Editing Roxas

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{{youmay|the character|[[No. XIII|the manga chapter]] or [[Roxas (track)|the musical theme]]}}

  |orgtitle=The Key of Destiny

  |orgother=[[Sora]]

  |orgweapon=Keyblade

  |charworld1=Twilight Town

  |charworld2=The World That Never Was

  |game2=Kingdom Hearts II

  |game3=Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

  |s1=Sora

  |s2=Ventus

  |journalKH3=Sora's Nobody and the thirteenth member of the previous Organization XIII. He was a Keyblade wielder and Axel's closest friend. After rejoining with Sora's heart, Roxas ceased to exist.<br><br>Thanks to a replica that was able to contain his heart and memories, Roxas became real again and joined the guardians of light.

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<!--When editing this article, please be aware that the possessive form of Roxas is Roxas's, NOT Roxas'. Thank you.-->

'''Roxas''', the {{nihongo|''Key of Destiny''|めぐりあう鍵|Meguriau Kagi|lit. "Serendipitous Key"}}, is the [[Nobody]] of [[Sora]] and Rank XIII within the original [[Organization XIII]], born when Sora took his own [[heart]] to restore [[Kairi]]'s. Although Sora's heart was soon restored, Roxas continued to endure and exist, oblivious of Sora's existence for most of his life. He has the ability to use the [[Keyblade]], and wields [[light]], using it to direct rays that strike opponents with great power. He commands the [[Samurai]] Nobodies.

===''Kingdom Hearts''===

[[File:Kairi Awakens 01 KH.png|thumb|left|Sora releases his heart with the Keyblade of heart to free Kairi's, resulting in his Nobody being formed.]]

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===''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days''===

Roxas comes into being, dazed and confused, in [[Twilight Town]], where he is found by [[Xemnas]], who gives him his new name, while Xemnas hides his. Shortly afterwards, he meets [[Axel]], who, after they see [[Hayner]], [[Pence]] and [[Olette]] walking through the town, takes Roxas to eat [[sea-salt ice cream]] on the clock tower. Axel takes a liking to Roxas, and with nowhere else to go, Roxas joins the Organization in hopes of finding the answers he needs.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days]]''''', '''Axel:''' "Man, I miss the old times. Still got it memorized? The day we met, when you got your new name, you and I sat right here, just like this and watched the sunset."</ref> For the next week or so, Axel notices that Roxas is still very dazed and almost zombie-like, unable to speak much or form a coherent sentence. Roxas is given a room in Organization XIII's [[Castle That Never Was|castle]] in [[The World That Never Was]], as well as his own high seat and [[black coat]].

During his frequent visits to Twilight Town, Roxas observes three regular kids, Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and wishes to befriend them, and he even has some conversations with them.

A few months later, Xion, began questioning the reason behind her existence and disappears for several weeks. When Roxas finds her, Axel suddenly attacks her and brings her back by force. This causes Roxas to distrust Axel and even refuse to speak to him for some time. The next day, he asks Xemnas about Xion, then he has a flashback to his conversation with him in the Dark Margin when Xemnas addressed him as "Sora". He asks him about Sora and the only thing he said was that he's what connects him and Xion. A few weeks later, he wakes up from a dream of Sora losing the Keyblade to Riku and Donald and Goofy leaving him and finds a tear wondering what it is. On a mission with Xion, he finds that he's been running out of strength while Xion is getting stronger during missions.

Axel denies that since he's his best friend, only for Roxas to counter that best friends are supposed to be honest with another. Losing his temper, Roxas demands Axel to tell him who he really is, but Axel only tells Roxas to trust him. Angry and distrustful, Roxas refuses and decides to leave the Organization himself to find the answers he's looking for. Saïx attempts to stop Roxas from exiting the castle. Roxas defeats him and departs without any words. On his way through Dark City, Roxas encounters Axel, who attempts to persuade him to stay, warning him that the Organization would destroy him for his betrayal. Roxas continues on his way, saying, "No one would miss me."

[[File:Xion's End 03 KHD.png|thumb|left|Roxas wondering who else he will spend time with as Xion returns to Sora.]]

Knowing that Roxas would not be able to eliminate her, Xion forces Roxas to fight her instead. Xion transforms into a giant armored monster and attacks Roxas. After a long and grueling battle, Roxas defeats Xion, who regains her original appearance before fading away. Roxas loses all of his memories of Xion after the battle. In her final moments, Xion informs Roxas of the true motives of the Organization and tells him that she is glad they had been friends. As a dying wish, she pleads with Roxas not to let Xemnas acquire the power of Kingdom Hearts. At this moment, Roxas suddenly remembers Xion and wonders out loud who else he will have ice cream with. He weeps as Xion's body crystallizes and disappears, leaving behind a single [[Thalassa Shell|thalassa seashell]].

Struck with grief, Roxas returns to The World That Never Was, planning to "set Kingdom Hearts free", in compliance with Xion's last words. He also desires to save Xion from within him, hoping that freeing Kingdom Hearts would bring her back. Then, they could go back to Axel and all have ice cream together. Upon his arrival, Roxas is attacked at [[Memory's Skyscraper]] by countless [[Neoshadow]] Heartless, which surround him. Roxas draws out his Keyblades, ready to defend himself, However, even after slaying many Heartless, he realizes there are too many to fight alone.

Luckily, Riku suddenly appears at the scene on top of the Skyscraper, and Roxas, influenced by Xion,<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Ultimania]]''''', '''Interviewer:''' "When Roxas tries to do what Xion has asked of him, Riku hears Xion's voice asking him to stop Roxas. Why?" / '''Tetsuya Nomura:''' "First, we have to look at things in order. First, the reason why Roxas throws a Keyblade to Riku, and we then see a vision of Xion, is that there is a small remaining part of Xion in Roxas that wants to stop him, and makes him take those actions. The name of the Keyblade that is given to Riku suggests that it has something to do with Xion. Xion wants Roxas to set Kingdom Hearts free but doesn't want him to face Xemnas right now. She sees that he would most likely lose. So she begs Riku to stop him." [https://www.khinsider.com/news/358-2-Days-Scenario-Interview-894 Translation via Krexia and Lissar].</ref> throws his Oblivion Keyblade at him as he runs up. Riku manages to catch it, however, and they both defeat the Neoshadows once on the ground. After the dark remains clear, they immediately turn on each other. Roxas beats Riku at first, but Riku taunts him by calling him "Sora" and saying that he should be "stronger than this", causing Roxas to reflexively answer with, "Get real. Look which one of us is winning!", something that only Sora would say.

Realizing he cannot beat Roxas on his own, Riku willingly unleashes his inner darkness and takes on the physical appearance of [[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness]]. Riku-Ansem disappears and reappears in front of Roxas, surprising him, before the Guardian grabs him and squeezes him hard, making him lose consciousness. While being squeezed, Roxas slowly loses consciousness and begins to forget his final memories of Xion's existence. Along with that, his memories of past events with Xion are changed due to her erasure. Once Roxas is knocked out, DiZ arrives and pities the Nobody, affirming his belief that Nobodies cannot feel anything. Riku-Ansem says things might have turned out different if Roxas had met Sora. Xion's voice is heard telling Roxas not to be sad and how she, him, and Sora will connect each other.

===''Kingdom Hearts II''===

[[File:A Promise with Hayner 02 KHII.png|thumb|left|Roxas discusses with his friends the upcoming Struggle Tournament.]]

As Naminé nears the completion of the task of restoring Sora's memories, Roxas soon begins seeing brief fleeting memories of Sora through a number of his dreams. In addition, mysterious events start to occur around town. Strange white creatures, the Nobodies, begin invading the town, stealing photographs and attacking Roxas. These Nobodies had been sent along with Axel by the Organization, who had finally located their former member, in an attempt to capture him. However, in times of dire need, the Keyblade (a single Kingdom Key this time) inexplicably comes to aid Roxas, and disappears once the threat is gone.

Along with the Nobodies, Roxas comes into contact with Naminé several times, who seems to know things about Roxas that he himself doesn't and once saves him from the outbursting darkness resulting from the defeat of the [[Twilight Thorn]] inside Roxas's [[Dive to the Heart]]. Furthermore, as observed by DiZ, Naminé's contact with Roxas connects his heart with Kairi's, who Roxas remembered as a friend of Sora. He also meets a mysterious man in a black coat, later revealed to be Riku, who at one point asks a cryptic question: "Can you feel Sora?" Roxas later meets another mysterious figure masked in red bandages, DiZ, who was responsible for his imprisonment.  

Though the intentions of these characters are enigmatic to Roxas, Axel soon appears with a more straightforward goal. Axel needs to  bring Roxas back with him under the orders of Xaldin and Xemnas. However, Roxas remembers nothing of Axel, whose claims of his relation with Roxas only confuse him. Axel is soon forced to attack the young boy to accomplish his goal. He battles Roxas in the midst of the [[Struggle]] tournament, but only DiZ's timely interruption spares Roxas from defeat. After the Struggle Tournament, Roxas falls off the Station Tower and somehow mentally attempts to contact Naminé, only to end up reaching Kairi, Naminé's true counterpart, instead. He recognizes her name from his dreams of Sora, and when Kairi inquires Sora's name, Sora himself, despite being asleep at that time, talks to Kairi through Roxas and gives her Sora's initial as a hint.

She reveals to him information on Organization XIII and states that reuniting with Sora would not cause him to disappear, but make him whole. However, she is interrupted by DiZ, but before she is taken away, she promises him that they would meet again, even if they won't recognize each other. Desiring to see Sora, Roxas makes his way through the mansion and begins to recall his former life. In doing so he realizes that he had been captured and placed into the digital world by DiZ and the mysterious cloaked man. Roxas then destroys DiZ's computer in anger, even though it was just a digital copy.

Roxas then meets with Axel one last time, but despite the fact that Roxas has regained his memories, Axel states that it is too late. The two battle once more, but this time Roxas is able to call on all of his dormant abilities, including summoning his two weapons: Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and soundly defeats his old friend, though with great regret. Roxas hopes that they will meet again, though Axel chuckles and responds that only Roxas has a next life. Axel then retreats into the darkness, failing in his mission to capture or kill Roxas.

Despite Sora having never seen or met Roxas before, he immediately recognizes his name. When Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey enter the digital Twilight Town, Sora calls it "Roxas's Twilight Town", and sees a memory of Roxas destroying the computers. When Sora and his friends arrive at Betwixt and Between, they are overtaken by a swarm of Nobodies, but Axel jumps in and blows them away with a kamikaze attack. As he fades away, he apologizes for hurting Sora's friends in his quest to retrieve Roxas. The Organization, observing from their castle, deduces that Axel has managed to connect with Sora's heart, rousing Roxas.

Roxas makes his move when Sora reaches Memory's Skyscraper, where he had once fought Riku. His [[Samurai]] appear and surround Sora as the hooded Roxas confronts Sora and pulls him to the [[Station of Serenity]] within their hearts. Sora is surprised by the cloaked, Keyblade-wielding figure, believing him to be Riku, but Roxas scoffs and demands to know why Sora was chosen to exist over Roxas. After looking at the Station and realizing that Sora's strength comes from the bonds he shares with others, Roxas makes one final attempt to conquer Sora, but Sora is able to assert his control over Roxas's Keyblades, taking them from the Nobody and dealing the finishing blow. Roxas falls to the ground, satisfied, and acknowledges Sora as a good "other", as his memories begin to finally assimilate with Sora's.  

===''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''===

Before [[Lea]] awakens in Ansem's computer room, he has a dream of Roxas and Axel eating sea-salt ice cream on the clock tower. Roxas reminds Axel of the promise he made to always bring his friends back, imitating his catchphrase "Got it memorized?".

===''Kingdom Hearts III''===

After asking Riku if this is plausible, Riku remembers the Organization's replica program and believes it to be a way for Roxas to return should he have a vessel. Unfortunately, this plan becomes unlikely due to [[Even]]'s absence.

[[File:The Last Light 02 KHIII.png|thumb|left|Roxas returns and aids the guardians against Xemnas and Saïx.]]

The trio attack Xemnas simultaneously and the "χ" symbol used by all the original Organization XIII members emerges from Xemnas and goes into Roxas, Lea, and Xion, revealing it to be the connection Roxas mentioned. Roxas states that although the symbol may disappear after Xemnas is gone, he wanted to claim it for himself as that is how the trio's bond came to be and that he needed Sora's help to finish the battle once and for all. Sora and Kairi are freed and begin to recover.

Roxas, Xion, and Lea join Sora and the others to confront Master Xehanort; Roxas and Ventus share a glance at each other upon noticing their similarities. Sora tasks Roxas and the others with helping to seal Kingdom Hearts while he takes on Xehanort.  

However, the [[Replica Xehanort]]s, which Sora had just fought, emerge from Kingdom Hearts and pull the guardians into the sky where they are cornered by them. The guardians manage to triumph over the Replicas but end up getting sucked up into the multiple keyholes created from Kingdom Hearts.  

After Xehanort's defeat in [[Scala ad Caelum]], Roxas and the others join Sora in time to witness Xehanort surrender the [[χ-blade]] to Sora before perishing with [[Master Eraqus]]. Sora uses the χ-blade to shut Kingdom Hearts, and everybody returns to the Keyblade Graveyard.

After finishing Riku's Story, there is a picture of Roxas that is shown after the credits. This was altered into a silent cutscene in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'' with Roxas seen with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. During the end credits for Sora's story, Axel is seen to converse with him, Roxas completely oblivious to his presence. Axel then takes Roxas to the clock tower and the two eat Sea-Salt Ice Cream together for the first time, though Axel shows disgust at the treat while Roxas seems to enjoy it.  

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===''Blank Points''===

Roxas, Xion, and Axel are seen sitting happily together on the clock tower eating sea-salt ice cream. The trio looks up into the sunset and together say Sora's name in unison.

==Design==

Roxas looks identical to [[Ventus]], due to Ventus's heart having been within Sora's heart when Roxas was created.<ref name="RoxVenLooks"/> He has bright blue eyes and golden blond hair. His hair is spiky, as the front concentrates the spikes on the right side of his head as if windswept, while the back is smoother and flakier.  

While living in the false Twilight Town, Roxas wore much more casual clothes. He wore a black, high-collared jacket with a zipper resembling the Nobody symbol. Over this, he wore another jacket, this one unzipped and white, with several black block designs and a grey hem on the end of each sleeve. This jacket's collar was red and pleated and folded back. Roxas also wore two-colored pants; the legs of his pants were beige with several of what looked like buttons on the hem that appeared to attach the legs to the rest of the cloth, which are dark-colored. Roxas's shoes were colored in shades of grey and black and had red straps in place of laces. Finally, Roxas wore a wrist band with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern on his left wrist, as well as a plain black ring on his left index finger and a plain white ring on his left middle finger. Tetsuya Nomura has stated that the checkers on Roxas's clothing are meant to symbolize light and darkness.

In ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'', Roxas's face was changed to be slightly wider, with his cheekbones less defined and sullen, in order to make his design more closely resemble Ventus's.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qkr21oREfc Differences between ''Kingdom Hearts II'' and the ''Final Mix'' version]</ref>

With a devil-may-care attitude in terms of recklessness, he can be rightfully selfish in certain intervals but is selfless enough to return to Sora willingly. Roxas constantly rebels against what he's told is his "place" and is a strongly outspoken, independent individual. On the other hand, Roxas tends to be melancholy, stoic, and distracted, especially as he comes to realize the truth about himself, and at other points when he's confused and lost.

Roxas seems to have a certain degree of intelligence that Sora often lacks, as he is not as easily fooled by his enemies and is more likely to think his actions through unless angered. This is slightly changed when it came to ''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'', because unlike his future self that had a thorough knowledge of subjects in the fake Twilight Town, Roxas was born with no memories when taken in by the Organization. Hence, he had no information on the simplest topics or objects, making him comparable to a newborn who grows to learn them, and coming off slow and naive due to it, leading a few others, including himself, to refer to him as a "zombie". This is why Axel fulfills the role of enlightening him about his questions or thoughts, sometimes making Axel himself tongue-tied on how to explain them. Roxas's attitude, nonetheless, was very apparent from the start, telling Axel after he accomplished a mission in the beginning that he could have done that blindfolded, and being greatly annoyed when Xigbar calls him "kiddo" or "tiger".

==Abilities==

His special attack involves him floating in the air and shooting his thirteen light shields around the arena, which then light it up in a thick twilight mist as Roxas begins shooting blue spheres of light at his opponent from energy gathered in his hands. He often attacks rapidly side-to-side, leaving a trail of light behind him. He can also perform the Duel Bout technique (similar to his Samurai Nobodies) in which he rushes at his opponent and slashes at them repeatedly, causing intense damage if not repelled. During this attack, Sora can knock Roxas into the air and briefly steal his Keyblades. However, when Sora steals Roxas's Keyblades, Roxas resorts to utilizing his light powers to full effect, before moving in to steal his Keyblades back from Sora.

It is interesting to note that as well, when not dual-wielding, Roxas uses a fighting style similar to the one Sora used in ''Kingdom Hearts''. Roxas's victory pose in Olympus Coliseum is to swing his Keyblade twice through the air in an X, then swing it to rest on his shoulder. This is extremely similar to [[Leon]]'s victory pose in the ''Final Fantasy'' series and one of Sora's victory poses in the [[Olympus Coliseum]] in ''Kingdom Hearts''.

==Notes and references==

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