I have thoughts about this, but I might sound insane.
The bad end where darkness consumes the light, the one that’s written down in the Book of Prophecies, doesn't happen because Riku sacrifices himself for Sora, inspiring Sora to not give up and empowering Sora to save everyone. So Riku’s sacrifice can’t be in the Book, right? That’s not what the Master of Masters saw happen. That wasn't supposed to happen.
I don’t know if that’s the only thing that wasn’t supposed to happen. Honestly, the games heavily suggest Sora was never supposed to even get the Keyblade in the first place. Which is maybe why all these unorthodox or previously assumed impossible things keep happening? All this change, it’s a ripple effect that was never supposed to start.
But if that really is the case, then… Riku was never supposed to lose the Keyblade. He was never supposed to fall to darkness… He was never supposed to grow so unhappy, feel so trapped by the status quo, by this cool, untouchable older brother-ish role he felt he had to play even as it drove him apart from his friends… from Sora…
That’s Riku’s dilemma in KH1, I think. You have someone who becomes very unhappy about his role in life but doesn’t know how to let it go and fears it’s the only thing connecting him to the person he loves the most. For Riku, it seems if Sora doesn’t need him anymore, then he won’t have a place in Sora’s life anymore. If he’s not wanted, then he must ensure he is needed… by proving he will always be superior to Sora. A tumultuous connection enforced by a role that’s become a prison for his heart is better than no connection at all.
And while Riku has always desired to see the outside world, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that KH1 suggests he seems to really double down on this desire and… “change,” as Kairi says… when he starts thinking Sora has a crush on Kairi. Yes, there are platonic explanations; it’s normal for friends to get jealous like this; blah blah… But, you know, another reason why a boy who’s always played the older brother role for another boy would grow to feel so incredibly unhappy, trapped and incapable of believing a different dynamic between them is possible, and pushed over the edge when it seems that other boy has developed a crush on a girl… is because he’s gay. He has a crush on that boy, and he doesn’t know what to do about it.
Sora and Kairi are going to get together, and Riku’s going to be left behind, and there’s nothing he can do about it. He’s trapped in this role, forced to watch this story play out. A timeless, predictable, inevitable story. Every day his heart breaks more, and they’re completely oblivious. Sora’s completely oblivious… And the darkness grows deeper. What if Riku was never meant to feel that pain? Because he.. wasn’t “supposed” to fall in love with Sora.
What if Riku was never supposed to have… desires outside of the role he was originally created to fulfill in the story? He was never supposed to feel unhappy with his purpose. He was never supposed to question it. He was just supposed to do it. To follow the script. Because that’s what characters do. They don’t think about what they are. They just… are. The way nobodies and data people are not “supposed” to have hearts, feelings, or be able to decide who they are. They’re not supposed to be… aware. Awake.
Riku is created to be Sora’s Rival and older brother figure. He’s supposed to push Sora. To compete with Sora over Kairi’s affections. And to accept defeat in the end. That’s Riku’s purpose and he’s supposed to be fine with it. And that’s what you expect because that’s how the story always goes. But Riku’s not fine with it. He not in love with Kairi. He doesn’t like his role in the story. And after KH1, he abandons it. He becomes something totally new and multifaceted (compared to Sora and Kairi who, at that point (the start of CoM), are still pretty simply the Hero and the Damsel). He doesn’t adhere to the strict Light or Dark binary that’s defined the KH universe up to then either. Riku quits playing by the rules — of the narrative and of this fictional society. He follows his heart. And he changes.
And then, so do Sora and Kairi. CoM marks the start of Sora’s identity crisis as he becomes aware of truths that contradict his understanding of himself and his role as the Hero (truths he swiftly chooses to ignore and forget). Kairi struggles to free herself from the chains of the Damsel in Distress, increasingly hindered, as her bond with Sora grows weaker, by her fear that if she lets go of this role, she won’t have a place in Sora’s life anymore. (Yes, much like Riku in KH1.) All three of them have these crises of identity and purpose.
Maybe it’s not this literal, but I think the idea of three characters initially set up to fulfill basic roles who are not supposed to be able to deviate from the script and come alive but DO and then have to grapple with self-awareness and the ripple effect of changes that creates — characters who in a sense “wake up” and take the reins, controlling the story instead of being controlled by it — is fascinating. Especially as a metaphor for kids growing up, gaining independence, figuring out who they are, and learning that the world is not as simple as a Disney movie but the messages these stories champion about love and hope and dreams and courage are powerful and good to carry with us into adulthood. I think that’s pretty neat.
And that’s what KH is all about, right? How love and connections bring things to life that aren’t supposed to be alive. People who aren’t real, who are made of memories, dreams, data, wood, plastic, or ink in a storybook — who aren’t supposed to have real or independent thoughts and feelings — They wake up. They come alive and they change. And their stories change.
The Rival falls in love with the Hero and decides he’s not going to be the Rival anymore. A power characters are not supposed to have. Characters don’t have agency. Characters don’t get to choose who they are, who they become, or how the story goes. They can’t change their purpose — and if KH is in fact a video game in-universe — they can’t deviate from their programming. Their pawns in a game designed to always end the same. They can’t change what’s already written. (Literally, in the Book of Prophecies.) And yet… Riku does.
Riku changes. And his bond with Sora changes. The way they see each other and treat each other changes. And by KH3, I mean. Riku, he… The parts Kairi once played that many interpret as romantic (saving and inspiring Sora as his light in the darkness, expressing more faith in him than anyone else, as well as being the person Sora seems to think about and talk about the most)… By KH3, Riku plays those parts. And that’s what saves everything.
Well, that and… Riku having the courage to follow his heart to play those parts. We can’t count Sora out. Connections are a two-way street. Maybe Sora loving Riku as much as he does isn’t in the Book of Prophecies either.
Maybe darkness can’t destroy everything and reset all the worlds again because the story has changed. And that change is etched into the hearts of the worlds and characters… Maybe this is what has to happen for progress, for positive change, or it’s just the same story or Disney stories looping over and over and over and over and over… Maybe the worlds are saved because two boys wake up and fall in love when they’re not supposed to.
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