The Kingdom Hearts Trios - Editorial

[LeeLu]

Another, and more significant now that I come to think about it, difference is that Terra fears the darkness, Riku does not.

I'll have to play the game again to be sure, but Terra seems to be in the same state Riku was during CoM. He can use the darkness but he doesn't really have control of it because he fears it and ultimately rejects it but is overwhelmed by it. Riku fears the darkness at the beginning of CoM but he accepts it an ultimately masters it. The only other person in the series who seems to have truly mastered the Darkness is Master Xehanort himself.

Thus instead of being more like Terra, Riku is more like MX but not corrupted by his power. Terra is the wholesome, powerful, but naive hero that was betrayed by someone he had blind faith in, thus he is more like Sora.

Plus, while Terra fueled the desire, it was originally the story about the "kid who traveled to other worlds" (MX?) that sparked Riku's wanderlust.

 

[Smile]

Thus instead of being more like Terra, Riku is more like MX but not corrupted by his power. Terra is the wholesome, powerful, but naive hero that was betrayed by someone he had blind faith in, thus he is more like Sora.

Actually, this sentence alone made me think more that he's similar to Riku rather than Sora. Look back at KH1 - Riku was certain it was Sora who betrayed him and not the other way around. It was Riku who looked for Sora if not also Kairi "all over", going as far as allying himself with Maleficent (who might not have seemed that evil from the get go, mind, as she offered to help) for that end, while Sora got his Keyblade, Gummi Ship and new friends and was going all over the place seemingly on his own adventure that had nothing to do with Riku. In that regards I'd sooner compare Sora and Riku to Aqua and Terra respectively, with Aqua and Sora going about things in the wrong way and thus pushing Terra and Riku further into the Darkness (Radiant Garden, anyone?) despite wanting to help.
Then, the rest of it was brought in by Terra and Riku's insecurities - if Sora got new friends over Riku, then Terra found out the childhood friend and father figure he believed in basically stabbed him in the back. Cue Maleficent and Xehanort to offer pseudo-support to the two, all the while dragging them down into Darkness.
I think that had we seen more of Riku's side in KH1, and exactly what went on between him and Maleficent, that no one'd even try comparing Terra to Sora over Riku.
And let's face it, Sora did take his friendship with Riku as granted to a certain degree, or at least it's easy to see why insecure Riku'd see it in that way. So to him, the one doing the betraying was Sora.

Plus, while Terra fueled the desire, it was originally the story about the "kid who traveled to other worlds" (MX?) that sparked Riku's wanderlust.

What would get someone to do something -
A fairy tale, one Riku was likely to grow out of believing in once he grow up,
Or
Meeting someone who admitted being from the outside world and promised to meet Riku again - out there?

 

[LeeLu]

The major sticking point with that being, Riku was not in fact betrayed by Sora but Sora was betrayed by Riku. Terra was betrayed by someone he had faith in because MX is a keyblade master. Sora was betrayed by the older friend whom he was used to following and who always seemed to know what to do.

It's not a clear cut, "Terra is like Sora and not Riku", because Terra is like Riku. He was designed that way. It's more of an impression I got from playing the game that Terra and Sora were similar in personality. What Sora might have been like had Donald and Goofy not found him, sort of thing. It's good to have an open mind to think about things from a different perspective.

And yes Terra was a big part of it, but to that, who's to say that Riku wouldn't have grown up thinking Terra was just a childhood fantasy had not Kairi landed in their world providing daily concrete proof that there was an outside world? It's a chain of events each link strengthening it. And the story about MX (?) was the first link in that chain.

 

[Smile]

The major sticking point with that being, Riku was not in fact betrayed by Sora but Sora was betrayed by Riku. Terra was betrayed by someone he had faith in because MX is a keyblade master. Sora was betrayed by the older friend whom he was used to following and who always seemed to know what to do.

And again, the examples demand more setting Riku and Terra up as similar, with Aqua and Sora being the people who supposedly betrayed the first two and pushed them into Maleficent and MX's hands. In a way, Maleficent also "betrayed" Riku since she had her own reasons in helping him and led him down the path of Darkness, further tearing him away from Sora - much like what MX did by feeding Terra's Darkness and issues after Aqua gave him that push.
You say Riku was not in fact betrayed by Sora but it really is a matter of perspective. If you look at KH1 it's very easy to see why Riku'd think that in fact, he was betrayed and thrown away. Sora did very little to lessen that impression.

It's more of an impression I got from playing the game that Terra and Sora were similar in personality. What Sora might have been like had Donald and Goofy not found him, sort of thing.

I really doubt it. Look at how Sora was when he was alone as opposed to how Terra was when he was alone. Sora needs constant support whereas Terra - like Riku - is capable of being on his own given that he has enough peace of mind. Sora, even on better times, seeks company and is never portrayed to truly be on his lonesome, even in Re:Coded and even when the gameplay makes it seem like he's alone like in CoM.
I'd sooner compare Terra at his core to a Darkness-less Riku. Look at kid Riku, for instance. Terra himself as well as Aqua acknowledged the similarities between the two - it's why chose him as a Wielder to begin with.

And yes Terra was a big part of it, but to that, who's to say that Riku wouldn't have grown up thinking Terra was just a childhood fantasy had not Kairi landed in their world providing daily concrete proof that there was an outside world? It's a chain of events each link strengthening it. And the story about MX (?) was the first link in that chain.

I'd sooner say that Kairi was what started Riku's jealousy issues, going by the Secret Place being Sora and Riku's and suddenly there being a Sora-Kairi drawing in there x3;;;
I do admit that Kairi being there helped prove things, but again - a fairy tale vs. concrete evidence that there were other worlds plus a bonus promise. I'd sooner say Kairi was the excuse to finally leave the islands than something that got Riku to think they even could. Though I try to not do it as much, the novels themselves basically say as much - Riku saw Kairi as his ticket out of the islands. And now we know why - he had a promise to keep, both to Sora (going out on their adventure) and to Terra (to meet him again).

 

[.:Mega:.]

Honestly, I disagree with the idea that Riku doesn't care for Kairi. He was very kind to her on Destiny Islands, even thanking her for the idea of building the raft, and when she went comatose, he seemed genuinely concerned for her well being. If he was only using her for revenge, would he really sound so upset when he asked Maleficent about her? Yes, there's the fact that he had a promise to both Terra and Sora, but I honestly doubt Riku had such harsh feelings when it comes to her. :/ If nothing else, I'm sure he saw her as a friend, even if Sora's always been his -best- friend.

 

[Smile]

He was very kind to her on Destiny Islands, even thanking her for the idea of building the raft

That was about the only scene in which they even interacted though, you do realize that. XD; In the other scene he was teasing to borderline mean, more putting her back in her place so she won't get ahead of herself with teasing Sora.
Then there's the idea of building the raft - Kairi's from another world. Of course she'd "give him the idea", one we now know wasn't quite given to him by Kairi, mind. Throw in that tidbit from the novels showing it was more than because of Kairi he thought it was possible and she was but a means to an end, guilt-tripping later notwithstanding.

and when she went comatose, he seemed genuinely concerned for her well being

But not before, both times Sora asked about her, both times where he should've been worried. And then, conveniently, he started worrying - after Sora started pissing him off and Maleficent played on that.

but I honestly doubt Riku had such harsh feelings when it comes to her. :/

This IS KH1 Riku we're talking about. So he'd be meaner than usual.
He seems rather indifferent afterwards though, see again what he told Xion. It almost sounded like he had nothing to do with her.

 

[Moonlight Aqua]

This IS KH1 Riku we're talking about. So he'd be meaner than usual.
He seems rather indifferent afterwards though, see again what he told Xion. It almost sounded like he had nothing to do with her.

Well I don't want people thinking of any Fanfic pairings, but could it be that before he did like her a bit, but then finally realized that Kairi is for Sora, so he gave up?

 

[Ovafaze]

Uh..didn't Riku carry around Kairi's lifeless body trying to get her heart back? or am I not looking deep enough into the game, I may have missed something. I haven't been to the KH section for a few months, which in KHi time is like 10 years. My KH knowledge is a little rusty. I'm sure he cared for her.

 

[blueheart]

I'm sure he cared for her.

Romantically? I've always wondered about that.

 

[Sakulily]

My vote goes for Roxas, Axel and Xion.

It's hard to explain my feelings towards their friendship accurately, other than that I just feel like, to me, they just show more care towards each other than the others do. Ofcourse I know the other two trios show care towards each other, the RAX friendship just happens to touch my heart a lot more than the others do.