Anti Form

Anti Form (アンチフォーム) is a Drive Form which appears in Kingdom Hearts II. It uses both party members, and represents the darkness that still dwells within Sora's heart.

Mechanics
Unlike other Drive Forms, Anti Form cannot be purposefully activated. Instead, it will be randomly activated when Sora attempts to enter Valor, Wisdom, or Master Form, based on a hidden "Anti Point" counter. This counter is increased by 1 every time Valor, Wisdom, or Master Form is activated, but is reduced by 10 when Final Form is used. Gameplay-wise, the Anti Form exists as a consequence of abusing the Drive system, and is meant to be "strong but troublesome". Anti Form is also the only Form that will activate if Form is used while in MP Charge state, though once Final Form is made available it can also appear. However, the counter system is ignored while the Two Become One Keyblade is equipped, as its Light and Dark ability will make it so only Anti Form or Final Form activate when Form is used. Anti Form starts at having a 75% chance of being the activated form when Form is used in this state, but goes down to 50% and then 0%, until Final Form is obtained.

Anti Form can only be manually deactivated outside of battle, though its Drive Gauge caps out at 6, and consuming Drive Balls will actually cause the gauge to be consumed faster. In addition, though Drive Forms normally persist through cutscenes and Cup seeds, Anti Form will instead revert back to Standard Form. Anti Form is also unique among Forms in that while it possesses the "Anti-Glide" Growth ability, it cannot be leveled and is thus inaccessible in Standard Form. Like Valor Form, Anti Form cannot use magic, but it is also unable to use items. To top it off, Sora cannot pick up HP Balls while in Anti Form, meaning it is completely unable to heal in any way.

Appearance
Anti Form is strongly reminiscent of the AntiSora Heartless from the first Kingdom Hearts, and Nomura has confirmed in an interview with Famitsu that Sora's ability to enter this form is due to his transformation into a Shadow. Specifically, though, Sora's Anti Form has more feral behavior in which it runs about on all fours, and instead of using the Keyblade in this form, Sora attacks with claws on his hands. Aesthetically, Sora's skin and hair become ink black, his eyes glow yellow like a Heartless, and his clothes become black with purple accents. Furthermore, he constantly emits Darkness from his arms and back in the form of misty black and violet wisps.


 * Costume changes
 * Halloween Town: Sora's mask takes the form of a Shadow Heartless' head.
 * Christmas Town: A Heartless emblem appears on Sora's santa hat.
 * Space Paranoids: Sora's armor turns black and the circuits become dark purple.
 * Timeless River: Sora becomes completely black with no detail in clothes, hair, or even his face, only his yellow eyes are seen.

Growth
Pros
 * Great enhancements in speed.
 * Fast combos and high damage dealer, given sufficient time for combos.
 * Speed of attacks keep certain enemies from attacking back.
 * Is the best of any Form at automatically deflecting attacks (with the exception of Final and Limit Forms); a Berserker's whole multi-hit combo can be countered with no damage by using Anti Form's midair combo.
 * Can stay in the air for a noticeable amount of time.
 * Anti Glide is a helpful dodging ability, and it homes in on distant away opponents.
 * Some of the combo finishers have remarkably good range.

Cons
 * Can not be activated or deactivated at will.
 * Completely drains the Drive Gauge.
 * Inability to heal in any way.
 * Long combos take time to deliver finishing blows.
 * Close-range attacks puts Sora in risky situations.
 * Not all attacks cause hit-stun(enemies will simply be standing and free to move as if they are not being attacked)
 * Both partners disappear during this drive.
 * Magic is disabled.
 * Defense is lowered, damage dealt is twice as great as normal.
 * Strength is lowered.
 * Reaction Commands can't be used.

Tips

 * Press during ground combos. This will move Sora around fast and keep the enemy from being able to retaliate many times. Plus, it keeps the combo going.
 * Anti Form is actually quite good for running/avoiding attacks, if Anti-Glide is not used. In general, Anti-Glide is a great way to dodge attacks, even Xaldin's lance slashes.
 * Using Dark Dance and Chaos Finale will allow Anti Form to move into attacks that stun enemies faster. Anti Form does not bounce off when attacking a Large Body head-on.
 * It is not a good idea to use Anti Form during a boss battle, as while it deals greater damage, it is more vulnerable to damage, and cannot heal itself in any manner.

Trivia

 * In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, during the fights against Vexen's Absent Silhouette and his data copy Vexen can make copies of Sora that are actually Sora in Anti Form.
 * While Midair Doom and Dark Finale deal Dark damage, they are also considered magical attacks and are ineffective against enemies invulnerable to magic, like the Sorcerer.
 * When Sora grabs onto a ledge in Anti Form, he will hang on by his foot instead of his hand.