✒ OOC Name: Jester Contact: → DW:imitational (I don't use my personal much.) → AIM: potionbottles → Plurk:blindfolds Do you play anyone in Myth Making?:NPCs Nope!
✒ IC Name: Riku Replica Canon: Kingdom Hearts Canon Point: Post-Chain of Memories, after he fades to darkness. Age: Appears roughly 15. In reality he's existed for a matter of days. The life of a clone.
Personality:
"I'm me, he says. Must be nice being real. A fake like me could never get away with saying that."
If you asked the replica to tell you about himself, the first thing he would tell you is that he isn't real. Oh, he's as physically real as you and I. He exists as anything does that isn't imaginary, he can be touched and felt, and he can do the same. He can sleep, eat, bleed, and be hurt, very easily. He has free will and can think for himself better than some people ever do, and he can also be manipulated as well as any person. But he's an imitation of someone that already existed long before he was ever even thought of.
The replica began his existence as an experiment, a collection of data from a boy named Riku. Essentially, he's a clone, but in canon he's referred to as a "replica". A scientist named Vexen gathered the data from Riku himself (through battle, as it goes) and created an artificial being meant to challenge and test the original, real Riku, hoping that they could manipulate him through this. Later on the replica was tinkered with further, his real memories rewritten and replaced with a corrupted, fake version of Riku's own, and turned into a tool for manipulation against Sora. It worked pretty well, but ultimately it was more trouble for Organization XIII than he was worth. Sora beat the replica in every fight, and used his classic, kind-hearted, "I'll keep going as long as I have to to make things right" nature to get to the replica, unaware that he wasn't the real Riku. After all, he was his best friend. Sora has always been willing to do just about anything to rescue Riku, especially from himself.
Unfortunately, the replica was having none of it. Already more aggressive than Riku himself at the time, and now having his memories replaced with a desperate promise to protect Naminé at all costs? Well, that didn't mix well with having his supposed best friend (who, his memories were telling him, didn't care about them at all) try to steal the show, in his eyes. So when he got the opportunity for a killing blow, he took it. He wasn't counting on Naminé to stop him and literally shatter his heart.
It didn't kill him, but it came close enough. His memories now are clearer -- he remembers and knows that he's a replica of Riku himself, and that his past and the promise with Naminé was never real. He still feels the need to protect her, however, and holds true to that during the final battle in Castle Oblivion, protecting her while Sora defeats the big bad.
Accepting the truth of his existence and status, the replica could have done off to do anything. He chose to do what he could to make his fate solid and become a real person. Unfortunately, he chose to do this by attempting to kill the real Riku and was defeated as a result, fading out of existence. In the end, even as he died, both Riku and his replica respectfully accepted the other for who they were.
Because he's based on all Riku ever was, his past, memories, habits and personality are all based on Riku's own, and they picked a terrible time for it. At the time of the replica's creation, Riku was just beginning his path to healing and becoming less of a walking bag of dicks arrogant, gullible prick. So a lot of his personality is based on who Riku used to be. Arrogant, self-centered, cocky, and overconfident to the point of being obnoxious. It isn't completely unfounded: Riku grew up believing himself to be the best, and it might have been encouraged, if not by his parents than by his friends. He was always the most skilled fighter, something everyone willingly admitted. No one could beat him, not even three-on-one. He was always looked at as a leader. We never really see him taking charge and leading, and he might not even be as good as we're expected to believe he is during that point in canon, but he certainly accepts the opportunity and responsibility with ease. He's responsible for most of the serious work toward leaving the islands, and ultimately it's his hardheaded quest to find a new and exciting path that sets the events of the first game in motion. He also turned into something of a jerk over the course of the game, possessed by darkness and manipulated by Disney villains against his best friend. Again, this was overall bad timing for someone to make a clone of him.
"As long as you're around, I'll never be more than a shadow!"
Other than those key (and frustrating) traits of Riku's, there are some distinct differences between how he was then and how the replica is. Unlike him, the replica lacks most sympathy and understanding toward other people, even after his memories are fixed. He absorbs (and essentially kills) Zexion without a thought, for the sake of power, and is willing to do it again. Before his defeat by Riku's hand, he was willing to kill him, too, just for the sake of feeling real. He doesn't hold that murderous jealousy or hate toward Riku anymore, but he could still easily kill an enemy without feeling any emotional regret, and would likely brutally murder members of Organization XIII if given the chance.
While both are skeptical of strangers, Riku's more likely to investigate and come to his conclusion later. The replica, however, is more likely to become distrustful and aggressive right off the bat. If given the opportunity, the replica could probably form attachments just as easily as any other person, but he doesn't hold his friends to the same value Riku does. Or, the memories of friends, even before his memories are fixed. Sora means very little even by the end of the game, and Kairi's existence is largely overshadowed by Naminé's. The other kids on the islands are nothing more than a passing thought. It's obvious he would treat his friends differently than Riku's later devotion (and avoidance), if just for lack of experience.
The replica also carries a massive inferiority complex. He acknowledges that, compared to everyone else, he's not real, and at one point admits he's not worthy of even being with them. But the actual issue is aimed almost entirely at Riku. He's the original, the real version to his fake, who he was made to be a shadow of. Sure, he can easily say he was made to be a better version, a more powerful version, but everything his existence is based off of was borrowed from him. Being defeated and dying knocked him down a peg, and it was well-needed -- he's accepted himself for who he is, and no longer feels the need to defeat Riku to exist. There may even be a cautious respect for Riku, though it's not something he would ever admit to. At the very least, he doesn't taunt him about being afraid of the dark anymore. All that being said, the replica still doesn't consider himself real, or his own person, and won't upon entrance to the game.
"So it's over. Death doesn't frighten me. Good riddance to a phony life. My heart was never real. I'm sure even what I'm feeling now is probably all fake." "What are you feeling?" "What happens when a fake dies? One like me... Where will my heart go? Does it disappear?" "It'll go somewhere. Maybe to the same place as mine." "A faithful replica until the very end. That's... okay."
Naminé... Naminé deserves mention, even if it's short, because her existence and power over his memories have left a huge impact on the replica. He knows it was all fake. He knows they never had a real promise, no past together. Despite that, he doesn't bear any grudges against her for what she did, and blames Organization XIII for it completely. He's forgiven her, to put it simply. Even if that promise wasn't real, he's willing to uphold it, and would feel a need to protect her if he ever met her again.
Canon Abilities or Powers: Physically fit to near-perfection, the replica has extraordinary strength surpassing that of your average teenage boy, increased speed, and lightning fast reflexes to match. Made to be an exact copy of Riku (who himself has absurd strength and abilities for a boy his age) he compares perfectly. (This seems to be a running trend in the Kingdom Hearts series, at least for most central figures. Riku spends some of the first game toting around his comatose friend, for example. Larxene, a thin and even more agile woman likely in her mid- to late-twenties, easily picks up the replica, in armor, with one hand.) Riku's Replica is also entirely capable of combat without magic, and uses the same acrobatic and quick style of Riku himself. Basically this involves a lot of jumping, sword slashing, spinning, and rushing in attempts to overwhelm his opponent with combos. As an example from a Riku app I wrote:
"Riku is a phenomenal fighter. Supposedly, up until the events in Kingdom Hearts, when play-fighting against his friends he went mostly undefeated. Some of the kids on the islands mention fighting Riku three against one in their early teens, and still being bested by him. Obviously he is capable of being defeated, most often by Sora, but he's still recognized as the most skilled fighter his age. Physically, Riku is both strong and fast. His fighting style is a lot of show and a lot of quick, hard attacks. More often Riku will strike from above. If he doesn't have the element of surprise handy, he goes for combo attacks. Ultimately it's about overwhelming his opponent so they slip up and provide an opening for him to do some real damage."
Aside from his physical agility and strength, he is able to summon a weapon of his own out of thin air: Soul Eater, an exact replica of Riku's original weapon, made from the darkness of his heart and more powerful when used in combination with dark magic. Likewise, he's capable of summoning a suit of armor from pure darkness that guards almost his entire body.
Like Riku, and several villains, he possesses a powerful control over darkness. Not only is he capable of teleporting (or wandering through the Corridors of Darkness) at will, he's able to form darkness into physical blasts of energy. Because of his increased hostility toward enemies compared to the real Riku, and disregard for the danger involved, he is capable of utilizing it to a higher degree than Riku himself. In the game mechanics, this translates to him taking less cards (or pure magic) to perform the exact same spells and attacks. Also, to further emphasize his connection to darkness, he absorbs a defeated and weakened Zexion before he can fade out. (Basically, he ate him. This only gave him a temporary boost in power, however.)
Fairy Tale Role: The Shadow, from Hans Christian Andersen's The Shadow. Fairy Tale Powers or Abilities: Nothing in particular as far as abilities go. He's really just losing his. However, because of his being an actual shadow, the Replica will appear shaded at all times, as though he's standing in a dark room even when in direct, bright sunlight. (Much like Riku appears in CoM's Halloween Town.) To go along with that, he won't cast a shadow of his own at all.
Personal Items: The clothes on his back.
First Person Sample: I wake up in a town I've never seen before and the first thing someone calls me is shadow? Is this a joke? Has the Organization been here, too? How would they know if that wasn't the case? Why does it matter
[ The previous sentence is written angrily and hard, and then heavily scratched through so that it's almost illegible. ]
Ha ha. Very funny. Just caught myself in the lake. Whose bright idea was it to suck the color out? Let me guess. It's so I can really look like a shadow. So EVERYONE can know.
[ There's several more scratches. Who knows if they were words. ]
Guess I'm not dead after all. There's one bright side.
Third Person Sample: The surface of the lake is still and clear, and the tower at the center reminds him of the high floors of Castle Oblivion in a way that almost comes across as antagonistic. Almost as if it's mocking him. But the tower isn't alive, and there's nothing particularly ominous about it, even with its closed doors. The locals say it never opens. They also say the lights never go out. He stopped asking after that. Who cares? If he really wanted to he could find out, but it's not worth it, wasting time on some old tower without even a sense of abandonment.
Funny how that works.
But nevermind the tower. He's standing at the edge of the lake, and that's what has his real focus. Hands in his pockets, shoes just inches from getting soaked, looking overall like he just bit into something foul. Something about the water and how calm it is makes him want to avoid it, but it's the closest thing to a mirror that he has right now, and he'd like to figure out what's going on. The last thing he remembers is something he thought was death, but now he's walking around in some bright and cheery village where people are calling him a shadow. Like that's anything new.
Still, he's never looked like this before. It's almost laughable, if you think about it, knowing what it all implies. Darkened, shaded, whatever you want to call it, it's like all his color's been dimmed down, like he's standing in the shade. Seeing himself like that, the locals of the village make sense. Maybe he really did die. Maybe that's what this is, and this is how he'll be from now on.
His heel meets with the water and sends it rippling, distorting his already flawed reflection as he turns away.
Riku Replica | Kingdom Hearts
Name: Jester
Contact:
→ DW:
→ AIM: potionbottles
→ Plurk:
Do you play anyone in Myth Making?:
NPCsNope!✒ IC
Name: Riku Replica
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Canon Point: Post-Chain of Memories, after he fades to darkness.
Age: Appears roughly 15. In reality he's existed for a matter of days. The life of a clone.
Personality:
If you asked the replica to tell you about himself, the first thing he would tell you is that he isn't real. Oh, he's as physically real as you and I. He exists as anything does that isn't imaginary, he can be touched and felt, and he can do the same. He can sleep, eat, bleed, and be hurt, very easily. He has free will and can think for himself better than some people ever do, and he can also be manipulated as well as any person. But he's an imitation of someone that already existed long before he was ever even thought of.
The replica began his existence as an experiment, a collection of data from a boy named Riku. Essentially, he's a clone, but in canon he's referred to as a "replica". A scientist named Vexen gathered the data from Riku himself (through battle, as it goes) and created an artificial being meant to challenge and test the original, real Riku, hoping that they could manipulate him through this. Later on the replica was tinkered with further, his real memories rewritten and replaced with a corrupted, fake version of Riku's own, and turned into a tool for manipulation against Sora. It worked pretty well, but ultimately it was more trouble for Organization XIII than he was worth. Sora beat the replica in every fight, and used his classic, kind-hearted, "I'll keep going as long as I have to to make things right" nature to get to the replica, unaware that he wasn't the real Riku. After all, he was his best friend. Sora has always been willing to do just about anything to rescue Riku, especially from himself.
Unfortunately, the replica was having none of it. Already more aggressive than Riku himself at the time, and now having his memories replaced with a desperate promise to protect Naminé at all costs? Well, that didn't mix well with having his supposed best friend (who, his memories were telling him, didn't care about them at all) try to steal the show, in his eyes. So when he got the opportunity for a killing blow, he took it. He wasn't counting on Naminé to stop him and literally shatter his heart.
It didn't kill him, but it came close enough. His memories now are clearer -- he remembers and knows that he's a replica of Riku himself, and that his past and the promise with Naminé was never real. He still feels the need to protect her, however, and holds true to that during the final battle in Castle Oblivion, protecting her while Sora defeats the big bad.
Accepting the truth of his existence and status, the replica could have done off to do anything. He chose to do what he could to make his fate solid and become a real person. Unfortunately, he chose to do this by attempting to kill the real Riku and was defeated as a result, fading out of existence. In the end, even as he died, both Riku and his replica respectfully accepted the other for who they were.
Because he's based on all Riku ever was, his past, memories, habits and personality are all based on Riku's own, and they picked a terrible time for it. At the time of the replica's creation, Riku was just beginning his path to healing and becoming less of a
walking bag of dicksarrogant, gullible prick. So a lot of his personality is based on who Riku used to be. Arrogant, self-centered, cocky, and overconfident to the point of being obnoxious. It isn't completely unfounded: Riku grew up believing himself to be the best, and it might have been encouraged, if not by his parents than by his friends. He was always the most skilled fighter, something everyone willingly admitted. No one could beat him, not even three-on-one. He was always looked at as a leader. We never really see him taking charge and leading, and he might not even be as good as we're expected to believe he is during that point in canon, but he certainly accepts the opportunity and responsibility with ease. He's responsible for most of the serious work toward leaving the islands, and ultimately it's his hardheaded quest to find a new and exciting path that sets the events of the first game in motion. He also turned into something of a jerk over the course of the game, possessed by darkness and manipulated by Disney villains against his best friend. Again, this was overall bad timing for someone to make a clone of him.Other than those key (and frustrating) traits of Riku's, there are some distinct differences between how he was then and how the replica is. Unlike him, the replica lacks most sympathy and understanding toward other people, even after his memories are fixed. He absorbs (and essentially kills) Zexion without a thought, for the sake of power, and is willing to do it again. Before his defeat by Riku's hand, he was willing to kill him, too, just for the sake of feeling real. He doesn't hold that murderous jealousy or hate toward Riku anymore, but he could still easily kill an enemy without feeling any emotional regret, and would likely brutally murder members of Organization XIII if given the chance.
While both are skeptical of strangers, Riku's more likely to investigate and come to his conclusion later. The replica, however, is more likely to become distrustful and aggressive right off the bat. If given the opportunity, the replica could probably form attachments just as easily as any other person, but he doesn't hold his friends to the same value Riku does. Or, the memories of friends, even before his memories are fixed. Sora means very little even by the end of the game, and Kairi's existence is largely overshadowed by Naminé's. The other kids on the islands are nothing more than a passing thought. It's obvious he would treat his friends differently than Riku's later devotion (and avoidance), if just for lack of experience.
The replica also carries a massive inferiority complex. He acknowledges that, compared to everyone else, he's not real, and at one point admits he's not worthy of even being with them. But the actual issue is aimed almost entirely at Riku. He's the original, the real version to his fake, who he was made to be a shadow of. Sure, he can easily say he was made to be a better version, a more powerful version, but everything his existence is based off of was borrowed from him. Being defeated and dying knocked him down a peg, and it was well-needed -- he's accepted himself for who he is, and no longer feels the need to defeat Riku to exist. There may even be a cautious respect for Riku, though it's not something he would ever admit to. At the very least, he doesn't taunt him about being afraid of the dark anymore. All that being said, the replica still doesn't consider himself real, or his own person, and won't upon entrance to the game.
Naminé... Naminé deserves mention, even if it's short, because her existence and power over his memories have left a huge impact on the replica. He knows it was all fake. He knows they never had a real promise, no past together. Despite that, he doesn't bear any grudges against her for what she did, and blames Organization XIII for it completely. He's forgiven her, to put it simply. Even if that promise wasn't real, he's willing to uphold it, and would feel a need to protect her if he ever met her again.
History: Riku Replica at the Kingdom Hearts wiki.
Canon Abilities or Powers: Physically fit to near-perfection, the replica has extraordinary strength surpassing that of your average teenage boy, increased speed, and lightning fast reflexes to match. Made to be an exact copy of Riku (who himself has absurd strength and abilities for a boy his age) he compares perfectly. (This seems to be a running trend in the Kingdom Hearts series, at least for most central figures. Riku spends some of the first game toting around his comatose friend, for example. Larxene, a thin and even more agile woman likely in her mid- to late-twenties, easily picks up the replica, in armor, with one hand.) Riku's Replica is also entirely capable of combat without magic, and uses the same acrobatic and quick style of Riku himself. Basically this involves a lot of jumping, sword slashing, spinning, and rushing in attempts to overwhelm his opponent with combos. As an example from a Riku app I wrote:
"Riku is a phenomenal fighter. Supposedly, up until the events in Kingdom Hearts, when play-fighting against his friends he went mostly undefeated. Some of the kids on the islands mention fighting Riku three against one in their early teens, and still being bested by him. Obviously he is capable of being defeated, most often by Sora, but he's still recognized as the most skilled fighter his age. Physically, Riku is both strong and fast. His fighting style is a lot of show and a lot of quick, hard attacks. More often Riku will strike from above. If he doesn't have the element of surprise handy, he goes for combo attacks. Ultimately it's about overwhelming his opponent so they slip up and provide an opening for him to do some real damage."
Aside from his physical agility and strength, he is able to summon a weapon of his own out of thin air: Soul Eater, an exact replica of Riku's original weapon, made from the darkness of his heart and more powerful when used in combination with dark magic. Likewise, he's capable of summoning a suit of armor from pure darkness that guards almost his entire body.
Like Riku, and several villains, he possesses a powerful control over darkness. Not only is he capable of teleporting (or wandering through the Corridors of Darkness) at will, he's able to form darkness into physical blasts of energy. Because of his increased hostility toward enemies compared to the real Riku, and disregard for the danger involved, he is capable of utilizing it to a higher degree than Riku himself. In the game mechanics, this translates to him taking less cards (or pure magic) to perform the exact same spells and attacks. Also, to further emphasize his connection to darkness, he absorbs a defeated and weakened Zexion before he can fade out. (Basically, he ate him. This only gave him a temporary boost in power, however.)
Fairy Tale Role: The Shadow, from Hans Christian Andersen's The Shadow.
Fairy Tale Powers or Abilities: Nothing in particular as far as abilities go. He's really just losing his. However, because of his being an actual shadow, the Replica will appear shaded at all times, as though he's standing in a dark room even when in direct, bright sunlight. (Much like Riku appears in CoM's Halloween Town.) To go along with that, he won't cast a shadow of his own at all.
Personal Items: The clothes on his back.
First Person Sample:
I wake up in a town I've never seen before and the first thing someone calls me is shadow? Is this a joke?
Has the Organization been here, too? How would they know if that wasn't the case? Why does it matter[ The previous sentence is written angrily and hard, and then heavily scratched through so that it's almost illegible. ]
Ha ha. Very funny. Just caught myself in the lake. Whose bright idea was it to suck the color out? Let me guess. It's so I can really look like a shadow. So EVERYONE can know.
[ There's several more scratches. Who knows if they were words. ]
Guess I'm not dead after all. There's one bright side.
Third Person Sample:
The surface of the lake is still and clear, and the tower at the center reminds him of the high floors of Castle Oblivion in a way that almost comes across as antagonistic. Almost as if it's mocking him. But the tower isn't alive, and there's nothing particularly ominous about it, even with its closed doors. The locals say it never opens. They also say the lights never go out. He stopped asking after that. Who cares? If he really wanted to he could find out, but it's not worth it, wasting time on some old tower without even a sense of abandonment.
Funny how that works.
But nevermind the tower. He's standing at the edge of the lake, and that's what has his real focus. Hands in his pockets, shoes just inches from getting soaked, looking overall like he just bit into something foul. Something about the water and how calm it is makes him want to avoid it, but it's the closest thing to a mirror that he has right now, and he'd like to figure out what's going on. The last thing he remembers is something he thought was death, but now he's walking around in some bright and cheery village where people are calling him a shadow. Like that's anything new.
Still, he's never looked like this before. It's almost laughable, if you think about it, knowing what it all implies. Darkened, shaded, whatever you want to call it, it's like all his color's been dimmed down, like he's standing in the shade. Seeing himself like that, the locals of the village make sense. Maybe he really did die. Maybe that's what this is, and this is how he'll be from now on.
His heel meets with the water and sends it rippling, distorting his already flawed reflection as he turns away.
"I am not a shadow."