riku

Riku is Sora and Kairi's best friend and an original character created by Tetsuya Nomura for the Kingdom Hearts series. Nomura has mentioned that Riku's name can be interpreted as "land," with the Japanese on'yomi pronunciation of land being "riku." In the English version, Riku is voiced by David Gallagher, while Mamoru Miyano takes on the role in the Japanese version. He becomes playable in the second story mode of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and serves as a world-specific ally in Kingdom Hearts II. At the start of the series, Riku is 15 years old and resides on Destiny Islands with his friends. When their world is attacked by the Heartless, the trio is separated. Riku ends up at Hollow Bastion, where he encounters Maleficent. Under her influence, he turns into an antagonist to aid Kairi. Eventually, Riku becomes possessed by Xehanort's Heartless, the primary villain of the first game, and is sent to the realm of darkness, where he assists Sora in sealing the door to this realm. In Chain of Memories, Riku wakes up in the same fortress where Sora arrived and begins his journey from the basement to the top. Along the way, he confronts the lingering darkness in his heart and meets DiZ, a mysterious figure. Upon reaching the top, he finds Naminé, who is restoring Sora’s memories. Riku then chooses to find a balance between light and darkness within himself. A replica of Riku was created by Vexen in Castle Oblivion during the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, known simply as the Riku Replica. Following the events in Chain of Memories, Riku battles Roxas to help DiZ reunite him with Sora. During this fight, he uses the power of darkness, which transforms him into the form of Xehanort's Heartless. For much of the story, Riku remains in this form, secretly helping Sora without revealing his true identity. He returns to his original form after the destruction of a machine designed to convert Kingdom Hearts into data. Subsequently, Riku and Sora battle and defeat Xemnas. In the end, they find themselves on a dark beach, discussing their friendship and how each wanted to be like the other before a portal opens to Destiny Islands. They use the portal and are sent home.