Well saidGravity Rush and its sequel Gravity Rush 2 are games ostensibly about controlling a girl named Kat with the power to manipulate gravity in various ways. All elements of the game are deceptively light and are indicative of a (and excuse the pun) weightless experience. Many of the narrative elements appear to be playing off very common tropes. The combat is very fun but lacking a deep well of depth. The environment initially seems generic with just enough verticality for the powers to come into their own. As we peel back the layers though Gravity Rush as a series begins to show its true self and its true charm. Many small nuances come to the forefront when looked for in the right place. Characters thought to be one dimensional are shown to have deeper elements to their personality and backstory. Most importantly the story of Gravity Rush or more accurately the story of Kat is actually at its core, about the capacity for kindness.
Kat begins her journey waking to the sound of an Apple landing near her. The allusion to falling from eden is made clear by this choice of fruit. Kat is now among the normal people. This stratification and symbolism will play an important role later. What is important in the moment is that Kat has no memories of her past life. In fact at this point she doesn't even have a name. This is important because she has no allegiance to her new locale or anyone she meets. We are on a path of discovery along with her. We aren't just discovering what is around us though but also discovering what kind of person Kat is at the same time as she is. Her first action in her new setting is telling. Immediately after waking she rushes to save a boy from being lost to the figurative void. Afterwards she is actually accosted because she failed to save their house as well. This is a repeating occurrence as Kat is often never given proper gratitude and sometimes misunderstandings can even cause people to resent Kat despite her actions. What is important though is that despite doubt from not only the people she meets but from herself as well she continues to press forward and tries to find the right thing to do. In a few situations Kat's kindness is even taken advantage of but it never stops her from ultimately trying to make right the injustices she faces. Her kindness is never truly forgotten though. It is symbolized in the song A Red Apple which catches on with the people of both Jirga Para Lhao and Heksville.
The diverse cast of characters Kat comes into contact with help offer a lens into her kindness and also often provide foils to her mindset. Most vital is the character of Raven. Raven is very much the anti hero to Kat's hero and it shows in every inch of her design. Where Kat is petite Raven is voluptuous. When Kat lacks direction Raven has conviction. Initially when Kat is put at odds with Raven she is antagonistic. As we learn more about Raven's character though it is revealed that Raven is actually very similar to Kat. Both characters end up doing some wrong things for the right reasons. The nuance that differentiates the two though is that Raven has been aware that her actions were the wrong ones but she does them to ultimately protect the ones she loves. Kat despite her naivete or maybe because of it though, ultimately teaches Raven to rise above the limitations imposed by the world around them. This is metaphorically why Kat can find the door to the ark when Raven cannot. Raven cannot see past the choices the world has imposed upon her. She has forced herself to believe that her only choice was to solve her problem on her own, stuck to believing that her only option was to protect the children at the cost of the people of Heksville. Kat opens Raven's eyes to the fact that she is not alone and with Kat's help they manage to solve a problem Raven could not on her own. From this point forward Raven and Kat are aligned. Raven while still maintaining her slightly gruff and aloof exterior begins to reawaken the same kindness that Kat has shown from the beginning. Both girls ultimately come from the same place and share the same kind heart. One of the best moments of Gravity Rush 2 occurs when during a competition to mine ore it is implied that Raven allowed Kat to win the competition. At this point the player becomes privy to knowledge Kat isn't. It is a valuable insight into the maturity Raven brings to complement Kat now that her arc has concluded. This is a wonderful moment for her because Raven is allowed to maintain her aloof exterior but it also shows what Raven actually values. It is enough to Raven that Kat is happy and it doesn't matter if it is somewhat at her own expense.
Another crucial character to Kat's development is Syd. His part in Kat's growth is hard to define without playing both games as his contribution to Kat's character is only truly revealed at the end of the second. As a side note it becomes pretty clear Keiichiro Toyama has had the series mapped out through the second game as most character arcs do not truly finish until the credits roll for Gravity Rush 2. Anyway, as Kat begins her journey Syd is always around to lend a helping hand. Actually more accurately Syd is always around to get Kat to lend a helping hand. Kat frequently complains about how she does all the work and Syd gets all the credit. Whether it be guarding a sacred gem or doing his day to day work Kat always gets talked into helping out. Initially this may appear annoying but this all gets flipped on its head (by the way did I mention spoilers?) at the revelation that Syd is Alias. This gives massively new context to all the fights with Alias Kat has over the course of Gravity Rush as well as helpful encounters with Alias in Gravity Rush 2. On the surface it may appear Syd was simply guiding Kat to use her new powers and grow adept at them. Syd is guiding Kat but more so than using her powers he is guiding her to be the woman of the people he knows her to be. The crux of this is that he was present when Kat was still Queen Alua. In a particular moment Alua has an outburst because the people of Eto refuse to help those at the bottom of the tower and are content to say it isn't their problem. Syd however knows Alua is right but is unsure himself on how to change the minds of the people of Eto. After he is stabbed by Xicero one can assume he fell down to Heksville faster than Kat and was probably saved by his device that allows him to control Nevi. (Another side note, This device makes a very brief appearance in Gravity Rush but is unveiled during Syd's reveal as Alias in Gravity Rush 2.) On the other hand it is possible he was saved by the Creator Bit who also generated Dusty for Alua due to her sacrifice. Either way the outcome is the same. Now when reflecting back on his first encounter with Kat it is clear he knows exactly who she was. Instead of filling her lost memories in though he decides to metaphorically give her a new life by renaming her Kat. Syd allows Kat to rediscover the kindness he witnessed from Queen Alua with hidden guidance. This is why he dons the Alias costume. Eventually when Kat is in the right place he returns to being Syd as there is no need for Alias to be an antagonist for Kat. This is especially true when Kat and Syd are transported to Jirga Para Lhao. It is only when Kat is sent back to Heksville that Syd returns to being Alias. He needs to make sure Lisa finds her way to help Kat beat Kali and to guide Kat through the final stages of Gravity Rush 2 and her arc of rediscovering her past on her own. He cannot simply tell Kat about her past and that he is Alias because it is something Kat must find for herself. It is not for him to reveal. All of this is in service of Kat as her loyal servant. A perfect summation of Syd's mindset is what he tells Cecie when they are both trapped in a cell together. Strength isn't about oneself and it's about having something to protect. His words here are not just applicable to Cecie's search for inner strength but also why Kat is who she is and finally why Syd does what he does in service to Kat.
There are a few other characters to touch on such as Yunica. Yunica is another foil to Kat but their contrast is in Yunica's willingness to make sacrifices Kat wouldn't. This ranges from leaving a soldier to his fate during an operation to giving up her own limbs for her military service. Yunica is more defined by her hardline attitude and strict adherence to military doctrine and mindset. To her chain of command is more important than personal feelings. This puts her and Kat at odds since Kat is basically a vigilante and operates outside the rules of engagement Yunica subscribes to. Kat's affect on Yunica is a more subtle one because they remain at odds well into the second game. The important part of this is to note that in Gravity Rush 2 it is now Yunica who operates outside the law as a vigilante/guerilla fighter under former mayor and antagonist D'nelica. Yunica while retaining her hardline personality is now fighting for what is right rather than what is ordered of her. It is only because of Kat's kind heart and willingness to trust Dr. Brahman that she ends up fighting for the wrong side as Yunica puts it. Still it is shown Yunica holds some perhaps subconscious respect for Kat as she refers to her by Kat's former military codename Sea Cat even before her identity is revealed. When it really comes down to it Yunica shows a willingness to work alongside Kat to defeat a common enemy.
The sisters Kali Angel and Cecie/Durga Angel are the last big character to specifically touch on before getting into some of the side characters. Kat upon her return to Heksville learns that she has been outright replaced by Kali. Kali is another foil to Kat but she is the negative to all of Kat's positives. She helps people because she has an ulterior motive along with her father Brahman. She is shown to be vain, egotistical and very dismissive of Kat. Kali is truly superficial and it is reflected in her costume and design. Everything from her clean white suit to her voluminous hair. Even her name which is taken from the Hindu God is a destroyer of evil. All of this is in service of her image as a metaphorical Angel. It is more clear than ever when contrasting her and Kat though, that while Kali is superficially the Angel Kat is the actual angel. (This plays into the symbolism of the apple brought up earlier but again I'll touch on this in a bit.) Kat outwardly is not fair skinned and a bit of a hoodlum. She lives in a sewer but it is her heart that proves the point that purity is not a matter of outward appearance. On the flipside is Cecie who is very similar to Kat superficially. Both were transported to other worlds and lost their memories. She is in a sense both the opposite of Kali and Kat at the same time. She sits opposite Kali as she is not superficial and vain but opposite of Kat because she still has not found her direction and inner strength. She has come to rely on Lisa and those around her and questions why she can't do what Kat can. This is because Cecie was found by Lisa as a child while Kat was on her own much closer to adulthood. Her angel doll is subtle foreshadowing to the inner conflict she will have when Kat is forced to fight her as Durga Angel. Take note that Cecie's name is based on Cecelia which is derived from the latin word Caecus or blind. When they do finally square off and Cecie's memories are unlocked Kat tries to reawaken Cecie trapped within Durga. Durga is the child side of Cecie locked away and while childish has loyalties to the only family she knows which is Kali. This is why her name is changed to Durga, another Hindu God that fights evil under Brahman which is another Hindu term for the ultimate reality or highest universal principle. Kat when she is trying not to fight Durga is making an appeal to Durga to not subscribe to the childish superficial scheming of Kali and Brahman and return to her true family in Lisa. Durga is not the only side of Cecie that is important. When Kat does finally break through to her her arc completes and both Durga and Cecie merge. This is why Cecie/Durga helps Kat in the final battle against the darkness and is able to control her powers. Both Cecie and Durga have merged and now Cecie is no longer blind to her past. To be fair Kali despite all her negative qualities has true allegiance to Brahman and Durga. Everything she does is not truly only for herself. It is Cecie's revelation that she cannot be the Durga Kali wants that breaks Kali irreparably.
Many of the other characters also go through similar arcs after meeting Kat. Lisa goes from a strict woman looking to only protect her own to becoming a leader of all the people of Jirga Para Lhao. She is initially resigned to the system put in place by the council following the defeat of her people. This turns around when Kat insists to her to fight against the injustice committed by the council and Cecie is kidnapped by said council. Even after this she has a hard time shedding her class shackles. When Lei Havana is nearing destruction she initially hesitates to help because of the upper classes complicitness in the system that actively oppressed her people and the people of Lei Elgona. Some people of Lei Elgona actually serve as a good lesson to Kat to never take things at face value. Initially Kat ventures down to Lei Elgona to confront the Angry Centipedes about a theft from Vogo. It is not long before Kat is alerted to the fact that what the Angry Centipedes do is actually in service to the poor people of Lei Elgona and that she is actually acting as an enforcer of the status quo. Kat quickly switches her stance on the Centipedes after this revelation. Kat is more than willing to help them fight a system when she knows it is corrupt and wrong. She even brings her payment from a job down to Lei Elgona later in the game. Vogo the man who asked Kat to find his shipment is initially a selfish man oppressed and oppressing in this same system. He is seen as a traitor to his own people for being complicit with it. He even goes as far as to sell out Kat and her friends to the council. Eventually though he has a change of heart and tries to sacrifice himself to stop the council from destroying the Banga fleet. At his core he is shown among others to be ultimately in the right place. This plays on his backstory with his brother Fi. Despite having no blood relation he convinced Fi to brand both of them as brothers for life, a bond that runs deeper than blood. Fi never forgot this and so carried out his brother's selfish orders even if the actions were questionable. More characters with questionable actions are both mayor D'Nelica and mayor Brahman. Both are funnily enough foils to one another. D'Nelica was acting on the behalf of the people ironically because of Queen Alua's warning to the people of Heksville of the impending darkness. The problem he had was he was too willing to make great sacrifices. The Sea Anemone was actually his attempt to prevent catastrophe but instead it went rogue and the self destruct would destroy Vendecentre. He even had a plan to reduce the population before evacuating them to Eto. These were sacrifices even Yunica could not stand by despite her position as part of his military and plays a part in her arc. He later leads the rebels against Brahman as he seems to be reformed from his past actions. His henchman Adreaux and by extent D'Nelica has a subtle climax to their arc when the sea anemone returns to help Kat in Gravity Rush 2's finale. Comparatively Brahman is not doing his deeds to help the people but to reunite with his daughter. He is metaphorically stuck in time along with his daughter unable to remove himself from the trauma. During his initial meeting with Kat many of his seemingly harmless questions to her allude to his complex with time. Kat's answers put her at odds with Brahman's ideology. When she discovers his mania and that he wants to slow all of time so that he may be reunited with his daughter she is appalled. The scariest thing to Kat is not that Brahman is evil but that he is actually a kind man led very astray by his trauma. Her trust in him was not necessarily naive but it is still damaging to the kind natured Kat. After the battle with Kali this is why Kat says time moves on without Brahman. He is a victim of his inability to march forward along with everyone else and instead seeks desperately to fight time. His final words are that time stole everything. He dies to atone for his sins and realizes that like accepting death he must accept that time will take things from all people. Once he is dying he understands that the only way to truly be reunited with his daughter is to cherish her memory. This is truly tragic as she is not actually dead. It is interesting to note that the powers he bestows upon Kali and Durga are that of crystals which are associated with being static and unchanging yet brittle. Xicero from Eto similarly betrays Kat but in the many years he has to ponder what he did to Kat and Syd realizes he made a mistake deposing her. Her kindness and good heart would have made her a truly great ruler.
So many characters are shown to do things that hurt others but at their core are actually good people and simply looking out for their own. Many have varying allegiances. Xicero to Eto, Kali to Brahman, Brahman to his daughter, D'Nelica to the people, Lisa to the Banga, Vogo and Fi to each other, Syd to Kat, Raven to Zaza and the children, and so on. It is these allegiances that allow them to commit acts against others and be manipulated into fighting each other or perpetuate cycles of wrongs. It is really Kat who without memory has allegiance to no one and thus seeks to save and protect all those she knows. Her loyalty isn't to any one set of people but to all people as a whole. I don't doubt that given the chance Kat would have tried to save the council as well. It is in the end Kat's spirit and commitment to everyone that unites everyone both literally and figuratively. This is shown when Jirga Para Lhao and Heksville unite and become neighbors. This is in opposition to the stratification seen prior and after. Heksville are purposely side by side and not above or below and this relationships is very symbolic of everything Kat fights and stands for. Eto remains far above and thus act as the final part of Kat's arc to overcome. Kat has brought those together who fought for what they believed was right but now she must bring those together that are complacent. The people of Eto do not actively oppress those of Heksville but are so far removed from the people further down the tower that they feel nothing for their plight. Time moves faster for them and so to them the darkness will not reach them for an indeterminate amount of time. Eto acts has heaven sitting out of reach of the problems of mortals. (Please excuse me while I wax slightly religious tones here) Kat is the one who is actually cast out of Eto or Eden because of her sin of wishing to interfere among mortals or the people of Heksville. It is shown that the heavens are indifferent to the plight of those below them not just in Eto but the creators as well. It is the lengths Kat is willing to go to and the sacrifice Kat is willing to make to save everyone that finally convinces the heavens to move. This is seen not just in Xicero representing Eto helping Kat but the metaphorical creators representing the divine, who finally act even if they will disappear because the sacrifice is worth it. At the very end Kat faces true darkness and is stripped of everything. Its appearance is meant to emulate the devil and it stands to test Kat's resolve to the breaking point. It is a metaphorical and literal black hole that is primed to engulf everything. All of her friends and allies are slowly defeated and Kat is constantly beaten down. Not just her physical body but her mental fortitude is attacked. The darkness eventually appeals to Kat asking why she fights so hard. She can simply give up and let it all go. It is then Kat is reminded of everything she fights for as the people of Heksville begin to chant A Red Apple. This is the song Kat gave to the people. A song brought to them from her childhood. It is the song that represents the part of Kat the people can finally give back to. The people can prop up Kat after they have taken her for granted all along. After all she has done for everyone the people can finally stand by Kat and give her strength. Kat is then able to unite Dusty and Xi representing Raven to destroy the darkness that threatens everyone. Kat has truly united everyone and so her long journey indeed comes to an end. Kat's sacrifice and apparent death signify the finality of her journey's close. It is clear in her final words to Syd that she has come a long way since she was Queen Alua. Now she has completed her growth and in doing so helped all those around her grow too. She has to go because she would do anything to save this world and that mindset is what completes Kat's arc as a person.
As the final credits roll the game plays a bittersweet epilogue. It touches upon all the characters Kat has changed and brought together starting with the two most important. Raven is framed as taking up Kat's role in her absence but still reeling from the loss of her best friend. Syd is also subtly continuing his search for Kat as Raven alludes to the wine he's looking for to have a red apple on the outside. Everyone is in varying states of moving on but no one forgets Kat. She is brought up constantly bringing forth Raven's inner pain. Everyone has completed their arcs and are living in Kat's memory but part of what completes Raven's arc is having Kat with her. This is why Raven has taken up Kat's mantle and lives in their old home. It is perfect then that it is Raven who finds Kat once again as Raven is the one who has lost the most without Kat. Regardless of if this is taken literally or not Kat does live on inside of everyone. Kat's power was never over just physical gravity but the ability to see past differences and pull everyone together. It is her spirit of kindness that stays with not just Raven and Syd but everyone she has ever touched. At the very end as I watched the various pictures go by in the credits, some mine and some of Kat's friends I realized of course Kat also reached me as well.
