Kingdom Hearts began as a crossover between Final Fantasy and Disney, with Cloud and Sephiroth making appearances throughout the series. Ever since Kingdom Hearts 2, however, their appearances have been scarce. Many fans didn’t like that Kingdom Hearts 3 was without a way to challenge Sephiroth as a secret boss fight. Yet, at the same time, many fans understood their absence from the story.
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Cloud and Sephiroth’s “Great Battle” In Kingdom Hearts 2
If players fight Sephiroth in Hollow Bastion in KH2, they’ll be treated to a unique set of cutscenes dealing with Cloud and Sephiroth that talks about the former’s battle against his own darkness. After Tifa joins in to protect him, Cloud is surrounded by light, and the two vanish. When Goofy asks where they went, Sora responds that “Cloud went off to fight a great battle.” Since it was left cryptic, fans didn’t have many answers, and still don’t to this day.
Since then, Sephiroth and Cloud have been absent from the Kingdom Hearts series beyond the occassional duplicates. Even Kingdom Hearts 3 doesn’t see Buster Sword wielder make any appearance beyond a statue in Mount Olympus. Whenever the next Kingdom Hearts game arrives, an answer for where they went could explain the way Smash Bros. gets tied into the series’ lore. However, that would only explain where Cloud and Sephiroth went.
Is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a Sleeping World?
At the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora uses the Power of Waking to search for Kairi, despite the party’s concerns about what would happen. The ending of Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind sees Sora vanishing, with the next story beat being about trying to re-locate him. It could be possible that where he ended up was with Cloud and Sephiroth in the world of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but as a Sleeping World.
Sleeping Worlds were a concept introduced in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. They’re worlds that fell into darkness but were not restored into the Realm of Light, and are instead kept in a dream-like state. The Sleeping Worlds were Sora’s test to obtain the Power of Waking, which was ruined by Real Organization 13. While in the Sleeping Worlds, Sora reverts back into his child-like form from the first Kingdom Hearts, not unlike his Smash appearance. Alongside that, Sora’s reveal trailer shows the fighters of Smash Bros. reverted back into their trophy forms in a dark, empty abyss before Mario picks up the Kingdom Key and frees Sora, whose light then frees everyone else.
This theory would make it so Kingdom Hearts 2, Kingdom Hearts 3, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are seamlessly connected, even though it puts the world of Smash in a tough situation if it truly is a Sleeping World. Still, while this is merely speculation, it’s easy to put Sora in a position to compete in Smash Bros. while on his way to meet Yozora in the true ending of KH3. Even if blanks as to where Sora was between games aren’t fully filled with this information, many fans should enjoy the fun of speculating about it in the meantime.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.
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