Roxas

"You make a good other."

- Roxas to Sora (After second battle)

Roxas is one of the main characters of the Disney/Square Enix Kingdom Hearts series, and the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, as well as the first half of Kingdom Hearts II.

He is the Nobody of Sora and was Rank XIII within the original Organization XIII, and although Sora's heart was restored after his creation, Roxas continued to endure and exist. He is voiced by Jesse McCartney in English, and Kouki Uchiyama in Japanese.

Personality
"You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He's far too nice for his own good."

- DiZ to Roxas

As he has gained his own heart, Roxas genuinely has his own emotions and personality. Similarly to Sora and Ventus, he is kind, likable and friendly. He cares about others and is brave.

Roxas is generally more mature and will think rationally before moving forward, unlike the happy-go-lucky Sora. However, Roxas also displays a much more aggressive personality compared to Sora when teased or confused, and can be irritable and impatient. He can also be cocky and arrogant at times.

A defining trait to Roxas is his desire to have a life of his own and to be acknowledged as a single being. He spends his entire existence wanting to have friends and to spend time with them like a normal teenager, ever since he first sees children in Twilight Town doing so. Though he will still help people in need, he actually would prefer not to have the keyblade, as it prevents him from living the normal life he wants.

He intensely dislikes being compared to Sora, because he would rather people see him as his own person. He ultimately opts to merge with Sora regardless of all the afformentioned, proving him to be responsible and selfless.

Roxas mellows out considerably after he learns of and accepts his fate as Sora's nobody.

When he was first created, he was somewhat "blank", not yet understanding life and what it means to have one. He was naive and very curious about his surroundings as his new best friend Axel showed him the world.

Physical appearance
Though he is Sora's nobody, Roxas primarily resembles Ventus due to Ventus's heart residing within Sora during his creation; he and Ventus are virtually identical aside from his browner eyebrows versus Ventus's blonde eyebrows.

Though he is chronologically only a few years old, Roxas appears to be 15-year-old teenager with striking blue eyes and short, spiky dirty-blonde hair. He is thin and somewhat short, especially compared to his older fellow Organization members.

He spends much of his existence in a standard Organization XIII uniform, a black zipped-up hooded coat that reaches his ankles, and simple black shoes. His sleeves fit him somewhat looser than some other members.

At his creation, and after his time in the Organization, he wears an off-white, short-sleeved jacket with a red collar lined with black and accented with black checkers. Under it he wears a sleeveless black zip-up jacket, with the zipper resembling the nobody symbol. He wears two-toned jeans, that are charcoal colored around the top, but beige beginning halfway through his thigh. On his left hand, he has a wristband with a black-and-white checkered pattern and two similar finger coverings, a black one on his index finger and a white one on his middle finger.

Powers and Abilities
Roxas holds a unique ability to wield two keyblades, because he was created from two hearts with wielding abilities, Sora and Ventus. He dual-wields the Oathkeeper and Oblivion keyblades -- each respectively represent his link to Kairi and Riku through Sora. It also represents his promise made to Xion, to stop the creation of Kingdom Hearts(Oathkeeper), and his failure to do so,(Oblivion).

He also has the ability to manipulate light, earning him the "Light" attribute within Organization XIII.

All official members of Organization XIII were given a sub-species of nobodies to command; Roxas was given control of Samurai Nobodies.

Kingdom Hearts
"Do you remember your true name?"

- Xemnas in the opening of Kingdom Hearts II

Roxas makes an appearance in the game's secret ending albeit obscured by his Organization cloak. He meets with Xemnas at the Dark Margin, where Xemnas reveals that he had seen Sora, as Xemnas had encountered him at Hollow Bastion in the Final Mix version.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
After finishing Riku's Story, there is a picture of Roxas that is shown after the credits. During the end credits, Axel is seen to converse with him, Roxas completely oblivious to his presence.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
"Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know."

- Roxas to Axel upon his departure from the Organization

The 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. After Sora took his own heart to restore Kairi's, Roxas was born in Twilight Town and soon discovered by Xemnas, who gave him his name and invited him into the Organization. In Roxas' early days, Axel took a liking to Roxas and kept watch of the young Nobody. Soon, the two become the best of friends. 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 who can also wield a Keyblade. Slowly, Xion and Roxas become close friends. However, when Sora becomes placed in suspended animation by Naminé, Roxas falls into a coma for several weeks.

After awakening, Roxas begins to question why he wields the Keyblade and doubts the Organization's motives, and becomes increasingly impatient. Xion eventually leaves the Organization to find herself. Roxas and Axel try to find her, and eventually convince her to return. It is not long however, before Xion leaves again, trying to return to Sora. Roxas then finds out that Xion was not a Nobody but a Replica. When he learns that Axel knew about this, Roxas becomes angered and departs from the Organization.

In Twilight Town, Roxas encounters Xion, and is shocked to discover that Xion was created as a replacement for both Sora and Roxas, in case Roxas failed the Organization. After defeating her, Roxas learns that Xion purposely faked the ruse of attacking him to prevent Xemnas from succeeding. Roxas, however, loses all of his memories of Xion after the battle. In her final moments, she informs Roxas of the truth behind the Organization and pleads with him not to let Xemnas use Kingdom Hearts before fading peacefully in his arms. At this moment, Roxas remembers Xion, but he is too late, as Xion disappears leaving behind a seashell.

Xion's death awakens Ventus' Keyblade within Roxas, allowing him to dual-wield following her absorption into Roxas. With the knowledge gained, Roxas seeks to find Sora and returns to The World That Never Was, planning to "set Kingdom Hearts free" and bring Xion back. Upon his arrival, Roxas is attacked by Neoshadow Heartless, until Riku appears and they both defeat the Neoshadows. They then fight each other, Riku intending to capture Roxas to rejoin him with Sora. Realizing he cannot beat Roxas on his own, Riku unleashes his inner darkness and takes on the physical appearance of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Riku-Ansem successfully captures Roxas and brings him to DiZ, who places him in a virtual Twilight Town to be kept safely away from the Organization, leading into the events of Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts II
"You're lucky... looks like my summer vacation is...over."

- Roxas to a sleeping Sora

Roxas is fully introduced in the beginning of the game in a digital version of Twilight Town created by DiZ following his capture from Organization XIII. In the virtual world, Roxas' mind was altered to believe that he lives a normal life and is friends with three kids - Hayner, Pence, and Olette. 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. It is during this time that Axel manages to enter the virtual world to try and free Roxas, although Roxas is unable to remember Axel. Roxas also encounters Naminé several times after re-obtaining the Keyblade. Eventually, Naminé's contact with Roxas allows him to briefly connect his heart with Kairi's, where Sora himself, despite being asleep at that time, is able to talk to Kairi through Roxas to remind her of who he is.

Eventually, the truth is revealed: Naminé informs Roxas that he is a Nobody, and that he is supposed to merge with Sora in order to complete him. Along with that, Roxas discovers that his life in Twilight Town wasn't real. Desiring to see Sora, Roxas makes his way through the Old Mansion and begins to recall his former life. Roxas then meets with Axel one last time, but due to Roxas' reactions from before, Axel battles him, but Roxas defeats his old friend. Axel then retreats into the darkness while Roxas then enters the pod room where Sora is kept. As Sora's pod emerges, Roxas respectfully accepts his fate and rejoins with his original self, allowing Sora to finally awaken and begin the game. Though he does not actually appear to Sora throughout most of the game, Roxas is frequently mentioned, and his presence and memories often appear through Sora.

When Sora enters The World That Never Was, the Organization members make references to Roxas to Sora's confusion, until Sora learns the truth behind the Nobody's origin from Riku.

During his time here, prior to Riku telling him the truth behind Roxas, Sora has a confrontation with the Nobody at Memory's Skyscraper, leading to a fight, which took place within Sora's heart. The fight was spurned due to Roxas not having all the answers to the questions he had. Sora's initial suspicion is that this hooded figure (Roxas), is actually Riku. Roxas proceeded to wash away any speculation of this by saying, "Riku? I defeated a Riku once." At this, Sora is upset, and questions his action. Roxas ignores this, and demands an answer to a question of his own. "Tell me... Tell me why he chose you!"

Roxas resolved to find his answers, through fighting with his somebody. He seems to find his answer looking down at Sora standing on the portraits of his friends.

After this fight, Sora being victorious, the Nobody returned to the depths of Sora's heart, satisfied with his answer.

After Xemnas's seeming defeat and the demise of most of the Organization members, Roxas projects 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. They state that they 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. In the game's ending, Sora and Kairi briefly take on the appearances of Roxas and Naminé when Sora and Riku return to Destiny Islands.

Kingdom Hearts coded
While the real Roxas does not appear, 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.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Roxas appears in a dream Lea had where he was Axel, reminding him that Axel made a promise to always bring his friends back. Later on, Roxas 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 finally confronts Xigbar and Xemnas, declaring that his friends are his power, an image of Roxas is seen behind Sora along with many others that are connected to Sora fighting for him.

Roxas reappears within Sora's heart where he asks Riku a question, and then disappears when Riku answers it.

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 and watch one more sunset with them before moving on.
 * It appears that Roxas is fond of star and moon shapes, as his bedroom in the simulated Twilight Town is filled with the shapes in the furniture. Examples include: a star-shaped desk chair, a moon phase calendar on his wall, star-shaped clothing hooks, and even a night sky-theme glass window on his bedroom door. This is directly parallel to Ventus, who similarly had interest in astronomy and was fond of star-gazing.
 * Roxas has appeared in every entry in the Kingdom Hearts series, even before his formal introduction in Kingdom Hearts II. In the first Kingdom Hearts, he is featured in the secret ending, though his identity would not be revealed until KHII ' s release.

Notes and references
Roxas