snowfaeri

And in a world without you, I'll dream of you...

Nicasia, Valerian and Locke - The Cruel Prince

Aannndd yeah I drew this inspired by the world of Cinderella

Main Couples in The Cruel Prince

In chess, the king (♔,♚) is the most important piece. The object of the game is to threaten the opponent’s king in such a way that escape is not possible (checkmate). If a player’s king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate, resulting in a loss for that player. Although the king is the most important piece, it is usually the weakest piece in the game until a later phase, the endgame.

The King refers to Riku and his true importance. The only part of this that doesn’t fit is the part that says the king is weak until the endgame. Riku has always been strong, in KH1 Tidus mentions how Riku kicked his, Wakka’s, and Selphie’s butts simultaneously. The weakness in this case, was Riku’s emotional weakness that led to his jealousy and fall to darkness. When talking to Repliku he even refers to this as his “moment of weakness”. He has overcome this now (the endgame) through his desire to protect Sora and achieved true strength (true strength comes from true love).

The queen (♕, ♛) is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king.

The Queen is Sora. He was meant to be incredibly powerful if he really is the Master of Masters, but destined events led to him being incomplete. And he began the “game” next to Riku. They have been together since childhood, and if they were made from one heart, they have always been together. Sora is more than he seems, and despite what everyone tells him, he WAS meant to wield the keyblade, and much more.

So if Xehanort killed Riku in the original timeline, that was checkmate. Sora going back in time (able to move any number of squares) started the game over, the King is in check, and now he must remove the threat to the King. Which he did, as we saw, by sacrificing another piece, Kairi. (Kairi in the chess symbolism I believe must be a pawn promoted to a queen, still important, but not the one the game began with. Originally Sora would have let Riku die to save her, but you cannot sacrifice the King) Riku is the most important piece, the True King. And Sora is the most powerful piece, the Master of Masters.

Aaaaaaaa thank you, I love learning about this sort of thing!  I didn’t know “Sora” also had this association.  Yet another reason Vanitas’ name is brilliant- since his name also means “void” or “emptiness” and he has Sora’s face.  I just did a quick wiki search on the godai, and there’s some really interesting connections that can be drawn for both Sora and Riku especially keeping the theory of Sora as Kingdom Hearts and Riku as X-blade in mind:

空 Kū or sora, most often translated as “Void”, but also meaning “sky” or “Heaven”, represents those things beyond our everyday experience, particularly those things composed of pure energy….It can also be associated with power, creativity, spontaneity, and inventiveness.Kū is of particular importance as the highest of the elements.

I always go back to that quote from Xehanort where he writes that the person who opened the door to Kingdom Hearts would become “more than human” and essentially become like a god, able to shape the world after the keyblade war.  Ku/Sora being associated with power and creativity (as in, creation) and being considered the highest element definitely fits with that. 

And for Riku, as his name means “Earth”, can also be represented by one of the 5 godai, called none other than- hold onto your seat- Chi.

地 Chi (sometimes ji) or tsuchi, meaning “Earth”…Emotionally, chi is predominantly associated with stubbornness, collectiveness, stability, physicality, and gravity. It is a desire to have things remain as they are; a resistance to change. In the mind, it is confidence.