Which character in KH3 would you like to see develop more?

[Prince Enigma]

As a recent newbie to this site, I was really pleased with the great responses to my first thread, and the discussion it produced as to who is the most evil character in the series. I did feel however that my question was fairly limiting in personal opinion as it seemed that Master Xehanort was definitively the most evil thus far.

So, I thought I'd ask a question that does run the risk of already being asked and answered so forgive me, that hopefully allows more personal opinion.

Which character in KH3 would you like to see develop more?

Now to say the least, it looks very likely that KH3 will be a big game that will ideally feature most of what we as fans are hoping for. And while I like anyone want to see improvements made to gameplay and additions here and there etc. it would also be nice to see some characters develop more.

I for one would like to see more development made to some of the members of the original Organisation XIII. With all of Xehanort's apprentices returned to there original personas, maybe there's a chance characters like Marluxia and Larxene have as well, and it would be interesting to see what there original personas were like. I felt that Marluxia and Larxene were defined too much by there ambition or sadistic traits (I do understand they were Nobodies) but with the possibility that they are back, it would be interesting for me at least to see what they were like to better understand why they were like that as Nobodies.

That's my personal preference anyway, there are other characters I would like to see grow or develop more (Kairi and Lea among them) but I now would like to hear everyone else's opinions as to which characters you'd like to see develop more!

 

[Ruran]

For KH3 specifically, I actually feel that the game shouldn't focus too much on character development per se, only because I think the game will be so dense, but I would like to see some characters touched on more that might benefit from this game in particular.

Although she's one of the fan favorites, I think Aqua needs a bit more work. Despite the fact that she's the "honor student" type and the only one out of TAV who became a Keyblade Master, I still found her to be incredibly naïve, stubborn, and misguided. Even MX calls her out on her stubbornness in his reports. She sticks to her teachings to a fault, literally to a fault, as her beliefs and actions accidentally helped push Terra further to the darkness. She didn't understand the very basic universal law that strong light can create stronger shadows even though she's a master, she never takes the advice the Fairy Godmother gave her again, and she has yet to learn how to balance between her duties as friend and boss. I don't know if all these things will be addressed or concluded in KH3, but I hope they at least touch on these subjects.

All things considering I don't think they'll touch on him much, but I hope they address at least some of Vanitas's backstory from the novels. He was a really dry villain in BbS who had a lot of potential and some great concepts, but he just fell short. The novels flesh him out better and shed some light on him and his goals, so I'm hoping that they manage to fit a bit of that in. I don't think they have to go to great lengths to flesh out his backstory, but a moment or two that gives the audience something to go on would be fantastic.

 

[Solo]

I really would like to see Kairi be developed more. Heck, in my opinion, she needs to be developed more.

In KH1, she was depicted as the person most important to Sora and the game revolves heavily around searching for her and Riku. However, in KH2 and beyond, she got an abysmal amount of screen time compared to the other characters; it seemed as though she was demoted from being one of the key characters to a background characters. And then, suddenly, at the end of the game she gets a Keyblade to fight with (and the Keyblade was of questionable origins, but that's a topic for another day). I mean, what? She stole the spotlight very abruptly from the shadows.

More often than not, the writers treated her like a deus ex machina that serves only to propel the story forward, but at the same time, couldn't decide if she should stay important to the storyline or be relegated. This lack of development eventually culminates and becomes evident in the fact that she needs to catch up with Sora and Riku in the ways of Keyblade in a very short amount of time (hence the special chamber), a fate that could have been averted by allocating more time to develop her in the past or, dare I say, not giving Kairi a Keyblade in the first place.

That's just a few of the many reasons why I personally believe Kairi needs to be developed more than any other character in the series. Even Xion, a character that was introduced and "killed off" within one game, received a better treatment in terms of characterisation and development.

 

[Rolands]

Who do I want to be fleshed out more? Almost everyone. Most of all though, I want to see more about the various Xehanorts. Several of them seem to have the makings of interesting characters, but they're largely enigmas. Unfortunately, Kingdom Hearts 3 doesn't seem like very fertile ground for the development of anyone but the protagonists, there's just so much to pack in as is.

Edit: On second thought, I'm not so sure. Part of the reason I find characters like Young Xehanort and Xemnas and Apprentice Xehanort interesting are the hidden depths they seem to have. It'd be nice if canon would affirm my speculations about the characters, but there's also a decent chance that they'd squash them. Hm...there are still plenty of characters I want to see more developed though...

 

[Zettaflare]

I want to see Isa get some more character development in KH3. I liked the development he got in Days and would love to see it get expanded upon.

 

[Prince Enigma]

I too want Kairi fleshed out a bit better, and I like the idea of learning more about Isa. Axel/Lea has had a heck of a lot of development IMO from his first appearance across the rest of his respective appearances, which is why its frustrating that characters like Kairi remain like caricatures. Isa's friendship with Lea I think may be tested in KH3 and it would interesting to see the consequences of there different alliances now.

 

[ok sunny]

This lack of development eventually culminates and becomes evident in the fact that she needs to catch up with Sora and Riku in the ways of Keyblade in a very short amount of time (hence the special chamber), a fate that could have been averted by allocating more time to develop her in the past or, dare I say, not giving Kairi a Keyblade in the first place.

I'm sure they'll be fixing Kairi's side of the story and how effective she truly is to the concept of the whole KH series. They basically hinted in the (*SPOILER*) secret ending of KHDD that she's "back in action" as Yen Sid is going to train her to wield the keyblade. I'm sure that by the time her training starts she'll be more significant than ever.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I'm sure they'll be fixing Kairi's side of the story and how effective she truly is to the concept of the whole KH series. They basically hinted in the (*SPOILER*) secret ending of KHDD that she's "back in action" as Yen Sid is going to train her to wield the keyblade. I'm sure that by the time her training starts she'll be more significant than ever.

Not only that, but she, as well as the other Princesses of Heart, make up all the Light in the world (and if they're to fall, the worlds will be lost to Darkness once again). She's essentially the new Kingdom Hearts after the old one was destroyed. There are some other interesting facts about her, too, of course.

Honestly, the problem isn't that Kairi's uninteresting or unimportant, but rather that Square doesn't develop all that they could/should with her. And nor do they execute her plot points--or even worse: her as a person--too well, to be honest.

 

[Ruran]

I'm sure they'll be fixing Kairi's side of the story and how effective she truly is to the concept of the whole KH series. They basically hinted in the (*SPOILER*) secret ending of KHDD that she's "back in action" as Yen Sid is going to train her to wield the keyblade. I'm sure that by the time her training starts she'll be more significant than ever.

Depends really. Personally, as she is now I think Kairi is already more than significant enough to the story, it's just a matter of actually doing something with her. Even with Keyblade training, there's a good possibility that she'll be relegated to plot device again

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

Depends really. Personally, as she is now I think Kairi is already more than significant enough to the story, it's just a matter of actually doing something with her. Even with Keyblade training, there's a good possibility that she'll be relegated to plot device again

Here's hoping it won't go that way, though, and that we'll actually learn more about who she is as a person. I mean, the series has never been that great about talking about anyone's wants and desires from before the story, but at least we know that Riku made Sora stop believing in Santa Claus and that sort of thing. If they could just stick just little things like that into the story, she'd be a lot more interesting and realistic than she is now.

I'm also hoping that if she's going to be a plot device again, that they actually have her involved in all of it this time and that there's a cost to it. If she makes a decision about it herself, it'll make her seem more like a person and less like a thing (sort of like how Serah Farron knew that she was going to die if they kept changing the timeline in XIII-2, but she chose to do so anyway to save the world). Because, as you yourself have pointed out before, Ruran (I think it was you, anyway...), Kairi's never really been directly involved in any of the conflicts about herself, which is just plain weird, imo.

 

[Ruran]

Here's hoping it won't go that way, though, and that we'll actually learn more about who she is as a person. I mean, the series has never been that great about talking about anyone's wants and desires from before the story, but at least we know that Riku made Sora stop believing in Santa Claus and that sort of thing. If they could just stick just little things like that into the story, she'd be a lot more interesting and realistic than she is now.

I'm also hoping that if she's going to be a plot device again, that they actually have her involved in all of it this time and that there's a cost to it. If she makes a decision about it herself, it'll make her seem more like a person and less like a thing (sort of like how Serah Farron knew that she was going to die if they kept changing the timeline in XIII-2, but she chose to do so anyway to save the world). Because, as you yourself have pointed out before, Ruran (I think it was you, anyway...), Kairi's never been directly been involved in the conflicts that are about herself, which is just plain weird.

Yeah, I've bought that issue up before. I think the example I used was like how in KH1, despite the fact that Sora and Riku are fighting to save Kairi, ultimately the conflict was about their bro drama, and Kairi was really just the rope they were playing tug of war with. She has a painful lack of agency that I can go on for a while about, bbuuuuutttt, I'm trying to avoid making this into a Kairi centric thread because it can very easily descend into that. These topics usually do.

 

[Zettaflare]

I curious how Sora will develop in KH3, considering the fact that he isn`t supposed to change all that much.

 

[Prince Enigma]

It'll also be great to see how Terra, Ventus and Aqua will interact with Sora and the others (should they all come back, and here's hoping). I'm especially interested because how similar Riku and Terra are.

 

[ok sunny]

I'm especially interested because how similar Riku and Terra are.

I'm sure Terra would recognize Riku somehow, which would be awesome for them to reunite :smile:

 

[Prince Enigma]

I'm sure Terra would recognize Riku somehow, which would be awesome for them to reunite :smile:

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the whole Keyblade Initiation Ceremony thing on the Destiny Islands between Terra and Riku! So many good moments between characters (I hope) in KH3!

 

[Face My Fears]

Kairi, Aqua, Vena, Saix/Isa, and Riku.

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I wouldn't mind seeing Naminé develop in KHIII, since we really don't know what she'll be doing at all in that game. Perhaps what she is will finally be brought into light? Or maybe she'll find some companions of her own, or a way to be content on her own? That could go along with her wanting to make amends with everyone. Maybe she'll be driven to help even more people, and finally be able to forgive herself? And I would like to see her apologize to certain characters, like the Riku Replica if he does come back.

I'm also wondering what's in store for Xion when she becomes her own person. I imagine she'll work hard to get her own Keyblade, since she was really obsessed with it in Days (and even chose to train on their day off). Who knows? Maybe she could even try to become a Master or temporarily be an apprentice. I definitely think she (and probably the whole sea-salt trio) will live in Twilight Town after everything. Possibly Naminé, as well...

 

[Gram]

Which character in KH3 would you like to see develop more?

All of them whether it be kh3 or the series as a whole. Up till now the only people to get real development has been Riku with his struggles in darkness and to an extent Xehanort as we learn more about his past and various selves.

 

[Axel92]

I really want to see some of the relationship between Isa and Lea (maybe even the time whne they became Nobodies) and I want to see more of Aqua (because I really love her and her role in the serie).
I think Riku could be standby for a while 'cause all of KH3D is about his growth.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

All of them whether it be kh3 or the series as a whole. Up till now the only people to get real development has been Riku with his struggles in darkness and to an extent Xehanort as we learn more about his past and various selves.

This.

In fact, asking the question the other way around is probably going to result in the shorter answer as the only characters who do not need to be developed more (and can, for my personal taste, step into the background for a while) are Riku, Axel/Lea and Xehanort.