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Yozora (Japanese: ヨゾラ) is a fictional character introduced in the Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts III. Yozora first appears in "Toy Box" world based on the Toy Story movie franchise as the lead of the in-series video game Verum Rex. He later appears physically in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts III, and encounters the protagonist Sora within the Final World in the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind downloadable content. Yozora was created by director Tetsuya Nomura as a minor character in his introduction who would be a more important in his future projects. His portrayal in the DLC Re Mind was made difficult to beat on purpose. He is voiced by Dylan Sprouse in English and in Japanese by Tasuku Hatanaka.

The character's debut surprised the game critics and gamers in general due to his striking similarities to Noctis Lucis Caelum, the protagonist Square Enix's role-playing game Final Fantasy XV where Nomura worked on for few years. The difficulty to beat him in the DLC was remarked by journalists to the point he came across as one of the hardest characters in the franchise. Nevertheless, the character's enigmatic identity and nature resulted in several journalists wondering what will be his role in upcoming Kingdom Hearts works.

Ever since his first appearance, Yozora has beared an striking similarity with Final Fantasy XV protagonist Noctis Lucis Caelum. When asked about the similarities with Yozora, Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura stated that while he noted there are several similarities between the two characters, they hold no connections.^[1] Though the character is first seen as a video game character within the video game, the secret ending reveals that has his own world known as Verum Rex.^[2] Yozora's design includes, his right eye being a light blue color, and his left eye being a dark red color. His outfit involves a short sleeved jacket with darker parts, darker pants and a black shirt. His design also includes black fingerless gloves and black boots.

Following the release of Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura felt that his response in Western region was better than the one in Japan, much to his relief.^[3] For the Kingdom Hearts III downloadable content, Remind, Nomura gave the staff several orders about how should the secret boss be designed but it ended up being different from his original view.^[4] The battle has two alternative endings rather than a game over as a result of how challenging he was designed to be.^[5] The director kept saying that he intentionally made Yozora difficult to beat to the point some players would cry while trying to beat him.^[6]

Following Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura denied rumors of the character appearing in Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory but said he would give the character a major role in another future installment since Melody Of Memory primarily focused on Kairi.^[7] Nomura explained in 2022 that he had plans to create a Verum Rex game to develop Yozora, but the idea was scrapped in favor of Kingdom Hearts IV starring Sora as the lead as he was worried about his popularity.^[8]

Dylan Sprouse appears in the Re Mind downloadable content as the voice of new character Yozora, and was overjoyed with his character due to him liking Japanese role-playing heroes.^[9] In Japanese, Yozora is voiced by Tasuku Hatanaka.^[10]

Yozora is a character who appears in "Toy Box" world based on Toy Story as the lead of the in-series video game Verum Rex. The characters from Toy Box confuse Sora for Yozora due to their similarities. When Sora finds a promotional image of Verum Rex, Goofy claims that Yozora feels more similar to their friend Riku rather than Sora.^[11] In the secret ending, Yozora appears in the same world as Sora and Riku. ^[12]

In the downloadable content episode of Kingdom Hearts III, Re Mind, Yozora encounters Sora within the "Final World". Yozora claims that he has been requested to save him, but questions his identity and battles him atop a skyscraper in a modern-day metropolis. If Sora wins, Yozora fades away before Sora returns to the Final World; if Sora loses, Yozora crystallizes him and goes to the Final World instead. Afterward, regardless of who wins, Yozora awakens in a car while a closing narration ensues in his and Sora's voices, with the battle's victor saying, "None of this makes sense to me."^[13]

Yozora reprises his role in the printed adaptation of Kingdom Hearts III but remaining as the winner of the final fight between him and Sora.^[14]

Initial images of Yozora confused the gaming journalists and left to interpret. Although he was first considered a gag character in Kingdom Hearts III due to promotional scene of the game within the game Verum Rex, Yozora's appearance in the secret ending of the game surprised Polygon who wondered if he would be a major character in future installments such as a villain and noted he was too similar to fellow Kingdom Hearts character Riku. Polygon also felt that Yozora might be a reference to Noctis Lucis Caelum as Tetsuya Nomura had previously worked in his game Final Fantasy XV especially since their names have a similar meaning.^[15] GamesRadar explored more the similarities between Yozora and Sora and whether or not it is Nomura's attempt to have his own take on Final Fantasy XV, most notably its early form Final Fantasy Versus XIII while also highlighting that Yozora's scene appears to use a similar soundtrack to such video game, "Somnus".^[16] Kotaku commented that Yozora shared several physical similarities with Noctis, most notably in his Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailers. Besides physical similarities with Noctis, Yozora shares connections such as three allies similar to Noctis' friends and bodyguards as well as a young woman like Lunafreya Nox Fleuret's earlier persona Stella Nox Fleuret who replaced her as heroine when Versus XIII became Final Fantasy XV under a new direction.^[17] In datamining the game to understand Yozora's connection with Final Fantasy XV, GamesRadar noticed not only Yozora is similar to Noctis but even his fighting abilities bear resemblance to those of Noctis'; "Shift Break" is also the name of Noctis' Warp Strike ability in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XV where both fighters behave in similar fashion when wielding weapons.^[18]

Comic Book Resources noted more other similarities with Nomura's designed characters such as Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII as well as his lines in the downloadable content where he repeats Sora's first line from the first video game and how the scenary he is placed is similar to previous Kingdom Hearts secret endings.^[19] Siliconera sees Yozora as an interesting take from Square Enix to build up the relationships Sora has with the Toy Box character as its character Rex confuses him with Sora due to their similarties when first interacting.^[20] ScreenRant made a theory about the character's identity, wondering if he was an alterego "Nobody" of the original Noctis from Versus based on the similar appearance and having a chance to meet Sora again.^[21] Yozora sitting in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building was noted by VG247 to be a nod from Tetsuya Nomura to the original scrapped Versus as Nomura did not work in such installment once Square Enix turned it into Final Fantasy XV. The melody used for such scene is also similar to the original Versus "Somnus". However, rather than being seen as another fantasy character, the website wondered if Yozora could a character from the real world as a result of the design used for his appearance in the ending.^[22] In an analysis of the Yozora's identity and role in the story, Kotaku said while Nomura might have made "the most expensive joke in the history of forever" due to the comparisons with Noctis, Yozora might be instead his own character but with similarities to both Sora and Riku.^[23]

In regards to Yozora's inclusion in the game downloadble content as a boss character, Comic Book Resources regarded Yozora as the franchise' hardest boss ever conceieved despite with few chances there being of him being defeated with understanding his attack patterns being an important hint.^[24] However, in another article, Yozora took second place behind Mysterious Figure from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep while still stating that players would suffer a ragequit should bthey want to defeat him.^[6] Destructoid listed him as the third most challenging boss in gaming, while pointing out how overpowered he is in contrast to original Kingdom Hearts III characters.^[25] While also highlighting the difficulty of Yozora drawing parallels between him and Dark Souls bosses, The Mary Sue noted that he was even more difficult than Sephiroth from the first Kingdom Hearts game and Lingering Will from Kingdom Hearts II and criticizing how the character does not feel bothered if Sora defeats him.^[26] Hobby Consolas also found Yozora challenging and recommended several tactics to beat him as they also said regular players would not be able to do it on their own.^[27] In contrast to the original Kingdom Hearts III, Destructoid believed the difficulty of Yozora was too harder to play and thus takes advantage of the fighting engine in order to make a compelling boss fight.^[28] In "Kingdom Hearts 3: Who Is Yozora?", TheGamer noticed that Yozora can be the strongest character in the entire game as even if Sora manages to defeat him, Yozora says that he was holding back and has made a major impact in the game despite only appearing in two scenes thanks to his enigmatic look.^[29] TheMarySue reflected that Yozora was superior to already challenging boss Sephiroth and thus it is one of Tetsuya Nomura's most striking creations based on how negatively he can affect a player.^[30] Meanwhile, Noisypixel regarded Yozora as one of the best bosses in gaming history due to the fighting style he uses and the patience and skills needed to defeat the character.^[31]

Following the release of the first Kingdom Hearts IV, IGN looked forward to the game to explore more Yozora's character and his relationship with the new setting, Quadratum, believing he might a key figure during the events of such game.^[32] Area Jgones also looks forward to Yozora's role in the future of the games, believing him to be the protagonist of a possible Verum Rex, a new IP developed by the Square Enix.^[33] GameReactor believes that Yozora might be new key figure in the new story arc of the franchise as Kingdom Hearts III ended the arc of Xehanort and Yozora seems related with the new figures hinted in the ending of Kingdom Hearts III.^[34] NextGame found the Sora from the Kingdom Hearts IV trailer to be similar to Yozora due the new engine used for the visuals while also finding more hints about the character's relationship with Noctis due to the trailer feeling like Final Fantasy Versus XIII.^[35] Meanwhile, Comic Book Resources found Yozora as a convenient character who serves as a foil to Sora due to their similarities and whether or not he is related to Kingdom Hearts χ's character "Master of Masters".^[36] WashingtonPost claimed that Yozora will be an antagonist in Kingdom Hearts IV based on how he wants Sora to stay in the seventh realm and wondered what was the mystery behind the lines the two say in the end of Kingdom Hearts III as they are the same one said by Sora in the first game.^[37] GamesHub said that Yozora's true form was not fully explored yet based on his lines from Kingdom Hearts III and thus he could be a Lost Master in the next game.^[38] Like other journalists, Destructoid said that Yozora could be related to Noctis based on looks and theme song and further added, he could be have a deep connection to Sora based on the lines they share.^[39]

In "Kingdom Hearts' Future Seems to Rely on Yozora", GameRant said Yozora's character was filled with mysteries that might be explored in future Kingdom Hearts installments, noting similarities with both Sora and Riku even when it comes to clothing and has potential to be a new main character.^[40] GameRant suggested that Yozora's inclusion in Kingdom Hearts IV could be that of a coprotagonist the player controls in parallel to Sora, citing previous Kingdom Hearts like Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance where the player is given the choice of using both Sora and Riku to develop the game. He further stated Yozora is a foil Sora's character; "Sora acts on emotion and heart, while Yozora’s world is one of realism, duty, and skepticism." This contrast between characterizations made the writer believe the future game would be benefitted by.^[41] Yozora's popularity also led fans to create a mod to play as him in Sora's place.^[42] Dylan Sprouse's role as Yozora's voice actor surprised the audience according to HITC for being notoriously famous for portraying Zack Martin in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and how unrecognizable he makes such role.^[43][44] GameRant also noted several fans were shocked to discover that Sprouse is behind the character, while also finding him emotionless and an apparent replacement for Noctis should a remake of Final Fantasy XV would ever be done.^[45]