Dream Drop Distance Theory For The Outcome of Dream Drop Distance *Spoilers*

(WHOO it's been a loooong time since I posted anything on here. XD)


So, the last time I posted anything on here that was relative to the series was before Birth by Sleep came out. There was a theory I had, about Ventus being "reincarnated" into Sora somehow, and that was how Roxas looked like him.
(Without sounding snotty, I was surprised I actually more or less hit the nail on the head.)

So, now here's my new theory for DDD.

Word of God states that the events happening in the series have certainly taken their toll on Sora's psyche/heart/whatever, and Anti-Form in KH II is foreshadowing that. What if the effects on Sora's mind start affecting him in this game? The premise of the game is that Sora and Riku are finally taking their Mark of Mastery exam and must do so in the realm of dreams. Riku's not too confident that he'll make it, since he still feels the darkness' hold on him, and that Sora will probably win.

But what if it was the other way around?

Because Riku has had that encounter with the darkness, he knows it far better than Sora and can control it rather well without letting it take over him like in the first game and like what happened with Terra. Sora, however, doesn't. He was a Heartless, once, but only for a few moments; it was just enough for Roxas to be born, but for Sora to retain all of his memories while Roxas gets nothing from his original self(ves?). I hardly think this could qualify has any sort of experience with the darkness.

Vanitas is definitely inside of Sora, somewhere. The recently released trailer confirms it. So, it's entirely plausible that he'll be taking some part in the game. Maybe a call-back to Ventus' final battle with him, where they battle in Sora's Dive Into the Heart. Only...Sora loses. He's battled Heartless and Nobody of epic power, beings of Darkness and Nothingness. But his own darkness? As far as I can recall, the only part of himself he's really had to fight was Roxas (unless you count the mini-battles in the first game, where he continuously has to fight his own shadow in Neverland and the bug boss in RE: coded). Chances are, Vanitas has been feeding off of Sora's negative feelings throughout the series, as he's seen getting moodier and more violent in Chain of Memories and a lot more apathetic in KH II; he's just been biding his time.

Anyway, to get to the point, I think that either Vanitas or Sora's own ignorance with the effects of the darkness will sabotage him, and he will not receive the Mark of Mastery. As we've already witnessed in Birth by Sleep, when one friend receives the Mark of Mastery and the other does not, things tend to...get complicated. Who's to say it won't happen again with these two?

That being said, it's also entirely possible that they might meet Ventus in the realm of dreams. Vanitas showed up, so there's a chance Ventus might, too. (And if he does, I'm willing to bet he'll initially believe Sora is Vanitas and want to fight. If not in this game, then in a future game when they find him in Castle Oblivion.)

Any thoughts?

 

Okay, this theory is awesome.

I fully agree with everything you've said here, and since on the Japanese Dream Drop Distance box art it looks like Sora's falling, and his eyes are closed, that seems to be a great significance that he's falling into something. Maybe it correlates with the trailer where Riku sees a bunch of Sora falling from the sky, or maybe you could be right - really, besides Kairi, Namine, Mickey, and all of the residents of Disney Castle, Sora is the only character in the series who hasn't had a serious bout with his inner darkness.

Riku already conquered his, and so he has better control over it, I fully believe that he won't succumb to it a second time - and he's at the point where his darkness only makes him stronger because he utilizes it properly, rather than abuses it like Maleficent or Organization XIII.

As for Sora, as you said, Vanitas has been inside him all of this time because of Ven's heart that's still hanging out inside Sora. They're not directly connected, but through Ven they are, and since Master Xehanort extracted what little darkness Ven did have, and created Vanitas, a being who is fully made of darkness, he's hanging out in Sora too.

I'm actually pretty excited at this thought, I've always wanted to see Sora fall - he's very naive, and has a strong sense of justice, but the only time he showed hesitation was when Saix told him that defeating the Heartless with the Keyblade was feeding Kingdom Hearts - which Organization XIII was going to use to regain their own hearts. But the thing about Kingdom Hearts is that it's light, and nothing else, and I believe that just as it destroyed Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, it would have done off all of the members of the organization too.

Wait, what I'm I talking about? Ugh, way to go off topic . . .

Anyway, yeah, I agree with your theory.​

 

I think this is a great theory but let's be honest with ourselves, Sora is THE main character he's going to get the mark of mastery.

Now before anyone starts calling me pessimistic let me state this: I love Dark Sora stories or ones where he undergoes growth and forced to change which adds more dimension to his personality like for example, wonder why he smiles all the time? I don't think it's just because he's happy.

I love this theory and while I hope it doesn't happen I'm all for throwing curveballs at the player.

So I support/disapprove this theory.

 

But see, this is what I love about this theory, and about Tetsuya Nomura - Sora is the main character, and a very bright and filled-with-light one at that, although it's been suggested, one would think since he is the main character, it wouldn't really happen.

Look at Axel, in Chain of Memories, we thought he was a traitor to the Organization, but it turned out he was a double agent.

I love being thrown for a loop, and for a character to succumb to darkness that is all but would be an interesting play. Sora, just as many other characters, associate darkness with evil [I believe some character mentioned that in Birth By Sleep]. Aqua firmly believed that darkness corrupted people, and while it does, we all know that it can be used for good - Riku is a prime example of that. So take Sora and turn into something he fights, which is the darkness, and you're absolutely sure to have a good thing.​

 

Which is why and this is my personal Sora fanboy talking but I don't want him to get corrupted by the darkness.

But my story-telling side and writer says this NEEDS to happen as I feel Sora as much as I love him is a little two dimensional and is in SERIOUS need of some character development.

 

JustANobody HOLY **** I REMEMBER YOUUUUU. (and I really love your username now for some reason)




I really like your theory, and it seems like something that could most likely happen in the story. This is a KH game we're talking about, afterall.


Making me a bit excited with this.

 

Terra was also the main character and not only did he NOT get the Mark of Mastery, he also fell to the darkness and was Grand Theft Me'd (see tvtropes for unusual terms). Of course, this was absolutely necessary, as it set the rest of the KH plot into motion. Nevertheless, just because a character is THE main character of a series doesn't mean that nothing bad won't happen to them nor will it mean they won't ever turn to the dark side. I personally think this will be an even greater and more unexpected turn for the plot as it's most likely what will set up the path to KH III.

HIHIHIHIHI. And my username probably looks awesome now because it hasn't been seen in FOREVER. XD

Anyway, to add onto my theory, Nomura likes to add a load of symbolism in a LOT of the most ambiguous ways (like Oathkeeper and Oblivion - seriously, who HONESTLY thought they were symbolic for something instead of thinking they were freakin' awesome?). I think the cover art is evidence of this, as Sora is falling and Mickey is trying desperately to reach him but is just barely out of reach.

I think that there's also the possibility that Sora will be jealous of Riku (it's more or less been stated that Sora is extremely competitive with Riku [friendly rivalry, but rivalry nonetheless]) because Riku passed while Sora didn't, and he will be taken over by Vanitas (or Vanitas will somehow break free from Sora and thus leave him comatose) which will start off the events that lead into KH III. Jealousy, as we've seen countless times throughout the series, has been one of the main negative emotions that can bring down even the strongest warrior. Odds are, this will seal Sora's and Vanitas' fate.

 

In addition to the point about Terra missing out on the Mark of Mastery, I've always found it convincing that Riku was another main character, particularly after Reverse/Rebirth and now Dream Drop Distance. Kind of a "there are two main characters" type situation. Riku is, after all, the rightful wielder of the Keyblade, is he not?

Anyway, I do really love this theory and I hope that it at least partially comes to fruition. Firstly, I think the Sora/Riku relationship (not speaking yaoi-wise) is a really interesting one that they haven't explored nearly enough in the past. The scene with the two of them on the shoreline at the end of KHII was one of my favorites, simply because it was a heart to heart of sorts between them. There's a brotherhood there that is fun to see tested, especially because Riku left off saying he was jealous of Sora's confidence and righteousness--to see Sora fall would be an interesting twist for him.

Secondly, it would make the "there are 12 different Soras" thing far more tolerable. The kid has been ripped apart (Roxas, Naminé, Xion) and has some pretty dark experiences and even beings (Vanitas, Anti-Form) within him. So far, we haven't really seen him very fazed by it, which is rather unrealistic. Sora was always the cliché happy-go-lucky main character, which is fine, but I'd love to see him have a bit more depth. And with this important destiny placed before him (saving everyone), I can't see how he wouldn't be afraid of falling short or being inadequate.

 

Let's list them all, shall we?

• Roxas
• Xion
• Namine (?)
• Ventus
• Vanitas

Not to mention Kairi was in there for the majority of the first game, and if Sora's battle forms in the second count, then we also have:

• Valor Form
• Wisdom Form
• Master Form
• Final Form
• Anti-Form
• Limit Form

If you count all of that, it really is "twelve different Soras," or at least some extension of him, not including the original thing (though if you exclude Kairi and include Sora himself, it's still 12).

Which leads me up to another interesting point: I just looked up Sora's forms and came upon sudden realization. It outright states that Anti-Form is "the only form that cannot level up, and the only one that Sora cannot change back from it at will; once this form is activated, Sora is stuck in it until the Drive Gauge runs out, until he exits the battlefield, or until the battle is over." (information was stolen referenced from http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/Drive_Form )

This might be over-thinking it just a tiny bit, but what if that fact in and of itself was even more subtle foreshadowing? The fact that you not only cannot choose when to activate this Drive Form, but that you also cannot choose to deactivate it shows that the darkness has a lot firmer grip on Sora than anybody probably would've guessed up until now.

Something bad is definitely going to happen to Sora, and it's going to happen soon. I'm willing to bet my delicious Samoa Girl Scout Cookies on it. And these things are godly. You know I'm serious.

 

Naminé is, essentially, half Sora and half Kairi. She was created when Sora stabbed himself at Hollow Bastion, thus born from Kairi's heart and Sora's body & soul. Just thought I'd clarify why I counted her, lol.

I hesitate to count these two because Sora wasn't torn apart in the creation of them, he merely absorbed them. Vanitas's darkness is nonetheless present and worth mentioning, though I'm not sure if Ven will have any bearing on him (aside from influence on Roxas's creation). Kairi is similar in this, even though she existed within Sora, I'm not sure that in itself will have any effect on him.

I'm not sure these should be included either, simply because they're a result of Sora combining powers with one or more allies.

Then again, one has to wonder if it's not just the tearing apart that Sora's heart has gone through, but the numerous absorptions too, that may leave him in a vulnerable/weakened state.

 

This is all assuming every single thing that's happened to him is in play, be it Sora himself, an extension of him (that's why I counted the forms), or someone that's been absorbed into him. Even though Naminé and Kairi don't technically count, they were still somewhere in him at one point, and could (I guess?) qualify as an extension of himself...? Anyway, my point for naming who I did was that while he didn't have every single person (or Nobody, in Roxas' and Xion's cases) in his heart at once, that's still quite a lot of existences for one heart to contain.

And actually, that last bit makes quite a bit of sense. Sora's heart has gone through a great deal of stress in the last year; all fighting aside, he's had people move into his body, his heart ripped out and probably horribly corrupted...the kid's bound to crack sooner or later.

 

I really quite like this theory, but I'd like to add my own spin on it:

We've seen keyblade users who wield the power of light, and those who use the power of darkness, but as Sora said at te end of Kingdom Hearts 2, "The world is made of both light and darkness". I would be incredibly interested to see what would happen if Sora did fall into darkness, butinstead of becoming a heartless or twisted/evil, he instead used both light and darkness in conjunction, being - I believe - the first Character in the series to do so.

Thoughts?

 

Yes, but what about Riku? He weilds both light and darkness.

To be honest, I figure something like this may happen, since Sora is indeed the main character.​

 

Riku wielded both Light and Darkness, but never at the same time iirc.

 

I believe that, after Chain of Memories, he does wield both. He's in the middle, and can use powers from both sides. I don't think it's ever really explicitly stated, at any rate.

 

I agree with this. Riku, I believe, is the first and so far only character to wield both Light and Darkness. (Which is odd, if you consider Roxas and Xion. Their powers were light, as stated in Days. Blahh, confused.)

 

Considering your last theory hit it on the head, I wouldn't be suprised if this did as well. Do you have any thoughts on Axel, Roxas and Xion?

EDIT: Re-read some additional theories, as well as yours. Now I'm going to try and sum up the plot(according to Sora's case).

We have Xenahort, Xemnas, Young Xenahort(a.k.a. Mysterious Figure a la Birth By Sleep). Now IF Xenahort is reborn, in his current state(as Master Xenahort, not Terra-nort), he needs two things. A, the X-Blade, WHICH would provide Vaintas' re-birth to duke out with Ventus, AND a new body. So, with Sora comatose, he COULD take over Sora, much like Terra, which would explain Sora not receiving the Mark Of Mastery, and Vaintas. Which means.....The guy has been pulling strings, even THOUGH he was split into a Heartless and Nobody, perhaps by either his own muttled memory(which I doubt) or Braig, who could remind him, "Hey, boss man. I think we should go after that Keyslinger dude. Looks to a real fighter, if ya catch my drift." I made up the quote, and it certainly sounds plausible, but it could be proven wrong. Although, I did hit the Mysterious Figure to Young Xenahort relation on the head....

What about you guys? Yes? No? Maybe?

On a side note, since Namine came from Sora's heart, like Roxas did, yet Kairi's soul and body, why does she bear a resemblance(like Roxas does) to Ventus? Perhaps she has Kairi's old personality, but Ventus' looks as a girl? Just throwing a mini-theory out there.

 

This sounds plausible to me. I'm not certain if he planned to lose his heart after taking over Terra's body, simply because there would be no reason for him to and that his memories were gone (or so he said), but I think there was definitely planning on his part for his return. I don't think he very much cares what form he returns in, so long as it's full--the vessel matters not, so long as he can continue doin' his dastardly deeds.

What I'm unsure about now, though, is that in the new Dream Drop Distance trailer, there seemed to be both the old man Master Xehanort and Young Xehanort.

Entirely plausible. Blonde hair and so on. =]