#roxas kh2

Best friends core

Nobodies are such an interesting concept from a character concept, ESPECIALLY Roxas’ case where his somebody still exists. With Axel, for example, he wants to become a somebody because he wants a heart, then even when he does become a somebody he realises that his time as a nobody was more meaningful than his time as a somebody, and continues to use his nobody name. But there’s no moral dilemma here, he can be either a nobody or a somebody, and both are the same person.

But Roxas and Sora AREN’T the same person. They’re distinct. They are two souls, two hearts, that are separate. Sora’s heartless never was destroyed, it just became Sora, so now there are two separate people that belong in Sora’s body. Who deserves it? Sora, as the “true” somebody? Or Roxas, who is a living feeling person?

From birth, Roxas has no memories (unlike other nobodies) and is constantly told that he is incapable of feeling and his emotions aren’t real. He’s brainwashed into thinking that the friendships he has are fake, so he rationalises his friendship as “people he eats ice cream with”. When one of only two friends he has, one of only two people who have ever truly known or loved him, dies in his arms, he can’t process the grief of her passing or the fact that his friendship is over, so he asks her who he would have ice cream with. Out of context that’s a hilarious line yes, but in context it’s a confused, emotionally stunted child who hasn’t been given the time or space to become a person.

When he finds out why one of his friends has to die and the other is complicit, it’s all about this “sora” person. He learns that his existence is stopping this sora person and he has to die to let this person he’s never met before live. One of his only friends died just to help someone neither he nor she ever knew or even saw. Later, when his memories are wiped AGAIN and his only friends are ripped from him AGAIN and he learns he has to die to let this sora person live AGAIN, he resigns himself to death, and he can’t blame the guy, he did nothing wrong, all he can think about is how lucky sora is. How lucky he gets to wake up, and see his friends, and LIVE. How lucky that his summer vacation is only just about to start (Roxas’ summer vacation line is my favourite line in the whole franchise and it isn’t even close. I tear up just READING it).

And then

AND THEN

He has to watch through someone else’s eyes, their own adventure.

He has to see his friends NOT KNOW WHO HE IS, say “I’ve never known a Roxas in my life”, and he fully realises that the hayner pence and olette he knew were never real to begin with. And he cries. He cries hard enough for Sora to shed a tear.

He then sees his best friend Axel sacrifice himself for Sora. Both of his best friends died for this boy. He gets ANGRY. He tries taking sora over by FORCE.

The Roxas fight is the best fight in the series hands down. I CANNOT BELIEVE it wasn’t in the original and was just a cutscene.

When Roxas is attacking sora and just repeatedly slamming his keyblades on sora’s it’s genuinely the most visceral and brutal moment in the series. All the fight he’s been so skilful and elegant yet here he is just letting out all his anger in one primal bout of RAGE. But the look in sora’s eyes isn’t contempt, but confusion.

Roxas realises that this isn’t sora’s fault. Sora didn’t ask for another person to exist and vie for control.

And sure, all of Roxas’ friends had to die or be forgotten, but Roxas saw firsthand just how many people Sora helped. He understands why Sora’s so special. He knows what could happen if Xemnas isn’t stopped. Whether Roxas likes it or not, he and his friends had to die. For Sora to save everyone else.

Sora is a good other.

Anyway yeah I go between Roxas and Axel being my favourite character in the whole series. They both mean so much to me and are so interesting compelling and utterly tragic.

Roxas from Kingdom Hearts 2 ♥