Sora Takeuchi (武内 空, Takeuchi Sora), born as SA-503B, is the former Wind King of the Wing Road, and original leader of the legendary Storm Rider team called Sleeping Forest. He would later regain his title as the Wind King and take over as the leader of Genesis along with his younger twin brother Nike. He is the main antagonist of the series.
Personality[]
Sora often shows himself as a carefree and charismatic person albeit arrogant about his abilities as a storm rider. At times Sora can be much like Ikki, he can be very perverted and earns beatings from Rika Noyamano for it. He often appears to be easy-going and friendly, but this attitude dramatically changes later in the series to a more serious and cruel tone. He is not above using force to get what he wants, going as far as to force Rika to be brainwashed to join his side.
His lack of remorse is evident such as when he killed Kilik and when he was unfazed by his brother's defeat. Sora views the Gravity Children (most notably Kilik and Sleeping Forest) as pretentious rulers that prevent humanity from reaching its true potential. It is for this reason why, despite being the leader of Genesis, he simply views all members that are Gravity Children as mere tools.
Viewing himself as "defective goods", he empathizes with humans and their constant struggles through everyday life as he also sees humanity as "defective goods". It is this inferiority complex that caused him to adopt a cold personality over time. This is shown as he's willing to kill anyone who stands in his way to gain the power he needs to accomplish his goal of bringing equality upon the world.
Sora believes that the worth of people's souls are determined by the weight of their actions/inactions. He greatly despises those who don't act or those who choose to sit idly. His motivations lie in the fact that he wishes to bring equality to the world in order to witness what he perceives to be the true worth of humanity as a species; whether or not it will bring chaos or ruin due to humanity's flaws is something that he's not concerned about.
Appearance[]
Sora is a young man with medium-length scraggly black hair and is usually shown wearing a ballcap. He usually wears a T-shirt and jeans. While early on in the series, he was mostly bound to a wheelchair albeit with one that's customized with Air Trek technology. He has gone on to replace his legs with mechanical ones that are fitted with Air Trecks, allowing him to be able to stand and fight just like he used to. At the time when he was the leader of Sleeping Forest, he often changed his attire, but most of his actual appearance is he always wore an aviator hat with goggles, a blue T-shirt, and folded long pants. He also covered his hands and legs with a bandage. Most of the time he squints, giving the impression that he had his eyes closed.
After his battle with Kilik and Sleeping Forest, his hair turns white possibly due to overexposure in the core reactor at the bottom of the Tower of Trophaeum.
History[]
Born as SA-503B, the Gravity Child that would later come to be known as Sora was originally one of the many Gravity Children that was deemed to be "defective" by their own makers. With the exception of Kilik, all the children of the Gravity Children development program were not meeting expectations and were to be terminated because of this. However, it is due to Kilik's pleas that they were all saved including the young Sora.
Later on, the Gravity Children would rebel against their creators, finally managing to free themselves from the Tower of Trophaeum and join the outside world. It is during this time that SA-503B would decide to rename himself, choosing the name "Sora" as a testament to his desire for the sky.
Before leaving the Tower to venture out into the outside world, Sora promises to Kilik that at some point they should all return together at the Tower of Trophaeum from which they all originated from.
Formation of Sleeping Forest[]
Years later Sora, along with all the other Gravity Children, would go on to live normal lives until one day at the Tower of Trophaeum Kilik informs Sora of the recent rumors and growing interest from the public regarding the existence of Air Treks and 'regalias', most notably the famed "Sky Regalia". In order to protect the Sky Regalia that is hidden and sealed away within the Tower of Trophaeum from those who wish to exploit it, Kilik and Sora would go on to form the legendary storm-rider team known as "Sleeping Forest". They would recruit the other Gravity Children they grew up with, with the Tower itself acting as their base of operations.
In truth, it was Sora who leaked the information regarding Air Treks and the regalias to the public as a part of his plan to supposedly achieve world domination by obtaining the Sky Regalia. This was done to create public attention to the concept of Air Treks acting as a distraction for Kilik, thus making it easier for him to acquire the necessary regalia codes that were required to unlock the Sky Regalia due to all the commotion and rising popularity of Air Treks. It was because of this that the concept of the Parts Wars and Storm Rider tournaments were born.
Also unknown to Kilik, during their childhood years, Sora and his twin brother Nike had already begun stealing the regalia codes of the other twenty-first-generation Gravity Children. It was during Kaito's time in Yellow Rain, where Sora and Nike chased down Gazelle and Kaito as Gazelle is the owner of the core of the original Thorn Regalia. This was all part of Sora's scheme to obtain the Sky Regalia.
At some point, Sora was once bullied by a number of individuals in a store, standing up to them while people simply watched. A girl who watched the incident offers Sora a handkerchief in an act of kindness and gratitude for his actions while other children present at the incident remark that he should have just let things be. Due to his experience in a poor urban environment, Sora ponders on his worth as a Gravity Child. Later a disguised Rinta Minami offers him the Wind Regalia, explaining to Sora that the worth of people's souls are determined by their actions and because of this only someone like Sora can use the Wind Regalia. From this encounter, Sora decides that those who do not choose to act deserve to perish and as such, he and Nike kidnap and murder the other children who simply watched him when he was being bullied. They only spare the girl who gave him a handkerchief as Sora justifies that she has proven her worth through her action in offering him a handkerchief.
Rebellion[]
After Rika Noyamano is recruited by Sora and Kilik, making her the only human member of the team, Kilik discovers Sora's plot to take the Sky Regalia and decides to rebel against him and the rest of the team. Sora and the rest of the original Sleeping Forest would go on to be defeated by Kilik and his own new team comprised of other first-generation Gravity Children (including Ohm and Gabishi). It was during this conflict between the two teams that Sora's legs were broken by Kilik, thus leading to the disbanding of the original Sleeping Forest with Sora becoming handicapped. Sora would go on to live for a few years bound to a wheelchair before his proper introduction into the series.
Plot[]
A New Wind Is Born[]
Sora is first introduced in the series when Rika Noyamano goes to see him, wanting to talk about Ikki's involvements in Air Trecks. While Sora is pleased with the idea of Ikki being involved with Air Trecks, Rika Noyamano is against it, saying that what happened to Sora shouldn't happen to Ikki also. Sora then participates in a bet set by Ikki in which if Rika loses, she'll leave Ikki alone stop prohibiting him from using Air Trecks. {C}During this encounter, Sora's skills as an ex-storm rider are shown off. Although bound to a wheelchair, he is able to keep up with the Noyamano sisters throughout the battle. In the end, Ikki and Sora would emerge victorious thus winning the bet. Sora is later shown buying in a shop. He is assisted by Rika, and the two seemingly reforge their broken relationship.
Sora would later stay in the same hospital where Ikki was held, due to an attempted assassination by Gabishi. The two form a bond and Sora begins to train Ikki to become the prophesied Wind King. Sora and Ine Makigami would delay Ikki's time of stay in the hospital in order to further improve Ikki's skills as a Storm Rider as Sora continues to act as Ikki's mentor, teaching Ikki how to utilize the final principle of the Wing Road: Catching Moondrops.
Return of the Wind King[]
When the rebuilt version of the Wind Regalia, Bagram, was stolen and the link-tuner Hako Isawa was kidnapped by an unknown and very powerful rider, it is later revealed that the identity of the rider is actually Genesis' greatest Rider and Sora's twin brother, Nike. Nike had been working for his brother Sora all along, stealing Bagram for him with the intent of helping Sora regain his status as the Wind King while kidnapping Hako in order for Sora to have his own link-tuner. It is here that Sora is shown to be able to stand again, having replaced his legs with AT-tuned bio-mechanical ones after seemingly having his real legs amputated.
The two confront Spitfire, with Sora objecting to his intentions of making Kazuma Mikura the next Flame King (as Spitfire is being accused of helping the 'enemy'). A battle soon erupts between Spitfire and Nike, with Kazuma Mikura's life on the line. Equipped with Bagram, Sora shows his prowess by blasting a neighboring helicopter clean out of the sky and onto Spitfire. Thanks to Aeon Clock, Spitfire survived the explosion, and the battle with Nike continued with Spitfire and Aeon Clock taking the upper hand with their "Burning Blood" tag-team and use of the Apollo Road, a unique "Road" to Aeon Clock's time-stopping powers and the Flame Road. Sora would then step in to assist his brother, and the astounding teamwork of the Takeuchi Brothers quickly overwhelm the Burning Blood duo, spurring Kazuma Mikura to join in for a 3-on-2 assault. But while Aeon Clock neutralized Sora's tornado windstorm using his version of the Flame Road to reflect Nike's regalia's ability and provided a distraction, Spitfire whisked Kazuma Mikura to safety and swapped AT's, leaving him with the Flame Regalia. Spitfire returned to the battlefield and soon afterward Aeon Clock was no longer able to halt their attacks with the Apollo Road. The Takeuchi Brothers attack with such devastating power that it causes the death of Spitfire while heavily injuring Aeon Clock.
Afterward, Sora approaches the corpse of Spitfire and reflects on their shared past as "defective" Gravity Children, remarking that he would build a group of Kings far more superior than the original Sleeping Forest. Thinking back on Spitfire's last words, Sora remarks that Spitfire's death and his return as the Wind King would only be the beginning of his reign.
Calling Ine he reveals to Kilik and those within the Trophaeum Tower that he is fully capable of using Air Treks and is once again the Wind King, informing them of his intent to 'retrieve' the Sky Regalia. When questioned by Kilik about the abruptness of Sora's actions (since the Wind Regalia wasn't fully completed at the time), Sora dismissed him, with the implication that he stole the regalia out of fear that Ikki may potentially eclipse him as the Wind King. Before disappearing he declares war on Sleeping Forest with plans of world domination.
Plans and Preparations[]
During Kogarasumaru's failure to register in the Gram Scale Tournament, Sora makes an appearance as Simca, Kururu, Ringo and Kazu, present Ikki with information in regards to another alternative way of registration. It is during this moment that it is revealed that Sleeping Forest is Genesis' first opponent in the Gram Scale Tournament.
With the ultimate goal of obtaining the Sky Regalia, Sora would later further his plans of world domination. With the intention of eliminating any possible obstacles and furthering his ascension to power, his plans lead to a series of occurrences such as him having control over his own military force, the assassination of Yoshitsune (due to Yoshitsune being a potential threat to his plans), the switching of consciousness between Emily and John Omaha due to a failed assassination of the latter, and the theft of one of the most important components of the Storm Regalia in an attempt to halt its conception.
Sora and Kilik would finally meet once again, negotiating the location of the upcoming battle between Sleeping Forest and Genesis. Although Kilik first insists the battle be held at the top of the Tower of Trophaeum (giving Sleeping Forest the advantage due to the nature of the tower's Zero Gravity chamber), Sora declines and presents Rika as a hostage. He claims that should Sleeping Forest decide against his wishes, Rika would die. Kilik, still holding the decision that the battle is held in the Tower of Trophaeum, devices a plan with Kogarasumaru in order to rescue Rika from the clutches of Genesis. It is later revealed that Rika is being held in an Aircraft Carrier as Sora plans to brainwash her into becoming Genesis' new Thorn Queen. Kilik sends off Ringo to assist Kogarasumaru claiming that Sleeping Forest would be fine without her, as the Aircraft Carrier is heavily guarded, with Nike and all of the members of Genesis sans Sora himself, being on board. Confident in his own skills and abilities, Sora decidedly prepares to face Sleeping Forest on his own for the battle between Genesis and Sleeping Forest as Ringo and Kogarasumaru commence their rescue for Rika.
Sleeping Forest vs. Genesis[]
In preparation for his upcoming battle against Sleeping Forest Sora adjusts his bionic legs as he remarks that the Gravity Children and all of Genesis' actions are mere tools to be used for his own benefit. After watching his brother Nike getting defeated by Kazu of Kogarasumaru, Sora's shown to have no emotions over this. After realizing that he has lost all his members, Sora prepares himself for battle, in which he gains an ally through his former lover/partner, a brain-washed Rika Noyamano who arrives after being transported away from the Air Craft Carrier. The two arrive at the Tower of Trophaeum ready for battle
At first, Sora and Rika seemingly dominate the battle against Sleeping Forest but this turned out to be false as Sleeping Forest merely used one of their members as a decoy with the injured bodies of their team members revealed as being merely illusions. Sleeping Forest manages to incapacitate Rika and secure her Thorn Regalia. Kilik along with the rest of the Sleeping Forest members tap into the power of the Sky Regalia, gaining the upper hand in their battle against Sora who is now fighting on his own. They manage to deal enough blows against Sora, throwing him into the bottom of the Tower with the intention of leaving him to die inside the Tower's core reactor. Sora is able to survive the heated temperature inside the core reactor by using a defensive maneuver. As explained by Rinta Minami, he was able to do so by transforming all the attack power of the Wind Regalia into defense. This defensive mode allowed him to exploit the biofield-bowl affectability of the Sky Regalia, to shield himself from the surrounding high temperature within the core reactor. It is here that it's revealed that Sora's petty and cowardly attitude was merely an act to force Kilik into throwing Sora in a position to acquire the sealed control system of the Sky Regalia inside the core reactor at the bottom of the Tower of Trophaeum. Sleeping Forest begins to change their plans and opt for a defensive strategy as Kilik remembers that through his battle with Sora, he was unable to protect the other seven Regalia rune codes (with the eighth being Sora's Wind Regalia). Kilik reveals that Sora never truly needed to win that previous battle as he merely needed to acquire the eight rune codes by engaging them in battle. It is then that Kilik realizes that Sora has all the necessary components to override the controls for the Sky Regalia having already collected twenty-eight of the Regalia rune codes.
Sora inputs the codes and gains control over the Sky Regalia, allowing him to defeat Sleeping Forest while killing Kilik in the process. His control over the Sky Regalia allowed him to re-shape the overall structure of the Tower of Trophaeum, literally turning it into a massive tower that is almost high enough to reach above the Earth's atmosphere. Before the broadcast that was showcasing the fight between Sora and Sleeping Forest is disconnected, he proclaims to the whole world that he has gained the title of Sky King.
The 99%[]
After defeating Sleeping Forest, he sits at the top of the restructured Tower of Trophaeum just above the Earth's atmosphere waiting for Ikki and Ringo's arrival while holding Kilik's head on his lap. Having the rest of Sleeping Forest chained up and defeated by him, Ikki and Ringo infiltrate and reach the top of the Tower to confront Sora. Sora demands Ikki to hand over the "9th line" that is in Kogarasumaru's possession, implying it to be the last "key" that is needed to allow the Sky Regalia's abilities to be fully utilized. Sora declares to the world that his true goal is to give 'wings' to the 'good defects' because he claims that he is one himself. He is in fact referring to the majority of the world's human population, describing them as the "99%". In other words, he is planning to use the power of the Sky Regalia to solve all world problems primarily through AT technology's energy conservation/efficiency and by providing technological needs in people's everyday lives, thus making everyone "fly". He states that the "99%" deserve to have 'wings' of their own and that is why he is willing to grant it to them.
Ikki and Ringo challenge Sora and the brain-washed Rika to a Parts War, with both Ikki and Sora betting their Regalia in the battle. They each set a rule for the match; firstly all attacks are permitted, secondly, it is two against two, thirdly the use of both the Storm and Sky Regalia is forbidden (attacks without the activation of their Regalias are still permitted), and finally, the match type is a "Run"; in which whoever first reaches down the Tower will be declared as winners. Sora accepts and they begin the battle. After enduring a number of attacks from Ringo, Sora, with the help of Rika, uses a combination move and manages to hit Ringo with an attack that was strong enough to blast her out of the Tower. He taunts Ikki telling him it's suicide to save her from the outside near the Earth's atmosphere, but Ikki disregards his taunting. Taking advantage of the large gusts of wind from outside, Sora and Rika prepare a more powerful version of the same previous attack. Ikki and Ringo manage to send it back at them causing an explosion within the Tower. With this, Rinta Minami comments that after witnessing this counter-attack, Sora has discovered Ikki's "weak spot". Upon returning inside the Tower, Ikki and Ringo discover that Sora and Rika had already left, traveling further down into the Tower. When Ringo and Ikki split up, Sora remains confident in himself and believes he has 99% chance of winning. When Ikki catches up to him and Rika they proceed to battle and he eventually just watches as Ikki battles Rika and is impressed with the choices Ikki makes. When Ikki manages to re-direct Rika's attack, causing Sora to send her away to go after Ringo, Sora challenges Ikki one-on-one as he reveals that he has never used his Air Trecks.
Sky King vs Storm King[]
Sora reveals that he has never activated his Air Trecks, only doing so now against Ikki. Upon activating his Air Trecks, the surrounding gusts of wind instantly overwhelm Ikki despite Sora merely dashing towards him. Temporarily incapacitating Ikki, he goes on to speak the true nature of his goals, relating back to the past incident in which he met the girl that offered him a handkerchief. From this experience and his past meeting with Rinta Minami who offered him the original Wind Regalia, Sora deduces that the worth of people's souls are determined by their actions where those who do not choose to act deserve to perish. From this revelation, Sora explains that he wishes to unleash the power of the Sky Regalia for everyone in the world to use for themselves, finally removing the inequality between the 1% and the 99%. Sora claims that he will finally be able to witness the true worth of humanity by bringing an equal balance to the world. As Plug-Man questions the possibility of this system being abused, Sora reveals that whether or not this equality leads to the downfall of humanity, he doesn't actually care, because he believes that if the world was to plunge into chaos then it simply acts as proof of humanity's worthlessness.
Realizing the dangers of such a goal the whole world suddenly grows fearful of Sora. Meanwhile, Ikki snaps upon realizing the twistedness of Sora's mentality. He decides that he must truly defeat Sora, even if it means killing him. This causes Ikki to finally let go of his self-doubts and expectations where he is suddenly shown to be able to fight back against Sora, using a variant form of the Pile Tornado Trick to push Sora back. Ikki regains his composure and is finally shown to be able to fight equally against Sora; with the two exchanging powerful blows against each other.
Ikki declares that he is preparing himself, putting his whole life on the line. Sora simply knocks him down with a powerful attack, remarking that he is just the same as everyone else in the world who make claims of taking action only to result in empty promises. It is shown that what Ikki truly meant was that he put all of his efforts in defending himself against Sora's previous attack, finally giving room for him to initiate his Trick. Seemingly gaining the upper hand, Ikki uses a variant form of the Ball Vacuum Trick used by Thor from Sleipnir, thus knocking Sora down with a surprise attack.
While at first, it seems as though Sora's right leg was destroyed by Ikki's Trick, it is revealed that Sora, through the use of his Infinity Atmosphere: Bloody Wings, was able to launch a counter-attack against Ikki thus destroying his own right leg in the process. With this attack, Sora realizes how he always admired Ikki, remarking that such an emotion infuriates him. He goes on to say that his anger towards him is what fuels him to reach his own goals. Ikki regains his composure and it is revealed that Ikki used Sora's counter-attack as a catalyst to initiate the Astral Magus Trick (similar to the Null Wind Trick), thus allowing Ikki to nullify and stabilize the surrounding wind pressure. This puts Sora at a disadvantage as he is unable to use any of his wind-type Tricks, allowing Ikki to suddenly attack him with a flurry of punches. Sora fools Ikki into activating a self-destruct function that remotely turns Rika and her Thorn Regalia into a self-destructing time bomb, with a mechanical device called DETH attached to her neck forcing her Regalia to go berserk. As Ringo struggles against the berserking Rika, Ikki reveals to Sora that he never actually wore his Storm Regalia since the beginning of the fight and had only been using his normal Air Trecks. Furthermore, Ikki reveals that he had given his Storm Regalia for Ringo to use during its Tuning stage, having predicted that it would give them a chance to save Rika since the rules of the match dictate that he is not allowed to use it anyway. As Ringo activates the Storm Regalia, her attacks would lead to the device attached to Rika's spine disintegrating. With the activation of the Storm Regalia, the Sky Regalia inputs its code as the 9th line, allowing it fully activate on its own. This causes the Sky Regalia to absorb all the electrical power of the world, temporarily creating an anti-gravity field all over the world.
The Sky[]
Ikki and Sora take their fight outside the tower, floating up in the sky. As Ikki remarks about the importance of Ringo's words in regards to using Air Trecks and "flying", Sora mockingly laughs at him. Before Sora is able to say anything Ikki suddenly punches him. They commence their final battle in the form of a brutal fistfight. While trading blows against each other, Sora questions Ikki's motivation towards his new world order. Ikki declares his indifference towards Sora's goal, telling Sora to simply recognize such a rare moment in which everyone is given a chance to witness the "sky", due to the anti-gravity field created by the Sky Regalia which caused many people around the world to float or levitate. Ikki deals the final blow and Sora finally accepts his loss as he cherishes the moment. The Sky Regalia comes apart due to overloading, and the anti-gravity field slowly fades away with everyone softly landing back on the ground, save for Sora and Ikki who both still fell from high in the sky.
As Sora continues to fall, Ikki manages to catch up to him. With both of his mechanical legs destroyed, Sora admits his defeat and willingness to die by Ikki's hands as punishment for his actions. Ikki remarks that Sora's wings have been renewed, referring to Sora's tattoo having faded away from the blows he had taken from the battle. He declares that since Sora had abandoned everything he had "possessed", he is willing to spare Sora and give him a chance at life. Ikki remarks that Sora must first change himself before he should even begin thinking about changing the world. Sora remembers Kilik, viewing Ikki and his words as if they came from Kilik himself. This moment of realization causes Sora to break down into tears as he recognizes the weight and responsibility of his crimes awaiting him due to being spared. Cushioning their fall, Ikki carries Sora and finally lands on the ground, making Ikki the winner of the battle thus making him the new Sky King. Later in the epilogue, Sora is described as being incarcerated along with his brother Nike.
Relationships[]
Rika Noyamano[]
Sora was once romantically involved with Rika during his reign as the leader of Sleeping Forest. Their relationship would later deteriorate as the team's downfall led to Sora having a depression, causing a breakup between the two. Even with their romantic relationship ended, both remained good friends. The two seemingly reunite as lovers in the current timeline. Later in the series, it is confirmed that Sora had impregnated Rika. While Rika still holds feelings towards him, once Sora found out she was pregnant, he dismisses the notion of having a child upon which Nike captures Rika, using her for their own purposes and as well as a hostage for the battle between Sleeping Forest and Genesis. Sora admits that despite his actions, he still has feelings for her after he "touched her" and "met her warmth". Still, Sora claims that he has no desire of having a child despite loving her, remarking that he would rather create a "new world".
Itsuki "Ikki" Minami[]
At first, Sora was intrigued by Ikki's abilities as a Storm Rider, due mostly to the fact that Ikki was originally prophesied to become the new Wind King. Ikki viewed Sora as a role model, as Sora mentored Ikki in the ways and principles of the Wing Road. This lead to a relationship between the two similar to that between brothers. This unfortunately is proven to be false on Sora's part, as he was simply using Ikki to take advantage of the much-anticipated creation of the subregalia of the original Wind Regalia. During his comeback as the Wind King, Sora shows no sign of empathy towards Ikki, going as far as treating him as nothing more than trash. But when Sora and Ikki are finally reunited and proceed to battle he seems confident he can defeat Ikki. However, after Ikki can beat him, he shows some respect for him and is impressed by his ability, and recognizes that Ikki has become strong. He even shows happiness at Ikki's growth and current level of strength and skill. Ikki is the first and only person to make him power up his A-T's and fight seriously.
Nike Takeuchi[]
Nike and Sora share a strong bond, not only as twin brothers. When the Gravity Children first got out of the tower, which they were in for so long, and caught a glance of the sky, it was so beautiful to them all that Kilik, Simca, and others began to cry. However, Nike was scared of it and hid behind Sora remarking that they've come out to an outrageous place. Sora then comments to him that he's only scared because he doesn't want to lose it. He also says " You're worried about falling because you feel you're carrying something, but if you're not carrying anything from the start, you have nothing to be afraid of." This follows up by Nike asking Sora if he can carry him around as well. The two are connected as Nike also allowed Sora to tear off his "wings". Nike stated that his "Wings" are in Sora's hands. Although Spitfire later reveals that Sora is actually using Nike for his own purposes, and after Kazu defeats Nike, Sora looks down on him for losing the battle.
Spitfire[]
Spitfire and Sora are shown to be good friends during their time in Sleeping Forest. It seems as if Spitfire always knew that Sora was up to something bad. He sided with Sora during his battle against Kilik. He later joins Genesis and starts secretly helping Ikki and his team by telling them important information. This later is the cause of his death as he is killed by the Takeuchi brothers. Sora later throws his cap off in respect of his old friend.
Yoshitsune[]
Sora held great respect for Yoshitsune. He recognized the Rumble King's great intellect and ambition to reach a higher status, even going so far as saying that it is even possible for him to try and usurp Sora's leadership over Genesis. Despite being the one to give the order for Yoshitsune's assassination (since he saw him as a potential threat), he still shows signs of respect for him, even apologizing to Yoshitsune's corpse.
Road[]
Being the original Wind King, Sora is a highly experienced Storm Rider. He's very adept at the Wing Road and is possibly stronger than he originally was during his time as the leader of Sleeping Forest.
Hako Isawa claimed that she determined Sora's battle level to be over 300, a considerable jump over Ikki, who is estimated to be at a battle level of 78 at that time. He still seems to be stronger than Ikki even now when Ikki has a battle level of 350.
Ikki is one of the only few Riders capable of matching against Sora's skills. Despite becoming the Storm King, Ikki believes that Sora is still superior to him. Upon letting go of such expectations towards himself, however, Ikki was finally able to fight almost just as equally against Sora, proving his skill as the Storm King against the powerful Sky King.
Despite finally having the Wind Regalia and Sky Regalia in his possession, Sora has never actually activated or employed the use of his own Regalia, let alone his Air Trecks, as he never saw fit to do so in battle. Sora has such strength and skill as a Rider that he has never battled seriously against any opponent in the past. This places him as one of the most powerful Storm Riders seen in the series. It is said that by combining his skills as a Storm Rider with normal inactive Air Trecks, he can simply use and exploit the Infinity Atmosphere of other Riders without needing to activate his own Air Trecks and Regalia. Sora has only ever activated his Air Trecks in his battle against Ikki.
Regalia[]
It is through Sora that another form of the Wind Regalia is shown, one that is seemingly more fit for complete destruction and devastation than pure unstoppable speed, as seen via Ikki's use. During Sora's battle with Sleeping Forest, it was shown that the Wind Regalia has a defensive mode, reducing the amount of damage and vulnerability of its user. After having taken the power of the Sky Regalia, Sora constructed a new set of Air Trecks similar to his own Wind Regalia (though he has never used them).
After gaining control of the Sky Regalia, Sora forcibly removes his eyesight and hearing as his senses become assimilated with the Regalia (which controls nearly all forms of technology including advanced Air Trek technology), thus allowing him to still see and hear via his connection to cyber-space. He also gained the ability to utilize his sense of sight and hearing using satellite and technological surveillance. Through the Sky Regalia he is able to watch over the world via surveillance technology and also communicate with the rest of the world through broadcast/radio within the Tower of Trophaeum. It is said that Sora can only have full control over the Sky Regalia if he has the ninth final code which is in Ikki's possession.
Tricks[]
- Tornado: Generates a tornado powerful enough to decimate solid structures such as buildings. Wind velocities estimate 80 km/h or higher. Introduced in Trick 162.
- Moon Drop: Smashes a target with a dense sphere of hyper-pressurized air. It is powerful enough to create a single, large crater on the concrete floor and incapacitate human enemies caught in the radius. First seen in Trick 224.
- BLACK BURN × SORA: Electrical Wind Laser: Sora forms a front-line current of wind in front of him. After this, he and Black Burn kick through that current, and using the electrical currents sent through Sora's wind by Black Burn, it sends out a laser-like beam of wind covered in an electric stream. This move was used only in chapter 214, during the Kogarasumaru vs Organic Net battle.
- KILIK × SORA: Crystal Sand Wind: Kilik forces grains of sand in the ground to rise and Sora creates a tornado to interact with the sand to make a sand tornado. This move is used on Agito to disable him during the Inorganic Net battle.
- Air Beam : Sora fires off a beam of what seems to be compressed air. The air takes the form of a laser-straight beam. It resembles the stance taken by Gabishi and the tricks have a similar form. However, it may be related to the combo attack used alongside Black Burn in his Sleeping Forest days.
- SORA × NIKE: Crystal Shard Bullets: Nike uses the Gem Regalia to force up gravel to the air. Sora then follows up with his Wind Regalia and pushes them with a high debris of air, sending them flying at the target with high velocity. This attack is strong enough to pierce flesh as shown when a piece of the rocks pierced right through Aeon's hand. This trick was used in chapter 162 at the end of the fight between the Takeuchi Bros. vs Spitfire and Aeon.
- Breath of Dragonics Eighty Heads: Generates a cluster of multiple tornadoes.
- WIND × THORN: GOD CRUSHER "Gungnir": This technique combines the abilities of both the Thorn and Sky Regalia to form and shape a long, thorny, double-helical projectile, which can be fired from the Thorn Regalia at supersonic speeds. The name is also stylized as "風×荊: GOD CRUSHER "Gungnir".
- Moonstruck Numberless Grappler: The Infinity Atmosphere of the Wind Regalia, Bagram. It creates an accelerating wall of debris that flies alongside the rider and is capable of penetrating sheet metal due to its speed. As of now, Sora has not used this trick, but it is presumed that he is able to, as he had taught Ikki how to.
- Infinity Atmosphere: Bloody Wing: An alternative form of the Wing Road's Infinity Atmosphere, as well as Sora's most powerful Trick. Sora transfers the kinetic force of an opponent's strike into a powerful, adrenaline-charged counterattack. Sora accomplishes this by tensing every muscle in his body at the moment of impact. This Trick is powerful enough to destroy Sora's right mechanical leg. The stress of the action causes the blood in his body to erupt from his back in the shape of wings.
Quotes[]
- If you take a man's dream from him, what is he supposed to do for the rest of his life? He might as well say he was born for nothing! (to Sonia Road).
Trivia[]
- His name means 'sky' in Japanese. He chose this name in reference to his desire to become Sky King.
- In the earlier versions of the manga, he speaks with a Kansai dialect.
- Sora has three dogs, Stone, Cold, and Stunner, in reference to former professional wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin's signature move, the Stone Cold Stunner.
- Oh!Great describes Sora's attire during his days in Sleeping Forest (blue T-shirt with aviator hat and goggles) as being inspired by the character "Nausicaä" from Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind". It is prophesied in the film that a warrior "clad in blue and surrounded by fields of gold" will one day reunite man and nature, hinting at the notion that Nausicaä is the saviour within the story. This is somewhat ironic in that Sora's attire is very reminiscent of Nausicaä, all while helming himself as the prophesied Sky King who would save everyone in the world.