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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- This video was a HUGE undertaking. I sincerely hope you enjoy it and that you were able to learn something from it! If you did, I would love to hear your thoughts either in the comments or through any of my other socials!
This video would not have been possible without the help of these people:
- Jon from ThoughtBubble helped me dive into Sora's Psychology and greatly helped during the scripting process and lent his voice to voiceover parts of this video. Please give him a follow as he does similar content on his channel:@ThoughtBubbleYT
- RyuuRush is the editor on this video. Without him I am not sure if this would have ever seen the light of day. He was incredibly fast and reliable throughout the editing phase of this video essay. He has his commissions open so if you are looking for a video editor reach out to him: / ryuurushu
- UltySo created the thumbnail for this video! She deftly took my scribbles and descriptions to create a truly marvelous thumbnail that captured what I wanted for the thumbnail! She has her commissions open every so often so I highly encourage you to follow her and keep an eye out: / ultyso
Table of contents:
0:00 - 3:10 - Introduction
3:11 - 6:29 - Kingdom Hearts 1: Happy Faces Only
6:30 - 11:55 - Chain of Memories: Anger Unchained
11:56 - 14:17 - Kingdom Hearts 2: Reinforcing Positivity
14:18 - 17:17 - Re:Coded: Learning to Hurt
17:18 - 21:35 - Dream Drop Distance: When a Heart Leads to Hurt
21:36 - 29:15 - Kingdom Hearts 3: The Cracks in the Mask
29:16 - 37:27 - The Psychology of Sora: Putting it all Together
37:28 - 41:04 - Ending Thoughts and Credits
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I’ll edit this if it’s mentioned later but I really hope that moment in KH2’s ending in the Realm of Darkness gets mentioned. Sora is about to open up for the only time ever, thinking that everyone is finally safe and he’s with Riku. He admits that he has his own darkness but it’s not even noticed when Riku falls. He switches right back into service and helping Riku, never mentioning this again.
Edit: Dang. Wasn’t mentioned.
Yes, so true! It absolutely should have been mentioned. I thought the same of that scene; it's doubly interesting that despite Sora making that admission, with the context of that scene, he still was at relative peace with himself and his circumstances. I think this is largely in part to he and Riku being isolated from the Realm of Light, and by extension, outside social pressures that have led Sora to internalize feelings of intense responsibility throughout his journey. In that moment, both he and Riku were able to cast away preconceived notions of their characters that were previously thrust upon them, hence the blurring of the light/darkness values and the "we'll be the darkness" line. In a way, the Realm of Darkness offered a crucial haven of honesty with their emotions regarding each other and themselves that was long overdue.
Thank you so much for pointing it out!! There is probably some aspects and cutscenes we missed and such is the nature of trying to be comprehensive! There will be stuff that slips through the cracks but I really appreciate you pointing this missed part out and unpacking it :)
Yea
I contemplate this very scene on a weekly basis 😢❤
@@syredonyx9953 Who doesn't, man. :((
When you realize that roxas is legit whats sora's personality is without the boundless optimism and positive attitude
WAIT I NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS. thats so smart, I'm definitely gonna rewatch some scenes now to compare!
real
Holy shit that makes a lot of sense dawg
D@MN
It just hit me and what makes it crazier is that you can prolly say that Ross’s got those more real feelings from sora and when sora came back that part of happiness couldn’t really click in Roxas
Kh2 in a nutshell:
Sora: My friends count on me, I'm not allowed to be sad.
Roxas: That is absolutely incorrect in every way shape and form.
And this is why Roxas is my favorite. He's overtly able to see through and call Sora out on his bullshit since they're technically the same person.
Roxas is my favourite ever since I lay my eyes on him. Everything about him is just great
which in itself is both a way of self criticism and conflict of his own motives and ideas of what it means to be happy @@WaywardRyu
@@L16htW4rr10r 💯
Sora's character arc is begging for a journey into an Inside Out world I swear.
EXACTLY!
YES!!
One of the earlier ideas for this video was to talk about why inside out would be a good world for kh4 actually!
I do wonder if we'll get brand new original characters for when we go inside Sora's mind or they'll be exactly like the characters from the movies.
@@Redxan600I could see him somehow ended up in Riley’s mind,
Sadness and Fear are going to break our hearts. Sora has been through a lot and has loads of suppressed trauma that the Inside Out world will force him to confront.
A moment I personally noticed was in the Tangled world, where Sora genuinely opens up to Goofy and Donald, expressing how sad and lost he felt when Destiny Islands was destroyed, and how grateful he was to have met the two of them when he needed them the most.
But as soon as he notices that they're picking up on the emotions he's displaying, he immediately changes to a joking, laid-back tone and moves on like he didn't just bear his soul to two of his best friends.
Even when he's trying to express his gratitude, he feels the need to bury his feelings and move forward with a smile, sincere or otherwise.
His dynamic with them (and particularly D & G’s dynamic with him) is even more interesting since D & G went into Jiminy’s journal in Coded. They don’t seem quite as dismissive in the more recent games and are more open to talking things through with him. I think their bond is there, and the space is there, but there’s rarely a moment for them to truly address Sora’s hurt because they are on the clock, so to speak. The dynamic still remains as “we keep each other smiling” rather than “we support your journey.” That’s something Riku’s been good about with Sora-giving him the room to process and be himself, but stepping in if things are too dire.
Sora's just like me fr
@@pamelamason530Sora's ability to follow his heart is also one of the traits Riku used to be envious of, but later came to admire
@@BranJohn98 that trait saved his butt too many times!
This ship runs on smiles. No more sad faces.
Honestly, this reminds me of a phrase in kh1 that always resonated with me: "the brightest the light, the stronger the shadow it casts".
Sora puts up a happy "light" face, but the darkness within grows even stronger the more he tries to hide it.
Oh I love this!
It’s why Xehanort was so interested in him. He can only make vessels of those with strong hearts with darkness in them. Sora had a very strong heart and in spite of all his good qualities theirs a darkness deep inside him. Every since they introduced forms into the setting this has been mechanically proven as well. His Anti-Form aka Rage Form is his inner Darkness escaping for a moment in time. During fights with the Organization it’s more likely to happen too. Even the final fight with Xehanort showed that Sora’s Darkness is so much stronger than Xehanort’s. Xehanort temporarily purges the light from Sora and forces him into Rage Form and Sora tears Xehanort part with his bare hands.
Sora lives his friends, wants to believe the best in everyone, looks at the world around him with such wonder but Sora is dependent on his friends to be there and keep his spirits up.
There’s a LOT of rage behind that sunny smile…
@@hoohoo431Holy shit Gon an' Sora would get along so fuckin' well. Teach that boy Nen yo.
@@Broomer52 ohh yeah. the more you use drive forms, the more rage forms appears.
Sora has needed an analysis for a very long time. Too many people think he’s this happy go lucky boy without a care in the world. For people familiar with the concept of Masking, you can recognize right away that he’s got a lot more going on mentally than meets the eye.
This. I like that we touched a little on that in 3. Honestly we could've gone even deeper, but that probably would've bloated that section of the game more than necessary.
Sora saw his home destroyed his friends and family taken away from him
He is basically a child that survived war crimes
No way that dosent leave a scar on the soul
I'd agree if it wasn't for Dream Drop Distance. The boy in that game was running on 1 braincell
@@zachanikwano i like to ignore that game ever happend
It would have been overall a good kh entry but when they decided to have xehanort masterminded ALL events from the start even the the times when he lost just went one step to far
People who have watched videos discussing ADHD or autism behaviors such as How to ADHD will have heard of "masking" like I have.
When it comes to Sora, there’s a quote from She-Ra that I believe accurately reflects his character: “You’re worth more than What you can do for other people. You deserve to be happy, too.
Damn that’s such a good quote
Even aside from that quote, Sora is pretty similar to Adora in many ways(even there names are similar, too). Both are forced into a position where they suddenly need to save the world from evil forces, both tend to act like they’re okay, and both care a lot less about themselves and much more about their friends.
I always thought that Sora HAD TO be the one who is the friend every one leans on but he doesn’t really have people he can share these true sadder emotions with.
It’s very hard to feel like you can lean on others for support when they see you as the one to be leaned on. When you’re seen as so strong and self assured, you don’t wanna risk being thought of differently.
@@peanutmuttplays104sora is hero
@@anthonyleachman3541 yeah and heroes aren't always at 100% all the time lol
He doesn’t know how too because he wasn’t given the chance too when he journeys started
@@peanutmuttplays104but he has broken down several times in the series and having someone else trying to cheer him up at times.
I always felt that Sora, especially more apparent in KHIII, probably had smiling depression.
A Stepford Smiler one could say…
He's been through so much :(
I had a feeling too.
I just looked it up and that honestly sad to hear and although Donald and goofy were trying to stay positive telling sora to “just keep smiling no matter what” in KH-KH3 is a bad mindset to give a 14 year old because now he’s most likely believing that he shouldn’t feel those feelings because the adults said it’s “wrong” so to say
I feel like an Inside Out world in KH4 would do so well at bringing Sora's issues with toxic positivity to the surface and everything else brought up in this video. Showing how important every emotion is to being a complete person will do wonders for Sora's development in the new saga
I agree ^_^ one of the first drafts of this was a video on why inside out should be in kh4 funnily enough haha
OHHHH THAT'S A BANGER IDEA
Good idea. It could reflect his own toxic positivity with Joy's.
Also Joy would be teinted by darkness and her action would hurt others just like in the movie when she treats Sadness like shit. And it leads to Riley's depression.
The world would be very fun too.
It would be interesting if anger was represented by rage form, and the antiform represented some negative feeling
You gotta consider that Sora went through just as much as even Cloud Strife did, and he’s STILL smiling through it despite it.
I’d like to point out that Donald and Goofy (and Jimminy) encouraging that “keep smiling” mentality is super fitting for them. It’s easy to forget that they’re like… old af. That mentality was super persistent as you go back in time.
Edit: My friends are my power or something.
And let's not forget that Donald Duck literally has PTSD from multiple wars.
Smiling literally improves your mood. Staying positive can be incredibly helpful. There is nothing wrong with Donald and Goofy's mentality. Y'all are twisting this. Kingdom Hearts is about the struggle between light and darkness. Falling to the darkness is like falling to despair.
@@lukeshioshioi mean it’s definitely not the worst mentality but not allowing somebody to express their sadness or hurt whether it be intentional or not can be extremely damaging to that person
@@stripschicken87 That isn't the thesis of Kingdom Hearts. This is some emo shit y'all are pulling on our boy.
Edit: Kingdom Hearts is really saying that in times of sorrow and despair, it's very helpful to surround yourself with positive friends who will support you and cheer you up. This is clear from like every plot point in the series.
@@lukeshioshioyou ever heard of bottling up your emotions pal? That's what sora is doing
I'm honestly of the belief that he suffers from a very small case of depression, and it's being hindered by every single one of his friends cheering him on every day. And because he wants everybody to be happy, he feels the desperate need to help keep them happy and hide any pain he has. Just imagine what this kid has gone through. Think back to the scene in KH1, and the scene in ReCOM, where he is told twice to ALWAYS SMILE. "No frowning. No sad face. This boat runs on happy faces!" As good of friends as Donald and Goofy are, they are really keeping him from having a moment to cry. Of course that's not to say they are intentionally hurting him, because we all know they both would literally do anything to help him. But that's just it: ignorant parenting can be toxic,. and these two are basically his foster parents as he lives through his teenage years. Literally being raised to hide any bit of sadness. And you can see that whenever he gets sad in KH3 early on, he always has to make a joke out of it. The "JUST LIKE YOUR FACE" scene in Kingdom of Corona is one of the examples, as you can clearly see him desperately trying to avoid the emotional moment he's having. Because he's been taught in the past two years of his life that, no matter what, he has to keep that smile on his face. And even though he is a happy boy at heart, there is sadness there too. And of course, as we see in the climax of KH3, he has been holding back these feelings he's had towards himself this whole time. Literally feels like without his friends, he's worthless. That's what the "my friends are my power" line means to him, right now. I hope that, someday, he grows and is able to understand that he shouldn't rely on his friends like that.
So, in short, depression may not be the right word for it, but he ABSOLUTELY is holding back nasty, negative feelings about himself from underneath. And that feeling still has yet to be resolved. Meaning his character is still going on his arc, which I'm glad for.
Bro made the entire script 💀
@@thecoolone1 ...?
Your comment was just really long .
@@thecoolone1 well, maybe other people will appreciate it then.
They probably will.
I've been having these weird thoughts lately... about Sora. After replaying KH3 a bunch and really thinking about what happened, I realized so much of the depths of Sora's character. From the beginning of KH1, when Kairi tells Sora to never change, to the end of KH2, when Sora finally spills his guts to Riku, Sora has been upholding a facade to maintain his own sense of self-worth. It's so rare to see recognition of the hidden depths of KH characters, they deserve so much more respect than they usually get from a vast majority of the fans. Thank you for making this video, it was so enjoyable. There's still so much more to be said about Sora.
Soar's obnoxiously happy 2-dimensional cheese in DDD is a direct result of having returned home with his friends only to have his strength called for examination. At this point he's achieved what he wanted already, so he's just tired, but he still can't give up the facade while he thinks his friends expect it of him. After failing, he's unnaturally happy with Riku surpassing him as a master because he had to pour everything he had into praising his friend in order to keep from breaking down over his own sense of worthlessness. You can sense the uneasy force Sora puts into it, it's so nuanced.
That's exactly the same reason why Sora breaks down at the end of KH3, despite the fact Riku is still there beside him; it's a reverse of the test results scene - everyone is beyond Sora's power to help and Riku is the only one worthy. Riku was the only one who already knew Sora like that and everyone Sora was being strong for was gone, so he was hit square in the face with the reality that his personal belief wasn't a universal truth, with nothing holding him back from snapping, no reason to fake anything anymore. He wasn't despairing that his friends had died, he was despairing at the revelation that his power was rooted in a lie he told himself; that in an even greater sense than Roxas, Sora himself, the person his friends believed in, never existed.
Um, actually... DDD is arguably where Sora's character has the MOST character development of any game in the series, because this is where Sora first begins to realize his mantra might be a lie. Sora already spends most of the game fighting a sense of futility, having achieved all his goals and having more asked of him, but the first crack in Sora's facade comes from the revelation of everything Roxas faced. Roxas' life was the perfect encapsulation of all Sora's worst fears. When Roxas calls out his friends names, believing they are his power, the next day they can't even see him or remember that he ever existed. Roxas' feelings of always being the odd one out, losing things, inconveniencing the group, and then being told he has no right to exist, being forced to become part of another person... Becoming aware of all that pain was a mortal wound to Sora's psyche, the worst imaginable pain that he never wanted to shoulder.
And all that could even be foreshadowing to Sora's eventual fate of fading from the realm of light, and in the wake of Yozora, being told he's not who he thinks he is. Sora's nightmare is really just kicking into full swing here with KH4. It's an awful lot like what Roxas went through. KH3 is the first time Sora has his flaws spotlighted in a way he can't immediately remedy, and worse, he gets repeatedly ganged up on by everyone, who all simply believe Sora is as strong as he lets on, so they dogpile him for his faults, unaware of how deeply it hurts him. And like a repeating stanza of a poem, Riku is again the one going in search of Sora in KH4, just like he did in DDD. It's like resetting a knife's position to peel away another layer of Sora.
Toward the end of DDD, Sora's growing darkness takes the form of Ventus' armor, manifesting as all the grief Sora had taken on in accepting Ventus' heart into his. I believe the real reason Sora lost his powers is because the dark revelation from Roxas' memories compromised Sora's belief in friendship and cast a fog over the focused clarity of his heart. When Sora finds Roxas in the dream world, Roxas says, "This could have been the other way around." Meaning that both Ventus and Sora were targets of Xehanort for a reason, they both have the same strengths and weaknesses as each other, but Roxas says, "That's why it has to be you," in response to Sora validating Roxas' individual personhood. It wasn't because Sora was just so good he viewed individual people as individuals. It was because Roxas understood that Sora said that to him because Sora wanted to say that to himself. And that's why Roxas showed Sora all the pain Xehanort caused him, so he could do the thing only Sora can do and finally confront it... in a climactic Keyblade War in Kingdom Hearts III. Sora was indisputably different after this revelation. He had the angry look down. Again. The happy-go-lucky facade completely came off in that moment. Sora finally had a birds-eye-view of himself through osmosis with Roxas' memories.
But of course, the idea Sora was powerless all along was the lie that Xehanort wanted to directly beam into Sora's brain, because he recognized that Sora was his antithesis. Xehanort viewed his own past lost friendships through a lens of guilt, so he wanted to validate the dark path he chose for himself through putting Sora through the same thing. And when Sora came out the other side with an even stronger resolve, Xehanort had no choice but to yield and accept his failures of the past as his own weakness, and not some fundamental governing principle of reality. Perhaps that's exactly why the Keyblade chose Sora, because Sora was so much like Xehanort that he was the only one who could stop him, because Sora used the same exact same weaknesses of emotional-suppression and self-sacrifice to help people rather than to hurt them and sever his own connections as Xehanort did. Perhaps that's the key to Sora's unique power? That he so deeply desires to carry the pain of others on his own shoulders that Kingdom Hearts granted him that exact power. Talk about a Monkey's Paw ability.
And you guys showed the paopu scene but didn't talk about it!
Kairi might just be the driving force behind everything Sora does. Ever notice that he sort of idolizes her, but every chance he gets to be with her it's like he avoids directly speaking to her, but starts putting on a show? That's because in KH1 losing the race against Riku is the canon event. Sora believes Riku is better suited to protect Kairi, but during that scene when Kairi teases Sora with the idea of ditching Riku and running off together, he's taken completely off guard by how appealing that suggestion was. In that same scene, Kairi asks Sora to never change. So he doesn't, especially not in front of her. And losing her to an apocalypse the next day really drives home how much he actually wants to be worthy of Kairi's affection (like every opening cinematic song is about Sora and Kairi, how much Kairi is Sora's safe place in his mind). I don't think Donad of Goobus are so much the driving force of Sora's facade as much as they are a convenient support system to keep him centered on that goal of staying the happy care-free person Kairi likes.
So, when Sora finally gets the poapu scene with Kairi, you can see him baring his facade with his whole chest when he really just wants to break down and weep from joy that Kairi is choosing him, validating his entire saga of pretending to be strong for her sake. It's the perfect reversal of Sora baring his true feelings to Riku at the end of KH2. Kingdom Hearts II ends with Sora trapped in the realm of darkness, manifesting a way out through honesty with a friend. Kingdom Hearts III ends with Sora finally back with Kairi on their island in the realm of light, disappearing from reality entirely unable to bear his soul to the person he wants to the most.
I think Nomura absolutely had everything in this saga planned out from the start of Chain of Memories, at the very least in cliff notes form of character development and roughly how to use the world building lore mechanics to loosely navigate that development, it just kind of gets dicey when he's trying to figure out how to present those details. In KH2 those details come across as a neat and orderly dramatically satisfying drip feed of questions and answers, whereas in DDD and KH3 Nomura is scrambling to find a place for the details because he was running out of room with the eleventh hour closing in for the finale of the Darkseeker Saga, so rather than having everything framed tastefully and presented in a way to make you think, we get scenes where Sora just kind of runs into the information he needs and there's no time to process that information in real time as a player. I think Nomura probably has the next saga planned out in foot notes as well. Hopefully KH4 will give us the details for the next arc in their optimal cinematic form for a satisfying and comprehensive story arc.
I will fight anyone that Sora is the best Square Enix character ever written. I can't stand hearing KH "fans" talking about KH3 and going off about how "poorly written" Sora is in this game and how nothing happens in this game's story until the end, but the end doesn't make sense because they don't actually care to consider what they just saw beyond it's surface level value of being a funny goofy silly anime Disney game for babies which they can only enjoy ironically because it never gets dark because nobody actually dies and if they do it's for cheap shock value and they'll be back later. I hear that garbage EVERYWHERE, and I just wish I could dump everything on them and not seem like a complete crazy person. In the comments for a video like this is probably the best place for me to say all this stuff with any chance of anyone actually following it and I still feel like a crazy person going into this much detail on how everything connects.
I’m glad this video gave you a chance to put all of your thoughts and feelings around Sora :) I think this game has a lot of nuanced writing and it looks like you’ve been digging into a lot of it!!
I wasn't expecting to find a well written thesis in the comments but it pairs nicely with the video. Good points made all around and Sora is and has always been my favorite character in the series. Good luck on your doctorate of Kingdom Hearts-ology!
i don't lie kh3, scenes because i felt its was very poor style, But the thing notice something wrong, the favorite of writer its xeranort not sora, is that moment i understand, there something a lot more written about sora, the end its very good written but the way of getting there, its felt truly weak
but after reading what you just said, its make sense, this a really view sora, that why there will be a happy ending for everyone but not for sora, the plot its super confusing
of course i know every sequence of games of kingdoom hearts will become better, but Disney they are piece garbage
i aint reading allat
Ummm.... woah...
I just like to point out something. In the Japanese version after Sora and Ventus defeated Vanitas, Vanitas points out in order for ventus and sora to continue on as light he must be darkness for both their sakes. This statement pertains to Sora's unhealthy self sacrificing. Since sora also defines vanitas it makes sense
Frankly I think that's yet another example of the plot ignoring antiform and rage mode because it's inconvenient to the narrative. Sora doesn't need someone else to be his darkness, his darkness is perfectly capable of being itself, vicious little bastard that it is.
Ventus needs someone to be his darkness, because his darkness was permanently cleaved from him and turned into a someone.
@@Xahneland probably ventus originally didn't have darkness in the first place because vanitas is nothing else than one of the thirteen TRUE Darkness of union cross probably ventus was the kairi of day break town
I really don't like how Sora's anger and pain is often downplayed or written off as "Roxas" by fans. Sora is pretty consistently shown to have a lot of anger (both expressed and repressed) that veers into bloodlust in KH2. His heartless transformations are explicitly fuelled by RAGE and his fear of loneliness. Not just rage towards his enemies, but possibly rage towards himself for not being strong enough to protect his friends and carry their burdens. (Great point that antiform leaves Sora by himself). Now that Sora is truly by himself in Quadratum, im hoping the writers allow Sora to reflect on his vulnerabilities and learn to believe in his own strength
It was definitely Roxas, but only in KH2 because Roxas hadn't yet fully resigned himself to only existing as part of Sora. The shift from his personality in KH1 to KH2 was too sudden (disregarding CoM because Sora doesn't remember anything about that so this event have no bearing on his KH2 personality because to him its like they never happend, while in com his personality was being impacted by Naminé rewriting his memories) In KH3 it was all Sora himself.
@@stevenhiggins3055it could just be puberty tbh.
I think losing your home, being separated from your friends an X amount of times (no pun intended), fighting literal armies of darkness, and trying to keep everyone happy is definitely part of that too.@@tezz2698
they forgot how angry he got in KH1 XD
@@zephyriasrarely, he doesn't get angry nearly as much as later on
I think the reason why he comes off as happier than usual was because he had the hearts of many within his own. When he cries a tear in KH3 he doesn't recognize the emotion as his own
The ultimate Empath
@@camilla6482brooo imagine if sora was a therapist
The big factor in sora undermining himself Is that sora never learned the last part of ventus' catch frase. Ventus said "my Friends are my Power and i'm theirs" because he knows he can rely on them as they can rely on him
But Sora never said the whole frase. He Always said that his Friends are his power, implying he's nothing alone. And even if EVERY character in One way or another told him that he's Stronger than anyone else by his own strength and they all rely on him, the message misses him. He never understood that he's his friends' power and that he has someone who he can rely on. He always helped but never got help, and it's not even his friends' fault, he's so good at hiding his pain that sometimes not even himself notices, that's why he cries and looses composure only when feeling the pain of ventus and roxas, he hides pain so well he doesn't even know it, and being forced to feel it by another heart destabilises him
🤓Erm, actually it’s spelled ‘phrase’ not frase.
That’s actually a good way of looking at it, there are alot of times where sora randomly cries and we just brush it off as “oh this is a roxas or venous connection moment” but a few of those scenes are probably just soras true tears being painted as one of the other 2
@@galaxystarstudios7160 Fair, my autocorrect didn't tell me because I wrote this using the Italian keyboard (frase is a word, literally means phrase lol)
It's okay to not be okay, Sora. We'll make it through this together
I'm actually surprised you guys didn't present another crack in Sora's persona during the Caribbean world where Sora laments of he'll ever get to see home again. Only to turn around and tell Donald he's just joking.
It's honestly kind of sad that Sora feels he has to hide his feelings from his friends out of fear they'll leave him if he stops being happy.
I don’t think I ever considered before if Donald’s comment “this ship runs on happy faces” way back in KH1 would have affected Sora so much but I am grateful for it
It also helps to remember that from KH1 through KH3,Sora starts at 14 years old in 1 and by KH3,he's at most 16 years old.He's essentially still a kid and he hasn't really had the time to process all the emotional trauma of his entire journey and he doesn't start to realize that until the big Heartless storm at the Keyblade Graveyard where all his friends were taken away from him.I hope KH4 explores this while Sora is away from everyone in Quadratum.
He is 15 in kh3
@@user-dp1rl1it8j He's 15 in KH2, the time period of 2 was confirmed to take place ONE year after KH1 (with ReCoM taking place within that time frame, not long after KH1). IT's also noted more time passes when DDD comes around and KH3 is roughly another year ahead or a little more. I'm positive that Riku was nearing 18 in KH3, which would make Sora roughly, 16, MAYBE 17. The time was never directly stated for KH3, but it's clear more time has passed. Just clarifying.
@@DarklightNamari donald and hayner confirmed that not much time passed since the last time sora donald and goofy visited twilight town.
Sora is way more stalwart and serious than most people give him credit for that is for sure.
I relate to Roxas so much. But after watching this, I realized that I relate to Sora just as much. The fact that he puts his own sanity on the line for his friends is very much something I would more than likely do too. He casts aside his own feelings so he may help people, uplift them, and strive to make damaged people feel whole again, but fails to do the same for himself because he feels as though it may burden his friends. Like Data Namine said at the end of Re:Coded, "If that pain is too much to face alone, you turn to a friend."
Personally, I hope that Square-Enix takes the bold decision that just focuses on Sora interacting with Roxas and Ventus as party members. Kingdom Hearts 3 presents a focus of brotherhood between them and Vanitas. I think Roxas could relate to Sora's own insecurities and Ventus could talk to him about dealing with his own darkness while reminding him about how much he's accomplished (as Ventus was living in Sora's heart for about 12 years, meaning he would of had a front row seat to all of Sora's adventures). It would also help pay off the relationships Sora has with them, by having them grow closer together.
@@bradleybourgeois4710 Agreed.
I think the most drastic indicator that Sora is Not Okay is when he uses the Keyblade of Hearts to release Kairi’s heart from his own
Edit: AND his smile at Donald and Goofy right before . . .
(Insert "that boy ain't right" joke here)
Yeah I feel like that people tend to forget that that moment was basically killing himself
@@sno0n266 Yeah, I always read that scene as Sora knowing he was about to do something that could possibly end his entire existence but not wanting his friends to worry, so he tries to give them a comforting "everything will be alright" smile.
@@stevenhiggins3055 Also, 'No frowning, no sad face.' Instead of looking worried or saying anything, it's like he's saying, 'I'm keeping my promise to smile for you guys.'
@@stevenhiggins3055the fact he did it with zero hesitation on the assumption that it MIGHT free kairis heart is really concerning
I’m so glad to have been able to work with you on this video. Sora is such an incredibly nuanced character and I hope everyone enjoys it!
Thanks for helping Bio with the script for this. Love to see others putting so much thought into such a topic and talking about Sora at the same time❤ it's something that I've thought about before and I'm so happy to see such an extensive video on it.
Again thank you💖
Thank you so much Jon for helping ;-; it would not have been completed without you man!!
@@BioRoxas Of course! We’ll definitely need to work on videos together in the future!
Sora would really benefit from a trip to Inside out
Or a really good psychologist.
Funnily enough, this video went through a couple iterations while we were writing it! One iteration was how Inside Out would be a good world for KH4!
making me cry at the end saying people who are like sora aren't a burden. im always told to stop supressing my emotions and be more forward but i dont do it in fear of being a burden and i try my best to make my friends happy. i guess i really now know what my friends mean when they say " why are you like sora?"
Finally, some love and understanding for Sora. I know Riku is the fan favorite, but I relate to Sora a lot more.
Thank god someone is finally doing a decent character analysis of Sora, because that poor small boy with big shoes has been through *so much trauma* and has to keep being happy for his friends
I think roxas himself shows a side of sora whos hiding deep inside. Roxas is a part of sora, and has sora's traits and desires. Their two sides of the same coin.
But at the same time sora isn't Roxas too because once he became his own being he might be similar to sora but he's not the same sora. Because he was able to live his own life and feel his feelings and it's what he worked for since kingdom hearts 2 and before in-between all the way to kingdom hearts 3.
So although I like them both kingdom hearts the series has made it clear on many occasions he's soras nobody but he's not sora, he's Roxas.
And I like seeing them as separate because that's just how complex kingdom hearts and it's characters are. And it's what roxas's ark has been all about as goes for Namine and Xion.
They wouldn't have come back if they weren't separate beings who deserved there lives back.
To add to this despite Ventus still being naive sometimes he is someone who goes by what Sora does "my friends are my power but im also theres." Its what draws a line between how Sora was taught to only be positive whether on purpose or not while Ven didn't have that type of pressure. He has a different case with pressure and struggles but still is positive and recognizes his other emotions well. While Sora never had that time of control as Ven does. I saw someone even bring up how Roxas is probably Sora actually personality if he had the proper copying skills related to his emotions.
Of all the worlds in Kingdom Hearts 4 that can develop Sora’s character psychologically, the best pick arguably is “Encanto”. My reasoning is he would want to help Mirabel save the magic but she recognizes that, after witnessing her sister, he is acting like Luisa. Mirabel tries to help but he shrugs her observations off. It takes Luisa recognizing his burden and connecting with him to realize what to do next, or vice versa.
Inside out is a really good choice for this to
Sora is much more complex then people give him, he isn’t dumb, people just like to hype Riku and put Sora down in comparison. It’s mostly due to COM and DDD.
DDD really did make him seem more absent minded at times then it needed to, like I get it, its a weird ass situation to be thrust into but the amount of times it felt like his IQ dropped for a scene or two was just odd, in some cases you can say its intentional and purposeful but idk about ALL
@@SSlash the way I saw it. Despite wanting the title I don’t think Keyblade mastery was Sora goal in DDD. He was mostly still trying to make friends and help people out (which he did by virtue of waking up sleeping worlds) and I kinda felt he didn’t take the Organization as seriously as he did in KH2. I don’t think he got the full scope of what was happening till he beat Xenmas only to fall into the trap of sleep.
@@redlox2
Then again, he thought the Organization was over with, and that Xemnas and Young Xehanort were the only things he had to deal with.
People don't really seem to realise that Riku had a positive arc (going from a more negative character to redeeming himself and becoming a Keyblade Master) while Sora has a negative arc (going from an innocent kid who just wants to help people to being a young man who everyone relies on to fix their problems but who is humiliated and critiqued for having his own issues and not being happy all the time).
The violet howler has actually already been onto the trauma sora has lived and the unspoken trauma that his friends put him through. Sora has never opened up and he will go into a major depression cycle maybe even suicidal thoughts
I have seen that video and I totally agree. He’s going to be mentally fragile and I fear that a certain person will attempt to take advantage of his fragility. And if you know whom I’m talking about then you should be afraid.
Violet Howler is very underrated in my opinion. His analysis videos are so full of thought, deep character study and lore, he really needs more people watching his stuff. Yeah his videos about Sora's hidden enotional turmoil and Kairi's fear of change are so good and made me see the series in a completely new way. I really hope that they both get to experience the growth and emotional closure that they need.
Ooh I’ve been hearing about them lately! I’ll definitely need to check their content out!
can you link the video? ty
@@dairyprods th-cam.com/video/r4efaGgTz5w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=nlhzzSIPD0Bz2NB6
th-cam.com/video/G8m8lZBui8w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=UzWO3hMwdqTPUUI2
th-cam.com/video/HHlMUZ9QcdU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=QjnmVOVo_DTkI_U-
There are quite a few with that subject but these touch on them the most i think.
Its weird, normally this kind of masking is reserved for characters that fall into the atoner trope like Kenshin. However, Sora doesnt have some great evil he commited in the past, he just doesnt think that much of himself. Its kind of an interesting analogue for anyone who leans heavily into any kind of nostalgia to cope with depression. Its more allegorical, but if you consider that the disney aspect can symbolize childhood wonder, it makes some pretty interesting metaphors.
Well there's alot of people who didn't do an ultimate wrong to feel this way they just do. So it's cool sometimes when you do get characters like sora to show this off.
It doesn't help that in kingdom hearts 1 it was always said that the keyblade was for riku and not for sora remember that scene when riku robbed sora of the keyblade and goofy and donald litterally abandoned him because of this?
I have always said throughout the series sora's darkness has grown, his anger and sadness have grown, because sora always chases light even to his own detriment and well being. Remember the line in 3D "darkness becomes light, and light falls into darkness." Riku has gone from darkness to light but sora has slowly over time fallen further into the dark. From a heartless to antiform, to rage form, and at the end of kh3 we can see his anger and rage, his sadness and pain hit a peak at the end of the game and when he loses his light Kairi.
When Sora screamed in anguish after the others fell legit broke my heart and surprised me. It was essentially a reminder that no man is an island, and definitely not Sora. I mean, we had a glimpse of this when he beat up Davy Jones.
One scene that always resonates with me as well is in KH2 when Sora reunited with Riku. Even though most of that game he was relatively optimistic and happy, that was the moment he broke down. He had no clue where Riku was and you can really see how much it really affected him in that moment
He definitely overcompensates and forces it. In KH3 this was more obvious. It’s his way of coping with all the messed up stuff around him most likely. Feels like he has to be an encouragement to everyone around him and takes their burdens on his shoulders. I think it’s possible that in KH4 since he’ll be by himself. We may see a more serious and darker version of him. Since he doesn’t have to put on a strong front for his friends.
I feel like this just shows that people don’t really believe Sora can be happy with all that he’s been through.
ON THAT NOTE, I think this darker Sora is the Sora that Yozora knows. The one he wants to save.
I started having a lot of these same thoughts about Sora, thinking about the direction KH3 went with his character and the context behind it, it does make me realized there was more to him than even I previously thought. We always assumed that Sora was sort of a wide-eyed optimist complete with having the "power of friendship" (in Sora's case, literally), and he may have started out this way, but it's clear how nuanced his character is in the games. His empathy for others (especially for Roxas), his determination, and, of course, his breaking points. Sora believes his friends are his power, but KH3 especially highlighted that, if it's his friends, then what's he without them. Sora's answer would be, and was, that he was very little without them, that he couldn't do anything on his own. He's dependent on them to a fault. The ending contrasted this with Xehanort, someone who believed that he was the only one who could create the right world, and literally mostly relied only on himself to accomplish his goals.
This video helped showcase the evolution of Sora's character in a way that I am not as good at explaining myself, and even pointed out a few things that I haven't noticed myself, such as in his character in 3D. I thought they just made him too friendly for no reason, but this video made me realize that it was intentional that his happy-go-lucky attitude was portrayed in a way that presented the flaws with said attitude. The only missed opportunity was not highlighting the memory loss aspect in CoM, as I think it was a major factor that contributed to Sora's anger issues in the game. But regardless, I really liked the video, and I'm looking forward to other videos like it as well. (I know the next psychology video is on Riku, but I really want to see one for Xehanort, especially since I feel like people misunderstood his character in 3.)
Thanks for the thought out comment :) I’m glad you had some insight into Sora coming into this video and I’m glad you learned some new things!
I have definitely wanted to look at Xehanort so that will come at some point in the future ^^
I do remember that scene in the original Kingdom Hearts when Donald and Goofy were telling Sora to stay smiling and happy even after the events of Neverland. They were basically saying Sora had to force himself to stay happy, and he pointed out whether or not they cared about how their King was doing. Additionally, they weren't even trying to ask him about how he was feeling after he was literally betrayed by his best friend along with his other friend being turned into an empty husk.
As the series progressed, specifically in Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III, I actually found it pretty tiring how other characters, including Donald would constantly mock Sora's apparent inability despite everything he accomplished before. I know friends can do some ribbing against each other, but it felt a little constant, and Sora was kinda their punching bag. It also felt like they were leaving Sora out of the loop when they shouldn't.
It also irks me that Yen Sid hasn't acknowledged Sora as being a Keyblade Master. Sora was the one who ultimately saved Aqua who was a Keyblade Master while Riku and Mickey failed miserably, and they were both Keyblade Masters. Sora should've been made a Keyblade Master for that alone. Not to mention, in his original test, it was totally sabotaged by Xehanort.
Man...Sora is one of my all time favorite chars and this video helps me see why. This resonates a lot and hearing someone say "you arent a burden" hit heavy. This is something a younger me shouldve heard. 😅
I knew Re:coded was important in that regard. This in turn made me look again at Sora's character and I felt DDD, Chain, and Re:Coded was most expressive of Sora's mindset
For sure! Those three titles give us so much insight into Sora’s character!
Any video that actually sees the value of Re:Coded as a character study, and appreciates Sora in DDD as the beginning of the deconstruction of his character and unhealthy traits (instead of complaining about him being "dumb") is a win in my book. Lovely intro as well!
Xigbar's comments in KH3 really jumps off what he said in DDD as well, where he mockingly goads Sora with "Aren't hearts great? Steer us wrong every time." A directly oppositional line to Sora's entire philosophy that you could chalk up to anti-feelings villain speak, but Sora holds the losing hand by the end of the game partly because he "follows his heart" so strongly, albeit only in the sense of helping others.
While I doubt KH would ever say things along the lines of "due to preconceived bias rooted in unhealthy emotion-based habits, following your every feeling and whim may not be the best thing for your mental health," what I DO know is that KH displays the importance of balance. The balance between light and darkness, connection and isolation, etc. I'm sure that it could come up how post KH3 Sora's burnt himself out like a dwindling flame due to his ceaseless efforts to overcompensate as a friend and never allow them to give back.
I could absolutely see him having to confront that by being rash and bottling up emotions for the sake of doing the absolute best for his friends, that he has inadvertently and ironically hurt them through those same efforts. Be it the end of KHCoM, where Sora's sleep caused psychological distress for Riku, who essentially took a year long pilgrimage to watch over Sora and kinda/sorta committed murder to help fix the consequences of CoM and help Sora wake up, and Kairi, who grappled with isolation from her friends and what I'm sure was concerning amnesia of someone she cared about, or more recently, the ending of KH3 which has left his friends without Sora again for an entire year- it's obvious that Sora's behavior in trying to help them has had them be hurt all the same.
So, my hope is that it will come to Sora's attention that, if he truly wants those he cares about to be happy, it's crucial he values himself as well. It hurts to see the people you love not love themselves.
I think Sora's struggles can be aptly summarized by the ending of his CoM journey where, in a barebones sense, when confronted with trauma and emotional pain, Sora's response is to supress it rather than confront it:
"Make me like I was."
So uh.... Inside Out world KH4 when?
Such a well thought out comment. It’s so true that by Sora trying his absolute best to help his friends, he inadvertently caused them harm!
I’ve said this in a few other comments, but this video had a couple different iterations! One of them was why Inside out should be a world in kh4 haha
The most I've been aware of for Sora is his tendency to self sacrifice without a second thought for someone else especially Kairi even if it's incredibly dangerous to himself. But even I was'nt aware of some of the things you two pointed out for him. But it all makes sense when you really stop to think about all he's been through. The fact that he could always find the positive through it all and keep smiling anyways is why I love him so much. I really feel like 4 will dive deeper into this side of things though with how much his personaility was examined in 3.
Funny enough Riku was the first person to tell Sora to his face that he's weak and useless. Sora held firm and spat that back by adopting the my friends are my power mindset, a strong iconic moment that earned him back the keyblade. However I think it did effect him more than anyone realized even himself, it's why I love the moment in the Keyblade Graveyard where Sora's breaking down admitting everything Riku once accused him of, and Riku is the one to try to snap him out of that saying that he is strong. Perhaps even realizing in that moment what his harsh words did to his best friend then. A nice come full circle moment that I hope Riku will be able to remember in 4.
I wish Sora's friends would see the pain he is going through. Maybe if they saw how it was hurting him maybe they would be more understanding. I would've wanted them to help him with his negative emotions. I get Donald and Goofy meant well but their constant "Don't be Sad" and "Happy face only" really made Sora forced himself to be positive all the time. That is just not a healthy way to cope with your emotions. Once you keep bottling up your negative emotions at some point it will come lose revealing how you really feel. Sora had a Mental Breakdown in KH3 when he saw all of his friends getting carried away by the Tornado Heartless. Riku of course tried to cheer him up but he was just blinded by his self doubt and negativity that he had built up for so long. I can see why Sora cares about his friends, but he really doesn't to take time to care for himself. It really shows how he is willing to go the extra mile to help his friends even if it means paying the price for abusing his powers. I hope in Kingdom Hearts 4 Sora will be more mature and understand that he was neglecting himself so much.
This is a great video. Its also interesting how Riku directly played into Sora's deep insecurity and depression about himself by being the childhood rival who was always better (and his villainy in KH1).
But man this video does not bode well for Sora who is now isolated and alone in a completely different realm...and the only person we know will be there is the most manipulative villain in the entire series
Dark Road clearly showed Sora and Xehanort are alot more alike then we thought and this analysis reinforces it a bit. They both try to shoulder everyone elses problems and in Xehanort's case it broke him and turned him into the monster he became his logic being the only way to save everyone from the darkness and pain it causes was to wipe everyone out and reset the world. Sora almost broke just as hard in KH3 when he loses his friends and I genuinely worry what he's going to do when he learns after what he did to save Kairi theres no way back to his reality for him.
I really like that Kairi clearly states that she wants to be Soras Backup, not his burden. Even though they have very few time together after KH1, she seems to understand his inner feelings better than anyone 😁
Riku, Donald and Goofy are worried sometimes, but they often pick the wrong time to tell him that they are there for him. It doesn't have that much of an impact on him 😕
Yea she really seems to understand him *shakes head* 'let me keep you safe'. I feel like he needs some consolation alone from her tbh. He definitely needs it.
this analysis made me love sora even more. hes my favorite video game character because i always related to him, and now knowing how he copes with his emotions made me relate to him even more
So Self Deprecation, Toxic Positivity, Repressed emotions, Lack of Self Worth/Self protection when helping others and Despair. Hopefully Strelitzia and Riku can point these out and Help Sora in KH4.
The way D&G relentlessly told Sora "no sad faces" and never allowing him a moment to process anything has always bothered me. He's always told to bottle his emotions but you can only cram so many things in the bottle before it shatters
In a way, it’s ironic that Disney is making Sora bottle his emotions considering that Disney has many emotional moments.
For a game that involves sora as being the main protagonist in retrospect we don’t actually know sora… like what makes him tick and gives him that strength (not just his friends) to be optimistic and keep fighting… yeah we see him do all this and we see how he interacts with his friends but we don’t really get to know what he thinks in all given scenarios… there’s only a few times where I can think of where he mentions his full opinions on things. I’m hoping in KH4 we get to dive deeper into his mind and understanding him in a more personal way considering now he’s a much older teenager and has done a lot of character growth
This is everything I’ve been thinking about Sora for YEARS put into words. It’s why he’s such a special character to me. He hides so much, because what will happen if he doesn’t?
I really liked how you touched on Donald’s comments, and how they effect Sora even if Donald is only playing around. I grew up with a family that showed affection through teasing. But a lot of those comments hurt me greatly and have stayed with me well into my adult life, they’re still here, and they make me afraid to show people when I’m hurt, and want to hide my own feelings because I used to get teased and made fun of for showing my emotions.
An excellent video all around. Everyone needs to see this!
When i played it as a kid, i always looked up to him. Now as an adult, i reconise myself as him. Sometimes you have to let it go
i became aware of the whole toxic positivity in KH because of fanfic, of all things. i don't remember which fic it was, but the gist of it was sora tells riku that the gummi ship runs of smiles and happiness so he smiles even when sad and riku just stares at him and goes "well that's kind of fucked up." (should have known we would get something like this though, cause the fic has "sora has depression" or something like that as a tag)
Sora always came across to me as someone that has their darker moments but they don't let them show because he wants to make everyone happy, has always been told to smile but every now and then you see the cracks and KH3 has him let it all out.
"My friends are my power".
This sentiment cuts both ways. Yes it is a source of his power but what happens when he has no friends to rely upon? He breaks down and feels he's worthless if he's not helping which makes me think Sora feels he has to justify his existence. I do think he's truly a happy go lucky guy but he does have problems, problems that he's not being allowed to face and deal with because of the company he keeps.
One interesting idea that came up was Sanctuary that plays in Kingdom Hearts 2's intro, specifically when it's reversed. "I need more affection than you know." It could be an interesting tidbit of information when analyzing it in the lens of Sora and how he's been feeling throughout his story so far in not only that game but the series.
7:04 - That would've been a perfect moment for Sora to go Rage Form. In fact, I wished that Rage Form had been brought up more in the story outside of the final boss fight with Xehanort.
Also, this whole analysis for Sora makes me hope we get a world based on Inside Out in KH4. Since the whole film was all about managing your emotions in a healthy way, this would be perfect for Sora.
All in all, this was a fantastic analysis and I hope you'll do more in the future. I'd love a character analysis on Aqua or Riku.
I wish we could see more of Sora’s darkness explored for sure!!
With Sora being my favorite character of all time, he inspires me to be like him and try to always put on a happy face and not be a "burden" on close ones. The more I tried to be this way the more I repressed my emotions to make sure I wouldn't make others worry. I would and still do hide my depression from people. Realizing this, I related to Sora as a character even more and loved him more. Its not a bad idea to try to stay optimistic at hard times but there comes a point where it damages u more than u realize. I still love Sora to death and can't wait for his development in the next saga. This was a amazing video. Keep up the good work.
I’m glad this gave you some insight into your own life :) in a world that always pushes so much positive and being happy we can internalize messages that can hurt us in the long run!
If anyone knows about soras pain, its namine. I mean she had personal contact with his memories, and as a result, his feelings.
Wasn’t she Kairi’s heartless? it’s been a minute.
@@joshuamoody7729 Nope, she's kairi's nobody. Kairi doesn't have a heartless because she's one of the 7 princesses of light who have absolutely no darkness in them. No darkness = no heartless.
Except she’s actually (also) Sora’s Nobody. She came into existence when Kairi’s heart was released from Sora’s when Sora lost his heart in KH 1. Same for Roxas.
I'm so glad we have people like you and Thought Bubble for going deep dive into Sora's psychology and what he is going through in the games. Our boy needs a break from all of that.
Why are you everywhere? Lol
@@dairyprods Guess it's because I am a Kingdom Hearts fan. :)
It felt more like projection to me.
Looking forward, I can only hope that his time in the Keyblade Graveyard will be the spark to teach Sora that showing sadness isn't a bad thing, since it was able to connect to Terra and Xion when his usual methods couldn't. Perhaps learning to express his negative emotions instead of hiding them could lead to the ability to wield darkness in a controlled matter like Riku instead of being overwhelmed in a flood like with Anti Form or Rage Form.
16:30-16:35 i know you mentioned before that Re:Coded is Data Sora but that just means that our main man Sora still has not reached this point. It was Data Sora. In fact, King Mickey sent a letter to Destiny Islands to tell Real Sora that a computer simulation/data version of him was able to cope, so Sora should be able to too, but it's one thing to read about it in a letter, and another to actually experience it. Sora has been through so much and of course he's been Hurt, but I don't think he's really ever reached the same conclusion Data Sora did.
Yes, exactly! Sora and Data Sora even talk about hurt in different ways. Data Sora says that hurt is worthwhile because it allows him to understand others. While Meat Sora says that hurt is worth enduring if he can still be with his friends. One believes that hurt is a source of potential growth and connection, while the other sees it as an unfortunate side effect. That's why Data Sora is capable of handling hurt, while real Sora represses and fights it.
That’s a good point! :o
Also @normal6483 MEAT Sora has me dying xD haha
@@normal6483 meat sora had me rollinggg
I edited my comment to fix a typo the heart is gone oh well it was nice having it earlier 😔🫡
Sora reminds me of Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. Both are burdened by not having the strength to protect the people important to them. But at the same time they both handle it differently. We’ll see how Sora handles it in KH4. Hopefully looking forward to seeing a deep dive into Riki’s character next.
Don't mean to compare this character to your comment, but I would also like to add Miles Morales to your statement.
@@Redxan600these are good comparisons so I’ll add Jotaro Kujo. As he tends to use his stoic personality to hide his depression and sadness.
Sora is a legend. He needs a hug♥️
This dive is so cathartic to hear after having preached this to the community (especially the Roxas fans that dog on Sora for being too happy) for years.
People like Sora do exist. They keep on showing their happy personality to distract themselves from their worry. Sometimes it looks fake but they don’t care.
Two words for our boy: self differentiation ❤️ It’s difficult to do this if we’ve experienced loss and are insecure in our relationships as Sora might be. Really fantastic analysis-thank you for this!!
I am like sora it's almost bad. I would do anything for my friends no matter how much it hurts me and I always feel like a burden and I'm afraid to ask for things. Sora is my first kin and this series has brought so many memories. Thank you Nomura for such an amazing game and moments. And thank you bio-roxas
I really encourage you to start taking time for yourself :) it’s good to support others but I hope you know you are worth it to take care of yourself!
@BioRoxas thank you you're too kind and yes I've been getting better about caring for myself more. Thank you
@@dangoo._.docosplay trust me when I say I've been there man, have had a friend over the past few years where, instead of putting my own wants or desires forward like, ever, I would drop everything to spend time with them, maybe out of a fear of losing them like I have others in the past or something, but it eventually hit me just how unhappy it was making me and how little time I was actually having to do stuff I genuinely wanted to do instead of whatever they wanted.
Maybe there isnt a much similar case for you to relate to with this, but regardless I've been a lot happier just by having more me time and not agreeing to stuff that I'm truly not in the mood for, doesnt help in my case where its so one sided, I'd give them all the time in the world for what they want and I get almost none of that reciprocated, and it just felt expected of me at some point that I just stopped trying as much. So regardless I truly hope you have or can come to be okay with asking for things and not hurting yourself just to please others and whatever else that might be an issue for you, dont gotta put yourself first 100% of the time, its okay to let someone else be a priority in your mind, just dont let it all go ruining your whole mood if you can help it I guess.
@SSlash honestly I totally get what you are saying most of my friendships are extremely one sided and it's never reciprocated but I've been trying to do things for myself
Perhaps in the new game his friends will have to endure some of his hidden pain in order to bring him back. That boy has suffered so much and handled so many’s pains that aren’t his own. Although Sora committed a taboo, perhaps there’s more to bringing him back than just going to Verum Rex.
Sora has always been my favourite character in anything. Just as a character that encapsulates everything I love in a character and everything I want to be, Sora has it all and so much more. I admire everything about him with fun and playful personality, his love for his friends, his drive to never give up and his happy smile that always makes everything better. His relationship with everyone is amazing and I personally think the absolute peak of his character is in Kingdom Hearts 2 where I think he was depicted the best, as well as had my favourite character design and my favourite voice performance for him from Haley Joel Osment, who also does a phenomenal job capturing everything that’s incredible about Sora as a whole. Wherever Sora’s character ends up next, I can’t wait to see and I know he’ll still be the same lovable character he’s always been. I always aspire to be like him and I wouldn’t be where I am without him. He’s the reason I value people as much as I do so much more about me came from him. He’s always my number 1 favourite character of all and the others like that for me are Naruto, Spider-Man, SpongeBob, Mickey Mouse, Sonic, Luffy and Goku. Again, I can’t say enough good things about Sora and every time I see him on screen, I immediately feel happy and feel like I wanna be his real friend.
It's very interesting to see you list the issues of Sora's psychology and seeing a lot of them reflecting one to one to issues myself had and am still working on.
When I was young Sora was my hero, a role model. I didn't see how pushing down your emotions could make you unhealthy, instead seeing it as a sign of strength.
This video was very interesting. I can't wait to see Sora's development into a late teenager or young adult in KH4
I hope in KH4 we see Sora become more aware of his maladaptive coping mechanisms and learn to let others know of his own pain. Cause honestly I don't want to see Sora get walked all over for the sake of a few laughs any more.
I knew I was onto something when I felt that Sora didn’t necessarily get better after The Guardians’ death. While yes, he’s pretty much putting in the most effort in the war, supporting everyone in their fights on his own, his mindset is still set on “my friends are my power” and is only standing strong and pushing forward for the sake of others while excluding himself in the picture.
I REALLY want to see a breakdown of this for Riku and how his development contrasts Sora's and how that contrast culminates in him becoming a master where Sora couldn't
This one was one of the best KH videos, I have ever watched. Mad respect.
Ahh I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! :’)
he lost his town, lost his parents, his best friend was possessed by a evil dude, the girl he likes got her soul taken out of her body and put in himself, he had to fight against a bunch of monsters, he is abandoned by the friends he made, he saves his best friend and the girl he likes just so he get locked in the middle of darkness, he is put in a chamber and loses years of his life while giving birth to another really nice dude that will disappear once he wakes up, the girl he likes forgot him, his best friends was forced to stay in the evil being body, he has to face a bunch of dudes who are trying to become normal people, he faces the dude that was born from himself, he defeats him, he defeats another form of the evil dude, he then proceeds to fail the exam that is literally everything he did up until now, the evil dude kidnap him, he is saved by his best friend who he saved 3 times by now that did not fail the exam, he loses all his powers, he faces a bunch of different forms of the evil dude, he sees his friends get destroyed one by one, he goes back in time and saves their soul one by one, then he sees the girl he likes being hurt, he beats the evil guy and finally when he has peace he has to save the girl he likes just to have a single minute with her before he disappears into dust, idk man sounds like a very healthy and happy way to spend your last 7 or 8 years of life
2 years.
@@user-dp1rl1it8j honestly with so many things happenning in the time line of this game i get lost at how much time has passed
And the worst part.
No breaks. He never ever gets a time to actually sit down and think what he has been through
This really solidifies my feeling of having Sora as my favorite character. Because next to being the sunshine boy, he’s
also sad and anger and much more than just the happiness he always shows. Amazing character analysis!!
One of the reasons I always connected with him as a character is cause in my own upbringing and learning, I was always afraid of showing too much weakness, that I had to stay strong or positive especially for my parents or siblings and did a lot on my own even with my friends. It really hit me hard how I am or used to be when I played KH3, I saw me when I was younger and it felt so wild and made me question how much I grew. I did grow more and I have been very healthy even when KH3 came out, but it struck a big chord. I'm just bewildered and glad to see I really did grow up alongside this character in a way, I look forward to how he is later on in IV. He is an amazing character, I hope this video helps people who dunk on him see just how deep he really is.
I’m glad it resonated with you so much :) the fact that you have that insight into your own upbringing already shows some growth and awareness!
I wanna see if the concept of Sora's Heartless gaining power over time is addressed, because Sora's inner darkness is very unique due to how everything between the back park of KH1 up into the beginning of KH2 goes. Sora doesn't just have internal darkness, like Riku did. Sora spent a significant portion of his life as a Heartless, and that Heartless never went anywhere.
Edit: it was kinda touched on, but not given nearly enough thought.
Okay, so we can literally see Sora's burdens grow over time. Kingdom Hearts 1, Sora became a Heartless. A little shadow, barely worth noticing. He'd felt some pain, he'd felt some sadness, but he hadn't really _suffered_ anything yet. And this lack of pain is reflected in how small his darkness is, and how easily Kairi can make him into a Heartless of light. Sora becomes what Ansem is, but through light instead of darkness. Heartless have an instinctual understanding of the behavior of hearts, as well they should, since hearts are their food. Sora displays this instinctual understanding when he realizes that Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all things, without ever having heard a word about it before that moment, was light. Meanwhile, Ansem rationalizes his Heartless instincts, his craving for the heart of all things, as the ultimate deepest darkness of all, because darkness is what his conscious mind seeks.
But now the game is over and a new game has begun, and Sora is still a Heartless. He is a heart with no body, his light molded into a human shape by Kairi's desire. But there is a weakness here. His emotions are running wild with him, because he is unbalanced. And the Organization uses this against him. His memories are twisted by Namine. He is assaulted and tormented and told to his face that he will submit and be a good little puppet. He is attacked with the face of a dear freind, and watches that friend die in front of him (riku replica). He feels anger, and sadness, and self doubt, and self loathing. His darkness grows and grows and grows, and because of the interference of Xehanort, Kairi and Namine and Vexen, Roxas and Sora can't be put back together the way nature intended. You recreate a somebody by slaying the heartless and the nobody. But Sora's Heartless and Roxas had to be reintegrated artificially. And Roxas clearly survived that reintegration, meaning that the creature who was wearing Sora's face also survived.
Sora was a heartless. Kairi did soemthing that will never be explained, and turned Sora into the highest tier of Heartless, the kind that Scar became, in full control of his form and faculties, but instead of being formed from the darkness, Sora's Heartless (who I will call Shora henceforth) was reformed using light.
But now the heart is where it belongs, and Sora's light is no longer needed to support a body, leaving the darkness firmly in control of Shora.
And what deep and abiding darkness it was. In moments of stress, when Sora called upon his friends for power, Shora would seize the opportunity, and answer that call instead. And thus, antiform was born. But because of Sora's completely unique circumstances, Shora, even as a being of darkness, acts completely loyal to the light. Shora fights to destroy Heartless and Nobodies, but never presents a risk to Sora's friends. And Shora is just never addressed. Perhaps because of how the Drive outfit works, Donald and Goofy and the world partners just never witness Sora being overwhelmed by darkness. Maybe they do, but never bring it up because it's a friendly Heartless (they've canonically met several Heartless that weren't enemies), and they don't want to upset Sora, or limit him by making him think he can never use Drive forms. Maybe they think Sora is completely aware, and chose not to discuss it.
But now we come to the direct sequel. In DDD, Sora is alone. He is travelling completely alone through the dreams of sleeping worlds, and is again harrassed and tormented and beset on all sides and in the end, he's nearly Norted. Xehanort's darkness nearly completely overwhelms him, and Sora is gravely weakened (according to the plot, anyways) by this.
But the very first time Rage Form is activated, you can see clear as day that Shora has only become more powerful still. Faster, less beastial, more cunning, more magically powerful, and most importantly... Shora can wield a Keyblade. And Sora suffers the worst pain he's ever felt. He loses everyone. He froze, and lost every person who ever meant anything to him, and the people using his heart as a refugee. And he rebels against this and breaks the rules of the universe to fight back. And at the end when Xehanort, just to see, as an experiment, for fun, _rips Sora's light out and leaves nothing but darkness_ , Shora is more powerful, more keenly connected to the dark, than Xehanort. Shora, in no uncertain terms, absolutely wrecks Xehanort.
There is no need to speculate on Sora's emotional and mental health. You can literally see how badly Sora is doing by how _powerful_ Shora has become.
Eventually, the issue of Shora will need to be addressed.
I have always saw Sora like this. He tries to take the burden for everyone but is still teen a with emotions that he does not have a parental figure to guide him through.
Interestingly, Sora and Riku's journey are inverses of each other and Kairi being the anomaly of the trio. Sora embraced light for power but is slowly, although not consciously, embracing darkness. Riku sought darkness for power; however, he rejected it and seems more aligned with light than Sora is despite seeking a path in between light and darkness. Kairi encouraged both Sora ans Riku on; however, she seems to be pushing herself to catch up with Sora and Riku.
If this trend continues, Sora may be struggling between light and darkness as the games all subtly hint at this growing darkness in Sora.
Edit: My friends are my power.
YES! I definitely think that the games are hinting at Sora in the future possibly falling to darkness, not out of greed but simply because he'll reach his breaking point. The way he acts isn't sustainable and even though he's literally sacrificed everything he has for his friends, he is still obviously going to push himself more going forward. Poor kid is going down a dark path and in a way everyone around him has unintentionally led him down it.
@@lilchaos9212 I still find it poetic that Riku, who used to be antagonist and power-hungry, is now like a wise man trying to persuade people not to follow a dark path in life as it leads to misery. In addition, although Riku is naturally gifted in combat, he seems very ashamed of his power. Riku seems to be redeeming himself, even though he seems to be doing it for himself and having caused great suffering and hardship to Sora and Kairi as a result. Riku has more accepted the role to be there when Sora cannot be or if Sora falters.
Now that Sora is trapped in "unreality" (i.e. a different universe) and the next game may have Riku chasing after Sora. Sora being on his own my result in him seeking Darkness out of desperation, instead of following the motra of "May your heart be your guiding key". I assume Sora is going to get more and more frustrated going from world to world seeking a way home.
Also, we have zero idea if the Master of Masters has good intentions or is like Xehanort trying something desperate and hope it works.
@@ajflink I don't think Sora will ever succumb to the darkness.
Instead I think he's going to ultimately realize that too much light has it's own dangers. Sora is ignoring his trauma and depression, things seen as "dark", and he masks them with a facade of happiness and optimism, traits normally seen as "light". I think he's eventually going to have to realize that it's okay to feel his feelings all of them. But I don't think he's go to go super dark in the process.
Now I don't know if you've seen Steven Universe, but I kind of see Sora as an inverse of Steven. Both are happy-go lucky protagonists, and are put under a lot of pressure by those around them. However, in the Steven Universe movie Steven remembers that his greatest strength is his ability to change and grow. By Steven Universe Future, Steven has become so powerful that his own power scares him. He realizes that he could easily hurt the people around him and nobody would be able to stop him, and this realization comes at the same time that he's suffering from the unresolved trauma of essentially being a child soldier. All this together causes him to start seeing himself as a monster, which ultimately physically transforms him into one.
By contrast Sora is also a child soldier with unresolved trauma, but he is forcing himself to stagnate whereas Steven embraced change, and he considered himself weak and useless without his friends who Steve fears tha he inw his own is far too powerful for his friends to stop if he loses control. Because of these differences, I think their paths to self actualization will likewise be different. Steven gave in to his traiba has was brought back by the emotional support of his friends. I thing Sora instead is going to realize his own self worth and start addressing his trauma on his own.
@@stevenhiggins3055 Glad I'm not the only one thinking of Steven Universe and his similarities to Sora and how both have different character developments. I feel like it'd be interesting if Sora and Steven met, even though it's impossible cause SU isn't Disney.
I find this video very interesting because I share a lot of similarities to Sora as I grew older from the time I was a little kid. He’s still one of my favorite characters to this day. Probably because I idolize my favorite characters and their good characteristics. But beyond that, sometimes we tend to forget the negative aspects. The aspects that doesn’t get touched on enough. I love Sora, he’s a flawed character but so redeemable at the same time. It’s truly inspirational how he comes back on his feet everytime he falls down.
I'm really hoping that Inside Out pops up in a future KH game, whether it's the form of Sora going on an adventure with the emotions and learning how to better deal with his own hurt and negative emotions, or someone else exploring the world of Sora's mind.
Me toooo!! It would be the perfect world
@BioRoxas Basically a FF7 Cloud mind dive in the Lifestream moment
Imagine if KHIV pulls a DDD moment where Riku has his own specific order of worlds to go to (all the worlds are the same as the ones Sora traverses but it’s kind of like they barely miss each other, Riku showing up when Sora’s leaving, something like that and probably a lot shorter too because numbered titles are usually Sora games) and Riku ends up in the Inside Out world where he and the emotions explore Sora’s psyche.
Great analysis. I've always felt that Sorra and character's like him have always been misunderstood by most of their fan base. ( Naruto, Zack Fair, Eward Elric ect.)
Considering KH has crossed over with TWEWY before, a meeting between Sora and Fret would be really interesting. Considering Fret’s also a cheerful dude who’s whole arc is learning to be more open with his true emotions.
I mean heck while its a gameplay mechanic Anti-Sora and Rage Form, show that Sora has a lot of pent-up anger, sadness, and even fear that he didnt even become an emblem heartless when he gave up his heart to free Kairi's he became a Shadow. So consumed with his emotions that all that was left was a dark shadow cast in a world of light.
IF we EVER get an inside out world in KH, man I feel like it's gonna really show how important sadness is.
But he’s always felt sadness and fear and regret
Sora NEEDS to visit the world of Inside Out. If it was the last Disney World in KH4 would be a great way to build up a big ending of Sora realizing hia flaws and beating that inner darkness he didn't even see before.
This video is insane. I've played this game for 20 years and never really thought about it that way. As someone who struggles with expressing emotions and always mask to make others feel better, suddenly he becomes very relatable.
So you're basically saying that Sora needs therapy
I am so happy that someone finally did a real analysis of Sora! KH PS series (now watching this I feel disappointed that I really missed out on the other games. And most likely why KH3 was hard to follow). This game was a comfort growing up, probably because the main character has been so relatable of the years!
If you think about it KH1 was originally advertised for kids. I remember seeing loads of advertisements on the Disney channel. So Soras 2D go lucky personality and mindset relates to what kids go through. Needing to mask negative feels to not feel like a burden, needing to feel worthy, the value of friendship. These are powerful themes that are reflected in Sora.
I think those that played KH1 grew with the character throughout the sequels so darker themes and the dark cracks in Soras personality were explored. I’m not sure how the sequels were advertised and over time I think the game franchises demographic changed to adolescents and adults.
It’s interesting how Soras core values and flaws from the beginning of the game kind of doom him in the end. As some one who idolized Sora in KH1 and KH2 I can see how my lack of boundaries and masking have led to similar traits shown in KH3 now that I’m an adult.
Don’t get me wrong it will always remain as a favorite! However I wonder what would have happened to Sora if he was depicted as someone with boundaries and able to process his anger and sadness. I hope if KH4 becomes a reality they will cover that next in his story arc. It another thing from childhood where the layers are peeled to reveal something deeper than one could have realized.
Soras been a real comfort and this video explains just how complex and well written his character was! Definitely will have to find a video of every cut scene from all the games now! I couldn’t get my PS to work so I sadly donated KH1 (after holding on to it for almost 17 years 😢)
This idea of Sora as a ball of perpetual joy always felt off to me. Maybe it’s because he didn’t seem /that/ happy in KH1, or even in KH2. He had moments where he experienced hurt and brushed past it for the sake of being a “true hero.” I often think about his CoM outbursts or Coded’s acknowledgement of his pain, especially when I hear Riku talk about Sora to others.
As I’ve grown, I’ve grown to really relate to Sora and his drive to help others. Riku, Roxas, and Axel are the cool, tortured boys, so the comforting tends to skew towards them. (Riku especially is not the best masker if KH2 and DDD show us anything, but he has grown much more in touch with his emotions.) Sora came off to me as someone whose hurt was rarely explored fully. Even in KH3: he has his breakdown in the Keyblade Graveyard and almost immediately has to pick himself up (literally) to bring back his friends. I hope they really explore that in KH4, especially if he starts the game off alone (alone = without his realm of reality friends, without Donald and Goofy).
As an aside: my personal reactions to relating with Sora may say even more about him (or my take on him). Whenever I think of how I’m like Sora, I push the thought down and keep going, not wanting to make his experience about me. At the same time, though, the fact that I’ve been following the kid since I was 5 years old (now 26) makes that kind of impossible, doesn’t it?
A pretty good analysis of the psychology of Sora throughout the kingdom hearts series, and I honestly think that I agree with it.
It seems like Sora is so good at covering up is true feelings that not even Riku or Kairi knew about it. Riku may have seen small glimpses of Sora's true nature, but he didn't see the full picture. It's obvious that Riku is aware of some of the insecurities Sora has because he was able to use them against Sora in the first game. When Sora finally breaks down in KH3, Riku was able to see more of the insecurities and emotions that Sora was burying inside of him. Riku's response to Sora calling himself "worthless" isn't to smile. In fact, he says, "Sora, you don't believe that. I know you don't." This line can be interpreted in many ways. In my opinion, I think Riku subtly told Sora that he's not worthless or a burden to him.
We don't exactly know much of Sora and Riku's history other than that they were very close friends. We don't exactly know if Sora always felt this way and we also don't know when he started feeling this way. I believe that Sora suffers from self-inferiority and it may have been sparked by his rivalry with Riku. Remember that it's been mentioned many times that Riku has always been thought of as better at everything than Sora. Riku was the role-model and kind of like an older brother to Sora and always won the games they would play. This may have cause Sora to feel inferior in regards to Riku, which may not have been intentional. This is seen as Riku still remained by Sora's side despite the rivalry and were still very close. So, Riku might not have been the only one to trigger the inferiority in Sora. Perhaps Sora had a childhood bully that Riku wasn't aware of and that bully made Sora become so insecure about his true nature that he saw it as a weakness and began hiding it away in favor of becoming someone stronger. This caused Sora to become mistrustful and doubt his relationships. It's very clear in Riku's response to Sora calling himself "Worthless" that he never thought of Sora as such or that he was a burden to him. Kairi probably also feels this way because she wanted to remain apart of his life no matter what. It's very clear that Riku and Kairi never told Sora, directly, how much they appreciated and valued him.
Ventus, Xion, Roxas, and Namine(I'm writing this on a computer, so I don't know how to put and accent mark on the 'e') Lea and Isa, possibly, are the only characters who may be fully aware of Sora's mental instability. Ventus, Xion, and Roxas have been inside Sora's heart resting and waiting until they could return to the world. During their rest, Sora carried their memories and their pain in his heart. There's a possibility that they, in turn, carried Sora's pain. Namine hold power over Sora's memories and as she was rearranging them back to their proper places, she could've seen times where Sora has broken down and showed what lies beneath the front he puts on for everyone. Lea and Isa, being former organization members, might also be aware of Sora's insecurities. In KH3, Xion gave Sora reassurance that Kairi would be okay and it was very clear that Sora needed that because he was no longer hiding how he felt in that moment.
It is my hope that in the future that one of these characters, be it Ventus, Xion, Roxas, Namine, Riku, Kairi, or even Strelitzia(who's currently with Sora), help encourage Sora to let down his guard and show the vulnerability in him. To just let them into his thoughts and help him work through the insecurities and pain he holds deep inside him and has repressed for so long.
4 months have passed since I watched this video and since I wrote this comment. I've made a shocking realization about Sora's character and want to add it as a continuation to the comment I've already written. This realization came about while reading the other comments here in the comment section, as well as rereading my own comment.
Context: BTS is a seven member K-pop idol group. The members consists of; Rm, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. They have a trilogy album series known as the, "Love Yourself" series. This trilogy consists of; Love Yourself: Her, Love Yourself: Tear, and Love Yourself: Answer. The focus of this will be a song off of the "Love Yourself: Tear album. BTS has a fictional storyline that runs through a majority of their music videos known as the, Bangtan Universe. Jin's character in the storyline has a very similar parallel to Sora. Finally, Sora shares some similarities with the member J-hope(This is not me talking about my fanship towards the group. I'm just pointing out some parallels I've noticed between Sora and the BTS content I've seen. You don't have to like the group, but I do highly recommend looking these things up and I'm certain you'll also notice these same parallels.).
Starting with the album, "Love Yourself: Tear", Sora has many similarities with some of the songs on the album. Sora's character, however, embodies the title song, "Fake Love". "Fake Love" talks about changing oneself to love another or throwing oneself away and putting on a mask in front of another person. This applies so much to Sora's character as a whole. He hides his true feelings from his friends in favor of being happy, bubbly, optimistic, and strong for others. He's throwing his true self away and pretending to be positive and strong in front of others, but doesn't realize how much it's hurting him by doing so. Many people in the comment section have mentioned that Sora has a lot of unresolved trauma that he still holds in his heart and has yet to process through that trauma. This is, indeed, true. Sora has been working as a keyblade wielder non-stop and hasn't had the time to work through his pain. Also, no one has had the time to actually sit him down and help him work through his pain and trauma. The lyrics of "Fake Love" that really back this up are, "For you, I could pretend that I'm happy, when I'm sad." Another song, "The Truth Untold", talks more about the action of putting on a mask when seeing that person, which really aligns with Sora's character throughout the franchise. I mentioned in my comment above where I speculated that Sora may have had a childhood bully and made him insecure about himself and thus, began to hide it because he saw it as a weakness. In this sense, Sora's character also aligns with the song, "Intro: Singularity". This song talks about the action of throwing oneself away, in which Sora has done repeatedly throughout the games. "Magic Shop" is a song about wanting to comfort someone and it really highlights Sora's desire to take the pain of others and make it his own, but he's got a lot of weight on his shoulders because no one has either had the chance to, or will do the same for him. The "Love Yourself" series is a journey about self discovery and self acceptance and I whole-heartedly believe that Sora is on this journey. Sora is under pressure to be positive for everyone and forced to be the strong person everyone expects and believes him to be, and yet, no one can see the pain and damage it's causing him because Sora won't allow them to. At the end of KH3, Sora's mask has crumbled and is now beginning to show the emotions in his heart and is alone in Quadratum. Until his friends come to find him, he now has the opportunity to work through everything and begin to discover himself and possibly learn to accept himself.
"Fake Love" is one of the songs whose music video has the "Bangtan Universe" storyline(Spoilers ahead) in it. Jin's character in the storyline is the main character and is constantly trying to save his friends by simply turning back time to correct the errors and mistakes that caused them to fall apart. In the storyline, Jin must find "The Map of the Soul" in order to save one of his friends. Jin, however, loses his memories as a price as he searches for it. Later, he discovers that "The Map of the Soul" isn't an actual map, but a record of ones mistakes and failures. When he finds the "Map of the Soul", he realizes that he never needed to turn back time in the first place. He needed to learn to accept who he was, his flaws and failures included. Jin learns that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to save everyone because the only person he couldn't save was himself. This journey of Jin's character in the "Bangtan Universe" is a strong parallel to Sora. Because, no matter how hard Sora tries, he can't save himself from his own darkness. Sora is on a journey of learning to accept his, flaws, mistakes, and his failures and learning to love himself.
Finally, we have J-hope. Like how Sora is pressured into being happy and bubbly all the time, J-hope once had this same problem. J-hope felt pressured to always have a positive attitude and it made the fans believe that he was this happy and bubbly person, when it really was just a character. Through his solo album(Jack-in-the-Box), however, J-hope showed multiple sides of himself, which included the darker sides. J-hope once admitted that he wanted to change his stage name(which is J-hope) to something else because he wanted to drop the always hopeful and positive attitude, but he couldn't. Sora is definitely like J-hope in this instance. Someone in the comments pointed out how Roxas is Sora without the bubbly and positive attitude and I can definitely agree. It could be that Roxas is the only one who truly knows what's in Sora's heart and may be the only one who can get him to learn to accept who he is. I really hope that this gets touched on in KH4 because these parallels and similarities are insane.
I relate a LOT with Sora and his tendency to put literally anyone else before himself, even his enemies, so I really appreciate this video as a whole but especially your message at the end of the essay itself. I loved this analysis and would love to see more from you! 🗝️💗
I like to think of Sora's arc as a dissection of the "power of friendship" trope. Relying on friends can be great and working together to overcome an obstacle can prove to be possible if your bond is strong enough and can allow you to play to each other's strengths, but that last note is something worth mentioning. A team focuses on the strengths of others and relying on those around you in whatever area you deem them important or helpful. It's not because they are your friend that you are strong, you're strong because together you can accomplish something greater, which includes you with it. Everyone has a strength and no one person is singled out of the team. Just because your friends are your power doesn't mean you alone are worthless without them. You are just as strong in the very thing you can use to help them in their time of need, but you are not meant to carry their weight for them when you need their strengths to get you through something. A friendship is only as powerful as those who choose to combine their strength in unison to become a nigh unstoppable team.
In my opinion, that is the true power of connections.
A MAN GOES to a doctor-that’s how the story always begins. “Doctor, I’m depressed,” the man says; life is harsh, unforgiving, cruel. The doctor lights up. The treatment, after all, is simple. “The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight,” the doctor says, “Go and see him! That should sort you out.” The man bursts into tears. “But doctor,” he says, “I am Pagliacci.”
"My friends are my power or something." Watching this video really highlights just how screwed up Sora's childhood has been and how important it is to not bottle up your emotions just because someone else tells you to. It also reminds me that Sora was basically a prisoner of Donald and Goofy in the first game.
Think about it: Donald and Goofy have orders from Mickey to find and "stick with" the key-bearer, but instead of offering to help him in his journey to find his missing friends (something that would have more properly fit the spirit of Mickey's instructions), Donald forces Sora to travel with them on his terms and Goofy (unintentionally) aids Donald in stifling Sora's emotions from the get-go. If Sora had refused Donald's rule of no frowning or sad faces aboard the Gummi Ship and instead tried to find another way (something he likely could have done, whether by talking to Merlin or Fairy Godmother---both beings whose role and purpose are to aid and guide---or the Final Fantasy crew with regards to how they themselves were able to travel between worlds, or even in desperation used the darkness like the villains), Donald and Goofy would have had to follow him anyway and would have lost all bargaining power.
Just before Jungle Japes, Donald tries to prevent the ship from landing because he believed that Mickey couldn't possibly be in such a place, even though Sora's friends still had a chance to be there. When Sora tries to take control and land there anyway, Donald refuses and fights for control of the ship. His refusing to do so spat in the face of why Sora accepted Donald's terms to travel with him to begin with and effectively stole Sora's agency with regards to what he could and could not do, where he could and could not go, etc.
At Hollow Bastion, Donald tells Goofy to leave Sora behind when Riku takes the Keyblade, despite having become friends with Sora. And though he apologizes right before they depart, Donald still leaves a brokenhearted Sora behind. Even without the Keyblade, Donald could have tried to help Sora further while still following his king's orders (he could have asked Goofy to take Sora back to the ship and then meet back up in the castle, for example), but instead abandons him as soon as Sora no longer serves a purpose and practically orders Goofy to leave Sora too. In an area known to be overrun with Heartless. Without a weapon (other than the magic Sora has learned over their journey, which Donald has no guarantee Sora can use without the Keyblade as a conduit). Now with nowhere to go.
...the more I think about it, the worse it gets. I regret writing most of this now... 😢