Terra Isn't Dumb | Kingdom Hearts Character Analysis
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- Terra from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep isn't dumb, and in this video I'll analyze his character and explain why. What may seem obvious to players who grew up with Disney movies and previous KH games does not apply to characters within the universe, and I've broken down Terra's actions throughout his story as well as discussed the actions of other characters to bring a more nuanced analysis of the game. Patreon: / dorked
If you like what I do, consider subscribing and check out some of my other analytical content: • The Truth About Papyru... While a lot of it is Undertale and Deltarune, I hope to branch out to more Kingdom Hearts content and other fandoms, such as SatAM Sonic, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and others at some point while still keeping the UT/DR train going strong.
My main Kingdom Hearts fic, Antipode: archiveofourown.org/series/18376
My other Kingdom Hearts fic, Hurricane Heartbeat: archiveofourown.org/series/16...
My Undertale webcomic: invertedfate.com/chapters
Primary video source: kh-vids.net
Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
1:07 - A Rigged Exam
4:39 - The Journey Begins
7:00 - Fallout and Consequence
12:01 - The True Tragedy of Birth by Sleep
15:34 - Conclusion
#kingdomhearts #birthbysleep #terra #aqua #xehanort #kingdomheartsbirthbysleep - Hry
Don't worry! Undertale/Deltarune content isn't going anywhere- I just wanna branch out and give some of my other fandoms love on occasion. :) Wanna see more KH content? Lemme know what sorta topics you'd like me to cover! Don't forget to visit my Patreon if you wanna support what I do: patreon.com/dorked If you wanna check out my Kingdom Hearts fics, I have two main projects, Antipode: archiveofourown.org/series/18376 and Hurricane Heartbeat: archiveofourown.org/series/1607731 Hurricane is on hold while I rework the plans for the sequel, and Antipode is ongoing (though the first fic will eventually be remastered). I also do an Undertale webcomic at invertedfate.com/chapters If you missed my latest video, check it out here: czcams.com/video/bc6E7bQg3HA/video.html
Love the video
@@AdvancedPersonalMotivation Eyy, thanks a bunch!
Hey dorked, I noticed something about Lost Girl/Find Her. Theres a section in the song that sounds like a slightly different version of a part of the Freedom leitmotif. I dunno how I noticed this, and I dunno if its a coincidence. Hmmmm
I just realized, AGAIN, that the part of the Freedom leitmotif only appears in BIG SHOT. So its not Dess' theme that uses the Freedom leitmotif, but instead, its BIG SHOT using Dess' theme
Also, I think Sweet cap'n cakes little CD song is actually using Alphys' leitmotif
Ok this is actually really good and i really want to see a analysis on aqua and ventus
"Hades! You WERE just playing me!"
That wasn't surprise in Terra's voice, it was confirmation. He was suspicious of Hades from the beginning but couldn't be certain until that moment.
Yeah, exactly. Terra was just playing along. He never trusted Hades.
@@Dorked Yes, and was confident he could deal with whatever Hades threw at him, which he did. He was pretty much springing the trap, knowing it would most likely be something he could handle.
@@DiogoJ1 Which turned out to be true, anyway- he saved Zack, after all.
@@Dorked not just that, Hades wasn’t even 100% lying in the stuff he said. Terra went along with it cus Hades was being logical, but was cautious cuz he felt Hades was deceptive.
have i played kingdom hearts? no. do i have a disturbing amount of knowledge on the franchise regardless? yes. did i enjoy this video no matter what? also yes.
Awesome! :D The fact that people can still enjoy the content even if it's something they're less familiar with is definitely a relief.
@@Dorked your content is always great! btw, i would love to see a video on riku and kairi! i know a lot about sora and riku's friendship as well as sora and kairi, but i think not a lot of focus is put on riku and kairi. i would love to hear your thoughts on the matter
It's funny how KH is so infamous for its definitely not confusing story
@@tenderquirkydragon8643 I think a big reason why KH feels so confusing to people who aren't into it is because of the way the series was initially released. Because they spread it across so many consoles and across so many games, those who weren't like... deep in the KH brainrot got frustrated at how much extra stuff there was to learn to understand the story. If you actually do consume all the content, it's not that bad. But it does make the series' accessibility a bit daunting.
wait you never even played it? That's actually really cool that the story has managed to capture you still.
I hope you try it someday. KH1 changed my young life.
Dark road explains a lot about why Eraqus makes the mistakes he does, but it’s his lack of faith in Terra that destroys their family. When Terra expressed darkness during the exam he immediately suppresses it he made the right choice. Eraqus fails him out of fear and his own phobia’s because of Balder. His actions in sending Aqua to spy on Terra served only to alienate Ventus and Terra. The next saga of games should show the bbs trio growing beyond their masters teachings. The three friends mastering the darkness that afflicts them.
Yeah, Dark Road can only explain- it doesn't excuse. Terra was very conscious of his darkness, yet Eraqus treated Terra so harshly. Though Xehanort's letter also predisposed Eraqus into distrusting Terra, too, which doesn't help. I'd really love to see Terra get a chance to really grow into his own alongside Ven and Aqua. KH3 at least had Eraqus and Terra make some kind of amends, though I do think there was more that could've been said.
>"The three friends mastering the darkness that afflicts them."
They did go directly into the Realm of Darkness as a trio at the end of KH3, so that's the ideal lead-in to exactly that arc for them; I'd think. I'd even wager, it'll be a chance for _Terra_ to keep _Aqua_ from falling into the worst of the darkness; as he has more insight into and experience with it than she does. It'll also be interesting to see how being in the Realm of Darkness affects Ventus, seeing as he's pure light incarnate now; also, I wonder if "Darkness" will present itself to Ventus in the darkness. I think that's the biggest wild card and test waiting for the trio in the RoD, at least assuming "Darkness" didn't fade away with Vanitas.
@@RadiantDarkBlaze actually... hot take here but I think Darkness is NOT part of Ventus anymore... but SORA! Think about it, since KHII Sora has the ability to enter Anti(Rage) Form. Most people thought it was just a gameplay mechanic, not canon since it is stated many times that Sora has no darkness in his heart... but then what is that form? and furthermore, if it isn't "canon", then why plays this form a MAJOR part in the final battle? Because at one point, do to Xehanorts meddling, Sora is FORCED into Rage Form, and has to strike down Xehanort, then the tides turn and Sora turns back to normal, and we see a Dark Version of Xehanort instead sitting on one of the 13 pillars. This is MANDATORY to happen, it can't be skipped so it is not optional. That means that this reveals darkness is inside Sora... maybe the darkness that was originally inside Ventus? One can only wonder...
@@NeroDeAngelo That is a good theory but "Sora having no darkness" is very flat out wrong. Yes he stands in the side of light but there are no claims that he holds absolutely no darkness. If that was the case, he wouldn't have been able to become a Heartless in KH1. The only known KH characters who hold no darkness are Kairi (as Princess of Heart) and Ventus (because it was forcibly stripped from him).
I really liked that you mention Terra empathy and emotional maturity. I really love that one scene when Cinderella talks about her dreams and Terra is just so invested in helping her. Terra have high awareness about emotions, and in the series, light and darkness, that makes the two draw to him, and that's why during his journey Xehanort and Eraqus tries so much to influence him. During Terra adventures Terra is not just falling into darkness, he's experiencing the conflict between light and darkness
I also like to metion something about the "setting" with the Birth by Sleep cast. They show in the clothes and fighting style more a samurai inspiration. I may not know the full picture, but I see that in a lot of East stories the classic villain is someone manipulative that uses compliments and small talk to get control, while in the West they're more direct and lie outright, so when in the start Xehanort start influencing Terra, it's not to show that Terra is "dumb" but that Xehanort is being evil and Terra is falling into some tragedy. Meanwhile, when Eraqus tries to kill later Ven, it's more of a surprise, showing that even the more serious, demanding master that is usually the "ideal" teacher, has also failed Terra. Eraqus expected to Terra just surpass the Darkness, and didn't understand how to guide his students into a better way of dealing with it, and the BBS trio suffered for that, but even then Terra still kept on as the Lingering Will. If the intention was just "Terra is dumb. Look how dumb he's" he would just had fallen into Darkness with no resisting or persistence against the wrong doings he sees, but instead he fights the Darkness, trying to find the best way to do, and in that confusion someone more experienced like Xehanort manipulates him, and even after that Terra continued. He's a traffic hero by every definition I can see
(Sorry if that was big or confusing XD) For more KH ideas for videos, you mentioned about Eraqus and Xehanort during Dark Road and I don't see a lot of people talking about ways or how these two characters have changed so much from their younger to older selfs, nor the traits they had since young and that only got worse as time has gone, but this is just a idea. The Replica Riku seems interesting too. Great video, and you expressed well into words what I felt was the intention of Terra journey, thanks
Yeah, a big, BIG thing with Terra that I love is that he's just... such a warm, loving presence? The fact that someone with such a big heart can grapple with darkness, in a way, shows that darkness is not so simple as being evil. When Terra's darkness *does* flare up against Braig and later with Eraqus, it's out of a noble desire to protect. First Xehanort, and then Ven. If anything, the path Terra walks is more idealized than Riku in KH1, because where Riku in KH1 wavers in his trust and belief in his best friend, Terra never loses sight of what matters and holds them close through it all. Not to knock Riku in the first game, because his flaws are part of what makes his arc so compelling. I just think it's neat!
The observations about eastern vs western observations are really interesting! :) Eraqus is another deeply flawed character, and he makes some really awful choices, but I think at the same time, he thinks what he is doing is right in the moment. At the very least, he does come to his senses and realize he took it too far, but I absolutely agree that the complexity to the character actions and movies go to show that the writing never was as simplistic as "Terra dumb and this is his fault."
I think an Eraqus and Xehanort video would be interesting, but I'd definitely have to take some time to formulate thoughts. A revisit of Dark Road would be absolutely necessary because there's just so much to unpack there. Dark Road recontextualizes a lot in the series, haha. But overall, I did enjoy its story, even if I have some minor gripes.
That's an excellent point.
@@Dorked Since you said that Terra's biggest critics come from the perspective of the player, it reminds me of the criticism of analysing Eastern material from the perspective of a Western audience, being that a difference in cultural upbringing means that certain themes are lost overseas. While that's already been discussed here, I can kinda understand because going from KH II to BBS is like going from the Original Trilogy straight onto the Prequels since the Star Wars allusions are all there for those who recognize them. I'd imagine it's mostly to do with all the major antagonists up to this point being up front and honest about their sinister intentions: Maleficent you've already covered, but Ansem, Seeker of Darkness thinks of himself as showing people what they truly are and Xemnas' use of culling the Heartless for his ends is sorta like Thanos in a way. So they were expecting the trio to recognize Xehanort as evil as soon as he was introduced because we know that his Heartless and Nobody tried to win in combat. Except so did Palpatine in Return of the Jedi because he was so dominant and certain of victory, or so they may tell themselves. When people pick on the Prequels, they miss the point of them being period pieces relative to A New Hope and so are helpless against the temptation to "give into your anger". Sure enough, Xehanort is Palpatine, Eraqus is the Jedi Council.
He’s so warm and emotionally aware. And he’s not afraid to go off the beaten path. He also is keen on what’s important. And we also need to be aware that these characters haven’t seen the plot of the movies, since in their lives not everything is judged by appearance alone. He doesn’t judge by an outfit. He’s like “ok. How can I help?” And I respect that.
This is why my husband reminds me so much of him, and why he’s my favorite character.
Only thing I will get mad at is his inability to dodge in the early game.
@@JackieOwl94 He still sucks at dodging in the late game, at least when it came to super bosses like No Heart, Eraqus's Armor, Lingering Spirit, and Mysterious Figure.
Other than that, I do agree with what's been said about Terra.
Thank you for mentioning Aqua's role in pushing Terra away and her willingness to attack people she hasn't even met yet. People act like she's this perfect soft mother figure but she functions very much as an echo of Eraqus' voice for much of Terra's arc
I think that Aqua's fault is a major plot point and one that gets overlooked because people love Aqua, but I think part of loving a character is acknowledging that they aren't perfect.
I can understand why he got upset. Imagine the know it all straight-A kid telling you that you suck at your most dedicated subject after you just failed a big exam while that same student is acting all high and mighty about it.
Sure, she didn’t mean to come off that way, but I can see Terra’s perspective. She treats both of them like children and has a compulsion to play mother-hen.
@@Dorked it’s sad cuz that conflict could’ve been so interesting if they gave her the time to have her properly wrestle with that moral issue but they never did
Seriously, Aqua sensed a little darkness in the 3 women and was about to come into their house and murder them XD
Aqua also echoes Eraqus in how she treats Ven. She sees him as a little boy who can’t defend himself and needs to go home, pushing him away at a point they need each other more than ever.
When Eraqus said Terra was obsessed with obtaining power, he was 100% just thinking of how much Terra worked out to get that sick set of side abs.
I would love to see a video on Yen Sid’s inactivity. He passively has allowed a lot of horrible things to occur, despite having the ability to do something. He’s the representation of “the good man doing nothing.”
Yeah, I agree with you 100%. I may need some time to figure out how I wanna structure it- and I do have that Deltarune video to do first- but it's definitely something I wanna workshop because I think he's a character a lot of people feel this way about, but it's just not often articulated. I could probably extend it to other characters in similar positions as him and how, unintentionally, the writing of KH makes them seem a bit too complacent at times.
Personally I wouldn't even mind that he's not doing anything if it weren't for the fact that he acts like he's concerned and wants other people to do things. If he's old, retired, and doesn't care if the universe goes to hell, then fine. But over time he gets more and more involved in overseeing the fight against darkness, making his lack of action more and more inexcusable.
If I were an old retired master, I might not want to do anything either. But as such, I don't claim to be anything special. You come to me seeking answers, I'd give you direction to an actual reliable source of leadership and tell you to gtfo.
@@Dorked Honestly he's probably the worst in KH3. Yes in BBS he really was passive and did nothing to stop the tragedy but in KH3, he's not only passive (except one meager scene), he fed onto Sora's insecurities from the end of DDD by emphasizing his lack of power and the Power of Waking. If there was a game that broke the last straw with that geezer, it's KH3. (I think I only preferred him in KH2 because he was introduced well and was actually knowledgeable, even despite the biases he fed Sora and co with)
@@Dorked yeahh its a shame how much Yen Sid's character has been ruined as the series progressed. Though him, and Mickey to a lesser extent, are victims of the writting in the series rather than having true intentional flaws of their own. They both were the earliest authority figures introduced to us in the series, and due to how its written, unraveling as each entry gets made, it means that in order to do twists a d turns on established lore or rules, they ended up being proven wrong and thus heavily harming their characters. With Mickey Nomura at least actively tried to write him out of the really bad look he was often left at, but even this was at Yen Sids detriment unfortunately as he was used as the fall guy/reason for Mickeys more questionable decisions, and unlike with Mickey, there's never been any attempt and setting the record straight for his character.
@@Dorked Yen Sid isn't alone, tbh. Mickey is great at encouraging these kids into dangerous situations and then abandoning them. See: him, sitting on the knowledge of Riku's fate for a year without telling anyone. And just deciding arbitrarily to leave Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. She has her faults, and exposure to that place makes them worse, but it's largely Mickey's responsibility as to why nobody ever, not once went back to fish her out. Heck, why couldn't *he* do it, if he was so skilled? What else was more important? She knew where Ven was, and her presence was important in terms of getting Terra back to himself. Mickey dropped the ball on all those kids. And all the while abandoning poor Minnie for years. It's a miracle she never left him.
I'm glad to see you able to branch out to more fandoms, like Kingdom Hearts. The way Terra is flanderized to be this bumbling fool in the Fandom feels like an injustice to his character. I also like how he's characterized in Antipode, for instance.
Thanks! Terra in Antipode certainly is a complicated beast because he's fallen so far from grace, and I feel bad because Terra is such a sweetheart. It's just in Antipode so many awful things have happened that have shaped him as he is now.
Terra is my favorite character in the entire series. He's not dumb, but he does come across as naive at times. I jokingly refer to him as that one home schooled kid who finally gets to go to college. Also, glad you pointed out Aqua's most infuriating flaw, that no one else ever seems to talk about. The fact that she took the words of an obvious villainess, over someone who is practically her brother and has supposedly known most of if not her entire life, about an incident. Hell, she never even asked Terra, "So, what happened?'
Terra: "I was being mind control."
An excellent analysis! Terra is honestly one of my favorite characters in the franchise and I've always been firmly of the opinion that he's not stupid even a little bit. He's a TEENAGER being emotionally manipulated and abused by the adult authority figures he should be able to rely on and trust. Eraqus says it outright at the end of KH3, apologizing for failing the Wayfinder Trio and trusting TERRA with looking after Aqua and Ven.
Yeah, I think people overlook that the Wayfinders are all still teens. Terra's like 19 or so, but that's still just BARELY an adult. And I imagine all three are pretty sheltered, not just Ven. It really is a case of them being thrust into a difficult situation without the time to really prepare themselves for it.
The Wayfinder trio were not dumb
Xehanort just took advantage of everyone’s vulnerability to have the events play out the way they did.
Honestly, Terra has always been my favorite character in the series. I’d say he’s a bigger tragic hero than Roxas because unlike the latter, Terra’s downfall is because of the active decisions of everyone involved. In the grand scheme of things, he doesn’t do a whole lot wrong. Mostly he just trusts his mentor’s goth friend and runs into the worst possible people on his journey (barring my girl, Cinderella). However, the preconceptions and abuse surrounding him set him on the track to being stripped of his personhood. In contrast, Roxas’s entire being is tragic due to his nature as a Nobody and what that means for Sora. I personally like tragic heroes whose fate could’ve been avoided if one of the supporting cast loosened their grip just a smidge.
I appreciate that you called out Aqua’s flaws while acknowledging that she’s a victim of Eraqus’s teachings as well. Painting her as a flawless sweetheart is a huge disservice to her character and her role in the story. BBS is a story of flawed people striking against each other until each of them are pushed over the edge to their tragic fate. It’s not a pretty story….
…..which makes the Guardian scene all the more worthwhile in KH3.
Well yeah... There is no competition here. Roxas maybe had to suffer through losing everything he cared about and then being forced "to merge" with Sora while everyone said to him "He has no right to be his own person" (Sora even denies this in DDD saying he deserved to be himself as much as anyone else)...
But Terra... Terra not only lost everyone he cared about... He had to LIVE THROUGH 10+ YEARS OF SUFFERING as Heartless Guardian - slave to Xehanort's whims and silent witness to atrocities he commits while using Terra's own body. And you can do nothing, you can say nothing... You can only watch as the will of Terranort forces you to raise hands of your twisted Heartless form to attack Aqua... Then Ansem SoD makes you attack Sora... Then Riku taps into powers of Ansem SoD's heart in him and makes you to choke Ventus look alike... And it is just a few instances we saw...
Seriously fate worse than death. And despite everything he didn't BREAK and KEPT trying to take control back - heck, in KH3 he DOES take back control over his Heartless form to save Aqua, Ventus and that spiky haired kid.
@@Ghostel3591 Honestly, that's related to a retcon that I am still not fond of. BBS very much implies that part of Terra remains in his body and the Gaurdian is just his darkness(Which, diffrent aspects of Terra being split into their own entities is already in the plot with Lingering Will). But then KH3 just says "no dude, it's the entirety of the heart".
It also makes the moment in 3D odd where he stops reaching out to Riku upon being denied. Before 3 came out, I always assumed the point of it was for it to be a mixed moment of acceptance and hopelessness because there was no salvation. But now that's just sorta not it, because er...there totally was, appearently.(Or at least I don't remember it being clear what was diffrent with what happened in 3, unless that was clarified in Remind. I only really know the vague details of that DLC, like how the one Darkness from KHX shows up)
@@lpfan4491 Really? I always thought that in the scene where we have a team attack with Aqua, it was more of Terra's heart speaking and cooperating with Aqua within Guardian. And I wouldn't say implications rather than red herring that probably made players think that. Remember that Nomura confirmed before that reveal that Guardian is not exactly a Heartless so I thought that gave big hints to its identity.
@@lilli7040 If it was supposed to be a red herring, then it's one of these moments where the red herring is cooler imo.
Absolutely amazing essay, on both Terra but also bbs as a whole too. Can't even choose what I like more, the acknowledgement of Terra being a sweet clever gold hearted sweetie, giving more light to aqua's main flaws who are not talked about enough around which make her more interesting, and the supreme smackdown on all the mentors, ESPECIALLY yen sid, who btw should also get all the "hate" that Mickey gets from fans and antiaqua lol (even if making fun of the rat is always funny) on top of what yen Sid does to Sora.
Generational trauma and mentors and adults being absolute failures may as well be kh's subtitle, it's a super interesting topic to me. Would be great for a video topic too I think!
I think the only real nitpick I would have to mention about the essay is whenever the topic of terra's own darkness came up, you tried to deflect and justify it by using it as being like artificially implanted at the beginning or maleficent, which I don't think that's the case. It was simply terra's normal natural and healthy darkness coming out to the surface in the match with aqua, since he was almost hit to the face by her and he most likely felt a pang of likely involuntary fear, jealousy and wish he could be strong enough to match or beat aqua and become a master, which are pretty reasonable emotions to feel at that moment. On top of this, the thing of "Terra being greedy for power" is pretty sure meant to imply that Terra wants to be strong to protect the people he cares about, which as a desire can be darkness, like how he gets all darkness-powered when protecting ven and it's not evil on its own, but eraqus' speech on the topic, which is overly exaggerated and biased, gaslights him into thinking this desire of his is wrong and evil. This is made clear when this disposition of Terra gets paralleled with riku's desire for strength to protect the things that matter later on, which Terra also realizes at the point.
Gosh what I wouldn't give for naminè and Riku to just get everyone together to explain (especially Sora needed it the most) that light and darkness are supposed to be used together and neither should be demonized. But that would not allow the characters to reach that on their own, so thats fine ahaha
About possible topics, I personally would love something about Riku and Sora, either by themselves or together, since there are nowhere near enough analysis on them, even if they are who the series is about, but that may be kind of extremely long and complicated since that's kind of the whole series, so the mentor thing may be better. But I do have a question for you! Since you went through mainly bbs in here, have you read or know about the backstory and actual motivation the bbs novel gave Vanitas? Which kh3 and dark road have heavily implied to be Canon, which makes sense since the novels are written by the cowriter of days and the kh3 profiles and more.
Nah, that's fair, tbh- the justification was definitely a stretch. I only brought it up in the sense that Xehanort was already shown to be manipulating and rigging the test, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. I appreciate such a thorough and respectful comment, and I'm glad the topics I brought up were engaging. The generational trauma aspect actually came to me as I was wrapping up the video and I was like, "hey, wait, I should talk about this." I think that's one benefit to me waiting to release this for long. I went back, revisited the script I wrote a year or two ago, and made some updates and improvements as I rewatched the scenes to get in the right mindset!
But yeah, I think it was just really bizarre wording on Eraqus' part? Like, Terra wanting to be strong to protect others and face his darkness and wanting to inspire strength in others IS a character trait. But the "fear of losing" and "obsession with power" felt like 100% Eraqus bias leaking in, if that makes sense.
I think KH in general could stand to have characters communicate better, tho. :P I think in BBS the communication failures make sense for the characters, but there are certainly moments where it's like "GUYS, JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER, AAAAA."
There are so many things that could be said about Sora and Riku both! And, hell, Kairi, who gets such a bad rep for reasons that more fall on the writers for not letting her do much, since there are some great moments with her... that are far and few between outside of supplementary materials like the KH2 manga. I have actually read the BBS manga, though I'll really have to look it over again with the Dark Road scenes. I actually wasn't sure if Dark Road was leaning into the novel backstory or disregarding it.
@@Dorked no problem, essays on KH like these are so SO rare, the only other series on youtube that I know of done with the seriousness and empathy like yours are just the series about analyzing the kh music, and the Constructing Kingdoms series by the Violet Howler.
Tbh I really really like how light and darkness are used in the series to show emotions, the connections between people and the absence of them, aka focusing toward other people vs focusing on yourself, and that the moral of the series is that its important for you to find a balance between both, to not be blinded by light at the cost of yourself and your mental and physical health, and to not be lead astray and hurt others just for your own goals.
Yeah, and don't forget that the entire reason eraqus even went on that tangent is because he was just paraphrasing what xehanort told him in the letter lmao so that's even doubly so a red herring description of Terra (which most fans of course just ate up as granted without reading between the lines)
Yeah communication is really good and these kids have never a break where they are together in a calm environment and to confide with each other. It's gonna happen again in the future I'm sure in a big moment of emotional vulnerability and revelation.
Oh yeah dark road is definitely leaning into the novels, since we see Vanitas hesitating and cowering a tiny bit when xehanort threatens him, which was something xehanort regularly did to "toughen him up", which would make no sense if the facade of "too cool and tough to be scared of anything" that Vanitas puts up in the games was his actual attitude. I dunno if they will ever actually show or acknowledge the actual details of the novel, vomit self harm and child abuse may be too spicy of a topic, but Vanitas is definitely going to be important in the future, especially with his kh3 speech about sacrificing himself to live horribly like he does so that ven and Sora can live like they do.
Oh one more question, do you know already about the 6 hearts no sacrifice thing from remind? 😯 Did you notice it?
@@Fannintendociccio1 Yeah, I see videos on occasion- like the Music of Kingdom Hearts series on the Green Requiem channel, and I'm sure other KH video essays exist. I just don't see them get a lotta traction outside of larger channels like RegularPat's stuff. Honestly, the way light and dark can represent emotions is really cool and it's one reason I've been so apprehensive about the introduction of the Darknesses in the mobile games. I do get that they're more orange and blue morality than necessarily evil, but I really do hope Nomura takes this in an interesting direction rather than backpedaling after Riku and Terra presented such complex takes on darkness.
Then again, after Dark Road and Xehanort's whole journey, and even Baldr being handled in a way that was cruel yet still sympathetic, maybe I'm worrying for nothing. xD
Eraqus and Xehanort's whole dynamic in BBS is interesting in that Xehanort hurt Eraqus badly and Eraqus was clearly angry about it, yet Eraqus gave him another chance. I think this shows that, deep down, Eraqus *wants* to believe in the good in people, which is consistent with his childhood days. It's just... darkness has caused him so much grief that he cannot see it as anything more than something to suppress and destroy. ...Terra and Elsa could really stand to talk about father figures pushing the idea of burying emotions and power. I wonder if anyone's explored that in fanworks yet.
And yeah, I did notice Vanitas showed a bit of vulnerability, now that you mention it. I definitely hope they go for something more nuanced than "he's just a Darkness and not his own being".
I'd have to look back at that in re:Mind. It's been a while since I checked out the DLC, but I don't mind a refresher!
@@Dorked definitely suggest the violet howler vids if you haven't seen those yet!
About the darknesses, I won't lie I was too perplexed, and I still am on the account we don't know what they represent fully yet, but seeing the other coin is MoM causing uncountable awful things in the name of light, it's safe to say they have the main moral still very much in mind, especially and obviously riku's. But we shall see of course!
Oh love the eraqus analysis you just wrote!! And yeah Elsa and Terra would be able to talk a lot, but I think fanworks haven't done that yet just cuz Riku was given major focus on paralleling him to Elsa, which yup checks out with the Riku and Terra stuff ahahah. Honestly excited to when maleficent and Riku will meet again, after the convo between Riku and Ansem sod.
Oh yeah I definitely had for a while that same fear about Vanitas, but I think it's less worrying that it is. I think what Vanitas actually is, is simply what we thought of back then in bbs, a piece of ventus' heart plus Ven's darkness, just that now the new Darkness was also present and Vanitas is either also made from, powered up or has it like ventus did. It's kinda already canon since, after Vanitas's piece of heart returned to ventus in bbs and the two reunited, what was left out is just Darkness, who has nowhere near the same personality as Vanitas in remind. In Union cross Darkness did take away ventus' darkness forcibly, but without the piece of ventus' heart, or his own heart in general, Vanitas doesn't really exist. Vanitas is highly insecure and confused on the matter, in kh3 he contradicts himself and just doesn't know, the kh3 novel and profiles just show how absolutely lost he is on who and what he actually is, and basically out of spite to xehanort and the world decides he is darkness in kh3 at the end. Its a redemption arc just begging to start lol. (No Sora adjacent character can be left out after all!)
Ah so, basically, this is more like lore analysis than character analysis, but Sora mentions to chirithy that before saving kairi in remind, he has "already saved 6 hearts, what's on more?" Which is the definite confirmation that something wrong is going on with sora's memory of rikus sacrifice. Especially in the novel but also the game, he cannot remember that event at all, to the point that he doesn't remember he saved 7 hearts in total, no just 6. It's hilarious seeing how many fans didn't notice or really believe he saved just 6 too, they are getting gaslighted by the game in real time lmao. I can list the other examples of this if you wanna.
Here's this one video I watched that has a section near the beginning quickly analyzing Riku's character and his redemption arc.
czcams.com/video/mxdR6QxTmek/video.html
One of the most telling moments in BBS to me is the scene at the keyboard graveyard just before each character's respective final clash. Aqua implies that darkness is nothing more than anger and hatred, refusing or failing to acknowledge that, like light, there's more to darkness than meets the eye, and perhaps things like fear, doubt, uncertainty, regret, and powerlessness. It always felt extremely dismissive of everything that Terra goes through as just impulsion and anger.
It doesn't help that a lot players start with ven's quest line first and see the splitup at radiant garden and aqua's quote of "I've been to the same worlds you have, I've seen what you've done" and automatically assume the worst, that he's willfully helping those aligned with darkness, just to gain power.
On the gaining power note, it's worth noting that eraqus saying that is likely him misinterpreting Terra's constant want to better himself and be stronger as seeking power when, as evident during the scene on destiny island, it's his desire to protect the things that matter, like his friends, that drives him on.
Also, weird thing, but Terra almost seems to have some foresight? I remember in addition to the scene on destiny island where he sees a vision of young Xehanort, then older riku, there's another scene where he has a vision of the battle at the keyboard graveyard. I feel like that isn't acknowledged in general as much as it should be
I refuse to edit out the keyboard graveyard typo, it's way too funny
The Power comment is the inability to separate the way Light sees Love and Power versus the way Darkness sees Love and Power. It is the difference between the Power of Friendship the way Ventus describes it, and Power as Domination and Status, the way Darkness thinks power is.
This comes to a Head when Terra uses Darkness to protect Ventus, the one he loves as a Brother. Eraqus sees that protection with Darkness as Darkness.
Terra gets the visions because he has made connection with Children of Destiny (Ventus, Riku, Sora, Xehanort) and Darkness. They empathically pass information through their Hearts which transcend Time and Space.
I actually thought that when Aqua said she saw what Terra did, she was going to be a bad guy, especially when Ventus said “You’re horrible!” I had faith in my man Terra, and I felt a little bad for thinking Aqua was a jerk.
"Keyboard Graveyard" is a funny mistake. It sounds like a place where keyboard warriors fight to the death over their favorite video game and anime characters.
@@mysterC58 There are Theories that Kingdom Hearts in the Meta is literally Us. Nomura and team generate it and then, we see It, (The Light) and fight over it.
@@Fragmentsinfractals488 People have been fighting for centuries. You can apply that to almost anything, I guess.
This is now my favorite video about Terra! I love how thorough you were in detailing Terra's ACTUAL actions and mindset in regard to Disney villains and Xehanort. As well as his insecurities from his exam failure and being "othered" by Aqua (and by order of Eraqus).
Eraqus taught his students that Darkness is the enemy and should be feared, hated, and destroyed. If Terra has darkness in his heart, to the point where he failed his exam because of it, that may give rise to fears of being seen as a problem, even an enemy, by his family.
Aqua admitting to keeping tabs on him, and even doubting him for no good reason, firmly cemented his idea that he was now seem as a problem by his family (aside from Ven).
I'd also like to add that, in the case of Deep Space, Terra had been imprisoned with no reason as to why. He can't really trust those that imprisoned him.
A fellow prisoner tells him that the System of Law they're victims of is corrupt, as they imprison anyone strong enough to potentially oppose that system.
Of course he's going to investigate the lead he has with the fellow prisoner, as interacting with the seemingly corrupt Law Enforcement would likely only lead him back into a cell or to a fight with an established society that he shouldn't be messing with, nor has the time to.
Terra was only ever successfully manipulated by three people, Xehanort, Jumba (I think I spelled that right), and Hook. Each time was perfectly understandable.
Rage Awakened continues to hit different regardless of context.
Excellent video, I enjoy the defense of Terra. My boy gets too many unjustified accusations, and Aqua gets too much of a free pass for her own character flaws. I love both of them dearly, but discussion about the two often doesn't feel like it's in good faith.
By all accounts I want all of the videos you mentioned, but I'm especially interested in that Riku Replica video. The utter indifference towards his entire existence within the fandom is frankly depressing, and I'd love to hear more appreciation of his individuality, how significant he was towards Riku's arc, the narrative themes he introduced to the franchise, etc. The boy did so much for this series, yet people like to pretend he doesn't even exist.
Full bias, though, if I may make a suggestion, I'd really like some analysis of Ansem Seeker of Darkness, personally. I don't really know what on specifically, but I feel like he tends to get overshadowed by the other Xehanort incarnations, when there's still plenty to analyze about him as an individual that tends to go unacknowledged.
Riku Replica gets way too much flak for being "just another Riku" when I feel like there's a deeply compelling tragedy to his character, and it's a shame that he was brought back just to be written off again. As a fan of the character, it's just so unsatisfying.
@@Dorked The thing is, Riku Replica's Memories are in Namine's body now.
@@Dorked Wait, actually? I was super excited to see him in KH3(I straight up cheered at the trailer that showed him, lol) and even tho it made the mood muddy that he's just dead for good now, it was also a pretty great exit-scene.
Thanks for this video, I've always been on the 'Terra isn't dumb' boat. Between Xehanort's machinations and the Light side's tendency to be tunneled visioned, Terra with his own need to reaffirm his worth as a Keyblade Wielder was almost bound to be taken advantage of in some form. It almost reminds me of why Anakin Skywalker fell from grace, with having his insecurities being played into by someone with power and authority. He's more interesting than either Ven or Aqua to me on that basis alone.
Yeah, I think the big difference between Terra and Anakin is... Terra came out of it a much better person? His morals remained intact. He never went "too far" and everything he did was out of genuinely good intentions. Even Riku in KH1, who I adore, crossed a lot more moral lines and was willing to go much further and ended up far more cruel for a time. He got better, of course, but I like that Terra wasn't a repeat of Riku.
It’d be awesome to see that Yensid video. He REALLY should’ve done so much more during the events of all the games
Yeah, I chalk up Yen Sid's situation to the writers not really... handling the idea of him as well as they coulda. But in-universe it doesn't reflect well on him.
oh i'd love a video about riku's and kairis relationship! honestly feel like it's been neglected in the last games and am hoping them growing apart is acknowledged
Yeah, I'm really frustrated with how KH3 didn't let them talk to each other because before Melody of Memory, their last interaction was in 0.2, which was years before. KH3 had a lot of dynamics go overlooked, but for some reason Riku and Kairi's absence of interaction stung the most because Sora and Kairi got their paopu scene while Riku was off to the side. It just felt iffy and I would've preferred if all three started the scene together and then Riku gave them some space.
The problem is with Eraqus. Eraqus is repeating the mistakes that Keyblade wielders have made for generations. They become so devoted and blinded by light that when the darkness comes they are unprepared to deal with it and become infected and consumed by it. We saw this in KHx with the Keyblade War. We saw this in Dark Road with Baldur.
Eraqus came to hate darkness so much they he could never have been able to train someone like Terra properly.
Xehanort on the other hand realized that if one did not want to be consumed by darkness, they had to learn to control darkness rather than it control them. Thus spending his life studying it and mastering it. And as we saw by them he reaches his old age, Xehanort is always in control of the darkness and can control darkness in others. Sadly, he also came to conclusion that since the current state of the worlds was built on the misguided ideology of the ancient Keyblade wielders, he would need to destroy the worlds as they are and create a new shaped in the image of his own ideology. Xehanort wasn’t necessarily wrong, he was just an extremist. Neither Eraqus or Xehanort came to the right solution and thus why Eraqus told Xehanort in the end it was too late for them to solve this, but not for Sora and his friends.
Ironically I think the person who has come close to achieving true mastery of darkness and light is Riku. Riku gained such control over his darkness that Young Xehanort admits in KH3D they are unable to manipulate him like Ansem did in the past. Riku continues to use darkness in combat, yet the threat of it consuming him is gone. In a lot of ways Riku is what Xehanort and Terra should have become.
Ive always seen Terra as a very trusting but sheltered guy. Like he was probably taught to see the good in everyone because of all the talk of light in everyones heart plus why would immeditaly doubt the first people he meets at the different worlds. Then finding out your "dad" doesnt trust you to make the right choices and have your sister spy on you would piss off anyone. Terra has always gotten the short end of the stick from the fan base but Ill always fight that Terra is the best🤎
I've been looking forward to this, and as we discussed already, I share many of your thoughts! It's great to see this put together in a video!
Ooh, that IS a good one! :) I think there's definitely a lot of weird... idk if projecting is the right word, but this idea that Riku was malicious to them is so weird when he was shown to be very remorseful when he did defeat and capture Roxas. I think it was a very difficult place to be in because these were *people*, but Sora needed to awaken.
@@Dorked Yea, that are my thoughts also. Also there is like. The whole scene with Xion where she *asks* if he hates her and he outright denies it and I have no idea why he would feel differently about Roxas. But idek. Fandom be fandom...
That's a very good point. There was a lot going on in regard to character interactions between Riku, Roxas, Xion, Namine and Axel regarding 358/2 days due to DiZ being determined to get revenge on Xemnas and the Organization. At the time, I remember being very conflicted due to seeing the arguments between Riku and Xion due to the necessity of getting Sora's memories back, but it was clear to me that Riku was very reluctant about the whole affair due to what he learned from KH1 and Chain of Memories.
As someone in that camp, I think I might've confused Riku with also having the same ideals as DiZ, since I can't actually remember any instances of Riku treating them like trash. It might've also stemmed from the scene where Riku beats Xion that made me think he hates them, especially since admittedly I'm a bit biased against Days Riku after having grown pretty attached to the sea salt trio in general after having played part of Days and read both the Days manga and novel.
Hell yeah! Terra! Yeah I’m kind of a Terra simp lol
It honestly makes me glad to see others shine a light on Terra and break down the criticisms towards him. To me: Terra is a complex character, and to me, the most human. One with insecurities, doubts, and real emotions. I know there are more complex characters in Kingdom Hearts, but Terra is the one who caught my eye the most. And after playing Birth by Sleep a few times and really appreciating his character (more than his good looks), I think it’s safe to say that I really appreciate how complex and human Terra is. And that’s why I love this character so much!
Sorry for the ramble, like I said in the beginning: Terra simp lol😅
Honestly, I feel like the Birth by Sleep trio in general gets boiled down to really flat archetypes that aren't even always applicable to their personalities. Terra is one big example, but I'd argue it applies just as much to Aqua and Ven. Aqua gets boiled down to "wise warrior who can do no wrong and cleans up after the boys" when she... makes plenty of messes and mistakes herself and can be really impulsive and self-righteous. People infantalize Ven so much, and it drives me nuts when his whole arc is a character journey of growing up and showing he can stand on his own two feet. So yeah, I feel you! I'd love to do more KH content in the future because I have SO many thoughts...
@@Dorked Right?! Ven and Aqua are just human, they have moments of character development and make their share of mistakes too! It’s not just Terra, after all!
If you do decide to make more Kingdom Hearts content, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the series! 😊
Honestly, part of why people look at Terra and say he is dumb all around is also... The fact that we see a LOT more than what our characters do.
We see Xehanort manipulate the orbs,the people and doing other evil things like creating Vanitas all the time and often, so we, the player, KNOW that Xehanort is evil... Which makes this discussion complex when you consider that, as you explained, if you read it carefully it's the opposite in universe.
The context of the scene says "manipulation", but the game too often mixes it with OUR context, which makes the wrong message arrive.
That is not to say that a game of thing kind could have avoided it easily. Once you play one campaign the issue returns to square one, but it's just something that is too in your face to really distinguish it easily
A Terra defense video??
The recommended tab does good sometimes
Glad it did its job. :D Since this is a bit outside what I've put out on this channel (I usually do Undertale and Deltarune stuff), it's reaching a smaller audience, I think. xD It's kinda my hope to be able to juggle both, because KH is a series I care a lot about, and I have a lot of thoughts that I'd love to share that I feel don't get as much discussion.
I've been playing through BBS again and you upload this video, I didn't even know you liked KH! This is great timing and super exciting
Eyyy, awesome. B) I hope you enjoy! I had this scripted over a year ago and just kept putting it off. I'm glad I finally got around to it!
I always found it funny how people took issue with Terra trusting Xehanort, Maleficent, and Hook because they're "obviously evil" when worlds like Halloweentown exist.
I was convinced that Terra isn't so dumb earlier this year, but seeing more people covering it makes me very happy. Especially from a channel that I don't follow for Kingdom Hearts content, but for content on a completely different game series.
Kingdom Hearts fans truly are everywhere.
:D
Eyyy, thanks! Like I said, the UT/DR content isn't going anywhere. It's just nice to try and branch out every now and then and cover other series I love. :) Rest assured, I still have a LOT to talk about for my primary fandom focus. But yeah, Terra being dumb is one of those mischaracterizations that's driven me nuts for the last decade or so and I've been meaning to make a rebuttal for quite some time. xD
Out of the three, Terra is my favorite. He is so misunderstood and stomped on so much, and it sucks. You said everything I think about when people say the Terra sucks, so very well done. Also, I would love to see the other Kingdom Hearts video ideas you have (since it is my favorite franchise and have been playing it since I was 4)
Been excited for this. I like Terra and hope we get to see more of him in the games going forward.
Just got to the point about a potential yen sid video. I hope you make that,yen sid is responsible for so much because he NEVER does anything despite having power and knowledge of certain things.
Yeah, I think it'd be cool to at least get some more BBS trio content on occasion. I doubt they'll be at the forefront, but there is still a lot to explore with Ven in particular due to Union Cross.
I loved Terra because I related to him the most out of every kingdom heart's character. I even have his good luck charm.
JUSTICE FOR TERRA!!
My boy did nothing wrong!
IT'S TRUE, THOUGH. Like... of all the characters in BBS, you can argue he's the one who made the fewest big mistakes. I love all three of them to bits, but the number of big screw-ups on Terra's part are in the single digits, I feel. xD
Terra doesn't judge people by appearances, and ends up helping villains because of it. He aids people unconditionally, and is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Riku, however, knows for a fact that the VIllains Vendetta are all very bad people, and still chooses to help them by doing bad things, because they can benefit him by finding him Kairi.
I feel like people don't address this enough. Riku KNEW that these people wanted to manipulate him, but still chose to work with them and let them convince him that his best friend that he's known his entire life had immediately replaced him with new friends. And yet, Terra is the dumb one? To be fair, I'm pretty sure Riku was younger than Terra was at the time he went on his adventure, but he still seems very aware of what's going on with the villains. But Riku learns his lesson, eventually... Y'know, after almost allowing the entire universe to be snuffed out by Ansem.
Congrats on the vid, Dork! Been looking forward to it since seeing the WIPs on Pateron! Terra is honestly my favorite character in BBS, and it's about time someone spoke up for him!
Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for all the support! I'm just glad I finally got this out. xD
You certainly have convinced me. It definitely makes sense when you consider how well respected Xehanort is by Eraqus, Aqua, and Ven.
Aqua is similar, yet different to Terra. Her desire to protect and do good in the worlds is a fault to her. She is arguably more impulsive than Terra and has insecurities as him, being so afraid of not being able to protect others that she takes words at face value and rushes off before she hears the full story. Terra on the other hand, listens to people, gives them a chance to explain their stance, and reflects on things before coming to an informed decision.
On the topic of Yen Sid, my friends and I have joked that he is actually a villain by not telling people things, like Aqua about how Master Xehanort has been trying to recreate the keyblade war. We also use Yen Sid making Sora start over at the beginning of every game.
"No doubt you fancy yourselves masters already... forget what you know about the keyblade, and begin your training again with a clean slate."
I'd like to see a video on him.
Said so much better than I ever could articulate. I remember being floored when I saw the amount of people who dismissed Terra as being an idiot and the outright hatred for the character. He's been my favorite character since I finally got to play BBS when it released as a part of 2.5, and your highlighting his emotional maturity just makes me appreciate him all the more; it's been years since I'd played, so I'd forgotten that aspect of his character. Great essay!
Thanks a bunch! Honestly, revisiting BBS to make this video gave me an even greater appreciation for the nuances of Terra's character, tbh, and seeing a lot of similar bad faith discussion about Ven, it kinda makes me wanna tackle him next. xD
Thank you for the amazing Terra analysis 🙏 Dark Road definitely showed more to Terra & Aqua's experience as they weren't fully prepared to experience the outside worlds. Terra's story is very much about how a fresh adult thinking they're smart enough to not be manipulated only to find out that it's not true & was already happening before he even got a chance to leave.
Also, I'm glad you pointed out how Eraqus could have been wrong for calling Terra out for being so caught up with power. I never realized there's a chance that he could have been wrong; it's always good to remember that KH is purposely full of unreliable narrators so that people can search more depth into this series to come away with your view on it which is the way Nomura creates this story. Like, on purpose lol
But yea, thank you so much for creating this vid & hopefully you make more! (altho ofc you don't hafta ^^b)
Yeah, I think the use of unreliable narrators in fiction can be a really impactful one, but I think we're often trained as consumers of media to take these things at face value. Unreliable narrator just isn't used as much these days, I feel, so it's not always obvious when it's a trope being deployed. 100% with you that Nomura is sneaky like that.
I definitely wanna do more KH content as well as my usual Undertale and Deltarune stuff. Just gotta find the right balance- probably gonna alternate. xD
@@Dorked yep! I love how sneaky Nomura is with the way the story is told to us tbh lol it can get frustrating with people who talk like they kno KH but refuse to dive in, making it everyone else's problem when they're loud about it. Overall tho, it's still a pretty exciting time trying to piece together everything, & talk & listen with others ^^
I wish you luck with finding that balance! I'm def coming back whenever you make more KH vids ^^b
Ngl I was surprised by the fact that this is (apparently) your first KH Discussion video, so well put out, well thought with great points, would love to see more of these
Saying Terra is dumb really feels like an oversimplification of what's actually being shown in the story. This was a great video, looking forward to any KH content you put out in the future!
Yeah you make really great points! I honestly really relate to Terra in this aspect. I love Terra, he's one of my fav KH characters (along with Ven and Aqua), and I do find it important to acknowledge in-universe context as well and dive into the bigger picture.
I just love all of the Wayfinder Trio, I love and appreciate their characters and arcs and their dynamics, and I just love Birth by Sleep so so very much! Definitely one of my fav KH games!!! I really hope the Wayfinder Trio makes more appearances in a future game!
Would love to see more KH stuff and those ideas that you have at the end would be great!
I want to say thank you for this wonderful video of terra not being the fool almost everyone in the kh fandom claim him to be like terra is my fav character in the game and it hurts of hearing so many people will misjudged him and usually think he an idiot for the events that happen in his journey he not a bad person and has full trust in his friends even if sadly the feeling was mutual on his part beside that even if he has darkness not once he used it to hurt others but to protect those around him he kind person that just want to help people like his friends do
Happy to help! I've always liked Terra, but it's been so frustrating seeing people dunk on him and the Wayfinders constantly. xD I know what it's like to have less popular favs- BIG Riku Replica fan, which certainly does make me a bit of an oddball myself, haha.
@@Dorked so happy there more people beside me that like him terra don't deserve the hate he gets and you not an oddball it tough defend those who unpopular in the fandom sadly but it people like you make me smile to show terra, riku replica and other guys deserve much praise just as much
Terra gets a lot of flak for basically no reason. I’ve always likened him to basically being an Anakin dumped into KH (which is funny with mark hamil as Eraqus), someone who is very compassionate but prone to being manipulated due to a lifetime of needing to be someone he isn’t and searching for his validation, something his mentors never really trust him with. His friends not trusting him makes him feel even worse but he still tries his best to move forward.
Terra is calm and stoic unlike every prejudice against his darkness, and never acts in genuine anger until the tail end of the game. I actually do like how he isn’t immediately talking down to the villains and trying his best to understand their arguments for the darkness, while also sympathizing with the disney princesses/zack with their plights. He has the more balanced story between the three with the other two characters not really having full interactions. I’m also a huge sucker for the fact that his compassion and will was so strong that it managed to defeat Xehanort single handedly. Plus he gets to beat the shit out of Peter Pan. He’s a great character and my second favorite KH member next to Roxas.
very glad you're branching into kh videos!! i love antipode very much and need to catch up honestly ive been stuck trying to reread up to all that's left for a while now
A very insightful and in-depth analysis of Terra's character and his multiple influences. Enjoyable and well written. I like this!
By far my favorite character. I’ll never not hate how the fans treated my boy. As much as I love Aqua, her fans have made me dislike her a little. But then I try to remember what really happened and she becomes one of my favorites again. She’s his biggest supporter and his polar opposite I’m almost every way, but because of that they become even more compatible.
What a great video and well thought out argument! I really enjoyed watching this and agree with you. 😌
Just found your channel by chance, but would totally like to see that Yen Sid video. I have so many grievances with that dude. Also definitely going to try your fanfics.
Yours isn't the first "Terra is not an idiot" analysis I've seen, but it is the most well organized and well scripted! I doubt you'll ever even see this comment, but I just wanted to get it out there and say I appreciate your video - I found especially interesting the bit about how Terra and Aqua are sort of subversions of the type of character you'd expect them to be based on their designs/gameplay styles, which makes me appreciate both characters even more
I'm late at founding this video but I'm glad to found it. Esp regarding Aqua's flaws, I always thought about it but now sure how to convey it to words. Wayfinder Trio is my favorite trio (maybe due to BBS being my introduction game to the series), but I slowly have a hard time seeing the fandom favoring Ventus and especially Aqua over Terra.
I never saw him as stupid, and it's just sad how to the fandom treats him as such. Recently I have been seeing more Terra appreciation content. I appreciate it a lot. Thank you for making this vid!
Dorked seems to be consistent in liking characters with bravado that outwardly appear dumb but are actually pretty smart, yet are misinterpreted by the fandom.
can always appreciate a good terra defense video
These are very good points.
Other people have mentioned similar viewpoints in the past when it comes to KH character analysis, but I can appreciate a new perspective that understands subtleties that many people tend to overlook regarding characters that are easy to brush off and label as stereotypical or naive.
The circumstances of the initial mark of mastery exam are very particular, with the Wayfinder trio not suspecting Xehanort of wrongdoing and manipulation due to Eraqus wanting to give his estranged companion the benefit of the doubt, all intentional on Xehanort's account.
I never saw Terra as being power hungry, despite Eraqus's paranoia of anything related to the darkness. Terra had good intentions with wanting the power to destroy and vanquish darkness in order to protect Aqua and Ven, but his misstep was believing that power alone would be enough to thwart all of Xehanort's plans, leading to the body snatching due to being goaded into embracing anger and rage. To compare, the Riku of KH1 was power hungry in terms of wanting to be so strong as to have nothing to fear from the dark, while all of the Xehanort incarnations wanted to possess knowledge and influence for the sake of having it at the expense of people around him.
Your points about Terra's interactions with the Disney characters are very true. You've identified a lot of subtleties that a lot of people missed from how he acts and his decision to keep quiet about certain things, and that led to people assuming negative things due to word of discussion.
The misunderstanding at Radiant Guardian can be seen as frustrating for some, but it's understandable due to Aqua's assumptions based on her loyalty to Eraqus's values and her strong faith in her status as a keeper of the peace. Terra shuts her and Ven out due to his self-loathing, and Ven (rightfully, to some perspectives) tells Aqua off for being cruel. I don't know why people would say things about Terra that weren't true given the context, but I think it would be good to have honest conversations about it instead of asking rhetorical questions about 'playing the same game.'
The point about Olympus coliseum is also true, as well as the important context for Neverland.
I liked the content of your video, how you talked about the full context of the connections between Terra, Aqua, Eraqus, Xehanort and Yen Sid, things that people have mentioned in the past but are often forgotten by many people passing through the discourse.
One thing I've always appreciated is that Nomura had a very particular eye for subtlety and symbolism as he weaved the very elaborate, tangled tapestry that is Kingdom Hearts. It can be interpreted as very ridiculous and absurd due to the nature of the many plot twists (which is true), but there is a lot of powerful meaning that a few people have already picked up on, just as more will likely do in the future.
It feels... more fulfilling than the various, blunt, unsubtle almost didactic postmodern works from irony-aligned creators such as... fwug radiation and other similar creators.
It's the little things that earn people's respect in the long run.
Thanks for leaving such a thoughtful comment- been a bit too busy to read it all, but it's very thorough and that was just really nice to see that kinda engagement. :)
People also ignore that Xehanort, deliberately used Terra's trust to drive him to the edge with darkness. Imagine being pretty much betrayed by the man you considered a mentor. It was Xehanort plan all along - so Terra's rage will make him a nice vessel.
Well, worked a bit to well with the rage part.. I'm sure Xehanort didn't count on Terra being too angry to die and becoming the Lingering CHAD.
Glad I finally got around to watching your KH stuff after being introduced through all the UTDR content, you have a great perspective on the characters and I’n glad to see someone spread a greater understanding of one of my favorite characters in Kingdom Hearts! You put to words what makes Terra so great and Aqua actually very interesting of a character in properly looking at her flaws instead of brushing them aside, and I can appreciate both of them far more for it. Great stuff, hope more people can get into this series like I did and check out your great work around it!
I find both hilarious and sad that the fandoms view on Terra trust in Xehanort is so infamous that it takes the main image on TV Tropes article on Horrible Judge of Character. I found it refreshing to see this analysis on Terra -- a character that has been mostly written off as an naive idiot by the fandom and i would like to see more of Kingdom Hearts content.
Yeah, it really goes to show that there's a certain lack of critical thinking when it comes to these takes? People see big, popular takes and kinda just run with them rather than contesting them all that much. This isn't only a Kingdom Hearts fandom thing- you see it in just about any fandom. It's just unfortunate because these fandom ideas tend to simmer and people start to forget what was in the original work and so the fandom mischaracterization tends to spread and overshadow the original intent. xD I'll definitely try to do more KH stuff in the future, but I think I'll probably end up alternating between UT/DR and KH and other fandoms.
@@Dorked Btw i think the reason as to why fandom tends to ignore Aqua's character flaws is because discussion of her character tend to be dominated by whether she is a good female character or not. Something that isn't really about her character but rather something about the marcoscopic discussion about female reprensentation in video games.
@@therotryzit That's actually a thing that bothers me- the idea that for a female character to be "good," she can't have flaws and that it's somehow misogynistic to highlight those flaws. I've seen that in the UT/DR fandom with Toriel, for instance.
The KH fanbase has a really hard time letting go of preconveived notions. Recoded is often considered a completely worthless game with no reason to bother with it. Thing is, despite not being perfect, it actually has really good gameplay. Then there is the big stigma against Days that one has to be insane to enjoy it, as if it was the only mission based game in existance.(The game has a real Sonic-like issue. It's simply diffrent strokes for diffrent folks, but people stereotype it as being awful because they personally can't have fun with the style. I gotta say tho, the enemydesign in the game is quite bad, that part of it is true.)
*Thank you* for this! I always felt that Terra was given too much flak during his story, and Aqua being held on a high pedestal.
I played through BBS shortly before Kingdom Hearts 3 released mostly blind on the general meat of the story, and only knowing the major story beats (largely at the end of the game). I was very, *very* quick to regard Terra as my favorite Kingdom Hearts character (and he still is today) while playing through his story.
The fallout in Radient Garden still upsets me. What detractors don't understand is that trust goes *both* ways. Terra had just learned that Eraqus pretty much never had faith in him, to the point where he sent one of his closest friends to spy on him. *Of course* he would turn to Xehanort, he and Ventus were the only two people that actually trusted him. Even Ventus told Aqua that she was terrible for what she was doing.
YEAH, that's the thing. People place the blame on Terra or Ven and ignore that Aqua's behavior showed that she valued Maleficent's word over that of Terra himself. She spoke like she knew instead of going "I heard what happened, could you explain your side of it?" Instead, it came across super judgmental.
Thank you for making this video! I'm a big Terra fan and Terra cosplayer too! This character is so underappreciated.
HE IS, THOUGH. I think Ven is, too, tbh. I love Aqua and she definitely deserves the spotlight, but the boys are neat, too.
I always found Terra interesting because his actual stregnths aren't how strong he actually is but how ernest he is about everything he does.Constantly doing everything to meet the expectations set for him to a fault. He starts to tone it down about after he realizes what he did to Auroa. Becuse after that point he never takes anyone directly at face value again with few exceptions. And is focused on doing what ever he can to make those things right whe he does. The Lingering Will is his regret for not being able to do the right thing to the point it becomes the most badass character in the series to fix what Terra was trying to do.
For all the flack the writing of these games get, Terra is written very well as a young adult going out on their own for the first time and just being told "Just figure this thing out somehow."
Aqua is a yound adult who has a clear goal so doesn't have to added complexity of having a massive open ended goal: "Follow Terra around and be a snitch." She just has to decide what Terra is doing bad or not. Which fits into the black and white mindset she shares with Eraquis.
Ven is just a kid going for a joyride to hang out with his oolder brother. He just wants to enjoy the time they can have together and is crushed because he sees aqua as being a Narc, and refusing to talk to Terra, and doesn't really know how to navidate the conflict his older siblings are having because he wasn't in the know from the start. He's just worried about something happening, and he doesn't really take it seriously until radiant garden.
The ernestness made Terra relatable too, because I was the same way around his age(20ish), by the time the games came out, even my relationship to my sister was, and still is kinda of the same. (He's constantly faced with situations where he is challenged on what it means to do the right thing, same as aqua. I find it interesting because he comes to his conclusion first and potentially stops a lot more tradgedy happening than what could have. Aqua is left behind picking up pieces and lost because she kept being stubborn about it until the last.
Terra's storyt hits hard because now that I am much older. I have lost full use of parts of my body protecting younger siblings from danger and it put a lot of what his choices where into perspective.
Thank you for the video, I haven't gotten to go back to this game in a while, but it's always nice to think and talk about.
Hello! First time I've watched a video from you, and I'm glad this was in my recommendations! This was such a good analysis on Terra and I feel like he's an underrated kh character so thank you! I would also love to see you make more kh analysis videos :) !
Awesome! I'll definitely do more KH vids. Current goal is to kinda alternate between KH and my usual UT/DR content. So next vid is for Deltarune, but then I wanna do another KH video after that. Probably early January.
Definitely subbing to someone who understands the depth of Terras character. As great as aqua is, I feel that ppl idolize her and bash Terra, when Aqua was just as manipulated by Eraqus.
Oh, rad! :) Thanks for the sub. My next vid won't be KH-related, but I am brainstorming what my next KH vid will be after that, so with luck I'll have something either late December or early January to satisfy KH fans.
Terra and Xion are tied as my favorite characters mainly by comparison to everyone else, their the most underrated, yet we're important enough to be a part of Xehanort's real plan. Terra in particular though out his journey that there is a clear difference between a fool and a simpleton. A fool meaning someone who has lacks intelligence or judgement, while a simpleton is someone who lacks common sense. Admittingly he leans more towards the former than the latter but that just shows he only truly knows WHAT is right not WHO.
The only dumb thing of Terra was that he was at the wrong places at the wrong times. If he didn't meet the villains first and if those who guided him were wiser, he'd singlehandedly carry the plot of bbs on his (broad) shoulders.
Ironic, yet also fitting...
2:30 I think Xehanort having messed with Terra's heart at this point might be speculation, & needs more evidence.
Anyway, excellent analysis video! Thanks for uploading! Looking forward to more from you, & good luck!
Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily fact- I only brought it up as a possibility because of the orbs. xD I probably should've made that clearer. Thanks for the kind words!
We know Xehanort can see into a Heart . He does that with Us, Blue Robe. So, Xehanort would know just what button to push.
would LOVE to see the Yen Sid roast
yay! KH analysis! I'd be really interested in more like this!
Before Birth by Sleep Riku used to be my favorite character in the entire franchise. Then Terra came along. I still like Riku of course, but Terra definitely battles the #1 spot with him as my favorite character.
When I see people criticizing Terra for this or that it's so painfully obvious they do it from an outside pov. We as players are the ones that know Xehanort and Disney villains are not to be trusted, but the in-game characters don't effing know that. It's as simple as that.
Great analysis, I truly enjoyed every point that you made and loved the analysis on both, Terra and Aqua as subversion of their characters archetype. Excellent work👏👏👏👏
As a KH fan, really good video! I have to say, while as is I try to give Terra some credit, this definitely helped clear a lot of misconceptions even I had about Terra, and has definitely given me a much better appreciation for his character and even a bit of Aqua's character, too (And funnily enough made me realize Terra is even more like Anakin Skywalker than I thought). While I'd like to see more KH stuff, I'll prob dip in to some of your Deltarune content since I like DR too.
Edit: A video on the Sea Salt trio would be pretty awesome, but I don't really think there's many misconceptions in terms of their characters besides Xion, at leas those that can really draw in as much interest as Terra. Maybe a video on Ven would be good tho? Either way, in general another KH analysis would be awesome!
I think Ven gets a lot of flak for so many different reasons- people like to gripe about him calling Aqua out in Radiant Garden, him being "diet Sora," and a lot of folks also infantalize him. There's a lot to talk about, so that might be one of the next ones, tbh. xD He's a char I like a lot.
@@Dorked Yeah, I was thinking him being infantilized would probably be the main point if there was gonna be an analysis of him since that's the main criticism I see levied against him. I'd definitely like to see one in the near future since I remember liking Ven but I played BBS so long ago and have heard so much hate for him I forgot why I did in the first place. I'm fully onboard for the general consensus I've been seeing of covering Yen Sid tho lol
One of the best re-review and discussion video about Kingdom Hearts. Also, it actually does make more sense about BBS characters' behavior and actions. Thank you very much! I pretty enjoyed it.
Hey, no prob! I've had the KH brainrot for a long, long time, so it's fun to finally put that brainrot to use. xD
A video we've needed for years, thanks for the great upload!
Reminding me why I always loved Undertale so much, and Kingdom Hearts content to boot? Where have you been all this time!? Officially subbed 👍
Would love to see you more KH analysis videos
I love this video!!! terra is my 2nd favorite kh character, and I am very passionate in insinuating that he is not stupid, hes just a sensitive little man. I feel like you got all of my thoughts in this video perfectly. your videos never miss; I felt similarly about your alphys video, its nice to see misrepresented characters analyzed in a more accurate way. cant wait for the "roasting yen sid for 30 minutes" video lol!!
also I just got to the end of the video but I'd kill to see that video on riku and kairi's friendship; thats yet another kh thing that I think is misrepresented
Yeah I have always defended Terra because when you look at the contexts of the game, it makes sense why Terra listened to Xehanort, why Terra was "trusting" of the obvious to us Disney villains, and why he did what he did. As much as I like Aqua (she is my favorite character), she does follow Eraqus' thought process of how to deal with darkness to a fault. Great video.
I would love to see more character analysis
Terra is sufficiently intelligent to be a double agent to Disney Villains, while being actually siding with the heroes.
I always loved this architect of character Who had good intention and kind heart ,caring person falling to the darkness due to their surroundings hurting and looking at them with a blind eyes and refusing to see that there is more
I would love to watch a character analysis on Aqua titled she's not as smart as she looks.
I swear that radiant garden cutscene made me dislike her character. The "I've been to the same world as you and seen what you've done." Made me just not care about her character. Not only that, but she messed up a good plan that Terra had. As he wanted Ven safe back home and to work with Aqua to go find Master Xehanort and fill her in on what he knows.
Great analysis video, I'm glad Terra is shown some love.
I feel like that's a good point actually:
In the mark of mastery xehanort is able to tamper with the darkness in terra's heart
In chain of memories ansem is also able to tamper with the darkness in riku's heart
This might just be an ability that xehanort has from many years under the trained influence of darkness.
Terra has been my favorite KH character since BBS came out. Goofy is a very close second. I like them both for the same reason, they will give up everything to protect their friends.
Randomly stumbled upon you, happy to see another Tera defender, people really act like Tera isn't getting gas lit by Xehanort the whole game.
Yeah, it's so weird how people ignore the underlying narrative of manipulation and abuse on Xehanort's part and just boil it down to "Terra dumb". Kinda victim blamey, ngl. xD Granted, fictional characters, but still.
@@Dorked also for the people who say Tera should just know these people are evil by looking at them, their logic would suggest that Tera should just roll up to Halloween Town, or Monstropolis and commit murder, without hesitation.
Ever since I first played BBS, Terra was my first pick since he seemed like the strongest in physical strength (I rarely use magic in KH). The moment Master Eraqes denied him the Mark of Mastery, I felt bad for Terra. Having darkness in his heart and not using it is like seeing someone else’s answers for a test; he saw it, but decided to do away with it. He found out that he was a puppet in Master Xehanort’s plans, tried fighting back, and ended up losing his body and heart to him, and manifested into his Keyblade Armor to demanded a Round Two.
Imagine my absolute fright and ecstatic surprise to learn there and then that he was The Lingering Will in KH2. 😱🤩
A very interesting perspective on Terra. I admit I’ve never thought of it this way. I would love to see the Yen Sid video you mentioned become a reality.
Honestly really happy you made this video, the Terra is dumb argument is one I seen way too often and it gave thoughts that I had about it perfectly and then some. Amazing video
i'm suprised how interesting this was considering i know nothing about kingdom hearts, but terra's a pretty cool character and i like him
that being said all the talk about the lore sides of things like on the yen sid video made my head feel like it was on fire trying to process a million things at once
IT ALWAYS BOTHERED ME HOW EVEN IN TERRA FAN SPACES PEOPLE STILL CONSIDERED HIM TO BE DUMB like that's a major reason why I rarely seek out Terra content anymore. Because no matter who it's made by it's all so painfully mischaracterized.
This video is like a breath of fresh air honestly, even if I already knew all of this it's still refreshing to see someone actually. Say it and make me feel less crazy for seeing Terra as smart. Before I played KH i was still aware that people considered terra to be dumb and I kinda just accepted it until I played the game and was like "he's actually rather clever what was everyone else even thinking..."
And thank you for acknowledging that Aqua has like. Flaws. I love her a lot too but she DOES have flaws they are a PART of her character they're a part of the reason WHY she's an interesting character. I swear that this insistence on acting like every female character is perfect is just another flavor of misogyny.
SO TRUE SO TRUE BIG AGREE 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
I love Aqua to bits but it really does feel like people wanna strip away the actual interesting character- someone who cares deeply but was just as much influenced by her Master's teaching as Terra and, as a result, developed a black and white world view and some self-righteous moments that she has to grow past. She's not a bad person- just a flawed person, like her friends. "Aqua is perfect and wise and can do no wrong" is so dull by comparison.
sounding better, good job
Appreciate the help! I think it's definitely made a difference with the audio quality on these last two videos.
@@Dorked thank you, you do so well already, i just wanted to give some tips
The reason why Eraqus trusted xehanort is because they're brothers they grew up together and against his better judgement gave him the benefit of the doubt
this is the video i use to respond to ppl whenever they hate on him. u put everything so clearly in this video. good job!
As a Terra defender since BBS came out, a dissection like this was long overdue. Great video!
Before I watch the rest of the Video. I just wanna say that I personally always thought of Terra as a selfless Badass.
I’m so glad someone finally made this video. Terra definitely isn’t as bad of a character as a lot of people think and while he’s not exactly the most fleshed out character of the series he had the second best gameplay of birth by sleep. Aqua still being first and foremost with Ventus being my least favourite. Hope I’m not being too harsh there…
Nah, that's fine. Everyone's got their favorites! I think even if Terra doesn't have the same dedicated time as Riku or others, what time he does have is still well executed for what it is, KH writing jank aside. A big thing is that the Wayfinders really only got their debut game and a few smaller appearances beyond that (well, Ven arguably got a whole game in Union Cross, haha).
@@Dorked yeah I still find that very confusing. I mean it’s interesting how ven was around that time but kind of makes him more older than aqua and terra if you get what I mean at all? Lol
Yep, nothing new that I didn't already know, but still a good video to watch. :)
I have no objections to more.
One thing you could have brought up when you mentioned that Terra had no idea if Maleficent's appetence was the norm in her world or not, would be to mention Halloween Town, That entire world gives off roughly the same, if not more Darkness vibes then Maleficent dose (do the point that the heartless aren't even attacking anyone when they appear, they are just chilling), but with the exception of Oogie and the twerp trio, every resident there is a perfectly reasonable person where none of them could be considered evil. So the mear existence of that world would probably prompt Keyblade lessons to include a healthy dose of "don't judge a book by it's cover" somewhere in there.
Really curious to see a deep dive of the Yen Sid stuff... especially since you are making heavy use of it in "Hurricane Heartbeat". From what I recall... there's not much info on him from any real form of cannon (Kingdom hearts or just Disney in general) so he's a pretty blank slate with not much to go off of. From a large lack of justifications for his inactivity... but also maybe a lot of room to fit one in there? Maybe "retired" is just a nice way of saying "So far out of his prime he is basically useless for any direct support outside of this ONE special world where his magic rains supreme"... I mean, even when he finally got out of the tower in KH3 to help directly, all he really did was make a barrier to keep heartless back so that the other characters can get to the Xeahnorts... there's got to be some sort of justification for this, but we aren't given much for it.
Good point, regarding Halloween Town! Admittedly, I was sick when finishing the video, so it kinda slipped my mind in the moment, but that's a great point, and one I'm glad you brought up.
Yen Sid really is an odd case of being this blank slate who didn't even speak until KH2 and wasn't even named before then. It sorta feels like the writers want him to be this wise mentor sort, but the problem is, the writing itself doesn't really make him out to be as wise as they probably want due to how passive he is. So it's a rough spot where authorial intent doesn't quite stick the landing.
@@Dorked
Fair enough... it's not like you actually got o Halloween town in BBS, so there's bound to be an extra barrier or two to remember it when talking about BBS.
Yeah, maybe it would have helped if they gave some more reason for Yin Sid being passive (like my earlier guessed "basically useless for anything direct outside of his own world" deal)... or at least say he dose things off-screen in the background. Like maybe say he spent the decade between BBS and KH1 scanning the cosmos hoping for any new lead on the whereabouts of Terra Ventus and Aqua, but only found the Lingering Will (which could have given him a clue that terra preformed the right of succession on a small boy before the big battle), or gave a hint that he was responsible for that wormhole that "conveniently" allowed Sora to go from the home base of Traverse Town right to easy flying distance of the home world of EVERY member of Maleficient's coalition (sans Hades) in KH1.... I know if I were to re-write kingdom hearts (while keeping the plot the same) I would probably make those happen.
Well. This actually made me reconsider my views on Terra.
Oh, awesome! :) It's always cool when I can give people a fresh perspective like that.
Wow. You actually really did a good job analysing. I'm impressed to have part of my perception changed, especially regarding aqua. I thought before that Terra isn't that stupid
Happy to have provided a new perspective. :)
So glad to see this explored more! I love Terra and always felt certain creators such as HMK and others have treated him and his character harsh even calling him stupid. Then on the backside these creators praise Sora when Sora has shown some then no growth throughout the series which has always made me a bit annoyed. Cause it’s like how are you calling Terra stupid/clueless etc for being manipulated by Xehanort and others when the same/similar cases have happened to Sora.
I haven't played Kingdom Hearts, but I do know the story of the games (somewhat) and I agree with everything here. And watching this, I realized that Yen Sid barely does anything about Xehanort. I'd like to see a video on that.
Yen Sid is so weirdly handled because he's supposed to be this powerful and wise character, but because he's never allowed to do anything for most of the series, it just makes him seem really negligent, tbh.
@@Dorked I agree. His passiveness can even spread to other characters and prevent them from taking action sometimes.
YES, THIS IS INCREDIBLY VALIDATING.
I'd love to hear what you think about yen sid and riku replica
I think I'll get to both of those videos eventually. Yen Sid one's gonna take some real revisiting KH2, Dream Drop, and KH3 just to make sure I have everything fresh in my mind. xD At least with Repliku there's not quite as much to review, haha.
I completely agree 😊I always saw this deeper side to Tera and how he embodies true ambition. Glad to know that wile bigger voices in the community where bashing him, there where more like me who saw his drive and torment. He is actually a very well written character once you take the time to peel back the layers and understand him. Loved the video and the way you layed out your points. Really gives new light to an under appreciated gem of a character 😁💚
thanks for making this accesable to people who dont care about kingdom hearts !!! i was worried coming in that most of this would go over my head but you surpised me ❤
Oh, I'm glad to hear it was still accessible. :) That's a big relief.