Yen Sid

Yen Sid is a powerful sorcerer and teacher of Mickey Mouse, who first appeared in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a segment of Fantasia. In the Kingdom Hearts series and Epic Mickey, his voice is provided by Corey Burton. In the sequel Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Yen Sid will be voiced by Mike Himselstein.

Background
According to the filmmakers, Yen Sid was apparently modeled after Walt Disney right down to signature facial features recognizable by the animators. *Yen Sid's name, which is not given in the film itself, was given to him by the animators. It is "Disney" spelled backwards which pays tribute to Walt.

Personality
Being rather mysterious, not too much is known about the sorcerer. He is wise, practical and most often seen with a serious tone. Most who encounter Yen Sid often can be bound to be intimidated by his appearance but underneath his fierce look lies a heart of gold. Surprisingly, he is very forgiving and actually has a sense of humor. He is more than aware of Mickey's mischief and willing to deal with this; putting it aside to teach his apprentice. Underneath his harsh exterior is a man who strongly believes in his apprentices, no matter what mischief they may get into.

His past is never looked upon with the exception of the Kingdom Hearts continuity. Years before Sora, the sorcerer was a keyblade wielder but eventually retired or as he puts it "doffed that mantle."

Appearance
Yen Sid is an elderly man with his signature sorcerer hat atop his head. He has a long Grey beard reaching down underneath his chest. He has small eyes with tiny pupils as well as a long aqua colored cloak which he wears in all appearances.

Powers and Abilities
Most of Yen Sid's magic is obtained through his sorcerer hat. With the hat he is known to conjure up mystic clouds and bring to life inanimate objects. Despite this, he has abilities without the hat. When Mickey accidentally flooded the tower with the hat, Yen Sid stormed in and forced the water to dissolve and while so he created large waves all without the hat. In the Kingdom Hearts series, Yen Sid was able to disappear in a beam of light. Most other abilities to this day are unknown.

Fantasia
The great sorcerer first appeared in the Fantasia short, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as Mickey Mouse's master. He was the owner of a magical hat, which is apparently the source of his power. In the short, Yen Sid is preforming magic while a young Mickey Mouse completes his chores. Satisfied with his work, the sorcerer puts down his hat retiring for the night. During his absence, Mickey takes the hat and begins to play with the magic. He creates a living broom and orders it to take water and place it in a fountain (which is Mickey's chore). After falling asleep Mickey awakens to see the broom flooding the tower. Mickey chops up the broom but this only creates several more. The tower is nearly flooded completely until the powerful Yen Sid returns from his chambers and stops the chaos. Yen Sid is then furious that Mickey had disobeyed him, Mickey returns the hat to his angry master as he slowly goes to finish his chores. Yen Sid shows a small smirk at Mickey, who gives a weak smile and to make sure the apprentice has learned his lesson, the wizard smacks him once in the buttocks with the now inanimate broom making Mickey get his chores done a lot faster.

Fantasia 2000
Yen Sid reappears in the sequel and lives out the same role in the original. His sequence in the Fantasia sequel being the only sequence from the original film to appear in the new film.

House of Mouse
In the animated television series House of Mouse, Yen Sid makes a few cameos, usually alongside the magic brooms from the Fantasia short. In the episode "Rent Day", Mickey needs to find a book for Belle and asks Yen Sid for it until he reveals his strict face and Mickey quotes "Never mind." In "Pete's Christmas Caper", Pete steals the hat from Yen Sid and uses it to control the brooms as they steal everyones Christmas gifts. Yen Sid was seen staring harshly at Mickey with his hat in "House of Magic". Yen Sid also made a cameo appearance in Mickey's Magical Christmas where his hat was turned into that of Santa Claus' as the club undergoes a Christmas makeover.

Disney Parks
Yen Sid can be easily spotted as a statue at the Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf at Walt Disney World Resort. His statue is featured in hole 6 known as The Legend of Yen Sid and showcases the sorcerer controlling water as he did in the film. Yen Sid has his own spell card known as "Yen Sid's Sorcerer Hat" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

Kingdom Hearts series
Yen Sid appears in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as a retired Keyblade Master, renowned for his wisdom and command over the arts of magic; though no longer an active Keyblade Master, he still keeps a close watch on the balance between Light and Darkness. He was once Mickey Mouse's master, and taught him everything he knows of magic and the Keyblade.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
After training Mickey on the night before Terra and Aqua's Mark of Mastery exam, Yen Sid relays to him a, "feeling that something terrible is about to transpire." The next morning, following the completion of the exam, Yen Sid contacts Master Eraqus via the crystal in the Land of Departure's throne room about the threat of the Unversed.

When Terra visits Yen Sid's tower, he asks him for guidance about Master Xehanort, Vanitas, and the Unversed. After Terra leaves, Yen Sid comments "I had hope Xehanort, your heart would no longer lead you astray". Later, Ventus shows up at his tower with a Star Shard, and Master Yen Sid uses divination magic to locate Mickey. Aqua later returns Mickey to his tower, and Master Yen Sid tells her of Master Eraqus's destruction and that the murder was committed by Master Xehanort and Terra. Sometime after Aqua leaves for the Keyblade Graveyard, Mickey departs to assist her and her friends.

Following the defeat of Vanitas, Mickey returns with Aqua and a comatose Ventus. Master Yen Sid finds himself unable to sense Ven's heart and encourages Aqua to believe in their friendship—which serves as the key to bring him home one day. Some time later, Mickey sorrowfully hands in the Star Shard and the Star Seeker, thinking he has disgraced his master, and prepares to depart. However, Master Yen Sid gives him back the Keyblade, and he happily accepts.

Kingdom Hearts II
Eleven years later in Kingdom Hearts II, Yen Sid serves as Sora's tutor to what lies ahead of him in his journey. He lives in a large tower in a small world-of-sorts connected to Twilight Town via a Magical Train. He dwells at its top, where he studies the Heartless, the Nobodies and Organization XIII. When Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy arrive, he tells them of the enemies that they will face in the near future (Nobodies, Heartless and the Organization). He also returns to them their Gummi Ship and the co-ordinates to Hollow Bastion.

It is unknown what happens to Master Yen Sid and the 3 fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. The last we see of Master Yen Sid is after the Gummi ship is returned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and he vanishes. The last seen of the three fairies is when Maleficent's cloak is brought to the tower and they decide to tell Yen Sid about this. Later on if you visit the tower, it is overtaken by Nobodies (more specifically, Sniper, Dragoon, Berserker, Dancer, Gambler, and Dusk), and neither Yen Sid or the fairies are anywhere to be seen. It is assumed, however, that he escaped to Traverse Town, Disney Castle or Hollow Bastion, though most likely in an inaccessible area in the later two worlds, while the fairies either returned to Aurora's world or followed Master Yen Sid to wherever he escaped.

Kingdom Hearts coded
After discovering that Sora has the power to save all the lost hearts connected to him, Mickey meets with Yen Sid to inform him of the whereabouts of Ventus's heart, leaving only Terra to be found. However, Yen Sid shocks Mickey by revealing that the destruction of Ansem and Xemnas will lead to the return of Xehanort, their original persona. Fearing that Xehanort may not be alone, Yen Sid orders Mickey to bring Sora and Riku to the Mysterious Tower to undertake the Mark of Mastery exam.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Yen Sid explains the full history of Master Xehanort to Sora and Riku and puts them through the Mark of Mastery exam by assigning them to awaken several worlds which remained in a state of "deep sleep" following Ansem's destruction, and explains numerous facts such as the nature of the Dream Eaters and residents of the sleeping worlds. However, soon after the exam begins, Yen Sid starts to feel that something is going awry.

Later on, when Mickey, Donald and Goofy depart for Disney Castle to confront Maleficent, Yen Sid surmises that the growing darkness in the worlds due to Master Xehanort's coming return may be the reason Maleficent has become strong enough to resist the Cornerstone of Light. The trio soon return with the revived Lea, who requests to become a Keyblade wielder. Yen Sid, taken aback, warns Lea of the dangerous path ahead, and has him undergo a magically compressed training session under Merlin and the three fairies. Eventually, when Sora and Riku do not return from the Sleeping Worlds as planned, Yen Sid realizes that Xehanort devised a means to confront the two in the Sleeping Worlds and sprung a trap on them. He allows Mickey to make his way to The World That Never Was to save their friends, sending Lea, Donald and Goofy after Mickey as back-up.

Mickey and the others eventually bring Sora's comatose body back to the study, where Yen Sid realises that Master Xehanort was on to them the entire time. When Riku awakens Sora from his slumber, Yen Sid delivers a sincere apology to the both of them for failing to realise the magnitude of Master Xehanort's plans. Though he commends them both for performing admirably, Yen Sid only declares Riku as a Keyblade Master, since he managed to unlock two keyholes of sleep, while Sora failed to resist the darkness and ended up in a magical sleep induced by Young Xehanort. Yen Sid, however, is visibly stunned when Lea finally manages to summon his own Keyblade.

Having realised Master Xehanort's plan to recreate the X-Blade by pitting his new Organization XIII against the seven Princesses of Heart, Yen Sid devises a plan to counter Xehanort by gathering seven Keyblade wielders of Light to protect the Princesses, and orders Riku to bring Kairi to him to undergo training with the Keyblade she received from Aqua.

Epic Mickey
"The world I had created was ravaged, a wasteland..."

- Yen Sid.

Years ago, Yen Sid created a home for the forgotten and retired aspects of Disney, serving as a benevolent, albeit unseen creator, watching from "on high" and enjoying their antics. But one day, his magic mirror opened into the home of Mickey Mouse. When he entered Yen Sid's workshop after he was resting from that evening's work, Mickey played with the magic paintbrush and created a monster, ruining Yen Sid's creation in the process, now dubbed the Wasteland.

In the end, Mickey returns home and is apparently locked out of Yen Sid's studies. Although it seems to be impossible to return, Yen Sid remembers he is Mickey Mouse and with that personality will eventually find a way to return.

Yen Sid also serves as the narrator of the game, looking back at what events followed.

Trivia

 * Kingdom Hearts II marks the first time Yen Sid's voice has ever been heard, which is done by veteran Disney voice actor, Corey Burton.
 * The Disney animators used Disney's "dirty look" (which was the look that Walt gave his animators when he disapproved of their work) for the sorcerer by lifting his eyebrow.
 * Yen Sid's appearance inspired the appearance of King Kashekim Nedakh, Kida's father from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
 * Yen Sid himself did not appear in the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but his hat did at the end of the end credits for the film, although he was the inspiration for the wise sorcerer character Balthazar Blake.
 * "Yen Sid" backwards is "Dis Ney", which without the space makes "Disney".

Gallery
Yen Sid