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Kairi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dybtzvyuyaadcm_tv.png

"This time, I'll fight!"

^{Click here to see Kairi as she appears in Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories}

^{Click here to see Kairi as a child in Kingdom Hearts and Birth by Sleep}

^{Click here to see Kairi as she appears in II}

^{Click here to see Kairi in her school uniform}

^{Click here to see Kairi as she appears in Melody of Memory}

Voiced by: Risa Uchida (Japanese), Hayden Panettiere (English, KHI, KHII, Birth by Sleep), Alyson Stoner (English, Re: Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, KHIII, Melody of Memory)
Young Kairi voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese), Ariel Winter (English)

Appearances: I | Chain of Memories | II | 358/2 Days | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | III | Melody of Memory

"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

A close friend of Sora and Riku who came to Destiny Islands from Radiant Garden, which sparked their interest in other worlds. She's one of the Seven Princesses of Heart, meaning she bears no darkness in her heart. Though she mostly remains out of the fighting, she's plucky, determined and courageous in her own right, and eventually acquires her own Keyblade.

For more information on Princesses of Heart, see Kingdom Hearts: Supporting Disney.

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# - C

Action Girl: The games teased she had the potential to be one for a looong time before she earned it and then some.
- In II, Kairi is willing to fight Saïx with her bare hands before Riku intervenes on her behalf, and when she sees Sora get dogpiled by several Shadow Heartless, Kairi tells them to "Leave Sora alone!" and jumps off the castle balcony. Her rashness does get her overwhelmed by a group of Shadows, but the instant Riku hands Kairi a Keyblade, she cuts down at least two Shadow Heartless despite having no known prior fighting experience. She doesn't get to join Sora as a party member like Riku does, but this is forgivable since they are facing endgame bosses and Kairi's green as grass.
- She spends most of III training with Lea under Merlin, and sparring against Lea, who was once Organization XIII's assassin. Even though she comes off as a Faux Action Girl in the vanilla game, she still does join Sora's party fighting Saïx, her former kidnapper and The Dragon to II's Final Boss, and Xion, a Keyblade-wielder who was the Final Boss of Days and is currently copying Saïx's berserker abilities. After locking blades with her, Kairi even manages to physically SHOVE Xion away from her. During the time Kairi is a member of Sora's party, she is shown to be a Magic Knight with Flower Shot, Spiral Blossom and Cura. Unfortunately, she gets to participate in only one fight (aside from killing a few Heartless in a cutscene); see Faux Action Girl below for details.
- Solidified at last in Re:Mind, which shows she is able to put former Final Boss Xemnas on the defensive prior to him having to drain her energy in order to kidnap her, and later takes on Armored Xehanort as either a party member or a playable character as a full-fledged Battle Couple with Sora.
Adaptational Badass: In the II manga, less from any real changes to her and more because she gets more screen, er, panel time to show her stuff.
- The most notable instance is her imprisonment in The Castle That Never Was. Like the game, she still has to be rescued by Naminé Unlike the game, however, she actually got HERSELF and Pluto out first on her own, with a little improvised and near-perfect trickery of the Dusks that Demyx (who actually survives up to this point in the manga) left to guard her. She only blew her cover that very instant because she vocally thanked them, tipping the Dusks off that despite her wiggling, she wasn't one of them. She DOES get cornered by Demyx just as she’s about to reach THE CASTLE’S EXIT… and then Demyx sends his Dusks away and pathetically pleads her to just come back with him (out of fear of being punished by Saïx). She physically refuses at first, but then, out of (disgusted) pity, relents. THAT is the only reason why she needed Naminé to save her.
- In addition, she openly pulls an Eyelid Pull Taunt on Axel on Destiny Islands, and is active alongside Riku-Ansem and Sora against Xigbar.
Adaptational Personality Change: Her personality is changed to that of a type-B Tsundere in the Kingdom Hearts II manga adaptation, where she is more prone to anger even toward the people she cares about.
Advertised Extra: She appears on the main art of Coded, but there is no Data version of her at all, and the real one's only appearances are in a flashback and the ending, and she doesn't have any lines in either scene.
All-Loving Heroine: Kairi is caring, kindhearted, and courageous, as she repeatedly puts herself in harm's way to help Sora when he's in trouble despite her minimal combat experience and immediately accepts Riku even with his actions in Kingdom Hearts and him being stuck in the form of the man who tore out her heart. Kairi's heart is one of the few filled only with pure light and goodness, despite darkness and evil residing in almost every heart, even most Keyblade-wielders like Sora and Riku. Kairi is also very charismatic, quickly befriending Hayner, Pence, and Olette in Twilight Town before being kidnapped by Axel. The closest we get to her disliking somone is her being shocked to hear her partner in Keyblade training will be Lea, Axel's original form, she is a little scared of him because he kidnapped her when he was Axel. However, Kairi warms up to Lea as their training progresses and they start getting to know each other, seeing him as someone she can't bring herself to hate when she learns that he also has a friend that he is trying to save.
Always with You: "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."
Amnesiac Hero: Kairi remembers nothing about her time spent as a child growing up in Radiant Garden under the custody of her grandmother, by her own admission. Due to Radiant Garden being overcome with and corrupted by Heartless.
The Artifact: Since the Princesses of Heart stop becoming important after I, so does Kairi. She is by far the least important member of the Destiny Islands trio. III does reinstate her as a major character again, but in a different role.
Back from the Dead: She's shattered by Xehanort in order to motivate Sora into attacking him but she is saved by Sora and brought back to life. This, however, results in Sora vanishing.
Badass Adorable: Kairi has always been a very cute and brave girl, but it's only as of Re:Mind that she has become an undeniable badass, able to go toe-to-toe with Xion, Xemnas, and Armored Xehanort and even overpower them (hell, Xemnas has to go out of his way to trap her and drain her energy before he can risk trying to grab her!). All while armed with a flowery Keyblade named Destiny's Embrace that makes jingly sounds when she uses it.
Barrier Maiden: As a Princess of Heart, her heart is one of the seven needed to open the Final Keyhole and get to Kingdom Hearts. In III, she is the only one out of the seven from I who stays a Princess while the other six are replaced by new ones, and is one of the Seven Guardians of Light to boot. This means Xehanort needs Kairi for Plan A and Plan B... though it doesn't stop him from killing her in front of Sora to upset him, since he can just bring her back if needed.
Battle Couple: With Sora in Re:Mind. The two of them fight Armored Xehanort together as the Final Boss of the DLC's story campaign.
Beauty Equals Goodness: A cute redheaded teen who's a Princess of Heart-turned-Guardian of Light.
Beehive Barrier: Like Aqua and Riku, Kairi guards with a barrier rather then using her Keyblade to deflect.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Kairi was eager to finally be a Keyblade wielder and help them in the fight, though come the second Keyblade War she's completely overwhelmed by the powerful XIII Seekers of Darkness and she can only stare in fear as Terra-Xehanort prepares to kill her, requiring her to be saved by Donald and Goofy. Later on she helps Sora and Lea against Saïx and Xion but is easily knocked away by the former before being held hostage by Xemnas and later shattered by Master Xehanort to enrage Sora. Although she gets better, it comes at a cost that she will probably regret for the rest of her life. This becomes heavily downplayed in Re:Mind, in which only the part about Terra-Xehanort still applies. Afterward, she is shown not to be overwhelmed by the Seekers of Darkness to the point where she goes toe to toe with Xemnas after the point of being knocked down by Saïx, and it takes him draining her energy before he can kidnap her. Once Sora restores her, she also helps to defeat Master Xehanort, and even the cost Sora pays lacks the punch it had before because Kairi is made aware of it in advance, Sora spends as much time with her as possible before it happens, and she already has a plan in mind for bringing him back once he finally fades away.
Big "WHAT?!": When Kairi's told she'll be training alongside Lea, clarified to her that it's Axel, she's shocked and offended considering that her last interaction with Axel was him kidnapping her.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Redhead to Naminé’s Blonde and Xion’s Brunette. She is also the redhead to Sora (brunet) and Riku (blond, through his silver-white hair).
Boyish Short Hair: In the first game, she has long bangs with a short haircut that barely grazes the back of her neck, and is shown to be One of the Boys with her friends Sora and Riku. A year later in II, it's grown out to her shoulders, not unlike Naminé's, and accompanies an outfit change to a minidress in pink. In III, she splits the difference by getting a new haircut which is longer than her original one but shorter than her previous one.
Butt-Monkey: Poor Kairi suffers a lot. She gets kidnapped in I, II, and III and never actually fights alongside Sora and just wants to be strong and help her friends. In the third game, she trains to become a keyblade wielder, only to get kidnapped the third time, and gets turned into crystal and shattered by Xehanort to motivate Sora into fighting.
Can't Catch Up: It becomes apparent from Re:Mind on that, while Kairi does have skills, it's still not quite enough to come close to defeating a years old Keyblade Master like Master Xehanort on her own. At the end of Melody of Memory she decides it's best she stay behind to focus on her training while Riku goes off in search of Sora. In the Secret Ending she tells Yen Sid that she'd like to train under Aqua, so you know she's in good hands.
Cat Eared Hood: Kairi has a pair of black cats ears sewn to the hood of her dress in III just for cuteness sake.
Character Death: Xehanort shatters her at the climax of III. Though not literally dead, she is in a state between life and death and can only be retrieved by the Power of Waking, which ends up being the subject of the Re:Mind DLC scenario.
Character Development: Not as much as some other characters but still present. In Kingdom Hearts II, she becomes more mature and is saddened by Sora's absence, but obtains wisdom beyond her age, notably different from the girl who was so anxious about her life changing back in the first game. She is not as brash and bold as she was in the first game, but is still sociable, as she quickly befriends Hayner, Pence, and Olette in Twilight Town. And in the Re:Mind DLC of Kingdom Hearts III, she comes into her own as a Keyblade wielder and equal partner to Sora (in all meanings of the word.)
Cheerful Child: As seen in Birth by Sleep when she still lived in Radiant Garden, she was a sweet and friendly little girl who thanked Aqua for saving her by giving her flowers, and very happily introduced herself.
Chekhov's Gun: Her necklace seems to be just an accessory she wears, but Birth by Sleep reveals it's actually much more important than it appears: Aqua placed a protective charm on it, which is what caused her arrival on Destiny Islands and meeting Sora and Riku.
Chickification: While she was always feminine, Kairi had a boldness to her that is largely lacking in Kingdom Hearts III. That is, until Re:Mind brought it back and then some.
Childhood Friend Romance: With Sora. Granted, much of it was all Ship Tease for the most part.
Childhood Friends: She's been best friends with Sora and Riku since coming to Destiny Islands as a four-year-old and years later, they're as close as ever.
Cooldown Hug: Downplayed when she gives one to Sora when he has been reduced to a Heartless. Although Sora himself isn't rampaging and poses no threat to Kairi, the situation is still dangerous due to the other Heartless and it does fulfill the spirit of the trope with Kairi's embrace bringing Sora back to himself at a tense moment.
Cool Sword: The Destiny's Embrace Keyblade, which doubles as a Cool Key, obviously. It even chimes when she swings it in Re:Mind. Destiny's Embrace seems to be, well, destined for Kairi specifically — chronologically, Aqua is the first who gets it in Birth by Sleep, but it's Kairi giving her flowers that unlocks it. Eleven years later, it's Destiny's Embrace that Riku just so happens to have to hand Kairi in II without Riku or Kairi having the slightest idea about Kairi's connection to Aqua or Destiny's Embrace.
Criss-Cross Attack: Kairi's finishing command, Seven Wishes, lets her attack Xehanort from multiple angles in this fashion with a maximum of seven hits.
Curb Stomp Cushion: Her fight with Xehanort in Melody of Memory. While she's able to hold her own and manages to trip him up a few times, she's unable to land a single hit on him, and it takes some intervention from Sora to help Kairi defeat him.
Combat Pragmatist: During her fight with Xehanort in Melody of Memory, she manages to trip him up a few times by letting go of her Keyblade and summoning it again whenever he manages to get ahold of her.

D - N

Damsel in Distress: Three times, one in a numbered game each.
- In I she loses her heart when Destiny Islands is destroyed, leaving her body an Empty Shell. The degree of distress is debatable, as both heart and body stay safe with Sora and Riku respectively for the most part.
- In II Axel and Organization XIII kidnap her to use as leverage against Sora. This time around, the distress is not debatable... but Sora doesn't play a part in her getting out of it.
- In III, the trope is mostly Played Straight, veering into Faux Action Girl territory, and ends up resulting in Kairi being temporarily killed off. Mitigated in the Re:Mind DLC, where she is showcased as a capable Action Girl, her kidnapping has a more satisfying setup to it (she actually puts up a good fight against Xemnas and he has to play dirty to pull it off), and she becomes a playable character upon getting un-fridged by Sora.
Damsel out of Distress: Sora never saves her in II. First, she gets away from Axel by herself, then she gets away from the Organization with help from Naminé... who technically IS her. Better in the manga version, where she got HERSELF and Pluto out on her own, but her jailer (re: Demyx) was so pathetic that she begrudgingly relented to return to her cell.
Dark and Troubled Past: Nine years prior to the series, Kairi's hometown of Radiant Garden was consumed by darkness, seperating her from her grandmother. Kairi herself was experimented by Xehanort before she was sent to the Destiny Islands.
Death from Above: Her Shotlock, Heart of a Princess in Re:Mind, has her conjure motes of light that carpet bomb the area and generate light pillars.
Declaration of Protection:
- In Kingdom Hearts when Sora becomes a Shadow Heartless, she protects him from the harmful ones and hugs him close to shield him, restoring him to human form in the process.
- Just before the final confrontation in III, she sits on the paopu tree with Sora and exchanges vows of protection with him. It's even to the extent that, if she's defeated in Re Mind, one of her defeat quotes is "Our promise..."
Delivery Not Desired: Kairi writes letters to Sora that she never intends to send to him in III; when Axel points out that Merlin would send them for her, she replies that she writes them more for herself than she does for him.
Demoted to Extra: Kairi has very little to do the spin-off games released between II and III. She isn't in Days, barely appears in Birth by Sleep, doesn't have a data version in Coded, and only makes two short non-speaking appearances in Dream Drop Distance as an apparition, as well as a third in The Stinger as her real self. A joke in the fanbase is how she appears much less than the people considered to be her copies, i.e. Naminé and Xion, with Aqua basically supplanting her as the series' female lead.
Designated Girl Fight: Against Xion in the Keyblade Graveyard. Their movesets are somewhat similar too, but the enemy is capable of mimicking Saïx's weapon and moves as well.
Designated Victim: Xehanort always targets Kairi because, as Saïx puts it, she is the fire that feeds Sora's anger. Even after becoming a full fledged Action Girl, she still gets kidnapped by Xemnas and then shattered by Xehanort to forge the thirteenth key he needs to complete the χ-blade. Sora even lampshades it afterwards.
Deep Sleep: She voluntarily allows herself to be put into sleep while Ansem the Wise probes her heart to look for clues to find Sora after III, and has spent over a year in slumber.
Does Not Like Spam: Kairi is not fond of mushrooms.
Dude Magnet: Sora and Riku both want her... as does Seifer in the KHII manga.
Eager Rookie: In III where she is quite enthusiastic about being able to finally wield her own Keyblade. Which makes sense; she's had to keep relying on her friends for protection and she's been ripped away from her home and her friends twice (three times, counting II). No doubt Kairi's looking forward to finally being able to stay at Sora and Riku's side as a fellow Keyblade-wielder, and to finally be able to protect herself and everything she holds dear.
Energy Ball: Her Flower Shot spell in III is more or less identical to Mickey's Pearl spell, since there is no proper Light element it does Fire damage instead.
Empty Shell: Her body after losing her heart at the start of Kingdom Hearts. Sora temporarily turns himself into a Heartless to restore her to normal, and she (recognizing him despite him being a Shadow Heartless) risks her life shortly afterwards when Heartless attack them thereby restoring him to normal because of being a Princess of Heart. Interestingly, all this means Kairi's Nobody Naminé is not born until Sora loses his heart to darkness; because Kairi's heart is made of pure light and therefore has no darkness it can fall into, her body and soul are not reborn as a Nobody but remain simply empty while her heart stays with Sora. When Sora becomes a Heartless, his body and soul produce two Nobodies that are born of his heart and Kairi's: Kairi's Nobody (Naminé, who has the power to manipulate Sora's memories and those related to him because of her unusual birth) as well as his own (Roxas, who may have a similar link with Kairi given that he inherited light as his element and has a brief Psychic Link with her in II's prologue).
Elemental Powers: She is the only playable character other then Sora in III to have every third level spell available, fitting for a girl who trained primarily with fairies and wizards.
Eyelid Pull Taunt: In Kingdom Hearts II, she does this to Axel when she escapes with Pluto into the Dark Realm, leading them both to Twilight Town.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Her outfit in Kingdom Hearts III gives her a skirt that is pleated on one side and ruffled on the other.
Faux Action Girl: Infamously in Kingdom Hearts III and much to fans disapproval after the wasted setup for her taking a level in badass. Yen Sid decides she will be one of the Guardians of Light and she receives offscreen training to become a professional Keyblade-wielder under Merlin's tutelage and with Lea as a sparring partner, in a place where she can take all the time she needs because of its magic Year Inside, Hour Outside nature. She emerges only to succeed in defeating basic enemies, showing that for all her training, she doesn't have a lot of experience in life-or-death situations, unlike Sora or the others. Otherwise, she freezes up in fear against Terra-Xehanort and requires protecting, and is only a party member for one fight before being promptly defeated and then kidnapped again, this time leading to the most tragic consequence of being the Designated Victim. Luckily, the widespread negative reaction to this led to Re:Mind subverting this trope, rewriting the depiction of her described above and culminating in the player choosing between her as Sora's sole party member in a battle with Armored Xehanort... or playing as Kairi herself, where she gets to show off just how powerful she has become. Once the DLC dropped, Kairi went from being seen as a laughable weakling and a perpetually unsurprising Damsel in Distress, to a genuine badass and got much more respect from the fanbase as a result.
Flash Step: She can teleport to her thrown Keyblade in a very Noctis-esque fashion as a playable character and her Finish Command, Seven Wishes, has her teleport to different angles to assault Xehanort.
Flower Motifs: Her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, uses one, and she's seen picking flowers as a child in Birth by Sleep — in fact, the flowers she gives Aqua unlock the Destiny's Embrace Keyblade for Aqua to use. This carries over to Kairi's abilities in III, where all three of her abilities as a party member are floral-themed. When Sora goes to look for pieces of her heart in Re:Mind, it's found as five petal-shaped pieces.
Flying Weapon: The mid portion of her combo has her spin her keyblade rapidly around herself with magic.
Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Her reaction speaks this when told by Mickey that her partner in Keyblade training will be Lea, who she knows as Axel. She needs some reassuring by Riku and Mickey that Lea is no longer the same guy who tried to kidnap her after a long chase through worlds (and inadvertently got her captured by the Organization), and is on their side now. By the time of III, she's warmed up to him enough that she tells him to stop apologizing.
Friendship Trinket: Kairi makes a star-shaped charm out of Thalassa shells due to a legend that sailors who carry them will have a safe voyage. She gives it to Sora near the end of the game, and he carries it with him until they reunite at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, the charm acts as the Keychain for the Oathkeeper Keyblade that symbolizes their bond. The Stinger for Birth by Sleep has her hand it back to him when he heads out on another adventure. The image of the Paopu Fruit acts as one as well, as its legend says that two people who share one are destined to forever have their lives entwined, and Kairi's charm is star-shaped like the fruit.
Genki Girl: She's a giggly, playful girl at the start of the first game. It doesn't last.
Girliness Upgrade: At 14, Kairi was somewhat brash and bold, but by Kingdom Hearts II, she has become more mature, responsible and wise, although she still retains her tomboyishness and bravery. This is symbolized by her overall appearance; in I, she sports a bob cut and tank top, while in II, her hair has grown to her shoulders and she now wears a dress. This upgrade carries over into III, despite getting her hair cut shorter again.
Girl Next Door: On Destiny Islands. She's the third member of the Destiny Trio with Sora and Riku, is their playful and kind childhood friend, and both of them have crushes on her.
Girly Bruiser: In III the headstrong Kairi is at her most action oriented (particularly in Re:Mind), and is decked out in a frilly pink dress with a feminine bobbed haircut and a Keyblade with the teeth made from a bouquet of flowers. She also has the most offense-oriented combat style of the trio, capable of performing a corkscrew-spinning ground-to-air combo effective for stunning foes, chaining heavy hits, and being strong enough to completely disperse Xemnas's Ethereal Blades (which had just blocked and deflected Sora, Roxas, and Xion moments before he tried to do the same to Kairi) and put him on the defensive for several seconds before he is able to trap her with Nothingness and drain her energy. And later on we have her joining Sora in fighting Master Xehanort, a battle in which she can be the playable character.
Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's a very giggly and social girl, makes her affection for Sora obvious, wears pink and her outfits always include a skirt or mini dress, liked picking flowers as a child and her Keyblade has a very flowery and colorful design, and she has a penchant for making jewelry out of seashells. But, in Kingdom Hearts, she's also One of the Boys planning on sailing out the world on a raft with her friends, and sports Boyish Short Hair. Even after her Girliness Upgrade in II she still wears sneakers with her minidress rather than more girly shoes, and in III her hair is shorter again and she's upgraded to what look like combat boots.
Girly Run: In I and at one point in II. Bonus points for Holding Hands with Naminé at the same time. Strangely, she has a normal run in the rest of the game.
Glass Cannon: Simply put, she can’t take many hits and can’t move fast enough to qualify as a Fragile Speedster. What she can do is hit things very, very hard, with her moveset being a more balanced version of what Sora uses in Ultimate Form. Story-wise, her offensive power is so high that she can actually break Xemnas's Ethereal Blades, but she lacks the stamina to recover quickly from his draining field. Even as a party member, she's this. She's extremely aggressive with her attacks, and attacks from far away or up close with very little downtime. However, she often runs out of HP in one or two hits, and takes her sweet time getting back up.
Good Is Not Nice: Played for Laughs in the KHII manga, where she bites Axel's arm for kidnapping her, and even pulls an akanbe on him. In a later scene, she intimidates Demyx while he's offering her food in her jail cell, which she's only still in since she took pity on him. Axel then shows up to rescue her, after having abandoned her before… something she immediately begins kicking at him for in anger while complaining about how long it took him. Beware the Nice Ones indeed.
Good Luck Charm: After they met, Aqua put a protective charm on Kairi's necklace and tells her, "One day when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another, someone to keep you safe". This proves to be very helpful to Kairi as her arrival on Destiny Islands after Radiant Garden became shrouded by darkness was actually due to the protection spell Aqua had cast on her. The spell brought her there either because Ven's heart was there inside Sora (Ven being an Incorruptible Pure Pureness and already a Keyblade-wielder) and/or Sora himself (Sora already having a very strong heart able to reach out to others to help them at that age).
Hair Flip: In sense of "Thanks" when Donald praises her for her bravery against the Heartless. It can also be argued she did it to seem cute in front of Sora, given her intake of breath after seeing him.
Healing Hands: As a party member she can cast Cura and as a playable character has Curaga.
The Heart: She'd almost have to be, given her status as a Princess of Heart. Sora and Riku's friendship unfortunately unravels in the original game in her absence, in large part because Riku thinks Sora's abandoned them and Kairi isn't conscious to appeal to his better nature, and in II she is the one who gets Sora to recognize Riku in his transformed state and has them all hold hands with their eyes closed so Sora can "see" Riku's true face.
Heart Is an Awesome Power: It lets her bring back Sora after he becomes a Heartless, as well as makes her immune to the corroding effects of the Dark Corridor and is implied to be how her message in a bottle reaches Sora and inspires him to open the Door to Light. Although Kairi hasn't made use of it, six of the Princesses of Heart working together were able to hold back a tide of Heartless that included a Behemoth using their abilities. There is potential for use, which happens in III, as Kairi prevents Sora from fully dying and she uses light-based magic attacks as part of her Keyblading style.
Heartwarming Orphan: She was adopted by the mayor of Destiny Islands after her original world was swallowed by darkness, and her original family along with it. Ouch. Good thing Kairi doesn't remember much about her life before Destiny Islands.
Heroes Love Dogs: In II, she spends a lot of time befriending Pluto, to the point he willingly chased after Axel after he kidnapped Kairi and comforted her when she was feeling down after both were imprisoned in a cell in the Castle That Never Was, which she responded by smiling and petting him.
Homage: Kairi's hairstyle is deliberately styled the same way as singer Utada Hikaru's at the time of each main games release as a secret homage.
Honorary Princess: Like Alice, Kairi is called a Princess (of Heart), thereby putting her in the same category as many of the Disney Princesses in-game. This is despite her not being royal by birth or marriage. However, she is the daughter of the mayor of Destiny Islands and since Destiny Islands is its own world, it could be argued that Kairi is its "princess" for however long he's in charge.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Platonic version; Lea, Kairi's partner in training during Kingdom Hearts III, is much taller than she is.
Iconic Item: Her silver bead-shaped necklace, which she's only seen without when in her school uniform in II. It's to the extent that in III, Aqua is able to recognize Kairi after over ten years by her necklace.
I Just Want to Be Badass: She dislikes feeling useless, such as when she asked Sora "I can't help?" when she wanted to journey with Sora, making her determined to help fight against the Heartless as a Keyblade wielder.
Kairi: So all of you were out adventuring while I was living a normal life. Why do I always get left out!? You're going to tell me about it later!
Implied Love Interest: To Sora. Plenty of Ship Tease, but nothing concrete that ever confirms it. By the end of Kingdom Hearts III, Sora and Kairi may be taken past implied, as they not only exchange paopu fruits, but are depicted holding hands in public more than once.
Improbably Quick Coma Recovery: Kairi spends most of the first game in a catatonic state, but upon coming out of it, she is totally fine. Justified in that her heart is what holds her consciousness, and since her heart was inside Sora she was kept safe and made aware of the whole situation going on around her so that she doesn't need to be brought up to speed once back in her body.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: As one of the Seven Princesses, she has absolutely no darkness inside her heart and can never have any. This means, according to Kingdom Hearts and II respectively, she can ward off darkness and cross the Corridors of Darkness as many times as she wishes, because they will never corrupt her.
The Ingenue: Although, while very sweet, she can also be quite snarky and headstrong.
Innocent Blue Eyes: Depending on the game, her exact eye color shifts, although it is always some shade of blue and she is an Incorruptible Pure Pureness.
Innocent Flower Girl: As a child in Kingdom Heart Birth by Sleep, she is shown to have some affection for flowers, as she appears with flowers in her hand and is picking more during the final credits. But she won't hesitate to give them away in gratitude, like giving them to Aqua as thanks for saving her from the Unversed. Also, her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, has a floral design.
I Will Find You: After a year has passed since she parted ways with Sora and she's found that she (and everyone else on Destiny Islands) mysteriously forgot Sora in II, she's become concerned enough that she decides she can't just keep waiting for Sora and Riku to come home and decides to go looking for them. Unfortunately she doesn't get to act on it directly before Axel shows up to force her back into the Damsel in Distress role. Still, her Message in a Bottle makes it clear that she was gearing up to go find Sora and Riku to bring them back home.
Kairi's Letter: Thinking of you, wherever you are
We pray for our sorrows to end.
and hope that our hearts will blend.
Now I will step forward to realize this wish.
And who knows.
starting a new journey may not be so hard
or maybe it has already begun.
There are many worlds.
but they share the same sky
one sky, one destiny.
- And in a way, Kairi succeeds — even though she's already back at Destiny Islands, her letter somehow finds its way to Sora and Riku at the end of the game, even though they're trapped in the Realm of Darkness and don't expect to get out. Sora reading the letter causes the Door to Light to manifest and bring them back to Destiny Islands, meaning in a way, Kairi did find her boys and bring them home.
- Re:Mind reveals that Kairi is trying to find Sora after he vanished in the end of III, even consenting to be put in a year-long magic coma on the off chance there's a clue in her heart as to where he disappeared to.
I Will Wait for You: At the end of Kingdom Hearts, she holds Sora to his promise and stays in Destiny Islands, waiting to welcome him and Riku back. She gets her chance at the end of II.
Joshikousei: Sports a white-and-blue school uniform in the opening of the second game.
Kill the Cutie: In the near end, she is seen near the cliff unconscious and Master Xehanort puts her up against the cliff and slashes her with his Keyblade, crystallizing her body and shattering her to pieces, sending Sora to tears. She gets revived later on when Sora retrieved the fragments.
The Lady's Favour: In the first game, Kairi gives Sora her "lucky charm" before he goes off to fight Ansem, with the promise that he'll bring it back one day. Implying, of course, a promise to live through the final battle. Thanks to the way Keyblades work, it also gives him a pretty decent weapon. He does finally return it at the end of the second game. In the secret ending of Birth by Sleep, Kairi gives her lucky charm to Sora again when he decides to leave Destiny Island after reading Mickey's letter, with the same implicit promise.
Legacy Character: As shown in Birth by Sleep, Aqua accidentally passes her mantle as a Keyblade wielder to Kairi, though she later realizes that fate probably led them together. Like Riku, Kairi's powers do not awaken until more than a decade later.
Leg Focus: Especially noticeable with her II and III outfits and their short skirts.
Leitmotif: "Kairi". She's also the only character to have one in the first game.
Light Is Good: She is a Princess of Heart, one of the seven pure lights in all the worlds who can't fall to darkness, and is unquestionably a good and heroic person. She aids Sora and Riku in I and II even without a Keyblade, restoring Sora's humanity in the first game and her words rescuing them from an eternity stranded in the Realm of Darkness in the second.
Light 'em Up: As a Princess of Heart, Kairi is one of seven girls with a heart of pure light, and after learning to harness her powers as a Keyblade wielder, this light is used in every one of her attacks.
Literally Shattered Lives: Xehanort turns her into crystal and shatters her into pieces in the climax of III.
Little Miss Snarker: She's pretty mischievous and tends to join Riku in cracking a lot of jokes at Sora's expense, especially in Kingdom Hearts. She gets another pretty big moment like this in II.8:
Kairi: Who's this new Riku and where's the old one?
The Load: Poor Kairi's been saddled with the Damsel in Distress role in I and II through no fault of her own — she's brave and willing to take action and fight, but was unlucky enough that her special powers just happen to be less combat-oriented than her friends and she kept getting sidelined, making her look unimpressive compared to all the characters in the story who did get magic weapons and can fight (though it's worth mentioning that Kairi does end up saving the day in both numbered titles — she turns Shadow Heartless Sora back into a human, and her Message in a Bottle brings Sora and Riku back to the Realm of Light after they'd been trapped in the Realm of Darkness). It hits critical mass in the base game for III where, despite having trained in a place beyond time so she can grow strong at her leisure, Kairi doesn't make any significant contributions the final battle aside from fighting Xion once, and it becomes outright baffling when she is kidnapped and brought to near-death by Xehanort in order to provoke the final clash needed to forge the χ-blade. This is reversed in Re:Mind, where she not only fights Xion but Xemnas, holding her own against him until he drains her energy prior to kidnapping her. And once Sora brings her back, she plays a pivotal role in defeating Xehanort, and it is Sora going back through time to bring her back that caused many other positive events during the climax.
MacGuffin Super-Person: In I, her heart is sought after to unlock the Final Keyhole and access Kingdom Hearts itself due to her status as one of the Seven Princesses of Heart. She gets downgraded to Hostage MacGuffin in II, being the hot potato between Axel and Organization XIII as both parties try to use her to manipulate Sora.
Magic Missile Storm: Her Shotlock in Re:Mind a large cluster of lightspheres that rain down on enemies.
Magic Knight: Kairi has a very effective sword-arm and and equal aptitude for spells.
Magic Skirt: It manages to stay down even during major battles and cut-scenes, but can be subverted in the original release of KHII.
Meaningful Name: The kai in Kairi's name means "sea", which connects her to Sora ("sky") and Riku ("land"). Incidentally, it can also mean "seashell," and the entire name can mean "nautical mile." Suits a girl who lives on an island surrounded by ocean and makes Sora's Good Luck Charm out of seashells. It also has relevance to her situation, with Kairi having to endure first being separated from her original home and family and stranded alone on Destiny Islands in her backstory, and now often being separated from her new home and friends.
Mini Dress Of Power: Downplayed at the end of KHII, which sees the pink minidress-clad Kairi getting her own Keyblade and fighting some Heartless in a cutscene, but she doesn't get to fight outside of cutscenes and her main role in the game before that was as a Damsel in Distress. She's promoted to a straight example in Kingdom Hearts III, where she openly training with the Keyblade and has a new pink-and-black outfit that has a miniskirt.
Modesty Shorts: Due to being in an action-oriented role in III Kairi has taken to wearing shorts under her skirt.
Morality Pet: For Riku in the first game, as his primary reason (besides jealousy of Sora) for becoming an Anti-Villain in Kingdom Hearts is in a misguided attempt to save her. Realizing that Ansem is trying to take Kairi's heart is what enables him to start Fighting from the Inside.
Mysterious Waif: In the first game, despite her outgoing personality and being the main protagonist's childhood friend. She arrived as an amnesiac refugee from another world, then she loses her new home and is taken by the villains. We later learn that she is one of the Princesses of Heart, seven maidens who are needed to open the final keyhole and the titular Kingdom Hearts, and that she came from the lost world of Hollow Bastion (which was called Radiant Garden by the time she lived there).
Never a Self-Made Woman: With the exception of the first game, where she has her own backstory and her own importance to the plot (beyond her friendship with the boys), Kairi's entire role and personality is to be the Morality Chain for both Sora and Riku, and an Implied Love Interest for the former. Even her growth into an Action Girl still qualifies, because she only gains the skills because of Yen Sid and Merlin, although to be fair this is also the case for Lea. Also, Sora and Riku were self made not out of choice and didn't have a Keyblade Master to guide them full time until DDD, and once she gets her Keyblade in II, she fairs as well as Sora did when he first got a Keyblade.
Nice Girl: She's a friendly and accepting person, and Birth by Sleep shows she's been a total sweetheart since she was a child. She doesn't hold Riku's actions in I against him and not only forgives and befriends Lea despite him kidnapping her as Axel, like Sora with Roxas she recognizes Naminé as her own person and is determined to give her her life back in III. Hilariously turned against her in the manga adaptation of Kingdom Hearts II, where she ALMOST escapes confinement on her own... but against her will feels so bad at the idea that Demyx will get punished if she escapes that she willingly (though begrudgingly) returns to her cell to help him out.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A Keyblade-wielding Princess of Heart. By III, she is both one of the New Seven Hearts and one of the Seven Guardians of Light.
No Infantile Amnesia: Averted. Kairi has little to no recollection of anything before she crash-landed in Destiny Islands at the age of four, including her memories living in Radiant Garden with her grandmother and her brief acquaintance with Aqua and Mickey. Although in the first game, she does end up remembering her grandmother telling her a story, a memory which she shares with Sora.
Now, Let Me Carry You: When she discovers Sora has turned into a Heartless to recover Kairi's heart and they are about to be attacked by Heartless.
Kairi: This time I'll protect you.

O - Z

Odd Friendship: She ultimately develops one with Lea, the complete Somebody of her former kidnapper, Axel.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
- Two potential cool moments for her in KHII are sadly left offscreen: escaping Axel all by herself, and getting back through the door to Kingdom Hearts to help fight the Nobodies.^note
- This happens to an almost comical degree in III. Her Keyblade training is entirely off-screen, her fighting a horde of enemies alongside Lea is entirely off-screen, her keeping Sora alive and aiding him in rescuing the others' hearts is entirely off-screen to the point where it's almost an Informed Attribute, and we only see her in action as a party member for one fight, Kairi doing well against Xion before she's overpowered by Saïx, kidnapped by Xemnas, and shattered by Xehanort. Thankfully, the fan backlash against this helped it be reversed in the Re:Mind DLC scenario, where you can actually play as Kairi in full-on Action Girl mode.
Petal Power: Her attacks with Destiny's Embrace emit blue and pink blossoms, as well as gold-glowing flower petals; her Spin Attack lets off a flurry of them so thick it can make it difficult to see her. Her projectile attack is even named "Flower Shot"!
Pink Heroine: Starting in II, which is also the start of Kairi getting a Keyblade and being set up to take a bigger role in future games as an Action Girl.
Pink Means Feminine: Switches from a tank top and skirt over pants to pink minidresses to coincide with her Girliness Upgrade. May also be a case of Princesses Prefer Pink since Kairi is a Princess of Heart, although it isn't as big a plot point by the time Kairi switches from her original outfit of primarily white-and-purple to her later pink ones.
Pintsized Powerhouse: This petite teenage girl is a full-fledged Guardian of Light and goes all Action Girl in Re:Mind where she hits like a truck.
Pity the Kidnapper: Well, the jailer, rather, in the manga, but she found Demyx's groveling so pitiful that, even after socking him in the face in refusal, she just couldn't stand it and willingly let herself be recaptured.
Playing with Fire: Her Flower Shoot ability deals Fire damage instead of Neutral damage like Mickey's Pearl Spell, and she casts Firaga against Xehanort in Melody of Memory.
Plucky Girl: As Axel points out, the girl's got a lot of guts. She was even prepared to fight Saïx unarmed! Her bravery can also be somewhat reckless. Examples of that are when she embraced Sora as a Heartless even though it could be dangerous, when she offered to journey with Sora despite not having a Keyblade, when she jumped into a Corridor of Darkness despite not knowing where it could lead, and so on.
The Pollyanna: She tries to be positive as often as possible, even though sometimes her inner worries slip out anyway, especially in the original game where an early scene shows that she's near Stepford Smiler territory.
The Power of Love:
- After winning a fight and driving Ansem from Hollow Bastion, Sora sacrifices himself using the Keyblade of heart to free Kairi's heart, and is turned into a Shadow Heartless. Awakened as her heart is finally restored, Kairi runs towards him, but as soon as her fingers touch him, he vanishes. Refusing to believe that Sora is gone, Kairi prepares to fight the Shadow Heartless that surround her, along with Donald and Goofy. However, once Ansem reappears and Riku's spirit stops him from attacking Kairi, she flees. Devastated, she, along with Donald and Goofy, attempt to escape from Hollow Bastion. But just as they are cornered by the Heartless, she recognizes Sora's Heartless from the crowd and manages to bring Sora back from the darkness by embracing him and promising to protect him.
- Again in III, as Sora gets taken away, he is sent to The Final World, a world of limbo where a heart goes when it dies but is clinging on to something from life. When Sora encounters Naminé, she states that Kairi is the one clinging onto him, preventing his death. After Sora encounters Kairi, they happily join hands upon their reunion. Kairi then tells Sora that she believed he wouldn't fade away, and that saved him.
- In Re:Mind, Sora and Kairi's Combination Attack One Heart has this vibe, the two of them Formchange their keyblade into a wing each and then assault Xehanort while holding hands.
Princess Protagonist: Kairi is the main female lead due to her importance to Sora and at long last becomes one of the few playable female characters in Re:Mind. The first Kingdom Hearts also establishes that she is one of what's called the Seven Princesses of Heart, making her an Honorary Princess.
Promoted to Playable: After 18 years of being a Faux Action Girl at best and an outright Damsel in Distress at worst, KHIII: Re:Mind made her not only finally playable, but playable in a fight against Xehanort himself! (Albeit with Sora by her side, but still.)
Protective Charm: Aqua placed one on her necklace that brought her to Destiny Islands when Xehanort cast her into the darkness between worlds as a child.
Protectorate: Sora puts everyone he's close to high on the list of things to protect, but none morose than Kairi. Also, Riku has this for Kairi hard in the first game, and it leads him down the path to the dark side and puts him in conflict with his childhood friend Sora. Riku eventually pulls a Heel–Face Turn and adds him to his protectorate, while still looking out for Kairi.
Power Gives You Wings: One Heart, Kairi's team-attack with Sora have them each formshift their keyblade into a wing with which they fly together and attack with.
Raised by Grandparents: Implied. The only parental figure she is seen with back in Radiant Garden is her grandmother, in both the original Kingdom Hearts and Birth by Sleep.
Ship Tease:
- While sharing a deep friendship with Sora and Riku, Kairi seems to be particularly important to Sora. Kairi's feelings for Sora have been hinted at several times. She jokes about her and Sora taking the raft, just the two of them. She embraces Sora's Heartless as the other Shadows jump on them. She gives him her Wayfinder in hopes it will bring him back to her. The face sketch on said Wayfinder resembles Sora. She sheds a tear when she sees that Sora added a paopu fruit to their drawings of each other they did as kids, and even adds another. Kairi was the only person on the Islands to have any recollection of Sora, and felt guilty that she couldn't remember his voice, face, or even his name. When Kairi tells the Twilight Trio about how she was looking for Sora, Olette says that it was "a romantic story". When Saïx asks her if she wanted to see Sora, she answers "I do, more than anything." After reuniting with Sora, she hugs him, confirming it's really him, while Donald and Goofy looked on as if they were intruding, with pleased smiles on their faces. When Sora tells her that he has to leave again, she just smiles and, once again, gives him her Wayfinder.
- It's at it's strongest in III where, while training with Lea, she states while writing a letter to Sora that she likes to talk with him even if its on paper. Her feelings for Sora were hinted at the day before their final battle. While Sora and Kairi are sitting on the paopu fruit tree, she hands him a paopu fruit. She states that she wants to be a part of Sora's life no matter what. After both of them promise to keep each other safe, they exchange paopu fruit. When Sora finds himself near death in Limbo, it was revealed by Naminé that Kairi was the person keeping his body from completely fading away into the afterlife. When Sora finds her, they happily join hands. Kairi states that she believed that he wouldn't give up. When Sora states he feels strong with her, she looks away and holds his hand to proceed with their final battle. And that's to say nothing of Re:Mind, where their relationship becomes the primary focus.
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Kairi spends the majority of KHIII training with Lea be the remaining Guardians of Light, wanting to join Sora to take on Organization XIII. She also wants to bring back Naminé. When Kairi finally fights with Sora against Saïx and Xion, Xemnas intervenes by kidnapping her claiming that they don't need her as one of the Guardians anymore once Xion snaps out of it. At the end of it all, Kairi gets shattered by Xehanort for the purpose of enraging Sora and Kairi isn't the one to rescue Naminé, leaving her resolve completely pointless. This is undone in Re:Mind, where her training has the anticipated pay-off and she plays an active part in restoring Naminé at the end.
Short Teens, Tall Adults: She's about the same height as Sora in II, making her just around 5'2" and therefore dwarfed by practically every adult character in the game.
Single Tear: At the end of I, after seeing Sora's addition to the paopu drawing.
- In the ending of III, she sheds a single tear when she realizes that Sora's time is due and he will disappear right before her eyes.
Skilled, but Naive: In III' Kairi's training with the three good fairies and Merlin has imparted her with great skill in both swordplay and sorcery but her callowness in battle is her downfall to many of her more experienced opponents. True to form, many of her battle quotes are psyching herself when facing enemies.
Spin Attack: One of her special attacks as a party member is Spiral Bloom which lets her pirouette at an enemy or in an upward angle with her Keyblade. When playable this becomes one of her combo finishers.
Spectacular Spinning: One of her favorite attacks in III is a jump forward while performing a corkscrew attack in the air for multiple hits, which is incredibly effective at juggling enemies in the air.
Standard Female Grab Area: Axel easily kidnaps a struggling Kairi in KHII by grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her away.
- Justified in III. Though Kairi is now a Keyblade wielder, there's not much that she can do when Xemnas (a person much larger and taller than she is) restrain her by painfully TWISTING HER ARM upwards so that her elbow juts out at an awkward angle, and he promptly disappears through darkness, especially once Re:Mind changes things around so that he had drained her energy beforehand with a Nothingness attack.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Or at least what amounts to this trope for a series like this. Since the first game, whenever it seems like Kairi and Sora will be together, something happens to keep them apart. An upset Sora Lampshades is at the end of III. Sure enough, by the end of that game, Kairi and Sora are not together.
Sora: My whole journey began the day I lost her. And every time I find her... she slips away again.
Stay in the Kitchen: She tends to suffer from this.
- In the first game, Sora does this with her, claiming that coming with him to the final world was "too dangerous" and that she "would kinda be in his way".
- Thankfully, in II, Kairi gets to participate in the final world and fight the Heartless with a keyblade given to her by Riku. Justified in the first game in that Kairi was unarmed, had no combat experience, and no way of defending herself. At worst, the scene was misplaced, as it would have fit better in regards to going to End of the World than Hollow Bastion (where all the other unarmed, lacking in combat experience Princesses of Heart are just fine hanging out at). By the second game, Kairi has a year to become more athletic... plus access to a weapon of her own.
- Despite the ending of II, in the secret ending for BBS, Kairi has to stay behind while Sora and Riku leave again for the Mark of Mastery exam, which seems fine until you remember that in the main story, the similarly novice Keyblade wielder Ventus was able to attend his friends' exam as a spectator, so it's bizarre that Kairi can't do the same for hers. At least there's still the justification that someone has to stay behind and keep the island safe.
Stranger in a Familiar Land: Possibly the reason why she decides to stay in Destiny Islands as opposed to moving back to Radiant Garden. When she became a castaway in the former, she lost all of her memories and recognizes none of the latter. Radiant Garden might be her birthplace, but Destiny Islands is the only place she can call home.
Summon to Hand: Played straight and Inverted. Kairi can summon her Keyblade just like any other wielder. In addition, her version of Strike Raid has Kairi summoning herself to her Keyblade to chain into combos.
Sword over Head: A very unique and weaponless instance in the KHII manga. An entire issue is dedicated to telling the story of Kairi's attempt to escape captivity in the World That Never Was. She almost succeeds, but Demyx, who was instructed to guard her on the pain of death, begs her to return to her cell after multiple bites to the face of Pluto. She is initially incredulous that Demyx would be executed for failure, but in the end, she complies out of pity after he falls to his knees and starts bawling.
Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Xehanort offs her (somewhat) in III in order to better "motivate" Sora into giving it his all in fighting him (although Re:Mind confirms that he also did so because he had the power to restore her in case things went south for him and he had to rely on gathering the seven Princesses of Heart to open Kingdom Hearts). Sora is able to brought her back into the Realm of Light, but at a great cost to himself.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: As a gap closer she throws her Keyblade at enemies and teleports to it instead of doing a dash attack. ^note
Travel to Projectile: Her gap-closer rather then a Dash Attack will have her throw her keyblade at the Xehanort and teleport to it, which greatly resembles the Warp Strike from Final Fantasy XV.
Tomboy and Girly Girl:
- In II, Kairi is the tomboy to Selphie's girly-girl tendencies on Destiny Islands. While Kairi's not as much of a tomboy as she was in the original (as invokedWord of God Nomura states it in the "KH Character Report" book), the duo of her and Selphie still seems to fit the trope simply because Selphie is so gleefully girly that the more reserved Kairi seems less so by comparison. The fact that Selphie has a pink handbag covered with plushies while Kairi has a simple brown satchel also helps.
- Kairi is also considered the tomboy to Naminé's girly-girl. Naminé has the more consistently feminine appearance with long hair and a simple dress, while Kairi just as often cuts her hair short and mixes up her attire with things like hoodies, shorts, sneakers, and sweatbands. While both help out the heroes, Kairi is also more reckless and willing to plunge headfirst into danger than Naminé as seen in II. Also, Naminé tends to speak more softly than Kairi, who's never afraid to speak her mind.
Tomboyness Upgrade: After receiving a Girliness Upgrade in II, Kairi is at her most action oriented in III, where her hair is shorter again and she's upgraded to what look like combat boots.
Tomboy Princess: She has some strong tomboyish tendencies and turns out to be a princess (well, Princess of Heart).
Took a Level in Badass:
- Becomes a Keyblade wielder at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. This makes her the only Princess of Heart who fights at all. While all she fights are Shadows, it's impressive that she is able to kill them in one hit as just a rookie, as when Sora was just starting out it would take several hits to do the job.
  Kairi: This time, I'll fight.
- Even before this, she shows increased athleticism compared to the first game. According to Nomura, this is something she worked on during the year she spent on Destiny Islands apart from Sora and Riku, saying that in his character notes for the game it says Kairi is the strongest person on the islands in Sora and Riku's absence.
- As of The Stinger in 3D, she and Lea undertake professional Keyblade training from Merlin in Radiant Garden, and by the time of Kingdom Hearts III she has completed her training and is officially a Keyblade wielder, and acquits herself relatively well in a two on two battle with Lea against Saïx and Xion, particularly the latter whom she is on a relatively even playing field with.
- Re:Mind not only has her go toe to toe with Xemnas in a cutscene but also promotes her to playable and gives her a cinematic shotlock attack and has her take the lead in the battle with the Big Bad himself. Carries over into Melody of Memory where she faces off against an illusion of Master Xehanort by herself and manages to hold her own against him. Xehanort himself even acknowledges that Kairi has become quite the Keyblade wielder. After meeting with Yen Sid, she decides to train under Aqua to become even stronger.
Travel to Projectile: Kairi's gap closing ability rather then a standard Dash Attack involves throwing her keyblade in a Strike Raid-esque fashion and then teleporting to it to bring herself closer.
True Sight: She can see Riku's true appearance even when he has Ansem's face, and helps Sora to see it too when all three stand still and hold hands with their eyes closed.
Underrated and Overleveled: KHII has Kairi get her own Keyblade and start fending off some mid-level Nobodies towards the end of the game. She's doing this alongside Riku, who has not only trained with a sword for years, but is locked in a powerful body at the time. Kairi herself has never been shown as even practicing with a toy sword like Riku and Player Character Sora, let alone using a real sword with the same skill they do. Though, it could just be because it's a cutscene.
Unskilled, but Strong: Nomura is on record that with Sora and Riku gone, Kairi became the strongest person on Destiny Islands, and it shows when she manages to physically overpower Xemnas. However, her lines in the Armored Xehanort fight suggest she only has half an idea of what she’s doing. Her goal at the end of Melody of Memory is to avert this by training to become Strong and Skilled.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A small, odd example: she unwittingly instigates the doom of a villain, Xigbar, in KHII. By taking the attention of all the Heartless summoned to kill Sora away from Sora and onto her, she forces Xigbar to step in to finish Sora off instead, which leads to Xigbar's demise at Sora's hands.
Video Game Sliding: Her Dodge Roll equivalent is a quick slide along the ground.
Water Is Womanly: The kai in her name can be translated to ocean, and she is a kind and lovely young girl pure-hearted enough to be one of the Seven Princesses of Heart.
Weak, but Skilled: As demonstrated in Melody of Memory, Kairi employs very creative fighting techniques to make up for her lack of experience, with even Xehanort, a Master who has wielded a Keyblade for decades, complimenting her on her progress and skill. Unfortunately, this still isn't enough to defeat Xehanort, which results in Sora's memory coming to her aid in the final battle.
Weaponized Teleportation: Kairi's most practical move is throwing her keyblade at an enemy as an attack and then teleporting to the keyblade, which lets her instantly close the distance between her and an opponent and catch them in a combo.
Well-Trained, but Inexperienced: She spends most of III being trained to use her Keyblade under Yen Sid's supervision in preparation for the upcoming battle against the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness. When the battle occurs, she proves to be the weakest of the Seven Guardians of Light, having no actual combat experience. Worse still, Merlin is the one to supervise her, and while he is very intelligent, he has no Keyblade or combat experience of his own and thus lacks certain qualities that would make a proper teacher for her. When brought into the final showdown, she's quickly overpowered and kidnapped by Xemnas.
What Happened to the Mouse?: In the secret ending of Birth by Sleep, she gives Sora her lucky charm again before he and Riku head out to see Yen Sid. It's never been brought up again since. Possibly justified as it would have been a blatant retread, but it's still a bit jarring after how important it was earlier in the series.
What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: While she has unmatched and incorruptible light inside herself as a Princess of Heart, she still ends up losing her heart when Destiny Islands gets destroyed, and appears unable to actively utilize this power at all until III, where a common attack she uses in battle is shooting light magic out of her Keyblade.
Wistful Amnesia:
- Kairi doesn't remember a lot about her home before Destiny Islands, not because of what Xehanort did to her but because she was very young when she was cast out. What memories she recollects are a few wistful moments with her grandmother.
- At the start of Kingdom Hearts II, Kairi still has a very vague recollection of Sora during the prologue, even though she isn’t supposed to remember him yet due to Naminé’s memory tampering.
Worf Had the Flu: Re:Mind retroactively attributes her easy kidnapping by Xemnas to this, showing her putting him on the ropes in battle before he resorts to weakening and incapacitating her and Sora with a powerful Nothingness attack. And unlike Sora who is reinvigorated by the return of his future self’s heart, Kairi is left vulnerable after the trap dissipates, letting Xemnas abduct her soon after.
Xenafication: Kairi in the first game spent 80% of the story inside of Sora's heart, with her body an empty shell. In the second game she acquires a Keyblade and is able to kick plenty of ass to save Sora, Donald and Goofy from an abnormally large swarm of Heartless, with the manga adaptation taking it further (Kairi saves Sora from Xigbar!). Dream Drop Distance's secret ending reveals Kairi is going to receive formal Keyblade training to be able to hold her own alongside her friends, which fully comes to fruition in Kingdom Hearts III or in a straighter example, Re:Mind.
Yamato Nadeshiko: In Kingdom Hearts III, her personality has mellowed into this.
Zipperiffic: Oh, boy, her KHII dress has a vertical zipper down the front that's partially unzipped to show the top of the white top/dress underneath, plus two more vertical zippers on either side of the main one, a hood attached to the back of the dress, sneakers, and some random belts thrown in for flavor. Yep, Nomura's fingerprints are all over it.

"Thinking of you, wherever you are. We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, but they share the same sky — one sky, one destiny."

Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Kairi

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2020 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Kairi

Voiced by: Risa Uchida (Japanese), Hayden Panettiere (English, KHI, KHII, Birth by Sleep), Alyson Stoner (English, Re: Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, KHIII, Melody of Memory)
Young Kairi voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese), Ariel Winter (English)

Appearances: I | Chain of Memories | II | 358/2 Days | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | III | Melody of Memory

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Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Kairi

Edit Locked

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2020 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Kairi

Voiced by: Risa Uchida (Japanese), Hayden Panettiere (English, KHI, KHII, Birth by Sleep), Alyson Stoner (English, Re: Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, KHIII, Melody of Memory)Young Kairi voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese), Ariel Winter (English)

Appearances: I | Chain of Memories | II | 358/2 Days | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | III | Melody of Memory

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Index

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Voiced by: Risa Uchida (Japanese), Hayden Panettiere (English, KHI, KHII, Birth by Sleep), Alyson Stoner (English, Re: Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-, KHIII, Melody of Memory)
Young Kairi voiced by: Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese), Ariel Winter (English)