The World That Never Was

The World That Never Was is a world featured in Kingdom Hearts II. It is also the base of operations in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

The world of Organization XIII, it is home to a seemingly endless supply of Heartless and Nobodies. The Heartless seem to spawn more here due to how close The World That Never Was is to the darkness of Kingdom Hearts. The Organization controls the world from The Castle That Never Was, a massive fortress that floats weightlessly over the expansive Dark City.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
The World that Never Was has likely been the headquarters for Organization XIII since its creation. It remained so all the way through to Xemnas's death, even after the founding of Castle Oblivion as a secondary base. Meetings were held here, and members would return here when done with their missions. Up until the time of Sora 's arrival on this world, it was a safe-haven for Organization XIII.

When Roxas abandoned the Organization, he wandered for a short time through the streets of the Dark City, likely contemplating where to go to start his search for himself. Here, outside one of the many locked stores, Roxas met with Axel, who tried to stop him from leaving, warning him that the Organization would want him eliminated were he to leave. Roxas, stating that no one would miss him (were he to die), left a saddened Axel behind and moved along the streets to Memory's Skyscraper. Axel mutters that he would miss him, before Roxas disappeared into the darkness.

A few days later, Roxas returns to the city, hoping to engage Xemnas along with the other Organization XIII members, but instead he discovered multitudes of Heartless, sent to attack the Keyblade master while the Organization was not protecting him. Roxas fended off the hordes of Neoshadow Heartless, but realized he was too far outnumbered. It was then that he saw Riku atop the skyscraper. Using Roxas's Oblivion keyblade, Riku helped the Nobody defeat all the Heartless (Roxas used his Oathkeeper).

The two then turned on each other and dueled. Roxas eventually defeated Riku, who had not yet mastered himself or control of the Keyblade. Riku used the darkness in his heart as a last resort and unleashed Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, with his Guardian, to subdue Roxas. DiZ promptly arrived to find Riku-Ansem with his hood up, and the two took Roxas back to their secret base in Twilight Town.

Kingdom Hearts II
The World that Never Was continued to be used as a base of operations for the Organization throughout Kingdom Hearts II. Although their numbers continued to decrease, they still held meetings in the Castle that Never Was, and plotted a way to use the Keyblade.

Eventually, Sora arrived in the Dark City, with the help of the Organization's traitor, Axel. Making their way through the large amounts of Heartless, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey fought to the center of the city, Memory's Skyscraper. Here, Samurai Nobodies appeared from nowhere, and Roxas appeared to Sora, challenging him to a fight. The two disappeared from the scene and while Donald and Goofy fought off the Samurai, Sora and Roxas dueled on the Station of Awakening.

After Roxas is defeated, he tells Sora that he's a "good other." The group then continues on to the Castle that Never Was. They make their way through the many levels of the castle, meeting up with Riku and Kairi, and finishing off the remaining members of the Organization.

After meeting with Ansem the Wise on one of the upper floors of the castle, the latter sacrifices his life in an attempt to destroy Xemnas's Kingdom Hearts, the blast returning Riku to his original form. The party makes their way to the top floor and finally defeat Xemnas.

During the extensive final battle with "The Superior," much of the Dark City and the Castle That Never Was is destroyed. Chunks of building were ripped up and thrown at Sora and Riku, and the main tower collapsed off of the Castle.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
The World That Never Was ended up falling into the Realm of Sleep following the final battle with Xemnas. Set as the seventh world to awaken in this realm, Sora ends up trapped here instead of going home to the Realm of Light.

It is here Braig is revealed to have been revived and Young Xehanort puts Sora in a illusion to weaken his heart enough for his older self, Master Xehanort, to put a fragment of his own heart inside him. Young Xehanort shows Sora his past and reveals his true idenity at last. During the rest of the illusion, Sora meets Xion, Namine, Roxas, Terra and Aqua, making him feel more and more distraught when sorrowful memories arise. Following a battle with Xemnas, Sora falls into darkness, but Ven's keyblade armor protects his heart from being swallowed again. He is then taken to the Castle That Never Was.

Riku arrives in the castle and finds Sora trapped in an illusion, but is prevented from saving him by a Nightmare Dream Eater born of Sora's darkness. Once he defeats the Dream Eater, Riku falls into darkness where "Ansem" tries getting him to work alongside him. Refusing the Heartless's help. Riku learns that he is actualy in Sora's dreams, acting as a Spirit Dream Eater to rid him of Nightmares. Transported to the true dreaming worlds, Riku breaks into Where Nothing Gathers to save Sora, alongside Mickey.

However, following their defeat of Young Xehanort, Master Xehanort comes back to life and reveals that all their journeys though the last decade have been part of an elbaorate fail-safe plan he had to create the X-blade. Riku and Mickey are then pinned down by Ansem and Xemnas while Master Xehanort prepares to make Sora the final vessel for the thriteenth fragment of his heart. However, Lea, Donald and Goofy arrive, foiling his plans. Master Xehanort leaves with his new Organization, promising to that his thirteen selves will clash against the seven lights that defend the worlds; once this happens, the X-blade will be born and the Keyblade War will begin anew.