The Destiny Islands have long been an iconic locale for the Kingdom Hearts series, with returns to this original tutorial level emphasizing some of the highest moments across the franchise. However, taking a look at the little details of Destiny Islands, there are a few hints as to where these iconic islands might sit in the real-life Pacific, or at least the locations they may have been inspired by.
There are a few key factors that best explain the locations that may have inspired the Destiny Islands in Kingdom Hearts, although few stand out as much as the unique plants and trees in the area. While these certainly have a tropical enough feel to them, making many Western fans assume the location to be based on island locations like Hawaii or the Caribbean, there are parts of Japan that hit the mark quite a bit closer.
Palm Trees on Destiny Island
One of the most prominent fixtures on the Destiny Islands is easily the palm trees, which is what implies the tropical setting for the opening to Kingdom Hearts. However, while palm trees grow all over the tropical belt of the world, some of the specific ones chosen for Destiny Islands are what places the location firmly in southern Japan. The one that has the strongest relation to Japan is the Satakentia liukiuensis, a type of palm tree that sports a white trunk and a number of alternating fronds.
These Satakentia liukiuensis are found in several locations around East and Southeast Asia, though they are a notably tropical plant that's rarely found organically to the north. In Japan, the majority of these specific palm trees can be found around Ishigaki and Taketomi, two islands at the far southern edge of the Japanese Archipelago. This would then mean that Sora's storyline starts off from the edge of Japan, just over a hundred miles off the eastern coast of Taiwan in the East China Sea.
The specific location can also be suspected through a cutscene during the Roxas segments of Kingdom Hearts 2 when Kairi first starts to remember Sora after the events of Chain of Memories. During the scene, Kairi looks out towards the play island where the first game starts, seeing it in the late afternoon from the mainland where the gang actually lives and presumably goes to school. Given that the sun is setting just to the side of the hangout island, it can be seen to be to the west and slightly south of the main island. This lines up well with the locations of the real-life Ishigaki and the small, neighboring Taketomi Island.
Paopu Fruit's Real-Life Inspiration
While the paopu fruit that has become a consistent icon of the Kingdom Hearts series unfortunately isn't real, it does have a real-world counterpart that inspired the fruit. The carambola, colloquially known as the star fruit, is also part of a tropical plant, further pushing towards the overall tropical climate of the Destiny Islands. More importantly, the Averrhoa carambola plant that the star fruit sprouts from grow primarily in Malaysia and Taiwan.
The trees of the Averrhoa carambola are also incredibly large, with the size of an adult tree ranging from 16 to 39 meters, well within the range of size shown for the trees the paopu grow from in Kingdom Hearts. Although, the real-life tree is more of a shrub, and therefore has a lot more leaves than the one in the game, which is shown as another type of palm tree. All of this then suggests that Destiny Islands could be based on Ishigaki, which would put make the Shibuya-inspired Quadratum not to far from from Sora's real-world home.
Kingdom Hearts is available now for PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
