History VideoGame / KingdomHeartsChainofMemories

** [[CallBack Once again]], the 100 Acre Woods has no combat whatsoever (aside from one section involving [[HoldTheLine protecting Pooh from bees]]) and instead has a selection of minigames for Sora to play with Pooh and friends.

** Downplayed with Cloud Strife, who appears as an AssistCharacter in addition to his previous role as a boss in Olympus Coliseum.

* BigBadEnsemble: Marluxia in Sora's story, Ansem in ''Reverse/Rebirth''. Marluxia is attempting to overthrow Organisation XIII by having [[spoiler:Naminé brainwash Sora into a weapon against Xemnas, the Organization's leader.]] Meanwhile, Ansem is trying to [[EnemyWithin corrupt Riku from within]] and reclaim him as his vessel.

* BigBad: Marluxia in Sora's story, Ansem in ''Reverse/Rebirth''.

** Downplayed with Cloud Strife, who

--->"I'm... fading? No, this isn't the way I... I won't ALLOW...!"

--->"Forgive me, Zexion... This was a fight I should not have started."

** [[CallBack Once again]], the 100 Acre Woods doesn't feature any combat whatsoever and instead has a selection of minigames for Sora to play with Pooh and friends.

* TheUnfought: Despite being the secondary antagonist of ''Reverse/Rebirth'', Zexion is never fought[[spoiler:; he's finished off in a cutscene]]. {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Re: Chain of Memories'', where he's fought after attempting to corrupt Riku at Destiny Islands.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Deep Jungle]] and all of its inhabitants are completely absent, due

---> "Forgive me, Zexion... This was a fight I should not have started."

** Ars Arcanum and Ragnarok are some of the most damaging Sleights in the game, dealing massive [[InfinityPlusOneElement neutral-elemental]] damage. However, the latter requires a total sleight value of 9, and the former requires a total value of ''6 or less.'' Ragnarok has use against Heartless, as it can hit multiple easily, but Ars Arcanum is single target, and you'd better believe that bosses will break them at every opportunity thanks to their long durations. Thankfully, with certain Enemy Cards(namely [[BoringButPractical Jafar]]), you can use them with much more consistency - at a cost of the high CP those Enemy Cards use.

** For Sora players in the GBA version, Simba. Simba is very useful in the game boy advance version because he hits everyone "in front of" him (which, in the game boy advance's view, is basically "In the direction he's facing"). Thus with good positioning you'll have an attack that can't miss and can knock enemies around. By the time you fight Larxene the first time, you'll have to put him in a sleight for him to hold up though. In the remake, Simba hits a much smaller area and takes much longer to execute.

* DullSurprise: Marluxia's voice actor in ''Re: Chain of Memories''. Possibly justified, because he ''is'' a Nobody...
** It should be noted that it's not just in English. Compared to his other roles, Creator/ShuichiIkeda isn't emoting as much as he does in his other roles like Char Aznable. It's just that his voice has that natural bombast to it compared to Creator/KeithFerguson's. It's all meant to highlight Marluxia's inability to put more emotion in his speech much when not in combat.

** This is the only ''Kingdom Hearts'' game where a ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' character appears as a Summon. From ''II'' onwards, all Summons have been Disney characters.

* EndlessDaytime: The sun never sets or rise in Twilight Town. It is always late afternoon.

* SamePlotSequel: The game follows similar beats to that of the first game, with Sora, Donald and Goofy once again searching for Riku, King Mickey and [[spoiler:a form of]] Kairi in various Disney worlds (the same worlds they visited in the first game, natch).

* PsychoElectro: Larxene, whose element is electricity and who is one of the most out and out CRUEL people in the series. Even Maleficent comes across as more sympathetic [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII in the next game]], and she's the freaking "Mistress of all evil!"

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: The Beast's main enemy in this game is Maleficient instead of Gaston since the latter is absent in the franchise.

** After defeating Marluxia [[spoiler: Naminé tells Sora that she can restore his fractured memories but to do that she has to undo the chain of memories she implanted about herself to him thereby erasing all of his memories about Castle Oblivion and her. She gives him the choice of either regaining his old memories while erasing the ones gained from her or continuing onward with his life but without ever retrieving his former memories. Sora reluctantly decides to regain his original memories but promises Naminé that they will make new memories together when they meet again.]]

* TheStationsOfTheCanon: That Sora (re)experiences all of the events of the first Kingdom Hearts game (except for a certain Important Promise) is a major plot point, since he is literally re-visiting his memories [[spoiler: (while Naminé manipulates them)]].

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Axel. Don't worry, it'll all catch up to him in ''KHII'', though it's [[AlasPoorVillain actually pretty sad]] when it happens.]]

** Somewhat amusingly, the plot of ''Wonderland'' of all places fully gives away the main theme of the game. In it the Queen of Hearts is after Alice because of a loss of memory which she blames on her. At the end Alice convinces her that she ordered her and Sora's crew to take down the Heartless that they just beat. Since the Queen's pride wouldn't let her admit she forgot, she "created" a memory of doing so. Basically, the Queen went through a comical version of what Sora does. While other worlds contain similar warnings, they tend to be a bit more obtuse than this one.

* ImmediateSequel: Both Sora's and Riku's stories take place moments after the ending of the previous game; Sora is walking on a meadow with Donald and Goofy and ends up in Castle Oblivion after following a black cloaked figure (Marluxia). Meanwhile, Riku is trapped in the Realm of Darkness and is bailed out by a mysterious voice ([=DiZ=]), ending up in Basement 12th Floor of Castle Oblivion.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Premium Cards. You can identify them by their shiny coat and gold number. They cost much less CP to add to your Deck, but if you use it in battle for any reason, it's gone for the rest of the fight unless you use an item card to get it back. The only way to skirt around this is with the remake-exclusive Gold Card, but by the time you get this thing, [[BraggingRightsReward you won't have much else to do anyways.]]

* MediumAwareness: The during the first part of Traverse Town, Goofy and Donald had effectively disappeared, forcing Sora to summon them to battle using cards through the in-game tutorial in order to see them again. A few scenes later, they literally reappear right besides Sora alongside a change from their classic outfits into the ones they wore during the first game, much to their confusion. Even they don't know why the castle's doing that to them. It's this trope as for the rest of the game, it's implied they kept following Sora even though they don't seem to be present on the overworld screen.

** Regular Heartless, as well as most world bosses and Marluxia's second form, don't have actual decks and can simply play cards whenever they feel like.

** The Ansem card had its unique effect--hide your stocked cards--removed in the single player-only remake, since this only had a use in the GBA version's multiplayer battles. It now has little use for Sora beyond giving him resistances. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Ansem uses the old version of the card, though]].
** In the GBA version, both destructible and indestructible field obstacles respawn Moogle Points and health every time Sora re-enters a given room. In the remake, destructible obstacles stay destroyed while indestructibles only yield prizes the first time as long as Sora stays on that floor.

%%* PetalPower: Marluxia.
* PlotHole: Twilight Town is treating as anomalous because Sora has never been there, and therefore has no memories of the place for the Twilight Town world card to draw from. While this is true, this seemingly ignores the fact that ''every'' time the party enters a new floor, they act as if they've never been to that world.

** Defeating enemies can cause them to drop Enemy Cards, which provide a static bonus for a certain duration when used in battle. Riku follows this trope more normally, since he automatically equips every Enemy Card dropped by a boss, while Sora will typically only use one or two such cards due to their high costs.

* RecurringBoss: Riku[[spoiler:-Replica]] is fought 6 times over the course of the two story modes: 4 times for Sora [[spoiler:and twice for Riku]]. [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] after Sora gets through Floor 9 as Goofy and Donald look around, wondering where Riku is and assuming in the end that he got tired of fighting Sora.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Vexen mentions Twilight Town as a place that exists in Sora's "other side of his memory", implying that it is a place Sora forgot he had visited. Unlike Naminé, even Sora has to wring his hand and give up remembering that he ever visited a place called Twilight Town. Indeed, he has never been. [[spoiler:Naminé's memory altering ability has nothing to do with it, too. The "other side" that Vexen mentioned is actually his Nobody, Roxas, as revealed in [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII the following game]].]]

** After defeating Marluxia [[spoiler: Naminé tells Sora that she can restore his fractured memories but to do that she has to undo the chain of memories she implanted about herself to him thereby erasing all off his memories about Castle Oblivion and her. She gives him the choice of either regaining his old memories while erasing the ones gained from her or to continue onward with his life but without ever retrieving his former memories. Sora reluctantly decides to regain his original memories but promises Naminé that they will make new memories together when they meet again.]]

* SecretAIMoves: In the remake, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness's Sleightbind, which hides his stocked Cards and Sleights until he uses them. As the result of the lack of a multiplayer feature, the boss's Enemy Card gets a new effect for Sora in his EndgamePlus that reduces elemental damage, but when the boss uses it in Reverse/Rebirth, it still has its original effect.

%%* SmugSnake: Vexen and Zexion.
%%* SoreLoser: Larxene, after Sora defeats her for the second and final time.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: The Darkside card is an Enemy Card that costs a whopping 99 CP and has a very esoteric effect of copying whatever Enemy Card the opponent has in play. This, of course, already limits its utility to Castle Oblivion boss fights, and depending on the boss their Enemy Card effect may not benefit you all that much. However, if you have the advance knowledge that Organization XIII boss cards grant specific kinds of immunities, you can use the Darkside card to turn them into a complete joke as copying their boss card renders you immune to effectively all of their most dangerous attacks and lets you wallop them with impunity since the odds that you'll get punished for making a mistake is drastically reduced as long as you can keep the copied card alive.

%%* AlphaBitch: Larxene, very much so.

%%* TheChessmaster: Zexion. [[spoiler:He might have actually succeeded had it not been for Axel.]]

-->'''Phil:''' {{Two words|AddedEmphasis}}: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis You! Ain't! Heroes!]]\\

-->'''Sora:''' The games are canceled? How come?\\

%%* LetsGetDangerous:
%%-->'''Axel:''' "Remember the order: 'You must eliminate the traitor.' I always follow orders, Marluxia."

%%* LovableTraitor: Axel.

%%* MadScientist: Vexen, the Chilly Academic.

* CrypticConversation: Just about everything the Organization members say to Sora until late in the game is very cryptic and they avoid actually answering his questions, particularly those about Riku and King Mickey. Justified, [[spoiler:as they're simply trying to get Sora to stay in Castle Oblivion as long as possible so they can brainwash him.]] When Sora finally finds out what's going on, the remaining members drop this.

** You're up against a much higher concentration of humanoid antagonists this time around. A good half of the boss fights are man-to-man death battles, rather than the constant bombardment of Heartless, monstrous-looking (or monster-transforming) Disney villains, or fights just meant to test your skill, such as Coliseum duels. These antagonists also receive a little bit more screen time than the first game's. [[spoiler:Riku's tragedy and identity crisis is also given more focus here than in the first game.]]

** After Riku first meets [=DiZ=], if you talk to Mickey, he will tell him that he feels like he's met him before. Come ''Kingdom Hearts II'', we learn that [[spoiler: Mickey definitely met him back when he still went by Ansem the Wise.]]

* TheArtifact: The picture on the Moment's Reprieve card. In the original GBA version, save points were depicted as crystals, as depicted on the card. This was changed in the remake, where save points instead share their appearance with their KH2 counterparts.

* DeusExitMachina: Mickey Mouse does have the role of acting as a support to Riku, teaching and strengthening him against the darkness inside his heart and helping him repel Ansem, but due to the whole affair ultimately being a ItsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself, he ultimately doesn't help him in the final battle with Ansem and only appears at the end to save him once more. Considering how easy it was for him to repel Ansem and how Riku himself believes Mickey capable of killing him if Ansem wins, if Mickey was present, it would have made the fight much less challenging.

* BatmanGambit: Marluxia, Larxene, and Axel are using Naminé to [[spoiler:rewrite Sora's memories and turn him into a weapon against the Organization's leader, Xemnas]]. However, this plan requires cooperation among people who fundamentally dislike each other and [[spoiler:the rest of the Organization not catching on]]. The plan nearly falls apart a few times, but luckily Axel is there to bail them out. [[spoiler:Vexen, a MadScientist Marluxia is both using for the scheme and openly disrespecting, attempts to reveal everything to Sora but ends up killed by Axel]]. The basement members are highly suspicious and [[spoiler:try to control Riku in a similar way, but Axel makes sure they all die as well]]. Of course, the plan does fail in the end, and how could it not? [[spoiler:Axel was actually working for Xemnas the whole time (sort of, see GambitPileup below), looking for a reason to kill off Marluxia's group]]. And manipulating Sora had little chance of going right when [[spoiler:the plan revolved around [[DeclarationOfProtection making him obsessively protective of Naminé]] but the most clear and present dangers to her were Marluxia and Larxene]]. They could, of course, [[spoiler:rewrite his memories to get around that too, but they pick fights with him before they get the chance and end up dead]].

''Chain of Memories'' was later remade as a UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 game (titled ''Re:Chain of Memories'') as part of the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] release of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII: Final Mix+''. It was (much later) released as a standalone [=PS2=] game in North America. [[NoExportForYou Europe and Australia never got it]], but did get ''Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 Re[=MIX=]'', which contains ''Re:Chain of Memories'' remastered in HD. The remake replaces the 2D sprite art with 3D graphics, has voice acting in the Castle Oblivion cutscenes[[note]]Otherwise, this version still uses pure text, although small voice clips can still be heard during the battles, which mainly consist of voice grunts, and other battle clips that previously appeared in both VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI, and VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII.[[/note]], adds an additional boss battle and a new form for the FinalBoss, includes some new Attack Cards based off of Keyblades and Enemy Cards based off the Organization XIII members that appear in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', makes small tweaks to the battle system such as adding or removing some sleights, and completely removes the PlayerVersusPlayer mode. The ''HD I.5 Re[=MIX=]'' version is mostly identical to the the [=PS2=] remake, but has higher graphics resolution, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 trophy support, and replaces the Attack Cards of the ''II'' Keyblades with some from ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2''.

* TheUnfought: Despite being the secondary antagonist of ''Reverse/Rebirth'', Zexion is never fought[[spoiler:; he's finished off in a cutscene]]. {{Averted|Trope}} in the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 remake, where he's fought after attempting to corrupt Riku at Destiny Islands.