Olympus Coliseum

Olympus Coliseum is a world in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts coded, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Based on the 1997 Disney feature, Hercules, Philoctetes can be seen here, training Hercules and other heroes.

The Coliseum is the smallest of all the worlds consiting of only 3 areas in total. The Coliseum has since become a staple in the series since it has appeared in all the games to date, surpassing Hollow Bastion with its appearance in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Although the Coliseum is hardly featured in the Hercules movie, it can be seen in a short scene with Phil arguing with Hercules. The ruler of this world is Zeus, but Hades is the ruler of the Underworld.

The Keyhole of Olympus Coliseum is hidden in the Lobby, underneath a large stone block.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
The Coliseum has the same appearance as Kingdom Hearts, but unlike the other games, the Coliseum Gates, which were originally connected to the exit in Kingdom Hearts and the Underworld in Kingdom Hearts II, are now a pathway to a Town Near Thebes.

Kingdom Hearts
In the original game, Olympus Coliseum was the smallest world, consisting of three areas: the Coliseum Gates where Sora and his party enter, the Coliseum: Lobby where Phil briefs contestants and keeps the cups of the winners, and The Coliseum itself, where the party competes against various combinations of Heartless, villains, and other characters in the game. The same exact areas are present in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

Kingdom Hearts II
The area gains a drastic expansion in Kingdom Hearts II, as the Underworld can now be accessed through the Coliseum Gates. The Underworld Entrance connects the living world to the world of the dead, as well as holding the world's Moogle Shop, a save point, and the Underdrome where Sora can talk to Pain and Panic to gain access to the tournaments there. From there, two paths into the Underworld branch off.

The first branch that Sora and his friends can explore leads to Hades' domain through the Cave of the Dead. Beginning at the Cave of the Dead: Entrance (where Sora and Auron later fight Cerberus), the party travels down the narrow and meandering Cave of the Dead: Passage before reaching the relatively safe Cave of the Dead: Inner Chamber. From there, the party traverses the ledges and cliffs of the Valley of the Dead before reaching Hades' Chamber.

Later in the story, the second path opens and allows the group to enter the Underworld Caverns. After going down through the Underworld Caverns: Entrance, the party goes through the twisting Underworld Caverns: The Lost Road, which in turn leads to the Underworld Caverns: Atrium. After an encounter with Demyx, the party passes through to The Lock, where Meg can be rescued and a boss battle with Pete takes place.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Ventus is the first person to visit this world. First he meets Phil, who is trying to decide whether to train Hercules or Zack. Phil says that whoever proves himself in the tournament can train under him. An eager Zack runs off to the Coliseum, while Ven promises to help Herc train, become a hero, and return to his rightful place on Mt. Olympus. Herc and Zack eventually face off in the tournament, but the fight is interrupted by a swarm of Unversed in town. Ven goes to fight them alone, but Herc withdraws from the match and comes with him.

The two finish off the swarm, when Zack arrives. He wanted to help his friends too. Phil says that he never cared about who won, but whose heart was in the right place. And since Hercules left first, he gets to train with him. Nevertheless, the trainees continue towards their goals of becoming heroes. Phil thanks Ven for giving Hercules the strength to become a hero.

Terra is the second person to visit this world. He encounters Hercules and some Unversed during his arrival. The hero-in-training compliments Terra's strength and recommends he compete in the upcoming games. He heads up towards the Coliseum where Hades is devising a scheme to defeat Zeus. The god approaches Terra and tells him that by hiding his darkness, he is wasting his power.

Terra takes up Hades' offer to help him control his darkness by entering the games. However, as Terra continues to compete, Hades starts to see that Terra may not want his darkness and starts to think of a new plan when Zack enters for his match. Inside the arena, Terra and Zack face off, with the Keyblade Wielder victorious.

However, as Terra turns to leave, Zack awakens with a dark aura and attacks. Zack tries to resist this power, reminding Terra of when the darkness overcame him in Enchanted Dominion. Hades appears, saying that this is power that Terra can have. Terra refuses and fights Zack again. Terra wins again and Hades realizes his defeat and disappears. Zack calls Terra a hero and promises to have a rematch someday.

Aqua is the last person to visit this world. There, she meets Hercules and Phil, who are still training. Hercules says he wants to be strong as the Champion Terra. Phil mentions that Terra could show again anytime, so Aqua agrees to enter the games in hopes of seeing him. Aqua qualifies for the finals against Zack. Zack wants to win his block to face Terra again, the champ of the other block. Zack still wants his rematch with Terra after he helped him against Hades. Aqua and Zack square off, Aqua being the victor. Hades shows up again to check out the new competitor. He also calls Terra a coward for wasting his darkness.

Aqua wants to fight, but Hades says she'll have to do it in a by-the-rules match. However, Hades shows up with the Ice Colossus, saying it does not have to be one-on-one. Zack then wants to help Aqua, but she insists that she handle the god and Titan alone. Hades is defeated and swears his return. Aqua exits the Coliseum, and Zack asks her out on a date. An embarrassed Aqua politely declines, but Zack says maybe he can do it and they will go out when he is a hero, but Aqua refuses that promise. Zack leaves as Herc returns from training, disappointed for missing the big match. Aqua tells him that his heart is on the right path to becoming a hero.

During the end credits, Hercules continues his training with Phil as Zack watches from the gates. He looks up when a black feather - signifying Sephiroth's prescence - floats past him, and he disappears, presumably to train under Sephiroth.

Kingdom Hearts
When Sora first enters the Coliseum, Phil, who is busy preparing for the games, mistakes him for Hercules. When his mistake is revealed, Phil allows Sora to enter the trials. Though Sora passes, Phil won't let him enter the games. Disappointed, Sora exits, only to be met by Hades, who grants him an entry pass for the preliminaries. Sora then has to go through many preliminaries before he can get to the final battle.

The final battle of the preliminaries is with Cloud, who is secretly working for Hades. After defeating or losing to Cloud, Cerberus appears. Hercules holds the beast off until Sora returns to defeat it, winning entrance into the real games. Later on, Sora must return to seal the keyhole hidden under the rock, with the use of the Yellow Trinity. Note that in Kingdom Hearts, you need not as much go to this world. The player can enter Deep Jungle from Wonderland.

Tournament Cups
Throughout the game, different cups (tournaments) will be unlocked for Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy to compete in. There are four modes for every cup. First, the regular mode - Sora, Donald, and Goofy face the enemies as they come. After winning a cup in that mode, solo mode is unlocked - this time, Sora faces all the enemies alone. The third mode is a timed competition, and the final mode allows the team to face any enemy from the cup. The modes are unlocked in succession and only for a specific cup. The following is a list of the cups and how to unlock them.


 * Phil Cup - Seal the Traverse Town Keyhole.
 * Pegasus Cup - Complete Monstro.
 * Hercules Cup - Seal the Halloween Town and Neverland Keyholes.
 * Hades Cup - Seal the Hollow Bastion Keyhole.
 * Gold Match - Complete the Hades Cup.
 * Platinum Match - Seal the Hollow Bastion Keyhole and unlock all other cups.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
This time, the team, Cloud, and Hercules are the only people involved in the games, which involve an obstacle course. Hades has hired Cloud to defeat Hercules, in exchange for restoring his lost memories. Cloud manages to wear down Hercules, but takes damage in the process, promting the former to worry about his safety. However, Hades is unhappy that the encounter had yet to end as desired and reveals that he never intended to restore his memories. The deity then takes control of the fight, wanting to benefit that both fighters had exhausted themselves. Hades losses with intervention from the heroes, returning to the Underworld. Afterwards, Sora comforts Cloud, reminding him that even small events can help someone remember things.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
On Roxas' 117th day in the Organization, he and Xigbar set out to investigate a new world - the Olympus Coliseum. Xigbar tells Roxas that they're on the lookout for anyone who might potentially become an Organization member. He explains where Organization members come from: that when a strong heart is taken by darkness, a Nobody is created at the same time as a Heartless, and the strongest of those Nobodies gather in the Organization. Furthermore, Roxas and Xion are particularly special Nobodies even within the Organization.

Roxas and Xigbar defeat some nearby Heartless, which attracts the attention of Phil—he runs over, mistaking Roxas for Hercules' new apprentice candidate. Roxas realizes that Xigbar has disappeared. After Phil tells Roxas to report for training and rushes off to the Coliseum, Xigbar reappears. Xigbar explains that the Organization is supposed to keep their movements secret, and is thoroughly amused at the idea of Roxas being an apprentice candidate. He leaves the great Hero-in-training, who is now allowed to enter the Coliseum, to do the investigation by himself.

Roxas takes a look around, wondering what the huge rankings on the wall could be about - and who the number one names, Sora on one board and Hercules on another, could be. He is momentarily worried by the massive statues outside the Coliseum gates, wondering if this world might be home to giant warriors. But he soon figures out that this is just a Coliseum, and reports to Phil's training.

No matter how hard Roxas works, Phil sets higher and higher targets - until finally, exhausted, he calls it quits for the day. He learns from Phil that he's looking for strong warriors to enter the Coliseum's tournament, especially with the Heartless that have been appearing lately. Phil laughs outright at Roxas' request to enter, and Roxas has a strange vision of a boy in red clothes, standing in the same position he is in. As Roxas heads home he walks past Hercules, and can hear Phil telling Hercules about how the "new apprentice candidate" took care of the Heartless while he was away.

When Roxas next returns to the Coliseum it's with Demyx, who complains that he is really not cut out for fighting missions - he prefers investigations. When Roxas heads off to Phil's training, Demyx says he would pass. When the two of them see Phil forcing Hercules through strenuous exercises, Demyx says if he were subjected to that kind of "training" he'd run away.

Roxas, wondering if Hercules is stronger than him, is about to leave when Phil catches him and gives him his own training for the day. Phil explains to Roxas that Hercules trains so hard because everyone counts on him to be strong, and Roxas wonders if such expectations are the same kind of thing as orders. As the Nobodies leave, Demyx again complains about being forced to fight, and says he's glad he usually gets investigation missions.

It's over two months later when Roxas and Demyx return to the Coliseum, and Demyx is as unhappy as ever about being forced to fight Heartless. Their target this time is a mysterious Heartless, and since Demyx isn't a hero candidate he waits outside while Roxas enters the Coliseum tournament. He makes it to the final round, and Phil comes over to give him a pep talk, and tell him that he's counting on Roxas to win. Roxas asks if that's the same as being given orders, but Phil just tells him not to ask such ridiculous questions and concentrate on fighting.

To Roxas' surprise, his final opponent is none other than Xigbar. He says he'd heard Roxas has been practicing, and came to see just how strong he is now. But their battle is interrupted by the appearance of the Guard Armor Heartless, and as Phil runs off to get Hercules, Roxas jumps into battle. During his fight he has strange visions of the same boy in red, who seems to have fought this creature before. After Roxas defeats the Heartless, Xigbar comments that he really has gotten stronger, and heads back to the World that Never Was. Demyx wonders what on earth Xigbar was doing in the Coliseum - doesn't he have missions of his own?.

They head home too, just before Phil can return with Hercules. When Phil wonders out loud what happened to Roxas, and Hercules wonders who Phil is talking about, Phil suddenly realizes that Roxas wasn't an apprentice candidate after all - and wonders who on earth he's been training the entire time.

On Roxas' 296th day in the Organization, he's sent to participate in another Coliseum tournament, which feels more like training than a mission to him. Phil confronts him, saying he's glad Roxas hasn't been killed or anything - but also asking just who he is. When Roxas can't reply, Phil assumes that Roxas is there to enter the tournament, and lets him in despite the earlier deception.

Roxas wins the tournament, defeating all kinds of Heartless, and Phil congratulates him, his former ire seemingly gone - he tells Roxas to come back and visit every now and then. Roxas wonders if Phil still wants him to do more training. But although Roxas returns to the Coliseum a few weeks later to fight another Heartless, he never bumps into Phil again.

First Visit
In this game, the world of Olympus Coliseum is expanded to Hades' Underworld.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy emerge in the Underworld when they first arrive, meeting Megara, who is on a quest to convince Hades to stop bothering Hercules. When Sora confronts Hades, he summons Auron, who quickly switches to Sora's side. Hades cannot be hurt in the Underworld, so the team attempts to escape, and Auron and Sora are forced to take on Cerberus before they can leave the Underworld.

After Pete tells that Sora's Keyblade could open any lock, Hades uses it to unlock the Underworld Coliseum, which was sealed off by Zeus. He kidnapped Megara to lure Sora and Hercules into saving her and battling Pete while unlocking the Underworld Coliseum. Back up top, Hercules offers the junior heroes the Olympus Stone, which stops the Underworld from draining all their strength, however, the stone has been stolen by someone in a black cloak. Looking for the stone, they encounter and have their first confrontation with Demyx. After the trouble, the Company stops Hades' plans destroying the Hydra that was destroying the Olympus Coliseum, and the cost of Hercules' strength.

Second Visit
When the team enters the world for a second time, the Underdrome has been unlocked, presumably when Sora used his Keyblade to open a wall during the first visit. Hades kidnaps Meg to bait Hercules into the games. The group enters the Hades Cup, and the final competitor is Auron, who is being controlled by Hades. Hercules faces Auron alone while Sora, Donald, and Goofy retrieve the statue Hades is using to control Auron.

By returning the statue, Auron regains his free will and refuses to fight. Hades, as Hercules's punishment, drops Meg into the River Styx, and Hercules jumps in after her. Hades believes he is dead, but Hercules returns for the final battle with Hades, a true hero at last. They defeat Hades, everyone is reunited, Auron is freed, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy are immortalized as constellations to mark them as true heroes, much to Phil's disbelief.

In the ending credits, the Olympus Coliseum is rebuilt and restored to its glory.

Tournament Cups

 * Pain and Panic Cup - Clear Disney Castle for the first time.
 * Cerberus Cup - Clear Agrabah, Halloween Town, and Pride Lands for the first time.
 * Hades Cup - Opened during the second visit of Olympus Coliseum.
 * Titan Cup - Clear Olympus Coliseum for the second time.
 * Goddess of Fate Cup - Clear previous cups and beat Xemnas for the first time.
 * Pain and Panic Paradox Cup - Clear all previous cups.
 * Cerberus Paradox Cup - All Drive Forms (except Final) at level 5, unlock Pain and Panic Paradox.
 * Titan Paradox Cup - Summon level 5, unlock Pain and Panic Paradox.
 * Hades Paradox Cup - Clear Space Paranoids for the second time, clear all previous cups, and all Drives and Summon at level 7.

Kingdom Hearts coded
When Data-Sora visits Olympus Coliseum, he finds Data Phil who has a problem in the Coliseum in that the Bug Blox keep appearing. Data-Sora says that he will find Hercules who is inside trying to solve the problem. He finds the data Keyhole right at the beginning and opens the Data Keyhole and goes inside. While he is exploring inside, he keeps finding Hercules Memos which are instructions in this world that say the Battle system will be different. The gameplay is based off games from the Final Fantasy series, with some notable difference in the way you can combine commands during battles.

When Data-Sora finds Data Hercules, he becomes Data-Sora's Party member. Then they are attacked by Data Cloud who wants to fight Hercules because Hades hired him to. Data Hades shows up and says that he doesn't need Cloud anymore and also says the Block problem isn't his doing. Cloud joins Sora and becomes his second Party member. Alternately, Data-Sora and Hercules can avoid Cloud altogether, causing him not to join the party. When they get to the fifth layer, they discover that Cerberus is the first source of the bugs within the arena.

After defeating Cerberus, Data-Sora, Hercules, and Cloud continue on to the next layer. In an alternate storyline, Data-Sora and Hercules leave behind Cloud, and they take on Cerberus without him. After Hades' defeat, Data-Sora feels bad about leaving Cloud behind, although Hercules thinks that he'll be alright.

Trivia

 * Olympus Coliseum is the most frequently recurring world in the series, appearing in every game except Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
 * In Kingdom Hearts, the prize for winning the Phil Cup was a trophy and the prize for the Pegasus Cup was a plaque, but in Kingdom Hearts II, when you view the prizes for each of the Kingdom Hearts tournaments, they are switched around. So, when you view the Phil Cup prize, it is the "Phil Cup Shield" (the plaque), and there is a trophy for the Pegasus Cup.
 * So far, Olympus Coliseum is the only Disney-based world that features Final Fantasy characters.
 * In the first Kingdom Hearts, the player can complete the game without entering this world. But if the player were to go there after sealing Hollow Bastion, the scene between Hades and Maleficent is different: Maleficent is absent, and the scene ends after Hades makes his plan to kill both Sora and Hercules.
 * Sora, Donald, and Goofy seem to visit the Coliseum after the events of Hercules, since Hercules has his divine glow he acquires at the end of the film. This makes it one of the few Disney-based worlds whose plot isn't exactly the same as the film it was based on, although the plot that is there is very similar to the movie.

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