I've seen several people across various threads voice their opinions about whether or not yellow eyes (and pointed ears) mean the influence of or excessive use of darkness. I don't think anywhere in the series is this ever confirmed or denied, so I thought I'd make a thread to see everyone's varied opinions on the matter.
I personally believe they do. Mainly because of two things:
The first is Braig in Birth by Sleep. When you first fight him (as Terra), he has rounded ears and brown eyes, though still uses darkness in battle. However, when fighting Aqua, he has the pointed ears and yellow eyes (it even went so far as to show a shot of these attributes to show you the transformation). I always took this as a result of him hanging around with Master Xehanort too long, learning how to use the darkness from him, and it gradually taking effect on him.
The second is the Birth by Sleep secret movie at the end of KH2FM. Now I know it's only a trailer and is therefore not technically canon, but the universe should act the same in both official (that's a key word there) out-of-canon and canon material (except for Ven's Keyblade breaking, I'm not sure whether or not that's possible). At the end of the trailer, Terra takes off his helmet and glares up, panting, and letting the anger in himself build, and his eyes turn yellow. I believe this was included in the trailer to tell us that this character was going to have a struggle with darkness. By not having the yellow eyes at the start, it shows that no dark influence has overtaken him, but through his rage and hate for Master Xehanort (something his Lingering Sentiment admits to having), the dark powers build up and begin to take over, signifying a struggle. And lo and behold, Terra does indeed have a game-long struggle with darkness in the official release.
Well those are the two main reason why I believe the yellow eyes and pointed ears signify the presence, influence, or excessive use of darkness. It's also worth noting that Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx all have these attributes as well. Since Nobodies technically can't be influenced by the darkness, I'd assume these attributes were already with Apprentice Xehanort and Isa at the time of their transformation (we already know Braig had them).
Any other theories for why or why not it may signify the darkness? Note that simply saying "It's never said it does in the series, therefore they don't" really isn't an acceptable answer.
I hope to read some interesting hypotheses.
I personally believe they do. Mainly because of two things:
The first is Braig in Birth by Sleep. When you first fight him (as Terra), he has rounded ears and brown eyes, though still uses darkness in battle. However, when fighting Aqua, he has the pointed ears and yellow eyes (it even went so far as to show a shot of these attributes to show you the transformation). I always took this as a result of him hanging around with Master Xehanort too long, learning how to use the darkness from him, and it gradually taking effect on him.
The second is the Birth by Sleep secret movie at the end of KH2FM. Now I know it's only a trailer and is therefore not technically canon, but the universe should act the same in both official (that's a key word there) out-of-canon and canon material (except for Ven's Keyblade breaking, I'm not sure whether or not that's possible). At the end of the trailer, Terra takes off his helmet and glares up, panting, and letting the anger in himself build, and his eyes turn yellow. I believe this was included in the trailer to tell us that this character was going to have a struggle with darkness. By not having the yellow eyes at the start, it shows that no dark influence has overtaken him, but through his rage and hate for Master Xehanort (something his Lingering Sentiment admits to having), the dark powers build up and begin to take over, signifying a struggle. And lo and behold, Terra does indeed have a game-long struggle with darkness in the official release.
Well those are the two main reason why I believe the yellow eyes and pointed ears signify the presence, influence, or excessive use of darkness. It's also worth noting that Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx all have these attributes as well. Since Nobodies technically can't be influenced by the darkness, I'd assume these attributes were already with Apprentice Xehanort and Isa at the time of their transformation (we already know Braig had them).
Any other theories for why or why not it may signify the darkness? Note that simply saying "It's never said it does in the series, therefore they don't" really isn't an acceptable answer.
I hope to read some interesting hypotheses.