Day Two: Who is your favorite Kingdom Hearts character?
I wish I could say this was a hard choice for me. Really and truly I do. I love so many Kingdom Hearts characters, really I do. I love Sora and Kairi and Riku and Roxas and Xion and Naminé and Braig and Aqua and Vanitas. There is, however, one character throughout all time and space and fandom and cannon that I really consider to be my spirit animal. Axel.
Axel and I are eerily similar. There was a moment during my 358/2 days that I realized that we were even sitting in the exact same position. Creepy, folks. It was creepy. Axel is like one of those weird brain teasers where it looks like a square from one side but from a different angle it looks like an L-shape. Axel isn’t a static character and I love him for it.
With Roxas (and later Xion (and with Isa as Lea)) you see this really nice guy. He’s funny, he’s smart, he’s supportive; basically he’s everything you want in a best friend. Then you see him with somebody like Sora. He’s a liar, he’s manipulative and an asshole. He’s the best friend you could ever have and the worst enemy you could ever encounter. Axel is a tough little shit. He works tirelessly to protect his friends. Seriously, he couldn’t give two fucks about you, until you get in his way. He’s driven and can be so focused that he’s scary.
Axel is also one hell of a fighter. Seriously, he’s so effing badass you never get to fight him seriously. Can you imagine how different KH2 would’ve been if Axel had been with Roxas when he encountered Riku? Riku would be a smoking smudge on the streets of The World That Never Was. Oh, you’re running away? Chakram to the face. Oh, you think it’d be easier to fight him at close-range? Oh, another chakram to the face!
Axel and I are similar in our personalities. It was hard for me not to connect to him in KH2; I was in love with all of his snark and swagger right away. Then, lo and behold, here comes 358/2 Days and his interactions with Roxas and Xion only confirmed that Axel and I were one in the same. We love our friends, we’d do anything to protect them, we spout bullshit left and right, we are habitual liars and we use our sense of humor to cope.
I have a save on KH2 for his death scene. I cried while watching him die at 3 AM and high on caffeine. I love this man/nobody/kid. Every time I play that last fight with him I can’t help but think “maybe this time things will be different.” If he doesn’t make some appearance in KH3 I might go jump off a cliff. No seriously, I will. No seriously, I can write about Axel all day long. Don't tempt me 30 day challenge.
