Sora

Sora is the main protagonist in the Kingdom Hearts series, as well as a Keyblade wielder. He is an upbeat teenager who may seem simple-minded at times, but is very aware of the importance of his quest. He possesses a strong sense of justice and an unrelenting heart. At times, he is impulsive and quick to anger when defending his friends, but he is always sincere about what he says and does. He lives on Destiny Islands with his best friends Kairi and Riku, where the trio dream to venture away from Destiny Islands to find out what lies beyond. Sora is the original persona of his own Heartless and Roxas, the source of Xion‘s memories, and the carrier of Ventus‘s heart.

Sora was 4-years-old during Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, 14-years-old at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and 15-years-old during the events of Kingdom Hearts IIand Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Sora’s name is derived from the Japanese word for “sky” (空 Sora^?)

Kairi

Kairi is one of the original main characters appearing in Kingdom Hearts. She is the original persona of Naminé. Kairi was born in Radiant Garden and currently lives on Destiny Islands along with her two best friends, Sora and Riku.

Kairi was 4-years-old during Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, 14-years-old at the start of Kingdom Hearts, and 15-years-old during the events of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Kairi’s name is derived from the Japanese word for “sea” (海 Kai^?), though her full name is homophonous with the word for “nautical mile”(海里 Kairi^?).

Riku

Riku is a life-long friend and rival of Sora, and he plays a key role in the Kingdom Hearts Series. Riku is from Destiny Islands and is a childhood friend of Sora and Kairi. Later in the series, he becomes a Keyblade master that has the power of light and darkness, and is always ready to sacrifice himself to protect his friends. Riku is the original persona of his own replica and pseudo-Ansem.

Riku was 5-years-old during Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, 15-years-old at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and 16-years-old during the events of Kingdom Hearts IIand Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Riku’s name is derived from the Japanese word for “land” (陸 Riku^?)

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse, often referred to as King Mickey, The King, His Highness, Your Highness, or more commonly as Your Majesty, is the king of Disney Castle and Queen Minnie‘s husband. He travels the worlds battling the forces of darkness and is a Keyblade Master, and the chosen Keyblade wielder for the Realm of Darkness, though he follows the path of light. Originally believing that the darkness had to be eliminated, he eventually realized that light and darkness are interdependent and cannot exist without the other due to his encounters with Riku. Due to his quests—and thus, being away from his queen—he has no known children that will become the heirs to his kingdom.

Though he is known as the King of Disney Castle, his true name is Mickey Mouse.

While only being 2′ 3″ (69 cm) tall, King Mickey is an incredibly powerful character in the Kingdom Hearts universe, as shown when he defeated three Darkside Heartless in a single blow whilst inside the Realm of Darkness. First studying under Yen Sid, Mickey is possibly the inventor of Gummi Ships. He is the first to realize the threat of darkness spreading between worlds, and one of the characters most strongly affiliated with light, including Sora. His strength is not always readily apparent, as his character remains very simple spoken, colloquial, and lighthearted, but contrary to this appearance, King Mickey has played a major role in every Kingdom Hearts game.

Goofy

Goofy appears alongside Donald and Sora in all of the Kingdom Hearts games. Goofy is Captain of the Royal Knights of King Mickey‘s court. He and Disney Castle‘s Court Magician Donald went out to search for the King, and ends up teaming with Sora for the rest of their journey.

Despite his position at Disney Castle, Goofy dislikes using weapons (instead using a simple shield in combat) and attempts to avoid fighting whenever possible, preferring to find peaceful solutions to problems. Though simple-minded and clumsy as always, and constantly the butt of comic relief, Goofy is the constant voice of optimism and, surprisingly, selectively perceptive, often noticing things others miss and keeping his cool when Sora and Donald lose it. He comes off as the sage of the group, despite how he is portrayed in the Disney cartoons.

Donald Duck

Donald Duck is a character from the Kingdom Hearts series. Donald Duck, in Disney canon, is a sailor with a dangerously short temper. His debut is in The Wise Little Hen. In Kingdom Hearts, Donald is the Royal Magician of Disney Castle and the royal assistant for King Mickey. As such, his weapon of choice is a Staff. He often provides comic relief more than advancing the plot despite the amount of camera time he has in the series. He is rash and has an aggressive personality, but he is loyal to his friends.

Though he initially only cares about Sora as a means to track down King Mickey, Donald soon grows to deeply care for him as a friend.

Roxas

Roxas, the Key of Destiny (めぐりあう鍵 Meguriau Kagi^?, lit Serendipitous Key), is the Nobody of Sora and was Rank XIII within Organization XIII. Like Naminé, he was born when Sora released his own heart in order to restore Kairi‘s. Although Sora’s heart was soon restored, Roxas continued to endure and exist, oblivious to Sora’s existence for most of his life. He has the ability to use the Keyblade, and wields light, using it to direct rays that strike opponents with great power. He commands the Samurai Nobodies. He is strongly like Ventus, as Xigbar reveals in the Secret Reports (Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days).

Roxas was also one of the mysterious hooded figures in “Another side, Another story…” and “Deep Dive“. During the prologue of Kingdom Hearts II, the player controls Roxas for a short time until Sora is awakened. Later in this same game, Roxas also acts as a minor antagonist. Roxas is the main protagonist in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which focuses on the time between Roxas’s creation and when he leaves the Organization.

Namine

Naminé is the Nobody of Kairi, and wields the power to manipulate the memories of Sora and those close to him. Her first appearance is in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. She also plays a minor role in Kingdom Hearts II and appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III, while a data-version of her appears in Kingdom Hearts coded. The first part of her name, nami means “wave” in Japanese, similar to Kairi’s name, which is derived from the word for “sea”.

Naminé was born when Sora became a Heartless in order to free Kairi’s heart during Kingdom Hearts. Kairi’s own body never became a Nobody because her heart lacked darkness (since she was one of the Princesses of Heart), so her body and soul were never able to leave the Realm of Light and thus made it seem like Kairi was in a comatose state until she regained her heart. The absence of darkness also meant that a heartless wasn’t created. This made Naminé a very strange Nobody, born from Kairi’s heart and Sora’s body and soul.

However, this means that Naminé was also born without Kairi’s memories, only furthering her unique status as an unprecedented Nobody. Yet she and Kairi are incomplete without each other, similar to Sora and Roxas. Because of the fact that Naminé is formed from Sora’s body, she has the power to manipulate his memories as well as the memories of those who are connected to him, prompting several others, even herself, to call her a “witch”. Ansem the Wise stated in his ninth Secret Ansem Report that Naminé is a highly unusual Nobody, due to possessing neither the body nor the memories that a Nobody is usually made from.

Aqua

Aqua is a main protagonist in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and the main protagonist of Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-. She is one of the Keyblade Wielders before Sora. Like Terraand Ventus, it’s her dream to become a Keyblade Master. She is the only one out of the three to achieve that goal and earn the title of ‘Keyblade Master’.

Her name is Latin for “water”, while Kairi‘s name in Japanese means “sea”. The only connection between the two is that Aqua met Kairi in Radiant Garden in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and put a protective spell on her necklace, which later brought Kairi to Destiny Islands. Kairi, by accidentally touching Aqua’s Keyblade during this time, also inherited the Keyblade from Aqua. The official Japanese website refers to Aqua as the “Dancing Waters Forming Bonds” (絆繋ぐ舞水 Kizuna Tsunagu Busui^?).

Ventus

Ventus, also known as Ven, is one of the main protagonists in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix. He wielded a Keyblade before Sora, and became an apprentice to both Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus. His best friends are Terra and Aqua, of which he is the youngest.

Ventus was sent to the Keyblade Graveyard and forced to fight Neoshadow Heartless using darkness so that the X-Blade could be forged. Ventus, unable to use the darkness, was knocked unconscious. Xehanort used the power of his Keyblade to unlock Ventus’ heart. The darkness in Ventus’ heart was removed by Xehanort, severely damaging it. When the darkness was released, it formed first into an orb and then into a creature of pure darkness. Xehanort gives it the name Vanitas. The damage done to Ventus’ heart by Xehanort and later when the X-blade is destroyed leaves his heart severely damaged. Both times, Sora’s heart reaches out to mend Ventus’s heart. At end of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus’ body lies comatose in the Chambers of Repose and Waking as his heart is with a sleeping Sora, where it can mend and heal, to be returned to Ventus once it has done so. The official Japanese website refers to Ventus as the “Swift Wind Returning to Bonds” (絆巡る疾風 Kizuna Meguru Shippū^?).

Terra

Terra is one of the main protagonists in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Terra, along with his best friend Aqua, were apprentices under the supervision and training of Master Eraqus at the Land of Departure. It was here that he first met Ventus and Master Xehanort. Ventus soon became friends with Terra and the trio trained and practiced together. It was Terra’s dream to become a Keyblade Master, a dream he shared with Aqua, and later with Ventus. When the exam day finally arrived, Terra failed his test because he could not control the darkness inside his heart. Terra did not know that Xehanort had actually caused the appearance of darkness during the trial.

Thinking there was no hope for him, Terra soon learns that not all is lost. He is given a quest by Master Eraqus to save the Princesses of Heart and in doing so, would be allowed to repeat the exam.

Terra’s name means “earth” in Latin, in Italian, in Portuguese and in Catalan, similar to Riku‘s name in Japanese meaning “land”. Terra chooses Riku as his successor, making Riku destined to wield the Keyblade in the future. The official Japanese website refers to Terra as the “Vast Earth Protecting Bonds” (絆守る大地 Kizuna Mamoru Daichi^?).

Ansem

Ansem the Wise is the sage-king of Radiant Garden during Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. In order to protect his people from the darkness, he spent much of his time studying the heart with his apprentices (Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, Ienzo, and Xehanort), but was eventually exiled to the Realm of Darkness when they were corrupted by that same darkness. He himself gained dark powers, renaming himself DiZ(Darkness in Zero) and setting out on a quest to avenge himself throughout Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts II.

Master Eraqus

Master Eraqus was a Keyblade Master featured in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts III. He was the master of Terra and Aqua, and he also served as the second master of Ventus.

His name is an anagram of “Square”, a reference to Square Enix, the developers of the Kingdom Hearts series. Tetsuya Nomura stated in the Birth by Sleep Ultimania that he had actually forgotten the basis of the name, and that the producer had to remind him that it was an anagram.^[1]

Master Xehanort

Master Xehanort was a Keyblade Master, the first master of Ventus, and the creator and master of Vanitas, the primary original incarnation of Ansem and Xemnas, and the future self of Young Xehanort. He served as the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts III and the central antagonist of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

He was the central antagonist of the “Xehanort Saga”, the first part of the Kingdom Hearts series.