Sora's Character Development or Lack of Apparently?

[Roxas891011V]

Could anyone explain to me why I've been hearing Sora has been lacking character development through out the series? I mean I guess I haven't been reading in between the lines or haven't noticed it but could some explain it to me so I understand better?

 

[HeartSeams]

He lacks development because he doesn't really change. He always has the same attitude about everything and nothing really changes him for better or worse. He's the same at the end of KH2 as he was in the beginning of KH1, is what they are saying basically. He looks at the world exactly the same, and interacts with it exactly the same.

Though, this is probably intentional, as in coded, Riku points this out to Sora:

Spoiler Show

Riku:
No matter what happens, you never change.
I wanted you to understand that.
Pretty soon, you're going to learn a lot of truths.
Forgetting important things, losing them... Being deceived...
You might fall into Torment so deep that you lose yourself.
But Sora, you'll be fine.
No matter what happens, you can handle the pain. You can accept and overcome
it. ...You can heal it.
No matter what happens, just keep following your heart.
Just do what your heart tells you is right, and you will help a lot of
people. It's nothing special. Just do what you would normally do, anyway.

Sora:
...Alright.

Riku:
I'm counting on you, Sora.

some people consider it a bad thing, others don't. -shrugs-

 

[Fractured_Heart628]

Well, in Re:Com, Sora seemed to be a lot more emo, but that was because he thought his friends were in trouble and he didn't know they were messing with him until the end of the game, right?

 

[HeartSeams]

Yeah, but then at the end of the game he hit a giant reset button.

 

[Roxas891011V]

Ah ok it isn't really a bad thing in a sense alright I get it now thanks. But I thought it was just a Data Construct of Sora in Coded/Re:Coded or am I mistaken?

 

[HeartSeams]

Data or Not, it's still Sora, and everything that happened in the Data World went to the Real Sora.

 

[Epif]

Yeah, but then at the end of the game he hit a giant reset button.

I still think it makes sense for him to act the way he did in KH1. I mean, not showing any change throughout KH1, and then act similarly in KH2.

I guess the thing from Coded changes things, though. It's basically Nomura telling us that he didn't change at all whether we think differently or not. But I guess I can live with it :/.

 

[Roxas891011V]

Well it could just be more of the old saying "The more you change the more you stay the same." For Sora.

 

[Zarin I Yehudahi]

Well, in Re:Com, Sora seemed to be a lot more emo, but that was because he thought his friends were in trouble and he didn't know they were messing with him until the end of the game, right?

More like teetering on Jerkass. Serves Donald and Goofy for being assholes in KH1.

 

[Dentim]

More like teetering on Jerkass. Serves Donald and Goofy for being assholes in KH1.

Aw come on. Goofy wasn't an asshole. Only Donald was. But that was just Donald being Donald.

 

[Silverslide]

I see it as bad thing. Sora has like NO development whatsoever. He kind of feels like he was just slapped with a keyblade.

Riku actually has his stuff going on with the Darkness and in the end it changed who he was, but for the better.

Roxas had development in Days with his unknown role everything going down with Xion, and it changed him and his motives.

With Sora, he doesn't change. Nothing really happens to him, only to his friends/

Sora's only development happened in COM when he was trying to get to Namine, his reaction to losing his memories, and the whole thing with Repliku.

 

[Dentim]

I see it as bad thing. Sora has like NO development whatsoever. He kind of feels like he was just slapped with a keyblade.

Riku actually has his stuff going on with the Darkness and in the end it changed who he was, but for the better.

Roxas had development in Days with his unknown role everything going down with Xion, and it changed him and his motives.

With Sora, he doesn't change. Nothing really happens to him, only to his friends/

Sora's only development happened in COM when he was trying to get to Namine, his reaction to losing his memories, and the whole thing with Repliku.

Stuff does happen to Sora. Like getting turned into a Heartless. (trying so hard to remember more)
Thing is, there's two sides to this. Either he changes and you can call it character development while not changing can be viewed as a character strength in itself. It can mean that Sora views his own actions and personality as good (or good enough). True, he hasn't changed but as far as he's concerned up until now everything worked out fine (or at least, it did in the end). So he figures, why fix what isn't broken?

But in the end, it comes down to your own viewpoint.

 

[Silverslide]

Stuff does happen to Sora. Like getting turned into a Heartless. (trying so hard to remember more)
Thing is, there's two sides to this. Either he changes and you can call it character development while not changing can be viewed as a character strength in itself. It can mean that Sora views his own actions and personality as good (or good enough). True, he hasn't changed but as far as he's concerned up until now everything worked out fine (or at least, it did in the end). So he figures, why fix what isn't broken?

But did become a heartless really effect him like at all? It just happens, Kairi brings him back, and he just forgets about it except once in KH2. The whole Anti-Form thing is debatable. He just isn't a developed character in my eyes. I want to see him friggin struggle instead of always being happy and perfect.

 

[Zarin I Yehudahi]

Aw come on. Goofy wasn't an asshole. Only Donald was. But that was just Donald being Donald.

Considering that Goofy left him too, Goofy is as much an asshole if not more to Sora for not sticking with him.

Riku has had more development. Not exactly the good kind but eh.

 

[Dentim]

But did become a heartless really effect him like at all? It just happens, Kairi brings him back, and he just forgets about it except once in KH2. The whole Anti-Form thing is debatable. He just isn't a developed character in my eyes. I want to see him friggin struggle instead of always being happy and perfect.

Well, he's not perfect. He's an idiot. He gets called out for it a couple of times too. And he does struggle, every time he worries about his friends, which is approximately 99% of the games.
And be carefull what you wish for. Change isn't always good. I actually like Sora being happy. It would be silly if something happens and he gets in a heavy emo funk he can't get out of anymore.
Change isn't always a sign of a strong character. It can very easily be viewed as a character that's too weak to stand by his/her convictions. A positive change? Sure, that's welcome. But in my opinion, a character that's able to stand by his beliefs and stay himself after all hell breaks loose is stronger than one who abandons his own ways.

Do note that I'm not implying that Sora's characterisation is perfect or that I'm some Sora fanboy. There's always room for improvement.

 

[Silverslide]

Of course change isn't always good, that is why it is character development, to see how the character deals with it.

 

[Dentim]

Considering that Goofy left him too, Goofy is as much an asshole if not more to Sora for not sticking with him.

Riku has had more development. Not exactly the good kind but eh.

In the end, they were following orders at that point. Plus he definetly wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, hence him jumping to Sora's aid the next time they meet. He followed Donald, being second to leave but was first to come back. Out of Donald and Goofy, Donald will always be the bigger asshole. Goofy was pretty much the first one that didn't just mention the friendship card, but actually drawing it too.

Don't get me started on Riku, he's FAR worse in my opinion. (the assholeness, I mean) He carried a bigger Idiot Ball in the first game than Sora did in the rest of the series combined.

Of course change isn't always good, that is why it is character development, to see how the character deals with it.

Then what's wrong with a character dealing with it by standing by an attitude he believes in?

Gonna go sleep now, but I'd be happy to continue this tomorrow :3

 

[Silverslide]

Then what's wrong with a character dealing with it by standing by an attitude he believes in?

Gonna go sleep now, but I'd be happy to continue this tomorrow :3

What is he dealing with lol? Sora has nothing wrong with his ass. Riku at least has his struggle with Ansem and the darkness, honestly WHAT does Sora have to be stressed with?

 

[Dentim]

What is he dealing with lol? Sora has nothing wrong with his ass. Riku at least has his struggle with Ansem and the darkness, honestly WHAT does Sora have to be stressed with?

Got sidetracked, last post for tonight.

KH1Riku brought all of that shit on himself. He was a more impatient and immature ass than Sora in the first game. Let's overview: he accepts the Darkness in the beginning of the game and leaves on his own (gee, nice friend you are Riku. And people give Kairi flack for being a bad friend because she joked about it), rather than waiting ONE more day before they were going to leave. (I'll forgive him the dooming of his home planet as he didn't know that was going to happen) The next time they meet, he immediately believes Sora "betrayed" him and Kairi and replaced them by Donald and Goofy despite being the bestest friends for as long as they could remember.
And who is it that tells him this? A witch (evil fairy, whatev) who's OBVIOUSLY evil, having him go around and kidnap people and commands a legion of similar no-gooders and an army of darkness that continuously preys upon the innocent and that's not even starting on how she does absolutely NOTHING to conceal this.
Even if the kidnapping's how he was supposed to get Kairi's heart back, he didn't know that was the way to do it untill he actually found her and was already busy, you know, kidnapping people. And he could not possibly believe Kairi would be okay with that when she woke up.

Then, when he loses the Keyblade to Sora again, he's pissed of because Sora proved himself to be the better person and attacked him. He attacks his best friend who has done absolutely nothing wrong. Then he runs and decides that he hasn't had enough fun with the Idiot Ball yet and trusts a random guy he doesn't know that's covering himself in a cloak and literaly looks like he's smoking of Darkness/evil. And why? Just to try and have another go at Sora.

As for Sora's struggles. He's constantly worrying about his friends. He doesn't know where they are during the first game, which is an experience he hasn't known yet. During the other games, as far as he knows Riku is trapped in the realm of Darkness and spends most of the game looking for a way in. HE CONTINUESLY TRIES TO GET IN WHAT IS BASICALLY THE GAMES' EQUIVALENT OF A HELL DIMENSION BECAUSE HE'S WORRIED ABOUT HIS FRIEND THAT DID NOTHING BUT BACKSTAB HIM DURING THE ENTIRE FIRST GAME; And then that gets complicated when Kairi has got to play Damsel in Distress again and he gets to worry about her too. He's constantly whining about how he hopes his friends are safe and needs to save them. He's basically putting up a happy front as a coping mechanism for worrying about his friend. His friends not being safe is so dangerous for his psyche that he becomes desperate at different points (like kneeling for Saïx). Yes, he's genuinely happy at certain points because he still has friends (the disney characters) and *gasp* actually dares to still make new one. How and most importantly why did that ever become a crime?
The only reason Sora is traveling around is to save his friends. If he never lost them, he probably wouldn't care a rat's ass about all the worlds that are being threatened by darkness.

Some people are strong. Others are only shown to be strong by how they affect, and in turn, are affected by their friends. They literaly live for and because of their friends. These people actually exist. Deal with it.

I find it easier to care for characters that get into trouble despite always trying to do the right thing, than characters that get into trouble when they do bad things because of their own selfish and idiotic decisions.

 

[Roxas891011V]

Stuff does happen to Sora. Like getting turned into a Heartless. (trying so hard to remember more)
Thing is, there's two sides to this. Either he changes and you can call it character development while not changing can be viewed as a character strength in itself. It can mean that Sora views his own actions and personality as good (or good enough). True, he hasn't changed but as far as he's concerned up until now everything worked out fine (or at least, it did in the end). So he figures, why fix what isn't broken?

But in the end, it comes down to your own viewpoint.

As for Sora's struggles. He's constantly worrying about his friends. He doesn't know where they are during the first game, which is an experience he hasn't known yet. During the other games, as far as he knows Riku is trapped in the realm of Darkness and spends most of the game looking for a way in. HE CONTINUESLY TRIES TO GET IN WHAT IS BASICALLY THE GAMES' EQUIVALENT OF A HELL DIMENSION BECAUSE HE'S WORRIED ABOUT HIS FRIEND THAT DID NOTHING BUT BACKSTAB HIM DURING THE ENTIRE FIRST GAME; And then that gets complicated when Kairi has got to play Damsel in Distress again and he gets to worry about her too. He's constantly whining about how he hopes his friends are safe and needs to save them. He's basically putting up a happy front as a coping mechanism for worrying about his friend. His friends not being safe is so dangerous for his psyche that he becomes desperate at different points (like kneeling for Saïx). Yes, he's genuinely happy at certain points because he still has friends (the disney characters) and *gasp* actually dares to still make new one. How and most importantly why did that ever become a crime?
The only reason Sora is traveling around is to save his friends. If he never lost them, he probably wouldn't care a rat's ass about all the worlds that are being threatened by darkness.

Some people are strong. Others are only shown to be strong by how they affect, and in turn, are affected by their friends. They literaly live for and because of their friends. These people actually exist. Deal with it.

I find it easier to care for characters that get into trouble despite always trying to do the right thing, than characters that get into trouble when they do bad things because of their own selfish and idiotic decisions.

Well I agree with that I mean Sora has a lot of strength and that he has had a lot of development. I mean just because a character doesn't show signs of struggle doesn't mean he doesn't struggle. I mean I am happy go lucky like Sora but I've been through a lot of shit but he is just like me and sees the bright side of things all of the time he is the ever optimist.

The more Sora will change the more he'll stay the same well because Sora is Sora. I mean IMO he is just like Zidane from FFIX or Tidus from FFX shit will happen that might make then have to struggle to deal with it but by the end of it they act just like they did before.