Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Sora is a character and the main protagonist of Disney and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts video game series. Introduced in the first Kingdom Hearts game in 2002, Sora is portrayed as a cheerful teenager who lives on the Destiny Islands and has been best friends with Riku and Kairi since childhood. While planning to leave on a journey to see other worlds, they are separated after creatures known as the Heartless destroy the Islands, with Sora obtaining a weapon called the Keyblade. Donald Duck and Goofy recruit him in their journey across various worlds in search of their king, Mickey Mouse, while Sora searches for his friends; along the way, the trio protects the worlds they visit from the Heartless and other villains.
Sora was initially designed by Kingdom Hearts series director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura during a discussion between Disney and Square about who the series' protagonist should be. Wanting an original character, Nomura made various sketches of Sora until the design met the approval of Disney. Throughout the series, Sora has been voiced by Haley Joel Osment in English and Miyu Irino in Japanese. For his depiction as a child in the prequel Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Sora was voiced by Luke Manriquez and Takuto Yoshinaga in English and Japanese, respectively. Sora has made supporting appearances in other games from the series and reprised his role in manga and light novel adaptations of the games.
Sora's character has received a generally positive critical response due to his warm personality and adventurous spirit. His personal and martial growth in the series has also received praise, especially in his appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. He was added to Nintendo's fighting video game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a downloadable fighter and revealed to be the most requested fighter to appear in the Super Smash Bros. series.
Concept and creation
Sora was created by Tetsuya Nomura as the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts. He was not originally slated to be the protagonist, as Disney wanted Donald Duck to fill the role, while Square wanted Mickey Mouse. Because Sora was a new character in the first Kingdom Hearts, Square added Final Fantasy characters who support the protagonist.One of the main concepts of Sora's character in the series is that, according to Nomura, he is a normal boy instead of a supernatural being, despite being deeply connected with other characters from the series. With Sora, Nomura wants to give players the message that, though they are not "important people", they have the opportunity to accomplish great things. This was emphasized in Birth by Sleeps secret ending, which Nomura hoped players would find because it showed Sora's potential to influence others' lives. In early versions of development of Birth by Sleep, Nomura thought that Ventus would be Sora before being reborn, but due to negative feedback from overseas, this plot line was discarded. Nomura has stated that Sora's name can be interpreted as "sky", since the Japanese word sora means sky. This name was chosen to symbolize Sora's role and his personality, as well as his close relationship with Riku and Kairi, with their names together meaning "sky, land, and sea." He was also described by Nomura as having an outgoing personality, which allows him to make friends throughout the series. Of all of the characters he has designed, Nomura called Sora his favorite, describing him as "special" after having worked to develop the character over many games. The name of Noctis Lucis Caelum from Final Fantasy XV is also a reference to Sora; Sora and Caelum both mean "sky" in their respective languages, and Nomura considered Noctis to be his latest "son". When Kingdom Hearts II included a note using Sora's handwriting, Nomura wrote it himself. In response to rumors saying that Sora's story would end in Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura answered that Sora is the protagonist of the series and that his role will end once the series ends.
According to Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai, Sora had been the winner of the Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U Fighter Ballot in 2015, and Sakurai was aware of the various fan campaigns advocating for Sora's inclusion in the series. Sakurai described Sora's inclusion as a "huge undertaking" and "perfect" as the concluding fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sakurai also felt that it was "impossible" for Sora to appear in the series, but after Sakurai met a Disney executive at an awards show, Nintendo, Disney, and Square Enix began negotiations to include him. According to Luigi Priore, Vice President of Disney and Pixar Games, the company recognized that having Sora in Smash Bros. was something that fans had been asking for a long time, and the team was delighted to make it happen. "Knowing the passion of Kingdom Hearts fans, we were not surprised , but we were thrilled," Priore added. "It's been incredible watching all the videos and commentary online." Nomura was actually more hesitant than Disney about Sora's inclusion because of potential conflicts with the lore established in the Kingdom Hearts series at first, but seeing the positive reception by the public led him to conclude that "the end result was really great." Sora was designed as a floaty, light, and aerial fighter. The majority of his moves are inspired by his appearance in the original Kingdom Hearts, but per the limitations of the licensing agreement, Disney characters were not included as spirits or cameos.
Design
Nomura designed Sora with the concepts of the Disney characters in mind, basing his outfit on Mickey Mouse's trademark white gloves, red shorts, and giant yellow shoes. Sora originally wielded a weapon resembling a chainsaw; however, the weapon was not well received by Disney, which led Nomura to redesign the weapon into a Keyblade. He was also designed with lion-like features, which were removed as the staff found them to be similar to those of Final Fantasy IX protagonist Zidane Tribal. The design was further reworked after a talk with the Disney staff, and Nomura finished it after a night's work. Sora was given a new outfit to reflect the time spent between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The team in charge of Kingdom Hearts II expressed difficulties in animating Sora's "Valor" Drive Form, which had a different motion except for Sora's walking animation, which is shared with his regular motion. The Anti-Form was also made to focus on Sora's dark side from the first Kingdom Hearts, where he is temporarily transformed into a Heartless. Gameplay-wise, the form was created to be both powerful and troublesome. The fights Sora has with Roxas and Xemnas were meant to surprise gamers, especially in the latter, when the player loses control of Sora and Riku has to save him. To avoid misconceptions that Dream Drop Distance was a remake of the original game, Nomura decided to change Sora's and Riku's outfits for most of the game.Following the first Kingdom Hearts, Nomura was worried that players would be unhappy that Sora would start Kingdom Hearts II as a weak character with few powers, who once again had to be leveled up like the first game. Therefore, Nomura developed the plot of Chain of Memories to explain how Sora loses his abilities in Castle Oblivion and starts anew. Additionally, a new mystery regarding Sora's memories of Twilight Town was added in Chain of Memories, which would be explained in Kingdom Hearts II.
After finishing Kingdom Hearts II, Nomura wanted to give Sora a rest from the series to focus following games on other characters from the series. Moreover, the events from the endings of Kingdom Hearts Coded and Birth by Sleep hinted at a new mystery regarding Sora's character, which would be revealed in Kingdom Hearts III. Although Nomura stated in March 2010 that Sora would once again be the focus of the next title, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, he stated that Sora would share it with another character with great importance. The switches between player characters Sora and Riku across the game are meant to contrast the style from Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, which allowed the player to use three characters in their own campaigns, as well as to explain the word "Distance" in the title, because Sora and Riku never interact across their stories. Nomura has stated that the themes of the game are trust and friendship, and that, like Birth by Sleep, the story is on par with that of a numbered title. As a result of the game's plot, both Sora and Riku appear in their younger forms from the first Kingdom Hearts game.
For Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura was interested in giving Sora a new outfit, but was worried about doing so because of the popularity of the character's Kingdom Hearts II outfit. In the end, he decided to create a new one, as Kingdom Hearts III was a new numbered title. Nomura also revealed that Sora had the same proportions as in previous games; however, they "muted the volume on his hair—it's not wild." Regarding updating Sora's look from his Kingdom Hearts II design, Nomura noted that the basis for the resulting design is a mix between Sora's costumes for Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance, one that is "a lot more sleek and sporty" since "Sora does a lot more... acrobatic ... action-oriented movements". Sora's new skills in Kingdom Hearts III were inspired by those of Terra from Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix and Birth by Sleep in order to surprise gamers with new powers related to the Keyblade, with other skills that were influenced by Sora's and Riku's powers from Dream Drop Distance. For the Monsters Inc. world, Nomura considered giving Sora a monster costume similar to the one Boo wears in the film, but Pixar gave the idea to have Sora transform into a monster. Sora's final stage in Kingdom Hearts III was left ambiguous, though Nomura suggested that it might be related to the Square Enix game The World Ends with You.
In April 2022, during an interview with Famitsu, Nomura said that "Kingdom Hearts IV will explore the contrast between the real world known as Quadratum and the fictional worlds of Kingdom Hearts". He further said that "Sora also looks more realistic due to him being in that world. However, if he were to return to his own world, his appearance would look similar to the shaders used for Donald and Goofy."