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Didn't they just tone Riku down tho?



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Enturax

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I mean, he was always a fanservice character, wasn't he? The big, visible muscles, self-confidence, the visible bellybutton and "rockstar" hair in KH2. What do you think about his current being? And do you dig his personality change? (sorry for possibly repeating same topic from some time ago but I've never read one)
 

Launchpad

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His character arc is complete. He's been through everything he needed to go through. I like the wiser earnest Riku, though at the same time, he's 16. It'd be nice to see more scenarios where he acts like a young person.

I never loved KH2 Riku, not because of his clothes or hair, but because of his face. The face they made for him lacked any cohesion with his KH1 self... He looked like a completely different guy. This issue was fixed in DDD onward, where Riku looks like a slightly older version of his KH1 self.
 

kirabook

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KH1 Riku wasn't fanservicy at all. He was a brat. The people I knew didn't like him much until KH2 where he grew as a person and regretted his actions. I guess his more mature appearance, longer hair, and casual clothes did him favors too? My younger self never had a crush on Riku, I was all about the Sora . Now they're all my children that I gave birth to.
 

Sora2016

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His outfit in KH2 was kinda a mess tho lol, it certainly wasn't mature. So I agree with changing it. Same with the others tbh. The KH1 outfits were just outlandish, minus Kairi?, and KH2's were just anime teens to the extreme lol. These new outfits are like....almost things a real human would wear, so I like them a lot personally.

I guess I would have been down for Riku's outfit having no sleeves or something to show off his muscles lol, but I mean I am 26 so I ain't into 17 year olds fictional or otherwise so I don't really care lol.

As for his personality, yes I love it. KH1 Riku sucks. Every other game he has been way better. But he still had so much self doubt. I mean, I assume he still sorta does, but its nice to see him take charge and be confident in his role now.
 

Oracle Spockanort

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Fanservice? Riku was one of the most disliked characters back in the KH1 days, and only slightly less unliked during CoM. It was his character growth in KH2 that really won everybody over and not his body. Most people made fun of his clothing and hair if I am remembering those days correctly.

Personality change? You mean his natural character development????
 

Relix

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Personality wise it was, as everyone else said, character development. He's taken some time to truly find himself and I think in KH3 we're seeing a fully confident Riku.

Appearance wise, let's just say I'm happy with the way he looks now. KH2 was cool and all but that dude looked like he was 22 going on 28 or something, I get that it was a growth spurt but hot damn. His appearance in KH3 looks more like how he'd age in that amount of time.
 

Alja

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Have you seen his design tho? How perfectly his muscles are framed by his sleeves and gloves? That is A+ compared to his wacky KH1 design (though everyone looks trippy in that one). And I mean he has always been portrayed as the stronger one, older than Sora, so he kind of deserves his frame (and it's not as exaggerated as Terra's either). I do miss the long hair though :p

For the rest, I agree with the others. I hated Riku until I finally played through CoM. He's gone through the best character development in the whole series, so it's not a change, it's progress. He started as an egoistic dick and became a wonderful, trustworthy and loyal young man. With his hair cut, he actually kind of came back to his original self in BBS, the young boy that was still innocent but inherently sweet and protective of his friends. He's back to being that, though obviously less innocent because of all he went through.
 

ImVentus

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With his hair cut, he actually kind of came back to his original self in BBS, the young boy that was still innocent but inherently sweet and protective of his friends. He's back to being that, though obviously less innocent because of all he went through.

True that, but now he's cut his hair even shorter than it was in BBS. He has no mullet anymore.
 

Chuuya

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Riku is someone who's been through a crap-load of stuff, and some of it is his fault.
He was blind in KH1 to see the actions he was doing was wrong only until he finally saw the outcome of it all and wanted to stop it.
Riku realizes his mistakes and begins to show his better side in CoM. There he is willing to face Ansem and the darkness in his heart and try to correct it. Unfortunately he had to release his inner darkness when facing Roxas at the end of 358/2 days and "accept it". He again shows conflict in himself to want to stay away from Sora and Kairi in KH2 because of not wanting to face them being the way he was, but luckily they all met each other near the end of the game which Sora and everyone helped him realize he shouldn't face everything on his own.
Again along the way like in DDD Riku learns more and more. His title as being a Keyblade Master is definitely something he has earned through what he experienced and learned along his journeys. As for his look in KH2, well he's going to have long hair for not trimming it so much. And his clothes and look is nice the way they are, not just because I'm a huge fan and whatnot, but compared to others from KH2 it's not too big of a complicated design.
 
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Sdog

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I don't think anything else needs to be said that hasn't already. He is as my avatar infers, the Best Boy.
 

eiczerofour

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Riku has always been my favourite, at least one of them. (Top three at least.) I think he has progressed very well, and looks really cool again in KH3.
 

Elysium

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Riku's always been my favorite of the original characters, even in KH1. I mean, SRK + Ansem are the only original characters in KH1, and Riku was the only one who had even a little bit of dimension to him. He was a very emotional character, consumed by jealousy (of Sora's relationships to Kairi and then D&G) and rejection. He grew a lot in CoM, but it was already going that direction by the end of KH1 when he helped Sora to close the door. I've always seen Saix as very similar to KH1 Riku.

I miss the long hair and cyan eyes.
 

TruestSyn

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Riku is in the group of my second favorite characters (with Axel and Terra) so I'm glad we saw his story get a nice ending (becoming Keyblade Master and helping in this final battle) but I'm not sure we'd call him a fan service character. He's the redeemed anti-hero type, an important trope in a lot of media.
 

Recon

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Mickey: You and I - we're gonna go find her!
Riku: Yeah! Count me in!
Mickey: Yep!
Kairi: Who's this new Riku and where's the old one?
Riku: New me?
Kairi: Yeah (Laughs)

tumblr_ol5jqiPUuo1u7s41uo1_250.gif
 

TruestSyn

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Mickey: You and I - we're gonna go find her!
Riku: Yeah! Count me in!
Mickey: Yep!
Kairi: Who's this new Riku and where's the old one?
Riku: New me?
Kairi: Yeah (Laughs)

tumblr_ol5jqiPUuo1u7s41uo1_250.gif

I just watched that again today lol
 

Enturax

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BTW, character progress leads to change in personality and thus I called it that way. No need to be cinical. :rolleyes:
 
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