✗ we're all on fire here
► F O R M S
Kingdom Hearts, RE: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
Riku's original appearance before he hit puberty. He keeps this outfit and this general appearance throughout Kingdom Hearts and throughout Re: Chain of Memories. Despite obtaining his "Dark Form", Riku can switch back and forth between this appearance and his other form quite easily, it just depends on how much Darkness he's using.
Kingdom Hearts, Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
Obtained due to the Darkness of Xehanort's Heartless in Riku's heart. In Kingdom Hearts and Re: Chain of Memories, Riku can switch back and forth from his normal clothes to this Dark Form whenever he embraced the Darkness within him, giving him a sudden power boost as well. This form isn't present in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days or in Kingdom Hearts 2
Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts 2
After Riku gave into the Darkness in Kingdom Hearts, Ansem took over his body and, thusly, used his Darkness to create a solid form of his original body, effectively transforming Riku's. While he regained his body at the end of Kingdom Hearts, during the end of Kingdom Heart: 358/2 Days, Riku gave into his Darkness again in order to defeat Roxas, thus trapping himself in Ansem's body until Ansem the Wise's data machine erupted, effectively frying the Heartless inside of him and pushing back the Darkness again.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts 2
While not a "form" per say, in the majority of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts 2, Riku donned the cloak he'd received from DiZ in order to traverse the Darkness. In Days it was mainly used to keep his identity a secret from the Organization (since he'd had a run-in with them in Castle Oblivion) and in Kingdom Hearts 2 it was used to keep his identity a secret from Sora, both so the boy would get stronger trying to look for him and so his best friend wouldn't know that he'd become stuck in Ansem's form... again.
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts 2, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
This is Riku's true appearance after he ages both in Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and in Kingdom Hearts 2. Its relatively simple, just his street clothes, but it is important to note that the wrap around his left wrist is actually a loose brace of bandages. He'll probably always keep that wrist wrapped since he suffered a pretty bad hit there back when he fought Roxas at the skyscraper. Since the bandages are present both in Kingdom Hearts 2 and one year later in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep its simple to deduce that his wrist never really healed right.
► M A G I C
Dark Firaga
A simple Firaga spell with a bit of Darkness thrown into it. It has the nasty ability to follow you around, and burns like all heck. Its able to be dodged at close range (to avoid it from following you) and if it does latch on, just run around until its exhausted. He tends to throw it as a response to magic attacks, and is one of the three spells he has moderate mastery over.
Dark Shield
This is, probably, Riku's strongest and most reliable magic. By raising his hand in front of him, he can summon a shield made out of nearly transparent purple hexagons. The shield is almost unbreakable if he has the right time, mana, and concentration while he makes it. It can block attacks and repel magic. Its normally rectangle in shape, protecting his head and torso, but leaving his legs open. It can't really change shape or extend all that much, and moves with his hand. It also doesn't stay up forever, instead forming just as he recognizes an attack and remaining raised for a short while after. If his enemy strikes the shield a second time, he normally takes advantage of the weapon recoil in order to perform a strong counterattack.
Cure Potion
A spell that came out of nowhere, seeing as he never heals himself in KH1, Re: CoM, or Days, this is a spell that acts very similar to Cure. However, instead of focusing on a single target, whenever he executes it, he can cure the entire party. He rarely uses it, and the results are varied. If you're too far away, he can't Cure you, and more often than not... its not all that effective. After all, his skill in magic is... a bit lacking.
Now, its important to note that while Riku has these three spells under his... "command", he didn't stop at three by choice. Riku sucks at magic. Maybe its a result of his nearly uncanny resistance to it, but no matter what he can't seem to wrap his mind around it. In Kingdom Hearts he seems to display mastery over magic, but that could merely be because of Xehanort's Heartless forcibly unlocking those little reservoirs in order to power him up a bit. In Re: Chain of Memories he can't use magic cards. At all. No fire, no cure, and definitely no other classes of magic. He just... can't use the cards. And in Days, his weakest stat is magic. While you can get him to fire off other spells while in Mission Mode, the results of them are just sad in comparison to characters such as, say, Roxas.
In Kingdom Hearts 2, he seems to be powered up a bit as far as magic goes. He still has that nasty Dark Firaga he's had since the beginning, and that annoying shield you had to fight against as Roxas, but in addition to that he seems to have gained access to a Cure Potion spell. Given his previous inability to use magic, I see that as the creators trying their best to make him the strongest assistance character in the game, seeing as his Cure Potion can heal every member of the party. Seeing as that's so, I will forever have him fail at using magic. He may have a bit of a Cure spell, but its not actually Cure, and as such the results will be varied and, as a whole, ineffective in comparison to a mastered Curaga, Cura, or even Cure. Its a personal preference as a player, but not purely headcanon. After all, he couldn't use magic at all in Re: Chain of Memories.
► A T T A C K S / A B I L I T I E S
Strike Raid
Kingdom Hearts
Hurls his keyblade at the target in a boomerang fashion, dealing damage and causing the enemy to recoil slightly.
Dark Aura
Kingdom Hearts
Through a series of lunges and the use of Dark Portals, Riku begins to lunge forward and stab his keyblade at an enemy. During this he appears to "fly". Its a hard attack to dodge, considering he can attack a large area over a short span of time. Its finished by a single stab to the ground, sending out a large shockwave of energy that harms anyone nearby.
Dark Break
Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
Leap into the air and attack enemies from above. (
+
+
[5-15])
Dark Aura
Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
His signature attack, it consists of multiple lunges only this time, when he stabs his keyblade into the ground as a finisher, it erupts into a column of light that confuses the enemy. (
+
+
[27])
Impulse
Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
Knock foes into the air before slamming them to the ground, damaging anyone in the area.
Maelstrom
Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
A spinning attack concentrated on one enemy.
Barrage
Re: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth
His name for Strike Raid, its simply hurling his weapon towards an enemy and then resummoning it back to his hand.
Vitality Surge
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Gain a boost in strength when your HP is full.
Vitality Barrier
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Take 1/3 the damage when your HP is full.
Alive 'n' Kicking
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Attack enemies when your HP is full and they will always stagger.
Anti-Fire 100%
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Makes it impossible for your enemies to ignite you. (Also applies to being frozen and knocked into the air with Blizzaga and Aeroga)
Dark Break
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
"Teleports" to the enemy's position, slamming his keyblade into the ground and sending out shockwaves.
Limit: Darkstrom
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
His keyblade begins to glow and lengthens before he speeds around the screen performing a series of lunges very reminiscent of Sora's Sonic Blade attack. He finishes it up by slashing the opponent wildly with his enpowered weapon, dealing massive amounts of damage.
Basic Abilities
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
The basics of the Kingdom Hearts world, as far as abilities go:
Dodge Roll, Auto-Dodge, Block, Auto-Block, Glide, Rocket Glide, Air Slide, Air Rush, Sliding Dash, Aerial Recovery, Haste, High Jump
Dark Aura
Kingdom Hearts 2
Its a bit different now that he's lost the majority of his Dark Powers. Instead of lunging, Riku's tweaked this attack in order to fire multiple Dark Orbs at an enemy. Often used as a reaction command after someone he's fighting with finishes a combo.
Item Boost
Kingdom Hearts 2
Boosts the effectiveness of healing items like Potions.
MP Hastega
Kingdom Hearts 2
MP recovery rate is greatly increased.
Defender
Kingdom Hearts 2
Increases defense when HP is critical.
Second Chance
Kingdom Hearts 2
Ensures taht 1HP is retained when hit with a critical attack that would otherwise kill him.
Once More
Kingdom Hearts 2
Ensures that 1 HP will remain after being hit with a combo attack that would otherwise kill him.
Hyper Healing
Kingdom Hearts 2
Quicky revives a fallen party member and restores their HP, probably through his unused MP, although there is no MP drain in game.
Limit: Session
Kingdom Hearts 2
By working side by side with the keybearer he's fighting with, this limit starts off with the two working together in order to perform a variety of physical combo attacks and jabs. This is made easier by a simple linking of arms to keep up momentum and to ensure that their timing and cooperation keeps up. Afterwards, Last Saber stars up, which is merely another series of different jabs. Dark Canon can also be used in order to launch a series of fireballs at the target. After that, Master Hearts starts up, which consists of a series of long-range slashes, most of which are only executable with linked arms and close contact to ensure that timing is kept up. After that, the two keybearers use a Birth by Sleep-esque attack and summon multiple blades of light in an attack Riku's dubbed XIII Blades.These blades swing around and deal damage to any enemies surrounding them. Finally, All's End is used, in which the keyblades are thrown into the air, creating a magnera spell through the Dark and Light beams shooting out of the keyblades. Enemies are drawn in and massive amounts of damage are dealt.