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Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''Destiny is never left to chance.''}}
''Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep'' is a prequel to the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series set 10 years before the first game. The game's story focuses on the efforts of the three main characters--that is, Terra, Ven, and Aqua--to find the missing Keyblade master, Master Xehanort, and his apprentice, Vanitas. The story is split into three separate scenarios, each focusing on one of the characters' efforts to locate Master Xehanort and Vanitas. While the characters will be alone most of the time during their journey, there will be times when the characters' paths will cross (a storytelling gimmick previously used by Squaresoft in ''[[Treasure of the Rudra]]'' and ''[[Threads of Fate]]'').
All three of the characters are equally important story-wise. The game focuses on several main themes such as Ven's identity and connection with Sora as well as the mystery behind the memories of the original series' primary villain, Xehanort. Each character's story takes between 8 and 15 hours plus additional prologue and epilogue chapters, for a total of at least 30 hours of gameplay.
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* [[Absurdly High Level Cap]]: The game contains the standard level 99 cap. Just playing normally without any [[Level Grinding]] will have you beating each character's story with their levels in the ''30s''. This results in it being very easy to be over-leveled without realizing it -- if you backtrack through the worlds to get the items you missed, you may end up being around Level 40 or higher, at which point most of the final bosses are incredibly easy to beat.
** Plan to beat the Bonus Bosses? Anywhere in the level 50-60 range will do fine. The Final Mix ones? More.
* [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]: Despite that {{spoiler|the Unversed all died at the end of Ven and Aqua's episodes with the "death" of Vanitas}}, in the Final Episode, you can still fight them. You can use the experience.
** [[Take Your Time]]: Nothing ever starts until you get there. There's a part early in Aqua's campaign where Cinderella is attacked by a massive Unversed. No problem; just head to the save point and play on the Command Board until you're ready, she's not getting burned up! That said, this particular instance comes after several scenes and another sequence where you have to [[Escort Mission|escort Jaq]] to a mouse hole. You can skip the cutscenes, but not ''that''. This may be ''slightly'' justified at the end of Terra's story, given that {{spoiler|Master Xehanort needs him to be the vessel for his [[Grand Theft Me]] scheme.}}
* [[Acting for Two]]:
** In-universe example: Pete dresses up as a hero called Captain Justice, or a darker counterpart of him called Captain Dark. It's all part of a scheme to win a popularity contest in Disney Town. None of the other Disney characters are fooled.
** Maleficent, the Evil Queen, and Lady Tremaine are all voiced by the same actress, Susanne Blakeslee. It's to be expected with Maleficent and Tremaine, whose original film incarnations also shared a voice actress in Eleanor Audley.
* [[Action Girl]]: Aqua, amongst other characteristics.
* [[Adorably Precocious Child]]: [[Cute Mute|Ienzo]] and Riku.
* [[All Your Powers Combined]]: The [[Bonus Boss]] Unknown seems to gather the best attacks from the series: he's got Meteor, Tornado, Sonic Rave, Doom, Vanitas's X-shaped projectile attack, Mega Flare, Raging Storm, and Restore Barrier.
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* [[Art Evolution]]: Every character who appeared in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' got a new, much prettier model. It's most obvious in [[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Aurora]], who goes from having [[Tareme Eyes]] to having [[Tsurime Eyes]].
* [[Artificial Stupidity]]: The objective of the Command Board is to acquire a pre-set amount of GP by circling the board earning GP and buying tiles, then be the first person with that amount of GP to make it back to the start panel as quickly as possible. AI opponents will frequently earn enough GP to win and keep circling the board like normal. AI opponents always rarely make decent use of their cards, either using them very rarely or using them too much and thus being unable to buy panels.
** Exceptions are Peter Pan on the Skull Board and Tigger on the Honey Board. Both make liberal use of Magic cards to roll two or three dice at a time, but conserve their other cards.
** The AI also doesn't pay attention to Special Squares, which usually activate some helpful effect to boost GP. In particular, the Secret Board and Keyblade Board Special Squares let the person who landed on them warp to any square they like. The AI player rolls, comes to a fork, going one direction takes them to the path the next checkpoint, going the other direction takes them to a Special Square that lets them warp there immediately. They'll still ignore the Special Square.
** There's also a bit with the [[Optional Boss|Vanitas's Lingering Spirit]] and a rare ''positive'' example. You can run behind the rock and he'll keep trying to run through the rock to you. In theory, as long as you keep him there, you can cherry tap him to death with raids, or use this as an opportunity to lick your wounds since you're allowed potions.
* [[Artistic Age]]: There are flashbacks where, given that Aqua is [[Vague Age|approximately]] 18-20 in the main story, she can't be older than 14-16. Not that you would know that from her character model, which is unchanged. The characters do seem to act younger, at least. Ven, however, has a somewhat younger looking model.
* [[Ascended Extra]]:
** In a sense: Xigbar didn't play too large a role in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', but his original self, Braig, gets more screentime and figures heavily into the villain's plans. Then again, much of his role in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' was [[Foreshadowing]] for his role in this.
** Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora also fit this role seeing as how they didn't have voices in the first ''[[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'' and were barely even mentioned in ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
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*** Also in Final Mix, the Secret Chapter is where the Crown Unlimited would see some actual use, given that it's a fairly lengthy area filled with {{spoiler|Pureblood Heartless}} that can and ''will'' kill you, especially on Critical. You can't use it because the game locks you into {{spoiler|Master Eraqus's Keyblade, the Master Keeper}}.
*** Transcendence as well. While it can be synthesized by melding a random chance Rare command with an -aga level spell, which is pretty impractical to begin with, in Final Mix {{spoiler|Aqua}} can pull it from a chest in the Secret Chapter. Basically it creates and impenetrable bubble area and shoots all enemies around inside it [[For Massive Damage]]. The one battle it would seem to be incredibly useful where the game is constantly spawning {{spoiler|Heartless.}} Since they can become invincible for a short period and escape the initial gravity effect, they can kill you since the spell locks you down until it completes, like most other dual-slot spells/commands.
** A few moves are just better for taking out mooks than they are for bosses. Most of them don't hold still long enough for you to use Salvation or Glacier.
** Speaking of Salvation (Ven only), it's not useful considering that you still do take damage when you charge for it (meaning that it's possible to be killed) and it can get interrupted... although it's still good for clearing out trash mobs. It's still useful; just not on the enemies you'd ''like'' to use it on. (However, it is possible to use it to recover HP on Vanitas Remnant)
** Reversal and Teleport. They allow you to get behind the enemy by pressing Square when it's about to attack, but most of the times you'll want to block instead. Many attacks, such as the Bruiser's shockawaves, can be blocked but are not avoided by teleporting behind him, so they're kinda useless.
* [[Awesome but Practical]]: ''Faith''. Another ability for Ven. Faith is like a magic-based Salvation and much much faster than Salvation is. Actually, it is almost instantaneous, being very rarely interrupted either by bosses or regular mooks, with a large attack circumference that is great against bosses that will not sit still, and it heals you. A lot. At the ''beginning'' of the attack, instead of at the end, like Salvation. Very satisfying to use in Vanitas fights.
* [[Badass Grandpa]]: In ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'''s secret trailer (which turned out to be the penultimate scene in everyone's scenario), Master Xehanort makes a ''mountain'' out of nothing and smacks around the trio with a Keyblade ''tornado''. It takes half the video for Terra and Ventus to even get to him and when they do he kicks their asses in about ten seconds. He manages to hold down Terra, the strongest of the trio, ''without even straining.'' All with that [[Slasher Smile|little grin]] on his face.
* [[Bald of Evil]]: Master Xehanort.
* [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]]:
** {{spoiler|Ventus and Vanitas's final showdown.}}
** The secret ending also implies that {{spoiler|Terra and Master Xehanort will be doing this in Terra's mind ''indefinitely''}}.
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** ''Veeeeery'' slightly averted when Aqua asks Scrooge McDuck for information on Terra's whereabouts. Scrooge answers as helpfully as he can, but because her description of Terra was so vague <ref>she had even called him a boy, instead of a young man</ref>, Scrooge sends her after where he last saw ''Ventus'' instead of Terra.
* [[Because Destiny Says So]]: Even at age ''four'' Sora is able to see the light in darkness. The secret ending also {{spoiler|ends with it implying that it is Sora's destiny to unite all hearts.}}
* [[Berserk Button]]:
** Do not say or do anything bad to or about Aqua's friends. {{spoiler|Vanitas, Braig, and Xehanort}} learned this the hard way.
** [[Poor Communication Kills|Tragically,]] so did {{spoiler|Master Eraqus}} when he found out that {{spoiler|Terra}} also has that button.
** Also, Stitch goes absolutely nuts if someone messes with his toy Wayfinder he made himself.
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Aqua is the most soft-spoken of the [[Three Amigos]] but she's also capable of putting the hurt on in ways they can't approach.
* [[BFS]]:
** Terra's Keyblade.
** {{spoiler|The χ-blade.}}
** Under certain moves in battle, Terra's Keyblade will also transform into a [[BFG|ridiculously large]] ''[[BFG|rocket launcher]]''...
** All Keyblades also become this during the Bladecharge Command Style.
* [[Bifurcated Weapon]]: The Unknown combines his blades during combo finishers and lunges and even combines them into a [[Whip Sword]].
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]:
** {{spoiler|From Ventus's perspective, when he's about to be destroyed by Master Eraqus, Terra comes out of NOWHERE.}}
** Mickey does this ''twice''. First to protect Ven when he's outmatched by Vanitas, and again when {{spoiler|the Vanitas-possessed Ventus is about to strike down an unsuspecting Aqua with the χ-blade}}.
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* [[Blatant Lies]]: A real-world example - Tetsuya Nomura said ''Birth By Sleep'' may not see a ''Final Mix'' re-release, depending on how much extra content was added to the Western release. Did anyone really believe him? (To his credit, he said "''may'' not", not "''will'' not.")
* [[Blue Eyes]]: All three protagonists, though considering this is [[Square Enix]], it's [[Author Appeal|not surprising]].
* [[Bonus Boss]]:
** {{spoiler|Vanitas Remnant}}, accessible only after playing through every character's storyline and obtaining all the Xehanort Reports.
** A new one exclusive to the international releases and ''Final Mix'' is dubbed the Unknown, a man in a [[Black Cloak|black coat]] who [[Dual-Wielding|dual-wields]] [[Reverse Grip|reverse-gripped]] [[Laser Blade|laser blades]] that he can [[Bifurcated Weapon|combine]] to result in a [[Blade on a Stick|lance]] and [[Whip Sword]]. Just look at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIRjW-tO8Yc him.]
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* [[Boss Rush]]: The final Mirage Arena match, Villain's Vendetta.
* [[Bowdlerise]]: Braig got his sniper rifle removed, again. Then again, adding it back at this point could only cause confusion.
** A scene was also changed from the Japanese to the English versions...then again, what were they censoring? In the Japanese version, the wicked queen ''somehow'' gets angry at the mirror and her anger possesses the mirror. In the international versions, she throws a potion at the mirror that makes it go berserk.
* [[Bragging Rights Reward]]: Beating either [[Bonus Boss]] nets you a special Keyblade...but if you ''can'' beat either of them, you clearly don't need it.
** [[Nintendo Hard|Not]] [[Updated Rerelease|so fast.]] There's 3 more bosses for Final Mix players,and even getting a keyblade from one of the Bonus bosses helps immensely with the others, depending on your tactics.
* [[Brick Joke]]: ''[[Kingdom Hearts|...all share the same]] [[Genius Bonus|sky]]...''
* [[Cain and Abel]]: Xehanort mentions in one of his reports that he sees Eraqus as his brother. Now consider what Xehanort ends up ''doing.''
* [[Call Forward]]:
** "My friends are my power!"
** {{spoiler|1=From the true final boss (Xehanort) fighting JUST like Xehanort's Heartless first form (Guardian and all). Also, when Master Xehanort possesses Terra, his first lines are the "His heart has returned to darkness" speech Xehanort's Heartless gives Sora before you fight him in ''KH1''. Xehanort is full of these.}}
** Vanitas's suit resembles Riku's Heartless suit (minus the Heartless emblem on it, natch), they share a fighting stance, and the demonic appearance of his Void Gear closely mirrors that of Riku's Soul Eater. In the intro FMV, Vanitas and Ven re-enact the scene from the FMVs of ''I'' and ''II'' where Riku [[Take My Hand|outstretches his arm]] and Sora runs after him.
*** And, in one of the opening scenes, a young Master Xehanort stands on the shore of Destiny Island and says 'This island is like a prison'.
** Xehanort wears the Org XIII coat in one of the opening scenes, and in his normal clothes he wears the same boots that Org XIII wear (you get to see them in Terra's story, at least).
** Near the end of the opening scene with Ventus at the Station of Awakening where he talks with {{spoiler|newborn heart Sora}}, mention is made that they will "open the door", something that is told to Sora by a mysterious voice in KHI. What makes it double as [[Foreshadowing]] is that if you listen closely when Ven says the line, you can hear {{spoiler|Sora's}} voice speaking alongside his.
** It's not all serious stuff, either. Aqua waking up Ven the same way Kairi woke Sora up in ''KHI'', complete with "Gimme a Break, Aqua.", and Terra saying [[Kingdom Hearts|"Come on, Ven. I thought you were stronger than that."]]. The beginning scene also mimics ''KHII'', where Ventus wakes up in the same manner as Roxas.
*** In addition to Terra's line, {{spoiler|Ventus-Vanitas says "What's wrong? Giving up already?" as a [[Call Forward]] ''and'' a [[Call Back]]!}}
** Another one (that retroactively doubles as [[Foreshadowing]]) is {{spoiler|Master Eraqus' death scene. As he [[Disappears Into Light|fades into light]], his body phases through Terra at the last moment. Much like the whole [[It Was with You All Along|Sora-Kairi deal in the first game]], Eraqus' heart is locked away inside of Terra's as revealed by "Blank Points".}}
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* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Lucifer, the cat of [[Evil Stepmother|Lady Tremaine]] of ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]'' is a boss. This might not seem like a challenge except that you happen to be the size of a mouse at the time.
* [[Chained by Fashion]]: The Secret Episode's final boss and the Iron Imprisoner.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:
** At the part where you choose who you want to play as, Ven's description notes he holds his Keyblade backhand. This might not seem important at first. However, at the end of Aqua's story, {{spoiler|Ven gets possessed by Vanitas.}} When this happens, {{spoiler|Possessed!Ven holds his Keyblade out in front, showing that he isn't really Ven.}}
** At the start of the game, Aqua, as the newest Keyblade Master, is "entitled to certain knowledge", that the player doesn't get to see, even when playing as Aqua. You finally find out what she was told in the Final Story: {{spoiler|that being the true nature of the Land of Departure, its significance as a world of balance, and how to turn it into Castle Oblivion}}.
* [[Cherry Tapping]]: Subverted for the Sweetstack Keyblade, which is actually very powerful despite being designed around ice cream. <ref> It has an Attack stat of 6 and a Magic stat of 4, though it's real power comes from it's 100% [[Critical Hit|Critical hit rate]] </ref>
* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]:
** Arguably, The Command Board. Most notably [[Winnie the Pooh|Tigger]], who can go from 2000 GP below you, to 2000+ above you in a grand total of one turn. Tigger seems to understand how to play the Command Board better than anyone else, which is funny, given [[Cloudcuckoolander|how he is normally.]]
** Averted by Pooh himself, who can't seem to process what's going on, which is pretty par for the course with him.
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* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: It's sad how badly {{spoiler|1=[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehgwv0CwQuA the trio] get beat down in their cinematic final battle against Xehanort and Vanitas}}.
* [[Credits Medley]]: The "complete" credits sequence after you beat all three scenarios features one of these. It combines Terra's, Aqua's, and Ven's [[Leitmotif|leitmotifs]] with the battle themes from Never Land, Enchanted Dominion, Castle of Dreams, and Dwarf Woodlands and "Dearly Beloved".
* [[Crosshair Aware]]: Terra when he fights Braig.
* [[Cutscene Incompetence]]: Oh sure, you'll kick their asses in the actual fights, but in the final cutscenes Xehanort and Vanitas utterly ''own'' Terra, Ventus, and Aqua.
* [[Cutscene Power to the Max]]: Averted by Master Xehanort. Blasts of ice, a storm of Keyblades, raising plateaus of earth? Those are all things he does when you fight him.
* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]: Spend ten or more hours playing as Terra and you'll take quite a bit of getting used to the style of the next two characters. Especially Aqua.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: This is, without a doubt, the darkest game in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series, with ''358/2 Days'' coming in second. [[Doomed by Canon|You already know that something]] ''[[Doomed by Canon|has]]'' [[Doomed by Canon|to happen that makes the three former Keyblade wielders disappear by the time]] ''[[Doomed by Canon|KHI]]'' [[Doomed by Canon|starts.]] It's also not afraid to deal with heavy subjects such as death. However, as dark and as intense as it is, the game does not lose the happy fun of the Disney worlds. It's a testament to the quality of the game's writing that they mesh so well.
* [[Dark Reprise]]: The battle against the Armor of the Master uses one of "Future Masters", the Land of Departure's battle theme.
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* [[Death or Glory Attack]]: Ven's Tornado can be used to incapacitate and deal massive damage to almost any enemy in the game, {{spoiler|Vanitas}} included. However, the spell also leaves him a sitting duck for the duration with no way to cancel out, so any enemies not caught in it are free to retaliate with impunity.
* [[Detached Sleeves]]: Aqua's costume.
* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: If you somehow manage to scroll up in a cutscene where Vanitas is holding his helmet (it shows him from the neck down) you get [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA9whgJ5r9s this].
* [[Disc One Nuke]]:
** In Maleficent's Castle is a ledge in the corner with a chest on it, normally requiring Glide/Air Slide to reach it during endgame. However, a simple jump and Sliding Dash in midair will get you there on the first visit. It contains either Tornado Strike or Ice Barrage, both ultimate 2-slot commands.
** With proper playing of the Command Boards and a bit of luck, you can easily acquire high level commands very early. For example, if you play the Boards to level them up, you can meld commands to create a second-tier spell like Blizzara or or Thundara, then meld that with something else to get the third-tier command. This can be done in the first world you visit as soon as you can access a Save Point. All you need is patience and knowledge of what commands can create what.
** More than that, there's also the EXP Walker, which you can get less than halfway through any character's quest if you have the right item. EXP Walker lets you earn 1 experience point for every step your character takes when walking.
** Also, in Ventus's story, you can get Super Glide before you're even able to access Glide just by jumping and using Slide Dash twice to get to a ledge in Disney Town that should only be accessible via Glide.
** If you know the right melds it is entirely possible to fuse Mega Flare well before you get to Radiant Garden.
* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|The secret ending reveals Ansem the Wise's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' to be this.}}
* [[Disney Princess]]: Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White have a larger role than they did in the [[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|first game]].
* [[Distant Finale]]: {{spoiler|The final scene in the game takes place a bit after ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''.}}
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: The Conclusion to the Festival in Disney Town. After Pete loses to The Trio in a threeway tie, Queen Minnie sends him to the ''Realm of Darkness'' for being a bad sport about it, effectively [[Retcon|Retconing]] earlier statements that Mickey had banished Pete for severe wrongdoing. Afterwards, he is recruited by Malefecent to be her [[The Dragon|Right Hand man]]. Yeah, [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice going Queen...]]
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* [[Dramatic Unmask]]: Vanitas. The visor of whose helmet just sort... of melts away when he pulls this off. Note that he's previously been shown with the entire helmet off (and with his face off-screen, natch).
* [[Dual Boss]]
** Aqua takes on Hades ''and'' the Ice Colossus. She in fact turns down Zack's offer to help.
** Terra's final boss sequence begins with him fighting {{spoiler|Master Xehanort and Vanitas, but Vanitas does most of the attacking and it ends automatically after you do a certain amount of damage.}}.
** Zack and Hades in the Mirage Arena.
* [[Dual-Wielding]]: The Unknown.
* [[Dub Name Change]]:
** 13 of 14 Keyblades' names were changed, although some were pretty minor (e.g. "Mark of Hero" vs. "Mark of a Hero"). 12 of 35 enemies also had their names changed.
** Some of the Command Styles also had their names changed, such as Aqua's "Magic Wish" becoming "Spellweaver", Terra's "Fatal Mode" becoming "Critical Impact," and a few others.
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* [[Evolving Attack]]: Every character has Finish Commands that level up and unlock new Finish Commands in a branching system. Their exclusive Finish Commands unlock stronger versions of themselves--Ven gets Air Flair that evolves up to Level 4, then to Stratosphere as his Level 6 finisher, while Aqua gets Magic Pulse 1-4 with Teleport Spike as her Level 6. Terra's break the naming pattern, Rising Rock 1, 2, then Dark Star 1, 2, then Demolition, but essentially they're still powered-up versions of each other.
* [[Exclusive Enemy Equipment]]: You can obtain a black and white version of Vanitas's Keyblade, called Void Gear.
* [[Expy]]:
** Ventus looks like Roxas and it's been told by [[Word of God]] that Ventus, while having some of Sora's characteristics, has Roxas's seriousness. So in personality, he's a mixture of both, like his duds.
** {{spoiler|Vanitas is basically an evil Sora with black hair and yellow eyes (and ''the same voice''; [[Evil Sounds Deep|only deeper and more sinister]]), and he is Ven's [[Enemy Without]].}}
** Terra somewhat resembles [[Crisis Core|Zack Fair]], and both of them are {{spoiler|[[Tragic Hero|tragic heroes]].}} He is also quite similar to Riku, hence the shared name meaning, though due to his older age and maturity, in his delving into darkness he rises from his angst and [[Jerkass]]-itude faster than Riku did.
*** The number of similarities beween Terra and Cloud and striking. Tricked by Hades? Check. Uses Darkness powers? Yep. Not very people friendly? [[Lampshade Hanging|Pointed out for both by Hades.]] With almost the same line. Claims he's not a hero? Uh-huh.
* [[Eye Scream]]: At his first canonical appearance, Braig still has two functional eyes. At the end of the game, he's wearing his famous eyepatch. Figure out what happens.
* [[Eyes of Gold]]: Master Xehanort has yellow eyes. Braig's remaining eye becomes golden after being blasted in the face with a beam of darkness (and around the same time, he's developed darkness-related powers to back up his gun skills). Not to mention Terra's turned yellow at the end of the secret movie in ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix''. And Vanitas has them as well. Gold eyes are usually associated with someone who's been exposed to the power of darkness and/or uses it (in his guise as DiZ, even Ansem the Wise had them). As do [[The Heartless]] (the ones that aren't [[The Faceless]] anyway,).
<!-- %% Fan Nickname goes on the Trivia subpage. -->
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* [[Field of Blades]]: The Keyblade Graveyard. The ruins of many keys who took on the powers of their masters are here in the place, where there was a fight between light and darkness.
* [[Fighting Your Friend]]: {{spoiler|Possessed versions of both Ven and Terra serve as Aqua's two different [[Final Boss|Final Bosses]].}}
* [[Finish Him!]]: {{spoiler|Lampshaded in the final battle with Vanitas with Ven. Given that the "information" is likely to be the POV of the player character, it was likely the joke was not lost on the translators.}}
* [[Fire, Ice, Lightning]]: The non-character-specific Command Styles are Firestorm, Diamond Dust and Thunder Bolt. {{spoiler|There's also a second ice-themed one, Frozen Fortune, except it's ''ice-cream'' themed}}.
* [[Five-Bad Band]]: Master Xehanort creates one with the allies he recruits from different worlds:
** [[The Big Bad]]/[[The Evil Genius]]: Master Xehanort
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* [[Flash Step]]: Master Xehanort and Vanitas use these liberally, as do [[Bonus Boss|Bonus Bosses]] {{spoiler|Vanitas Remnant}} and the Unknown. Some special attacks usable by the player also make use of them, like Teleport and Magic Hour. Aqua's [[Super Mode|Command Style]] Ghost Drive ramps this up to insane levels --''every'' normal attack she uses in this mode is a Flash Step, to the point of [[Teleport Spam|Teleport Spamming]].
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: The game takes place only ten years before the first ''Kingdom Hearts'', where none of the protagonists are anywhere to be seen. All of them can be expected to meet an untimely fate, it's just a matter of finding out what each of their unfortunate ends is.
* [[Foreshadowing]]:
** Watch the ending of the introduction movie closely. {{spoiler|After Ventus descends from his Awakening and transforms into a ball of light, if you look real close at the next scene, you can see him enter Sora.}}
** At the beginning of the game, we see {{spoiler|a younger Master Xehanort, who looks very much the present day Xehanort, as well as Terra. He even appears to be voiced by both [[Ryotaro Okiayu]] and Jason Dohring (who voice Terra). When Terra picks Riku to be his successor, we see a brief silhouette of Young!Master Xehanort and then Riku circa ''KHII''.}} [[Harsher in Hindsight|This should make you cringe]], as {{spoiler|when Terra performed the [[Take Up My Sword|Keyblade Rite of Succession]], he didn't intend for Riku to end up being body snatched by Xehanort like he was.}}
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* [[Genre Blind]]: Just about ''everyone'' in this game. Come on... Xehanort is ''obviously'' evil. Yet everyone's trusting him, even Master Eraqus, who {{spoiler|even TRIED to kill him in the past but failed}}. More to the point Master Eraqus knew {{spoiler|that Xehanort had used the darkness to grow stronger than Eraqus and wanted to recreate the Keyblade War and yet Eraqus still never saw fit to warn ''anyone'' about any of this leading directly to a [[Poor Communication Kills|situation that could have been avoided]] if he had just bothered to give some information.}}
* [[Get Back Here Boss]]: Braig is ''[[That One Boss|somehow even worse than his Nobody counterpart]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O28p6phnig See here.] Played with since one of the strategies to beating him is to simply use Block to reflect all of his regular attacks right back at him and to dodge every attack that can't be blocked.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:
** Hades gives Aqua a once-over and a rather suggestive leer. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJPpbbJZbbU See here.]
** When Phil offers to train Aqua, Hercules protests he had to beg Phil to train him. Phil's response is "Sh, pipe down kid! You and she ain't got the same attributes, [[If You Know What I Mean|if you know what I mean]]."
** Two words: Tinkerbell pantyshots. Consistent with her original design, anyway, that one-piece has a ''really'' short skirt.
** Maleficent gets to keep the line "See for yourself all the powers of hell!" "Hell" typically isn't a swear word if you are talking about the biblical place, but this deserves special mention. (Even when she used it in [[Sleeping Beauty|the movie]], it was rated "G".)
** One of the seven dwarfs remarks he will miss Snow White's 'dapple lumpkins - er, apple dumplings.'
* [[Glass Cannon]]: A [[Bonus Boss]] has only one bar of HP, but dishes out [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Kills]] without remorse. However, it also averts [[No Cure for Evil]] by healing to full HP whenever the player uses Cure (items don't seem to trigger this, mercifully) so really it's no more of a Glass Cannon than you are.
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** The locations of the Prize Pod enemies, which you'll need to hunt down if you want all the ice cream recipes, can take forever to find without a guide since whether or not they'll spawn at the designated point is [[Luck-Based Mission|mostly random]] and if they don't spawn, you need to leave the world and come back, which might take ages if they're far from a savepoint.
* [[Hammerspace]]: Besides the [[Justified]] Keyblades, Lea's weapons come from nowhere and Ven ''somehow'' manages to carry a full size wooden toy keyblade with him for 90% of his story.
* [[Hard Mode Perks]]: If you begin a game on Critical, you start with five command deck slots for attacks, instead of the three you start with on the lower difficulties.
* [[Harmless Freezing]]: Nope! Ventus getting frozen is certainly ''not'' harmless, as it clearly hurts a lot and nearly gets him killed. For that matter, getting frozen in itself causes a lot of damage in gameplay and sets you up for even more (both you, and the enemies).
* [[Hartman Hips]]: Aqua's [http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/File:Aqua_armor.png suit of armor.]
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** Master Xehanort and Vanitas, ''in spades.'' [[Leonard Nimoy]]/[[Chikao Ohtsuka]] and {{spoiler|1=Haley Joel Osment/[[Miyu Irino]]}} definitely had too much fun being villainous.
** {{spoiler|1=Ditto with [[Richard Epcar]]/[[Akio Ohtsuka]] as Xehanort, who seems to out-ham ''his past self''.}}
* [[Laser Blade]]:
** The Blade Charge Command Style (Aqua, Terra) forms a huge one around the Keyblade, Squall-style. Ven's Wingblade style gives him SIX of these, which by default float at his back like wings.
** {{spoiler|Aqua, via [[The Power of Friendship|the lucky charms she made for herself and her friends]], creates one to destroy the χ-blade.}}
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** Several of the Shotlock commands that you can only obtain on the Command Board can be this (ex: Ragnarok).
* [[Leitmotif]]:
** Terra, Aqua, and Ven all get their own. One shared between Xion, Roxas, and Axel from ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
** [[Word of God|Nomura]] has stated that [[Bonus Boss|Mysterious Figure's]] battle theme is also this. {{spoiler|It takes cues from Rage Awakened (Terra's Lingering Sentiment), Darkness of the Unknown (Xemnas's final battle theme in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''), and Lord of the Castle (Marluxia's final battle theme in ''Re: Chain of Memories'')}}.
* [[Lethal Joke Item]]: Sweetstack, an ice-cream-themed Keyblade that just so happens to have a 100% critical rate.
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]:
** Ven, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2LDp95Jh-Q&feature=sub see here.]
** Terra briefly becomes one during his Sonic Shadow Shotlock.
** {{spoiler|Terra-Xehanort. The physical prowess of Terra plus the dark powers and Keyblade of Master Xehanort equals one very imposing opponent.}}
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* [[Limit Break]]: Filling up a meter in gameplay allows each character to unleash one of these. More can be learned as the game goes on.
* [[Limited Special Collectors Ultimate Edition]]: A ''[[Updated Rerelease|Final Mix]]'' for this game was recently announced.
* [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]]: Only partially played; while everyone can learn some really powerful magic like Meteor (Terra), Tornado (Ven), and Glacier (Aqua), it's Aqua who gets the ''best'' and most practical ones like Triple Blizzaga, Triple Firaga, Seeker Mine, etc. Also, everyone is technically really powerful, but Aqua's the most due to story purposes and this trope. As you can bet, Terra's final boss is ''super'' hard, especially if you didn't take the time to find out all the useful abilities like Second chance and EXP walker. Aqua meanwhile is ''VERY'' fragile in the beginning until you get her some useful early-game abilities (like Barrier Surge and Wishing Edge) or even the [[Disc One Nuke]] (Which is naturally deadliest in Aqua's hands thanks to her magic stat) Course everyone is powerful at the end though; just at their different things.
* [[Loads and Loads of Loading]]: You're going to spend a lot of time staring at that spinning blue heart. The game also frequently freezes to load when you activate a Command Mode or D-Link. You can install the game onto your PSP Memory Stick to help with this, which drastically lowers the loading times, and removes it all together in some places.
* [[Lost Forever]]: As Terra and Aqua, be sure to return to {{spoiler|Land of Departure as soon as you can. Though you can still pick up any lost chests after Xehanort sends it to the darkness. You just have to beat the Unknown first.}}
* [[Magic Knight]]: The three protagonists qualify, although Aqua is the straightest example.
* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: The Land of Departure lies directly between the light and dark realms. [[Word of God]] clarifies that the castle houses a mechanism that transforms it to invoke this trope should it fall into the wrong hands, and ''that's'' how Aqua made {{spoiler|Castle Oblivion}}.
* [[Manly Tears]]:
** Eraqus sheds a single tear {{spoiler|before locking blades with Terra}}.
** Terra also {{spoiler|when he almost kills Master Eraqus and realizes what he has done.}}
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** {{spoiler|Xehanort tricks Terra into fighting Eraqus, weakening him so Xehanort can kill him, and he reveals his true colors to Terra as he destroys the Land of Departure}}.
** {{spoiler|Aqua hears from Yen Sid about what's become of Terra and sets out to find him, finding him under Xehanort's possession and consumed in darkness. The two do battle, Aqua being lost in the Realm of Darkness while Terra is "reborn" as the new Xehanort}}.
* [[Marathon Boss]]: No Heart from the final mix. Nine hit point bars and nonstop attacks.
* [[Medium Awareness]]: The Symphony Master boss seems to conduct in time with the battle music.
* [[Mega Manning]]: This is roughly how the new Destiny Link system works. The protagonist makes a personal connection with another character, and this allows them to temporarily shift their moveset to something approximating what that other character uses. Terra, notably, gets several links with the villains.
* [[Mighty Glacier]]: Terra swings his [[BFS|Keyblade]] in slow, wide arches. He hits like ''hell''.
* [[Milking the Giant Cow]]: Master Xehanort does this even more than the modern one--watch those fingers coil.
* [[Mind Screwdriver]]: This game is this for the previous ones, but [[Kingdom Hearts 3D|the effect doesn't last.]]
* [[Mirror Boss]]: {{spoiler|After possessing Terra, the new Xehanort uses his fighting style instead of that of his old body. He can even block, counter and heal.}}
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: Terra and Aqua enjoy a peaceful break at Destiny Island before [[It Got Worse|it gets worse]]: After she leaves the islands, Aqua {{spoiler|finds a weakened Mickey and heads to meet Yen Sid who tells her Eraqus is dead.}} As for Terra, {{spoiler|he leaves the islands only to be contacted by Xehanort, who sets him up to kill Eraqus shortly after.}} Ven avoids this--his visit to the islands is just as traumatic as the events that occur after and before it.
* [[Mook Maker]]: {{spoiler|Vanitas is the source of ALL the Unversed. He's been visiting every world he can and spawning as many Unversed as he can, like a [[Walking Wasteland]]. This is actually a pretty impressive power and just hammers home that he's really [[Made of Evil]].}}
* [[Musical Assassin]]: The Symphony Master, though it has nothing on [[Kingdom Hearts II|Demyx]].
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: {{spoiler|Both Terra and Eraqus do this after fighting each other to near death, and the latter additionally for nearly killing Ven. [[Complete Monster|Then Xehanort finishes the job]].}}
* [[Mythology Gag]]:
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* [[Nerf]]: The base reload time of Mega Flare was doubled from 25 seconds to 50 in the international release. It's still [[Awesome Yet Practical|very effective]] at clearing the room.
** Here's one nerf that most players are actually ''glad'' for: in Final Mix, the [[Bonus Boss]] Unknown has had some of the hitstun removed from [[That One Attack|its Collision Magnet attack]], allowing players to escape it before being hit again. This was done to make the two new [[Bonus Boss|Bonus Bosses]] look even stronger.
** Aerial attacks were slowed down considerably compared to how they are in other games, so if you're one of those people who like to [[Super Smash Bros.|SHFFL]] your aerials to get extra damage on enemies, weep.
* [[Never Say "Die"]]: Surprisingly inverted--Master Xehanort uses "die" rather frequently, most explicitly in one of {{spoiler|Ventus's flashbacks: "you would rather die than use the power?"}} At the same time, though, the three heroes tend to use euphemisms (examples, {{spoiler|Aqua talking about how Eraqus was}} "struck down", {{spoiler|Ventus asking his friends to "put an end" to him, though he says the idea of the χ-blade "scares him to death" in the same scene.}}). However, both instances could be attributed to not wanting to use the actual word under the circumstances. Disney characters still use the verb as well, such as the Queen telling Terra to kill Snow White, or the three good fairies in Enchanted Dominion chanting "evil die and good endure".
** It also might be the sign that {{spoiler|Master Eraqus}} has [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope|gone too far]]: {{spoiler|"Let the darkness die!"}}
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]:
** {{spoiler|Aqua is getting some flak from the [[Fan Dumb]] for saving the amnesiac [[Fan Nickname|Terranort]] from the Dark Realm, thus allowing his misdeeds from the entire rest of the series to get set into motion.}}
** Master Eraqus is no better. {{spoiler|His attempt to destroy Ventus sealed Terra's fate. Even he seemed to realize this just before he was killed.}}
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* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Eraqus was based off of Hironobu Sakaguchi, the former president of Square.
* [[No Cure for Evil]]: Averted by the first [[Bonus Boss]], who heals himself whenever you use Cure, and by {{spoiler|Terranort, who can use cure spells when fighting the Lingering Will or Aqua}}. The second Bonus Boss has access to Restore Barrier, which lets him regain health if you attack while it's up. He also has the ability to [[Time Master|reverse time when he's hit]], undoing the damage.
* [[Obviously Evil]]:
** Master Xehanort. [[Bald of Evil|Just]] [[Beard of Evil|look]] [[Slouch of Villainy|at]] [[Psychotic Smirk|him.]] It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't a well respected character by the good guys.
** His apprentice, Vanitas is even worse. And worse still, Terra allies himself with The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Hades, and Captain Hook (though he does at least plan to double-cross a few of them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't).
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* [[Ominous Pipe Organ]]: Same as above. Also used in "Beyond the Door".
* [[One-Winged Angel]]: Averted in all three storylines, which may be a first for this series. {{spoiler|Unless you count Terra-Xehanort calling the Guardian in the Final Episode.}}
* [[The Other Darrin]]:
** Bret Iwan replacing the late Wayne Allwine as Mickey. Surprisingly averted by Chris Sanders, who still reprised his role as Stitch despite [[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|now working for]] [[Dreamworks Animation]], Disney's primary rival in animated films, following behind-the-scenes conflicts on ''[[Bolt]]''.
** In the Japanese Version, Captain Hook is voiced by Naoya Uchida instead of Chikao Otsuka, presumably because the latter voice actor was also voicing Master Xehanort.
* [[Paint It Black]]: {{spoiler|Vanitas falls into the [[Evil Twin]] variation, being a [[Raven Hair, Ivory Skin|black-haired, pale-skinned]] Sora.}}
* [[Palette Swap]]: The Unversed get different color schemes in Final Mix for the sake of variety, and and Unversed forms assumed by the[[Voluntary Shapeshifting|Illusion]] spells have a yet another palette.
* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Despite that the three see Eraqus as a replacement father, and he even sees ''himself'' as one, Terra, Aqua, and Ven don't seem to have mentioned any of their parents. Even Sora had his mom... [[Invisible Parents|sorta appear]] in the first game.
* [[Pinball Zone]]: Pete's Rec Room
* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: The primary source of the heroes' troubles come from the fact that nobody can talk straight to anybody, allowing the villains to sow discord and turn them against one another. By the time the truth finally comes out, it's too late to do anything about it.
* [[Power Gives You Wings]]: One of {{spoiler|No Heart's}} attacks involves {{spoiler|turning his Keyblade into a pair of wings which he uses to fly around.}}
* [[The Power of Friendship]]: Quite possibly '''the''' definitive example of this trope in this series is the [[True Companions|powerful bond]] between Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. Aqua might be more of a [[Love Freak|Friendship Freak]] than ''Sora''. Expect tears to flow like the Nile and hearts to be warmed... sometimes in rapid succession.
* [[The Power of Hate]]: This is how {{spoiler|Lingering Sentiment}} comes to be in order to {{spoiler|battle Xehanort for Terra's body}}.
* [[Power-Up Letdown]]: Terra's Sonic Impact, which adds a second dash to his normal Slide ability that carries him farther and can deal damage...which is actually not helpful at all, for several reasons: it does little damage, the second slide ''doesn't'' provide temporary invincibility like the first one does (which is the whole point of the dodge abilities), and the recovery from it is longer than the first Slide. Just to throw some [[Guide Dang It]] into the mixture, you get it right before Terra's battle with Zack; he has an attack that is extremely difficult to dodge any other way than just mashing Square to keep dodging -- which you can't do if Sonic Impact is equipped. This isn't to say it is completely useless (it's good in the "Defeat countless Unversed" sections, for instance), but leaving it unequipped will allow you to dodge a far greater number of deadly attacks with ease.
** That said, it is quite amusing to take out the first two of Terra's three final bosses by ''[[Cherry Tapping|headbutting them]]''.
* [[Precision F-Strike]]: Though not the kind you're thinking of--Aqua snaps "You freak!" when Vanitas {{spoiler|breaks Ven's wooden Keyblade}}. Considering this ''is'' Disney, that's about as extreme as the language can get so the effect is the same.
* [[Punny Name]]:
** {{spoiler|"χ-blade". As in, the Greek letter. Chi Blade.}}
** Vanitas was picked not only because it means {{spoiler|"Emptiness"}} in Latin, but also because {{spoiler|it sounds like "Ventus" and the kanji for ''sora'' (空) means both "sky" and "emptiness".}}
* [[Pure Is Not Good]]: {{spoiler|Despite being born of pure "darkness" Vanitas still has the ability to wield a Keyblade and, more specifically, the χ-blade.}}
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* [[Rashomon Style]]: The game's narrative method.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: As in the ''Stitch'' movie, the Grand Councilwoman is ''extremely'' reasonable. She may still want Stitch locked up, but she has more than blind rage to back up her reasons, like Gantu, and she's willing to hear Aqua out.
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]:
** Terra to Xehanort at the end. {{spoiler|"You will pay, Xehanort! Was my Master--no, my father, Eraqus not enough for you? ''Leave my friends alone!''"}}
** And then there's Ven's speech to Vanitas immediately preceding their battle. {{spoiler|"At least I have some [friends]! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power... ''and I'm theirs!''"}}
* [[Recurring Boss]]: Expect to fight Vanitas in ''every'' story mode.
* [[Recurring Riff]]: Bits of "Rage Awakened" can be heard in a few other songs.
** Fate of the Unknown (KHII Final Mix Secret Ending Music) is heard multiple throughout the game, most noticably in Terra and Aqua's themes
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Terra is red, Aqua's blue.
** An evil variation occurs with Master Xehanort and Vanitas: MX is the Blue, Vanitas is the Red.
* [[Retcon]]:
** In ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', it was stated that King Mickey banished Pete to another dimension and Maleficent broke him out. In this game however, ''Queen Minnie'' temporarily banishes him to another dimension "until he cools down". While there, Maleficent breaks him out in return for his service.
** Also, [[Donald Duck|Donald]] and Goofy knowing about the Keyblade (when they didn't in the original game) and actually being present at Yen Sid's Tower (Donald's reaction to the tower in ''Kingdom Hearts II'': "Master Yen Sid lives HERE?!") The tower thing could just be that Donald didn't expect Yen Sid's tower to be connected to Twilight Town, which he hadn't seen before ''Kingdom Hearts II''. Maybe there's more than one tower like that.
* [[Regional Bonus]]: The international version features something called Crown Stickers, an extra boss, Critical degree of difficulty, more cutscenes, more songs to the Rhythmic Ice Cream mini game, more Keyblades, more types of enemies, altered battle balance, and additional multiplayer options. As per usual with the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series, this was expanded to a [[No Export for You|Japan-only]] ''Final Mix''.
* [[Retired Badass]]: Master Yen Sid is retired from keyblading, with Mickey taking his place, but he still keeps in contact with Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort.
* [[The Reveal]]:
** The last leg of the game for the rest of the series--{{spoiler|Castle Oblivion was created by Aqua from the remains of the Land of Departure to protect Ven's sleeping body inside the Chamber of Waking}}. Oh, and {{spoiler|Terra and Master Xehanort merge to become the Xehanort the fans know}}, {{spoiler|Terra choose Riku and Aqua accidentally marked Kairi as future Keyblade wielders}}, {{spoiler|Ven's heart merges with Sora's which is why Roxas looks like him}}, and more. Really, pick any given plothole in the series. Odds are the game takes at least some steps towards explaining it.
** Within the game's story itself, Master Xehanort revealing his true intentions directly after {{spoiler|killing Eraqus}}, as well as Vanitas's true identity: {{spoiler|a physical form of the darkness within Ventus that looks like ''a black-haired Sora''}}. This last one doesn't mean that much to the characters because {{spoiler|Sora isn't 15 years old yet}}, but this definitely hits the ''player'' hard.
* [[Reverse Grip]]: Ventus and the Unknown.
* [[Rubber Band AI]]: Very apparent in Rumble Racing. If you pull ahead of your opponents, they'll speed up until they're on your tail again, and often even get a burst of speed to pull out in front of you. You don't get any such mercy if you fall behind, but fortunately the rubber band is removed on the final lap. If you don't fall behind too much before then, that's your chance to secure your victory.
* [[Rule of Symbolism]]:
** The keychain for {{spoiler|the χ-blade}} mirrors the symbol for the "Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven". Also, {{spoiler|χ}}, pronounced as "Chi", is often used to substitute Christ. {{spoiler|That's where "X-Mas" comes from!}} This leads to some awesome [[Fridge Brilliance]]: the Kingdom Key and Kingdom Key D (read: Mickey's Kingdom Key) are a silver key with a gold handle and a gold key with a silver handle, and together they can open the door to Kingdom Hearts. The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven are often shown as a gold and silver key crossed over each other.
** Adding to the Christianity symbolism: {{spoiler|Ven (as a result of having a heart of pure light) is the only character that has access to a version of the Holy spell. And his exclusive Command Style, Wing Blade, can be seen as a reference to the seraphim, six winged angels who were closest to God; each sword of light that floats behind Ven's back can be considered a wing.}}
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** And Xehanort is "X No Heart", the X being a staple in the names of the Organization.
* [[Single Tear]]: All over the place. {{spoiler|Master Eraqus sheds one before fighting Terra, Aqua does as well in the secret ending when she is given her first glimmer of hope and recognition that all she did wasn't entirely in vain after eleven years lost in the darkness, and Sora is completely baffled by the sudden appearance of one when he unconsciously picks up Ventus' heart, getting hit vicariously by the full force of the [[Tear Jerker]] ending.}}
* [[Sky Surfing]]: Ven's Keyblade Glider.
* [[Slasher Smile]]: {{spoiler|After Aqua battles the hybrid Ven and Vanitas, Ven-hijacked-by-Vanitas flashes a surprisingly eerie one at her. Twice.}} Though [[Your Mileage May Vary]], because not only does it look stupid the second time, but it's a rather toothy grin. {{spoiler|He's [http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w245/megaflamehedge/spoilers/ good at these.]}}
* [[SNK Boss]]: Any [[Bonus Boss]], leaving players ''very'' little time to move, less to heal, [[Perfect Play AI|and even less to attack]].
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** The Unknown uses both his blades to perform a crossed one, similar to Vanitas' [[Sword Beam]].
* [[Sword of Plot Advancement]]: {{spoiler|The χ-blade, a [[BFS]] that is the ultimate Keyblade and can open the door to Kingdom Hearts.}} Unfortunately, it's wielded by [[The Dragon|Vanitas]] who acquires it {{spoiler|by fusing with Ventus, merging Ven's heart of pure light with Vanitas's heart of pure darkness.}} Ven faces Vanitas wielding an incomplete version of the Keyblade, while Aqua and Mickey face him with the completed version.
* [[Tall, Dark and Handsome]]: Terra.
** Braig is a [[Tall, Dark and Snarky|snarkier]] version of this.
* [[Talking to Himself]]: Averted in the case of Captain Hook due to [[The Other Darrin]] (Naoya Uchida, who in fact is the usual Other Darrin for the Japanese Hook); in the rest of the series and in the Japanese dub of ''[[Peter Pan]]'', Hook is voiced by [[Chikao Ohtsuka]]. Ohtsuka's in this game, but is playing Master Xehanort. And even if Ohtsuka did voice Hook here, the pirate and Master Xehanort do not cross paths anyways.
** Played straight in the English dub by [[David Ogden Stiers]], who plays two of the seven dwarfs (Doc and Happy); Russi Taylor, who plays Minnie, Huey, Dewie, and Louie, as well as the Fairy Godmother and Drizella (though the two don't have any scenes together); and [[Jim Cummings]], who plays Pooh and Tigger. And that's just naming the characters who share worlds together! The actors mentioned (and a few not mentioned) play other characters as well, though those characters aren't even in the same world as each other.
* [[Team Dad]]: [[Your Mileage May Vary|Depending on how you look at it]], Terra. While he's more of a [[Big Brother Mentor]] to Ven ({{spoiler|this relationship later escalates into a [[Knight Templar Big Brother]] complex during the last fourth or so of Terra's scenario}}), there are quite a few times when the dynamics between Terra, Aqua, and Ven resemble that of two parents (Terra and Aqua) and a child (Ven). More mature and reserved than his friends, Terra can come across as strict, while still intending the best for them. {{spoiler|And his [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment to save Ven and the [[Rage Against the Mentor|subsequent battle against Master Eraqus]] ''definitely'' qualifies Terra as a [[Papa Wolf]].}}
** It's even [[Lampshaded]] in the Japanese version of the game, where Ven hands Terra and Aqua the Disney Town passes and says that he was told to bring ''"his parents"'' ("two grown-ups" in the American version).
* [[Team Mom]]: Aqua to her friends and also to Peter Pan and the lost boys.
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* [[Title Theme Drop]]: What is probably the most poignant arrangement of "Dearly Beloved" yet plays during the scene detailed under "[[Say My Name]]".
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: A major subplot is King Mickey going from rookie Keyblader to the [[Memetic Badass]] we all know and love.
** ''All three'' of the main characters.
*** Terra: After accepting the darkness in his heart, he gains great strength {{spoiler|but ultimately weakens his heart to the point that Master Xehanort can possess his body. Xehanort thinks that he's won, but Terra [[Determinator|refuses to submit]], [[Heroic Willpower|his mind and soul re-animating his suit of armor]] [[Unstoppable Rage|through hate and anger]]. Terra ([[Animated Armor|as the Lingering Will]]) then proceeds to ''kick his own ass'' (at this point, Xehanort was theoretically at his ''prime''), and--to this day--is still fighting Master Xehanort for control of his body. His response to when MX [[Hannibal Lecture|triumphantly boasts that]] [[Crazy Prepared|his grand scheme could take one of several routes]]?. [[Shut UP, Hannibal|A confident smirk.]]}}
*** Ven: When he first encounters Vanitas, it's a [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]. {{spoiler|The paradigm shifts at endgame, when Vanitas [[Combat Pragmatist|knocks out an unsuspecting Aqua]] and then decides to [[Kick Them While They Are Down|go for a deathblow]]. Ven, who was just [[And I Must Scream|frozen]] by Master Xehanort earlier, literally ''defrosts himself with his anger'' and shows Vanitas no mercy. During his subsequent [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]], Ven delivers an absolutely stunning one-two punch of a [[Patrick Stewart Speech]] and a [[Shut UP, Hannibal]] to Vanitas. More asskicking ensues, with a hyperkinetic battle that causes Ven's Awakening station to shatter, culminating in a zero-g fight where Ven cribs off of Vanitas by D-Linking with him and ultimately [[Curb Stomp Battle|walks all over him]]. And remember, [[Pyrrhic Victory|Ventus was well aware that Vanitas's defeat would destroy his heart in the process.]]}}
*** Aqua: She didn't have as long a route to take, already starting as a Master. Notably, {{spoiler|Aqua uses [[The Power of Friendship]] to create a [[Laser Blade]] that ''destroys'' the ''[[Infinity+1 Sword|completed]]'' χ-blade. That's the equivalent of cutting through [[Wolverine]]'s [[Made of Indestructium|adamantium skeleton]] with a ''twig''. She then faces Terra-Xehanort and his Guardian [[Familiar]] (beginning the struggle with an [[Mama Bear|empassionated]] [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya|My Name Is Master Aqua]] moment) and ''wins'', her actions temporarily allowing Terra to break free and [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|lock away Terra-Xehanort's heart]].}}
* [[Tragic Hero]]: {{spoiler|Terra.}}
* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: The opening movie borrows a few scenes from the original "Birth by sleep" video that played at the end of ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]: Final Mix''. This scene is actually of the trio's final confrontation with the [[Obviously Evil]] Xehanort and Vanitas. How things got to that way, though, and what lies beyond, are thankfully unspoiled.
** On the other hand, a few trailers did contain lines from the secret ending, {{spoiler|including the page quote and some descriptions of Sora as the savior of people's hearts}}.
* [[Transformation Trinket]]: The chunks of armour on their shoulders.
* [[True Final Boss]]: Completing the three scenarios, as well as collecting all the Xehanort Reports, unlocks the Final Episode, {{spoiler|in which Aqua battles Terra-Xehanort}} which in the Final Mix unlocks the Secret Episode {{spoiler|where Aqua fights an "alpha heartless."}}
* [[Tsurime Eyes]]: Aurora's got 'em. So does Terra.
* [[Two Guys and a Girl]]: The above trio, in a parallel to Sora, Riku, and Kairi.
* [[Ungrateful Bastard|Ungrateful Bastards]]: The Seven Dwarfs in Ventus' story. He saves Snow White's life and is responsible for bringing her to them in the first place, but they ''still'' treat him with scorn and distrust, telling him to get out. By the time Aqua comes around, the time they've spent with Snow White has mellowed them out considerably though (especially Grumpy, as in the original movie.)
* [[Updated Rerelease]]: ''[http://www.finalfantasy.net/wp-content/gallery/khinsider/bbsfinalmix.jpg Birth By Sleep Final Mix]''. Is anyone ''really'' surprised?
* [[Used to Be a Sweet Kid]]: Ienzo, Lea, and ''especially'' Isa, which has made several fans wonder why Saïx's eyes are ''yellow'' in ''358/2'' and ''II''. And where he got the scars...
* [[Useless Useful Spell]]: Inverted and reversed, believe it or not. They can affect you, too, but they're more of an annoyance than anything. On the flipside, status effects work for ''quite'' a bit of enemies. It is ''VERY'' easy to destroy enemies with Mini because all you need to do is just stomp on them. Magnet and Zero Gravity are ''very'' easy ways to get the command gauge filled up. And even bosses are affected by status ailments. Ven can put Maleficent to sleep, and Slow or even stop Captain Hook (With Twisted Hours, most reliably). You can use Aeroga to shut down almost ''anyone''. Also, need a breather from Vanitas? No problem--just inflict Sleep or use Zero Gravity on him.
* [[Vague Age]]: Terra, Aqua, and Ven are never given official ages, unlike Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Though if you take some things into consideration, such as Ventus being physically identically to fifteen-year-old Roxas and [[Word of God]] telling us that {{spoiler|Xemnas is about thirty}}, it's not that much of a stretch to assume that Ven is fifteen and Terra is nineteen. All we get for Aqua, though, is that she's younger than Terra and older than Ven.
* [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]: The Keyblade Graveyard {{spoiler|(though, while it is ominous, it's actually pretty short)}}. Oddly, though, Terra and Ven visit it multiple times for cutscene purposes {{spoiler|(and, in Ven's case, to fight Vanitas the first time)}} before the endgame. However, they don't actually visit the titular graveyard itself, but part of the world surrounding it, which is apparently called "The Badlands".
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