Symbols in Kingdom Hearts

[Zola 3,038]

Since I've talked about it, I figured I'd just go ahead and make a general topic for all of you to add to, because I like lots of ideas from lots of people.

 

Video games, like any good story, often have symbols hidden in them. Sometime's they're really obvious, and sometimes they're more subtle, hints that you don't always catch the first time. Whatever they are, they give a story depth, and extend some of it's themes beyond the story itself.

 

Kingdom Hearts has some pretty obvious ones, for the most part. Four of the more general ones that I've noticed include

• Keyblades (Keys are power. They open doors, allow you access to things you wouldn't normally)
• Roxas' zipper charm (A sideways compass rose. He's Sora's lost half, and isn't sure which direction is right at first)
• Light and Dark (The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. I was thinking about this, and wondered if it was just saying "the closer you are, the harder things will get," or if it was hinting at something more like "becoming the light itself will make it so you have no shadow," which is somewhat supported throughout the story. Do you know what I mean? Maybe both?)
• Sora's necklace (a Crown. He's the one who has been set apart, like a future king is, to open "the door." It seems to be kind of his right to be the one to open it, don't you think? )

Those are just a few off the top of my head. What other symbols have you noticed, or are there any you would like to expound upon? There are also the ones that the series itself makes into symbols, like Popsicle sticks. Mention those too, if you please!

[hatok 6,413]

Good observations, but I'll contest that last one. They've REALLY been playing up that "Sora is just an ordinary boring boy like you or me!" card lately

[Zola 3,038]

Good observations, but I'll contest that last one. They've REALLY been playing up that "Sora is just an ordinary boring boy like you or me!" card lately

 

That is true. I still wonder who that voice was at the beginning. I always fancied it was Kingdom Hearts itself, but someone was telling me it was somehow mickey the other day.

[Sora's Baby 729]

Sea Salt Ice-Cream could mean tear or sadness.

[hatok 6,413]

That is true. I still wonder who that voice was at the beginning. I always fancied it was Kingdom Hearts itself, but someone was telling me it was somehow mickey the other day.

 

That's a really stupid assumption people have made because in Re:Coded it's Mickey's voice, so for some reason a bunch of people started saying that it was his voice in KH1 as well

 

Sea Salt Ice-Cream could mean tear or sadness.

 

Or product placement

[Sora's Baby 729]

 

 

Or product placement

 

True,true.

[Rob 5,571]

That's a really stupid assumption people have made because in Re:Coded it's Mickey's voice, so for some reason a bunch of people started saying that it was his voice in KH1 as well

 

So a confirmed fact is now a stupid assumption?

[hatok 6,413]

So a confirmed fact is now a stupid assumption?

 

No? But a stupid assumption is, in fact, a stupid assumption

[Zola 3,038]

Well, I thought it was Kingdom Hearts, and later that it was possibly Ventus (though I'm not sure how he'd be so all-knowing about doors and stuff), but the idea that it was Mickey kind of confused me. I mean, how would Mickey be in such direct contact with Sora's heart, even though they've never met? Maybe through Ventus' heart somehow, but I think I'll stick with Kingdom Hearts for now.

 

Or we could just nickname the voice Nomura. For fun. That way, we're right in the end no matter what.

[Rob 5,571]

Well, I thought it was Kingdom Hearts, and later that it was possibly Ventus (though I'm not sure how he'd be so all-knowing about doors and stuff), but the idea that it was Mickey kind of confused me. I mean, how would Mickey be in such direct contact with Sora's heart, even though they've never met? Maybe through Ventus' heart somehow, but I think I'll stick with Kingdom Hearts for now.

 

Or we could just nickname the voice Nomura. For fun. That way, we're right in the end no matter what.

 

• Mysterious Voice

Nomura: It’s the King calling to Sora here. In the Dive To Heart, the King guides Sora through his dream, explaining the intentions of the adventure. When Sora acquires the Keyblade for the first time after this, and just before passing through the last door of The End of The World, Sora hears a voice reverberate in him that sounds like the King’s. It seems so that those around him can’t hear this voice, indicating the King’s speaking to Sora’s heart directly.

[Zola 3,038]

o.o What is this quote from?

[XIIISwords 1,059]

Good observations, but I'll contest that last one. They've REALLY been playing up that "Sora is just an ordinary boring boy like you or me!" card lately

 

Yep, just your boy next door with three hearts!

[hatok 6,413]

Yep, just your boy next door with three hearts!

 

More like a heart fused with a heart split into a body and fused back into the heart with a fledgling new heart and an artificial heart as well as a part of another person's heart

And some data

[WakelessDream 2,286]

Good observations, but I'll contest that last one. They've REALLY been playing up that "Sora is just an ordinary boring boy like you or me!" card lately

 

I really don't understand the logic behind the whole "he's a dull ordinary boy" thing, Sora is everything but dull and ordinary haha. Because harboring three hearts, losing and saving your friends to the darkness, going into a coma for one year, turning into a heartless and nobody, and traveling from world to world whacking things with a giant key shaped sword are all things that ordinary boys always do lol...

[hatok 6,413]

I really don't understand the logic behind the whole "he's a dull ordinary boy" thing, Sora is everything but dull and ordinary haha. Because harboring three hearts, losing and saving your friends to the darkness, going into a coma for one year, turning into a heartless and nobody, and traveling from world to world whacking things with a giant key shaped sword are all things that ordinary boys always do lol...

 

Well, you're a girl, so I guess you wouldn't know about these things, but yeah, t's pretty common

[WakelessDream 2,286]

Well, you're a girl, so I guess you wouldn't know about these things, but yeah, t's pretty common

 

Wow hatok low blow, so just because I'm a girl I'm clueless about these things haha? http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.png

No jks, I know what you meant haha.. http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png I'm sure tis pretty common indeed...

Edited October 1, 2012 by WakelessDream

[xoblivionx13 1,133]

To me the crown symbolizes power and being victorious/triumphant. So that could be why Sora wears a crown necklace and the Kingdom Key has crown shaped teeth. Sora also stands on a crown outline when locking the worlds in KH2. But here's a bunch my friend and I found one day when we wondered what really goes on in KH

• The Nobody symbol: when turned upside down it looks like half a heart but turns into pointed edges as it goes lower. Maybe it resembles the Nobodies' fake, rigid shell of portraying emotions they supposedly can't feel. But I noticed it also looks a lot like Terra's symbol on his chest...perhaps that ties into it somehow since Xehanort did take over his body and his Nobody started Organization XIII.
• The little key that appears on the command deck: looks like a skeleton key, which can open any lock.
• Stars are a big one I noticed too: The paopu fruit, Wayfinders, worlds. Since these objects are usually associated with friendship, I think it shows the bond friends have, especially when far away.
• Oh and Master Eraqus's name is an anagram for square....lol Square Enix.

[Rob 5,571]

o.o What is this quote from?

 

KH1 interview

[Zola 3,038]

To me the crown symbolizes power and being victorious/triumphant. So that could be why Sora wears a crown necklace and the Kingdom Key has crown shaped teeth. Sora also stands on a crown outline when locking the worlds in KH2. But here's a bunch my friend and I found one day when we wondered what really goes on in KH

• The Nobody symbol: when turned upside down it looks like half a heart but turns into pointed edges as it goes lower. Maybe it resembles the Nobodies' fake, rigid shell of portraying emotions they supposedly can't feel. But I noticed it also looks a lot like Terra's symbol on his chest...perhaps that ties into it somehow since Xehanort did take over his body and his Nobody started Organization XIII.

Yeah! That is a good interpretation of the nobody symbol. Empty, upside down, jagged, dented, but still a heart.

 

X is one of the pretty dominant themes lately, too. You can see it everywhere from the very beginning, but it has only recently made it's debut X works in multiple ways, I think. X marks the spot (keeping track of something), or crossing something out, like the heartless symbol, an ending. There's also the little two-things-crossed way of thinking of X, which ties into light versus dark.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Zola

[xoblivionx13 1,133]

Yeah! That is a good interpretation of the nobody symbol. Empty, upside down, jagged, dented, but still a heart.

 

X is one of the pretty dominant themes lately, too. You can see it everywhere from the very beginning, but it has only recently made it's debut X works in multiple ways, I think. X marks the spot (keeping track of something), or crossing something out, like the heartless symbol, an ending. There's also the little two-things-crossed way of thinking of X, which ties into light versus dark.

 

I've noticed that recently as well.....then there's the number 13 always trolling around. It probably also ties to Xehanort and his obsession with the x-blade. Think about it....he created an Organization of 13 poeple with an X scrambled in their name, was the mastermind behind creating the x-blade which is 2 Keyblades crossing each other (Ven's light and Vanitas's dark clashing), put the Recusant's symbol on Sora's clothes.....I'm sure there's more but I can' think of them right now O__o

 

The Heartless, to me, show the result of someone losing their identity. Sora, Kairi, Riku....all those guys in a way almost lost their hearts completely (some ven becoming Heartless or a shell) but were able to hold on to it and keep it safe, always looking to friendship as their guide. I think the Heartless, even the Nobodies, remind us of the constant darkness lurking in our hearts that we must protect, nor lose or forget the friendship and light we hold dear.

 

I just noticed this too....this game follows a lot of fairy tale plots. Sora has to be the prince/night that saves his true love from a dragon who lives in an evil castle in KH1.....mindblown

Edited October 2, 2012 by xoblivionx13

[Zola 3,038]

.....then there's the number 13 always trolling around. It probably also ties to Xehanort and his obsession with the x-blade. Think about it....he created an Organization of 13 poeple with an X scrambled in their name, was the mastermind behind creating the x-blade which is 2 Keyblades crossing each other (Ven's light and Vanitas's dark clashing), put the Recusant's symbol on Sora's clothes.....I'm sure there's more but I can' think of them right now O__o

 

There's some number symbolism in there, too. 7 is a lucky number, usually associated with completeness. 7 days of the week, 7 colors of the rainbow, etc. 13 is more of a bad luck number, representing death and darkness. At least, that's how it is where I live. I know different cultures have different views on everything, but I think most everyone here will have a similar viewpoint on those two numbers, at least.