History Characters / KingdomHeartsRiku

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' '''[[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsKairi Kairi]]) | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxas Roxas]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAxel Axel]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXion Xion]]) | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfinder Trio]] ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerra Terra]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAqua Aqua]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsVentus Ventus]]) | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsMasterXehanort Master Xehanort]]) | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSaix Saïx]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsVanitas Vanitas]]) | Disney Villains ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillainsMaleficentsCouncilAndAllies Maleficent's Council and Allies]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOtherDisneyVillains Other Disney Villains]]) | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] ([[Characters/KingdomHeartsHeartless Heartless]]) | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts χ[chi] Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals Supporting Original Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]] -] ]]]]
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!!Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of {{Late Arrival Spoiler}}s, spoilers from installments before 2020 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.
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!Riku

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riku_03_khiii_9.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TakeAThirdOption "Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road."]]'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Chain of Memories'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91_3star_kh_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as a child in ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Birth by Sleep'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/612_5star_young_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''II'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/264_3star_kh_ii_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''358/2 Days'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/163_3star_kh_ii_black_coat_riku_a_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''Dream Drop Distance'' and ''Melody of Memory'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1923_7star_sn___mom_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MamoruMiyano (Japanese), Creator/DavidGallagher (English)\\
'''Young Riku Voiced by:''' Eiji Shima (Japanese), Ty Panitz (English)
!!!'''Appearances''': ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI I]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded coded]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsMelodyOfMemory Melody of Memory]]''
->''"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"''
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Sora's best friend and rival. His desire to see something greater beyond his tiny, secluded island home led to him being seduced by the forces of darkness. But once he realizes the harm he's caused, he begins working in the shadows to assist Sora in whatever way possible, eventually wielding his own Keyblade and tempering his inner darkness to channel it for the forces of light.
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[[folder:#-E]]
* EleventhHourRanger: Becomes a playable party member in the final world of ''KH II''. He's also briefly controllable during the final boss fight.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: Riku's clothes in The Grid.
-->'''Riku:''' My clothes. Is this world special?
* AboveGoodAndEvil: Different version of this trope. When asked by [=DiZ=] if he'd walk the road of light or darkness, Riku determinedly decided that neither roads suit him and he'd take the middle road, the road to dawn.
* TheAce: Sora is occasionally jealous of his friend for excelling at everything he does. This is acknowledged in ''II'' when Sora and Donald express their disbelief that Riku could be defeated by anyone.
* ActOfTrueLove: Riku does several of these for Sora over the course of the series, although what ''[[TheFourLoves kind]]'' of love it is is [[HoYay/KingdomHearts up for interpretation]].
** ''358/2 Days'': Riku is willing to take on the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness in order to defeat Roxas and force him to return to Sora, even though he could have been [[ShapeshifterModeLock stuck like that forever]].[[note]]Roxas also severely injures Riku's wrist during their fight.[[/note]] Ansem the Wise acknowledges this in ''II''.
--->'''Ansem the Wise''': I asked him to find a young man named Roxas from Organization XIII, and bring him to me. When I told him it would help Sora awaken from his slumber, Riku left without a word. He fought Roxas. And I can only surmise Riku lost that fight. Riku must have realized then: to fight in the realm of darkness, he would have to immerse himself in that same darkness. And when he did... you saw what became of him. When Riku brought Roxas back to me, he was introducing himself... as Ansem. If that was what it took to awaken his friend, he was ready to live in darkness.
** ''II'': Riku pushes Sora out of the way of one of Xemnas' attacks during the final battle, receiving a laser hit to his back that causes him trouble walking for the rest of the game.
** ''DDD'':
*** At the beginning of their Mark of Mastery Exam, Riku, without realizing it, sees Ansem, Seeker of Darkness on the Destiny Islands as they enter the Realm of Sleep. Sensing that something was wrong, he ''subconsiously'' dives into Sora's dreams to protect him from Nightmares as his Dream Eater, instead of traveling alongside him to the Sleeping Worlds as intended.
*** After returning to the Mysterious Tower with a comatose Sora, Yen Sid reveals someone must take one last dive into Sora's heart to wake him up. Mickey volunteers to do it, saying it's too dangerous for Riku. Yen Sid then states that Riku actually has the better chance of rescuing Sora, as he'd already been in his dreams as his Dream Eater. Following a moment of thought, Riku thanks Mickey for his offer, but tells him he needs to be the one to wake Sora up-- because he's the only one who can. Riku dives into Sora's heart and defeats the Armored Ventus Nightmare trapping him in darkness. Once he answers three cryptic questions from the residents of Sora's heart [[spoiler: (Roxas, Ventus, and Xion)]], Sora awakens in the real world. Yen Sid later awards Riku the title of Keyblade Master ''specifically'' because he went above and beyond the call of duty for his best friend.[[note]]There's also a slightly different meaning to some of what Riku says during his speech before he dives back into Sora's heart in Japanese; instead of "I'm doing it for me, too." he says, [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187955188008546304 "I have to be the one."]] A more word-for-word translation is "It won't work. / [[ThePowerofLove He won't wake unless I go."]] Meanwhile, "He needs me." is [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187956613463719941 "I WANT to go."]] It's more or less [[https://twitter.com/koisuru_mijinko/status/1187953532353146880 a direct parallel]] to what [[https://twitter.com/steamwhistler2/status/1187898294267191296 Prince Phillip says about Aurora]] in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep''.[[/note]]
** ''III'': As a game with sacrifice as a core theme-- alongside, to a lesser extent, TrueLove-- it's fitting Riku commits what is probably his ultimate act of love thus far. See the entries for HeroicSacrifice and InspirationalMartyr below.
** ''Re Mind'': During the fight against [[spoiler: the Replica Xehanorts, it's implied that part of the reason why Riku pushes Mickey out of the way of an attack is because he subconciously senses Future Sora's presence in his own heart. Future Sora then jumps from Riku into Mickey's heart and stays protected from the nearly fatal blow.]]
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: As revealed in ''3D'', Riku's long-time exposure to darkness has rendered him immune to its corrupting influence.
* ADayInTheLimelight: He has his own campaign in ''Chain of Memories'' and ''3D'', the latter in which he's more of TheProtagonist than Sora himself.
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: In ''Birth By Sleep'' where he was extremely perceptive and insightful at five years old, able to immediately spot an off-worlder and give Sora outstanding advice about a complicated issue.
* AffablyEvil: During his time as a villain in ''Kingdom Hearts I'', he's at worse a {{Jerkass}} to Sora and does has some KickTheDog moments but even then he is the TokenGoodTeammate of Maleficent's group as his motivation is to rescue Kairi and not to take over the worlds. He also sincerely offers Sora to join him to rescue Kairi and is visibly disappointed and shocked after he refuses.
* AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: Riku's CharacterDevelopment in ''Chain of Memories'' revolves around this trope, at first he'd try to avoid using darkness at all costs over regret of his actions in the last game but as he learns and accepts that DarkIsNotEvil, he starts using the power more which allows him to TakeALevelInBadass.
* AloofAlly: In ''II'', Riku was on Sora's side but he helped them by giving them clues to where to go and was avoiding interaction with them. This was due to him having Ansem's appearance but once Kairi and eventually Sora realize it's him, he stays with them full time.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter:
** Riku was hinted to have always been able to outdo Sora, something the latter admits at the end of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Unfortunately, this gets a brutal {{Deconstruction}} throughout the first game for several reasons. Riku is a case of IJustWantToBeSpecial and grows jealous that Sora is TheChosenOne because of the Keyblade going to him, even though both are able to wield it. The two are also in a LoveTriangle with their mutual {{Childhood Friend|s}} Kairi, who loses her heart for most of the first game but only Riku is working to save her and he believes that Sora has abandoned them for his new friends. These factors lead to him embracing the powers of darkness and taking the Keyblade from Sora to achieve all of his goals but by this point, Sora has surpassed him, and he is able to not only reclaim the Keyblade but also beat him. While it was with the help of Sora's friends, TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget has taken effect, leading Riku to on even more power from the darkness and allowing the BigBad to take over his body while his heart is lost to darkness, yet despite that he ''still'' loses to Sora, even with him fighting to kill while Sora isn't, proving how Sora has literately exceeded him. It's even implied that due to his competitive nature, Riku took things more seriously while Sora didn't back on the Island, which attributed to Riku's repeated victories, and while it's unclear how a real serious fight between them would have ended out back then, at the end of the first game, it's clear Sora has surpassed Riku.
** The later games see a {{Reconstruction}} of this trope. Riku has become TheAtoner for all the damage he caused to his friends and is frequently working separately form the other heroes. At this point, Riku has acknowledged his friend is now more powerful than him, stating that even if he were to use the Power of Darkness, he already lost to Sora and would just be defeated and brought back to the light again, but Riku is much more disciplined and has his fair set of abilities that allows him to help deal with threats and proves to be a SpannerInTheWorks for the plans of the villains, being an effective support to Sora and saving him whenever Sora gets into difficult situations. By the end of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' he admits to how Sora has effectively grew this way compared to himself and goes on in the later games to acknowledge that Sora is the one they need while his capabilities are devoted to supporting him.
* AmbiguouslyGay:
** In the original Japanese dialogue of ''III'', when Riku and Mickey are in the Dark World for the first time, [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/178486694419/blowingoffsteam2-a-slightly-different Mickey says Riku has found the strength to protect his 'precious person' (taisetsu na hito)]], very obviously implied to be Sora. This scene comes directly after one with [[OfficialCouple Hercules saying Megara]] is his own [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/182775171769/so-i-do-ship-soriku-but-i-am-also-oblivious-as precious person.]] After a flashback of receiving the Keyblade from Terra, Riku then says to himself, "(Is this) the strength to protect the person most precious to me...?" However, in the English dub, Mickey and Riku both say the 'things that matter' instead, while Hercules says 'the person I love most' about Megara, so the parallel and implication are completely lost (even if we as the audience can still deciper that Sora is the reason for Riku's growth and character development). In addition, the [[https://lilyginnyblackv2.tumblr.com/post/183142982289/kh3-ultimania-riku-page-one KH3 Ultimania]] entry about Riku also uses precious 'person' instead of 'things'. It seems Riku's wish [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/182892280944/in-regards-to-the-phrasing-used-in-reference-to has deliberately evolved]] from when he was a child, but that important bit of character development got [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/184718857614 no homoed]] out of ''several'' different official KHIII English translations.
--->'''Image Text:''' A young Riku stated his wish: "I want to become strong enough to protect the things that matter." Roughly 10 years later, after many twists and turns, he has finally obtained the strength to protect [[OneTrueLove the person who matters.]]
** To top it off, he's very aloof and awkward about Shiki's obvious flirtation with him in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'':
--->'''Shiki:''' [[CluelessChickMagnet You chat up a girl and then just say, "sure," and walk off?]]
--->'''Riku:''' I'm bad at this. Sorry.

--->'''Shiki:''' Aren't you my knight in shining armor? Well? ''[winks]''
--->'''Riku:''' Kn-knight? [[SorryImGay You've got the wrong idea.]]
** In a similiar vein, towards the beginning of Riku's visit to [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney La Cité des Cloches]], he asks Quasimodo if it was really Frollo keeping him from leaving the cathedral, or if it was his own self holding him back. Later, after Quasimodo thanks him for the advice, Riku admits that he was speaking from personal experience. Phoebus responds by saying he probably still keeps a lot inside, and Esmeralda reassures Riku that everyone does that sometimes. She then follows up with, [[ClosetGay "There are just some things we need to keep separate from the world at large, at least until we have time to figure them out."]] Which sounds very much like something you'd say to a queer person upset with themself for not coming out yet. And that's not even going into Esmeralda persecuted for being [[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} Romani]], as in the source material.
--->'''Esmeralda:''' Judge Frollo has been hunting us for years. [[RainbowLens We [Romani] are guilty of nothing but loving our freedom, yet Frollo hates whatever he can't control.]]
** We also get this conversation in ''DDD'' during Riku's first visit to Traverse Town (in which we can infer Riku must only be talking about Sora, given the game its in being focused primarily on them and their relationship):
--->'''Beat:''' I just... wanna protect the one person who matters.
--->'''Riku:''' [[{{Protectorate}} I know the feeling.]]
* AnimeHair: It's nowhere near as spiky as Sora's but his LongHairedPrettyBoy looks in ''II'' still qualifies for this trope.
** He has another version of this trope in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' with a hairstyle that a lot of fans have compared it to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV Noctis']].
* AntiHero: When working with fellow AntiHero [=DiZ=] in ''KH II''. Riku is willing to use the power of darkness to achieve his goals, something most of his other allies would never consider doing.
** Riku also has some ClassicalAntiHero traits, he repeatedly shows signs immense regret for his previous behavior and doesn't understand how Sora is so willing to forgive him and almost refused to come back to Destiny Islands because of his shame for his wrongdoings.
* AntiVillain: In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', where he's just doing what he feels is necessary to save Kairi. However, when Sora [[BreakTheHaughty beats him in a fight]], he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope loses himself in darkness]] while trying to become stronger.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', he serves as a major antagonist, regardless of his intentions. However, he never truly wanted any harm to come to Roxas or Xion and he is upset about the fact he's carrying out a mission that will only end in both of them ceasing to exist. He does so as kindly as he can, however. He spends most of Days explaining the situation to Xion in hopes she'll make a decision on her own rather than force her outright, and he seemed willing to do the same for Roxas until Roxas forced Riku's hand.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Riku was arrogant and condescending towards others in ''Kingdom Hearts'' and would frequently taunt Sora during their matches when they we're kids.
* AscendedExtra: Riku plays a larger role in the ''Days'' manga than the game; at one point, he encounters Roxas in an ice cream shop, and has to restrain him to prevent a fight in public.
* TheAtoner: From ''Chain of Memories'' through to the end of ''II'' for his fall into darkness. Part of the reason why he wants to take the Mark of Mastery test in ''Dream Drop Distance'' is even if he's forgiven, succumbing to the darkness ultimately changed him and he needs to be sure he won't fall again.
** Within the first game, [[invoked]]WordOfGod indicates that his primary motivation for save Kairi was out of guilt that he was inadvertently responsible for her condition.
* ApologizesALot: He couldn't really forgive himself after what transpired in the first game. At least, not without a lot of soul searching and support. By ''3D'', he appears to be over this trait.
* ApologeticAttacker: One of his battle grunts in ''Dream Drop Distance'' and ''III'' is "Sorry!"
* AwesomeButImpractical: When you play as him in ''Chain of Memories'' you actually get to use Dark Aura. Unfortunately, it tends to fall into this category - it's unavailable for a large percentage of the game because to use it you need to A) be in Dark Mode, and B) stock three 9-cards (the rarest and strongest cards) together, and you use a fixed deck. And if you can pull it off on bosses, you'll have to get them in just the right spot for them to not dodge it or break it. Still, though, it's very useful for clearing out trash mobs.
** [[GameBreaker Averted]] in ''3D'' though where Dark Aura is treated as a regular command deck attack and has the speed and damage to be one of the best attacks available to him.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Of a sort. In ''Dream Drop Distance'', he is named a Keyblade Master. Even Sora, who failed in his exam due to Xehanort's interference, is overjoyed for him.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: He ends up in this dilemma after being released from Ansem's control in the first game. He assumes Ansem's form and dark powers again after 358/2 Days's events in order to capture Roxas, knowing full well he may be screwing himself by doing so. Thankfully, it's resolved by the end of ''II''.
* BadassBiker: When riding a [[Film/TronLegacy lightcycle]] in ''3D''.
* BadassBoast: In ''3D''.
-->'''Riku''': Quality versus quantity, huh?[[note]]Note that he says this after being faced with ''a herd of [[TemperCeratops angry Triceratops]]'' (Cera Terrors).[[/note]]\\
and\\
'''Riku''': I'm what nightmares ''fear''!
* BadassDriver: Of a sort, possibly coupled with InstantExpert. He seems to be extremely competent in the use of the shuttle he commandeers with Sora near the end of ''II''.
* BadassInDistress: Like the others, he has his heart held hostage by The Lich after being swept away by the Demon Tower and has to be rescued by Sora.
* BadassLongcoat: While wearing an Organization longcoat In ''Days'' and ''II''.
* BashBrothers: Him and Sora are two of the strongest characters in the series and while they mostly fight separately, when they fight together they show amazing teamwork as [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII Xemnas]], [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII Xigbar and Dark Riku]] can confirm.
** ''Chain of Memories'' turns him and Mickey into this, coupled with BackToBackBadasses and YinYangBomb.
* BastardUnderstudy: Towards Maleficent to a certain degree. But ultimately subverted in that Riku himself never betrays her; instead, the Heartless of Xehanort possesses him and does the job instead because [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Maleficent Has Outlived Her Usefulness.]]
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind:
** In ''Chain of Memories'' when he fights off Ansem.
** In ''Dream Drop Distance'', it turns out he's been fighting off the Nightmares within Sora's dream imaginings of the Sleeping Worlds. His boss fight with Ansem also takes place in the "Darkness within Darkness" of Sora's dream. Then, in the TrueFinalBoss fight, Riku fights off the Armored Ventus Nightmare within Sora's Heart.
* BeneathTheMask: Riku had a reputation of being TheAce in the islands and seen as [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter better in stuff than Sora]], but he admits in ''KHII'' that he was always jealous of Sora, and that he wanted to be like him, someone being capable of just following his heart.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Riku always wished to leave Destiny Islands and explore the outside worlds so he can grow stronger. When he got that wish, however, it didn't end so well for him.
** It only gets worse for him post ''I'' as not only does he have to deal with his guilt from destroying Destiny Islands but he also gets hit hard with a case of YouCantGoHomeAgain as he has to fix Sora's memory retrieval and monitor Organization XIII and wanders the multiverse ''for a year straight''.
* {{BFS}}: In ''III'', instead of his signature Way to the Dawn, he wields a ''very'' large steel Keyblade shaped like an old vault security key known as Braveheart.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Is deeply protective of Kairi in ''KH I'', and both Kairi and Sora from ''KH II'' on.
** [[DeconstructedTrope Used against him]] in ''KH I''. this trope is the only reason he joined Maleficent as she claimed that the only way to save Kairi, who has lost her heart to the darkness, is to ally himself with her and her band of villains, while abandoning Sora. After his reunion with Sora in Traverse Town, Riku begins to agree with Maleficent and officially starts his stay with her. However, he is still highly suspicious of her motives.
** After Ansem reappears in his true form, stating that now that the Keyhole was complete, Kairi had no further use to him. He moves towards her but begins to struggle. An aura of Riku's true form appears, stating that Ansem won't use him to attack Kairi.
** In ''II'' he allies himself with [=DiZ=], as they have a common goal: to help Sora awaken, Riku also spends most of the game countering the Organization at every chance he gets, as well as keeping a watchful eye on Sora.
** In the same game, after Axel attempts to kidnap Kairi, Riku rescues Kairi by opening a Corridor of Darkness, and takes her to Twilight Town, where she meets Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but never reveals his identity.
** Upon learning that the Organization had kidnapped Kairi to force Sora to slay Heartless for them, Riku heads to the Castle That Never Was and protects Naminé and Kairi from Saïx after Naminé has freed Kairi from her prison.
** ''3D'' shows this trope to full effect, after discovering Sora has been kidnapped by the XIII Seekers of Darkness he instantly goes to rescue him, unfortunely Young Xehanort blocks Riku's way, but Mickey comes to Riku's aid by casting a Stopza spell. Young Xehanort, however, is unaffected by the spell and knocks Mickey aside to battle Riku. After a fierce struggle, Riku defeats Young Xehanort. However, the victory is short-lived as Master Xehanort is finally revived and joined by the rest of his Seekers, among them Young Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas, though this doesn't slow them down as Riku and Mickey continue attempt to save Sora from Master Xehanort but are restrained by Ansem and Xemnas before Lea arrives and saves Sora. Ansem summons his Guardian, who grabs Riku and Mickey, but the Guardian is defeated by Donald and Goofy, who arrive via Mickey's old Star Shard. Riku brings Sora's comatose body back to the Mysterious Tower and dives into Sora's body to mend his fractured heart. In the process, he is forced to battle Sora, clad in Ventus's Keyblade Armor, which has been corrupted by a Nightmare. Riku defeats the Nightmare and uses Sora's Keyblade to enter a memory of the Destiny Islands, deep inside Sora's heart. Here he meets projections of Roxas, Ventus, and Xion, who each ask a question before disappearing. After answering the three questions, Riku finds a bottle in the surf, and a data projection of Ansem the Wise approaches him. Ansem tells Riku about Ansem's Code, research data contained in the bottle that he had hid inside Sora while he was asleep. He muses about Sora's ability to connect with others' hearts, and how it may be able to bring back those that have been lost. He tells Riku that by defeating the Nightmare and answering the three questions, he has successfully awakened Sora.
** In general, a postive personality trait demonstrated by Riku is a strong desire to protect his friends. Examples of this would be his sacrifice to protect Sora from Xemnas' attacks during their final battle in ''II'', his willingness to accept the darkness in order to subdue Roxas in ''Days'', and [[spoiler: his sacrifice against the Demon Tide in ''III'', [[InspirationalMartyr again for Sora's sake]]]].
* BigBrotherMentor: He acts as Xion's StealthMentor in ''Days''. After Xion has a intense nightmare because of her confused memories, Riku finds her and comforts her. After Xion wakes up on Destiny Islands, she inquires about Sora and the "girl he's always with", to which Riku explains that the girl is Kairi, a special friend of Sora's, and that the reason Sora is unable to wake up is that some of his memories are held within Xion. Despite needing Xion to reunite with Roxas and Sora, Riku gives her time to decide what she wants to do, with the advice that she should choose what is best for everyone. For a while, both Riku and Xion spend time together. Another day, Riku reunites with Xion at Beast's Castle again. Riku tells Xion to visit Naminé at Twilight Town so that she can make an informed decision on what she should do with herself.
* BigDamnHeroes: After Kairi and Naminé are found by Saïx and two Berserkers, Riku appears out of nowhere before killing the two Berserkes by attacking them from behind and forcing Saïx to retreat.
* BigEgoHiddenDepths: While he does act like a jerk and condescending towards Sora in ''Kingdom Hearts'', He valued their friendship enough to feel completely betrayed at the thought of Sora abandoning him and Kairi, he also admitted being jealous of Sora for his ability to just follow his heart.
* BigGood: The closest thing ''358/2 Days'' has to one, acting as a StealthMentor to Xion.
* BigWhat: After Mickey tells him [[ThatCameOutWrong that Aqua is a lot like Sora]] in ''III''.
* BlackCloak: He starts wearing one in the ending of ''Chain of Memories'' to protect his heart from being worn away by the darkness. He keeps it through all of ''Days'' and the majority of ''II'', until he recovers his body.
* BlackKnight: In contrast with Sora's ThePaladin. Riku's unique attacks are all [[CastingAShadow Dark-based]] with some few exceptions, and his biggest advantage over Sora in terms of stats is his better offense.
* BlackMagic: Riku struggles with true Black Magic throughout the games. He argues that the ends justifies the means and using Dark magic for good reasons is okay, and this has different results in the different games.
** It can be convincingly argued, however, that overall it was far more trouble than it was worth and he was much better off avoiding it, especially as he would have gotten [[WhiteMagic "Light Side" powers]] of comparable potency for much less grief.
*** Eventually he decides to use both, which changes his rather evil sword into a keyblade. The keyblade has both "evil" and "good" symbols, like a devilish wing and an angelic one. The balance between light and dark is called Twilight.
*** It's implied that "twilight" is closer to the dark side. At the end of Chain of Memories, [=DiZ=] asks Riku if he is taking the road to twilight and downfall, after Riku refuses to take the road to light or darkness. In reply, Riku states that he is taking the "Way to Dawn" (or road to dawn in the English translation, but it was suppoed to be Way, since it worked as a double meaning with taking the actual path as well as taking the Keyblade "Way to Dawn.") As of ''3D'', it seems to be worth it, as his resistance to Darkness enables him to save Sora ''and'' [[ToBeAMaster become a true Keyblade Master]] first.
* BossRemix: The theme for his boss fight in ''Days,'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH89hnW_Byk "Another Side -Battle Ver.-"]], is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, an arrangement of the original "Another Side" made to be a battle theme. This arrangement shortens the somber intro and loops the energetic segment.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: Riku tries to distance himself from Sora and Kairi in ''II'' out of guilt for his actions in the past game, instead choosing to secretly help them from afar and making Mickey promise to not tell Sora about him. This doesn't last and his BigBrotherInstinct turns out to end all of this as when he went to The World That Never Was to rescue Kairi from Organization XIII it's when she recognizes him and is able to show Sora that.
* BreakTheHaughty: ''Kingdom Hearts'' is filled with these for him. First, he loses the Keyblade to Sora after arrogantly taunting him over being the true chosen wielder of it, then he is possessed by Ansem and ends up in the Realm of Darkness, this makes him see the error of his actions in the game and he spends the rest of the series as TheAtoner.
* BringIt: In the first game, he'll often try to goad Sora into striking him with taunts and these sorts of gestures to get him to strike his blocking sword so he can CounterAttack. Even his sword stance has his left hand facing up and reaching out in a somewhat beckoning manner. He generally drops this sort of behavior in later games particularly after much physical and mental growth to the point where even his sword stance changes with his left hand always facing downwards, giving him a much less cocky demeanor. He does end up reverting back to this sword stance when he's de-aged for ''Dream Drop Distance'' though.
* BrokenAce: To an extent, at least in the very first game. Better than Sora and the other island kids at pretty much everything; older, stronger, cooler, more attractive, and (most importantly) seemingly "closer" to Kairi, whom he and Sora--quite awkwardly for them--both have affection for. Riku, as a result, takes position as the leader of the group. While Sora is jealous of these aspects about Riku, it turns out later in the game that Riku is the one with a massive inferiority complex to Sora, becoming very jealous when Sora finds new friends in Donald and Goofy and Sora turns out to be the one chosen by the Keyblade; and last but not least, it gets even worse when it turns out that Riku feels as though Kairi likes Sora more despite the fact that Riku has "done more for her". The villains, naturally, exploit Riku's issues with Sora soon enough and draws him into the Darkness and have the two fighting against each other.
** Eventually, he goes through extensive CharacterDevelopment in ''Chain of Memories'' when he confronts his insecurities head on. However, the sequel mostly abandons his {{Ace}} traits altogether; the plot no longer concentrates on that aspect of Riku as Sora finally takes over the leadership role permanently.
*** And THAT gets turned on its head in ''3D'', though in a positive way. Sora and Riku end up taking the Mark of Mastery Exam in order to deal with issues in the Worlds in the Realm of Sleep. While Riku still harbored some feelings of self-doubt (which lead to Sora agreeing to take the exam in the first place), things play out interestingly enough. Throughout the game, it's Sora who ends up going through MindRape via Master Xehanort's XIII Seekers of Darkness. Riku, due to said CharacterDevelopment and past experiences, actually got his body immune to any Darkness-based issues caused by Xehanort. In the end, after all hell breaks loose, it's Riku who ends up being named Keyblade Master over Sora. Good thing Sora is an all around NiceGuy and is genuinely happy for Riku, so no jealousy issues crop up again.
* BeehiveBarrier: Riku's [[ForceField Dark Barrier]], whether just in front of him or around his entire body.
* BerserkButton: His actions in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' have become this to him, so much that he goes from his usual calm and serious look to a DeathGlare and his voice has a TranquilFury tone when he sees Dark Riku in the Keyblade Graveyard in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''.
* BifurcatedWeapon: He and Sora can combine their keyblades into one for their Nightmare's End/Mirage Split ability.
* BlessedWithSuck: How Riku views his dark abilities in ''Chain of Memories'' and he spends most of the game trying to hold it back. {{Subverted|Trope}} once he learns DarkIsNotEvil however.
* BlindWeaponmaster: Wears a blindfold willingly during the events of ''Days'' and most of ''II'' (the latter in his normal form).
* BlindfoldedVision: He wears a blindfold during ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' and part of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' to suppress the darkness inside of him. He manages to be an excellent fighter regardless, and in some scenes acts like he can still see normally.
* BoringButPractical: Doubleflight initially feels like a [[UselessUsefulSpell Useless Useful Technique]], due to Flowmotion's existence. Then you find out that Riku can execute normal commands when he double jumps, allowing him to stay out of enemy range to charge up a powerful special attack, or safely heal himself. Doubleflight essentially gives Riku more offensive and defensive options, which more than makes up for not getting Glide or upgrades to it.
** Dark Firaga. It's just a Firaga that's blue... but it can really hurt some enemies, especially Lexaeus. Also, it might be better to trust on its accuracy than to bet on [[AwesomeButImpractical Dark Aura]].
* BridalCarry: He holds Kairi this way in [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Neverland]], [[JustifiedTrope as she has become a]] EmptyShell [[JustifiedTrope without her heart and is unable to move on her own.]]
* ButNowIMustGo: Throughout ''II'', he'd help Sora, Donald and Goofy by leaving hints to them and leaving shortly after without revealing himself. He attempts this again after Sora and Kairi are reunited in The World That Never Was but the two manage to convince him to stay.
* ByronicHero: Has definite elements of this, though his CharacterDevelopment shows him slowly growing out of it into a straightforward hero who happens to use CastingAShadow type spells.
* CannotSpitItOut: Hinted at a few times over the course of the series, in regards to Sora. What exactly Riku wants to tell him is [[HoYay/KingdomHearts up for debate]].
** The KH character files state that part of why Riku gives into the darkness is because of his [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec65f7bcd20823a8edd696aae4b69ab5/fb1f5ccfebcebdc9-47/s540x810/5517cde9ad18fdcd6946a5575cf840ef879d46fe.pnj 'complex feelings towards Sora']]. The other part is his 'impatience to save Kairi'-- with no mention of any such feelings toward her.
** Nomura [[https://www.khinsider.com/news/Kingdom-Hearts-II-Ultimania-Main-Nomura-Interview-2553 stated]] in ''II'''s Ultimania that the opening theme song, "Sanctuary" ("Passion" in Japanese), was written with the theme of Sora and Riku's reunion in mind. Which includes the (infamous) backwards lyrics, "I need more affection than you know".
** And then there's [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/189047990449/gee-riku-dont-you-have-a-jiminy-like-i-do a couple lines]] from the ''II'' and ''DDD'' novels:
---> '''II:''' The things that mattered the most were what he couldn't tell Sora. It had always been that way.

---> '''DDD:''' Of course, Riku couldn't tell him everything, but Sora was still a friend with a special place in his heart.
* CastFromHitPoints: His Sacrifice attack in ''Dream Drop Distance''.
* CastingAShadow: Riku has the ability to use dark attacks like Dark Firaga, Dark Aura and Dark Volley, to name a few. Riku, in fact, is the only Keyblade wielder thus far who has managed to completely tame the darkness.
* CatchPhrase: "I thought you were stronger than that." Downplayed since he only ever says it twice in the whole series but it's apparently a common enough phrase for Riku in-universe that it causes the Sora part of Roxas to respond to it. Not to mention his EvilKnockoff Dark Riku in ''III,'' [[HaveANiceDeath gleefully uses the phrase as well.]]
* TheChampion: After [[RivalTurnedEvil going rogue]] in the first game, Riku has steadily become Sora's champion over the course of the series. In fact, if some of Mickey's [[HideYourGays Japanese]] lines in ''III'' are any indication, it appears that the end goal of Riku's character arc is coming to realize ''who'' it is he wants to protect most. There already wasn't much doubt before ''III'' that said person is Sora, but [[spoiler:[[InspirationalMartyr Riku's sacrifice]] against the Demon Tide seems to solidify it once and for all]].
* CharacterDevelopment: He goes through the most development of the Destiny Islands trio, going from an antagonist to a protagonist over the course of the overarching story. Kairi points it out in their scenes in ''A Fragmentary Passage''.
** In ''Kingdom Hearts'', Riku is a calm, cool, collected teenager who is not afraid to go beyond his limits. He became thoroughly jealous of Sora after learning about his possession of the Keyblade and of his new friends. He even openly accused Sora of forgetting about him and Kairi since he was not also actively looking for a way to retrieve Kairi's heart. That envy eventually corrupted his perspective of their friendship into a rivalry, much to Sora's confusion, and resulted in his battles with Sora and his eventual possession by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. While his traits weren't very heroic for most of the first game, Riku becomes much more noble by the end. Since Riku had done everything he had out of care for Kairi, when Ansem was about to use him to use her along with the other six Princesses of Heart to open the Final Keyhole, he finally broke free and held off Ansem long enough for Donald, Goofy and Kairi to escape. When Riku finds himself in the endless abyss near the Door to Darkness, he is on his knees, overwhelmed with guilt for what he has done.
** In ''[=CoM=]'' Riku makes many self-realizations, one of which is that he had let his heart become weak, and some time after that, he would shy away from the darkness within it. Through his battles in Castle Oblivion, he makes another big realization: he can't get rid of the darkness in his heart, and decides to use it without turning away from the light like before, declaring his path down the "road to dawn," also signifying his effort for redemption.
** Finally in ''II'', he shows a great amount of loyalty and protectiveness for his friends. He never wanted Sora and Kairi to find out about his time spent in the darkness, and did everything he could to bring Roxas to [=DiZ=] to make Sora whole again, even going as far as giving up his physical form and assuming Ansem's. As Sora journeyed through the worlds, Riku left him valuable clues, such as the sea-salt ice cream and the picture of the Twilight Town gang, and almost died to protect him from Xemnas' attacks, which left him greatly injured after the battle. When he is finally found in the World That Never Was, he repeatedly shows signs immense regret for his previous behavior. He could not understand how Sora is so willing to forgive him, telling him that he didn't actually want to be found, and almost refusing to come back to Destiny Islands because of his shame for his wrongdoings.
** His view on his home world, Destiny Islands, also changed drastically throught the series. When he was young, Riku had been curious with everything that is outside of his world. Over time, his curiosity became obsession, and he eventually opened his heart up to darkness in order to escape his "prison surrounded by water," as phrased by Ansem. This obsession completely vanishes throughout the year of Sora's slumber, most likely because of all the trouble it brought into his formerly simple life and how foolish he ended up acting once his curiosity was sated. When he returns to Destiny Islands in ''II'', he still comments on how small a world it is, but agrees with Sora's remark that it is part of one much bigger. This shows that Riku has a much better view of his homeworld than before, making him all the more content.
* ChildProdigy: Is surprisingly perceptive and philosophical five-year-old in ''Birth by Sleep''. Even acknowledged by four-year-old Sora.
-->'''Sora:''' I don't know Riku, you say some weird stuff sometimes, but I'll try it!
** As of ''3D'' Riku is also the youngest full-fledged Keyblade Master (that we know of) in the series. At around 16 (according to the Ultimania Guide), he's near Ven's age (16), and younger than Aqua (18) and Terra (20), or Xehanort when they had the opportunity to become masters. And he's self-taught to boot.
* ChildhoodFriends: At first it was just him and Sora but during one night, there was a meteor shower and Kairi appears on the islands from Radiant Garden, another world far off from Destiny Islands. Riku, Sora, and Kairi quickly forge a powerful friendship. They continued to live on the Destiny Islands together. The three work together to construct a raft and gather supplies so that they can set out and search for other outside worlds. While Riku and Sora continue their rivalry through duels and races, Riku takes jabs at Sora over his relationship with Kairi, telling him that if Sora does not share a paopu fruit with Kairi soon, he will.
* TheChosenOne: Was chosen by Terra to wield his Keyblade, but he got a bit [[JumpedAtTheCall too jumpy with the call and]] [[FaceHeelTurn jumped at the wrong one]] in ''I'', resulting in said keyblade eventually going to [[TheUnchosenOne Sora]] instead, which it [[TheChosenOne eventually accepted as its true master]]. Once Riku [[HeelFaceTurn returned to sanity]] he eventually got his own Keyblade too.
* ChronicSelfDeprecation: A couple of his lines towards [[spoiler: Anti-Aqua]] in ''III'' seem to imply he's still not quite over his [[RivalTurnedEvil past actions]].
-->'''[[spoiler:Anti-Aqua]]''': All that's left in my heart is misery and despair... and now, you can share it!
-->'''Riku''': There's no need. [[ByronicHero Got my own.]]
* CloseCallHaircut: When a Demon Tide swallows Riku in ''III'' he manages to escape relatively unscathed, but much of his hair got seared off by the darkness for his trouble.
* CompetitionFreak: Riku is extremely competitive, and spent his childhood playing games, play-fighting, and racing with Sora. This competitiveness also made him easy to become jealous, especially during ''Kingdom Hearts I'', where he becomes very irked that Sora received the powers of the Keyblade while he did not, though he is not immediately vocal about it. This jealousy led him to behave aggressively to the people most important to him, and he began to act recklessly and harshly in an attempt to prove himself. He loses this childish jealousy streak entirely as he grows older.
* CombatPragmatist: Riku knew he couldn't beat Roxas in a straight fight, even getting his wrist damaged after Roxas slashed it so instead he chooses to take Ansem's form and strangle Roxas with his Guardian to win.
* CombinationAttack: His LimitBreak in ''II'' is a big one between him and Sora that consists of several combination attacks. The limit begins with Session, in which Sora and Riku perform a rapid flurry of attacks. Then, Last Saber, in which Sora and Riku rapidly stab an enemy with their Keyblades, and Dark Cannon, where the duo fire a barrage of dark orbs at enemies. Afterwards, Sora and Riku turn their backs toward each other, and the next phase of the Limit begins. XIII Blades has the duo summoning thirteen swords to perform a spinning slash attack. Master Hearts involves Sora and Riku coating their Keyblades in an aura and slashing opponents together. In the final phase, All's End, Sora and Riku's Keyblades float side-by-side in energy orbs that reel in enemies before exploding.
** One of the Reality Shifts in ''3D'' involves him and Sora to each summon half of an enormous, filigreed Keyblade, which they combine to perform several powerful slashes. They also use it once again in ''III'' once Sora arrives in the Realm of Darkness.
** He also has two with Mickey. Inverse Burst in ''Chain of Memories'', where Riku and Mickey stand back to back and start shooting orbs of darkness and light at enemies, and Double Duel in ''III'', where they team up to attack with a devastating combo.
* CompositeCharacter: In terms of moveset - in ''3D'', Riku's fighting style becomes a hybrid of Terra's and Aqua's. He gains some of Terra's attack options (Meteor, Zantetsuken) but also some of Aqua's defensive and movement options (Doubleflight, Barrier, a FlashStep). Two of his Dual Link styles are also taken from Aqua's Command Styles, and one of them is shared by Terra as well. However, Riku often puts his own spin on Aqua's moves and styles, and his latest version of Dark Firaga is notably different from Terra's version, acting a lot more like one of Vanitas's attacks.
* CoolSword: Soul Eater from ''Kingdom Hearts'' through most of ''II'', though he's still able to summon it in ''Dream Drop Distance''. This sword grows more powerful with use of [[BlackMagic darkness]]. Also the Way to the Dawn Keyblade, which evolves from [[CoolSword Soul Eater]], is his weapon toward the end of ''II'' and doubles as a CoolKey.
* CoordinatedClothes: He and Mickey in ''III'' have the same outfit design only with inverted colors.
* TheCorruptible: Especially the first game, he had a lot of problems revolving around corruption by darkness. Ironically, he eventually manages to master the Darkness that corrupted him, so he can no longer be corrupted by it.
* CurbStompBattle: Whether in the games or the manga, Riku delivers these quite frequently. Showing his reputation as TheAce back in the Islands was well earned.
** He easily defeats and wounds Beast during their short fight in ''I'' and Sora has to intervene to stop Riku from killing Beast.
** He also easily defeats Xion in ''Days'', by the end of their fight she's on her knees holding her stomach in pain while he's calmly walking away.
** In the manga from the same game, he absolutely thrashes Axel who is preventing Xion from finding out the truth in Castle Oblivion (though he used the power of darkness inside him).
** While it's [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome not shown]], his battle with Demyx in the manga doesn't end well for the latter as he's left all bandaged up in the face.
** A more light-hearted example happens off-screen in the first game, Tidus remarked that he, Wakka, and Selphie were easily defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him.
** While in Mulan's world, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are looking for traces of either Riku or Organization XIII. When they speak to the Emperor to see if he's heard anything about either concern, only for the Emperor to mention a rude young man who, in short order, kicked Shang's ass. Sora and co. immediately realize it's Riku.
* CursedWithAwesome: Became insanely powerful by tapping into the fragment of [[EnemyWithin Ansem]] inside himself during ''Days'' and ''KH II'', at the expense of [[ShapeshifterModeLock being unable to change his physical form back to that of his own body]].
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: Riku accomplishes amazing feats in ''II'' during the [[ActionCommands Reaction Commands]] of the FinalBattle against [[BigBad Xemnas]] which include easily slashing skyscrapers in half and then throwing them and eflect millions of energy blasts.
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Channeling the power of darkness was this for him and he pays a heavy price for its uncontrolled usage which gets him possessed by the BigBad of the first game, thankfully, he manages to tame its power by the sequels.
* DarkIsNotEvil: After his HeelFaceTurn. He was purified of Xehanort's darkness, but he keeps his own darkness-based abilities because they're part of who he is. In fact, he comes to embody it by ''3D'', in which he not only recovers most of the dark powers he'd lost, but Riku has also by that time become totally immune to corruption by darkness due to constant and repeated use and is the only character in the series that we know this has happened with. In other words, Riku is the only character to have ''actually ''mastered darkness.
* TheDarkSide: He gains a Dark Mode from Maleficent in ''Kingdom Hearts'', he loses said mode after having his body taken by Ansem but is given it back by him in ''Chain of Memories'' after he manipulates the darkness in Riku's heart, the form gives Riku the ability to use darkness without the worry of being taken over by Ansem as well as a boost in speed and feeds Soul Eater's abilities, he hasn't used this mode after ''Chain of Memories''.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: He goes through this in the first game. Riku starts out using the darkness because he wants to retrieve Kairi's heart. This eventually takes second place to his jealousy of Sora -- after taking the Keyblade, losing the Keyblade and getting his ass kicked, he's willing to open himself completely to the darkness if it means he can be stronger than Sora. [[GrandTheftMe Big mistake.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: He has his moments, especially in ''Dream Drop Distance''.
-->'''Ansem''': So sad. The cost of yielding to the darkness.\\
'''Riku''': You could write a book about that!
* DealWithTheDevil: His deal with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness for enough power to beat Sora in ''Kingdom Hearts''.
* DeclarationOfProtection: As of ''3D'', his primary motive seems to be to protect Sora (and to a lesser extent Kairi), aside from protecting the worlds. It appears that Riku's wish to 'protect the things that matter' in ''Birth by Sleep'' has [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/182892280944/in-regards-to-the-phrasing-used-in-reference-to deliberately]] [[https://lilyginnyblackv2.tumblr.com/post/183142982289/kh3-ultimania-riku-page-one evolved]] from when he was a child-- at least in the [[LostIntranslation original Japanese dialogue]], anyway. In fact, it is his concern for Sora that leads to him subconsciously diving into his dreams in ''3D'', rather than traveling the worlds alongside him.
-->'''Beat:''' I just... wanna protect the one person who matters.\\
'''Riku:''' [[{{Protectorate}} I know the feeling.]]
* DemonicPossession: By Ansem, Seeker of Darkness in the latter parts of ''Kingdom Hearts'' and once to destroy Lexaeus in ''Re:Chain of Memories''. In fact, as of ''Dream Drop Distance'', this was revealed to be an attempt to turn Riku into one of ''thirteen'' vessels for Xehanort's heart; after Riku gained the ability to reject the darkness in his heart, Xehanort turned his sights to Roxas and then Sora to take his place.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of the series as a whole; he serves as the protagonist along with Sora in ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Dream Drop Distance''.
* DiagonalCut: He gains Zantetsuken, which is basically this trope, in ''Dream Drop Distance''.
* DisproportionateRetribution: During the Country of the Musketeers world in ''Dream Drop Distance'', he gets tripped, then is victim to the "tapping someone on the shoulder and disappearing" trick. When it is revealed that the Holey Moley was the one doing it, Riku responds by killing it. More blatant when you realize that this is one of the easiest bosses in the game.
* DontLookAtMe: Riku spends most of KHII avoiding coming into contact with Sora and Kairi because he doesn't want them to see him with Ansem's face after he was [[ShapeShifterModeLock forced into assuming Ansem's appearance]]. He even tries to run away after he helps them directly. Neither Kairi nor Sora care about it when they find out, as they are just happy to have been reunited with him.
* DoubleJump: His "Doubleflight" skill, which uses a burst of darkness under him as a platform for a new jump.
* TheDragon: To Maleficent in the first game. He plays an anti-heroic version of this to [=Diz=] throughout ''Days'' and the beginning of ''II''.
* DreamWalker: Unknowingly travels into Sora's dreams when he sees a robed Ansem for the majority of ''3D''.
* DueToTheDead: After Riku Replica sacrifices himself by removing his past self's heart from the Replica anchoring him to the present, leaving the vessel behind so Naminé can have it, Riku allows Demyx to take it back to Radiant Garden while asking him to be careful with it. Not just because the vessel will be used to provide Naminé a body, but also because it holds important memories of Riku Replica.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: After the Demon Tower appears and transforms into a powerful tornado. Though Riku, Sora, and Aqua attempt to make a stand against it, Aqua hesitates and the Demon Tower sweeps her, Ventus, Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi up. Losing them sends Sora into a devastated state, unable to fight back, believing that without them, Master Xehanort has already won. Riku attempts to convince Sora if he truly believes that, before making a defiant last stand against the Demon Tower, managing to hold it off for several seconds before he is consumed by it as well and it goes for Sora.
* EasilyForgiven: During the first game, he does such things as ally with Maleficent, kidnap Alice, Jasmine, and Kairi, try to kidnap Pinocchio, steal Sora's Keyblade, and try to ''murder'' Sora outright, all of which was done of his own free will, ''before'' Ansem possessed him... and both Sora and Kairi are quick to TurnTheOtherCheek and accept him back immediately after Ansem is defeated; in the end, the only person who really takes any issue with Riku's heinous actions is [[TheAtoner Riku himself]].
* ElementalPowers: He has access to every element in some form or another.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: At first, Riku had no powers whatsoever, although he was a rather strong individual. After arriving in Hollow Bastion he gets his weapon, Soul Eater. It gave him a slight increase in power, but as seen in the battle versus the Parasite Cage, he was only slightly more powerful than on the islands. Sometime after Monstro, Riku made a pact with Maleficent. This gave him three new abilities: The ability to summon and control Heartless, the power to traverse the worlds using Corridors of Darkness, and finally the ability to craft Anti forms. He demonstrated the first two abilities several times, and the third he used on Sora to create many [=AntiSoras=] and one complex one wielding a shadowy Keyblade. After Sora left Neverland, Riku returned to Maleficent who gave him a large increase in his dark abilities. This allowed him to draw on dark energies to increase his physical power and clothe himself in an organic-looking suit of darkness. While in this Dark Mode he could zip around the battle field at an incredible speed and each blow from his Soul Eater dealt large damage. However, this form was taxing on his heart as seen after his battle with Sora in Hollow Bastion. Riku's Soul Eater changes into Way to the Dawn sometime between the second visit to Land of Dragons and The World That Never Was. When he turned into his "true form" in the end of ''II'', his powers of light increased dramatically while his powers of darkness decreased. Riku possesses various abilities that combine his dark powers with Sora's light powers. Riku can use a new Dark Aura that fires Dark Firaga orbs that inflict a Stop effect whenever Sora completes a combo, Dark Shield to project a barrier of darkness, as well as to numerous other powers.
* EnemySummoner: Through Maleficent, Riku possessed the ability to control and create Heartless. This was demonstrated when Riku made a Heartless replica of Sora in Neverland.
* EnemyWithin: The remnants of Ansem [=SoD=] from ''[=CoM=]'' until the explosion of the Kingdom Hearts Encoder near the end of ''II''. It acts more like an EnemyWithout by ''3D''.
* EntitledBastard: One of his biggest character flaws in the original game, as he was aware that he was meant to have the Keyblade and became insanely jealous when it went to Sora instead, ultimately leading to a DealWithTheDevil. It didn't go so well for him, and his sense of entitlement is naturally absent afterward.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: His [[SuperMode Dark Mode]] armor in ''KH I'', though he still uses it after his HeelFaceTurn in ''Chain of Memories''.
* EvilCounterpart: To Sora in the first game, the two came from Destiny Islands and wished to leave and explore other worlds but while Sora was motivated by a love of adventures, Riku hated the islands and saw it as a prison, once they left the islands, Sora teamed up with Donald and Goofy to find King Mickey and save the worlds while Riku joined Maleficent and helped her with her plans to kidnap the princesses just so he could save Kairi. This is the reason why Riku's Keyblade went to Sora in the first place as Riku had given into the darkness which in turn made him unworthy to wield one.
* EvilFormerFriend: Although more of a AntiVillain, he's this to Sora in ''KH I'' after Maleficent manipulates him into thinking he abandoned him and Kairi.
* EvilIsNotAToy: He gives himself over to the Darkness at the very beginning of the game, thinking it's an easy way off his world and [[JumpedAtTheCall into the adventure he craves]]. It ends up separating him from his [[TrueCompanions friends]], [[DoomedHometown destroying his homeworld]], and apparently devouring the heart of [[TwoGuysAndAGirl the girl he and his best friend like]]. Oh, and it also denies him a glorious destiny as the wielder of the Keyblade, but he doesn't learn that until later. He only blunders worse from there on. Having not yet learned his lesson, he makes a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Maleficent]] so he can try and find his friends, and he actively dives into the power of darkness to try and find Kairi's missing heart. When that doesn't work, he makes another deal with some figure he can't even ''see'' for more power, which winds up [[DemonicPossession costing him possession of his own body]]. He finally starts saying "No to Drugs," but it takes him the rest of the first game, all of the next, and most of the third to deal with the consequences.
* EvilSmellsBad: Tracks Ansem and The Organization by the stench of their darkness, and notes that Naminé completely lacks that stench which is why he can tell that Naminé is related somehow to his friend Kairi.
* EvolvingWeapon: By the time he came to The World That Never Was in ''II'', it had evolved into his Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, though he still calls it Soul Eater nonetheless, and, as shown in ''Dream Drop Distance'', can summon either weapon.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: The length of Riku's hair is ''directly'' proportional to his angst level. It's at its longest during his phase as a wandering, blindfolded [[TheAtoner Atoner]]. After ''II'', he gets an off-screen haircut to reflect him being more comfortable in his own skin and it gets even shorter again after the Demon Tide swallows him in ''III''.
* {{Expy}}: The protagonist's rival both in battle and for the affections of his love interest, turned evil and was controlled by the villain in part due to his love for her, broke free and fought alongside the hero to redeem himself, and eventually renounced his inner darkness and returned to the light. We're talking about Riku, not [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Kain Highwind]]. Likely a case of AuthorAppeal, as Tetsuya Nomura is a big fan of Kain. And in an amusing recursive instance of the trope, when ''Final Fantasy IV'' got a sequel, Kain got an EnemyWithout called Dark Kain that is himself an Expy of the Riku Replica.
* EyepatchOfPower: Riku spends a long period with a blindfold on so as "not to deceive himself". It is never made clear whether he can see through it, although the fact that he has lifted it on occasion suggests that he can't. Some of his more badass moments involve the blindfold. As Roxas found out the hard way, if he takes it off, you're on for a major beatdown courtesy of Xehanort's Heartless.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F-K]]
* FightingFromTheInside: He does this against Ansem when he decides to go after [[MoralityPet Kairi,]] leaving his body as a spirit to physically block Ansem's way.
--> '''Riku:''' No! You won't use me for this!
* FightingYourFriend: He fights against Sora twice in ''I'', the first time was by his own will, but in the second time it was Ansem [[DemonicPossession using his body to fight against him.]]
** Their fight in ''II'' is a subversion, Sora attacks Riku thinking he's a Organization member, but Riku directs his attacks towards the Heartless around them rather than towards Sora.
** Once again in ''3D'' where Riku is forced to fight against Sora as the Armored Ventus Nightmare, so he can save Sora from the darkness Xehanort placed in his heart.
* FirstNameBasis: Is one of the few characters in the series to be on this with Mickey Mouse.
* FlashStep: The Ghost Drive [[FusionDance Link Style]] allows Riku to move fast enough that he leaves after images of himself.
* {{Foil}}: He and Sora contrast each other very well, Riku is calm and collected while Sora is impulsive and extroverted, they both share a zest for adventures but Riku is due to a sense of ambition while Sora's is driven by a sense of wonder, Sora has more natural charisma to interact with others but Riku is more focused and goal-oriented, how they handle with their emotional problems also contrast, they'll both get the job done regardless but Riku is more prone to showing {{Angst}} while Sora will [[StepfordSmiler put up a brave face and a smile.]]
** This contrast also extends to their fighting styles. In comparison to Sora's two-handed style, Riku attacks with a fast one-handed style with his Soul Eater/Way to the Dawn and he attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat in one-handed strikes ranging from thrusts to wide strikes focusing on more on slashing motions as opposed to Sora's clubbing/pummeling style. In the end, both are just as adept with their weapons as the other.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: His outfit in ''Dream Drop Distance'' has the Dream Eater symbol on its back which foreshadows him becoming a Dream Eater himself so he can save Sora from the nightmares.
* FriendlyRivalry: With Sora as kids on Destiny Islands, as well as once they truly reunite near the end of ''II''.
* FusionDance: He has the ability to [[FusionDance Link Style]] with [[{{Mons}} Dream Eaters]] in ''3D'' which can give him a variety of {{Power Up}}s and {{Super Mode}}s. This incidentally serves as {{Foreshadowing}} for TheReveal that, in this game, Riku ''is'' a Dream Eater.
** [[LightEmUp Shining Hammer]]: Riku finally shows the light in the [[YinYangBomb twilight]] assailing the enemies with hammering blows creating powerful [[ShockwaveStomp shockwaves]] of light magic.
** [[CastingAShadow Darkest Fears]]: Riku rushes the enemy with darkness based blows manifesting as WolverineClaws on his hands and feet.
** [[PlayingWithFire Fire Raid]]: Riku's Keyblade becomes a FlamingSword which he uses [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks hurls at the enemy]] for mid-ranged attacks.
** [[ShockAndAwe Thunderstorm]]: Electricity crackles on Riku's Keyblade giving him fast thunder based attacks that easily [[SplashDamage attack in all directions]].
** [[MakingASplash Wave Surfer]]: Defying the tradition of FireIceLightning, Riku uses water elemental attacks instead of [[AnIcePerson ice]], [[ImplausibleBoardingSkills surfing]] to assault enemy's with columns of water.
** [[TeleportSpam Ghost Drive]]: Riku uses darkness to teleport to attack enemies automatically, making gratuitous use of {{Flash Step}}s to avoid being hit. Attacks an enemy from all sides as a finisher.
** [[{{BFS}} Blade Charge]]: Keyblade becomes [[LaserBlade engulfed in light]], giving a huge boost to the range of attacks.
** [[PowerGivesYouWings Rising Wing]]: Riku gains [[GoodWingsEvilWings batlike wings]] and unleashes powerful [[HighAltitudeBattle midair strikes]] and [[DeathFromAbove dive bombs]], Uses a [[BlowYouAway tornado]] attack for a combo finisher.
* GlassCannon: Riku has no reliable source of healing in ''Chain of Memories'', just a few enemy cards and the Mickey Friend Card, and his reliance on Sleights in Dark Mode makes him liable to wear his deck out fast. However, he can quickly rack up a lot of damage and his Dark Mode attacks are devastating.
* GleefulAndGrumpyPairing: The Grumpy to Sora's Gleeful. Riku is [[TheStoic calm and composed]], but also very [[ByronicHero troubled and brooding]] due to his [[TheCorruption past experiences]], as such [[PerpetualFrowner he doesn't smile very often]] and uses [[BlackKnight dark-related abilities]]. Sora, on the other hand, is [[{{Keet}} energetic]] and more [[AllLovingHero kindhearted and caring when it comes to his heroics]] and is [[PerpetualSmiler always with a bright smile]].
* GodlikeGamer: A downplayed example in that he's the one controlling Data-Sora in the Limitcut scenario, meaning he's able to beat all of the bonus bosses without having played ''Kingdom Hearts III'' before.
* GodzillaThreshold: He hits it during his fight with Roxas in ''Days'', to the extent that he unleashes the dark powers he had been trying to hold back because it was the only way to beat him; he ends up trapped in Ansem's form for most of ''II'' as a result, but he was willing to pay that price to ensure Sora's restoration.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Xehanort wanted Riku to embrace darkness in order to turn the boy into a SoulJar. Instead, when Riku fully embraces darkness [[IncorruptiblePurePureness he becomes immune to Xehanort's influence]].
* GoodArmorEvilArmor: When Riku tries controlling the darkness (and in-turn allowing Ansem, Seeker of Darkness to possess him), he gains a suit that would later be labeled his "Dark Mode" form. In this form, his torso, arms, and legs are covered in black and purple material that resembles muscle tissue. On his chest is a symbol of the Heartless, except that the cross is not there, and he has a white cloth around his waist.
* GoodWeaponEvilWeapon: From its look to its characteristics, Soul Eater is most definitely an EvilWeapon. It helps that it was implied to have first been given to him by [[TheHeavy Maleficent]]. However, Way to the Dawn, with its angelic wing toward the end, is more of a Good Weapon. Then it's subverted horribly with certain revelations about the eyeball motif it carries, thanks to the release of [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX Kingdom Hearts X]].
* GoodWingsEvilWings: Soul Eater featured demon wings, signifying a closer alignment with [[DarkIsEvil the corruptive nature of darkness]]. On the other hand, Way to the Dawn features both a large demon wing and a smaller angel wing, signifying [[DarkIsNotEvil his redemption]].
* GreenEyedMonster: Riku (partly thanks to Maleficent) became thoroughly jealous of Sora after learning about his possession of the Keyblade and of his new friends. He even openly accused Sora of forgetting about him and Kairi since he was not also actively looking for a way to retrieve Kairi's heart. That envy eventually corrupted his perspective of their friendship into a rivalry, much to Sora's confusion, and resulted in his battles with Sora and his eventual possession by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.
* GuardianEntity: Riku unknowingly becomes Sora's guardian Dream Eater during the events of ''3D''.
* GuileHero: When Riku is surrounded by six members of Organization XIII in the ''Days'' manga, instead of fighting them all, he tricks them into attacking each other so he can escape.
* HadesShaded: While on Castle Oblivion's Halloween Town floor, Riku's skin takes on an ashen and slightly decayed look. Unlike Sora, Donald, and Goofy's drastic costume changes, Riku's outfit remains otherwise the same as normal. These changes also apply to his Soul Eater and Dark Mode as well.
* HandicappedBadass: Roxas slashed his left wrist during their fight in ''Days''. In ''KH II'' he wears a bandage around it for support and doesn't move his left arm much unless casting dark magic. As shown in his brief time in the waking world with Sora in ''DDD'', he is still wearing the cast, meaning he never got it set properly. The injury is even indicated in the opening of ''DDD'', when in the recap of the final fight with Xemnas in ''II'' after the laser spam attack, Riku is shown very gingerly flexing his left hand, as the flipping and deflecting the lasers apparently agitated it (and jamming it into Xemnas' hand to stop the latter's AgonyBeam from ripping Sora's heart out probably didn't help, either). As of the DDD and 0.2 secret endings which lead into the scenario for KHIII, Riku is still wearing the brace on his wrist. By Kingdom Hearts III, he's moving his left arm normally, implying that it has, finally, been fixed.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Starts off as a heel when Riku is a RivalTurnedEvil to Sora in ''Kingdom Hearts I''. In ''Chain of Memories'', Riku turns semi-face as an AntiHero, and slowly comes around to a full face by the time of ''Dream Drop Distance'', even though he still has a harder edge than Sora does.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Has an entirely unique story campaign all to himself in ''Chain of Memories'', exploring his own experiences in Castle Oblivion.
* TheHero: Finally takes a main role in ''Dream Drop Distance'' alongside Sora, though as noted above he was earlier the hero of ''Reverse/Rebirth'' in ''Chain of Memories.''
* HeroAntagonist: Despite being a good guy by that point in the story, he is still Roxas's primary obstacle throughout ''358/2 Days'', repeatedly hounding him. The game culminates with him being the FinalBoss.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Is prone to this in ''Dream Drop Distance'' even long after he earned his HeelFaceTurn. For instance, after giving a pep talk to [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney Quasimodo]] about not letting his fear of the outside world hold him back, he quietly adds "Wish I could take my own advice."
* HeroicWillpower: After Sora stabs himself with the dark Keyblade and turns into a Heartless to save Kairi, all hope seems lost for his companions, as Ansem is likely going to kick their asses and kill them anyway... until Riku's spirit leaps out of Ansem's body, holding him off for just long enough that Kairi and the others can escape to Traverse Town.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: After all of the other Guardians have been defeated by a Demon Tide in the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora breaks down completely. In order to motivate him to keep going and save their friends from certain doom, Riku faces against the Demon Tide in a LastStand, [[SelfDestructiveCharge defending Sora from the darkness for a few more moments]] before both of them are swallowed up by it as well.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** His best friend Sora is the primary example as ''Birth by Sleep'' shows the two have been friends for ''at least'' a decade by the time ''KH I'' happens, long before Kairi ended up on Destiny Islands, and ''Dream Drop Distance'' really highlights how close the two are. However, as seen in the AmbiguouslyGay entry above, exactly ''how'' heterosexual their bond is [[HoYay/KingdomHearts becomes more and more questionable]] with each new game, to say the least.
** He also developed a similar bond with Mickey after he helped Riku deal with his problem over his inner darkness, to the point he trusted him enough to reveal who he was after being stuck as Ansem and trusted him not to tell Sora and Kairi.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In the first game, he trusts the ObviouslyEvil Maleficent, believing her words that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for Donald, Goofy, and the Keyblade, and believing that Maleficent would let him rescue Kairi and leave.
* HumanAliens: Like all human protagonists, Riku can be considered one. Though it's played completely straight in The Grid, as he's a program there.
* {{Hunk}}: Riku is a tall, muscular and handsome young man with more masculine body features than other of the male heroes in the series such as Sora, Roxas and Ventus. Out of the heroes, he only loses to Terra in this department.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** In the KHII manga, after reuniting with Sora, he tells Sora that [[MenDontCry he shouldn't cry because it's pathetic]]. Cue the shot panning to Riku (while he looks like ''Ansem'') who is a wibbling snotty mess.
** ''II'' also has him saying (in regards to Donald and Goofy), "Sora never did pick the brightest friends." Depending on who initiated his and Sora's friendship in the first place, [[SelfDeprecation Riku could also be calling himself dumb]].
* IAmWhatIAm: Riku spends most of [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Reverse/Rebirth]] trying to fight his inner darkness. When he finally decides to use it to save himself, he's called out on it by one of the antagonists--and responds with a reworded version of this trope:
--->'''Zexion''': Heh... After all your protests you're still just another darkling.\\
'''Riku''': I know who I am.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: In ''Days'', Riku spends the entirety of the scenario chasing after Xion and Roxas and essentially trying to either convince them or force them to destroy themselves because they're made up of pieces of Sora that are needed for Sora to be conscious. Riku does so without hesitation, although it's also clear he's not happy with the situation.
* IfICantHaveYou: Platonic example, but this is what Maleficent uses to manipulate him to turn against him Sora by saying he replaced him and Kairi with Donald and Goofy. Riku even takes it as far as saying Sora doesn't care about Kairi anymore when asked about her by Sora.
* IHatePastMe: Riku has nothing but regret and contempt for his actions in ''KH 1'', to the point that he avoided Sora and Kairi throught the entirety of ''KH 2'' because he felt he didn't deserved to be their friend anymore after his horrible actions and he didn't want to go back to the Islands as he couldn't bring himself to face the others due to being responsible for the world destruction.
** Seeing Dark Riku in ''KH 3'' makes Riku go from [[BerserkButton calm to angry in a second]].
-->'''Dark Riku''': I'd say that was our finest hour!\\
'''Riku''': No, my hour of weakness!
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Riku swung this way in his younger days. He just wanted to be strong enough to protect his friends. Ten years later, growing dreams of glory and adventure made him swing more towards IJustWantToBeSpecial.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Spent his entire life -- literally ever since he was a toddler -- dreaming of adventure and power, utterly convinced his destiny absolutely ''must'' lie beyond his little island town. When his best friend, Sora, turns out to be the hero instead, it gives Riku his StartOfDarkness.
** He actually ''was'' intended to get the Keyblade first instead of Sora; rather, he was rejected because he unwittingly made a DealWithTheDevil with Xehanort, so he lost out on his chance just because he leapt at the call too soon.
* IJustWantToBeYou: Riku was always the cool one, the strong one, the popular one, and the special one, but, in a little twist, he's spent his life intensely jealous of his best friend, Sora, for his simple mind and easy-going personality. And when it becomes clear that Sora, not Riku, is the hero of the story, Riku's envy finally [[StartOfDarkness drives him off the deep end]].
* InspirationalMartyr: [[spoiler: Sora's conversation with the Nameless Star in the Final World more or less confirms that while Kairi is the reason Sora retains his body, Riku's HeroicSacrifice against the Demon Tide is the reason his heart survived and kept him from losing all hope (a point that is made clearer in the [[LostinTranslation original Japanese dialogue]]).]]
* InTheHood: Spends most of ''II'' like this, [[JustifiedTrope as he didn't want Sora and Kairi to see what he has become after using the power of darkness.]]
* IneffectualLoner: After he returns to normal in ''II'', he gets told by Sora that he doesn't have to do everything by himself as he [[PowerOfFriendship has his friends to help him.]]
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: As of ''3D'', he can't be corrupted by the darkness anymore, as he's mastered it. Unusually, this is not due to being without darkness, but rather being able to control it due to repeated use.
* InstantExpert: He completely masters the Keyblade in an extremely short time span. It helps that he already had access to some extremely potent dark powers and immunity to darkness to back him up.
* {{Irony}}: He wore bright shades of yellow during his struggles with the darkness and his more brooding phases. Come ''III'', representing overcoming those and representing the good aspects of darkness and overall CharacterDevelopment, he wears...black.
* InvisibleParents: Probably the most egregious example of this trope amongst the Destiny Islands trio. Sora has a mom we hear speak offscreen, and in ''Birth by Sleep'', Riku mentions to Terra that Sora's dad rowed them out to the play island. Kairi has her grandma shown in a few cutscenes, and it's stated she's adopted by the mayor of the islands after she arrives during the meteor shower. Riku, however, has next to nothing regarding any mentions of familial relations. The only evidence indicating he has parents is when he tells Sora in the beginning of ''KHI'' that they may never see theirs again.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "Take care of her."
* JekyllAndHyde: In an interesting inversion, with "Ansem" in ''II''. Riku took on the appearance of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, in order to more freely travel between the worlds and keep himself beneath suspicion.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's not exactly "nice" to people who aren't named Sora, Kairi or Mickey, and even teases Sora a little bit in the first game. However, when the chips are down, he's willing to give up everything just to save his friends.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Wanted more than anything to leave Destiny Islands in the first game, however , Riku's [[DealWithTheDevil attempt to do so]] are what ended up making him [[MissedTheCall miss it]] in the first place.
* KickTheDog: He does lots of these in the Monstro world of ''Kingdom Hearts'', from taking Pinocchio from Gepetto to even accusing Sora of not caring about Kairi twice.
* KirkSummation: Subverted. In ''Dream Drop Distance'', when Riku asks Esmeralda if Claude Frollo was always an evil bigot and requests to know where he could be located so that he could speak to him, it is subtly implied that Riku intends to try to reason with Frollo, having fallen into the darkness once himself. However, when Riku sees Frollo trying to burn down a villager's home because the inhabitant was suspected of harboring gypsies, he concludes the man is so deranged that [[ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer he will ultimately have to stopped by force.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:L-P]]
* TheLancer: To [[TheHero Sora]].
** TheLeader: However, in many ways, he acts as the leader of the Guardians of Light during ''III''. He is the only guardian to meet the heartless swarm head on, pulls Sora out of despair, stops Mickey from casting a spell that would drain him too much to continue the fight later on, and explains the plan to defeat Xehanort to the others. He also acknowledges that Master Xehanort has a very real chance of achieving his goal, but vows that the Guardians of Light will ''not'' take it lying down and will undo his victory as they had ''already'' done in the past. In ''Re:Mind'' he is the one leading the Guardians' fight against the Replica Xehanorts, as well as spearheading the search for Sora in ''Limitcut''.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Riku suffers for [[DealWithTheDevil his deal with Ansem]] with a TraumaCongaLine that lasts up till the end of ''II''.
* LeaveYourQuestTest: Subjected to a brief one at the beginning of ''Reverse/Rebirth''. He awakens in an empty void described by an unseen voice as being between Light and Dark. He's told that he may remain in safety and security of eternal sleep in the void forever, but is then offered a card depicting Hollow Bastion. By taking the card, he will end the sleep and "take the first step towards the truth", but it will bring him pain.
-->'''Riku''': This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway.
-->'''???''': That was very well said, Riku.
* {{Leitmotif}}: "Riku" in ''II''.
* LeParkour: Only in certain areas, such as The World That Never Was (which has questionable physics at best) and the Sleeping Worlds where its Flowmotion allows Riku to traverse their surrounding environments with great ease when he interacts with certain environmental elements. Using Flowmotion, Riku can jump off of walls, grind rails, leap great heights, and dynamically attack opponents.
* LetXBeTheUnknown: In ''KH I'', the straps on Riku's chest form an X. ''[=KH3D=]'' suggests that this was a Recusant's Sigil, considering how Riku got turned into a Xehanort vessel in the first game and how Sora almost became one himself in ''3D''.
* LightLiegeDarkDefender: He and Sora eventually develop this sort of relationship, with Riku as The Dark Defender to Sora's Light Liege. Multiple characters compare them to [[https://i.imgur.com/smXaoww.png light and dark]] over the course of the series, usually stating afterward that you can't have one without the other. As for protectiveness, Riku is more or less Sora's [[TheChampion champion]] at this point.
* LightningBruiser: Fast, strong, and has great offensive and defensive options, both as a boss and a playable character.
* LimitBreak: Riku has "Darkstrom" on the debatably canonical [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 Mission Mode-only]]. It allows him to perform a dash within strands of darkness to attack enemies in the way. In the Final Limit, Riku's weapon is enveloped in light, which he uses to swing at enemies, similar to Roxas's and Xion's Event Horizon Limit Break, although Riku's swings are noticeably slower.
** We also have Limit Storm in ''Dream Drop Distance'', which allows Riku to perform a spinning attack that deals additional damage if he is low on HP.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy. In all games till ''Dream Drop Distance'', when he cuts it short. This includes his almost-HidingBehindYourBangs, meaning his eyes are now always clearly seen.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: An [[HoYay/KingdomHearts arguably]] platonic example, Riku's protective love of Sora and Kairi in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' ended up what lead to him to turn evil. He desired to save Kairi after she lost his heart and felt betrayed by Sora after being tricked into thinking that he "abandoned" him and Kairi for new friends.
* LoveRedeems: However, it is when Ansem is poised to finish Kairi who had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness served her purpose]] that Riku sees the error of his ways.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Riku rarely ever uses magic outside his unique Dark Firaga spell, this is averted in his playable appearance in ''3D'' and in his playable appearance in ''III'' he can use Thundaga and Curaga but as a party member will go back to only using Dark Firaga as usual. This is also his stat distribution in ''358/2 Days'' being above average in most stats but with poor magic.
* ManlyTears: During his reunion with Sora in the KHII manga, he's crying and snotting, [[BlatantLies he says that he just has a runny nose.]]
* MasterOfUnlocking: His [[SkeletonKey Keyblade]] lets him open pretty much anything.
* MasterSwordsman: Is extremely skilled with both a sword and a Keyblade. Even in his youth on Destiny Island he could easily trounce the other kids wielding a wooden sword one-handed. For more, see AwesomeMomentOfCrowning above.
* MeaningfulEcho: [[RuleOfThree Three times]] in ''Dream Drop Distance''.
** In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Riku tells Terra that he's searching for strength to protect the things that matter. After defeating Ansem in ''DDD'', he says "Strength, to protect what matters". This doubles as {{foreshadowing}} to TheReveal in ''III'' of the Dark Figure being [[spoiler:the vessel for Terra's heart, as the guardian [[https://www.khwiki.com/images/c/c9/Strength%2C_to_Protect_What_Matters_01_KH3D.png briefly strikes the same pose Terra once did when summoning his Keyblade]], before Riku reinterates what he'd said to him a decade earlier]].
** During his conversation with the digitized Ansem the Wise, this one was intentional on the part of Ansem the Wise, and acknowledged with a grin by Riku. Compare the lines below.
--->'''Ansem the Wise (as [=DiZ=]) in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII:''' But first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?\\
'''Riku, in the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness''': It's Ansem.
--->'''Data-Ansem the Wise, in VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance:''' Young man! I do not believe you told me your name.\\
'''Riku''': [[CharacterDevelopment It's Riku.]]
** He also repeats his "road to the dawn" line from ''Chain of Memories'' to Ansem SOD and Young Xehanort.
* MeaningfulName: "Riku" is Japanese for "land" and his personality is as strong as it. He is very strong-willed and confident, at times being arrogant. He values his friends deeply and puts protecting them above all else.
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: Riku sort of accidentally-on-purpose doing this to his own world triggered the plot of Kingdom Hearts I. Apparently all he was trying to do was get out and see the universe, and while destroying his world wasn't his intent, calling the darkness forth that did destroy it was a deliberate action so that he could escape his world, which he viewed as a prison.
* MirrorCharacter: Xehanort is also Riku's EvilCounterpart, as they share very similar backgrounds being dissatisfied with life on their tiny world and wanting to see the outside, even if it means delving into darkness. Both lose themselves in darkness in pursuit of his ambitions. Riku however pulled himself back and reformed, while Xehanort kept going deeper into the darkness and was lost for it.
* MissedTheCall: Riku was so eager to [[JumpedAtTheCall rush into adventure]] that he jumped too soon, and at [[DealWithTheDevil the wrong opportunity.]] How soon? The ''second'' after Riku disappears into darkness, Sora gets the Keyblade that Terra had promised for Riku in ''Birth By Sleep''.
* MoreThanMindControl: Embraces the trope wholeheartedly. Supplemented with plenty of scenes detailing his friend Sora's apparent betrayal. Also an example of NotWhatItLooksLike.
** He also continues this in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' by fully embracing the dark control in order to put Sora's mind back together. So not only does he stay under the mind control, but ends up reversing it and using it for his and Sora's benefit. Without the other occupant of his mind knowing that. Nice job man.
* MrFanservice: Riku is well-built, never wears a shirt with sleeves, and his ''KHII'' outfit gives the viewer a peek at his naval while his ''3D'' outfit leaves a very noticeable gap between his top and his trousers. When it comes to ''Kingdom Hearts III'', well... just ''try'' not to drool when looking at him!
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Clashes with Sora in the first game, largely because of his obsession with saving Kairi.
* MutualEnvy: At the end of ''II'', he and Sora have a heart to heart and come to the understanding that they were both always jealous of each other, each wishing to be like the other.[[note]]Riku jealous of Sora being better than him[[/note]] When they both realize that they're fine the way they are, this conversation ultimately repairs their friendship for good.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Ever since ''[=CoM=]'', Riku lives with immense regret over his actions in the first game and believes he doesn't deserve to be forgiven by Sora and Kairi, going to the point he was hesitant to return to Destiny Islands because he couldn't face everyone after what he did.
* MyGreatestFailure: He is so ashamed of allowing his heart to be consumed by darkness that he spends an entire game avoiding Sora and reluctant to return home even after Xehanort's shadow is removed and his form returned. Then, in a journey through dreams, he notes that the results of his failure (namely, having his body stolen by Ansem) just keeps coming back to haunt him.
--> '''Riku:''' I gave in to the darkness once. And ever since, it's haunted me in some form or another. The Heartless of the man who stole my body, a puppet replica of the shadows within my heart, and now I'm facing myself.
%% * MysteriousProtector: In ''II'' for both Roxas and Sora.
* NewFriendEnvy:
** Towards Donald and Goofy in regards to Sora in the first game, which Maleficient [[RivalTurnedEvil gleefully exploits]].
** Hinted at in the [[https://imgur.com/a/RPb9Fls exclusive bonus chapter]] of the ''Kingdom Hearts Final Mix'' manga, towards Kairi (as Sora's new friend). It shows Sora and Riku as little kids discovering the Secret Place together, with Sora declaring it their own personal hideout and swearing Riku not to tell anyone about it. A couple pages later, we see a young Riku back in the Secret Place, forlornly staring at the portraits Sora and Kairi have now drawn of each other.
* TheNoseKnows: He has the ability to smell darkness and light, and can differentiate between the light or darkness of different individuals, to the point of being able to distinguish Kairi from Naminé, or to sense Ansem, Seeker of Darkness at a distance. However, this only comes up in ''Chain of Memories''.
* TheNotLoveInterest: Sora's devotion to Riku and determination to find him is one that you would normally expect to see an RPG hero express towards a DamselInDistress LoveInterest.
--> '''Sora:''' Riku... It's Riku. Riku's here! I looked for you. I looked everywhere for you!!
* NotQuiteFlight: When in his [[PowerGivesYouWings Rising Wing]] Link Style in Dream Drop Distance, Riku descends slowly towards the ground, allowing him to glide through the air for a limited time.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Though Riku humbles significantly over the course of the series, he still retains a lighthearted and jokingly arrogant side, referring to Sora, Donald and Goofy as "wise guys" to the Emperor, cracking a joke about Donald and Goofy's intelligence, and calling Sora a "total sap" before joining forces to confront Xemnas.
* NowItsMyTurn: This is Riku's specialty in the first game when you challenge him during the prologue. If you land too many combo hits on him without thinking, he'll rebound with a spring attack and take off a nice bit of your HP in the process. He even says "my turn!" before countering.
** Makes a reappearance in 358/2 Days in the final boss fight against him. In this case it can happen any time, at random, and the only warning you get is a slightly different sound effect and a flash, before any further hit trips the counter. God help you if you habitually mash the buttons from trying to pull off long combos...
* OhCrap: His reaction when he finds himself surrounded by six members of Organization XIII in the ''Days'' manga, four of whom just pulled a BigDamnHeroes moment.
* OneHandedZweihander: Braveheart, Riku's new keyblade in ''III'' is a fair bit larger and heftier double edged blade compared to his earlier light one handed swords. He still wields it in one hand at all times.
* OneHeadTaller: Platonic example. He's always around a head taller than both Sora and Kairi.
* OlderThanTheyLook: In ''[=KH3D=]'', Riku is 16-17, but spends most of the game in his 15-year-old body.
* PerpetualFrowner: Riku is almost always with a serious expression and he rarely smiles, the scenes where he does though [[WhenSheSmiles are quite heartwarming.]]
* PersonalityPowers: A ByronicHero who primarily wields [[CastingAShadow darkness]].
* PlayingWithFire: Every Keyblade wielder has fire magic and Riku is no exception,however,he also has a different variation of said magic by mixing it with his control over darkness, creating Dark Firaga.
* ThePoorlyChosenOne: It is revealed that Riku was to be the original recipient of the Keyblade, but when he opened the Door to Darkness in Destiny Islands, plunging that world into Darkness, it instead chose Sora. However, in Hollow Bastion, Riku took the Keyblade from Sora by using the sheer strength of his heart, though when he uses the darkness within himself, his power over the Keyblade weakens and it returns to Sora who had proven the strength of his own heart.
* PostFinalBoss: In ''Days'' for Roxas to Xion's more traditional FinalBoss.
* PowerLimiter: Throughout ''Days'', he wears a blindfold to suppress his dark powers and Ansem's influence. When fighting Roxas and losing, however, he was forced to remove the blindfold; doing so [[ShapeshifterModeLock traps him in Ansem's form]], but he nonetheless manages to one-shot Roxas.
* ThePowerOfLove: In ''DDD'', Yen Sid admits that Riku, having (unwittingly) been in Sora's dreams for nearly their entire Mark of Mastery exam to protect him from Nightmares, is the one with the best chance to wake up Sora at the end of the game. See the second example for ''DDD'' under ActOfTrueLove above for further elaboration.
* PowersViaPossession: The first time you fight him (which is optional), he's BadassNormal and is mostly hard because he keeps jumping around and when you knock him down, flings back at you and it ''hurts''. The second time you fight him (which is ''not'' optional), he is using the powers of darkness and puts up a fight before going down but isn't a hard opponent... partly because it's 3v1 in your favor. The ''third'' time you fight him, however, he becomes much more powerful because he is possessed by Ansem [=SoD=]. And it's not just because it's a DuelBoss...
** Averted in the later games; however--he later learns to use these powers without being controlled.
* PrideBeforeAFall: His attitude in the first game indicates that growing up he saw himself as TheReliableOne, feeling that he [[{{Protectorate}} was responsible for Sora and Kairi's protection]]. Sora having a Keyblade suddenly leaves Riku without anyone to protect, in addition to his jealousy over Sora's status as TheChosenOne. He does not handle it well.
%% theres a LOT of speculation here, and sora being a heartless after kh1 has pretty much been debunked -> * ProHumanTranshuman: ''Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix'' reveals that his heart was sent to the Realm of Darkness after Sora defeats Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, who was [[GrandTheftMe possessing Riku's body]], in Hollow Bastion. Sora's defeat of Ansem [=SoD=] allowed Riku to prevent Ansem [=SoD=] from corrupting his heart, but that heart was expelled from his body because Ansem fully controlled Riku's body. Therefore, Riku essentially became a benign sentient heartless like Sora did after Kairi restored the latter's heart until Sora reunited with Roxas. He later unwittingly became a Spirit Dream Eater in ''3D''.
* PromotedToPlayable: He had an entire campaign to himself in ''Chain of Memories'', and later in ''Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance'', there are also three sections in ''III'' where you play as him. He is also temporarily playable in ''II'' during a certain stage of the FinalBoss, though with a limited moveset.
* Protectorate: Riku has this for Kairi hard in the first game, and it leads him down the path to the [[RivalTurnedEvil dark side and puts him in conflict]] with Sora. Riku eventually pulls a HeelFaceTurn and adds him to his protectorate, as seen several times throughout most games after ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''-- but especially in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance''. By the time the latter game rolls around, it's more or less confirmed that, while Riku obviously still has a desire to protect all of his friends, the one he's dedicated to protecting the most is [[HoYay/KingdomHearts Sora.]] During their first visit to the Dark World in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', Mickey even directly tells Riku he's finally found the strength to protect [[https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/178486694419/blowingoffsteam2-a-slightly-different the person that matters most]] to him [[LostinTranslation (in Japanese, anyway)]], which is ''very'' strongly implied to be Sora.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:R-Z]]
* RedOniBlueOni: He's the ByronicHero, calm and thoughtful Blue Oni to Sora's AllLovingHero, impulsive and extroverted Red Oni. Sora is also much more of a straightforward ActionHero that directly takes on any threat to the worlds and his friends while Riku is more of a AloofAlly that works behind the scenes, leaving clues to his allies and protecting them from afar. this is reflected in their clothing.
* RefusedByTheCall: Seems like he refused the Keyblade, which caused it to choose Sora as its wielder instead.
* RequiredPartyMember: During the final battle against Xemnas in ''II'', Riku will be Sora's only remaining party member after the first stage. Like with Jack Sparrow before against Barbossa, [[HeroMustSurvive it's game over if Riku's HP hits zero]].
* RevengeByProxy: When Sora rejects his WeCanRuleTogether offer in Monstro, he dedicates himself to saving Kairi first to prove his superiority.
* ReverseGrip: In ''II'', he wields Way to the Dawn this way when chasing after [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Xemnas's dragon]] in The World That Never Was in an emergency shuttle and driving, and also wields the Keyblade this way in ''Dream Drop Distance'' when he attempts to strike Ansem, Seeker of Darkness when Riku's pinned down by him. It is unknown if he can actually fight this way, however.
* TheRival: To Sora. They're friendly rivals throughout the whole series. The two would actually keep score of how many wins they had in their competition. But for most of the first game, Riku's jealousy of Sora and his own ambition for strength serves at the catalyst of him falling to the Dark Side, becoming distrusting of Sora and fighting against him due to succumbing to the darkness, being manipulated by [[BigBad Maleficent]] and eventually possessed by [[TheManBehindTheMan Ansem]]. He spends the majority of the next few games atoning for it. After Riku's HeelFaceTurn, the rivalry in general started to die down and the two were more BashBrothers.
* RivalTurnedEvil: He was Sora's rival in Destiny Islands, both in fighting and when it comes to Kairi's affections but after the Islands fell to darkness, he joined Maleficent and became a enemy to him, taken even further after he's possessed by [[BigBad Ansem.]] Being freed from the possession at the end of the game makes him deal with the consequences throughout ''[=CoM=]'' and ''II''.
* TheSacredDarkness: While usually DarkIsEvil and LightIsGood, some parts of the story regarding Riku have felt like this, especially in ''Chain of Memories'', where he's told to accept his darkness and uses it to beat Zexion.
** By ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'', while the corruptive aspects of darkness are still in full play here, Riku himself has become the living proof of this trope, having become [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity immune to said corruption from so much exposure to it]], thus freely able to wield dark powers while being more of a good guy than he has ever been, showing where [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Terra]] and Sora have failed to conquer, and making Xehanort's use of darkness rightfully look worse by comparison.
* SanitySlippage: Even from the start, there are signs Riku has darkness in his heart, with him sometimes acting like a jerk for no real reason, and even Kairi mentions he's changed as of late. However, after joining with Maleficent and letting darkness into his heart, the influence of darkness starts to warp his mind more and more, making him delusional and violent, and ultimately leading up to his attempts to kill Sora.
* SatelliteCharacter: As "Ansem" in ''[=KHII's=]'' prologue, presumably to hide [[TheUnreveal the obvious twist that it is Riku.]] All he does is repeatedly ask questions of [=DiZ=] in a monotonous voice, allowing [=DiZ=] to [[MrExposition exposit at him.]]
* SaveTheVillain: While there is no instance of this applying to the real Riku in the series, Data-Riku from ''coded'', who currently does not have his own entry on this character page, saves Maleficent and Pete from getting killed by Data-Sora's Heartless.
* SelectiveObliviousness: Through out the first game, he repeatedly ignores all of the obvious evidence that Sora ''didn't'' abandon him and Kairi for the Keyblade, Donald, and Goofy, and is spending every waking moment trying to find them. It isn't until he's [[DemonicPossession possessed by Ansem]], as well as Sora's HeroicSacrifice to save Kairi, that he finally realizes the truth. It seems to be the influence of the darkness, for the most part, that's twisting his mind and making him delusional.
* SelfDeprecatingHumour:
-->''"Sora never did pick the brightest friends."'' '''-Riku, Sora's best friend.'''
* ShadowWalker: In ''3D'' Riku gets the unique Dark Roll dodge which has him transform into a shadow to dodge, for his brief playable appearance in ''III'' he retains this ability.
* ShockAndAwe: In his playable segments in ''III'', the only offensive spell he has access to is Thundaga.[[note]]While he can still use Dark Firaga, it's limited to a situation command that acts as a combo finisher.[[/note]]
* SelfDestructiveCharge: Darkness is [[spoiler: visibly erroding Riku's body when he perfoms his HeroicSacrifice at the Keyblade Graveyard]]. He doesn't even flinch.
* ShoutOut: Riku's design in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII is literally one big shout out to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV Noctis]].
* ShutUpHannibal: Just before the final boss when Ansem tries to tell to him that he's irrational for accepting the Darkness in his heart but not Ansem... His response? (Foreshadowed by the fact that Riku has constantly shown an ability to actually smell people's auras).
--->'''Riku:''' Wrong. The truth is... you just really stink.
*** In ''Re:Chain of Memories'', courtesy of voice acting cutscene and Riku drawing his blade halfway through.
---->'''Riku:''' That's not it. The truth is... ''*[[SummonToHand summons Soul Eater]]*'' I just can't stand your foul stench!
*** Riku delivers another ShutUpHannibal in that scene when Xemnas asks the heroes why they considered Organization XIII to be an enemy: "That's simple. It's because you mess up our worlds."
* SignatureMove: Dark Aura, It allows him to rush enemies repeatedly from all directions in TeleportSpam fashion, finishing by plunging their weapon into the ground, releasing columns of energy radially.
** ''II'' has a different version of the attack where Riku launches spheres of dark flame at the opponent, a technique similar to [[PlayingWithFire Dark Firaga.]]
* SingleStrokeBattle: Dispatches Rinzler this way in ''3D''.
* SixthRangerTraitor: To Maleficent's group in ''Kingdom Hearts'', after he's possessed by Ansem.
* SleevesAreForWimps: He only wears them when he's in Dark Mode or an Organization cloak. The jacket he wears in ''III'' does have sleeves, but just barely.
* SmugSmiler: Practically all of Riku's smiles in ''Kingdom Hearts'' are done in a smug and condescending manner, it's not until the end of the game where we see a [[WhenSheSmiles genuine smile from him,]] this does not apply to the later games though.
* SmugSuper: After Riku takes Sora's Keyblade for himself, he's quick to taunt Sora over it and rub salt in the wound by giving him his wooden sword, when Sora confronts him later, he taunts him once again over not having a weapon and after Sora says his heart is his weapon, he scoffs it as weak, [[LaserGuidedKarma the Keyblade goes back to Sora shortly after.]]
* TheSnarkKnight: In ''Dream Drop Distance'' where nearly all of Riku's interactions with the Organization members have him being painfully sarcastic with them.
-->'''Young Xehanort''': Once again you performed predictably, although on a grander scale than I imagined.\\
'''Riku''': If you're feeling so chatty, let's skip to where you reveal what this is all about.
* SociallyAwkwardHero: He can talk down to villains any day of the week, but when a cute girl like [[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Shiki Misaki]] starts flirting with him, he's at a loss for words.
-->'''Shiki:''' Aren't you my knight in shining armor? Well? (winks)\\
'''Riku:''' K-knight? You've got the wrong idea.\\
'''Shiki:''' (exasperated) Ohmigosh, I was ''so'' just kidding. [[LampshadeHanging You get out much?]]
* SpinAttack: The Maelstrom attack in ''Chain of Memories'', and various attacks in ''Dream Drop Distance''. He can use the vertical variant too, like [[YinYangBomb "Shadowbreaker"]].
* StealthMentor: He acts as one to Xion in ''Days''. After Xion wakes upon Destiny Islands, she expresses her curiosity about "Sora and that girl he's always with", in which Riku tells her that Kairi is someone very special to Sora. He tells her that she is the reason Sora is unable to wake up because part of his memories are inside of her. Even though Xion is unsure of where she truly belongs and what the right choice is, Riku gives her some time to think about it.
* StockShonenRival: He fits the archetype in the first game. At the beginning of the game he's the stronger, prettier, aloof best friend who competes with Sora constantly and ends up pulling a FaceHeelTurn out of resentment. He mellows out considerably in later installments of the franchise, but remains Sora's angstier foil.
* TheStoic: After ''II'', Riku is a {{downplayed|Trope}} example, his emotions are clearly shown but not nearly to the same extent as the others as he's usually straight faced and serious, he does has his NotSoStoic moments though.
* StormOfBlades: Riku demonstrates this by shooting copies of his sword Soul Eater at the enemy with his Dark Impulse sleight in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Re:Chain of Memories]]''.
** One move in Sora and Riku's [[LimitBreak Eternal Session]] is XIII Blades, where swords revolve around them.
* StrongAndSkilled: Riku attacks very quickly with either weapon in combat in one-handed strikes ranging from thrusts to wide strikes focusing on more on slashing motions. His strength and agility are best demonstrated on Destiny Island, where he is known as the strongest child on the island (Tidus remarked that he, Wakka, and Selphie were defeated by him even after they triple-teamed him), and possesses an athletic springing kick if knocked down. Riku is also shown to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as shown in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, in which he easily knocks down a charging Xion with a single punch after dismissing his Soul Eater weapon. Riku showed another glimpse of his strength in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days by defeating Xion with ease and holding his own against Roxas. Riku's strength is acknowledged in ''II'' when Sora and Donald express their disbelief that Riku could be defeated by anyone.
* SummonToHand: Like all Keyblade wielders, he can summon his Keyblades at will.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Plays this trope straight in four of the games[[note]](in chronological order: [=KH1=], Chain of Memories, [=358/2 Days=], and [=KH2=])[[/note]], but primarily in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' when you can play as him and "Dark Mode" is one of his key abilities. Interestingly, he no longer has one as of ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'', but only because his control over his dark powers has improved to the point where he can use them freely without transforming.
* SuperMode: In ''Chain of Memories''. Once Riku gets 30 Dark Points (obtained by taking damage or breaking enemy cards), he enters Dark Mode, where he is faster, stronger and capable of using an array of special abilities. His regular combo is heavily upgraded as the finishing attack has the opportunity to stun enemies. A quick, clean dash takes the place of his tumble. Additionally, the Holy Burst sleight is replaced with a more powerful Inverse Burst that has a longer duration. Most importantly, Riku has the ability to use three new sleights in Dark Mode by stocking together three attack cards.
** Riku loses access to Dark Mode by the end of Kingdom Hearts II, due to Ansem the Wise's attempts to convert Xemnas' fake Kingdom Hearts into data failing as the machine explodes which purifies Riku of any of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness's presence.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Literally in Volume Four of the ''Days'' manga, Riku is ambushed by six members of the Organization, and winds up surrounded. His way of escaping? [[Funny/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 Tricking four of them into attacking each other.]]
* SympathyForTheDevil: Even after everything Ansem put him through, Riku shows sympathy for him in his last moments, going as far as saying he thinks he'll miss him, as strange as it sounds.
** [[SubvertedTrope He's not so forgiving towards Xigbar though.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: Chose "The road to dawn" between darkness and light, instead of wielding just one.
-->'''[=DiZ=]:''' Will you take the road to light -- or the road to darkness?\\
'''Riku:''' Neither. I'm taking the middle road.\\
'''[=DiZ=]:''' You mean the twilight road to nightfall?\\
'''Riku:''' No...[[InsistentTerminology it's the road to dawn]].
** This statement is pretty much Riku's character arc in a nutshell.
* TakeMyHand: Does this a lot, he makes it his pose in the opening cinematics of both ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Also, during ''I'' proper, Riku reaches his hand out for Sora, but Sora and Riku are both swallowed by darkness, and Sora can't reach Riku's hand before he vanishes.
* TakeUpMySword: After Terra meets him and sees his determination to leave the islands so he can grow strong enough to protect his friends and everything he holds dear, Terra chooses to perform the Bequeathing ceremonies with Riku having effectively passed on their roles in the story to them.
* TeleportSpam: In ''Dream Drop Distance'', his Dark Splicer attack and Shadow Slide/Shadow Strike abilities let him do this. His Dark Aura attack is also this as well as his Darkstrom in ''Days''.
* ThinkingUpPortals: From [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI his siding with Maleficent]] to [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII the destruction of the Kingdom Hearts encoder]], he had the ability to form [[OurWormholesAreDifferent Corridors of Darkness]]. He is no longer able to do this due to not being that in tune with darkness.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Barrage in ''Chain of Memories'' with the Soul Eater, and Strike Raid and some variants in ''Dream Drop Distance''. It works because of the SummonToHand characteristic.
* TokenGoodTeammate: To Maleficent's group in the original ''Kingdom Hearts'', as he only joined her group in order to help Kairi regain her heart, not to take over any of the worlds like the rest of group.
* TookALevelInCynic: Riku was a very arrogant SmugSmiler in the original game, his experiences after though it left him as a BrokenAce that lives in guilt over his past actions. the only reason he even accepted the Mark of Mastery in ''Dream Drop Distance'' was to see whether or not he is worthy of wielding the Keyblade after his past with the darkness. Sora even Lampshades Riku's cynical attitude in ''II''.
-->'''Sora:''' Aw, c'mon, Riku. You've been hanging around darkness for too long. You gotta try and think positive.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In the original ''Kingdom Hearts'', until the LaserGuidedKarma he receives brings him back to his senses.
* TookALevelInKindness: After much CharacterDevelopment Riku is a pretty nice guy to the people he cares about. Especially apparent in ''3D''.
* TooSlow: In ''Re:Chain Of Memories'' where an Ansem-possessed Riku [[FlashStep flash-step]] kills Lexaeus after the latter sent the former flying into the ceiling.
** Riku sometimes says the quote while using his Shadow Slide counter ability in ''Dream Drop Distance'', which teleports him behind an attacking enemy.
* ToylessToyLineCharacter: Despite being a main character since the beginning, he's usually pressed for merch -- especially after KHII, which saw Roxas and Axel get stuff before him, often multiple times in the same line. The articulated figures take this to the extreme -- even ''Ursula'' got a KH-branded figure before he did!
* TrashTalk: He used to do this a lot when he and Sora were younger, he'd constantly taunt him when they're competing on race or swordfighting.
-->'''Riku:''' Giving up already? C'mon Sora, I thought you we're stronger than that!
* TroubledButCute: A BrokenAce with a tendency to [[IneffectualLoner try to do things alone]] that's also a MrFanservice.
* TrueCompanions: Riku may not be Sora but he also has made similar bonds throughout the series.
** The most obvious examples are Sora and Kairi, his two best friends since childhood and this was shown when they we're both capable of seeing him even after he was stuck in Ansem's appearance.
** He also has this relationship with Mickey, he's the only one he entrusted with telling who he was after he took Ansem's form, Mickey was also the one that helped Riku with his struggle over his inner darkness in ''Chain of Memories''.
* TurnsRed: During the battle against Riku-Ansem, he shows three examples.
** After Riku's first life bar has been drained, he will start using a new attack; he'll spin around while swinging his Keyblade, similar to Sora's Vortex. He uses this attack very often, mostly to break Sora's combos.
** Eventually, Riku will cloak himself with darkness and a purple aura will surround him. During this period, his speed and agility increase and he gains two new attacks; one involves throwing his Keyblade at Sora, similar to Strike Raid and his infamous Dark Aura.
** When Riku's health bar drops to his final one, he'll become more aggressive and uses Dark Aura very often, telegraphed by him announcing, "Behold the power of darkness!" or "Open your heart to darkness!".
* TwoRoadsBeforeYou: At the end of ''Chain of Memories,'' this is asked to him by [=DiZ=]. He says that he'll TakeAThirdOption and [[HeelFaceTurn walk the road to dawn]].
-->'''Ansem:''' Will you take the road to light, or the road to darkness?\\
'''Riku:''' Neither. I'm taking the middle road.\\
'''Ansem:''' You mean the twilight road to nightfall?\\
'''Riku:''' No... The road to dawn.
* TheUnchosenOne: [[EarnYourHappyEnding Had to go through a]] ''[[TraumaCongaLine lot]]'' to become a Keyblade wielder again.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Scoffs Sora's heart as a weak little thing and taunts him before their fight in Hollow Bastion because of him having taken the Keyblade from him, he ends up both losing the Keyblade to him and is defeated in their fight.
* TheUnfettered: A tragic example, but Riku was this in ''Kingdom Hearts'', when he had a goal in mind, he'd do anything to reach it; He called upon the darkness to leave Destiny Islands, destroying it in the process, he joined Maleficent to rescue Kairi's heart and when he wanted to become stronger than Sora after losing to him, he opened his heart to darkness allowing Ansem to possess him. Thanks to his CharacterDevelopment, this is no longer the case in the later games.
--> '''Hook:''' What is Maleficent planning, anyway?\\
'''Riku:''' Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less.
* UnskilledButStrong: This trope is the reason why Yen Sid puts Riku, as well as Sora, through the Mark of Mastery Test in the first place. While their self-taught styles have served them well to this point, the Keyblade has further secrets they haven't discovered and need to know to prepare for Master Xehanort's return, finishing the exam allows Riku to become StrongAndSkilled.
* UnwittingPawn: All of his actions in ''KH 1'' were due to manipulation from either [[DiscOneFinalBoss Maleficent]] or [[BigBad Ansem]].
** Maleficent turns Riku against Sora, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for traveling with Donald and Goofy. However, Riku is still highly suspicious of her motives. During Sora and Aladdin's fight with Jafar in Agrabah, Riku takes Jasmine to Hollow Bastion under Maleficent's orders. Maleficent reveals the whereabouts of Kairi's body. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who appears to have lost her heart to the darkness, is to gain access to Kingdom Hearts.
** After Riku is defeated by Sora, Donald and Goofy, he manages to escape, but he is confused as to why Sora was able to regain the Keyblade. A cloaked figure appears to him from the Darkness, telling him that only one with a stronger heart can claim the Keyblade, and Riku's was weaker than Sora. However, the figure tells him that plunging himself into darkness will make his heart stronger. Riku does so, and he is possessed by the dark figure.
* VitriolicBestBuds: He and Sora have [[https://i.imgur.com/m71qbnE.jpg a bit]] [[https://pa1.narvii.com/6692/9f154dd5b6161836de9d3d85a5485a8548704cfc_hq.gif of this]] together.
* VillainTeleportation: Riku significantly loses the ability to summon Corridors of Darkness once he completes his journey back to being a good guy. ''3D'' shows he still has all his old darkness-based attacks, plus some ''new'' ones, but this ability is still off-limits.
* VillainRespect: After Ansem's death in ''III'', Riku admits he'll miss him and Ansem acknowledges Riku and Sora as being stronger than the darkness, and encourages them to move on and find something new to seek after.
* VocalEvolution: His voice changes subtly over the course of the series.
* WeCanRuleTogether: A variant, he offers to join forces with Sora and find Kairi, being confident they can find and save her together, [[ShutUpHannibal Sora is having none of it and chooses to fight him while blatantly saying Riku is on the wrong side.]]
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Sora and Riku we're best friends and rivals as kids for 10 years or probably more but after Riku is tricked by Maleficent into thinking Sora abandoned him and Kairi, the two become enemies, thankfully they manage to set things straight by the end of the game.
* WeaponSpecialization: Once he gets the Soul Eater, he only ever changes weapons once, when he manages to steal Kingdom Key from Sora. Otherwise, he has always used some permutation of Soul Eater. Eventually, he winds up with a new keyblade called Braveheart.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: In the first game, Riku just wants to save Kairi, despite committing evil deeds to do so.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted, he seems to have this opinion in ''I'', scoffing it as a "weak little thing" when Sora refers to it as his weapon but in ''II'' he reveals that he was always jealous of Sora's ability to just follow his heart.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Riku is baffled at Sora choosing to fight him over Pinocchio, coldly referring to him as a puppet with no heart.
** This is averted in ''[=CoM=]'' after he defeats his replica as Riku tries to comfort the dying Replica, even promising that his soul will go to the afterlife just like his own's eventually will.
* WhatTheHellHero: After Mickey reveals to Riku that Aqua was with him back when they sealed the Door to Darkness, but she stayed behind to stop a swarm of Heartless which were chasing Riku, he is outraged by the story and demands to know why Mickey kept this secret. He calms down after Yen Sid explains why he didn't told them though.
** He also delivers these to Sora in [=KH1=], however, Riku's WTH's to Sora, in contrast, show how selfish, twisted, and [[SanitySlippage downright mad]] he was becoming, accusing Sora of not caring about Kairi even though the very first thing he did upon reuniting with Riku was to ask him where she was, and trying to guilt-trip Sora for choosing to fight him over a little boy ''he's'' holding hostage.
** After working closely with Ansem to restore Sora's memories, [[EveryoneHasStandards Riku is disgusted when he orders him to "dispose of" Naminé simply because she is no longer useful to them.]]
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: Riku saw Destiny Islands as a prison surrounded by water and wanted more than anything to leave it and explore other worlds, this ends up calling the Heartless at the beginning of the series, causing Destiny Islands to get destroyed.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: A villainous version in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', but an AntiHero one from ''Chain of Memories'' through ''Dream Drop Distance''.
* WreckedWeapon: In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', Way to Dawn is broken from the top portion of the blade when facing a Demon Tower, requiring Riku get a new blade. Riku plants the ruined Keyblade in the sand of the Dark Ocean.
* YinYangBomb: On his own he doesn't typically use much light oriented abilities with his darkness ones, but teamed with Mickey or Sora he can do {{Combination Attack}}s combining their prowess with the light with his with the dark.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: He receives a lot of this from [[AllLovingHero Sora]] and [[TheGoodKing Mickey]] to help him deal with his struggles over his past actions and his inner darkness.
** ''III'' turns it around, having Riku give one to Sora after his [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]] about him being nothing without his friends after everyone besides the two are dragged by the Heartless in the Keyblade Graveyard.
* YouAreWorthHell: Feels this way about both Kairi and Sora. He's perfectly content to walk the path of darkness if it means keeping them safe, and at the end of ''II'' he seems to accept dwelling in the Realm of Darkness with relative ease, seeing as how Sora is there with him.
-->'''Riku:''' If the world is made of light and darkness...we'll be the darkness.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: After embracing the power of darkness to defeat Roxas at the end of ''358/2 Days'', he gets [[ShapeshifterModeLock Shapeshifter Mode-Locked]] in the form of "Ansem", Seeker of Darkness and ends up looking like a ~30-year old man when he's actually a 16-year old boy.
* YouRemindMeOfX: He gets this with both Xion and Roxas, which especially hurts his conscience given that he's trying to wake Sora, and they can't exist if Sora's to be woken. Xion is a double whammy for him since not only is she ''part'' of Sora, she physically resembles Kairi, and they are both people Riku holds dear. Roxas only resembles Sora facially, but Roxas's fight with Riku gets more personally charged when Roxas ends up quoting something only Sora would say.
[[/folder]]
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->''"I know the way. Consume the darkness, return it to light."''

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''Dream Drop Distance'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/371_1star_kh_3d_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]

** ''III'': As a game with sacrifice as a core theme-- alongside, to a lesser extent, TrueLove-- it's fitting Riku commits what is probably his ultimate act of love thus far. See the entry for HeroicSacrifice below.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''II'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/266_5star_kh_ii_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''Dream Drop Distance'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/375_5star_kh_3d_riku_render.png[[/labelnote]]]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: His outfit in ''Dream Drop Distance'' has the Dream Eater symbol on it's back which foreshadows him becoming a Dream Eater himself so he can save Sora from the nightmares.

** In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Riku tells Terra that he's searching for strength to protect the things that matter. After defeating Ansem, he says "Strength, to protect what matters". This doubles as {{foreshadowing}} to TheReveal in ''III'' of the Dark Figure being [[spoiler:the vessel for Terra's heart, as the guardian [[https://www.khwiki.com/images/c/c9/Strength%2C_to_Protect_What_Matters_01_KH3D.png briefly strikes the same pose Terra once did when summoning his Keyblade]], before Riku reinterates what he'd said to him a decade earlier]].

* HypocriticalHumor: In the KHII manga, after reuniting with Sora, he tells Sora that [[MenDontCry he shouldn't cry because it's pathetic]]. Cue the shot panning to Riku (while he looks like ''Ansem'') who is a wibbling snotty mess.

** After defeating Ansem, he says "Strength, to protect what matters". In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Riku tells Terra that he's searching for strength to protect the things that matter.

* ThePowerOfLove: In ''DDD'', Yen Sid admits that Riku, having (unwittingly) been in Sora's dreams for nearly their entire Mark of Mastery exam to protect him from Nightmares, is the one with the best chance to wake up Sora at the end of the game. See the example for ''DDD'' under ActOfTrueLove above for further elaboration.

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riku_03_khiii_5.png]]

** The KH character files state that part of why Riku gives into the darkness is because of his [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec65f7bcd20823a8edd696aae4b69ab5/fb1f5ccfebcebdc9-47/s540x810/5517cde9ad18fdcd6946a5575cf840ef879d46fe.pnj 'complex feelings towards Sora']]. The other part is his 'impatience to save Kairi'- with no mention of any such feelings toward her.
** Nomura [[https://www.khinsider.com/news/Kingdom-Hearts-II-Ultimania-Main-Nomura-Interview-2553 stated]] in ''II'''s Ultimania that the opening theme song, ''Sanctuary'' (''Passion'' in Japanese), was written with the theme of Sora and Riku's reunion in mind. Which includes the (infamous) backwards lyrics, "I need more affection than you know".

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TakeAThirdOption "Neither suits me. I'm taking the middle road."]]]]

!!!'''Appearances''': ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI I]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded coded]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsMelodyOfMemory Melody of Memory]]''

!!!'''Appearances''': ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI I]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded coded]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-]] | [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsMelodyOfMemory Melody of Memory]]''

* WouldHitAGirl: He sees no problem in tag teaming [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]] with Sora in ''Dream Drop Distance''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riku_03_khiii_7.png]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as a child in ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Birth by Sleep'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_21175.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''II'']] :https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_32035.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''358/2 Days'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_31025.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''Dream Drop Distance'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_21086.png[[/labelnote]]]]

* BrokenAce: To an extent, at least in the very first game. Better than Sora and the other island kids at pretty much everything; older, stronger, cooler, more attractive, and (most importantly) seemingly "closer" to Kairi, whom he and Sora--quite awkwardly for them--both have feelings for. Riku, as a result, takes position as the leader of the group. While Sora is jealous of these aspects about Riku, it turns out later in the game that Riku is the one with a massive inferiority complex to Sora, becoming very jealous when Sora finds new friends in Donald and Goofy and Sora turns out to be the one chosen by the Keyblade; and last but not least, it gets even worse when it turns out that Riku feels as though Kairi likes Sora more despite the fact that Riku has "done more for her". The villains, naturally, exploit Riku's issues with Sora soon enough and draws him into the Darkness and have the two fighting against each other.

* BrokenAce: To an extent, at least in the very first game. Better than Sora and the other island kids at pretty much everything; older, stronger, cooler, more attractive, and (most importantly) seemingly "closer" to Kairi, whom he and Sora--quite awkwardly for them--both have feelings for. Riku, as a result, takes position as the leader of the group. While Sora is jealous of these aspects about Riku, it turns out later in the game that Riku is the one with a massive inferiority complex to Sora, becoming very jealous when Sora finds new friends in Donald and Goofy and Sora turns out to be the one chosen by the Keyblade; and last but not least, it gets even worse when it turns out that Riku feels as though Kairi likes Sora more despite the fact that Riku has "done more for her". The villains, naturally, exploit Riku's issues with Sora soon enough and draws him into the Darkness and have the two fighting against each other.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''II'']] :https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_32035.png[[/labelnote]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as a child in ''Birth by Sleep'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_21175.png[[/labelnote]]]]

* InvisibleParents: Riku mentions his parents a few times, but they are never seen.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Riku as he appears in ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Chain of Memories'']]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cutin_31265.png[[/labelnote]]]]

** Towards Donald and Goofy in regards to Sora in the first game, which Maleficient exploits.

* OneHeadTaller: He's always around a head taller than both Sora and Kairi. It's a non-romantic example towards either of them though that hasn't stopped the fans.

* {{Yandere}}: To Kairi and, to a far lesser degree, Sora in the first game. He wants to save Kairi by any means necessary, and was very upset when Maleficent made him think Sora deserted him for newer friends, to the extent [[IfICantHaveYou that he tried to kill him]]. A lot of his actions come off as him wanting to keep Kairi for himself as a friend in order to spite Sora for allegedly replacing him with Donald and Goofy.