Groundshaker

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

Groundshaker
Japanese	グラウンドシェーカー
Rōmaji	Guraundoshēkā
Type	Emblem Heartless
Game	Kingdom Hearts II
KHII tracks Battle theme - The Corrupted

Groundshaker
Kingdom Hearts II
A giant Heartless that appeared in the Pride Land. He was created by the many illusions of Scar. The main body on the back of the creature controlled its bones, creating chaos in the savannah.

Location		HP	Strength		Defense	EXP
Pride Lands Episode 2		1424	40		23	0
Physical	Fire			Blizzard
×1.0	×0.5			×0.5
Thunder	Dark			Neutral
×0.5	×0.5			×0.5
Rewards
Sora: Max HP +5, Thunder element Simba: Max HP +5
World(s)
Pride Lands

Location		HP	Strength		Defense	EXP
Pride Lands Episode 2		1424	40		23	0
Physical	Fire			Blizzard
×1.0	×0.5			×0.5
Thunder	Dark			Neutral
×0.5	×0.5			×1.0
Rewards
Sora: Max HP +5, Thunder element Simba: Max HP +5
World(s)
Pride Lands

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.

Story

Kingdom Hearts II

After Simba finally confronts his doubts and weaknesses about being the ruler of Pride Lands, the many ghosts of Scar, which has been haunting him, fly to the Savannah and coalesces into a giant Heartless, which resembles the Living Bone-Shaman symbiote. Sora and Simba manage to defeat the Heartless and bring peace back to 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.

Strategy

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. Sora moves automatically during this sequence, so the only inputs required are for the Reaction Commands. With the last Reaction Command Sora will eventually jump up and parry one of its stomps by pressing 15 times in 3.5 seconds, 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 Leap 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, as Sora will get bombarded by magic attacks, though these can be countered with Reflect.

Technique		Element	Power	Guard?
Shockwave (衝撃波, Shōgekiha)		Thunder	—	x2.0	X
		Stomps on the ground, generating shock waves.
Thunder (サンダー, Sandā)		Thunder	—	x0.75	X
		Fires lightning from a ball of light, or its mask.
Fire (ファイア, Faia)		Fire	—	x1.5	X
		Fire pillars move along the ground.
Thunder Punch (サンダーパンチ, Sandā Panchi)		Thunder	—	x0.5 Final hit: x1.5	△
		Unleashes two lightning-infused punches, then swings fists downward.
Punch Rush (パンチラッシュ, Panchi Rasshu)		Thunder	—	x0.25 Final hit: x2.0	△
		Turns self invisible and approaches opponents, then punches them repeatedly.
Run Wild (暴走, Bōsō)		Fire	—	x2.5	△
		Rampages about; it can use other attacks while doing so.
Sweep Away (なぎ払い, Nagiharai)		Fire	—	x3.0	X
		Sweeps Sora away with its head if he fails to Fend it off.
Guard/Block: △ = Can be blocked; O = Can be blocked and interrupted (melee) or deflected back (projectile); X = Cannot be blocked.

Reaction Commands
Reaction Command	Attribute	Power	Description
Fend (くいとめる, Kuitomeru)	—	—	Can be used when the Groundshaker uses its Run Wild attack. Activates a special sequence during which Sora can use Leap to avoid attacks, and Fend to stun the Groundshaker.
Leap (ジャンプ, Janpu, lit. "Jump")	—	—	Can be used after using Fend during the special sequence. Jump to avoid the Groundshaker's stomps.
Fend (くいとめる, Kuitomeru)	—	—	Can be used after using Leap during the special sequence. Deflect Groundshaker's giant foot from stomping Sora. Has to be pressed repeatedly (15 times in 3.5 seconds). If used successfully, the Groundshaker is incapacitated temporarily.
Leap (ジャンプ, Janpu, lit. "Jump")	—	—	Can be used when the Groundshaker's main body appears. Use Leap to jump toward the Groundshaker's body; use it 2–3 times in succession to jump on its back. Can be used in mid-air in the process of jumping onto its back.

Video

Groundshaker – Kingdom Hearts II