Sora is already mature

[Dave 5,715]

Not only do I believe the myth of Sora needing to mature is false, I think Sora is already easily the most mature out of the main cast. Yeah, he smiles and has a good time, but if you look at how he deals with problems and situations before him, he handles things in a far more mature matter than others.

 

First, let's talk about that old trigger of misdirection and hurt feelings: communication. The ability to exchange thoughts and ideas and making sure that everyone is on the same page. Especially important when tensions are high, so that no one gets angry for the wrong reason, and helps everyone keep as level a head as possible. Failure to communicate is one of the leading causes of avoidable drama in the series. Xion puts a strain on her friendship with Axel and Roxas by constantly running off without explaining why. In turn, Axel likes keeping all of his cards close to his chest to the point of folly, where Roxas feels really quite betrayed by his friend. The entire situation with the BBS trio could have been solved if all three characters  actually talked about what it is that they've been doing, rather than listening to one sentence and then jumping to whatever conclusion they preferred. What matters in all of this is that not communicating during a problem or crisis is not the mature thing to do. The character's refusal to communicate is usually caused by selfish or petulant impulses, or just a refusal to listen to any opinion other than their own and examine the situation to a greater degree.

 

Flipping over to Sora, who actually is willing to talk with the people he's having problems with and try and reach a common understanding. Throughout KH1, he keeps trying to reach out to Riku, in spite of the latter being a complete jerk; the same as in KH2, where, if not for Sora's willingness to communicate, Riku would still be brooding in a corner of the Dark Realm somewhere. In spite of his problems with Namine, his willingness to listen to her side of the story and understand the issue fully produces dividends later on. What matters is noticing how Sora keeps trying to understand all sides of the situation, and tries to keep everyone involved in the conflict on the same page. If he just said, "Shut up, Riku, you suck!" there would be a lot more problems later on (that door ain't gonna close itself). By trying to keep communications up between people, things are left open for negotiation later on, with far less hurt feelings and a greater understanding of positions from the involved parties. Problems are avoided as a result of Sora's ability to talk things out and reach understandings.

 

Which segues nicely into part 2: how to deal with a spat between friends. It's a fact of nature people are going to get angry, and not everyone is going to get along all the time. Even Sora: when we crash in Deep Jungle, he and Donald are miffed with one another. Yet, they are able to continue working alongside one another, and eventually let their tempers cool down to the point where they apologize to one another. What matters here is the acknowledgement of Sora that you can't just storm off and pout and go solo just because you had an argument. Sometimes, you have to work with someone you might not like, but you're going to work with them because you know that it's going to get more done than if you both keep throwing hissy fits. Not to mention that, at the end of it, you might just find yourself cooled off to the point where you can do some introspection and not only find that you can forgive the other, but you can admit that you yourself should be apologizing. This is probably one of the most mature things you can do when encountering a conflict: not letting it impede the work that needs to be done, the ability to introspect, and being able to wrap it up at the end without holding a grudge.

 

It's a pity that few people in the series seems capable of doing this. Riku is miffed because he thinks Sora is running around having adventures without him/ is now exerting alpha male tendencies which doesn't sit well with Riku's ego, and decides to run off and join the evil circus, gradually becoming more and more embittered towards his friend, to the point where, ultimately, he has no problem with either summoning a Heartless mimic to kill Sora, or swiping his keyblade and telling him he sucks. Again, failure to communicate, but also the fact that Riku just can't reconcile with his problems, and prefers to resort to the equivalent of sitting at the back of the class and throwing balls of paper at Sora's head. Each of the leads in BBS have this problem too: storming off and pouting, rather than trying to keep each other on the same page, seems to be par for the course. The point is that everyone seems to be more involved with trying to justify themselves to satiate their own egos rather than actually looking at the problem and wondering whether or not they've done anything to solve it. 

 

Also on the note of overcoming conflict, we need to talk about Riku in KH2. He spends the game running about in the shadows because he's understandably ashamed of his actions, and wants to make amends. Yet he can't bring himself to talking to either Sora or Kairi, because he feels that its better to leave them alone. As much this plot point works for both the story and Riku's character arc, I think its worth pointing out that it's not really the most mature way to handle things. Mainly because, by not talking to Sora or Kairi directly, he's not actually facing his problems. In fact, he spends most of the game trying to avoid the thing which he needs to do the most: actually apologizing directly to the people that he's hurt the most. He's finding an out through self pity, when the mature thing to do would be to admit he was wrong to his friends. And, again, communication and Sora's ability to not hold a grudge are what saves the day: once Riku finally has to talk with Sora and Kairi and discuss what happened, they are able to get over the problem, move on with their lives, become friends again, and once more work together to overcome a greater problem. This only happens because Sora is mature enough to know how to handle a conflict between friends, and is able to use that maturity to guide his old buddy into calmer waters.

 

I think what's important to note is that "mature" does not mean holding up a wall, wearing all black, and brooding. It's about your actions and what you do in relationship to others. People think Sora is immature just because he doesn't spend his time being sullen, yet I think its for exactly that reason that Sora is, in fact, mature. He is able to see a problem in a wide scale, take into account the different people involved, and find an answer that hopefully makes the best of things for the most amount of people.

[MasterXemnas 2,285]

Fool. Sora is wise beyond his years.

[Cloud the Keyblade Master 44]

If anything, KH III needs to focus on everyone else (specifically Riku... and I'd mention Kairi, but hse needs more development period) maturing.

[Cucco 1,907]

Not only do I believe the myth of Sora needing to mature is false, I think Sora is already easily the most mature out of the main cast. Yeah, he smiles and has a good time, but if you look at how he deals with problems and situations before him, he handles things in a far more mature matter than others.

 

First, let's talk about that old trigger of misdirection and hurt feelings: communication. The ability to exchange thoughts and ideas and making sure that everyone is on the same page. Especially important when tensions are high, so that no one gets angry for the wrong reason, and helps everyone keep as level a head as possible. Failure to communicate is one of the leading causes of avoidable drama in the series. Xion puts a strain on her friendship with Axel and Roxas by constantly running off without explaining why. In turn, Axel likes keeping all of his cards close to his chest to the point of folly, where Roxas feels really quite betrayed by his friend. The entire situation with the BBS trio could have been solved if all three characters  actually talked about what it is that they've been doing, rather than listening to one sentence and then jumping to whatever conclusion they preferred. What matters in all of this is that not communicating during a problem or crisis is not the mature thing to do. The character's refusal to communicate is usually caused by selfish or petulant impulses, or just a refusal to listen to any opinion other than their own and examine the situation to a greater degree.

 

Flipping over to Sora, who actually is willing to talk with the people he's having problems with and try and reach a common understanding. Throughout KH1, he keeps trying to reach out to Riku, in spite of the latter being a complete jerk; the same as in KH2, where, if not for Sora's willingness to communicate, Riku would still be brooding in a corner of the Dark Realm somewhere. In spite of his problems with Namine, his willingness to listen to her side of the story and understand the issue fully produces dividends later on. What matters is noticing how Sora keeps trying to understand all sides of the situation, and tries to keep everyone involved in the conflict on the same page. If he just said, "Shut up, Riku, you suck!" there would be a lot more problems later on (that door ain't gonna close itself). By trying to keep communications up between people, things are left open for negotiation later on, with far less hurt feelings and a greater understanding of positions from the involved parties. Problems are avoided as a result of Sora's ability to talk things out and reach understandings.

 

Which segues nicely into part 2: how to deal with a spat between friends. It's a fact of nature people are going to get angry, and not everyone is going to get along all the time. Even Sora: when we crash in Deep Jungle, he and Donald are miffed with one another. Yet, they are able to continue working alongside one another, and eventually let their tempers cool down to the point where they apologize to one another. What matters here is the acknowledgement of Sora that you can't just storm off and pout and go solo just because you had an argument. Sometimes, you have to work with someone you might not like, but you're going to work with them because you know that it's going to get more done than if you both keep throwing hissy fits. Not to mention that, at the end of it, you might just find yourself cooled off to the point where you can do some introspection and not only find that you can forgive the other, but you can admit that you yourself should be apologizing. This is probably one of the most mature things you can do when encountering a conflict: not letting it impede the work that needs to be done, the ability to introspect, and being able to wrap it up at the end without holding a grudge.

 

It's a pity that few people in the series seems capable of doing this. Riku is miffed because he thinks Sora is running around having adventures without him/ is now exerting alpha male tendencies which doesn't sit well with Riku's ego, and decides to run off and join the evil circus, gradually becoming more and more embittered towards his friend, to the point where, ultimately, he has no problem with either summoning a Heartless mimic to kill Sora, or swiping his keyblade and telling him he sucks. Again, failure to communicate, but also the fact that Riku just can't reconcile with his problems, and prefers to resort to the equivalent of sitting at the back of the class and throwing balls of paper at Sora's head. Each of the leads in BBS have this problem too: storming off and pouting, rather than trying to keep each other on the same page, seems to be par for the course. The point is that everyone seems to be more involved with trying to justify themselves to satiate their own egos rather than actually looking at the problem and wondering whether or not they've done anything to solve it. 

 

Also on the note of overcoming conflict, we need to talk about Riku in KH2. He spends the game running about in the shadows because he's understandably ashamed of his actions, and wants to make amends. Yet he can't bring himself to talking to either Sora or Kairi, because he feels that its better to leave them alone. As much this plot point works for both the story and Riku's character arc, I think its worth pointing out that it's not really the most mature way to handle things. Mainly because, by not talking to Sora or Kairi directly, he's not actually facing his problems. In fact, he spends most of the game trying to avoid the thing which he needs to do the most: actually apologizing directly to the people that he's hurt the most. He's finding an out through self pity, when the mature thing to do would be to admit he was wrong to his friends. And, again, communication and Sora's ability to not hold a grudge are what saves the day: once Riku finally has to talk with Sora and Kairi and discuss what happened, they are able to get over the problem, move on with their lives, become friends again, and once more work together to overcome a greater problem. This only happens because Sora is mature enough to know how to handle a conflict between friends, and is able to use that maturity to guide his old buddy into calmer waters.

 

I think what's important to note is that "mature" does not mean holding up a wall, wearing all black, and brooding. It's about your actions and what you do in relationship to others. People think Sora is immature just because he doesn't spend his time being sullen, yet I think its for exactly that reason that Sora is, in fact, mature. He is able to see a problem in a wide scale, take into account the different people involved, and find an answer that hopefully makes the best of things for the most amount of people.

We're saying modern sora needs to mature. In DDD how many times did he forget he was in the dream world.

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

I think Ventus was shown as immature due to being possibly 13 or 14, but I always though Aqua was pretty mature, even if she had her moments. 

Terra acts like a toddler on occasion, taking his anger out on Ven after the Mark of Mastery exam as he leaves, telling him he's too young.

As for the Destiny Islands and Sea salt trio, both the females seem more mature than their male counterparts: Kairi seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and Xion acts oddly more adult than the actual adults. ( Isn't Axel supposed to be 18?) 

[LeYenrz 276]

I agree with you full heartedly that Sora is already quite mature in his own way compared to other characters. True, that means Sora is mature in terms of Emotional Intelligence. But i've experienced people who are quite gifted in handling relationships and solving the issues and tensions between them. But when it comes to being practical and approaching other problems, Sora may be a bit lacking.  

 

Oh, and BTW I've read about you questioning the maturity of all of the other characters in the series except for Roxas. Im not meaning to go off topic here, but do you think of Roxas' maturity? I think he handled the fallouts with his friends as best as he could. He tried approaching them, communicating them and even coaxing them to reveal their hands, but Xion's and Axel's constant "Boohoo you wouldn't understand. Trust me" and unwillingness to communicate kept him from doing so. I think that Roxas out of all of them suffered the most since he was the one that was the most clueless and dismayed out of all of them. His friends refused to educate him despite there was a better option in which they could all congregate together and exchange information in which they could all understand one another. And even if that happened, we as the player would still get as much feels as the original story.

[Demyx. 10,064]

I completly agree. I would say that Axel/Lea is close though. He may not communicate. But he doesn't sit there and wish for things to be different and cry about it. (like many kh characters) He tries to something about it.

[Isamu Kuno 2,512]

We're saying modern sora needs to mature. In DDD how many times did he forget he was in the dream world.

Well, that's more the result of his characteristic obliviousness than any actual immaturity. Sora's not good at understanding the subtler nuances of complicated situations, he's more of a big picture guy, as in "Okay, I don't know exactly what's going on but it sounds like you need help, right?"

 

I think Ventus was shown as immature due to being possibly 13 or 14, but I always though Aqua was pretty mature, even if she had her moments. 

Terra acts like a toddler on occasion, taking his anger out on Ven after the Mark of Mastery exam as he leaves, telling him he's too young.

As for the Destiny Islands and Sea salt trio, both the females seem more mature than their male counterparts: Kairi seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and Xion acts oddly more adult than the actual adults. ( Isn't Axel supposed to be 18?) 

 

I think he's more like 24, he certainly didn't look 8 in BbS, he looked closer to Ven's age 14-15

Edited August 19, 2014 by Isamu_Kuno

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

Well, that's more the result of his characteristic obliviousness than any actual immaturity. Sora's not good at understanding the subtler nuances of complicated situations, he's more of a big picture guy, as in "Okay I don't know exactly what's going on but it sounds like you need help, right?"

 

 

I think he's more like 24, he certainly didn't look 8 in BbS, he looked closer to Ven's age 14-15

Yikes...

KH accidentally went pedophile there on shipping. 

*seriously re thinks shipping Auokroku* 

[Kaweebo 3,617]

I think Ventus was shown as immature due to being possibly 13 or 14, but I always though Aqua was pretty mature, even if she had her moments. 

Terra acts like a toddler on occasion, taking his anger out on Ven after the Mark of Mastery exam as he leaves, telling him he's too young.

As for the Destiny Islands and Sea salt trio, both the females seem more mature than their male counterparts: Kairi seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and Xion acts oddly more adult than the actual adults. ( Isn't Axel supposed to be 18?) 

I think Ventus was probably 14-15, and yeah Aqua was the most mature of the bunch because she was willing to talk about her problems...but only sometimes. Sometimes, she got a little angry, lashed out and pushed away Terra, who was already on the deep end. But by the end of it, she realized her mistake and tried to fix it, but she was too late. That's her tragedy in BBS. Despite her relative calmness, seeing her friends hurt and emotional made her emotional.

 

Terra acted the way he did 1. Because of his ego, which was easily justified, and 2. Because of the swelling darkness inside of him.

 

I'd say Kairi is probably the most level-headed of the trio, too. Getting to Sora's maturity in a bit, Kairi is much more of an adult than him and not just because she doesn't act as silly. Also, I am pretty damn sure Axel is in his mid-twenties. In BBS he had to be at least 15 and 10 years later, he'd be 25. 

 

As for Sora, while I believe he's mature as far as all of the points you've brought up are concerned, my problem is more with his intelligence. Like Cucco pointed out, ever since KHII, Sora's been written as kind of utterly stupid and I mean that sincerely. He's mature in the sense that he's kind-hearted and doesn't hold a grudge, but he's also naive and makes some really stupid decisions that otherwise wouldn't be an issue if he took some common sense.

 

And especially in KHII, Sora is also kind of an asshole. Not to his friends, of course, but to the people that are supposedly the villains. Despite the fact that Organization XIII are undeniably the bad guys, not all of them are bad guys. Take Demyx for example, who isn't really a bad person, he's just a broken individual who is being misled. And yet Sora taunts him, says he doesn't have a heart and that the best thing he can do for the world is to just die. And he KILLS HIM. While at first, you could forgive Sora for thinking this way (and in DDD, once he realized his mistake, he was furious at himself and those who misled him) but the fact remains. When you watch Demyx disintegrating into nothingness, crying out in despair, you can't help but feel like maybe this wasn't the right thing to do.

 

It's not like with Xigbar or Xaldin or even Larxene, who are all genuinely awful people. Demyx was little more than an irresponsible kid who got caught up in something he had no idea what the stakes were. Even someone like Luxord, I don't think genuinely understands the scope of what's going on in the Organization. He just knows that he's going to get his heart back out of all of this. And yet Sora doesn't care because he was told that they were the enemy and that was the way it had to be.

 

Combine that with the way he's being written as an idiot recently, I can't help but want Sora to improve. Even DATA SORA from Coded is more of an intelligent, rational, mature person than regular Sora, maintaining all of his kindness and wisdom when it comes to helping friends but also with the ability to not be a dick in the process. 

 

I think DDD was a major step in righting Sora from being a dick, but he's still written like a dumbass and I'd really appreciate it if that'd stop. In KHI and CoM, he was a relatively bright kid. He figured out who Maleficent was before it was even fully revealed to him, he just put the pieces together, something post-CoM Sora seems unable to grasp. I have a theory that a lot of that has to do with the fact that Sora is broken in a very large amount of ways, but it needs to be fixed if they want this character to continue to be the face of the franchise. I do. I love Sora, his design, his personality and his affinity for blending Square and Disney but I hate the fact that he's so stupid. 

Edited August 19, 2014 by Kaweebo

[Demyx. 10,064]

Just wanted to let you know we deemed this worthy of being our first theory type post on the @KH13Community Twitter. 

 

You can check out here if ya want. https://twitter.com/KH13community/status/501812457157832704

[Deadpool 1,200]

Sora, while gullible on many occasions, still shows maturity in his own ways at times, though in KH3D I honestly think he lost a lot of that side to him, and for some of KH2. Having him be a little more cheery than the rest can help define him, but by being notably more mature he doesn't have to give up the rest of his character.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Deadpool

[Philip Ellwell 5,487]

I think Ventus was probably 14-15, and yeah Aqua was the most mature of the bunch because she was willing to talk about her problems...but only sometimes. Sometimes, she got a little angry, lashed out and pushed away Terra, who was already on the deep end. But by the end of it, she realized her mistake and tried to fix it, but she was too late. That's her tragedy in BBS. Despite her relative calmness, seeing her friends hurt and emotional made her emotional.

 

Terra acted the way he did 1. Because of his ego, which was easily justified, and 2. Because of the swelling darkness inside of him.

 

I'd say Kairi is probably the most level-headed of the trio, too. Getting to Sora's maturity in a bit, Kairi is much more of an adult than him and not just because she doesn't act as silly. Also, I am pretty damn sure Axel is in his mid-twenties. In BBS he had to be at least 15 and 10 years later, he'd be 25. 

 

As for Sora, while I believe he's mature as far as all of the points you've brought up are concerned, my problem is more with his intelligence. Like Cucco pointed out, ever since KHII, Sora's been written as kind of utterly stupid and I mean that sincerely. He's mature in the sense that he's kind-hearted and doesn't hold a grudge, but he's also naive and makes some really stupid decisions that otherwise wouldn't be an issue if he took some common sense.

 

And especially in KHII, Sora is also kind of an asshole. Not to his friends, of course, but to the people that are supposedly the villains. Despite the fact that Organization XIII are undeniably the bad guys, not all of them are bad guys. Take Demyx for example, who isn't really a bad person, he's just a broken individual who is being misled. And yet Sora taunts him, says he doesn't have a heart and that the best thing he can do for the world is to just die. And he KILLS HIM. While at first, you could forgive Sora for thinking this way (and in DDD, once he realized his mistake, he was furious at himself and those who misled him) but the fact remains. When you watch Demyx disintegrating into nothingness, crying out in despair, you can't help but feel like maybe this wasn't the right thing to do.

 

It's not like with Xigbar or Xaldin or even Larxene, who are all genuinely awful people. Demyx was little more than an irresponsible kid who got caught up in something he had no idea what the stakes were. Even someone like Luxord, I don't think genuinely understands the scope of what's going on in the Organization. He just knows that he's going to get his heart back out of all of this. And yet Sora doesn't care because he was told that they were the enemy and that was the way it had to be.

 

Combine that with the way he's being written as an idiot recently, I can't help but want Sora to improve. Even DATA SORA from Coded is more of an intelligent, rational, mature person than regular Sora, maintaining all of his kindness and wisdom when it comes to helping friends but also with the ability to not be a dick in the process. 

 

I think DDD was a major step in righting Sora from being a dick, but he's still written like a dumbass and I'd really appreciate it if that'd stop. In KHI and CoM, he was a relatively bright kid. He figured out who Maleficent was before it was even fully revealed to him, he just put the pieces together, something post-CoM Sora seems unable to grasp. I have a theory that a lot of that has to do with the fact that Sora is broken in a very large amount of ways, but it needs to be fixed if they want this character to continue to be the face of the franchise. I do. I love Sora, his design, his personality and his affinity for blending Square and Disney but I hate the fact that he's so stupid. 

Yeah, Sora was an a$$butt to Org. 13 members a lot. 

Like Demyx. What did that goofball do to anyone? 

Why destroy him? Just set him in a Vanhalen concert, and BOOM: Problem solved. 

[Dio Brando 5,810]

We're saying modern sora needs to mature. In DDD how many times did he forget he was in the dream world.

You mean a bit more smarter

 

Cuz I don't think maturity is to become a Squall

[Clouded Sun 1,232]

What an awesome analogy! Great work.

[Isamu Kuno 2,512]

I think Ventus was probably 14-15, and yeah Aqua was the most mature of the bunch because she was willing to talk about her problems...but only sometimes. Sometimes, she got a little angry, lashed out and pushed away Terra, who was already on the deep end. But by the end of it, she realized her mistake and tried to fix it, but she was too late. That's her tragedy in BBS. Despite her relative calmness, seeing her friends hurt and emotional made her emotional.

 

Terra acted the way he did 1. Because of his ego, which was easily justified, and 2. Because of the swelling darkness inside of him.

 

I'd say Kairi is probably the most level-headed of the trio, too. Getting to Sora's maturity in a bit, Kairi is much more of an adult than him and not just because she doesn't act as silly. Also, I am pretty damn sure Axel is in his mid-twenties. In BBS he had to be at least 15 and 10 years later, he'd be 25. 

 

As for Sora, while I believe he's mature as far as all of the points you've brought up are concerned, my problem is more with his intelligence. Like Cucco pointed out, ever since KHII, Sora's been written as kind of utterly stupid and I mean that sincerely. He's mature in the sense that he's kind-hearted and doesn't hold a grudge, but he's also naive and makes some really stupid decisions that otherwise wouldn't be an issue if he took some common sense.

 

And especially in KHII, Sora is also kind of an asshole. Not to his friends, of course, but to the people that are supposedly the villains. Despite the fact that Organization XIII are undeniably the bad guys, not all of them are bad guys. Take Demyx for example, who isn't really a bad person, he's just a broken individual who is being misled. And yet Sora taunts him, says he doesn't have a heart and that the best thing he can do for the world is to just die. And he KILLS HIM. While at first, you could forgive Sora for thinking this way (and in DDD, once he realized his mistake, he was furious at himself and those who misled him) but the fact remains. When you watch Demyx disintegrating into nothingness, crying out in despair, you can't help but feel like maybe this wasn't the right thing to do.

 

It's not like with Xigbar or Xaldin or even Larxene, who are all genuinely awful people. Demyx was little more than an irresponsible kid who got caught up in something he had no idea what the stakes were. Even someone like Luxord, I don't think genuinely understands the scope of what's going on in the Organization. He just knows that he's going to get his heart back out of all of this. And yet Sora doesn't care because he was told that they were the enemy and that was the way it had to be.

 

Combine that with the way he's being written as an idiot recently, I can't help but want Sora to improve. Even DATA SORA from Coded is more of an intelligent, rational, mature person than regular Sora, maintaining all of his kindness and wisdom when it comes to helping friends but also with the ability to not be a dick in the process. 

 

I think DDD was a major step in righting Sora from being a dick, but he's still written like a dumbass and I'd really appreciate it if that'd stop. In KHI and CoM, he was a relatively bright kid. He figured out who Maleficent was before it was even fully revealed to him, he just put the pieces together, something post-CoM Sora seems unable to grasp. I have a theory that a lot of that has to do with the fact that Sora is broken in a very large amount of ways, but it needs to be fixed if they want this character to continue to be the face of the franchise. I do. I love Sora, his design, his personality and his affinity for blending Square and Disney but I hate the fact that he's so stupid. 

 

Yeah, Sora was an a$$butt to Org. 13 members a lot. 

Like Demyx. What did that goofball do to anyone? 

Why destroy him? Just set him in a Vanhalen concert, and BOOM: Problem solved. 

The thing Demyx fans seem to forget is that his goofball personality was an act. When he finally confronts Sora, that it is the real Demyx. True he's lazy so he acts like a goofball who's bad at fighting because he doesn't like doing the work, but once he's forced to act he can be just as sadistic as any other Organization member except Larxene. Demyx is like the lead singer of a boy band who acts like a good guy on stage, but when he thinks no one is around, looks down on everyone else. At least that the feeling I got during the battle.

[Reyn 1,755]

I think Ventus was probably 14-15, and yeah Aqua was the most mature of the bunch because she was willing to talk about her problems...but only sometimes. Sometimes, she got a little angry, lashed out and pushed away Terra, who was already on the deep end. But by the end of it, she realized her mistake and tried to fix it, but she was too late. That's her tragedy in BBS. Despite her relative calmness, seeing her friends hurt and emotional made her emotional.

 

Terra acted the way he did 1. Because of his ego, which was easily justified, and 2. Because of the swelling darkness inside of him.

 

I'd say Kairi is probably the most level-headed of the trio, too. Getting to Sora's maturity in a bit, Kairi is much more of an adult than him and not just because she doesn't act as silly. Also, I am pretty damn sure Axel is in his mid-twenties. In BBS he had to be at least 15 and 10 years later, he'd be 25. 

 

As for Sora, while I believe he's mature as far as all of the points you've brought up are concerned, my problem is more with his intelligence. Like Cucco pointed out, ever since KHII, Sora's been written as kind of utterly stupid and I mean that sincerely. He's mature in the sense that he's kind-hearted and doesn't hold a grudge, but he's also naive and makes some really stupid decisions that otherwise wouldn't be an issue if he took some common sense.

 

And especially in KHII, Sora is also kind of an asshole. Not to his friends, of course, but to the people that are supposedly the villains. Despite the fact that Organization XIII are undeniably the bad guys, not all of them are bad guys. Take Demyx for example, who isn't really a bad person, he's just a broken individual who is being misled. And yet Sora taunts him, says he doesn't have a heart and that the best thing he can do for the world is to just die. And he KILLS HIM. While at first, you could forgive Sora for thinking this way (and in DDD, once he realized his mistake, he was furious at himself and those who misled him) but the fact remains. When you watch Demyx disintegrating into nothingness, crying out in despair, you can't help but feel like maybe this wasn't the right thing to do.

 

It's not like with Xigbar or Xaldin or even Larxene, who are all genuinely awful people. Demyx was little more than an irresponsible kid who got caught up in something he had no idea what the stakes were. Even someone like Luxord, I don't think genuinely understands the scope of what's going on in the Organization. He just knows that he's going to get his heart back out of all of this. And yet Sora doesn't care because he was told that they were the enemy and that was the way it had to be.

 

Combine that with the way he's being written as an idiot recently, I can't help but want Sora to improve. Even DATA SORA from Coded is more of an intelligent, rational, mature person than regular Sora, maintaining all of his kindness and wisdom when it comes to helping friends but also with the ability to not be a dick in the process. 

 

I think DDD was a major step in righting Sora from being a dick, but he's still written like a dumbass and I'd really appreciate it if that'd stop. In KHI and CoM, he was a relatively bright kid. He figured out who Maleficent was before it was even fully revealed to him, he just put the pieces together, something post-CoM Sora seems unable to grasp. I have a theory that a lot of that has to do with the fact that Sora is broken in a very large amount of ways, but it needs to be fixed if they want this character to continue to be the face of the franchise. I do. I love Sora, his design, his personality and his affinity for blending Square and Disney but I hate the fact that he's so stupid. 

This^

 

Although, alot of people don't stop and think about why exactly Sora was written as a dumbass in 3D compared to say I and II. I don't neccessarily like it, but i honestly think that it was justified, and i'll tell you why.

 

First, think about Sora's stance on what was happening in 3D prior to going to The World that Never was. Sora (and Riku) were made to take the Mark of Mastery and prove they were worthy of being masters. But prior to this, Sora had already saved all of the worlds from Xehanort, TWICE, which is more than anyone else can say, and is probably the strongest keyblade wielder at this point. He finally got his friends back safe and sound, and had the chance to relax and bask in the peace that he had helped bring about with his actions, and finally just take a break from saving the world for a few months and be carefree, like any normal kid. Then he got thrown back into the fray to prepare to stop Xehanort a third time. To be honest, i think Sora just got a little cocky and reverted to his old carefree self that played on the Islands with Riku and Kairi for the last 10 years of his life, the naive teen who only knew about his own little world and didn't really mind only being in such a small place or wanting to seek other worlds for adventure(at least not to as much of a desire like it was for Riku).

 

Another point to bring up is that in 3D, he didn't really have any impending personal dilemnas to worry about(like how in II he had to worry about Kairi being kidnapped and Riku being possibly consumed by darkness. Plus, the exam was supposed to be just a harmless test(ok maybe not completely harmless, but given Sora's abilities and power, he'd be fine) to free the sleeping worlds. It wasn't intended to end up leading to Sora being kidnapped. So, given this information, and the fact that Sora was already powerful enough to take down Ansem SOD, The Majority of the organization and save the worlds by himself, i think he really didn't feel any need to worry or think anything serious was happening during this, so he just acted like his normal, naive self.

 

Like i said, Sora was a dumbass in 3D, but if you think about it, it was definitely justified and makes sense. Not saying i like it, but it makes sense. That being said, after the events of 3D, i think he'll definitely be more intelligent in III, given that now he knows that Xehanort almost managed to turn him into a darkness, and knows that he is definitely not a threat to be taken lightly.

Edited August 19, 2014 by spiderfreak1011

[Firaga 5,947]

Even mature people can act like idiots sometimes.

[Javelin434 3,164]

 "mature" does not mean holding up a wall, wearing all black, and brooding.

I cannot describe how much I agree with this one line right here. This whole article is pure awesome on analyzing Sora on a social level!

[Shana09 5,769]

Mhmm I agree absolutely, Sora was always mature. You can smile and be mature. I have a feeling him being happy has more to do with his optimism than him being mature, which he is. 

[Dracozombie 4,554]

What drives me up the wall is how people consider Sora immature because he's not totally smart, angsty, or, let's face it, "cool" (though that ignores how Sora probably has the highest kill count out of everyone in the series; I have yet to see Xehanort slay a single Shadow).  You really hit the nail on the head when you brought up Sora's fight with Donald in Deep Jungle.  While people out there might consider their reconciliation overly idealistic or cheesy, they probably ignore that in real life, that's what people do.  They cool down, realize they were probably at fault, and firetrucking apologize.  How many times do you see people in KH actually apologize to each other?  Not many because, as you said, they're too busy not talking with each other to bother.

 

Also, thanks for pointing out what Roxas had to deal with.  He handled that situation the best he could, except instead of withholding answers like his friends, he's actively seeking them out.  Axel seems to have them, but refuses to tell him, and when the evidence keeps piling up that something bigger is going on that involves him, Axel still refuses.  That to me is plenty justification for why Roxas stopped trusting him.  I hate that "I know better than you so you just gotta trust me" reasoning to justify why Axel is apparently so mature.  It doesn't matter that Axel was technically right, what bugs me is that some people blame Roxas for not accepting it at face value, apparently ignoring that the Organization has already involved him in their various gambits.  Imagine what a little communication does!

[Kittenz 4,281]

firetruckING FINALLY YOU GUYS REALISE HOT DAMN

 

Sora & Kairi are the most mentally mature characters in the series. Yes, they have flaws,(everyone has flaws, nobody's perfect, people) but they are willing to talk to Riku and pretty much everyone else, meanwhile everyone else is all like : SHUT UP AQUA HURR HURR SHUT UP AXEL HURR HURR I'M KEEPING SECRETS FROM MAH FRINDZ LOL

Edited August 20, 2014 by KittensOnFire

[Ghost 1,857]

 

@Dave and Kaweebo

 

Both comments just...glorious. Great reads, both of you. Thank you.

[GotMilk5101520 573]

Agree Sora is mature. F*** forget angst you don't need that as a sign of matured.

[Yuya Sakaki 5,212]

So... much... to read...

 

But I whole-heartedly agree with everything that everyone here has said. You guys really know how to change one's mindset (aka Me )

 

To add my two cents (even though I don't have much to add since everything is pretty much in the clear), Sora practically dealt with every situation as a perfectly normal decent human being. Wait... perhaps this is what Nomura meant by keeping Sora as an "ordinary boy". It totally fits, you guys! Sora is meant to save those hurting right? Well he can do it physically as well as figuratively. And this thread right here is the solid proof. So in a way, he is teaching the other characters of the series what is mature and what is not, if that makes sense... Gah! My thoughts are such a mess.

 

The basic idea is that this fact reinforces Sora's role in the series overall as the hero. A hero can't be dark and emo all the freaking time; they must be able to tackle any kind of situation head on. Sora has managed to achieve this on so many levels compared to the little advancement other characters have made. And I especially agree with the situation in Birth by Sleep. Through the game I was honestly thinking, "Do these guys even know what communication is?" So easily avoidable...

 

Kudos to you Dave, and Kaweebo too for pointing these crucial points out. This has severely impacted my way of thinking about Sora and the series as a whole. See that's the amazing thing about analysis of texts: you can claim anything so long as you have relevant textual evidence to support your case. You went into nice fine detail there, and had some strong points to boot.

 

Your marks: 20/20

 

Well done!

 

Peace!