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PLAYER

✧ NAME: Daine
✧ DW USERNAME: eraldaine
✧ CONTACT:
Aim: radianceend
Plurk: eraldaine

CHARACTER

✧ NAME: Ventus
✧ SERIES: Kingdom Hearts
✧ HISTORY:
I promise you that
We’re marching on!

✧ PERSONALITY:
Typically, it’s easy to denote Ventus as being entirely similar to Sora, and leaving him at that. They’re both young, cheerful with an easy acceptance in helping everyone that crosses their path, with the ability and courage to sacrifice themselves for others in times of need. The quirks cross over even into certain gestures, such as holding their hands behind their head in the same easy going mannerism that’s infamous for the both of them.

Though the similarities don’t end there, there’s much more to Ventus than his connection with Sora. From the night that their two hearts connect, effectively saving Ventus’ life and providing clarity on the similarities of their Others –Vanitas, the darkness of Ventus’ heart personified, and Roxas, Sora’s Nobody- to each other, respectively, Ventus grows and develops quirks and emotional standings that are all of his own, including several flaws to character that are key to his eventual downfall.

Ventus is an extremely empathetic character. He doesn’t like seeing other’s looking downtrodden, and does his best to resolve their issues even when it means putting aside his own. This comes into play throughout practically every world he visits, from rescuing Snow White from the nightmarish trees, to helping Hercules train, even when he can’t be a part of the games himself.

He also isn’t above being sidetracked from the bigger picture. Ven exhibits a great amount of sensitivity to personal issues and worry over the ties he has with friends. Whenever he encounters problems where he finds no resolution or viable way to solve it without others getting hurt, Ventus will show a certain amount of resignation and acceptance--such as with Terra and Aqua, when their feud at Radiant Garden causes the three to separate once more. Instead of asking for help or protection when the revelation of his ties to Vanitas come to light, he instead asks for Terra and Aqua to 'just… put an end to him.' Ven’s passive acceptance of such things shows a lack of confidence in himself, his abilities and his worth to those around him.

Viewing Ven’s story in three arcs- from Land of Departure to Hollow Bastion, Hollow Bastion to Yen Sid’s tower, and from thereon till the ending of the game- we see three stages of Ventus’ development. Throughout the first arc comes in a love for adventure, an eagerness to try new things whilst being shown some, but not all of the darker sides in nature that can occur. Ventus’ naivety shows through most during this time, when everything is a question, a game-- with an underlying surety of catching up to Terra and continuing their journeys together. It’s within the second arc, after witnessing Terra and Aqua fighting in Hollow Bastion, that the difference between Sora and himself really comes into play.

Sora's personality would never allow him to develop any uncertainty about his ties with his friends. Ventus' second arc is namely him questioning his place with Terra and Aqua whilst seeking out new ties in the hope of understanding the old. Though there’s a constant and clear understanding that he will always be tied to the older Keyblade wielders, Ventus seeks clarity in defining this; in establishing just how strong these ties are, and fearing that their bonds may be more breakable than first thought.

By the current point in his timeline in which I’m taking Ventus, he’s yet to uncover the darker facts of his past, but the scene itself follows after one of the very last points in which Ventus shows a clear confidence in himself and what he has in his life. It’s at this point when his maturity has come to a more natural and even level- he regains the surety of his friends he once had without the oblivious nature he held onto prior.

That being said, the ties he does have with Terra and Aqua are consistently important throughout his timeline. In his fear for Terra after speaking with Vanitas-- ’the Terra you know will be gone forever’-- that prompt him into leaving the Land of Departure, giving him a greater purpose beyond merely seeing the sites. It’s indicated in Xehanort’s reports that Terra is Ventus’ weak point; he does seem to hold the elder boy in extremely high regard, constantly denying his faults to the point where he will point out Aqua’s flaws in an argument with no mention of Terra’s own. The two are best friends, close enough to the point where Aqua jokingly refers to them as brothers, and Terra does treat Ventus from the aspect of an elder brother, whilst Ven himself looks up to him greatly.

Aqua is a powerful influence on her own, although it’s greatly her doing which causes Ventus to doubt himself and the ties between the three of them. Aqua can consistently be described as mothering when it comes to Ventus- whilst she doesn’t look down upon him, there are many times where she puts his feelings aside in light of his safety- Ventus is treated at a much younger level than the other two, which causes much of his determination to be as good as them in levels of fighting and indeed, allows him to succeed at this.

Another important aspect to Ventus is his light. As stated above, he’s the type of boy to put things aside for others, help them in any manner he can- he rarely exhibits anger, and never for anything but the most dire of threats and circumstances. But this light has come at the price of having his heart literally torn apart, developing Ventus into one of the two keys which will create the X-blade. Vanitas, the darkness of his heart made physical, is the opposing key, and yet another influence in Ventus’ travels that urges him onwards.

He is the first out of a very small handful of characters to which Ventus clearly exhibits anger, a reaction that remains stark throughout all of their meetings. It’s at Vanitas’ words that Ven leaves the Land of Departure, drawing out a sense of fear within him of losing Terra for good, prompting him to search until he finds him. The second time they meet, Ventus’ confusion peaks from Vanitas’ words—‘consider yourself on probation’. The entirety of Ven’s journey relied on Vanitas to actually make him take the first step- although this step is unknowingly to his own demise.

None of this would have occurred at all without the schemes of Master Xehanort; Ventus’ prior Master, and also the man who separated Ventus and Vanitas from one another, straight from the heart. Though the two have only met the once in Ventus’ perspective, there is a clear onset of intimidation in Ventus’ stature which provides insight into a repressed fear of the man himself. It is also through Xehanort’s actions that Ventus connects with Sora for the first time, leading us in a round robin of just how and what makes Ventus tick.

To bring this down into Ventus as a whole, the ending argument is that you’re plainly looking at a bright and capable teen. He fights for everything he considers right, stepping obliviously towards a horizon that provides painful tragedy- but he isn’t there yet. What we have instead is a teen with enough life experience to provide a comfortable outlook on the more important aspects of his thinking, with many ties to others that have helped develop him in many positive ways. Although Ventus is flawed, at the end of the day it really does come down to putting his friends and others above himself, and in this aspect he clearly flourishes in growth and confidence.

✧ ABILITIES/POWERS:
One of the best points I’ve heard for Ventus’ capabilities in personality is that ‘If Vanitas is the fight, Ventus is the flight’. Whilst he’ll always retain a positivity and helpfulness to those around him, he finds it hard to deal with himself and any negative notions that may crop up- they confuse him to the point where he’ll brush them aside for as long as he can, seeking some sort of levy to compromise or brighten the situation until he’s ready to look at it with a positive outlook. He finds it difficult to deal with negative emotions within himself, and contention between others- the part of his heart that could understand and confront these in turn simply isn’t a part of him anymore.

That being said, in a proper fight Ventus is nothing but keen. As much as he has difficulty with emotions, physical battles are something he takes on with ease, breezing through his opponents’ and consistently working upon becoming stronger. Ventus’ greatest strength is his speed, which he does use to great advantage in landing several hits before darting out of the way. He has the endurance to take several harsh hits, although in comparison to Terra and Aqua he is worn down more easily, and can work in a team with ease.

With that being said, his physical and magical abilities are moderately even- Ventus is well round with only a few key attacks that cause more damage than the norm. These attacks don’t work so well if he’s not fighting alone; he has the potential to cause plentiful harm to the members of his party as he does to the enemy.