Kingdom Hearts Huh?

Im new here. That should explain any unknown booboos i might make.
I just recently started into the KH game series, and the first and only game i have ever played so far is 358/2 Days.So i still dont know alot.
Anyway i was seriously wondering why the Riku Replica seems to have a hula skirt on. Dont know which game this is. Anyone who knows?...Post away.

 

_MOVED
to the Kingdom Hearts section.

The Riku Replica is imitating the outfit that Riku's "Dark Form" uses. Why it's a hula skirt is beyond me, but it makes me laugh so it's cool. c:

 

I haven't played the game, but as many things, it's probably just to have a twist on the outfit, like many characters in most games.

The skirt itself was used by Polynesians for certain celebrations and rituals, but I don't quite see how it fits with the KH series...

 

To me it always looked like a shredded base to a trench coat similar to what Ansem SoD wears. I'm not sure. it doesn't seem largely relevant. It's almost like they made the model without it but just thought it looked weird, and added the skirt so he could be wearing something while still showing the muscles and everything.

 

The Riku Replica is only in Chain of Memories and its remake.

Reason for the hula skirt? One of life's greatest mysteries.

 

Riku grew up on Destiny Islands.
Maybe the straw hula skirt is symbolic of his homeworld...?

Still, I laugh at it, and at Vanitas' skirt too.

:lolface:

 

When did Vanitas wear a skirt? I have to check that. But I always figured it was part of his design and never questioned it. Life works a lot better when you don't question these kinds of things. Maybe it might just be because he wanted a hulu skirt, who knows

 

A possible explanation is also that it is sometimes associated with warriors. Biggest example today is probably seen in Star Wars, with the ARC Troopers. Originally passed to the ARCs from Mandalorian soldiers.

Spoiler

Compare with Vanitas and Riku.

It's used by elite forces (in Star Wars) for protection and also rank designation, but I do recall reading somewhere else (i.e. nonfiction) that it's a symbol of a warrior. Which, when used with Kingdom Hearts, makes sense, since both Riku and Vanitas are "warriors".

 

Wolfie has a point but Vanitas and Repliku/Dark Form Riku are warriors of darkness. How a skirt ties in with evil or darkness is beyond me...

 

Same reason Leon/Squall wears belts on his arm: Tetsuya Nomura just can't live without his quirky, overly-detailed character design.

 

No matter how true that is, it could just be there for some comic relief in the most stressful parts of the game.

 

Uh... I don't know if anyone has suggested it's because he's from Destiny Islands yet, and Nomura thought "Hey! He's from a tropical place, let's give him a hula skirt looking thing!"

"Okay!!"

...

 

To link to the idea of it having Polynesian origins, I'd like to point out that it's not the only occurrence of something vaguely Pacific in the design of villains. Xemnas' final form's cloak has a design reminiscent of Maori Koru patterns. So it's possi8le that those cultures are used as inspir8ion for the design of costumes.

Personally though, I'd rather go with DPwolf's explan8ion.