Axel
- "My show now, Keyblade master. Who am I? Oh, my name's Axel. Got it memorized?"
- —Axel
Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames (おどる火の風 Odoru Hi no Kaze, lit. Wind of Dancing Flames), is Rank VIII within Organization XIII. He wields the element of flame and enchants his weapons, twin chakram, with his element to unleash powerful rapid attacks. He commands the Assassin Nobodies.
Considered a Trump card by the rest of the Organization, he acted as a double agent in Castle Oblivion, keeping track of Marluxia's plans for the other members, then betrayed the Organization for his friendship with Roxas, acting of his own accord to try and see him again once Roxas joins with Sora. Axel's will appear in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a playable characters in the multiplayer format.
Journal Entries
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
A mysterious figure who stands in Sora's path.
Hard to read, half the time Axel seems to just be messing around... but for all we know, he's done more thinking than everyone else put together.
- Reverse/Rebirth
No. 8 in the Organization.
He is a shadow whose intentions and secrets are hidden from all.
Axel has no qualms about exploiting others to suit his needs. He used Sora and Naminé to silence Marluxia and halt his plot against the Organization.
Axel claims he and Sora have something in common, but that connection is unclear.
Kingdom Hearts II
Organization XIII's Number VIII. He commands fire and carries a uniquely-shaped weapon.
He has proven to be an odd duck of sorts within the Organization, lashing out against treachery, yet stirring troubles with his own betrayals all the while.
He claims he and Sora share some sort of bond, but Sora can't imagine what that might be.
Story
Meeting Roxas
When Roxas was first born, Xemnas found him, in front of the old mansion in Twilight Town. When prompted to join Organization XIII, he abruptly refused, and was left to wander the large scape of the town. It was then that, in both the KHII manga and in the Final Mix+ version of the game that Roxas first saw Hayner, Pence, and Olette--yet despite his knowing that he couldn't feel, he was jealous.
It was then that Axel also convinced Roxas to join the Organization XIII.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
"You didn't think after that introduction, I would give up oh so easily?" --Axel, commenting on Sora's behavior after he purposely allowed himself to be defeated.
In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories while Sora and Riku are wandering around in Castle Oblivion, Axel is working for the two parties of the already divided Organization in the castle. One side is Larxene and Marluxia, who seek to use Sora's powers to usurp Xemnas and the rest of the Organization using Naminé to alter Sora's memories. On another side is Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion, three of the original members of Organization XIII. Those three realized Marluxia's ambitions and try to counteract by using Riku to destroy Sora. At first, Axel joins the rebel group, though his intentions at this point are unclear.
Axel fights Sora to test him ; Sora defeats him and Axel gladly gives up a card for Sora to progress further in the castle. In his conversation with Larxene, he professes an interest in the fact that Sora retains his self-consciousness even after becoming a Heartless.
After Vexen nearly reveals the existence of Roxas to Sora, Axel is ordered by Marluxia to dispose of Vexen. Axel does so effortlessly, and is accepted by Marluxia and Larxene into their conspiracy. Using this to his advantage, Axel allows Naminé to escape and contact Sora. Later on, Axel confronts Marluxia, allowing him to figure out the fact that Axel is actually a double agent. Citing his previous order to rid the Organization of traitors, Axel is about to attack Marluxia even at the cost of Naminé's life but is interrupted by Sora, whom he then fights. At the end of the battle, Axel pretends to have fallen, and confuses Sora with the words "I don't deserve this after I helped you..." and vanishes.
After his battle with Sora, Axel meets with Zexion, who discusses Riku and requests data on Destiny Islands. Despite their previous collaboration, Axel later offers Riku Replica the honor of killing Zexion, promising the duplicate that he would gain new powers and be able to defeat the real Riku. The exact reason for Axel's betrayal is not stated, and seems self-contradictory after he had helped stop Marluxia's betrayal, though it was true that both sides of the Organization members in Castle Oblivion (the members in the basement and the higher levels) had their own ideas for betrayal. Yet the only comment Axel makes is that it would be more interesting to see Sora and Riku's future than to save Zexion. However, this may have something to do with Axel's friendship with Roxas, which is probably and partly also the reason why he effortlessly destroys Vexen earlier as he doesn't want to risk Sora pursuing his Nobody should he learn of him. In Re: Chain of Memories during the scene known as "Tactician's End" Axel states the reason for his betrayal of Zexion saying: "You just found out way too much." What Zexion "found out" is never explained.
Kingdom Hearts II
Plagued with questions as to why he has a Keyblade and subconsciously seeking out Sora, Roxas leaves the Organization. Axel, who found companionship in Roxas, is distraught by this decision.
Later on, Roxas was captured by Riku and put in Ansem the Wise's Digital Twilight Town where his memory is wiped and replaced with an artificial one, leading him to believe he is a normal teenager. Axel is sent to the simulated town to bring Roxas back to the Organization. However, his first effort fails due to DiZ's appearance and the restarting of the Twilight Town program. Roxas is dumbfounded by Axel's appearance and comments, lacking any memories of him and hence awareness of what is going on. Soon, Axel is forced to accept the Organization's order to either eliminate Roxas or be destroyed himself. Axel again tries to recover Roxas without the need to kill him. Roxas uses information on Axel that he had learned from Naminé (that the two are best friends) in an attempt to save himself, but his bluff is called when he is unable to remember their boss's name when Axel tests him, and it is only through DiZ's intervention that Roxas escapes. The two meet again, but for the last time. Despite Roxas' recovering of his memories, Axel informs him that its too late and fights Roxas and his dual Keyblades. Axel loses the fight and leaves, choosing not to carry out his mission and becomes branded a traitor for it. While Sora reawakened with Roxas inside him, Axel was entrusted by Riku to protect Naminé. Naminé's words, about those who are dear to them despite being Nobodies, moved Axel.
A second chance with Sora
"The guy you just saw. He's their leader! X-E-M-N-A-S. Got it memorized?"
- Axel, telling Sora about the Organization's superior, Xemnas.
During Sora's exploits to the different worlds, Axel appears before Kairi, intending to kidnap her to draw Sora out. Axel's plan is simple; if Sora were to become a Heartless again, then Roxas would be reborn. However, Kairi escapes through a Corridor of Darkness created by Riku, landing in Twilight Town and staying there for some time in wait of Sora. However, Axel comes to fetch her once more, but not long afterwards she escapes and is taken captive by Saïx instead under orders to give Axel something to actually worry about.
After the invasion of the Radiant Garden by the Heartless, Sora confronts Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII. Xemnas decides to take his leave, and Axel is there to greet Sora. Axel hints that the Keyblade causes the hearts that composed the Heartless to flee, but refuses to say what Organization XIII would do with those hearts. Axel also apologizes for losing Kairi, but flees for his life (and body, for the Organization threatens to turn him into a Dusk if he fails to bring back Roxas--which he did) when Saïx arrives at the scene.
Death
- "He...was the only one I liked...he made me feel...like I had a heart. It's kinda...funny. You make me feel...the same...."
- —Axel, referring to how Sora reminded him of Roxas
On the way to The World That Never Was, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey are trapped in Betwixt and Between by Nobodies, but Axel arrives to help. Sora and Axel battle the Nobodies, but seeing no other choice, Axel decides to put every bit of his energy into one massive attack to destroy the Nobodies and save Sora, who stays with him until the moment he dies. His body smoldering and beginning to fade, Axel opens the passageway to The World That Never Was. As he dies, he sincerely apologizes to Sora for getting Kairi involved. Sora asks him what he was trying to do, and Axel expresses that he wanted to see Roxas, who made him feel like he had a heart, and that Sora makes him feel the same way, and uses his final words to urge Sora on to rescue Kairi, fading into darkness afterwards. After that, Xigbar and Luxord were curious about Axel doing something as foolish as that, but Xemnas revealed that Axel's death served to stir Roxas from his rest. Xemnas also stated that due to contact with Sora, Axel could be reborn full with a heart. Whether or not this is true remains unclear.
In Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, Axel would make one final appearance in Roxas' flashback where he gives a final farewell to Roxas. It is also possible (like the rest of the Organization with the exception of Xemnas and Roxas) that there is a Heartless version of Axel. Whether this will be touched upon in a later game is yet to be seen.
Fighting Style
As the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel uses two uniquely shaped weapons called chakrams, and specializes in Fire Magic. He can summon pillars of flame at will, and strike with rapid combos using his chakrams. He can also surround his chakrams in flame and throw them like boomeranges, spinning and looping to hit opponents multiple times. In his one on one battle with Roxas in Kingdom Hearts II, Axel also summons a circle of fire to surround them, and leaps into the flames to hide, emerging to strike with rapid attacks, then leaping back to keep his opponents off their guard.
Card
Trivia
- It has been noted that Axel bears many similarities to Reno from Final Fantasy VII. Their similarities include facial markings, wild red hair, green eyes, similar personalities, and they also share voice actors as noted above. Tetsuya Nomura commented on the connection between Axel and Reno, stating that he wanted to experiment by placing a familiar character in a new environment and role.
- Axel is often considered a popular member of the Organization and from the series by fans, mainly due to his role in the games, abilities and sacrificial death. In fact, he was also a popular member of the Kingdom Hearts staff and, according to the "Kingdom Hearts Character Report Volume 2", he was initially supposed to die at the end of Roxas' Prologue, but his popularity caused him to be continued into the main game of Kingdom Hearts II.
- In Chain of Memories, Axel's catchphrase is "Commit it to memory", but in Kingdom Hearts II, it was changed to "Got it memorized?", which is a more liable English translation of his original Japanese phrase, "Kioku shita ka?", which is also a past tense question. Re: Chain of Memories corrected the translation to the past tense version.
- In the English language versions, Axel's death scene was edited to remove the flames that were consuming his body.
- In the manga based on Kingdom Hearts II, Axel's search for Roxas in Twilight Town is expanded, and it is revealed that lesser Nobodies were stealing pictures of Roxas because they could not tell pictures apart from the real Roxas.
- Quinton Flynn's characterization of Axel between Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II are noticeably different. Whereas in the latter, Axel is portrayed as rather lax, in the former, he is more serious and eloquent, akin to Marluxia. It is unknown for the change in characterizations, though the different scripts of the two games may be the reason. Also, it could be interpreted that he became more lax due to his friendship with Roxas (and thus later, to Sora), which may not have developed yet beyond their working relationship. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days lends credibility to this theory as the game, where Roxas' friendship with Axel develops, occurs after Sora's story in Chain of Memories.
- In both Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, Axel is shown to display emotions, which is unusual given that Nobodies can't feel anything. Even he himself notes this in Re:Chain of Memories when he begins laughing and stops, saying "Wait a minute. I'm actually enjoying this! You guys really are something else!". Whether he, Roxas, and Naminé all seem have something unusual in common regarding the heart is unknown, but one can indeed speculate that he may have had a heart, just as Roxas said in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+.
- There was a bit of controversy about Axel in Chain of Memories, being the only character in the series who swore. After letting Namine go after feeling the enjoyment come over him, he said the line (which he's saying to Sora and the Riku Replica), "So you guys are making me feel this? Well keep it going because it's about time you gave me one hell of a show!" In Re:Chain of Memories, the scene is changed to Axel saying, "Hey, I'm actually enjoying this! You guys really are something else!".
- Axel is the first (and so far only) Organization XIII member to act as a (temporary) party member.
- It is notable that (in the English version) Axel's voice in the GBA version of Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II sound noticeably different. If one listens to the sound effects, Axel has a deep and bold type of voice, whereas in Kingdom Hearts II he has a relaxed and easy going voice.
- Axel and Xemnas are the only two members of Organization XIII to appear (physically) in more than one main series game, though Xemnas only appears in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix as a secret boss.
- In Re:Chain of Memories, Axel is the only Organization member whose deck is made up of only attack cards.
- Axel is one of only four members of Organization XIII not killed by a keyblade master, as he killed himself in a kamikaze attack to save Sora. The other three are Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion.
- In a new scene for 358/2 Days, Roxas, Axel and Xion are seen at Destiny Islands sitting on the paupu tree. Interestingly, their positions mirror those of Sora, Riku and Kairi in the prologue of Kingdom Hearts.
