Which is the Arc Number in the series?

Out of the four numbers given which one pops up the most within the Kingdom Hearts series? Whichever one you choose could you elaborate on why?

 

Number 13, obviously, because of the Organization.

 

I'm gonna have to go with 3 as the main Arc Number on this one.

While 13 and 7 have appeared many times (7 PoH, Org. XIII, the X-blade), we've been with the number 3 the longest. We have Sora, Kairi, Riku, Aqua, Terra, Ven, Roxas, Axel and Xion. The three sets of 3 main characters. We have 3 known realms (Light, Darkness, and In-Between). And we've also had three main hub worlds during the journey(s): Radiant Garden, Twilight Town and Traverse Town.

Furthermore, we also had 3 different incarnations of Sora: himself, Roxas and Xion. We can even only have 3 active party members fighting at once. While I do think 13 and 7 are certainly qualified as arc numbers, the concept of three main characters, the three best friends, the three intertwining destinies & all that have been repeated throughout most, if not, all of the games have had some representation of 3 within them.

 

Same for the same reason of course

 

Number 13. Kingdom Hearts is 13 letters after all....and we can all agree that that's in every game.

 

Besides the name of the series and the Organization there are even more. There are 13 floors on Castle Oblivion, you need 13 Orichaclum +'s to make the Ultima Weapon ( it then gets reduced to 7), and there are 13 letters in "Light and Darkness":)

My gosh I never really thought about it that way kudos to your well-developed explanation ;). I'm sure this won't help but did you know that if you add up the letters of all the trios you mentioned ( besides the BBS one) you get 13? This also holds true with the 3 incarnations of Sora :). However your explanation is something I'm glad to have on this thread.

 

I've gotta agree with Plums. If the Organization had appeared in the first game or BBS (as an actual Organization, more than just the original six members and the foreshadowing tidbits of the Organization we knew would eventually form), I would've said 13. But 13 acts as more of a later development, whereas the theme of three is a series constant. On top of the Riku-Kairi-Sora, Ven-Aqua-Terra, Axel-Xion-Roxas, etc. stuff going on, you're allowed three members in your party, and we primarily follow Sora, Donald and Goofy throughout the adventure.

 

Whoa.
I never would have noticed that on my own.
Nomura you sly fox, you.

 

Definitely agree with Plums. 13 is a big number, but it's more prominent in KH2, while the 3 is the main, reoccurring number that shows balance between the characters and the whole concept of light, twilight/dawn, and darkness in all of the games.

 

Almost everyone in this thread seems to be misunderstanding what an arc number is :x

13's the closest, but it's also not a very good one. While its significance is named early on, what it actually means seems to change with every game released, half of its uses are arbitrary and they lead nowhere, and it had no real significance in the original game. 7 only just became a number of any importance as of the past couple of games and feels just as shoehorned in as 13. 1 isn't an arc number at all, and I'm not sure where that comes from. 3 is never named and serves as a gameplay abstraction before it serves any important narrative goal. Two are illegitimate and two are ham-handed, so ultimately my answer is, who curr :v

 

The number 1 was chosen because the final boss of KH2 is Xemnas (Number 1 in the Organization), final boss of Sora's story and leader of Castle Oblivion was Marluxia (number 11/Double 1) and 358/2 Days had Xion( who was no i which is an imaginary square root for -1).

 

Actually, i stands for any imaginary number, which can be derived from a great number of equations, not just √-1. The other two are arbitrary; only one is named, and as part of a set of 13.

The thing about an arc number is it has to be validated by canon, not just found repeatedly throughout the series via paranoid conspiracy theoryism. If that was permissible, every work of fiction under the sun would have dozens of arc numbers. Numbers are common. They occur frequently. Most of the things Krowley named, for instance, are likely just coincidence; some of them were the result of localization choices, while others are simply chance mechanics of the game, things that would take more genius than the writing team has displayed to plan in advance. When you're looking for something like this, you can't just see what you want to see.

 

I just feel like I should point out that Org XIII had 13 members for a grand total of about a week or two

 

If you count what's happening currently, Dream Drop Distance, in KH3 it's inevitable they will have 13 members once more.

 

So where does 3 stand in being the Arc Number?

 

3 isn't KH's arc number, it's just a number that a lot of stories use. Numbers are common, they occur frequently. 3 is used the most deliberately, but it also isn't invoked; its only uses are for character trios, which is a pretty generic concept, and for gaming abstractions which, again, probably weren't planned to be plot-relevant.

 

Overall, 13 or 1. 13 obviously with the whole vessels of Xehanort and organization, One being as in the key blades chosen ONE(s) though I'm not sure if this counts but yeah.

 

So wait 3 is too stereotypical to be considered an Arc number?

 

Not too stereotypical, so much as too general. Lots of series could be observed to use the number just as much, and KH does/says nothing to suggest we should treat it differently.