Kingdom Hearts is a beloved series with a twisting and sometimes confusing timeline. Even dedicated fans can sometimes struggle to keep up thanks to a branching storyline that spans many years and as many different consoles. But if there’s one constant in the series, it’s Sora. Though he isn’t always the main character, the story even in prologue games like Birth By Sleep always leads back to Sora somehow. That’s why it’s surprising to know there are some deep cut facts that even dedicated Kingdom Hearts fans might not know about Sora.
Videos by ComicBook.com
10. Sora Started Out as Non-Human
This earns the bottom spot on the list because it’s sort of an open secret at this point. A common piece of concept art trivia is that Sora was originally conceived as a half-lion figure. This design was eventually scrapped in favor of the Sora we now know and love.
Fans who’ve hunted down little-known facts before might have come across this, but it’s still a relatively obscure piece of Sora trivia.
9. He’s Kind of Obsessed with Pirates
This bit of trivia is hiding in plain sight, but was pointed out by Reddit user @Waste-Newspaper9645. Sora has a secret obsession with pirates that is never outright stated in the games, but hinted at through several details.
This includes a pirate ship in his room in the first game, along with his excitement about telling Kairi he was on a pirate ship when he sees her after so much time apart. There’s also his enthusiasm with meeting Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean world in Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3. Given his role as the series hero, it’s easy to overlook his pre-keyblade-wielding interests and hobbies like this one.
8. His Canon Weapon Selection from the Kingdom Hearts Opening
Kingdom Hearts fans no doubt remember our first choice in the original game. Players are presented with a Dream Sword, Dream Shield, and Dream Rod during the opening sequence. In the game, this determines Sora’s main stat. In our own playthroughs, we can choose based on our preferred playstyle. But subsequent games have hinted at the choice Sora himself would make, if left to his own devices.
Sora has been shown wielding the Dream Sword in a few different instances. The first is in 358/2 Days, while the second is in Kingdom Hearts 3D. In both cases, Sora wields the Dream Sword rather than the Shield or Rod. This may be in part to differentiate his combat moves from those of shield-wielder Goofy and mage Donald, but it does also imply that Sora himself would’ve picked the Dream Sword.
7. His Exact Height and Current Age
Remember the fun of flipping through a physical game manual? Well, the Kingdom Hearts manual from back in the day included details about the age of our protagonists. At the time of the first game, Sora is 14 years old. From there, timelines get a bit confusing, so it’s hard to say exactly how old he is now. However, he is most likely around 16.
As for Sora’s height, Nomura has revealed that information. The Kingdom Hearts protagonist is fairly short at roughly 5′ 3” tall. That said, from what we’ve seen from Kingdom Hearts 4, Sora has grown up a bit. So it’s possible he will be taller when he returns in the next game.
6. He Wasn’t Originally Meant to Be The Protagonist
It’s hard to imagine Kingdom Hearts without Sora now. But in interviews, it’s been confirmed that Sora wasn’t always going to be the star of the show. In early pitches for the game, Sora didn’t even exist yet.
In fact, Tetsuya Nomura has revealed in prior interviews that both Micky and Donald were considered for the main role. However, ultimately, Mickey was relegated to a smaller role as King Mickey, with Donald becoming one of Sora’s friends and sidekicks.
5. He Doesn’t Remember Meeting Tarzan
As Kingdom Hearts fans well know, Sora visits the Deep Jungle and meets Tarzan in the first game. However, this world and the character of Tarzan never appear in the subsequent games. The exact reason for this has never been officially addressed, but most fans suspect it’s related to copyright and licensing issues.
However, this has resulted in lore impacts on Sora’s memory. In later games, such as Chain of Memories, any flashbacks to his adventures in the first Kingdom Hearts don’t include Tarzan or the Deep Jungle. This essentially means that Sora has forgotten his friend Tarzan and his time there, since there are no in-game memories of this part of the first game.
4. He Almost Had a Totally Different Look in The 100 Acre Woods
In an interview with NeoGamer, the Kingdom Hearts creators revealed that they once considered giving Sora a special look in the 100 Acre Woods. Sora and his friends often change appearance to fit the world they’re in, from fish tails in Atlantis to nightmarish vibes in The Nightmare Before Christmas world. But in the Winnie the Poo storybook, Sora is just Sora.
Apparently, this wasn’t always the idea. At one point, changing his style to match the storybook vibe was a consideration for the creators. Ultimately, however, this idea was scrapped, with Sora remaining as he is.
3. He’s Actually, Technically Still a Heartless
Late game plot spoilers for the first game here, but Kingdom Hearts fans will be aware of these events. At the end of Kingdom Hearts, Sora sacrifices himself, losing his heart and ultimately becoming a Heartless. He is, of course, ultimately rescued. But this event results in the creation of his Nobody, Roxas. And while Roxas exists, Sora technically remains a Heartless.
Now that Roxas has been more or less integrated into Sora’s person, it’s a bit less clear how all of this works. After all, nothing about Sora or Kingdom Hearts really follows any clear set of rules. But, since his Nobody doesn’t not exist, Sora is essentially still a Heartless. Just one in a human body.
2. He Almost Had a Double-Edged Keyblade
Another fun, and less well-known, trivia fact comes from Kingdom Hearts 2 concept art. At one point, the team behind the franchise was considering giving Sora a double-edged Keyblade, much like what you might see from a double-edged lightsaber in Star Wars.
Ultimately, this was scrapped and replaced with the dual-wielding we see in the games. But the original concept art is still fun to look at and imagine what might have been.
1. Sora Might Only Matter Because of Who Lives Within Him
I’ll reveal a personal hot take, which is that Sora just isn’t that interesting of a character on his own. Despite being the series protagonist, Sora himself is a pretty straightforward, happy-go-lucky guy. Even the Kingdom Hearts team seems aware of this, as a great deal of plot mechanization goes into making sure Sora is relevant in every game.
Several games seem largely to exist to give Sora another reason to matter. At the start of Kingdom Hearts 2, we meet Roxas, who later plays a key role in spinoff games. As Sora’s Nobody, Roxas now dwells within Sora, making him twice as important. But that’s not all. The prologue Birth by Sleep introduces us to Ventas, who happens to look identical to Roxas. Eventually, we learn that Ventas dwells within Sora, waiting to reawaken. It may be Ventas and Roxas who were actually destined to wield the Keyblade, with Sora along for the ride due to housing their souls.
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Paramount+ -
Image courtesy of Seeker Games -
A closeup of a PlayStation 5 with a controller on top.
