(no subject)
[Player name] Sam
[Age] 23.
[Personal Journal] thepookybear
[Other characters currently played] Cloud Strife | Final Fantasy VII | makoinjected
[Character name] Riku
[Age] 18.
[Canon] Kingdom Hearts.
[Point in time taken from canon] Post-KH2.
[Background] RIKU
[Personality]
Confident, calm, cool, and collected are just a couple words most individuals would use to describe Riku. Riku had always been recognized in his home of Destiny Islands as one of the individuals most looked up to for his athletic skills and ability to seem more as a 'leader' than when it came to other individuals. Just as any boy his age, Riku was extremely confident in himself -- perhaps to a fault when it came to the beginning of his ( and his friends ) adventure away from their home world. He had never seen a lot of things as an impossible challenge, because he truthfully thought there was nothing he couldn't overcome. Much like a child who had something to prove, he told himself he feared nothing and came to believe that in his heart. Even if it was a lie. As did many of his friends who he had found himself the center of when it came to the children who used to play on the Islands when they weren't having to go to school on the mainland. When most of his friends seemed to run into things without thinking, Riku had a tendency of weighing out some decisions and when it came to sparring with his friends such as Tidus, Wakka, or Sora -- it was almost next to impossible to beat him.
When he was standing next to Sora, their personalities were different in almost aspect; where Sora was more extroverted, Riku had the tendency of being more reserved. As it goes, whenever the two of them were together, Riku seemed to get better at being 'friendly' then most would expect him to be. For the most part, he was just like any of the island boys. All of them seemed to have a competitive streak when it came to getting a chance to have bragging rights on who was the strongest on the island they all used to play at. This competitive part of his personality would undoubtedly be one of the many things that would contribute to his fall into darkness later on in his life.
A curious boy; when it boiled down to it. Riku's most well-known personality attribute was needing to journey into the unknown. It's debatable whether it's selfish or selfless of him to be willing to do anything to find the answers that burned themselves into his mind, from 'what is out there' to 'why were they on Destiny Islands', Riku hadn't exactly been the type of individual to allow answers to remain open like that. As soon as Riku's curiosity is sparked, if left to cultivate, the need to investigate and get an answer becomes an obsession for him. As it was when it came to being on Destiny Island without a chance to leave and explore ( before the world fell into darkness ).
When it comes to childhood dreams or goals, Riku isn't the type to skitter around the hard facts or decisions. Even if they are the wrong decisions. Riku has never made a decision that he has ever second guessed. Even when it was clear that it was a decision that would lead him down the wrong path, he has had the tendency of being stubborn enough to ignore reasonable arguments from people around him. The teenager also has the attribute of being incredibly observant where others fail to see what is right in front of their faces -- especially when it comes to his friend Sora; as he is able to gauge his feelings for Kairi just as much as he's able to tell whether or not what move he would make early on in their lives. But this was an attribute that has failed him from time to time when it had come to the more important things, such as when it was evident that accepting darkness into his heart was not a good thing.
During the events where he began to sink deeper and deeper into darkness, the darker sides of his personality were exploited more by the people he surrounded himself with. Namely the witch Maleficent, who had taken upon herself to lead him astray into darkness. The witch namely exploited the teen's confidence in himself, something that turned into jealously whenever he was compared to Sora and his friends. Or whenever he observed Sora and his friends fighting those aligned with the Heartless. His jealously when it came to Sora finally reached the tipping point when it came to Riku discovering that Sora had the keyblade. By that point, Riku had moved past anything most people would see as a reasonable stage of friendly rivalry in lieu of something much darker than his former best friend could ever see Riku falling into, a rage that almost rivaled the dark heart of Maleficent. It blinded Riku from the truth until it was too late for him and he was consumed by the darkness in his heart.
His growth into the person he is today happened almost immediately after he was lost into darkness, finding his way to Castle Oblivion. Riku's quest to find answers for himself only left him with a very blunt, honest realization: that he had allowed his heart to grow weak. Riku tends to have a quick learning curve when he wants to accept his failures more than his successes. His first way of thinking when it came to the darkness within him was to shy away from it, but once darkness is in someone's heart -- it will never go away. Instead of running away from his past and mistakes, Riku accepted it as a part of him. He possibly has more self-awareness than Sora does when it comes to most things. Riku accepted that he had made mistakes and thought it best to put the past behind him otherwise he would never go on and was likely to repeat history all over again.
Riku carries with him a tremendous amount of guilt and regret for the things he has done in the past. Something that has taken him years to forgive himself for, but it really just started with knowing his friends had forgiven him. Riku's strength stems from one thing and one thing only: his friends. Even when they weren't together, he had always been loyal and protective of Sora and Kairi. Most of the things in their most recent adventure would not have happened if not for Riku working behind the scenes to help his friends. Over time, Riku had changed from the boy on Destiny Island to the person he is today upon his reunion with Sora and Kairi. Half of that is because of the darkness, but the majority of it has to deal with the love he has for his friends and the consist need to prove himself someone who isn't still filled with darkness in his heart.
[Abilities]
From the beginning, Riku has always been an adept fighter. When he was growing up on the island, he was always remarked as the strongest among his friends and it was clear whenever he and Sora went head-to-head that his strength and agility was on another level. Something that turned his confidence into arrogance when it came to his personality and became one of his short-comings later on in life. Originally, Riku had no abilities outside of his fighting abilities. It wasn't until later on, through the powers of darkness, that he gained the powers that he would grow to learn to manipulate but only after they manipulated him.
Riku was originally meant to be the keyblade wielder from his world. Because of that he has his own keyblade and the ability to gain new keyblades; much like Sora and Roxas. Riku also has the ability to wield dual keyblades. Something that was only witnessed once when he summoned two keyblades at once. For the majority of the series, Riku's strength comes from the darkness which inhibits his control over his own keyblade. While he was supposed to have his own keyblade the entire time when his world plunged into darkness -- the darkness in his heart made it so it was almost impossible for him to wield a keyblade.
Previously in his life, Riku had the ability to control Heartless and darkness. Though this was a double-edged sword for him and inevitably he lost himself to this darkness. Until recently, he still manipulated the darkness in his heart to help his friends when they needed it. Even if they didn't know that he was the one helping them. Riku has spent most of his teenage life within the darkness and using it to his advantages since darkness in ones heart is something of a permanent fixture there. With the power to control the darkness, Riku could use it to transport between worlds along with many other fighting skills. Riku continues to display amazing agility and strength, even more so then Sora. Even after he doesn't have to keep hidden within darkness; Riku's abilities are still based within the darkness he has spent his life trying to run away from has been the place he gains his strength from. He still has his powers over darkness with his Dark Aura, which extends to Dark Firaga, Dark Shield, and other things aside from that; that just make him even more than a force to be reckoned with and a powerful ally for Sora.
[Other important stuff]
Nope.
[Sample post]
[First Person]
What do you think of your home world?
I didn't appreciate it as much as I think I should have. Sure, it was small. The only thing we ever did there was play pretend when we weren't going to school. But even...I didn't appreciate what I had. It's better than most worlds out there. At least some of the ones I've seen. I didn't get a lot of time to spend in my home world after everything that happened though, I'm not sure if it's the exact same place as I remember it to be.
What is more important to you: having friends or living on your own? Why?
I've already tried to live on my own thing. It didn't exactly go the way I thought it would, so...my friends are the most important thing to me. It's not a cop out answer. There wasn't anything that ever came out of doing things on my own.
Do you prefer adventure or the peaceful life?
Adventure. Even after everything, I don't think I'm ready for...the peaceful life just yet. There's still so much more I can do in this life that just sitting on the sidelines while I know Sora and those two numbskulls are running around doing something that they'll be remembered by. Maybe when I'm older I'll want to have a more peaceful life. Maybe when we know for sure if darkness wasn't going to be threatening the world, but until then...the life I prefer is the one of adventure. I'll tell you if I change my mind.
Would you consider yourself a hero or a villain? Why? Neither is an option as well, but still tell why.
Villain. I know Sora and Kairi might say hero. But I don't see myself that way, not like they do. I've done too much to consider myself a hero. Heroes don't let themselves be taken over by darkness, no matter how much you tried to spin it. They don't just ignore their friends while they try to reason with them that they're making the wrong decisions. I know now that I've made the wrong decisions and that I learned from my mistakes. But I can't see myself as a hero until I've righted all the wrongs I've done in the past or until I feel like I have.
Do you stand up against authority, go against all odds, and if you could, pierce the heavens with your fighting spirit? If not, would you if you could?
What kind of...question is that? If you're saying that I stand against the forces of darkness and stuff like that -- then I do. I'll leave the piercing heaven with my fighting spirit to Sora. I'm not saying that I don't have fighting spirit. I'm just as good as Sora is. Actually, yeah. You know, if it came to it I would be able to do that. I know it. If it's something I believe in a lot than there's no reason why I shouldn't, right?
What were you doing before now?
You know, those awkward really quiet family meals? I think I was having one of those after me and Sora just got back to the mainland. Before that, we just got back to Destiny Island through the land of darkness. After the fight with Xemnas, I guess it took a lot longer to get home than I thought it would. But I still made it back, that's what counts. For now, at least.
[Third Person]
He had half-expected to open his eyes and be faced with yet more darkness, rather than the light. Even the time he was spending on the island it seemed almost too bright for him. Riku didn't want to seem guilty for the things he had done, but he was. His friends knew he was as well. Sora and Kairi took time out of their day to try and make him realize that he wasn't the person who he was before. His heart had become stronger than he thought it was. It was the strongest it'd been in years even because of the things he had been through. In the past, he would have said he only had himself to thank for the strength he now had. But that was a lie. His strength came from his friends. From Sora, Kairi, King Mickey. He wasn't exactly looking to add the other two just yet, but from what Sora explained and what Riku observed when he was helping the trio was that they were more loyal at the times that Riku was absent from Sora's life. Something he would eventually have to thank them for. If they ever came back to the Islands. he didn't know if he should doubt the strength of their friendship with Sora or not. But he knew that there was a lot more that he had missed then he wanted to admit. It was just a matter of getting a chance of making sure that when Sora needed someone's help again -- if that ever came up.
For Sora's sake, he hoped it didn't. After all, they finally were given a chance to have the lives that they deserved. Normal ones. No sign of Heartless, Dusks, Nobodies. Nothing.
The teen was half-expecting through the night for the world to be engulfed with darkness once again. But nothing happened; he didn't end up sleeping. School was something of an unexpected reunion for him. Wakka. Tidus. Even Selphie. They all seemed so happy that the duo had returned but it wasn't something he was really used too. But he played it off just fine. It wasn't until after school that Riku had discovered that going to Destiny Island was a 'kid' thing. But still, he rowed out after school. Finding the Island was what his primary focus was in life, it was the only place that had been on his mind for the time he was away that he couldn't just stop going because it was a 'kid thing'. Riku ended up sitting on the smaller island, on the crooked palm tree as he took in a deep breath and allowed the sea breeze to hit his face. Oddly enough, the raft that had been the way they were going to escape the Island was still there. Someone must have taken it ashore as it seemed like it was collecting dust in the tree house. The secret place had been overrun by plants and he was pretty sure a family of sea gulls. Everything was different. Everyone was different.
He knew he was.
Dwelling wouldn't help any situation. For the time being he just wanted to relish in the moment while he had it. Riku had lost enough to know that good things were to be enjoyed for the time they had them. That there was always going to be a chance that it was a short-lived moment and for the most part it seemed as such. Destiny Islands was only a momentary place in Riku's life that he couldn't just sit back.
The teen wanted to keep those memories more than anything else as he looked down at the Dreamberry as he stopped short of the lake edge, tucking his hand in his pocket as he ran his thumb along the screen. The insecurity he felt was growing even more within him. It didn't take long for Riku to figure out how to work this thing. The contact list included Kairi. But not Sora or any of their other friends. Anyone that mattered anyway. He saw that Roxas kid's name. Axel and Xion as well. But those were an unforeseen aspect of being there. The teen took in a deep breath before sitting down and looking on at the water. Rippling in the wind. It wasn't the same as the Island but it was still enough to remind him of the home he wasn't at anymore. Riku ran his hand down his face, taking in a deep breath.
"This is ridiculous," he sighed as he flopped back, looking up at the sky and folding his arms behind his head.
[Why do you want to play this character in Somarium?] This actually became a two way tie between Somarium and another game and where I would apply as the character. I've always favored characters with a darker side to them, rather the bubbly ones. Riku personifies what I like in the characters I play and whilst I've never played him before. I've been into the fandom for years, so I feel confident that I'll get a chance to explore the character like I haven't gotten a chance to in the past.
[Which rule was your favorite and why?] The playercest rule. Same as before. It gives people more room to plot with each other rather than hinder them by everyone playing multiple characters from one fandom.
[Any questions?] None.