Ventus does not return to the Dive to the Heart until he involuntarily fuses with Vanitas, his pillar changing appearance with the sudden presence of darkness in his heart, and is renamed " Soul World" ( 精神世界, Seishin Sekai ?). It is here that Ventus comes in contact with the newborn Sora's heart, and his Station is restored. At the end of their battle with the creature, the Dive to the Heart is consumed by the darkness emanating from it, dragging Sora or Roxas with it, but they either wake up or are rescued.Ĭhronologically, Ventus's Dive to the Heart, called " Ventus's Mind", is the first to be seen, and appears in an incomplete state due to his broken heart. The background music, "Dive Into the Heart (Destati)", initially begins quietly and hard to hear, but grows in intensity as Sora or Roxas approaches the final pillar, where they fight a manifestation of the darkness within them. In Kingdom Hearts, there is an additional area of the Dive to the Heart based on Destiny Islands. Each Station has a unique shade, depicts a specific set of characters, and has its own specific part in the tutorial. The Dive to the Heart is composed of several enormous, illuminated stained-glass pillars known as "Stations", rising from unseen depths. In Roxas's case, this first Dive to the Heart is merely a memory of Sora's, and he enters his true dive three days later. However, instead of drowning, they find that they can breathe, and land upon an ocean floor which erupts into doves, revealing the Dive to the Heart. To reinforce the dreamlike setting of the Dive to the Heart, Sora, Roxas, and Ventus each reach it by falling into an ocean.
The player is guided through the Dive to the Heart by an inaudible, unseen "voice", whose identity is eventually revealed to be that of King Mickey for Sora's dive, and Sora for Ventus's. In terms of gameplay, the purpose of the Dive to the Heart is to serve as a tutorial level, where the player will learn the controls of the game, choose how their character will grow, and fight their first boss. However, the events which occur within it have a real effect on the waking world, and in two instances they are actually observed by outside forces.
It is framed as a place within a dream, and its nature as the dreamer's heart is reinforced by the background music, the gameplay tutorial, and the strange way of speaking used by those within it (a manner also used by the remembered characters of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories). The Dive to the Heart is a location which appears in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts coded, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III. Game Central Station | Niceland | Cy-Bug Sector | Candy Kingdom Secret Forest | Toy Box | Kingdom of Corona | Monstropolis | Arendelle | San Fransokyo | Quadratum La Cité des Cloches | Country of the Musketeers Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleepĭwarf Woodlands | Enchanted Dominion | Castle of Dreams
The World That Never Was | End of Sea/ Dark World | Keyblade Graveyard Port Royal/ The Caribbean | Pride Lands | Space Paranoids/ The Grid Mysterious Tower/ Symphony of Sorcery | The Land of Dragons | Beast's Castle Land of Departure/ Castle Oblivion | Twilight Town Introduced in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories Radiant Garden/ Hollow Bastion | 100 Acre Wood Monstro/ Prankster's Paradise | Atlantica | Neverland Traverse Town | Wonderland | Olympus Coliseum/ Olympus Timeless River/ Disney Town/ Disney Castle Field theme - Dive into the Heart -Destati-īattle theme - Dive into the Heart -Destati-ĭive to the Heart | The Final World | Destiny Islands