It is an objective fact that the single most convoluted and confusing video game franchise in the history of gaming is indeed the Kingdom Hearts series. The story is all over the place. The games have become host to a massive cast of characters that are both original and drawn from the world's of Final Fantasy and Disney films. The fact that Final Fantasy's world is entwined with Disney films is already a confusing aspect of this video game franchise. Let us also not forget that a large number of these characters have double identities or are somehow spawned from other characters in the series.
To add to this confusion, there are twelve games in the series at this point, with another game on the way. Only two of these games have standard numbers - Kingdom Hearts 1 and Kingdom Hearts 2. All the other games have their own unique titles, are "remixed" versions, or additional material to another game, such as Kingdom Hearts 2.8. Square Enix makes things even more convoluted and all over the place by releasing some titles exclusive to PlayStation and others exclusive to Nintendo.
Because of all this confusion and the messy plot, fans of the series have built up a number of theories to explain the game's weirder elements, the growing number of loose ends, and other unexplained phenomena. If you're a fan of Kingdom Hearts and you're desperately waiting for Kingdom Hearts 3, keep reading and see if these fan theories fall in line with any of your own ideas behind this sprawling franchise.
15 Keyblades Produce Additional Energy Blades Along Their Edges
This theory by HMK most definitely has to have to some validity to it. HMK points out that while some Keyblades do indeed have sharp edges, many, like the Kingdom Key, are cylindrical and would deal damage more like a baseball bat. Cylindrical or not, the game animations clearly suggest that even rounded blades like the Kingdom Key slice through enemies.
HMK suggests the Keyblade generates an additional outer blade of pure energy that is responsible for the slicing. While HMK goes on to suggest that this secondary blade may be made of plasma, this aspect of the theory seems unlikely since the blades don't have an industrial design scheme that would suggest they produce something along the lines of a plasma drill bit. It's more likely this outer blade is some kind of supernatural energy.
14 Sora Is Responsible For The Creation Of Naminé
As we know, Kairi should not have produced a Nobody as she, along with the standard Disney Princesses (and Alice), are Princesses of Heart. The Princesses of Heart are said to be entirely pure, so they can't produce a Heartless or a Nobody. If they have no darkness inside of them, they have no Heartless. If they have no Heartless, there can be no Nobody. This creates an issue:
Naminé.
If she is Kairi's Nobody as we are to believe, how does she exist? Kairi shouldn't produce a Nobody. According to the YouTube channel Lockstin & Gnoggin, the answer is actually pretty simple.
Sora's body contained Kairi's heart fused with his own. When Sora's Nobody (Roxas) was created, Naminé was also created as Sora did have darkness inside of him.
Source: YouTube - Lockstin & Gnoggin
13 Xehanort Is Riku's Father
The YouTube channel The GamersJoint glossed over this theory when giving a rundown of Xehanort. The idea is that Xehanort is Riku's father. This possibly isn't based on much, which would explain why TheGamersJoint didn't go into any kind of detail, but it isn't entirely impossible.
As we know, Xehanort has many forms. A common theme with those forms, save for a couple, is a long (and a little spikey) light colored hair. You have to admit, Xemnas and Riku look a lot alike.
We do know that Xehanort is from Destiny Islands, which wouldn't make the idea that one of Xehanort's forms is Riku's father or grandfather incorrect.
Source: YouTube - TheGamersJoint
12 Xehanort Is Another Host For The Master Of Masters
This one is a little wild, so brace yourself. YouTuber Weebhut jr. theorizes that Xehanort is just another host for The Master of Masters himself. The road to this conclusion of his is long and convoluted, but his best bit of truth comes from some dialogue in a scene from the game Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.
Xehanort says to Terra that he swore he would survive to see the end of the Keyblade War. Weebhut points out that Xehanort wasn't alive before the Keyblade War. He also points out that The Master of Masters keyblade exists in young Xehanort's time. Xehanort would have no reason to have sworn to exist beyond the Keyblade War. Finally, he points out that members in Organization XIII had names that were anagrams with an X added. Xehanort could have this X added as well and the remaining letters can form two interesting words: "no heart" and "another."
11 "The Box" Contains The Heart Of The Master Of Masters
Another theory from YouTuber Weebhut jr. makes its way to the list. This theory states that the box at the end of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 being pulled by Luxu is more special than you'd think. Weebhut points out that the box says X Super on the top. He notes that long sides of the box have seven keyholes. He believes these are representative of the Foretellers who all have names derived the the Latin Seven Deadly Sins. There are six Foretellers named and The Master of Masters includes himself in the ranks of the Foretellers. There is only one Latin word left for him to have a name derived from, this world would be "superbia", meaning pride.
He also made a point that The Master of Masters disappeared with Luxu, which could suggest The Master or his heart is in the box. Since The Master of Masters' Keyblade makes it into the hands of Xehanort, it's possible he also received his heart, which would add validity to the previous theory.
Source: YouTube - Weebhut Jr.
10 The Station Of Awakening IS Kingdom Hearts
According to GameFAQ user epicgordan, it's very possible that The Station of Awakening is Kingdom Hearts itself.
He points out that it's very likely each Station is a representation of an individual's heart. Epic supports this idea by reminding us that Riku entered Sora's station by literally diving into Sora's heart. We know that each station is surrounded by darkness and this could be representative of the darkness that envelopes Kingdom Hearts. He suggests that Kingdom Hearts returning to the Realm of Light is actually this darkness being lifted and the returning the connections to all the Stations (hearts).
Gordon also points out that the closest we've come to the true Kingdom Hearts is The End of the World. The music that plays at The End of the World (Dive Into the Heart) is the same music that plays in The Station of Awakening. This could be a sign of a possible connection.
9 Each World In Kingdom Hearts Built Its Own Earth
Here's another one from HMK that's actually pretty interesting. It uses the idea of a Prime Earth. It doesn't hold much bearing on the mythology of the series, but it's a cool concept to think about.
The idea behind this theory is that many of the world's in Kingdom Hearts, while coming from fictional sources, have real world parallels. Beauty and the Beast takes place in France, Peter Pan takes place in London, and so on. Even fictional places like Alladin's Agrabah are based on real world locations. This would suggest that outside of those settings, the rest of the Earth exists. When each world was separated in Kingdom Hearts, the inhabitants weren't supposed to know. HMK theorizes that to maintain this facade, these worlds would have had to grow their own Earth outside of their location - creating several parallel Earth's, as opposed to just a fragment of a whole. If the world's were just fragments, someone in the Beauty and the Beast world would see that something is amiss when they traveled outside of France.
Source: YouTube - HMK
8 Kingdom Hearts 3 Will Include Star Wars and Marvel Worlds
This one has less to do with story theory and more to do with a pretty sound content theory that everyone has about Kingdom Hearts 3 - that Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and Marvel Comics means those properties will be included as worlds in KH3. Some have argued that Kingdom Hearts only dabbles in Disney's animated titles, but that's not true. They've included worlds for both Tron and Pirates of the Caribbean.
The only major problem with this theory is Star Wars video games are still under the EA banner, which could cause an issue since KH is a Square Enix title.
Also, how come nobody talks about the possibility of a Muppets world? Disney owns them too!
7 Xemnas Doesn't Use A Keyblade Because He Forgot He Can
TheGamersJoint has an interesting theory as to why Xemnas never uses a Keyblade, even though he most definitely should be able to wield one. He points out that Nobodies can wield Keyblades as long as their other could wield one. This is shown to be true through Roxas and Sora both being able to wield Keyblades. Xemnas is, of course, the Nobody of two different wielders.
GamersJoint suggests that it isn't just because Xemnas doesn't choose to use a Keblade as his weapon of choice, but because he doesn't know that he can. He believes that when Terranort is vanquished, he loses all his memories - which includes the memories of being able to summon a Keyblade.
Source: YouTube - TheGamersJoint
6 Pooh's Book Is A Regular World
GameFAQs user absoldragon suggests that the 100 Acre Wood of Winnie the Pooh isn't just an adventure into a magical book, but it is actually another world itself.
The idea here is that Pooh's book was once a world just like Twilight Town or Radiant Garden. He suggests that the some time in the past, Keyblade wielders sealed the world into a book well before the events of the games took place. The motivation behind this was to keep it completely poor and unable to be tainted by any kind of evil. This would ensure that even if the world fell into darkness or the wrong hands, there would at least be some light left to assist the world in bouncing back from the darkness at some point in the future.
There isn't much in the way of proof other than an idea, but it would explain why Pooh's book seems to have all the hallmarks of another world, but is the only one that is accessed through a book.
Source: absoldragon
5 Roxas Will Awaken Again
YouTuber HMK shows up on our list again as most of his YouTube presence is built on presenting and discussing Kingdom Hearts fan theories.
HMK points out that Roxas is restless inside Sora and may find a way to awaken again. One of the things he points out is that Sora's design for Kingdom Hearts 3 has some clothing and hair similarities to the design of Roxas in Kingdom Hearts 2. He believes that Roxas is assuming some control over Sora's style.
There is also the fact that Roxas has made his presence known to Sora since their unification. Sora also achieves one of his forms by "tapping into" Roxas. This all suggests that Roxas is in there somewhere. Roxas is also a special Nobody which could explain an awakening ability.
Source: YouTube - HMK
4 Everyone Is Xehanort
This one is pretty enjoyable and plays off a theme throughout the entire Kingdom Hearts series that's getting a little tired at this point.
If you're familiar with the games, you'll know that a major antagonist, Xehanort, is the true identity of a number of characters in the series. There's even room to believe that he's going to have yet another identity as the series continues into Kingdom Hearts 3. Why stop there?
GameFAQ user riauna suggests that everyone is Xehanort! This is obviously a tongue-in-cheek jab at the number of identities have turned out to just be Xehanort, but in this convoluted series, just about anything is possible.
3 Xion Allows Sora and Roxas To Dual Wield Keyblades
Ashley Reed of GamesRadar+ presents an interesting theory as to why Sora and Roxas both have the ability to wield two Keyblades at the same time. The reason is because of Xion, who we honestly don't know all that much about.
She points out that Roxas can't dual wield in the 358/2 Days. Roxas does get the option of buying that ability later, which isn't available until after Xion is absorbed by Roxas. Ashley also points out that Sora and Roxas initially wield their blades in their right hand, and Xion happens to be left handed. This would suggest that this ability to wield a blade in the left hand is from the part of Xion that resides in Roxas. Since Roxas and Sora are sort of one and the same, Sora also gets this ability by tapping into Roxas.
Source: GamesRadar - Ashley Reed
2 Sora Will Become The King Of Kingdom Hearts
YouTuber Rash Bandicoot suggests that Kingdom Hearts is an actual physical kingdom and Sora may be on the road to becoming its King.
He points out that Sora is filled with an immense amount of light and he is able to carry the hearts of both Kairi and Ventus without being effected. A person with this much light and such a strong heart, an individual chosen by the Keyblade, would be the savior and ruler of Kingdom Hearts. He also has a small crown in Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix. Artwork for the games features Sora even sitting on a throne with this small crown, which could be a hint at the bigger things to come when Kingdom Hearts 3 drops.
Source: YouTube - Rash Bandicoot
1 Kingdom Hearts Is All In Sora's Head
We'll finish the list with another theory from YouTuber HMK. This theory is a little bit depressing as HMK suggests that Kingdom Hearts is actually just going on in Sora's head. This would be a massive let down and a cop out on behalf of the creators, but it's not entirely unsound.
HMK suggests the games happen in the head of a troubled Sora that exists in the real world. His escape from his reality are Final Fantasy games and Disney movies. This would explain how two entirely unrelated universes have managed to intertwine themselves in such an odd way. This troubled Sora spends time alone playing with Disney and Final Fantasy toys, putting them in a world where Sora has and builds strong friendships - the friendships he doesn't have in the real world.
Source: YouTube - HMK