Young Xehanort

Young Xehanort, referred to as the Unknown (謎の男) and the Mysterious Figure in the North American, PAL, and Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, is a boss in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and one of the main antagonists in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

This version of Xehanort is Xehanort as a teenager and was given the power to travel through and manipulate time itself to help his older self accomplish his goal of containing his essence in thirteen different vessels.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
A mysterious figure whose origins, identity, and purpose are unclear.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
''Xehanort in his early years. He has traveled through time to guide Sora toward a ghastly fate.''

Kingdom Hearts III
''A member of the real Organization XIII.

This is Master Xehanort's younger self. He has traveled forward through time more than once in order to guide Sora.''

Pre-Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
The Young Xehanort lived on Destiny Islands until the day when his future Heartless arrived and told him of the future. Ansem then gave his younger self the power to time travel and collect all of their other incarnations. Xehanort did this and eventually returned to his own time.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
As Terra, Ventus, and Aqua return separately to Land of Departure's remains, they turn around when they feel a presence and find a hooded figure who challenges them to a battle. After the battle, they seem to have lost sight of the mysterious figure, and prepare to walk away when they spot him again, but he only walks away in the direction of the castle and disappears, fading out of sight.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Xehanort's youthful self is revived along with all of the other Xehanorts and appeared numerous times to Sora and Riku as they traverse the Realm of Sleep and awaken several worlds previously destroyed by Ansem. During these appearances, Xehanort would taunt the heroes as he recruited other versions of himself throughout time and space to complete a new Organization XIII under Master Xehanort's orders. The original Organization was meant to recruit thirteen strong beings to be used to make clones of Master Xehanort through the process of transferring portions of his heart into their bodies, but the first generation of Nobodies consisted of many failures. A majority of the original members were either traitorous to the Organization, were too weak for their purpose, or were simply distrustful. Young Xehanort then embarked on his mission to find suitable replacements; various versions of himself, throughout time. To this end, Xehanort recruited Ansem and Xemnas to the new Organization.

As the story progresses, it is revealed that Ansem once traveled back in time and set this younger version of his former incarnation on his journey as a fail safe should Xemnas' Organization XIII prove to be useless in his plans. After Sora fights Xemnas which damages the former's heart, Xehanort puts him into a deep sleep, planning to use him as the final vessel. Sora is taken to the Organization's former headquarters in The World that Never Was, while Riku and King Mickey attempt to save him. Xehanort impedes their attempts and engages Riku in a brutal fight, where Riku comes through victorious, but Master Xehanort returns immediately after the fight to assume control over his new army. Young Xehanort took his place amongst the ranks under his older self's rule and escaped with all his counterparts, once Riku, Mickey, Lea, Donald, and Goofy prevented Master Xehanort from transferring a portion of his heart into Sora to make him his final vessel.

A fragmentary passage
A young Xehanort is shown as the first incarnation before both "Ansem" and Xemnas, and appears in his elderly form after them.

Appearance
In Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Young Xehanort's body is completely covered by a hooded Black Coat with a fairly tall and masculine build. He never speaks at any point of the game.

In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, he has silver hair, dark skin, an adolescent face and golden eyes.

Young Xehanort's body model is a copy of Saïx's. It may or may not have a deeper meaning as Saïx/Isa has not transformed into a full clone of Master Xehanort yet.

Abilities
Young Xehanort wields many incredibly formidable abilities that makes him an extremely powerful foe to behold. He was granted the power of space-time manipulation by Ansem, which he uses to great effect; for example, he recovered from the effect of Mickey's most powerful Stop spell within mere moments, far faster than any of his comrades. He can manipulate time so precisely that he is capable of controlling time to achieve a myriad of effects while in battle, performing such feats as slowing his opponent or reversing the flow of time to regenerate health. During his battle with Riku, Young Xehanort would merge with the clock in the arena and if enough time has been given, could restore a decent amount of health by rewinding time. Like his older self, he is an extremely powerful magic user, capable of casting many of the most powerful spells available to all the protagonists of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, with the addition of being able to use Doom, and he can cast powerful fire, wind and ice spells that project fiery vortexes, summon tornados and fire several large ice blocks. His telekinetic prowess is capable of easily throwing around Riku and Mickey. In both times he is faced, Xehanort is immune to all status effects and displays outstanding swordsmanship skills as well as great speed and agility, wielding first his dual-blades to perform many deadly attacks, also displaying proficiency with the whip and spear form the weapons can undertake by fusing them together, and later his Keyblade to quickly unleash a flurry of combos capable of trapping and quickly dealing heavy damage to Riku, with him also making effective use of his ability to transform it into a shield and whip. In Birth By Sleep, Young Xehanort is also capable of turning himself invisible and firing lasers. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, he can enter the World of Sleep, summon Dream Eaters, open Keyholes and the Corridors of Darkness.

Weapons


He wields two weapons that bear a striking resemblance to Xemnas's Ethereal Blades, but appear to have hilts, which many of Xemnas's blades do not, but they also resemble some clock hands or clock arrows. The blades are made of light blue energy and the black handles are somewhat reminiscent of the Terminus and Ruination Ethereal Blades. The blades can be combined into a dual-blade, and extend to be lashed out like a whip. Young Xehanort wields these weapons with a reverse grip, similar to the unorthodox way Ventus wields his Keyblade.

When battling Riku in Where Nothing Gathers, Young Xehanort wields his keyblade that incorporates elements of the No Name and Master Xehanort's Keyblade.

Notes and references
Inconnu Der Unbekannte (BbS)