Why Are Kingdom Hearts Battle Stances So Weird?

[@ChampionAnalysis]

I guess you could call this the *_Final Mix_* of my Form Study Volume 1 👀 Like I said in the video, feel free to comment any additional info, criticisms, etc. I'm learning this stuff alongside all of you after all.

[@themustachioedfish5988]

One more thing about Kairi. That Strike Raid she has? Sora's never done the "Throw the weapon, then teleport to it to catch it" version of the move. But you know who HAS used that particular variation of the technique? Axel in Re:CoM.

[@ChampionAnalysis]

YOOOOO! That's a really great observation! I was so focused on the similarities that I didn't notice

[@AzureGuardian051]

AND AXEL TRAINED HER- YOOO

[@creepyasgramdpa9916]

Right. She mimics sora stances her fighting story is close to axel in way.

[@roxasbaker]

@@creepyasgramdpa9916well her and axel was training but now she’s training under aqua so she’ll probably copy aqua now

[@kanekikingstorm2113]

Sora is so kind and unassuming, people forget that this boy will make the block hot in a heartbeat for his friends. Boy was ready to dive into the realm of darkness to save Aqua, who he never met, even at the cost of his own heart. If you got Sora in your corner, there isn't anything to worry about

[@JabamiLain]

Except for his own emotional state. That is too often overlooked due to the light of the pedestal they put him on, blinding everyone's eyes.

[@nappingturtle6990]

Fr fr

[@andrewhoff8782]

Bro can summon Disney Land and Disney World on a whim, I'd be terrified even if he was on my side.

[@Zetra7]

An interesting thing I noted about Riku's stance is when he uses it. Before being possessed by Ansem he had a completely different stance but after it changes and his original stance is never taken again. It makes me think it was Xehanort's influence leaving its mark on Riku in a subtle way

[@simonleech1109]

There is the matter of Kairi hitting like a frigging freight truck. She doesn't have as much power and experience as Sora and Riki but it doesn't stop the fact that she is a Princess of Light and she doesn't mess about when she's fighting with some of her moves being the warp strike techniques similar to Noctis right after doing Strike Raid to kick the crap out of Xehanort which fits nicely with the battle tactics and mindset of Gedan and the Fool's Guard of taking advantage of opening to its maximum capacity. Square absolutely cooked with her moves, especially being her first playable outing against Xehanort himself. It's a strong starting point for her and I think and hope and pray that Square and Nomura will capitalise on that with her taking the time to train under Aqua and gain more experience, awareness and confidence in herself.

[@simonleech1109]

Side note which I forgot to mention is that Riku finds strength in his natural abilities and uses his darkness to fight fire with fire, Sora’s finds his strength from his friends and to have someone or something to protect and Kairi greatest strength comes from her having a lot of heart and the courage and inner strengthby having the belief in herself, just as much as she believes in her friends.

[@FlutterSwag]

i like to think kairi can buff herself and attacks with her higher magic affinity like weiss from rwby

[@VinceMouse]

Sora: "Beware the wrath of a patient man." He doesn't start fights, he ends them. Riku: "Bring me the horizon." He's moving forward, and if you get in his way, he's going through you. Kairi: "This is my story." She might look weak at times, but she never surrenders.

[@justcallmexen]

One thing I think about when I have thought of all the stances of characters in this series is how many have their right side, with the weapon, on the back foot. I figured that was for animation, and effectively, added reach on all basic moves from a standing position. Basically, performing an attack will almost always start with the character in question stepping forward, and giving the swing more range as now they have moved their sword from the back facing side to the front over the course of the move. Characters move forward as they attack to keep up with enemies getting knocked back slightly from their strikes.

[@25shadow11]

I was hoping you'd mention how POPULAR Rikus stance is. You got the classic Riku, you got Xehanorts, then Young Xehanort, Vanitas. They all do it SLIGHTLY differently in their variations, but the formula is the same.

[@TechFour9]

Something interesting is that Riku actually has another battle stance only seen in KH1, with the wooden sword. He has the sword one handed towards the side facing the ground in front of him. There's no direct analogue to this stance though it's broadly similar to Lingering Will (which oddly has a different stance to Terra) or more closer to No Heart's stance albeit in different directions. After he got Soul Eater and the power of darkness he then switched to forward upright stance forever, never looking back. Though we do see him use the "darkness" stance in a memory in CoM.

[@xaviersejour9183]

I like to think that Sora has no real fighting experience. The fighting stance could’ve just as easily been a instinctive choice with no thought Early Sora might just be mindlessly swinging the keyblade And then he learns new skills through the adventure

[@AngelOfNoMercy]

as someone who actually uses the riku kh 1 and 2 stance irl in sword fight i can safely say yes it is practical. it keeps your sword in eye view of you opponents and it can be used to quickly guard from a incoming attack, it basically makes your opponent focus on the sword rather then you and is actually great for catching them off guard while protecting yourself. if used for too long it can make your shoulder hurt though, but most of my fights weren't 2 day long crusades/battles so i was fine. im sure this comment will be deleted but regardless i wanted to say my piece and tell you that this video was great.

[@AngelOfNoMercy]

@10:50 WOW i didn't know any of this. good work.

[@AngelOfNoMercy]

@11:20 yeah like i said its taxing, but most things now and days are 1 to 4 hour matches so if you train with the stance then it becomes less taxing on your body. as with anything we humans do, we adapt to it.

[@Vanity0666]

It's the same sword stance that Obi-Wan Kenobi uses in the star wars prequels, Form 3

[@Truephoria]

Young Obi-Wan uses a similar stance to Riku as well!

[@WildDancer101]

In a sense, the Lightsaber Form 3 style seems to serve as the basis for Riku's style, and old Xehanort and Vanitas.

[@VinceMouse]

You could take the change in Kairi's stance to mean that she's stopped compensating for her lesser experience with deception, and shed some of her ego such that she doesn't care about whether she's seen as weak or not, taking from Sora's example. He seems weak, after all, but he's one of the strongest.

[@djmike679]

I cannot wait for the Wayfinder Trio! Especially Aqua's stance in particular. It has always been interesting to me that she hides the blade, as if to invite unsuspecting foes, as magic is more her strength, but knows to make descisive strikes as well. Also, well done! I love listening to videos like this, fighting stances, blade stances, etc!

[@ZenoDLC]

I'd argue that the Destiny Trio all have similar moves, the ranged Raid attack (Although Riku's only used his as an extension while possessed by Ansem) and the dashing Rave attacks (Riku's being Dark Aura) being the most prominent examples

[@lorzazu_zay]

Something about Riku's stance that I think should be noted is the subtle change it goes through as he develops as a character. Initially, his free hand is held out with his palm turned upward, as if he's beckoning and taunting his opponent. Daring for them to strike. This certainly fits with his more aggressive and antagonistic nature at the start of the series. But then, starting around KH2, there's a slight shift in his stance. He still holds his Keyblade in a provoking stance, but his palm is instead held out in more of a defensive manner. It's a subtle change, but I think it definitely seems indicative of his character development, and how he's mellowed out just a bit.

[@TipToey]

So then Riku fighting style and stance is hyper focused on attack? That means by defult, sora adapted a more defensive stance to counter it as they grew up sparring!

[@JabamiLain]

I agree with Sora in not respecting the rule. Yes, there are worlds not ready for it, but there are others that are starting to ask the big questions, and I think some information, along with the beginning of some support network thanks to the phones, could prevent more Xehanorts, young Rikus, DiZ... My favorite part so far of "Sea-Change of Fate" was seeing the Princesses act like the queens they are and call out Yen Sid on his outdated practices and zealotry over the world order ! If only the canon roster grew this big of a spine to get the old man to reveal his tiredness and break his ego...

[@HunterStiles651]

Probably the most egregious use of the rule being invoked for no reason is with Alladin in KH1. Not only was Jasmine kidnapped, but Alladin already knew about the existence of other worlds. Not bringing him along didn't do jack to "preserve the world order."

[@JabamiLain]

​@@HunterStiles651indeed.

[@camdenthompson4307]

what's funny is that I always noticed that the characters all used certain stances, and I always noticed some common elements and tried justifying it myself as "because of the weird handle, Keyblade Wielders actually use specific stances to avoid the drawback of the guard), like how Sora, Eraqus, almost everyone from Union Cross, etc. always had stances using 2 hands, and how most of the characters who use darkness (Riku, Vanitas, Master & Young Xehanort, etc.) almost all use the exact similar stance, being High Guard. However, I never once in my life would have figured out that they used Real Life sword stances.

[@sleepylmguy9968]

It also kinda threw me off why is Riku and Vanitas stance is sooooo similar. Like it’s almost one to one. Then you throw in Xehanort who also used that stance and it make me go what the heck? What is sooo special about that stance to them!? I tried to come up with a good theory about but I don’t think I can figure it out. My best guess is as you said it might have something to do with darkness powers. But even still I thought the dark power would come from their Keyblades.

[@nappingturtle6990]

So i wasn’t being dumb when pretending to hold a sword like riku as a child 😂

[@JP-1990]

"Because it's cool." - holographic Martian head (Invader Zim)

[@Vanity0666]

The stances are representative of the wielder's personality. Sora's backwards stance is defensive, making him better at parrying and slashing counter to Riku's forward stance which is purely offensive and revolves around piercing and thrusting moves. Ventus has the backward stance for the same reason as Sora, Aqua isn't a physical attacker she's a mage and she uses her keyblade like a wand, Terra uses standard greatsword stances for offense. Much of Nomura's sword stance design philosophy comes directly from Star Wars. Hell, Mickey Mouse even directly copies Yoda from Episode 2.

[@MennydorgesERArchive]

Sora’s stance in KH3’s cover (basically the one at 0:55) is his best one, it’s a combination of kingly authority, experience gained through his many battles, resting his energies so that he can quickly react if needed, and ability to observe and study his opponents. O’m actually surprised that I found Western (specifically Italian) martial arts in KH, but then again, Square lately in their games have lots of characters with Italian names.

[@nothanks7263]

This is so cool! High ward sounds really similar to Highwind, don't you think?

[@takeruneverborn4740]

You know Square and Disney were cooking in the kitchen also love how each playable fighter and notable badguy has a unique fighting style the toon slash animation styled disney characters are performance based the square enix characters are bit more technical while the Original Characters of Kingdom Hearts a mix of each camp

[@Angelus_The_Red_Dragon]

Hey, if Sofia the First, or Elena of Avalor got a Keyblade, what do you think the stance of each one would be like ? What would each reflect ?

[@Kain01able]

Because they are Final Fantasy Characters first, Disney Characters Second, and a compitent fighter third.

[@Coolio_Ash]

Cuz they look sick as hell, next question

[@TipToey]

I've wondered this for years!

[@JuliusKingsleyXIII]

This was really good. Cool to see there is at least some historical precedent for these which almost certainly can't be accidental. Then again, maybe it's easier to work backwards to ascribe meaning to stances from existing characters. I do wish Kairi had kept her unique stance that lasted so little time I never even noticed it.

[@leezus7875]

Great video. Commenting to hopefully boost you in the algorithm

[@JabamiLain]

I wonder what the stances of the Princesses and Naminé are in the fic "Sea-Change of Fate", the author doesn't describe them: -With Naminé, I imagine a stance similar to Aqua's, though the Keyblade is turned front rather than backwards, representing her despair and ambition for freedom, unconsciously called upon by means of a confrontation; -With the Princesses, I imagine they start very similar to Kairi's (which is one of the less logical, doubt the leg work is practical), but by starting to share in Beast's curse, they're each starting to look more Bestial, or more similar to the person they love yet have the most complicated relationship with (like Cinderella and Xemnas).

[@simonleech1109]

I'll have to have a read, where's it at?

[@JabamiLain]

​​@@simonleech1109Archive o3. It's ongoing, and it was recentlu updated on a weekly row.

[@JabamiLain]

​@@simonleech1109did you find it ?

[@simonleech1109]

@JabamiLainOh shit! I forgot to look for it! Merry Christmas btw!!!

[@JabamiLain]

​@@simonleech1109you too.

[@yeahsure.6083]

Subscribing just for part 2 and 3

[@thomashughey9759]

Hey champ you know how I asked commented on vexan fighting style and it might be close to xaldin fighting style if pushed to phase 2 he had ice blades formed both ends of his shield Forming dueling shield not crazy but practical

[@muffyidc1460]

I really enjoyed this video I been waiting for something like this keep it up:]

[@doggerlander]

sord...

[@3rock33]

Moar!

[@theotherjared9824]

Looking at keyblades practically is the wrong approach. They are more of a club than a blade, and their primary purpose is to cast spells. Anything that gets the wielder from point a to point b is fine in my eyes.

[@Lolbitdrangonmaster]

Because anime

[@JabamiLain]

Because they're anime like characters with magical powers who are friends with literal cartoons ?