Groundshaker

This article is about the giant Heartless. You may be looking for Simba's special ability.

Template:Enemy The Groundshaker is an Emblem Heartless that is found in Kingdom Hearts II. It is one of the bosses at Pride Lands. It is a gigantic version of the Living Bone and Shaman combo, fused from the many ghosts of Scar that appeared throughout the Pride Lands.

Design

The Groundshaker is a titanic Heartless reminiscent of a Shaman and Living Bone. The Living Bone analogue has a body almost completely covered in grass, moss, and other plant life, to the point that several trees have grown on it. Each of its legs are yellow with brown armor on them, with white designs decorating the armor. Its feet are steel blue, and each sports three skeletal toes. Its skull is grey with angular, white designs on it and several bent, red horns all around it. Depending on the way its head is turned, it has two different faces; one looks slightly downward and has large, curved tusks lined by spikes, and the other looks slightly upward and has curved horns lined by spikes. Both heads share the same yellow, spiral eyes.

The Shaman analogue is also covered in foliage, albeit to a lesser extent than its companion, and is not always visible. While still massive, it is smaller than the "Living Bone" and rides on its back. It has grey skin, red claws, and four pairs of arms; the lower pair being smaller than the upper one. Unlike its steed, the "Shaman" has three faces, as it wears a special mask that periodically twists upside down over a main face on its neck. One face has gold horns, a curled, yellow "mustache", and a jagged mouth that smiles slightly. The other has a dull green "mustache" and a mouth that frowns slightly. The last is a plain black, sporting two yellow eyes. Both faces of the mask are white, have eyes with spiral pupils, and a green crest decorating its sides. The Groundshaker has four Heartless emblems on its body in total; one on each of the "Living Bone's" foreheads, and one on each of the "Shaman's", except for the neck.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, the "Living Bone" has yellow spikes on its skull. Its downward-pointing face is now red, while the other half of the skull is still black. Its feet and neck are red and its legs are yellow. The "Shaman" has a predominantly red body and the crest on its mask is orange instead of green.

The Groundshaker's name references its immense size, and the fact that it causes tremors each time it steps.

Story

Kingdom Hearts II

After Simba finally confronted his doubts and weaknesses about being the ruler of Pride Lands, the many ghosts of Scar which had been haunting him flew to the Savannah and coalesced into a giant Heartless which resembled the Living Bone-Shaman symbiote. After a battle which raged all across the Savannah, Sora and Simba managed to defeat the Heartless and bring peace back to the Pride Lands.

Strategy

Attacks

• Stomp: Stomps around while walking, creating shockwaves with each step.
• Fire: The Shaman conjures fire pillars while Sora is on the ground.
• Punch Combo: While on the Groundshaker's back, the Shaman uses quick punches, ending with it slamming the ground.
• Lightning: The Shaman shoots lightning from its eyes and other parts of the field.

The only available targets are its eyes and the shaman-like Heartless on its back. At the start of the battle a series of reaction commands become available helping Sora jump from the ground stomps of the Groundshaker's feet. The computer controls his movements, so don't get confused. With the last reaction command Sora will eventually jump up and parry one of its stomps by pressing rapidly, after this it will fall and become stunned. Now quickly attack the eyes with Keyblade strikes, magic, and Simba's Limit. The Groundshaker can't be defeated by attacking the eye. The finishing blow must happen on the shaman-like Heartless.

When the Groundshaker recovers, it will jump high onto the air. Be sure to not get hit when it comes back down. At this point the shaman emerges, so jump on its back using the reaction command "Jump" twice. At high health Sora can attack any of the two heads to remove HP while it casts mild magic. While attacking in the air, press to perform Finishing Blast, this will knock its two heads off on the ground for a short period. At this point the two Heartless unite, allowing Groundshaker to summon fire that will track Sora if his is too far away. Eventually, Groundshaker warps to the other side of the gorge surrounding the battlefield. It will leap over, damaging Sora if he is nearby, then it will run away. If it runs away then repeat the process of reaction commands from the beginning to get back on its back.

When it is upright again on the Groundshaker's back the shaman can become invisible. When the shaman's double-mask rotates, so does the Groundshaker's head. One side uses fire attacks, while the other side uses electric magic. During this time it is advisable to run clockwise around the boss's back until it is visible again, then try and stun it with the air. The duration of invisibility and the intensity of magic attacks becomes more frequent as its HP dwindles. Be sure to heal when necessary.

If Sora falls off the boss's back, jump up the leg or the head to get back on. Don't stay on the ground when the Shaman is on its back. Sora will get bombarded by magic attacks and this makes it almost impossible for Sora to survive (good time to use Reflect).

Video

Groundshaker—Kingdom Hearts II

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