Kingdom Hearts Post Has Everyone Discussing Sora's Mental Health

Official Kingdom Hearts Account Reminds Everyone Of Donald's Worst Moment Published Sep 25, 2026, 9:07 AM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Sign in to your TheGamer account The official Kingdom Hearts Twitter account has shared a key moment from the first game and inadvertently restarted a debate about Donald’s negative impact on Sora. One of the most important themes throughout Kingdom Hearts is Sora’s dangerous lack of self-worth. The happy-go-lucky Sora and his inherent belief that his, say it with me now, friends are his power may seem sweet and inspirational, but they hide a darker and much more human side to him that we see bubble up now and again. From the moment Sora is split up with Kairi and Riku in the first game, he’s at a total loss for what to do, especially when he finds himself swept up in a destiny that wasn’t meant to be his in the first place. Pretty early on, Sora is somewhat encouraged to push all of those feelings down, which the series' official account has just put an awkward spotlight on. Kingdom Hearts Is Celebrating The Moment Donald Shattered Sora’s Psyche “Smile Like You Mean It, Sora!” Earlier this week, the official Kingdom Hearts account shared one of the most iconic moments from the first game where Sora, Donald, and Goofy meet for the first time in Traverse Town. It’s here that Donald tells Sora to stop being sad and “frowning” about Riku and Kairi, since the Gummi Ship “runs on happy faces”, seemingly to try and cheer him up. The moment is played for laughs as Sora pulls off a cheesy grin to a drum roll, but it’s pretty central to his character going forward. We see in later games that Sora really doesn’t deal with his emotions well, such as when he breaks down when meeting Riku and when he fully loses it and calls himself “worthless” on his own in Kingdom Hearts 3. This is exactly what every Kingdom Hearts fan seems to be discussing right now, as the quote retweets of the official account’s post are almost entirely discussions about Donald’s “worst moment” and how it “single-handedly obliterated” Sora’s psyche. Many are even pointing to the late-game scene where Sora sacrifices himself with a smile without hesitation. I’m a little split on whether we can entirely blame Donald for Sora’s self-worth issues, though. As much as the “no frowning” thing probably does have an impact, everyone telling Sora how powerful he is because of his connections to other people is unarguably just as much to blame. Whatever the case, spare a thought for Sora, as he’s clearly about to go through it all over again next year. Kingdom Hearts Systems Released September 17, 2002 ESRB E for Everyone: Violence Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix Engine Unreal Engine 4 Cross-Platform Play android, ios Cross Save yes