History Fanfic / KingdomHeartsTheThirdEpic

** Final Confrontation does proceed to acknowledge ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' in its own way, but some discrepancies now exist between this and later games. For instance, when [[spoiler:Yzak]] becomes a Nobody, his new name [[spoiler:(Lord Xeftum)]] includes an X, which Xehanort only gave to other Nobodies as revealed in KingdomHearts3D.

* {{Doorstopper}}: Final Confrontation alone is 1.3 Million words, and currently stands as the longest single piece of KingdomHearts fanfiction on fanfiction.net (although AnnalsofDarkness has almost passed the collective total for the series, which is approximately 1.71 million.)

** Kenshin when he becomes Battousai the Manslayer, similar to how it is portrayed in RurouniKenshin.

* WholePlotReference: The opening to Final Confrontation (at least, the part on Destiny Islands) is almost a shot-for-shot remake of [[spoiler:the opening to the Shishio Arc in Rurouni Kenshin, where Saito is sent to ‘evaluate’ Kenshin’s ability.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: Riku in The Third Epic, when he decides to save Kairi by himself. And much like KingdomHeartsI, LaserGuidedKarma quickly turns him back on the right path.

** Riku’s Darkness Form. Much like when [[spoiler:Ansem possesses him in KingdomHeartsI,]] but he has control of it. It can take it's toll on his heart if he uses it for too long, however.

Apart from Kingdom Hearts and a mass of Original Characters on all sides, there are numerous anime titles and video games that have their own worlds, or ‘Realms’, such as Franchise/{{Zoids}}, Anime/GundamWing, Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED, VideoGame/{{ICO}}, Manga/RurouniKenshin, as well as some new Disney worlds such as Disney/TreasurePlanet and WesternAnimation/MonstersInc. This fic defines LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

Apart from Kingdom Hearts and a mass of Original Characters on all sides, there are numerous anime titles and video games that have their own worlds, or ‘Realms’, such as Franchise/{{Zoids}}, Anime/GundamWing, Anime/GundamSEED, VideoGame/{{ICO}}, Manga/RurouniKenshin, as well as some new Disney worlds such as Disney/TreasurePlanet and WesternAnimation/MonstersInc. This fic defines LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: When you have VideoGame/KingdomHearts, Anime/DragonBallZ, Franchise/{{Zoids}}, Anime/GundamWing, Anime/GundamSEED, VideoGame/{{ICO}}, Manga/RurouniKenshin, VideoGame/DynastyWarriors, and a horde of original characters, (and that's just before Final Confrontation!) you know this series is the definition of this trope. Maybe counts as CastHerd as you seldom rarely see any of the different world’s characters interact with one another.

* AdaptationInducedPlothole: Pre-Final Confrontation, everything was written before KingdomHeartsII even came out, so there is a lot of key details to miss or get wrong. Thankfully, this only really kicks in once the KH team reaches Hollow Bastion, either through intelligently avoiding anything that could have been overwritten by canon. There are some big mistakes or discrepancies, mind…

** Also, when Sora gets to Olympus Coliseum, he greets Hercules and says it has been three years since they last met. Sora is either 17 or 18 in this fic, so this part ignores the existence of KingdomHeartsII.

** Final Confrontation does proceed to acknowledge KingdomHeartsII in its own way, but some discrepancies now exist between this and later games. For instance, when [[spoiler:Yzak]] becomes a Nobody, his new name [[spoiler:(Lord Xeftum)]] includes an X, which Xehanort only gave to other Nobodies as revealed in KingdomHearts3D.

** Final Confrontation inverts this, as not only to Sora and Riku keep their powers, they have new ones at the start. (such as the fusion ability)

* AdaptationInducedPlothole: Pre-Final Confrontation, everything was written before KH2 even came out, so there is a lot of key details to miss or get wrong. Thankfully, this only really kicks in once the KH team reaches Hollow Bastion, either through intelligently avoiding anything that could have been overwritten by canon. There are some big mistakes or discrepancies, mind…

** Also, when Sora gets to Olympus Coliseum, he greets Hercules and says it has been three years since they last met. Sora is either 17 or 18 in this fic, so this part ignores the existence of KH2.

** Final Confrontation does proceed to acknowledge KH2 in its own way, but some discrepancies now exist between this and later games. For instance, when [[spoiler:Yzak]] becomes a Nobody, his new name [[spoiler:(Lord Xeftum)]] includes an X, which Xehanort only gave to other Nobodies as revealed in KH3D.

* DamselInDistress: Kairi in the original fic. She is the catalyst that enters Sora and Riku into the war against the Dark Empire. She gets an upgrabe to ActionGirl in Final Confrontation, although she doesn't really get in on the actiom until late into the fic.

* CompleteMonster: General Ameba, full stop. [[spoiler:He wipes out an entire continent in the Gundam SEED world,]] he slaughters surrendering opponents (and civilians) without mercy, and cares only about his own pride and status with the Empire. Even the Three Excellencies are doing everything in their power to ensure that he never becomes a Lord, which if he attained, would allow him to directly influence the empire and turn more people over to his way of thinking.

* [[spoiler:MoralEventHorizon: Rellantando in Final Confrontation crosses this when he burns Twilight Town’s city hall to the ground. With all the civilians inside.]]
** By the time the story begins, Ameba has supposedly already had this several times, and his actions caused Thundro to defect. Doesn't stop him from crossing the line over and over again, though.

** TheSmartGuy / TheSixthRanger: Cunla
** {{The Turncoat}} / TheChick: Ophelia

* AntiHero: [[spoiler:General Triiken]] in Final Confrontation.
* ArcFatigue: With a story this long it was bound to occur at some point, but General Saber’s arc in Final Confrontation lasts almost half of the entire fic! Hell, he almost gets more importance given to him than Sirius!

** It should also be noted that Ameba and Lord Arakis in a way represent a strong divide developing in the Empire that isn’t given enough light. While Ameba is all about ‘war without limits’, taking whatever steps are necessary to win absolutely, Arakis follows the old ‘Imperial Code’, which allows enemies to surrender and forbids unwarranted harm to civilians. While both are evil, (Arakis is holding Kairi hostage, after all) neither one can stand the other, and both have their allies within the Empire.
** Even General Kai and his Cavendish Shinobis are divided in their morality. While Kai is a strict follower of the code, some of the other shinobi are not.
** Ameba is also the only character Sora openly declares that he will kill. Sora, the purest of the KH team sans Kairi, who dislikes taking lives, makes an open promise to kill Ameba. When you cause someone that good to promise you death, you know you’re as evil as it gets.
* DamselInDistress: Kairi in the original fic. She is the catalyst that enters Sora and Riku into the war against the Dark Empire.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Sora and Riku. And how!
* {{Homage}}: There are a lot of them sprinkled throughout the series.

* [[spoiler:LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Sora’s near-death at the end of Final Confrontation. Judging by the way it was written, however, it could have well been originally meant as a genuine end for Sora, seeing as how the fic basically stated him as dead in the chapter where it occurs, only for him to show signs of life in the next chapter. This troper wonders if the writer got cold feet about the idea, considering what happened with Riku’s death…]]
** [[spoiler:In fact, Riku’s death in Conclusion could count along similar lines, as he was dead and buried, and a short epilogue about Sora and Kairi in their twilight years ‘looking forward to seeing Riku again’ was written. It all had to be retconned via the Dragon Balls so that Final Confrontation could proceed.]]
** [[spoiler:Sora’s near-death experience at the end of Final Confrontation isn’t the first time he’s gotten that close to dying. Not counting major fights with other characters, General Kai mortally wounds him in Halloween Town, Lord Cavendish beats him to within an inch of his life, and he gets blown up and covered in shrapnel in Final Confrontation.]]

** By the time the story begins, Ameba has supposedly already had this several times. Doesn't stop him from crossing the line over and over again.

* {{Retcon}}: The ending to The Third Epic: Conclusion, once Final Confrontation was started.

** Riku’s Darkness Form
** Sora’s Rage/The Keyblade Hound. While similar in many ways to Cuchulain’s Rage, he is not as experienced with it, and at times has attacked friends while under its influence, including Riku.

** Kenshin when he becomes Battousai the Manslayer.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Sirius feels this way about Riku.

** TheTurncoat / TheChick: Ophelia

Apart from Kingdom Hearts and a mass of Original Characters on all sides, there are numerous anime titles and video games that have their own worlds, or ‘Realms’, such as Zoids, Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Ico, Rurouni Kenshin, as well as some new Disney worlds such as Treasure Planet and Monsters Inc. This fic defines LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: When you have Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Ball Z, Zoids, Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Ico, Rurouni Kenshin, Dynasty Warriors, and a horde of original characters, (and that's just before Final Confrontation!) you know this series is the definition of this trope. Maybe counts as CastHerd as you seldom rarely see any of the different world’s characters interact with one another.

Sora and Riku, having defeated the Heartless (and Nobodies) and closed the Door to Darkness, are living happily with Kairi and their friends on their islands once again. However, despite the peace and happiness of the trio, Sora cannot help but wish to see all his friends from past journeys again. Cue {{Darker And Edgier}}, {{Damsel In Distress}}, {{Bag Of Spilling}} and {{Oh Crap}} all at once. Kairi is kidnapped, and the Big Bad destroys Sora’s Keyblades with a mere gaze. And just like that, Sora and Riku are off on another adventure.

Apart from Kingdom Hearts and a mass of Original Characters on all sides, there are numerous anime titles and video games that have their own worlds, or ‘Realms’, such as Zoids, Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Ico, Rurouni Kenshin, as well as some new Disney worlds such as Treasure Planet and Monsters Inc. This fic defines {{Loads And Loads Of Characters}}.

* {{Action Girl}}: And how! There many females in this fanfic, and many of them are more than capable of handling themselves.
** Kairi starts out as a {{Damsel in Distress}} in The Third Epic, but in Final Confrontation is shown to be capable of handling herself, although not to the degree of the battle-hardened females like Ophelia.
* {{Adaptation Induced Plothole}}: Pre-Final Confrontation, everything was written before KH2 even came out, so there is a lot of key details to miss or get wrong. Thankfully, this only really kicks in once the KH team reaches Hollow Bastion, either through intelligently avoiding anything that could have been overwritten by canon. There are some big mistakes or discrepancies, mind…

* {{Anti-Hero}}: [[spoiler:General Triiken]] in Final Confrontation.
* {{Arc Fatigue}}: With a story this long it was bound to occur at some point, but General Saber’s arc in Final Confrontation lasts almost half of the entire fic! Hell, he almost gets more importance given to him than Sirius!
* {{Bag of Spilling}}: At the beginning of the story Sora doesn’t lose his powers, he loses his freakin’ KEYBLADES. The {{Big Bad}} just looks at them and they shatter instantly. Also a case of {{So Last Season}}, as the abilities he has at the time are only really good against agents of darkness such as the Heartless, and Curaga only heals wounds to the soul and heart, not physical wounds inflicted by real weaponry such as swords. To replace the Keyblades, Riku and Sora use Imperial Swords, which are given to them by Lord Thundro.

* {{Berserk Button}}: Don’t ever insult Cuchulain in the middle of a battle. You are just asking for a swift death.
* {{Body Horror}}: [[spoiler:Sirius Viicous might have survived the events of Chain of Memories, but since then he was disfigured to such a point that one half of his body now looks like a Heartless, doe to the fact that, not having a heart but owning a ‘replica’ of one, he could not be properly split in to a Nobody and a Heartless, and thus went through the painful experience over and over for years, only escaping when he relinquished his sense of self, and all his memories with it. Riku and Sora’s involvement with the Universal Alliance causes his memories to resurface.]]

* [[spoiler:{{Cold-Blooded Torture}}: Ameba inflicts this on Riku for the crime of ‘damaging his pride’.]]
* {{Complete Monster}}: General Ameba, full stop. [[spoiler:He wipes out an entire continent in the Gundam SEED world,]] he slaughters surrendering opponents (and civilians) without mercy, and cares only about his own pride and status with the Empire. Even the Three Excellencies are doing everything in their power to ensure that he never becomes a Lord, which if he attained, would allow him to directly influence the empire and turn more people over to his way of thinking.

* {{Damsel In Distress}}: Kairi in the original fic. She is the catalyst that enters Sora and Riku into the war against the Dark Empire.
* {{Darker And Edgier}}: And how! Riku and Sora, two Keyblade Wielders who normally fight manifestations of darkness and nothingness with Keyblades, suddenly forced to change to katanas and fight real people. Blood and death is everywhere, the enemy has no qualms about bringing the universe to its knees or destroying it, and Disney characters are involved!
* [[spoiler:{{Deus Ex Machina}}: The Dragon Balls at the end of Conclusion AND Final Confrontation.]]
* {{Dreaming Of Things To Come}}: Sora has this at the start of The Third Epic, Riku at the start of Final Confrontation.
* [[spoiler:{{Evil Knockoff}}: Sirius is actually the Riku Replica from Chain of Memories, who survived his supposed death in that game.]]

* [[{{Face Heel Turn}} Face-Heel Turn]]: [[spoiler:Yzak Joule]] in Final Confrontation. He pays the price for it, mind…
* {{Friendly Enemy}}: Despite all that Sora has done to disrupt and destroy the Imperial Axis, Sirius Viicous refuses to harm Sora personally, [[spoiler:owing to how Sora recognized his individuality in Chain of Memories.]] This changes when Sora refuses to let Riku die at his hands, however…
* {{Fusion Dance}}: Sora and Riku can combine with each other via a DBZ-style fusion in Final Confrontation.
* [[{{Heel Face Turn}} Heel-Face Turn]]: Lord Thundro. His betrayal happened before the story began, but comes as a shock to several Imperials, and catches a few Alliance members off-guard.

* Heterosexual Life-Partners: Sora and Riku. And how!
* Homage: There are a lot of them sprinkled throughout the series.
* {{It Gets Easier}}: The fact that none of the original KH members have ever killed an actual human being before is brought up when Sora makes his first kill in Traverse Town. He feels initially horrified at what he’s done, but Riku snaps him out of it, telling him it was either them or him, and Goten points out that they are killing clones that have no free will or soul. From there on, he plows through enemies with ease, but his dislike for murder is brought up many times by both friend and enemy, along with his motives for commiting to such violence.
* [[spoiler:{{Karmic Death}}: General Ameba. He links his soul to Riku’s using Kai’s control over darkness, meaning that if Ameba is attacked, Riku will feel it too, and vice-versa. Riku, realising that {{Death Is The Only Option}}, sacrifices himself just as Sora is about to be killed by Ameba, causing Ameba to be killed. Ironically, Ameba dies almost instantly, whereas Riku manages to hold out for a few minutes to say sorry to Sora for deserting him.]]
* [[spoiler:{{Like You Would Really Do It}}: Sora’s near-death at the end of Final Confrontation. Judging by the way it was written, however, it could have well been originally meant as a genuine end for Sora, seeing as how the fic basically stated him as dead in the chapter where it occurs, only for him to show signs of life in the next chapter. This troper wonders if the writer got cold feet about the idea, considering what happened with Riku’s death…]]

* {{Loads And Loads Of Characters}}: When you have Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Ball Z, Zoids, Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Ico, Rurouni Kenshin, Dynasty Warriors, and a horde of original characters, (and that's just before Final Confrontation!) you know this series is the definition of this trope. Maybe counts as {{Cast Herd}} as you seldom rarely see any of the different world’s characters interact with one another.

* [[spoiler:{{Moral Event Horizon}}: Rellantando in Final Confrontation crosses this when he burns Twilight Town’s city hall to the ground. With all the civilians inside.]]

* {{Original Character}}: There are a lot of them, and not all are of the author’s making, either. Nearly all of the characters of Imperial allegiance are original.
* {{Plot Hole}}: In Final Confrontation, Sora advises Riku that they should fuse together to fight [[spoiler:Triiken]]. At no point beforehand was an ability to use the fusion from DBZ ever mentioned in the story, and it has never been explained where they got it from.

* [[{{Super Powered Evil Side}}Super-Powered Evil Side]]:

* {{The Only One Allowed To Defeat You}}: Sirius feels this way about Riku.
* {{Whole Plot Reference}}: The opening to Final Confrontation (at least, the part on Destiny Islands) is almost a shot-for-shot remake of [[spoiler:the opening to the Shishio Arc in Rurouni Kenshin, where Saito is sent to ‘evaluate’ Kenshin’s ability.]]

* {{Five Man Band}}: The KH team.
** {{The Leader}}: Sora.
** {{The Lancer}}: Riku.

* [[spoiler:{{Karmic Death}}: General Ameba. He links his soul to Riku’s using Kai’s control over darkness, meaning that if Ameba is attacked, Riku will feel it too, and vice-versa. Riku, realising that Death Is The Only Option, sacrifices himself just as Sora is about to be killed by Ameba, causing Ameba to be killed. Ironically, Ameba dies almost instantly, whereas Riku manages to hold out for a few minutes to say sorry to Sora for deserting him.]]

* {{Bag of Spilling}}: At the beginning of the story Sora doesn’t lose his powers, he loses his freakin’ KEYBLADES. The {{Big Bad}} just looks at them and they shatter instantly. Also a case of {{So Last Sequel}}, as the abilities he has at the time are only really good against agents of darkness such as the Heartless, and Curaga only heals wounds to the soul and heart, not physical wounds inflicted by real weaponry such as swords. To replace the Keyblades, Riku and Sora use Imperial Swords, which are given to them by Lord Thundro.

* {{Face-Heel Turn}}: [[spoiler:Yzak Joule]] in Final Confrontation. He pays the price for it, mind…

* {{Heel-Face Turn}}: Lord Thundro. His betrayal happened before the story began, but comes as a shock to several Imperials, and catches a few Alliance members off-guard.

* {{Super Powered Evil Side}}:

Sora and Riku, having defeated the Heartless (and Nobodies) and closed the Door to Darkness, are living happily with Kairi and their friends on their islands once again. However, despite the peace and happiness of the trio, Sora cannot help but wish to see all his friends from past journeys again. Cue Darker And Edgier, Damsel In Distress, Bag Of Spilling and Oh Crap all at once. Kairi is kidnapped, and the Big Bad destroys Sora’s Keyblades with a mere gaze. And just like that, Sora and Riku are off on another adventure.

Apart from Kingdom Hearts and a mass of Original Characters on all sides, there are numerous anime titles and video games that have their own worlds, or ‘Realms’, such as Zoids, Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Ico, Rurouni Kenshin, as well as some new Disney worlds such as Treasure Planet and Monsters Inc. This fic defines Loads And Loads Of Characters.

* {{Super-Powered Evil Side}}:

* [[spoiler:{{Evil Knockoff}}: Sirius is actually the Riku Replica from Chain of Memories, who survived his supposed death in that game.
** There’s also a Dark Sora, who is a direct clone of Sora. He doesn’t last very long, however…]]

o Cunla, Kirin and Ophelia all defected in Final Confrontation after discovering how they were being used and manipulated by the Axis.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Sora and Riku. And how!
• Homage: There are a lot of them sprinkled throughout the series.
• It Gets Easier: The fact that none of the original KH members have ever killed an actual human being before is brought up when Sora makes his first kill in Traverse Town. He feels initially horrified at what he’s done, but Riku snaps him out of it, telling him it was either them or him. From there on, he plows through enemies with ease, but his dislike for murder is brought up many times by both friend and enemy, along with his motives for commiting to such violence.
• Karmic Death: General Ameba. He links his soul to Riku’s using Kai’s control over darkness, meaning that if Ameba is attacked, Riku will feel it too, and vice-versa. Riku, realising that Death Is The Only Option, sacrifices himself just as Sora is about to be killed by Ameba, causing Ameba to be killed. Ironically, Ameba dies almost instantly, whereas Riku manages to hold out for a few minutes to say sorry to Sora for deserting him.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Sora’s near-death at the end of Final Confrontation. Judging by the way it was written, however, it could have well been originally meant as a genuine end for Sora, seeing as how the fic basically stated him as dead in the chapter where it occurs, only for him to show signs of life in the next chapter. This troper wonders if the writer got cold feet about the idea, considering what happened with Riku’s death…
o In fact, Riku’s death in Conclusion could count along similar lines, as he was dead and buried, and a short epilogue about Sora and Kairi in their twilight years ‘looking forward to seeing Riku again’ was written. It all had to be retconned via the Dragon Balls so that Final Confrontation could proceed.
o Sora’s near-death experience at the end of Final Confrontation isn’t the first time he’s gotten that close to dying. Not counting major fights with other characters, (as 9 times out of 10 he had assistance to keep him going) General Kai mortally wounds him in Halloween Town, Lord Cavendish beats him to within an inch of his life, and he gets blown up and covered in shrapnel in Final Confrontation.
• Loads And Loads Of Characters: When you have Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Ball Z, Zoids, Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Ico, Rurouni Kenshin, Dynasty Warriors, and a horde of original characters, (and that just before Final Confrontation!) you know this series is the definition of this trope. Maybe counts as Cast Herd as you seldom rarely see any of the different world’s characters interact with one another.
• Mook: The Imperial Guard.
• Moral Event Horizon: Rellantando in Final Confrontation crosses this when he burns Twilight Town’s city hall to the ground. With all the civilians inside.
• Original Character: There are a lot of them, and not all are of the author’s making, either. Nearly all of the characters of Imperial allegiance are original
• Plot Hole: In Final Confrontation, Sora advises Riku that they should fuse together to fight Triiken. At no point beforehand was an ability to use the fusion from DBZ ever mentioned in the story, and it has never been explained where they got it from.
• Retcon: The ending to The Third Epic: Conclusion, once Final Confrontation was started.
• Super-Powered Evil Side: List time!
o Riku’s Darkness Form
o Sora’s Rage/The Keyblade Hound. While similar in many ways to Cuchulain’s Rage, he is not as experienced with it, and at times has attacked friends while under its influence, including Riku.
o Cuchulain’s Rage/The Hound of Ulster. Unlike Sora’s version of this, he was born with it, and thus has a much better control of it. That doesn’t mean he isn’t at risk of letting it take control.
o Kenshin when he becomes Battousai the Manslayer.
o Ironically, even though it makes an appearance, Sora’s Anti-Form subverts this trope as not only is it known to be weaker than Sora’s other forms, Sora is also still himself mentally, openly lamenting his luck at getting the form instead of whichever of his other forms he was going for.
• The Only One Allowed To Defeat You: Sirius feels this way about Riku.
• Whole Plot Reference: The opening to Final Confrontation (at least, the part on Destiny Islands) is almost a shot-for-shot remake of the opening to the Shishio Arc in Rurouni Kenshin, where Saito is sent to ‘evaluate’ Kenshin’s ability.