TerRiku

TerRiku is the slash ship between Terra and Riku from the Kingdom Hearts fandom.

Canon
Terra and Riku first meet when the latter is five years old, roughly ten years before the start of the first Kingdom Hearts game. Terra is called to Destiny Islands prior to his final battle against Xehanort. There, he sees a young Riku and Sora. He feels a great potential within Riku, and so he calls the boy over. There, Terra presents Riku with his keyblade. He tells Riku that he will one day succeed Terra and become a Keyblade Master. Riku speaks about the things that are dear to him that he wants to protect, which causes Terra to think about Aqua and Ventus.

The two part ways, and Terra arrives at the Keyblade Graveyard. There, his body is taken over by Xehanort, creating Terra-Xehanort. However, Terra fight back, creating the Lingering Will. Aqua swears to save Terra and heads into the Realm of Darkness to do so.

At some point, Terra-Xehanort gives his heart over to the darkness. This creates his heartless, an intelligent creature named Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Sensing the potential for darkness in Riku's heart, much as Xehanort sensed the darkness in Terra's heart, Ansem enters Riku's body. Sora eventually helps free Riku from Xehanort's hold, but he now lives in fear of the darkness he possesses. Riku finally lets that darkness loose when fighting Roxas in the World That Never Was, taking on the appearance of Ansem but retaining his memories. Again, Sora helps to save Riku from the darkness and returns him to his own appearance.

In Dream Drop Distance, Riku comes face to face with Ansem again. Ansem tries to take over Riku's body, but Riku evades. He tells Ansem that he reminds him of Terra, and that he will try and save him.

In the final scene of Kingdom Hearts III, after Terra has been returned to his own body, he is seen having a race with Riku and Roxas on Destiny Islands. In the "Re:Mind" DLC, Terra and Riku share a team attack together. Later, they share a conversation in the Land of Departure. Terra looks fondly on Riku and how much he's grown since they last saw each other, and Riku declares that he fulfilled his promise to Terra by taking up the mantle of keyblade wielder. As Terra sets out into the Realm of Darkness with Aqua and Ventus, Riku wishes him good luck.

Riku and Terra are mirror characters of each other, holding the same position in their respective trios. Their lives follow similar paths, but with different outcomes. They are both shown to hold the potential for darkness in their hearts, yet both aspire to be heroes. While Terra falls to the darkness for a number of years, Riku is quickly saved by his friends from the darkness. Even their names are mirrors of each other; "Riku" means "land" in Japanese, and "Terra" means "earth" in Latin.

Fanon
TerRiku is a mildly popular pairing in the Kingdom Hearts fandom, although it tends to more popular as a friendship than a romantic ship. Fans like the fact that Terra entrusted the keyblade to Riku in their first meeting, and that the two have stories that parallel each other. Some fans also like leaning into the potential of writing about "dark" Riku and Terra together. Some see them as a mentor/apprentice or father/son relationship, but others like the idea of exploring romantic feelings blossoming between the two. Romantic works often start with Riku having a crush on Terra as a young boy.

On AO3, there are currently over 25 romantic works and 40 platonic works for this pairing. The platonic version of this ship is Terra's 8th most popular ship, and 4th most popular friendship.

Fandom

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