Abilities/Powers

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Riku is a Keyblade bearer, chosen to inherit the power by Terra, able to use any Keyblade of light and darkness and their magic. When he left the Islands those powers were still dormant, until Malificent enabled him to use the darkness. When equipped with a Keyblade, he can use it to lock or unlock any door or even magical barriers.

Riku obtained his own Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, during the Dream Event; at this point it boosts his strength by +3. He is also still capable of summoning Soul Eater, which feeds on the Darkness inside him and grows stronger the more he relies on it. Like almost all weapons in KH-verse, both of them are stored away in a handy pocket dimension and can be summoned by Riku at any time.

Note: As receiving Way to the Dawn is a recent event, he is likely to fall back on Soul Eater out of habit when he calls for a weapon in a moment where he also uses his Darkness.

While fighting his way through the basement of Castle Oblivion Riku developed the ability to 'smell' the darkness around him; this sense seems to be quite longranged as Riku was able to tell that Marluxia had been defeated, even though there was a distance of several floors between them.

Despite defeating Xehanort's Heatless ("Ansem") by himself in Castle Oblivion, the Heartless still remains in Riku's heart, adding to Riku's own darkness. In order supress him, Riku chose to wear his blindfold, as his eyes can't lie about the state of his heart. By taking it of, Riku can access Ansem's powers and takes his form by doing so. As Riku-Ansem he is able to use Ansem's guardian, can levitate, his physical strength and all his dark attacks are boosted. The presence of Ansem in his heart also allows him to use the Corridor of Darkness and create portals between different locations and worlds.

Note: After totally mastering his Darkness on 01/24/13 Riku can once more call onto the Corridor of Darkness.

After fighting and defeating Xehanort's Heatless ("Ansem") once more during the dream event, Ansem's Darkness was locked away within Riku's heart and is beyond even Riku's reach. For this reason he no longer has access to his powers or to the ability to summon Corridors of Darkness. Should that lock be damaged for any reason, that powers are however likely to leak back into Riku's own. Should it be broken another struggle over his body will ensue.

In order to pass through the Corridor of Darkness unharmed and to obscure his identity from Organisation XIII after the incident at Castle Oblivion, Riku was given a magical Black Coat by DiZ. The cloak protects its owner from the darkness and automatically generates black trousers, boots and gloves.

Since his arrival in the tower in December 2011, Riku has started to work on his magical skills, resulting in upgrades of the spells he was capable of before his arrival, as well as some new abilities:

            Dark Shield: A shield spell that creates a powerful barrier, that now covers all of Riku's front. He can expend it so that covers 180°.
            Dark Firaga: A strong darkness spell that can latch onto his target and follow them over a longer range. Riku can now expend it into several, quicker bursts,
            which all home at their target.

Note: On 02/25/13, Riku learned how to expend his shield into a 360° barrier, which at that point was pretty unstable. He has been training since and it can be considered mastered by June 2013.

As of this thread in May 2012, Riku has learned how to call onto his light and actively use it as attack. While he had troubles controlling it at first due the presence of Xehanort's Heartless, since his sealing those troubles disappeared as well.

            Cure Potion: A healing spell, which cures the whole party.
            Light Burst: 'Inspired' by Mickey's Holy Burst, this attack results in a single burst of light, that Riku casts similarly to Dark Firaga. (Since he has very little experience
            with casting light in general and this attack especially there is a 25% chance that it fails, and a 50% chance that Riku will end up with a burned palm)

While he knows the basics of Fire and Blizzard spells, he rarely casts them, as his use of magic is limited and his other spells are far more destructive.

Note: As of January 2013 he has mastered: Fire up to the -ga-level, Blizzard to -ra-level and basic Thunder.

Other than that his attacks are mostly physical and while his chosen weapon is the sword, he can also hold his own in pure hand-to-hand combat. He has the basic set of KH-abilities which includes but isn't limited to: Dodge Roll, High Jump, Auto Dodge, Air Slide, Aerial Recovery, Block and Auto Block/Auto Shield.

In battle Riku as extremly fast and agile; his style is very similar to Vanitas' - one-handed and agressive. His attacks often involve lunges and jumps, he is able to use the Darkness to teleport close to his opponent and can create strong shockwaves just by slamming his weapon into the ground. He has also two special attacks he can utilize Dark Break and Dark Aura.

In 358/2 Days Riku has a powerful limit ability called Darkstorm; when pushed into a corner, he is able to use it to increase his speed and infuse his weapon with light energy (it's similar to Sora's Sonic blade-ability and Terra's and Aqua's Bladecharge command style).

As of 11/01/12 Riku is owner of a Komory Bat ("Highwind"), which at that point had any active abilities sealed, it's passive abilities being eating Nightmares and looking very adorable.

On 12/25/12 its combat abilities were unsealed:

Resistance: Fire: 11% | Water: 10% | Ice: 10% | Lightening: 13% | Light: -40% | Darkness: 63%

Dispostions:

→ Aggro - Actively attacks, concentrating on direct strikes
Bat Tackle | Vampire Strike
Supersonics | Confusing Waves
Sleepra | Zero Graviga

→ Wingman - Support attack type; uses indirect attacks from mid-range
Supersonics
Dextral Cutter
Dark Waves | Sinistral Cutter

→ Rescuer - Mainly supports its allies with healing/recovery
Supersonics
Healing Waves
Drain | Haste

→ Saboteur - Causes chaos by mainly inflicting status ailments
Dark Waves
Confusing Waves
Dextral Cutter
Sleepra | Zero Graviga

Spirit Link: Darkest Fears