Riku and Kairi's personality changes? Like, don't like, any insights?

[Pisceanreve]

I originally liked Kairi a lot, as she was generally spunky, adventurous, and playful, while in KH2 and on, she became far more withdrawn and, I guess, "delicate" and sort of a wallflower?
Riku kinda had the same thing. I took his whole regret situation into consideration, but I thought he would have recovered some of his old attitude at least by 3DS that basically made a big chunk of his personality. Now, he's very nice and mature, but he lost a lot that made me like him. Even in KH2 I thought his personality change was a bit too drastic.

What do you think?

 

[D.D.D]

Hmm, well, Kairi hasn't really had a lot of spotlight since KH1. There are a few scenes in each game with her, but even then most of the focus was on either Riku or Sora.

There are a few good moments I remember her having that old spunky spirit back, like when in KH2 Riku gives her a Keyblade and she says, "Sora's completely hopeless without us!". (or something like that). And in KH2 when Axel 'offered' to take her to Sora, she refused and went her own way after Pluto.

But I agree with you, she hasn't had much of her younger personality since KH1.

Riku is a special case. Like you said, he went through a lot and felt guilty and sad and regretful after the events of KH1. This brought on a change in him. He became less cocky and confident, and more held back and mature. This sad personality change was very apparent in KH2, like you said.

In 3D he kind of takes on this sarcastic, dry humor aspect, I think. I actually like him a lot better than how he was in KH2. He's less sad and guilty, and now he's more mature with a slight little spark of who he was before the whole darkness thing. He's confident, but without the cocky "I can do everything I want and not suffer consequences" attitude.

Though, I'm afraid this thread might eventually border on spoilerish, because Riku does have some personality changes in 3D. I don't think it should be moved to the Spoilers section, though.

 

[Roro]

For Kairi I can't say much except that I kinda agree and miss her spunkyness and what not.

For Riku his character personality really annoyed me at first, like in KH1 it was like why do I have to deal with this dude's problems over and over again(well obviously because he's the main characters best friend) but as the series progressed his character personality kinda grew on me, I actually liked the changes in his personality it made me not annoyed at him anymore, and more appreciative of his character, if that makes any sense, I guess I liked where his character development went as the story progressed

 

[loke13]

I originally liked Kairi a lot, as she was generally spunky, adventurous, and playful, while in KH2 and on, she became far more withdrawn and, I guess, "delicate" and sort of a wallflower?

In what world was Kairi ever delicate or a wallflower? I think you're confusing her with COM's Namine. The only time I can think of for KH2 Kairi's to be feeling sad was during her time lamenting on Sora and Riku's absence and then deciding "waiting isn't good enough." and the time she found out that Sai'x was going to use her to "fuel the rage in Sora's heart."

As for her spunkiness the girl basically told Axel to screw off then threw herself into a portal of darkness, jumped off a 10 story balcony, and as soon as she got a weapon in her hand she started attacking Heartless left and right.

The only thing I could consider "delicate" was that dainty-ass run her a Namine did during the TWTNW.

 

[RoadtoDawn]

Kairi...now that someone says it, I agree with you.

Riku...I love Riku's character change. Maybe it's just because of my beliefs, but seeing the way he has grown and changed blows me away...people don't change like that in real life except for in very rare circumstances. You talk like Riku 'lost' some valuable part of his personality, but I don't really mind the fact that he's just growing up and being more mature. He still has a more...diverse side compared to Sora's innocence, but he's lost his pride. I think it's awesome, and it made this the greatest KH game ever.

 

[Ruran]

Kairi:

Character development hasn't necessarily been to kind to Kairi because of lack of screen time and characterization. While it's a legitimate reason for someone to change, something I noticed that they like to do with Kairi's character in particular is use "time" to develop her character which renders her character development 2-dimensional. By that, I mean that almost all of her character development is off screen eliminating both "show" and "tell" and renders it to "use your imagination". By the time KH2 came around it was a year later, Kairi's personality took a 180 and we're meant to just accept it because a long time has passed and that she's lonely without her imaginary boyfriend. Oh, and that Riku kid.

Riku:

While Kairi is, arguably, the main character that's had the most lack luster character development and characterization, Riku is the opposite. He's probably had the best character ark, or at least one of the best, out of all the main characters thus far. He has the characterization and screen time to back up the changes he went through, through out the series and we, as the audience, are just given much more insight into his character to better understand it. For the most part. imo KH2 was probably the weakest his character was utilized because he sort of had the same issue as with Kairi, in that a lot of time had passed and that factor was also relied on some what, but, he still had the development to make up for it.

-----

For better or for worst, that's the thing about character development. It means that the personality of (your favorite) characters will change. Whether those changes are good or bad...It's half personal preference, half logistics. E.g., I wasn't fond of KH1!Kairi's bubbly, giggly for no reason, personality, while I liked her better as a "character" and thought she was over all better utilized as opposed to KH2!Kairi which I felt the opposite about. For me, KH1!Riku was "a dick a love time hate" which I mean in a good way and I loved his character development from beginning to end, while KH2!Riku...I felt got kind of derpy.

 

[Pisceanreve]

Yeah I guess that I agree that I still love Riku, it's just I felt that he sort of lost his spirit a bit, though I like how he sort of gains it back in 3DS by not being so depressing and having the dry humour aspect. Well, at least he's not trying to kill Sora anymore lol

I loved when he met Shiki!!! (because I totally would've been Shiki in that position...)

And to loke13, Kairi does those things yes, but when Axel is kidnapping her she just weakly sorta tries to bat him away and tells him to let go of her (which is not exactly effective). Also, her kh1 personality was very outspoken and energetic whereas in kh2 she gets better along the way but is generally daintier and quieter *shrug* Your last comment made me laugh a lot though XD

 

[Ruran]

I think it's just that "wallflower" in particular may have not been a good word choice because it describes someone who's shy. Though she's more reserved but not shy. Aside from that description I found KH2 Kairi's personality a bit polarizing. The writers seemed to be trying to find a balance between trying to make her spunky and brave while making her reserved and helpless at the same time...I don't think they did a very good job at it.

 

[JustSnilloc]

I did have a good sized post explaining why I think these things, but I'll give the short version and you guys can ask why if you want

Basically, from what I've seen, Kairi hasn't changed much at all. In fact, she doesn't make enough appearances to establish a "standard personality"... What we've seen thus far in Kairi seems to simply be multiple sides of her personality, and no changes in her personality

As far as Riku goes, his personality hasn't changed much either. Throughout his travels he's been forced to face bad decisions that he's made and he's been forced to chose his path over and over again. What this has done for Riku is strengthened his resolve, sure he's gotten more mature and what not, but he's still the same guy we saw back in KH1.

 

[Pisceanreve]

I did have a good sized post explaining why I think these things, but I'll give the short version and you guys can ask why if you want

Basically, from what I've seen, Kairi hasn't changed much at all. In fact, she doesn't make enough appearances to establish a "standard personality"... What we've seen thus far in Kairi seems to simply be multiple sides of her personality, and no changes in her personality

As far as Riku goes, his personality hasn't changed much either. Throughout his travels he's been forced to face bad decisions that he's made and he's been forced to chose his path over and over again. What this has done for Riku is strengthened his resolve, sure he's gotten more mature and what not, but he's still the same guy we saw back in KH1.

aww I like long posts XD but ok, why do you think he's the same guy from kh1? I'm just wondering about your opinion. As I'm watching kh1 scenes (scrolling for khfinal mix scenes that i haven't seen! XD), I'm sorta fitting his younger voice and how he looked (yes I know it sounds stupid, but it helps) to his dialogue in kh3D and I can see it, I guess I just wish he still had a little bit of his old confidence? Well, anyways, your opinions please! lol

 

[Key Wielder]

I really don't think either of them have changed all that much, to be honest. As has been said before, Kairi has had very little screen time with which to develop her character; she's been through things like Sora and Riku have, and she still has the same spunk, for lack of a better word, that she had in the first game when we see her again in KHII.

Riku has been through a lot and had his ups and downs, but he's still the same guy as well, like JustSnilloc said. He's wiser, of course, and he sees things differently now than he did in the first game; he's grown as a character, but that doesn't mean his personality has changed. He's still got the dry, sarcastic sense of humor we see on the islands at the beginning of the first game, and his friends are still his highest priority.

 

[MegaWallflower]

Gee, I thought someone mentioned me.

I like both changes, actually. I may have preffered Kairi in KH1, but she's more mature now and she still retained a lot of key aspects in her personality, and although it's easy to guess what brought about the change, since we kind of see her being a little more quiet even at the end of KH1, it still occurred offscreen which is sad. The change itself, I like.

Riku's change I adore. We see how it happened and can see why he's changing this way. He has the single best character arc in the series, while Kairi's character arc never got to happen and she just developed in her time away.

 

[Eco_cloud]

hey I'm new to the forum and just so we get this out of the why him not good at spelling or grammder so I'm sorry if my post are hard to read

Now on to my point that I want to make, because it's a big pain for me in the KH series and it all came from Kairi and a small cut-seen from KH2. Why is it that they gave Kairi a keyblade and then nether point it out at all!

Now Riku yes Riku was no that good in KH2 but to tell you the truth it was thanks to Riku that saves KH3D for me.

 

[Ruran]

hey I'm new to the forum and just so we get this out of the why him not good at spelling or grammder so I'm sorry if my post are hard to read

Now on to my point that I want to make, because it's a big pain for me in the KH series and it all came from Kairi and a small cut-seen from KH2. Why is it that they gave Kairi a keyblade and then nether point it out at all!

Now Riku yes Riku was no that good in KH2 but to tell you the truth it was thanks to Riku that saves KH3D for me.

This stumped people for a while, especially after something that happened in 3D (content for 3D must be placed in spoiler tags so if you've already played it/know what happens in the game please put the information in tags. If you don't know how just ask) where everybody seemed stunned to see that Kairi was about to receive training even though all the characters shown saw her use a Keyblade. I was thinking this over just last night and I think that even though Kairi was shown using a Keyblade I don't think anybody considered that she was an actual wielder. Why? Because technically non-wielders can hold the Keyblade under special circumstances. The best example of this is Sora.

Through out most of KH1 Sora technically wasn't an actual wielder, the Keyblade just let him hold it because it couldn't reach Riku and Sora had a strong enough heart, a qualification to wield but not insurance that you have the ability, to carry it until it found its rightful master. Then of course it eventually chose Sora and stayed with him officially. What this has to do with Kairi is I think everyone assumed it was a similar situation. Kairi never summoned that Keyblade, Riku handed it to her, and she hasn't been seen with it anymore ( not counting 3D). Kairi has a strong enough heart to hold a Keyblade, clearly so I think the other characters just chalked it up to that with a mix of Riku willing the Keyblade to stay with her. Being a PoH might have influenced their reasoning too.

TL;DR I think the reason that no one was stunned when they saw her wield was because they didn't think she had the actual ability to. They chalked it up to her having a qualification, having a strong heart, which is enough for a Keyblade to let you hold it even if you're not a legitimate wielder. Riku giving her permission and being a PoH probably had influence as well.

That's how I interpreted it.

 

[Eco_cloud]

This stumped people for a while, especially after something that happened in 3D (content for 3D must be placed in spoiler tags so if you've already played it/know what happens in the game please put the information in tags. If you don't know how just ask) where everybody seemed stunned to see that Kairi was about to receive training even though all the characters shown saw her use a Keyblade. I was thinking this over just last night and I think that even though Kairi was shown using a Keyblade I don't think anybody considered that she was an actual wielder. Why? Because technically non-wielders can hold the Keyblade under special circumstances. The best example of this is Sora.

Through out most of KH1 Sora technically wasn't an actual wielder, the Keyblade just let him hold it because it couldn't reach Riku and Sora had a strong enough heart, a qualification to wield but not insurance that you have the ability, to carry it until it found its rightful master. Then of course it eventually chose Sora and stayed with him officially. What this has to do with Kairi is I think everyone assumed it was a similar situation. Kairi never summoned that Keyblade, Riku handed it to her, and she hasn't been seen with it anymore ( not counting 3D). Kairi has a strong enough heart to hold a Keyblade, clearly so I think the other characters just chalked it up to that with a mix of Riku willing the Keyblade to stay with her. Being a PoH might have influenced their reasoning too.

TL;DR I think the reason that no one was stunned when they saw her wield was because they didn't think she had the actual ability to. They chalked it up to her having a qualification, having a strong heart, which is enough for a Keyblade to let you hold it even if you're not a legitimate wielder. Riku giving her permission and being a PoH probably had influence as well.

That's how I interpreted it.

with what you say in mind i remember something form 358/2 days if you have play it. ( Roxas give his keyblade to Xion for one of the missions you have to do with her when she can not use her keyblade. )

 

[Ruran]

with what you say in mind i remember something form 358/2 days if you have play it. ( Roxas give his keyblade to Xion for one of the missions you have to do with her when she can not use her keyblade. )

You don't to worry about spoilers for Days, they're only for new games. I think there's a six month period where you have to use tags for newly released KH games.

Yep, she apparently forgot how to use hers because of the whole memory narm. Wielders seem to be able to freely interchange Keyblades though, but we're digressing.