Kingdom Hearts/Characters/Villains

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


This is a listing of the Major Villains that appear in the Kingdom Hearts series. Visit here for the main characters index.

Xehanort and his incarnations

Tropes applying to the Xehanorts as a whole

  • Badass: In whatever incarnation he appears, Xehanort is always a badass.
  • Big Bad: Xehanort and his incarnations are almost always the major villains of all the games up to Kingdom Hearts III.
    • Hijacked By Xehanort: Aside from Marluxia and Sora's Heartless, every central villain of the franchise is either one of Xehanort's incarnations, is working for one of them, or is one of their Unwitting Pawns, and his connection to the villains of the latest game is usually The Reveal. And while Marluxia's Evil Scheme had nothing to do with Xehanort, he very likely owes his existence to him.
  • Black Magic/Casting a Shadow: Darkness is his whole shtick.
  • Body Surf: Master Xehanort's heart transferred to Terra, then after becoming "Ansem" transferred to Riku. According to Word of God on Dream Drop Distance, Master Xehanort also has the power to transfer his consciousness to his alternate incarnations in his Organization and assume direct control of them.
  • The Chessmaster
  • Complete Monster
  • Drunk on the Dark Side
  • Evil Sorceror: Typically a Mix and Match of this and a Mad Scientist, as the series's focus on Magitek heavily blurs the line between science and magic.
  • Evil Sounds Deep
  • Eyes of Gold: Master Xehanort and Young Xehanort shows that this was likely his natural eye color. It is used as a sign to show someone being influenced or possessed by Xehanort.
  • For Science!: Everything Xehanort and his incarnations do is in the name of furthering their knowledge of hearts and darkness, even knowing it could cause The End of the World as We Know It.

Eraqus: You would risk an apocalypse out of sheer curiosity?!

Master Xehanort

"Admirably done. I knew this was a journey you could make -- over the unseen wall that divides darkness and light. And I was not wrong, Terra!"
"We know so little about the Keyblade War -- only that it was just the beginning. Amidst that crisis a precious light was found. It is a curious tale -- and one worth exploring. They say ruin brings about creation. So what, then, would another Keyblade War bring? When the darkness falls, will we be found worthy of the precious light the legend speaks of? I must have these answers."
—Voiced by: Chikao Ohtsuka (Japanese), Leonard Nimoy (English)

An elderly Keyblade Master, he was once a noble and wise man, if somewhat shifty. However, in his quest to unravel the mysteries of the Keyblade and its role in the fate of the worlds, he delved too deep into darkness and now seeks the power of Kingdom Hearts to cause an apocalypse For Science!. He's effectively the Big Bad of the franchise, as his schemes and his various incarnations fuel the main conflicts behind almost every game.

  • Back from the Dead: As 3 of himself in 3D plus his teenage self. It's currently unknown whether Terra-Xehanort is Back from the Dead with the others as well.
  • Badass: Think of how badass all the other incarnations of Xehanort are. Then think, one way or another, it all started with him.
  • Bald of Evil
  • Batman Gambit: Most of his plans regarding Terra involve doing various things to piss him off and tempt him further into darkness, which will allow him to steal his body.
  • Beard of Evil
  • Big Bad: Of Birth By Sleep, and as the original Xehanort, the rest of the franchise through his incarnations. Is set to play this role again for Kingdom Hearts III.
    • Bigger Bad: Of Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts II, Coded, and Dream Drop Distance by extension.
  • Cain and Abel: He mentions several times in his writings that he considers Eraqus a brother. Now remember how Cain and Abel turned out, and guess which one Xehanort turns out to be.
  • The Chessmaster: Not only in Birth By Sleep, but according to Dream Drop Distance, everything Ansem and Xemnas have done was in line with his plans and was just build-up for something even bigger, and despite the interference of the various heroes he's still prepared to make it all work. Master Xehanort is clearly playing Gambit Roulette with a rigged wheel.
  • Combat Tropes
    • An Ice Person: Shows a preference for ice—he freezes Ven, tosses out Blizzard attacks in battle, and ends his Keyblade combos in a blast of ice.
    • Black Magic/Casting a Shadow: Zigzagged, while he's shown using dark attacks in cutscenes, and his various incarnations use them liberally, he doesn't use any when you actually fight him (However the thunderbolts and ice he summons are black and have aura's of darkness).
    • Dishing Out Dirt: Raises pillars of earth to launch you into the air.
    • Flash Step: Not only does he Teleport Spam like his other incarnations enjoy, but as his health wears down he'll teleport in the middle of his combos to attack from multiple directions.
    • Kung Fu Wizard: As No Heart, whose fighting style is implied to be Master Xehanort's in his younger days, Xehanort was both a potent spellcaster and a first-class Lightning Bruiser in his youth, demonstrating not only advanced magic and swordplay but also transforming his Keyblade to enhance his punches and kicks to devastating effect. No wonder he still has Super Strength as an old man.
    • Morph Weapon: During the No Heart fight, his Keyblade becomes a floating shield, body armour, and a set of wings.
    • Shock and Awe: Calls down lightning strikes.
    • Squishy Wizard: Being that he's much older than the other incarnations of him out there, he's rather slow and prefers to assault you with magic from afar while teleporting to avoid you. His basic Keyblade combo, in contrast to his Spam Attack in other forms, is a weak four-hit blitz.
    • Storm of Blades: He frequently launches barrages of keyblades at you as No Heart and his normal form.
    • Super Strength: Despite being a Squishy Wizard, he's strong enough to hold Ven in the air by his helmet, cracking it for good measure, and can hold off Terra's Keyblade strikes with one hand.
  • Complete Monster: Despite being a Knight Templar to begin with, he's become quite easily the most repugnant piece of work in the series.
  • Crazy Prepared: See The Chessmaster above.
  • Evil Counterpart: What we learn about Xehanort's past in Birth By Sleep has effectively turned him into an Evil Counterpart to Sora -- both are Keyblade wielders, both were born on Destiny Islands, and both wanted to explore other worlds. While Master Xehanort's heart Body Surfs through Terra and Riku, Sora opens his heart to protect the hearts of Ventus and Kairi. Re:coded centers on Sora willingly taking on the pain and suffering of others, while Dream Drop Distance reveals Xehanort has been infecting others with his evil. While Xehanort and his incarnations betray their allies when they are of no further use, Sora relies on The Power of Friendship. Not to mention that both of them have multiple alter-egos, which have themselves clashed across the series. According to Word of God as of Dream Drop Distance, Master Xehanort also has the ability to attach different Keychains to his Keyblade to change it's form, too.
  • Evil Laugh
  • Evil Makes You Monstrous: Though not directly confirmed, there's a few hints that perhaps the Guardian is actually the true form of Master Xehanort's heart, as it appears alongside Terra in the Battle in the Center of the Mind instead of Xehanort, and was passed on to "Ansem", who as his Heartless is the embodiment of his heart and relies exclusively on the Guardian to fight and protect him.
  • Evil Mentor
  • Evil Old Folks
  • Evil Sorcerer
  • Evil Weapon: While Keyblades can't actually be evil themselves, his Keyblade is nonetheless [dead link] just another clue to how Obviously Evil he is.
  • Eyes of Gold: Revealed in 3D to be not a sign of darkness abuse, but specifically a sign of Xehanort's influence on someone.
  • The Faceless: Played With. His face is seen multiple times throughout Birth By Sleep, but he is always shown from his back during the flashbacks to his teenage days at Destiny Islands. Dream Drop Distance reveals his teenage self's face, but the scene with him on Destiny Islands still show him from the back mostly. Then the secret ending for Dream Drop Distance averts this completely and repeats the Destiny Islands scene from Birth By Sleep, giving players a full look of his face at last.
  • Fallen Hero
  • Gambit Roulette: Everything Ansem and Xemnas did was entirely planned out in advance by him, and to various degrees Maleficent, Sora, Riku and most of Organization XIII were Unwitting Pawns to help it all along And it worked.
  • Grand Theft Me: Pulls this on Terra, resulting in the present-day Xehanort.
    • And is the real reason he created Organization XIII!
  • Hades Shaded
  • I Need You Stronger: Tempts Terra to darkness and encourages him to continue his training in order to make sure the guy's body is powerful enough for his purposes when he commits Grand Theft Me on him. It's also implied that an abundance of Darkness is necessary for the process to work at all.
    • Hoist by His Own Petard: What he didn't count on was that Terra would fall so far into darkness and/or that he'd pissed Terra off so much that he was able to use The Power of Hate to return to life as his armor and keep fighting him afterwards.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: Xehanort was a picture perfect Bishonen in his youth.
  • Japanese Pronouns: "Watashi"
  • Kick the Dog: At the end of Birth By Sleep he liberally does this and then enjoys some Evil Gloating about it to keep driving Terra's hatred and anger deeper. The crowner is when he kills Eraqus and destroys the Land of Departure.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Once the final battle rolled up in Birth By Sleep, it was clear Master Xehanort was far more menacing, ambitious, powerful, and just downright evil than anyone seen in the series before. Dream Drop Distance, in revealing the full extent of his plans, has made him even worse.
  • Knight Templar: He sincerely believe his way of using darkness to dominate light will stabilize the universe and make it better. To this end, he will commit any atrocity he sees fit.
  • Lack of Empathy: He feels no remorse for all the evil actions he's done. But he is not above petting the dog as seen below.
  • Legacy Character: All subsequent incarnations of Xehanort bear similarities to this one in appearance, personality and/or goals. Of course, that's chronologically—with the games being told out of order, design-wise he's a Legacy Character to them.
  • Leitmotif: Titled "Xehanort", it really contributes to how Obviously Evil he is.
  • Magnificent Bastard
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Me's a Crowd: In Dream Drop Distance and beyond, this has apparently been his plan all along.
  • Milking the Giant Cow: He has exactly two positions for his hands—clasping behind his back, and milking position. That picture up there? That's how either or both look for pretty much all of Birth By Sleep.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: No Heart, the Artificial Fallen Angel Kung-Fu Magic Knight.
  • Obviously Evil: Even if you didn't already know who he is and what he does, simply looking at his picture up there should tip you off.
  • Old Master
  • Omnicidal Maniac: While it's not his actual goal, Xehanort's goals to create the χ-blade, take control of Kingdom Hearts and start a Keyblade War, would more than likely cause widespread destruction across the entire Realm of Light, possibly even destroying the realm itself.
  • One Steve Limit: A rather complicated aversion, there are several "Xehanorts" throughout the series, but in various ways they're all different incarnations of this Xehanort, the original (so far).
  • Pet the Dog: The Xehanort Reports. The 10th one reveals he took Ven to Destiny Islands after the creation of Vanitas to let him live out his final days peacefully before falling into an eternal coma, and the rest follow most of his life and show that while he wasn't warmhearted, he was a far cry from being an evil mastermind. At one point he laments that in spite of all he's accomplished, he's getting too old to continue his research on subjects that fascinate him, and he wonders if quietly living out his final years is all that's left for him. Then the reports go on and you can see him changing for the worse.
  • Power Gives You Wings: As No Heart.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Vanitas' red.
  • Rule of Symbolism: His Keyblade Armor is bright white with some feather motifs, and his Keyblade Glider is a set of wings. Alluding not just to him being a Fallen Hero, but in a way, a Fallen Angel like Satan.
  • Significant Anagram: "No Heart", "Another", or "No Earth" through the same system as the Organization's anagrams. "No Heart" serves as the name of a Bonus Boss in Birth By Sleep: Final Mix that is his animated Keyblade Armor, and Another is the password used to access the chamber of awakening. "No Earth" naturally refers to his possession of Terra, but if you take "earth" as referring to worlds or planets, it's also what his plans would result in, ie the destruction of all worlds.
  • Slouch of Villainy: Gets a magnificent one in Dream Drop Distance, complete with propping his hand on his fist and folding his leg up onto his knee.
  • Start of Darkness: Xehanort would have been just another youth looking for an escape from his home much like Riku if not for the intervention of his Heartless Ansem who had travelled back in time to facilitate his escape. Which means Xehanort was responsible for his own Start of Darkness.
  • Thanatos Gambit: Terra battering him into submission is his final Secret Test of Character to the effect that Terra is now strong enough to be a worthy vessel. Also possible, though not confirmed, he needed to be near death to transfer his heart to him. Or that he needed Terra's heart to be suffused with darkness.
  • The Sociopath: He began a Well-Intentioned Extremist as described below, but suffered in-universe Motive Decay and is now only interested in power, no matter what he has to do to achieve it.
  • The Unfought: Though he's the antagonist of the entire series he was never seen before Birth By Sleep and was only fought in that game by Terra. He and Sora have never met directly until 3D, and aside from Terra no one has actually faced him in battle.
  • Visionary Villain: Became one after Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. See Well-Intentioned Extremist.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He started out this way, believing the universe ought to have a balance of light and darkness, and decides a flood of darkness to push it to the bring of destruction was the only way to bring about this re-balancing. However the darkness he delved into took its toll and whatever benevolent goals he once had have long been forgotten in favor of acquiring power and knowledge even at the cost of existence.
  • Worthy Opponent: As of KH3D, Mickey Mouse seems to be the only character he actually respects, and doesn't just see as another tool to be used.
  • Would Hit a Girl: More like Would Choke A Girl While Possessing Her Best Friend's Body.
  • Xanatos Gambit: "Ansem" and Xemnas were to absorb the two versions of Kingdom Hearts to gain great power. Sora killed both of them before they could, but that wasn't a problem--now Master Xehanort could just come Back from the Dead and pick up where the left off, this time with valuable intelligence concerning the enemy..

Terra-Xehanort

"I will guide you to the depths of darkness!"[1]
"The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too—the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world."
—Voiced by: Akio Ohtsuka (Japanese), Richard Epcar (English)

A young man that was found in Radiant Garden in the aftermath of a great battle between several Keyblade wielders, bearing no memories but his name. Ansem nursed him back to health and took him on as an apprentice, but he quickly became obsessed with The Heartless and Kingdom Hearts, and cast Ansem into the Realm of Darkness and became a Heartless and Nobody to delve deeper into the powers of darkness than his human form would allow. His backstory was a mystery until Birth By Sleep, which explains it in full. He is a possessed Terra, being taken over by Master Xehanort's heart to use as a stronger, younger body, but when Terra and Aqua nearly broke his control he sealed his own heart so neither he nor Terra could take direct control. With no memories, the new Xehanort was taken in by Ansem and was guided by Braig to follow the contingency plans Master Xehanort left in place in case his plan failed.

  • Badass
  • Big Bad: He is this for the original trilogy of games (Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II). An interesting case, this specific incarnation of Xehanort is actually a relatively minor character and has never been the major villain of a single game. However his various incarnations, past and present, make up the main villains of the franchise. It's currently unknown if this incarnation will be Back from the Dead with the other incarnations or not.
  • The Chessmaster
  • Combat Tropes
    • Black Magic/Casting a Shadow: Is fond of Terra's Dark Volley shots and his Dark Impulse combo finisher.
    • Big Freaking Gun: He can use Terra's Ultima Cannon attack.
    • Big Freaking Sword: Retains Master Xehanort's Keyblade.
    • Colony Drop: Meteor
    • Dishing Out Dirt: Quake
    • Dual Boss: Sort of. While Ansem relied exclusively on the Guardian, Xehanort will still whip out his Keyblade and knock you around with it. One of his attacks even has the Guardian hold Aqua still while Xehanort closes in and uses a combo.
    • Flash Step/Teleport Spam
    • Get Back Here Boss: The main difficulty in the battles with him is that he'll dash around the arena and become immune to damage when you use a special attack like magic or a shotlock, and the only way to guarantee a special attack will hit is to hit him while he's in the middle of an attack. This is the main difficulty in facing him with Aqua, since most of her best attacks are spells.
    • Guardian Entity: The Guardian belonged to Xehanort originally, making its first appearance in the universe's chronology after he possessed Terra.
    • Lightning Bruiser: Makes perfect sense, since he has Terra's power and vitality combined with Master Xehanort's experience and training. Terra's Ars Solum, one of his best attacks, is Xehanort's standard combo.
    • Magic Knight
    • Mirror Boss: Most of his attacks are actually usable by Terra as a playable character, such as Block-Counter Hammer, Ars Arcanum, Dark Volley, and Ultima Cannon. The only attack that isn't taken from Terra is Meteor, which still counts because Terra can use variations of Meteor, they're just different from the one Xehanort has.
    • No Cure for Evil: Averted, he has Curaga.
  • Deceptive Disciple: He took the name of Ansem from his former teacher and stole his research for evil purposes.
  • Evilutionary Biologist: His experiments on the The Heartless helped turn them into the army of darkness they are today.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Before his heart was locked, anyway; afterwards, he is more into his mad science.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: In Birth By Sleep, at least. In his short scene in Kingdom Hearts II, he's much more subdued.
  • Eyes of Gold: In Birth By Sleep, while in Kingdom Hearts II he has Brown Eyes. Likely symbolizes that with his memories sealed Xehanort's influence over him waned, since gold eyes is a sign of corruption by Xehanort.
  • Fan Nickname: Terranort. Apprentice Xehanort (or Apprenticenort), Xehanort the Apprentice, and Ansem Seeker of Darkness are all accurate and useful when trying not to confuse him with anyone else. The latter, however, will cause very many headaches since his Heartless didn't bother to change his name.
  • Hades Shaded
  • Japanese Pronouns: "Watashi"
  • Lack of Empathy
  • Large Ham: By the time of Birth By Sleep's final battle it's been established as a requirement if you're an incarnation of Xehanort.

"ENOUGH!"
"You have lost!"
"Sink into darkness!"

  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: With Terra Fighting From the Inside, Master Xehanort locked their hearts away to prevent losing control of his body, resulting in Xehanort losing his memories. However, in Dream Drop Distance we learn that the amnesia was a lie. Lampshaded by Braig.

"Please tell me the amnesia was just a sick joke. Boy, this is some cliché."

  • Literal Split Personality: Ansem more strongly embodies his Master Xehanort traits while Xemnas retains more of Terra's traits. As Terra-Xehanort he was just like Master Xehanort, and it's not fully clear what type of person he was after his memories got sealed, though 3D shows it was probably still like Master Xehanort.
  • Living Shadow: The Guardian.
  • Mad Scientist
  • The Man Behind the Monsters: Didn't create the Heartless, but is responsible for their escape into the Realm of Light.
  • Meaningful Rename: The source of several headaches in-universe. He even started writing about himself as though he were Ansem, as seen in the reports you spent the first game collecting.
  • Monster Sob Story: The ending of Birth By Sleep. makes his story seem like one. Sure, he became a mad scientist, betrayed the man who took him in, and became responsible for everything wrong in the series, but his origins are quite sad: he's essentially what happened when both Terra and Master Xehanort were locked out of control of Terra's body. He wound up in Radient Garden with no memories, just a name. The lost look of confusion he gives Braig when the latter chats him up is quite saddening. However, he was either totally faking it, or got his memories back fairly quickly. Master Xehanort is completely unsympathetic, though.
  • My Death Is Just the Beginning: Gave into darkness to become a Heartless and Nobody on purpose so he could acquire more power.
    • Back from the Dead: Because of the way the cosmology of Kingdom Hearts works, killing Xehanort's Heartless and his Nobody in that order resulted in his heart and body reuniting into a complete person. As of Dream Drop Distance it's made clear that this Xehanort was just a stepping stone for Master Xehanort to launch an even larger scheme than before, and dying and coming back was All According to Plan.
  • Mysterious Past: Explained in Birth by Sleep.
  • Neck Lift: On Aqua.
  • Pointy Ears: Notably lacks the Eyes of Gold after a certain point in BBS after both Terra and Xehanort's memories are locked away rendering neither of them capable of controlling his body and for most of his time under Ansem the Wise's tutelage.
  • Relationship Voice Actor: In the Japanese version, Terra-Xehanort is voiced by Akio Ohtsuka. Master Xehanort is voiced by Chikao Ohtsuka, Akio's father.
  • The Sociopath: After all he is Master Xehanort.
  • Start of Darkness: Birth by Sleep.
  • That Man Is Dead: "Terra's heart has been extinguished! Smothered by the darkness within him!"
  • Villainous Breakdown: The only time he loses his cool in Birth By Sleep is when the Lingering Will forms, prompting a snarl of protest. In the subsequent battle he begins by walking towards the Will slowly, attacking with a few Dark Volley shots and blocking attacks, but as the battle wears on he begins rapidly teleporting, cranks "a few" Dark Volleys into Beam Spam, and begins using Ars Solum liberally.
  • Voices Are Mental: As covered under Relationship Voice Actor, Xehanort is voiced by the son of Master Xehanort's voice actor, the intended effect presumably to be that the two characters have the same, but age-affected, voice.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy
  • Would Hit a Girl

"Ansem", the Seeker of Darkness

"So, you have come this far, and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!"
"All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came."
—Voiced by: Akio Ohtsuka (Japanese), Billy Zane/Richard Epcar (English)

Xehanort's Heartless who kept the alias "Ansem" that Xehanort himself took. He was the driving force behind the Disney villains's search for the Princesses of Heart, and uses Riku as a vessel to try and obtain the power of Kingdom Hearts. Uniquely for a Heartless, he retains the memories, appearance, and personality of his original self, Xehanort. In Dream Drop Distance he is Back from the Dead and one of the thirteen vessels of Xehanort's heart as one of his thirteen Seekers of Darkness.

  • A God Am I: Wishes to access Kingdom Hearts to use as a source of ultimate knowledge and power.
  • Arch Enemy: Is treated as Riku's after the first game.
  • As Long as There Is Evil: Ansem was able to remain alive due to his control of Riku, allowing him to continue to exist as long as Riku held darkness in his heart. However, he was destroyed when DiZ's machine at the end of II purified Riku's heart.
  • Back from the Dead: You'd think that Riku getting purged of him at the end of II would finally do him in, but nooooo.
  • Badass Arm-Fold: His default posture while fighting with his Guardian.
  • Badass Longcoat
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: He gets what he wants and obtains Kingdom Hearts's power in the end. Unfortunately for him, it turns out to be light power, not dark power like he thought it was, and he basically implodes as a result.
  • Big Bad: Of the original Kingdom Hearts.
  • Brown Cloak: Before he found a suitable host, Ansem could only appear as a hooded figure in a brown cloak with a creepy voice.
  • The Chessmaster: Masterminded the entire plot of the first game.
  • Chewing the Scenery: Good Lord, once he ditches his brown cloak, every scene he's in feels like it's being torn apart between his teeth, even the ones where he doesn't have a face!

"KINGDOM HEARTS! FILL ME... WITH THE POWER... OF DARKNESS!!!"

"You are weak. You need darkness. Surrender. Bow to darkness. Bow to me."

  • Lack of Empathy
  • Large Ham: Enough to get his picture on top of the Video Games section of this trope. Billy Zane's performance as him is pretty much legendary.

Ansem: "SUBMIT!"

  • Leitmotif: With the exception of the first game's final battle, any battle theme involving him opens with a series of six organ chords.
  • Magnificent Bastard
  • Manipulative Bastard: Played both the villains and Riku through their darkest desires.
  • The Man Behind the Man: To Maleficent
  • Living Shadow: The Guardian.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe
  • No Name Given: Sort of. While there's several Ansems in the series, Xehanort and Riku were just using it as an alias while the real Ansem is of course the original. This Ansem however never got his own name, and is thus referred to as "Ansem SoD" to differentiate him from the actual Ansem, or is otherwise just "Xehanort's Heartless".
  • Omnicidal Maniac
  • Only Mostly Dead: Even after being destroyed by Kingdom Hearts, a small piece of himself was still alive in Riku. It got purged in the sequel.
  • The Other Darrin: Billy Zane in the first game, unfortunately replaced with Richard Epcar from Kingdom Hearts II onward. This led to more Flashbacks With The Other Darrin in Kingdom Hearts II.
  • Pointy Ears
  • Sequential Boss
  • Significant Anagram: Probably unintentional, but "nAmes" is surprisingly relevant to anyone with the name Ansem; they all have more than one name.
  • Shirtless Scene: As the final boss of the first game. What a bod.
  • The Sociopath: Literally heartless, not to mention it comes with the territory as an incarnation of Xehanort.
  • Time Travel
  • Took a Level in Badass: Most players agree that Ansem was not a terribly difficult final boss in Kingdom Hearts 1. For his return in Dream Drop Distance, on the other hand...Ansem becomes a much, much harder fight than he ever used to be, effectively using projectiles and melee attacks together to make combos, having multiple phases that both have huge amounts of health, and in a display of Cutscene Power to the Max, he subdues Riku almost effortlessly. That's quite a step up there.
  • Vocal Evolution: Richard Epcar's voice acting improved a lot between KH2 and Re:COM, although it's more like the vocal director gave him some breathing room instead of forcing him to try and out-ham Billy Zane with unsuccessful results. He's also significantly better in Birth By Sleep.
    • Also, Akio Ohtsuka himself was actually over-the-top hammy to an annoying level in the original Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts, but also sounded a lot better in Re: COM.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy

Xemnas

See Kingdom Hearts/Characters/Organization XIII

Unknown

"Come with me."

(Young Xehanort)

"Hypocrite. You are the one who has made your heart a prison...even if you are not the prisoner."
—Voiced by: Takanori Okuda (Japanese), David Gallagher (English, Birth By Sleep) / Ben Diskin (English, Dream Drop Distance)

An enigmatic figure who appears out of thin air in Birth By Sleep to challenge the heroes in the Land of Departure as a Bonus Boss. The Unknown's identity is completely unknown -- he doesn't say a word, and even the Keyblade he drops upon defeat is simply named "No Name". Despite the seemingly random encounter, Word of God confirms that his battle with one of the trio is canon.

He reappears in Dream Drop Distance as the main antagonist, and is described as a being travelling worlds that causes beings of darkness to manifest in his wake. He's revealed to be a younger Master Xehanort, given the power to travel through time by "Ansem" in order to create the true Organization XIII, an organization composed of Xehanort's heart in thirteen different vessels.

Another "Unknown" is a Bonus Boss in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, and is eventually revealed to be Xemnas. This section, however, only refers to the Birth by Sleep/3D character.

  • All Your Powers Combined: Has Meteor, Raging Storm, Mega Flare, Collision Magnet, Restore Barrier, Sonic Blade, Vanitas's X-shaped Sword Beam, Marluxia's Doom and Whirlwind to the Void, Laser Blades like Xemnas, and can clone himself like Xemnas. About the only attack of his that isn't taken from someone else is his Beam Spam, which in Dream Drop Distance still sort of resembles Sora's Wisdom Form shots fired in a Dark Volley-like pattern.
    • And in Dream Drop Distance he even wields a Keyblade.
  • The Assimilator
  • Badass Baritone: In the English version, at least compared to his very youthful Japanese voice.
  • Beam Spam
  • Berserk Button: In his Birth By Sleep fight, trying to attack him while he's in the middle of his Beam Spam is a bad idea. He usually stands there and lets his beams do the work, but try and attack him and he decides to start attacking you again while the beams are still firing, and this will likely get you killed.
    • And then in Dream Drop Distance, the only time he breaks his Creepy Monotone is when Riku tries to rescue Sora before he can be made the 13th Xehanort vessel.
  • Bifurcated Weapon: Will combine his laser blades into a Double Weapon.
  • Big Bad Appears to be this for Dream Drop Distance. But then it turns out he's merely following the agenda of his future self.
  • Bishonen
  • Black Cloak
  • Black Magic/Casting a Shadow: As a Xehanort its pretty much required.
  • Bonus Boss
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: He can knock the commands out of your menu, when he reverses time the music goes backwards too, and he teleports to avoid your targeting sensor when you try to use a Shotlock.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: First appears as a Bonus Boss in Birth by Sleep Final Mix; his next appearance in Dream Drop Distance sees him as The Heavy.
  • Climax Boss
  • Creepy Monotone
  • Doppelganger Attack
  • Eyes of Gold: But he notably lacks the pointy and somewhat elfish ears that most users of darkness have.
  • Fan Nickname: Mysterious Figure, which is from the Brady Games Birth by Sleep guide. The name is unofficial, but persists in the fan community for the sake of distinction from the original Unknown.
    • A handful of fans also refer to him as Soranort. Because at this point, he's bound to be related to one of them somehow.
    • As of the release of 3D, he's been referred to as Trollanort, thanks to his affinity for playing literal mindgames and his bordering-on-unfair use of time control in his boss battle. Other variants include Clockanort and "TOKI WO TOMARE-nort".
  • Flash Step
  • Hades Shaded
  • The Heavy: In Dream Drop Distance.
  • Help Your Self in the Future: This is essentially what he's doing, helping his future self form the new Organization XIII advance his Me's a Crowd plot.
  • Interface Screw: He can actually knock commands off of his opponent, who is forced to scramble to pick them up off the ground while dodging his attacks.
  • Invisibility: Has a penchant for going invisible and pulling out an instant KO combo.
  • Laser Blade: Dual wielding laser blades! The Keyblade you get from him, No Name, is also essentially a Laser Blade Keyblade. And then in 3D he wields it over his laser blades for the first part of the battle with him
  • Legacy Character
  • Leitmotif :"Xehanort -The Early Years-".
  • Lightning Bruiser: Up to Eleven.
  • Mind Rape: Subjects poor Sora to this.
  • Morph Weapon: Combines his separate blades into one, throws them out as orbs of light to shoot out like projectiles, elongates them to stab forward, and can whirl them through the air. Also does many of the same tricks with the No Name Keyblade in 3D.
  • Mythology Gag: He's a thematic retraux of the Unknown Bonus Boss from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, wielding similar weapons and appearing in a similar fashion, and like it foreshadowing the Big Bad of the next game.
  • One Hit KO: Most of his attacks will do this to you if you do not have the Second Chance ability equipped.
  • Pointy Ears: Averted. He does not have them at all, suggesting that Pointy Ears are a sign of corruption by the darkness.
  • Reverse Grip
  • SNK Boss: He can clone himself, with all five clones able to attack individually, his "Colision Magnet" attack stuns you so the follow-up attack doesn't trigger Second Chance, can blow your command cards across the arena forcing you to pick them up, and any time you land a hit on him he may decide to rewind time to undo the damage and recover from the blow. This is in addition to his lightning-fast, powerful attacks. Then he gets weak, when he turns invisible, preventing you from targetting him, and begins to use multiple attacks at once, in addition to all of the previous.
  • Start of Darkness: His meeting with Ansem SoD.
  • Theme Song Reveal: According to Word of God, his theme "Dark Impetus" contains a clue to his identity. It seems to take elements from Rage Awakened (Terra's Lingering Sentiment), Darkness of the Unknown (Xemnas' final battle theme in Kingdom Hearts II), and Lord of the Castle (Marluxia's final battle theme in Re: Chain of Memories). Which mostly all fits together when you learn he's a younger Xehanort that orchestrates the re-creation of Organization XIII.
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Does this during one of his combos.
  • Time Travel: Is a younger Master Xehanort travelled forward in time from the past.
  • Time Master: He can avert No Cure for Evil by rewinding time to before you hit him. It even makes the background music go in reverse for a few seconds.
    • One of his desperation moves in 3D is to rewind time and get two health bars back. It also starts the battle intro cutscene over again to complete the illusion and it is only him who can resist Mickey's Stopgun spell.
  • Turns Red: When low on health he'll turn invisible and will begin using multiple attacks at once.

Other Major Villains

Maleficent

"The truth can be most cruel, even amongst the closest of friends."
"What in the world do you think you're prattling on about? Kingdom Hearts belongs to me! The Heart of all Kingdoms! The Heart of all that lives! A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be my dominion!"
—Voiced by: Toshiko Sawada (Japanese), Susanne Blakeslee (English)

The villain from Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent is an evil fairy hellbent on taking over all worlds in existence. She poses a major threat early on in Sora's adventure, but her plan gets Hijacked By Xehanort before the climax. Unfortunately for Sora and co., you can't keep a good villain down for long...

Maleficent: "You think you can defeat ME?! ME, THE MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL?!"

Pete

"See, it don't matter how tough he is, once he's a Heartless he'll do as I say!"
"Just wait! Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with The Mighty Pete!"
—Voiced by: Toru Ohira (Japanese), Jim Cummings (English)

There is also Pete. Once a humble steamboat captain, Pete turned to mischief-making until he got out of hand and was banished. He met Maleficent during his inter-dimensional exile and acts as her loyal servant.

Vanitas

"Oh grow up. Is that what you call friendship? You'll never learn the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself. Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?"
"This χ-blade will open a door -- one that leads to all worlds! Then, Keyblade-bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts! And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin!"
—Voiced by: Miyu Irino (Japanese), Haley Joel Osment (English)

The mysterious masked apprentice of Master Xehanort. To keep up the parallels, his outfit is nearly identical to "Dark Mode" Riku and he frequently antagonizes Ven. He's actually an artificial being created from the darkness in Ven's heart.

Sora's Heartless

"RAGE... HATRED... GLITCHES TO FEED MY DARKNESS... AND SOON, HEARTS TO SATE MY HUNGER!"

"LONG HAVE THE FALLEN WANDERED. NOW THEY SHALL SERVE THE WILL OF DARKNESS"

Originally, when Sora sacrificed his Heart in the first Kingdom Hearts, he was able to retain his sense of self even when turned into a Heartless. However, the digital recording in Jiminy's Journal gained sentience and began corrupting the journal with bug blocks.

  1. ↑
    Xehanort as he appears in Birth By Sleep (spoiler warning)
  2. ↑ Master Xehanort's seiyuu.
  3. ↑ Vanitas's seiyuu. Same as Sora's.
  4. ↑ Xehanort's seiyuu.
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