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In the side games leading up to Kingdom Hearts 3, Kairi is only mentioned in passing to emphasize her importance as Sora’s love interest. From start to finish, she watches as the men around her do all the fighting and ultimately decide her fate. In Kingdom Hearts 2, Kairi is largely kept out of the narrative until she gets kidnapped, manages to escape, gets kidnapped again, and then breaks free once more. Afterwards, Kairi is sent back to her home and kept out of crucial narrative events until the end. She ends up saving Sora, though the moment is brief. Kairi’s biggest scene happens when Sora fights Ansem and sacrifices herself to get her back. She spends the majority of the first game in a comatose state after losing her heart at the start of the story. Kairi is a Princess of Heart, which means that she’s unable to turn into a Heartless. In the first Kingdom Hearts, Kairi is used as a pawn by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Kairi is one of the key figures who helps Sora on this quest. After failing the Mark of Mastery exam in Dream Drop Distance - a test that Sora, the protagonist, must pass to become a Keyblade Master - he sets out to stop a war by defeating Master Xehanort. Kingdom Hearts 3 wraps up the “Seeker of Darkness” saga, which is the storyline that spans all installments in the series. Since 2002, millions have fallen in love with Sora, Riku and Kairi, three friends who embark on a Disney adventure involving Heartless, Nobodies, and Keyblades.
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Most women in the franchise end up in underdeveloped supporting roles, or are killed off for the sake of the plot. After all, Kingdom Hearts women are rarely given satisfying character arcs. While the franchise is infamous for its complicated story, Kairi, the leading Kingdom Hearts heroine, is never granted any agency.
MOBILE KINGDOM HEARTS CHARACTERS SERIES
Kingdom Hearts, a series where light prevails against darkness, is rarely kind to women.
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