Baldr
| Baldr | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| ||
| Japanese | バルドル | |
| Rōmaji | Barudoru | |
| Homeworld | Scala ad Caelum | |
| Game | Kingdom Hearts Dark Road | |
Baldr is the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road. He is the younger brother of Hoder and a student of Master Odin.
Story
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
As a child on Scala ad Caelum, Baldr discovers that he has the ability to sense the contents of people's hearts. When he grows into his youth, he becomes a keyblade wielder alongside his older sister, Hoder, and the two begin training under Master Odin. At first, Baldr only feels safe with Hoder, due to the light he senses in her heart, but opens up to Eraqus and his other classmates when he senses the same thing in their hearts. This creates an insecurity about darkness in Baldr’s heart that makes way for the darkness to take root in it.
Around the time of Xehanort’s arrival to the world, the upper classmen are sent on their Mark of Mastery to the Enchanted Dominion. Baldr grows anxious of Hoder’s safety and ventures out after her. Meanwhile, the darkness in Baldr’s heart sees this as an opportunity to gain power over Baldr by harming someone dear to him, Hoder. As Hoder engages in a battle with the evil fairy, Baldr rushes in to save her. He is there to witness his sister’s death, and then he is unable to recall what transpired when Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun died after he later wakes up in the infirmary.
Initially, Baldr believes that his sister died protecting him from the evil fairy, and then the other three upper classmen succumbed to the same fate. However, according to the darkness, it is possible that instead, the darkness in Baldr’s heart lept out and ended Hoder’s life before her brother's very eyes. This caused Baldr to succumb to the grief and rage inside his heart, the darkness using his negative emotions to take over completely. While possessing Baldr’s body, the darkness kills Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun.
Following this tragedy, Baldr is confined to his room, requiring time to heal from his grief. Master Odin disguises this from the others, claiming his absence is caused by a special assignment. Instead of healing, this isolation causes his negative emotions to grow and fester, the darkness in his heart becoming more powerful.
The darkness allows Vidar to know of its presence within Baldr, hoping this knowledge will serve as motivation for summoning Kingdom Hearts, making him believe that is what's required to defeat it. However, the darkness' true motives are to use Kingdom Hearts to bring forth untold darkness. Baldr goes on a rampage, killing many throughout Scala ad Caelum. In his quest to kill 13 lights to feed 13 darknesses, he believes he successfully assassinated all 6 of his sister's classmates, as well as Hermod, Urd, and Vor.
In a final battle atop a tower in Scala ad Caelum, Eraqus and Xehanort fight Baldr long enough for Master Odin to appear and restrain him with chains from the No Name. Though he makes a last-ditch appeal to Xehanort to join him, Baldr is struck with a fatal blow from Xehanort and fades away.
Design
Baldr is a youth with fair skin, grey eyes, and long, white hair. He wears a white, hooded jacket that is golden on the inside with Terra's Mark, a black vest, and black pants with blue criss-crossing straps. Under the vest is a white undershirt.
In Norse mythology, Baldr was the god of light, joy, purity, and the summer sun. Baldr's death at the hands of his brother signals the beginning of Ragnarok, a series of events filled with death and tragedy leading to the end of the world.
Abilities
Like his classmates, Baldr wields the Keyblade. During his time as a vessel of Darkness he can manipulate a dark aura surrounding him to great effect.
