Question about Riku

[.Tifa]

Sometimes wonder about Riku's character, is he really mistunderstood or is he just a plain evil jerk ?

: He was jealous of Sora, but he was talented at everything. He mocked/ made fun of Sora even though there was really no reason, should somebody skilled at everything be so jealous ?

: Meeting Sora again, and walking out on Sora when he was trying to stop Donald from being such a snob and not letting him hang out with Riku. But Riku just walks way during the squabble. Not to mention he is even MORE jealous of Sora's weapon/ Keyblade.

: Hollow Bastion, Riku stealing Sora's weapon and then later. TRYING TO KILL HIM BY THROWING DARKNESS BALL AT HIM.

But then on the other- hand.

: Riku was jealous because he struggled to follow his heart, while Sora could quite easily, with no problems doing that.

: Riku was pretty messed up by Ansem and Maleficent pretty early, And Maleficent did lead him to dislike Sora & co.

: He bashes up Sora heaps, but he tries his hardest to help Kairi alot. Most of the things he does is to help Kairi.

: Hollow Bastion- Trying to kill Sora the second time around, he was controlled by Ansem, he wasn't in control of his actions.

But Riku did follow Maleficent because of hatred towards Sora, remember in Hollow Bastion- He was angry/ Upset that Sora defeated him and then put his heart into darkness.

Sometimes Riku followed Maleficent because he wanted to, he disliked Sora and his new group. So he followed her/ believed.

But sometimes wonder if Riku really did desire to help Kairi for the right reasons, and wonder if Riku is misunderstood or he is just a right jerk ?

 

[Prometheus]

K this is my opinion...
Riku was very insecure about himself.. I don't think he hated Sora, i think he was jealous of him having the keyblade, etc. But all in all, i think Riku was a good guy... he was just guided wrong.

 

[Seed]

I can't remember but wasn't he chosen by the keyblade first?
But he went to the dark side or w/e and so it went to Sora?
I think he's a actually a good guy...but I don't really like him.
Everyone else seems to love him though.

 

[Lebreau]

Well, I think that Riku does get corrupted by Maleficent quite a bit, but he ALSO has a lot of his own darkness. He has to struggle through that, while Sora just kinda... skates through everything on luck and other's skills. Which is why Riku's win and Sora's fail, end of story. Nah, I'm just kidding. That was just for Brittany's benefit.

I think Riku's EXTREMELY devoted to Kairi, which is pretty damn great, and he does a lot of things for her, while she just kinda... ignores him. Which, of course, screws with his head MORE.

Overall, Riku's pretty amazing, for going through all he has and not MURDERING EVERYONE. I couldn't take the pressure, myself.

 

[Dolores Haze]

warning. massive post below. unless you're interested, tl;dr.
Copyrighted 2009 - !B-babes™ ©

Hey, I write a freaking essay, I can copyright it

First off, Riku's role was mainly to be corrupted. That's his point of existing, his character came from that.
Through him we saw how the darkness can change a person and twist them - keep in mind that Riku's jerkier moments are while he's under the influence of the darkness.

Sometimes wonder about Riku's character, is he really mistunderstood or is he just a plain evil jerk ?

: He was jealous of Sora, but he was talented at everything. He mocked/ made fun of Sora even though there was really no reason, should somebody skilled at everything be so jealous ?

I think Riku and Sora's competitive attitudes are their way of solidifying their friendship. They're teenage boys, that's their way of fun. Kairi doesn't really see anything wrong with it, and joins in.

Riku wasn't jealous of Sora in KH1, not until towards the end, when he stopped trying to help Kairi and just focused on taking down Sora. He was talented, but his heart was weaker than Sora's, and he gave in to the darkness. That's his flaw - he wants to be as strong as Sora. He's not jealous, he looks up to him the way Sora somewhat admires him in return. Even in KH2,

Spoiler

Riku uses the darkness even though he's accepted the light - he knows the darkness better, and wants to show himself he can handle it.

Basically, Riku admires Sora for the things Riku himself has flaws in, as hard to see as they are.

Spoiler

We all know who's better looking, of course.

: Meeting Sora again, and walking out on Sora when he was trying to stop Donald from being such a snob and not letting him hang out with Riku. But Riku just walks way during the squabble. Not to mention he is even MORE jealous of Sora's weapon/ Keyblade.

I can't explain this that well, I haven't played the game for years. But here goes.
I think Riku wanted Sora to be looking for him, he wanted Sora to want him as a partner, but he's not the sort to take action for that kind of thing. Donald came off as a loud, incomptent duck, who Sora wanted to travel with even though he didn't know him that well.

Riku decided to go back to Maleficient, someone he knew would use him - IMO, Riku wanted to be used, that way he'd feel he had purpose - and maybe come back to Sora? It's possible he wanted Donald and Goofy to screw up so he could go to Sora when Sora was weak, and recruit him.

Riku didn't want to waste time, and didn't think Sora was fighting hard enough for him. Plus Sora said something along the lines of 'You can come with us!' not, 'I want to go on with my friend, sorry Donald; Goofy.'.

I don't remember him being jealous of the Keyblade, but if he was, it would be his irritation that someone like Sora got such a powerful weapon - he doesn't quite realise his friend's potential.

: Hollow Bastion, Riku stealing Sora's weapon and then later. TRYING TO KILL HIM BY THROWING DARKNESS BALL AT HIM.

That was pretty jerk of him Ima just say he wanted to be the hero.

Which is what Riku wanted, at least that's what I like to think. He wanted to save Kairi's heart, he just went about it the wrong way.

Also, even if Dark Riku was cruel sometimes - heck, he was meant to be - that's not Riku. He wasn't weak enough to surrender completely (except for the part where he conjured up a BIG BLACK SCAREH DRAGON!).

The real Riku wanted to be a hero - even a misunderstood one, then he'd get more attention anyway. He was teasing, that's how he acts around friends. He never tries to steal Kairi away from Sora, he knows they share a bond.

My favourite line from him would have to be, "Take care of her.". Come on. You totally went "OMFG SO HE WAS GOOD ALL ALONG?! BUT I HIT HIM!!" in your seat. You so did.

But sometimes wonder if Riku really did desire to help Kairi for the right reasons, and wonder if Riku is misunderstood or he is just a right jerk ?

He wanted to help her. There's no doubt in my mind that the real Riku was there sometimes, and knew Kairi had to end up safe. He most likely felt guilty he was never able to do that.

I can't remember but wasn't he chosen by the keyblade first?
But he went to the dark side or w/e and so it went to Sora?
I think he's a actually a good guy...but I don't really like him.
Everyone else seems to love him though.

He would've been the Keyblade master, but his heart was susceptible to darkness and weak. It didn't not choose him because he 'went to the dark side'.

 

[Seed]

I think when he disappeared while talking to Sora and Donald, that Maleficent
like magically pulled him away or something...cause she was whispering lies to him so he would hate Sora or w/e.

 

[Tipsynaruto]

To me, he seems like the devils advocate. As MOMO has said, maybe Riku had an inferior complex on the inside? Or maybe that he saw himself not powerful enough to protect his friends? Since he isnt as pure hearted (or naive if you want to call it) as Sora, he went down the path of darkness to protect his friends? Havent played in a while so maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy. All in all, i think he was perfectly created as a character. He is the corrupted "good" guy that everyone thought went bad and was a jerk, but was actually good. So yea, i thought he was a jerk. Not evil, but a jerk.