Axel

Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames (おどる火の風), is the Nobody of Lea, and is Rank VIII within Organization XIII. He wields fire and enhances his weapons, twin Chakrams, with his pyrokinesis to unleash powerful rapid attacks. The Assassin Nobodies are under his control.

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Axel was the trump card for the rest of the Organization as a double agent in Castle Oblivion to keep track of Marluxia's plans. In Kingdom Hearts II, Axel betrayed the Organization for his friendship with Roxas and acted of his own accord to try and help Sora, though he originally wanted to turn Sora into a Heartless to get Roxas back. Axel appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a playable character in Mission Mode and one of the main protagonists.

Lea, his complete being's original name, was revealed in the Day 356 Secret Report and also mentioned by Saïx. Lea was friends with Saïx's original persona, Isa. Lea, Isa, and Axel each appear in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Axel's appearance merely a cameo.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
A mysterious figure who stands in Sora's path.
 * Sora's Story

''Hard to read, half the time Axel seems to just be messing around... but for all we know, he's done more thinking than everyone else put together.''

He knows a lot more than he let's on.

No. 8 in the Organization.
 * Reverse/Rebirth

He is a Nobody whose intentions and secrets are hidden from all.

''Axel has no qualms about exploiting others to suit his needs. He used Sora and Naminé to silence Marluxia and halt his plot against the Organization.''

Axel claims he and Sora have something in common, but that connection is unclear.

Kingdom Hearts II
''Organization XIII's Number VIII. He commands fire and carries a uniquely-shaped weapon.''

''He is the former mentor of Roxas. He would give anything to get him back.''

He has proven to be an odd duck of sorts within the Organization, lashing out against treachery, yet stirring troubles with his own betrayals all the while.

He claims he and Sora share some sort of bond, but Sora can't imagine what that might be.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
No. VIII AXEL

''An assassin who puts his own agenda first, and everything else on the back burner. Wields fire.''

Weapon: Chakrams

Development
Axel bears a great amount of similarities with Reno from Final Fantasy VII. Axel even shares his voice actor with Reno over a variety of languages: Quinton Flynn in English, Jean Christophe Parquier in French, Víctor Martínez in Spanish, Philipp Brammer in German and Keiji Fujiwara in Japanese. Tetsuya Nomura stated that this is done intentionally as an experiment. He wanted to place a familiar character in a new environment and role. He also stated in an interview that the two are "different people, but subconsciously alike".

Axel was popular among members of the Kingdom Hearts staff and though he was initially supposed to die at the end of Roxas's prologue, his popularity caused him to be continued into the main game of Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
After inducting Roxas into the Organization, Xemnas places him under Axel's tutelage. Initially, Axel was unsure how to treat Roxas, as he acted like a "zombie." Over time however the Nobodies begin to bond, eating sea-salt ice cream together at the Twilight Town Train Station after missions. As their friendship grows strong, Axel began to demonstrate emotions due to his time with Roxas. Axel is also present when Xion joins the Organization, but is sent to Castle Oblivion to deal with the traitorous Marluxia. Having received these orders through Saïx, the second-in-command to Xemnas, it would appear that Axel also planned to eliminate other members who could stop their plans to overthrow the Organization.

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories while Sora and Riku wander around in Castle Oblivion, Axel works for the two parties of the already divided Organization in the castle. One side, Marluxia and Larxene, sought to use Sora's powers to usurp Xemnas and the rest of the Organization while using Naminé to alter Sora's memories. Those who stayed in the castle basement were Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion—three of the original members of Organization XIII. The three realize Marluxia's ambitions and try to counteract by using Riku to destroy Sora. At first, Axel joins the rebel group, though his intentions at that decision point remained unclear.

Upon throwing the first battle with Sora, Axel admits to testing the Keyblade master's strength. Being the first Organization member to reveal his face, Axel gives up a card created from Sora's memories for him to progress further in the castle. After leaving Sora bewildered, Axel holds a serious conversation with Larxene in which he professes an interest in the fact that Sora retains his self-consciousness even after becoming a Heartless.

After Vexen nearly reveals the existence of Roxas to Sora, Axel is ordered by Marluxia to dispose of him. Axel does so effortlessly, and is at last accepted by Marluxia and Larxene into their conspiracy. Using this to his advantage, Axel allowed Naminé to escape and contact Sora. He later confronted Marluxia, allowing him to figure out that he acted as a double agent during their entire time in the castle. Citing his previous order to rid the Organization of traitors, Axel readied to attack Marluxia, even after Marluxia used Naminé as a shield, but was interrupted by Sora, whom he eventually fought for the last time. At the end of the battle, Axel pretends to be defeated and confuses Sora with the words "It was worth saving you after all," and vanishes.

After his battle with Sora, Axel meets with Zexion in the castle basement. Zexion brought up the subject of Riku and requested data on Destiny Islands in the form of a card. Despite their previous collaboration, Axel later offers Riku Replica the honor of eliminating Zexion, promising the duplicate that he would gain new powers and be able to defeat the real Riku. The exact reason for Axel's betrayal is not stated, and seems self-contradictory after he had helped stop Marluxia's betrayal, though it was true that both sides of the Organization members in Castle Oblivion had their own ideas for betrayal. Axel comments that it would be more interesting to see Sora and Riku's future than to save Zexion; however, this may have had something to do with Axel's friendship with Roxas, which could have been the reason why he effortlessly destroyed Vexen—to prevent either Sora or Roxas from meeting.

In Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Axel states the reason for his betrayal of Zexion, saying: "You just found out way too much." This seems to be quite ambiguous, as in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories Axel and Zexion were shown to be friendly with each other (e.g. in one scene it was shown that Zexion and Axel were making bets on which Organization members in the Castle would be the next to die, something that Axel wins when he accurately predicts that Marluxia will be the next to fall), however this could mean Zexion found out about Saïx and Axel's plan to take over the Organization, which is supported in the Secret Report made by Zexion which he stated he had growing suspicions about Axel and Saïx.

When Axel returns to the World That Never Was, he feels that Roxas has replaced him with Xion. Axel becomes jealous, not sure exactly what to make of Xion. At Roxas's suggestion, the three begin to spend time together as a trio. Some time later, Axel finds himself before Saïx, and reveals that he regrets not being able to talk with Saïx as he could with Roxas and Xion. Saïx reminds Axel of the friendship they shared before becoming Nobodies, and the plans they had to take over the Organization.

After discovering who and what she was, Xion begins wanting to leave the Organization. Axel eventually catches her in front of Roxas despite his pleas. With him and Roxas not on speaking terms, Axel soon becomes torn between his attempt to save them both from Xemnas's intent to do with any one of them. While assigned to a mission in Wonderland, Xion runs off and Axel makes no attempt of stopping her once she knocks out Xigbar. A few days later, with Roxas learning of Xion's identity and that Axel kept it from him, he leaves the Organization. Axel, who has enjoyed the time he spent with his best friend, is distraught by Roxas' decision as he tried to reason with him.

The next day, under orders, Axel tracks Xion to the Old Mansion in Twilight Town where he realizes her intentions, telling her that he's fed up with her and Roxas being selfish and doing whatever they want, before he manages to knock Xion unconscious. But the fight took its toll as Axel faints from fatigue once he brings her back to the Castle That Never Was, with Xemnas taking Xion from him. Later, in his quarters, learning of the aftermath of Roxas and Xion's fight, a depressed Axel discovers a popsicle stick which reads "WINNER", a gift left by Roxas.

Kingdom Hearts II
Plagued with questions as to why he has a Keyblade and subconsciously seeking out Sora, Roxas leaves the Organization. Axel, who found companionship in Roxas, is distraught by this decision.

Shortly afterward, Roxas is captured by Riku and put in DiZ's Digital Twilight Town where his memory is wiped and replaced with an artificial one, leading him to believe he is a normal teenager. Axel is sent to the simulated town to bring Roxas back to the Organization; however, his first effort failed due to DiZ's appearance and the restarting of the Twilight Town program. Roxas was dumbfounded by Axel's appearance, lacking any memories of him and awareness of what was going on.

Pressed by the threats by Xaldin and Xemnas, Axel again tries to recover Roxas without destroying him, keeping in mind the Organization's order to either eliminate Roxas or be destroyed himself. Roxas learns that the two had been best friends from Naminé and mentions this to Axel, but his bluff is called when he is unable to remember "their boss's name." DiZ then intervenes and Roxas escapes for the Twilight Town mansion. The two meet again at this mansion in the computer room basement. Despite Roxas's recovery of his memories, Axel is hurt from his previous encounter with Roxas and fights him and his dual Keyblades. Axel loses the fight and disappears, choosing not to carry out his mission.

While Sora reawakens with Roxas inside him, Axel is entrusted by Riku to protect Naminé. Naminé's words, about those who are dear to them despite being Nobodies, strangely moves Axel.

During Sora's exploits to the different worlds, Axel appears before Kairi on a beach across Destiny Islands, intending to kidnap her to draw Sora out. Axel's plan was simple; if Sora were to become a Heartless again, then Roxas would be reborn. However, Kairi escapes through a Corridor of Darkness created by Riku and lands in Twilight Town where she stayed for some time in wait of Sora. Axel, however, follows her to the town and steals her away again, but not long afterward she is taken captive by Saïx who was under orders to give Axel something to actually worry about. After the invasion of Radiant Garden by the Heartless, Sora confronts Xemnas, the leader of the Organization. Xemnas decided to take his leave and Axel later greeted Sora.

Axel hints that the Keyblade caused the hearts that composed the Heartless to flee, but refuses to say what Organization XIII would do with those hearts. Sora realizes that Axel is Kairi's captor, and Axel confirms this. Though initially seeming unrepentant for his actions, he soon apologizes for kidnapping Kairi, and makes a hasty exit when Saïx appeared.

On the way to The World That Never Was, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey are trapped in Betwixt and Between by Nobodies, but Axel arrives to help. Sora and Axel battle the Nobodies, but seeing that the Dusk's numbers were too great, Axel decides to put his entire being and essence into an attack, destroying the Nobodies but sacrificing himself in the process. He did this to save Sora, his best friend's original self, who stayed with him until the moment he faded. He sincerely apologizes to Sora for getting Kairi involved.

Confused, Sora asks him what he was trying to do and Axel confessed that he wanted to see Roxas, the only one who made him feel like he had a heart. Oddly enough for Axel, Sora made him feel the same way (possibly since Sora and Roxas are one and the same) and used these final words to urge Sora on to rescue Kairi. Axel opens the passageway to the World That Never Was with the last bit of strength he had in him before disappearing into darkness completely.

Afterward, Xigbar and Luxord were curious about Axel's foolish and senseless actions; essentially turning against the Organization for the sake of his friendship with Roxas, but Xemnas reveals that Axel's disappearance served to stir Roxas from his rest, claiming Axel's disobedience was not entirely meaningless and pitiful. Xemnas also states that due to contact with Sora's heart, Axel's own ability to feel emotions could have been affected. Naminé, however, backs up this notion in the written novel of the game in which she mentions that Axel never truly died, but rather faded into darkness where he would wander until he would find his heart. Axel made one final appearance to Roxas, right before the latter's mental battle with Sora, where he gives a final farewell to his best friend.

Kingdom Hearts coded
In the Data Castle Oblivion, during Episode 8, the Data-Naminé reveals to Data-Sora and King Mickey that Axel is one of the people that, while gone, is still connected to Sora's heart.

Blank Points
Axel, Roxas, and Xion are seen in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Blank Points, sitting happily together on the Clock Tower with sea-salt ice cream. The trio look into the sunset and Roxas and Xion say Sora's name.

Appearance
Like other Organization members, Axel wears the basic black gloves and boots. His black coat, however, is one of the more distinctive ones in the group, as its sleeves close up tightly around his arms. Axel himself is also easily distinguishable from other characters in terms of facial features, made easier by the fact that he rarely wears the hood of his coat up. Axel has a widow's peak, rather small eyebrows and thick, shoulder-length, bright red hair styled into slicked-back spikes. His eyes are a bright emerald color and he has a purple reverse-teardrop shaped marking under each eye, which are similar although not the same as Reno's facial markings.

Personality
When he is first introduced at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Axel has a mysterious, stoic, and calm demeanor on par with that of Marluxia. A very good liar, he makes a point of keeping himself difficult to read, coming off as fooling around when really his mind is at work manipulating the other members around him. Axel often makes witty conversation with Larxene while Marluxia is away, though is almost completely unfazed by her flirtatious behavior towards him. He also has friendly bets with Zexion as to which member will be defeated next, seeming amused at their deaths.

Eventually, Axel betrays both with no remorse. Vexen's cries for mercy only receive a cruel "Aren't you happy [to die]?" and a cocky "Goodbye" before Axel incinerates him without any hesitation. This cruel nature persists even when Marluxia uses Naminé as a human shield against him: Axel confidently declares he would eliminate Naminé to get to Marluxia. He is a person who does what is necessary to keep his actions, like those in Castle Oblivion, unnoticed by the rest of the Organization, so that his and his allies' goals are attained smoothly.

Axel's personality changes drastically in between Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II because of his friendship with Roxas and Xion. In Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, he has a very sarcastic and laid-back, "go with the flow" outlook on many things, including missions and battles. He also is shown to have a very kind and protective side towards Roxas and Xion, which is ironic for a Nobody and his actions at Castle Oblivion. He acted like an older brother towards them, being their main source of advice and wisdom. In some cases he got them out of trouble even when it could and did earn him his own trouble, like his dismissal and eventual betrayal of Saïx to protect them both. Axel apparently does not like to talk about his past despite Saïx's insistence on its significance. Whenever Roxas or Xion asked him about it, he would give a brief or vague answer, then try to change the subject, often avoiding eye-contact when lying.

At his death, he was at least able to recall how Roxas gave him a "bizarre illusion of humanity". An important thing to note is that in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, when Axel bids his final farewell to Roxas, it can be seen upon closer inspection that the teardrop at the end of the scene belongs to Axel, which clearly displays his unusual emotional capacity. Even during the events at Castle Oblivion, Axel displays emotion and acknowledges it when he begins laughing, but catches himself and stops. He even mocks his ability to feel during his death. Whether he, Roxas, Naminé, and Xion all seem have something unusual in common regarding the heart, is unknown. But it has been hinted by Xemnas, and Axel himself, that by being close in contact with Sora's heart, Axel began to feel emotions of his own.

Abilities
As the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel uses two uniquely shaped weapons called Chakrams, and specializes in Fire manipulation. He can summon pillars of flame at will and strike with rapid combos using his Chakrams. He can also surround his Chakrams in flame and throw them like boomerangs, spinning and looping them to hit opponents multiple times. In his one on one battle with Roxas in Kingdom Hearts II, Axel also summons a circle of fire to surround them and leaps into the flames to hide, emerging to strike with rapid attacks, and then leaping back to keep his opponents off their guard. Axel is a powerful member of the Organization, arguably even stronger, or at least a better fighter, than Saïx. This is seen when Saïx is defeated by Roxas, but Axel was able to defeat Xion at the Old Mansion, who at the time absorbed much of Roxas's power. However, Axel clearly put more effort into his battle, as he passed out after the fight, while Saïx remained conscious, though exhausted.

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Axel has a Limit Break called Explosion. During Explosion, Axel throws his Chakrams at enemies while they're engulfed in fire, creating a small explosion of fire afterwards. While not being thrown, Axel's Chakrams spin rapidly, gathering fire. However, they can be thrown at any time, and do not need to charge.

During Axel's Final Limit, Axel combines his two flaming Chakrams into one enormous flaming Chakram, easily many times larger than the two Chakrams. The explosion after the attack is also much larger.

Weapon
Axel utilizes two Chakrams, named "Eternal Flames". Each Chakram is circular and red, with silver spikes and circles around the edges, and two black handles shaped like crosses in the middle. Each Chakram has eight spikes, possibly referencing Axel's rank in the Organization. Axel is very adept in the use of his weapon; he can throw them, use them as shields, or use them as melee weapons. He performs some unique attacks, including juggling them against an opponent, or throwing one across the entire battlefield continuously.

He also uses them in conjunction with his fire abilities, setting the tips, or even the whole thing, on fire before throwing them. From a scene in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, it is shown that he can set his Chakrams on fire from afar, acting as a remote detonator.

The Bond of Flame Keyblade, obtained from Axel, is similar in appearance to his Chakrams. Axel's Chakrams are among the few Organization XIII weapons that do not bear the Nobody symbol (the others being Xemnas's Ethereal Blades, and Roxas and Xion's Keyblades), but the spikes on the wheel do bear some similarities to the Nobody insignia.

In real life, chakrams are actually small razor-edged throwing disks used by warriors in ancient India. Axel's Chakrams bear more of a resemblance to Chinese wind-and-fire wheels, wheel-shaped weapons that are used strictly as melee weapons.

Quotes

 * "Now that we're getting to know each other better... don't you go off and die on me now!"
 * "But don't waste your time. We Nobodies can never hope to be somebodies."
 * "Best friends can be inseparable even when they're apart."
 * "Hey, wait... I'm enjoying this. You guys are something else!"
 * "What's your problem!? You both... think you can do whatever you want. Well, I'm sick of it. Go on, you just keep running! But I'll always be there to bring you back!"
 * "This town is his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q and A. You're coming with me conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story."
 * "You really do remember me this time? I'm SO FLATTERED. But you're too late!!"
 * "We've got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about."
 * "Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one."
 * "You can't turn on the Organization! You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, there were flames consuming Axel's body at his death. The flames were removed for the English version. In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, despite keeping many changes made to the English version, Axel's death scene uses the flames.
 * Axel is the first character to technically curse, as he says the word "hell" in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories when he says "Give me one hell of a show!" At the same time, it's the only game in the series he appears in where he does not say "Got it memorized?" (However, after introducing himself, he does say, "Commit it to memory"). In Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Axel uses "Got it memorized?" instead.