Roxas

Roxas, the Key of Destiny (めぐりあう鍵), is the Nobody of Sora and was Rank XIII within the original Organization XIII, born when Sora took his own heart to restore Kairi's. Although Sora's heart was soon restored, Roxas continued to endure and exist, oblivious of Sora's existence for most of his life. He has the ability to use the Keyblade, and wields light, using it to direct rays that strike opponents with great power. He commands the Samurai Nobodies.

Roxas was also one of the mysterious hooded figures in "Another side, Another story..." and "Deep Dive". During the prologue of Kingdom Hearts II, the player controls Roxas until Sora is awakened. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Roxas is the primary protagonist and antagonist. This game focuses on the time period between Roxas's birth and his departure from the Organization, eventually leading to his capture at the hands of Riku and DiZ. Instead of ressembing his real self, Sora, Roxas resembles Ventus, whose heart fragment is housed within Sora's Heart.

Kingdom Hearts
According to the Secret Ansem Reports, Roxas is born when Sora stabs himself with the Keyblade of heart, forged from the hearts of six of the seven Princesses of Heart, in order to free Kairi's heart at the cost of his own. However, Sora spends little time as a Heartless, as Kairi's light fetches Sora's heart from the darkness, restoring him to his former self shortly after he becomes a Heartless.

While Nobodies are usually destroyed so such a restoration would be possible, Roxas is able to co-exist alongside Sora, albeit with no memories of his life before. Regardless, Roxas's status as Sora's Nobody grants him the ability to use the Keyblade.

Roxas comes into being, dazed and confused, in Twilight Town, where he is found and named by Xemnas. Shortly afterwards, he meets Axel, who, after they see Hayner, Pence and Olette walking through the town, takes Roxas to eat Sea-salt ice cream on the Clock Tower.

Six days after coming into being, Roxas and Xemnas meets at the Dark Margin, where they talk. Xemnas reveals that he had been to see Sora, as Xemnas had encountered him at Hollow Bastion.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Sora visits Twilight Town after Vexen gives him the world card. Sora doesn't recognize the world, but Donald and Goofy point out that he must, as it was created from his memories. Vexen tells Sora that it was made from the memories found on the other side of his heart. This references to Roxas as Vexen met Roxas before leaving for Castle Oblivion.

After finishing Riku's Story, there is a picture of Roxas that is shown after the credits. This was altered into a silent cutscene in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories with Roxas seen with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. During the end credits, Axel is seen to converse with him, Roxas completely oblivious to his presence.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Roxas was born in Twilight Town and soon discovered by Xemnas, who gave him his name. Having nowhere else to go, Roxas joins the Organization in hopes of finding the answers he needs. Axel took a liking to Roxas and ate Sea-salt ice cream with him on his first day. On Roxas's fifth day, Xemnas places Roxas under Axel's watch, and the two soon become best friends. When he visits Twilight Town, sometimes Roxas catches sight of three regular kids: Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and wishes to befriend them.

When Axel is sent to Castle Oblivion to interfere in Marluxia's plans to control Sora and overthrow the organization, Roxas is placed in charge of Xion, the newest member of the Organization and a girl about the same (physical) age as him. Though emotionally distant at first, Xion soon opens up to Roxas, revealing to him that she can wield a Keyblade, and the two become close friends. Roxas falls into a coma for several weeks, linked to Sora being placed in suspended animation by Naminé. After awakening, Roxas attempts to spend time with Axel and Xion, but he begins to react to the process of Sora's memory restoration by having strange dreams and visions; he also begins to question why he wields the Keyblade and doubt the Organization's motives.

As he spends more time with the Organization, Roxas grows increasingly impatient towards his unanswered questions. Meanwhile, he still works actively to help the Organization in their plan to complete Kingdom Hearts, using the Keyblade to release the Heartless' hearts. However, Xion, seeking answers to her own questions, departs the Organization to find herself. Roxas and Axel try and find her, and eventually convince her to return. It isn't long however, before Xion leaves again, trying to return to Sora. Roxas then finds out that Xion was a Replica, and not a true member of the Organization. He also learns that Axel knew about this for a while, which leads him to be hurt. Roxas begs Axel to answer his questions about who he is, but Axel refuses, telling Roxas to trust him. Angry and lonely, Roxas follows Xion's example and runs from the Organization himself. On his way, he runs into Saïx, whom he defeats. Roxas is then intercepted by Axel, who attempts to persuade him to stay, warning him that the Organization would destroy him due to his betrayal. However, Roxas remains indifferent, saying "No one would miss me", and continues on his way.

The next day, Roxas, while searching Twilight Town, encounters Xion, who has discovered the truth behind her own birth, and has been reprogrammed by Xemnas. Roxas is shocked to discover that Xion has taken on the appearance of his past self, and even more so when he discovers that Xion desires to become the 'real' Sora, and wants to absorb Roxas to fufill the reason she was created. This is soon revealed to be nothing but a ruse, in connection to her thoughts by her Secret Reports. She is aware that they cannot coexist, that Roxas was in danger if so, and decided to willingly disappear, and not let Xemnas succeed: a fact that she states when she later fades away.

Knowing that Roxas would not be able to eliminate her (and Axel had admitted that he could not either in his own Secret Report), she forces Roxas to fight her instead. Xion then transforms into a giant armored monster at the ready. After a long and grueling battle, Roxas defeats Xion, who regains her original appearance. Roxas, however, loses all of his memories of Xion after the battle. In her final moments, she informs Roxas of the true colors of the Organization, tells him that she is glad they were friends and pleads with him not to let Xemnas use Kingdom Hearts before dying peacefully in his arms. At this moment, Roxas remembers Xion, but he is too late. Saddened, Roxas holds Xion's essence and degenerating crystallized body until she is completely gone, leaving behind a seashell on the ground, as he spills tears.

This marks the start of where he gains his signature ability to dual-wield, as he awakens Ventus's Keyblade after Xion's demise. The first time he uses them, they are both Kingdom Keys, his and Ventus's, which quickly transform into the Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

Xion's absorption into Roxas, along with the knowledge of Xemnas's true plans, only further strengthens Roxas's determination to find Sora and the answers that he seeks. Roxas returns to The World That Never Was, planning to "set Kingdom Hearts free", in compliance to Xion's last words. He also desires to save Xion from within him, hoping that freeing Kingdom Hearts would bring her back. Then, they could go back to Axel and all have ice cream together. Upon his arrival, Roxas is attacked at Memory's Skyscraper by countless Neoshadow Heartless, which surround him.

Roxas draws out his Keyblades, ready to defend himself, However, even after slaying many Heartless, he realizes there are too many to fight alone.

Luckily, Riku suddenly appears at the scene on top of the Skyscraper, and Roxas throws his Oblivion Keyblade at him as he runs up. Riku manages to catch it, however, and they both defeat the Neoshadows once on the ground. After the dark remains clear, they immediately turn on each other. Roxas beats Riku at first, but Riku taunts him by calling him "Sora" and saying that he should be "stronger than this", causing Roxas to reflexively answer with, "Get real. Look which one of us is winning!", something that only Sora would say. Realizing he cannot beat Roxas on his own, Riku willingly unleashes his inner darkness and takes on the physical appearance of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Riku-Ansem disappears and reappears in front of Roxas, surprising him, before the Guardian grabs him and squeezes him hard enough to make him lose consciousness. DiZ then appears and opens up a portal to the old mansion in Twilight Town, where he resides.

DiZ aims to join Sora and Roxas together in order to help Sora wake up faster after regaining his memories. However, he knows the Organization is hunting fervently for their missing member, so DiZ places him in a virtual Twilight Town. There, Roxas would be kept safely away from the Organization while he lived as a normal boy, unaware of his past. Even though Roxas begins to forget about Xion, she tells him that she'll always remember him and Axel. When Roxas begins to forget, his memories of past events with Xion are changed due to her erasure.

Kingdom Hearts II
Somehow, DiZ was able to alter Roxas's mind to cause him to believe that he lives a normal life in the digital Twilight Town. He has become best friends with three kids - Hayner, Pence, and Olette - and even writes a diary of his time in town. Roxas has lost all memory of his life with the Organization.

As Naminé nears the completion of the task of restoring Sora's memories, Roxas soon begins seeing brief fleeting memories of Sora through a number of his dreams. In addition, mysterious events start to occur around town. Strange white creatures, the Nobodies, begin invading the town, stealing photographs and attacking Roxas. These Nobodies had been sent along with Axel by the Organization, who had finally located their former member, in an attempt to capture him. However, in times of dire need, the Keyblade (a single Kingdom Key this time) inexplicably comes to aid Roxas, and disappears once the threat is gone.

Along with the Nobodies, Roxas comes into contact with Naminé several times, who seems to know things about Roxas that he himself doesn't and once saves him from the outbursting darkness resulting from the defeat of the Twilight Thorn inside Roxas's Dive to the Heart.

Furthermore, as observed by DiZ, Naminé's contact with Roxas connects his heart with Kairi's, who Roxas remembered as a friend of Sora. He also meets a mysterious man in a Black Cloak, later revealed to be Riku, who at one point asks a cryptic question: "Can you feel Sora?" Roxas later meets another mysterious figure masked in red bandages, DiZ, who was responsible for his imprisonment.

Though the intentions of these characters are enigmatic to Roxas, Axel soon appears with a more straightforward goal. Axel needs to bring Roxas back with him under the orders of Xaldin and Xemnas. However, Roxas remembers nothing of Axel, whose claims of his relation with Roxas only confuses Roxas. Axel is soon forced to attack the young boy to accomplish his goal. He battles Roxas in the midst of the Struggle tournament, but only DiZ's timely interruption spares Roxas from defeat. After the Struggle Tournament, Roxas falls off the Station Tower and somehow mentally attempts to contact Naminé, only to end up reaching Kairi, Naminé's true counterpart, instead. He recognizes her name from his dreams of Sora, and when Kairi inquires Sora's name, Sora himself, despite being asleep at that time, talks to Kairi through Roxas and gives her a hint of his name (Starts with an "S"...).

In addition to these mysterious people, Roxas also begins to see strange anomalies due to the nature of Digital Twilight Town. Time often freezes, and only he and select people seem to be unaffected. He also sees strange "glitches" around town that he could not explain. For some time, Roxas continues to be befuddled by all these events.

That all changes when summer vacation comes to a close, and the truth is revealed: Naminé informs Roxas that he is a Nobody, and that he is supposed to meet with Sora, the boy in red from his dreams, in order to complete him. Along with that, Roxas discovers that he is living in a digital Twilight Town, and that his friends aren't real, just data. He encounters Axel once again, who had been ordered to eliminate Roxas if he refused to return. DiZ, however, manages to freeze Axel in his tracks, along with the rest of the world, thus saving Roxas. DiZ then tells him to go to the abandoned mansion. He does so, and there he encounters Naminé.

She reveals to him information on Organization XIII and states that reuniting with Sora would not cause him to disappear, but make him whole. However, she is interrupted by DiZ, but before she is taken away, she promises him that they would meet again, even if they won't recognize each other. Desiring to see Sora, Roxas makes his way through the mansion and begins to recall his former life. In doing so he realizes that he had been captured and placed into the digital world by DiZ and the mysterious cloaked man. Roxas then destroys DiZ's computer in anger, even though it was just a digital copy.

Roxas then meets with Axel one last time, but despite the fact that Roxas has regained his memories, Axel states that it is too late. The two battle once more, but this time Roxas is able to call on all of his dormant abilities, including summoning his two weapons: Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and soundly defeats his old friend, though with great regret. Roxas hopes that they will meet again, though Axel chuckles and responds that only Roxas has a next life. Axel then retreats into the darkness, failing in his mission to capture or kill Roxas. Roxas then enters the pod room where Sora is kept, but not before seeing Donald Duck and Goofy slumbering in their own pods. DiZ is there to greet him, revealing his intentions and fueling Roxas's rage with cutting remarks about Roxas's purpose and nature.

In a blind rage, Roxas tries to cut down DiZ, but sees that this DiZ is only a hologram; even after this, Roxas continues to attack DiZ. He vanishes, and the pod in the center of the room opens. All his anger drains away when he sees Sora slumbering in the pod. Sadly smiling, he says to Sora, "You're lucky... Looks like my summer vacation is... over." With those words, Roxas respectfully accepts his fate and rejoins with his original self.

Right after the prologue ends, Sora hears Roxas call out to him, and wonders who it is before hearing Donald and Goofy do the same and waking up.

Though he does not actually appear to Sora throughout most of the game, Roxas is frequently mentioned. Most of the Organization members act as if Sora is Roxas and refer to him as such, which both frustrates and confuses Sora. Roxas himself manages to maintain a presence within Sora despite "resting". The first time this is hinted at is when Sora departs from Twilight Town for the first time, saying goodbye to Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

To his surprise, a tear rolls down his cheek, expressing Roxas's own sadness in separating from his own friends, and feels strangely sad to be leaving Twilight Town. During the visit to Yen Sid's tower Sora remarks that he, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and King Mickey are all fighting, and includes Roxas instinctively in that list. Sora instinctively knows how to ride a skateboard, and is shown to be very skilled in doing so; presumably, this is an ability passed down from Roxas.

During Sora's next visit to Twilight Town, Roxas's presence within Sora is again apparent. As Sora looks through the crystal orb and at the orange sun, he subconsciously feels Roxas truly within him, and briefly takes on Roxas's appearance as he does so (at least to the player). Then, during Sora, Donald, and Goofy's brief stay in a Realm of Darkness after the Battle of the 1000 Heartless, Riku leaves two clues for them, one of which is a picture from the digital Twilight Town which shows Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing in front of the abandoned mansion at Twilight Town.

Despite Sora having never seen or met Roxas before, he immediately knows his name. When Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey enter the digital Twilight Town, Sora calls it "Roxas's Twilight Town", and then sees a memory of Roxas destroying the computers. It is also made apparent that Axel is determined to transform Sora into a Heartless; if Sora became a Heartless, then Roxas would be reborn.

Finally, Axel reveals his intent to Sora and his relation to Roxas before fading into nothingness from using all his energy. His disappearance, as Xemnas said, was strong enough to finally, truly awaken Roxas at last.

The hints of Roxas's presence within Sora come to a climax in the World That Never Was. At Memory's Skyscraper, two Samurai Nobodies arrive and block Sora from Donald and Goofy. At the same time, a cloaked Roxas confronts Sora, summoning his Keyblades (much to Sora's surprise). The two are transported to the Station of Serenity, and engage in an intense battle. During the fight, Roxas says that he is someone from the dark, and Sora wonders if he is Riku. His guess is incorrect, and Roxas says that he had defeated a Riku once. He then demands to know why Axel chose to sacrifice himself for Sora, rather than continue with his plan to resurrect Roxas by turning Sora into a Heartless. While attacking Sora from above, Roxas sees Sora's memories of Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy next to Sora, and finally understands that Axel chose to help Sora because Axel, like so many others, was touched by Sora's heart. Still, Roxas continues to attack, and is able to knock the Keyblade out of Sora's hands. Sora, however, recovers the Keyblade and swiftly cuts a surprised Roxas down. Roxas, wounded, drops his weapons and his hood to reveal his face, and tells Sora, "You make a good other", before disappearing with a satisfied look.

It is revealed that the encounter was actually a mental struggle between Roxas and Sora when Sora returns to the World That Never Was. He asks his companions about the mysterious Keyblade-wielding Nobody, but Donald and Goofy say that they saw no one other than themselves, and that Sora had just disappeared, leaving them to fight some Nobodies. Sora is confused, but continues on.

As Sora makes his way up the Organization's stronghold, the Organization members, before being cut down one by one, make more and more confusing remarks about Roxas. Upon Saïx's loss, Sora questions why the Organization calls him "Roxas", and Riku reveals that Roxas is his Nobody, which gave Roxas the power to use the Keyblade. Sora is taken aback by this at first, but then remembers his brief transformation into a Heartless while attempting to rescue Kairi. Riku also explains that Roxas left the Organization, and Riku tried to bring him to DiZ, but was defeated. Riku then took on the form of Xehanort's Heartless and used the darkness as a weapon.

He managed to bring Roxas back so that he may join with Sora in order to awaken him from his sleep. However, Riku realized that Roxas had left in the first place because he really wanted to meet Sora, and thus Riku didn't have to fight him. Sora sadly expresses that he wants to meet Roxas as well, not knowing that he had already met him during their battle at Memory's Skyscraper. Riku then points out that Roxas rests within him. On their way to fight Xemnas, DiZ (now revealed to be the real Ansem, Ansem the Wise) apologizes to Roxas for his mistreatment of him, though he didn't know whether or not he could hear him.



After Xemnas's seeming defeat and the demise of most of the Organization members, Roxas and Naminé reunite, with Roxas projecting himself through Sora after Naminé joins with Kairi. They are happy that they met again, and say that unlike other Nobodies, they got to meet their original selves and become whole.

Finally, Roxas and Naminé believe that as long as Sora and Kairi are together, they will be also, and accept their place within Sora and Kairi after being promised by their counterparts that they would always be together. With that, both Nobodies merge back with their original selves. Even though Roxas is gone at this point, he can be considered present when Sora and Riku go into the final boss battles against Xemnas, since Roxas and Sora are technically in the same body when Xemnas is killed.

Roxas and Naminé are seen one last time, when Sora and Riku return to Destiny Islands. As Sora and Kairi reunite, they smile at each other, while Roxas and Naminé do the same. With the death of Xemnas, Roxas could be considered the only surviving member of Organization XIII, if only an ex-member.

Kingdom Hearts coded
A data version of Roxas makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts coded and is fought as the final boss. In Castle Oblivion, Data-Naminé reveals to Data-Sora and King Mickey that Roxas is one of the people that, while gone, is still connected to Sora's heart.

Blank Points
Roxas, Xion, and Axel are seen sitting happily together on the Clock Tower eating sea-salt ice cream. Roxas and Xion look into the sunset and together say Sora's name.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Before Lea awakens in Ansem's computer room, he has a dream of Roxas and Axel eating sea-salt ice cream on the clocktower. Roxas reminds Axel of the promise he made to always bring his friends back, imitating his catchphrase "Got it memorized?".

Roxas later appears before Sora in his dreams in the World That Never Was. He tells Sora that "it has to be you", even as Sora says that Roxas deserves to be his own person. Roxas shows Sora his memories, making him feel his pain, before fading.

When Sora confronts Xigbar and Xemnas, declaring that his friends are his power, Xigbar sees an image of Roxas behind him, along with many others that are connected to Sora.

Later on, inside Where Nothing Gathers, Young Xehanort cites Roxas as one of the second Organization XIII's intended vessels for Master Xehanort, although this became impossible when Roxas developed his own personality and merged with Sora.

After Riku dives into Sora's heart and defeats the Armored Ventus Nightmare, he appears in a memory of the Destiny Islands. He encounters Roxas, who asks him what he is afraid of, then disappears.

Personality
Roxas, unlike other Nobodies, seems to possess real emotions, likely due to his retaining of Ventus's heart after he and Sora were separated. Roxas has displayed many different emotions on different occasions. Being Sora's other half, his personality is similar to that of his counterpart, with some differences. For example, when Riku confirms that Roxas is Sora's Nobody after they meet in Dark City, Roxas's statement ("What are you talking about? I am me! Nobody else!") is nearly identical to Sora's later reactions when the Organization XIII members address him as Roxas.

Roxas is less impulsive than Sora, but far more quick to anger. He is short-tempered, aggressive, and stands his ground against foes. He can be arrogant, confident, and cocky, as proven when he engages Riku in a fight, proclaiming that he could not beat him no matter how many times he attempted to. When blinded with anger, he lets go of all reason and focuses on venting his anger, as seen when he continually hacks at DiZ's computers and viciously attacks DiZ's hologram. His words have bite, and he isn't afraid to speak his mind. Roxas has even expressed some dislike for being compared to Sora early on due to their relation, which DiZ notes with amusement in their encounter. This type of contrast between Sora and Roxas is even portrayed in official artwork, where Roxas almost always has a dark, fiercer expression, in contrast to Sora's more loose and mellow expression.

With a devil-may-care attitude in terms of recklessness, he can be rightfully selfish on occasion, but is selfless enough to return back to Sora willingly. Throughout the series, Roxas is presented as the type to not just let things happen, to twiddle his thumbs and wait when there's something about himself he doesn't comprehend; he demanded answers about himself from Axel, saying he deserved to know. He constantly rebels against what he's told is his "place" and is a strongly independent individual; he was against Xemnas' order to not search for Xion, doing so anyway. On the other hand, Roxas tends to be ironically melancholy and stoic, solemn and distracted, especially as he comes to realize the truth about himself, and in other points when he's confused and lost.

Like Sora, Roxas has little patience for people who seem to be bending his will or trying to confuse him. Roxas could also fall for lies, depending on how much he trusts the person; Axel has lied to him a few times to cheer him up, but Roxas eventualy lost faith in Axel. He doesn't have an extreme lust for life as well, not taking everything in with a bright outlook, but he does wish and desire one of his own with fervor.

Roxas also seems have a certain degree of intelligence that Sora often lacks, as he is not as easily fooled by his enemies and is more likely to think his actions through unless angered. This is slightly changed when it came to Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, because unlike his future self that had thorough knowledge of subjects in the fake Twilight Town, Roxas was born with no memories when taken in by the Organization. Hence, he had no information on the simplest topics or objects, making him comparable to a newborn who grows to learn them, and coming off slow and naive due to it, leading a few others, including himself, to refer to him as a "zombie." This is why Axel fulfills the role of enlightening him about his questions or thoughts, sometimes making Axel himself tongue tied on how to explain them (such as matters relating to the heart's emotions). Roxas's attitude, nonetheless, was very apparent from the start, telling Axel after he accomplished a mission in the beginning that he could have done that blindfolded, and being greatly annoyed when Xigbar calls him "kiddo" or "tiger".

Another difference with Sora is their heroic status. Often times, Roxas shows how he'd rather not have anything to do with the Keyblade, longing to be a normal kid, with a normal life and normal friends. This is something represented in Hayner, Pence, and Olette throughout the series, as he is shown a number of times watching them in wonder and interest. On the other hand, Sora, despite that he was more or less the same, was spurred on by the goal of finding his friends and took on the responsibility more passively, without much hassle.

Appearance
As Sora's Nobody, Roxas's facial features closely resemble his, including his bright blue eyes, body build, and spiky hair (though it is not difficult to set them apart in the actual game). In contrast to Sora's brown hair, Roxas's is a golden blond. His hair style also separates them, as the front concentrates the spikes on the right side of his head as if windswept, and the back is smoother and more flaky. He also looks identical to Ventus, due to Ventus's heart having been within Sora's heart when Roxas was created.

When in Organization XIII, Roxas wore the usual all-black uniform, with a number of small differences. His pants were different, looking more casual, and loose. He also did not tuck the legs of his pants into his boots like the other members did, though Roxas's "boots" more resembled black versions of his street shoes, and may not have been knee-high like the other members'. Roxas's cloak had a vague resemblance to the ones worn by Xigbar and Demyx, with slightly pointed shoulders and slightly close-fitting sleeves.

While living in the false Twilight Town, Roxas wore much more casual clothes. He wore a black, high-collared jacket with a zipper resembling the Nobody symbol. Over this, he wore another jacket, this one unzipped and white, with several black block designs and a grey hem on the end of each sleeve. This jacket's collar was red and pleated and folded back.

Roxas also wore two-colored pants; the legs of his pants were beige with several of what looked like buttons on the hem that appeared to attach the legs to the rest of the cloth, which were dark-colored. Roxas's shoes were colored in shades of grey and black, and had red straps in place of laces. Finally, Roxas wore a wrist band with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern on his left wrist, as well as a plain black ring on his left index finger and a plain white ring on his left middle finger. Tetsuya Nomura has stated that the checkers on Roxas's clothing are meant to symbolize light and darkness.

He also has clothes for sleeping in the simulated Twilight Town. He wears a white shirt with black coloration for the collar and arms. The arms also supports a half star motifs. He also wears a matching black shorts with a skull and crossbones symbol on the lower left side of the pants.

An early promotional artwork for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and Kingdom Hearts coded depicted the main characters of each game in a tripartite mural. Roxas was included in the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days section, yet was drawn to look several years older than his Kingdom Hearts II appearance. Nothing related to this was covered in the actual game, and as of yet no explanation has been given for this design variation.

Roxas's facial design also differs slightly between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. In the latter, his face was changed to resemble Ventus more in preparation for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Abilities


Since Roxas's complete being's heart is made up of two Keyblade wielders' hearts, Roxas can dual-wield Keyblades, the Oathkeeper and the Oblivion. In battle, he also uses light, becoming a phenomenally dangerous foe. His style and level of power is somewhat like Sora's Final Form. He can glide at fast speeds, so fast in fact that he leaves behind a lens flare, and control thirteen sword-shaped shields of light energy which can connect to form a laser array. He can levitate his Keyblades in the air and whirl and spin them rapidly, showing a great deal of proficiency and skill with the blades, and can also counter any extended combo with a more powerful one of his own, even creating a ring of damage just by twirling them in a circle.

His special attack involves him floating in the air and shooting his thirteen light shields around the arena, which then light it up in a thick twilight mist as Roxas begins shooting blue spheres of light at his opponent from energy gathered in his hands. He'll often attack rapidly from side-to-side, confusing the opponent, leaving a trail of light behind him. He can also perform the Duel Bout technique (similar to his Samurai Nobodies) where he rushes at his opponent and slashes at them quicker than the blink of an eye, causing intense damage if not repelled, the twist is that Sora can knock him into the air and briefly steal and use Roxas's Keyblades if he does repel the attack. However, when Sora steals Roxas's Keyblades, Roxas resorts to utilizing his light powers to full effect, before moving in to steal his Keyblades back from Sora.

In comparison to Sora, Roxas seems to have a far more aggressive style: he is constantly on the offensive, and abandons any defensive moves he had previously used, such as the Guard technique and magic, in favor of speed and strength. In their mental struggle in the Awakening, he briefly manages to overpower and disarm Sora with simple brute force. In this battle, he also has a more aggressive stance than he did when fighting Axel.

It is interesting to note that as well, when not dual-wielding, Roxas uses a fighting style similar to the one Sora used in Kingdom Hearts. Roxas's victory pose in Olympus Coliseum is to swing his Keyblade twice through the air in an X, then swing it to rest on his shoulder. This is extremely similar to Leon's victory pose in the Final Fantasy series as well as one of Sora's victory poses in the Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts.

Like Xion and Sora, Roxas has balanced, average stats in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

Weapons
When in possession of his full power, Roxas dual-wields two Keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion (which represent Sora's link to Kairi and Riku, respectively), although originally he could only wield a single Keyblade, which could take different forms through the use of Gears. However, during the short period in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days between his attaining the ability to dual-wield and reaching his full power, he could dual-wield two Kingdom Keys. So far, Roxas is the first character in the series to be able to dual-wield Keyblades. Roxas controls light and the Samurai Nobodies. Although it would normally be impossible for a Nobody to wield a Keyblade, Roxas can because Sora can. Of course, as the Heartless use the Keyblades as a homing signal, he is constantly under attack by them when not under the protection of Organization XIII. However, as the Organization's goal is to gather as many hearts as possible by using the Keyblade to extract them from Heartless, this phenomenon is actually a boon for the Organization.

Playing as Roxas
Kingdom Hearts II

Roxas's first actual gameplay appearance was in Kingdom Hearts II, during the beginning tutorials that took place in the Simulated Twilight Town (the First through Sixth Day). This appearance of Roxas was mainly in a non-combat setting. Again sharing the same aerial and ground combos as Sora, his full strength was accessed when Dual-Wielding in the second battle with Axel. Roxas had no access to spells in this gameplay incarnation, and was limited only to learning the following Abilities naturally:


 * Guard
 * Aerial Recovery
 * Scan

Roxas could also be customized in this gameplay incarnation to a lesser degree than in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, his Strength, Magic, or Defense raising very slightly depending on which Struggle weapon the player chooses in the first battle with Seifer. He also would grow in HP and other stats for meeting certain criteria in jobs or by defeating bosses. The main reason for playing as the Nobody in Kingdom Hearts II was to establish a plot and set the abilities and controls for the actual storyline, in which Sora is playable.

Dual-Wielding

In Kingdom Hearts II, Dual-Wielding Roxas can only be played as during the second fight with Axel, and is toned down, Roxas only gaining access to his dual signature blades, wearing his Kingdom Hearts II attire, and having access to the following abilities:


 * Scan
 * Item Boost
 * Defender
 * Second Chance
 * Once More

Each of these abilities are counted as Support Abilities, and are only used in the final battle with Axel, this form's only appearance. Dual-Wielding Roxas also has access to his own set of attacks for the final Axel face-off, which are the following:


 * Cross Swing
 * Horizontal Swing
 * Consecutive Swing
 * Aerial Thrust
 * Aerial Upswing
 * Spin Swing

Abilities
Roxas's Limit Break is called Event Horizon (イベントホライズン). When he starts it, he shouts "Nice try!" and his Keyblade becomes enveloped in light, growing in length. Roxas then unleashes a flurry of combos with his new blade. In his Final Limit, he shouts "You're finished!" and then repeatedly lurches forward, swinging his blade and sending off beams of light in all directions as he does. When Dual-Wielding, Roxas has another Limit Break, called Magic Hour (マジックアワー). In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, it is very similar to Zexion's Limit Break. When starting this attack, Roxas shouts "You can't stop me!", then he leaps into the air and shoots up a beam of light with his joined Keyblades. By doing so, he summons many large pillars of light to repeatedly come down in random places onto the battle field. Enemies that get hit take devastating damage. Roxas's Final Limit is very similar; he yells "Give me strength!" and the pillars become even larger. This attack also appears in Roxas's boss fight in Kingdom Hearts Re:coded. In the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix version, after Roxas floats, a symbol appears below him and he spins both of his Keyblades while firing a great number of homing light orbs.

Roxas's Limit Breaks both refer to light. The "event horizon" refers to the distance at which light can no longer escape from a black hole; the "magic hour" is a period during the sunset that has extremely favorable conditions for photography.

Roxas learns a variety of abilities in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, including Dodge Roll, Block, Glide, Air Rush, and Aerial Recovery, among others. He also is very proficient at magic, able to cast several different spells. However, none of these abilities carry over into Kingdom Hearts II. During his time in the Simulated Twilight Town, Roxas learns no magic, although he can boost his magical strength via both the Dream Rod and the Struggle Wand.

Trivia

 * The scene in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix where Axel bids Roxas goodbye is similar to the one in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days where Xion greeted Roxas on the clocktower before their battle. In both cases, Roxas is seen cradling himself before being surprised by the appearance of his friends. He is then offered to share one final sea-salt ice cream with them.
 * He is Sora's Nobody.
 * He shares the same identical appearance to both Sora and Ventus.

Notes and references
Roxas