Riku - Kingdom Hearts 3 Guide - IGN (2024)

Riku is Sora's friend and a fellow Keyblade wielder. He is one of the only Keyblade Masters and will likely play a large role in Kingdom Hearts 3, potentially as a playable character.

General Spoiler Warning: This post will dive into the events leading up to Kingdom Hearts 3 so beware of spoilers for all previous games.

  • General Info
  • Birth by Sleep
  • Kingdom Hearts
  • Chain of Memories
  • 358/2 Days
  • Kingdom Hearts 2
  • Dream Drop Distance
  • Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A fragmentary passage
  • Kingdom Hearts 3

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General Info

  • Voice actor: David Gallagher (English), Mamoru Miyano (Japanese)
  • Personality: Riku is always the coolest one in the room. He is the calm, cool, and collected main character who fears nothing. He is very competitive with Sora and others but ultimately cares for his friends. He is very mature but is also easily tempted to the dark side but that has changed over the course of the series.

Birth by Sleep

Riku is a very young boy at the start of Birth by Sleep living on the Destiny Islands. He was originallychosen to be a Keyblade wielder by Terra when he visited Destiny Islands during the events of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. The power passed on to him from Terra was supposed to enable him to have control of the Kingdom Key.

Kingdom Hearts

However, Rikku lost his ability to do so when he submitted to the Darkness during the events of Kingdom Hearts 1, which passed the Keyblade's power on to Sora. Throughout the series, Riku uses his a personal Keyblade named the Way to the Dawn.

In Kingdom Hearts 1, Riku opened the keyhole to Destiny Island and allowed the Heartless to invade and destroy his home. Riku was swallowed by the darkness and taken to Traverse Town. There he was found and manipulated by the sorceress Maleficent, who made him believe that Sora replaced him and Kairi with new friendsDonald and Goofy. Riku joined forces with Maleficent in order to help him find out where Kairi was located.

Over time, Riku was soon consumed by the power of Darkness and became a vessel to Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, a Heartless with great power and the main antagonist of the first Kingdom Hearts game. After being freed from his control, Riku helped Sora and King Mickey close the Door to Darkness at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1. The cost however was having both Riku and King Mickey stuck in the Dark Realm after closing the door.

Chain of Memories

Riku seeks a way out of the Dark Realm and eventually ends up in the bottom floor of Castle Oblivion. There he fights various members of Organization XIII and shortly after, feels the weight of his guilt for giving himself to the darkness and Ansem's power.

358/2 Days

During the events of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 and, later, Kingdom Hearts 2, Riku teams up with a man named DiZ. He learns that Sora is in a deep sleep state and will awaken in due time. He decides to watch over his friend for the time being until Sora reawakens. However, things are interrupted when Organization XIII tries to prevent Sora's reawakening through manipulating his memories.

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Riku seeks out Roxas, Sora's Nobody, in order to reclaim Sora's memories to speed up the reawakening process. After viciously battling with Roxas, Riku uses the Darkness within him to win the fight and takes the form of Ansem once again, but this time in complete control.

Kingdom Hearts 2

Riku remains in his Ansem form until the end of Kingdom Hearts 2, where he is vindicated from this form and with Sora's help. An explosion Ansem the Wise's machine purifies Riku's heart and restores him to his original form. Then Riku and Sora work together to defeat Xemnas at the end of Kingdom Hearts 2.

The two then find themselves stuck in the Dark Meridian until Sora is able to open a portal back to the Destiny Islands.The two are reunited with their friends, with Riku having a strong moment with King Mickey, in particular.

Dream Drop Distance

In Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Riku takes the Mark of Mastery exam with Sora and passes. He is given the title of Keyblade Master while Sora fails the exam. When Sora is captured, Riku sets out to save him and fights Young Xehanort before Master Xehanort himself.

After returning back to Mysterious Tower after saving Sora, Riku brings his friend Kairi to Master Yen Sid in hopes of her being able to help in the coming battle against Master Xehanort.

A fragmentary passage

King Mickey and Riku set off on a journey to save Aqua from the Realm of Darkness, with the mission likely to occur in Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kingdom Hearts 3

Riku is likely to be one of the 7 Guardians of Light heroes in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3. It is confirmed that Sora won't be the only playable character so it is possible that Riku will also be playable. Riku and King Mickey are on a mission in the game to save Aqua.

Up Next: Kairi

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Top Guide Sections

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In This Guide

Riku - Kingdom Hearts 3 Guide - IGN (1)

Kingdom Hearts III

Square Enix

ESRB: Everyone 10+
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Riku - Kingdom Hearts 3 Guide - IGN (2024)
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