Castle That Never Was

The Castle That Never Was (存在しなかった城 Sonzaishinakatta Shiro) is an exclusive world to Kingdom Hearts II. This was the headquarters of Organization XIII. However, the only Nobodies from the Organization remaining are Roxas and Xemnas (as seen in the new Kingdom Hearts series trailer). Playable characters in the area are Sora and Riku (actually played in the Kingdom Hearts world connected to the Castle). Of the several boss Nobodies in the game, the only ones combatible in the Castle are as follows:


 * Xigbar
 * Luxord
 * Saïx
 * Xemnas

Nothing's Call
Nothing's Call is the lowest known area of the Castle That Never Was, acting as a sort of "basement". It appears to be the only entrance into the castle for people who are not members of the Organization. Sora, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey enter the castle here, Sora calling for Kairi. King Mickey silences him, reminding him that they are in the stronghold of the enemy. He rushes off to find Ansem the Wise. The trio are soon attacked by Nobodies but make it to the next area.

The Soundless Prison
The castle has a number of dungeons somewhere in the lower sections of the castle. Here, Kairi and Pluto are imprisoned in one of the cells. Kairi is briefly visited by Saïx who explains to her that she will be the bait used to make Sora slay more Heartless in the plan to complete Kingdom Hearts. However, Naminé appears through a portal in the cell and helps Kairi and Pluto escape. Strangely, the bars of Kairi's cell were far enough apart that she could have easily escaped before being freed by Naminé. However, it could be possible that the Organization foresaw this and placed a barrier over the bars to prevent this.

This can only be visited by a special code in Kingdom Hearts II.

Crooked Ascension
Crooked Ascension is an area of the Castle That Never Was. It seems to be a giant elevator that ascends and descends without actually appearing to do anything. While inside, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Riku may be attacked by either Samurai or Dragoon Nobodies if going to Nothing's Call or Twilight's View respectively.

Twilight's View
Twilight's View is a location in the Castle That Never Was. It is a stairway leading to the next floor of the castle. Sora can meet a Moogle here and synthesise new items. Before the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, Zexion and Xigbar discussed Xemnas's frequent visits to the Room of Sleep and the discovery of Castle Oblivion here.

Hall of Empty Melodies
Hall of Empty Melodies is a large room in the Castle That Never Was, located in The World That Never Was. A large platform makes up the room with large walls facing either side of it. Several primary events happen here in the final battle involving Sora, his companions and the surviving members of Organization XIII. Sora, Donald and Goofy encounter Saïx here who commands Sora to slay more Heartless,he summons Heartless for Sora to distroy. Kairi suddenly appears on an overhead balcony, and leaps down with Riku in the form of Xehanort's Heartless to help Sora. Maleficent and Pete also arrive in the castle.

Xigbar eliminates all of the Heartless so he can take on Sora himself, but the following battle ends with Xigbar dying. Sora, Donald and Goofy head off to the upper level of the room where Sora has an emotional reunion with Kairi and Riku. Sniper and Assassin Nobodies appear during navigation through the room.

Naught's Skyway
Naught's Skyway is an area in the Castle That Never Was, in The World That Never Was. It is a small outside path in a high section of the castle. This is where Mickey finds DiZ, who is revealed to be Ansem the Wise, being attacked by Nobodies. After they are defeated, the two walk off with Ansem's encoding machine. Sora and his companions pass through here in order to find King Mickey and Ansem the Wise.

Proof of Existence
Proof of Existence is a room in the Castle That Never Was. Sora, Donald, and Goofy pass through here after reuniting with Kairi and Riku. Kairi felt uncomfortable in the room, saying it felt like a graveyard. The passage through the room was blocked, and Sora was forced to defeat Saïx and Luxord before they could pass through.

The room was characterized with panels on the floor representing the members of Organization XIII, save for Xemnas and Xion, indicating their title, weapon, and rank by going from left to right. The panels of the Organization members who had died were colored red and damaged. Zexion's panel was so damaged it was unable to show his weapon. After Roxas left the organization his panel was most likely destroyed, but as Roxas lives on in Sora, his panel is still blue.

Havoc's Divide
Havoc's Divide is an area in the Castle That Never Was, in The World That Never Was. It appears to be Luxord's chamber, as he attacks Sora and his companions here. The area is sloped and leads to a steep drop downwards. Here, Riku reveals DiZ is actually Ansem the Wise. Luxord appears and traps Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy in his cards and challenges Sora to a duel. After a close fight, Sora defeats Luxord who fades into darkness. Sora's friends are returned.

Addled Impasse
Addled Impasse is an area in the Castle That Never Was, in The World That Never Was. The chamber is large in size with a clear view of the Kingdom Hearts moon. This area appears to be where Saïx stays, due to his presence Sora and his companions arrive to see Saïx there looking up at Kingdom Hearts, which relates to his moon element. Saïx comments that only Sora could have made it there in one piece, addressing him as Roxas. Annoyed, Sora shouts at Saïx. Saïx summons his claymore weapon and sends a large shockwave at the group. Sora, Donald and Goofy withstand the attack, but Riku and Kairi are blown backwards, unable to help their friends. Sora, Donald and Goofy battle Saïx - who has become stronger due to being in the presence of the moon, turning him into an almost beast-like fighter. He is eventually killed and fades in darkness. Sora asks Riku why everyone is calling him "Roxas". Riku promptly reveals to Sora that Roxas is his Nobody, much to Sora's surprise.

Naught's Approach
Naught's Approach is an area in the Castle That Never Was, in The World That Never Was. It is an exterior passage which leads to Xemnas' tower. Here, Kairi and Naminé escape from the prison cells of the castle and are confronted by Saïx on the stairs, but are saved by Riku. Later, Ansem the Wise and King Mickey set up Ansem's machine so he can digitally absorb Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy make their way up to the area after viewing them from Havoc's Divide. Ansem realizes the machine cannot contain Kingdom Hearts and monologues what a fool is he. Sora and his friends arrive, as does Xemnas who has a "heart-to-heart" with his former teacher. Ansem tells Xemnas his plans will fall, and apologizes to Roxas and the King before being engulfed by his exploding machine. The explosion damages Kingdom Hearts and restores Riku to his normal body.

Ruin and Creation's Passage
Ruin and Creation's Passage is an area in the Castle That Never Was, in The World That Never Was. It is the biggest area in the castle with platforms floating in the air. Invisible paths can be used to reach each platform and eventually navigate to the other side. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey make their way across, battling Nobodies on the way. Kairi spots endless Heartless streaming in through the windows towards them. Maleficent and Pete appear and send the group to take down Xemnas, Maleficent reminding Sora and King Mickey that the castle will be hers. Sora tries to help them, but King Mickey dissuades him.

The Altar of Naught
The Altar of Naught is an area in the Castle That Never Was, in The World That Never Was. It is a giant tower that is high above the rest of the castle. Xemnas often comes here to speak to Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey arrive to see Xemnas lamenting over how his plans have failed, asking them to find more hearts. They refuse and they converse about how Xemnas cannot show emotions. Xemnas battles Sora but is defeated. Xemnas fuses with Kingdom Hearts and leads the group into a battle against him. He is defeated again and apparently fades into darkness. Trapped in the world, the group seem helpless, until Naminé opens a portal to Destiny Islands. Naminé and Roxas join with Sora and Kairi at long last. Everyone passes through except Sora and Riku who end up trapped when a giant Nobody dragon flies in and slams into the side of the tower. Sora and Riku slide down the tower which tilts sideways. Riku spots an odd aircraft and hops onto it, Sora following. They fly after the dragon as the tower collapses.

Where Nothing Gathers
This room, inaccessible by any means other than by corridors of darkness, is a circular room containing throne like chairs ranging in height, where the Nobodies of Organization XIII can gather and discuss developments and for Xemnas to give out orders. There are thirteen throne-like chairs that are rather tall in height, each occupied by a member of the Organization.

For Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days it was revealed that the height of the thrones are not varied by the rank of each Nobody, but varied from the quantity and quality of missions accomplished by the respective occupant of a throne. Therefore, Xemnas' chair is the tallest and Vexen's one is the lowest; because of his lack of physical strength and will to do dirty work, he seemingly constantly fails at missions and is thus degraded by having his throne lowered. The seats are arranged in a circle with Xemnas at the prominent seat. At Xemnas' left are the odd numbered members, and to his right are the even numbered members, increasing in numerical value up until number 13, Roxas' seat, which is across from Xemnas'. It is safe to assume that Xion, the fourteenth member, would have sat between Roxas and Larxene's seats. This area can only be accessed by cheat codes.

Unknown
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, it has been revealed that the castle has a lounge room where the members go to, well, lounge. It resembles Addled Impasse, and can be seen under the system section of the 358/2 Days website.

Trivia

 * Maleficent and Pete were thinking of acquiring it and using it as their new base. Whether or not they succeeded will remain a mystery until future titles. But it is highly unlikely that they acquire the castle as Xemnas' Dragoon Ship struck down a massive part of it and it probably fell apart (after which Sora and Riku take off for the boss fight, so the castle's fate is unknown).
 * In Proof of Existence in front of Demyx's tombstone is the number XI though his rank is number IX
 * During the second stage of the final battle, its very strange for Riku to have found a usable aircraft sitting idly by, a seat perfect for himself and Sora, and controls that he was able to learn on the fly, especially since the Organization members use Dark corridors to travel.