Yozora has been making waves recently, ever since he was revealed to be the Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind DLC's Secret Boss when players first accessed the Secret Episode. However, with as much known about this mysterious character, there is still a lot that is unknown, including whether or not the enemy players fight at the end really is the Yozora that players met earlier in the game.
There are tons of connections between Yozora and other characters within the series, such as Sora and Riku, as well as with the never released Final Fantasy Versus 13 that eventually became Final Fantasy 15. Then there's the mysterious figure associated with the first Yozora secret ending that many assume to be the questionably named, Master of Masters.
While there are unfortunately nothing but questions surrounding Yozora, or whoever he is, there is plenty of information to piece together in order to get a glimpse of what is to come after Kingdom Hearts 3. It should be noted that Yozora's presence likely won't have much to do with the next Kingdom Hearts project, working titled Project Xehanort. That being said, he may have a roll in the future of Kingdom Hearts: Union Cross, the ongoing mobile game that has transitioned titles multiple times now.
Yozora's Introduction
To start a discussion about Yozora, we have to start at the beginning when he was first introduced in Kingdom Hearts 3's Toy Box level, inspired by Toy Story. The way that players were first introduced to the character back in 2019 was through a fake commercial at the beginning of the Toy Box level that showcased a new game titled Verum Rex. In this commercial, Yozora travels through an undefined city as he fights off giant robots with the help of two friends and attempts to rescue a young girl about his age, all of which looks familiar.
Verum Rex is further explored in Toy Box as a game that Rex, the toy T-rex from Toy Story, is attempting to play through the game and gets stuck in a boss fight referred to as Bahamut. Thanks to this coincidence, when Sora's appearance as a Yozora toy in the Toy Box level becomes a point of contention between characters, and is why Rex vouches for him. Along with a mini-game involving the Verum Rex, this is the full extent of the game in Kingdom Hearts 3, although the inclusion of the Bahamut reference is hugely intriguing for fans looking to see more Final Fantasy in the series.
Not Yozora?
So, an interesting quote in the scene leading up to the brutal boss fight in the Secret Episode is when Sora questions the figure approaching him in the dark and the opponent responds by saying, "This isn't what I really look like. How'd you recognize me as Yozora?" It's hard to know exactly what this means for Yozora, or whoever it might be, but this isn't the first time that characters took on a different face to different people. When players first met Xion in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, different members of the organization saw different people when they looked at her, like Zigbar seeing Ventus.
Similarly, it seems as though Yozora wasn't seeing Sora for who he is either, considering that another question he asks is, "Why are you using Sora's name?" Clearly, he recognizes who Sora is, but either he's never seen Sora before or he is seeing a different face when the two meet in the Final World. The explanation may have something to do with The World Ends With You a game that many hoped the 104 building would be a reference to, and the events of Dream Drop Distance, but there still isn't enough to go on beyond speculation.
Yozora as Sora and Riku
Yozora's connections to Sora and Riku are for the most part superficial, fairly limited to their designs and the character's appearance in the Toy Box level. For an undisclosed reason, Donald's magic turns Sora into a Yozora toy, somehow following some connection between the two and creating the design for the level. However, when Donald and Goofy see a picture of Yozora for the first time, they mention that he looks more like Riku than like Sora.
Going along with the Riku connection, it is through Riku's dream that makes up the Yozora Secret Episode from the initial release of Kingdom Hearts 3 that players are able to see what happens in Re:Mind's two Secret Endings. So there is a connection between the three characters, but is little to say beyond their designs and the hammered on lines that force the player to draw the connections. That being said, there is another character that Yozora has a very clear connection to, especially for anyone who followed the development process of what eventually became Final Fantasy 15.
Yozora as Noctis
A lot changed from the early development of Final Fantasy Versus 13 and the final product that released as Final Fantasy 15, including Noctis' love interest, his father, and the world connection to Final Fantasy 13. However, the early designs of Noctis' original love interest Stella can be seen in the Verum Rex trailer that includes a dark haired woman being captured by giant robots. Her inclusion in Verum Rex, combined with his friends who resemble an early depiction of Ignis and Ardyn, more characters with their own DLC in Final Fantasy 15, nearly solidifies the connection between the two games.
The largest connection, however, comes in the form of the Secret Ending that plays after either defeating Yozora or loosing the fight to him. In it, the player is treated to a familiar sight, as the scene mimics an early trailer for Final Fantasy Versus 13, with Yozora standing in for Noctis waking up in a car that is driving through a nondescript city. As a result, it's likely that what we'll be seeing in the future of Kingdom Hearts involving Yozora will be picked up from the scraps of the parts of Final Fantasy Versus 13 that were dropped before the direction of the game changed.
The Star in Kingdom Hearts 3's Final World
Players who made it to the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 might remember the mystical Final World level that takes place after the group is defeated by Terra-Nort and the Demon Tide. In The Final World, Sora runs into two separate characters in the form of stars that speak to him. One of them is Namine, and the other goes unnamed, but gives off a little bit of information that seems to hint at another villain capable of stripping someone of their heart and possibly even their name and identity.
This person speaks a name to Sora that isn't said explicitly, as it is whispered in Sora's ear with little indication aside from the character's surprise. However, when Sora meets Yozora, he mentions that someone told him about the mysterious Verum Rex protagonist. This could mean that the mystery star is speaking about Yozora, and is therefore related to the woman who looks like Stella in the original trailer, who eventually became Luna.
All of this being said, everything involving Yozora is clearly being left intentionally vague and setting up the mystery for future games. There still remains things to be explained, such as Yozora's apparent status as a commander, his powers to turn Sora into crystal, and the driver who looks shockingly like Luxord. For now, players may have to wait until the next Kingdom Hearts project goes live before we'll get any of the answers we're looking for.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind is available now for PS4, and is set to release on February 25th for Xbox One.