Given how long the Kingdom Hearts franchise has gone on, it was only a matter of time before these types of moments showed up... and how the fans wish they could smack these scenes with a giant key and cast them to the pits of DARKNESS!!!
Keep in mind:
- Sign your entries
- One moment only, if multiple entries are signed to the same troper the more recent one will be cut.
- Moments only, no "just everything he said," or "The entire game" entries.
- No contesting entries. This is subjective, the entry is their opinion.
- No natter. As above, anything contesting an entry will be cut, and anything that's just contributing more can be made its own entry.
- Explain why it's a
Dethroning Moment of Suck. - Please make sure the moment is fictional and is neither an event that occured in real life nor something gameplay-related. We have a perfectly good Scrappy Mechanic page for the latter.
- No ALLCAPS, no bold, and no italics unless it's the title of a work. We are not yelling the DMoSs out loud.
open/close all folders
Kingdom Hearts I
- Finalark: For me, Cloud's portrayal in Kingdom Hearts was one big dethroning moment of suck. Originally, Vincent was meant to fill that role but it was handed to Cloud, a more popular character. The result is Vincent's personality implanted onto Cloud. This is where Cloud's Flanderization started. In Final Fantasy VII Cloud was much more of a complex character, coming off more as anti-social and kind of a jerkass than Wangsty. However, since Kingdom Hearts decided to give him a Wangsty personality an entire audience who are only familiar with Final Fantasy VII through Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children have made Cloud into the patron saint of stoic yet overly emotional JRPG protagonists. Not only that, but Final Fantasy VII has become the go-to example of JRPGs being somber, emotional epics. I doubt you'll ever see any modern Final Fantasy VII related material reference "DRINK YOUR DAMN TEA!" or the cross-dressing scene.
- Thepenguinking2: The final act to Agrabah is one big, self-contradictory "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot. Firstly, when Sora and co. confront Jafar, he uses his second wish to have Genie attack them... even though the movie makes it clear that one can't wish for the harm or death of someone else. Genie apparently follows this by making his attacks super predictable and healing Sora if he does actually hurt him, but that means he's not abiding by the wish. Whatever, Jafar is defeated, he turns into a genie as usual, and then instead of the party splitting so someone can protect Jasmine and the rest can fight Jafar, all four of them go to fight Jafar instead, which makes even less sense knowing that you can only have two party members, meaning one of them is gonna sit this out and basically have jumped down for nothing. One pathetically easy second boss later, and Sora traps Jafar in a lamp. This would be a good opportunity for the gang to realize that since they left Jasmine wide open for attack that they could use Jafar himself to wish for Jasmine's protection (And yes, the sequel shows that Genie!Jafar is a Jackass Genie who would definitely use the wish to his and Maleficent's advantage, but the characters don't know this yet, so the fact that they didn't at least try is baffling)... but they don't. As a result, Jasmine is kidnapped, and all because Sora, Aladdin, and the Disney Duo didn't even think to safeguard this very important figure to Agrabah and key to Maleficent's plan.
Kingdom Hearts II
- sardns: Sora falling to his knees while grabbing Riku's hand, crying and saying "I looked everywhere for you!" in Kingdom Hearts II. He won't cry over Goofy supposedly dying, but he'll cry when he's reunited with his friend even though he at least knew Riku was still alive. That emotionally over-the-top moment was really, really awkward to watch. And in a series with one of the most annoying Yaoi Fangirl bases out there, it's really unappreciated by the rest of us.
- Manwiththeplan: Also from Kingdom Hearts II: the entire Cloud vs. Sephiroth subplot. Sora, Donald, and Goofy literally do nothing to affect it, the fight against Sephiroth and his reasoning about wanting the Keyblade is dropped and never referenced again in favor of a generic showdown between him and Cloud that ends abruptly with no resolution, and worst of all, the whole thing made no sense. Cloud is flanderized as his stoic, Wangsty Advent Children self with no explanation, his obsession with fighting Sephiroth isn't explained other than some weird bullshit about Sephiroth being "his darkness", and Tifa is his light, all the while she is derailed into some generic tough girl who single-mindedly seeks Cloud. Ugh, there is just so much wrong with this plotline and it's just so damn pointless save for pandering to the Final Fantasy VII base, just like that damn Complication.......sorry, Compilation.
- Blackcatmisfortunate: The entire character of Roxas is, to me, nothing more than a walking plothole who serves to be one of the most inconveniencing and confusing plot devices in the series, and I could go on for days about why I think his inclusion in the series pretty much derailed the entire story, but the real DMoS that he brings to the table is the opening of Kingdom Hearts 2. After waiting years to finally play a console sequel to Kingdom Hearts 1, I didn't appreciate having to spend the first few hours of the game playing as a character that I cared nothing about.
Birth By Sleep
- Sinister Hooded Figure 2: Master Xehanort's presence in the Kingdom Hearts franchise has bothered me greatly. He is literally the source of all of the series' worst Asspulls, Retcons, Gambit Roulettes, Idiot Balls, Idiot Plots, and unnecessary Kudzu Plots that the Kingdom Hearts series is infamously saddled with. He also has some serious storybreaker powers for someone who isn't a heartless or nobody such as possession of multiple people, and some really nonsensical time-travel abilities, effectively devaluing Organization XIII and Maleficent's band of Disney Villains as antagonists. But the defining moment that establishes Master Xehanort as an unforgivable Invincible Villain for me is during Master Eraqus's flashback. Eraqus and Xehanort were apparently close friends, but when Xehanort was essentially going to risk destroying the worlds, Eraqus tried to stop him. Xehanort blasted Eraqus with some dark powers in response, scarring Master Eraqus, but then the flashback ends. Friendship over right? Nope. Xehanort is allowed to preside in the Mark of Mastery Exam, and when some darkness sabotages the exam, Master Eraqus never suspected the transparently evil looking man that nearly doomed the universe and scarred his face with the powers of darkness, and blames it all on Terra. When he finally realizes that Xehanort is behind it all, he still makes stupid decisions, and ends up getting killed. The heroes are expected to beat a villain that downright cheats the narrative without effort? Makes me wish Kingdom Hearts 2 was the last installment.
Kingdom Hearts 3 D: Dream Drop Distance
- Heirophants Fool: The fact that Axel/Lea had his cool chakrams taken away for a lame Keyblade in 3DS, thus ridding him of all that pesky originality and making him Sora mkII.
- Hobgoblin: Sora's visit to the Grid encompasses his quest to save Tron from his fate of being Rinzler. He ultimately accomplishes this, only for CLU to drop Tron into a pit and send his men to go recapture him to change back into Rinzler. Which CLU says aloud within earshot of Sora. Sora then proceeds to leave without attempting to fight CLU or save Tron at all after all of his hard work over the course of the story, making the entirety of the The Grid pointless.
- Charleston Man: Riku becoming the official Keyblade Master while Sora fails the test. Because what better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original game than to piss on it's unique twist of Riku The Chosen One ultimately losing out to The Unchosen One? Now the guy who was meant to be the Keyblade Master all along is the Keyblade Master, and Sora's just a lucky fool. How insultingly boring.
Kingdom Hearts III
- bdacosta2: For someone like me, who's been waiting years for this game to be released, it came as a wonderful surprise to find it was everything I'd hoped for and more. Until the final battle. Up to a certain point, everything was going great: happy reunions, redemptions, and salvations of characters who I thought had been doomed forever. And then it comes down to Master Xehanort himself. What does he do to start off the final confrontation? Kill Kairi in front of Sora. Why? Because [Sora] "requires motivation". This is an insult for several reasons. First, way to build up Kairi as a supporting protagonist in preparation for this game, only to have her be killed off just like that. Second, there was no need for any of this: all Master Xehanort needed to do to complete his X-blade was to clash his blade with Sora's or anybody else from the side of Light. He could have warped down, attacked the heroes, and forged his final piece when they defended themselves. But no, he just had to kill off The Hero's Love Interest because he "required motivation". As spectacular as the resulting Final Battle turned out to be, the taint of that moment kept me from relishing this Grand Finale. At least Re:Mind fixes this by allowing you to play as Kairi in a fight against Master Xehanort himself.
- SenorCornholio: In addition to the above and below entries, this is a DMoS for another reason: it's a flimsy excuse for a Bittersweet Ending after all the buildup to a satisfying conclusion to the Dark Seeker Saga. The game makes you think everything will be alright with previously lost characters coming back, everyone reuniting after years of strife, and you finally being able to put an end to Xehanort's antics once and for all. But it pulls a last-minute downer by having Kairi, Sora's motivation since the first game, Stuffed into the Fridge and forcing Sora, who I am now convinced is a Cosmic Plaything, to perform a Heroic Sacrifice just so we can anticipate Kingdom Hearts IV or whatever side game it takes to bring him back. And knowing Nomura, who likes to take his sweet time advancing the main, overarching story, that's a long ways away. Was it really worth degrading Kairi like that just for an unsatisfying ending that makes the fanbase wait even longer for a proper final act? Wasn't the Foretellers' return more than enough of a Sequel Hook? As SomecallmeJohnny put it, Kairi was "a means to an end until her last breath," and it is now abundantly clear that she will never be anything but in the eyes of the writers.
- Supreme-X15: On total agreement with both of you. As great as the game was, I'm not happy about what they did to Kairi. When I saw Kairi get her Keyblade for the first time in KHII I was like "Wow! That's awesome!" and she was determined to fight alongside Sora and co, but sadly she gets knocked out before the final fight. To be fair, she just learned she could use a Keyblade and never learned how to fight, so it makes sense she'd be out of the fight. Dream Drop's Distance reveals she was going to train under Yen Sid, which was doubly awesome and would've helped her contribute to the plot. Come III, and we see her do almost nothing, but hang out with Axel and getting major Ship Tease with Sora. In fact, Kairi's only contribution was keeping Sora from dying, and restarting the Keyblade Graveyard level again after everyone is unceremoniously killed off by Terra-Xehanort and a Heartless tornado the first time (Which itself came out of nowhere and is not even mention again). She was also an ally for a brief double boss battle. But then the game stops halfway through the fight, having Xenmas kidnap her, and Master Xehanort kill her to "motivate" Sora to fight him. That's it. Nothing else. All this does is make Kairi's status as a Neutral Female all the more apparent, while also elevating her to Faux Action Girl. The entire final sequence of the game, I was hoping Kairi was going to do "something" and it never happens. What a waste of character potential. I know there is supposed to make sense in her situation because of her lack of real combat experience and the mental fortitude to actually fight, but if they did more to flesh her out in KHIII, this nonsense could've been avoided. It would've made more sense to have Kairi travel with Sora, Donald, and Goofy for the duration of the game to help build her skills, get real experience from fighting, and be actually ready to for final showdown note . Instead, they have her and Axel eat sea-salt ice cream, while everyone else does the leg work. In fact, we don't actually see them training, do we? Whenever the new saga of Kingdom Hearts rolls around, I hope they do better with her. Maybe, I dunno, make her the protagonist to make up for this insult to her character. note
- Teleport Ted: After all the Master Xehanort problems SinisterHoodedFigure2 already listed, the cherry on top? III gives him a last-minute Heel–Face Turn and a Go into the Light Peaceful Death — after years of But for Me, It Was Tuesday, causing Fates Worse than Death, exploiting Forgiveness already, acting like The Sociopath, etc. Thanks, Nomura, for this "Catharsis" Factor.
- legomaniac90: How his Heel–Face Turn is handled is a DMOS in and of itself: a very obvious and hastily made Retcon of Xehanort’s original motives that contradicts his entire set of actions up to that point and that is fueled by characters just telling you about his ‘real’ motives instead of showing actual evidence of his ‘real’ motives. This was the best Square could come up with?
- Isaac_Heller: Since both what happened with Kairi and Xehanort has been covered, I have something else to add. This game suddenly decided that what was portrayed as a happy ending in KH2 for Roxas and Namine wasn't one, that they "ceased to exist" by re-merging with Sora and Kairi, and that they needed to be "saved" since they deserve to be their own people. OK, fine. Except that then, the inexplicably returning, disembodied Riku Replica gives up a chance to become his own person so that Namine can inhabit the spare replica body he leaves behind, remarking to Riku that "the world already has you". The world already has Sora, Kairi and Ventus too, yet the game was saying this was no good reason for Roxas and Namine (and Xion) to not be able to live in the world. But now the story breaks its own morality, and treats Riku Replica doing this a triumphant Heroic Sacrifice. Nomura, you can't have your cake and eat it too like this. Just like with your back-and-forth between whether darkness is evil or not, you need to take a solid stance and stick to it, otherwise the story becomes muddled in a frustrating, hypocritical way.
- 227someguy: My Dethroning moment happens to be the whole sequence starting from the fight with Terranort to the end of the fight against the Heartless tornado. First, Ven gets one-shot by Terranort while making no effort to defend himself (despite the fact that it was made obvious that this isn't the real Terra). Second, Aqua just stands there, doing nothing while Terranort attacks the group. Third, Kairi does crap while needing Axel and Sora to defend her (the latter of whom can't even be bothered to fight back). Fourth, when the Heartless tornado arrives, Aqua still doesn't try to fight back. And to top it all off, Sora is too busy grieving for his lost friends instead of protecting his last remaining friend who pulls a Dying Moment of Awesome (a diamond in the ruff). If it wasn't for a certain Ass Pull, our heroes would've lost due to Cutscene Incompetence.
- Loekman 3: My personal DMOS is the moment when the game randomly bring an unnamed girl known as Subject X. It completely came out of nowhere and was never mentioned or brought up at all in the previous games yet they want us to believe that she was a part of an already complicated Kudzu Plot? And at the end, nothing is explained about her and they expects us to learn about her in the next game that could probably take decades to release? You want to introduce a new character? Fine, but don't made it seem like she was an already established character in the first place. At least give her a proper introduction like have Ienzo show the others of an empty prison where they once took her in. I outright cringed everytime they brought her up and I try to ignore anything about her.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
- Majister Flopsy The fact that they brought back Xehanort as the BBEG in this game is terrible. After Kingdom Hearts III we were told that the Seeker of Darkness Saga was over and Xehanort's reign of terror was finally ended. Then the next game in the series is Dark Road which was an origin story for Xehanort. Kind of sus that you'd wait to release this until after the man's story was supposedly done. But it's not that egregious since it's an origin story and apparently Dark Road was planned to be the next Kingdom Hearts game after Union X but the overwhelming demand for III caused Nomura to reconsider. Then Xehanort straight up returns as the main antagonist in this game and at this point it's reaching "How many times do we need to teach you this lesson old man?" levels of beating a dead horse.
