Heart

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Hearts held captive in Ansem the Wise's laboratory.

"The heart may be weak, and sometimes it may even give in... But I learned that deep down there's a light that never goes out."

—Sora to Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

A heart (心, kokoro) is one of the three parts which comprise a being in the Kingdom Hearts universe, the other two being body and soul. Hearts are one of the key points in the game's mythology, and the antagonists often seek to use them for their own gain.

Construction

The primary meaning for "heart" in the Kingdom Hearts setting does not refer to the physical organ, but instead to a metaphysical animating force. What actually makes up a heart is a mystery to virtually everyone in the setting, leading many characters to devote themselves to researching the heart to unlock its mysteries. However, this research helped demolish the barriers between worlds, setting up the events for the first Heartless invasion and causing many worlds to be plunged into darkness.

As of yet, it has been determined by the various characters that the heart is primarily made up of light and darkness, the latter of which formed due to people's greed, hatred, anger, and other dark emotions. The exceptions to this are the Princesses of Heart, maidens whose hearts are free of darkness, and hearts artificially made devoid of light or darkness, such as Ventus and Vanitas. Additionally, Dr. Finkelstein attempted to create an artificial heart for the purpose of making the Heartless more terrifying, rather than pursuing knowledge. He believed that the key elements of the heart are memories and surprise so his ingredients contained the essence of these two components. However, when Oogie Boogie consumed the heart that the doctor had created, it had an underwhelming effect. Oogie Boogie's plan was to control the Heartless by taking the heart, but few Heartless answered his call. This indicates that Dr. Finkelstein's hypothesis about hearts is incorrect, reinforcing the mystery surrounding hearts. Later, the real Organization XIII also attempt to create an artificial heart by collecting data of both positive and negative emotions on a program chip and installing it in the original Baymax. Vanitas states that his heart of pure darkness was restored by the Organization using the negative emotions collected by Monsters, Inc. Both suggest that hearts are constructed from emotions.

The heart appears to be responsible for the composure of memories, will, goals, and ambitions, as is the case in the transfer of Master Xehanort's heart into Terra and the internal struggle of wills inside Terra-Xehanort. Despite lacking a heart, Nobodies inherit these traits from their original selves. The heart is also responsible for emotions, as beings lacking one, such as the Nobodies, cannot feel emotions.

Memories can also be used to create hearts, such as the data Vexen gathered on Riku to create the Riku Replica; Xion was also made from memories Xemnas sampled from Sora. It's considered impossible to recreate a heart from data; Ienzo said they could only partially recreate Roxas's heart. Even Ansem the Wise admitted the citizens of The Other Twilight Town acted differently than what he programmed. This suggests while a heart can be made from data, even if it's based on an existing heart, it gains a will of its own.

A Tie-in to the Worlds

According to legend, the worlds were one and united through the light in people's hearts. Once these hearts became filled with darkness, however, chaos resulted, and the worlds were separated. It was the light that remained only in the hearts of children that would keep the worlds in existence before they were shrouded in darkness completely.

Ansem's Research

Scholar Ansem the Wise was struck by a great curiosity of the heart and its true nature. He began research on the topic so he could better protect his world from the forces of darkness, together with his six apprentices, and started to write his reports. However, when Ansem realized that his experiments could bring disaster to the world, he stopped all his research.

However, Xehanort decided to continue the experiments and realized that when hearts were seduced by darkness, a creature he dubbed a "Pureblood Heartless" was born. He made note of how Heartless acted on instinct and wished to try creating his own Heartless. To tell them apart from the Purebloods, he dubbed them "Emblems" and christened them with what would later become the Heartless insignia. He also noted how they behaved relatively the same way, continuing to experiment in other areas with which the heart was concerned. He had no idea that he had caused chaos to brew. Soon, Ansem became aware of Xehanort's activities, and he ordered that his research be stopped at once. This strict request would lead to the birth of Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas, as well as the rebellion of Ansem's other apprentices. Xehanort and the other apprentices' Nobodies would later grow to form Organization XIII, a group that had the sole purpose of unlocking the secrets of the heart.

While Ansem was cast out into the Realm of Nothingness, Xehanort wrote the Ansem Reports. After he put his research and his findings to paper, these reports scattered across the worlds and were able to help the residents of Traverse Town and Sora in his first journey when it came to learning about and fighting the Heartless. Ansem's experiments on the heart would continue to haunt him even after his escape from the Realm of Nothingness as he came across the reports and Heartless spawned by the research of himself and his apprentices. He was forced to recall his past mistakes and even failed to succeed in avenging his dignity, realizing all of his experimentation had gotten him nowhere. Upon his supposed death, which instead erased the majority of his memory and sent him to the Dark Margin, one of the last things he would hear was Xemnas's accusations that he was the source of all Heartless and that the chaos and turmoil that had resulted over the past years were all his fault.

The Seven of Pure Light

Aurora's heart in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

According to legend, the χ-blade shattered into twenty pieces, seven of which were of light. These seven pieces then became hearts of pure light; unlike the darknesses, they have no sentience. The bearers of these hearts are known as "Princesses of Heart," because they are always female, for reasons unknown. Because they are needed to access Kingdom Hearts, the Princesses were sought by selfish and villainous beings who wished to rule all the worlds; Maleficent and Master Xehanort in particular. Kingdom Hearts could only be accessed by the completion of a Keyhole, which required all seven pure hearts to be joined as one in the Keyblade of heart. These hearts were released, however, due to Sora keeping Kingdom Hearts out of the villains' reach.

Kairi's crystallized heart.

In Kingdom Hearts III, it is revealed that the seven lights are not the hearts of the Princesses of Heart for their whole lives. Once they have served their purpose of opening the Final Keyhole, they can be released by the princesses' choice to find new hosts, confirming that the seven lights reincarnate. The real Organization XIII spent some of the game trying to find the six new hosts, as Kairi did not pass on her power. While not confirmed, they believe Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna are three of the "New Seven Hearts".

Xehanort crystallized Kairi's heart for safekeeping, placing a fragment each in Mickey and Riku's hearts, while hiding the remaining five in Scala ad Caelum. The fragments are gathered by Sora and put together by the Guardian's lights, allowing him to open a Gate to revive Kairi.

Powers and Abilities

Sora sacrifices his heart.

A cherished element throughout the Kingdom Hearts series, hearts possess many unique powers and abilities. It is for this reason that antagonists seek them. Hearts are able to produce emotion, something that members of Organization XIII crave. Strong hearts are also able to feel the emotions of those connected with them, demonstrated many times by Sora, who has unconsciously felt the sadness of Roxas, Ventus, and Xion, as well as Vanitas, who was able to feel some of what Ventus felt. As shown with Kairi and Ventus, if one's body remains intact when the heart is lost and is not turned into a Nobody, the person will enter a state similar to catatonia until the heart is restored. Ventus, in particular, has been in this state for over a decade, without a change in his health, despite there being no one to look after him. It is unclear if he has aged.

Hearts are also able to merge with others or be split. When Player chose to stay awake instead of sleeping like the other Dandelions, their heart dissolved and merged with a hooded figure who eventually raises Xehanort. They can be split to produce an embodiment of either the light or the darkness, as seen when Master Xehanort produces Vanitas by unlocking the darkness of Ventus's heart.

Hearts can be absorbed into the heart of another, either with permission (explicit or implied) from the host heart's owner, or by force. Both Ventus and Kairi had their hearts enter Sora's after they were compromised in different ways, while Eraqus's heart was absorbed into Terra's after the former's defeat at the hands of Xehanort. There are notable differences when hearts are placed into someone else, based on the intentions of said hearts' owner: Ventus and Kairi left their hearts with Sora for safekeeping, unintentionally giving him access to a Keyblade and Kairi's memories, respectively. However, if someone forces their heart into the heart of another against their will, the victim will take on traits from the invading heart's original owner, as shown with Terra-Xehanort. In a similar scenario, if someone places a fragment of their heart into another, it can gradually turn the victim into a clone of the original person (though, in the case of Master Xehanort, his heart is strong and full of darkness, so it corrupts the host regardless if they are willing or unwilling).

In Kingdom Hearts III, the members of the Organization, minus Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Xemnas, Young Xehanort, and Vanitas (who already had hearts filled with darkness) did not turn into clones of Xehanort after receiving pieces of Master Xehanort's heart; instead, they only gain his golden eyes and pointed ears. Even after their defeats, remnants of their hearts lingered on as copies of Master Xehanort in a unique new uniform; they later merged with him to create a powerful Keyblade Armor.

The heart also has a heavy influence on all that lives, having the power to produce Heartless and potentially Nobodies at its loss or corruption by darkness. As the heart grants emotion, negative emotions formed when Vanitas and Ventus were split caused the Unversed to spawn, hence their connection to the heart. Hearts can also be merged to create unique Keyblades, such as the χ-blade and the Keyblade of heart. These Keyblades ultimately grant access to Kingdom Hearts.

Hearts removed from their bodies, but not transformed into Heartless, lose some of the limitations of a physical form. In addition to being able to enter other peoples' bodies, they can move through time itself, as long as a version of themselves is there to greet them, as revealed in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance; as Master Xehanort, Riku, and Ventus exist in the future, Young Xehanort could bring Ansem, Xemnas, Riku Replica, and Vanitas with him. In Kingdom Hearts III, Eraqus shows the ability to manifest a temporary physical form, as he is able to interact with Xehanort.

Hearts can regrow entirely new bodies for themselves to inhabit as long as they have a medium to help rebuild their body and someone who has memories of them. The medium can be of different things as shown with Sora, who used Kairi's heart, and the Master of Masters, who used the No Name Keyblade. If those aspects are not fulfilled, the person will be like a ghost if they lose their body and become a heart that wasn't consumed by darkness. Quest 977: Darkness Looms

In the original Kingdom Hearts, some disembodied hearts manage to escape the destruction of their worlds, becoming Summon Gems. Through the magic of the Fairy Godmother, Sora is able to use them as summons—temporarily giving them form, so that they may fight by his side. They do this through their own will and are fully conscious of themselves, as revealed when Simba and Mushu remember their adventures with Sora in Kingdom Hearts II.

Ventus's and Terra's Keyblades, presumably directed by their hearts, rescued Aqua at one point in the Realm of Darkness, while Ventus's heart eventually resurfaced inside of Sora's to protect him from being corrupted by a Nightmare Dream Eater.

Magic is able to enhance the powers of a heart. In addition to the Fairy Godmother's ability to empower Summon Gems, Aqua created the Wayfinders, which allowed the user to temporarily gain power and abilities from the hearts connected with them. She also cast a similar spell on Kairi, which would lead her to someone who could protect her if she was ever in danger.

Newly born and young children's hearts have even stranger, with more unique abilities. When Player dissolved and merged their heart with Xehanort's caretaker, Xehanort was able to receive glimpses and dreams of his caretaker's former life, giving him the motivation to seek other worlds. Sora's was able to seek out and unite with the broken fragments of Ventus' simply because he was brought to Sora's home-world, and as a result of this, Vanitas took on an appearance similar to Sora's. Then, the merge stabilized Ventus' heart, allowing him to eventually recover. This also resulted in both Sora and Ventus forming a connection, granting Sora the ability to sense Ventus' pain and suffering. With Riku's guidance, Sora reached out to Ventus' heart and allowed it to stay within his own heart. This would later cause Sora's Nobody, Roxas, to take on Ventus' appearance when Ventus' heart remained within Sora's body when the latter became a Heartless. Xemnas and Xigbar also revealed that a new heart could be "nurtured," even to the point where it became an exact replica of another person's heart, although they implied that they needed the power of Kingdom Hearts in order to do so.

When Hearts are Broken

Ventus being left catatonic.

There are various catastrophic effects when a heart is damaged. The most obvious example is when the heart is consumed by darkness, becoming a Heartless.

Even after Sora was restored as a complete being, his corruption continued to plague him. The darkness in his heart would sometimes take over his Drive Forms, causing him to transform into the feral AntiForm. Although he showed no signs of the usual Heartless behavior in this state, it was still a danger, because he could not heal or wield the Keyblade while in this form, and he could not willingly change back. However, once Roxas and Sora merged, Sora is able to become truly complete once again, granting him his strongest Final Form as well as dissipating his Heartless transformation. His Heartless remained alive inside his memories, corrupting the journal that recorded his journey, growing exponentially more powerful, and attempting to reclaim his body.

A disembodied heart that is not turned into a Heartless may sink into a semiconscious state, as with Kairi, who was unable to interact with the world, except to appear as visions to Sora.

When Master Xehanort divided Ventus's heart, Ventus was left catatonic. The last remnants of his heart fading away, he would have perished, had Sora not combined hearts with him. Even after this, it took an unspecified but lengthy amount of time for Ventus to return to a sense of normalcy. During this time, if one attempted to interact with Ventus for more than just basic greetings or instructions, he would scream in pain and collapse. Ventus did not regain his memory of what happened to him until Master Xehanort explained it to him. In the novelization of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Vanitas also suffered extensively from feelings of incompleteness and inadequacy. After Ventus defeated Vanitas, Vanitas seemingly returned to Ventus's heart, his consciousness vanishing without a trace, while Ventus sank back into catatonia for over ten years.

Even Master Xehanort suffered some ill effects from tampering with his own heart. He was not able to completely control Terra's body, and the aftermath of their clash of wills gave him amnesia. Ultimately, he had to give in to darkness and become a Heartless in order to get his plans back on track. This Heartless was incorporeal, being forced to manipulate events from behind the scenes, and it could not use a Keyblade unless he was controlling the body of another Keyblade wielder. His Nobody inherited his amnesia, and it was also unable to wield a Keyblade, for reasons not fully understood. It took Master Xehanort over a decade to regain himself fully.

True death is possible if the body and heart are destroyed at the same time.

The Final World

When a person's body and heart are destroyed at the same time, only hearts make it to the Final World. Much more so to the hearts that persist according to Chirithy it's because something or someone is still connected to the heart of the person that perished, refusing them let go.

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts is the largest and grandest heart of all. The heart of all worlds, it is a source of fantastic power and wisdom, and as such is sought out by many villains for different reasons. The artificial Kingdom Hearts of Kingdom Hearts II takes on the shape of a heart-shaped moon, which further reinforces the fact it is the heart of all worlds. Upon a heart's release after the defeat of an Emblem Heartless, these hearts travel to Kingdom Hearts, empowering it, and in the case of the Kingdom Hearts II storyline, benefiting the Nobodies. However, when a Pureblood Heartless is defeated, no heart appears.

Heartless

A heart being consumed by darkness.

When a being, be they good or evil, gives in to the darkness in their heart, their heart is consumed by it and becomes a Heartless. This new entity separates from the body and soul, which fade into darkness, and begins to act on a primal instinct to gather other hearts and corrupt them. This instinct results in Heartless attacking other beings to increase their numbers, and attacking the heart of a world by means of the Keyhole, causing it to be completely overwhelmed by darkness. Of course, as dictated by their instinct, the Heartless seek out the biggest heart of all: Kingdom Hearts.

The result of a heart being consumed by darkness.

The amount of darkness in the heart, as well as the strength of the heart, seems to dictate the strength of the Heartless formed. As the Princesses of Heart contained no darkness in their hearts, they could not create Heartless. Likewise, Sora's heart contained so little darkness, he became a small Shadow, though his heart was immensely strong. This lets him keep his emotions and memories instead of fading to the darkness, and though it could not speak, his heartless displayed no aggression and merely sought out his friends. Xehanort's heart was so strong and full of darkness that he was able to fully retain his sense of self, and his heartless took on his original form when not in his incorporeal state. This heartless, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, has been implied to be the most powerful heartless currently in the Realm of Light, if not the most powerful heartless of all. The Heartless are arranged in a hierarchical society, with the most powerful Heartless directing the others' actions. This theory was proven by Xehanort whose Heartless went on to control all others.

Emblem Heartless defeated by the Keyblade gives up the stolen heart, which causes it to return to the owner's original body. Heartless slain by another weapon return to darkness and eventually reconstitute elsewhere. However, in Kingdom Hearts II, the hearts went to Organization XIII, who captured the hearts. Hearts will also not return to their owner if a Nobody was formed.

A special kind of Pureblood Heartless called the Lich exists to ferry hearts into the abyss. Rather than consuming the hearts of other people with darkness and spawning more Heartless, it chains their hearts and houses them for a time until it can cast them into the darkness. If caught, it can be forced to safely release its captive hearts and return them to their owners.

Nobodies

The empty shell left behind by a strong heart.

When a particularly strong heart is turned into a Heartless, the body it leaves behind begins to act of its own accord due to the strong will it possesses, becoming a Nobody. The body of a Nobody may be warped to a degree from its original form, depending on the strength of its heart. Members of Organization XIII all possessed remarkably strong hearts, allowing their Nobodies to retain their human appearance with only minor changes. Due to a lack of a heart, a Nobody cannot truly feel emotions; many members of Organization XIII often pretend that they can, following their memories of their human selves. The weaker Nobodies lose their sense of self, are made subservient to the Organization, and can even be modified beyond their original forms. A notable exception to this rule was Sora due to having his and Ventus's heart within him. As a result, his body retained Ventus's heart, resulting in his Nobody, Roxas, to look identical to Ventus rather than Sora.

Although Nobodies are born as empty shells, they are capable of developing hearts of their own over time. Additionally, the shells can be implanted with the heart of another, becoming a vessel for that heart.

Beings with hearts of pure light, such as the Princesses of Heart and Ventus, are unable to produce a Nobody when their hearts leave their bodies, except in very special circumstances (as is the case with Naminé). This is because their hearts lacked darkness within them, so their bodies and souls were unable to leave the Realm of Light, leaving them in a comatose state.

Heart Collection

Organization XIII capturing hearts.

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Organization XIII's heart collection process was greatly elaborated upon. While on several missions to various worlds, Nobodies of the Organization would seek out as many Emblem Heartless as possible, obtaining a captive heart from those they defeated. The captive hearts would then be absorbed by Kingdom Hearts, more specifically, Xemnas's synthetic incarnation of the world, immediately afterward. Organization XIII completely ignored Pureblood Heartless, as they lacked the hearts they sought. The heart collection field was strictly where Xemnas found a use for Roxas, Sora's Nobody being the only one amongst their ranks able to actually release hearts, as he wielded the Keyblade. Any other Organization member simply caused a Heartless to fade back into darkness when it was defeated, without the released heart side-effect. Xion also possessed this power, as she was Sora, and to a lesser extent, Roxas's replica. While Xemnas planned on having Xion absorb Roxas so he could have the full power of Sora's Keyblade in the end, he desperately wished to reclaim Roxas after Xion was defeated and Roxas fled the Organization. He did not count on Roxas being captured by Riku in the Nobody's attempt to free Kingdom Hearts. This forced Xemnas to use Sora himself as an alternative.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Organization XIII switched tactics and used Sora for heart collection, because no surviving member was able to collect hearts after Roxas was absorbed by Sora. Sora remained unaware of his role in Xemnas's plan, sending captive hearts to Kingdom Hearts as he saved each world from the Heartless threat. When Saïx revealed this role to the Keyblade wielder, however, Sora became wary of defeating Heartless, as he did not wish to aid his enemies, the Organization. He had no choice, however, eventually reaching The World That Never Was, Organization XIII's stronghold. When King Mickey met up with Ansem the Wise, the elderly scholar attempted to encode Kingdom Hearts as data with a special device, the Kingdom Hearts Encoder. He realized, upon the machine's self-destruction, that hearts couldn't be encoded as data, destroying Xemnas's synthetic Kingdom Hearts and releasing every heart it held inside before not only his death but the final battle in Kingdom Hearts itself between Sora, Riku, and the Organization's Superior. The Nobodies were seen in the city below, waving their arms and presumably trying to locate their hearts, while the hearts that hit the darkness below the Castle That Never Was instantly transformed into Shadows.

It is unknown what became of hearts released in Kingdom Hearts. While Organization XIII did exist, they did not collect hearts until Roxas's birth, after the events of Hollow Bastion, and after he trained with the Organization members featured in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. It is most logical that these hearts went back to their bodies and returned to their original form.

Although the Emblem Heartless in Castle Oblivion release hearts, it is not clear whether or not these are real Heartless, or merely figments of Sora's and Riku's memories.

Unversed

The basic form of a negative emotion's embodiment.

Unlike other enemies seen throughout the Kingdom Hearts series, the Unversed lack a direct connection to the heart. Instead, they are the embodiment of negative emotions, produced when Ventus's heart was split in half by Master Xehanort to create Vanitas. It is implied that they feed off of negative emotions let off from the hearts of others, growing stronger, and in turn make Vanitas stronger when they are slain and flow back into him. In Monstropolis, Vanitas explained his own heart could be reconstructed by the Unversed once they've gathered a sufficient amount of negative emotions.

Keyblades

Terra bequeathing Riku.

To wield a Keyblade, one must have a strong heart, whether it be a heart of darkness or light, and they must have touched a Keyblade before or inherited the ability from one who has. Roxas could wield a Keyblade even though he did not remember his time as Sora, but it took an effort to get it to materialize in the beginning, and he was not aware of all of its properties, such as returning to the wielder's hand when called. Xemnas, however, did not wield a Keyblade. Riku implied becoming a Heartless makes one unworthy, telling Ansem that "darkness took [his] heart, and the Keyblade with it".

A type of Keyblade made from hearts also exists. The only known Keyblades of this type are the χ-blade, which is made from a heart of pure darkness and a heart of pure light, and the Keyblade of heart, which is made from the hearts of the seven Princesses of Heart. The χ-blade may also be forged from the clash of seven guardians of light and thirteen wielders of darkness, by forging a new Keyblade for every clash between the two forces until thirteen have been made.