- "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), is Rank VIII within Organization XIII. He wields fire and enchants his weapons, twin chakrams, with his pyrokinesis to unleash powerful rapid attacks. He commands the Assassin Nobodies.
Considered a Trump card by the rest of the Organization, he acted as Xemnas's 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 appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a playable character.
Axel is the Nobody of Lea, which was revealed in the Day 356 Secret Report and also mentioned by Saïx. It is highly theorized that this man had a connection to Saïx's original persona. Lol, I editted this so nobody can see it.
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Appearance
Like other Organization members, Axel wears the basic black gloves and boots. His black cloak, however, is one of the more distinctive ones in the group, as it's sleeves close up tightly around his arms. Axel himself is also easily distinguishable from other characters in terms of facial features, made easier by the fact that he rarely wears his cloak's hood up. Axel has rather small eyebrows and thick, shoulder-length, bright red hair styled into slicked-back spikes. He is eyes are a sea-green color and he has two purple reverse-teardrop shaped markings under each eye.
Personality
Axel's personality is very different compared to most other members of the Organization. His attitude also changes during the series. When he is first introduced at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Axel has a mysterious, stoic, and calm demeanor on par with that of Marluxia. He seems to be a very good liar, as he earned Vexen's, Marluxia's, and even the trust of Larxene in only a short amount of time. He also seems to be very committed to the Organization, shown in a cutscene where he battles Marluxia. He seems quite distant at times during his time in Castle Oblivion, ignoring Vexen's insults and almost completely unfazed by Larxene's flirtatious behavior towards him. While he is seen as collected, intelligent, and even somewhat overconfident, cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories make him sound as if he is acting at times, possibly hinting at his dislike for the other members. Although in Re:Chain of Memories, Axel is shown to hold Larxene and Zexion in good company to an extent. Cutscenes show Axel making friendly conversation with Larxene while Marluxia is not around, and making friendly bets with Zexion as to which member will be defeated next. But eventually Axel betrays Larxene by letting Naminé escape and seemed disappointed yet satisfied upon her elimination. Axel also has Riku Replica annihilate Zexion to ensure that his actions in Castle Oblivion go unnoticed by the rest of the Organization.
Axel's personality changes drastically in between the two games, possibly due to his friendship with Roxas. In Kingdom Hearts II, he has a very laid-back, "go with the flow" outlook on many things, including missions and battles. But he also is shown to have a very kind, heartful side, ironic because he is a Nobody and has no heart. His friendship with Roxas and Xion and his moving final words are examples of this. He also stated that Roxas made him feel "like he had a heart".
In both games Axel has been shown to have a very typical "Nobody" side to his personality as well, being cold, unforgiving, and merciless. In Chain of Memories, he interrupts Vexen's cries for mercy with a cocky "Goodbye" before incinerating him without any hesitation. He also seemed to be amused by the deaths of his comrades as shown in the scene where he is making bets with Zexion. This cruel attitude also occurs when Marluxia uses Naminé as a human shield against him—Axel confidently declared he would kill Naminé to get to Marluxia. Also in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix he appeared indifferent to angering Xaldin.
In both Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, Axel displays emotion, which is unusual given that Nobodies cannot feel anything. He himself notes this in Re:Chain of Memories when he begins laughing, but catches himself and stops. He even mocks his ability to feel towards his death. Whether he, Roxas, Naminé, and Xion all seem have something unusual in common regarding the heart, is unknown. But it has been hinted by Xemnas, and Axel himself, that by being close in contact with Sora's heart, Axel began to feel emotions of his own.
Out of the whole Organization, Axel is probably the most difficult to read. One never knows what he is thinking (as Lexaeus implied) or whose side he is really on. Most of the time he seems to be just messing around, but he may have done more thinking than everyone else combined, as stated in Jiminy's Journal.
Fighting Style and Abilities
As the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel uses two uniquely shaped weapons called chakrams, and specializes in Fire manipulation. 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 boomerangs, spinning and looping them 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, and then leaping back to keep his opponents off their guard. Axel, is a powerful member of the Organization, arguably even stronger, or at least a better fighter, than Saïx. This is seen when Saïx is defeated by Roxas, but Axel was able to defeat Xion at the Old Mansion, who at the time was stronger than Roxas from accidentally absorbing to much of his power.
Weapon
Axel utilizes two unique weapons called Chakrams, named Eternal Flames. Each chakram is circular and red, with silver spikes and circles around the edges, and two black handles cross in the middle. Each Chakram has eight spikes, possibly referencing Axel's rank in the Organization. Axel is very adept in the use of his weapon; he has excellent aim when throwing them, and can use them as shields and as melee weapons. He also appears to be able to throw them in a boomerang-like fashion to bring them back after throwing them. With this technique, he performs some unique attacks, including juggling them against an opponent, or throwing one across the entire battlefield continuously.
He also uses them in conjunction with his fire abilities, setting the tips, or even the whole thing, on fire before throwing them. From the new scene in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, it is implied that he can set his chakrams on fire from afar, acting as a remote detonator.
The Bond of Flame Keyblade, obtained from Axel, is similar in appearance to his chakrams. Axel's Chakrams are among the few Organization XIII weapons that do not bear the Nobody symbol (the others being Xemnas' Ethereal Blades, and Roxas' and Xion's Keyblades), but the spikes on the wheel do bear some similarities to the Nobody logo.
In actuality, chakrams are small razor-edged throwing disks used by ancient warriors in India. Axel's chakrams also bear resemblance to Wind and Fire wheels, wheel-shaped weapons that are used strictly as melee weapons.
The name "chakram" comes from the Sanskrit word for circle and wheel.
Playing as Axel
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Axel fights with his Chakrams in fast, versatile combos that are effective in both short and long-range combat. Via the Gear System, Axel can be customized along with all other playable characters, attacking in quick combos that close distance between enemies for even faster ones. Axel's Limit Break, Explosion, causes Axel throw his chakrams at enemies while they're engulfed in fire when activated, creating a small explosion of fire afterwards. While not being thrown, Axel's chakrams spin rapidly, the layer of flames surrounding the unique weapons thickening as they continue to gather. However, they can be thrown at any time, and do not need to charge. During Axel's Final Limit, Axel combines his two flaming Chakrams into one enormous flaming version of the weapon, easily many times larger than the two Chakrams. The explosion after the attack is also much larger.
Quotes
- "I Farted really hard, blood came out."
Trivia
- It has been noted that Axel bears many similarities to Reno from Final Fantasy VII. 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. Nomura clearly stated in an interview that the two are "different people, but subconsciously alike."
- Axel shares his voice actor with Reno over a variety of languages: Quinton Flynn in English, Jean Christophe Parquier in French, Víctor Martínez in Spanish, Philipp Brammer in German and Keiji Fujiwara in Japanese.
- Axel was popular among members of the Kingdom Hearts staff and though he was initially supposed to die at the end of Roxas' Prologue, his popularity caused him to be continued into the main game of Kingdom Hearts II.
- In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, there were flames consuming Axel's body at his death. The flames were removed for the English version. In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, despite keeping many changes made to the English version, Axel's death scene uses the flames.
- According to the Secret Reports in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Axel and Saïx knew each other when they were humans, possibly also being friends, as Axel states that he should be able to speak to Saïx the same way that he talks to Roxas and Xion, but he can't because Saïx had changed after becoming a Nobody. This is further supplemented by Saïx knowing Axel's original name: Lea.
- Axel is the only character to technically curse as he says the word 'hell' in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories when he says "Give me one hell of a show!" At the same time it's the only game in the series he appears in where he does not say "Got it memorized?" (yet, he does say this in Re:Chain of Memories).
- The way Axel saw Xion at first could be debatable. At first, Axel didn't have much of a connection to Sora other than being the best friend of his Nobody, Roxas, who always saw Xion as herself because he was Sora’s Nobody. Being best friends with Roxas may have allowed Axel to see Xion as herself. If not, he might have seen her the way Saïx did, as a hooded doll. But once Axel returned from Castle Oblivion, he saw Xion as herself.
Gallery
- Axel.jpg
Axel with his Chakrams
Axel in 358/2 Days
| Nobodies |
|---|
| Organization XIII |
| I. Xemnas | II. Xigbar | III. Xaldin | IV. Vexen | V. Lexaeus | VI. Zexion | VII. Saïx | VIII. Axel | IX. Demyx | X. Luxord | XI. Marluxia | XII. Larxene | XIII. Roxas |
| Enemy Nobodies |
| Sorcerer - Sniper - Dragoon - Berserker - Assassin - Dancer - Gambler - Reaper - Ninja - Samurai Dusk - Creeper - Specter - Twilight Thorn - Fake Vivi |
| Special Nobodies |
| Naminé - Absent Silhouettes - Organization XIII's Replica Data - Anti-Saïx - Data-Roxas - Data-Naminé |