When Kingdom Hearts 3 came out, players eventually discovered an interesting nod to another Tetsuya Nomura project in the Toy Story world. A fictional game-within-a-game, Sora discovers Verum Rex and the character Yozora, a fake JRPG protagonist who resembles Riku. But what Sora doesn't realize is that Yozora even more closely resembles another character: Noctis from Final Fantasy 15. Coincidentally, Noctis is also based on another version of his design from that game's predecessor Final Fantasy Versus 13.
These two, Noctis and Yozora, are intrinsically tied to one another for a lot of reasons. Noctis' original Versus 13 character design was the progenitor for Yozora's design, but there's also several allusions to Final Fantasy 15 in the secret ending to Kingdom Hearts 3. At this point narratively, Yozora's purpose in the story and how/if he relates to Noctis is nebulous at this point. Even if Noctis doesn't even show up in Kingdom Hearts lore, Yozora and him are still deeply connected to each other.
The Prince of Lucis
Before Yozora could exist, Noctis from Final Fantasy 15 had his story to tell first. Existing in development hell for several years before Final Fantasy 15, Noctis was initially conceived by Tetsuya Nomura as part of a spin-off in the Final Fantasy 13 universe entitled Final Fantasy Versus 13. Eventually Nomura, who was director on Final Fantasy Versus 13 at the time, had to leave the project to focus on Kingdom Hearts 3 full-time. Upon gaining a new director in Hajime Tabata, Versus 13 was adapted into Final Fantasy 15 after building upon Nomura's ambition and seeing potential in making the game its own entity. It's important to note this now to contextualize Yozora's existence later on.
Noctis was adjusted slightly over the years transitioning from Versus 13 to Final Fantasy 15, but the overarching concepts largely remained the same. He was the heir to the throne of Lucis, and his country-spanning road trip with his most trusted confidants was his journey to become the next king. As he visits the many Kings of Lucis from history he becomes stronger over time, culminating in Noctis' marriage with Lunafreya as an offering of peace to the Niflheim empire. From there tragedy strikes as the royal family of Lucis is murdered by Niflheim, and Noctis has to reclaim his throne from the oppressors. Noctis' story is a tragic one, and even though a few things were changed from its translation to a numbered Final Fantasy game, remnants of Nomura's concepts are pervasive throughout the game.
More Than a Fake JRPG Protagonist
Yozora's place in Kingdom Hearts 3 is certainly an unusual one, existing in a very skewed version of reality that (at this moment) doesn't really make sense with the rest of the game. Along those lines, Yozora's existence and background seems to be hinting at some kind of resurgence of Final Fantasy Versus 13 concepts adapted into the world of Kingdom Hearts. Before the secret ending, many players just assumed Yozora was part of the world-building in the Toy Story world as a way to contextualize Sora's toy aesthetic. But upon reaching the secret ending, as well as playing through the Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind expansion, it's clear Yozora is far more important to the story.
Yozora narrative-wise shows up in Sora's story at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3's secret ending, watching over what is presumably the world of Verum Rex. He spots both Sora and Riku in this world from afar, along with a member of the Organization in this same world. Eventually finishing the Re:Mind expansion unlocks the Yozora secret boss, which makes the story a whole heap more confusing. Sora fights Yozora, and unlocks a different depending on if the player wins or losses the fight. Either Sora loses the fight and is crystallized like a l'Cie from Final Fantasy 13 lore, or Yozora loses the fight and fades away. What this means for Kingdom Hearts remains to be seen, but it's clearly a connection to Final Fantasy Versus 13/15 in some way.
The Duo of the Night
In fact there are many parallels that can be drawn between Yozora and Noctis, ranging from the obvious to thematic elements that are a bit more obtuse. What's made immediately apparent is that Yozora's inferred story in Verum Rex is essentially a re-skinned amalgamation of what the original Final Fantasy Versus 13 story was. Yozora and Noctis both initially wished to save a loved one who had been imprisoned or kidnapped by a relentless foe. Both Noctis and Yozora fight with their most trusted friends to take down enemies and rescue someone. This parallel is made even more apparent in the secret boss ending, where Yozora wakes up in the back of a car as part of a scene that's a literal shot-for-shot remake of the original Final Fantasy Versus 13 trailer.
Moving into more complex and mysterious territory, there are some less obvious comparisons between them as well. Yozora's clothing style is heavily based on the appearance of Noctis, though closer to his Versus 13 look than Final Fantasy 15. Even then, they're both aesthetically very similar, with Yozora only having some minimal Kingdom Hearts stylistic flair added. Additionally, their names share a common meaning of "night sky" in their etymology: Yozora loosely translates to "night sky" in Japanese, and Noctis also translates to "night" or "night sky" in Latin. Additionally, before Final Fantasy 15, Noctis used to have heterochromia or different colored eyes. Yozora has a red and blue eye instead of the same color, which was originally planned for Noctis in Final Fantasy Versus 13 before it was changed for 15.
It's clear these characters are related to each other in some way, but how that fits into the Kingdom Hearts canon is still vexing to say the least. Noctis in Final Fantasy 15 did move beyond many of Nomura's conceptual roots, but he still retains many of the inspirations from Final Fantasy Versus 13. Perhaps the next mainline Kingdom Hearts will dive into more Final Fantasy tie-ins in the far future.
Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3 are available now.