Terra Darkness/Keyblade Question

[khspartan14]

In KH1, the Kingdom Key passes over Riku because he invited or chose darkness, something like that. He gets a boost in power from Maleficent, and finally possessed by Ansem, SoD. My question is, since Terra actually got possessed by Maleficent briefly in Enchanted Dominion, and his heart succumbed to darkness, why did Terra initially get a keyblade while Riku didn't? If anything, Terra had the bigger darkness problems, and he was on his way to be a master!

 

[Ruran]

The idea that Keyblades reject those who chose darkness is a misconception. The Keyblade doesn't really care what a person aligns themselves with, but it's primary concern is strength of heart. Darkness, while not evil in itself, is a naturally corrosive substance. Inproper use of the darkness weakens the heart which is why KK eventually rejected him. Not only had Riku's heart become weaker because he recklessly dove nto darkness, but because he denounced the heart all together as an innately "weak thing".

Terra, while he also didn't know how to handle the darkness, also spent years strengthening his heart, so by the time he started being enveloped by the darkness, his heart was probably stronger than Riku's at the time it started happening to him.

Also, there was the unique case of the KK having a choice between two people. Granted, a Keyblade doesn't have to go to another person to reject its weilder as it's implied in 3D that Xehanort's Keyblade ditched him for a while, but a lot has to happen before that happens.

 

[Launchpad]

The fact that Terra was eligible to be a master is the 8th wonder of the world.. He's really not the smartest person in the series!

 

[kuraudoVII]

The idea that Keyblades reject those who chose darkness is a misconception. The Keyblade doesn't really care what a person aligns themselves with, but it's primary concern is strength of heart. Darkness, while not evil in itself, is a naturally corrosive substance. Inproper use of the darkness weakens the heart which is why KK eventually rejected him. Not only had Riku's heart become weaker because he recklessly dove nto darkness, but because he denounced the heart all together as an innately "weak thing".

Terra, while he also didn't know how to handle the darkness, also spent years strengthening his heart, so by the time he started being enveloped by the darkness, his heart was probably stronger than Riku's at the time it started happening to him.

Also, there was the unique case of the KK having a choice between two people. Granted, a Keyblade doesn't have to go to another person to reject its weilder as it's implied in 3D that Xehanort's Keyblade ditched him for a while, but a lot has to happen before that happens.

This basically summed up what I was about to say. The Kingdom Key was able to choose between different users, something that rarely happens in the series due to the very nature of the keyblades. That being said, it should also be noted that the Kingdom Key is a very special keyblade in that it chose Sora rather than being bound to someone due to a Keyblade Master (or equivalent as evidenced by Terra) performing a Rite of Succession on that someone. A keyblade doesn't even necessarily have to go to a light wielder or even be a keyblade of light - after all, King Mickey's current keyblade is the Kingdom Key D, a keyblade from the Realm of Darkness.

 

[Ruran]

The fact that Terra was eligible to be a master is the 8th wonder of the world.. He's really not the smartest person in the series!

To be fair, I blame that more on BbS's writing as a whole. All the characters suffered from plot convenient stupidity, Terra's was just more noticeable because he was set up to fail the most.

 

[Solo]

To be fair, I think Terra's just unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Riku, too, had done too many questionable deeds in KH1, but unlike how it is with Terra, I never saw anyone bashing him for what he had done and even attempting the Mark of Mastery test (and succeeded).

And if anything, Terra's certainly not the type to judge people from their appearance. Probably he was cautious, but he certainly didn't jump into conclusions that Maleficent is bad just because she was clad in black and appeared sinister.

 

[khspartan14]

The idea that Keyblades reject those who chose darkness is a misconception. The Keyblade doesn't really care what a person aligns themselves with, but it's primary concern is strength of heart. Darkness, while not evil in itself, is a naturally corrosive substance. Inproper use of the darkness weakens the heart which is why KK eventually rejected him. Not only had Riku's heart become weaker because he recklessly dove nto darkness, but because he denounced the heart all together as an innately "weak thing".

Terra, while he also didn't know how to handle the darkness, also spent years strengthening his heart, so by the time he started being enveloped by the darkness, his heart was probably stronger than Riku's at the time it started happening to him.

Also, there was the unique case of the KK having a choice between two people. Granted, a Keyblade doesn't have to go to another person to reject its weilder as it's implied in 3D that Xehanort's Keyblade ditched him for a while, but a lot has to happen before that happens.

Alright, this clears it up pretty well. But that whole scene with Maleficent really irks me; it makes Terra's heart seem as weak as Riku's in KH1.

 

[Ruran]

The main difference between Riku and Terra though was that Riku was very much aware that what he was doing was wrong. He was fooled to some extent, but there's no way he aided in destroying DI, kidnapped/attempted to kidnap some people, and tried to kill Sora without knowing it was wrong, he just didn't care. They played the naïvety card really hard with Terra.

Although, I have seen people unsatisfied with Riku's behavior in KH1, it's just that while people where supposed to see Riku as a jerk, Terra's wasn't supposed to be viewed as an idiot.

 

[Rolands]

The fact that Terra was eligible to be a master is the 8th wonder of the world.. He's really not the smartest person in the series!

Honestly, besides his communication issues Ventus and Aqua, there's little particularly stupid about him. Master Xehanort did an extremely good job of playing a repentant old man, and it's more Eraqus fault than Terra's for not warning him. He doesn't ally himself with the Disney Villains, nor is he very often tricked by them. What Maleficent made him do was against his own will, he never intended to hurt Snow White, there was no harm in entering a tournament just because Hades said so. It was slightly dumb to try to guard Hook's chess without checking to see if there was really light inside, but since stealing is normally wrong he was perfectly in the right to try to stop Peter Pan. Freeing Jumba is probably the stupidest thing he did, but in that case Terra had been locked up unlawfully himself: what's to say Jumba wasn't the same? And in every case, Terra was trying not to be quick to judge people. He himself was grappling with darkness, it'd be unfair to condemn others because of appearances or little warning signals in their behavior.

 

[khspartan14]

The main difference between Riku and Terra though was that Riku was very much aware that what he was doing was wrong. He was fooled to some extent, but there's no way he aided in destroying DI, kidnapped/attempted to kidnap some people, and tried to kill Sora without knowing it was wrong, he just didn't care. They played the naïvety card really hard with Terra.

Although, I have seen people unsatisfied with Riku's behavior in KH1, it's just that while people where supposed to see Riku as a jerk, Terra's wasn't supposed to be viewed as an idiot.

Fair enough, I guess intent does matter. I've been rewatching all the BBS scenes on youtube, and I totally forgot about the Maleficent scene, and how easily he was temporarily possessed. Except using darkness never made Terra as malicious as Riku was in KH1, so that makes sense.

 

[khspartan14]

Honestly, besides his communication issues Ventus and Aqua, there's little particularly stupid about him. Master Xehanort did an extremely good job of playing a repentant old man, and it's more Eraqus fault than Terra's for not warning him. He doesn't ally himself with the Disney Villains, nor is he very often tricked by them. What Maleficent made him do was against his own will, he never intended to hurt Snow White, there was no harm in entering a tournament just because Hades said so. It was slightly dumb to try to guard Hook's chess without checking to see if there was really light inside, but since stealing is normally wrong he was perfectly in the right to try to stop Peter Pan. Freeing Jumba is probably the stupidest thing he did, but in that case Terra had been locked up unlawfully himself: what's to say Jumba wasn't the same? And in every case, Terra was trying not to be quick to judge people. He himself was grappling with darkness, it'd be unfair to condemn others because of appearances or little warning signals in their behavior.

Yeah, even though it is easy and fun to joke about Terra, ultimately the majority of his situations are a result of being on the wrong side of naivety. I wouldn't say he's flat out dumb.

 

[kuraudoVII]

To be fair, I think Terra's just unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Riku, too, had done too many questionable deeds in KH1, but unlike how it is with Terra, I never saw anyone bashing him for what he had done and even attempting the Mark of Mastery test (and succeeded).

And if anything, Terra's certainly not the type to judge people from their appearance. Probably he was cautious, but he certainly didn't jump into conclusions that Maleficent is bad just because she was clad in black and appeared sinister.

Honestly, besides his communication issues Ventus and Aqua, there's little particularly stupid about him. Master Xehanort did an extremely good job of playing a repentant old man, and it's more Eraqus fault than Terra's for not warning him. He doesn't ally himself with the Disney Villains, nor is he very often tricked by them. What Maleficent made him do was against his own will, he never intended to hurt Snow White, there was no harm in entering a tournament just because Hades said so. It was slightly dumb to try to guard Hook's chess without checking to see if there was really light inside, but since stealing is normally wrong he was perfectly in the right to try to stop Peter Pan. Freeing Jumba is probably the stupidest thing he did, but in that case Terra had been locked up unlawfully himself: what's to say Jumba wasn't the same? And in every case, Terra was trying not to be quick to judge people. He himself was grappling with darkness, it'd be unfair to condemn others because of appearances or little warning signals in their behavior.

Both of these posts point out something that has been on my mind for the past couple of months now. Terra's reasons for doing what he did throughout the series tend to be due to him holding onto the idiot ball, but let's be brutally honest here: is there any character, evil or heroic, that DIDN'T hold the idiot ball throughout the game? As for his actions and why he was so hesitant to judge others so quickly, this stemmed from him being judged so much to the point that his own master refused to allow him to be a Keyblade Master just because he had a little bit of darkness in him. These issues are actually common for teenagers and even those of us who are adults who are between 18-25 - I have some problems with this myself to be perfectly honest. Therefore, when he hears about how darkness can be channeled and is swayed to become an apprentice to Xehanort, its not surprising that he'd do so just to get some gratification in someone's eyes and not be considered useless and a failure. Also, as already mentioned, Terra also had relatively solid reasons to follow some of the villains in the game (and even some of them, he planned - and did in the case of Hook - to double-cross anyway).

As for the others, they simply either lied to him (Xehanort and Hook), didn't trust him (Eraqus), or simply were being cautious themselves and didn't want to say something that might be wrong (Yen Sid). Eraqus had no one to blame but himself for what happened to him because he simply didn't SAY ANYTHING to Terra regarding Ventus, Vanitas, and the X-blade and decided to kill both him and Ventus to ensure that it doesn't happen. If he mentioned any of that and explained about his suspicions about Xehanort (which didn't come up until AFTER Ven tells him that he was an ingredient for the X-blade), then things could have been different: Terra wouldn't be so quick to trust some of the villains and Eraqus would still be alive. It's not entirely Terra's fault that Terra has moments that make players want to facepalm; several characters have at least partially led to him being as such.

 

[Genocide]

In KH1, the Kingdom Key passes over Riku because he invited or chose darkness, something like that. He gets a boost in power from Maleficent, and finally possessed by Ansem, SoD. My question is, since Terra actually got possessed by Maleficent briefly in Enchanted Dominion, and his heart succumbed to darkness, why did Terra initially get a keyblade while Riku didn't? If anything, Terra had the bigger darkness problems, and he was on his way to be a master!

Riku did get a Keyblade; the one that went to Sora.

Riku's heart wasn't available to it at the moment.
Sora touched Riku's light huehuehue and Sora obtained it.
Riku regained control of it in Hollow Bastion, but in the end, it declared that Sora is its master.