Does Sora Have Feelings for Riku?

Discussion in 'General & Upcoming Kingdom Hearts' started by Amaury, Mar 6, 2014.

  1. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    Technically speaking, I know that video game characters don't really have sexualities, but putting that aside for this case, what do you guys think?

    I'm asking because of the way he acts when searching for Riku in Kingdom Hearts, and then when he finds him in Kingdom Hearts II, he gets down on his knees and holds his hands while crying somewhat about how he's been searching for him.

    Not that there's anything wrong with two straight males or females doing this -- I'm not a stereotype -- but it is unusual for that to happen. I'm just curious if Sora might have feelings for Riku or if their friendship is just really powerful that Sora didn't really know what to do when he found him.
     
  2. Plums Wakanda Forever

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    KH relationshippy things are all pretty ambiguous aside from the obvious Sora/Kairi. Personally I'd say Riku and Sora are more like brothers. They've known each other for quite a long time, so naturally Sora was very worried about him when Riku just disappeared and then began to dabble in darkness. People always say that he was overreacting when he found Riku in KH2/Kairi meant nothing in comparison to him, but at that point Sora hadn't seen Riku in a year, and that last time Riku was in the Dark Realm with a horde of Heartless to keep at bay.

    Overall, I'd say it's more of a deep rooted bond they have between them. Both are willing, and have comitted, themselves to going to great lengths to protect the other one time and time again. This is also applicable for Kairi, even if she hasn't been given as much a chance in the narrative to go the distance as Sora and Riku have for the other two in the past.
     
  3. Karuta Reborn

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    It's just a very strong friendship. They have been best friends since they were young kids and all, as shown in BBS. If Sora has romantic feelings for any other character it's pretty obvious that it's Kairi.
     
  4. DanceWaterDance Twilight Town Denizen

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    I don't know why someone thinks that if two guys have a strong friendship then they are gay. Same happens with Axel and Roxas.
     
  5. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    I never said they were gay, just that it was unusual.
     
  6. DanceWaterDance Twilight Town Denizen

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    Well. you didn't say that, but if you write that Sora has feeling for RIku, well, you are implying it
     
  7. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    It was a question, though, not a statement.
     
  8. Meilin Lee RPG (Red Panda Girl)

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    There was this scene in KH3D as well that shows how close they really were:



    Interesting to note is how Sora is just happy that Riku's ok (and constantly hugging him), and how he was happy for Riku (even though he himself didn't become a Keyblade Master).

    But overall, it's pretty obvious that Kairi is the one Sora has romantic feelings for. Riku is more like a REALLY close friend/brother.
     
  9. Amaury Legendary Hero

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    When did Axel become an ally? Also, is it just me or does Sora sound different than in Kingdom Hearts II? I mean, he sounds the same somewhat, but at the same time, he doesn't sound the same. He also sounded like a girl at times. I think I might have also heard a difference in Donald, but that might have just been me.
     
  10. Meilin Lee RPG (Red Panda Girl)

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    Not relevant to the main topic. But to answer these questions in order... KH3D / He sounds the same to me
     
  11. Chad Thundercucc The dharma of valvu; the dream of a clatoris

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    Pretty much this.

    But, I feel as though Square knows their audience (partly yaoi-loving fangirls) and decided to put that crying scene in to pander to this particular part of their fanbase. Not so much as to blatantly say that they're homosexual, but to give enough leeway for speculation of their sexuality for this particular part of the fanbase.

    This is further supported by the fact that Roxas's and Axel's friendship also has some homosexual undertones, particularly in KH2, when Axel tries his hardest to make Roxas remember him, is heart-broken when he doesn't remember him (not to mention the whole heart motif that goes on in the games), fights him to perhaps "knock some sense" into him, and sacrifices himself to save Roxas (who was inside Sora).

    What's even more is that both the Axel/Roxas and Riku/Sora friendships have this whole younger brother/older brother dynamic that's a typical trope in many things yaoi-related (or at least from what I've seen). Also, since there's no confirmed heterosexual relationships among the original characters in the game, it makes the possible homosexuality among the characters just as likely as their heterosexuality. As far as we know, all of the original main characters could just as well be homosexual, since there's literally nothing telling us that any of them are heterosexual.

    BUT THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS are Kairi and Namine gay? They've been shown running together in KH2 holding hands. Must mean they're attracted to each other amirite?
     
  12. Hiro ✩ Guardian

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    I have feelings for my friends. That's kinda because I feel close to them.

    Back on topic, Sora and Riku are best bros. I'd get pretty emotional if someone that was like a brother to me came back and it hadn't seen them for a year.
     
  13. Misty gimme kiss

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    The only two people that we have a modicum of evidence towards romantic feelings is Sora and Kairi, and even that's iffy. I'm generally look at scenes in Kingdom Hearts II, where Sora envisions the two of them in place of Disney couples (most obviously Jack and Sally dancing, but it was also kinda there in Port Royal and Beast's Castle I think). The rest is mostly up for interpretation -- the hugging, Kairi being the person 'most special' to Sora, Kairi wanting to run away with Sora... all of them put together does have a romantic implication, but they could also just be a mark of close friendship. It's similar with Sora and Riku. It's possible that some of the scenes between them (like when Sora cries in Kingdom Hearts II) could be interpreted as romantic, but they could also just be a close friendship / brotherhood.

    So canonically speaking? We don't really have good reason to believe there's something romantic between them... nor any of the other characters. And that's really just the nature of Kingdom Hearts I think. The games are about friendship, close friendship at that. All this said, I'm pretty sure Nomura said in some early interviews that he wanted to leave the major relationships of the game open to interpretation. There's evidence for all of them to be romantic, and if you imagine it that way, that's great and please have fun because shipping is hella fun. Personally I do enjoy some Sora/Riku stuff, because it's me there's usual some angst element to it (e.g. Riku is into Sora but Sora is... well, Sora, or they're confused feelings), but within the context of the games, I don't think there's much there other than what Plums described.

    Addendum
    I feel morally obligated to defend the crying scene in Kingdom Hearts II because you really have to consider the context. Sora has known, for the majority of the post-KH1 period, that Kairi is safe on Destiny Islands. It's not until midway through Kingdom Hearts II that he learns she was kidnapped. Within a reasonable amount of time, he reunites with her and sees she's well and good. Sora is a bit of a doofus, of course, so his reunion with Kairi isn't terribly emotional on his end. Kairi, on the other hand, has spent the better part of a year with confused remnants of memories, left to wait alone on an island for her friends; seeing Sora at last is a big deal, hence why she initiates the hug.

    Moving along, Sora sees the evil guy he killed a year ago who is related to present evil guy hanging out with his girl and wearing an Organization XIII cloak. That's gotta be a bit of a mind boggle. Sora has also spent most of the time since waking up from his pod slumber looking for and worrying about Riku -- remember that the last time he saw Riku, Riku closed himself behind the door to Kingdom Hearts, sacrificing himself to the darkness to save the universe. Before that, Riku's body was also stolen and corrupted by an evil guy and Sora had to beat the stuffing out of him, sending Riku into darkness. So yeah. He is going to be emotional.
     
  14. A Zebra Chaser

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    Love is just a more extreme form of like. Liking and loving aren't separate

    But there's a pretty huge difference between be overwhelmed that someone who you thought might be dead is actually alive, and having romantic feelings for someone. There are no actual instances of Sora showing any feelings towards Riku that extend beyond trust or concern
    Now Roxas and Axel do actually show minor signs of it in the Days movie, but Days was about the time when KH started to go from pandery to SUPER pandery, so it's not really a surprise.

    But anyways, comparatively, Sora has way more feelings bludgeoned in our face about Kairi. Sora doesn't go around hallucinating about being with Riku (and before anyone says Sora hallucinated about Kairi because of her heart, Sora STILL does it in KH2)

    Kairi completely fell off the radar since KH2, but if you think back to the PS2 era, it's pretty damn canon
     
  15. Ienzo ((̲̅ ̲̅(̲̅C̲̅r̲̅a̲̅y̲̅o̲̅l̲̲̅̅a̲̅( ̲̅̅((>

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    I like the fact that it's all ambiguous and up for interpretation, not only can the shippers have a lot of fun but it also focuses the game more on friendship as opposed to romantic love. The entire game is about friendship and it's importance, the bad guys aren't friends, they all use each other or have a master/servant relationship, Axel, Roxas and Xion are friends but I don't class them as the bad guys just put into the circumstances of the antagonists. You can see it with Lea and Isa as well, they were really close friends it seems but then that died when they both became nobodies and joined the organisation.

    Anyway, back to the idea of Sora and Riku, I think that he is just closer to Riku since they grew up together (Kairi arrived when they were about 5 I think so not much difference but still) but it could also be said that Riku has feelings for Kairi as they sort of fight over her at the start of KH1- the paopu fruit, I always assumed it to be a romantic gesture but it doesn't have to be- it's a friendship thing, they want to be in each others lives forever so make their destinies intertwined. Sora and Riku never even mention wanting to share one with the other.

    But these are all just various ideas, canonically you can't say anything at the current moment but everyone takes the evidence in front of them and sees it in a different perspective.
     
  16. Labrys King's Apprentice

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    Ok so befor I state my opinion, let's think for a moment here. If you were a guy and you reunited with your closest friend, would you bend on your knees and cry for him? Cause honestly even if they were really close (Like brothers), never in my life will I believe to ever see two straight guys reuniting while crying. (Unless its like sonething pretty traumatic) But it's basically a "How you see it" situation.
     
  17. Nowaki Destiny Islands Resident

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    Once I read that Nomura wanted to leave space for fans to interprete about the different relationships of all characters in KH.
    We actually can't be sure wether a character is homosexuell nor heterosexuell because we do not have any proof. Also, sexuality is no main topic in the KH series, that's why we can't be sure about it.
    In my opinion, I wouldn't say that Sora has any romantic feelings for Riku. He has feelings though. I do have feelings for my friends as well, that's why I feel close to them.
    Sora is just.. this nice, naive hero who needs a girl on his side to rescue. This is cannon, you can't deny it.
    But for Riku.. I don't know. Maybe he has feelings for Sora, which are beyond an ordinary friendship. As he accept his inner darkness and does everything in his might to bring Sora back to live (Com, Days). But he could also see Sora only as a younger brother. I don't think about it that much.

    But when it comes to Axel and Roxas, I'm convinced of their romantical feelings for each other. Axel and Roxas are not the topic here, so I don't want to expand this by now.
     
  18. ShibuyaGato Transformation

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    In response to the whole "boys don't cry" issue, let's go back to Birth by Sleep, shall we? When Sora accepts Ven's heart, we see him shed a tear. Some might argue that this is just because he's young and thinking about anyone being sad would make him sad, or because their hearts are connected so it's really Ven's tear. However, I see it as a preview that Sora is the kind of person who will get emotional easily. We've seen him become friendly with almost everyone he meets instantly, and he strives to protect these friends despite their recent meeting. Imagine what he would do -- and has done -- to protect his childhood friends. We've seen him do his best to protect both Riku and Kairi, and we've seen his reactions to the mere thought of failure. In that respect, his reaction is justified. Sora is not only an innocent soul, but he's also quite childish. Sure he'd done some growing up between KH1 and KH2, but the fact remains that throughout the entirety of the game he'd simply been trying to convince himself that Riku was alive and helping them. Sure Goofy tried to make him feel better and reassure him, but Donald had questioned whether it was even possible at certain points.

    tl;dr ~ Of course Sora would cry. He knew Kairi was safe, but he never could've imagined that Riku was alive and well, let alone a clone of the man who'd once taken his body from him. That doesn't mean anything in regards to romantic relationships though. As has been stated, Nomura leaves that all open for the fans to explore.
     
  19. . : tale_wind Ice to see you!

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    Well, like several others have already said, Sora and Riku did go through something pretty traumatic. Riku's been missing for a whole year, and as far as Sora knows, trapped in the Realm of Darkness with thousands upon thousands of Heartless all that time. For all Sora knows, Riku could have died.

    On another note, as far as I've seen, it seems like it's not so culturally taboo for men to be emotional in Japan, at least. I think the whole macho-stoic-ridiculousness is more western.
     
  20. Loxare Hollow Bastion Committee

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    And even that is starting to move on it's way. Sure, plenty of people will still say that it's unmanly to cry, but there are plenty of other people who say "who cares?" It'll probably eventually end up being "men don't cry often, but it's fine if they do".

    The games really do focus on the relationship between Sora and Riku far more than they do Sora and Kairi. Even in KHII, it wasn't Kairi who was stranded on the beach in the darkness, probably for the rest of their lives, it was Riku. Sure, Kairi's letter showed them the way home, but if that hadn't shown up, Riku and Sora would still be on the beach. Either dead (lack of food and non-salt water) or getting reeeeeeeeally bored. Enter fanfic.

    I think Kairi is the equivalent of the Disney princess. At home on her island, waiting for Sora to get back and ready to greet him when he does. Kind of like Sleeping Beauty, but way less useless. Riku is kind of like the fairies (I guess?). He will travel with you and show you around, he's not the one for you, but he is still super necessary. /end bad metaphor.