Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Kingdom Hearts’ Story
Kingdom Hearts is a series that takes place over nearly 2o years of video games, spread out across different consoles, handhelds, and mobile games.
If you haven’t been following it all these years, you might find yourself a bit confused when you try to jump into Kingdom Hearts 3.
However, if you’re wanting to catch up ahead of time, we have you covered. We’ll walk through the major plot points and need-to-know story from each Kingdom Hearts game, in order to help get you ready for the highly-anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3.
Do note, however, that we won’t be covering every single thing in the Kingdom Hearts story, but rather the major beats that are most relevant to understanding Kingdom Hearts 3 the best. We’re also going to go through each game based on their order in the timeline, like you can see in the image above, used at E3 2015 by Square Enix.
Additionally, when Kingdom Hearts 3 launches on Jan. 29 a patch will add in “Memory Archive” videos that will serve as recaps and summaries of the events of past games.
Also finally before we dive in: Obvious Spoilers Are Obvious!! We’re going to be going over everything. Do not read further if you don’t want to be spoiled.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Kingdom Hearts Union X [cross] and Back Cover
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts lore says that once upon a time the denizens of the world lived alongside an entity of boundless knowledge and light, known as Kingdom Hearts.
This entity was protected by a weapon known as the X-Blade, that protected the power of light from evil. The denizens, wanting more power and knowledge, started creating their own Keyblades in the image of the X-Blade, and so started the Keyblade War.
In the end, the X-Blade was shattered, Kingdom Hearts lost, and the world split into pieces.
Foretellers, Unions, and the Keyblade War
The Foretellers are a group of Keyblade Masters each given a task by the Master of Masters, and they lead the five Unions you can join in Unchained and Union X.
The discord between these five is ultimately what starts the Keyblade War, but a secret group created by Master Ava, known as the Dandelions, is what allowed the light to stay alive and rebuild the world.
What Is Chirithy?
Chirithy is one of the major characters in Unchained X and Union X[cross] and he serves as a guide and helper for your Keyblade wielders.
These little creatures are created by the Master of Masters, and they’re beings of light assigned to each Keyblade wielder. However, if a wielder falls to darkness their Chirithy will turn into a nightmare.
We know that Chirithy will be appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3, although we don’t know its role.
The Master of Masters and the Black Box
In addition to the five Foretellers, the Master had a sixth apprentice named Luxu that he assigned a special task. Both characters wear the enigmatic black coat of Organization XIII, and we know very little about their characters besides that.
The Master writes the Book of Prophecies that tells all of the events of the future. He gives a copy to each Foreteller, but Luxu instead gets a massive mysterious Black Box and the Master’s Keyblade, No Name, which is also Xehanort’s Keyblade.
We don’t know the purpose of the box, but Luxu’s task is to keep it safe and keep a line of Keyblade wielders alive into the future. KH 3 trailers have shown that Xehanort and the Dark Seekers are searching for the Black Box.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Birth By Sleep
Terra, Aqua, Ventus
Birth By Sleep takes place a decade before the first game and it stars three young Keyblade Masters; Terra, Aqua, and Ventus.
They train under Master Eraqus, while a second master, Xehanort, travels the world to investigate the influence of darkness. Terra and Aqua take the Mark of Mastery exam, but because Terra yields to the darkness only Aqua passes.
Xehanort’s Travels
Terra and Aqua are sent out to investigate a trend of dangerous new creatures called the Unversed, and Terra sets out after Xehanort who’s looking for the Princesses of Heart. Ventus goes off in pursuit of Terra, and Aqua is sent out to keep an eye on Terra.
Handing Down the Keyblades
All three characters end up on the Destiny Islands at some point, and interact with young Sora and Riku. Terra senses the latent power within Riku and hands the Keyblade down to him.
Ventus, Vanitas, and the “Chi-Blade”
During the three’s journey, Ventus’ past is revealed, as he used to be a pupil of Xehanort, who drove him to use darkness.
Unable to do so, Xehanort split Ventus in two, leaving his light half as the comatose Ventus that he took to Eraqus while the dark half formed a new being known as Vanitas.
Xehanort’s ultimate goal is to fuse Ventus and Vanitas to create the X-Blade, the mythical weapon that protected Kingdom Hearts, and thereby summon Kingdom Hearts to claim its power.
Xehanort Tricks Terra
Along Terra’s quest, Xehanort constantly tricks him into using the darkness and aiding Disney villains, until finally Xehanort convinces him that Eraqus is holding him back.
After being told that Eraqus plans to end Ventus, Terra travels back to the Land of Departure and ends up fighting and killing Eraqus. Only after does he realize his error.
The Final Battle
Terra, Ventus, and Aqua confront Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard, the site of the ancient war, and do battle with him and Vanitas.
Terra is defeated by Xehanort who possesses his body and becomes “Terra-Xehanort,” but Terra’s Lingering Will in his armor strikes Terranort down.
Ventus is defeated by Vanitas who successfully forges the ” Imperfect X-Blade,” however, with the help of Mickey, Aqua manages to defeat Vanitas. Ventus is put into a permanent comatose state from the battle.
The Fates of the Three Heroes
Aqua takes Ventus to the now destroyed Land of Departure and unlocks the Keyhole, transforming it into Castle of Oblivion.
She lays Ventus in a throne room to keep him safe until his heart can awaken. Ventus’ heart, meanwhile, was touched by that of Sora, and found refuge hidden away in the young boys heart.
Finally, Aqua goes to confront Terranort at Radiant Garden. After a fierce battle, Terranort sinks his body into darkness to try and stifle the remnants of Terra, and Aqua dives in after him.
Aqua sacrifices herself to send Terra out of the darkness, dooming herself to wander the Dark Realm, while Terranort ends up back at Radiant Garden, with a completely wiped memory.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Kingdom Hearts 1
The Heartless
If you’re unfamiliar with the Heartless, they serve as the main antagonists of the entire series. A Heartless is created whenever a person’s heart is stolen by Darkness, and they’re malevolent beings hellbent on stealing more hearts.
If a Heartless is slain by the Keyblade, and only by the Keyblade, it will release the heart they’ve stolen to reunite with the body.
The Seven Princesses of Heart
The Seven Princesses of Heart are a central idea to Kingdom Hearts, and they comprise of Disney princesses like Cinderella and Aurora, as well as Kairi.
These Princesses’ hearts are comprised of nothing but light, and they hold absolute power to protect from Darkness, as well as open the final Keyhole in Hollow Bastion, which supposedly holds power over the entire universe.
Sora Has Kairi’s Heart, and Becomes a Heartless
At the tail-end of the game, we learn that Sora has been housing Kairi’s heart this whole time, keeping it safe. In order to revive Kairi, Sora takes Riku’s Keyblade and unlocks Kairi’s heart and his own. This results in Kairi awakening, and Sora himself turning into a Heartless.
Of course, this event also resulted in the birth of both Namine and Roxas, Kairi and Sora’s Nobodies. By finding Kairi again, Sora is able to return to his human form, and he’s the only person in history, besides Xehanort, that has been able to do this.
Closing Kingdom Hearts and Defeating Ansem
Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat Ansem, the Heartless that has been possessing Riku.
They discover the door to Kingdom Hearts, and end up defeating Ansem with the light inside, but in order to keep the Dark Realm from seeping into the outside world, Riku and Mickey have to seal the door from the inside, thus dooming themselves into the Dark Realm.
All of the world hearts that were taken by the Heartless are freed, and the world are restored to their former state.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Chain of Memories
Traveling Through Castle Oblivion
After the events of Kingdom Hearts Sora, Donald, and Goofy are looking for King Mickey and Riku, when they stumble upon a mysterious castle called Castle Oblivion.
While exploring the castle the three begin losing their memories, and they first meet members of Organization XII.
Oblivion was a plan by the Organization to wipe Sora’s memories and gain control over him, or create a new Keyblade wielder from his data.
Namine
Throughout Chain of Memories Sora begins to remember a young girl named Namine. As it turns out, Namine is a very unique Nobody born when Sora released Kairi’s heart from his body.
Born from Kairi’s heart, and Sora’s body and soul, Namine has control over all of Sora’s memories and starts removing and replacing them when he enters Castle Oblivion.
Although Kairi never turned into a Heartless or Nobody, she’s still technically incomplete without Namine.
Rebuilding Sora’s Memories
At the end of Chain of Memories, with some help from the Organization member Axel, Sora meets Namine and learns the truth about everything.
Breaking free from the Organization’s plot, Namine agrees to help rebuild Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s memories. The three of them enter stasis pods to start the rebuilding process, forgetting everything that happened at Oblivion in the process.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
358/2 Days
Nobodies
Although introduced in Kingdom Hearts II originally, Nobodies are the empty shell left behind when someone turns into a Heartless.
These beings don’t have hearts of their own, but powerful Nobodies, like the Organization, can function on a higher level and think for themselves.
Roxas and the Organization
While Sora is recovering his memories, Roxas has joined the Organization as their Keyblade wielder.
Roxas sees out day-to-day missions defeating Heartless and releasing their hearts, all for the Organization’s goal of awakening Kingdom Hearts so the 13 members can get hearts of their own.
Xion and Sora’s Memories
358/2 introduces a brand new character named Xion, a Keyblade wielder that becomes close friends with Roxas and Axel. Eventually, we find out that Xion is a data recreation from Sora’s memories.
As Xion’s power with the Keyblade grows, she saps the power from Roxas, making him weaker. Despite disobeying order from the Organization multiple times, Roxas and Axel end up having to fight Xion and put an end to her, although it’s her choice.
At the end, Xion is wiped from everyone’s memories and Roxas gains all of his Keyblade powers.
Roxas leaves the Organization and tries to destroy Xemnas, but he’s stopped by Riku, who incapacitates Roxas. Riku then takes him to Diz (Ansem the Wise) and Namine, who put him into a simulation of Twilight Town, so he can safely wait there until Sora is ready to awaken.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Kingdom Hearts 2
Roxas’ Fate
At the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 2, Roxas learns the truth about himself and that in order to awaken Sora he’ll have to sacrifice his existence.
With a heavy heart, Roxas agrees to do so, completing the final piece of rebuilding Sora’s memories, and reawakening our heroes. However, Sora at this point doesn’t have any recollection of who Roxas is.
Organization XIII
Throughout their travels, Sora learns about Organization XIII and their plan to reconstruct Kingdom Hearts, as well as Maleficent’s horde of Heartless.
Sora and crew defeat the Heartless at Hollow Bastion and restore it to Radiant Garden, and they slowly but surely eliminate the remaining Organization members while traveling through worlds.
Eventually, the party makes it to the Organization’s homeworld, The World That Never Was.
Ansem the Wise’s End and Riku’s Return
While making their way to fight Ansem Sora and crew once again reunite with Riku and Kairi, as well as DiZ, who the group finds out is Ansem the Wise. Ansem and Mickey try to stop the Organization’s Kingdom Hearts from manifesting by digitizing the hearts inside.
The machine explodes killing Ansem in the process, but slowing down Kingdom Hearts. Kairi also helps Riku return to his true form at this point, removing the darkness that had him assuming Ansem’s form up until this point.
Defeating Xemnas
Sora and Riku working together finally put an end to Xemnas and stop his plan from unfolding.
This also releases all the hearts the Organization had collected while trying to build their artificial “Kingdom Hearts.” Peace is restored to the worlds once again and Sora, Riku, and Kairi return home to the Destiny Islands. Before long, however, Sora receives a letter from Mickey.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Re:Coded
Sora is the Key to Everything
The big revelation of Revelation of Re:Coded is that Sora himself functions as the key to almost everything, due to his unique ability to connect to other’s hearts.
A data version of Namine in Jiminy’s Journal reveals to Data-Sora and Mickey that Sora’s heart is the key to waking the Keyblade wielders lost in the past; Aqua, Ventus, and Terra.
All three of these characters are tied to Sora’s heart, and with this information, Mickey writes the letter that Sora then receives at the end of Kingdom Hearts II.
The Rebirth of Xehanort
The very end of Re:Coded shows Mickey talking to Yen Sid, and has two revelations. For one, Mickey says they are close to finding the location of Ventus’ heart, meaning they only have Terra left to find.
Yen Sid also brings the dire news that Master Xehanort has been reborn. Due to Ansem, his Heartless, and Xenmas, his Nobody, being destroyed, both pieces of Xehanort have been rejoined to resurrect the villain.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
Dream Drop Distance
The Sleeping Worlds and the Mark of Mastery
To prepare for the coming battle against Xehanort, Yen Sid summons Riku and Sora to the tower and sets them to completing the Mark of Mastery exam.
The two will have to enter “sleeping worlds” and unlock seven Keyholes to return the worlds to reality. While venturing through these worlds, the heroes start to encounter villains with their own agenda, including Young Xehanort and Xemnas.
Xehanort’s Plans in Motion
The villain’s agenda ultimately draw Sora to The World That Never Was, where their intentions are made clear. They want to make Sora the thirteenth vessel for the rebirth of Xehanort.
Riku learns of this plan and travels to the world to try and save Sora. As the villains engulf Sora in darkness, his heart is protected by Ventus’ armor that forms a shell around it.
Thirteen Seekers of Darkness and Seven Guardians of Light
Xehanort references a prophecy that says the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness will do battle with the Seven Guardians of Light and start a new Keyblade War.
The end of DDD is his effort to form his thirteen Seekers, however, the plans are thrown awry by Riku who unknowingly became a Dream Eater for Sora the moment they entered the Sleeping Worlds, protecting Sora’s heart from harm.
The Data Hidden in Sora
While in Sora’s heart, Riku encounters a data version of Ansem the Wise, put there by the real Ansem. He explains that Ansem hid his vital data within Sora, in the hopes that it might help the heroes reawaken lost loved ones in the future.
This data contains essential clues on how to wake Aqua, Ventus, and Terra, and therefore complete the Seven Guardians of Light.
Axel and Kairi Join the Fight, Riku’s a Master
After exiting Sora’s heart Yen Sid announces the results of the test, and that only Riku has become a Keyblade Master.
In addition to this, Axel gains the ability to use a Keyblade, and the very last scene shows Riku bringing Kairi to Yen Sid, in order to start her training as a Keyblade Master.
Kingdom Hearts Story Recap
0.2 A Fragmentary Passage Leading into Kingdom Hearts 3
Preparing for the Keyblade War
The last tidbit of info we get leading into KH3 is at the very end of 0.2. Yen Sid has assigned Axel (Lea) and Kairi to conduct their Keyblade training under Merlin, and he gives Riku and Mickey the important task of journeying to the Dark Realm to save Aqua.
Shortly after Sora returns to the tower and he’s also given a task. Because he didn’t obtain the power of Awakening in his Mark of Mastery exam, Sora needs help to get a better grasp on his new powers, and so he’s sent off to seek aid from Hercules in Olympus, and Kingdom Hearts 3 picks up right there.
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