The Shrouded Path
is a Kingdom Hearts crossover with Silent Hill featuring the main protagonists from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.
Set in an AU universe, the story begins when Aqua, Terra and Ven are sent on a mission to locate Master Xehanort. Somewhere along the way, they end up losing Ven, but manage to trace him to a town called Silent Hill. . .
The Shrouded Path also has a Darker and Edgier sequel under the title Those Who Fight Monsters.
Characters from these works appear:
Tropes Applying to The Shrouded Path include:
- Abandoned Hospital: Ridgeview Clinic. Brookhaven Hospital looks like it's going to be this, but it's actually inhabited.
- Abusive Parents: Xehanort was one to Vanitas and routinely beat Vanitas to a pulp as part of their 'training'. It's Vanitas's desire to escape from this that makes Silent Hill call to him in the first place.
- Accidental Murder: Terra first summons his keyblade (by accident) while lashing out at Zack Fair which results in the latter's death.
- Action Girl: Aqua, until her keyblade breaks.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Ven's final battle against Vanitas takes place within his heart.
- Berserk Button: Do not touch Terra's friends.
- Big Bad: It's no coincidence the trio were drawn into Silent Hill. It's all part of Vanitas's plot to merge with Ven and become whole.
- Black Cloak: Members of the Order wear this.
- Big Damn Hero: Terra does this twice. The first time is for Ven when he is dragged into the Dark World. The second time is for Ven and Aqua after Vanitas captures them.
- Bittersweet Ending: The trio escape from Silent Hill, but are all damaged from the experience, and Vanitas is still out there. As of the sequel, this becomes more of a Pyrrhic Victory.
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Aqua temporarily defeats the Bogeyman, but at the cost of losing her keyblade.
- Closed Circle: Ultimately subverted. While Silent Hill does want to keep the heroes trapped, it is unable to deal with things like dark portals and keyblade gliders.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Played with. Terra uses his power over darkness for the sole purpose of protecting his friends, which leads him to conclude this. However, the violence and instability he shows in the sequel calls into question how true this is.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Terra killed Zack Fair by accident when he was a kid.
- The Dark World: Both Terra and Ven face a version of Silent Hill's Otherworld: a hellish mirror of the real world filled with monsters.
- Demonic Possession: Vanitas attempts this on Terra, but ultimately fails. He has better luck with brainwashing Aqua.
- Distress Call: Terra receives one from Ven via radio
- Drone of Dread: In Silent Hill fashion, a air raid siren announces the shift to the Otherworld.
- Enemy Without: Vanitas to Ven, as per canon.
- Escape from the Crazy Place: The only goal of the Wayfinder trio is to escape Silent Hill together.
- God of Evil: Vanitas is revealed to be the god of Silent Hill.
- The Heartless: Since this is Kingdom Hearts, the franchise's usual take on the Heartless shows up here as well.
- Heroic BSoD: Terra falls into one, but snaps out of it once he's told his friends are in danger.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Xion is killed buying time for Ven and his friends to escape.
- Hope Spot: In Chapter 13, the trio is finally reunited and about to leave. Then Terra's Dark and Troubled Past rears its head...
- I Just Want to Be You: Vanitas would love nothing more than to take over Ven's life.
- "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: Ven tries this with a brainwashed Aqua. It doesn't work.
- Kangaroo Court: At the end of the jail, Terra finds himself in a courtroom where the judge decries him for being guilty before either side has a chance to present their case.
- Killed Off for Real: Unlike in Kingdom Hearts canon where Death Is Cheap, Xion dies and stays dead. Vanitas makes a point of showing this in the sequel.
- Love Hungry: Vanitas just wants Aqua and Terra to love him and be his friends.
- Moment of Weakness: Both Aqua and Terra when they and Ven reunite for the first time. Terra gives into his rage and attacks Xaldin, accidentally burning Aqua when she tries to stop him. Aqua, on the other hand, can't hold back her disdain when Terra's Dark and Troubled Past is revealed. If either of them had controlled themselves, they could have escaped Silent Hill much earlier.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Terra nearly kills Aqua, paving the way for Vanitas to take over her mind.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Instead of being broken, the trials Silent Hill puts Terra through help him master his inner darkness, which he then uses to save his friends.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Individually, all three members of the trio have plenty of opportunities to escape, but they refuse to leave without the others. However, it's averted with both Xion and Ansem the Wise.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Xion fighting The Corruption with nothing but a flashlight and some aglaophotis.
- Ominous Fog: Silent Hill is filled with a thick fog that makes it difficult for the heroes to see monsters creeping up on them and aids the town in separating them.
- Papa Wolf: Terra doesn't hesitate to turn on anyone he feels is a threat to Aqua or Ven, including his surrogate father, Master Eraqus.
- People Puppets: Vanitas eventually seizes control of Aqua, using her to attack and capture Ven while she can only watch in horror.
- Sinister Minister: Xemnas wants to help Vanitas reunite with Ven and grow in power so he can rule the universe as his right-hand man.
- The Reveal: Vanitas is the Big Bad, having ascended to becoming the God of Silent Hill. All of this is happening because he wants to merge back with Ven and replace him in the Wayfinder trio. Oh, and he killed Master Xehanort a long time ago.
- You Wake Up in a Room: After Terra is thrown off a building by Pyramid Head, he wakes up inside a room at Brookhaven Hospital.
Tropes applying exclusively to Those Who Fight Monsters include:
- A God Am I: Vanitas successfully forges the X-Blade, giving him access to Kingdom Hearts and its power.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Vanitas assaults the Land of Departure and drags it into Silent Hill.
- Alone with the Psycho: Aqua is captured by Vanitas and held prisoner inside her own home.
- Batman Gambit: Vanitas lures Aqua away from the Land of Departure as part of a plot to make Master Eraqus leave. This way, that world is left undefended and Vanitas can take it over at his leisure.
- Berserk Button: In addition to Terra's berserk button, Ven now has one regarding Xion's death.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Ven is the nicest and sanest of his friends, but by the end of the story, is arguably the strongest
- Big Damn Heroes: Vanitas captures Ven and starts to torture him. What does Terra do? Break away from Maleficent's mind control and proceed to rescue him.
- Broken Bird: Aqua already suffers from extreme PTSD from the events of the previous story and the hits just keep coming. There are two separate occasions where she decides to give up and accept whatever grim fate is coming.
- Sora as well. Between this story and The Shrouded Path, he, Riku and Kairi are drawn into Silent Hill. Vanitas's plans are successful this time and not only does Sora watch Kairi's heart get ripped out in front of him, he's forced to abandon Riku to get her body to safety.
- Master Eraqus renounces his title as a Keyblade Master and gives up his keyblade after failing to protect his students again.
- Chekhov's Gun: In The Shrouded Path, Terra's Wayfinder was modified to be able to track his friends' whereabouts. When Terra falls under a sleeping spell and Ven is left on his own, he uses Terra's Wayfinder to track Aqua.
- The Dragon: Riku to Vanitas. While he's not as strong as some of the monsters in Silent Hill, he has the unique ability to leave Silent Hill.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Where the title comes from. Terra appears to be falling victim to this trope. However, it's Ven who ends up Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
- Hypocrite: Vanitas and Ven go back and forth accusing each other of this.
- Love Makes You Evil: Vanitas. Ven and Terra have also been performing some morally ambiguous actions, thanks to their obsessive need to protect Aqua.
- Mind Rape: In Chapter 19, Vanitas forces Aqua to live some of the horrible memories from the people drawn to Silent Hill in an attempt to prove the town is a necessary evil.
- Not Quite Dead: Despite Terra sending them down a Bottomless Pit in The Shrouded Path, the Bogeymen are just as strong as ever.
- Only Sane Man: Ven appears to be this among his friends
- Pay Evil unto Evil: This is what Vanitas believes Silent Hill's purpose is.
- Rage Against the Mentor: Terra blames Master Eraqus for the events of The Shrouded Path.
