History Characters / KingdomHeartsRiku

* 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. It has vanished by Kingdom Hearts III, implying that he did, at last, finally get it ''fixed.''

* 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.

* 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.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: Platonic example, Riku's big brother love to Sora and Kairi in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts1'' 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.

* 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/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance 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.

* ThinkingUpPortals: From [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts 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.

!!!'''Appearances''': ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts | [[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]]''

* AntiVillain: In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'', 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.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: A villainous version in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'', but an AntiHero one from ''Chain of Memories'' through ''Dream Drop Distance''.

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfinder Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsMasterXehanort Master Xehanort]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsHeartless Heartless]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals Supporting Original Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfarer Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsMasterXehanort Master Xehanort]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsHeartless Heartless]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals Supporting Original Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

** 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, he 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 ''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''.

** 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, he 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 ''already'' done in the past.

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfarer Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsMasterXehanort Master Xehanort]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals Supporting Original Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: It went from Heel as RivalTurnedEvil to Face to AntiHero Face to solid Face again.

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfarer Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals Supporting Original Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

* {{Adorkable}}: This side of him pops up around girls who aren't Kairi, as shown by his meeting with Shiki in Dream Drop Distance. He even states he's not good with people. He's also the only character to use emoji in the Instagram like loading screens in ''Kingdom Hearts 3''.

** In ''KH 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.

** ''Dream Drop Distance'' shows this trope to full effect, after discovering Sora has been kidnapped by Organization XIII, 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 new Organization, among them are Young Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas, 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.

* ShipTease: With Namine in '''III'''. Sora referse to Riku as "someone special" who would miss her when Riku's the only one he dosn't mention by name. And he personally picks her up from Radiant Garden at the end of the game.

* TheAce: Sora is occasionally jealous of his friend for excelling at everything he does. This is acknowledged in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' when Sora and Donald express their disbelief that Riku could be defeated by anyone.

* ADayInTheLimelight: He has his own campaign in ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Dream Drop Distance'', the latter in which he's more of TheProtagonist than Sora himself.

* AloofAlly: In ''Kingdom Hearts 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.

* TheAtoner: From ''Chain of Memories'' through to the end of ''Kingdom Hearts 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.

* 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 ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: Like the others, he has his heart held hostage by a Lich Heartless after being swept away by Heartless and has to be rescued by Sora.]]
* BadassLongcoat: While wearing an Organization longcoat In ''Days'' and ''KH II''.

* {{BFS}}: In ''Kingdom Hearts 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.
* BigBadEnsemble: Shares BigBad duties with Xemnas in ''358/2 Days.'' Even though the two won't interact until ''Kingdom Hearts II'' and Xemnas very clearly is the overall villain, Riku is regardless Roxas's most personal enemy throughout the game despite his very clear noble intentions. The game even closes with Riku as the FinalBoss.

** 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 Kingdom Hearts II, and his willingness to accept the darkness in order to subdue Roxas in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

*** And THAT gets turned on its head in DDD 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. [[spoiler: Throughout the game, it's Sora who ends up going through MindRape via the New Organization XIII. 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.]]

* BlindWeaponmaster: Wears a blindfold willingly during the events of ''Days'' and most of ''Kingdom Hearts II'' (the latter in his normal form).

* BlindingBangs: He has these in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' as part of his LongHairedPrettyBoy appearance, no longer the case after ''Dream Drop Distance'' though as he cuts his hair short.

* ButNowIMustGo: Throughout ''Kingdom Hearts 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.

** In ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'', 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 ''Kingdom Hearts 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.

* CombinationAttack: His LimitBreak in ''Kingdom Hearts 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. [[spoiler: They also use it once again in ''III'' once Sora arrives in the Realm of Darkness.]]

* CoolSword: Soul Eater from ''Kingdom Hearts'' through most of ''Kingdom Hearts 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 ''Kingdom Hearts II'' and doubles as a CoolKey.

* CurbStompBattle: Riku easily defeats and wounds Beast during their short fight in ''KH 1'' and Sora has to intervene to stop Riku from killing Beast.

* TheDragon: To Maleficent in the first game. He plays an anti-heroic version of this to [=Diz=] throughout ''Days'' and the beginning of ''Kingdom Hearts II''.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: After the Demon Tide appears and transforms into a powerful tornado. Though Riku, Sora, and Aqua attempt to make a stand against it, Aqua hesitates, and the Demon Tide sweeps up her, Ventus, Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi. 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 Tide, managing to hold it off for several seconds before he is consumed by it as well and it goes for Sora.]]

* 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 Kingdom Hearts 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.

* EnemyWithin: The remnants of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, from ''Chain of Memories'' until the explosion of the Kingdom Hearts Encoder near the end of ''Kingdom Hearts II''. It acts more like an EnemyWithout by ''3D''.

* EvolvingWeapon: By the time he came to The World That Never Was in ''Kingdom Hearts 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.

* FriendlyRivalry: With Sora as kids on Destiny Islands, as well as once they truly reunite near the end of ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
* FusionDance: He has the ability to [[FusionDance Link Style]] with [[{{Mons}} Dream Eaters]] in ''Dream Drop Distance'' 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.

* IneffectualLoner: After he returns to normal in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', he get's told by Sora that he doesn't has to do everything by himself as he [[PowerOfFriendship has his friends to help him.]]

* {{Irony}}: He wore bright shades of yellow during his struggles with the darkness and his more brooding phases. Come ''Kingdom Hearts III'', representing overcoming those and representing the good aspects of darkness and overall CharacterDevelopment, he wears...black.

* JekyllAndHyde: In an interesting inversion, with "Ansem" in ''Kingdom Hearts 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.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Riku suffers for [[DealWithTheDevil his deal with Ansem]] with a TraumaCongaLine that lasts up till the end of ''Kingdom Hearts II''.
* {{Leitmotif}}: "Riku" in ''KH II''.

* MutualEnvy: At the end of ''Kingdom Hearts 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. When they both realize that they're fine the way they are, this conversation ultimately repairs their friendship for good.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Ever since ''Chain of Memories'', 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.

* TheNotLoveInterest: Becomes more an AloofBigBrother to Sora and Kairi than a love interest to the latter by ''Kingdom Hearts II''.

* 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 [[spoiler: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 ThatOneBoss because he is possessed by [[spoiler:Xehanort's Heartless]]. And it's not just because it's a DuelBoss...

* RivalTurnedEvil: He's the current page image. 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 ''Chain of Memories'' and ''Kingdom Hearts II''.

* TheStoic: After ''Kingdom Hearts II'', Riku is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] 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.
* 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 Kingdom Hearts II when Sora and Donald express their disbelief that Riku could be defeated by anyone.

* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: His death cry in Kingdom Hearts II is to call out for Kairi indicating he isn't quite over her [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy even if he is not actively pursuing her]].

* VillainRespect: [[spoiler: 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.]]

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted, he seems to have this opinion in ''Kingdom Hearts'', scoffing it as a "weak little thing" when Sora refers to it as his weapon but in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' he reveals that he was always jealous of Sora's ability to just follow his heart.

** This is averted in ''Chain of Memories'' 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.

** [[spoiler: ''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 ''KHII'' he seems to accept dwelling in the Realm of Darkness with relative ease, seeing as how Sora is there with him.

* 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 dissapointed and shocked after he refuses.

* ChildhoodFriends: At first it was just him and Sora but during one night, there is 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.

->''"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!"''

!!Riku

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfarer Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Destiny Islands Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Disney Castle Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Clock Tower Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Wayfarer Trio]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Kairi, and Data-Sora]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Mickey, Donald, and Goofy]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Roxas, Axel, and Xion]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Terra, Aqua, and Ventus]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]

[[center: [- [[Characters/KingdomHearts Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]] | '''Riku''' | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDestinyIslandsTrio Riku, Kairi, and Data-Sora]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyCastleTrio Mickey, Donald, and Goofy]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsRoxasAxelAndXion Roxas, Axel, and Xion]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsTerraAquaAndVentus Terra, Aqua, and Ventus]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsPartyMembersAndSummons Party Members and Summons]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations Xehanort's Incarnations]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsOrganizationXIII Organization XIII]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXigbar Xigbar]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsDisneyVillains Disney Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsEnemyCreatures Enemy Creatures]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsAnsemAndApprentices Ansem and his Apprentices]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXCharacters Kingdom Hearts X(chi) Characters]] | Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingOriginals | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingSquareEnix Supporting Square Enix Characters]] | [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSupportingDisney Supporting Disney Characters]]]]-]