History
Childhood
Riku grew up in Destiny Islands, a small archipelago in the middle of a vast ocean. It was a peaceful world, never wrought by catastrophe or battles between good and evil. It was merely a world where children played, went to school, and lived normal lives. However, on weekends and during summer, Destiny Islands became the children’s domain. For years the kids used and played on a small island off the coast. It is an island of obstacle courses, play grounds, and tree houses, used during the day and night and completely safe. The children were free to come and go as they pleased, and it was here that Riku made his domain. He, Sora, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka played and fought on the island, Riku emerging triumphant every time. While the five were close and spent almost every day together, Riku was never as close to Tidus, Selphie and Wakka as he was with Sora. The brunet and Riku had a rivalry of sorts, each pushing each other forward both in terms of emotional growth and in fighting ability, and while Riku never once lost to Sora, he always looked forward to their fights.
One day, only a short while after Kairi was found after a meteor shower, Sora thought he heard a monster in the Secret Place under the tree. Riku followed Sora in there to look around, secretly yearning for some sort of adventure, some break from the mundane pattern that had become his life. Ever since Kairi had appeared a question had been nagging at him. Was there something out there? Something other than this place he lived in? A distant land? Another world?
While the monster Sora had heard turned out to be just the wind, when they were leaving the place Riku glanced back, surprised to see a glimmering keyhole in what had just been solid wood.
From that day forward the question plagued at Riku’s mind until finally, it became all he could think about. Every day his mind was plagued with thoughts and dreams of another, more interesting world out there, and he became practically obsessed with finding it and getting there, escaping the world he had grown up in. It was this blind desire that opened his heart to darkness… and a desire that led to everything that happened to him, Kairi, and Sora.
A short while after Riku first saw the keyhole of their world the two boys met and befriended Kairi. For the next few years they lived a peaceful, happy life, but no matter how hard Riku tried the seed of curiosity and darkness had been planted, and he became determined to find a way, any way, to leave their home. Together, when Riku was fifteen and Sora and Kairi were fourteen, they started building a raft to attempt to sail away from the world they were in and into the next. Riku became obsessed with this idea, to the point where Kairi noticed something was strange. The night before they were supposed to leave, some unknown feeling drove Riku out of his bed and to their play island where he stood on the small island with the paopu tree, staring at the water and waiting for something to happen, like he knew it would.
The Start of a Journey
He didn’t have to wait long. Sora, urged to the island out of fear for their raft, stumbled onto where Riku was waiting. He extended a hand to him, offering to take Sora into the darkness, into another world. He stood there, hand out stretched, sinking into the darkness as Sora struggled. The last thing he felt was Sora’s reaching fingers, and then his world went dark.
He emerged to a broken world, a fragment of the Islands he had grown up on, and he assumed it was a trick of the darkness. He wandered, watching the destruction for a while, before a cloaked figure appeared behind him. Riku turned to him, watching as the cloaked figure extended his hand, and the boy couldn’t help but smirk. He would later realize this was Xehanort’s heartless come to lead him, to claim him, but at the moment he only realized it to be what he had been waiting for. He stepped into the portal the figure opened and into another world.
When he opened his eyes he was in a strange world, completely alone. He would learn later that this was Hollow Bastion, but at the time of his awakening he panicked, expecting his friends to be there. However, he wasn’t truly alone. Soon enough Maleficent approached him, sensing the hold darkness had on the boy and his unique powers as a second keyblade wielder. She used that darkness and Riku’s desperation to find and reunite with Kairi and Sora in order to manipulate the boy, dragging him deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Descent into Darkness
She took him to Traverse Town, showing Riku that Sora was stronger and had no need for him, replacing his presence with Donald and Goofy. Even when he disappeared on his friend, Sora didn’t seem to miss him, instead going about and laughing. It hurt, and Maleficent just twisted a knife in that wound, opening Riku even more to the darkness radiating around him. Riku soon gained mastery over using the darkness to travel between worlds, searching desperately for Kairi as Sora just seemed to drag on, not even truly looking for Kairi. Maleficent told Riku of Sora’s progression, twisting her words and further corrupting Riku’s heart. Finally, the boy found Kairi, but when he did she was nothing but an empty shell, a body without a heart. No matter how hard he tried or how much he begged Maleficent to help her, he couldn’t get Kairi to wake up.
It was a desperate search that led Riku to the bowels of Monstro, where Maleficent had told him a puppet with a heart had resided. Determined to find the puppet and study him, trying to figure out how an empty shell, like Kairi was now, had obtained a heart in order to save his friend. It was an added bonus that Riku could run into Sora here. However, unlike their previous meeting in Traverse Town, Riku felt only bitterness and betrayal for his one time best friend, leading him on a goose chase around Monstro, reveling in how he teased and hurt Sora along the way.
Finally, after Riku could gain nothing further from Pinocchio, he allowed Sora to catch up with him, offering a partnership of sorts. Even then, with his heart so close to being swallowed by the darkness, Riku was only thinking of his friends, of how to save Kairi and how to rekindle his friendship with Sora. He did not think his methods were questionable, instead seeing them as a necessary sacrifice in order to save Kairi’s heart. However, Sora refused his offer, shaking off the last grasp Riku had on their friendship and pushing the teen even further into the darkness. A heartless surprised them, and Riku used the distraction to open a portal back to Hollow Bastion.
Angry and hurt, Riku’s heart fell even further to the darkness inside of him, and Maleficent felt that he was ready to take those final few steps towards her side of the fight. She granted Riku the ability to control the Heartless and sent her to Captain Hook’s ship as her ambassador, suggesting that Riku take Kairi with him to show Sora once and for all who’s path was the right one. He waited for Sora on Hook’s ship, and when the boy arrived he showed Sora his power, telling him that Sora’s path was the wrong one and showing him exactly what had happened to Kairi. Angered by Sora doing nothing but call him stupid, insist that Sora’s way was the right one, that Riku had fallen to darkness. Sick of hearing what Sora had to say, he sent his one-time friend to the depths of the ship and followed Hook inside. There he informed the Pirate that Wendy was not one of the Princesses of Heart, and in a burst of recklessness he took Kairi and used the Corridor of Darkness without a vessel, putting a serious strain on his heart. Maleficent took advantage of this event, awakening the darkness within Riku, giving birth to new, stronger powers.
Ansem’s Slave
Finally Sora made it to Maleficent’s stronghold, and Riku was there to greet him, taking care of an “intruder” as he waited. Sora seemed upset with what Riku had done to the Beast, but Riku honestly couldn’t find the need to care what his former friend thought of him. Instead, he thanked Sora for delivering the keyblade to him, taking advantage of his newfound strength in order to forcefully take the blade from Sora, prompting Donald and Goofy to follow him and leaving Sora almost defenseless. It was a sweet victory for Riku, as he got what he wanted as well as making Sora feel the same betrayal he had felt what seemed like ages ago, when he had watched his friend laugh with Donald and Goofy while he traveled and fought alone.
Riku sensed Sora following him throughout the castle and decided to wait, embracing the darkness even further and altering his appearance for the fight he knew was coming. Experience told Riku that he would win, and his recent gain of power and everything “good” that had happened to him just increased that feeling. However, when he faced Sora and had not only Donald and Goofy drawn to the brunet’s side but also the keyblade he had taken from Sora, his heart wavered, and not even the darkness could keep Riku from losing.
He retreated shamefully. Angry and injured, Riku stumbled through the castle, cursing his weakness until finally, a voice spoke to him. He turned and saw a figure in the darkness, a figure that mocked his weak heart and told him that he could help Riku grow stronger, that he could fix the weakness in his heart. By this point Riku’s heart and mind had become so warped that all he could do was say yes. He handed his body over to Ansem and faded into the darkness. He was aware of what his body was doing, but for the first time in so long his mind was clear. He could see the wrongs he was committing, could see that Sora’s path was right, had always been right… but it was too late. Ansem used him as a tool, creating a dark keyblade that could open people’s hearts, using it to empower Maleficent, turning her into the puppet she had thought Riku to be. He fought Sora, loosely controlling his body as Ansem steered him, “retreating” at his loss, leaving his keyblade there for Sora to use. He watched helplessly as Sora released Kairi’s heart, becoming a heartless and providing the final piece necessary to reveal the keyhole of Hollow Bastion.
Ansem emerged as soon as Sora was gone, calling upon the Heartless in order to defeat Goofy, Donald, and Kairi, having no further use of them. However, Riku wasn’t going to tolerate that. He froze Ansem’s body, appearing before him as a glowing figure, tapping into the small amount of light still within him, telling Kairi to run, holding Ansem back while they escaped. After that he faded again, pushed back until he had no contact with the outside world anymore, falling asleep in the darkness as Ansem took full control of his body.
Riku knew what happened next through hazy flashes of Ansem’s memory, his own deductions, and what the King told him. He knew Sora and Ansem fought, that Kingdom Hearts chased the darkness out of Riku’s body, causing Ansem to retreat and leaving Riku with control of his body again. He awoke inside Kingdom Hearts just in time to grab onto the door, helping pull it shut from the inside, finally doing his part in the battle, sacrificing himself to the darkness so Sora could be in the light. However, for the first time since he began his journey, he wasn’t alone. King Mickey was with him. With four final words to Sora - Take care of her - he allowed himself to be engulfed by the darkness of Kingdom Hearts, trusting himself not to get devoured by it and trusting King Mickey’s assurance that there would always be a door to the light.
Castle Oblivion
The next time Riku was aware of himself and his surroundings, a voice was calling out to him, guiding him out of the haze he had been in, telling him he could either sleep in the mist of grey, or he could take the card that appeared in front of him and escape. He could move on with his life and attempt to fight the darkness within him. Riku took the card, smug and determined as he told the voice that the place he was in “looks like a boring place to take a nap anyway”.
Within an instant Riku was stepping into what he thought was Hollow Bastion, not realizing it was actually Castle Oblivion, a cheap imitation formed by the card he’d found in the darkness. He wandered around, taunted and mocked by that voice he’d grown accustomed to hearing. However, he soon found that the city wasn’t the same as he remembered. No matter where he went and where he searched, Riku was alone in the vast city. That is until he stumbles across Maleficent. The Maleficent of his memories taunted him, mocking his refusal of the darkness. Riku pushed himself to fight despite his fear of the darkness within him and defeated his former “mentor”, finally emerging into the true form of the place, Castle Oblivion.
Once he wandered out of Hollow Bastion, he was met with Ansem - Xehanort’s heartless. Words were exchanged. Ansem taunted Riku with the darkness, finally just stating that will take over Riku’s heart. However, King Mickey’s presence reached Riku, chasing away Ansem for the time being. However, before he retreated back into Riku’s body the Heartless unlocked the darkness in Riku’s heart, allowing the boy to have access to it if he so wished. Riku was forced to proceed through the castle, afraid of the darkness within him.
As he progressed through the floors of the castle Riku constantly struggled with the darkness inside of him, fearing its hold on him and angered that it was still there, taunting him. He soon realized he had the strange ability to “smell” the darkness on people, and while this worried him King Mickey’s presence managed to calm him and encourage him to progress. It wasn’t long before the boy was approached by Vexen, one of the Organization members. While Riku didn’t know of the Nobodies or the Organization yet, the strange mix of darkness and light in the man alerted Riku, causing him to question if Vexen was allied with the Ansem inside of him. Vexen cryptically said no, that he was with “another Ansem”. Prompted into action, Riku attempted to fight Vexen, but the scientist only used the information he gathered to create a replica of the teen, one that could wield the darkness Riku was so afraid of.
Riku was soon approached by the replica, forced to fight an actual representation of the darkness inside of him. And while Riku stubbornly refused to use the power his replica was boasting about, he managed to “defeat” the replica. However, just as he was about to deal the finishing blow, his double pushed him back with darkness, mocking Riku once more about his weakness and his cowardice before retreating. Annoyed and distressed, Riku was appealed to once again by Ansem, the heartless saying that the Riku replica was a model of what Riku could be, that his power could be so much greater if he gave into the darkness. However, Riku looked at the bitterness he had seen in the replica and used what he had seen in order to convince himself that darkness was not the answer.
However, as Riku progressed further through the castle Ansem’s grip on Riku’s heart was slowly getting stronger. As the teen battled another Organization member, Lexaeus, Ansem used a lull in the battle to pull at Riku’s heart, momentarily engulfing the teen in darkness and changing his form to that of the “Heartless Riku” he’d been back in Hollow Bastion. He quickly finished Lexaeus with the newfound strength, and Riku was pushed back into darkness, almost loosing himself. However, Mickey finds him again and pushes back Ansem, allowing Riku to emerge from the darkness again and reclaim his body and heart.
As Riku progressed through the castle, Sora’s own journey in the castle was growing to a close. Even though Riku had no idea the other boy was there, he still felt the change in the castle when Marluxia was killed. Almost instantly after the presence disappeared another Nobody approached Riku, this one introducing himself as Zexion. However, unlike the ones he had previously met, Zexion explained what was going on… at least in part. For the first time Riku knew that Sora was in the castle as well, and he had managed to find his way there due to his heart resonating with the other boy’s. He was then given a card by Zexion that would lead to Destiny Islands, and despite the darkness creeping up on him, Riku entered the next floor.
He emerged into the islands, expecting to see his home, but instead finding the land broken, as if they were being swallowed by the darkness again. It was in this barren landscape that Zexion threw all of Riku’s fears at him, making the boy meet and loose his friends as he taunted him, telling him that everything that had happened on the Islands that day had been his fault. Because Riku had seen the keyhole, because Riku had let his heart be touched by the dark when he was a child, the darkness had found its way to Destiny Islands. Zexion even went as far as disguising himself as Sora, tricking Riku and fighting him, sending the teen into the light.
As Riku sank into the light he felt himself fading away. As a being so close to darkness, the amount of light he was in was too much, and if he had been allowed to sink completely he would have been lost forever. However, just as he was starting to give up and let himself be taken away, Kairi appeared before him. She convinced him that the darkness wasn’t necessarily evil, that the power within him could be his and could be used for good. She convinced Riku that he had nothing to fear from the darkness in his heart, as it was as much a part of him as the light was. Trusting those words Riku engulfed himself in darkness and faced his fear, pushing his way out of the light and attacking Zexion, sensing now that he wasn’t truly Sora. Zexion retreated, and Riku attempted to progress further, only to be stopped in his tracks - literally - as Xehanort’s heartless seeks control of him, momentarily assuming control of his body. However, Mickey had finally found a way to Riku, appearing in a solid form this time as he beat Ansem down again.
Riku was overcome with relief that he finally had a companion in his journey, and thankfully accepted the card Mickey had brought with him. Using it, Riku found himself in Twilight Town, facing Xehanort’s Heartless again. However, this time Riku’s mind was clear and he could sense that the man in front of him wasn’t “Ansem”, for he didn’t smell of the same intense darkness. Ansem’s image faded away to reveal a very different man who introduced himself as DiZ. Riku instantly placed him as the voice that had woken him up at the beginning of his journey and demanded to know what DiZ wanted with him. The strange man only told Riku that he had to find Naminé and make that final choice between the road to light and the road of darkness.
As Riku attempted to leave Twilight Town, his replica found him again, this time armed with Riku’s memories and more free will and thought of his own. The replica was determined to fight Riku and take his place as a “real” being. However, Riku finally had control of the dark powers inside of him, and after a short fight the real Riku emerged triumphant, telling the replica that maybe their hearts would go to the same place when he vanished.
Shortly after this event Riku met Naminé in the room where Sora was sleeping. He instantly identified her as the Kairi that had appeared to him in the light. As he learned that Sora was sleeping while his true memories were returned, Riku was offered a choice. He could sleep like Sora and loose his memories of Castle Oblivion and thus seal the darkness in his heart away, or he could try and conquer it on his own. Riku refused the offer to sleep, wanting to fight on his own and saying that it was now his job to make sure Sora remained safe and recovered all his memories. The teen then moved on to the final room in the castle, meeting DiZ again and obtaining a card that would draw Ansem out of him, allowing him to face and fight that part of him. Before Riku went to fight he tried to get King Mickey to promise to destroy him if Ansem won the fight. However, Mickey refused to even let Riku finish that statement, instead assuring the teen that if that were to happen he would do everything in his power to save Riku.
Determined and thankful to have such a friend behind him, Riku proceeded, calling out Ansem and fighting him. After a long, tiring fight, Riku emerged triumphant, but still wary of the darkness inside of him. While he no longer feared it and instead wielded it as a weapon, Ansem had assured Riku that he still survived within Riku’s heart, and that he would be back.
Donning the black cloak of the organization, Riku and Mickey finally left Castle Oblivion, meeting DiZ on the outside. When asked which road Riku would take - the light or the dark - he confidently walked down the path in the middle, turning back to simply say “The Road to Dawn”. However, despite his confidence and his will to go on with Mickey by his side, Riku couldn’t deny that there was still evil festering within him. As such, he parted ways with Mickey to work with DiZ, putting on a blindfold to keep a hold on his true self.
Xion (SPOILER WARNING FOR 358/2)
Riku’s first act of business after starting his work with DiZ and Naminé was following and observing Organization 13, trying to find Sora’s Nobody. Naminé had informed them that someone had obtained some of Sora’s memories, thus slowing her progress. As Riku kept tabs on the Organization, he became alerted to three rather… different members: Axel, Roxas, and Xion. At first he was drawn to these three due to how differently they acted from the other Organization members, but as he watched them Roxas and Xion’s sometimes familiar actions peaked his curiosity.
As he watched and followed the Organization, he was constantly exposed to the darkness, and eventually it became so bad that if he ever took off his blindfold his physical appearance would change. While this gave him some additional strength, the more he took off his blindfold, the harder he found it to bind his sight again. While the blindfold didn’t actually hamper his ability to see and fight, it was always a struggle to keep the cloth over his eyes.
Finally, after a while of following the Organization members (and finally hitting a growth spurt, but that’s beside the point) Riku had his first run-in with Xion. He had followed her to the Beast’s Castle, and after a brief scuffle he pulled back her hood and pushed up the edge of his blindfold, trying to get a clear and close look at the girl. What he saw shocked him, something that was relatively hard to do at this point. Xion looked even more like Kairi than Naminé did, and as Naminé was Kairi’s Nobody… well… he hadn’t been expecting it. As Xion started to stir again, Riku told her that her keyblade was a sham, seemingly angering the girl. In a burst of sympathy for the Nobody’s plight, Riku adviced Xion to get out of the Organization. However, Xion was too angry to listen to him, and as she lashed out Riku easily knocked her out and made his escape.
He and DiZ left the Organization alone for a while to return to where Naminé was keeping Sora. When the blonde Nobody reached a stand still, saying that Xion contained memories Sora needed to wake up, Riku knew what he had to do, even though it wasn’t really sitting well with him. He started tracking the young girl again, eventually following her to Destiny Islands. He reached the Islands just as Xion was finishing a nightmare, going to the girl and coaxing her out of it. Xion soon woke up, and Riku held a conversation with her, trying to convince her to voluntarily return to Sora and return his memories so he can wake up.
However, as attached to Xion as Riku had grown, when push came to shove, he had to make sure Xion returned to Sora. Thankfully, he didn’t have to end the girl himself, instead she chose to go to her own end at Roxas’ hands. However, even then there was a part of Sora that just wouldn’t wake up, and as such Riku was finally forced to go after Roxas, who he, Naminé, and DiZ finally believed to be Sora’s Nobody.
Riku finally managed to track Roxas down in the World that Never Was, shortly after the boy left the Organization. There they fought, Riku questioning why Roxas had the keyblades and goading the boy until Riku finally got confirmation that Roxas was truly Sora’s nobody. However, Roxas was stronger than Riku, and the boy found himself in a bad situation rather quickly. With no other choice he reached for his blindfold, intent on giving into the darkness inside of him in order to win.