Kairi
Kana: カイリ
Age: 14 [Kingdom Hearts] ; 15 [Kingdom Hearts II]
Home World: Hollow Bastion / Radiant Garden
First Appeared In: Kingdom Hearts
Voiced By: Hayden Panettiere [KH, KH2]; Alyson Stoner [Re:CoM] (English) / Risa Uchida (Japanese)

Kingdom Hearts

Kairi lives on Destiny Islands with her best friends, Sora and Riku. The three dream of travelling to other worlds, so they make a raft to do so. Kairi is not from Destiny Islands. Her home is Radiant Garden. One day when Sora and Riku were small children, the island had a meteor shower. Kairi mysteriously appeared that night. Sora always asks her if she remembers her home, but she can’t.

It is hinted at throughout the series that Sora and Kairi have romantic feelings for each other. One of the many clues that are given is the Paopu fruit. The children on the island believe that if a Paopu fruit is shared with someone you really love, than the two will stay together forever. In the secret cave Sora and Kairi drew pictures of each other as children. Sora draws a picture sharing a Paopu with Kairi and at the end of Kingdom Hearts I Kairi draws the same picture.

One night the island is hit by a storm. Sora immediately thinks of the raft, and heads to the island where the children play. When he gets there, mysterious beings known as the heartless are everywhere. Sora eventually finds Kairi whose heart has already been affected by the mysterious creatures. She is in the secret place and seems to be in a daze. Sora runs up to her but Kairi passes right through him. From then on in the game Sora is carrying Kairi’s heart.

Sora spends the whole game searching for Kairi, running into Riku many times along the way. Riku is also searching for their lost friend, but he isn’t willing to help Sora believing that he was the rightful Keyblade wielder and working with Maleficent. Sora finds Kairi in Hollow Bastion. He then realizes that he has been carrying Kairi’s heart the whole time. Using the heart un-locker Keyblade, Sora stabs himself, releasing Kairi’s heart and his own which turns him into a heartless.

Kairi eventually realizes that one of the heartless is Sora. She hugs him and her light frees Sora from the darkness. Sora takes Kairi back to Traverse Town to be safe until he returns. She gives Sora her lucky charm and makes Sora promises he will come home safely.

After Sora defeats Ansem/Xehanort, he sees Kairi on the reforming Destiny Islands. Sora runs over to her and promises to come back to Kairi. Sora still has to find Riku and King Mickey, who were trapped behind the door to darkness (Kingdom Hearts), and open the door to the light. The two let go and they are separated. Kairi explores the newly formed islands even going to the secret place to draw the Paopu fruit. She then waits for Sora and Riku’s return.

Kingdom Hearts:Chain of Memories

Kairi personally doesn’t make an appearance in this game. Naminé who is Kairi’s nobody, is being held a slave by the Organization in Castle Oblivion. In the castle Naminé is forced by the Organization to erase Sora’s memories and replace them with false ones. She makes Sora believe that she is the girl he cares for the most and not Kairi.

In the end of Sora’s story, Naminé tells Sora that he will have to remember the person who is his light, the person he cares for the most. When he remembers Kairi, Naminé begins to fade. But Naminé tells Sora not to worry. She tells him that even though she will be forgotten she will not be lost, and the two make a promise to be friends for real one day.

In Riku’s story, Reverse/Rebirth, Naminé takes the form of Kairi to help Riku deal with the light and darkness in his heart.

Kingdom Hearts II

A year has now passed from the first Kingdom Hearts, and Kairi is now fifteen. She is just a normal school girl living on Destiny Island’s, but because of the events of Chain of Memories she doesn’t remember Sora. Because of Naminé everyone who had a connection to Sora in some way can’t him until Naminé begins to reconstruct his memories.

Bothered by the fact Kairi can’t remember her long lost friend; she tells her friend Selphie, a fellow islander, that she won’t go back to the island where the children play until she can remember his name. Kairi does remember Riku and she and Selphie hope he comes back to visit someday.

Right after this while the two are walking, Kairi falls to the ground. Because of Naminé’s contact with Roxas, Sora’s nobody, it put him in contact with Kairi. Roxas remarks to her, “You’re that girl he likes.” And Kairi asks for a name. Sora’s voice is then heard giving her a hint that his name starts with an ‘S’.

After the scene Kairi gets up and runs to the beach. She takes out a letter in a bottle that she had written to Sora and lets it lose in the ocean. She then recalls his name and smiles knowing the letter will reach him eventually no matter where he was.

Later in the game, Axel, the Organization’s number eight, tries to kidnap Kairi from Destiny Islands. At this point Kairi has grown tired of waiting for Sora’s return. But not trusting Axel, Kairi follows Pluto into a Corridor of Darkness (the means by which the nobodies travelled) to get away. Kairi and Pluto end up in Twilight Town where they meet Hayner, Pence, and Olette. It isn’t long however before Axel finds her and kidnaps her. Pluto jumps into the portal behind them. Saïx finds Kairi with Axel and takes her from him; he brings Kairi to The World That Never Was.

Naminé, Kairi’s nobody, eventually frees Kairi from her prison. They try to escape but they are stopped by Saïx. The two are then rescued by Riku. Although Riku’s appearance has changed to look like Xehanort’s heartless, Kairi can still tell that it’s him. Riku leads Kairi to Sora and then hands Kairi a Keyblade. She proceeds to hit a couple of heartless to help their friend.

After Sora, Riku, and the King lock the fake Kingdom Hearts the Organization had created, Kairi is reunited with her nobody and everyone prepares to head for home. Kairi and the others make it through the portal, but Sora and Riku end up not making it and they still need to defeat Xemnas.

Sora and Riku end up at a dark ocean and that is where Sora receives Kairi’s letter. He also opens the door to the light. When the two return home Kairi and the others are waiting. Before the game is over however, Kairi runs up to the boys who are talking on the Paopu tree. In her hand is a note in a bottle with the King’s seal on it. It is never revealed to the player what the note says.