Though not officially confirmed by Square or Disney, creator Tetsuya Nomura has openly admitted to having a plot for Kingdom Hearts III in the works and is planning to create it. Though, he has stated that he is working on another title first. Much like Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts III's first look can be found in the secret trailer at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. The first look at the game shows some new, unknown characters and a whole lot of keyblades.
A message in a bottle with Mickey's emblem.
This form of teaser trailer was used in "Another Side, Another Story" and "Deep Dive". Two trailers secretly found in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix which hinted at Kingdom Hearts II and eventually, we learned that it was a teaser to the backstory of Kingdom Hearts II. I feel the same tactic is being used here, why else would Square put this random trailer at the end of the game?

This secret trailer can be found by completing certain tasks within the game. On the hardest difficulty, you just need to beat it. That's reward enough, apparently.




What Happens in the Trailer ::.

First, lets start off with what we have gathered before the plot summary:

• Setting: Believed to be before KH1, unconfirmed. In a deserty plain, hundreds of keyblades forming a crossroads. A great slain beast is seen that dissolves into dust.
• Mood: Dark and dreary. The dark sky and dramatic music paint and picture of sorrow and unease.
• Characters: Three keyblade weilding armoured figures; one shadowy figure. Armoured characters are new to series, some believe Xehanort is the dark one.

The secret trailer reveals to us a list of all of the Ansem Reports. I can't read Japanese, but it points out a few Reports in bolded, up front text that doesn't scroll by. It says Ansem Report 8 & 9 at the bottom. Ansem Report 8 talks about Xehanorts machind that creates Heartless, while 9 has a line that may hold great significance to the trailer. The line reads "The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it." Knowing that Kingdom Hearts explores more than one world, more than one side of the heart it is safe to say that maybe KH3 will deal with how the keyblade brings destruction, because it doesn't seem like the happiest trailer ever.

UPDATE (April 20/06): The English trailer has been released. The text that reads at the beginning along with the Ansem Reports reads:

"The Keyblade is said to hold phenominal power. One legend says it's weilder saved the world while another says that he wrought chaos upon it. I must know what this keyblade is. A key opens doors..."

It seems my previous assumptions were correct, it is referring to those Ansem Reports with a little added on I didn't expect.

Three soldiers. The trailer brings us to a deserty plain with dark clouds over head. Three heavily armored soldiers are standing by a great beast that has been slain, which quickly erupts into dust and then nothing. Previous thoughts of it being a structure are false as it has feet, seen for mere seconds. The first soldier we see has chrome armor with a helmet that has rabbit-like earpieces. He wears a cape and holds a giant keyblade over his shoulder which is of an unfamiliar design.

To his right, another armoured figure walks towards him, also dawning a cape. This character has ear-pieces that shoot backwards, rather than up. The tinted eyepiece is the same as the first soldier, the eyes are unseen. This second charater has larger forearm armour and is relatively thinner. He is not carrying a weapon.

To the first soldiers left is a third character. Much like the first soldier in appearance but there is something about this third soldier that looks feminine. The walk or the figure makes this last character have a female touch. This character is carrying a keyblade as well.

Mickey or Kairi's Keyblade, Kingdom Key, Road To Dawn. The structure behind turns to dust.As the three are close together, the first soldier moves towards three keyblades sticking out of the sand. The first keyblade in the line has been argued to be either Kairi's Keyblade used late in Kingdom Hearts II or Mickey's Keyblade, then there is The Kingdom Key, followed by Riku's Road To Dawn Keyblade. The fact that these three Keyblades are selected above all others predict great importance of the three heroes once again. Much thanks to the many people who have e-mailed me with corrections referring to the keyblades. When the soldier moves closer to them, the ruin he was standing on vanishes into dust. The soldiers pick up the keyblades, the two with the pointed "ears" weild two blades each, the one with "ears" pointing back picks up the Kingdom Key and is holding another Keyblade.

There is a quick pan outwards and it is revealed that there are hundreds upon hundreds of keyblades sticking out of the ground. It strongly resembles a graveyard. There are for pathes carved out, which have a striking resemblence to the crossroads from Chain of Memories. The crossroads proved as paths between light, dark, twilight (as DiZ said) and dawn (as Riku said). Each character in the trailer comes from a different path, indicating a different state of heart. It is clear the crossroads will play an important part in KH3. Comparison of the crossroads visible in CoM and the secret trailer.
Suddenly, there is a distant rumble, almost like an explosion. The three look into the distance and through the haze of the heat, an outline can be seen of a figure. Then the following captions show up on screen:

"It all begins with birth by sleep." "Master of Keyblade"

Speculation suggests this refers to the characters holding the Keyblades. Maybe they are fighting to find the true master?

"The Lost Two"

A popular belief is that this is commenting on two soldier characters who followed the path of darkness, using the Keyblade.

"Memory of Xehanort"

Possibly the biggest hint in the trailer. This almost reveals that the next game will deal largely with Xehanort's lost memories from before he met Ansem.

"Chasers"

The name we are giving the soldiers right now. It is very vague.

"Keyblade War"

May be a war that has passed or is coming. We believe it is the reason Xehanort loses his memory and it may in fact be the war to discover who the real Keyblade Master is.

The final text says, "It all begins...with birth by sleep."

This is very unknown, some believe it is another kind of Nobody or a story created while Sora was asleep for one year.

What Happens Next?? ::.

So, Kingdom Hearts II leaves us with Sora and friends home safe on Destiny Islands. All the evils are set straight, everyone is living in peace and harmony. Sora's adventure is over. With the fact that the ordeal is over, there is a chance that a new main character will come into play in Kingdom Hearts III. Also, considering the massive amounts of Keyblades found, it's entirely possible anyone could weild one.

Then again, after the credits are done rolling in KH2, Kairi runs out onto the beach with a letter in a bottle. It bares King Mickey's emblem on it. The three read the parchment with worried expressions, the camera never exposes the paper to show us what is on it. This is indication enough that Sora is being called off on another mission (starting to sound like James Bond).

WHAT WE KNOW

• The characters are original and have not been seen in previous games. They are NOT Sora, Riku, Kairi.
• There are a lot of keyblades, a war is coming or has passed.
• The Crossroads are important.
• Has something to do with the Keyblade bringing chaos.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

• The identity of the armoured figures.
• Who the distant outlined figure is.
• The place in the Kingdom Hearts timeline this trailer takes place in.
• What the text means by "birth by sleep".