Xehanort

Xehanort is a Keyblade Master the primary main antagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series. After his debut in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Xehanort begins to make himself known to Sora in ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. ''

Master Xehanort
''One of the true Keyblade Masters and a longtime acquaintance of Master Eraqus. He is connected with the masked boy, and harbors a hidden agenda.''

Unlike Master Eraqus, Xehanort believes darkness need not be rejected if it can be controlled.

Unknown
A mysterious figure whose origins, identity, and purpose﻿ are unclear.

Master Xehanort
A former Keyblade Master whose obsession with the Keyblade War led him to give his heart over to darkness.

He tried to forge the χ-blade and trigger another Keyblade War, but three young Keyblade wielders put a stop to him.

Now, he has revealed his ultimate goal: to create the real Organization XIII and infuse his heart into all its members.

Young Xehanort
''Xehanort in his early years. He has traveled through time to guide Sora toward a ghastly fate.''

Pre-Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Xehanort lived on Destiny Islands, dreaming of leaving his home in search for something greater, until the day when his future Heartless arrived and told him of the future. Ansem then gave his younger self the power to time travel and collect all of their other incarnations for a grand scheme. As part of the laws of time travel, Xehanort leaves his body to enter the body of another version of himself, not marking one change that would alter what is destined to happen. Once back in his time after fulfilling his mission, though he lost all memory of his time-travel, Xehanort enacted the destiny placed before him.

He found a way to depart his home world, and was trained to be a Keyblade Master, eventually befriending Eraqus, another Keybearer, whom he began to see as a younger brother. While Eraqus suceeded their master and took steward over the Land of Departure, the newly made Master Xehanort traveled to many different worlds as a Seeker. With his freedom to travel, Xehanort obtained vast knowledge concerning Keyblade lore, the power of Light and Darkness and detailed knowledge of the Heartless. However, Xehanort begun to see that light is constraining darkness to the point he saw it to be an imbalance

It was by that time that he intrigued by mysteries of the Keyblade War and Kingdom Hearts. It eventually became a obsession that led Xehanort to decide to recreate the χ-blade, the legendary weapon from which the Keyblades were modeled after and was capable of unlocking Kingdom Hearts, by causing another Keyblade War. One day, when he discussed his plans to Eraqus, ignored his friend's pleas and scarred him when he attempted to attack him. By that time, Xehanort had grown old, and realized that he must transfer his essence and knowledge to a "new vessel" in order to survive to see his plans reach fruition.

Originally, Xehanort took Ventus in hopes he would be an ideal vessel. However, Ventus proved to be a poor candidate, and when he refused to use his darkness to fight several Heartless, Master Xehanort instead decided to extract Ventus's darkness and give it form as Vanitas with Ventus on the verge of death due to the strain of the separation. Leaving Ventus to die on his homeworld, Xehanort was amazed to find him someone recovering. Xehanort decides to use Ventus and Vanitas to recreate the χ-blade. But as Ventus was too weak, Xehanort decided to leave the boy with Eraqus to be trained. While portraying himself as having discarded his scheme, Xehanort set his eyes on one of Eraqus's apprentices: Terra, within whom he sensed the correct potential to be his new vessel.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
While in the Land of Departure, Master Xehanort sabotages the Mark of Mastery Exam taken by Terra and Aqua, causing Terra to fail, and later tells him that if he were to become a true Keyblade Master, he would have to embrace the darkness in his heart and channel it rather than fight it. Shortly thereafter, having Vantias use his Unversed to lure Terra and Ventus out, Xehanort goes on apparent quest to find the Princesses of Heart. During that time, after manipulating Maleficent, into beginning a quest to capture the seven Princesses as part of an elaborate fail safe, Xehanort appeared before Braig in Radiant Garden to enlist his aid.

Having Terra meet him in the Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort tells an altered version of Vanitas's origins to win his trust. Sending Terra to Radiant Garden, Xehanort pretends to be Braig's captive to trick Terra into using his inner darkness. Though the scheme succeeded, completely winning Terra's trust, Xehanort had a brief incursion with Braig over him before scarred for the plan to work. Later on, Xehanort has Vanitas abduct Mickey Mouse as bait to lure Ventus to the Keyblade Graveyard, where he reveals to him the truth about his past and that Eraqus held the boy back because of it. However, Xehanort arranged it so he would trick Terra into fighting his master, weakening Eraqus enough so would land the death blow to his former friend. Then casting the Land of Departure into darkness, Xehanort then tells Terra to meet him to the Keyblade Graveyard to settle things.

Soon enough Terra, Aqua, and Ventus discover the truth and confront Master Xehanort and Vanitas at the Keyblade Graveyard (the remains of the legendary Keyblade War). There, Master Xehanort reveals to them his true plans to recreate the χ-blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts. In the ensuing battle, Master Xehanort freezes Ventus before provoking Terra into fighting him while being consumed by darkness. However, once Vanitas enacts his union with Ventus, Xehanort uses his Keyblade to transfer his Heart into Terra's body: creating his vessel Terra-Xehanort while fading a triumphant smile. However, Xehanort finds himself facing resistance from Terra through both his Lingering Will and his heart.

As Terra-Xehanort ends up losing his memory and becoming Ansem the Wise's apprentice, Xehanort learns that his incorporation of Terra's heart into his own would be prolong than he expected due to Terra is harboring the heart of Master Eraqus. Despite this, Xehanort shows no concern and reveals to Terra that possessing him was merely one of many roads he chose to take as part of grand scheme.

Kingdom Hearts: Re: Coded and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
After the events of Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded, Mickey learns from Yen Sid that since both "Ansem" and Xemnas were defeated, their eventual reunion would mark the return of Xehanort as a complete being, who would once more be a threat to the fate of the worlds. Though Mickey insists he, Sora, Riku, would to stop him, Yen Sid remarks that they may have more than one Xehanort to deal with. To that end, Yen Sid has Sora and Riku undergo the Mark of Mastery in the Sleeping Worlds in hopes that they be beyond Xehanort's reach even if he knew what they were doing.

However, due to Ansem possessing Riku's body, it provided Young Xehanort with a lifeline into the Sleeping Worlds as appeared numerous times to Sora and Riku in the several worlds previously destroyed by Ansem. Though he attempted to have Riku open his heart to darkness, Xehanort went after Sora instead by arranging his arrival into a dream version of the World That Never Was. There, Young Xehanort reveals his origins as Xemnas manages to weaken Sora long enough to be beyond awakening so he can use his body to be made in the final vessel of his older self. Confronted by Riku, as his older self's body is reforming, Young Xehenort battles Riku until Master Xehanort returns a complete being.

Admitting that his scheme with Ventus and Vantias was hasty and poorly-executed, announcing their fate and that of Terra and Aqua were destined, Xehanort than reveals that everything that has occurred throughout the past twelve years, from Maleficent capturing the Princesses of Heart, to the formation of Organization XIII, was all part of an insidious, fail-safe plot to reform the χ-Blade. While "Ansem" oversaw Maleficent gathering the Princesses of Heart, Xemnas was gathering ideal hosts for Xehanort's heart. Despite interference from Sora, Xehanort was prepared and arranged for "Ansem" to give his younger self the task to find and gather splintered versions of himself so all twelve would be gathered.

Xehanort then attempts to make Sora his final vessel to complete the Thirteen Darnesses, but is stopped by Lea, who finds himself facing Saix. As Riku, Lea, and Mickey fight off their opponents, Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas are defeated with the timely arrival of Donald and Goofy. Unshaken by this minor setback, as time is restored and his various selves forced to return to their timelines, Xehanort leaves while informing the heroes that his Seekers of Darknesses and their Guardians of Light would have all their members with the promise that they will all meet again as the fated place.

In the end, fearing Xehanort would go after the Princesses if they did play into his hand, Yen Sid and Mickey prepare to form a group of seven Keyblade Wielders for the inevitable conflict that would recreate χ-Blade

Appearance
Xehanort appears as an old man, bald except for thin eyebrows and a curled, silver goatee. His ears are pointed and his eyes are yellow. He has broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back. He overall appears as a somewhat feeble old man, certainly deceiving given his immense power.

Xehanort's clothing is the same as that worn by "Ansem". It is composed of a white and black coat with a red inner lining, over a white shirt with two thin black belts, as well as white gloves and calf-high black boots. The major difference between the two outfits is that Ansem wears the shirt unbuttoned, exposing the Heartless emblem on his chest. However, there are a few minor changes as well; Ansem's coat has gold lining on its edges, where Xehanort's has black lining. Master Xehanort sometimes wears a Black Coat with his worn by Xemnas and the members of Organization XIII.

In his youth, Xehanort had mildly tanned skin, golden eyes, and silver hair which both slightly spikes and falls past his shoulders in the back with four bangs framing his face - the back two thicker than the front two - and the two backwards spikes on the sides are absent, the topmost one slicked back. He wore the same style of white shirt, which only reaches to his thighs, a black vest with a high collar, long armbands which cover his forearms, and dark grey pants stuffed into his boots, similar to those worn by Organization XIII but absent of the silver lining on top, much like those worn by the guards of Radiant Garden. After obtaining his time travel ability, Young Xehanort wears a Black Coat that showed his fairly tall and masculine build.

Personality
Much like Xehanort, "Ansem", and Xemnas, Master Xehanort is shown to be a cunning, callous, and pragmatic being with the sole goal of merging with Kingdom Hearts and become all knowing, the lives of innocent people and even his closest friends meaning absolutely nothing to him. To this end, he is willing to put whatever he pleases on the line or destroy anything in his way, demonstrated when he manipulated several characters such as Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Braig, and even Maleficent; creates Vanitas, a sentient being for the sole purpose of forwarding his evil plan; and slays his old friend, Master Eraqus, in cold blood after tricking Terra into defeating him in battle.

Despite his overweening malice, Xehanort has shown to have some slight sympathy, though the only known occurrence of this trait is when he takes pity on Ventus, following the rupture of his heart, and decides to leave him to die a peaceful death on Destiny Islands. All of Master Xehanort's other positive points are revealed to have sinister intentions behind them, demonstrated when he only took Ventus as an apprentice and cared for him solely with the intention of making the boy his vessel once he was strong enough, left him in Eraqus's care to simply make him stronger to be joined with Vanitas years later, and only accepted Master Eraqus's invitation to witness the Mark of Mastery Exam to sabotage it and put Terra on the path to darkness so as to make him his new vessel after deciding to instead use Ventus for the χ-blade.

Despite his sinister actions throughout the series, the root of Xehanort's malice appears to originate from his curiosity of how the universe was made and his lust to become all knowing. It is this trait that enticed Xehanort to leave the Destiny Islands in search of other worlds, ultimately starting his life as a Keyblade Wielder. This trait is shared throughout his various incarnations as Xehanort, Xehanort's Heartless, and Xemnas all justify their actions by believing that it is all for the sake of research.

His descent into darkness is owed partially by this lust as he wished to learn everything there is to about the worlds, including the Dark Realm. He does not believe in mindless violence or destruction without cause or motive, nor is sadistic in nature, shown by his merciful sympathy towards Ventus after rupturing his heart, but will willing engage in violence, cause destruction, and even commit cold-blooded murder if it benefits his quest for knowledge. Ultimately, knowledge and power are the only things Xehanort finds value in and only sees other living beings as tools to be manipulated if they are useful or destroyed if they are hindrances to his grand designs, but always with a greater purpose in mind.

Additionally, Xehanort's reports show the man in a different light than what is initially portrayed as an individual that does not cause destruction and tragedy for the sake of it, but to gleam answers from it. Unlike villains such as Maleficent, Xehanort does not seek to form Kingdom Hearts to purely obtain power, but to incite a Keyblade War and see firsthand just how the world was made from such a conflict. Through this observation, he would be able to become all knowing and create a universe that is more to his liking where light and darkness are more balanced.

While these motives of seeking knowledge and creating a more balanced existence were not initially evil in nature, they allowed Xehanort to feel no remorse for his actions and commit heinous atrocities throughout the worlds for years on end, turning Xehanort into a violent and amoral villain who is eventually consumed by his lust for knowledge, power, and darkness. Though Xehanort's goal of completing Kingdom Hearts is for various reasons, he is not above of being memorized by the absolute power that he would be granted through possessing the X-Blade and unlocking Kingdom Hearts; this lust and obsession would continue on with his Heartless and Nobody counterparts.

Regardless of his justifications and motives for his plans, Xehanort has shown an extreme disregard for all life. This disregard for life is seen in his ultimate goal of inciting another Keyblade War to simply quell his curiosity and remake the universe, which would cost the lives and billions of innocent people and the destruction of all worlds. He gleefully took the life of Master Eraqus, his former best friend, to simply make the darkness in Terra's heart stronger, showing that Xehanort's obsession with Kingdom Hearts overshadows even that of the care he once felt towards a man he saw as a brother.

His counterparts also share in his extreme disregard with his Heartless destroying thousands of worlds to form a Kingdom Hearts made of the darkness of their destroyed remnants and unleash it onto the worlds while his Nobody created millions upon millions of more heartless from the hearts of countless individuals and manipulated his own associates for his own ends, feeling no attachment to them watsoever and decieving their own emotions. This trait is also very indiactive of Xehanort's overall persona as he believes that only the emotions of anger and hatred within the heart gave one power as they feed the darkness within all hearts. Xehanort's complete disregard for human life, lack of any empathy or remorse, and disdain to any emotion within the heart aside from anger and hatred arguably makes him a psychopath, unable to feel any attachment to anything aside from Kingdom Hearts.

While possessing amazing skills, stamina, and powers, even at such an old age, Xehanort rarely brags about his skills and even accepts the fact that he is capable of being defeated. Knowing that not even he is unbeatable, Xehanort is always laying out numerous back up plans in case his original designs do not go as planned. This not only allows Xehanort multiple paths to take even if his schemes are spoiled, but keeps him one step ahead of all his adversaries, even the immensely wise and powerful Yen Sid. His modest demeanor and acceptance of possible defeat also contributes to his calm appearance as he knows that even in defeat, he still has other alternatives to turn to.

After taking over Terra's body, the villain retains all of his personality traits as the new incarnation of Xehanort (before the latter's fight against the Lingering Will and Aqua) and "Ansem", who's attire is the same as Master Xehanorts'. Xemnas, meanwhile, appears to be influenced several times by Terra's characteristics, such as his goal of locating Ventus and speaking to Aqua's armor as a fallen ally and friend rather than an enemy. Regardless, Master Xehanort's influence appears to be the primary and dominant conciseness controlling Terra's body and mind as all his forms are obsessed with Kingdom Hearts and completing the alternative plans that Master Xehanort had laid out prior to taking over Terra.

Lastly, Master Xehanort also has a few unusual tendencies and quirks as well, such as turning away from the people he speaks to, or over-dramatizing his hand gestures when delivering a speech, even flexing his fingers in an unusual manner, as if itching to grab something. These actions seem very indicative of his obsession and excitement over his plans and visions, nearly losing his calm composure when discussing over what can be achieved and when fulfilling the most essential steps of his elaborate plots and calculated betrayals.

Overall, Master Xehanort is the true catalyst, either direct or indirect, of all the events in the series so far, such as the creation of all his counterparts, Vanitas, the Unversed, the Emblem Heartless, and Nobodies, Organization XIII and the Disney Villains' hunt for Kingdom Hearts. He appears to be the most evil and dangerous of all of Xehanort's forms and where all their malice and evil truly stems from. What started as simple curiosity turned into pure malice and deception, turning the man into a massive threat and villain throughout all the worlds that has lived on through countless incarnations.

Abilities
His age often causing opponents to underestimate him, Master Xehanort is an extremely skilled Keyblade Master and magic user. Able to teleport if he is in danger, Master Xehanort strikes opponents with powerful, fast-paced combos. He also can bombard foes with Thunder, Blizzard, and Earth-based magic. His magic skills are some of the most advanced seen in the series so far, able to create massive rock formations and pillars, encase Ventus's body in ice, project a gust of wind powerful enough to send Ventus and Mickey flying from his hand, block Braig's Arrowgun shots without raising his arms, and telekinetically control the Keyblades covering the Keyblade Graveyard to attack Terra and Aqua. He also possesses physical strength sufficient enough to grab a fully-armored Ventus by the back of the head and lift him into the air with one hand.

Master Xehanort shows a great deal of skill in utilizing the heart and its capabilities, able to create a living being, Vanitas, out of the darkness of Ventus's heart when he unlocks it and even able to direct his heart into Terra's body to possess it after his defeat in the Keyblade Graveyard. Once he possesses Terra's body, Xehanort manages to still in control with Terra's power enhancing his Xehanort's agility.

His greatest asset, however, is his intelligence and skills at manipulation. For over eleven years, Xehanort's master plan has been going about, resulting in, among other things, the founding of the original Organization XIII and Riku's possession by "Ansem" to make them his vessels like Terra.

In his youth, Xehanort was incredibly powerful being, the power of space-time manipulation he obtained allowing him to withstand the effect of Mickey's Stopza spell and alter the flow of battle. The later ability seen in slowing his opponent or reversing the flow of time to regenerate health. Like his older self, he is a powerful magic user, able to cast powerful Fire and Blizzard spells, teleport around the battlefield, throw Riku and Mickey with telekinesis, and fire magical bullets similar to those used by Sora's Wisdom Form. Additionally, he is able to duplicate himself, summon pillars of fire, use a countless number of lasers and turn himself invisible. He also has access to a plethora of the numerous protagonists' most powerful attacks, such as Meteor, Mega Flare, Raging Storm and Tornado.

Weapon
Master Xehanort is able to wield his Keyblade with great skill despite his age, and enough of his strength has remained over the years that he is able to use it in fast-paced physical combos. His battle pose is similar to that of both Vanitas and Riku, but he mainly allows the Keyblade to hang loosely at his side as he walks slowly towards opponents. Master Xehanort also uses his Keyblade to unlock countless hearts, including his own.

When Master Xehanort possesses Terra's body to become Terra-Xehanort, he abandons Terra's Keyblade and replaces it with his own. Terra-Xehanort wields the weapon with great skill, combining several of Terra and Master Xehanort's abilities to form his own deadly combos. As this Keyblade was gained by Terra-Xehanort through Master Xehanort's heart's more powerful influence, it is also used through Master Xehanort's influence to unlock Terra-Xehanort's heart.

Young Xehanort's Keyblade incorporates elements of his most future self's weapon and the No Name Keyblade. Prior to using it, Young Xehanort uses two weapons that bear a striking resemblance to Xemnas's Ethereal Blades, somewhat reminiscent of the Terminus and Ruination Ethereal Blades. The blades can be combined into a dual-blade, and extend to be lashed out like a whip. Young Xehanort wields these weapons with a reverse grip, similar to the unorthodox way Ventus wields his Keyblade.

Trivia

 * In the japanese version, Xehanort's seiyuu Chikao Ōtsuka was chosen by Tetsuya Nomura specifically because he is the father of Akio Ōtsuka who voiced Terra-Xehanort and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Tetsuya also selected Leonard Nimoy for the English specifically for his role as Spock in the Star Trek franchise.
 * Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, made from the heart of Master Xehanort, is referenced twice in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. First, Master Xehanort asks Terra to "Seek out the darkness that upsets the balance", similar to Ansem's title, and second, Terra tells Master Xehanort in Blank Points that "You're gonna get shown the door, old man", referencing Ansem's fate at the end of Kingdom Hearts.
 * In both versions of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the voice actor for Young Xehanort is uncredited.