Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Setting
Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the first Kingdom Hearts game, taking place ten years prior. Like the other games in the series, the player progresses through a collection of various worlds, based on various locales from the Disney animated features canon: Dwarf Woodlands from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Enchanted Dominion from Sleeping Beauty; Castle of Dreams from Cinderella; Olympus Coliseum from Hercules; Deep Space from Lilo & Stitch; Neverland from Peter Pan (featuring for the first time most of the main island setting new to the series rather than Captain Hook’s pirate ship and Big Ben from the first game and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days); and Mysterious Tower from Fantasia. The game also features various new worlds specially created for the series by Square Enix such as the Land of Departure and Radiant Garden. Disney Town, which is the town that surrounds the castle grounds of Disney Castle, serves as the game’s minigame world. Worlds such as Destiny Islands and Castle Oblivion also appear in the form of cutscenes, while the 100 Acre Wood from the Winnie the Pooh franchise, which had appeared in most other games of the series, only appears as a Command Board in Birth by Sleep. The staff first chose the worlds based on the game’s scenario, leading to the inclusion of Princesses’ worlds. They then added the worlds of Neverland and Deep Space to add variety to the game, while Olympus Coliseum was selected to show that the game takes place years before Kingdom Hearts.
Characters
The three main characters are Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, a trio of close friends and apprentice Keyblade-wielders under Master Eraqus who aspire to become Masters themselves. Another Keyblade Master, Xehanort, and his mysterious apprentice, Vanitas, serve as the game’s antagonists. Other characters from the previous games return, such as Sora, Riku, and Kairi, though they are younger than their original incarnations and given less prominent roles. A number of characters who later come to form Organization XIII also appear, particularly the first five apprentices of Ansem the Wise (Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo) as well as Lea and Isa, who were previously unaffiliated with the former five. As with the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts and the Nobodies in Kingdom Hearts II, Birth by Sleep introduces a new type of enemy: the Unversed, creatures of negativity and who are not well-versed in their own existence.
As with the other games in the series, Birth by Sleep features an extensive cast of Disney characters. The most prominent of these characters is King Mickey, who serves as a student under Yen Sid at this point in the series chronology. Donald Duck and Goofy, who served the main protagonist Sora in most other games, appear in smaller roles. Most other Disney characters remain in their respective worlds regardless of their overall importance to the story in previous installments, such as Maleficent and Pete, who served as major antagonists between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, and a number of the Princesses of Heart. Some characters (such as Experiment 626, Prince Phillip, and King Mickey) occasionally fight alongside the player characters in battles as partners similar to the other games, providing assistance and performing combos to help the player proceed. However, they do not follow the player around constantly like Donald and Goofy in the other games. Unlike the other major installments, which also featured casts of various characters throughout the Final Fantasy series
Spoiler!!!!
Story
The story begins in the Land of Departure, where a trio of friends and Keyblade wielders—Terra, Aqua, and Ventus (Ven for short)—train under the Keyblade Master Eraqus to become Keyblade Masters themselves. Terra and Aqua take an exam to achieve the Mark of Mastery, but only Aqua passes while Terra fails due to the darkness in his heart. Shortly after the test, Master Xehanort disappears, and a horde of mysterious creatures called the Unversed begin to appear throughout the worlds. Eraqus learns from the sorcerer Yen Sid that the Princesses of Heart are in danger from the Unversed, and orders Terra and Aqua to destroy the Unversed and find Xehanort Ven is driven into following Terra against Eraqus’ wishes by Vanitas, Xehanort’s apprentice, and Aqua is sent to watch over Terra and bring Ven back to the Land of Departure.
Upon arriving in several worlds, Terra, Aqua, and Ven encounter various Disney characters, fighting off many Unversed along the way. Among the characters they meet is Mickey Mouse, the apprentice of Yen Sid, who is also on a mission to destroy the Unversed, albeit against Yen Sid’s wishes.Terra ends up attracting the attention of several Disney villains, who offer him the whereabouts of Xehanort in exchange for assistance in their own agendas. Upon finding Xehanort, Terra is instructed by him to destroy Vanitas, as he is revealed to be the Unversed’s source. The three briefly reunite at Radiant Garden where Aqua and Ven confront Terra about his actions, but he leaves to continue Xehanort’s mission.
Ven comes across Xehanort, who reveals his intentions to use Ven’s heart and fuse it with his other half, Vanitas’ heart to create a final Keyblade known as the χ-blade. He sends him to the Land of Departure to confront Eraqus, saying he knows the truth about him. Eraqus tries to kill Ven to prevent Xehanort’s plans from succeeding, but Terra, who was also sent to the Land of Departure by Xehanort, faces Eraqus to protect Ven. Upon his defeat, Eraqus is vanquished by Xehanort, who covers the Land of Departure in darkness and tells Terra to go to a world known as the Keyblade Graveyard, threatening him about his friends’ fates. Ven is similarly instructed to do the same by Vanitas, as is Aqua by Yen Sid after he informs her of Eraqus’ death.
Terra, Aqua, and Ventus gather at the Keyblade Graveyard, where Xehanort appears with Vanitas and reveals his plan to use the χ-blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts and unleash the secrets of the Keyblade War onto the various worlds. In the following battle, Xehanort takes over Terra’s body as his heart is swallowed by darkness, but Terra’s will remains within his discarded suit of armor, which comes to life as the Lingering Sentiment and defeats Xehanort. Meanwhile, Ventus is forced to fuse with Vanitas to create the χ-blade and battles Aqua alongside Mickey while the real Ven engages Vanitas in a metaphysical battle within his mind.Aqua shatters the χ-blade as Ven destroys Vanitas from within, though Ven’s heart is sent into a deep sleep as a result.
Upon learning that Ven will not awaken, Aqua brings his body to the ruins of Land of Departure, where she seals the world’s keyhole and transforms it into Castle Oblivion to ensure Ven will not be disturbed. Aqua then goes to Radiant Garden, where she fights Xehanort, who still possesses Terra’s body. The battle rages until Terra’s presence manifests, resulting in Xehanort unlocking his own heart and falling into the Realm of Darkness. Aqua saves Terra but becomes trapped in the Realm of Darkness in the process. Xehanort, who has lost his memories, is discovered and taken in by Ansem the Wise, ruler of Radiant Garden, as his apprentice. Ven’s heart then reconnects to young Sora’s and is able to rest within his heart. In the game’s secret ending, which takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, Aqua comes across Ansem the Wise in the Realm of Darkness and learns from him about Sora, who has the power to save those connected to his heart, including Terra, Ventus, and Aqua herself. Sora, having learned of their fates from King Mickey, decides to undertake another quest in order to find and save them.
