Requests for new fighters inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatefall into an ever-growing list of various franchises and characters from all forms of media. One of the most requested characters for inclusion inUltimateis Sora from theKingdom Heartsseries, and understandably so, as he’s one of the most iconic video game characters of all time and would be a perfect addition to the game.
Sora is the protagonist from the action-RPG franchiseKingdom Hearts, a series born from the peculiar marriage of Disney andFinal Fantasycharacters and themes, and as such, Sora’s character design leans very well into theSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatedesign philosophy. Sora is a cheerful and adventurous protagonist who fights for his friends and for good, perfect forSmash.
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Recently it was rumored that he may not ever be included inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatebecause of Disney Japan refusing the offer, but there’s plenty of rationale in Sora joining the fight. Here’s several reasons why Sora should be added to theSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateroster.
Sora’s Keyblade
One of the most defining aspects of Sora’s character design is his weapon: The Keyblade, which he uses to unlock the hearts of worlds and defeat the enemies of darkness inKingdom Hearts, known as the Heartless. Sora’s keyblade is a highly capable weapon used to perform physical and magical attacks against a variety of enemy types, perfect for bashing various other Nintendo characters. It’s arguably one of the most iconic weapons in video game history, up there with things like Cloud’s Buster Sword or Link’s Master Sword. Sure, there are plenty of people who will see a Keyblade and immediately groan at the thought ofanother “sword character” being added toSmash Ultimate.But Sora’s more than just his Keyblade and his moveset would go beyond just a standard disjoint mechanic.
Grounded/Aerial Combo Potential
Kingdom Hearts’core of combat mechanicsis chaining combos together with various attacks to optimize damage. In an ideal setting, Sora’s moveset would resemble a combo-heavy playstyle with plenty of room for creativity and optimization, with a variety of abilities and magic skills with his Keyblade.
At Sora’s greatest strength, he’s able to chain multiple hits into combos both on the ground and in the air, either through physical attacks or any of his magic spells. Sora at a basic level would benefit in functioning similarly to the concept of Bayonetta’s moveset, as he’d be a combo-oriented character that can dish out plenty of damage while having higher percentage K.O. options.
Magic and Abilities for Special Moves
Going off of that, Sora’s special moves would more than likely be geared towards his magical abilities inKingdom Hearts. Sora has access to many of the base magic types that are in theFinal Fantasygames: Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, etc. Sora’s depiction inSmashdoesn’t necessarily need to have access to all of his magic spells, but a menu mechanic could be implemented for use in battle,similar to Hero’s controversial Command Menu. Many of the different permutations of these magical abilities could also be included in Sora’s move-set. He could potentially have the ability to cast magic while moving, a feature most recently included inKingdom Hearts 3. It could even be as specific as the “Flowmotion” mechanics inKingdom Hearts 3that allowed Sora to uniquely traverse battles, like how Blizzard could be used as a sort-of grinding rail for Sora to quickly slide on.
Flowmotion and Movement
Flowmotion in general could be a potential mechanic Sora could also use to aid him in battle. Flowmotion is a traversal mechanic in theKingdom Heartsgames that wasfirst introduced withKingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. Basically, Sora would be able to utilize elements of the environment to propel himself vertically or horizontally, allowing to move through large areas or get around enemies much faster than standard traversal. Flowmotion would have to be tweaked substantially if it were included inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, mainly because of how it was used.
Flowmotion in the context ofDream Drop Distancewas utilized for larger boss fights and bigger/taller open-world environments, and sinceSuper Smash Bros.focuses on PvP brawling, it’d be difficult to introduce something similar to the original Flowmotion without making Sora horribly unbalanced. It’s tricky, but a much more condensed version of Flowmotion could potentially add to the unique complexity of Sora’s character design.
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Trinity Attack Final Smash
In terms of Final Smash territory, there’s plenty of potential options on how to implement Sora’s Final Smash attack.Kingdom Heartsoften leans into the bombastic territory when it comes to powerful or super-styled attacks, usuallypar for the course with action-RPGs. An ideal Final Smash attack concept would be one that involves Sora linking up with his team, Donald and Goofy, for a Trinity attack.
Trinities inKingdom Heartswere team-based actions that required Sora, Donald, and Goofy to work together to overcome an obstacle. This was usually used for puzzle-solving, but there were also Trinity team attacks, as well as Situation Commands introduced inKingdom Hearts 2, where Sora would team up with a party member to unleash a stronger attack. Sora’s Final Smash could function similarly to Shulk’s Final Smash, where it’s a group of his party members all contributing towards one giant combo attack that does massive damage.
Drive Forms and Keyblade Transformations
There’s been an overarching theme with many of the added DLC characters inSuper Smash Bros.having “comeback” mechanics, like Cloud’s Limit Break special attacks, Joker’s Arsene summoning, or Banjo and Kazooie’s Wonderwing attack. It’s worth mentioning then thatSora’s Keybladeis an incredibly versatile and powerful weapon, very capable of adapting to any battle situation, so assuming it was also balanced properly, Sora could potentially implement his Drive Forms or Keyblade Transformations into his moveset as well.
This would allow Sora to either be able to momentarily dual-wield Keyblades like inKingdom Hearts 2, or transform his Keyblades into stronger, more advanced versions of themselves like inKingdom Hearts 3. These abilities would serve to improve Sora’s combo potential and damage input momentarily, allowing him to deal significant damage to enemies inKingdom Hearts. A system similar to Joker or Cloud’s comeback mechanic could be implemented for Sora if they can strike a positive balance between appropriate stat-boosts in comparison to his base moveset.
Assist Trophies, Items, and Mii Costumes
Even more unlikely would be the inclusion of different miscellaneous items along with Sora. The latest DLC forSuper Smash Bros.Ultimatehasn’t really focused on this aspect of the game, but they could potentially add aKingdom Hearts-themed assist trophy or item along with Sora. It could be any multitude of things, like for example the Gummi Ship as an item similar to the Dragoon item fromKirby Air Ride. Perhaps a more feasible inclusion along with Sora could be a Mii costume.
They could potentially add several different costumes from extraKingdom Heartscharacters, like the iconic Organization 13 black hood, or Donald and Goofy costumes. ConsideringMii costumes from Assassin’s Creed and Cuphead have been announced, this might not be too far-fetched if Sora himself is de-confirmed in any way.
Alternate Colors/Palette Swaps
What’s great about Sora’s character design is that there are multiple iterations of Sora’s physical appearance throughout theKingdom Heartsseries. Sora’s many clothing changes gives ample room for customizing his alternate colors/color palette swaps inSmash. Proper fan service for Sora would be including his different outfits from each entry inKingdom Hearts, from his black attire inKingdom Hearts 2to his latest outfit inKingdom Hearts 3. T
hey could even go as far as to making some extras color palettes referencing the other coreKingdom Heartscharacters like Riku and Kairi, Donald and Goofy, or even King Mickey. Even better would be taking those color swaps further and taking inspiration from the texture changes on Sora’s clotheswhen he uses a Drive Form or Keyblade Transformation, which adds different patterns to his clothes depending on the form/transformation used. Could be a bit much but there’s plenty of potential in creating distinct palette swaps.
Technically, Sora’s Already in Smash
All of these points on paper may seem perfect on paper, but it can be hard to envision how Sora’s inclusion inSmashcould be handled. The nice thing is, Sora has technically already been inSmash, but in a capacity very far away from an official Nintendo product.Super Smash Flash 2, aSmash-based fan project created by McLeodGaming as a flash/browser game, has several different characters from franchises not seen in any officialSuper Smash Bros.game.
One of those characters is Sora, who has a very fast and versatile moveset based on his abilities inKingdom Hearts. Granted thisisn’t the only time Sora’s been in aSmashgame unofficially, butSuper Smash Flash 2can serve as a perfect example of how Sora could be implemented intoUltimate.
Breaking Down More Barriers
Perhaps the main barrier preventing Sora from being inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateis his identity. SinceKingdom Heartsis the melding of two very prominent creative companies, Square Enix and even moreso Disney,Nintendo being much smaller in comparisonmakes licensing his character for use in the game is much more complex. But if, in an ideal world where those obstacles could be easily crossed, it could potentially open a world of possibilities as to who could be added toSmash.
Sora being added toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateis essentially the logical next step in terms of character probability. From there, the potential for inclusion intoSmashbecomes much more ambiguous yet viable. The addition of a primarily Disney (secondarily Square Enix) property into a Nintendo game would be a huge step forSmash, making it virtually possible for so many other franchises to join the fight as well.
Sora brings with him several benefits to the series should he be included inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. From a practical standpoint, he still is a near-impossible choice for inclusion in Nintendo’s crossover fighting game. Then again, people thought the same of Cloud fromFinal Fantasy 7, so it may not be as far-fetched as it seems.
