Darkness

Darkness is a force parallel to Light, and is also used in the form of attacks in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Darkness has been known to cause the loss of people's hearts if they have delved too deep into it. Slowly suppressed and conquered by darkness's influence, these unfortunate souls become Heartless and, if their Heart is strong enough, leave behind a body that becomes a Nobody.

Those who follow the path of Darkness will usually gain untold power at the expense of something of their former selves. The Realm of Darkness is also one of the three known realms in the Kingdom Hearts universe, along with the Realm Between, and the Realm of Light.

Though darkness is mostly used by the series's villains and is believed to be pure evil, it is not entirely malevolent; friendly characters are able to use the powers of darkness to some effect, ranging from opening the Corridors of Darkness to projecting dark energy blasts (one of Riku's abilities in Kingdom Hearts II).

Additionally, King Mickey, a heroic character, uses the Kingdom Key D, which originates in the Realm of Darkness. Nonetheless, different characters have different views on darkness; Aqua regards it as nothing but "hate and rage," while Mickey insists that light and darkness are interdependent and cannot exist without one another.

Nearly all beings have darkness in their hearts, but the levels of darkness and light vary from person to person. For instance, Sora has less darkness in his heart than Pete or Maleficent. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however, as all seven of the Princesses of Heart naturally have hearts completely devoid of darkness. As a result of Master Xehanort forcibly removing the darkness from his heart, Ventus's heart is pure light as well.

When Nobodies or Replicas are defeated, they usually fade back into the darkness. It is unknown what it is like at their final destination, or if they retain any consciousness at all.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
The Unversed are Darkness made real thanks to Vanitas, a being of pure darkness. It was the plan of Master Xehanort to open the way to Kingdom Hearts and rearrange the order of the worlds by allowing more Darkness be in balance with the Light, effectively sending all the worlds into the Realm Between. Terra has trouble controlling his Darkness, scarring Braig's face by accident and even succumbing to it to protect his friends from the crazed Keyblade Master. Terra-Xehanort is almost swallowed by the Realm of Darkness, but is saved by Aqua, who takes his place in the Darkness.

Kingdom Hearts
In Kingdom Hearts, the roles of light and darkness play very typical roles in the story and game mechanics, with light being a positive aspect, and darkness being a negative one, since the Heartless are the embodiment of Darkness. Most of Sora and company's quest is aimed at closing the Door to Darkness and eliminating Heartless creatures. The entire story seems at first very biased towards the force of Light. However, one important belief about light is that there is always "a light in the deepest darkness".

This plays a role many times in the story, including when Sora opens the Door to Darkness and finds a blinding light inside with King Mickey. Even through all of the bias towards light, the opposed forces are in fact still balanced with a closed Door to Light and a closed Door to Darkness. There are also two Keyblades, one from the Realm of Light, which is used by Sora, and one from the Realm of Darkness, which is used by King Mickey.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Reverse/Rebirth, Darkness plays a large role in Riku's story, since the main enemies are Organization XIII and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

The most major story development about light and darkness in the story is Riku's constant struggle throughout the game against the darkness in his heart. He tries to shun the darkness and "Ansem" out of him, but he cannot do it. Because of this, "Ansem" taunts him that darkness is his destiny. Riku finally finds a revelation in himself when he talks with Naminé after Zexion, in the guise of Sora, blinds him with light. Riku finds that darkness is not bad, and he should use it along with light to help defeat his enemies, and give him more power.

This changes Riku, and "Ansem", thinking that Riku has turned to the darkness, mockingly tells him that he was right about Riku's destiny. Riku fights "Ansem" and destroys him. However, "Ansem" still lingers in Riku's heart. Riku later declines Naminé's offer to seal "Ansem" away in Riku's heart. Then, at the end of the story, DiZ asks Riku which path he wishes to take. He decides to take the road to dawn, a path leading from darkness to light.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
The Organization makes use of the Corridors of Darkness to travel around to different worlds to collect Hearts. These Hearts are for their Kingdom Hearts that hangs in the empty sky of The World That Never Was. Pete also makes use of the corridors to get from world to world.

Captain Hook's greed for treasure brings out his darkness, which cause Heartless to spawn at place marked on treasure maps Pete tricked him into using. His darkness turns a true treasure into the Ruler of the Sky.

During Roxas's coma, Vexen, Larxene, Lexaeus, Marluxia and Zexion faded into darkness because of the events that transpired at Castle Oblivion; slain by either Sora and Riku or betrayed by Axel and killed by the Riku Replica.

Xion uses darkness to transform into a Keyblade Armor-like version of Sora to fight Roxas. She uses it again to become a giant armored monster to fight him after their battling through the worlds.

Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts II presented darkness as a power for not only the villains, but the heroes as well. Many of the protagonists of the series such as Riku and Sora use darkness during the game.

Riku, in the form of Ansem, has control over numerous powers of darkness. He is able to cast Dark Firaga, open Corridors of Darkness, and use darkness in finishing moves for his combos. After Riku returns to normal, he can no longer use the Corridors of Darkness, but is able to use Dark Firaga and Dark Shield, among other attacks. The "All's End" attack of the Session Limit involves Riku charging his keyblade with Darkness in equal measure to Sora's Light.

Organization XIII uses the power of darkness either to help them fight or use the Corridors of Darkness. After Xemnas absorbs the remnants of Kingdom Hearts, he uses the powers of both light and darkness.

Maleficent, once again an antagonist, uses darkness as well. She uses it to cover Disney Castle's Hall of the Cornerstone with thorns. She is also able to use darkness to create walls of green fire.

Darkness is even used by Sora in the game. When he enters his Anti Form, he turns into a shadowy silhouette of himself and attacks enemies with darkness.

When Sora and the others confront Xemnas, he asks the warriors why they hate darkness. King Mickey replies that they do not really hate it, and are just scared of it. He goes on to say that the world has both light and darkness, and darkness is half of everything. He then says that it makes him wonder why they are scared of the dark. Riku answers that "it's because of what's lurking inside it", meaning Xemnas and the other villains.

Weapons and special uses of darkness
While darkness is often associated with evil, it can be used for the force of good. If one can accept darkness into themselves without allowing the darkness to consume them, they may wield its powers without succumbing to its influences (as in Riku's situation).

King Mickey's Keyblade, Kingdom Key D, is a Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness, though this does not mean that it is actually affiliated with Darkness; in this case, it means that it is necessary to close world doors from inside the Realm of Darkness.

Darkness is also seen being manipulated into attacks by the Heartless and Nobodies, and to a greater degree Maleficent, the members of Organization XIII, and Riku. Sora can also slightly manipulate Darkness in Kingdom Hearts II through his Drive Form, Anti Form, in which he reawakens the darkness that was created when he became a Heartless.

Darkness is also been shown to be able to bring back others, shown when Maleficent used the powers of darkness to bring back Oogie Boogie, and Ursula's journal entry states the powers of darkness brought her back.

Darkness can also be used for transportation. Experienced users of Darkness are able to open a Corridor of Darkness to travel between locations with a great degree of speed. However, these are physical corridors of Darkness, and prolonged or repetitive use of this means of travel will often allow Darkness to manifest deeper within a being, leaving them more vulnerable to its negative effects in the long run.

There are many items that have used for protection against darkness. Some of these items are seen as simple things such as the Midnight Anklet and Champion Belt which boost the equipped character's resistance to dark-element attacks, or the Keyblade Armor and Black Coat, which protect the wearer from the darkness between the worlds.

Effects of darkness
Darkness creates and feeds off of primal emotions such as revenge, hate, greed, and fear. In the process, it makes those it affects experience and exhibit these feelings while constantly making those feelings stronger, eventually leading to the affected becoming a Heartless. Darkness can also change the physical appearance of those it affects, up to such extremes as a normal person becoming a Shadow and Riku taking on the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

Also, those who use the Corridor of Darkness, or come in contact with Darkness of any form on a regular basis, have their Heart "stained" by Darkness, which causes their eyes to turn orange, their skin to become tanned in color, and the ears becoming pointed. With the exception of Xemnas and Xigbar, whose features are the result of their original selves using the darkness countless times prior to becoming Nobodies, the members of Organization XIII and Naminé do not experience this due to the fact that they are Nobodies with no hearts to stain.

The only other Organization member to possess these traits is Saïx. But his original persona, Isa, does not have them at all in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. It is possible Isa came in contact with Darkness some time between the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and becoming a Nobody.

Riku does not have yellow eyes because the explosion of the Kingdom Hearts Encoder cleansed his body from the effects of Darkness. The effect is probably not instantaneous though as Terra's eyes did not change color when he gave into his darkness.

Known and notable darkness users

 * Master Xehanort
 * Vanitas
 * Unversed
 * Braig
 * Maleficent
 * Terra
 * Ansem, Seeker of Darkness
 * Heartless
 * Nobodies
 * Dream Eater
 * Ansem the Wise
 * Mickey Mouse
 * Riku
 * Sephiroth
 * Riku Replica
 * Organization XIII
 * Pete
 * Naminé
 * Sora
 * Scar
 * Oogie Boogie
 * Shan-Yu

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