It’s May 4th, which means it’s Star Wars Day. It’s also been a couple of weeks since the Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary so I figured why not celebrate both? Enjoy this list of similarities between the epic space fantasy and the magical Disney crossover.
!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!
- Disney.
- The series wasn’t made in chronological order.
- The protagonists have a desire to travel to another world.
- There are multiple other worlds.
- Said worlds are under threat from a nearly impossible-to-defeat world-killer.
- Interstellar space fights.
- There’s an ancient weapon of super-duper importance.
- …which is then overused like mad in the prequels.
- Being a wielder of said magic weapon gives you street cred.
- Said weapon doesn’t look threatening at all, actually.
- The female lead in the original trio of heroes is a princess.
- Mark Hamill.
- Christopher Lee.
- Light versus darkness.
- Gold Eyes = Evil/Corruption.
- The hero must rescue another character from the dark side.
- …and this is a recurring theme in both series.
- There’s an evil character who wears a helmet.
- The apprentice battles their master.
- Or they’re battling their former best friend.
- When best friend or master is unavailable to battle, a character might just end up fighting their metaphorical shadow-self.
- But at least they do it to epic music.
- And with impossible stunts.
- Most of the problems in the series was caused by one guy.
- “Give in to your anger.”
- Downfall of the previous hero is what leads the next one to start their quest.
- And this happens for at least three generations of hero. You’d think someone would learn their lesson.
- Also a previous protagonist falls to the dark side through misguidance from older mentor figure and ultimately becomes the iconic villain of the series.
- Said fallen protagonist is then trapped in a suit of armour.
- Smelling.
- When major characters die, there’s rarely a body. Instead they fade away. Though is is probably because they’re going to come back as some kind of ghost. Speaking of…
- Ghosts.
- Casual child murder.
- Nearly everybody is an orphan.
- If you’re not an orphan, your parents either don’t matter or are evil.
- Prequels.
- Prequels to prequels.
- Re-release, after re-release, after re-release.
- There’s a wise, elderly and somewhat magical hermit who guides our heroes on their quest.
- There’s wild-haired, somewhat mean rogue who secretly has a heart of gold.
- Said rogue ends up saving the day.
- One of the most powerful characters in the series is under 3 ft and has a speech impediment.
- One character is constantly accused of being a Mary-Sue.
- Secret connections.
- Adorable non-human characters.
- Last-minute redemption and/or forgiveness for major antagonist.
- …who, let’s be honest, didn’t really deserve it.
- Prophesies gone wrong.
- Lose your weapon? Don’t worry! You can summon it into your hand with the Force…or something.
- Wayfinders.
- Communicating across space via the Force…or something. (Though for Kingdom Hearts this only happens in Birth By Sleep).
- There are over a dozen entries into the series.
- Continuity errors.
- Awkward dialogue.
- Actors growing old.
- Mystical otherworldly magic will guide the way!
- “Trust your feelings.”
- That one time the characters got swallowed by a large creature in space.
- Fear is the path to the dark side.
- Incomplete archives.
- Mind control.
- Villains coming back from the dead.
- Characters getting electrocuted.
- Prequels answer questions we didn’t really want answering in first place, and often to the detriment of the series as a whole.
- Hilarious character introduced in a prequel becomes instantly loved by all.
- Clones.
- Fourth-wall breaking.
- Cameos.
- Major character changes his name and clothes to hide their identity.
- “We do not grant you the mark of master.”
- Character who was denied becoming the master sets out to prove himself and, naturally, messes up everything.
- Characters sitting in a circle.
- Characters defy the laws of gravity.
- “I’ll kill the one you love to provoke you into anger.”
- That one lady from the prequels everybody loves.
- “Have you ever heard of… [long-winded backstory.]”
- Cloaks.
- That moment when the character takes of their mask.
- Seriously bad parenting/mentoring/teaching.
- Beloved characters return in an unexpected and epic way to save another.
- Heroes slice through enemies like they’re nothing.
- “My soul will pass into yours.”
- The princess character who has the potential to be a Jedi or a Keyblade Master and isn’t because the writers don’t want that, I guess.
- Characters who used up all their powers to save the one they loved and then died.
- Supporting comedic duo.
- James Arnold Taylor.
- Corey Burton.
- Ben Diskin.
- Genocide.
- Teddy bears.
- Spin-offs.
- Hero falls/goes missing and his friends go on a quest to find him.
- Comatose characters.
- Villains all secretly work for or are involved with one, big bad villain.
- There is an unexplained, magical entity that is a source of influence and power.
- The series creator sometimes makes decisions that not all fans agree with.
- There’s no sign the series will ever truly end.
- Fans will point to that one arc that ruined the series for them.
- Fans will come back to it over and over again, even after they say they’ve fallen out of love with it.
- May the force be with you/May your heart be your guiding key.
Phew! And there we have it.
Happy Star Wars Day everyone, and a happy belated Kingdom Hearts 20th Anniversary.
Writer In A Hat 