Square Enix recently released an announcement trailer for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts games, including a new mobile game called Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, and, more importantly, Kingdom Hearts 4.
The series is known for, among other things, its labyrinthine plots, which often leave unanswered questions and beloved characters in the dust. While Kingdom Hearts 3 wrapped up most of the series' plots, it also seeded some new ones, which left once-brilliant characters in the background.
Here are some characters we hope to see in the new game, so we can get some answers and see some old friends. Spoiler Warning: There are massive, unmarked spoilers for games up to and including Kingdom Hearts 3 and Melody of Memory, so proceed with caution!
9 Zack
Making his first and only Kingdom Hearts appearance in Birth by Sleep, Zack’s story is largely resolved, even if Phil chose to train Hercules instead of him, and he never did get that date with Aqua.
Still, the game's ending credits provide some interesting possibilities since we see a black feather– a signature item of Sephiroth from their shared game series, Final Fantasy 7, and Zack vanishes in its wake, leaving only the feather behind. While this could just be a fun reference to their shared time as SOLDIERs, it would be fun if there was more meaning to it, and we get to see Zack again.
8 Luxord
One of the more mysterious members of the already mysterious Organization XIII, so much that even Xigbar, who is tangled up in the deep lore of Kingdom Hearts and definitely knows more than he tells, doesn’t quite know what to make of the Gambler of Fate.
When we last see him, he’s defeated by Sora, but none of the questions about his background are answered, and in fact, he raises further questions when he hands Sora a Wild Card with only the instruction to use it to turn the tables - and to date, we don’t know what it does. Also, Sora challenges him to cards when the stakes aren’t life or death, which would be a nice way to have a reunion.
7 Kairi And Riku
Though their respective character arcs are completed by the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, they’ve still got a Sora-shaped hole in their lives, and one would hope that, given Sora’s trials to find his friends, they’d try to return the favor.
They’re definitely trying, given the events of the rhythm spin-off Melody of Memory, with Kairi training under Aqua and Riku headed for Quadratum, one of the settings of the new trailer, so they’re more than likely to make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts 4.
6 Cloud, Sephiroth, And Tifa
As tempting as it would be to include all the Final Fantasy Characters that we didn’t get in Kingdom Hearts 3 save for a brief cameo, the fact of the matter is that the denizens of Radiant Garden’s plots are largely resolved by the end of KH2 - they restored their former home and Squall learns to accept who he is and rely on his allies.
However, there is the lingering thread of Cloud and Sephiroth’s battle and, by extension, Tifa’s quest to find Cloud that went largely unresolved, and it would be cool to see how that whole thing pans out. Also, we were robbed of a Sephiroth fight in KH3, which would have been epic.
5 Marluxia (Lauriam) And Larxene (Elrena)
Players of Kingdom Hearts Union X know that in ancient times, Organization XIII members Marluxia and Larxene used to be Keyblade wielders Lauriam and Elrena until, at some point, they fell to darkness. They also know that Strelitzia, the girl who wakes Sora from his week-long nap in the trailer, is another ancient Keyblade wielder - and is also Lauriam’s little sister.
We've never fully understood Marluxia’s motives, but we know that when he’s defeated, he regains his memories of being Lauriam, and the same is likely true for Larxene. It would be interesting to see where they go from here on out and how they react to meeting Strilitzia again. Also, how are they still alive? The events of Union X are said to take place in the ancient past – hundreds and possibly thousands of years ago. We'd like answers to these questions.
4 Maleficent And Pete
This devilish duo was shafted in KH3, full stop. Despite their brilliant role as villains throughout Kingdom Hearts 2, culminating in a surprising turn as they seemingly sacrificed themselves to buy Sora time, in KH3, they are relegated to being cameos at best.
We see them and get nary an explanation as to how they escaped their predicament, but worse yet, they do little more than speak cryptically about their intentions and search for a box, though at least they stop to menace our heroes Sora and Company. It would be great if, in Kingdom Hearts 4, we could see the culmination of Maleficent’s scheming - or at least a more thrilling continuation than searching for a mysterious black box.
3 Xigbar
Xigbar is an interesting character because, in most appearances, he comes off as a cocky mid-boss and lackey to more pronounced schemers like Xemnas and Xehanort. Heck, even when we find out more about him and how his involvement with the bad guys dates back to Birth By Sleep, he doesn’t give off machiavellian vibes even if he's one of the tougher members of Organization XIII.
So how surprising is it when we find out that he doesn’t die in his final battle in KH3, Xehanort’s Keyblade actually belongs to him, he has the black box, and that he is actually the current incarnation of Luxu, one of the Lost Masters, an ancient order of Keyblade Wielders? Clearly, he will be a major player in the new Kingdom Hearts story, but it would be a bummer to wait until a future game to see him again.
2 The Foretellers / The Lost Masters
Speaking of the Lost Masters, despite being from an ancient order, Ira, Aced, Invi, and Gula, four of the five Union leaders from KH Union X, show up in the post-credits scene of KH2, almost as confused as we are about what they’re doing there.
Their presence alone brings up so many questions, like how they are so long-lived, why have they only appeared now, and if the only member who isn’t there, Ava, is so because she completed her role, then what was it? What are all their roles in the coming story? And what is the deal with that damn black box?
1 The Master Of Masters
The most mysterious character in all of Kingdom Hearts, a series with an already labyrinthine plot. He’s so mysterious that we don’t even know what he looks like. Enigmatic to a fault, we at least know that the Master of Masters earned his title, having taught the Lost Masters their craft as Keyblade wielders.
We also know that it is his eye in the No Name Keyblade, also known as The Gazing Eye, and that he can see everything the eye is present for, including events that haven’t happened yet, and that he used this knowledge to write The Book of Prophecies, copies of which he gave to his students that we know are contradictory and seemingly incite them to mistrust each other.
The Master of Masters schemes on a level that will make it unlikely that we will not see him again in a new Kingdom Hearts game, given that it’s possible that he orchestrated the events of the first three and all the side games singlehandedly and even uses Xehanort, the big bad of the first three games as a pawn.