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Dracozombie

Why Kairi Gets the Short End of the Stick

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First, I need to clarify the difference between  who a character is, and what a character is. Who a character is is their personality, their motives, their demeanor, etc. What a character is is their role in the story, and what purpose they serve.

 

I think that's my favorite part of this. It's important to recognize that a character in a story is inherently tied to not only itself, but how the audience interprets it, as well as the plot in which the character finds itself.

Edited by Dave

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This... is... the most beautiful thing I have read thus far concerning Kairi. The very few people who actually sympathize with her know that she's been underdeveloped character-wise but see a HUGE potential to turn that around and make her the character she deserves to be. Unfortunately, the KH team seems to be neglecting her.

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I didn't actually read it, but I can tell from the composition and length of this essay that you know what you're talking about, so props to you.

 

Haha, well, here's the abridged version.  Kairi is sweet, caring, and courageous.  Now, how does she go about demonstrating these traits within KH's narrative?  The short answer is, she can't.  When she does, it's minor in comparison to Sora and co. because she can't fight.  KH is an action series, so it's unreasonable to expect non-combatants to have an active role in things.  They dropped the ball on Kairi's non-combat abilities (her status as a Princess of Heart), but for contrast, look at Namine (memory manipulator with massive influence on the story, despite no fighting ability).

 

Pretty much, Kairi has a disproportionate amount of things happening to her instead of her making things happen, and that's because the way her role in KH has been set up means it's unreasonable for her to do much.  By nature of what her character is (normal girl or Princess of Heart), she's stuck in the sidelines, unable to achieve much impact in anything in comparison to the other characters.  But, now that Kairi has a keyblade, the narrative can finally accommodate her.  She didn't get establishment as "normal girl" or "Princess of Heart," so maybe "keyblade wielder" can give Kairi what she needs to become a truly compelling character.

Edited by Dracozombie

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