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The Grid
Japanese	ザ・グリッド
Romaji	Za Guriddo
Games	Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
Origin	Tron: Legacy (2010)
KH3D tracks Field theme -Access the Grid Battle theme -Digital Domination
Other worlds Introduced inKingdom Hearts Dive to the Heart |Destiny Islands |Disney Castle Traverse Town |Wonderland |Olympus Coliseum Deep Jungle |Agrabah |Monstro Atlantica |Halloween Town |Neverland 100 Acre Wood |Hollow Bastion End of the World |Realm of Darkness Introduced inKingdom Hearts Chain of Memories Castle Oblivion |Twilight Town Introduced inKingdom Hearts II Mysterious Tower |Radiant Garden The Land of Dragons |Beast's Castle |Timeless River Port Royal |Pride Lands |Space Paranoids The World That Never Was |End of Sea |Keyblade Graveyard Introduced inKingdom Hearts coded Datascape Introduced inKingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Land of Departure |Mirage Arena Dwarf Woodlands |Enchanted Dominion |Castle of Dreams Disney Town |Deep Space Introduced inKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance La Cité des Cloches |The Grid |Symphony of Sorcery Country of the Musketeers |Prankster's Paradise Introduced inKingdom Hearts χ[chi] Daybreak Town Introduced inKingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] Game Central Station |Niceland |Cy-Bug Sector |Candy Kingdom Introduced inKingdom Hearts III The Final World |Secret Forest |Olympus Toy Box |Kingdom of Corona |Monstropolis Arendelle |The Caribbean |San Fransokyo Scala ad Caelum |Quadratum

The Grid is aSleeping World that is featured inKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. It is based on the Disney film,Tron: Legacy, and is one of two worlds to be based on theTron franchise, the other beingSpace Paranoids.

Development[edit]

The Grid was originally intended to be playable only forRiku, while Sora would visit the "originalTron World". Nomura instead scrapped this idea and had both Sora and Riku visit The Grid.^[1]

In the Japanese version ofKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, when Sora awakens in the arena, the crowd can be heard chanting "Disk Battle!", followed by chanting Rinzler's name as he rises into the arena with CLU. Both of these chants were removed from the English version.

Setting and Areas[edit]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]

Much of The Grid is designed the same. The beginning area for Sora, theCity (街, Gai^?, lit. "District"), features numerous tall structures, streets, crosswalks and large slopes that allow vehicles passage to theThroughput (連絡通路, Renraku Tsūro^?, lit. "Accessway"). The Throughput appears similar to an urban, digital plateau, with numerous hexagonal and octagonal platforms risen. Beyond this area is theBridge (橋, Hashi^?), a closed area that encompasses only part of the long-passing bridge ofTron City. Taking the Recognizer in the previous area leads to theDocks (地下ドック, Chika Dokku^?, lit. "Underground Dock"), a large hexagonal platform with a central elevator and two Solar Sailers ready for departure. The upper levels of this area feature a number of turrets, locked gates and another elevator. TheSolar Sailer (ソーラーセイラー, Sōrā Seirā^?) carries numerous open cargo containers, with turrets that must be destroyed to fully traverse this area. Ahead of this is theRectifier 1F (レクティファイア：1F, Rekutifaia: 1F^?), the first floor of CLU's massive ship. A large amount of cargo containers are scattered in the area, with some planes along the side, a small hall to the left is the entryway to theRectifier 2F (レクティファイア：2F, Rekutifaia: 2F^?), the second floor of CLU's ship which is a number of walkways above the first floor with a Recognizer that allows passage to an area non-accessible by foot. Additionally, there is an elevator in the area that leads to theThroneship (スローンシップ, Surōnshippu^?), CLU's personal command ship. It has three rooms, the first being the entry, colored orange, the second being a light blue but darkly-lit room where numerous Black Guards spawn and finally, a large triangular-shaped orange room that houses Flynn's Identity Disk.

Among these areas are four areas that are not exclusively part of the city, the first is theArena (スタジアム, Sutajiamu^?, lit. "Stadium"), a small octagonal area where Sora battles Rinzler. ThePortal: Stairs (ポータル:エントランス, Pōtaru: Entoransu^?, lit. "Portal: Entrance"), a long path with numerous turrets and a save point and thePortal (ポータル:中枢, Pōtaru: Chūsū^?, lit. "Portal: Center"), a large circular platform. Finally, there is theLight Cycle Arena (アリーナ, Arīna^?, lit. "Arena"), a wide arena with a race track encompassing it.

Story[edit]

BetweenKingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep andKingdom Hearts[edit]

BeforeRadiant Garden's fall,Ansem the Wise had come upon the Grid and copied its data at the time before it was destroyed to createSpace Paranoids for both his world's town maintenance and for his personal research.^[2][3] The world the Grid was within was one of the worlds that was swallowed indarkness. Although it was freed from theRealm of Darkness afterSora defeatedAnsem, Seeker of Darkness and purged theEnd of the World, it remained asleep as one of theSleeping Worlds, and the Grid became plagued by Nightmares.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]

Side: Sora[edit]

Sora arrives at The Grid and, recognizing hisclothes, believes himself to be back inSpace Paranoids. He spots a Recognizer and chases after it. Soon, several Black Guards attempt to arrest him, identifying him as a stray program, but he escapes. He soon encountersRinzler and they prepare to fight, but Rinzler suddenly leaves. Sora is then met byKevin Flynn, his sonSam, andQuorra, who is fascinated by Sora'sKeyblade. When Sora mentions that he knowsTron, Flynn explains that the figure that Sora encountered was Tron, reprogrammed byCLU to serve him. Sora offers to restore Tron, and Quorra agrees to take him to the Rectifier.

The two of them take a Solar Sailer to the Rectifier, where they are ambushed by Rinzler. Sora attempts to get Rinzler to remember his past as Tron, but Rinzler suddenly counterattacks, then kidnaps Quorra. Sora is confronted bythe unknown youth, accompanied byXemnas, who explains that this is the world where Ansem the Wise got the data forSpace Paranoids, then muses about the nature of data and memory, asking Sora if he is sure his memories are his own before leaving through aCorridor of Darkness. The mysterious youth opens the doors behind Sora, cryptically telling him that data cannot dream and that this is not a dream, but reality. Sora is blown out the doors by the wind, finding himself in the Disk Wars stadium, where he encounters CLU and Rinzler. CLU offers to release Rinzler in exchange for the Keyblade, but Sora refuses. Rinzler attacks Sora, who fights back when Quorra tells him he can get through to Rinzler.

Sora defeats Rinzler and reprograms him back to Tron, but CLU appears and attempts to take out Sora with his Disk. Tron manages to push Sora aside and deflect the hit, but the ricochet takes out the floor beneath him, causing him to fall below the stadium, failing to reach Sora's outstretched hand. CLU then leaves to recapture Rinzler, saying he'll deal with Sora later. Sora is saddened from failing to save his friend, but Quorra comforts him.

Shortly after, while considering Xemnas's words, Sora finds the Grid'sKeyhole and unlocks it.

Side: Riku[edit]

Riku riding a Light Cycle.

Upon entering the Grid, Riku notices his new clothes and wonders whether the world is special. He is soon confronted by several guards, who identify him as another stray program. To learn more about the world, he allows himself to be captured by the guards. He is transported on a Recognizer along with Sam Flynn, who tells him where he is. Riku brought to theLight Cycle track, where CLU pits him against several Black Guards on light cycles, and during the race battle, theCommantis appears on the track and attacks. Riku fends it off, then escapes the track by blasting a hole in a wall.

He meets up with Sam, who tells him about his father, who has been stuck on the Grid for twenty years, hiding from CLU. The two of them head for the Portal leading to the real world, where Sam plans to delete CLU. Sam goes on ahead for a bit, and Riku later catches up with Sam, Kevin, and a catatonic Quorra. The group head for the Underground Docks to take a Solar Sailer to the Portal, and on the way Riku watches Flynn repair Quorra while he talks about the nature and origin of the ISOs, of which Quorra is the last, and how his and CLU's search for perfection led to their destruction. Riku reflects on how Flynn's story compares toXehanort's, how their single-minded curiosities led to destruction and pain.

CLU's forces located them and force them onto a new course, but Quorra gets herself captured to give the others a chance to reach the Portal. Sam and Riku head off to CLU's Throneship to recover Flynn's Identity Disc and rescue Quorra, while Flynn goes to commandeer a ship. Although they recover the disc, Rinzler arrives with Quorra in custody. Sam and Riku attack Rinzler, with Riku knocking him off the ship with aWall Kick. They take Quorra and join Flynn on a glider, which they take to the Portal.

There, they encounter CLU, who summons the Commantis to stop them from going further. Riku takes on theDream Eater in battle and destroys it. While Flynn baits CLU with his disc, Sam and Quorra head for the Portal. However, CLU discovers that Flynn switched discs with Quorra, and he attempts to jump the now-open bridge to the Portal. Sam uses Flynn's disc to activate the Portal, and when CLU tries to enter it, even with Riku blocking his path, Flynn suddenly draws CLU to him and absorbs him, disappearing in the process. The Portal closes with Sam and Quorra on the other side, and the Keyhole appears to Riku as he contemplates the significance of Portals.

Characters[edit]

• 

  Sam Flynn
  ^{[KH 3D]}

• 

  Quorra
  ^{[KH 3D]}

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  Kevin Flynn
  ^{[KH 3D]}

• 

  Rinzler
  ^{[KH 3D]}

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  CLU
  ^{[KH 3D]}

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  Black Guard
  ^{[KH 3D]}

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  Young Xehanort
  ^{[KH 3D]}

• 

  Xemnas
  ^{[KH 3D]}

Character Design[edit]

Like in Space Paranoids, Sora and Riku are converted into data and change forms accordingly. The forms resemble the outfits worn by other characters in the film. They both wear dark blue suits with light blue circuitry and visors characteristic of participants in the Grid's Disk Wars competition. While cosmetic, they also gainIdentity Disks on their backs. Sora's form also slightly resembles hisSpace Paranoids design, but without the prongs and the blue skin color. Their Keyblades become jet-black with light-blue circuitry.

• 

  Sora in the Grid.

• 

  Riku in the Grid.

Enemies[edit]

Dream Eaters[edit]

Other[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance worlds
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory worlds
• The Grid