Kingdom Hearts: Terra / Characters

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Terra

"What I do, I do for friendship."

^{Click here to see the Lingering Will}

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Jason Dohring (English)

Appearances: II: Final Mix | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | III | Melody of Memory

"Ven...Aqua...I won't let him hurt you."

An aspiring Keyblade Master training under Eraqus, he has outstanding power and skill, but lacks discipline and allows darkness into his heart out of fear of failure. Denied the rank of Master by Eraqus, he eventually becomes an apprentice to Xehanort and resolves to learn to embrace and channel darkness rather than reject it.

As a result of Master Xehanort's machinations, Terra's body is transformed into a new Xehanort under Master Xehanort's control, containing both of their hearts. However, Terra's hatred for Xehanort was strong enough to reanimate his discarded Keyblade Armor as the Lingering Will. The Lingering Will defeated Xehanort and then went to rest in the Keyblade Graveyard. Sora encountered it during the events of Kingdom Hearts II, where it battled him and acknowledged his worth as a Keyblade Master.

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#-E

11th-Hour Ranger: Due to his body being possessed by Xehanort and used as one of the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, he is only briefly able to aid the Guardians of Light as the Lingering Will until the final battle, where he is revealed to be Ansem/Terra-Xehanort's Guardian all along and saves Ventus and Aqua, finally freeing himself from Xehanort's possession, regaining control of his body and joining with the others, helping to seal Kingdom Hearts and in the fight against the Xehanort Replicas.
Ambiguously Brown: Downplayed but he's got a slightly tanner skin tone than most of the other fair-skinned characters.
Ambition Is Evil: One of Xehanort's reports claims Terra "seeks power single-mindedly", making him an ideal candidate for Grand Theft Me.
And I Must Scream: Courtesy of getting his body taken over by Xehanort (but mitigated somewhat by Eraqus's presence supporting him). In A Fragmentary Passage, during his conversation with Aqua he tells her all he can see is absolute darkness (but again, mitigated somewhat by his greatly improved Fighting from the Inside). III takes this to an almost literal degree with the reveal that Terra-Xehanort's Guardian is in fact the vessel for Terra's heart, and therefore forced to serve under Terra-Xehanort and Ansem's will. After defying Terra-Xehanort the Guardian has to tear off the bandages over his mouth before being able to speak.
And Now for Someone Completely Different: Briefly, and not completely different, but at the end of Terra's story in Birth by Sleep, you stop directly playing as Terra, and fight against the body that Xehanort just committed Grand Theft Me on with the Lingering Will, the suit of armor that Terra left behind. Although the Lingering Will does have Terra's memories and motives, essentially making it the remains (or a new incarnation) of the original Terra.
And Then John Was a Zombie: By continuing to use the darkness, Terra's heart is weakened. The straw that broke the camel's back was Master Xehanort orchestrating Terra's emotionally-supercharged duel with Master Eraqus and then killing a weary Eraqus just as he and Terra were calming down from and remorsing over their fight. When Terra gives into his rage, unleashing the full extent of his inner darkness, Xehanort uses this as the perfect opportunity to take over Terra's body. Thus, Terra has become the one thing he's hated the most: Xehanort himself.
Animated Armor: When Xehanort takes over his body, Terra's mind reanimates his discarded armor as the Lingering Will.
Anime Hair: Less so than other Kingdom Hearts protagonists but he still has the hot-blooded spikes in his hair.
Anti-Hero: A lighter example than most, but still applies. Terra is extremely trusting of others, even when they are Obviously Evil, which causes him to take some questionable actions. He is also obsessed with power—power to protect his friends, but this single-minded motivation allows the darkness to easily fester within him and makes him more ruthless than the other protagonists. Not holding back results in him killing his father figure Eraqus, and eventually he is consumed with such hatred for Xehanort that the Lingering Will outright attacks Sora with full strength over a momentary misunderstanding.
Armor Is Useless: Expecting this trope to be averted, Terra becomes slightly Wrong Genre Savvy when Master Xehanort tries to take over his body. Not only is the darkness of Xehanort's heart so great, but Terra's heart has been weakened by the dark powers he embraced.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Riku in Re:Mind when the two team-up against two of the Xehanort Replicas.
Battle Aura: Terra gets a pitch-black aura whenever he's tapping into darkness. It's a flickering flame when he squares off with Eraqus in order to protect Ven, and becomes a raging inferno pillar of blackness when he flies into a rage against Xehanort during the Battle at the Keyblade Graveyard.
Best Served Cold: In III, the Xehanorts return to the Keyblade Graveyard for the first time in over ten years, and (with an alert from Naminé) the Lingering Will is there to confront Terra-Xehanort and pick up where they left off.
Lingering Will: "How I've waited for this moment."
Beyond the Impossible: His rage at Xehanort is so great that he's able to keep fighting through will alone even after his heart, body, and mind have all been stolen! This should be explicitly impossible but Terra does it anyways.
Big Damn Heroes:
- From Ventus's perspective, Terra comes out of nowhere to save him when he's about to be killed by Master Eraqus.
- In III, his mind appears as the Lingering Will to hold off Terra-Xehanort to buy time for Sora and co. to take on the rest of the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, but is destroyed after Taking the Bullet for Sora. Later on, when Terra-Xehanort has Ven and Aqua dead to rights, Terra reasserts control of his heart, allowing him to rescue his friends and attack Terra-Xehanort to reclaim his body.
BFG: Ultima Cannon, Terra's Signature Move and ultimate Shotlock, allows him to morph his Keyblade into a giant cannon to fire upon his foes. The right timing causes the bullets to become explosive.
BFS:
- Terra's Keyblades are the largest of the trio to go with his heavy-hitting playstyle. The biggest ones are nearly as long as he is tall.
- The Bladecharge Command Style cloaks his Keyblade in a light purple aura that greatly increases it's length and width. The blade is noticeably longer than he is tall and is as wide as his body near the hilt.
Big Brother Mentor: Due to his age and experience, Terra seems to play this role for the younger characters a lot.
- The biggest example is his relationship with Ventus. Ever since Ventus arrived in the Land of Departure, the two of them would train together, and because Terra is the older and more experienced of the two, he would help Ventus in training. One particular day, when noticing Ventus was feeling down after losing in their sparring match, Terra gave him his wooden Keyblade for him to use instead of his wooden sword as a way to encourage him to keep training, which soon became a very important gift for Ventus. Later events and Ven's status as a MacGuffin Super-Person push Terra towards Knight Templar Big Brother territory.
- He also acts like this Riku, for a brief moment, where he decides to perform a Bequeathing with the young boy, allowing him to wield the Keyblade in the future and choosing him as his successor, explaining where he gets it from. Their interaction in Re:Mind shows that Terra doesn't see himself as this for Riku anymore, claiming that, now that Riku fullfiled the promise he made to Terra to gain strength to protect what he holds dear, there is nothing left for him to teach the younger boy. With him even calling Riku a true Keyblade Master and a great leader.
- Briefly has a moment like this with the Lost Boys, teaching them that real treasure is not jewels and gold, but what is really important to them.
Big Brother Instinct: Although he isn't Ven's actual brother, their relationship is more or less this in a nutshell. Terra is protective of Ven no matter what happen. This develops into Knight Templar Big Brother behavior by the end of the game in regards to everyone seeming to want to hurt Ven or end his existence, whether they were good people or bad people.
Blade Brake: Attempts to do this with his Keyblade in the secret Final Mix II video as well as in-game, and ends up taking a section of the cliff down. A whole spinning tornado of Keyblades slamming into him kind of knocks him completely off the cliff though.
Broken Ace: Terra displays most things that would make him a good Keyblade Master, such as strong beliefs and great strength and skill, but the darkness in his heart causes him to lose that chance. It only goes downhill from that moment.
Broken Pedestal: Terra, who has been overly-conscious and quite a bit afraid by the darkness in his own heart, had quite a bit of respect for Master Xehanort, who assumed a guiding role in regards to channeling the darkness towards something good. Sadly, his respect for the old master turned entirely into rage and hatred when Xehanort manipulated him into fighting his father-figure Eraqus, murdering said father figure, and revealing himself to have been screwing with everyone Terra knows for the sake of his evil plan. In fact, part of Xehanort's plan was to purposely set up this trope to maximize Terra's hatred and send his darkness into overdrive, giving the old man the chance to take that younger body for himself.
Came Back Strong: When his mind reanimates his armor into the Lingering Will, it hands Xehanort his ass, and then years later proves to be one of the most insanely difficult bosses the series has ever seen.
Canon Character All Along: Kingdom Hearts III reveals that his heart was within the Guardian of Terra-Xehanort and later of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. This guardian has been present since the very first game, while Terra himself was introduced in the Final Mix of the third game.
Captain Obvious: He has a strange tendency to shout "Unversed!" whenever they show up, which gets him into trouble when talking to Snow White: she thought he was summoning the Unversed to attack her, instead of just warning her that they were coming.
Cast from Hit Points: His "Sacrifice" move drains his HP for an extra-powerful attack.
Chain Pain: Terra, as well as Terra's Animated Armor, the Lingering Will, can create a sphere of light chains around themselves, trapping their victim inside with them; in Birth By Sleep, Lingering Will uses it to stop Xehanort from escaping with Terra's body, while in A Fragmentary Passage, Terra protects Aqua from Xehanort with them. Notably, he only gains the ability after Eraqus dies in his arms, and Terra's heart absorbs his.
Characterization Marches On: When he first appeared in Kingdom Hearts II, the Lingering Will had a variety of powers that Terra doesn't in Birth By Sleep, including a greater degree of mastery over Formchanging its Keyblade into different shapes, generating attack drones that fire lasers, locking Sora's commands, and creating gear-like energy fields around itself to spin and damage Sora. While the visual effects of some of these attacks were retained in Birth By Sleep for various attacks Terra, Ven, or Aqua can use, others have no direct parallels, and overall Terra's fighting style is very different from the Lingering Will's between the two games.
Classical Anti-Hero: Played with. He's a strong fighter with a willingness to work together with shady people to get what he wants and go to extreme lengths to keep his friends safe, but he's also deeply insecure about the darkness in his heart and is initially full of self-doubt over whether he deserves to become a Keyblade Master. Unfortunately, his interactions with Master Xehanort only lead him to overcome such doubts through anger and hate which no matter how justified, only serve to turn him into an Anti-Hero at best, and very much susceptible to Xehanort who is able to successfully possess his body. In Re:Mind, reuniting with his friends after 10 years and seeing how his successor Riku has become a strong and wise Keyblade Master seems to have helped him overcome much of his previous flaws.
Color-Coded Characters: Red-orange to Aqua's blue-purple and Ven's green. Expressed most prominently through their Wayfinders, though their outfits also play a part.
Coming of Age Story: Terra's story is a darker version of this than usual. He comes off in a lot of ways as a young man who wants to be seen as an adult but also still desires validation from his "father," Eraqus. Terra's outrage at the revelation that Eraqus expects him to fall to darkness and Aqua is supposed to be keeping an eye on him resembles him being angry they are treating him like a child.^note Xehanort manipulates him by flattering him and calling him a Keyblade Master, i.e. treating him not just like an independent adult but also a peer and equal.
Composite Character: Terra replaces the huntsman in the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs world.
Cool Bike: His Keyblade Glider.
Dark Is Not Evil: He's basically Riku's predecessor and also uses darkness despite being a good guy. However, unlike Riku who becomes kinda emo about it for most of Kingdom Hearts II and angsts about how he gave into the darkness, Terra angsts about it for a few minutes but gets over it and remains a slightly stoic but kind, heroic and loveable goof even after he starts zapping people's eyes out with dark energy. Unfortunately, he learns the downside of dark power in the end. Whether it's used for good or evil, use of darkness weakens a person's heart's natural defenses of light, making him helpless when Master Xehanort attempts Grand Theft Me. So it seems that while darkness can be used for good, it is much more hazardous to wield.
Decomposite Character: Upon Xehanort's possession of him in Birth by Sleep, Terra's essence is contained in three separate beings, each containing one of the three vital elements that make him up: the Guardian (his heart), Terra-Xehanort (his body), and the Lingering Will (his soul). Terra-Xehanort later goes on to split himself into Ansem and Xemnas, meaning that Terra's been split up into a whopping five different characters.
Defeating the Undefeatable: The Lingering Will's defeat of Terra-Xehanort marks the only time in the franchise, save his final defeat at the end of III, when Xehanort has suffered a true and unambiguous defeat.^note
Determinator: A variant. Terra usually has quite a lot of determination despite the situation, yet has little self-confidence due to his use of darkness. However, once Terra reaches a certain point he snaps and becomes almost unstoppable. This is shown to excellent effect with both Lingering Will fights. In Kingdom Hearts II, the Lingering Will is bar none the hardest boss in the game, and in BBS Terra's own willpower reanimates his armor. This is a man whose will is so strong it can function on its own.
Diagonal Cut: His "Zantetsuken" move, which functions as a Single-Stroke Battle and can One-Hit KO enemies, appears as this type of attack.
Dishing Out Dirt: Fitting his name, he's the only member of the trio to learn earth-elemental spells like Quake or the Meteor series. One of his unique command styles is Rock Breaker, which orients around summoning stone spikes during attacks and summons homing crystals as part of the finisher. Xehanort keeps access to his Quake spell following his Grand Theft Me.
Emotional Bruiser: While largely stoic, Terra goes through a lot of hidden emotional turmoil in his journey. Not that it stops him from smacking Unversed.
Establishing Character Music: Kingdom Hearts II features an unknown soldier in full armor as a Superboss, who murmurs about his friends before fighting. All there really is to establish his character is his theme, "Rage Awakened," which captures his sense of injustice and establishes a connection to Big Bad Xehanort by reprising one of his Leitmotifs. It isn't until Birth By Sleep until we learn this figure is Terra - or rather, his disembodied soul.
Everyone Has Standards: He is in no mood to punish Master Xehanort severely for all the shit he pulled on him when he confronts him for the very last time, if only because he's in a weakened state. Instead, Master Eraqus appears and talks the old man down.
Everything's Better with Samurai: Well, do you have a better explanation for the hakama? He even gets a Diagonal Cut as a unique attack that has a chance of One Hit Killing regular enemies.
Expy: Terra has elements from both Cloud Strife and Zack Fair.
- Terra somewhat resembles Zack, and both of them are tragic heroes.
- The number of similarities between him and Cloud are striking. Tricked by Hades? Check. Uses Darkness powers? Yep. Claims he's not a hero? Uh-huh.

F-P

Failure Is the Only Option: The Lingering Will has a case of this. It exists to take Terra's body back from Xehanort but without a heart of its own the Will can't force Xehanort's out. Even when Terra's body is freed from Xehanort's heart by an external force, the Will can't claim it again without Terra's heart. This is why despite defeating Terra-Xehanort at the end of Birth by Sleep, the Lingering Will remains at the Keyblade Graveyard with its mission unfulfilled. Sora lampshades this in Re:Mind when the two fight again, pointing out that Terra can't win regardless of what happens. Indeed, the Lingering Will's plan this time around is to simply give up on restoring Terra and kill Terra-Xehanort outright so he can't threaten Aqua or Ven again.
Fatal Flaw: He wants power to protect his friends from any harm that might befall them. In a series where Ambition Is Evil, he's doomed.
Fighting from the Inside: It's what lets Aqua overcome his Xehanort-possessed body when she joins him in his Battle in the Center of the Mind.
- In 0.2, Terra is still doing this within Terra-Xehanort. To the surprise of several players, he's much more successful at it than he was during the Final Episode of Birth by Sleep; he starts off by physically restraining Xehanort, going as far as to put him into a sleeper hold. When that doesn't work and Terra ends up in a Facepalm of Doom, he then calls upon some Heroic Resolve to ensnare Xehanort with a set of familiar-looking chains of light.
Foreshadowing: There's actually been plenty of foreshadowing that the Guardian, who accompanied Ansem SoD, was Terra.
- Ansem was made from Terra-Xehanort's body, so it made sense his appearance looked like how he was when he was younger or more like Xehanort than Terra, whereas the Guardian's appearance and "hairstyle" resembled Terra, implying it was his own creature.
- When fighting against Terra-Xehanort in Birth By Sleep's epilogue, one odd factor is if you pull the special trinity limit, the Guardian joins in for some reason, and it appears when Xehanort is trying purge Terra from his heart. That's because as the darkness in Terra's heart, it too rejects Xehanort and takes the chance it has at fighting against it, and it seems that Xehanort was partly successful in the latter bit, only to start falling into the Realm of Darkness portal that the Guardian made, presumably to drag Xehanort with him.
- For some reason, Terra-Xehanort/Ansem SoD lists the Guardian as if it's a separate entity. Not enough to get it's own entry, but jotted down within Ansem's own. It's mainly because it is a separate entity, but because of the circumstances between Terra and Xehanort, Terra can't be independent.
- Look at the way Terra appears in 2.8, when Xehanort has taken control of Terra but Terra appears behind him to fight back and choke him. That's the same way the Guardian always appears behind Ansem, giving a correlation between the two.
- Finally, Riku has an odd interaction in 3D, where he holds up his Keyblade to the Guardian, who seems to reach out while Ansem is completely unconscious. It wouldn't make sense for that to happen unless it was someone who knew Riku, and it was, given it's Terra.
- Ansem SoD, despite being made from Terra-Xehanort, is exclusively referred to as "Xehanort's Heartless" and his character design by and far away takes after Master Xehanort. Because he is not, in fact, tied to Terra at all.
- A subtle one is the final attack of Terra's Dark Impulse. Diving into the ground and erupting outwards with a grasping claw. Pretty much the Signature Move of the Guardian.
- After Eraqus dies in Terra's arms, Terra suddenly begins to display a penchant for using light chains to restrict his enemies, hinting that he's not quite as dead as initially presented.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: When Aqua encounters Terra at Enchanted Dominion in 0.2 and is surprised to see that he's not a mirage, Terra responds that while it is him, Aqua's perception of him and Ven are illusions created by the memories of them in her heart.
Friend to All Children: Just look at all the people he's been a Big Brother Mentor to. Not to mention that Terra in general tends to attract admiration from younger characters such as Ventus, Zack and Hercules, who all look up to him, and he also acts very friendly with the Lost Boys when teaching them about what a real treasure is.
Gender-Blender Name: Terra is a girl's name in the West, and Square Enix knows that.
Glory Hound: Due to being denied the title of Keyblade Master, Terra is obsessed to prove himself. He makes it his personal mission to hunt Vanitas and never bothers to report back to Eraqus when he learned that the Unversed came from Vanitas and that Vanitas is Ventus's dark half. He also avoids sharing this information with Aqua when he met her in Castle of Dreams and Radiant Garden. Aqua calls him out on it, pointing out that this "dangerous task" isn't exactly what Eraqus told him to do. Inevitably, this leads to Poor Communication Kills between the trio.
Heel Realization: While he feels horrified by his actions after he mortally wounds Eraqus, it's not until Xehanort kills him that Terra finally realizes he's been his Unwitting Pawn for most of his journey and all that it lead to.
Heroic Sacrifice: His Lingering Will is so determined to keep Aqua and Ven safe at any cost that during Re:Mind it outright threatens to remove his Xehanort-possessed body from existence and essentially kill himself. Ends up defied when Terra-Xehanort uses his Guardian to subdue the Lingering Will and it perishes not much later when it takes an attack aimed for Sora.
The Lingering Will: As long as Master Xehanort resides within you, you are a threat to Aqua and Ven.
Terra-Xehanort: How noble, you would give your life for theirs?
The Lingering Will: You must be removed from existence... at all costs.
Heroic Spirit: Terra may trump even Sora in this. After spending his story trusting Obvious Villains, getting convinced his friends have betrayed him and causing the death of his surrogate father, he finally proves just why the Keyblade chose him: after Xehanort pulls a Grand Theft Me on Terra at the climax of his final bosses and takes complete control of Terra's body, Terra's armour rises up to confront Xehanort, who's theoretically at his prime at this point, and beats the hell out of, quite literally, himself. After that? He kneels down and waits for 11 years before Sora runs across him in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+.
Heroic Willpower: Probably the most out of anyone in the series. Even when Xehanort takes over his body and overpowers his heart, his mind reanimates his armor to keep the fight going.
Hero with an F in Good: At first, he really stinks about doing good things. He improves it to a B+ over time.
Heroic Vow: "One day...I will..set this...right"
Hidden Depths: According to the tie-in novels, he's very skilled in carving wood with a knife, even making the wooden training keyblades himself.
Homing Projectile: The Lingering Will's Ultima Cannon fires a giant sphere of energy that homes in on its target and produces a large explosion. However, the sphere can be deflected back at the Lingering Will.
Horrible Judge of Character: Played With. While Terra seems to be extremely bad at telling who is a bad guy from a good guy, this isn't really because he is extremely gullible and instead comes from his mindset of taking things slow and coming to a conclusion. In almost every case where Terra seems to be trusting a villain, he usually comes to the conclusion they aren't trustworthy after spending time listening to them or investigating their claims. The only time he ever truly trusts a villain is for Justified reasons such as Jumbah, and Hook. This is likely because of Eraqus' teachings, making him adopt a Heroic Neutral stance when interacting with people.
Hunk: He boasts a tall, fit body and ruggedly handsome looks. See Mr. Fanservice below.
Identical Stranger: Master Xehanort looked suspiciously like Terra in his youth, especially after Xehanort's possession leaves him Hades Shaded.
I Did What I Had to Do:
"What I do, I do for friendship."
Informed Flaw: Terra is said to have an obsession with power. This is never really reflected in his attitude; though he is plainly interested in proving himself, Terra has a tendency to fear acquiring new power, with both Xehanort and Hades having to coax him into tapping into more power.
Laser-Guided Karma: Much like Riku, he gave into the darkness and paid for it. Although Terra's consequences in comparison were much worse, to the point of being Disproportionate Retribution.
Left-Handed Mirror: To Riku. Although Terra is not left-handed, his darkness manifests through his left hand while Riku's manifests through his right or both. They have many, many parallels, including sharing the same role in a Two Guys and a Girl trio, complete with same Theme Naming. They both are destined Keyblade wielders, both are misled and manipulated by Maleficent and Xehanort, and both succumb to the Darkness in their hearts. But while Terra is lost to his inner Darkness and becomes a Xehanort host, Riku conquers his inner Darkness and uses it to defend the Light, thus escaping Terra's fate. ^note
Leitmotif: "Terra", which is lifted from "Fate of the Unknown", the track that plays under the secret video of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. Turns to "Rage Awakened" when he becomes the Lingering Will.
Lightning Bruiser: Terra is the physical powerhouse of the trio, with the greatest Strength stat and, using their respective dash moves, the greatest speed.^note The Lingering Will is even more so, outspeeding even Sora in the boss battle against it while being infamous for killing unwary players in seconds.
Limit Break: His "Limit Storm" acts like one, dealing more damage when Terra's HP is low. He also has access to "Shotlocks", attacks that consist of the user locking on to a target or targets for a set amount of hits before launching a Homing Projectile storm, whether of a projectile fired from the Keyblade of by him or herself.
Magically Inept Fighter: Of the three playable characters in BBS, Terra has the highest strength growth, but very poor magic growth. This means that while his physical attacks can decimate enemies easily, his magic attacks won't hit anywhere near as hard as Ventus or Aqua's. It's enforced with his exclusive Chaos Ripper keyblade, which boosts his already high attack but actively decreases his magic.
Manly Man: Possibly the manliest playable character, who uses rock and darkness powers, wields a giant Claymore of a keyblade. Being a young adult as opposed to an early-to-mid teen (like every other protagonist besides Aqua) definitely helps.
Manly Tears: He enjoys a tearful reunion with Ven and Aqua after Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas are both taken down, having been separated from each other for well over a decade since the conclusion of BBS.
Many Spirits Inside of One: Other than his own, he is forced to host Xehanort in Birth by Sleep. The game's secret ending also reveals that Eraqus secretly moved to him after he was struck down by Xehanort, acting as an extra line of defense for Terra against Xehanort's influence. Just like Sora's example, this is no longer the case as of III.
Meaningful Name: See Dishing Out Dirt above, in addition to his connection and many parallels to Riku.
Mighty Glacier: Compared to Ventus or Aqua, Terra has the highest strength and HP of the three, but several of his attacks come out slower and his dash - while the fastest of the three's dodge options - lacks full invincibility and can't be spammed.
Misblamed: In-Universe, everyone, including Terra himself, thought that he was responsible for stealing Aurora's heart. He wasn't, which Master Xehanort later revealed that people with a powerful light inside them like Terra are not able to steal hearts. invokedWord of God confirms that Master Xehanort and Maleficent were the ones who stole Aurora's heart, as the two are beings of darkness.
Missed the Call: According to invokedWord of God, Terra has the skill and power of a Keyblade Master and thus is essentially one in all but title — that's why he's able to perform the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Riku. However, due to Eraqus's concern for the darkness in his heart, he chooses to make Aqua a Master instead. If Xehanort hadn't sabotaged Terra during the exam, it's likely that Terra could have made Master too and Xehanort's manipulations of his insecurities may not have gone so well.
Moral Luck: Has problems with this. In Neverland, for example, he and Aqua both side with the first person they encountered in that world without really asking any questions. Aqua met Peter first, Terra met Hook.
Mr. Fanservice: For some. The tight clothing he wears definitely helps (especially his capeless Keyblade armor, which brings focus to a defined rear end). You can also make him do vertical push-ups on command.
Muscles Are Meaningful: He's the buffest character out of the three protagonists consisting of himself, Ven, and Aqua; fittingly, in terms of damage-dealing, he's the most powerful.
Must Make Amends: Terra gets tricked by Master Xehanort, and as a result not only nearly causes the apocalypse and puts Ventus in a permanent coma, he is on the receiving end of a Grand Theft Me, and Master Xehanort riding around in his body would cause uncountable calamities a decade later. As his Lingering Will falls into slumber, he thinks to himself:
"Aqua, Ven... One day I will set this right."
My God, What Have I Done?:
- After beating up Master Eraqus to the point of near-death and enabling Xehanort to finish him off.
- His unintentional stealing of Aurora’s heart haunts him, with Terra being briefly afraid of approaching Snow White out of fear it might happen again.
My Greatest Failure: Throughout his journey, Terra encounters many villains in the worlds he visits but Maleficent takes a particular interest in him, having been alerted of his arrival in the Enchanted Dominion by Xehanort. She uses the darkness in his heart to put him into a trance, to make him steal the heart of the sleeping Princess Aurora. This encounter would haunt Terra for the rest of his journey.
"It's my fault her light was stolen. It was because I was weak... I'm sorry. I'll get your light back—once I learn to stand up against the darkness."
Nice Guy: Downplayed since he's impulsive, very sensitive about the darkness in his heart and is capable of rather horrifying violence should he be enraged, but he's generally an unfailingly polite, self-sacrificing and considerate young man willing to lend an ear to just about anyone regardless of who they are or what they look like. Exemplified best in his interactions with Cinderella who he tries to comfort and encourage immediately after meeting her and seeing her crying over her ruined dress.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His fight with Master Eraqus was arranged by Xehanort to weaken Eraqus enough that a sneak attack finishes him off.
- His investigation of Aurora's Castle in the Enchanted Dominion in his search for Master Xehanort leads him to a mysterious magical barrier on a door. He impulsively unseals the barrier which turns out to be protecting Aurora from danger and then gets hypnotized by Maleficent into stealing Aurora's heart for her.
One-Handed Zweihänder: All of Terra's Keyblades are notably longer than their shared variations as wielded by Aqua or Ventus, and his Ends of the Earth and Chaos Ripper are easily the largest Keyblades seen in the series (short of the χ-Blade). Despite this, he has no problem swinging the Keyblade with only one hand, and often switches between one- and two-handed grips mid-combo depending on whether his strikes emphasize swiftness or power, respectively. Taken further with the Lingering Will boss, who only uses the off-hand out of necessity when its Keyblade is transformed (such as into dual axes or a longbow), otherwise swinging the weapon effortlessly without ever putting both hands on the hilt.
One-Man Army: Terra is hinted to be perhaps the strongest character in the series if he could reach his full potential. He's said to be a Keyblade Master in terms of power levels and just lacks the official title, and he proves that when he defeats two separate Keyblade Masters in single combat. Eraqus comments on his considerable strength at the start of Birth By Sleep, and the rest of the game sees Terra just get stronger and stronger. As the Lingering Will, he’s referred to in Jiminy’s Journal as being the strongest enemy Sora has ever faced. Re:Mind reinforces this during the final battle against the Xehanort Replicas. Each of the other frontline Guardians^noteLea, Roxas, Ventus, and Riku fight against one Xehanort at a time while Terra battles two at once.
Our Ghosts Are Different: The Lingering Will is essentially Terra's ghost, enacting his desires while his body and heart remain trapped by Xehanort and his Dark Figure.
Out of Focus: In III despite that freeing Terra from Master Xehanort's control is one of the pivotal moments of the final battle and becomes key to Master Xehanort's final surrender, Terra never actually gets to take part in the fight, unlike Aqua and Ventus. He does help in sealing Kingdom Hearts however, and, in Re:Mind, he fights the Xehanort Replicas alongside the other Guardians of Light (except Sora and Kairi), even going as far as taking on two at once while the others were each holding off one, ending with a sweeping finisher that hits both.
Papa Wolf: As befitting his Team Dad nature, will do anything to protect his younger brother figure, Ventus, and will not hesitate to attack any who threaten to harm or kill Ven. Even their master, Eraqus.
- While not to the same level as with Ven, he shows this towards Riku in Re:Mind. When he is cornered by two Xehanort Replicas and is about to be struck down by them, Terra quickly comes to his defense and the two team-up to finish them off.
Personality Powers: Specializes in earth and darkness and is stubborn, hard headed, and brooding.
The Power of Hate: Exploited by Xehanort. Terra's hatred for Xehanort builds and builds leading up to the final battle as he realizes Xehanort manipulated him into killing Eraqus and more. Then reaches critical mass when his hatred for Xehanort becomes so intense that he reanimates his armor to fight Xehanort when he loses his body. Years later, the Lingering Will outright tells Sora that it has nothing to offer but its contempt for Xehanort.
Power Up Letdown: Terra's Sonic Impact, which adds a second dash to his normal Slide ability that carries him farther and can deal damage...which is actually not helpful at all, for several reasons: it does little damage, the second slide doesn't provide temporary invincibility like the first one does (which is the whole point of the dodge abilities), and the recovery from it is longer than the first Slide. Just to throw some Guide Dang It! into the mixture, you get it right before Terra's battle with Zack; he has an attack that is extremely difficult to dodge any other way than just mashing Square to keep dodging — which you can't do if Sonic Impact is equipped. This isn't to say it is completely useless (it's good in the "Defeat countless Unversed" sections, for instance), but leaving it unequipped will allow you to dodge a far greater number of deadly attacks with ease.
- That said, it is quite amusing to take out the first two of Terra's three final bosses by headbutting them.
Pragmatic Hero: Terra always has heroic goals in mind, but is willing to go through questionable lengths to achieve these goals that characters like Sora and Ventus would never even think of doing so. A good example is his meeting with Grimhilde, and when she requested him to murder Snow White, rather than objecting against it and refusing to do so, Terra let her keep talking and pretended to accept her request so he could gather info from her. Further proof that he had no intention of following the Queen's request, when he met Snow White, rather than murdering her, he simply asked her about Xehanort.

R-Y

Rage Against the Mentor: After Xehanort tells him that Ventus intends to confront Master Eraqus about his past, and that he is in danger. Determined to protect his friend, Terra returns to the Land of Departure in time to defend Ventus from Eraqus's attack. He throws Ven into a portal to the Lanes Between and, channeling his darkness, defeats Eraqus in battle. Although they both regret their actions, Eraqus is suddenly destroyed by Xehanort.
Real Men Hate Sugar: According to the tie-in novels, he has a strong aversion to sweets (preferring nuts), in spite of his master's and companions' collective Sweet Tooth. This is why his unique ice creams are stated to be bittersweet.
Red Is Heroic: As noted under Color-Coded Characters, red is a prominent color associated with Terra, and he is definitely a heroic figure and a very kindhearted individual.
Red Is Violent: He is arguably the most ruthless protagonist in the series, especially when his friends are threatened, this results in him doing some horrific actions, such as attacking his master and father figure Eraqus, and he has enough hatred for Xehanort that he attacks Sora as The Lingering Will over a misunderstanding.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Aqua's Blue Oni. Terra is more impulsive, and is also emotional and extremely concerned for his friends (not to say Aqua isn't). Aqua is more calm when it comes to decisions. Their battle poses reflect this as well. But he's the Blue Oni compared to Ventus Red Oni, being the mature stoicly calm and distant big brother to Ventus optimistic and lively little brother.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: His response to Maleficent's We Can Rule Together speech.
"You seem to be mixed up. I'm a peacekeeper, not a tyrant!"
Sealed Evil in a Duel: Tells Xehanort in "Blank Points" that he's willing to fight with him for as long as it takes to keep the old man from having his way with their shared body.
Signature Move: His Ultima Cannon Shotlock Formchanges his Keyblade into a large cannon that launches large spheres of pure energy at the opponent. This carries over to both Xehanort in possession of Terra's body and The Lingering Will ^note.
Single-Stroke Battle: The only one of the Birth by Sleep trio to learn Zantetsuken. In his case, the attack has him flash past his foes as he strikes, with a very high chance of instantly killing the enemies he hits.
- Being a low enough level when fighting the Lingering Will in II Final Mix will most likely result in his attacks killing you in a single shot.
A Sinister Clue: An Anti Heroic example. Though he swings his Keyblade with his right hand like the other protagonists, Terra's dark powers tend to manifest through his left, to the point where his finishers in Dark Impulse mode involve turning it into a huge, grasping claw.
Skilled, but Naive: Terra is one of the best Keyblade wielders shown. If only his heart wasn't so susceptible to darkness and prone to manipulation.
Soulless Shell: Re:Mind reveals that Terra's physical form properly reconstituted in the present along with Master Xehanort following Ansem and Xemnas' destruction. However, his heart was still trapped as the Guardian, so his body was free for Xehanort to put a piece of his own heart in it to recreate Terra-Xehanort.
The Stoic: Befitting as Riku's Counterpart, he's quiet, reserved, cool and composed, and has little intentions of being socially active compared to Ventus and Aqua.
Space Cop: Terra is a Keyblade wielder and his job is to protect other worlds from threats like The Unversed. However, Xehanort tries to corrupt Terra over time and make him fall into darkness in order to make him turn on his cop like role.
Spanner in the Works: Terra manages to be one in despite losing to the bad guys. As the Lingering Will, Terra manages to injure Xehanort after Terra gets a Grand Theft Me pulled on him, causing Xehanort to expend so much energy fighting off Terra's heart that he ends up passed out in Radiant Garden, forcing him to start all over right when he was about to re-create the Keyblade War.
So Proud of You: When Riku answers his summons to meet him in the Land of Departure, he expresses with jubilation that the boy he once bequeathed the keyblade too has grown into such a fine young man in his absence.
Spin Attack: "Brutal Blast", which also has some kind of Ki Manipulation going on before the spin, and also "Windcutter".
Suddenly Voiced: The Lingering Will is unvoiced in KHII Final Mix^note and in Birth by Sleep during combat, but it's implied to speak a single voiced line at the end of Terra's campaign. KHIII explicitly shows that it is indeed capable of speech.
Superboss: After clearing the game, he can be fought as the Lingering Will in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, and he is by far the hardest boss in the game.
Taking the Bullet: The Lingering Will is destroyed taking a hit for Sora from Terra-Xehanort's keyblade, which shatters its helmet.
Team Dad: While he's more of a Big Brother Mentor to Ven, there are quite a few times when the dynamics between Terra, Aqua, and Ven resemble that of two parents (Terra and Aqua) and a child (Ven). More mature and reserved than his friends, Terra can come across as strict, while still intending the best for them. And his Big Damn Heroes moment to save Ven and the subsequent battle against Master Eraqus definitely qualifies Terra as a Papa Wolf.
- It's even lampshaded in the Japanese version of the game, where Ven hands Terra and Aqua the Disney Town passes and says that he was told to bring "his parents" ("two grown-ups" in the American version).
Tears of Remorse: Lets them fall after exhausted-Eraqus got killed by Xehanort, which Terra is the one who beaten him into exhaustion.
Theme Music Power-Up: Used as a tragic piece when his theme plays when he fights Eraqus. The Lingering Will gets one when it fights Xehanort with "Rage Awakened" playing.
- His theme plays in 0.2 during his (meta)physical struggle with Xehanort, though it's initially subverted in that Xehanort has a slight advantage until Terra musters up enough willpower out of his concern for Aqua and Ven (as well as his pre-established hatred of Xehanort) to temporarily immobilize his captor.
Then Let Me Be Evil: Downplayed in that darkness is not inherently evil in this setting. Terra only truly starts to embrace the power of darkness after his best attempts to stamp it down only resulted in Eraqus and Aqua accusing him of using it.
To Be a Master: Deconstructed. Terra's long-time dream was to become a Keyblade Master. Four years after Ven's arrival, Terra and Aqua take the Mark of Mastery exam in order to become Masters, but while Aqua passes, Terra does not, as he is unable to control his darkness. Surprised and depressed to learn that he holds darkness in his heart, Terra steps outside, where he is approached by Master Xehanort, who tells Terra that he shouldn't try to control his darkness, but rather, to channel it. Shortly after, Terra and Aqua are sent on a quest to find the missing Master Xehanort and stop the threat of the Unversed, and Eraqus tells Terra he has a second chance to prove himself worthy of being named a Keyblade Master. During Terra's quest, his desire to become a Keyblade Master ends up being one of the things Xehanort exploits to manipulate him to turn him to the darkness.
Took a Level in Badass:
- After accepting the darkness in his heart, he gains great strength but ultimately weakens his heart to the point that Master Xehanort can possess his body. Xehanort thinks that he's won, but Terra refuses to submit, his mind and soul re-animating his suit of armor through hate and anger. Terra (as the Lingering Will) then proceeds to kick his own ass (at this point, Xehanort was theoretically at his prime), and—to this day—is still fighting Master Xehanort for control of his body. His response to when Xehanort triumphantly boasts that his grand scheme could take one of several routes? A confident smirk.
- In Blank Points, he seems far more serene than you've come to expect (only expressing a hint of Tranquil Fury at worst), finally able to hold his own in a battle of wits against Xehanort and even giving an ironic Call-Forward to Riku's Character Development regarding Darkness. Of course, Eraqus's revealed presence within Terra's Heart most likely has something to do with this.
- He fares noticeably better in his Fighting from the Inside against Xehanort in 0.2, starting to make good on his Heroic Resolve speech (and, implicitly, The Reveal of Eraqus's heart as a Spanner in the Works) from Blank Points.
Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: In Blank Points, he vows to be this in spite of his possession by Xehanort ^note. And as of 0.2, he's definitely backing it up.
Tragic Hero: Everything he did was to become powerful enough to protect his friends and defeat the forces of darkness. It didn't quite work out as he hoped, to say the least.
Tranquil Fury: Terra becomes this incarnate after Xehanort hijacks his body, forcing his mind to become the Lingering Will to take him down. And just like his appearance as a Superboss in Kingdom Hearts II, the Sentiment is totally silent in combat even as he proceeds to rip Terra-Xehanort a new one, with only the background music, "Rage Awakened," showing just how angry he is. Even when he speaks in Kingdom Hearts III his voice is quiet and even while speaking.
Unstoppable Rage: There's a reason the Theme Music Power-Up for the Lingering Will is called "Rage Awakened". Reaches full context when he rises against Xehanort. For once the barrier surrounding the battlefield is the hero's, to make sure Xehanort has nowhere to run and no one can interfere as the Lingering Will beats him into submission. Re:Mind presents this as a problem when the Lingering Will attacks Terra-Xehanort; No matter who wins Terra loses and the Lingering Will's rage runs so deep that no one can stop it from attacking Terra-Xehanort.
The Voiceless: In KHII Final Mix, the Lingering Will's dialogue is conveyed audibly as ethereal metallic noises. However, later games show it to speak with Terra's own voice (albeit with Terse Talker speech patterns), suggesting that this one instance was merely because Terra hadn't yet been given a voice actor like with Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Towards Eraqus. The revelation that Eraqus didn't trust him not to fall to darkness and sent Aqua to keep an eye on him is a major factor in Terra getting closer to Xehanort, who is quick to praise him.
What Happened to the Mouse?: While Terra is restored to life in III with the reveal his heart was Xehanort's Guardian, nothing is said of the Lingering Will, who was last seen fighting Terra-Xehanort and isn't mentioned again afterward. Ultimania answers that, mentioning it vanishing and coming back to Terra only after Terra's return, which his fight with Terra-Xehanort went nowhere with both fighters still alive. Re:Mind reveals that Sora went back in time to secure the heroes' victory, but the Will was destroyed Taking the Bullet for the original timeline's Sora just as the new timeline's Sora got through to Terra's heart.
What the Hell, Hero?: On the receiving end from various people for his actions in Birth By Sleep. Zigzagged with his reaction to Aqua when she lets slip that she and Eraqus don't truly trust him. He doesn't say anything to her, but his outrage is plainly evident, with Aqua quickly trying to make excuses for her actions.
Your Size May Vary: Terra's definitely not a small guy but the Lingering Will in its first series appearance in Final Mix II is noticeably larger than it would be later on in Birth By Sleep and III. It's likely that it was originally designed to be as tall as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas long before the design of the younger Terra had been finalized.

"No matter how impossible things seem...a powerful enough dream will always be enough to light the darkness."

Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Terra

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Terra

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Jason Dohring (English)

Appearances: II: Final Mix | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | III | Melody of Memory

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Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Terra

Edit Locked

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Terra

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Jason Dohring (English)

Appearances: II: Final Mix | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | III | Melody of Memory

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