Spoilers ► Why are the mentors in Kingdom hearts so ineffectual?

[Guernsey]

It seems as though that Eraqus, Xehanort, Ansem, Yen Sid and recently Odin seem to be somewhat ineffectual in the series. Ansem and Yen Sid were wrong about the Nobodies being emotionless beings with no hearts. Eraqus jumped the gun in zeal to destroy the darkness. Master Xehanort was right about balance but wrong in how he approached it. Odin died before we knew what was going on. I wonder if Nomura is trying to say something with these characters? Or is this a small step in some larger plan?

 

[Rydgea]

To the characters they mentored or to the series at large?

Off-hand Mickey seems to be the most capable with regards to his assistance throughout the series and his mentorship with Riku.

 

[Chie]

Yes, they aren't good people.

Remember that all of these except Ansem are keyblade masters, and that the role of keyblade master, handed down repeatedly over the years, can be traced back to the MoM. This is the theme, imo.

 

[Guernsey]

To the characters they mentored or to the series at large?

Off-hand Mickey seems to be the most capable with regards to his assistance throughout the series and his mentorship with Riku.

The latter. With the exception of Mickey, it seems like the mentor characters turn out to be wrong or misinformed.

Yes, they aren't good people.

Remember that all of these except Ansem are keyblade masters, and that the role of keyblade master, handed down repeatedly over the years, can be traced back to the MoM. This is the theme, imo.

Are you sure? You could had fooled me

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Mickey did a good job!

But I think the point is to show that the older generation sets the future generation up to fail based on either their manipulations or by their outdated values or by thinking they are doing the right thing—being older and wiser doesn’t mean infallible and that sometimes it is the simplicity of youth and having an open mind and heart that leads to better endings.

Or something.

 

[palizinhas]

There's some level of being on purpose, but KH is also essentially a YA series, and those are always littered with useless adults - because if they were useful why would the teenagers be the ones saving the world?

 

[Chie]

Are you sure? You could had fooled me

Uh... yeah? All the recent prequel stuff (UX, Dark Road, Missing Link) is about this.

 

[Deleted member 246005]

It seems as though that Eraqus, Xehanort, Ansem, Yen Sid and recently Odin seem to be somewhat ineffectual in the series. Ansem and Yen Sid were wrong about the Nobodies being emotionless beings with no hearts. Eraqus jumped the gun in zeal to destroy the darkness. Master Xehanort was right about balance but wrong in how he approached it. Odin died before we knew what was going on. I wonder if Nomura is trying to say something with these characters? Or is this a small step in some larger plan?

I agree with @palizinhas . Most Youth centered stories are about a young person dealing with the complexity of responsibility. So having your mentors be flawed helps storytelling.

It could be something Nomura wants to explore with the Foretellers. They end up rejecting the Master of Masters down the road.

 

[Elysium]

First thought I had at the thread title was to say Mickey was probably the best mentor in the series (although I think of him really as a mentor only because of Riku's Story in CoM, I suppose), but I see I was beat to it. Of course, there's always the plot hole--introduced by KH2, grrrr--of why he let Maleficent go on the rampage for ten years, but aside from that, he was the only "mentor" figure that actually got down to business and did some things. I don't mind Yensid as much as others. Still, I'm glad he did at least something in KH3.

Plus, unlike the others, Mickey admits when he's wrong or there's some acknowledgment of it onscreen. Like when he was telling SDG to go during the 1000 Heartless Battle, for example. I think the writers want Yensid to be seen as an "infallible" Wise Man figure, to the point having a scene of him recognizing his failure in regards to the Nobodies would never happen. With Eraqus, on the other hand, I think the player recognizing how he was a failure was the point from the moment that character's introduced.

 

[Guernsey]

I guess you are right. I just wished it was handled a little better with Yen Sid. Yen Sid is wise but he should be wise enough to know when he is wrong.