I Don't Think Kairi is undeveloped.

[HikariYami 354]

Okay, first of I have been digging into Kingdom Hearts through a critical literary lens although it is not a book. 

 

I was thinking this: Why does everyone says Kairi has no development in the series? I mean in the time of KH to KH3D she has changed. KH1, she stayed back on the island, no questions; KHII, she showed initiative to find Sora and Riku and fight because she wanted to help and tired of waiting. Just because she did not get a lot of screen time does not mean she did not develop. She could have easily said," I will sit back and chill drinking coconuts." and not agree to help. 

 

Kairi gained more courage than she had before. She walked in that fake KH without a weapon (although Riku could have handed her one again)

 

She went from being a Damsel in Distress to 'Hey, I will find Sora and Riku.' to 'I got caught, but I found Sora and Riku' to 'I am ready to kick ass' 

 

She has made progress, and no, I am not joking. 

 

 

 

[Kaweebo 3,617]

It's not so much that Kairi is under-developed, so much as she is under-used. Hopefully this will be rectified in KHIII.

[KHUndertaleFan25 2,858]

You're so right! I understand completely. I really do.

[fahaad bandar 11]

i would like to know kairis hops and dreams a like her a lot and i think she deserve more attention i would love to play as her in kingdom hearts 3  and  i agree with you she has developed since kh 1

[Caity 3,946]

Think it's more with her lack of screen time plus different characters increasing amount of screen time with their own games, people have developed their favourites, and she's a prime candidate to take their favourite's spot with the secret ending, her status as a PoH which even just has a passive ability to repel darkness, let alone what we haven't seen, etc.  It's odd cause the same people saying "don't put her as a GoL" tend to say "cause she's underdeveloped" 

How's she ever gonna get more developed if people don't want her in the game

[roxion 42]

It really sucks to know Kairi is an important character, but gets pushed aside a lot. The girls of Kingdom Hearts need a lot more screen time. I hope we see more from Xion, Aqua, Namine and Kairi in the next installment. Though at the same time I don't want to see Kairi's character turn into an instant badass to the point she in Sora/Riku's ranks. I want to see her grow.

Edited June 12, 2014 by roxion

[Dracozombie 4,554]

Just because she isn't completely static doesn't mean they utilized her as much as they could have.  Given the circumstances of what's going on versus what she's able to do, Kairi didn't have many options to shine.  Things should hopefully change since she has a keyblade now, which finally allows her to have a more action-oriented role (where 90 percent of the plot movements happen), but Kairi until now has been overshadowed by the rest of the characters.  It made whatever developments she had incidental and irrelevant.

[Dio Brando 5,810]

What kind of development she got?No seriously how much did she get other than "I can whack-a-Shadow now" with a keyblade?

 

She's still the same old Kairi in terms of personality as she was in KH1

[HikariYami 354]

Just because she isn't completely static doesn't mean they utilized her as much as they could have.  Given the circumstances of what's going on versus what she's able to do, Kairi didn't have many options to shine.  Things should hopefully change since she has a keyblade now, which finally allows her to have a more action-oriented role (where 90 percent of the plot movements happen), but Kairi until now has been overshadowed by the rest of the characters.  It made whatever developments she had incidental and irrelevant.

I don't mean that just because she is not static that is she is being used to her potential. She is a rather mostly flat character. And, flat characters are not necessarily a bad thing either. They can show a wee bit of roundness. I don't expect her to be as dynamic as character as Riku or Roxas -the anti-hero's-. She is not used to her potential and is still one dimensional 

 

I agree with your statement though. 

Edited June 12, 2014 by HikariYami

[Taeyeon 1,137]

Honestly I kinda just shrug her off due the lack of screen time.I hope things gets better for her in KH3.

[Javelin434 3,164]

I am not joking. 

This... Made my Thursday. :')

 

 

Unfortunately, many people equate screen-time to character development, so that's the opposition's reasoning for her 'lack of development.'

[Ceriraye 485]

Hardly any screen time? The way I see it is that, square just kinda shoves her aside after her part was over, (ie moving a slow part of the plot) I didn't see much character personality change from 1 to 2 (maybe she became more mature but idk I hardly pay any attention to her) but likewise, I see her most as a underdeveloped character but a perfectly developed plot device. personally, I don't think that will change in three; IMO I think they just gave her a keyblade so it would be logical for a plot device to hang around until it's part is played. I would be really surprised if she moves from plot device to actual character in three.

[Kittenz 4,281]

KH1:

 

KH2:

''Sora...Riku...Lend me strength''

 

 

Take a good hard look at these pictures noobs

Edited June 13, 2014 by KittensOnFire

[Isaix 924]

I don't think Kairi really changed that much from KH1 to KH3D. The only reason why she ''went'' to ''help'' Sora in KH2 was because Saix brought her to TWTNW and then Naminé and Riku helped her and she didn't even try to leave the island until Axel kidnapped her and if you remember correctly,in the first game she wanted to help Sora to find Riku as well and she tried her best to protect Sora when he was a heartless,so Kairi wanting to help others is nothing new.Kairi didn't got much development up until now,but I think they'll try to rectify that in KH3.

 

If you compare Kairi to Riku and Sora it clear that the developers didn't put as much though in her character and I don't think screen time has anything to do with it,Naminé in COM had a lot more development then Kairi in the entire serie in my opinion.

[HikariYami 354]

I don't think Kairi really changed that much from KH1 to KH3D. The only reason why she ''went'' to ''help'' Sora in KH2 was because Saix brought her to TWTNW and then Naminé and Riku helped her and she didn't even try to leave the island until Axel kidnapped her and if you remember correctly,in the first game she wanted to help Sora to find Riku as well and she tried her best to protect Sora when he was a heartless,so Kairi wanting to help others is nothing new.Kairi didn't got much development up until now,but I think they'll try to rectify that in KH3.

 

If you compare Kairi to Riku and Sora it clear that the developers didn't put as much though in her character and I don't think screen time has anything to do with it,Naminé in COM had a lot more development then Kairi in the entire serie in my opinion.

In KH2, right before Axel kidnapped her while 'Missing You' was playing after the Halloween Town level, she said,"Maybe waiting isn't enough." Obviously it was a thought but could not execute the plan, and Axel just showed up to kidnap her in a Deus ex machina type fashion giving her the outlet to leave. 

 

I am not saying that she did not want to help others, but as the series progressed, she tried a little more. However, I do think that in KHIII she will be kidnapped in some way making her another headache for Sora and the other to find out. But, KHIII is not her time to shine. It is Xehanort's end. There is so much going on that I believe that they still will drop the ball on her for the sake of the story.

 

I wish her character was more like Serah in the XIII franchise. 

[marukyu 132]

Of course she has had some sort of development but not nearly enough for a "main character".

We know a lot about the personalities of all the other characters. 

But since KH1 Kairi hasn't gotten enough screen time to really have any definable traits. 

[Isaix 924]

In KH2, right before Axel kidnapped her while 'Missing You' was playing after the Halloween Town level, she said,"Maybe waiting isn't enough." Obviously it was a thought but could not execute the plan, and Axel just showed up to kidnap her in a Deus ex machina type fashion giving her the outlet to leave. 

 

I am not saying that she did not want to help others, but as the series progressed, she tried a little more. However, I do think that in KHIII she will be kidnapped in some way making her another headache for Sora and the other to find out. But, KHIII is not her time to shine. It is Xehanort's end. There is so much going on that I believe that they still will drop the ball on her for the sake of the story.

 

I wish her character was more like Serah in the XIII franchise. 

But I don't think that's enough to say that Kairi really evolved,it was just a though,but its obvious that she didn't had any plans to do anything.Its like when you know you have an exam soon and you know you should study to make sure you're ready,but you end up not studying at all. When Axel says ''If you have a dream,don't wait act,one of life's little rules,got it memories?'' it really shows how Axel is more determined to take action then she is and if she really wanted to leave the island,she would have accepted to follow Axel right away since it was her only was to leave.Maybe she didn't really trust Axel,but the fact that she was forced to leave shows how little efforts she puts into everything.

[Nick Sideris 1,551]

She might have a small role to play in KH III .

[Jake 1,488]

She's pretty vital in the story as some story-plot could be affected without her. 100% agree.

[Marco Basile 47]

Okay, first of I have been digging into Kingdom Hearts through a critical literary lens although it is not a book. 

 

I was thinking this: Why does everyone says Kairi has no development in the series? I mean in the time of KH to KH3D she has changed. KH1, she stayed back on the island, no questions; KHII, she showed initiative to find Sora and Riku and fight because she wanted to help and tired of waiting. Just because she did not get a lot of screen time does not mean she did not develop. She could have easily said," I will sit back and chill drinking coconuts." and not agree to help. 

 

Kairi gained more courage than she had before. She walked in that fake KH without a weapon (although Riku could have handed her one again)

 

She went from being a Damsel in Distress to 'Hey, I will find Sora and Riku.' to 'I got caught, but I found Sora and Riku' to 'I am ready to kick ass' 

 

She has made progress, and no, I am not joking. 

Your words are right. I just hope in KHIII will have his own "moments of glory"...she deserves them.