dark moments, like Xion and Riku's fight, and Roxas hallucinating. But I'm shocked Xion turning into Sora didn't make this list.
axel throw his chakram at vexen. its super effective
Well fire>ice so..
The part of the Secret episode in BBS where Terranort was choking Aqua was pretty dark.
There is one dark moment that I'd hoped to see on this list. Xion's death in 358/2 days. The way Roxas is forced to fight the person he'd been chasing after for half the game, only to slowly have all memory of her erased afterwards. The game basically aims a gun at your heart and makes you pull the trigger. It presented a fate worse than death, being erased.
I feel that Vexen's death in the original GBA Chain of Memories was more dark than the remake, and in the manga Axel literally rips through Vexen's torso.
Terra, Ventus, Aqua - Riku, Sora, Kyri... Orochimaru, Jiriya, Tsunade - Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura. Coincidence? I think not.
Kairi* Yeah, yeah, yeah, people in Japan like to make trios of heroes.
What about roxas,xion,and axel?
DAMN
Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji
Kewon Cook Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri from Durarara.
There have been at least 4 characters in this franchise that have committed suicide, Xion, Sora, Roxas and Axel. If I am missing anyone please let me know.
Riku did in a way when he gave his heart up to Ansem when he fought Roxas
I mean he really just gave up his physical appearance, he was always in control. unlike in KH1
+mtchell mariacher good point
when did roxas suicide
jordan deadley "looks like my summer vacation is...over..." *willingly gets absorbed by sora*
*Cough* *cough* Crushing a kids head slowly, freezing him, and throwing him off a cliff.... what makes it worse is how you can see the fear in ven’s eyes and how much he struggled
Yes, the end of BBS was definitely the darkest. Left me feeling like I failed the characters. Especially Terra since he was my first and favorite character pick. I hope they're able to save him somehow. Throughout his story, he meant well. He just approached things the wrong way and was so fixated on one thing and that was finding MX.
Im glad the Chain of Memories deaths made it in here. Those moments as a kid were just some of the most "OH DAMN!" moments i've ever seen. Scenes like that solidify Chain of Memories as my favorite KH game, it was something we never saw before and don't really get to see again, just watching characters getting axed off really added to sense of helplessness that made me love Chain of Memories.
If I remember correctly Master Eraqus death was originally much darker like I believe originally after the fight Xehanort would come in and deal the final blow on Eraqus
The whole ending of Birth by Sleep was extremely dark. Terra got his body taken over by Xehanort, and Ventus was put into a deep sleep and has yet to wake up. Aqua got the worst fate though in my opinion. She had to fight Terra, one of her closest friends. And then she sacrificed herself to save Terra by falling into the Realm of Darkness herself (which is pretty much the KH equivalent of hell), and has been roaming around for up to 10 or so years with no hope of escape. And all while this has been happening, her sacrifice seemed to be all in vain with Terra/Xehanort still being outside causing havoc.
All of the endings, especially the secret episode with Aqua, shocked me the first time I played them. Their fates were so tragic and upsetting. But ‘dark’ is a good word to use to describe it.
When I played CoM I was thinking about this one trope where when Sora would exit the place like a completely different person, you know, these life changing locations:
Like Jennifer in the clock tower mansion and Fionna in the Demento mansion,, Max in the dark room or even Spirited Away as an entirety (doesn't always have to be bad)
Sora clearly gets pissed off and confused the most in this game, maybe even lowkey traumatised, but in the end, thanks to that slumber, he leaves as if nothing happens.
Subverted with Aqua, Kingdom hearts 0.2 and 3 showed us she's despairing (I tought, losing her insanity, but the ending monologue made me quite hopeful for her) the Kingdom hearts 3 reveal finally showed us what's become of Aqua's enduring all the suffering.
Love the video, but don't you think the deaths could be in the same spots..?
Edit: wait I take my words back
I'm surprised no one mentioned the death of Riku's Replica.
Here's my darkest moment:
I'M GETTING TOO MANY FUCKING ADS!
So the angtagonist won? well that makes me feel helpless, and quite angry.
+Lune Aquasky Did you ever played Birth By Sleepy, if you didn't you should, certainly one of the best kingdom hearts story ^^
Yep, I want to play it but sadly I don't have a psp, or a ps3... I only have a ps2, ps1, wii,3ds, and ds. I read the story of Birth by Sleep though.
If you have a decent PC , you can play it trough emulator ppsspp ^^
mmmm..... It takes the fun out of it though...
if you have it you just need to connect a ps3 controller and no it doesn't why would it ? Because it's on PC ?
The ending of DDD was pretty dark. The whole idea of Ansem, Xemnas, and all the other Xehanorts being alive and active really destroying all the efforts of KH1 and KH2. To know darkness is even stronger than it's ever been was a really unnerving moment.
Of all the endings in BBS, I would say Ventus' ending was the happiest of them all. The reason is that we know what happened to him and we know where he is. His body is in Castle Oblivion, and his heart lies in our protagonist, Sora. Also, Nomura stated that Aqua didn't just wander in the Realm of Darkness for 10 years. She is obviously doing something we just won't know until most likely after KH3, in KHBBS Vol. 2(SPECULATION). And Terra is somewhere as something (its heavily implied he is still out there, not the Lingering Will, but as something else), mainly because his body was just destroyed, like we don't even know how he can come back at this point.
If I had to pick two dark moments it would be Xehanort's final desperate attempt to drive out Terra's heart and Sora's descent into darkness in Dream Drop Distance.
I just realize the key blade in the opening in birth by sleep is the keyblade that sora uses in the trailers of kingdom hearts 3
No they are different ones they look similar though one is the shooting star and ones is the star seeker I believe
y'know, when you put thought into chain of memories and factor out what Namine told Roxas what she was doing with sora, you can figure out that Chain of Memories was just a dream while sora was asleep in the pod in KH2. Also, Before they go to sleep, Jimminy writes "Thank Namine", but when they wake up, he forgets that he wrote it down, which made KH:Recoded's events being caused by Jiminy's mess-up
yeah everyone knows it's eraqueez ( kidding ign reference )
When I beat the final story of BBS, I actually screamed "no". I honestly thought I had gotten a bad ending.
There's plenty of other dark moments you missed... like the Xemnas activating Xion's programming and forcing her to attack Roxas... the story behind Vanitas' creation... Xehanort abducting Sora and trying to possess him... Roxas basically going insane after Xion's death and Riku having to succumb to his inner darkness in order to stop the kid from doing something stupid... or how about the entire concept of Xehanort's vessels? Ripping out people's hearts so that it's easier to possess them is pretty fracking dark too.
I just love the way in Japanese version Axel says "Ja ne, senpai" as he snaps his fingers. (Well, the goodbye is cool too, but this moment in the Japanese version was just omg, I can't get over it)
I just realized, when Sora smiles and sheds a single tear shortly after Roxas commits sort-of-suicide by submission, it's not the first time he did that. The only other scene in the entire franchise where Sora makes that exact expression is immediately followed by him committing Seppuku. We already know that Roxas was still in control of Sora's emotions that early, which means smiling while shedding a single tear is both the first and last thing Roxas does as an individual, both times acting through Sora.
I liked Birth By Sleep too.. even though it felt a lot like Revenge of the Sith. It was great. Both of them are.
Axel was supposed to kill the traitors (Marluxia and Larxene), but Sora did it for him. Instead, he killed two people he and his friend didn't like.
I liked the ending to BBS it's like revenge of the sith you know it's going to end badily in this one but you already know that another generation from heros will arise. Also blank points also gives the 3 main charecters in this a sliver of hope for the future.
Vexen...
"NO! YOU CANT DO THI-"
'Goodbye.'
Damn Axel.. I love you!
The original GBA version of #3 was actually far darker. Axel actually impales Vexen with his chakram, where in the remake, it was censored to him snapping his fingers and having Vexen incinerated.
You should do a top 5 or top 10 on the most iconic moments in Kingdom Hearts
This should have been a top 10 darkest moments, but I still feel like Riku Replica's death was the darkest moment in KH chain of memories. Everyone forgets about him (just like he said they would)
I always felt that Riku was the darkest character and had the darkest moments since he succumbs to the darkness and basically becomes Ansem
Birth By Sleep ending was a masterpiece in my opinion.
Dude I love these videos just found them and have been binge watching
"Top 5 Moments that didn't have Disney in them"
That's impossible...or is it?
So, I really hope that somebody does die in KH3, not because I hate the characters, but because Xehanort hasn't really directly KILLED anyone important. Sure, there was Eraquas, but he wasn't there most of the game. He only caused major devastation, but not death. I kinda want to see, like, almost a mirror image of BBS, but with the next generation, and a different ending. Riku fights him alone, Sora fights Vanitas, maybe even fighting together with Ventus, Kairi playing a huge role, more than Aqua, and then some plot twist, like Vanitas and Ventus actually fusing, Kingdom Hearts finally being opened, or summoned, or activated, or whatever the hell it does, and then Sora vs Xehanort, Keyblade vs X-Blade, and maybe some other stuff. Also, spoilers.
No.
Infinity War
I really hope Kairi isnt given more time than aqua. Its too late for that. Maybe next arc. Aqua has been through so much and deserves something more than Kairi.
Oh... yes. A lot of people die in KH3.
Mother Gothel
Hans
Larxene
Luxord
Marluxia
Vanitas
Saix
Ansem
Xemnas
Xehanort
Kairi (sorta)
*looks at sora*
Honestly the biggest dark and/or saddest moment was in kingdom hearts dream drop distance when tron was your enemy and couldn't remember Sora at all and the end of the boss fight cutscene
I kept losing so much in battle against Master Eraques that I turned evil when I saw him die.
"HAHA YES YES THATS WHAT YOU die HAHAAH!!!"
Nice ranking. Definitely agree with numbers 2 and 1.
Right after the finale of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, the Sora vs Rikku fight is my favorite example of "Dark and Colorful"
how about a Top 5 Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts
I totally agree with ur list! Especially the comments u made for 4&3! I have always said that KH:CoM or KH:Re:CoM I was the darkest as well as my top 3 favorite games. Axel got away with cursing in KH:CoM and in every CoM game two characters met a shocking end. To me Vexen's death was more freaky and dark bcuz as we play the game we still have all the information behind the organization, what it wants and so on. And Vexen dying, for anyway, felt almost out of the blue. Even after I played it on KHII.5 I still felt like it was shocking and freaky and dark.
Anyway good job on the list!
Nothing from Days?
Yeah, that game was both dark and heart-wrenching at the same time. >.
Everything from days. *_*
Yeah
358/2 is more sad than dark
we all knew the number 1 without even thinking didn't we ;) Loved the list as usual!
What about frollo's suicide?! It is true that it was the most darkest moment in kingdom hearts, plus everybody was also creeped out by how he was acting
Ever since I finished Terra's story, I was like "nope, nope, NOPE!".... to this day, I still haven't beaten the game (didn't even start ven's & Aqua's story) I really should finish the game but *sigh*
When was it that you finished Terra's story like a month or a year?
jaz kesh
Let's hope it wasn't back in 2010, when the game came out O.o
well i got the game when it came out...so somewhere around that year :P but I beat ddd lol
ScatteredDreams120
Duuuude, how can you finish DDD without finishing BBS first?? Go back and play it NOW =0
actually he can finish it and still know what's going on cause he can read the summary of the game in dream drop distance.
Actually, Axel didn't kill Zexion and Vexen because they were traitors. He actually knew full well that they were loyal to the Organization. He killed them/had them killed in order to get Saix that much closer to Xenmas. We can infer in BBS that Isa very much admired Ansem the Wise and he kept trying to get into the castle to talk to him, I'm guessing hoping to be allowed to be one of his apprentices, and Lea would go with him to support him every step of the way, because that's just the kind of friend he is.
So, having no heart anymore but still having his loyalty to his old friend, Axel decided Castle Oblivion was the perfect opportunity to get rid of two of the members who were standing in Saix's way. I feel like maybe he didn't realize that Saix wasn't really himself anymore at that point, that he had been Norted.
My heart literally died when Xion died.... It's like a part of me died!
Great video ;) could you do a Top 5 rare items to find for synthesis?
Ice Cream ingredients and Ultima Weapon related drops will definitely make the list...
And maybe the Defender shield in KH1 as well.
you might as well Put all of Birth By Sleep in thia video
Zexion is actually one of my favourite Organisation XIII member, second has to Larxene and third Axel but so unfortunate that we didn't see so much of Zexion OR Larxene in the Kingdom Hearts series :(
"Erakwess" Best pronunciation ever.
Hey, I have a question. I know Aqua is trapped in the realm of darkness, and I haven't played BBS so forgive me if this has already been covered. But why can't she find her way out like Riku did? Riku entered the realm of darkness directly through the door to darkness, yet he exited it, and gained resistance to darkness. Is there something preventing her from doing it, that didn't happen to Riku? If anyone knows I'd love it if you could tell me. Thank you.
+Elijah Bailey Riku had assistance. Aqua has yet to have anyone come in and help her. Mickey says in a recent trailer that he saw her, but that's about the extent of the help she gets from anyone. It's not really covered directly, so don't worry.
luneth duncan well that seems like kind of a dick move from Mickey
Finally, Vexen's death has a bit of attention! Even though I may be the only one who actually liked Vexen, it was still horribly cruel, even to the people who didn't like him at all. I think..
I completely agree with #1, I was stunned for a long time, I'm still stunned. Not one single person received a happy ending.
Kid : " Look mom ! This man is being burn alive ! "
The ending of BBS feels like revenge of the sith
Look at the pathways from 7:56. They form the X/Recusant's Sigil. 😱
kingdom hearts bbs was the first kingdom hearts game i played. i was pretty confused and sad when it ended
Makes me wonder, if u r in the realm of darkness, do you ever age? Because Aqua looks the same when she encounters ansem the wise/DiZ there.
I read somewhere that time moves slower in the realm of darkness. So a year in the real world is like a month in the real of darkness.
Which game does that happen?
Booker1912 birth by sleep secret ending
Time moves differently in the realm of darkness. So it might be possible aqua hasn't aged. I think to aqua it's either been hours or days since she's been trapped there. But I'm not sure anymore if she's still there after I finished pkaying Kh2.5
AveryScarlet But remember she met Ansem the wise in the realm of darkness
I do agree with you Cynical about the end of BBS it did surprise me a little bit but not that much because I 50% expected it to happen but still it left a hole in my heart
You gotta admit, the fight at the keyblade graveyard was more dark in KHII. We see the trio suffer physical wounds shown in all graphic glory. Watching Xehanort tighten his grip on Ventus' helmet to the point where the visor was cracking, all while dangling him over a deep ledge, was just as upsetting in the KHII secret ending, as we knee Ventus' keyblade get shattered, in turn shattering the illusion that the KH protagonists were safe, thus making it more believable that Venuts wood have died had he hit the ground.
Great list and I have to agree with you, but I feel like the great keyblade war at the end of Kh Chi should've been here.
what, no mention of the end of destiny island?:
1. Riku and Sora being swallowed by darkness(Sora is left due to keyblade)
2. Kiri acting like a soulless husk and vanishing into thin air in front of Sora
3. The world that the three of them and grown up on and all of their families(sora's anyway) swallowed by darkness also almost completely destroying the one reassurance they had of being able to come back.4. The darkside represented the darkness in Sora's heart, it represented Sora being consumed by darkness and likely his fear in physical form. His previous fight with it could have been attributed to part of a bad dream but at that point there was no way to pass it off as a dream.
5. The fact that most of it followed light-hearted playing on the beach.
Next do a Top 5 Dankest Moments
I'm really quite surprised you didn't mention Xehanort's involvement in Eraqus' death. It's pretty well implied he struck the final blow on his own (former) friend and fellow keyblade master. That's probably the darkest part of the whole scene.
Also, while I know this is more tragic/ sad than dark, the way Xion and Roxas were used, manipulated, and ultimately pitted against each other in a fight to the death (best friends fighting to the death), I really can't believe this wasn't on here.
omg yes I agree with everything! especially number one! after I beat all the endings I was like "shit this game is extremely sad" but still so awesome. hope they get saved somehow in kingdom hearts 3
Eraqus is pronounced like a hard 'C' or 'K,' not like a 'QU' as in "question"
This was my idea, but Cynical did most of the... no, no, no, ALL of the work, and I thank him for it. :D
don't you find it moving and almost eye tearing that at the end of birth by sleep terras will in its armour with on his knees with his keyblade down holding on to himself in a position trying not to lose himself for over 10 years? And sora sees him in KH2 final mix in that exact same position? I thought what happened to aqua was horrible, but I honestly don't know like terra is pretty much stuck struggling to hold himself. Just so deep
In my opinion the darkest moment is seeing the Dalmatians separated in traverse town.
Thegamersjoint you should do a top 5 or 10 favorite sidekicks of sora!
Think about it, Disney movies in the 80's 90's were full of deaths. How is this something new and shocking in Kingdom Hearts, where both Final Fantasy and Disney put iconic deaths in their material. I'll name a few (The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Bambi, The Fox and the Hound, Aladdin, Tarzan) It's meant to be an eye opener in these games
Am I the only that cringed whenever he said Eraqus' name? ;_;
Your not alone :/
This should be a top 10, we still have sora’s sacrifice, Xion’s death and that she is forgotten, roxas’s entire life tbh, the keyblade war and the entirety of CoM (witnessing Sora lose his memory bit by bit)
Those dark moments are pretty satistic
all of these are so true, and for once ive played thru all of these games XD, and just wondering can you do a vid about Vanitas and the Riku replica returning in kh3? because im sure a lot of ppl are wondering about them
Number 1: *D A R K N E S S*
So does Sora haves multiple personality disorder?😅 you know because of roxas
Kingdom Hearts and Epic Mickey:
Darkest Disney-based games of all time. Rated E for everyone
Ya know... axel was cruel because that was before he met roxas, and something about roxas was something that changed axel
Here's something I have questioned ever since BBS:
What if Aqua didn't save Terra from being succumbed by the dark realm by jumping in, sending her armour AND glider with him? Terranort would have been in the realm of darkness, Aqua would be in the light still looking for a way to save Ven. I think I would have loved to see that scenario, but I am excited for kh2.8 AND of course 3.
Darkest moment. Inser joke about Capt Barbossa fight being dark.
on the topic of number 2, it could be sad but not dark as what Eraqus was doing was definitly wrong, he even admitted it himself, later they explained that like Riku discovers that darkness isn't inherently evil, light isn't inherently good, and Eraqus was blinded by light and that's why he was so obsessed with destroying darkness and since Ventus fighting Vanitas would help the forces of darkness, he decided to destroy Ven without caring for him until after the battle with Terra when he shows regret for doing it
Excluding kingdom hearts 3 ... which will come out in 20 days ... my darkest kingdom hearts moments
5-night of fate ... it’s a cliche in rpg that the hometown is bound to be destroyed , but I was rendered speechless at how nightmarish the way destiny Islands got consumed by darkness ... and if you have noticed , in the final battle you see the details of it changing .
4-Phantom Aqua .... originally I wanted to say the secret ending for birth by sleep , because it shows our girl Aqua , the purest , bravest and kindest character in kingdom hearts slowly losing the battle against the darkness that’s slowly crawling in her heart . However , I found her Phantom to sum all those and more ... not only it shows how her heart was getting weaker against the darkness , but throughout the dark dwarf woodland in a fragmentary passage , the Phantom keeps taunting her and it’s so dark and depressing
3-Chain of memories truth reveal ( sora va laraxene second fight ) ... when I found out that everything the game ever told me was a lie I was shocked ... I didn’t know why I was fighting anymore . Some maybe were on Donald and Goofy's side and thought something was wrong . However , I was a kid when I played this so I was as shocked as Sora because I 100% believed that saving Naminé was my task and nothing was strange lol . Also seeing sora losing a fight for the first time ever , without Donald and goofy by his side was really depressing
2- the keyblade war ... as dark as the concept of this war is , and as much as I wanted to give it the no1 spot ... since it’s was on a Japanese exclusive game " >:( " and since it showed cartoonish graphics , it didn’t have so much impact on me .
1- birth by sleep final battle ... this was the first time in my entire life that I see a villain winning the decisive battle .