Editing Vanitas

|s3=Ventus-Vanitas

|s4=Sora

|journalBBS='''The Masked Boy'''<br>A mysterious figure with ties to Master Xehanort.<br>{{JBBS|v|He warned Ventus that Terra was in some kind of danger, but disappeared before explaining any further.}}<br><br>'''Vanitas'''<br>A mysterious boy who hides his face behind a mask. He has ties to Master Xehanort.<br>{{JBBS|v|Vanitas warned Ventus that Terra was in some kind of danger, but disappeared before explaining any further.}}

|journalUX='''Vanitas/HD Vanitas'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS BbS (2010)<br>A mysterious masked boy who seems to have ties with Master Xehanort.<br><br>'''HD Vanitas [EX+]'''<br>KINGDOM HEARTS BbS (2010)<br>The embodiment of the darkness extracted from Ventus's heart.

}}

{{Q|Oh, grow up. Is that what you call friendship? You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself. Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?|Vanitas to Ventus}}

==Story==

Determined to unite with Ventus, and put an end to his own suffering, Vanitas agrees to the plan and becomes Master Xehanort's apprentice.}}

After Master Xehanort leaves Ventus under Master Eraqus’s care in the Land of Departure, he finds Vanitas waiting outside of the room. Master Xehanort tells Vanitas that he should have stayed behind in the [[Badlands]], and Vanitas instead answers with an inquiry into Ventus’s wellbeing. Upon the lack of response, he dismisses any concern.  

Vanitas then travels to different worlds, spreading his Unversed across them in hopes of making Ventus strong enough to forge the χ-blade.

After his first few ventures throughout the worlds, Ventus spots Vanitas in the [[Lanes Between]] and is lured to the Keyblade Graveyard. Ventus interrogates the masked boy about his claims that Terra has changed, but Vanitas simply repeats what he said before and challenges Ventus to a duel, revealing his Keyblade. Despite Ventus's best efforts, Vanitas easily gains the upper hand and knocks Ventus to the ground. Just as Vanitas is about to execute the coup de grace, [[Mickey Mouse]] appears out of nowhere to heal Ventus, then reprimands Vanitas for using his Keyblade maliciously. Together, Mickey and Ventus defeat Vanitas, but the boy simply leaves the world after warning Ventus that he is on "probation".

When Terra, Ventus, and Aqua approach their final battle with Vanitas and Master Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard, intense battles ensue. The two villains meet up with the trio, with Master Xehanort explaining his ultimate goal for the χ-blade. The trio armors up and Terra quickly charges towards them. Master Xehanort intervenes, however, blocking Terra's path with massive rock formations. As Terra continues to pursue Master Xehanort, Vanitas goes after Aqua and Ventus, riding on a cloud of Keyblades Master Xehanort created. The two fight valiantly against the dark apprentice, but not before Vanitas returns to Master Xehanort's side before the latter freezes Ventus. He battles Terra alongside Master Xehanort, who later commands Vanitas to go after Ventus and Aqua again.

Vanitas attacks Aqua from above, knocking her unconscious with a devastating blow, and prepares to impale her through the chest while Ventus lies helpless and frozen. Ventus summons all of his willpower, however, and thaws out of the ice to face Vanitas in battle, defeating him once again. Vanitas compliments Ventus on his skill and finally reveals his face, explaining himself to be the source of all Unversed. Glowing with dark energy, Vanitas then summons several [[Flood]] Unversed to restrain Ventus as he proudly explains his plan: to spread the Unversed across the worlds, in hopes of luring Ventus from home and making him strong enough to forge the χ-blade. He then forcefully integrates into him. In a burst of light, Vanitas and Ventus are transported to the [[Dive to the Heart]]. Ventus's pillar now hosts a picture of Vanitas alongside his own. Vanitas wields an incomplete version of the [[χ-blade]].  

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

Vanitas's fractured heart was collected by [[Young Xehanort]] so he could be made a member of the [[real Organization XIII]]. When Young Xehanort appears before Sora within the cathedral at [[La Cité des Cloches]], Ventus's heart reacts within Sora and allows him to see an image of Vanitas. In unison, the youth and Vanitas claim that Sora has made his heart into a prison, then vanish.

In hopes of finding Ventus, Vanitas follows [[Aqua]], Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the [[Land of Departure]], where Sora's group is there to awaken Ventus. He commends Aqua for being able to keep Ventus's body hidden away for so long. Aqua engaged in battle with him, but he manages to gravely injure her. Before he can finish her off, Vanitas is halted by Ventus after Sora uses the [[power of waking]] to reawaken the latter's heart within his body. Seeing himself heavily outnumbered, Vanitas withdraws to update the Organization on Ventus's status.

Vanitas later reappears at the [[Keyblade Graveyard]] with [[Master Xehanort]], [[Young Xehanort]], [[Xemnas]] and [[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness|Ansem]]; together, they summon a swarm of Heartless, [[Nobodies]] and Unversed to wear down the [[Guardians of Light]].

After Sora joins the fight, Vanitas is defeated. The right half of Vanitas's mask breaks off, revealing his face to Sora; Vanitas explains to the shocked boy that they look alike because Sora's heart replaced him as the missing piece of Ventus's heart, thus making the three of them "brothers". Sora and Ventus implore their "brother" to join their side and reject the darkness; however, Vanitas states that he is darkness, and in that sense, is already by their side as the shadow they cast. He then fades away, content with the role he has chosen for himself.

===''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''===

==Design==

Despite his loyalty to Master Xehanort, he has no qualms with disregarding his orders if he feels the need arises; for example, he attempts to eliminate Ventus after defeating him in their first battle despite full knowledge that Master Xehanort needed Ventus alive for his plans, even openly stating that he is well aware he is going against Xehanort's orders but does not care. Later, during the Keyblade War, he is willing to interfere with the Organization's plan to use the Seven Guardians of Light in order to retrieve Ventus's heart and restore himself, even though this will force the Organization to rely on the New Seven Hearts.

He is also shown to be an uncaring, cold, and ruthless individual, having not the slightest sympathy for anyone but himself. Vanitas holds everything and everyone in contempt and holds a great resentment against Ventus and the friends he has. The envy he feels against them is seen in his frequent criticizing of Ventus's friendships with Terra and Aqua, when he callously breaks Ventus's wooden Keyblade while cruelly antagonizing Aqua for playing with the Lost Boys, his constantly calling Ventus "idiot", and forcing Ventus to fight him by threatening to eliminate Terra and Aqua after Ventus refused to.

{{Main|Game:Vanitas}}

{{Main|Ventus-Vanitas}}

Vanitas is a skilled and extremely aggressive opponent, showing mastery in both dark magic and wielding the Keyblade. He is swift and agile, able to perform complicated and nearly impossible acrobatic feats such as jumping off of a high cliff while landing squarely on his feet and even riding a tornado of flying Keyblades. He can teleport behind opponents at high speeds to launch attacks while leaving after-images of himself to confuse them. Vanitas is an extremely powerful and ruthlessly pragmatic fighter, easily punishing an opponent's opening or dodging out of the way at the last second. When the tide of battle turns against him, Vanitas will not hesitate to resort to underhanded tactics to defeat his opponent.

While Vanitas acts based on his own desires, it appears that Master Xehanort can summon him at will. Vanitas's arguably most dangerous and destructive ability, however, is the power to create and control the Unversed. As he was born from the purest form of darkness, Vanitas can manipulate his own negative emotions and spawn them as Unversed. Vanitas can also absorb the negativity of any defeated Unversed to increase his power and is able to summon them if needed.

===Weapon===