Kingdom Hearts IV: Who is Strelitzia?

Last Updated on: 7th May 2022, 01:43 am

During the reveal trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV, some more dedicated fans might have recognized Strelitzia, the red-haired girl who greets Sora when he wakes up, but who is she actually?

She was a central part of the brief teaser, which was enough to hype up the new chapter in the series.

Turns out that she was not designed for IV, but was a major character during the events of Kingdom Hearts Union, the canon mobile game with important lore details (yeah, you read that correctly). We’ll talk more about it here.

The following contains spoilers for the series as a whole, so be aware.

What is Kingdom Hearts Union ??

Initially released in 2013 as a browser game known as Kingdom Hearts ?, the game follows the story of the age of fairytales, where the player assumes the role of a Keyblade wielder in Daybreak Town.

The browser game was discontinued and remade as the mobile gacha game Kingdom Hearts Unchained and later upgraded to Union (commonly pronounced as Union Cross). These are basically the same game with different names and features. Here is where Strelitzia first appeared, with a very brief but important role.

The original Union was an online game, but from June 2021 onwards, it’s only available as an offline game in which you can watch the story cutscenes.

READ MORE: Kingdom Hearts IV is officially revealed

The story leads to the original Keyblade War as it was depicted by Xehanort, and features some curious details of how it unfolded in the end, as well as giving context to some occurrences in the other games.

And while the game is supposed to happen many ages ago, some familiar faces are found there for many reasons, such as Maleficent and Pete.

Kingdom Hearts Back Cover is a 1-hour movie containing some of the initial main plot points and is worth a watch if you’re interested in the game as a whole. It doesn’t cover its entirety but is a good way to start.

Who is Strelitzia?

She is one of the many Keyblade wielders that existed in the past in Daybreak Town, the main setting for Union ?. More than that, she was selected as one of the leaders of the five main factions of wielders by Master Ava herself. More importantly, she’s Lauriam’s (Marluxia before he became a Nobody) younger sister. 

One of her main objectives was to meet the Player, but her physical debut was very brief, as she was struck down not much after her arrival by a mysterious figure. Her older brother, alongside some of the other characters, including Elrena (Larxene’s original self) searches for her to no avail.

It was later revealed that she was killed by none other than Ventus, who is also originally from the fairytales age. At the time, he was possessed by Darkness incarnate and was forced to bring down one of his allies against his will. This is the same Ventus from the other games, and his presence in this past age is explained at the end of the game.

Strelitzia’s demise was an important point of discussion, and she had a few appearances in Lauriam’s dreams and also as a strange hooded figure before fading away for the last time.

READ MORE: Final Fantasy XIV: Where to Find Sylvan Scream

Strelitzia in Kingdom Hearts IV

In the trailer, she explains to Sora that the Quadratum (the city in which they reside) is something of an “Afterworld”, implying that both have actually passed away somehow. Not much is elaborated, as the heartless start to attack the city right after Sora awakens, and the boy rushes to save the day.

Aside from what happened to her in the past, there is not much more information about who Strelitzia really is or what is her true role in the Quadratum.

Her role should be finally expanded in the next game, and the reason why Sora disappeared at the end of Kingdom Hearts III could be tied to what really happened after Ventus seemingly killed Strelitzia in the past. More of Marluxia and, possibly, Larxene, should also be explained along the way, as their backstories are still somewhat vague.

Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was also announced in the same trailer that unveiled KH IV, and it seems like a modern version of the original game. This new mobile title could bring new story elements, and should not be overlooked. Pray for it not to be delayed for years.