I think Xehanort has a unique Sora face is cause he knows he doesn't have the luxury for anger with him. Sora is in the zone. Completely focused on the fight and survival.
Sora semi mad in the fights: "Fine...let's do this." Sora angry in the fights: "YOUR GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID...AGAIN! Sora furious for the Luxord fight: "DAMMIT! MORE CARD GAMES?!"
I think your theory holds true. I think why Sora doesn't have an angry expression towards Ansem is because Ansem is widely considered to be Riku's equivalent to Xehanort for Sora essentially. Ansem possessed Riku, was connected to his heart for so long, etc. As for Xigbar, same thing but for Aqua. She fought Braig and had a huge ordeal with him but to Sora, Xigbar is just another Org member. As for the blank expression for Xehanort, Xehanort did sort of redeem himself, hand over the X-blade and allow Sora to return things to normal. That or maybe the data for Sora's emotions towards Xehanort are incomplete due to Sora disappearing shortly after the battle with him. What you said about Sora having a soulless expression there makes sense. I think it's more there's not enough data there to truly determine how Sora actually feels about Bald Man Nort to form any sort of expression so it just remains neutral.
Also... Sora never really met the old Xehanort before the final fight, right? The only moments I remember both of them in are the 3D final, but Sora was asleep, and in the KH3 final that, like you've said, Sora disappeared right after.
I have a theory about why Sora isn't that angry towards Xigbar and Ansem. I think this is because Sora has sympathy for them because of the cutscenes that are triggered after their defeat in the keyblade graveyard. Ansem basically admits that he didn't stand a chance, but felt so powerless that didn't even try to defy his fate, and seemingly Riku is at peace with him. Sora might have felt that Ansem could have sided with them if he told them and feels sory about not helping him. For Xigbar, he explained to Sora that all that he ever wanted was a Keyblade, and he was promised one by Xehanort. Sure, this may not feel like a big deal, but afterwards he throws himself to the abyss, making Sora think that he would rather erase himself from the picture than admittng defeat. Sora, in that cutscene, reached out his hand, clearly indicating that he did not want Xigbar to throw himself. Maybe he feels sorry for him, and not as angry.
With Xehanort, maybe Sora is very conflicted about his feelings towards him after the KH3 ending. Plus, maybe he was scared because he was fighting him all alone, without his friends.
Though about it too, and I think your theory makes perfect sense. The thing about Kingdom Hearts that people seem to forget is that it is supposed to show you different sides of each story. Light and Darkness are a perfect representation of that concept, cause neither of them is "good" or "bad" -- every concept in that matter is subjective to what ideals the characters are fighting for; and since Sora doesn't understand the World around him i.e "Is any of this for real, or not? None of this makes sense to me" -- his expression might show you how he feels about the character he's facing(in terms of pretty much every aspect of what they fight for, or what they did to Sora). I feel like KH4 is going to esentially play around with that Light and Darkness bias, since MoM seem to be affiliated with Light despite having fucked up methods of dealing with whatever goal he is trying to accomplish. Nomura sort of soft-confirmed this, since he already gave a comment on the whole Unreality-Reality debate that we've had i.e that to people of Quadratum, Sora's world is Unreality and vice versa.
Taking into account the conversations Sora has with each member after they fade would certainly support the theory behind Sora's specific feelings towards each member and with how I mentioned this is the most "Up to date data" of Sora this would make complete sense
Definitely got a point there, just doesn’t match up with Luxord cause that was probably the most friendly defeat in the graveyard but he still has the angry expression towards him
I've actually noticed all of these and thought they were interesting as well. I think the one for Master Xehanort might be a sign of respect for his strength.
Yeah when we fight those bosses over and over again I doubt anyone would miss those differences lol. I also noticed when I fought my second boss and realized the facial expression was different.
The thing that bothers me with the expression is that it's so blank that it almost looks like the Sora default model face from the game, almost like they forgot to animate it
Personally I think for the old man Sora is focused up and not letting his emotions run off with him even a little so his face is staying blank since he's keeping a handle on himself
Especially because he's facing up against a keyblade master, he has to be 100 percent focused if he hopes to beat him, any distraction can mean instant death
Marluxia, Larxene, Saïx, Xigbar, Terra,… and Ansem… at first it seems like these more somber faces are tied to all the members that didn’t actually want to participate in this. Only outlier being Xion, but you could argue that she wanted to fight for a few different reasons.
@@Thedude38356 You could claim that they replicated her mind from the period where she was willing to make Roxas a part of her. She could also be angry about Sora’s existence leading to the temporary end of hers and Roxas’s. Either way they had to make her want to fight Axel so it’s not hard to believe. (Also also maybe she was a mindless zombie like Roxas was)
Didn't want to participate to Sora's knowledge. When Xion is completely robbed like that, she was wanting to participate, she was willing to end one of her best friends until Roxas called out to her through Sora and awakened her memories. He saw the robbed figure that just tried to kill a friend of his and attacked because he had been told that heart stuff won't work here. Xigbar sort of throws a wrench into even this though, making sure its to Sora's knowledge. He doesn't know xigbar planned all this, but xigbar sort of wanted to participate, he told Sora he wanted a keyblade and that once this was over Xehanort promised to give him one. He had motivation to be there and fight, plus his whole "I'm already part Xehanort", that was to Sora right, I'm thinking it was but not entirely sure, I know the keyblade stuff was but not the part Xehanort part
@@hanakoisbestgirl4752 I didn’t say this blatantly in my comment but I was trying to imply that data Sora was being used by Square to hint at the other characters. Sora himself isn’t really supposed to know.
For Ansem SoD and Xigbar, it could be that during their "death" scenes in KH3, they almost seemed sympathetic. Ansem had that moment with Riku, and Sora felt shocked or sad with what happened to Xigbar. That... doesn't explain why Xemnas gets the angry face though, since in his final moments, he was able to feel emotion, causing a sympathetic reaction from Sora in the moment, but y'know
In the first game it felt like Sora was more pensive and really just doing what was required to put the world's back together, stop the immediate threat, and get back to the islands. He really didn't have a lot of interactions with Ansem after that, so a more neutral expression makes sense In the second game Sora was more confident and would often taunt the members and just felt overall more motivated by spite. He continued that throughout with Xemnas with him obviously taking Kairi, so I can understand him hating Xemnas. A lot of these other ones just don't make sense to me though, lol. Luxord was pretty tame all things considered, and Sora had no real reason to spite him while Saix was pretty intense in that second game and certainly did more to antagonize than Luxord. Xion doesn't make tons of sense either. I'm wondering if there's some other connection here.
I think for Xenhort is a clear minded expression, I think it’s because he knows what he must do. Kinda like after he beat Xenhort and wanted to bring Kari back.
Sora was always a character expressing deeply philosophical ways of thinking(like his quotes at the beginning of each game), his development is just poorly executed; so here's what I think Sora's expressions mean. Luxord: Doesn't take Sora seriously, and treats the fight like a game. Sora can't read the reason why Luxord fights, assuming his reasons are petty. Marluxia: Sora either doesn't remember Marluxia, or starts to understand that the reason why Marluxia fights is to take back something important to him(i.e his memoris of KHUX days). Ansem: Feels bad for him for the whole Darkness obsession. Xemnas: Sora is pissed that Xemnas is stubborn, despite understanding that there's not point in fighting over Nobodies right to exist. Pissed he still follows Xehanort. Terranort: Gets that Terra is inside, and struggling. Doesn't want to hurt Terra. Xion: She's wearing a hood, so he doesn't know it's her. Larxene: Same as Marluxia. Riku: Remembers him as a shithead, sort of bringing the bad memories. Also angry that Dark Riku may be back to trigger Riku's edgelord days PTSD. Saix: Likely had a talk with Lea about him, so he's careful not to hurt him too badly. Vanitas: Same reason as Xemnas. They literally had the whole talk about Vanitas wanting to be "Darkness" -- which got Sora malding. Xigbar: Can't really read him, and looks visibly uneasy. I think he understands that Xigbar doesn't care about Xehanort's success. YMX: Young Xehanort is just that much of an asshole. Xehanort: The ending cutscene is Sora being mad at him, but he also understand that Xehanort didn't really want to mess things up for no reason. Feel like Sora is questioning why exactly Xehanort wanted to reset the World, and is assuming there's more to Xehanort than just him being a bad dude.
Xigbar I could probably figure is mostly due to his memory at the keyblade graveyard: curiosity as to why he is worthy and why he doesn't just use it. Ansem is because at the end of the nort court, he felt empty and simply wished to pass away knowing that his legacy was with riku now. Saix is because of the fact how eventually saix became friends with axel again at the credits so he's confused as to why he's fighting him in the first place And terranort he's questioning how xehanort got back into terras body
I don't get why Sora would look angry at Luxord. They even seemed to be on good terms at the end of their battle in KH3, promising to play another game again sometime. I think it would make more sense he would be angry at Xigbar considering how much Xigbar plays mind games with him. Hell, Ansem should have gotten the angry face too. The angry face for Young Xehanort makes perfect sense though considering Young Xehanort's last words to Sora were basically "Suck my...." lol
@Oliver's 50th Account Luxord isn’t why Sora is in a different reality. At least as far as we know. He ended up there because he over used the power of waking. If anything Luxord may end up saving Sora since he gave him the wild card.
I think for Ansem it's that he saw Ansem apologize to Riku, and saw Riku accept it. He doesn't hold any more malice towards him, since the wrongs to his friend have been forgiven and forgotten. For Xigbar, it might be that Sora still think Xigbar committed suicide, and while he did some messed up things, Sora might still be too confused as to why to be angry.
I was thinking that maybe he made an angrier face when fighting the seekers who were truly evil and had a regular face when fighting those who turned to the good side, but some characters don't make sense since for example, Luxord and him had a nice interaction when he defeated him, but Sora's is probably thinking back to how annoying his challenges are. Another good example is why would he be mad when fighting Riku or Xion, but maybe that's just how he felt at the time. Like he's probably annoyed at Riku for falling into the darkness and maybe he's channeling Roxas's feelings to Xion and her thought process to going back and joining Sora. Heck, even Venitas is a weird one since him and Sora never really met before KH3, but maybe he's channeling how Ventus was feeling!?
My guess for why Sora is pissed at Luxord is because he doesn’t take anything seriously and treats everything as nothing more than a game. As for Vanitas, why wouldn’t he be furious with him? He’s one of three people (the other two being Xehanort himself, and Braig) responsible for Terra’s loss of everything, Ventus’ coma, and Aqua’s fall to darkness.
I actually thought the face he makes on Master Xehanort is a look of “doneness”. Like he’s just so done with him that no amount of expression on his face will solely match what he feels, and he just wants this thing to be over. (Considering how hard this battle is according to many people.)
Xion, Vanitas and Dark Riku all get an slighty surprised expression then he gets angry, it's a bit different from the other angrier ones but not really noticeable in the images
I think maybe the reactions being based off of soras feelings towards the characters make a lil more sense if you look at it through the lens of this just being an updated version of Data sora. But even then some reactions make no sense like this version of xion isnt a character sora would know unless it was based off of directly after the events of the keyblade graveyard which isnt possible and it just seems like square randomized the 2 faces and made a 3rd for xehanort because sora had a heart to heart moment with pretty much everyone even Xemnas.
I feel the less pissed off look as actually pity which makes sense for Ansem and Saïx. But that doesn't make sense because at the end would Sora pity Xemnas and Luxord?
1:43 It's a very interesting detail. Different reactions for Luxord, Xemnas, Xion, Riku, Vanitas and Young Xehanort. There are explanations for Xemnas, Xion, Riku, Vanitas and Young Xehanort, but I'm not too sure about Luxord. Sora and Luxord have had confrontations as enemies, but Luxord never felt overly antagonistic, as he never bothered to hide the fact that he was motivated by genuine curiosity over any real animosity towards Sora, and Sora's words in KH3 suggests a mutual feeling. It's also interesting that Sora doesn't have strong reactions for Ansem, Terranort, Saix and Xigbar since he would have more of a reason to be angry with them, especially Xigbar. The theory about Sora not having any sort of reaction towards Master Xehanort due to missing data is very interesting as well.
I never realized this detail until now and it makes sense as to how he feels towards every member (except I'm still bitter about almost all of them for their brutal fights haha). I wished there was a way to turn off hints on the death screen so that I don't need to be reminded of the mockery this game throws at me as it is WAY MORE frustrating than the bosses themselves. Aside from that, good explanation about his expressions and it's something I'll keep an eye out next time!
You could argue that Sora's blank expression to (Master) Xehanort is that Sora is just SO done with the old man that he can't even bring himself to feel ANYTHING for him. No anger, no grief, not even pity...
I think the reason Sora held no anger towards Xehanort was because of the reason when they finally ended the battle back in Scala ad Caelum, Xehanort had finally accepted his fate, and maybe because of the emotional moment between Master Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. After all, Xehanort HAD given Sora the X-Blade.
For my perspective; Sora’s more intense grimace seems to comes from those who he’d receive some sort of help from? Riku, Xion are obvious. Luxord hands him a trump card for later. Supposedly there was a concert or a music collection recently that included Vanitas as part of the “Heroes” section of the music and he’s also literally part of Ventus...I’m not too sure about Baby Xehanort and Xemnas. But in general, I think the only correlation between them is that. Maybe YMX and Xemnas will have greater importance later? I can also suppose that the more neutral faces are for those he doesn’t have as much of a relationship with outside of being antagonistic towards each other. Also yeah this was a cool detail!
As other people said, Sora is totally calm and zen for the Master Xehanort fight. That's why he doesn't get sent into Rage Form this time. Also, Sora's face for Van, Riku, and Xion are actually slightly different than for YMX, Xemnas, and Luxord. For those first three, he looks confused and then angry, probably because they look like good guys that he knows, but then he realizes they're evil versions. For the latter three, he just instantly goes to angry face because he hates them lol
Sora met Terra during BBS, and Ven & Aqua have told Sora about Terra's plight. Therefore, Sora's expression somewhat makes sense, as he knows he's fighting Ven's friend.
The fact that Sora doesn't have a facial expression when fighting Xehanort but has one when fighting everyone else is pretty telling. Its intentional and not a mistake by the devs
Nah, luxord is one of the easiests fights and Sora stills has the same smirk as Xion fight which is one of the hardests. The same goes with the poker face against master xehanort. This theory has no sense.
1:45 SIAX also, never though about this little detail as deep as i would, its very interesting how it depends on the actual soras data, and with the final part of kh3.
Aight: Luxord: Makes sense, he is the one opponent Sora cannot brute force, he has to play by his rules Xemnas: He had training/guidence from Yensid and had Riku by his side, but Xemnas was still a pain to beat Xion: Memories of himself and Roxas, its natural she would be difficult Riku: Of course hes tough, hes the natural Rival of Sora Vanitas: As shown un Khux, his darkness is VERY powerful Ymx: It would only make sense that he would be difficult, hes completely mastered time magic The only reason Ansem isn’t here is because he was defeated by Sora in kh1, a Sora that did not have any guidance from any masters, only connections feom friends
I recently saw a mod for the KH ports of the previous games called Re:fixed and some of the features are small but it has some wonderful features that make the games far more enjoyable! Highly recommend checking it out
Nice breakdown. Would be interesting to see a video like this but for death screens. I find it interesting that in KH1 and KH3 when you die to a heartless the death screen shows the heart hovering Sora's chest. But in KH2 there is no heart hovering.
Unfortunately I've had the verse for alot of these. I think the angry face is either dependent on how the fight went before hitting retry, or it's just truly random. Or perhaps who gets the angry face might be determined by code itself. It could be decided upon the game save data being generated It could be determined by info from the used save data story and remind story data. Cause my sora has the angry face for anse., Saix, not for xemnas....etc. basically my angry faces are different
on the note of Luxord. They ended the last encounter they had on a rather bittersweet moment. Not really much disdain and more respect/hope. "play ya again some day. When we're just guys." "I should like that very much sora" just sayin'.
It seems that the facial expressions for Xion and Riku are slightly different from the angry expressions from Xemnas and Vanitas. His eyes are a bit wider and his mouth isn’t as strained.
There needs to be a secret third facial expression exclusively for Marluxia where Sora has that “why does it feel like an evil spirit’s here” look in his eyes
Its kinda funny that Sora is represented by a King even on the Chessboard. A slow, plodding piece that can move one step in any direction they choose, relying on the stronger pieces around them to protect them. Hows about Axel (Lea) being a "pawn" and getting to the opposite side of the board to be upgraded into a new piece (A keyblade wielder). A bit of a joke idea but still.
Been replaying kh2 and kh3 a lot here lately, and i actually did notice this. At first i didnt think too much of it just a thought of like sweet there is some randomness so that it isnt just literally the same thing over and over again. But i didn't actually think about it expressing soras feelings to that perticular character. And kh has slways paid attention to detail. Makes sense to me.
what a cool video idea!! Love to see how you can take such a small detail and expand on it and make it very thought provoking… love your content man keep it up!
The riku on the dark side wasn't from when ansem controlled him, as ansem is present as well, instead they used riku replica. Riku replica is the riku you face, we aren't shown whether riku tells sora about the replica riku or not, but sora in sanfransokyo told riku, he wasn't riku, so he knows it isn't riku at least.
I pretty much think there has to be some meaning to the different facial expression because like you said they easily could have just had the same facial expression for all of them. They are always great with small details in there game sound wise & visual wise. So I think the intended to do this.
The difference between Zigbar and Luxord to Sora is that he thought Zigbar was a lackey, where Luxord is a mystery to all of them that left him with a gift.
Just a quick correction, Riku is actually replica Riku from com, not kh1 Riku. Proved by the scene where his soul gets snatched by modern day replica Riku after the battle in the keyblade graveyard
I wonder if the data version for those fights was made to act the way sora would if he were to face those enemys again for real. he would be based then on his state after KH3 main story before he disappeared and before the DLC stuff happens, but in this case it would be the Sora that gained the true Keyblade from Xehanort. now if Sora would suddenly find the organisation standing in his way again some level of anger would be expected. but for Master Xehanort holding the true Keyblade it might mean that he realised that it is a fake Xehanort. Sora would know that there cant be 2 true keyblades at the same time and he has the real one. this would mean that the simulation of sora made to believe that the fights were happening for real would actually be partially breaking because of this specific situation. I dont think the other characters would have programmed a failsafe for the "there are 2 true keyblades" situation into the simulation. this would at least explain the odd 3rd expression.
That's... Really perceptive. I think it could just be that each fight displays Sora's emotions towards those characters because that makes sense but another thing I thought of was maybe the devs made the expressions based on how difficult it was to make each fight, like they were venting through Sora's expressions or something. Idk, that last bit might be looking too hard at it but it's interesting they chose to do that for the data fights, maybe whenever someone asks Numora in another interview about it we could get an answer.
I think one is supposed to represent anger at not saving them and the other represents sorrow at while he DID save them, he wasn't there to witness it.
In a way it’s kinda haunting to see his expression against Xheanort after seeing his expressions for all the other seekers.. definitely a detail I did not notice until this video
Since there is holes in this theory what if we go with the logical thing and say "It is based on how often you died in the fights?" or even based on stat differences?
I did notice it when i was fighting the data fights. Though a few of them i did clear first try. But i at least noticed Sora would have diffrent expressions depending on who it was.
I understand riku, although this riku represents the riku replica from reCOM, sora doesn't remember that riku and probably only remembers the riku possessed by ansem, but then sora should also be angry against ansem, since in his perspective, they are basicly the same person Xion doesn't make sence if what sora experienced through kh3 is taken into mind, maybe he's angre because she's being forced to fight, maybe that way it makes sence Young Xehanort wouldn't make sence if it was because of DDD because sora was asleep and it was xemnas who put him to sleep not young xehanort, but it makes sence with sora's experience in kh3, since young xehanort is probably the one that toyed with sora the most Luxord doesn't make much sence, while sora didn't seem to have hate for each member when they were defeated, Luxord was special as sora just wanted to be friends with him and play cards like normal people Vanitas kinda makes sence, he did mock around with sora in monster's Inc and almost stroke him down, but other than that he never saw the guy in the past, so it still doesn't make much sence to me why he is extra angry Saix I don't understand either, he was responsible for kidnapping Kairi in Kh2, I don't remember if sora ever knew that, but he also was the one that mocked around with sora the most in Kh2 The rest of the members I kinda understand, xehanort not so much though, I don't see sora's face as focused, I see it as blank, I guess he didn't know who xehanort was until the very end, so all that he knows about him are the stories of the evil things he's done and those stories contradict his backstory of trying to bring more light into the world using kingdom hearts, but he still should have the less angry expression, to me that looks more like a focused expression than just default expression
Jared pointing out the importance of the Kingdom Key makes me wonder if it going to a ‘fictional world’ will have any negative or problematic effects on the Realm of Light.
Keep in mind the xehornort fight (aka the final fight) sora breaks the cause and effect as he should have died when his light was forced out, just like his friends were, but not only that this facial expression is proof that you are NOT playing as sora, but a data version as sora's emotions for the fight wouldn't be recorded because that fight was too chaotic, and technically Donald, goofy, and the cricket (couldn't spell the first name) all died when their lights were taken, so no one could get an accurate read on how he felt during that time, yes he was pissed well before that time but it's sora he isn't supposed to be that guy who gets pissed but the guy who even facing certain death alone looks at it positively, so it's may be more that the data version can't actually comprehend sora's emotional stress in this instance, after all sora's rage made itself known throughout the entire game.
Always loved and seen this feature when the DLC first dropped, being Critical Mode and was dying a lot on first fight tries lmaoo I’ve seen it a bunch and actually added a little heated spark to the fight with Xemnas and Xion for me, I liked the others but those two hit
Ok im enjoying Fan Theories as much as the next gent but I gotta say this is a massive stretch some don't even make sense like Luxord or Xigbar, in KH3 it clearly is shown that Sora holds no ill feelings to Luxord at the end "play again sometime when we're just guys" And Xigbar "yeah like your actually worthy to weild one" And Xemnas he regretted his choices and Sora accepted that This theory isn't really holding up but change my mind 🤷♂️
There's a matching number of each expression, 6 of each. Perhaps it represents true harmony of light and darkness? That would explain his expression towards Xehanort, too. Xehanort himself could have worn his usual cocky expression, but he's looking kinda chill himself. So maybe that puts light and darkness on even ground in that fight.
I loved the detail but never put much more thought into it beyond seeing who he frowned at and being like ah that's cool makes sense. Xehanort's I didn't remember
