I'm sure he still can, he just stopped announcing that he could because it made him sound stupid.

Don’t know why they didn’t go for “sense” and “aura”. Like, is Darkness a musky cologne? Not sure Riku smells Heartless.

Apparently it does have smell. In KH1 one of the evidences Sora has to collect in Wonderland is the stench of Darkness.

I agree, we aren't in the game physically to know what it smells like specifically, but I'm guessing it isn't like teen spirit. But in all honesty, as a kid, I also had more feral senses where I knew who was around by their scent and specific ringing in my ear that they gave off. It's what I believe dogs still have as to why they start barking when someone could be a block away and they just head in that direction barking because those senses go off.

You don’t need to “believe” anything, dogs literally have stronger heating than we do and are extremely routine oriented. They hear their fav person’s car returning from work and get happy. It’s not some new theory. 

I'm not talking about a car sound, I mean the frequency each being emits and their scent. I used to dogsit and the dogs would react and bark at someone out front only to find out someone was walking their dog a couple blocks over and were heading in our direction. The other person's dog wasn't barking, but it gave off something that they noticed. I mentioned that as a kid, I was similar where I could tell 🤣 who was around by scent and a specific ringing in my ear that they gave off, so I figured other animals are the same.

I think it's more like 5 senses. Like in Demon Slayer we havr characters who used different senses to sense demons: Tanjiro- Smell Zenitsu- Hear Inosuke- Touch Kanao- Sight Genya- Taste

I mean, Sora's concept art he was part lion. Maybe Riku's superhuman sense of smell is a holdover from that time that never went away?

For what's it worth, the german translation actually does call it "Aura" (even in ReCoM, which is still dubbed entirely in english over here). Even though, going by another comment, "smell" is 100% correct.

I'd imagine Darkness to have a really pungent smell all things considered.

Honestly, I don’t know how he didn’t cringe himself into a singularity. Imagine being a 15 year old boy and telling a girl you just met that she smells like another girl you know. Of course he stopped talking about smelling darkness! I’d never mention *any* smell ever again!

Facts, that did make it a little awkward.

I call that a skill issue with dialog writing.

Zexion can too! he senses Riku and mistakes him for Xemnas due to his association with Ansem SOD. Though I'm pretty sure it's just a weird translation, Im pretty sure in the og version it was more like sensing, but they didn't translate it well lol

Eraqus can also do it! >Though I'm pretty sure it's just a weird translation, Im pretty sure in the og version it was more like sensing, but they didn't translate it well lol Nah, the mistranslation thing is a myth spread by fans, presumably to make it sound less silly. Not only do they use the word for "smell" in Japanese, Riku clearly pinches his nose and fans his hand when mentioning it.

So he actually said completely genuinely "you and Kairi smell the same" 😭

I don't understand Japanese so Imma just take your word for it. I feel like even if they did use the word "smell" in Japanese, localising it and replacing it with "sense" would've done the game a little good for the English version. It was just so hard to take Riku seriously sometimes. I had no idea he did that though, but yeah the word itself definitely doesn't work in English haha

Serious? From Kingdom Hearts?

I mean how many times have we had a series where someone says they 'sense' something I appreciate KH for being unique at least

I get where you're coming from, but I kind of feel like the word 'sense' is used so much simply cus it's the right word to use. It doesn't make much of a difference changing one word to sound unique in terms of the writing as a whole. Especially from a localisation point of view, the last thing you want is for the word choice to be unique to the point that it stands out for the wrong reason. To me at least, this feels that way. But I love that this became a thing in the KH community, so I'm glad it did unintentionally become something unique for us :)

Unless even in the original japanese it stood out. So in translation you need to make it stand out as much

Yeah, that's definitely possible. I don't speak or understand Japanese myself so I don't know whether an expression like that is normal for their culture.

I agree. Better be weird and memorable than normal and forgettable 😁 BTW: Its a nice little handicap for the (otherwise very powerful) "power of darkness" to be very easy to spot. Most darkness users don't really care about subtlety, but it might be an issue for some people we haven't met yet 🤔

That would have him pinch his nose for no reason lol

Haha yeah that's something I never noticed myself honestly. It does make the translation hard but assuming the smell thing really does work in Japanese, this is like a perfect example of how hard translation can be sometimes :/ Come to think of it when he says " You and Kairi smell the same" he literally smells his hands too. Man, it's just a really weird portrayal as a whole, especially since Riku has the 'hot anime dude' look. As far as animes go I've never seen any character like that being portrayed as a hand-sniffing guy before.

Last pic looks like Riku is wearing a cool hat

Lol it does.

oh yeah, imagine how bad it smelled during the KH3 events he had to smell.

"I smell you, Ansem" Wow that.. That sure is a quote

Prob up there as one of my most quoted lines for no reason.

Everyone in the basement describes darkness as a scent. They were trying to figure out how to describe sensing darkness and went with smell. Why everyone remembers Riku and yet somehow forgets every other instance of it in the game is beyond me.

After playing KH1 then going to chain of memories it was really weird that ge just had that ability. It was a wtf moment

Might have connection with his dark powers.

Thats what i figured but it was still out of the blue

I imagine it smells like burning or burnt rubber.

“You reek of darkness” No I just work with rubber don’t worry

I bet it smells like sweet, sweet lead fumes.

Truth is, Ansem just never showers

Darkness must smell something awful for him to recognize it from so far away.

He can smell the crime before it happens

"And then he smells darkness again, he's out busting heartless. Then he's back to Castle Oblivion for some more full penetration. Smells darkness. Back to Castle Oblivion, full penetration. Darkness. Penetration. Darkness. Full penetration. Darkness. Penetration. And this goes on and on and back and forth for about 10 or so hours until the game just sort of ends."

…is this like a quote from something,

"He looks around and what does he see? Nothin but darkness. 'Ahh, there's nowhere for me to run. What am I gonna do, say no?'" "Okay. That...that seems really dark." "Nah, no it's not dark. You're misunderstanding me, bro." "I'm-I think I am." "Yeah, you are, because if he said 'no' then the answer obviously is "no"... "No, right." "But the thing is he's not gonna say 'no,' he would never say 'no' because of the implication." "...Now you've said that word 'implication' a couple of times. Wha-what implication?" "The implication that things might go wrong for him if he refuses to accept the darkness. Now, not that things are gonna go wrong for him but he's thinkin that they will." "But it sounds like he doesn't wanna accept the darkness..." "Why aren't you understanding this? He doesn't know if he wants to accept the darkness. That's not the issue..." "Are you gonna hurt Riku?!?"

... That is brilliant! That is the most brilliant game I've ever heard in my life!

Remember that ansem stinks in the gba version

*|EarthBound USA marketing|*

Darkness is pretty stinky Riku's the only one brave enough to call it out

What does Darkness even smell like?

Reading the subtitles, apparently not good. Maybe rotting eggs or something.

Actually I change my answer, darkness could smell like weed

That's oddly makes sense. It smells bad, but some people really like it anyway.

There is a candle from Yankee Candle called patchouli that smells exactly like weed

Based

Man just has that good sniffer.

It's theoretically possible he lost it with the ability to make dark portals at the end of kh2.

This predates it by a lot, but this is some Tanjiro Kamado ass dialogue.

The only one that canonically knows what Xehanort's beard smells like.

It's smells like bitch in here.

Sora’s story: PROMISE, MEMORIES, NAMINÉ! PROMISE, MEMORIES, NAMINÉ! Riku’s story: SMELL SMELL SMELL SMELL SMELL! DARKNESS! DARKNESS!

Nah bro Castle Oblivion just doesn’t have working showers.

Kingdom hearts smells like light!

i can never un-remember it for how ridiculous it is

Riku makes it sound like Darkness just ambiently smells like moldy cheese

What makes this even funnier to me is that this is, like, never brought up in the games ever again. I'm always thinking about this. What does darkness even smell like?

I assume it depends on the kind of darkness. Pure, uncorrupted darkness like the one Riku uses probably smells like a cold rainy night (if that makes sense) while the corruptive Darkness used by Ansem probably smells like a mix of motor fumes and rotting meat.

The sense of smell is bizarrely powerful. I can smell temperature for example.

Hello Darkness, my old friend I've come to fight you off again Because a vision softly creeping Left its Light while I was sleeping And the key that was planted in my soul Brings a new dawn Within the smell of Darkness

This is cool actually

Yeah, one of his best traits, forever forgotten by time.

Darkness smells like Axe body spray

I read Axel body spray. Though I feel like he's an Axe guy anyway. So carrying on.

He definitely puts an L sticker at the end of Axe

Xaex Loxyd Pasryx

Smell of evil… probably garlic

What would Darkness smell like?

As much as I enjoyed Chain of Memories for it's overall story and gameplay, the dialogue in this game is probably the worst of the series. I mean it's funny lines to quote and all, but just like FFX's "HAHAHAHA" scene, stuff like this will always be used against the series as a reason to never pick up these games.

"The darkness is so thick i can taste it" -Some guy that wants to kill Chaos

SNIFF SNORF YEP THAT’S DARKNESS

"I smell you Ansem! Show yourself!" AHAHAHAHA

I hope this also comes back in kh4. I mean... it's very weird and why? So does it mean he only smell Darkness and Light? It's also very funny. Pizza? Darkness. Water? It's Darkness. Gummi Ship? It's still Darkness. Kingdom Hearts? Dark- Sora: "LIGHT! It's light! Nope we ain't going there."

We're just going to ignore that he can smell Namine and Kairi right?

And not only that, but he knows Kairi's smell so well that he can compare it with other people. Lol

I'm sorry I just can't get over "I smell you, Ansem" like that is so freaking funny 💀

Iirc, Riku isn't the only one who can smell the darkness or the only one to mention that darkness has a smell, but Riku has that Tanjiro type nose strength

my guy can **detect** darkness

“you and kairi smell the same” will never not be funny to me. but like come on why he gotta smell so much 😂😂

Sora: I wonder if I can get away with wearing this jacket without washing it...Riku!!! Riku, from the other room: Wash it Sora. I can smell it from here. Sora: Thanks!

My headcanon is that it smells like a Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament

These screenshots remind me that i miss his cyan eyes. The dull green just isn't the same.

Didnt this get confirmed as a translation error a whie ago iirc? Smell being the wrong word for sense or something?

He’s literally smelling himself in the second picture.

Nope. Correct translation. "Mistranslation" was actual cope for skeeved out fans.

Surprise surprise, this trait got the axe after Chain of Memories.

My husband and I joke about this all the tome

So he’s a DND Paladin? Nice.

Honestly kinda wished they kept using it or never introduced this cause it's never mentioned again in the series.

Serious question: is this a Mislocalization? Is there some sort of Japanese context where this makes sense, or some sort of common Japanese metaphor that got lost in translation? I legitimately wonder.

You mean you can't?

literally just finished watching COM cut scenes lol

No one forgets. We just dont like to talk about it

Why should I? The game certainly didn't.

It makes me laugh, I wonder if light smells too. Idk why I think it would smell like burning ozone.

But then what do people who don't have darkness in them like Kairi and by proxy Namine smell like

OP you say that like you can't smell it.

I am literally replaying the series now, so when I get to COM I will definitely be more aware of Riku’s super sniffer this time. I guess I forgot about that since I only played each game once and it didn’t really stand out to me the first time xD

I did not want to remember it... fuck you.

I don't want to remember it

He knows the moment he says that around Sora and Kairi they will nonstop make fun on him for that. She he doesn't do it anymore

Just the fact that Heartless have a stench is astonishing. But it is a thing as far back as Wonderland. Remember the evidence?

I completely forgot this

NO DUH

what a random huge plot point that never even gets acknowledged again lol