Riku (Earth-101001)

Riku (リク) is one of the main characters in the Kingdom Hearts anime series. He lives on Destiny Islands with his best friends, Sora and Kairi, and all three of them dream of venturing from Destiny Islands to find out what worlds are out there.

Appearance
Riku is a teenage boy with silver hair with bangs, pale skin, bright blue-green eyes, and a slightly muscular build. Since he is a year older than Sora and Kairi, Riku is the tallest of the trio. Riku's hair was originally shoulder-length, but, his hair has grown longer until it reaches his upper back, he cut it short to the length it was when he was a child. Much like Sora, while his general appearance does not change much throughout the series, Riku receives several costumes and form changes during the course of his adventures.

Personality
Riku's personality is as strong as the land for which he was named. He is very strong-willed and confident, at times being arrogant. He values his friends deeply and puts protecting them above all else.

Riku is extremely competitive and spent his childhood playing games, play-fighting, and racing with Sora. This competitiveness also made him easy to become jealous, especially during season 1, where he becomes very irked that Sora received the powers of the Keyblade while he did not, though he is not immediately vocal about it. This jealousy led him to behave aggressively to the people most important to him, and he began to act recklessly and harshly in an attempt to prove himself. He loses this childish jealousy streak entirely as he grows older.

He has a had an intense curiosity about the world he lives in (and what lies beyond it) ever since he met the foreign Terra as a child. His desire to know more became to consume him somewhat negatively over time. He has no qualms with going through the unknown to earn this knowledge, willingly stepping into a dark portal with an unknown destination, simply because he knew it may be his only chance to leave. After he does finally see other worlds, this desire subsides, and he finds comfort in his once-restricting island homeworld.

After the events of season 1, Riku becomes more humble, learning from the reckless mistakes he had made and seeks to make amends. He becomes much more affable and mellows out. He has learned well from his mistakes in siding with darkness and becomes wise and well-versed enough to become a Keyblade Master that Yen Sid can rely on.

Childhood
When Terra visits Destiny Islands, he can already sense Riku's potential and asks why Riku wants to leave his island. Riku tells Terra that someone else left the island long ago, and visited other worlds. Riku states that he would like to leave his world too in order to become strong enough to protect his friends and everything else he holds dear. During their conversation, Terra sees a vision of a white-haired man who then transforms into Riku's future self. This convinces him to choose Riku as his successor and lets Riku hold his Keyblade to test his strength. He convinces Riku to keep their conversation a secret to preserve the world order.

He and Sora later encounter Aqua, who finds their friendship similar to that of hers, Terra's and Ven's, and asks Sora to protect Riku if he ever loses his path.

Sometime afterwards, Riku and Sora are resting on a beach under a starry sky at night. When they are ready to go home, Riku sees Sora's sudden tear of sadness and says that perhaps someone from another world is feeling sad somewhere and suggests that Sora try and reach out to him. After Sora reaches out to Ventus, they both look up at the starry sky.

One night, there is a meteor shower and Kairi appears on the islands from Radiant Garden, another world far off from Destiny Islands. Riku, Sora, and Kairi quickly forge a powerful friendship. Soon after Kairi's arrival, Riku and Sora go to the secret place, a small cave that they frequently explored. While there, the two spot a mysterious door, though neither one can find a way to open it. The two decide to leave, but Riku manages to get a glimpse of Destiny Islands' Keyhole.

Kingdom Hearts
Riku, Sora, and Kairi continued to live on the Destiny Islands together. The three work together to construct a raft and gather supplies so that they can set out and search for other outside worlds. While Riku and Sora continue their rivalry, Riku takes jabs at Sora over his relationship with Kairi, telling him that if Sora does not share a Paopu Fruitwith Kairi soon, he will.

On the night before their journey, Riku opens the door in the secret place and the Heartless invade the islands. Kairi and Sora each set out for the island to make sure their raft is safe. Sora finds Riku who remarks that the door has opened and this is likely their only chance to visit other worlds. Despite that they may never return to their island and see their parents again, Riku is motivated to not let fear stop him. Darkness surrounds the two, and while Riku disappears into it, Sora gains the Keyblade.

Riku eventually ends up in Hollow Bastion via the Corridor of Darkness, separated from his friends. There, he is found by Maleficent, and she offers him shelter and protection, giving him a bedroom with a desk and a bookshelf. In exchange for Riku's cooperation in gathering the Princesses of Heart, Maleficent agrees to find Kairi and bring her to him. During this time, Riku comes to possess a blade of darkness called Soul Eater.

Riku comes across Sora in Shibuya. He takes possession of Sora's Keyblade for a few moments before giving it back to Sora, much to Sora's surprise, and then he suddenly leaves. Watching Sora from a distance, Maleficent turns Riku against Sora, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for traveling with the Fusion Tenders. However, Riku is still highly suspicious of her motives, even after she claims she feels Riku is like a son to her and she only wants him to be happy.

During the Tenders and Aladdin's fight with Jafar in Rub' al Khali, Riku takes Jasmine to Hollow Bastion under Maleficent's orders. Maleficent reveals the whereabouts of Kairi's body. She claims that the only way to save Kairi, who appears to have lost her heart to the darkness, is to gain access to Kingdom Hearts.