With Tetsuya Nomura lastly breaking a three-year silence to drop new Kingdom Hearts 4 particulars, what higher time to revisit the collection’ most iconic weapon? The Keyblade has lengthy sparked debate — is it a sword? Ought to or not it’s included in Cool Sword Day celebrations? Or is it merely a large key-shaped billy membership? No matter classification, the Keyblade stands as one of the vital revolutionary one-handed fictional weapons, alongside the lightsaber — not only for its daring, genre-defying design, however for a way deeply it’s woven into the lore, with every distinctive Keyblade symbolizing every wielder’s alignment with gentle or darkness.
Whereas the Kingdom Key stays the franchise’s most recognizable blade, thanks largely to its fixed presence in advertising, no Keyblade has captured fan devotion fairly like Oblivion. Oathkeeper trails carefully behind, incomes a powerful third place. The designers at Sq. Enix certainly know the recognition of those Keyblades within the fandom, as all three seem in each main installment. However past their hanging designs, it’s Oblivion and Oathkeeper that greatest embody Kingdom Hearts’ core theme: the everlasting conflict between gentle and darkish. That makes them excess of simply cool weapons; they’re narrative anchors.
Within the authentic Kingdom Hearts, most new Keychains — objects that remodel the looks and skills of your Keyblade — are earned by finishing Disney-themed worlds. These worlds have often supplied unfastened retellings of their respective movies, usually feeling like standalone adventures with minimal connection to the overarching storyline of Kingdom Hearts. Nevertheless, Oathkeeper and Oblivion got here from Traverse City and Hole Bastion, respectively, that are two authentic worlds — that means, they’re not worlds based mostly on Disney motion pictures. What’s extra, the Keychains for every weapon have a powerful significance for Kingdom Hearts’ protagonist Sora; one is deeply tied to Kairi, his love curiosity, and the opposite to his greatest frenemy, Riku.
Kairi offers Sora the Oathkeeper after he awakens her from her slumber and brings her to Traverse City for security. She provides him her “fortunate allure” as a promise that they’ll be reunited. The allure resembles a Paopu Fruit from their house, Future Island — a fruit mentioned to bind the destinies of two individuals who share it, making certain they’ll at all times be linked, it doesn’t matter what. In the meantime, Oblivion is present in a chest in Hole Bastion, mere toes away from Sora’s last confrontation with Riku — a confrontation that mirrors their playful sparring match initially of the sport.
Oathkeeper and Oblivion have at all times shared a yin-and-yang dynamic, mirrored in every part from how they’re acquired to the 2 characters they’re tied to; that’s even earlier than we issue of their stark white and black coloration schemes. Oblivion’s in-game capability focuses on power, whereas Oathkeeper prioritizes magic. Oathkeeper’s look emphasizes the class of a Keyblade, whereas Oblivion highlights the destruction. They’re a terrific pair; they went collectively like lamb and tuna fish.
What has really cemented the significance of those two Keyblades is their outstanding look within the sport’s secret ending, Deep Dive / One other Facet, One other Story. It includes a hooded determine in an unknown location, dual-wielding each Oblivion and Oathkeeper in a battle with one other mysterious silver-haired determine, who finally ends up taking and wielding Oblivion throughout the confrontation. Little did we all know then that the hooded determine was Roxas, one other model of Sora, and that Riku was the silver-haired man who took Oblivion for himself. On the time, followers couldn’t absolutely grasp the implications of this last scene, however that second immediately elevated the importance of each weapons. The key ending was shrouded in thriller, but the presence of Oathkeeper and Oblivion strongly hinted that the hooded determine had a deep connection to Sora, Riku, and Kairi.
It’s clear Nomura had grand plans for Oathkeeper and Oblivion, intentionally threading them deeper into the collection’ overarching narrative than most different Keyblades. Nonetheless, he in all probability didn’t count on them to eclipse the franchise’s default weapon: the long-lasting Kingdom Key. Regardless of its central function and compelling historical past as the sunshine counterpart to King Mickey’s Kingdom Key D, to not point out that it initially selected Riku earlier than in the end deciding on Sora, it’s Oathkeeper and Oblivion that has got here to embody the emotional core of the franchise, capturing the hearts (pun meant) of thousands and thousands of followers alongside the best way.
