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Beta Kingdom HeartsKH AU

Here is my personal AU of Kingdom Hearts where everything is the same except everyone is a kemonomimi. This is in reference to Sora's beta design, where he had lion features such as ears and a tail. Hence the name "Beta KH".

Here there will be a list of each character, their type of animal and why, and some other random headcanons. Warning you now, some of these might/will make zero sense at all, but this is mostly just for myself to be able to slap down my silly little headcanons anyways. I am cringe but I am free. I may also link to sources of others' headcanons that I have adopted.

For now will only list characters that I have information for so the page isn't just full of a bunch of placeholders.

Also: Spoilers for pretty much every KH game.

Destiny Islands Trio

  • Name: Sora
  • Species: Lion
    • Sora's animal is a lion. This is because during the development of KH1, sora was originally intended to have lion ears and a tail, along with a chainsaw-type weapon. This was later changed before the game was released. This is the main inspiration that resulted in the creation of this AU. Also it just felt like it would be more fun to draw the characters as kemonomimi.
  • More:
    • Sora has a big ol scar in the middle of his chest from stabbing himself in KH1. Probably has more smaller ones from his other adventures.
    • Shipped with both Riku and Kairi at the same time. They share Sora. Romantic in a platonic way.
  • Name: Riku
  • Species: Wolf
    • This is mostly because of his tendency to "smell" darkness, especially in CoM. Also wolves are cool.
  • More:
    • Maybe give riku some sort of scar somewhere too. I just love giving them scars its neat™
      • Could be on his hand, since he got it injured bad during his fight with Roxas. It never healed properly and he still gets some pain when straining/flexing it, so he wears a wrist/arm brace/bandages to help. (Source)
    • Debating on keeping his long hair, or maybe even giving him a ponytail. But he could potentially associate long silver hair with Ansem and being possessed by him, so he may not enjoy having his hair long. (Source)
    • Shipped with both Sora and Kairi at the same time. They share Sora. Romantic in a platonic way.
  • Name: Kairi
  • Species: Axolotl
    • I'm still not 100% settled on Kairi's animal. I want it to be water related, since her name is also water/ocean related. For now I have her as an axolotl, because the animal is still cute yet aquatic, and drawing the frilly things might be fun. But this is subject to change.
  • More:
    • Kairi has a scar on her back from when she was injured killed? by Xehanort at the end of KH3. (Source)
    • She is one of the very few specific people allowed to call Lea by his nobody name, Axel.
    • Shipped with both Sora and Riku at the same time. They share Sora. Romantic in a platonic way.

Sea Salt Trio

  • Name: Axel / Lea
  • Species: Phoenix
    • Lea was probably one of the first characters I set an animal to (probably because he's my favorite KH character). He is a phoenix, because of his relation to fire and the sun. This is in contrast to Isa, who has themes related to the moon. Also again, because drawing wings is fun.
  • More:
    • Lea keeps the name Axel because he's reclaiming it for himself rather than it being the name given to him by Xemnas. I think thats actually literally canon oops.
      • He uses both and alternates depending on which friends he talks to.
      • It's not a huge deal, but he prefers only very specific people to be allowed to continue calling him Axel. These people are: Roxas, Xion, and Kairi.
      • Although he doesn't get too upset when some people use the wrong name, he does still notice it.
    • Shipped with Saïx / Isa. They are together in like a divorced/exes kinda way, although can sometimes be sweet on occasion.
      • Since Lea acts like a father/big brother figure to Roxas and Xion, this means they essentially have 2 dads and Isa is like their grumpy step dad.
  • Name: Roxas
  • Species: Griffon
    • Specifically a lion + bird griffon. This is because of Sora's animal being a lion and Ven's being a bird.
  • More:
    • Roxas's hair is slightly darker more brown? than Ven's hair. This one might actually be canon, but it was also "fixed" in an update to KH3 so idk. Very popular fandom headcanon tho.
    • Roxas has an entire identity crisis (again) due to seeing Ven and looking identical to him. He freaks out about how he's his own person again.
      • Maybe he tries to alter his appearance in some way like growing out his hair or dyeing some parts of it? Maybe getting piercings idk. I just really like drawing piercings
      • Xion, Axel and Ven try to support him tho, despite Ven feeling bad that his existence is making Roxas distressed.
    • But also, maybe Roxas and Ven could have the twin dynamic because it would be super cute and fun. Although not as dramatic as the above dynamic
      • Twins with opposite personalities is a fun trope too and could work as a combination of the dynamics, maybe.
  • Name: Xion
  • Species: Chimera
    • Xion is a chimera of three different animals: cat, chameleon, and bird.
      • She is part domestic cat because, like like cats, Xion wasn't meant to normally exist, even less so due to her being a replica rather than a nobody. She was artificially created, like domestic animals are "created" by humans from wild animals. This is why replicas in this AU are domestic animals. Being an imperfect replica of Sora, his animal (lion) would domestically be represented as a cat. Also I thought it would just be really cute to have her with cat ears. The original idea was just to have her with cat ears bc it was cute.
      • Chameleon is because of her ability to take on the appearance of others, at times depending on who is seeing her. As seen throughout the games, she has the face of Kairi, and at one point she takes on the appearance of Sora (and briefly Ventus and Naminé as well). This is due to her being made up of Sora's memories as well as his memories of Kairi, along with aspects of others who also have a connections to Sora. She could potentially use this ability to intentionally take on the appearance of other characters.
      • Bird is just an excuse to give her wings so that all three of the trio get to have wings, but it could also tie into Ven being a part of Sora (and Roxas). Also I just like drawing wings.
      • Also the mythical creature of chimera, which is described as many creatures artificially fused together, fits Xion well, as she is made up of Sora's memories and his memories of Kairi. Chimeras are artificial fusions of creatures, and Xion is an artificial fusion of people.
  • More:
    • Xion uses she/they pronouns. Largely because of her being able to appear as anyone, so it messes with her sense of gender a bit. She's just like me fr. Also it's my AU and I get to make her as much like me as I want >:3
    • Has thought about giving herself a "real" name, since technically her real name is No. i. She considers the name Nio, but hasn't really shared it around to anyone and keeps it to herself.
      • The number i (represented by an italicized lowercase I) in math is an "impossible" or imaginary number. This number is not possible, yet is still used as a stand-in for the formula it represents to be used in other equations and allow for an expansion of more numbers available to use.

Wayfinder Trio
(+Vanitas)

  • Name: Ventus
  • Species: Bird
    • Ven's animal is a bird. This is because his name means wind. Also wings are fun to draw.
  • More:
    • Ventus's eyes are a bit greener than Roxas's blue. I would say teal but idk, might just go full green. Green eyed Ven is a very popular fandom headcanon.
  • Name: Aqua
  • Species: Shark
    • Again, she is very water related a lot of the KH girls are so she gets to be a water related animal. I picked shark because it felt like it would fit her graceful yet strong nature. A better fit than something like a fish. Also she would look really cool with gills.
  • More:
    • Secretly buff. Nobody can do constant single handed cartwheels while holding a giant metal key and not be at least a little buff.
    • Maybe give her a remaining streak of gray/silver hair after her (understandable) succumbing to darkness episode.
  • Name: Terra
  • Species: Bull
    • Terra is a bull because they are somewhat earth related, as well as this fitting in with his eventual ties to Xehanort and his animals also being horned bovidae. (Might change his later, not 100% satisfied with it.)
  • More:
    • He can also have a remaining streak of silver like Aqua as a treat™ due to his previous nort-ing.
      • Maybe more silver throughout (or even completely and permanently silver? Maybe with brown roots? not sure) since he was going through it for a longer period of time than Aqua was.
  • Name: Vanitas
  • Species: Griffon
    • Vanitas's animal is a tiger + crow griffon.
      • This is because Vanitas is essentially the dark anti-version of Sora and Ventus, so he gets to be a griffon with the dark anti-versions of their animals. Sora's anti-lion would be a tiger, and Ven's anti-bird would be a crow. Thus, Vanitas is a tiger + crow griffon. Also just another excuse to draw wings because he would look super cool with wings.
  • More:
    • Red eyes instead of yellow because it looks cooler imo. Maybe he gets yellow eyes sometimes tho.
    • Piercings mostly because they're fun to draw and he would look cool with snake bites.

    • Content Warning

      Toxic Relationship Mention

      Maybe not specifically in this AU, but maybe like an AU of this AU where he could be shipped with Riku. In like a potentially unhealthy type of way. Toxic relationships make my brain go brrr. (Source)
      • Vanitas uses the fact that he looks nearly identical to Sora against Riku. He uses Riku's fondness towards Sora to manipulate him and get him to do pretty much anything he wants. Riku can't help following through because he cares about Sora so much, that all he can think about is how he doesn't want to hurt "Sora" and make "Sora" happy, despite Vanitas being a completely different person than Sora.

Organization XIII

  • Name: Saïx / Isa
  • Species: Rabbit
    • Saïx gets to be a rabbit/bunny because of his moon theme and symbolism, which also relates to the mythical figure of the moon rabbit. This also contrasts Axel's sun themes. Also I think it's just a little funny.
  • More:
    • His berserker state turns him into a were-hare.
    • Shipped with Axel / Lea. They are together in like a divorced/exes kinda way, although can sometimes be sweet on occasion.
      • Since Lea acts like a father/big brother figure to Roxas and Xion, this means they essentially have 2 dads and Isa is like their grumpy step dad.

Other

  • Name: Naminé
  • Species: Fish
    • Again not 100% with her animal either. Being water related, she gets a water related animal; a fish. But in a really ephemeral type of a way, like a mermaid. Might change this later.
  • More:
    • Shipped with Replica Riku.
    • Naminé and Replica Riku were able to grow their own hearts (in the same way as the Seasalt trio had accidentally done) as they developed their own sense of selves through CoM.
    • Replica Riku's heart resides inside of Naminé's.
      • Since Replica Riku's heart currently resides inside of Naminé's heart, he is able to appear coming out from her heart/body, similar to a ghost. For now they continue to live in the same body, similarly to Xehanort and Terra living in the same body when Terra was being possessed.
  • Name: Replica Riku
  • Species: Tamaskan Dog
    • Being a replica of Riku, his animal is a domesticated version of Riku's wolf, so Replica Riku is a dog.
      • Specifically a tamaskan dog, because they are intentionally bred to resemble wolves as closely as possible without introducing wolf blood.
      • Replicas in this AU are domestic animals, as they are artificially created from wild animals, similar to replicas being artificially created from people. (More specifically from aspects of the people they are trying to replicate, such as their memories or memories of them.)
  • More:
    • Shipped with Naminé.
    • Namine and Replica Riku were able to grow their own hearts (in the same way as the Seasalt trio had accidentally done) as they developed their own sense of selves through CoM.
    • Replica-Riku isn't actually dead nobody truly dies in kh. He was just temporarily somewhere else (maybe back in the realm of darkness like he was after CoM) until Naminé was able to get a body at the end of KH3. He then was able to put his newly grown heart inside of Naminé's newly grown heart.
      • It is unknown whether or not Replica Riku will be able to acquire his own body again, as he sacrificed his own for Naminé. For now, he is able to appear coming out from Naminé's heart/body similar to a ghost. For now they continue to live in the same body, similarly to Xehanort and Terra living in the same body when Terra was being possessed.
    • Maybe he can have Riku's old long hair, as a treat. Maybe even a ponytail. Again, as a treat. But for me this time. He thought it looked cool since he's a replica of Riku from a previous time, he would probably enjoy his older styles.

Foretellers
(+MoM & Luxu)

  • Name: Master of Masters
  • Species: Pied Imperial Pigeon / Dove
    • Something about doves always being in kh intros and a potential connection between doves and MoM.
      • Specifically picked that one because I liked how the wings are both white (or well pale brown) and black, something about light and darkness idk. Also feel like it would just be fun to draw.
  • More:
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