Master Xehanort

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This article is about the Keyblade Master. You may be looking for Ansem the Wise's apprentice.

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They say ruin brings about creation. So, what then would another Keyblade War bring? When the darkness falls, will we be found worthy of the precious light the legend speaks of? I must have these answers. The χ-blade needs to be forged and with it, the door to the Keyblade War unlocked.

Master Xehanort was a Keyblade Master, the first master of Ventus, and the creator and master of Vanitas, the primary original incarnation of Ansem and Xemnas, and the future self of Young Xehanort. He served as the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts III and the central antagonist of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

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Much like Xehanort, "Ansem", and Xemnas, Master Xehanort is shown to be a cunning, callous, and pragmatic being with the sole goal of merging with Kingdom Hearts and become all-knowing, the lives of innocent people and even his closest friends meaning absolutely nothing to him. To this end, he is willing to put whatever he pleases on the line or destroy anything in his way, demonstrated when he manipulated several characters such as Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Braig, and even Maleficent; creates Vanitas, a sentient being for the sole purpose of forwarding his evil plan; and slays his old friend, Master Eraqus, in cold blood after tricking Terra into defeating him in battle.

Furthermore, when Riku and Mickey confronted him over ruining Terra, Ventus, and Aqua's lives, Xehanort simply told them that it was their destiny to fall, and dismissed Sora as a "dull ordinary boy" even though Sora had successfully thwarted several of his plans. In the case of the latter, Xehanort tends to have a series of back-up plans to occur whenever his previous scheme fails. Yen Sid mentions this to Mickey while discussing Xehanort, and describes him as a brilliant strategist.

Despite his overweening malice, Xehanort has shown to have some slight sympathy, though the only known occurrence of this trait is when he takes pity on Ventus, following the rupture of his heart, and decides to leave him to die a peaceful death on Destiny Islands. All of Master Xehanort's other positive points are revealed to have sinister intentions behind them, demonstrated when he only took Ventus as an apprentice and cared for him solely with the intention of making the boy his vessel once he was strong enough, left him in Eraqus's care to simply make him stronger to be joined with Vanitas years later, and only accepted Master Eraqus's invitation to witness the Mark of Mastery Exam to sabotage it and put Terra on the path to darkness so as to make him his new vessel after deciding to instead use Ventus for the χ-blade.

Despite his sinister actions throughout the series, the root of Xehanort's malice appears to originate from his curiosity of how the universe was made and his lust to become all-knowing. It is this trait that enticed Xehanort to leave the Destiny Islands in search of other worlds, ultimately starting his life as a Keyblade Wielder. This trait is shared throughout his various incarnations as Xehanort, Xehanort's Heartless, and Xemnas all justify their actions by believing that it is all for the sake of research.

His descent into darkness is owed partially to this lust as he wished to learn everything there is to about the worlds, including the Dark Realm. He does not believe in mindless violence or destruction without cause or motive, nor is sadistic in nature, shown by his merciful sympathy towards Ventus after rupturing his heart, but he will willingly engage in violence, cause destruction, and even commit cold-blooded murder if it benefits his quest for knowledge. Ultimately, knowledge and power are the only things Xehanort finds value in and only sees other living beings as tools to be manipulated if they are useful or destroyed if they are hindrances to his grand designs, but always with a greater purpose in mind.

Additionally, Xehanort's reports show the man in a different light than what is initially portrayed as an individual that does not cause destruction and tragedy for the sake of it, but to glean answers from it. Unlike villains such as Maleficent, Xehanort does not seek to form Kingdom Hearts to purely obtain power, but to incite a Keyblade War and see firsthand just how the world was made from such a conflict. Through this observation, he would be able to become all-knowing and create a universe that is more to his liking where light and darkness are more balanced.

While these motives for seeking knowledge and creating a more balanced existence were not initially evil in nature, they allowed Xehanort to feel no remorse for his actions and commit heinous atrocities throughout the worlds for years on end, turning Xehanort into a violent and amoral villain who is eventually consumed by his lust for knowledge, power, and darkness. Though Xehanort's goal of completing Kingdom Hearts is for various reasons, he is not above of being memorized by the absolute power that he would be granted through possessing the X-Blade and unlocking Kingdom Hearts; this lust and obsession would continue on with his Heartless and Nobody counterparts.

Regardless of his justifications and motives for his plans, Xehanort has shown an extreme disregard for all life. This disregard for life is seen in his ultimate goal of inciting another Keyblade War to simply quell his curiosity and remake the universe, which would cost the lives of billions of innocent people and the destruction of all worlds. He gleefully took the life of Master Eraqus, his former best friend, to simply make the darkness in Terra's heart stronger, showing that Xehanort's obsession with Kingdom Hearts overshadows even that of the affection he once felt towards a man he saw as a brother.

His counterparts also share in his extreme disregard with his Heartless destroying thousands of worlds to form a Kingdom Hearts made of the darkness from their destroyed remnants and unleash it onto the worlds while his Nobody created millions upon millions of heartless from the hearts of countless individuals and manipulated his own associates for his own ends, feeling no attachment to them whatsoever and deceiving their own emotions.

This trait is also very indicative of Xehanort's overall persona as he believes that only the emotions of anger and hatred within the heart give one power as they feed the darkness within all hearts. Xehanort's complete disregard for human life, lack of any empathy or remorse, and disdain of any emotion within the heart aside from anger and hatred arguably makes him a psychopath, largely unable to feel any attachment to anything aside from Kingdom Hearts.

While possessing amazing skills, stamina, and powers, even at such an old age, Xehanort has shown himself to lack arrogance, as he displays modesty by constantly never bragging about his skills and even accepting the fact that he is capable of being defeated. Knowing that not even he is unbeatable, Xehanort is always laying out numerous backup plans in case his original designs do not go as planned. This not only allows Xehanort multiple paths to take even if his schemes are spoiled, but keeps him one step ahead of all his adversaries, even the immensely wise and powerful Yen Sid. His modest demeanor and acceptance of possible defeat also contribute to his calm appearance as he knows that, even in defeat, he still has other alternatives to turn to. A lesser part of his modestness is how he acknowledged he had been rash with his initial plan and while calling Sora a dull boy, he still acknowledged Sora's keyblade mastery as being above most he had ever seen. He also praised Terra for his ability to come that far when they finally faced off.

After taking over Terra's body, the villain retains all of his personality traits as the new incarnation of Xehanort (before the latter's fight against the Lingering Will and Aqua) and "Ansem", whose attire is the same as Master Xehanorts'. Xemnas, meanwhile, appears to be influenced several times by Terra's characteristics, such as his goal of locating Ventus and speaking to Aqua's armor as a fallen ally and friend rather than an enemy. Regardless, Master Xehanort's influence appears to be the primary and dominant consciousness controlling Terra's body and mind as all his forms are obsessed with Kingdom Hearts and completing the alternative plans that Master Xehanort had laid out prior to taking over Terra.

However, it was revealed just before his ultimate demise that Master Xehanort had additional and more pure motives for his horrendous actions throughout the series aside from seeking power and knowledge. Years spent on observing the massive inbalance of light and darkness and how both were used for amoral purposes had left him bitter and caused him to believe that the worlds were an utter failure and took it upon himself to reset them in a pure state to be governed by a strong leader; himself.

At his worst, Xehanort displayed he retained fractions of good intention, despite his horrid actions throughout the series, with a degree of fondness for Eraqus and those who possessed a similar fortitude. In the end, it was what remained of his old bond with Eraqus that convinced him to surrender, willingly giving the X-Blade to Sora and praising his performance. As he started to collapse due to the wounds he had suffered, Xehanort happily allowed Eraqus to help him ascend into the afterlife, accepting his fate once and for all with dignity and showcasing that even he was willing to admit defeat when bested by a worthy opponent.

Lastly, Master Xehanort also had a few unusual tendencies and quirks as well, such as turning away from the people he speaks to, or over-dramatizing his hand gestures when delivering a speech, even flexing his fingers in an unusual manner, as if itching to grab something. These actions seem very indicative of his obsession and excitement over his plans and visions, nearly losing his calm composure when discussing over what can be achieved and when fulfilling the most essential steps of his elaborate plots and calculated betrayals.

Overall, Master Xehanort was the true catalyst, either direct or indirect, for a majority of the events in the entire series, such as the creation of all his counterparts, Vanitas, the Unversed, the Emblem Heartless, and Nobodies, Organization XIII and the Disney Villains' hunt for Kingdom Hearts. He appears to be the most dangerous of all of Xehanort's forms and where all their malice and evil truly stems from. What started as simple curiosity and an intention to do good turned into pure malice and deception, turning the man into a massive threat and villain throughout all the worlds that has lived on through countless incarnations until finally being stopped by Sora.

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Master Xehanort appears as an old man, bald except for thin eyebrows and a curled, silver goatee. His ears are pointed and his eyes are yellow. He has broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back. He overall appears as a somewhat feeble old man, certainly deceiving given his immense power.

Master Xehanort's clothing is the same as that worn by his eventual Heartless, Ansem. It is composed of a white and black coat with a red inner lining, over a white shirt with two thin black belts, as well as white gloves and calf-high black boots. The major difference between the two outfits is that Ansem wears the shirt unbuttoned, exposing the Heartless emblem on his chest. However, there are a few minor changes as well; Ansem's coat has a gold lining on its edges, where Xehanort's has a black lining. Master Xehanort sometimes wears a Black Coat over this outfit.

In his youth, Master Xehanort had mildly tanned skin, grey eyes and shoulder-length silver hair with bangs covering his forehead and several slicked back spikes. He wore a black sleeveless top with a Recusant's Sigil, and a long black gillet over the top, dark grey pants and black boots.

As a young man, Master Xehanort retained his mildly tanned skin and and silver hair, which both slightly spikes and falls past his shoulders in the back; it is styled similar to Xehanort's, albeit with four bangs framing his face - the back two thicker than the front two - and the two backward spikes on the sides are absent, the topmost one slicked back. His eyes had changed from grey to gold. He wore the same style of white shirt as his older self, which only reaches to his thighs, a black vest with a high collar, long armbands which cover his forearms, and dark grey pants stuffed into his boots, similar to those worn by Organization XIII but absent of the silver lining on top, much like those worn by the guards of Radiant Garden.

In the English version of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Master Xehanort is voiced by the late Leonard Nimoy, who was chosen by Tetsuya Nomura specifically for his role as Spock in the Star Trek franchise. Nimoy was also featured in the 1978 remake, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which is also similar, given Xehanort's tendency to steal bodies, having done so to Terra and Riku. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep was originally intended to be Nimoy's final performance before his retirement in 2010. But he came out of retirement and briefly reprised the role of Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance until his death in 2015 a month after Xehanort's Japanese voice actor Cikao Ōtsuka. Following Nimoy's passing, Rutger Hauer, whose best known for playing Roy Batty in Blade Runner, voiced Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts III that came out months before his passing on July 19, 2019.

In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Master Xehanort was voiced by the late Chikao Ōtsuka, who was chosen by Tetsuya Nomura specifically because he was the father of Akio Ōtsuka, the Japanese voice actor of Xehanort and "Ansem". Chikao Ōtsuka also previously voiced Captain Hook in the original Kingdom Hearts but was replaced by Naoya Uchida in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

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Despite his old age often causing opponents to underestimate him, Master Xehanort is truly an incredibly formidable foe to behold. An extremely skilled Keyblade Master, reputed to be the most powerful Keyblade Master of them all, Xehanort retains more than enough prowess and physical capability in his older days to quickly perform powerful, fast-paced combos with his weapon, although his old age made him rely more on his teleportation abilities to avoid before attacking and primarily used Magic. He can easily take on much younger and highly adept Keyblade wielders, as shown by how Terra was unable to defeat him until he gave in to the darkness, with Xehanort still lasting long enough for the X-Blade to be forged, and by how he easily repels Sora's furious attack after he struck Kairi down. His inhuman strength and reflexes is so beyond someone of his age that he was able to effortlessly react to a quick sneak attack from a fully-armored Ventus from the back of his head and lift him into the air with one hand. Another display of this great physical power is by his ability to surprise and pin down Terra potentially long enough to freeze him unless Terra struggled with all his might and can easily grab Sora by the head and throw him down to the ground with great force. He can teleport in quick succession while in combat to avoid most attacks and quickly counter. After absorbing the twelve Replica Xehanorts, Xehanort gains a new Keyblade Armor and enhances the efficiency of his keyblade skills by empowering himself with darkness to increase the strength of his attacks and incorporating his teleportation to swiftly counter attacks. He can perform swift spinning moves to quickly cover distances and attack repeatedly without a chance of interruption and also can use a version of "Dark Aura" where he charges at Sora from all directions at great speeds and deals heavy damage.

Armored Xehanort

His magical skills are the most advanced seen in the series so far, being highly proficient in the use of elemental magic, capable of creating massive rock formations and pillars on whim, firing multiple blocks of ice at once, striking down powerful overhead thunderbolts, encasing Ventus's body in ice and projecting a gust of wind powerful enough to send Ventus and Mickey flying from his hand. He was also able to use "Stopza" to ultimately overpower Mickey's "Ultima", with the spell notably reaching far enough to immobilize Riku, although the clash had greatly waned his strength. His telekinetic prowess is such that he can telekinetically control the Keyblades covering the Keyblade Graveyard without even needing to use hand gestures. In Kingdom Hearts III, when fought Xehanort is fought after he has absorbed the twelve Replica Xehanorts, he can raise gigantic pillars of flame, create an exploding orb of gravitational force and project a large ball of thunder that sucks in Sora before exploding. When using the X-Blade, Xehanort can strike several bolts of blue lightning at once and empower the X-Blade with ice magic to freeze Sora before firing several large balls of fire.

Master Xehanort displays superb skill in manipulating darkness for both supplementary and offensive purposes. He easily defeated Eraqus with mere two blasts of dark energy, blinding one of his eyes, and repelled Braig's shot with barriers of dark energy without even needing to raise his hands. He was also able to easily gain the Orbs of Light used by Eraqus during Terra and Aqua's Mark of Mastery Exam and also nudge Terra's darkness to make him show visible signs of it with a mere slight gesture. He could open and travel with the Corridors of Darkness with ease, at one point generating a massive portal of darkness that sent Ventus to his home and Mickey to an unknown place, and was able to completely cloud over the Land of Departure with darkness. The X-Blade allowed Xehanort to rain down meteors of darkness and he could channel the Kingdom Hearts to fire a large beam of darkness that would have overwhelmed Sora had he not been empowered by his connection to his friends. He also gains power over Light at this point, able to steal Sora's light and trap it in the center of the arena, using it to create pillars of light and having it emit golden waves of energy.

The capabilities of Xehanort at his prime could be seen with the No Heart, the data simulation of him when he was wearing his Keyblade Armor, where his agility and strength are noticeably sharper, able to quickly move through the terrain despite his heavy armor and execute strong blows that can quickly take out the player, and could transform his Keyblade into multiple shapes. He also displays noticeable prowess in hand-to-hand combat with the gauntlets and graves he could transform his Keyblade into, able to quickly unleash either a 4-punch combo or 6-kick combo. He also uses various potent dark-elemental attacks, creating large shockwaves, explosions, waves and projectiles of darkness, and could also open corridors of darkness able to pull in, damage and teleport the player to his Keyblade, as well as slow them down by either creating a pool or pillar of darkness. In the first round, he surrounds himself with a barrier of darkness and telekinetically controls his Keyblade effortlessly to attack, which he can do in the final round.

Master Xehanort shows a great deal of skill in utilizing the heart and its capabilities, able to create a living being, Vanitas, out of the darkness of Ventus's heart when he unlocks it and even able to direct his heart into Terra's body to possess it after his defeat in the Keyblade Graveyard. After his resurrection, he can somehow bestow other with fragments of his heart to give them the power to use the Keyblade and control darkness without needing to force his heart out, which is how he forged the True Organization XIII.

After absorbing the twelve Replica Xehanorts, he proves capable of summoning the chairs of Where Nothing Gathers and having shadowy versions of himself rise from them to fight for him.

Possessing the X-Blade allows Xehanort to call upon the Kingdom Hearts whenever he desires, which he uses to start the purge of worlds, and he can open keyholes as an instant form of teleportation.

Once he becomes Terra-Xehanort through the possession of Terra's body, Master Xehanort proves to be the stronger of the two hearts residing within him, repeatedly overpowering Terra's influence over his body, as demonstrated several times during the battle between Terra-Xehanort and Aqua, Master Xehanort's influence beginning the fight in the first place and even releasing Terra's heart from within the body of his younger incarnation when Terra begins to regain control. His combat abilities are enhanced due to not only now possessing Terra's much fitter body but also gaining access to Terra's own skills. He wields his old Keyblade with deadly proficiency, not only using far more dangerous variations of Terra's attacks but also using his personal deadly combos by combining Terra and Xehanort's own abilities together. In addition, he can use Terra's affinity with earth to cast the powerful Meteor and Quake, with the additional spell of Rock Storm, firing homing meteors, and is even able to heal using the Curaga spell. He also tends to use Terra's darkness related techniques and when in desperate need for power, can use Terra's Ultimate Cannon Shotlock. The first one to manifest the Guardian, he can have it travel by opening portals before physically attacking with a powerful force, fire spheres of dark energy and summon columns of dark energy.

His greatest asset, however, is his outstanding intelligence and skills at manipulation. For over eleven years, Xehanort's master plan has been going about, resulting in, among other things, the founding of the original Organization XIII and Riku's possession of the Seeker of Darkness, and he always has backup plans ready in the event his initial schemes fail.

Weapon

Master Xehanort is able to wield his Keyblade with great skill despite his age, and enough of his strength has remained over the years that he is able to use it in fast-paced physical combos. His battle pose is similar to that of both Vanitas and Riku, but he mainly allows the Keyblade to hang loosely at his side as he walks slowly towards opponents. Master Xehanort also uses his Keyblade to unlock countless hearts, including his own.

When Master Xehanort possesses Terra's body to become Terra-Xehanort, he abandons Terra's Keyblade and replaces it with his own. Terra-Xehanort wields the weapon with great skill, combining several of Terra and Master Xehanort's abilities to form his own deadly combos. As this Keyblade was gained by Terra-Xehanort through Master Xehanort's heart's more powerful influence, it is also used through Master Xehanort's influence to unlock Terra-Xehanort's heart.

The Gazing Eye Keyblade wielded by Master Xehanort.

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• Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, made from the heart of Master Xehanort, is referenced twice in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. First, Master Xehanort asks Terra to "Seek out the darkness that upsets the balance", similar to Ansem's title, and second, Terra tells Master Xehanort in Blank Points that "You're gonna get shown the door, old man", referencing Ansem's fate at the end of Kingdom Hearts.
• In both versions of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the voice actor for the young Master Xehanort is uncredited.
• Both of Master Xehanort's original voice actors have passed away in 2015. Chikao Ōtsuka passed away on January 15 followed by Leonard Nimoy a month later on February 27. In addition, his Kingdon Hearts III English voice actor Rutger Hauer passed on July 19, 2019, months after the game's release.