Hiya!
(is that how you spell it? I'm having doubts.)
Today, I wanted to share a little hypotesis of mine which came out while I was discussing the whole KH Shroom family with my group.
So this is just a part of the actual discussions about these peculiar Heartless, regarding the XIII ones in KH II Final Mix. As such, is not meant to be a complete argument, but a fragment.
The usual disclaimer: I might've missed the good ol' "interview where Nomura explains this", and what I say here might not resonate with others' perspective, or instead be already said by others. That's all fine and good. I also don't expect to "go" anywhere with this, I seriously doubt this will have any future references in the saga.
Now then, the Mushrooms XIII. Obviously meant as a "joke" of the Organization XIII as they share even the cloaks, these Heartless take the minigame side of their comrades even a step futher, giving you countless good rewards, one of the Proves for the Crown, and even a Keyblade.
This has always bothered me. Isn't the Keyblade (the Keyholder to be precise) supposed to be a link between hearts? Tarzan gives Sora a memento, Sora puts it on the chain and uses that to form a bond with Tarzan = the Keyblade changes? (this based on KH1: in later games they don't even show the object anymore, either is now assumed or it has become just a bond)
While how much of the Keyblade's change depends on the actual object used or the bond between hearts is debatable, surely Sora bonding even with a Heartless is weird.
Instead of just relegating this to "side-quest incoherence", I decided to provide my own explanation for it. First of all, I proceeded on the assumption that the Mushroom Heartless are good towards Sora, Donald and Goofy, despite being Emblem Heartless probably sent by Maleficent or Ansem. There is another, more ambitious theory, but let's save it for later.
(I can accept objections for the other Mushrooms, as the Journal claims the Black Fungi are hostile, let's just stay on the XIII)
So, good. But why?
Here's my theory, feel free to laugh if it seems too much convoluted:
I basically thought about the Mages in Final Fantasy IX and how they are exploited in the story. So, what if the Mushrooms are the same? What if they were able to, like, re-ignite their hearts (which they have since they're Emblems), thus awakening a more benevolent nature? And, going with that, they decided to discard their previosu orders of hunting down hearts and either chose to live carefully (they're mostly playful and childish) or even aid the Keyblade Master?
That would explain the tasks, the rewards, maybe even the Keyblade, now that they kind of have an active heart.
Lastly, this would even explain the capes: usually a Heartless doesn't have to fear contamination from the Darkness. Unless, the Shrooms are wearing the capes so that their hearts don't get lost again.
Little side note, just for funzies: maybe this wasn't even a mistake, and the Mushrooms aren't even Ansem's creations.
I mean, there are Emblems in Chi, and the MoM has a really nioce book with lots of Heartless pictures, so...
That's basically it. Hope it didn't sound too absurd, and even if in disagreement with it that it sounded at least like a proper theory.
(is that how you spell it? I'm having doubts.)
Today, I wanted to share a little hypotesis of mine which came out while I was discussing the whole KH Shroom family with my group.
So this is just a part of the actual discussions about these peculiar Heartless, regarding the XIII ones in KH II Final Mix. As such, is not meant to be a complete argument, but a fragment.
The usual disclaimer: I might've missed the good ol' "interview where Nomura explains this", and what I say here might not resonate with others' perspective, or instead be already said by others. That's all fine and good. I also don't expect to "go" anywhere with this, I seriously doubt this will have any future references in the saga.
Now then, the Mushrooms XIII. Obviously meant as a "joke" of the Organization XIII as they share even the cloaks, these Heartless take the minigame side of their comrades even a step futher, giving you countless good rewards, one of the Proves for the Crown, and even a Keyblade.
This has always bothered me. Isn't the Keyblade (the Keyholder to be precise) supposed to be a link between hearts? Tarzan gives Sora a memento, Sora puts it on the chain and uses that to form a bond with Tarzan = the Keyblade changes? (this based on KH1: in later games they don't even show the object anymore, either is now assumed or it has become just a bond)
While how much of the Keyblade's change depends on the actual object used or the bond between hearts is debatable, surely Sora bonding even with a Heartless is weird.
Instead of just relegating this to "side-quest incoherence", I decided to provide my own explanation for it. First of all, I proceeded on the assumption that the Mushroom Heartless are good towards Sora, Donald and Goofy, despite being Emblem Heartless probably sent by Maleficent or Ansem. There is another, more ambitious theory, but let's save it for later.
(I can accept objections for the other Mushrooms, as the Journal claims the Black Fungi are hostile, let's just stay on the XIII)
So, good. But why?
Here's my theory, feel free to laugh if it seems too much convoluted:
I basically thought about the Mages in Final Fantasy IX and how they are exploited in the story. So, what if the Mushrooms are the same? What if they were able to, like, re-ignite their hearts (which they have since they're Emblems), thus awakening a more benevolent nature? And, going with that, they decided to discard their previosu orders of hunting down hearts and either chose to live carefully (they're mostly playful and childish) or even aid the Keyblade Master?
That would explain the tasks, the rewards, maybe even the Keyblade, now that they kind of have an active heart.
Lastly, this would even explain the capes: usually a Heartless doesn't have to fear contamination from the Darkness. Unless, the Shrooms are wearing the capes so that their hearts don't get lost again.
Little side note, just for funzies: maybe this wasn't even a mistake, and the Mushrooms aren't even Ansem's creations.
I mean, there are Emblems in Chi, and the MoM has a really nioce book with lots of Heartless pictures, so...
That's basically it. Hope it didn't sound too absurd, and even if in disagreement with it that it sounded at least like a proper theory.