shadowsthedawn | Application @ spellbinders

OOC INFO;

NAME: Rea
AGE: 23
CONTACT:

IC INFO;

CHARACTER NAME: Riku
CANON & HISTORY: Kingdom Hearts, History
AGE: 17
CANON POINT: Post Dream Drop Distance

PERSONALITY: Riku is a character who undergoes some pretty significant development over the course of the games. When we are first introduced to him he’s very much the cool, level-headed de-facto leader of his friends. He’s smart, good looking, and naturally athletic. He gains a reputation on Destiny Island for being unbeatable and immensely popular. All of which are things you would think would make the average teenager happy, but not Riku. No, Riku has a need for adventure at the beginning, he wants desperately to get off the Island and travel, and it’s a need so strong that he ends up opening a door to darkness on his home without a second thought. He’s also highly competitive, especially when it comes to his best friend, Sora. A fact that drives Riku further and further into the darkness because he sees Sora gaining new abilities with his Keyblade, and sees that he’s making new friends with Donald and Goofy. It’s his jealousy, competitiveness, and fear of losing Sora—a fear of him and Kairi being replaced—that drives him through much of the first game. But even at this point Riku isn’t entirely selfish, in fact part of the reason why he agrees to work with Maleficent is because she agrees to help him find Kairi and restore her heart. He might feel betrayed by Sora at this point, but Kairi is still his friend and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to save her.

Kingdom Hearts basically shows what Riku can be like at his absolute lowest. What would normally be harmless, affectionate teasing directed at Sora becomes spiteful barbs about Sora not being strong enough to wield a Keyblade. What would normally have been a friendly competitive streak becomes a refusal to lose or to listen to reason. Riku is tempted by and pulled into the darkness because it promises to grant him what he wants; an escape from the Island, strength to protect those he cares about, and power.

But Riku isn’t all darkness, and neither is he all light. After he is saved by Sora from Ansem’s possession, Riku is sent on a journey to find himself again. Being trapped in the darkness actually does him a lot of good because he learns how dangerous the darkness can be and he accepts that he has made mistakes. In fact, much of Chain of Memories is Riku dealing with his guilt over the fact that he betrayed Sora and Destiny Island, and his fear of being consumed by his darkness. This guilt never completely goes away, as he is still remorseful about his actions in KHII. But he does learn to accept that his darkness is a part of him and it can be used to benefit him and his friends, just as his light can. And he does use it to benefit his friends, he allows himself to sink deeper and deeper into the darkness to gain the power that he needs to help awaken Sora in KHII.

Riku’s experiences away from Destiny Island have overall made him much humbler. He’s still smart and strong, but he no longer has a competitive drive to be the best. He’s also much fonder of his home than he had been before. Now that he knows what the other worlds hold in store he’s far more content to see the positives that the Island has to offer.

Now that we’ve had a run-through on how he changes through the games, let’s focus in on his core personality. Riku is, in a word, charismatic. He carries himself like a leader and he’s very outspoken, and willing to take on the leadership role whenever necessary. In their motely trio it is Riku who has the idea to build a raft to leave Destiny Island and Sora and Kairi agree to go along with it. And he can be funny and charming, but this is usually reserved for people Riku knows and likes. Sora is his best friend and thus is treated to great amounts of teasing, especially regarding his crush on Kairi. Riku tends to be a little more aloof with strangers or people he’s just met until he becomes more comfortable with them. He has a very take charge attitude, especially when it comes to helping people. He outright refuses to finish off Namine when DiZ orders him to and instead helps her escape with Axel.

Riku is also very intelligent and cautious. During his time working with Maleficent he shows his shrewdness by never completely trusting her even though she is able to manipulate him against Sora. And he shows the same amount of caution towards DiZ, even eventually turning on him and his plans in order to save Namine. Riku’s loyalty lies primarily in his friends and so he has no trouble using others for a time to get what he needs before renegading, especially if he comes to disagree with who he is working for.

Despite the events of the first game, Riku is incredibly loyal and willing to risk himself for his friends. During the year that Sora is asleep Riku allows his darkness to grow so that he can be strong enough to do what he needs to in order to wake his friend; which includes fighting Xion and Roxas, as well as monitoring the Nobodies and their actions. He protects and rescues Kairi on multiple occasions. He saves Namine. And during the fight against Xemnas, Riku takes a blow meant for Sora. And in Dream Drop Distance he attempts to use his abilities to mend Sora’s heart. All of this also shows how tremendously brave he is; not only does he willing put himself at risk for his friends, but he continues to battle against the darkness within himself, trying to find a balance between the light and the dark. A weaker spirit would have given up and been consumed already, but Riku refuses to give up his hold, particularly the one on his body, which Ansem repeatedly fights him for. He’s learned to accept the darkness as a part of him, but he refuses to let it define who he is.

POWERS: Like Sora and Roxas, Riku can wield a Keyblade and is very proficient with it in battle. He prefers a one-handed attack stance when fighting with only one Keyblade, as he does have the ability to wield more than one at a time. In fact, he can even borrow Keyblades from other Bearers. He has some hand-to-hand combat skill, as he’s shown being able to dispatch Xion single-handedly, but he prefers to fight with his Keyblade when he can. He has the ability to use powers from both the light and the dark, things such as spells and special attacks, while using his Keyblade. He has a Dark Mode which is a special form he can take that enhances his darkness-oriented abilities. He can also use Flowmotion, which envelopes him into a protective aura and allows him to leap up and jump down from great heights and basically allows him to use the environment around him to pull off interesting attacks. He can also ‘smell’ and detect darkness.

Note: Because his price is his Keyblade, all of Riku’s Keyblade related abilities will be lost to him in-game (spells, Dark Mode), except for his ability to borrow other’s Keyblades.

Powers lost in low frequency worlds: ability to smell darkness, ability to borrow Keyblades, ability to call on the Darkness for strength, and Flowmotion.

OTHER: He prefers warmer climates, growing up on a tropical island and all.

GAME INFO;

MAGIC ABILITY: The ability to create an invisible barrier around himself and any object or person standing next to him. When he first learns how to use it, the barrier will only surround him, but with practice it will spread outward enough to shield one other person or object immediately next to him. When surrounded by the barrier, attacks and objects will bounce off of it. But Riku and anyone else surrounded by the barrier will be unable to touch anything outside of the barrier.

If this isn’t okay, I’m fine with his barrier only shielding him.

PRICE: His Keyblade, Way to the Dawn.

ACCLIMATION: 7. Riku is used to visiting other worlds and being surrounded by different people and cultures, so none of that will be hard for him to adjust to. The major things that will be difficult for him are one: not having his Keyblade because it’s become such a huge part of his identity that he’ll struggle not being able to call upon it. And two: he’ll struggle with not having control over where he goes and the fact that he can’t return home.

SAMPLE;

LINKED SAMPLE: TDM Top Level, Log from Emp