“So, Sora…are you ready? Do you remember before? We stood facing each other on opposite sides of that door. Now we stand side-by-side. Let’s go home together this time.”
On this week’s Character Spotlight we’re heading to one of my favorite game series Kingdom Hearts, Riku, Sora’s best friend and one of the keepers of the Lights.
Riku by far is one of the most prominent characters of the Kingdom Hearts franchise . Through the entire series Riku helps move the story as we see the battle of light and darkness. Riku helps demonstrate this by using himself as the example. We get to see a change from Riku being influenced by darkness in Kingdom Hearts to the overall acceptance of it in Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. One could argue that Riku’s story is the most relatable because he shows us how to understand the light and darkness inside ourselves. While we can be hopeful and brave like Sora, Riku teaches us that there is redemption.
Riku is a character I can relate because he reminds me of what I feel and go through in my faith. He, like me, falls but gets up again. He goes through a phase where he feels he can’t trust anyone, not even himself. He thinks his best friend has abandoned him for new friends and doesn’t believe he’s strong enough to beat the darkness. But he still believes there’s something to hope for. He becomes stronger and does absolutely everything to save his best friend.
Like in Riku’s journey there are ups and down on my own walk in this life. There are hurdles I don’t think I can quite manage on my own, but I still hope. Riku’s hope comes from experience. He goes through a trial and comes out stronger on the other side. He believes in his friendships and relies on them to help him through. For me, it’s relying on my faith that helps keep me moving. It’s experiences those hard times and remembering how much I stronger I am on the other side.
What I love the most about Riku is his acceptance of his darkness. This could be translated as our acceptance of our weakness. There are parts of me that I really don’t like and that I wish weren’t there, but even those parts make me, me. It was so cool to see a character come to that realization and it was even cooler to see him harness that darkness and use it for the side of light. Just like Riku, I can also use my weaknesses to aid my true purpose in life and you can too.
See you.
Let me know in the comments why you love Riku!
