Kingdom Hearts 4 Might Have Sora Lose His Memory

Kingdom Hearts 4's Latest Trailer Supports The Sora Memory Loss Theories Published Aug 16, 2026, 8:45 AM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Kingdom Hearts fans have long speculated that Sora had lost his memory in Kingdom Hearts 4, and the latest trailers make that theory look stronger than ever. Even though up until the last few months we hadn’t seen much of Kingdom Hearts 4 at all, that hasn’t stopped fans from cooking up some wild theories. Sora being from Quadratum all along is a popular one, but my favourite of the bunch is the idea that the move to unreality has caused Sora to lose his memory. This wouldn’t be a first for Kingdom Hearts considering Sora still doesn’t remember the events of Chain of Memories, but it would make sense considering our boy has basically died and gone to the afterlife. There wasn’t too much backing the theory at first beyond it just making sense, but the most recent trailers at D23 have two scenes that strongly suggest memory loss. Sora Looks Like He’s Lost His Memory In Kingdom Hearts 4 You Can’t Tell Me He Wouldn’t Scream After Seeing Riku During the first new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4, there’s a scene where Sora sees projections of Donald and Goofy in Quadratum. You’d expect him to be very excited about that, but we only see him look a bit shocked and confused before completely passing out, implying that he can’t handle whatever’s happening. That already got me thinking that he’s forgotten who they are after finding himself in Quadratum, but the extended scene has an even more interesting example. Right at the end of the trailer, we get to see Riku landing in Quadratum and saving Sora, Sigurd, and Streletzia from a bunch of Heartless. If you know Kingdom Hearts, you’d expect Sora to be ecstatic and start screaming Riku’s name as he does pretty much any time he sees him, but that’s not what we get. Instead, Sora once again looks confused at who he’s seeing, with perhaps the tiniest hint of recognition. After a year spent apart, you’d think his reaction would be much more intense. Instead, it’s very much looking like Sora doesn’t know who Riku, Donald, and Goofy are. The trailers are all cut in a way to not show much of his reaction, which makes me think that it’s going to be a key plot point of Kingdom Hearts 4 as Sora has to reconnect with them and remember what’s going on. This would also play into Coco’s role in Kingdom Hearts 4. Death is the most obvious theme of that movie that works here, but being forgotten or forgetting people is another throughline. Kairi’s appearance at the end of the trailer where she tells Sora to “wake up and see” cements this even further, so it’s looking like anyone who guessed memory loss is right on the money.