Editing Game:Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

  |COMbattlename=The 13th Struggle

|COMbattlenamen=<ref>During the first battle in ''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories'' only. In ''Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories'', Revenge of Chaos is played instead.</ref>

  |DDDbattlename=L'Eminenza Oscura I

During the fight, Ansem attacks with energy disks as he laughs, which can be blocked with [[Guard]]. He can also make the [[Dark Figure]] swipe at the party, or defend himself with it. However, with the right timing, Sora can just end up behind Ansem and deal damage to him. Special attacks like [[Ragnarok]] can pierce through the Dark Figure's defenses. When Sora is able to get past the Dark Figure and hit Ansem, he will have it turn around and swing at Sora from behind.

Ansem's most infamous attack is when he has the Dark Figure dash at Sora and swipe at him with a slight delay. He always yells, "Submit!" as he does this, so [[Dodge Roll]] at the right time to evade the Dark Figure, as Guard will not stop it. While the Dark Figure will always target Sora, there is a chance for Donald or Goofy to intercept the blow. If the Dark Figure's hit connects, it will possess its target, and Ansem will use a different attack where he surrounds himself with an energy barrier and tries to hit Sora with it, closing in.

 

If Sora is possessed by the Dark Figure, the Attack command will be occasionally replaced with "Freeze." Pressing it causes the Dark Figure to hold Sora in place for a brief moment leaving him open for Ansem's energy barrier to damage him; otherwise, the Dark Figure will damage Sora from within. While the Dark Figure will eventually be called back to Ansem's side, Sora can shorten the Dark Figure's hold on its target either with simple combos or with special attacks like Strike Raid.

|The Dark Figure attacks, and possesses the opponent for about 30 seconds when it hits.

|Used below a certain amount of HP. Can be avoided by approaching Ansem from the left side. When Sora is possessed, his Attack command may occasionnally<!--At which rate?--> get replaced by Freeze which causes the Dark Figure to immobilize him for a few seconds.

|v35=1

|The Dark Figure attacks with a punch, tracking the opponent throughout the movement.

|Used at close range.

|The Dark Figure spreads its arms, and at the same time, releases a shock wave forward that moves along the ground at high speed.

|Used at close to medium range.

|Performs a series of high-speed shoulder tackles as he runs back and forth across the field.

|The Dark Figure appears from under the opponent's feet a total of 8 times. If it hits, the opponent will be knocked straight up and takes continuous damage.

}}

[[File:Versus Ansem, Seeker of Darkness KHRECOM.png|thumb|right|Ansem, Seeker of Darkness fighting against Riku for the final time.]]

|Ansem quickly approaches Riku, and the Dark Figure performs a hook with its right arm. Can be avoided with a High-Speed Step, but is difficult to dodge by jumping.

|In the tutorial fight, the Dark Figure summons small lightning pillars on the ground near Riku.

|The Dark Figure swings its hands back and forth, firing a total of seven rings of light. Has a fast firing rate, but can be avoided by moving away and High-Speed Step to the side.

|The rings of light linger even after the sleight takes a Card Break.

|Charges five times. Moves very fast and is difficult to avoid.

|Used when HP falls below 25%. After the Dark Figure appears from under Riku's feet eight times in a row, Ansem unleashes shock waves that move along the ground in all directions. The Dark Figure can be avoided with High-Speed Steps, and the shock waves can be avoided by standing diagonally from the enemy.

|Only used in second battle. Resembles the Aura of Darkness technique.

|Only used in second battle.

}}

{{Atk-c|com|note=During the second fight, the Dark Figure may protect Ansem from attacks anytime. Once Ansem's HP falls below 50%, he will not attack or defend for about 2 seconds.}}

[[File:Versus Ansem (First Form) KH3D.png|thumb|right|Ansem, Seeker of Darkness's first form fighting against Riku.]]

Now the battle is on a platform on Darkness's Call. Riku's Dream Eaters are back, and he may benefit from their active support. If he uses Vanish, or gets revived thanks to [[Auto-Life]], Ansem will aim at one of the two Dream Eaters of Riku's party instead. The Dark Figure now serves as a lock-on target for the time it protects Ansem, and despite it having its own HP bar in the meantime, it cannot be depleted. He remains vulnerable to commands that circumvent the Dark Figure's protection like [[Balloon]] or [[Triple Plasma]] during that time, and [[Flowmotion]] may be used on the Dark Figure the same way as on wall, interrupting the protection, where Riku can attack Ansem with a [[Shock Dive]] attack.  

Once enough time has passed, he starts to use his old Racing Shockwave which now has the Dark Figure charge the attack before unleashing the powerful blasts that cannot be blocked. He will try to stay outside of the arena's bounds each time he is about to attack, making short-ranged commands almost useless. Each Racing Shockwave destroys a layer of the platform Riku stands on, but he may interrupt the process for a while if he manages to make Ansem flinch. Once Racing Shockwave has been used three times, the platform completely disappears, along with Riku's dream eaters, and the battle goes back to its initial state, with Ansem's Rush and Shock Slash and Riku's floating combat abilities. Until Ansem uses Rush at least once, he will remain hard to hit due to the fact he stayed outside of the arena's bounds while using Racing Shockwave.

On the 3DS version only, it was possible to either use a second Reality Shift or stunlock Ansem by repeatedly using the Attack command right after a successful first Reality Shift until his HP reaches 1, where then either using another Reality Shift if prompted or waiting for a few seconds and attacking him would finish him off. This strategy would fail if Ansem would immediatly get the Dark Figure to protect himself. If Riku ever triggers a Reality Shift while Ansem is facing downwards or upwards (by using Aerial Slam to knock him upwards and then having him use Rush for example), Ansem will get stuck facing one of these angles and his attacks are rendered ineffective if he faces downwards. The Dark Figure's protection may also send Ansem flying around the ceiling of the arena.<!--Source (apologies for the poor quality recording): https://youtu.be/tRx7ej1T8Vg -->

|The Dark Figure launches six ring projectiles. The projectiles fly halfway, chasing the opponent, then go straight ahead.

|Enveloped in a dark aura, launches five body slams.

|The Dark Figure strikes with its right hand.

|Used with the [[Reality Shift]] platform on. Ansem approaches Riku before the attack, but won't attack if Riku is airborne and will instead keep moving around his position and attack whenever he lands.  

|The Dark Figure clasps both hands over its head and swings downwards.

|Used with the Reality Shift platform on. The attack can hit Riku even if airborne, no matter the height.

|The Dark Figure charges and shoots a dark light onto the ground, sending out a shock wave towards the opponent.

|Used with the Reality Shift platform on, after enough time has passed. Moves outside the arena before attacking. Each shockwave destroys one layer of the Reality Shift platform. Once three are destroyed, the platform disappears.

[[File:Versus Ansem (Second Form) KH3D.png|thumb|right|Ansem, Seeker of Darkness's second form fighting against Riku.]]

Ansem merges with the Dark Figure as he transports both himself and Riku to the [[The World That Never Was#Darkest End|Darkest End]] area. Ansem is now sealed inside a massive organic sphere with his Dark Figure attached to the top. During this battle, the Lock-On range has been improved to reach Ansem from very far. Long-ranged commands are recommended in the case Ansem uses Dark Wave to back away, and as he will never use his Dark Rush attack if Riku is at a minimum of distance. Once More can make the use of Firaga Burst safe during the potentially lethal mult-hit blows of Dark Rush and Dark Shot. The repetitive use of Balloonra can also deal a lot of damage to Ansem as well. Just like the previous fight, Ansem may respond with a taunt once his attacks succeed.

After a while, Ansem starts Dark Matter, pushing Riku and his Spirits to the back of the arena.

 

Riku can pre-emptively use [[Firaga Burst]] (where the big fireball stays where it is) before Ansem starts pushing Riku back, and once at the back, finish with [[Ice Barrage]] to deal extra damage, with the [[Lock-On]] required. Once Riku is at the back of the arena, he can use [[Dark Splicer]], Dark Aura or [[Zantetsuken]], or the [[Ghost Drive]] [[Dual Style]], when he reaches the end of the pathway to warp right up to Ansem and deal damage. This is a risky tactic, as Riku can easily be captured by the Dark Web into the spheres of darkness, or get punched by Dark Rush. Dark Matter can get cancelled if Riku manages to make Ansem flinch.

 

In other cases, Riku needs to go back to Ansem by rolling forwards, with [[Dark Roll]] helping him move faster, or using Flowmotion with the walls on the sides.

 

 

If Riku gets any closer, Ansem uses the Dark Webs that will drag Riku into the spheres. Beware if Ansem uses Dark Rain right before a Dark Web, as it can alter the timing of Riku's blocks, or worse, hit him while the Dark Webs are getting close, and those may catch him. Since they can't get Riku while in midair, he can use [[Flowmotion]] to evade this by staying airborne, as they last for quite a while; or use [[Firaga Burst]] with Doubleflight to stay in the air so he won't be able to drag Riku in. Then use Flowmotion with [[Sonic Impact]], if possible, to go back to the walls. Riku should avoid using Ice Barrage at this moment, even in midair, since it has him fall while using the command. If Dark Barrier is equipped, Riku can alternately repeatedly use it to block the Dark Web when close enough to Ansem, and use Counter Aura at the last moment each time. If Riku is too close though, Ansem might want to punch him using Dark Rush. Riku shouldn't stay on the sides of the arena and stay instead in the middle, as once Dark Matter is over, Riku may get caught off-guard and grabbed by the incoming moving spheres if he's in their way. In the case Riku gets caught by the Dark Webs or the spheres themselves, he will get immobilized in the sphere and struck by Planet Buster, but Planet Buster isn't a deadly attack and will put an end to Dark Matter once it is over. Willingly letting Riku get caught by the Dark Web to skip Dark Matter is a viable option if a Cure command is available for him to use afterwards.

 

Once Dark Matter is over, press LR or L3 to return the Spirits back to Riku's position (two times if LR unlocks the target) so they will be able to help, but not anytime sooner, as they may get caught by the Dark Webs, become unable to help, and get sent to the back along with the spheres.

 

 

In the 3DS version only, it was possible that if Riku pounds him with the Attack command right after his Reality Shift finishes, he can get Ansem to be stunlocked and Riku may repeat the same Attack combo on him until Ansem's HP reaches 1. After some time, while hitting him again and again, the Reality Shift prompt can reappear, so Riku will be able to finish him off with it. Otherwise, wait until Ansem reacts to the Reality Shift normally and defeat him with one final blow.<!--Source : https://youtu.be/jfYQ5MftS-g --><br>Additionally, it was also possible to trigger a glitch to alter the direction Ansem is facing by default by triggering the Reality Shift on the side, and hitting him from other angles. With Balloonga it is also possible to have Ansem face backwards. Once he recovers, the direction he sends Riku towards during Dark Matter and Dark Galaxy is altered as well, including the positions of the purple spheres and the angle of the black spheres he sends rolling towards, excluding those aimed at Riku. Once Riku is captured by the Dark Web attack, it was also possible to get him out of bounds, but he will eventually warp back to the center of the arena if he ever falls. Mind that Ansem will reset to his initial direction if he uses Dark Rush, which can only happen if Riku is too close to Ansem. <!--Source (apologies for the poor quality recording, again): https://youtu.be/K_uhv8Hm0zA -->

 

As soon as he has lost half of his HP (or two thirds on Critical Mode), Ansem starts using Dark Galaxy.  

The fact the torrents of darkness appear randomly across the arena and may also hit Riku multiple times if unlucky can make this attack become one of the most lethal attacks of the fight. One way to deal with it is to keep blocking the torrents while Ansem drags Riku in front of him, and, afterwards, to keep dodge rolling backwards.  

Once Ansem finishes this part of the attack, he sends Riku to the back of the arena akin to Dark Matter. The black spheres can easily defeat Riku if he gets hit even once as the others may follow up for chained up damage. He must then either carefully dodge or block these. Riku shouldn't try sliding towards the wall as Flowmotion cannot be activated on them during this attack, but he can still use dodge roll along them with no fear of activating it and return to Ansem rapidly. However it isn't recommended to permanently dodge roll, because he may get hit if the timing is wrong, meaning he must dodge roll only when a sphere gets near him while keeping running back.  

One other alternative, where he should have [[Second Chance]]/[[Once More]] equipped in order to survive, is where he can use Dark Splicer just as the ball bombs reach him to go near Ansem and deal some damage, while staying at his position. Dark Splicer lasts long enough until the end of Dark Galaxy; therefore, there shouldn't be any risks for Riku to be knocked back, but he should immediately heal after this.  

After this, just repeat the cycle of pounding Ansem and running back to him and he'll go down.

|The Dark Figure fires six dark-charged projectiles that either circle around or directly aim at Riku, both curving and closing in on him if he is at least at medium range.

|△<ref>The waves may sometimes bypass Riku's Block. The parry remains guaranteed with Dark Barrier.</ref>

|Hides in his core while the Dark Figure darkens the arena, summons dark pillars randomly across the floor and pulls the opponents in front of Ansem. Afterwards it pulls them to the back of the arena and finishes by sending several huge black spheres charged with lightning rolling through the arena, with most aimed forward on the left and right sides alternatively and some aimed at Riku, exploding upon impact.

|Only used during normal combat, and below half or two thirds (Critical Mode) of his HP. Reality Shift prompts cannot appear, Ansem cannot flinch, and Flowmotion cannot be used on the walls during this attack.

|Used during normal combat only. Starts being used after enough time has passed. Techniques used during normal combat only are temporarily replaced by those listed below during the whole duration of the attack. The spheres disappear and the attack stops whenever Ansem flinches. Reality Shift prompts cannot appear and the arena darkens{{KHDDDHD}} while Ansem pulls the opponents backwards.

|The Dark Figure uses Dark Firaga (Upper) on the spheres, which scatter a rain of poisonous water around Riku's location.

|Used during Dark Matter only, at medium and close ranges. Riku is invulnerable to other attacks while captured. If the spheres become absent while an opponent is captured by the Dark Web, they will get blown away and released a few seconds later.

|Used once Riku is captured in a sphere. Ansem moves the sphere in front of him, and has the Dark Figure release several dark projectiles into it from all sides. The explosion it causes at the end blows the captured opponents away.   

|Used during Dark Matter and ends it. The other sphere disappears when Riku gets captured, and he gets invulnerable to other attacks while in the sphere. Ansem always taunts afterwards, and doesn't act for around 5 seconds.

[[File:Versus Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort KHIII.png|thumb|right|Young Xehanort, Ansem, and Xemnas, battling against Sora, Riku, and King Mickey in the Tower of Endings.]]

Each member will have a dark aura whenever they disappear and reappear, meaning that Sora will be their only target. Each time they reappear, they will use a specific attack with the one with the aura appearing last. For Ansem, Young Xehanort will use his whip-snaring attack followed by Xemnas launching energy balls and Ansem using his shockwave last. To avoid this, Sora should [[Dodge Roll]] or jump to avoid Young Xehanort's attack, block Xemnas's energy balls, and if Ansem hits Sora, time Aerial Recovery and then Payback Strike. Each time a member is defeated or if all three disappear after attacking with the dark aura, the cyclone sequence will repeat itself with each member using a specific attack. If Young Xehanort is defeated first, Ansem will launch spheres of light that will extend into beams, then will release the cage of claws which will launch Sora into the air followed by Xemnas's rolling attack. First jump to avoid the cage and block all the beams and finally Xemnas. If Xemnas falls first, Young Xehanort will launch missiles of ice that will freeze Sora, followed by Ansem's shockwave attack. If Ansem's the only one left, he'll release the spheres like with Xemnas and use his shockwave attack. Sora can either block the beams and use Payback Strike or Dodge Roll the beams and Glide away, but the timing of the spheres can be a little tricky to dodge.

{{atk|col=5|{{nihongo|'''Dark Laser'''|ダークレーザー|<br>Dāku Rēzā}}

|△{{note|Can be blocked from behind.}}

|Places 3–15 light orbs above an opponent's head; each light orb fires a laser immediately after glowing.

{{atk|col=5|{{nihongo|'''Barrier Laser'''|バリアレーザー|Baria Rēzā}}

{{atk|col=5|{{nihongo|'''True Dark Bite'''|真ダークバイト|<br>Ma Dāku Baito}}

{{atk|col=5|{{nihongo|'''True Dark Mine'''|真ダークマイン|<br>Ma Dāku Main}}

{{atk-m|col=5|{{nihongo|'''Darkness Ruler'''|ダークネスルーラー|<br>Dākunesu Rūrā}}

|Only used in the Tower of Endings.

;Techniques used by all enemies in the Tower of Endings

{{atk|col=5|{{nihongo|'''Annihilation'''|アナイアレイション|<br>Anaiareishon}}

|△{{note|Can be blocked from behind.}}

|Master Xehanort summons a storm of Keyblades that temporarily removes Riku and Mickey and surrounds the battlefield. Bundles of Keyblades will fly around Sora one-by-one (the last four bundles directly target him). Afterward, remaining enemies attack in succession; techniques used depend on those remaining.

{{nihongo|'''Leader Cooperation'''|リーダー連携|Rīdā Renkei}} has one enemy designated as the leader. The non-leaders attack first, then the leader after them; the order depends on those remaining. When Leader Cooperation is used, one enemy is designated the "leader"; the leader is surrounded by an aura and targets Sora until the next use of Leader Cooperation. The initial leader is the one with the lowest maximum HP in terms of percentage, and they rotate between each other. When only one enemy remains, they automatically become the leader and use of Leader Cooperation is discontinued.}}

Ansem starts by summoning several laser orbs that float around Sora, then he summons a line of dark crests, and he'll follow up with firing sets of four projectiles and two projectiles shortly after that, four times. Once the first orbs start glowing, guard to block the lasers, then cast [[Thundaga]] to stun Ansem, airstep to him and attack to skip the projectiles. Additionally, wait until he fires the projectiles and airstep to him to attack. However, the timing is more strict this time as he might fire the second set, or the first set might still hit Sora. When his HP gets lower, he'll fire the projectiles immediately upon summoning the crests, giving no time to stun him with Thundaga.

Ansem frequently summons a circle of lasers around himself and chases Sora. This attack can easily be dodged or blocked consecutively. You can use a reprisal near the end to deal minor damage to Ansem, but don't follow up with a combo, as he'll immediately start the next attack.

Ansem retains his old Dark Rush ability. He will rush Sora twice, then charge up and perform a more powerful dash. Block the first two dashes, then quickly airstep and immediately block without attacking. The third rush breaks Sora's guard, so use [[Risk Dodge]] to counter before landing a combo.

After losing some HP, Ansem will perform his ultimate move, where he covers the entire arena in darkness and summons two giant orbs of darkness. The orbs will fire shots that will inflict the {{c|Burn|status}}, {{c|Freeze|status}}, {{c|Cloud|status}} or {{c|Sneeze|status}} status. Ansem can also trap Sora with the orbs, dealing heavy damage and inflicting the {{c|Cloud|status}} status effect. When activating his ultimate move, Ansem will first move sideways in front of Sora. Once one of the orbs starts shaking, guard to block the shots. After blocking four times, airstep to Ansem and attack him. Next, he'll warp further away and the orbs will be at your side. Wait for one of them to move away slightly before blocking. After doing this three times, Ansem will try to trap Sora with the orbs. [[Dodge Roll]] forwards to dodge the orbs, then airstep to Ansem to counter.

Once his HP gets low, he'll perform a variation of his ultimate move. Once again, he'll cover the arena in darkness and summons the giant orbs. However, once this starts, quickly dodge away as he'll try to trap Sora right away. After this, he'll place the orbs behind one another. After a short pause, the front orb will fire a barrage of shots that can inflict [[Sneeze]] before shooting itself forwards to trap Sora. Guard repeatedly to block the shots, then Dodge Roll through the orb. Repeat this with the second orb, and after Dodge Rolling though that, airstep to Ansem and attack. Next, he'll stand in the center, firing striped orb projectiles. These can't be blocked, so dodge them. He'll continue with the other attack afterwards, so block, dodge and attack until he falls.

If Sora is having trouble blocking and dodging his ultimate move, try to equip armor to protect against the status effects it causes.