| “ | Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness! | „ |
| ~ Riku |
Summary
Riku is Sora's rival and best friend as well as deuteragonist of Kingdom Hearts. A cool-headed and confident youth, he nevertheless is determined to leave the Destiny Islands and see the worlds outside of them. However, on the day he vowed to leave with Sora and Kairi, a freak storm hit that engulfed his world in darkness. Separated from his friends, Maleficent discovers his potential power and manipulates him into believing that Sora had forgotten and replaced him, stoking the inner darkness within Riku and turning him into an unwitting pawn despite his suspicions. Riku is later able to break free of the evil fairy's influence and decides to atone for his mistakes by sealing off the door to Kingdom Hearts along with King Mickey. His story did not end there, as he soon finds himself in Castle Oblivion's basement, having been guided there by Sora's heart. He takes this opportunity to continue assisting Sora from the shadows, but struggles with the darkness in his heart in spite of his attempts to embrace the light.
Powers and Stats
Tier: 4-B
Name: Riku
Origin: Kingdom Hearts
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Classification: Human, Keyblade Wielder and Master (as of Dream Drop Distance), One of the Seven Guardians of Light
Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Magic, Time Stop, Levitation, Energy Manipulation, Magnetism Manipulation, Gravity Manipulation, Afterimage Creation, Elemental Manipulation, Teleportation, Spatial Manipulation, Poison Manipulation, Healing, Forcefield Creation, Can transform to increase his stats and powers, Is able to form Links with his Dream Eaters to increase his stats and summon them into battle), Keyblade Master-level Fighter, Dream Manipulation (Can destroy nightmares as Sora's Dream Eater), Flowmotion (allows Riku to blanket his body in a purple aura that grants him easier mobility around his surrondings), Can breathe in space
Attack Potency: Solar System level (Comparable to Sora who fought toe to toe with Xemnas, Ansem, Roxas, Marluxia, Maleficent, Sephiroth, and the Lingering Will; Clashed with Lexaeus, the third-strongest member of the Organization next to Xaldin. Fought against Young Xehanort while he was possessed by his older self; meaning that Riku fought one of, if not the most powerful incarnation of Xehanort himself. Aided Sora in the defeat of Xemnas' Twilight form, who was confirmed by Nomura to be the most powerful being in the KH verse (As of KH2). Also defeated the Armored Ventus Nightmare [Essentially Sora protected by a possessed version of Ventus' Keyblade Armor] in Dream Drop Distance, likely meaning he's surpassed Sora as of then)
Speed: Massively FTL+ (Is able to hold his own and keep up against Sora, Roxas, and Twilight Xemnas; Faster than Monstro, who outpaced the Highwind in KH1 [The Highwind has shown to be capable of travering between worlds, which exist in different solar systems, in merely 130 seconds], was fast enough to react to a surrounding array of laser blasts with no way out but to constantly reflect and block the attacks along with Sora in KH2)
Lifting Strength: At least Class M+ (Riku is a powerhouse of the verse and could probably replicate any lifting feat of Sora's)
Striking Strength: Solar System Class (traded blows with Twilight Xemnas, Roxas, and Sora)
Durability: Solar System level (has taken hits from Twilight Xemnas, one of the most powerful beings in the series)
Stamina: Very high, fought a nearly endless horde of Nobodies after being injured in his fight with Twilight Xemnas, can plow through all of the enemies in Castle Oblivion without rest.
Range: Extended melee range with his Keyblade. Planetary with magic.
Standard Equipment:
Keyblade's (Soul Eater & Way to the Dawn): Through channeling one’s strength of heart, the user can summon a Keyblade to use in battle. Through use of the Keyblade, the user is granted increased strength, speed, durability, and increased magical power, as well as access to special abilities, like turning one's Keyblade into a bike or whip. Thus far, Riku has not demonstrated such special abilities, despite achieving Master status as of the events of Dream Drop Distance. His original Keyblade, Soul Eater, reflects his actions from working with Maleficent and her force's of darkness and Ansem and what he had done to countless worlds as a result of being with them. His personal and developed keyblade, Way to the Dawn, reflects his atonement for his past actions and thus provides a balanced boost to physical attacks and magic.
Intelligence: Riku is much more calm and cool-headed than his friend Sora and is no less capable in combat. Being the first among the two to be declared a Keyblade Master (albeit while Sora's attempt was sabotaged by Xehanort), Riku is one of the most skilled fighters in the series, being able to fight evenly with Xehanort's Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, as showcased during his fight Young Xehanort, who was implied to have been possessed by his future self. Like Terra before him, Riku's connection with the Darkness allows him to use several attacks associated with it, such as Dark Splicer and Dark Aura. As a result, he's generally even faster and more powerful than Sora in combat, but is weaker defensively due to his relative lack of defensive abilities like Reflega. In addition, he bears immense guilt over his previous actions in the first and thus seeks to atone for them, a feeling that haunts him to this day and one that his opponents (such as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness) can exploit.
Weaknesses: Riku initially lacked defensive abilities like Sora's Aeroga and Reflega spells (though this was overcomed when Riku gained some of his own defensive spells such as Dark Shield and the more powerful Dark Barrier), his darkness powers are weaker when using the Way to the Dawn keyblade (but it increases his light powers in return, giving him a balance of both powers), Must be hardpressed to do use Limit Break.
Notable Attacks/Techniques:
Flowmotion
Flowmotion (フリーフローアクション Furīfurō Akushon, lit. "Freeflow Action"): An ability that appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. It allows Sora and Riku to traverse their surrounding environments with great ease when they interact with certain environmental elements. Using Flowmotion, Sora and Riku can jump off of walls, grind rails, leap great heights, and dynamically attack opponents.
When Sora and Riku use Flowmotion, they are enveloped in a violet aura, and they are sometimes accompanied by two orbiting lights of the same color, that trail light behind them.
<tabber widths=400>
|-|Keyblade Techniques=
- Dark Aura: Riku charges up the darkness in his heart, and zips around at extreme speeds, impaling his opponent when he collides with them. After colliding with them several times, he finishes by generating a huge pillar of dark energy.
- Dark Break: Riku leaps into the air and dive-bombs the enemy multiple times, generating shockwaves of darkness with each impact.
- Dark Mode: Riku taps into the darkness in his heart and physically manifests it as a suit that he wears. His strength, speed, magical power, and durability are all exponentially increased in this state, allowing him to strike down the likes of Lexaeus in one hit.
- Dark Roll: Riku transforms into a sphere of darkness and moves to another direction in a fast pace before turning back into his human form. Dodging while in this state makes Riku impervious to attacks.
- Dark Splicer: Riku stops time around every enemy in his range and rapidly warps around while attacking the opponent. When time begins to flow again, the affected enemies are dealt sequential damage in rapid succession.
- Darkstorm: Riku's Limit Break. Riku performs a series of dashes's within strands of darkness and attacks enemies that are in his way. Riku's weapon is then transformed into a sword of light to attack enemies with, dealing further physical and light magic damage.
- Zantetsuken: Riku brings his blade back before unleashing an impossibly fast strike that deals massive damage to all foes in range.
|-|Magic=
- Blizzard: Fires a large chunck of ice that can rip through the target and potentially hit multiple targets.
- Cure: Restores some of his health.
- Dark Barrier: Riku generates a dark version of the usual Barrier spell to defend against attacks from all directions.
- Dark Firaga: Riku shoots an orb of dark fire that splits into multiple separate orbs and homes in on the opponent.
- Dark Shield: Riku projects a shield of darkness in front of him to protect himself and others from incoming attacks.
- Fire: Launches a ball of fire at a target.
- Stop: Riku stops time around all foes in a certain area, allowing him to attack them as he pleases.
- Thunder: Riku summons thunder from the air in order to strike multiple foes.
Note: Like Sora, Riku doesn't have all of the abilities shown here on his page at one time as he has different abilities throughout the series (again, like Sora).
For example, Riku had access to more spells and attacks than compared to his KH1 and 2 incarnation like stop, blizzard, fire, and thunder as well as cure. But in the previous games, he had less spells to go by than now currently (especially in KH2).
Once more like Sora, when using Riku in a VS thread, and unless it is a composite of Riku from all of the games, it is important that you note of which Riku you are using in VS threads as it makes a big difference on whoever he is up against.
Other
Notable Victories:
Notable Losses:
Inconclusive Matches: