Demyx: Aww, we do too have memes, don't be mad!
Donald Duck: You can't trick us!
Demyx: [Beat] Silence, Troper. Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. ExplanationThe explanation behind the meme.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
General
- Everyone is Sora. ExplanationWith Roxas and Xion both being a part of Sora's memory as his Nobody and an abnormality respectively, Ventus resting within his heart, Vanitas taking Sora's form after splitting off from Ventus, and the fact that Sora's heart has linked with everyone he's ever met, creating an unbreakable connection that they all felt as soon as he woke up, it's not far off the mark to assume that a little bit of Sora is in everyone.
- Everyone else is Xehanort. Explanation:Given his obsession with Grand Theft Me, two Big Bad split-offs between Heartless!Ansem and Xemnas, and the revelations in Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] that the entire Organization XIII plan was to create thirteen Xehanort vessels combined with Xigbar's infamous line ("I'm already Half-Xehanort!"), Xehanort is creating connections like Sora by trying to take over almost every single person of interest to his plans. Even Sora himself. Then became an ascended meme when in the “Kingdom Hearts: Union X” Finale, it’s revealed that the main character (aka. Ourselves) is actually reincarnated into Xehanort. Became de-ascended in the ending of Dark Road when it was revealed that the Union X player character was actually the blue-robed figure that raised Xehanort on Destiny Islands
- "X got Norted!" ExplanationCommon statement made whenever a character with yellow eyes and (sometimes) white hair is sighted, implying they got hijacked by Xehanort
- The Xehafort! ExplanationA play on Xehanort, supposedly the place where the various Xehanorts hang out.
- A Xehanort did it! ExplanationAs every major bad thing that has ever happened in the series was inflicted or at least influenced by Xehanort himself or one of his many (many) clones as part of his grand scheme, some fans have joked that anytime something weird happens with any plot holes or inconsistencies in the series, a Xehanort was behind it. Has also been applied to any minor bad thing that have ever happened to anyone. For example; a character so much as trips, and it was probably a Xehanort's fault (and also somehow part of a huge Xanatos Gambit of some kind).
- "He’s Xehanort, he’s Xehanort, you’re Xehanort, I’M XEHANORT! Are there any other Xehanorts I should know about?" Explanation The scene in the SpongeBob episode "Opposite Day" with the real estate agent getting annoyed with the amount of people claiming to be Squidward is often used to sum up the whole situation with Xehanort. Before it was Jossed, Aqua, who some believed to have been Norted in the Xbox E3 2018 trailer for III, was often used to represent the real estate agent.
- No one gets left out of Kingdom Hearts like Gaston!ExplanationBeauty and the Beast is featured heavily in KH2 and 358/2 Days, but neither features the primary antagonist of the film, the hunter Gaston. This is a combination with the popular "No one X like Gaston" meme... until he finally appeared in Kingdom Hearts χ
◊, rendering the meme moot. - Dive To The Heart ExplanationIt's very popular to create stained glass designs for various characters based on the Dive to the Heart sections of the games.
- WHEN YOU WALK AWAY ExplanationThe most known line of Simple and Clean, combined with the fact that said song has been present in more games than any other. Naturally, it started trending on Twitter as soon as Sora was confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- Prior to the reveal of the identity of a game's walking Sequel Hook Superboss (and sometimes after it), it's common for people to joke that they are a minor character or someone with little fighting experience like Kairi's grandmother or Winnie the Pooh.
- Donald being useless as hell. ExplanationDue to his abysmal AI and his status as a Squishy Wizard Donald becomes the butt of many jokes, often about how he'll go down in less than two hits, him being unable to heal you because he frivolously burned through his MP, or when he does manage to heal you, you've already healed yourself. Even Sora himself gets in on it in Kingdom Hearts III (see below).
- Information: Defeat X!ExplanationSoundtracks (usually any battle or boss theme from Kingdom Hearts series) in YouTube usually have at least one comment that mention hypothetical boss battles for future games, such as "Information: Defeat the corrupted Baymax!", "Information: Stop Elsa before she freezes Anna!", "Information: Help Captain Jack Sparrow defeat Davy Jones!", etc. The first and the last of these examples are ascended as of Kingdom Hearts III, as Dark Riku turns the original Baymax into a Heartless, and Davy Jones is the main antagonist of the plot in the Pirates of the Caribbean world.
- This clip from the first episode of Future Man became infamous within the Kingdom Hearts community due to the fact that Haley Joel Osment accidentally uses his Sora voice while ranting.
- "Simple and Clean"ExplanationOriginally named Hikari, meaning "light" in Japanese, the Dub Name Change of the franchise's theme song has not gone unnoticed to pretty much everyone who has played the games, saying that the plot is anything but simple and clean.
- Water DivesExplanationPeople have pointed out how often the symbolism of a character falling into water has been used throughout the various openings for the series. It's fairly easy to find a meme that transitions from a character falling into water to a Kingdom Hearts opening, such as this one.
Kingdom Hearts
- "BEHOLD! BEHOLD! BEHOLD! BEHOLD!" ExplanationUntil the Final Mix version was released, Kingdom Hearts 1 forced you to watch a cutscene every time you die to a boss. Maleficent's dragon form is considered by many to be That One Boss. 'Nuff said.
- "EVERLASTING DARKNESS!" ExplanationSame case with the Ansem Riku fight, which is considered just as difficult, if not more so, than the Maleficent fight.
- "Forget it. THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE TAKING KAIRI'S HEART!" ExplanationFrom the Ansem Riku fight, the last line of dialogue from Sora has proven to be incredibly memeable not just from the same cases as the other cutscenes from difficult bosses, but also from how the music abruptly stops right after Sora says "heart", making it more memorable.
- "NOT CLAYTON! *&&X%! NOT CLAYTON!" ExplanationFrom the Wake-Up Call Boss of Clayton and Stealth Sneak, Tarzan says this, along with some gorilla grunting that is subtitled as "*&&X%" (meaning "heart"), right before the battle begins.
- Everything Ansem says. Some players can quote every single line of his dialogue in the first game word for word.
- DARKNESS!!! ExplanationThe word "darkness" is said a lot throughout the games, particularly by Ansem in the first game. Do not attempt to make a drinking game out of it.
- I'll have a CHICKEN MCDARKNESS!!!!! ExplanationInspired by the prevalence of the "DARKNESS" meme, one YouTube video showed Ansem ordering a fast food he made up and refusing to accept that it didn't exist. It... seems to have been pulled.
- "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The <X> is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it! Such is its nature! In the end, every <X> returns to the darkness whence it came!"ExplanationThis monologue of Ansem's lends itself to Mad Libs to be applied to other things, with <X> replacing "heart".
- "Darkness is the heart's true ESSENCE!ExplanationAnsem's particularly hammy delivery of this line makes it memorable, especially if used in tandem with the above line.
- "So you have come this far and still you understand nothing..."ExplanationAnother gem from Ansem right before the final battle. Often used for newer fans who have trouble with the series' many Continuity Lockout and Kudzu Plot problems.
- SUBMIT! ExplanationAnother of Ansem's oft-repeated combat lines. He says this whenever he commands his Guardian to try to possess Sora, and he tends to spam it when Sora gets within range, so get used to hearing it a lot when fighting him.
- "Come/Cum, guardian!" ExplanationYet another one of Ansem's more common lines, said whenever he summons his Guardian Heartless in front of him to block your attacks. Fans saw the potential to misquote "come" as "cum" and ran with it. Expect to see it a fair amount in stream chats of KH 1.5 speedruns whenever they're fighting him.
- "What do you hope to accomplish? The final darkness is nigh!"ExplanationIn his second battle with Sora, Ansem says these lines during his Desperation Attack, which he'll tend to do at least once, likely several times during the course of the fight.
- "Kingdom Hearts... is LIGHT!" ExplanationA smaller meme, popular on GameFAQs. When people start wondering what Kingdom Hearts (the power source, not the game itself) is exactly, one of the first few answers is to say that it's light, based on one of Sora's heroic monologues near the end of the first game.
- "Light... but why…?"ExplanationAnsem's very faint and squeaky last words.
- Sora's mom is a meme unto herself due to her having only one line in the entire series (in the first game no less) and never being seen on screen, and mentioned only once after. Because of how little info we have on her, fan speculation and jokes have run wild resulting in a few different memes.
- Waiting for dinner since 2002. ExplanationSince her only voice line is "Sora, dinner's ready!", fans have joked that she's STILL waiting for Sora to come to dinner. Offshoots of this usually include Sora freaking out over realizing that he's kept his mother waiting for over a YEAR.
- Sora's mom is "_________". ExplanationAgain due to the fact that we've never seen Sora's mom, fans have been guessing (seriously and jokingly) about her identity (and by extension Sora's dad as well). The most common guess being that she is either Xehanort or one of Xehanort's clones/vessels. Another common guess is Aerith, due to their similar hair colour. In that last theory, Cloud is generally introduced as the father, due to his and Sora's similarly spiky hair.
- Yuffie on the bed.ExplanationAfter meeting Yuffie and Leon, you can talk to Yuffie while she's sitting in a... rather suggestive way on the bed and she'll either say "Think of this as an adventure!" or "I've heard that the Keyblade can open all sorts of locks!" Needless to say, the fandom ran WILD with how easy it is to take the scene out of context, and it's by far the scene with the most R34 made out of in the whole series.
- "Yes! Sora! You have to SCEAL me!"ExplanationSomewhat related to the above, this comes from a panel featured in a porn comic by French artist Passage, specifically from a scene based on when Sora meets Yuffie in the hotel room. It's very common to see this quote pop up whenever someone post suggestive content related to the series in the same vein as "keys inside keyholes" or "salty but sweet". And yes, it has to be written with that bit of Engrish.
- "Kairi's inside me?"ExplanationAn Accidental Innuendo from Sora when it's revealed that Kairi's dormant Heart has been stored within his body, this line is cited as being one of the easiest lines in the series to take out of context, and is often attributed to being the reason why Kingdom Hearts has a high barrier of entry.
- "You're stupid!"ExplanationSora's rather blunt response to Riku's statement of the Heartless obeying him when they meet in Neverland. It caught on for its silliness and jarring delivery in the midst of an otherwise dramatic scene. Not helped by Haley Joel Osment's Inopportune Voice Cracking.
- "I gotta spruce this place up for the GAEEEMZ."Explanation A line uttered by Phil when the gang first meets him at Olympus Coliseum. Notable for Robert Costanza's delivery on the word "games" in an attempt to mimic the original voice by Danny DeVito.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts II
- "Got it memorized?" ExplanationAxel/Lea's catchphrase, starting with Kingdom Hearts II. First translated as "Commit it to memory" in Chain of Memories, it's featured at least once in every game he appeared in, including the remake of Chain of Memories. The fandom's so crazy about it that his voice actor Quinton Flynn's been asked to say it at nearly every con he's in.
- "Two!?" ExplanationAxel's reaction to Roxas using two Keyblades at once at the end of the prologue. Generally used in the same vein as "This is getting out of hand; now there are two of them!"
- "As if!" ExplanationXigbar/Braig's catchphrase.
- "You've really put Organization XIII in a pickle..." ExplanationAnother popular line from Xigbar, mostly for that last word.
- "Ah, burrito!", "Hard, burrito!"ExplanationA mondegreen of "R for reload!", one of Xigbar's voice lines in his boss battle.
- Captain Ass Zipper. ExplanationPete's Zipperiffic getup in this game series includes a zipper on his paints that goes from his front waist all the way down and up to the back of his waist. Needless to say, the fans quickly started to poke fun at it.
- "That was undeniable proof that we TOTALLY owned you lamers!" ExplanationSeifer's least effective insult. The gamer slang of "owning" someone (defeating them) was already on the way out when KH2 was released, so as time passes it'll make even less sense.
- Sora, Donald and Goofy! ExplanationCharacters tend to refer to the three party members of Kingdom Hearts II by name. And (almost) always in the same order.
- GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!!! ExplanationPhil's piece of advice for Sora while fighting the Hydra in Kingdom Hearts II, repeated often.
- The Meme That Never Was. ExplanationThe last level of Kingdom Hearts II is called "The World That Never Was". Individual rooms have names like "Altar of Nothing". Before then you had (mostly) cheerful Disney worlds, and then you get this.
- RAGE AWAKENED. ExplanationDue to being the series' patron saint of Unstoppable Rage and a prime candidate for the Red Lantern Corps, it's assumed that "Rage Awakened", the theme of the Lingering Sentiment/Lingering Will, will play whenever he goes on the warpath. Which is always.
- On YouTube videos of the boss theme "The Encounter" (which plays when fighting Disney bosses in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep), it's popular to make up battle quotes for Disney bosses (or other bosses) one wishes were in a Kingdom Hearts game.
- "Roxas hates X" Explanation. A small video fad that involves the use of the songs the viewers hates, being dump over the clip of Roxas smashing the lab's computer in anger.
- Indeeed... Explanation Xemnas' Verbal Tic.
- Mansex, Bigrax, and E-Sexual, members of Orgy XIII. Also Rentxaho. ExplanationAnagrams of Xemnas, Xigbar, and Lexaeus. Organization XIII got an interesting fan nickname due to the prevalence of poor-quality Shipping and Lemon fic. And once you're looking for dirty anagrams, it's not hard to spot more, as with Xehanort. Mansex in particular would be acknowledged by Xemnas' voice actor Paul St. Peter when he chanted it at a convention at one point.
- Dance, water, dance! ExplanationDemyx's line when he summons his water forms during his boss fight.
- This has inevitably lead to Demyx being compared to David Bowie. ExplanationDue to their similar appearance, Bowie's song, Magic Dance containing the lyrics "Dance, magic, dance!" and Demyx's weapon being an instrument, which in spite of being a sitar better resembles a guitar and he constantly tunes it like a guitar while sitting on his throne across the series.
- Comparisons to The Offspring's You're Gonna Go Far Kid have also been made. ExplanationDue to the lyrics "Dance, f***er, dance!" with "f***er" somewhat rhyming with water.
- "Silence, traitor." ExplanationDemyx's Pre-Asskicking One-Liner. Can be used on anyone whom you believe is a traitor.
- "Finny fun." ExplanationAriel's finishing line in the Song Mission "Swim This Way" in Kingdom Hearts II is seen by a lot of fans as a big Narm moment.
- "Say fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?" ExplanationA rather ridiculous line. Not because of its contents, mind you, but the fact that it's delivered by none other than Mickey Mouse sporting a black coat and what can only be described as the happiest frown you'll ever see. It more or less exemplifies the tone issues the series naturally suffers for having Disney characters dealing with nihilistic and abstract topics like darkness in people's hearts or existences made out of nothingness, especially when taken out of context.
- "Sora, it's Sephiroth!" ExplanationDonald squawks this when Sora and co. encounter Sephiroth for the first time in Hollow Bastion. For similar reasons as above, it's difficult to take Donald Duck of all characters saying the name of the most infamous Final Fantasy villain seriously without it coming off as comedic or ridiculous.
- Goofy's "death" is one of the most infamous scenes in the series, having been meme'd into oblivion due to how absolutely laughable the notion of Square Enix killing Goofy of all people is, making the whole thing extremely forced and out of place. Literally no one fell for that.
- "They'll pay for this." ExplanationMickey declaring revenge on the Heartless for Goofy. The Disney mascot just can't pull off those serious lines without making it sound awkward.
- CUURSED FOOOOOOOLS!ExplanationThe only line Armored Xemnas has for Boss Banter in his first battle. Needless to say, it gets grating pretty fast.
- Curses, OOOOOOOH!" ExplanationA common mishearing of the above line
- "Learn to despise, the VOID!" ExplanationThe second confrontation of Armoured Xemnas, if a particular phase is not dealt with, he repeats this line. Almost endlessly.
- "Carpal Tunnel attack" ExplanationNear the end of the battle with Xemnas? He performs a Beam Spam on Sora and Riku... in which the player needs to constantly mash the X and Triangle button to avoid getting killed by it.
- Roxas McCartney ExplanationDue to possessing a well-known and popular Teen Idol for an English voice actor, fan works frequently depict Roxas as a talented singer who often favors his voice actor's songs. Particularly after comics like this one were synced with music. Later on, this also applies to Ventus, who has the exact same appearance and voice actor.
- Many people called the Xbox One port, and a possible Switch port, of the game (as well as the others in the HD collections) "cursed" for replacing the PlayStation 2/3/4 HUD elements in the command menu with PNGs of their Xbox One and Switch controller counterparts/equivalents.
- The scene of Pooh falling asleep and a "ghost" of him floating out of his body as he dreams has become a popular generic reaction meme format applicable to a wide variety of topics.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
- Ven's goldfish. ExplanationFrom one of Xigbar's lines in 358/2 Days when he asks Xion, who he sees as Ven, "Do you always have to stare at me like I just drowned your goldfish?"
- "Roxas, that's a stick." ExplanationAt one point in 358/2 Days, Roxas and Xion are together on a mission and Roxas finds himself without a Keyblade. He picks up the first thing he sees to use as a weapon. Xion lampshades the ridiculousness with that line.
- "Who else will I have ice cream with?" ExplanationRoxas says this line when Xion begins to fade away. It's become the go-to line for Narm Charm for Kingdom Hearts fans.
- "Who's Xion?" Explanation (spoilers)Xion's fate at the end of 358/2 Days was to be forgotten by everyone who knew her; thus, any mention of her name will inevitably cause at least one fan to act as if they've forgotten her too. However, Kingdom Hearts III brings back Xion and everyone's memories of her, dating the joke.
- She's Sora and Kairi's canon daughter. Explanation Due to Xion being made of Sora's memories of Kairi, Sora/Kairi shippers jokingly said that she's Sora and Kairi's daughter.
- But nobody asks how is Xion... Explanation (Double spoilers) When Avengers: Infinity War came around, the "But nobody asks how is Gamora..." meme was edited so Xion would replace Gamora, because of the "Who's Xion?" meme.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
- Terra's pants. ExplanationTerra's hakama in Birth by Sleep are beloved by many fans.
- Aqua's boobs. ExplanationAqua is by far the most well-endowed of the Kingdom Hearts females. She also has a Memetic Badass status.
- Vanitas's creepy-ass laugh. ExplanationVanitas's laugh, first heard in the game trailers, quickly caught on with the fans for its creepy awesomeness.
- Master Xehanort's Obviously Evil design and nature, with Terra in particular being the target of mockery for being so trusting of such a creepy and shifty old man.
- With Master Eraqus being played by Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker and Master Xehanort being played by Leonard Nimoy aka Mr. Spock, fans like to jokingly refer to their conflict as the latest chapter in the infamous Star Wars-Star Trek Fandom Rivalry.
- [Looking up to the sky as Dearly Beloved Plays] Sora! ExplanationThe secret ending of Birth By Sleep involves all the characters doing this.
- MAN LITERALLY TOO ANGRY TO DIE ExplanationTerra's ultimate fate is having his body stolen by Xehanort, only for his consciousness to inhabit his old armor through sheer rage to become the Lingering Will Superboss from Kingdom Hearts 2 and somehow later Kingdom Hearts 3, even though he was actually inside of the previously mentioned Guardian at the time. Fans quickly found the meme a humorous way to describe Terra's willpower.
- "At least I have some!"ExplanationVen hits Vanitas with this uncharacteristic bit of verbal ownage (in response to Vanitas remarking "It's always about your friends, isn't it?") before his story's final boss fight. Fans, naturally, loved it.
- "Too slow."ExplanationOne of Vanitas's quotes when he dodges one of your attacks, and arguably his-most well-known, to the point that it's almost become his catchphrase. Even after he no longer said it in Kingdom Hearts III, Re:Mind brought it back as one of his Data boss's quotes.
- "Put Peter Pan in his place!" ExplanationDuring Terra's trip to Neverland, he gets into a fight with Peter Pan thanks to a misunderstanding between the two. The text crawl for the fight though reads the above, which became a meme for the sheer hilarity of the statement, both because the statement is so funny out of context, but the fact Terra straight up fights a good guy, which is unique in the series. Quite a lot of people love using it as a joke, often adjusting it to reference other characters.
- NO CAPES!ExplanationTerra, Aqua, and Ven's Keyblade Armor suits lack their Badass Capes from their CGI renders in actual gameplay due to the PSP not being powerful enough to render them fluidly. This was kept in the HD 2.5 ReMIX re-releases despite being on more powerful consoles that could handle the capes just fine, though a rather Narm Charm-y cutscene was added to the end of Terra's story to explain that his cape was always there, to justify the Lingering Will having one in II. This led to jokes that Edna Mode was in charge of costumes for that game, and that they followed her design philosophy in taking out the capes.
- Nomura made an entire side-game just to explain why Mickey didn't have a shirt in the first Kingdom Hearts.ExplanationThe short demo 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage follows Aqua in the Realm of Darkness and takes place concurrently with the ending of the first game. Because Mickey wasn't wearing his established shirt in the original ending, they added a scene where the Demon Tower hits Mickey and destroys it. Fans found that bit outrageous and commonly bring it up when discussing the absurdity of the series.
- "And that is the story of how I lost my shirt." Explanation Just A Pancake's take on the meme, from his recap of the game.
- Aqua is Surrounded by Idiots. ExplanationA popular joke when referring to the game's plot, as Terra and Ven spend most of the game breaking things while Aqua is usually the one who has to eventually clean it up. This, combined with her being the only one to survive the game mostly unscaved and still active in Kingdom Hearts 3 has people often play her up as being the long suffering only sane woman.
Kingdom Hearts: coded
- "Mickey! It's Riku! They put bugs in him!" ExplanationA scene that, while making sense in context, still sounds silly. Other characters from other works are usually substituted in to represent them being corrupted by an outside force.
- "Riku’s hair is full of bugs?????" ExplanationA dev for Kingdom Hearts III revealed that the reason Riku gets his Important Haircut in the Realm of Darkness against the Demon Tower is due to… a model swap error, "a literal game bug". (Riku was supposed to have his hair already cut by the time he gets into the R.O.D. but accidentally still had his 0.2 design until the Demon Tower). The idea that Riku straight up had a legitimate bug (in his hair) was just too good to pass up.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
- "Me? I'm already half-Xehanort!" ExplanationA baffling proclamation delivered by Xigbar during The Reveal, due to how it completely justifies all the "Everybody is Xehanort" memes that have been there since Kingdom Hearts II. It has become a sort of representative line to the general Kudzu Plot of the series.
- "That's nuts..." ExplanationSora's response to the above line, which has been widely interpreted as Sora doing his own Lampshade Hanging on the plot of his series.
- "Darkness within darkness awaits you."ExplanationAnsem, Seeker of Darkness says this to Riku before their fight. It's become somewhat well-known for its narm factor, to the point that YouTuber Just a Pancake outright went "Who Writes This Crap?!" in his recap of the game.
- "You shall wander forever!"ExplanationOne of Young Xehanort's battle quotes when he rewinds time. Some people would later take the 2018 edition of YouTube Rewind which featured Will Smith saying "It's rewind time." and paste Young Xehanort's head over Smith's.
Kingdom Hearts χ / 2.8
- It was Abu all along!ExplanationDue to how long the search for Abu in the Agrabah storyline drags on (which didn't even end in the browser game until the game was nearly over), players joked that Abu will be revealed to be the true mastermind behind the events of the game.
- Lord PenceExplanationPence, who is one of the weakest medals in the game, has somehow been elevated by the fanbase to be jokingly referred to as the most valuable and powerful medal in the game, and sometimes the most powerful character in the series.
- After his name was localized as Brain instead of the fan translation of Blaine, and the scene in which he and Lauriam stay in the laboratory to prepare for the next phase of the formation of the new Unions, many people started comparing them to Pinky and the Brain.
- Nah, not possible. Explanation From a 2.8 trailer, in which Ira asks the Master of Masters how to prevent the Keyblade War. The response from the latter hasn't gone unnoticed by fans for the carefree delivery and sheer bluntness of the line.
- I take it you are talking about Kingdom Hearts. Explanation From the scene between Ira and Master of Masters in Case of Ira. This line is usually used in response to vaguely franchise-related posts in social media.
- Illustrated Kairi [EX] ExplanationA medal from Kingdom Hearts Union Cross notable for its extreme overpoweredness, leading to players alternately praising her name and cursing Square Enix and/or the gacha for not giving her.
- #VentusIsOverParty Explanation (Spoilers)Fans jokingly began proclaiming this after it's been revealed in Kingdom Hearts Union Cross that it's Ventus who replaced Strelitzia as the fifth union leader, conveniently leaving out the fact that he wasn't even the one who attacked and killed her (he was just standing there in a hypnotized daze while Darkness personally ambushed her).
- We were Xehanort all along!Explanation (Spoilers)The finale of Union Cross shows that the Player Character's heart seemingly eventually joins with Xehanort's in the distant future, thus meaning that the Player is Xehanort in the same vein that Ventus is Sora, pretty much taking the infamous "Everybody is Xehanort" meme to its natural conclusion. Though with The Reveal at the end of Dark Road that the Player in fact didn’t reincarnate as Xehanort but as the blue cloaked figure who raised him, this has become a Discredited Meme, as have all of the memes below that were spawned from it.
- Also in the same vein, there's a brief scene where Xehanort's mother gives a baby Xehanort to a hooded figure. Because of this it's become common to point out that player's see Xehanort's mother before Sora's mother.
- Woody disses the entire KH fandom! Explanation (Spoilers)Thanks to the Signature Scene in Kingdom Hearts III of Woody telling Young Xehanort that nobody has ever loved him before as well as the Xehanort reveal listed above, many fans started to state that Woody tells the entire KH fandom that nobody has ever loved them before.
- Just A Pancake actually predicted this.Explanation (Spoilers) After this reveal, people started commenting on Just A Pancake's "Everyone is X E H A N O R T" video that Just A Pancake predicted this reveal.
- Dream Eaters were dead kids all along?! Explanation (Spoilers)The finale of Union Cross also revealed that Dream Eaters are the result of the Chirithies of dying Keyblade warriors storing their hearts while they sleep. The whole thing put Dream Drop Distance in a completely different light.
- Cursed Dream Eater memes. Explanation (Spoilers)A result of the aforementioned twist, there have been a slew of 'cursed' Dream Eater memes, playing on the Fridge Horror of it all.
- The Dream Eater Theme. Explanation (Spoilers)The Dream Eater theme has become memetic due to its happy tone accompanied by a young child singing in contrast with the horrifying origins of the dream eaters.
Kingdom Hearts III
- Now in Development. ExplanationThis particular phrase at one time appeared at the end of every single trailer for Kingdom Hearts III to the point that it became a Running Gag on forums and YouTube comment sections to quote it as a way of poking fun at the infamously long wait since Kingdom Hearts II. (The game hasn't actually been in development since 2007, despite what people may have you think, and we've only been waiting for a new installment since 2013.) Officially became discredited when the game was finally confirmed to have a release window of 2018 at the 2017 D23 Expo. Kingdom Hearts IV also seems to be making an effort to avoid the same mistake twice, with the announcement trailer instead ending with "Magic in the Making".
- "ALL ABOARD THE HYPE COASTER!"ExplanationAlpha footage for future games has Sora be able to use Disney Theme Parks attractions as summons, including the roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain, during the fight with the Rock Titan has caused this to be used in connotation with the hype surrounding the concept.
- Choo Choo motherfuckers. Explanation for both A trailer for Kingdom Hearts III showed off a Thunder Mountain style train attack that quickly became memetic in the fandom.
- The new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3 has spawned many comments on Sora's apparently fantastic Man- cleavage
- "It's time to summon Hitler."ExplanationYen Sid in the Jump Festa Kingdom Hearts III trailer was so oddly subtitled that it caused many people to misread 'hither' as 'hitler'.
- Fans have noticed that "You've Got a Friend in Me" takes on a much more literal meaning when applied to Sora.
- When a Toy Story world was announced to appear in the game, there were jokes about how Woody wouldn't believe whatever Sora attempted to tell him and will yell at Sora the infamous "YOU! ARE! A! TOOOOYY!!" line. Amusingly, when the game was released, it's Buzz who's being skeptical while Woody is pretty open-minded throughout the game.
- "SORA LOOK A HEARTLESS!" "WHERE?!"
- "Hey who's got my coat?" // "LOOK! I'M XEHANORT! Darkness Darkness Darkness!"
- "Ah-ha. Ah-ha. Ah-ha... GIMME THAT."
- "Do you wanna beat a Heartless? It doesn't have to be a Heartless!" "Go away, Sora!" "Okay, byeee..."
- "Mickey, you're too late."note A trailer reveals that Aqua has been corrupted by the Darkness and calls out Mickey with this line.
- AQUA NO ExplanationA general fan reaction to the reveal that Aqua had been corrupted in the E3 trailer.
- Aquanort ExplanationA Fan Nickname for Aqua's current predicament. Hilarious in Hindsight seeing she wasn't even possessed by Xehanort, just corrupted by darkness due to staying in the Realm of Darkness for too long.
- Drop Kicking Hayner Explanation The Hundred Acre Wood trailer featured a scene of Hayner drop kicking Ansem◊. The fanbase immediately started putting Hayner on top of all◊ sorts◊ of◊ scenes◊
- He's gonna hyuck you up!◊ ExplanationGoofy's pose at the end of the Orchestra Trailer in III has led to the creation of this quote, and the declaration of Goofy as a Memetic Badass. He does it again in the D23 Japan Expo 2018 trailer.
- Sora throwing Mike Wazowski like a bowling ball seems to be getting a lot of attention.....
- The thirteenth month of 2018. ExplanationThe game was first slated for release in 2018, then put off to January 2019. Saying that January 2019 is the thirteenth month of 2018 is a joking way to deny the existence of any delay, and given the series' emphasis on 13 Is Unlucky, this seems particularly fitting.
- Skrillex is The Killers' Nobody. ExplanationAfter it was announced that Skrillex, himself a fan of the series, would be collaborating with Utada Hikaru to create the opening song, fans noticed how his name fits Organization XIII's naming scheme. By removing the X and scrambling the letters, it just happens to form the name of the band (the) Killers.
- "Kairi, I don't feel so good..."Explanation (Spoilers)The ending where Sora mysteriously fades away from existence has brought many comparisons to the infamous Thanos fingersnap scene of Avengers: Infinity War.
- Sora is just going to Super Smash Bros.Explanation (Spoiler)In light of Sora being the final DLC character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, many fans have joked that Sora is just telling Kairi that he received an invitation to join the game before disappearing.
- Axel is Deadpool now. Explanation (Spoilers)Axel, who already has a pretty firm title of KH's Meta Guy, has done some stuff in Kingdom Hearts 3 that made people make this joke. The two most pointed at examples being Axel pulling out two, unwrapped, yet perfectly intact Ice Creams from seemingly out of thin air behind his back, and the biggest example, him saying "You kidding? Do you know how popular I am? I got loads of people rootin' for me! Sorry, boss! No one axes Axel! Got it memorized?!", which has the rare honor of being the second big fourth wall breaking joke in the series.
- E X P I R EExplanation (Spoilers) From the Final Master Xehanort fight, and the heralding line for one of the most brutal Desperation Attacks in the series. Has reached memetic status for being the line that precedes the attack, and is frequently exclaimed whenever the fight is discussed, usually accompanied with the image of the Shadow Master Xehanort lounging in his Organization XIII Throne.
- D A R K N E S S R E I G N S Explanation (Re:Mind Spoilers) From Re:Mind's Armored Xehanort fight, and like the above, heralds his respective Desperation Attack. Which many consider to be even more brutal than Final Master Xehanort's Desperation Attack. Sometimes used as a sister meme to the above, as a sort of "call and response" type of posting joke.
- "Whatever you're talking about, I don't care."ExplanationWoody eventually has enough of Young Xehanort's shit and delivers a Shut Up, Hannibal! to him in the form of this line. It caught on among those who have become tired of all the nonsense coming from Xehanort and his many versions.
- Savage WoodyExplanationWoody calling Xehanort out on his lack of a heart quickly took off within the fanbase, essentially turning Woody into a Memetic Badass by association.
- Sora taking selfies during battle has quickly become a meme of its own. This is a... particular example.
- This image of Rabbit whispering in Sora's ear◊ is ripe for memes.
- "YEETUS VANITAS!" note Sulley throwing Vanitas into a door at the end of Monstropolis... then throwing that door through another door, then throwing that door through yet another door, then shredding that final door in a wood chipper. Many meme it, not just for its overkill nature, but for also being a shining example of the series' transient and incomprehensible power-scaling, due to Vanitas being strong enough to defeat powerful foes, and yet is easily over-powered by Sulley. Other memes based around the scene treat Sulley as the bane of "edgy anime characters" with even a few Avengers: Infinity War memes suggesting he's also responsible for the lack of Final Fantasy characters in the game.
- Related to the above, jokes about the hilarious places Vanitas got himself thrown into.
- Me? I've always been Luxu. Explanation (Spoilers)An extension of the above Dream Drop Distance meme, the reveal at the end of III that Xigbar was Luxu all along had fans going crazy.
- Nomura, you sly fox...Explanation (Spoilers)Many fans' reaction after seeing the secret ending which shows that Yozora is a real person in Kingdom Hearts universe. The quote was used by Master Xehanort when he said, "Eraqus, you sly fox..."
- Sora killed Goofy Explanation Using the Goofy Bombardier ability, there has been reports of Sora "killing" Goofy by either throwing him off a mountain or tossing him into a pit of fire.
- "This might be a good spot to find some ingredients!"ExplanationThis is a line Donald says when an ingredient is nearby. Many fans consider it to be the KH equivalent of the "I've come up with a new recipe" meme.
- "I betcha there's a lucky emblem here!"ExplanationA line said by Goofy any time Sora enters a room where a Hidden Mickey can be found. This eventually grew into becoming a Play-Along Meme, with fans quoting this line whenever they spot something that resembles Mickey's head and two ears.
- #DoSomethingDonaldExplanationA hashtag Sora uses in one of his social media posts. It is commonly used to describe the Artificial Stupidity that Donald is notable for in previous games.
- Donald is the strongest Square Enix mage. Explanation (Spoilers)During the Keyblade Graveyard battle, Donald casts Zettaflare, the most powerful spell in the Final Fantasy lore, and one-shots Terra-Xehanort with it. The idea of Donald Duck being so powerful was so ridiculously awesome that it shot him up from Memetic Loser to Memetic Badass.
- "Donald, dooooon't!" Explanation (Spoilers)Goofy's Narm-tastic, but futile attempt at stopping Donald from casting Zettaflare. The drama could've worked if the scene featured anyone but Donald and Goofy, but alas...
- Young Xehanort don't give a fuckExplanation (Spoilers)Most of the real Organization XIII (including Master Xehanort himself) have an Alas, Poor Villain moment after being defeated in their respective boss battles...except Young Xehanort, who instead gets Evil Gloating about how the Timey-Wimey Ball nature of the series makes his loss effectively meaningless because he'll just go back in time and grow up to become the Big Bad anyway. This has not gone unnoticed by the fandom.
- The "Nort Court." ExplanationMany fans and youtubers have taken to consider calling the battle between all of Xehanorts most significant other selves (Ansem, Xenmas, and Young Xehanort) as players entering the "Nort Court."
- Press △ for SoraExplanation (Spoilers)After reaching a certain threshold in Riku's fight with the Demon Tower, players can use a reaction command simply titled "Sora," which has Riku summon Sora into the Realm of Darkness for the two of them to finish off the Demon Tower together.
- Goofy is YozoraExplanation (Spoilers)As revealed in the secret ending, Yozora has heterochromia (one red eye, one blue eye), a trait he shares with, of all people, Goofy in his Monstropolis form. Memes ensued.
- "Mike, we have to defeat Sephiroth! ... Mike?"ExplanationA Tumblr joke and fanart of Sulley seeing Sephiroth kill Mike, as a jab at the ridiculousness of Kingdom Hearts being a crossover between the family-friendly Disney movies and the older audience-oriented Final Fantasy video games.
- I didn’t ask you for your garbage opinion! Explanation (Spoilers) A line Larxene says after she is defeated by Sora. People immediately started using it when someone had an opinion they didn’t like.
- ''the snow storm cant get us here''
- "BRING ME XEHANORT!" Explanation (Spoilers) Many commenters have compared Roxas' sudden arrival in the fight with Saïx to Thor's arrival to Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War.
- "Finally, Critical Mo- WHAT THE?!" Explanation After three months, Critical Mode was finally added to the game, and to everyone's surprise it's much harder than they expected, especially after the much-maligned easiness of Proud Mode.
- A lot of Christopher Lloyd-related memes popped up in the wake of the Re:Mind DLC, in which he replaced the late Rutger Hauer as Master Xehanort:
- "Sora! It's your kids! We gotta go back... to the future!" ExplanationFollowing Christopher Lloyd's casting as Xehanort, Back to the Future jokes were abound (made more appropriate since Kingdom Hearts has dealt with Time Travel multiple times and said film franchise which prominently starred Lloyd features it as one of its major motifs, albeit with a Time Machine made from a DeLorean).
- I WAS FROZEN TODAY! Explanation Given Master Xehanort's propensity for using Ice magic that results in being frozen, naturally the memetic line from Suburban Commando made its way here.
- Remember me, Sora? When I killed Kairi, I TALKED! JUST! LIKE! THIIIIS! Explanation The fact that Christopher Lloyd being the main villain of yet another major Disney crossover after being the main villain of their first one had not escaped notice. Furthermore, the line fits so perfectly well for Xehanort's technical murder of Kairi, and that, obviously, Christopher Lloyd was not the original voice actor for that infamous moment, even if it has been rerecorded with his voice for Re:Mind.
- Come on Sora, I thought you were stronger than that! Come on Sora, I thought you were stronger than that! COME ON SORA, I THOUGHT YOU WERE STRONGER THAN THAT! Explanation (Re:Mind Spoilers) Data Dark Riku's taunt after you lose to him. And since he's considered to be one of the hardest fights in KH3 Re:Mind's Data Organization fights, a lot of people have heard it a lot of times. Causing many to meme it in a shared frustration of the fight, usually by repeating the phrase in a post with a picture of him. His many battle cries during the fight ("ONE MORE!" "YOU LIKE IT?!" "DARKNESS!") are also memed, due to the sheer frequency his barks are played.
- The Suite Life of Sora and Yozora. Explanation Dylan Sprouse of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody fame voicing Yozora hasn’t escaped the fandom’s notice, spawning many jokes.
- Metal Gear Mickey. Explanation During ReMind, a sequence plays where you control Mickey slowly walking as he fends off Xehanort Replicas. People compared this to the Microwave Tunnel sequence in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and the jokes wrote themselves.
- Nope. Still not a Master. ExplanationFans have taken Yen Sid's refusal to grant Sora the Mark of Mastery even after recovering the Power of Waking that he was supposed to get in Dream Drop Distance as a sign that Yen Sid will never recognize Sora as a Master no matter what he does. Even if it's single-handedly defeating the True Organization (and Yozora) without taking damage (as some players have done.)
- Eraqus cheated.Explanation (Spoilers)During his chess match with Xehanort in past Scala ad Calem, Eraqus comes Back from the Brink by bringing "Light from the past" aka somehow adding more chess to replace his taken ones. Fans were very quick to point out that's not how chess works, even with some going so far as to accuse this moment of being the reason why Xehanort begins Jumping Off the Slippery Slope and starts the Second Keyblade War in order to prove that Eraqus broke the rules of the game
- Kingstagram. Explanation The name given to the loading screens which are clearly modeled after Instagram social media posts, complete with hashtags. A popular passtime is people photoshopping screenshots of the games with this format with comments from the cast responding to various humorous situations.
- Kingdom Hearts Versus XIII ExplanationKingdom Hearts III contains quite a few things that seem to reference Nomura's original ideas for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, mostly the Verum Rex-related stuff. Since Final Fantasy Versus XIII (later changed to Final Fantasy XV) underwent substantial rewrites after Nomura left the project, fans have speculated with varying degrees of seriousness that Nomura is attempting to recreate his original vision for Versus XIII in the Kingdom Hearts universe.
- Marluxia whispering in Sora's ear. ExplanationDuring Data Marluxia's fight, before he switches to his second phase, there's a short cutscene where he gets extremely close to Sora, leaning behind him over his shoulder, and whispers something inaudible in his ear with a malicious smile, making Sora recoil in what appears to be shock or horror (similar to the hidden fight with him added in Final Mix versions of II). Fans naturally joked about what he could have said, from Marluxia asking Ventus what he did to his sister to reminding Sora that he missed dinner.
- hollup...Let him cook ExplanationAn image of Woody stopping Sora was captioned with this. "Let him cook" meaning "let him do his thing."
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
- Sora dancing during sad moments. ExplanationThe trailer showing Sora playing rhythm games over sad scenes like Xion’s death quickly became a meme due to how corny and awkward it looked.
- Ya like jazz? ExplanationThe Melody of Memory rendition of Dearly Beloved sounds definitely jazz-inspired, which causes fans to import this famous meme.
Kingdom Hearts IV
- Sora's normal shoes. ExplanationThe reveal trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV showed Sora wearing normal-sized shoes. Considering that the oversized shoes he normally wears are a huge part of his look, many players took note and began talking about them. This also led to jokes about mourning the loss of the old style of shoes.
- Strelitzia's apartment. Explanation(spoilers)After the game was revealed, some fans did some internet detective work and found that the apartment that Sora wakes up in (apparently belonging to Strelitzia) is a real place, and is located in Aoyama, Tokyo, one of the most expensive places in the city. Rent on the apartment would be about $2,000 a month US, and buying the apartment outright would cost around $1.2 million US. This has led to a lot of jokes about Sora and Strelitzia will have to worry about rent and taxes in Quadratum, especially due to how expensive their apartment looks, concluding that Sora either needs to get a job to help make rent, and/or about Strelitzia being very wealthy.
- Starbucks Sora ExplanationAdding to the above entry, one specific idea the fandom has latched onto is Sora being a barista at Starbucks.
- Sora's been doxxed! ExplanationSince Quadratum is based of Shibuya, fans wasted no time comparing the trailer with the real city, tracking down the building Sora wakes up in to an apartment in Aoyama. Many have joked that Sora has lived there only for a short while and already got doxxed.
- Plenty of people also took note of the man recording a Heartless attack on his phone instead of running away.
- Fans noticed parallels between the announcement trailer and previous gameplay footage from Final Fantasy Versus XIII, leading to jokes about Nomura's grudge over being taken off the Versus XIII project.
- Sora Flipping the Bird Explanation The artwork for the 20th anniversary event shows 4 panels with Sora from each main installement counting with fingers. The fourth panel was obscured before the official announcement, but fans went ahead and photoshopped Sora Flipping the Bird.
- Given the more realistic nature of Quadratum, there has been renewed interest in an AU where Donald and Goofy are a non-anthropomorphic duck and dog, respectively, as that would be what they would likely become in Quadratum.
- Jokes have also been made on the fact that the apparent first place Donald and Goofy went to look for their dead friend was the Greek equivalent of Hell.
- Comparisons of Sora's outfit to Aruto Hiden's, as well as comparing a side-by-side shot, have also been made.
- "I can't wait to play this in 20XX!!"ExplanationDue to the Sequel Gaps between the numbered entries of the franchise (particularly the gap between KHII and KHIII), many people joke that they'll get to play the game the far off future like in 2035 or they'll show it to the kids of their non-existent kids, and other jokes like that.
- Gurren Lagann SoraExplanationDuring the reveal trailer, Sora is seen using an attack that engulfs his keyblade with a giant golden light tornado that looks like a drill. Cue the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann comparisons.
Other
- "This guy." ExplanationFrom a popular Google document that summarizes the series' plotline up to the end of Kingdom Hearts coded using gifs and uses variations upon "This guy/girl" in every line.
- BEES! ExplanationTo demonstrate what an arbitrarily random Applied Phlebotinum "DARKNESS!" had become in Kingdom Hearts, cartoonist Brendan "Jello" Blaber recapped the entire Kingdom Hearts up to III using the word "bees" in place of "darkness".
- "Kairi!" "Traitor!" "Sephiroth!" "Goofy!" "Sora!" "Roxas!" "Why?" "Axel!" "I'm a fool." "Xemnas!" "You're right."ExplanationFansite KH-Vids, one of the most complete cutscene repositories online, used to include this mish-mash of voice clips in an intro to each cutscene alongside their logo and slogan.
- "Super Smash Bros. is canon" ExplanationDue to the series' tendency to have supposed spin-off titles introduce important plot elements, there were plenty of jokes even before Sora was officially announced as a character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that, if Sora ever made it into Smash, his presence would somehow have an effect on Kingdom Hearts' Kudzu Plot. Naturally, when Sora was announced as the final DLC character, said memes became much more numerous. Amazingly, this turned out to be 100% factually accurate. It was not Disney that prevented Sora's appearance in Smash Bros as many believed, but Nomura. He refused to allow Sora to appear in Smash because he wasn't sure how to integrate Sora into Smash Bros in a way that was faithful to Kingdom Hearts lore.
- “There’s a MAGIC LAMP in there!”ExplanationIn October 2022, an animatic pilot for a Kingdom Hearts cartoon was released to the Internet. The animatic was mostly made up of rough storyboards and had some Off-Model sketches for the human characters… most notably, a particularly derpy face Riku makes when saying the line in question.
- "Oh, I get it! ...I just don't understand it."ExplanationGoofy's response to the above line from Riku. The line is arguably one of the most on point reactions one could possibly have to the complicated lore that is Kingdom Hearts, and came out in something predating the complications the series would have going forward. Naturally, people gravitated towards it.
- X TwitterExplanationWhen Elon Musk announced he would be rebranding Twitter to simply "X", many Kingdom Hearts fans took light (or rather darkness in this meme's case) of the bizarre news, joking that Elon was Norted, or quoting Xehanort or the many Organization XIII members/Seekers of Darkness. But in particular, many have begun altering their names and profile pictures to fit the Organization XIII motif (Organization cloak profile picture and rearranging and putting an "X" in their username), with many reporting sightings of numerous Organization XIII pfp users swarming their notifications in likes.
