Dave

It's not really a question of whether you prefer his looks over his character or visa versa; it's more a matter of would Sephiroth still hold the same appeal if he did /not/ look the way he does.

Something to consider: What if Sephiroth still had his backstory, was still the ultimate soldier, carried a six foot sword, could still mow down armies by himself, and still planned on becoming a God via smashing a meteor into the planet... but looked like Gene Hackman? Do you still believe that Sephiroth, without his stylized aesthetic appeal, would still be as big a hit with fans? In other words, what matters more with Sephiroth: his looks, or his actual character?

Whichever gives me more opportunities for pretentious monologues.

If we can use a computer analogy: think of the memories that Sora gained within Castle Oblivion as corrupted data. If you were to keep it in the system, it would only screw up any other memories present and eventually lead to a crash. Specifically, the problem is the memories of Namine herself and the manufactured love story between her and Sora. If Sora kept those memories around, he would be conflicted over his true love interest, Kairi, and have his emotions manipulated based on events that hadn't happened at all. Also, because the philosophy of the game is the importance of truth, Sora deems it preferable to have real memories over false ones, thus necessitating the purging of the corrupted thoughts. As for why Sora had to go to sleep: having thoughts and memories pop in and out of your head is bound to be disorienting, and it seems to be for his own good that he doesn't experience several mind-effs while still awake. Look at how he handled having his memories of the island chipped away at: irritability, irrational thought, and violent mood swings. If you do it while he's asleep, there's less chance he kills someone. Also, if you're dealing with putting the memories back, it's going to be easier if Sora isn't making new ones through new experiences and actions, thus cluttering up the process even more. As for why it takes so long: 358 Days explains that the existence of Xion and Roxas hamper the process more than a little, as they hold a few of Sora's memories within them.

The line in which Malificient summons the powers of Hell is a more-or-less quote from "Sleeping Beauty," so given that she says it in the movie, it's not really that taboo if the same line is referenced in the game. Also, as for the notion that Disney tries to keep things childish... Bambi's mom.

Plato says that true justice comes from rational thought, aggression and animal impulse, and self discipline all working in harmony. That way, no one aspect is allowed to grow too great to become an inconvinience to others (such as animal instinct causing assault, self discipline not being strong enough, or rational thought being so strong that the person in question becomes meek), the proper balance therefore ensuring an individuals acceptence with their existence and no desire to act out of it. Of course, Plato was also a big fan of eugenics, so, yeah.

Something to consider: if the Organization members were not attractive and charismatic, would there still be as much ambiguity about their actions and how just they were?

No. Within minutes of working with one another, I would fist fight the man over a disagreement regarding characters' hair.

Sadly, the complete screwing-over of both Terra and Kefka in Dissidia makes me hesitant of seeing FF6 in a remastered form.

The Cloud which starts off the game as a generally apathetic person who takes every chance he can get to emphasize that he is detached emotionally; claiming to have been part of SOLDIER, when in fact he never made the grade and has substituted his own memories with that of Zack; strikes up a three way between himself, Tifa, and Aerith; has head aches and flash backs as we get tidbits of his real past; has several identity crisis, due to machinations of Sephiroth, among other things; carries a sword which had a past life as the wing of an airplane.

I'm familiar, I'm just more cynical towards the characters than most. But I'll completely agree that it's not fair.

I would go so far as to say that Days functions better as a prequel than Birth By Sleep. Days does everything a good prequel ought to: it addresses the questions posed by the game released before it (the life and death of Roxas, and what he did with his time), embellishes what we already know while also giving new insight (his friendship with Axel, why he left the Organization), and fills in the blanks without creating new complications. The only complication that Days poses is Xion, and that's handled very neatly: her plotline is introduced, dealt with, and resolved within the game, without bleeding out and creating a rift in canon. In regards to the argument that Xion is useless to the grand narrative: I think that's what makes her character work so well. One of the things about Mary Sues is that their tragic existence or flaws are never really treated as such: they are presented to be complications, but really are written as making the character more appealing or sexier, depending on what the writer is going for. For Xion, her tragedy is presented and treated as a tragedy the whole way through: she has no purpose, no true existence, and when she dies, she's removed from everyone's memories, leaving nothing. There's nothing empowering or cool about her angst, making it more worth while and heartfelt than, say, Cloud brooding for the sake of brooding in order to give fanboys a "dark" hero to worship. Xion's story is self contained with a simple rise and fall narrative structure, which avoids over-complicating the rest of the series as the result of her inclusion. It's a good tragic arc that functions well. As for the rest of the Organization members: while I can definately see the view point of there not being really enough time dedicated to them, I think there's enough embelishment on a couple of them to at least make me appreciate them far more than I did just playing Kingdom Hearts 2. Demyx and Luxord, who don't get much screen time in KH2, are developed to appear as more laid back, casual, and almost likable. The one who benefits the most, I believe, is Saix. In KH2, he's pretty much just a stock anime villain: stone faced, likes to call everyone pathetic, speaks in monotone, and things happen when he snaps his fingers. There's not much to him. With Days, you start to understand motivations, purpose, and create depth. You get that he must not have always been that bad of a guy, given that he and Axel were friends once upon a time, and that he also seems to have a regret that the two of them are growing apart. He has incredible ambition, and that's why he seems like such a hard ass all the time: he wants to be the number two guy, and as such puts his work ahead of his personal interactions, thus becoming colder and colder (he's like Ebenzer Scrooge, really). You get the sense he feels insecurities, viewing Vexen and Zexion as obstacles to his climbing the corporate ladder, which means he has at least some kind of neurosis, rather than just being ultra-stoic all the time (nothing bothers me more than villains who think they're too cool for everyone else in the world, as they become very boring, very quickly). Suddenly, you have an actual character with some depth, and you can see why he turns more and more evil, rather than just being evil for the sake of being evil (like, say, Xaldin, who has no real motivation at all).

Because Square has a deep seeded fear of anyone over the age of twenty, leading them to worship the age groups of thirteen to 18 and to find excuses to make people younger, such as the rather unecessary contrivance of making Riku and Sora their original younger selves.

Of course, if you were to marry any of them..... they would probably just kill you rather than share any affection. Just saying.

I opt for no, mainly because I like Xehanort in his antagonist role. To make him a playable character would be to sympathize with him, and I think the main reason why Xehanort is so effective as a villain is that he's beyond sympathy. I like my villains evil, thanks.

You are cocky and cool. Xemnas: thinks you are a worthy fighter, and is glad you're on his side. You're a good man, Xemnas. Xigbar: is an aquaintence. We both went to goldfish drowning school together. Xaldin: thinks you need to hold your tounge and stop making fun of his side-burns. It's funny, because Xaldin's impossible haircut is one of the many reasons I thought about making the Haircuts thread. Vexen: hopes you don't kill him. Don't worry, Vexen. You happen to be my favorite member. Lexeaus: dosen't talk to you much. What a shock. Zexion: has a crush on you. And I, in turn, crush Zexion's face with a punch. I don't like the guy. I don't really get why so many people do. Saix: likes your fighting style. Considering the man is a beast in 358 Days Mission Mode, that's a pretty awesome compliment. Axel: loves you and would do anything for you. Even fetch me a coffee? Demyx: is your bud, even if he is a weaker fighter, you like his carefree style. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Luxord: dosen't talk to you much. Good, because I can't stand his endless gambling and gaming puns. Marluxia: dosen't talk to you much. Dang, I kinda like the guy. Larxene: is SO jealous of you, she wishes she was just like you. Too bad, 'cause she isn't. Oh, yeah: there's only one girl in the group, and she likes /me/ over everyone else. Roxas: is another friend, but mainly because you're with Axel He mainly doesn't like me because I keep making ominous jokes about how he has a long and carefree life ahead of him.

Whatever they are, it probably involves an airship.

To this day, I've never forgiven the Dusks for stealing my collection of underscore signs.

The fake-out of Goofy's death is one of the reasons that I really adore Kingdom Hearts. You, the viewer, know that Goofy's not dead, but what the image does to the characters inside of the game is heartbreaking. Consider that Goofy is the picture of innocence and kindness, and in every mission you go into, he's the one providing the voice of reason and humanity, as opposed to Sora's often impulsive attitude or Donald's selfishness. To even have the idea that the truly good member of the party was even mortal, and that death was even a possibilty for him, obviously shakes everyone. This is emphasized heavily by Mickey, usually happy go lucky and essentially omnipitent, showing both sincere sadness followed by anger gives the character an emotional depth that had previously been eluded. Donald's reaction is even more heart breaking: he's incapable of forming words as an outlet of his feelings, and can only yell incoherently as he joins Mickey in the charge. They feel they have lost a very good friend, anad even if the death is fake, the emotions and reactions to the proposition of death are very real. Also, even if it does turn out to be a trick, it really is the first time the series actually talks about the idea of death. Most every other time, a character falls into darkness, or loses their heart, or does something that is supposed to more or less reference death without actually being dead. Here, the scene straight up suggests that Goofy's dead. You leave his lifeless body behind, and as far as you know, he's not getting back up. There's going to be no Heartless or Nobody to stick back together, there's no taking him out of the Realm of Darkness. He's dead, and that's all there is to it. Really, it's one of the most mature moments in the game in accepting that there is the possibilty of an ultimate end, made even more poignant that it happened to Goofy, who is not only a resounding presence within the game itself, but also in a larger cultural sense. The act of killing Goofy is killing an icon of many people's childhoods, and thus can resound not only with the characters inside the game, but also to the player in a more meta-textual fashion.

Sora and Sora alone, until I force myself to take up Riku's side of the thing.