With Tetsuya Nomura lastly breaking a three-year silence to drop new Kingdom Hearts 4 particulars, what higher time to revisit the sequence’ 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 an enormous key-shaped billy membership? No matter classification, the Keyblade stands as some of the 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 and marketing, no Keyblade has captured fan devotion fairly like Oblivion. Oathkeeper trails carefully behind, incomes a robust third place. The designers at Sq. Enix absolutely know the recognition of those Keyblades within the fandom, as all three seem in each main installment. However past their placing designs, it’s Oblivion and Oathkeeper that greatest embody Kingdom Hearts’ core theme: the everlasting conflict between gentle and darkish. That makes them way over simply cool weapons; they’re narrative anchors.
Within the unique Kingdom Hearts, most new Keychains — gadgets that rework the looks and talents of your Keyblade — are earned by finishing Disney-themed worlds. These worlds have often provided 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 unique worlds — which means, they’re not worlds primarily based on Disney films. What’s extra, the Keychains for every weapon have a robust 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 appeal” as a promise that they’ll be reunited. The appeal resembles a Paopu Fruit from their dwelling, Future Island — a fruit mentioned to bind the destinies of two individuals who share it, guaranteeing they’ll at all times be related, it doesn’t matter what. In the meantime, Oblivion is present in a chest in Hole Bastion, mere ft away from Sora’s remaining confrontation with Riku — a confrontation that mirrors their playful sparring match at first of the sport.
Oathkeeper and Oblivion have at all times shared a yin-and-yang dynamic, mirrored in every thing 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 colour schemes. Oblivion’s in-game means focuses on energy, whereas Oathkeeper prioritizes magic. Oathkeeper’s look emphasizes the magnificence 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 recreation’s secret ending, Deep Dive / One other Aspect, One other Story. It incorporates 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 through 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 totally grasp the implications of this remaining 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 sequence’ overarching narrative than most different Keyblades. Nonetheless, he most likely didn’t anticipate them to eclipse the franchise’s default weapon: the long-lasting Kingdom Key. Regardless of its central position 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 finally 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 way in which.
