Editing Battle of the 1000 Heartless

 

[[File:1000HeartlessKHII.png|300px|thumb|right|Sora charging into battle]]

 

The '''Battle of the 1000 Heartless''', also known as the '''Battle of the Hollow Bastion''', was a major battle in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''. It featured 1000+ [[Heartless]] attacking the [[Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee]] and their settlement in [[Hollow Bastion]]. [[Organization XIII]] purposely began the war to collect more hearts for [[Kingdom Hearts]] by using [[Sora]] and the [[Keyblade]]'s power to release hearts. [[Maleficent]] also participated in the battle in an attempt to seize the world as hers again. The Organization used [[Nobody|Nobodies]] in the battle to rid Maleficent's weaker Heartless.

[[File:Battle of the 1000 Heartless Development.png|270px|thumb|left|The Battle of the 1000 Heartless, as seen during development]]

In the cutscene prior to the battle, Sora, Donald and Goofy wield their basic weapons (Kingdom Key, Mage's Staff and Knight's Shield, respectively). However, when the fight starts, they carry their equipped weapons. This is because the cutscene was pre-rendered, probably because of the high amount of objects in the area.

The promotional trailers for ''Kingdom Hearts II'' pictured Sora running towards the Heartless, followed by Donald and Goofy, along with two [[Behemoth]]s and six [[Wyvern]]s with their ''[[Kingdom Hearts Final Mix]]'' color schemes. However, Behemoths and Wyverns never appear in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', except with the help of cheat codes. In ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'', the Behemoths and Wyverns were brought back, but Sora is alone in the middle of the Great Maw. Oddly enough, this version of the cutscene appears in the opening of ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:coded]]'', rather than how it appears in-game, with Sora running alone into a crowd with no Behemoths or Wyverns.

In one of Nomura's interviews, he reveals that if he were to take anything away from ''Kingdom Hearts II'', it would be this battle.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070710094227/http://www.kh2.co.uk/?page=NI/KH2U '''Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Interview with Tetsuya Nomura'''] —"'''Q: In the huge battle where we have to go through 1000 Heartless, all the staff thought they couldn't pull it off but in the end they could, eh?''' A: Yes. I always estimated that "If we have to drop something, it'll have to be this part"...</ref>

The battle began while Sora and company opened the DTD dataspace in [[Space Paranoids|Ansem's computer]] and were discussing Ansem's identity with the King. When the Bailey was destroyed by the surge of Heartless, the party immediately made their way there, but was forced to linger in the halls of the Castle fighting their way out.

Meanwhile, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee made their way towards the Bailey, and then to the Great Maw, to combat the threat. They made themselves ready as thousands upon thousands of Heartless flowed toward the town. Aerith aided Yuffie with her white magic skills, revealing her to be able to cast the [[Cure]] spell herself. Cloud and Leon fought side-by-side against a large crowd of Heartless, both making comments regarding their capabilities in fighting off all the Heartless. Later, Cloud has a short reunion with Sephiroth, then runs off after him just as Tifa arrives. Even [[Stitch]], [[Gullwings|Yuna, Rikku, and Paine]] help in defeating the Heartless, although they do not have as much of an effect on their numbers.

As Sora and the gang make their way down the Ravine Trail toward the Great Maw, the Committee arrives in various places to help them get down, then disappear to continue the fight.

They do not appear again until after the fight, but it can be assumed that they spent most of the time fighting nearer the town, defending it from advancing Heartless. They appear to be mostly unscathed, and quickly begin working on repairing the town once more.

Although a small minority of Heartless were attacking [[Ansem the Wise]]'s old castle, Sora and his friends force them back out of the town into the Great Maw. Sora, Donald and Goofy catch up with [[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]] in the Bailey, and defy his orders, going in to help their friends. Upon reaching the Castle Gate, they encounter [[Demyx]], whom they previously met in the Underworld at [[Olympus Coliseum]]. After a tough battle, Demyx falls and fades back to darkness. Mickey catches up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, accepting to help them. However, a [[Surveillance Robot]]'s laser hits a boulder which would have hit Mickey, if Goofy had not pushed him out of the way. Goofy is hit on the head by the boulder instead and is knocked unconscious.  Goofy's subsequent failure to respond to Sora and Donald's attempts to wake him lead the two of them and Mickey to believe he is dead. Enraged, Mickey, Donald, and Sora charge into the battle. Sora is then helped by [[Yuffie]], [[Leon]], [[Tifa]] and [[Cloud]] to rid the Heartless. However, after the battle through the Ravine Trail, Sora, Donald and Mickey discover that Goofy is alive.

The group then moves into the Great Maw, where they finally behold the leader of Organization XIII, [[Xemnas]]. Mickey runs off to confront Xemnas. Before the others can follow, they find themselves surrounded by a great Heartless army. Sora, Donald, and Goofy split up to finish off the numbers quicker, and a great battle ensues, leaving only the three warriors of light standing. The trio eventually catches up with Mickey. Xemnas makes his departure who is chased by Mickey plunging into a Corridor of Darkness. The three have brief encounters with [[Axel]], [[Saïx]] and Maleficent and the plot of the Organization is revealed to them. Maleficent surprisingly saves the three from a group of Nobodies and sends them away from the world, ending the battle.

In the aftermath of the battle, Maleficent's power over the Heartless was effectively broken. Organization XIII was able to take control of them, and began sending them to the worlds which [[Pete]] had previously visited.

Although the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee won the battle, Sora began to doubt his purpose knowing that Organization XIII would take the [[heart]]s of any Heartless he would defeat. However, Goofy reminded him that to do nothing would allow the Heartless to continue taking over worlds.

Also, in the Corridor of Darkness, where Maleficent sent the party after the battle, the trio obtained several critical clues that eventually led them to [[Twilight Town]], and ultimately to [[The World that Never Was]].

Sora must defeat exactly 1000 Heartless alone. The battle can be made much easier by using [[Reaction Command]]s, however. Sora can perform the '''Rising Sun''' Reaction Command, which lets him attack large groups of enemies and devastate them. The [[Armored Knight]]s can be defeated easily by utilizing this technique, and to make matters easier, Sora can grab the [[Surveillance Robot]]s around the area and use them in the '''Snag''' and '''Sparkle Ray''' Reaction Commands to attack the Armored Knights and other Surveillance Robots. Although the Armored Knights are not exceptionally strong, their large numbers, compounded with Sora being alone, can make them difficult to defeat. These Heartless are in fact weaker than the normal variety found, possessing less HP and stats. Because of this large number of Armored Knights, the battle can take a long time to complete. But because of the Reaction Commands, this battle is very easy, albeit long.

If you wish to use magic in this battle, equip a good amount of Ethers before the battle and keep them in the Shortcuts menu. You should also select spells such as Thunder and Magnet and put them in the Shortcuts menu. When the actual battle begins, spam Thunder, and then use an Ether on Sora. If the MP bar is still pink in color, attack like normal. For crowd-control lovers, Magnet is a great spell. The Explosion ability is also highly effective, clearing out a decent radius of foes while not requiring MP.

The battle has been made even easier in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix]]'', with the addition of [[Limit Form]], which can be activated without any allies. Aside from its powerful attack capabilities, reverting out of Limit Form immediatly after entering it grants the player full MP and HP bars.  

A possible glitch may occur during battle, where the Rising Sun Reaction command causes Armored Knights to become lodged in the mountain scape surrounding Sora, ceasing the ability to use physical attacks. This can be rectified by casting Thunder until all of the enemies are defeated.

File:Sora KHII.png|[[Sora]]

File:Donald KHII.png|[[Donald Duck]]

File:Goofy KHII.png|[[Goofy]]

File:King Mickey KHREC.png|[[Mickey Mouse|King Mickey]]

{|border="1" style="text-align:center; -moz-border-radius:10px"

|style="-moz-border-radius:10px"|'''The Battle of 1000 Heartless'''

|style="-moz-border-radius:10px"|<youtube width="320" height="240">mdyDlxxyTtA</youtube>

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*Another battle featuring 1000 Heartless can be found in the [[Underworld]] as match 45 in the [[Hades Paradox Cup]]. Like the Hollow Bastion one, it also features Armored Knights and Surveillance Robots.

[[fr:Bataille des 1 000 Sans-cœur]]