Axel

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My show now, Keyblade master! Who am I? Oh, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?

Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames (おどる火の風, Odoru Hi no Kaze^?), 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.

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Axel sarcastically mocks Naminé in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories.

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 he 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, very similar to Marluxia. 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 acts like an older brother towards them, being their main source of advice and wisdom, shown by Roxas in a journal entry when he wrote that he thought Axel knew everything. 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. Even at his worst points (his earlier days as a Nobody), Axel still valued friendship, as despite Saix's vast change, he was still the closest to him out of the Organization XIII and was willing to risk treason by helping him rise through the ranks. However, as Saix changed too much, Axel ultimately began to be uncomfortable with their working relationship and he ultimately abandoned it for Roxas.

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 to 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. Axel has also stated that Roxas makes him feel as though he does have a heart, even though he does not.

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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 and emphasizes his lithe and skinny build. 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 fair skin with rosy hues, 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 to, although not the same as, Reno's facial markings.

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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, as shown by how he does not fear the high-ranked members of the Organization such as Xigbar, Xaldin, Marluxia and Vexen. He proved capable of effortlessly wounding and killing Vexen after he had been injured from his battle with Sora, fighting Marluxia on equal footing, with the latter resorting to use Namine as a hostage rather than continue fighting after they reach a standstill, and even besting Xion when she had absorbed some of Roxas's power, although the battle left him weakened to the point of collapsing. Despite this, his power still doesn't match the likes of Xemnas, who is the only one to force him to do things he doesn't like and Axel acknowledges that Xemnas can easily turn him into a Dusk, causing him to consent to targeting Roxas, Roxas, who soundly defeated him after he gained full power, and Saïx, who Axel is shown to be wary of fighting, backing down immediately when he saw Saïx appear in Hollow Bastion.

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 in a cross 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 the whole 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.

One of the Eternal Flames.

Artwork

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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.

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• In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, there were flames consuming Axel's body at his death. The flames were removed from 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 exclaims, "It's about time you give me one hell of a show!" In Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Axel uses "Try and make it enjoyable, Sora. It's the least you can do for me, you know." instead.
• Axel's catchphrase was originally translated as "Commit it to memory" in the English version of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, though it was later retconned into the more accurate translation of "Got it memorized?" as of Kingdom Hearts II.
• Axel has been resurrected twice throughout the series so far, as he is a favourite character among many fans and the creators themselves. He was supposed to die at the end of Chain of Memories, but was brought back because the developers liked working with him; he was also supposed to die at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, but, along with the other former residents of Radiant Garden, was revived as his somebody Lea in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance..  

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Artwork

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