Kingdom Hearts III: Re:Written
is a Kingdom Hearts fanfic by JCMorrigan. It is a Fix Fic of Kingdom Hearts III, formatted to tell the story cutscenes in prose form as well as describe the gameplay segments and the game mechanics.
A sequel is ongoing, telling a new story in place of the Re:Mind DLC.
This fic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Kairi, Aqua, and Xion, as well as Bo Peep, Rapunzel, Kida, Jasmine, Ariel, Elsa, and Anna.
- Adaptation Expansion: Scala ad Caelum is expanded even further than it was in Re:Mind, becoming a full world to explore and allowing Sora to enter the main castle.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx, and Luxord are not Keyblade wielders from the ancient past. In addition, Strelitzia is not Marluxia/Lauriam's sister, and she is Subject X.
- Adaptational Villainy: Xaldin, Vexen and Demyx join the True Organization XIII and remain on the villains' side through the fic. In canon, Dilan remained recompleted and Vexen and Demyx betrayed the Organization and atoned for their crimes.
- Master Eraqus does not see the error of his actions in Birth By Sleep, instead attempting to use Kingdom Hearts to purge the worlds of darkness.
- Adapted Out: Arendelle and San Fransokyo are left out as worlds, although Baymax appears as a Summon and Elsa and Anna appear in Scala Ad Caelum as New Seven Hearts and join as Guest Star Party Members for part of the world.
- Ascended Extra: Most of the main characters who were kept in the background for most of the game become party members in various worlds. In addition, Naminé is brought back earlier alongside Roxas as opposed to only appearing in the epilogue and an optional cutscene, and she gives Sora the Heartbinder which proves crucial in the final battle.
- Ariel is promoted from summon to party member as Atlantica is brought back as a world.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Maleficent succeeds in getting away with the Book of Prophecies. The ending montage shows her opening the Book and preparing her next move.
- Big Bad Ensemble: In addition to Master Xehanort plotting a new Keyblade War to complete the χ-blade, Maleficent and her council of villains are hunting for the New Seven Hearts so that they can access Scala ad Caelum and find the Book of Prophecies. On top of that, after Xehanort is defeated, Master Eraqus is resurrected and becomes the true final boss as he attempts to use Kingdom Hearts to purge the worlds of darkness.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The Wild Card that Luxord gives Sora is used to revert Terra-Xehanort to before Xehanort possessed his body and allow Terra to regain control of his body.
- The Heartbinder that Naminé gives Sora lets him summon his allies (as well as Maleficent, Pete, and Dark Riku) to the Scala ad Caelum castle to help fight against Master Eraqus.
- The Chessmaster: Maleficent takes advantage of Xehanort's plan to complete the χ-blade and summon Kingdom Hearts as well as the Guardians' efforts to stop him in order to access Scala ad Caelum and obtain the Book of Prophecies. During the Keyblade War, she has Dark Riku lure Kairi into a trap so that she can use her and the six captive Princesses of Heart as well as Dark Riku's Keyblade to open a portal when Xehanort summons Kingdom Hearts.
- Composite Character: Strelitzia is both Subject X and the Nameless Star.
- Crazy-Prepared: Master Xehanort keeps backup members for the True Organization XIII, which pays off as Dark Riku leaves to join Maleficent and Xion defects to the heroes upon getting her memories back. He also anticipates that the Guardians would try to find a way to stop him without a fight and completing the χ-blade, so he ensures that Terra-Xehanort is recompleted when Ansem and Xemnas are defeated and serves as his Thirteenth Darkness.
- Damsel out of Distress: Kairi is captured by Marluxia, but she later breaks her bonds and fighting Marluxia and Mother Gothel.
- Dope Slap: When Sora worries that Kairi might be an imposter when they meet up in Scala ad Caelum after hearing that Dark Riku kidnapped her, Kairi responds by rapping him on the head with her knuckles like she did at the beginning of the first game.
- Enemy Mine: Maleficent, Pete, and Dark Riku are one of the groups summoned through the Heartbinder to help Sora make his way through the Scala ad Caelum castle in his battle with Master Eraqus.
- Fix Fic: For Kingdom Hearts III. The Toy Box chapter is also this for Toy Story 4, as Woody stays with his friends and Bonnie, with Bo Peep joining him.
- Good Counterpart: Jumba becomes this to Vexen when the heroes recruit him to build Replicas for Roxas and Naminé.
- Guest-Star Party Member: In addition to the local Disney heroes, nearly every world has a different Guardian of Light join Sora, Donald and Goofy on their adventure. Western Animation/Hercules helps out in Olympus, later replaced by Cloud in the Superboss battle against Sephiroth; Toy Box has Riku, Woody, Buzz, and Bo Peep; Kingdom of Corona has Kairi, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, and Maximus; The Caribbean has Aqua, Jack Sparrow; Lost Empire has Lea, Helga Sinclair, and Kida; Agrabah has Roxas, Aladdin, and Jasmine; Atlantica has Ventus and Ariel; Monstropolis has Xion, Sulley, and Mike Wazowski.
- Riku and Kairi replace Donald and Goofy in Scala ad Caelum, with Elsa and Anna joining for a segment. The Sequential Final Boss has Mickey, Donald and Goofy to help out, followed by Maleficent, Pete, and Dark Riku, then Lea, Roxas, and Xion, then Terra, Ventus, and Aqua.
- Manipulative Bastard: Rourke tricks Lea into betraying his friends by claiming to know about Subject X.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Roxas providing the Replica to give Master Eraqus a physical form and Sora offering him the χ-blade allows Eraqus to try to use Kingdom Hearts to purge the worlds of Darkness, becoming the final threat that needs to be stopped.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: As Sora points out, Hades attacking Thebes with the Heartless and throwing Sora into the middle of it allows him to regain the strength that he needs to help defeat Hades and the Titans.
- Running Gag: Pete repeatedly failing to say "Scala ad Caelum" properly. Even when he finally gets the pronunciation right, he ends up getting the order of words wrong.
- Taking the Bullet: Sora pushes Roxas out of the way of the Crystal of Ix, getting trapped inside it. Roxas gets him out.
- The Battle Didn't Count: Terra-Xehanort and Dragon!Maleficent overpower the heroes after their boss fights are won, forcing Sora to use the Wild Card on Terra-Xehanort and allowing Maleficent to get away with the Book of Prophecies, respectively.
- The Stinger: The post-credits scene matches that in Kingdom Hearts III, with Xigbar, revealed to be Luxu, reclaiming Xehanort's Keyblade and summoning the Foretellers, with the change that Vexen and Demyx, newly recompleted, observe them.
- The secret ending shows Sora and Riku waking up in Shibuya, with Riku being spied on by Sho Minamimoto.
- To Be Lawful or Good: The crux of Aqua's arc in The Caribbean. She is at first opposed to working alongside pirates, seeing them as criminals, but over the course of the adventure with them she changes her tune, electing to instead follow what she thinks is right and help them against the greater threat of Lord Cutler Beckett.
- Unexplained Recovery: Ursula returns again from her latest apparent death. Lampshaded after her boss fight which concluded with her being impaled on the prow of a ship, as she reappears moments later no worse for wear and remarks how they shouldn't expect it to be different from the last two times.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Strelitzia is not related to Marluxia.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One:
- Master Xehanort anticipates that the Guardians may try to stop him without fighting him, and invokes this by ensuring that Ansem and Xemnas recomplete into Terra-Xehanort to be his Thirteenth Darkness. Terra-Xehanort attacks them and the χ-blade is completed.
- Not only does Maleficent succeed in capturing the New Princesses of Heart, with the heroes failing to rescue Rapunzel and Kida, and open a portal to Scala ad Caelum (coinciding with Master Xehanort's Phase One), but she successfully gains possession of the Book of Prophecies, defeating Sora, Riku and Kairi when they find it and try to keep her from getting it, and escapes to use it in her next scheme.
