- “Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you.”
- ―Kairi to Sora
Kairi (カイリ) is the tritagonist in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. She is Sora and Riku's best friend.
Kairi is also a Princess of Heart, one of seven maidens whose hearts hold no darkness but only pure light, and is needed to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts.
Background[]
Official Description[]
Sora and Riku's childhood friend. As one of the seven princesses, she became a target of the forces of darkness, but thankfully Sora and Riku came to the rescue. She is waiting in the Destiny Islands for their safe return.
Personality[]
Kairi is caring, kindhearted, wise, supportive and outspoken, although she quickly becomes determined and courageous when someone she cares about is in danger. Her sociable, charismatic nature enables her to be as good at quickly befriending others as Sora is. At fourteen years old, Kairi was somewhat brash and bold, but by KH II, she has become more mature, responsible and wise, although she still retains her tomboyish personality and bravery. She developed a strong connection with Pluto when she met him on the island.
Kairi is usually optimistic and upbeat, but she can be rather stubborn sometimes. When faced with a challenge and to protect her friends, Kairi becomes quite loyal and headstrong.
Physical appearance[]
Kairi is a beautiful young woman of average stature with brownish-auburn hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She is always seen sporting a necklace with a silver bead, which contains a protective spell on it placed by Aqua. Kairi displays a fondness for pink, white and purple, wearing them in all of her casual clothing.
Kairi's appearance in Dream Drop
At age 14, during the events of Kingdom Hearts, she wears a white top with a black one underneath, purple shorts underneath a purple skirt with a blue belt, and white shoes. She also wears a black choker, a yellow wristband as well as a purple armband on her left arm and a pair of bracelets on her right arm.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Kairi becomes taller while her hair becomes longer and darker, and her body has developed into that of a young woman. Her main outfit is a pink strapless mini-dress made up of three zippers as well as a white top underneath her mini-dress with a black hood. She also sports three bracelets on her left wrist, a black belt with a bag attachment, and lilac Converse sneakers with black laces.
In Kingdom Hearts III; Kairi has shorter hair and wears a pink and black sleeveless dress with a hood in which the short skirt is split in two designs, with half all black, and the other half a plaid pattern of pink, white and black, and also wears black boots.
As a child, she wore her hair short, and wore a white and purple sundress with flower designs, with matching slip-on sandals.
Powers and Abilities[]
As a Princess of Heart, Kairi won't succumb to darkness so easily and her heart possesses none of such within it. If her heart is lost, her body will remain in a dormant state until the heart is returned, making her one of the few beings who cannot become a Heartless. Besides this primary trait, Kairi inherently possesses other abilities to some degree, such as being able to open the Final Keyhole when she and the other Princesses are gathered and the ability to sense darkness.
In combat, Kairi's abilities are limited. However, when she touched Aqua's Keyblade when she was younger, Kairi inherited the ability to wield the Keyblade. She demonstrates this in Kingdom Hearts II when Riku hands her a Keyblade of her own, allowing her to protect herself from the Heartless without any help. She is shown to be fairly competent with it, and is later brought into training with Master Yen Sid to become stronger for the impending battle with Master Xehanort and his real Organization XIII.
Appearances[]
Kingdom Hearts[]
Sora and Kairi watch the sunset together.
In the Destiny Islands, Kairi lives peacefully with her friends Sora and Riku, who playfully compete for her attention. She appears to have no memory of her life before the Islands, and her mysterious past sparks curiosity in Sora and Riku, who are anxious to leave Destiny Islands and see other worlds. This leads the trio to build a raft in the hopes of traveling to other worlds. However, before they can leave, their islands are attacked by the Heartless, and Sora finds Kairi in their Secret Place. She turns towards him when suddenly a huge gust of wind sweeps through a door in the back of the cave and Kairi flies towards him. Sora opens his arms to catch her, but she vanishes right as she embraces him. No one realizes at first that Kairi's heart went into Sora at that moment while her body vanished to parts unknown, while the wind proves too powerful for Sora and blows him back out of the Secret Place to find his world being ripped apart as it is absorbed by the sphere of darkness looming in the sky before facing down a Pureblood Darkside Heartless that he defeats before being sucked into the dark portal as the Destiny Islands are consumed in darkness.
Kairi's disappearance becomes the game's driving force, as much of the game's story centers around Sora's and Riku's attempts at finding Kairi. However, Riku is hostile to Sora (having been manipulated by Maleficent into believing that Sora no longer cared for either Kairi or himself). Riku eventually finds her body first, but she is in a comatose state as she had lost her heart. As Maleficent manipulated him further, Riku was convinced that he alone could locate Kairi's heart and restore her to health.
During a flashback shown to Data-Sora, Kairi appears on Neverland's clock tower.
In Neverland, Sora finally encounters her body, along with a reunion with Riku, who is very defensive about her, and ends up locking her in a room with Wendy so that Sora can't get to her. When Sora tries to reach towards her, Kairi's hand twitches before going still again, causing Riku to take her away at this revelation. Eventually, Sora follows Riku and Maleficent to the world of Hollow Bastion. However, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, while possessing Riku, reveals that Kairi's heart has been resting within Sora all along, which explains all the visions he has had of her during his journey, along with the truth that Kairi is one of the Princesses of Heart. He then attempts to take her heart from Sora, but Sora drives Ansem from Hollow Bastion after defeating him in combat. However, realizing Kairi won't wake up without her heart, and the Final Keyhole remains incomplete without it, rendering it unable to be locked by the Keyblade, Sora sacrifices himself using the Keyblade of People's Hearts to free Kairi's heart, and in the process frees the captive Princesses of Hearts' hearts as well as the Keyblade of People's Hearts is destroyed in the process, and is turned into a Shadow Heartless. Awakened as her heart is finally restored, Kairi runs towards him, but he vanishes into the light as soon as she touches him.
After fleeing from Ansem's reappearance as Riku holds him back and more Shadow Heartless appear to confront them, Kairi, along with Donald and Goofy, attempt to escape Hollow Bastion, only to be cornered by the Shadows in the entrance hall. But in the midst of the Heartless, Kairi recognizes one of the Shadows to be Sora's and manages to bring Sora back from the darkness just as she and Sora are pounced on by the other Shadows, only for them to be blown back as Sora is restored to flesh and blood thanks to Kairi's light. The group escapes Hollow Bastion thanks to the Beast covering their backs as they retreated and find shelter in Traverse Town with Leon and his friends. In the underground water tunnel, Kairi expresses her wish to help rescue Riku and stop the darkness from emanating, but Sora convinces her to stay put, not wanting her to get hurt; he also acknowledges that, since their hearts were one, they will always be together. Kairi gives in and gives Sora her lucky charm, the Oathkeeper keychain. She remains in Traverse Town in the Small House that was used by Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith after that.
Kairi watches as her homeworld is regenerated before her eyes.
In the game's final cutscene, she appears on a section of Destiny Islands after Sora's final battle with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Sora runs up to her, a little too late, as the End of the World is breaking apart, restoring all the previously destroyed worlds. Just before she is sent back, Sora promises that he will come back to her as soon as he finds Riku and King Mickey. She is then transported back to Destiny Islands without him, wistfully watching the island regenerate around her with Sora's goodbye still fresh in her mind. She later pays a visit to the Secret Place and discovers Sora's update to the carvings they made when they were younger. She decides to update it again with carving her giving a paopu fruit back to Sora for the one he gave her in his carving.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories[]
Although Kairi does not directly appear in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, she does play a very important role. She served as a constant figure of light for both Sora and Riku and fervently awaited their return on Destiny Islands.
In Sora's journey, Marluxia ordered Naminé to take Kairi's place in Sora's heart. However, Sora is able to remember her once in an illusion of Destiny Islands. In Riku's journey, Naminé takes Kairi's form to help Riku control the light and darkness in his heart before the final face-off with the devious Nobody.
In the credits for Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Kairi is shown to still be waiting for Sora and Riku's return.
Kingdom Hearts II[]
Kairi and Selphie sending the letter.
Kairi, now fifteen years old, lives her life normally on Destiny Islands and attends school regularly along with her friend Selphie. While she misses Sora, most of her memories of him have faded away because of Naminé's interference with her own memories during the events in Castle Oblivion about a year ago.
One day, while walking home from school with Selphie, her heart is put into contact with Roxas, later revealed to be Sora's Nobody. During this conversation, Roxas brings up Sora and, when Kairi inquires about his name, Sora himself, despite being in stasis, is able to use Roxas as a conduit to talk to her, and gives her a hint to remember ("Starts with an 'S'!"). Soon afterward, Kairi sends a letter in a bottle out to sea in hopes that it would reach Sora one day, and immediately remember his name. This also draws the attention of DiZ and Riku-Ansem when they see the huge jump in Sora's memory restoration that resulted from it from DiZ's computer in the basement of the Old Mansion in Twilight Town.
Sometime after this event, Axel comes to Destiny Islands with a squad of Dusk Nobodies and tries to kidnap her. However, Kairi is led to a nearby portal by King Mickey's dog, Pluto, into Twilight Town and meets Hayner, Pence, and Olette. To her joy, Hayner, Pence, and Olette know Sora, assuring her that she could stay in Twilight Town until his next visit. Unfortunately, she is found again by Axel and forcibly taken by him, despite a heroic attempt by Hayner and Pence to protect her. However, Saïx finds Axel with Kairi and takes her to The World That Never Was as a prisoner to bait Sora's anger. Kairi is devastated until she is freed by her own Nobody, Naminé, using a Corridor of Darkness.
The two are soon confronted by Saïx and a pair of his Berserker Nobodies during their escape, only to be saved by a cloaked figure when he cuts down the Berserkers from behind and tackles Saïx, only for Saïx to escape through a Corridor of Darkness. When the hooded figure is called Riku by Naminé and hesitates to leave upon being confronted by Pluto, who recognizes him as well, Kairi walks towards him to remove the hood, revealing it to really be Riku, even though his appearance has changed to that of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, though she is overjoyed to be reunited with him. Riku leads her to Sora and is attacked by a group of Heartless. Riku manages to fight them off and free her before he hands Kairi a Keyblade, and they successfully fend off the remaining Heartless. She is then reunited with Sora and shows him that Ansem is really Riku.
Kairi wielding her first keyblade, the Destiny's Embrace.
After Sora and Riku defeat Xemnas, Naminé appears and creates a portal, where Donald, Goofy, and Mickey go through leaving Sora, Kairi, and Riku behind. Kairi walks towards her and Sora follows Kairi. Kairi thanks her as Naminé tries to make Sora remember her, but Sora gets confused. Roxas then projects out of Sora, where he and Naminé accept their fate together to live inside Sora and Kairi as they fuse with their original selves. Kairi walks into the portal, but when Sora and Riku attempt to follow, the portal disappears, and they are forced to fight Xemnas again and successfully destroy him.
In the penultimate cutscene, both Sora and Riku are left at the shore of Dark Meridian. Kairi's letter washes up on shore and Sora reads it, which causes the Door To Light to appear and the two boys go through it to arrive at Destiny Islands' shores as Kairi shouts for them. Sora excitedly swims towards her as Donald, Goofy, and Mickey appear ahead to greet the duo. Sora shows Kairi the lucky charm and extends her hand to bring him up. As Sora takes her hand, he simultaneously returns the lucky charm to her. For a brief moment, Roxas and Naminé are shown smiling back at each other, just as Sora and Kairi are.
Shortly after King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Jiminy, Uncle Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, and Louie had return to Disney Castle, she runs up to both Sora and Riku to hand Sora a letter from Mickey. The trio immediately opens the letter and read it, though its contents are hidden from the player.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days[]
Kairi makes a brief appearance in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days in flashbacks. Kairi is also mentioned by Riku and Xion when they were in a conversation on Destiny Islands.
Kingdom Hearts coded[]
Kairi does not appear in the game, but during the end of Kingdom Hearts coded, Kairi, along with Sora and Riku, read Mickey's Letter, corresponding to the final scene of Kingdom Hearts II.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep[]
A young Kairi with Aqua and Mickey after they rescued her from the Unversed.
In the prequel set ten years before Kingdom Hearts, Kairi appears as a child in Radiant Garden, where she is shown to have lived with her grandmother. One day, she is chased by a group of Unversed and encounters Aqua. Frightened, Kairi touches Aqua's Keyblade, unintentionally performing a Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony. As she and Aqua are about to be attacked, King Mickey arrives and Aqua evacuates Kairi before returning to fight alongside Mickey. After the Unversed is defeated, King Mickey suggests that they team up, but is called away immediately afterward. Kairi then gives Aqua the flowers she picked before the Unversed appeared as a token of thanks for helping her and in return, Aqua puts a protective charm on Kairi's necklace that will lead her to the light of another should she ever get captured by darkness. Kairi thanks Aqua and then returns to her grandmother.
At the end of the game, Sora finishes reading King Mickey's letter detailing the events of Birth By Sleep. After Sora tells Riku that he has made a decision, Kairi walks up to them. Sora tells her that everyone needs him and that he has to go because he is who he is because of them. She then hands him her lucky charm again, accepting Sora's choice to leave once more to go help everyone.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[]
Kairi makes an appearance as a figment of Sora's dreams when Sora enters a second sleep and is seen side by side with Riku. She then takes the appearance of Aqua, while the figment of Riku turns into Terra, and Sora takes on Ventus's appearance. Sora is incredibly confused, especially when Aqua and Terra turn around and walk away from him again, morphing back into Kairi and Riku.
After Xigbar and Xemnas reveal the true nature of the Organization to Sora, Kairi momentarily appears behind Sora with a Keyblade in hand alongside all the other friends connected in Sora's heart when Sora states that he was proud to be connected to those who it did choose as he states his friends are his power. The immense power of all the intertwined hearts unnerves Xigbar, who flees, leaving Xemnas to battle with Sora.
Later on, with the knowledge that Master Xehanort is organizing a new Organization XIII, Master Yen Sid orders Riku to retrieve Kairi in order to train her for the battles that lie ahead.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-[]
Kairi meeting Yen Sid and being updated about Aqua.
During their meeting with Master Yen Sid, Mickey reveals that Aqua was there with him and Riku, in the Realm of Darkness when they sealed the Door to Darkness.
After Mickey finishes his story, Yen Sid reveals the reason he kept it a secret was to prevent Sora or Riku from foolishly going after Aqua prematurely. Once Mickey assures Riku they can now help Aqua and Riku decides to join him, Kairi is surprised at how much Riku has changed over the last couple of years. Kairi is assigned to train alongside Lea under Merlin's guidance for the coming war. Though surprised that Lea was formerly Axel (given that he kidnapped her once), she is assured by both Mickey and Riku that Lea can be trusted.
Kingdom Hearts III[]
Kairi returns in Kingdom Hearts III, initially still wearing her clothes from Kingdom Hearts II, but later on decides to change and trim her hair before continuing her Keyblade training with Lea, still referring to him by his Organization XIII name of Axel.
In the meantime, Sora is able to recover Aqua from the Dark Margin after having to fight a corrupted version of her named Anti-Aqua created by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness when he came for Ansem the Wise earlier, and revive Ventus from where Aqua had left him in Castle Oblivion after Aqua restores it back to the Land of Departure. Joined by them, along with Riku and King Mickey, Kairi travels to the Keyblade Graveyard to do battle with Master Xehanort and his thirteen pieces of darkness as one of the Seven Guardians of Light. However, Terra-Xehanort confronts the group, along with Donald and Goofy, and manages to incapacitate Ventus and Lea before being repelled by Donald at the cost of Donald being severely depleted of his strength and magic from using Zettaflare against him. As a result, the Demon Tide appears and forms into a powerful tornado, managing to sweep up everyone except for Sora and Riku. Sora can only reach out helplessly towards Kairi before she is swept away in the Demon Tide and presumed lost, causing Sora to collapse to his knees in despair at having lost everyone and their only chance of stopping Master Xehanort, screaming in devastation. Riku refuses to give up as easily and makes a heroic last stand against the Demon Tide, trying to protect Sora for as long as he can before he is consumed as well, leaving Sora alone and at the mercy of the Demon Tide. However, Sora's refusal to give in to letting Darkness win and cling to the Realm of Light allows him to recover his body upon arriving in the Final World, due to Kairi's light and love managing to keep him alive by a slim thread. He also finds Naminé there as, with Kairi's apparent demise at the hands of the Demon Tide, she was slain as well, but assures Sora she'll be alright once Kairi is resuscitated. After then rescuing everyone else's hearts before they can be claimed by the Lich, the Heartless Grim Reaper, allowing them to return to the Keyblade Graveyard and resuscitate everyone, Sora reunites with Kairi who, possibly due to her power as a Princess of Heart, was able to survive what happened with the Demon Tide compared to everyone else, and helps guide Sora back to the graveyard, reuniting with everyone, all fully revived, moments before the original encounter with Terra-Xehanort, allowing them a second chance to stop Master Xehanort. Unknown to Sora, his actions were violating the Master of Masters' prophecy of the Keyblade War, and he would be severely punished for defying what was written in the Book of Prophecies. When Terra-Xehanort attempts to repeat events and goes for Ventus as his first victim again, the Lingering Will appears to stop him and force him into retreat, allowing everyone to be at full strength when the Demon Tide appears and forms into its tornado form again. However, Sora is supported by the Keyblades of fallen Keyblade Warriors from around the Keyblade Graveyard, and with their help, dispels and destroys the Demon Tide for good.
After that, when surrounded by numerous Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed, Master Yen Sid arrives to clear the way for the Guardians of Light while he, Donald, and Goofy stay behind to keep the various enemies busy. Master Xehanort conjures his Skein of Severance labyrinth for the Guardians of Light to do battle with his pieces of darkness in after his earlier endgame attempt was foiled. Kairi and Lea are soon aided by Sora as they face off with Saïx and a hooded Xion, only for Xemnas to soon appear to deal with Lea for his treason against the original Organization XIII as Axel. When Xion offers to deal with Lea herself, Sora steps in to prevent it, and reveals the hooded figure to be Xion when he says her name in Roxas' voice. Xemnas is forced to step in to deal with Xion for turning against him again, only to be stopped by Roxas, having regained a physical body, and coming to the aid of his friends. Unaffected by Roxas returning to protect Axel and Xion, Xemnas is able to kidnap Kairi and escape, leaving Sora to face Saïx and beat him for good with Roxas and Xion's help.
By the time Sora meets up with Riku and King Mickey to confront the last of Master Xehanort's pieces of darkness in Ansem, Young Xehanort, and Xemnas, once they are beaten, Master Xehanort brings out an unconscious Kairi and taunting Sora that he needs the motivation to grant Master Xehanort that thirteenth piece to re-forge the X-blade, Master Xehanort cruelly strikes down Kairi in cold blood, infuriating Sora, Riku, and King Mickey, but their attacks are easily repulsed, and the X-blade is reformed. Before Sora prepares to take Master Xehanort into the world within Kingdom Hearts to deal with him once and for all, Xion assures Sora that she can tell Kairi is alright and he'll find her again.
After Master Xehanort's ultimate defeat in Scala ad Caelum, where he surrendered the X-blade to Sora and passed peacefully onto the afterlife with Eraqus, Sora uses his power of waking to find Kairi, allowing her to return home to the Destiny Islands while, having overused his power of waking, Sora suffers the penalty of only being able to be with her for a short while before disappearing to parts unknown as punishment for altering the Master of Masters' prophecy written in the Book of Prophecies regarding the Keyblade War. It's not something both of them are willing to accept, but Kairi understands and accepts Sora's fate for saving her.
Sora brings back Kairi but disappears as a consequence.
As a result, Kairi is restored and returned home, but is heartbroken by Sora's sacrifice and the possibility that he may never return home to the Destiny Islands or all their friends.
Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory[]
As Kairi sleeps, she seeks clues to Sora's whereabouts by looking over her memories of him and their friends, recounting their adventures over the years. Her search eventually ends with her in a replica of the Final World, where she finds her heart shattered. As she collects her heart fragments, she is accosted by a memory of Master Xehanort. Angered at his role in spiriting her from Radiant Garden, altering her fate, and causing Sora's disappearance by trying to kill her, Kairi engages Xehanort in battle, but the elderly Keyblade Master overpowers her, taunting that she will never find Sora in there. Before he can deliver the final blow, Sora takes over her body and defeats Xehanort, freeing the final fragment of her heart. Before disappearing, Xehanort reminds her of the words he had said to her before he had cast her from Radiant Garden as a clue to Sora's whereabouts.
Waking up in Radiant Garden, Kairi recounts Xehanort's final words to her, with Ansem the Wise surmising Xehanort is talking about a world beyond reality. When Riku arrives to check on Kairi's memories, they both share their findings, but are interrupted by the Fairy Godmother, who reveals that Riku and Kairi are two of three keys to Sora's disappearance. The Fairy Godmother transports herself and the two Keyblade wielders to the Final World, where they meet the third key, the Nameless Star. When Riku and Kairi recount their findings, the star recognizes the city Riku described as Quadratum. Riku uses the star as a portal to go to Quadratum, but as much as Kairi wants to join him, she realizes that she is nowhere near Riku and Sora's level as a Keyblade warrior. With Riku gone, Kairi returns to the Mysterious Tower and chooses to stay behind to train under Aqua's tutelage.
Printed Media[]
Though not as often as her many friends and counterparts, Kairi appears in some printed media for the Kingdom Hearts series, including novelizations and manga.
Kairi appears in the Kingdom Hearts manga adaptation series by Shiro Amano, which illustrates alternate events to the series' story arc. In this series, Kairi's personality is more in-depth; she is presented as a bold, friendly young teen who loves adventure as much as her two best friends. She is more interactive in the storyline, speaking more and acting out more often, as well as being more comedic.
Kairi also appears in the series' novelizations, which once again provides alternate events to the series. The novelizations are much more in-depth by virtue of having more time allotment to explain events and how/why they unfolded. The novels are currently being officially translated to English by Yen Press, after having been Japanese-only since 2005.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Kairi's name is derived from the Japanese word for "sea" (海), as part of the name theme she shares with Riku and Sora. Together, their names make up "Land, Sea, Sky".
- Kairi and Pluto developed a strong bond when they met on Destiny Islands in Kingdom Hearts II.
- Kairi is considered by many as the first Disney Princess to originate from a video game. Though she has been considered to be an unofficial Disney Princess, and she is an unofficial member of the Disney Princess franchise.
- The secret ending of Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance foreshadowed that Kairi would become a Guardian of Light (and with her doubling as a Guardian and a Princess, that would make thirteen beings of light in total (the other six Princesses and the other six Guardians) which would be an even match against Master Xehanort's thirteen darknesses). However, Nomura has stated that players will be surprised by who the lights are, meaning the revelation could be a double bluff.
- Kairi's first English voice actress, Hayden Panettiere, has jokingly said that she wishes she had Kairi's body.
- Her four-year-old self is voiced by Ariel Winter, who would later voice another unofficial Disney Princess Sofia the First.
- In Kingdom Hearts II, before Luxord's battle, in the cutscene shows Sora and the gang as well as Kairi running, you only see the four running then Kairi appears out of nowhere, which is just a simple glitch.
- In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, when Mickey speaks to Aqua about protecting Kairi you can see Kairi is on Aqua's right but another one is behind her leg this is a glitch.
- In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kairi's spirit is represented by Daisy (a red-headed princess like her) wielding Lip's Stick, representing the Destiny's Embrace.
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