The Kingdom Hearts franchise has spanned almost two decades, crossed video game genres, and raised the bar for narrative crossovers - and now, its protagonist has gotten into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, Sora's arrival as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's final DLC character may expose a long-running complaint about Kingdom Hearts: its supposed main heroine Kairi continues getting ignored, even in trailers.
During Sora's gameplay trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the video goes out of its way to show off some of Kingdom Hearts' iconic character-themed stained glass images in the background. While there are many such designs out there, the trailer seems to focus on the ones dedicated to the series' most significant Keyblade wielders - with the notable exception of Mickey Mouse. Sora, Riku, Ventus, and even Xion get to be front and center on their own designs, but Kairi only appears as a small headshot in Sora's, which may indicate that Kingdom Hearts still doesn't know what to do with Kairi.
More Damsel Than Heroine
Since the first Kingdom Hearts game was published in 2002, Kairi has been featured as a Princess of Heart: a young girl with a heart completely void of darkness, which puts her beside classic Disney princesses in the series' canon. Kairi is a pivotal character in Kingdom Hearts' story, but fans may find that her gameplay execution leaves much to be desired. She spends a lot of time being kidnapped, captured, or otherwise rendered helpless, and even when she's allowed to fight, she's rarely ever playable. Although Kairi possesses incredible power and even saved Sora's life during the first game, she's spent far more time unconscious, being kidnapped, and trapped in an upper-arm hold than she has participating in the main conflicts of Kingdom Hearts.
Even after fans of the series were finally able to see her become a Keyblade wielder in her own right, it still took several games for Kairi to become fully playable in the Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind DLC. This makes Kairi seemingly being shafted in Sora's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate gameplay trailer seem less like an unfortunate coincidence and more like a consistent pattern of neglect and deliberate ignorance. According to Kingdom Hearts' Ultimania reference books, Kairi was originally intended to be playable in the very first game, which may make the current state of affairs even more frustrating for Kairi fans.
A Girl Worth Fighting For
The recent decision to put Kairi at the heart of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory could be taken as a step in the right direction, but that game still ends with Kairi's body being hijacked by Sora in order to slay Xehanort again - a return to the issue of helplessness and being sidelined that plagues her character. Fans who have followed the series from its very beginning may not even be surprised that Kairi was overshadowed by Roku, Ventus, and Xion in Sora's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate trailer. After all, she's spent most of her time in Kingdom Hearts being overshadowed, too.
Kairi is one of the Kingdom Hearts franchise's original three protagonists, and if the series wants to show how far that original trio has come since 2002, it will need to do something with her as well as Sora and Riku. With Sora's fate currently up in the air, it may seem like the perfect time for Kairi to come into her own in Kingdom Hearts 4. However, this recent decision to reduce Kairi's role even as a cameo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, combined with her overall track record, may not bode well for her role in future Kingdom Hearts games.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
