Monthly Archives: August 2012
10 of My Favourite Pokémon
Okay, so I’ve been kinda planning to do this for a long time, but for some reason or another I haven’t really gotten to it. So today I decided “Well, the IXA spotlight was actually something I’d been working on and off of for months now, so I really wanna get a brand new post up today”, so what the hell. Here are 10 of my favourite Pokémon of all time, so let’s go ahead and get the most obvious one out of the way first…
#061 Poliwhirl
C’mon, you knew this was coming. What’s funny about this though is that not only is he my favourite, he’s Satoshi Tajiri‘s favourite, AND we both have Asperger’s Syndrome. So yeah, kinda surreal. But yeah, there’s just something about the design that’s so cute, and of course the one you see on my show, while possessing something of an attitude, is super cute and cuddly…just so long as you don’t think too much about the swirly pattern being his intestines.
Favourite moves: Surf, Ice Punch, Body Slam, Scald, Waterfall, Psychic, Ice Beam, Belly Drum, Rain Dance, Dig, Earthquake
#587 Emolga
I’ve mentioned before that this little guy is just ADORABLE to me. It’s also a speedy bugger, and while it’s not the fastest of all time, it is one of the fastest non-Legendary Pokémon to never evolve. Hell, it’s faster than Raichu and Volcarona. Its biggest issue, as I’ve brought up before, is dealing with Ice and Rock type Pokémon, but if you can find a way around that, Emolga can be really great.
Favourite moves: Acrobatics, Thunder Wave, Flash, Hidden Power (Fighting or Steel), Electro Ball, Thunder, Rain Dance, Charm
#609 Chandelure
I can’t believe I need to give a reason for this, but here it is: Chandelure has the best damned Special Attack stat of any non-Legendary Pokémon, bar none. And as a side-note, my Chandelure in my Pokémon Black game has a nature that further encourages Special Attack growth. Cha-CHING! XD Also, it has a creepy/awesome design, and a unique typing. And with Shadow Tag, opponents can’t even flee in terror. Highly recommended for almost any team.
Favourite moves: Flamethrower, Hex, Energy Ball, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Confuse Ray, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Heat Wave, Toxic, Calm Mind, Will-O-Wisp, Hidden Power (Bug or Fighting)
#025 Pikachu
Yeah, you knew I couldn’t do a list like this without adding arguably the most popular Pokémon of all time, right? Here’s the thing though, while no Pikachu in the games will be as big of a badass as the one in the show, not even Red’s, it can still be pretty flipping awesome. You don’t wanna put it against Legendaries or even pseudo-Legendaries, but otherwise it can likely hold its own fine. The worst mistake you can make though is to expect it to be awesome just because it’s Pikachu. You need to be careful and tactical or it will go down easy.
Favourite moves: ExtremeSpeed, Volt Tackle, Thunderbolt, Brick Break, Grass Knot, Dig, Thunder, Rain Dance, Fake Out, Thunder Wave, Electro Ball, Charm, Wish, Tickle, Signal Beam, Magnet Rise
#546 Cottonee
This little guy is so deceptively deadly, it’s insane. With Prankster as its ability, status attacks get priority, and if it holds Eviolite, its defences surpass its evolved form’s defences. Now even with that improvement, it will likely go down with a well-enough placed hit, but the opponent will be feeling the damage it lands for a long time. This is a true story, I took on an opponent with 5 Legendaries and a Serperior in a Triple Battle and my lead Pokémon were Cottonee, Emolga, and Tyranitar. Because Emolga and Cottonee were fast enough to get in some really good status moves, and with Tyranitar backing them up, even though they eventually fell, the battle was already mine due to the damage I’d done. And the day I figure out how to get that video online, I can’t wait to show it off to everybody.
Favourite moves: Toxic, Leech Seed, Charm, Substitute, Cotton Guard, Attract, Swagger, Tailwind, Tickle
#392 Infernape
Son Wukong as a Pokémon, you better believe this is an ass-kicker. If you need to know why Infernape is such a badass, watch Ash vs Paul at the Sinnoh League (or my three-part review of it). Now of course that’s the anime. In the game…it’s still a badass. Of all three Starter Pokémon to evolve into Fire/Fighting types, this is the best in my opinion. If you asked me “Of all the starter Pokémon, which would you choose to begin your journey with?”, it’d likely be either this one or the next in my list.
Favourite moves: Flamethrower, Mach Punch, Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Shadow Claw, Blast Burn, Stealth Rock, Dual Chop, Fake Out, Grass Knot
#260 Swampert
The fully-evolved Starter Pokémon with the highest base stats of all others, Swampert is a fucking tank. It absorbs damage like a sponge, and isn’t exactly a slouch when it comes to dishing some out in rebuttal. The only things it really needs to worry about are Grass type Pokémon and Pokémon that are just a lot faster than it that can use good status moves. So, probably don’t wanna put it against Cottonee.
Favourite moves: Surf, Muddy Water, Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Earth Power, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Superpower, Mirror Coat, Counter, Avalanche, Protect, Scald, Waterfall
#303 Mawile
This is another one that found herself on my 10 Pokémon That Got The Shaft list, but I wanted to include Mawile here too because I really do love her design. It’s so cute and so menacing at the same time, it’s amazing. I hope that if/when Game Freak gives Mawile an evolved form, that it keeps that motif.
Favourite moves: Iron Head, Fire Fang, Brick Break, Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, ThunderPunch, Ice Punch, Magnet Rise
#468 Togekiss
Togekiss is just awesome. Probably the best Normal/Flying type, or at least one of them. It has an awesome attack that takes out two of its three weaknesses. Otherwise, has an awesome movepool to take on a vast array of opponents, and has really good HP, special attack, and special defence. The only thing it kinda sucks at is physical attack, but it knows some high powered physical moves, so that kinda balances that out, but for the love of crap, don’t get a Togekiss with Hustle if you can help it. The negative far outweighs the positive in my opinion, and the other two abilities are way better.
Favourite moves: Aura Sphere, Air Slash, Yawn, Dream Eater, Thunder Wave, Shadow Ball, Future Sight, Psyshock, Hidden Power (Ground), Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, Hyper Voice
#530 Excadrill
This is another tank, and one that is kinda cheap in its awesometasticness. It has great typing, it runs with just about any kind of Sandstorm team, and it has an awesome physical sweeper moveset. Here’s a question though: Why the flying fuck would you EVER teach it Focus Blast?! The one thing it should NEVER do is try to be a special sweeper, and Focus Blast only hits once in a blue moon anyway! Seriously Iris, YOU FAIL!
Favourite moves: Drill Run, Sandstorm, Stone Edge, Iron Head, Metal Claw, Stealth Rock, Aerial Ace, Earthquake, Swords Dance, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Shadow Claw
And those are 10 of my favourite Pokémon. I may do another 10 someday, but for now, feel free to discuss your own favourites. Ja ne!
Kamen Rider Spotlight: Kamen Rider IXA
Well, time for another instalment of the Kamen Rider Spotlight, and for our second Rider, I’m taking a look at one of my all-time favourites, Kamen Rider IXA. Also, I noted that in the past, I hadn’t spent a lot of time covering the additional weapons and vehicles of Kamen Riders, so I will attempt to make up for that in this and future Spotlights.
“Fangaia… Sono inochi, Kami ni kaeshinasai!”
IXA was the secondary Rider from Kamen Rider Kiva‘s season. Unlike most Riders, a number of people have become IXA over time, including the Wolfen Jiro, Kiva’s father Otoya, Fangire Hunter Yuri Aso, the Lion Fangire Rook, the Spider Fangire Ryo Itoya, Yuri’s daughter Megumi, and Fangire Hunter Kengo Eritate. However, the primary user of the IXA System throughout the show was Keisuke Nago, who at first battles against Kiva until learning his true identity and seeing him as an ally in protecting humanity.
“RED-DI-I! FIS-SU-TO ON-N!”
The IXA System is operated with the IXA Belt and IXA Knuckle. By first pressing the Knuckle to another part of their body (Nago typically pressed it in the palm of his other hand) and then sliding it into place on the Belt, a projection of the armour appears in front of the user’s body and then overlaps it, materializing over them.
IXA only has three forms that are seen. The basic, original form is known as Save Mode. Back when IXA was still in the prototype stages, Save Mode was all it had, and it kinda blew. Steam would burst out for no reason, the thing constantly beeped, and it could actually harm the user. These problems would later be fixed as the system underwent upgrades over the years to the point that it also received it’s next form, Burst Mode. Like Kiva, it comes with a Fuestle that unlocks additional power. The Knuckle Fuestle allows IXA to use his primary finishing move with the IXA Knuckle called the Broken Fang.
Burst Mode is so named because it sends of a wave of intense heat that damages everything in the immediate area. It also gives slight upgrades to all areas that Save Mode usually gives increases to. He’s also armed with several more Fuestles, some of which actually allow him to borrow or even outright steal Kiva’s weapons. He also comes equipped with the IXA Calibur, a high powered gun that turns into a sword, because as we all know, guns that turn into swords and vice versa are frigging awesome. His finisher is a high-powered slash called the IXA Judgement.
As is the case with nearly every other Rider in existence, IXA has his own motorcycle. The IXAlion is modified from a Honda CBR1000RR and possesses a max speed of 753 km/h. But if you’re more the type that likes combat vehicles, IXA doesn’t leave you disappointed there either.
Anybody ever played the crane game?
The Powerd Ixer is a massive dragon-like crane on wheels. It was originally designed to combat the massive Sabbats or Kiva’s Castle Doran, but has since proven to be a helpful ally to Castle Doran in combat. It flings enemies around, can toss massive orbs at targets, or can even lob IXA himself at opponents for a high-powered Rider Kick.
RI-U-SIN-GU I-KU-SA!
But when all else fails, IXA has one final trick hidden up his sleeve, or rather his mouth-plate: The IXA Riser, a cellphone that turns into a gun and can also transform IXA into his final form, Rising IXA. This pumps IXA up to maximum strength, able to stand up to the strongest of opponents. Before the end of the series, IXA received a final upgrade that allowed him to bypass his other forms and go straight to Rising IXA, as the enemies were growing too numerous and too powerful for his weaker forms. The IXA Riser grants him his new finisher, a massive shot of energy called the Final Rising Blast. The only downside is that the finisher has one hell of a recoil, knocking IXA on his ass and cancelling out the transformation. IXA later managed to brace himself properly, but until then learned to vault himself off a nearby wall and follow the blast up with a Rider Kick.
As mentioned before, IXA is not locked down to a single chosen user and can technically be used by anyone. Because of that, it means that the one using it has to be stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, and more humane than any other in order to prove he is the one best suited for it, the one true Kamen Rider IXA.
Well, that’s all for this edition of Kamen Rider Spotlight, and I’ll see y’all next time. Ja ne!
MY 100th POST! Lewis Lovhaug’s Funniest Moments
Yay! 100 posts on my blog! And to commemorate the occasion, here is a compilation of some of my favourite funny moments of Lewis J. Lovhaug’s, AKA Linkara…….What, you were expecting something else? C’mon, you know how much of a cheap plug whore I am. XD
Footage of course belongs to AT4W, The Spoony Experiment, and Cinema Snob. Music is the Gunslinger theme by Vincent E.L.
Thank you all for joining me on this. Hopefully in the future there’ll be more TGWTG related goodness, more comic book, video game, and anime rants, and with any luck, I should be getting by show back on its feet one of these days. Ja ne!
My 99th Post! Kamen Rider Spotlight: Kamen Rider Fourze
Well, time for another instalment of the Kamen Rider Spotlight, and in honour of both the season that just ended and the memory of the first man to land on the moon, Neil Armstrong, today’s Rider is none other than Kamen Rider Fourze.
“Uchuuu…KITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Gentaro Kisaragi. Fourze. The high school-er. The spaceman. The one who can and will befriend all others. Call him what you will, but above all else, he has earned the title of Kamen Rider, being able to stand strong alongside OOO, W, the Seven Legendary Riders, Decade, and even Gokaiger and Gobuster.
Fourze took the mix/match style of OOO and added a fourth dimension to it, being able to use four different powers at once, one on each hand and foot. With Fourze, he uses the Astroswitches, specialised switches that he inserts into the Fourze Driver that grant him different weapons and tools, even whole new forms called States. The standard ones come in a set of 40, but there are also a few extra ones that have popped up from time to time. The 40 Astroswitches are: Rocket, Launcher, Drill, Radar, Magic Hand, Camera, Parachute, Chainsaw, Hopping, Elek, Scissors, Beat, Chain Array, Smoke, Spike, Winch, Flash, Shield, Gatling, Fire, Stealth, Hammer, Water, Medical, Pen, Wheel, Screw, Hand, Schop, N Magnet, S Magnet, Freeze, Claw, Board, Giantfoot, Aero, Gyro, Net, Stamper, and Cosmic.
“Rider Rocket Drill Kick!”
Base States is his default form. He has a hoverpack on his back that’s actually carried onto his other forms, and can mix and match any of his Astroswitches except for Elek, Fire, N and S Magnet, and Cosmic, as inserting those switches changes his State. His most typical finisher, or Limit Break as it’s called, in this form is the Rider Rocket Drill Kick, which uses the Rocket and Drill switches to send a jet-propelled drill through the target. In the finale, he used this finisher while pulling the level for the Limit Break three times, giving it enough power to defeat the last enemy of the series.
“Rider 10 Billion Volt Break!”
Elek States is the result of using the Elek Switch. In this form, he possesses a higher level of defence, as well as a weapon called Billy the Rod, a rod that has multiple settings allowing for different electrical attacks and manoeuvres, his trademark being the Rider 10 Billion Volt Break. An alternative Limit Break to that is the Rider Lightning Drill Kick.
“Rider Exploding Shoot!”
Fire States is the result of using the Fire Switch. Gosh, I wonder what this does?! Well okay, it DOES give him a gun that shoots flames called the Fire Module Hee-Hackgun, but the gun can also change modes into a fire extinguisher, meaning he can put out any fires started in battle as well. His main Limit Break is the Rider Exploding Shoot, but he also has used an unnamed Limit Break that also adds Launcher and Gatling to the mix for an all out storm of long-range attacks. He kinda redefines the term “fire fighter” in this form.
“Rider Super Electromagnetic Bomber!”
Magnet States is the result of using the NS Magphone in its separated form, the N Magnet and S Magnet Switches. His sheer power goes way higher, as he has dual shoulder cannons that fire high-powered long range blasts and can manipulate magnetic fields. His Limit Break in this form is the Rider Super Electromagnetic Bomber. He can also use the Rider Super Electromagnetic Tackle, wherein he charges up the cannons and tackles the enemy hard.
“Rider Super Galaxy Finish!”
Cosmic States is the result of using the Cosmic Switch, which then absorbs all other switches not currently plugged into the Fourze Driver. The chest plate has buttons for each switch, allowing him to mix and match any of the Astroswitches’ powers, like giving Launcher Freeze’s power for freeze missiles. He can also plug in the Rocket, Elek, Fire, or several other of the right-hand switches into his new weapon, the Barizun Sword, for different effects. His Limit Break in this form is usually two-fold, as the Barizun Sword comes in two modes: Boost and Slash. Using the Limit Break in Boost Mode lets him open up a wormhole into space, then flies his opponent through it. He then follows up by switching to Slash Mode and using its Limit Break, the Rider Super Galaxy Finish. Finally, he has one other Limit Break that uses no other switch: a simple Rider Kick that fuels off the natural power created by the merging of all 40 Astroswitches.
“Rider Tailspin Crusher!”
Rocket States, or Double Rocket States as it’s also been called, is the result of using the special Rocket Switch Super-1. It gives him two rockets for the price of one, and the rockets can even temporarily de-materialize so that he has a hand to changes switches or pull the Limit Break lever. He has two Limit Breaks, the default of which is the Rider Tailspin Crusher, a high-speed corkscrew kick. The other is the Rider Double Rocket Drill Kick, which is an advanced form of the Rider Rocket Drill Kick.
“Rider Rocket Drill Blast!”
Rocket Drill States is the result of using the Clear Drill Switch. Because of it’s unique and unbalanced form and the fact that he’s only used it once, I’m going to guess that it’s somewhat unstable. Nonetheless, the Limit Break is the Rider Rocket Drill Blast, a huge punch from the rocket powered and propelled drill.
“Rider Fusion Drill Kick!“
Meteor Fusion States is the result of using the Fusion Switch with Kamen Rider Meteor’s Meteor Switch. In this form, he can use Meteor’s Jeet Kun Do style martial arts, as well as wield both Meteor’s Fingerprint Authentication Brace Meteor Galaxy and Barizun Sword from Fourze’s Cosmic States. His Limit Break is the Rider Fusion Drill Kick. Gee, I wonder what switch he uses for that? lol
Anyway, that’s all for now. Ja ne!
Why the hate for Power Girl’s new costume?
Huh. Another comic book rant. I hope this doesn’t become a running theme where I end up having to do a Comic Books category just to contain them all…
Oh what the heck, I’ll do it anyway!
Anyway, I was pondering the other day as I was reading World’s Finest why exactly people think that Power Girl‘s new costume is “beyond ugly”. Okay, so I wouldn’t call it the greatest costume ever made, but I honestly don’t see the ugly, so people, please explain. Is it the blue lines? Because I don’t find them distracting. Is it the P emblem on her left breast? Well if so, that’s lame, because heroes have worn their emblem thereabouts for years and no one’s said anything. Is the concern that it draws attention to her breasts? ‘Cuz if so, I gotta say that it does so a heck of a lot less than her old costume!
Ah, but then we get into a slightly more controversial part of the topic. I’ve seen several pictures people have drawn of the new costume but with the hole cut out of the chest to make it look like the old costume, essentially saying the old one was better because we could see her cleavage…which is dumb for a number of reasons, but I’ll start off by addressing the purpose of the hole. The hole is there because she hadn’t chosen a symbol or emblem to distance herself from Superman. Well guess what? This Power Girl HAS an emblem! Thus the hole wouldn’t serve any purpose, other than to excite the perverted. And if that’s the only argument, that there isn’t titillation for the reader…well, that’s not exactly true either. There are plenty of times that Karen dresses up in revealing or sexy outfits in this comic, including one that actually looked a lot like the old Power Girl costume, which was likely done to get the people still arguing this point to shut up.
As a final thought to all of this, I REALLY hope that people aren’t also flipping out because Huntress‘ costume lacks the exposed midriff, and if their are, I seriously mean it when I say “Get a life”. And when I can actually say that and mean it, BE AFRAID. Ja ne!
I Don’t Believe There’s Such A Thing As A Bad Story Concept In Comics
You know, after having watched Atop The Fourth Wall for as long as I have and having read a few bad comics myself, I wanna share some insight that I’ve developed: For all the REALLY bad comics out there, I truly believe the concepts behind the stories they are trying to tell could still work if handled CORRECTLY. I really don’t think that I could ever truly say that a story concept is bad. Weird, bizarre, out there, difficult to convey, dark, grim, sad, sure I’d say those, but none of those make a concept bad, because while they can be one of or even several of those things, if the concept still has the potential to WORK, if isn’t BAD.
Amazons Attack
I’ll avoid going into too much detail about this, since the worst comics in the world have already been touched on by Linkara, and he has already gone into detail about how most of the concepts could have been done right and in much better fashion than I probably would be capable of doing. However, I will say that the reason they fail almost always has to do with one thing: the execution. The means by which the concept was conveyed. And the reason the execution fails is usually different. Sometimes the writer’s a hack, sometimes the editors get too involved and mess it all up, and sometimes the concept is simply misinterpreted and shit happens. But I don’t think that’s the fault of the concept.
Red Hood and the Outlaws
I will give one example: The one comic I tend to bitch and moan the most about is Red Hood and the Outlaws. I’ve already said this before, but having Starfire lose her memories of her time on Earth and of her time with the Titans and then teaming up with Jason Todd and Roy Harper does make for an intriguing story. Also, having Jason trying to put his past with Batman and Joker behind him and move on with his new life could potentially work. Having Roy Harper, AKA Speedy, AKA Red Arrow, AKA Arsenal, joining a new group and finding himself genuinely caring for his new comrades and accepting them as his friends and having some happiness after the crap he’s endured makes for a good concept. Where it got screwed up is that Kori was made an uninterested-in-humanity whore, Jason was made part of a super secret organization (which is really only bad because there’s like a dozen of them in the New 52) and most of Roy’s history (the loss of his arm and the existence of his daughter Lian) were wiped away. If they had just stuck with those first three concepts, we would’ve had a much better comic. Maybe not one everyone would love, but still way better than what we got.
Countdown
But anyway, that’s my take on comic book concepts. Comment as you like, and feel free to disagree with me if you want. Just don’t make it an argument, and please give facts to your case. That’s all I ask. Ja ne!
Related articles
- 90th Blog Post! More Roster Contemplations for JLA Fanfic + Red Hood and the Outlaws Rant (jygersrant.wordpress.com)
13 of my Favourite Characters from Kingdom Hearts
The Main Cast of Kingdom Hearts
So yeah, I’ve found myself rambling on and on to some of my friends about Kingdom Hearts for quite some time now, so in an effort to get it at least a little bit out of my system, I’m gonna take a look at 13 of my favourite characters from the series, be they the ones I love like mad, or the ones I love to hate (villains). These will be characters exclusive to Kingdom Hearts, so none of the Disney or Final Fantasy characters, and I will be going in-depth on them, so sorry folks, but there will be spoilers here.
Riku
In his first appearance, Riku comes off as someone who had to have what he wanted so badly that he was willing to sell out his friends, his loved ones, his home, even his own heart to the darkness. As a result of these actions, he can come off as a bit excessively emo in his later appearances, hating himself for what he’d done, though not in a way that we can’t understand why he goes so far. As of the end of Kingdom Hearts 3D, he seems to be well on his way of letting go what he’s done, accepting his friends’ forgiveness and having faith in himself as the new Keyblade Master. Also, the guy is a total badass. He’s beaten Ansem a multitude of times, he fought Saïx to a stand-off, he battled the devil himself and won, and even had the balls to call Master Xehanort a failure to his face.
Sora giving support to Riku
Oh, and if I don’t bring this up, someone else will…There’s a VERY long-standing theory that Sora and Riku are…well, how should I put this? That Riku wants to use his Keyblade on Sora’s Keyhole. And yeah, there’s a lot of evidence that suggests it, and it’s of course easy to joke about and also for shippers to believe in. Now, the more meaningful relationship I’ve always found in them is that because we never see their families, Sora and Riku kind of operate as super-close brothers. So yeah, that’s always been my take on their relationship, but it’s obviously so much more fun to joke that they’re gay. LOL
Roxas, the Key of Destiny
I swear, with every game to come out in the series, I feel progressively worse for Roxas. The poor guy comes off as this universe’s punching bag at times for all the crap he’s had to endure. He’s enlisted into the Organization so that they can use him to create a massive Kingdom Hearts, all the while the higher members keep on keeping information from him and sometimes outright lying to him. He makes best friends with Axel and Xion, only for Xion to be revealed as a copy of him and Sora that was to inevitably absorb him into her being to that the Organization would have the perfect puppet, and he’s forced to absorb her first, not only losing his best friend but also forgetting her face and her name. Then he’s kidnapped by DiZ and made to recombine with Sora, effectively ceasing to exist in an orthodox manner in the physical plane of existence. Now we find out his physical form and parts of his personality are actually influenced by Ventus, and who knows what will happen to poor Roxas when Ventus wakes up. Add in that he’s a strong willed wielder of the Keyblade and is a generally likeable character, and by the end of his story, you weren’t really so sure you wanted Sora to wake up in Kingdom Hearts 2.
Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames
Be he Lea or Axel, this character has appeared in every game except the first and has thus undergone one of the longest and strongest evolutions of the various characters. His first appearance in Chain of Memories left us to believe he was a wild card within the Organization, acting out of his own agenda and seemingly aligned with no one specifically. Since then, we’ve learned all about his backstory, his complex histories with Roxas and Isa, and just how far he was willing to stretch his neck out for his friends. In his most recent appearance, he’s been re-completed as a person again and is now aligned with Sora and co. against Master Xehanort, even managing to gain his own Keyblade in the process. Bottom line, this is a complex character with equal opportunities spent to make him badass and comic relief. In short, this is an awesome character. Got it memorized?
………Humina…Uh, I mean, Master Aqua! Well, she’s a Keyblade Master, making her the most powerful of all the female protagonists of the games, potentially of all the protagonists period. If nothing else, her mastery of magic is far superior to that of Sora or Riku, possibly even King Mickey himself. Aqua is the reliable one in her trio of herself, Terra, and Ventus, and will always do whatever is necessary to protect them, making her strong of will as well as her powers…And yeah, I’m just gonna say it, I LOVE this character. She’s so devoted to her friends and is such a powerhouse of a Keyblade Wielder and, let’s be honest, is such a HUGE hottie, what’s not to love? I really hope that she’s playable in future games.
Hmm…That’s four Keyblade Wielders in a row. Should probably do a villain next…Ah, I know!
Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin
This is one of the few villains I can think of that makes the rose pedals thing badass. Even that thing he does where he pulls back his hood and rose pedals fly around, yeah it looks girly, but just try and tell him that when he’s got that giant scythe pointed in your direction. He’s arrogant, vein, and deceptive, trying to stage a takeover of Organization XIII and using Sora for his plot, and as with most of the really great villains in fiction, he probably would’ve gotten away with it if it hadn’t have been for those meddling kids. lol
Hayner
Attitudinal and impulsive as all heck, but still a loyal and true friend, Hayner is one of those characters you always like to see appear. He’s just so much fun to see him and his antics and those of the Twilight Town Gang, which makes it sad that they’ve only appeared in two games thus far, three if you count their cameo at the end of Re:Chain of Memories, four if you count their appearance in the teaser for Birth By Sleep Volume 2. So yeah, here’s hoping that when THAT game comes out, we see plenty more Hayner awesomeness.
Kairi
Both a Princess of Heart and a wielder of the Keyblade, Kairi is charismatic and kind-hearted. She also is perfectly willing to get her hands dirty if it means being able to help her friends. My only issue with Kairi is that she’s played the damsel in distress on a number of occasions, although if the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts 3D is any indication, it seems she won’t be in distress all that much in the future…
Sora
Of course, how could I do a list of my 13 favourite characters without talking about the protagonist himself? I think what I love most about Sora is that he’s very much the opposite of the modern Square-Enix protagonist in terms of personality. He’s kind and forgiving to nearly everyone, even on occasion to his worst enemies. He puts his friends as top priority, be they Riku and Kairi or his new friends that he’s met on his journeys. He spends a very small amount of time brooding over bad stuff that happens, if any at all, he doesn’t flip off people trying to help him, and while he can get really angry over stuff, it’s surprisingly easy for him to get over it. When Riku is made a Master over him in Kingdom Hearts 3D, he isn’t sad or resentful or obsessed with his own mistakes like Terra was in Birth By Sleep, he was genuinely happy for his friend and as excited as he would have been had he become Master himself. Is he a perfect character? No. But he’s most certainly a welcome change from the norm.
Ventus
Sadly, there’s not a lot to say about Ventus that I haven’t already said about Sora and Roxas, as all three of them have VERY similar personalities. I will say though that he excels in bravery, willing to give up his life and possibly shatter his heart to save his friends from Vanitas. He’s also one of the more unique Keyblade Wielders in that he uses a backhand grip, and while Ven’s likely one of the weakest Keyblade Wielders in the game, he more than makes up for it with his sometimes ludicrous speed.
And speaking of his other half…
Vanitas
Vanitas creeps me the hell out. That laugh, the fact that he looks and sounds like Sora, and just how frigging remorseless he is for everything he does. He goads Ventus into battle by threatening to murder Aqua and Terra before his eyes, he snaps the wooden Keyblade that Terra gave him in half, and he creates the Unversed to run rampant across the worlds. But the sad thing is that, for all that he does wrong, it’s all due to the evil deeds of this man…
Xehanort
The one true villain of the series. It is Xehanort’s actions that causes the events that occur within the series. He tells Maleficent of the darkness, of the other worlds, and of the Princesses of Light, thus causing the massive invasion of the Heartless upon many of the worlds and the kidnapping of the Princesses. He possesses Terra, using his body for a number of horrible deeds. He recruits Braig, who later saves his apparent amnesiac self and helps him get within Ansem The Wise’s group. His Heartless, Ansem, takes over the runnings of the Heartless when Maleficent outlives her usefulness to him. His Nobody, Xemnas, creates Organization XIII with the intent to create thirteen incarnations of Xehanort, all the while lying to them about not having hearts, meaning every last terrible deed they did was over a lie. And along the way, he becomes directly or indirectly responsible for the sufferings of Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Vanitas, Roxas, Xion, and countless others. He pretty much gives us every single reason possible to hate him. But I will give him this much: Being voiced by Leonard Nimoy does give him a certain level of awesomeness. lol
Zexion, the Cloaked Schemer
Ienzo is observant and curious about the world around him, and his a hard worker at his studies, traits that was carried over to his Nobody, Zexion. Of course, where he differed was that he was a sick bastard that toyed with Riku in the cruellest of manners and was taking bets with Axel in Chain of Memories as to who would be the next member of their roster to die. But then again, I’ve never had my Heart taken away, lied to in order to make me think I can’t ever have another, and basically was told that I know longer have any moralities to ad-hear to, so who knows? Maybe that just does really messed up things to ya. What’s also notable about Ienzo is that after he’s re-completed, he doesn’t waste time being emo or remorseful over his actions, he gets right to work trying to figure out their immediate issues and actually talks to Lea in a rather pleasant tone, seemingly not holding any grudges for Axel leading to his death. Although now that I think about it, the destruction of his Heartless and his Nobody let to his re-completion, so I guess he would actually owe Lea for that.
Terra
Okay, this mostly comes from a gameplay perspective. Not that Terra is a bad character, just VERY easily led on. Like, even more so than Riku in Kingdom Hearts 1, and he’s supposed to be older and wiser than him. I mean for crying out loud, why can’t he see that Xehanort is the bad guy until he murders Master Eraqus? Do you need someone to draw a curly moustache on his face or something? Still, he’s at least a little easy to sympathise with. I mean, he could be worse.
What, you thought I was gonna go with something less obvious? Please. lol
But yeah, Terra is probably the heaviest hitter of all the main protagonists in Kingdom Hearts, without decreasing his speed so much that a turtle could outrun him. If you find yourself in his way in the middle of a fight, get out of his way or you’re going to be levelled. Bottom line.
Anyway, that’s my 13 Favourite Characters from Kingdom Hearts. Leave your comments below on what you think of these characters, who is on your top 13, and just comments on Kingdom Hearts overall. Ja ne!
Jyger's Rant 