Xehanort (disambiguation)

Xehanort is the main antagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series, a former apprentice of Ansem the Wise, and the original persona of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas. It's revealed in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep that Xehanort was "born" when his original incarnation, Master Xehanort's heart took over the Keyblade Wielder Terra's body. Xehanort is directly responsible for the creation of the Emblem Heartless, the Nobodies, and Organization XIII, and also indirectly responsible for putting most of the Disney villains on the hunt for Kingdom Hearts. One way or another, Xehanort has made an appearance in every game of the "Xehanort Saga". Similar to the Organization XIII members, Xehanort's name contains the letter "X", along with anagrams for "No Heart" and "Another". Before he lost his memory, when he still had a split personality, he was known as Terra-Xehanort or the new Xehanort.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Xehanort first appeared chronologically in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep at the Keyblade Graveyard when Master Xehanort used his Keyblade to unlock his heart and possess Terra after the creation of the χ-blade. He sought to use Terra's body as a younger and more powerful weapon as he ventured deeper into the mystery of the Keyblade War. Terra failed to shield himself with his armor, becoming a younger incarnation of the elderly Keyblade master. As he walked off, the possessed Terra was forced to battle Terra's discarded armor, which had come alive through Terra's mind. After the fight, Terra-Xehanort was knocked unconscious and was then sent to the Radiant Garden in a blast of light caused by the destruction of the χ-blade (and Vanitas) by Aqua and Ventus. The discarded armor continued to reside in the Keyblade Graveyard from then on, Kingdom Hearts vanishing above it.

Aqua, learning from Master Yen Sid that her friend Terra's heart had been lost, was led to Radiant Garden through Terra's voice after hearing it when she left a comatose Ventus to rest peacefully in a chamber in the newly reshaped Land of Departure. It was in the Radiant Garden that Aqua met Terra-Xehanort. Confused about his identity (due to the conflicting hearts Terra and Master Xehanort within him) Terra-Xehanort attacked Aqua with Master Xehanort's Keyblade and a Heartless-like symbiote. After the climatic battle, Terra begins to get the upper hand in his and Master Xehanort's internal struggle, which forces Terra-Xehanort to use the Keyblade to force him out. However, the symbiote drags Xehanort into the Realm of Darkness, Aqua diving in after him and sacrificing her armor and Keyblade to save Terra-Xehanort. After these events transpired, Braig took fellow apprentice Dilan as well as their master Ansem the Wise to the location of the battle between Aqua and Terra-Xehanort, where the amnesiac Keyblade wielder lay unconscious with no memory at all, except the name "Xehanort". On Ansem's order, the amnesiac young man was taken back to the castle along with Aqua's armor and Keyblade.

As the years passed, Xehanort became Ansem's leading apprentice, showing remarkable talents and having a great curiosity about the true nature of the heart. He also began to work with Braig, who would begin to construct a plan to mass produce the nefarious Heartless alongside him. Little was Xehanort aware that inside him a battle between the hearts of Terra and Master Xehanort was taking place, the two arguing over who was to control Xehanort's body.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Although he was confused about his past, Xehanort's quick learning and cunning made him the foremost apprentice of Ansem the Wise. Xehanort was described by Ansem as having abilities so remarkable that they could be considered supernatural. Eventually, Ansem began to worry about the darkness that lingers within the hearts of others and sought a way to stop it before it consumed his people. Ansem constructed a laboratory under his castle where he, Xehanort, and Ansem's five other assistants (Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo) would conduct experiments on darkness.

Xehanort, who Ansem now fully trusts as an apprentice and friend, offered to use himself in the experiments. Ansem also hoped to unlock Xehanort's memories in addition to uncovering a way to repress the darkness within hearts. Xehanort had other plans in mind though and decided to conduct his own experiments to go deeper into the research.

Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo carried out their own experiments where they abducted countless people and locked them within the depths of the laboratory where Xehanort then conducted horrible experiments on the subjects. After using many test subjects, one set of experiments led to the collapse of their hearts. The subjects then went into unrecoverable conditions and were locked up in the dungeon of the castle. Eventually, Xehanort checked on the subjects and saw that they transformed into creatures of darkness, which he named "The Heartless" as they apparently lacked hearts. At this point, Xehanort had taken Ansem the Wise's name as his own and wrote his own report under this stolen name.

Xehanort then presented the Heartless with living and non-living samples; the Heartless only responded to the living. Xehanort witnessed the Heartless consume the living creatures and then multiply into more Heartless. Xehanort deduced that the Heartless seek the hearts of other things, which explains why they only react to living samples, in order to create more of their kind. Xehanort and his associates soon began to slowly accept the darkness, allowing them to have limited control over the Heartless.

They in turn began to look less and less human, a factor that Ansem himself realized. When Ansem learned that his apprentices continued with the research, he called them together and ordered for them to cease their efforts immediately, all the while questioning what was happening to his loyal apprentices. Xehanort, however, saw his master as a fool who had no understanding of research and kept the research operating.

After observing the behavior of the Heartless and their responses to living things, Xehanort took one of the Heartless aside and observed its behavior. The Heartless began to move throughout the castle until a door appeared which Xehanort was, somehow, able to open. Behind the door was a humongous mass of energy to which the Heartless reacted immensely. The opening of this door led to the collapse of the world's boundaries, which was seen in the form of a meteor shower. Xehanort eventually deduced that the door actually led to the heart of that world and that the opening of this door led to the collapse of the walls between worlds.

This allowed inter-dimensional travel as all the walls between worlds were now broken and eventually a visitor showed up named King Mickey. He had constructed a Gummi Ship, a spacecraft capable of breaking through world boundaries, out of materials from the meteors and used it to visit many different places in search of answers of recent events. Xehanort and Mickey met and had huge discussions in which Xehanort learned of the Keyblade, a mysterious weapon that Mickey himself possessed.

There were also legends that told of seven princesses with pure hearts and how they have a connection to this Keyblade. The Keyblade can also be wielded by many, as long as their hearts qualify, and it seems there is a legend of one Keyblade bearer who went on a journey of destiny to seal off the doors to other worlds. Since this was not in Xehanort's interest, he sought a way to find this weapon, which is ironic, given that his former self once wielded one, but was now lost. Mickey eventually met and befriended Ansem the Wise and the two of them exchanged theories and ideas in his office about what the Heartless were after. Ansem decided to resist the urge to test their theories while expressing deep remorse for his actions.

However, Ansem had no idea that Xehanort had gone further than he himself even dared. Xehanort entered the office during their discussion, asking Ansem's permission to test an experiment. Ansem forbade Xehanort to conduct it and told him to forget everything he learned from the research.

Even though Ansem had no further urge to research the darkness, the experiments led by Xehanort continued including the creation of a machine that created artificial Heartless, all of which were marked with an emblem created by Xehanort in order to differentiate them from the pure-bred Heartless. King Mickey suspected something odd about Xehanort and told Ansem to check his lab, collect all his data, and see if everything was under control.

Ansem did so and learned that Xehanort had taken his name as his own and wrote a detailed report. From the report, Ansem learned of the horrible torture inflicted on people by the inhumane experiments that Xehanort had done. Ansem ordered his apprentices to seal off the laboratory and cease their scheme for knowledge.

Ansem's apprentices did as he instructed them but Xehanort eventually banished Ansem to the Realm of Nothingness and ravaged the world with Heartless. The Heartless under the command of Xehanort began spreading to other worlds and destroyed numerous ones in their mad search for hearts. One side effect of the destruction of so many worlds was the creation of Traverse Town, made up of the remains of the ruined worlds and populated by the few survivors of those said worlds. Xehanort then ordered for the seal on the laboratory to be broken and that a room that he called the "Chamber of Repose" be constructed. Once done, Xehanort often went in and spoke as if there was someone else in the room. It is later revealed that the room housed Aqua's armor, which Xehanort used to help gain further recollection about his past.

Xehanort then abducted and sent Kairi, a resident of Radiant Garden, to the oceans of other worlds. The reason for this was because Xehanort thought Kairi had a connection to the Keyblade bearer, as she seemed to possess power comparable to that of a Princess of Heart, which is rumored to posses a connection to the Keyblade. He hoped to use her to find the Keyblade master and prevent him from sealing off the doors to other worlds.

Xehanort made the final pages of his report, which outlined his intentions as well as those of the Heartless. The Heartless seek to consume the hearts of all living things. However, they not only seek human hearts, but the hearts of the worlds themselves. Their ultimate goal is to collect enough hearts to form the biggest heart of all, the heart in which all that exist are evolved from: Kingdom Hearts. Xehanort decided to use the Heartless' instincts to make his own plans.

He would find Kingdom Hearts in order to gain ultimate power, control, and knowledge. Xehanort also learned that the creation of a Heartless can also lead to the creation of another creature called a Nobody, beings that are left over bodies of those whose hearts have been stolen away. They transform into an inhuman state and do not truly exist as they lack a heart to make them truly live.

Xehanort and the others eventually gave themselves to the darkness to gain the ability to control all Heartless and wield the powers of darkness. They lost their hearts in the process and they became powerful Nobodies. However, Xehanort was the only one to have both a human Heartless and a human Nobody, both possessing the memories and personality traits prior to their creations. Since they possessed strong hearts, Xehanort and his followers (Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo) were able to retain their human forms as Nobodies. Radiant Garden was almost completely destroyed, save for the castle and the mutated waterways, which had several modifications done to it by Xehanort and the other apprentices, and most of its people were wiped out while some (like Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, and Merlin) managed to escape to Traverse Town.

Kingdom Hearts II
While Sora was investigating Ansem the Wise's study within Hollow Bastion, he spots a portrait of an unnamed man. He and his friends (Donald Duck and Goofy) realize that this man was the original being of "Ansem", who Sora had defeated one year ago. After speaking with Tron and learning more about Ansem the Wise, they return to Ansem's study and run into King Mickey, who indicates that the true Ansem was not the one they fought. He asks them to give Tron some further help, and once they return, they find an image of an unknown man on Tron's computer, which Mickey identifies as a picture of the real Ansem. Later, after defeating the Heartless swarming the town, the trio encounter Xemnas, the Nobody of the fake Ansem and the superior of Organization XIII. Mickey finally remembers that Xemnas's original being was Xehanort, and explains about his past encounter with Ansem and Xehanort.

In The World That Never Was, King Mickey encounters the true Ansem, and learns from him that his goal is to destroy Xemnas's artificial Kingdom Hearts and exact revenge on Xehanort for stealing his name and pride. Riku and Sora also refer to the fake Ansem as "Xehanort's Heartless", when Sora mistakes Riku for the villain, and when Riku explains how he had gained Ansem's form. Later on, Ansem repeatedly uses the name "Xehanort" to insultingly refer to Xemnas, who replies by listing Ansem's own sins, and accusing Ansem of always holding his research back. Xemnas's demise at the hands of Sora and Riku apparently ends the threat of Organization XIII, yet also paves way for Xehanort's eventual return.

Xehanort's Letter

 * Dear Master Eraqus, please accept my deepest gratitude for the invitation to witness your pupils' accession to the rank of a true Keyblade Master. It was a heavy mantle our Master placed upon your shoulders naming you Successor, but you have nonetheless persevered and raised two Masters yourself. I know it cannot be easy.


 * I did you terrible harm in the past over a petty difference in opinion, and just a few years ago selfishly thrust my own burdens upon you. I think of you like a younger brother, and yet, fool that I am, I have never availed myself of countless opportunities to apologize or thank you for opening your home to the boy. Yet not once have you blamed me; on the contrary, here you are inviting me to such an important ceremony. I intend to be there to offer you all my blessings.


 * Our Master chose his heir wisely. Ours is a bizarrely ironic task—to watch over the light from the shadows—but in the face of that, the warmth in your heart and unfailing dedication to the light impress me to no end.


 * I have taken to wandering the World, and seen much darkness hiding in the light. Lately, I fear it has taken a turn for the worse. Perhaps Yen Sid has already told you about the Unversed? These fledgling emotions derive from negativity, and I can now sense their presence in nearly every world.


 * And on the topic of darkness: we must speak of another matter that concerns me, one related to the upcoming ceremony. When I visited several years ago, your pupil Terra drew my attention. His power is immense, to be sure, but within his heart I could see darkness just waiting to be awakened. I know this is none of my business, but I have reservations about welcoming Terra as a true Keyblade Master without taking certain precautions. The traditional examination, perhaps, to see if he has the Mark of Mastery? The choice is yours, and I will humbly respect your decision.


 * Take care. I eagerly await our long overdue reunion.



Xehanort's Report I

 * Much time has passed since I left the home of my youth behind, and in the myriad worlds I have visited, I have gained much knowledge. On these pages, I intend to record a portion of that knowledge, and put the course of my life to paper.


 * Upon reflection, my life underwent the most considerable sea-change when I arrived at that place. Yes, it began when I found a Master, and another I would later call my brother—when I found a new home.


 * Then there was the Keyblade. For what purpose was it begotten, and by whom? During my training as one of its wielders, the precepts offered a clear answer: the Keyblade existed so that we who watched over the light could protect the world from the shadows.


 * But was that the TRUE answer? Could there not be more to it than that? My heart sought knowledge, and so I sometimes visited other worlds—though such travel was forbidden unless duty required—and found what my heart sought.



Xehanort's Report II

 * Our Master instructed us to don armor while traveling between worlds, so that we might shield ourselves from the darkness. But there, in the Lanes Between, I could feel the force of it—the power—and from then on, I forwent my armor's "protection." I had been told the darkness would devour me, but what terrors could it possibly hold, so long as I found the strength to control it?


 * The World is vast—and the worlds within the greater World, uncountable. Like little islands, they dot a great Ocean Between which keeps them ignorant of each other, uncorrupted.


 * Each world had its own order. Unlike us, they could not know of the World in its entirety, and we were never to enlighten them.



Xehanort's Report III

 * In ancient times, no such buffers kept the larger World divided; there were no walls of light enclosing each smaller world the way they do today. Nothing prevented one from physically interfering with the next.


 * At that time, the World was filled with light, and a great many Keyblade wielders. But without buffers, the worlds began to squabble over ownership of the light. You see, they learned of the Keyblade's true use. War broke out as each of the Keyblade wielders struggled to lay claim to an almighty entity known as Kingdom Hearts.


 * Kingdom Hearts could be described as an aggregate of hearts. Worlds, too, have hearts, just like people; each world's heart is concealed from sight, beyond a hidden door. By gathering all the hearts of all the worlds in a single place, one may complete Kingdom Hearts.



Xehanort's Report IV

 * And when Kingdom Hearts is complete, it is said the one who opens its door will bring about the creation of the Next World. Such a feat is above any human. Or, to put it a different way: whoever opens that door will be reborn as something far greater than human.


 * Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin; without darkness, there is no light. The Keyblade wielders' great war over Kingdom Hearts was fought by defenders of the light, servants of darkness, those who sought to reconcile the two, and those motivated by nothing more than lust for power. A whole spectrum of thought was swept into the conflict, and the worlds that did not go to war found the war brought to them. In the end, the whole World was cast into darkness. That was how the ancient Keyblade War drew to a close. To this day, no one has ever managed to open the door to Kingdom Hearts.
 * Some time later, the little light that remained in the hearts of the few gave rise to the World we know today: one made of many worlds behind just as many walls, so that the Keyblade War would not be repeated.

Xehanort's Report V

 * At present, the lanes and corridors that run between the worlds may only be traversed by us Keyblade wielders, and those who have given themselves over to darkness.


 * As the former, our duty is to cross the chasms between the worlds and guard against the latter, whose darkness corrupts and contaminates, so that no world need ever be lost again.


 * Few Keyblade wielders remain now; I have heard of but a handful of others outside my circle. But the world is vast, and more of our kind may be out there.


 * Now, in addition to the realm of light in which we reside, there is also a realm of darkness, and the realm between which connects the two. The realm of darkness is most forbidden; I am told none who set foot there have ever returned.



Xehanort's Report VI

 * There are three families of Keyblades: the Keyblades of light we wield, Keyblades of darkness, and Keyblades of heart.


 * The first and second families differ only in origin; Keyblades of darkness are found in the realm of darkness, and are counterparts to the Keyblades we use in the realm of light.


 * The third type of key, the Keyblade of heart, came into existence when the World was reorganized after the Keyblade War. Without this key, Kingdom Hearts is forever beyond a person's reach. Only by gathering seven hearts of pure light--hearts completely devoid of darkness--may one forge a Keyblade of heart and open the door to Kingdom Hearts.


 * And, as stated before, opening this door arguably gives that person control over all worlds and all people.



Xehanort's Report VII

 * I have uncovered the Keyblade's ultimate mystery. You see, besides the three families of Keyblades, there is another "Key Blade." While it may sound the same when spoken, it is notated uniquely: "χ-blade." And make no mistake, while it resembles a normal Keyblade, it is something altogether different.


 * Keyblades are said to be man-made counterparts to Kingdom Hearts. The χ-blade, however, coexists with Kingdom Hearts.


 * It is only forged when two hearts of equal power intersect--one heart of pure darkness, one heart of pure light. At the time of its forging, Kingdom Hearts appears. It must be noted, though, that this Kingdom Hearts is special. Unlike the Kingdoms brought about forcibly and artificially through the collection of hearts, THIS Kingdom Hearts is a perfect and complete union of ALL the worlds' hearts. Surely it was over this that the ancient Keyblade War was fought.


 * If so, the walls that divide the worlds today are of little consequence. With the χ-blade, all their hearts could be instantly reunited--and the Keyblade War, refought.



Xehanort's Report VIII

 * My brother pupil Eraqus thinks only in absolutes. He has persuaded himself that light is the only way, but forgets that light cannot exist without shadow. I believe a balance of light and darkness is what sustains our World, but too much of the darkness has been stamped out, disrupting that balance. Someone must tear down this tyranny of light and reorganize the World around the darkness which then creeps back in.


 * Eraqus and I did not see eye to eye. I left, and wandered the World. This was perhaps the first time I felt truly free since that day I departed my boyhood home. But free to do what? I had already shown the Mark and become a Keyblade Master—but having been passed over as a Successor, all that remained to me was the road of teacher.


 * Ordinarily, Keyblade Masters take pupils under their wings, malleable minds in which to impress the precepts of the Keyblade wielder and keep our profession alive for generations to come. Was my time drawing to an end, then, after all I had accomplished since casting away the place of my birth? Surely waiting for a quiet death would not do, not when there was still so much I needed to see for myself. Powers help me, I thought, my body is so old...



Xehanort's Report IX

 * We Keyblade Masters have a special gift. We can extract a heart, be it our own or that of another. By continuing this cycle, it is possible to remain in the world of the living forever.


 * As a boy, I dreamed of seeing the farthest reaches of the World. If I only went far enough, there had to be a world out there in which no one had ever before set foot. And now I know of just such a world. If I become the first to open Kingdom Hearts' door, I can create the Next World in which light and darkness exist in perfect equilibrium.


 * So there I stood, with vast knowledge in one gnarled, dying hand, and newfound purpose in the other. The next step was clear: I needed a new vessel.


 * And that was when I met Ventus and made him my pupil. We were destined to meet, and I could sense the potential within him, but the boy was too benign for his own good. I came to the conclusion he was too frail to serve as a vessel, and decided to use him for a second purpose I had in mind.


 * I would remove the darkness from his heart and split him in two. Then I would have my heart of pure light, and my heart of pure darkness.



Xehanort's Report X

 * As was to be expected, Ventus lacked the constitution for such and ordeal. I was able to remove the darkness inside him and create Vanitas, a heart of pure darkness, but Ventus drifted into the clutches of sleep.


 * Ventus' heart of pure light and Vanitas's heart of pure darkness...If both could be made strong enough to one day clash, I know the χ-blade would be forged.


 * But Vanitas took too much of Ventus's heart, and from that fracture, I could see the last of Ventus's light was slipping away. The boy deserved a place to spend his final moments peacefully. and what should come to mind but my own boyhood home.


 * My legs took me there unbidden, and as I stood there on the same beach where I had made my choice so many years ago, I thought: not a single thing has changed. Here, in this quiet world, time marches in place. Content that Ventus would find peace here, I started to walk away—but just then, the boy held up his Keyblade. The light within him had not died.



Xehanort's Report XI

 * Ventus and Vanitas were not matched in power; I could not train them, or Vanitas's darkness would gnaw away what little Ventus had left.


 * Of course, since I needed a place where the boy's light might flourish, the answer was obvious: Eraqus, and his absolutes.


 * Considering how we had parted ways, I expected friction—but if anything, Eraqus seemed delighted to see me again. He readily agreed to take care of Ventus. Now I need only wait for the boy's heart to get stronger.


 * I had not visited this second home of mine for some time, and discovered Eraqus had already two pupils of his own. Within one of them, Terra, I sensed something. The boy, though well-intentioned, seeks power single-mindedly. And that kind of hunger is a seedbed for darkness.


 * I had found my vessel.



Xehanort's Report XII

 * The time has come. I have received word from Eraqus that his pupils are to become true Keyblade Masters. Terra and Aqua...They will be easy now to lure into the outside world. But Ventus! I will get nowhere without him.


 * Vanitas can feel some of what Ventus feels, and he says Terra is the key. Ventus has loved Terra like a real brother ever since he let him keep his old wooden Keyblade. It seems we have found a loose thread at which we can tug to unravel Ventus's heart.


 * The first step is to get Terra alone; then we need to plant the seeds of doubt in Ventus. Let him carry his faint light as he chases his brother into the darkness.


 * Let the darkness make his light stronger, then let the light deepen the darkness. And where the two finally meet is where the stuff of legends will become real.