Sora was created by
Tetsuya Nomura as the protagonist of
Kingdom Hearts. He was not originally slated to be the protagonist, as
Disney wanted
Donald Duck to fill the role, while
Square wanted
Mickey Mouse. Because Sora was a new character in the first
Kingdom Hearts, Square added
Final Fantasy characters who support the protagonist. One of the main concepts of Sora's character in the series is that, according to Nomura, he is a normal boy instead of a supernatural being, despite being deeply connected with other characters from the series. With Sora, Nomura wants to give players the message that, though they are not "important people", they have the opportunity to accomplish great things. This was emphasized in
Birth by Sleeps secret ending, which Nomura hoped players would find because it showed Sora's potential to influence others' lives. In early versions of development of
Birth by Sleep, Nomura thought that
Ventus would be Sora before being reborn, but due to negative feedback from overseas, this plot line was discarded. Nomura has stated that Sora's name can be interpreted as "sky", since the Japanese word means sky. This name was chosen to symbolize Sora's role and his personality, as well as his close relationship with Riku and Kairi, with their names together meaning "sky, land, and sea." He was also described by Nomura as having an outgoing personality, which allows him to make friends throughout the series. Of all of the characters he has designed, Nomura called Sora his favorite, describing him as "special" after having worked to develop the character over many games. The name of
Noctis Lucis Caelum from
Final Fantasy XV is also a reference to Sora; Sora and Caelum both mean "sky" in their respective languages, and Nomura considered Noctis to be his latest "son". When
Kingdom Hearts II included a note using Sora's handwriting, Nomura wrote it himself. In response to rumors saying that Sora's story would end in
Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura answered that Sora is the protagonist of the series and that his role will end once the series ends. Sakurai described Sora's inclusion as a "huge undertaking" and "perfect" as the concluding fighter for
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. According to Luigi Priore, Vice President of Disney and
Pixar Games, the company recognized that having Sora in
Smash Bros. was something that fans had been asking for a long time, and the team was delighted to make it happen. "Knowing the passion of
Kingdom Hearts fans, we were not surprised [by the reaction], but we were thrilled," Priore added. "It's been incredible watching all the videos and commentary online." Nomura was actually more hesitant than Disney about Sora's inclusion because of potential conflicts with the lore established in the
Kingdom Hearts series at first, but seeing the positive reception by the public led him to conclude that "the end result was really great." Sora was designed as a floaty, light, and aerial fighter. The majority of his moves are inspired by his appearance in the original
Kingdom Hearts, but per the limitations of the licensing agreement, Disney characters were not included as spirits or cameos.
Design Nomura designed Sora with the concepts of the Disney characters in mind, basing his outfit on Mickey Mouse's trademark white gloves, red shorts, and giant yellow shoes. Sora originally wielded a weapon resembling a
chainsaw; however, the weapon was not well received by Disney, which led Nomura to redesign the weapon into a Keyblade. He was also designed with lion-like features, which were removed as the staff found them to be similar to those of
Final Fantasy IX protagonist
Zidane Tribal. The design was further reworked after a talk with the Disney staff, and Nomura finished it after a night's work. The team in charge of
Kingdom Hearts II expressed difficulties in animating Sora's "Valor" Drive Form, which had a different motion except for Sora's walking animation, which is shared with his regular motion. The Anti-Form was also made to focus on Sora's dark side from the first
Kingdom Hearts, where he is temporarily transformed into a Heartless. Gameplay-wise, the form was created to be both powerful and troublesome. The fights Sora has with
Roxas and
Xemnas were meant to surprise gamers, especially in the latter, when the player loses control of Sora and Riku has to save him. Additionally, a new mystery regarding Sora's memories of Twilight Town was added in
Chain of Memories, which would be explained in
Kingdom Hearts II. After finishing
Kingdom Hearts II, Nomura wanted to give Sora a rest from the series to focus following games on other characters from the series. The switches between player characters Sora and Riku across the game are meant to contrast the style from
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, which allowed the player to use three characters in their own campaigns, as well as to explain the word "Distance" in the title, because Sora and Riku never interact across their stories. Nomura has stated that the themes of the game are trust and friendship, and that, like
Birth by Sleep, the story is on par with that of a numbered title. As a result of the game's plot, both Sora and Riku appear in their younger forms from the first
Kingdom Hearts game. For
Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura was interested in giving Sora a new outfit, but was worried about doing so because of the popularity of the character's
Kingdom Hearts II outfit. In the end, he decided to create a new one, as
Kingdom Hearts III was a new numbered title. Nomura also revealed that Sora had the same proportions as in previous games; however, they "muted the volume on his hair—it's not wild." Regarding updating Sora's look from his
Kingdom Hearts II design, Nomura noted that the basis for the resulting design is a mix between Sora's costumes for
Kingdom Hearts II and
Dream Drop Distance, one that is "a lot more sleek and sporty" since "Sora does a lot more... acrobatic [and]... action-oriented movements". For the
Monsters Inc. world, Nomura considered giving Sora a monster costume similar to the one Boo wears in the film, but Pixar gave the idea to have Sora transform into a monster. Sora's final stage in
Kingdom Hearts III was left ambiguous, though Nomura suggested that it might be related to the Square Enix game
The World Ends with You. In April 2022, during an interview with
Famitsu, Nomura said that "
Kingdom Hearts IV will explore the contrast between the real world known as Quadratum and the fictional worlds of
Kingdom Hearts". He further said that "Sora also looks more realistic due to him being in that world. However, if he were to return to his own world, his appearance would look similar to [how he would look with] the shaders used for Donald and Goofy."
Casting voices Sora in the English version of the series. Sora is voiced in Japanese by
Miyu Irino, who used his normal voice for the beginning; Irino was filmed with cameras during voice recording to provide a reference for Sora's mouth movements. As Irino grew older, he struggled with sounding as young as Sora, who remained the same in
Re:coded as his data form. By
Kingdom Hearts III, Irino faced more issues during recordings of the game. After finishing the game, Irino wondered if he might properly portray Sora in sequels due to his age gap. There have also been comments with Osment being praised by the media.
Gaming Targets Matt Swidder mentioned Osment "makes a perfect fit for Sora". On the other hand, Osment's work in
Re:Chain of Memories was noted to have made a poor impact in his portrayal as Sora, as he no longer sounds like he did in the original
Kingdom Hearts game. Louis Bedigian from
GameZone remarked on Osment's continuous work in the sequel
Kingdom Hearts II.
RPGamer still praised Osment's performance in the game, finding him suitable for the protagonist. Koinya lamented that Miyu Irino's work was never made available for the Western audience, considering him talented alongside
Mamoru Miyano (Riku). ==Characteristics==