Xemnas
Xemnas is the nobody of Xehanort and the superior of Organization XIII. Despite his original self being Xehanort, he uses an anagram of the alias used by his original self: Ansem. He uses the element of nothingness, and wields aerial blades.
A Test
Xemnas first appears in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, arriving at Hollow Bastion to see Sora after recruiting Roxas. The Princesses of Heart sense his incredible power, and Sora and his friends go to the abandoned area where they fought Maleficent to investigate, and soon encounter Xemnas. He is at first intangible, and passes through Sora, causing him to experience many of his memories in rapid succession. Sora asks who the man is, and Goofy wonders if it is Ansem, and though Xemnas says he is familiar with the name, he does not clarify how or who he is (all the while, he speaks through his mind, rather than physically). He then launches an energy attack at Sora, who manages to deflect it (with some difficulty). Xemnas remarks how Sora looks like "him", and that he is not complete, but only confuses Sora. He then attacks the Keyblade wielder, intending to test his power.
Afterwards, he backs off, appearing to be defeated, but quickly abandons the facade. He finds Sora fascinating, and says that they will one day meet again and disappears, but not before making an ambiguous comment on how he is but a "mere shell".
Roxas
In the opening scene of Kingdom Hearts II, Xemnas is seen at a dark beach. Roxas soon joins him. Xemnas says that he has been to see Sora, also commenting on how the two look alike. Roxas asks just who he is, but Xemnas only explains just what he is. When Roxas repeats the question, Xemnas answers the question with his own question: "Do you remember your true name"?
According to Tetsuya Nomura, this scene is not truly real. Rather, it is a mix of all of Roxas' emotions, feelings, and desires.
They meet again
True to Xemnas' words, he and Sora meet again at Hollow Bastion, accompanied by Saïx, Xigbar, Demyx, Xaldin, and Luxord (although all of their faces are hidden by their hoods, and do not directly face Sora). They taunt and mock him, only furthering Sora's desire to defeat them. Xemnas makes an empty joke about how he thought they could've been friends, and then leaves.
From there on in, Xemnas remained at his forces while his group's members traveled to make sure Sora stays on track while increasing the number of Heartless for him to fight.
The Heartless Invasion
Xemnas is not seen again until the Heartless invasion, arriving to the Computer room to access the Chamber of Rest before appearing to look down upon the Heartless army that had temporarily halted in the Great Maw. King Mickey, upon seeing his face, immediately remembers just who's Nobody Xemnas is: Xehanort, the apprentice of Ansem the Wise. Xemnas than runs off, and King Mickey gives chase, though Sora, Donald, and Goofy are impeded from following by the Heartless.
After an exhausting battle, the three make their way to the cliff overlooking Villain's Vale, finally catching up with the King. Sora demands to know where Riku and Kairi are. Xemnas claims to know nothing of any "Kairi", but for Riku, Xemnas tells Sora to ask his King. Then, he vanishes into a corridor of darkness, but not before King Mickey follows him in.
Kingdom Hearts
Xemnas again appears in the World That Never Was, standing upon the highest tower of the Nobody castle, asking Kingdom Hearts to share its power with all Nobodies. Saïx then appears, asking whether Kingdom Hearts is complete. Xemnas says it will be soon, and allows Saïx to end their game and finish off Sora and his companions.
After all Organization members save for himself had been eliminated, Xemnas comes to greet Ansem the Wise, who had been attempting to digitally seal Kingdom Hearts away. The former pupil of Ansem mocks his teacher, stating that he is the source of all Heartless, for inspiring him to go where Ansem himself did not dare to venture. Though Ansem admits that his foolishness was the source of much misery, he questions Xemnas on how all this was what he had been seeking. Xemnas says it is that and more, and reveals he plans to create a brand new world, one heart at a time. He admits he thought that Ansem would praise him, but instead only held him back, consumed by the jealousy he had for his student. But he understands that Ansem was not able to control his heart.
Ansem scoffs at this, stating that they both claim to understand the heart, but actually know as little about it as they had in the very beginning. He declares passionately that Xemnas will fail and so will his world, and tells Riku to finish what he had started, and says farewell to the King. Then, the machine Ansem had been using explodes, and Xemnas retreats just as the bright light envelops the area. The explosion also caused severe damage to Kingdom Hearts, causing countless hearts to rain down upon the world, which would transform into Heartless upon touching the darkness that coated the world.
Sora and the others then travel up to the very top of the tower, where Xemnas is lamenting over the damage done to Kingdom Hearts. He asks the three Keyblade wielders to fetch him more hearts, and when they refuse, he asks why they hate the darkness. King Mickey responds that they don't hate the darkness, but just that it's "scary". But he knows that the world is made of both light and darkness, and then wonders why they really are afraid of the darkness. Riku adds that it is because of who is lurking inside that darkness.
Xemnas then asks another question: if they accept the darkness, yet live in light, why do they loathe those who are nothing, having been turned away from both the darkness and the light? Riku answers that it's because they endangered the worlds, and Xemnas tries to justify it with the fact that they had no choice. However, Sora does not believe this, stating they had no remorse over the actions anyway. Xemnas chuckles, stating that it is very true, and proceeds to face Sora one on one in an arena of nothingness, with Memory's Skyscraper towering above them.
Xemnas appears defeated, returning Sora to the Castle That Never Was, but Xemnas is still alive and well, having gotten to Kingdom Hearts, urging it to join forces with it to gain the power needed to destory their common enemies. Sora and the others try to stop him, but it is too late, and Xemnas is asorbed into the moon. Fortunately, the worlds created a door for Sora and the others to enter, for they wanted them to be the guardians of their destiny. They then follow Xemnas into Kingdom Hearts, but they see that Xemnas has taken its power and transformed the realm into a place resembling the World That Never Was with a giant fortress in the middle. He says that their hearts have led them to their deaths, seeing that it may not be worth following one's heart, and takes note of it, before hurling a building at them. This causes Kairi and Mickey to be separated from the others, but even so, Sora and co. defeat Xemnas in his knight-like form. He thinks that he needs more hearts, more rage, but Sora tells him that hearts are more than just anger or hate, and asks if he remembers, which he doesn't, before seemingly fading back into the darkness.
Ultimate Destruction
With the help of Naminé, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and the King get safely to Destiny Islands, but before Sora and Riku can follow, Xemnas attacks once more, his fortress summoned into a gigantic mechanical dragon. After another difficult battle, Xemnas takes Sora and Riku to a realm of nothingness, with Xemnas wearing a robe representing both light and darkness. He says that if both light and darkness are eternal, then so too must be nothingness. Riku and Sora says this is true, but that does not mean Xemnas is eternal. The two then share a very close battle, Xemnas wounding both Sora and Riku with various attacks. Riku is badly injured during the fight, so Sora batters Xemnas into submission. Sora and Riku then finish him off. Xemnas fades into darkness, ending the threat of Organization XIII and the madness of Xehanort forever.
Personality
Being the creator of Organization XIII and the oldest of the Nobodies, Xemnas is truly emotionless. He claims that this allows him to have a clear understanding of the heart, but in actuality it has warped his mind into believing that only anger, hatred, and other negative feelings make up a heart.
Not to mention, his lack of emotion gives him absolutely zero remorse over his actions, as well as the loss of the other members of the Organization. The only thing he truly cares about is Kingdom Hearts and his desire for a true existence, and even laments when it is damaged.
The Superior
Xemnas, as the superior, is the first member and creator of Organization XIII, with all other Nobodies under his control. But though he is the oldest member, he is also the most powerful. He is so powerful, in fact, that Marluxia would dare not face him even with the support of Axel and Larxene until Sora was completely under his control. Even more, Vexen immediately complied to Marluxia's wish to eliminate Sora when he made the empty threat that he would report Vexen's failure to the Superior.
In Battle
As the leader of Organization XIII, he wields the element of nothingness, and uses aerial blades, two lightsaber-like weapons that form in his hands. He moves about the battle field with eerie grace, possessing incredible acrobatic ability that when combined with his weapons, makes him a deadly force. In addition, Xemnas can shoot dagger-like versions of the Aerial blades in rapid succession, become intangible for short periods of times, create powerful spheres of nothingness, create barriers, and use an attack called "Invitation to Nothingness", which slowly drains a person's life force until they die.
When given the power of Kingdom Hearts, Xemnas dons full-body armor (eerily similar to that of the Enigmatic Soldier), sits upon a massive draconian robot, has a much larger repertoire of techniques. Along with superior versions of old techniques (Xigbar's guns, Xaldin's lances, two of Saix's claymores, Axel's twin chakram, and Demyx's water forms), he wields a gigantic blade, capable of covering large areas with amazing force in one fell swoop. He is also able to use the weapons and techniques of all other Organization members. He can even hurl entire buildings at his foes, as well as change the entire environment to his liking.
Xemnas' dragon is able to fire barrages of missiles, and summon Nobody ships to its aid. Its able to summon three conjoined Nobody symbols to attack with lasers either separately, or in groups of three. The dragon is able to strike at foes using its bladed arms as well. The dragon can also change shape, gaining a row of artillery in the process. The hands gain a pair of gauntlets that join to form an impenetrable shield that can rebuff foes who venture to close. Also, the dragon had a pair of massive laser cannons, but these were destroyed by Sora, Riku, Goofy, and Donald in the early stages of the final fight.
Finally, Xemnas goes into his final state his normal appearance garbed in a black and white robe. His abilities become far beyond that of his usual self. He can create an after-image of himself able to fight like the real Xemnas as well as draw attention away from his real self. He can also summon a torrent of white and black thorns, much like Twilight Thorn. In addition, Xemnas can ensnare opponents in a sphere of energy, which slowly eats away at their health (possibly trying to rip out their heart, as evidenced the the phrase, "Can you spare...a heart".) But perhaps his greatest ability in this appearance is to form a pitch black world, and then summoning thousands and thousands of sword-like aerial blades that surround their target, forming a dome, and then immediately barraging them from all sides.
Trivia
- In the japanese version, Xemnas was voiced by popular seiyuu Norio Wakamoto, whose last involvement with SquareEnix was to voice Al-Cid of Final Fantasy XII and Dauragon C. Mikado of the Bouncer. The English dub had Xemnas voiced by Paul St. Peter, who voiced Flatski of Brave Fencer Musashi.
Quotes
In battle
- Round 1
- ""Guard!""
- ""Kneel!""
- ""Come Closer...""
Armored Controller
- ""CURSED FOOLS!""
- ""Sora...are you certain that you trust Riku?""
- ""Riku...are you sure you're not jealous of Sora?""
- ""Hearts are power!""
- ""Nothingness is eternal!""
- ""Why do you despise the void?""
Final Form
- "Anger and hate...are supreme."
- "Begone!"
- "You shall go together..."
- "RIDE!
- "Guard"
- "HERE!"
- "FIRE!"
- "Why don't you vanish?"
- "Can you spare...a heart?"
- "You are such fools..."
- "Cursed...Key..blade..."
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