Aqua (Kingdom Hearts)


 * "The battle for the realm of light...is not won. Thanks to Terra and Mickey, I know what's at stake. I'm not afraid. I will face the long darkness. The next time someone wanders into the realm of darkness. I'll be here. A light to cut through all the shadows. I will be their wayfinder. And one day, I'll return to Terra and Ven. I am Master Aqua. And that's a promise."
 * —Aqua

Aqua is one of the main protagonists of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, the main protagonist of Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- and a supporting character in Kingdom Hearts III. She is one of the Keyblade Wielders before Sora. Like Terra and Ventus, it's her dream to become a Keyblade Master, a dream she alone was able to accomplish from the three.

Why She Rocks

 * 1) Aqua, alongside Terra, is one of Eraqus's pupils and like Terra, Aqua also has a dream of becoming a Keyblade Master.
 * 2) Aqua shows some similarities to Kairi, which she shows by making good luck charms for her friends. She also has a devotion to her friends similar to that of Sora's, for she did everything in her power to protect Ventus from harm and even sacrificed herself to save Terra. She is also similar to Sora in that she holds a strong sense of justice and desire to do what is right.
 * 3) Her judgments between what is right and wrong are never misplaced, although Ventus and Terra sometimes lose sight of the right thing to do.
 * 4) Her personality is serious, kind, strong willed, intelligent, and responsible, as she is the most reliable of the three.
 * 5) She is always worrying about Terra and Ventus, who are two of her closest friends. She has been shown to be blushing and embarrassed when Zack asks her out on a date, shaking her head and arms in an attempt to compose herself.
 * 6) She seems rather modest, as despite becoming a master already, she still referred to herself as a trainee. The only time she referred to herself as "Master Aqua" was toward the end, when she fights the possessed Terra.
 * 7) Aqua may debatably be the true hero of Birth by Sleep. She was the only one officially dubbed a Keyblade master, and unlike Ventus and Terra, she never strayed from the path of light and her actions were all selfless and intended to help her friends, and to free the worlds from sinister forces. She also fights and defeats both Ven and Terra's final bosses, Vanitas with the X-Blade and Terra-Xehanort respectively, herself.
 * 8) She becomes the lead protagonist in 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage, where it reveals her stronger characterization over previous depictions.
 * 9) She is one of the Seven Guardians of Light that is destined to battle the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness known as the True Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts III.
 * 10) Her reunion with Terra and Ventus in Kingdom Hearts III was very sad and emotional.
 * 11) Even though Aqua wasn't that popular at first when Birth by Sleep came out, the developers were surprised to find that she was by far the most well-liked of the trio in the coming years. As a result, she was made the sole playable character in the game 0.2: A Fragmentary Passage, which served as a prologue to III. She was also featured as both a boss and a playable character in both III and its DLC Re: Mind later on.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Like Eraqus, she is so drawn to light that she forgets the importance of darkness, and it has caused her some problems with trusting Terra when his darkness flared up during the Mark of Mastery exam due to Xehanort's inference.
 * 2) She can at times be quite condescending towards Terra and Ventus. When it comes out that she was spying on Terra in case he falls to darkness and intends to take Ven back home, Terra is enraged and abandons his friends, while Ven accuses her of letting her status as Keyblade Master go to her head.
 * 3) She becomes trapped in the Realm of Darkness and spends the last 12 years doing nothing but fight Heartless and wandering aimlessly, with no hopes of escaping, and succumbs to the darkness. Thankfully, she is finally rescued and set free by Sora in Kingdom Hearts III.
 * 4) Her English voice actress, Willa Holland, sounds a bit dull and boring in Birth by Sleep.
 * 5) Most of her role in the story is to be completely associated with Master Eraqus, Ventus and Terra, and not her own, so she isn't the most properly developed character in the franchise.

Trivia

 * Her name is Latin for "water", while Kairi's name in Japanese means "sea". The only connection between the two is that Aqua met Kairi in Radiant Garden in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and put a protective spell on her necklace, which later brought Kairi to Destiny Islands. Kairi, by accidentally touching Aqua's Keyblade during this time, also inherited the Keyblade from Aqua.
 * The official Japanese website refers to Aqua as the "Dancing Waters Forming Bonds" (絆繋ぐ舞水 Kizuna Tsunagu Busui?).