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Even though she wasn't in the game much, I found that I really didn't like Kairi's character. I really tried to take a good look at her character, and I tried to examine every action and conversation to determine what she was like. In the end, I found a character who was made of the combined elements of just about every Square character I don't like.

First of all, Kairi was a damsel. She needed to be saved. In fact, part of the reason Sora and Riku took the paths that they did in the story was due to the fact that Kairi needed saving. Saving her was a combined effort on their parts, even if they didn't know it. Riku protected her body, Sora protected her heart. Without either boy, she'd be a goner. Now, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and considered that she couldn't help the fact that she was attacked in the beginning. But in the end, she runs away powerless. Her act of "saving" Sora was nothing more than her calling his name, which could have easily been done by Riku had he been present. And then, she lets herself be left behind far too easily, even acknowledging that she is a weakling. (Just what on earth did the girl do all day when everyone else was training?)

Next, Kairi is the kind of girl who strikes me as a character who doesn't care about everyone in her life. Not that people are required to care about everyone, but she doesn't seem to care enough about the people she calls friends. Now, I am a bit biased here. Ever since I started watching anime and reading manga, I've always had a problem with this type of character. It's the character who is loved by everyone, and who is called loving and caring and beautiful, yet they don't give a crap about half the people who care about them. For example, I never got the impression that Kairi cared about Riku at all. She rolled her eyes at his dreams, she "joked" about leaving him behind, and in the end... even though he was defending her with his life the last time she saw him, we get no indication that she even remembers or cares who he is.

But Sora has it even worse. Kairi also shares another trait that many of my least favorite damsels have. She is the type of love interest who doesn't seem to have a strong and lasting friendship with the main character. She seems to care about Sora only because he is her crush. If she stopped liking him, I don't see her being a very good friend to him. This theory, however, is a shakey one. I probably only believe this because of the previous trait I talked about, which is usually a combined trait with the one I'm talking about now.

Anyway, as you can see, I'm not very fond of Kairi. Feel free to debate with me on this one. After all, she really wasn't in the game much. I had to take what I could from the little that I saw.

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StarWarrior Chi
~Chi's usually long rant about stuff~


I'm gonna have to agree with you on that. She just seemed really cookie-cutter of a character, and really, "Bleh".

Man-Hungry Sex Symbol

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I never really thought about it, but I completely agree with you! It dosen't seem that she cares much for either of them (I haven't played the whole game so don't kill me if she actually appears to care for Sora at some point.) It seems like in movies where the guy (Sora) has his best friend (who is female, but there wasn't another main female) make him attractive so he can get the popular girl (Kairi), it works at first, but then he finds out she was just using him or something and the guy realizes love for the female best friend (that is non-existant)... She seems like the girl to do that...

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Although I hadn't considered all of this when I first played it, I don't disagree with you. I was indifferent towards her character, but most of these points are correct. For some reason SquareEnix recycles these bad character traits, especially in females. The women aren't given enough depth when it comes to their relationships and backgrounds, and instead only appear to be shallow if not without a decent personality altogether. Kairi is just another product of this trend.


Editted: I also wanted to bring up the fact that, since she is a princess of heart, we don't get the choice of deciding what kind of person she is. The game tries to automatically place her in the "Pure" role due to the fact that she is one of the princesses, but they fail to acknowledge her weak points. But some people let the fact that she's a princess of heart determine her character altogether, and they assume she is all pure and good.

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I totally agree with you. While not evaluating her as extensively as you did, I began judging her from the Destiny Islands level. The part where she sat around and made Sora collect the raft's crap made me angry. Then, later on at the sunset scene she says that she wants to leave Riku behind, and from my understanding of people she wasn't kidding, but after seeing Sora's reaction decides to say "just kidding... sweatdrop ". Riku was the one who sat and looked out for her, and also did was in her best interest (trying to push Sora closer to her), but overall Kairi seems like a childish, lazy fool of a character.

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Chaos of Vincent
Although I hadn't considered all of this when I first played it, I don't disagree with you. I was indifferent towards her character, but most of these points are correct. For some reason SquareEnix recycles these bad character traits, especially in females. The women aren't given enough depth when it comes to their relationships and backgrounds, and instead only appear to be shallow if not without a decent personality altogether. Kairi is just another product of this trend.


I suppose they wouldn't even need to put together good characters anymore. I mean, people will buy the game no matter what, regardless of how lifeless some of the cast is. It's sad. =/

StarWarrior Chi
Stuff about Kairi


That sounds about right, yes. 3nodding

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Mink Biscuit
Chaos of Vincent
Although I hadn't considered all of this when I first played it, I don't disagree with you. I was indifferent towards her character, but most of these points are correct. For some reason SquareEnix recycles these bad character traits, especially in females. The women aren't given enough depth when it comes to their relationships and backgrounds, and instead only appear to be shallow if not without a decent personality altogether. Kairi is just another product of this trend.


I suppose they wouldn't even need to put together good characters anymore. I mean, people will buy the game no matter what, regardless of how lifeless some of the cast is. It's sad. =/


Very true. Don't get me wrong, I like the game. It's very good and it touches down on a good deal of more mature subjects that are easily hidden behind the Disney images. Most of the characters Square created for this game were very well designed. But they did a horrible job with Kairi. I would expect more from her, especially since she is the only girl. They made her so cliche while including so many undesirable traits at the same time. This seems to be the current trend with the females in Square games, and the entire point behind Final Fantasy X-2. They need stronger females, such as Terra from FF6 or Freya from FF9.

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Personally, yes, I sorta see what you mean about her character: it is, in many regards, a retread of Rosa, Rinoa, and...Rikku, partially due to her 'spunkiness' and partially because I wanted to keep the tri-R theme. Anyway.

To a degree, I can see where you're coming from and, more importantly, agree: I think that if she fell out of love (or out of crush) with Sora she'd cool down considerably to him, though I'd imagine she'd never HATE him, per se. Her scenes with Riku kinda showed that, that at some point in their past she must've far nicer to him than she was at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts, when she was willing to leave him behind and go off sailing into the sunset with Sora.

But, though, I'm willing to give her a certain benefit of the doubt, considering that she's really just a kid. She doesn't have the emotional depth of Rosa, who walked through a desert to get to Cecil despite her 'white mage' status, nor Rinoa's...well, uh...figure, or Rikku's persistance in the face of Spira's discrimination towards the Al Bhed. Kingdom Hearts the game would be the first time that she actually had to face the world: when she was drop-kicked outta Hollow Bastion she really wasn't old enough to remember, and the young heal quickly. And she really did spend most of the game in a coma.

In my mind, Kingdom Hearts II would be the really make-or-break game in terms of Kairi's character, provided she actually gets scenes in it. The next major game (yes, I know there's Chain of Memories, but that appears to be Sorariffic) would either show her development into a competent and talented teenager who's willing to fight for the ones she loves...or a wussy wishy-washy damsel in distress with the emotional depth of a teaspoon who needs to be shot. Either way's likely from where I can see.

...most likely, though, as this is Squaresoft, she's more likely to take the lesser path and become yet another recycled damsel. Dang.

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I only disagree with one point, Rema, and that's the point about her age. Sora and Riku proved to be more than capable at their ages, so I believe Kairi should have shown her strengths regardless of whether or not she was too young.

But I agree with pretty much everything else you said. 3nodding I'm hoping that she will actually shape up to be a decent character in KHII, but I truly won't be surprised if she turns into another recycled Square girl.

I hope she also shows a bit more depth in her friendships with Sora and Riku. So, even if she still doesn't treat them as I'd like her to, it will be more clear as to what her character is like.

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StarWarrior Chi
I only disagree with one point, Rema, and that's the point about her age. Sora and Riku proved to be more than capable at their ages, so I believe Kairi should have shown her strengths regardless of whether or not she was too young.


Eh, I meant more in terms of being able to handle romance, opposed to generic capabilities. Because as fighters, the other two pwned...heck, even SELPHIE beat up people. Kairi is substandard there, no arguments about that.

But I'm thinking in terms of being able to actually handle actual romantic "I want to be your canary" love, age, to a certain extent, can excuse immaturity.

EDIT: Mind you, Paragraph #2 only applies if Kairi doesn't turn out to grow up to be a flake. If she ends up capable, well, she was a kid at the time, not ready for actual love, whaddya expect. If she ends up being another recycled Square heroine...that's a different story.

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Rema
StarWarrior Chi
I only disagree with one point, Rema, and that's the point about her age. Sora and Riku proved to be more than capable at their ages, so I believe Kairi should have shown her strengths regardless of whether or not she was too young.


Eh, I meant more in terms of being able to handle romance, opposed to generic capabilities. Because as fighters, the other two pwned...heck, even SELPHIE beat up people. Kairi is substandard there, no arguments about that.

But I'm thinking in terms of being able to actually handle actual romantic "I want to be your canary" love, age, to a certain extent, can excuse immaturity.


Oh! I see. In that case I agree completely. Perhaps we'll see her mature and find herself a little more in the next game. Then it will be easier to see how she really handles things like that.

And yes, everyone else on that island was kicking butt. Selphie pwned with her jump rope. o.o;

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I think I love you two.

Even though I never played the game, I already have an in-depth look at a character's personality.
Actually, something makes sense. If Kairi is as apathetic as you say, is it possible that she breaks away from the standard "magical caring girlfriend"? I do not know- I never had a chance to play the game.

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Shogun Gari
I think I love you two.

Even though I never played the game, I already have an in-depth look at a character's personality.
Actually, something makes sense. If Kairi is as apathetic as you say, is it possible that she breaks away from the standard "magical caring girlfriend"? I do not know- I never had a chance to play the game.


She seems to break away from the kind of female characters who are always giving and always kind and always perfect, never having a bad day. (I see these girls more in anime and manga than I do in games though.) Kairi is something different compared to them. The problem is that the game seems to try to convince the player that she is the perfect angelic girl. But it only fails the more it tries to convince you. For example, in one scene she helps the main character regain his humanity, which would normally be seen as a good thing if you didn't realize that she fails to care for another character who just saved her life.

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StarWarrior Chi
Shogun Gari
I think I love you two.

Even though I never played the game, I already have an in-depth look at a character's personality.
Actually, something makes sense. If Kairi is as apathetic as you say, is it possible that she breaks away from the standard "magical caring girlfriend"? I do not know- I never had a chance to play the game.


She seems to break away from the kind of female characters who are always giving and always kind and always perfect, never having a bad day. (I see these girls more in anime and manga than I do in games though.) Kairi is something different compared to them. The problem is that the game seems to try to convince the player that she is the perfect angelic girl. But it only fails the more it tries to convince you. For example, in one scene she helps the main character regain his humanity, which would normally be seen as a good thing if you didn't realize that she fails to care for another character who just saved her life.

I get it now. Thank you.

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StarWarrior Chi
Oh! I see. In that case I agree completely. Perhaps we'll see her mature and find herself a little more in the next game. Then it will be easier to see how she really handles things like that.

And yes, everyone else on that island was kicking butt. Selphie pwned with her jump rope. o.o;


Tell me about it. Would it really have killed them to give her some kick butt ability? Rosa, once again, is a freakin' white mage and she had her moments of kicking butt. A white mage! That's like having a killer stuffed animal!

Though I think part of the problem is that the folk at Square Enix need to come up with female characters who appeal to gamers both sides of the Pacific, and there's two archtypes which emerge.

There's the strong sexy lead female who, with guns blazing, destroy everything in their path, and look damn fine while doing so, and would have (if nothing else) really great sex. These aren't really in too many RPGs, although there's a few: KOS-MOS would be one if she wasn't an android. Lara Croft, back in the day, would have been another.

And then there's the magical girl archtype, the image that Americans, especially, tend to have of Japanese women. The cutsey girl. The type of girl that might be able to pwn on Starcraft, but likes pink, and is very very VERY feminine. Rinoa, really. The anime shoujo females.

And so the developers over across the ocean are stuck with a problem: which of the two archtypes to cater to? Should their lead female be capable and smart, or should she be cute and useless? (For the most part, from what I've seen, the developers throw in one of each in your active party when the choice is there, and if they can only have one, they opt for #2) Which sucks. A lot.
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