Template:Enemy The Orcus is a Pureblood Heartless that is found in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It is one of the bosses at Halloween Town and Twilight Town.
Story
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Roxas and Xion separately encounter an Orcus on Day 352 in Halloween Town and fight it, but Axel reveals that the Orcus was not real, and that Xemnas had tried to pit the pair against each other by casting an illusion on them so that they saw each other as the Heartless.
Design
An Orcus is a muscular, humanoid creature with dark purple skin. The tips of its feet are red, and it has small, dark grey wings on its back. It also has an orange wing on each of its elbows. It has a long tail that ends in a silver, circular, pendulum-like blade. Its small eyes are glowing yellow, and its head features two large, conical, dark purple spikes on either side. It also has two horns with orange tips on its head that connect to each other to form a heart shape. It also carries an ornate, orange sword with a grey cross guard, black edges, and the kanji for "hard shell" printed on it shaft.
The name "Orcus" references the a Roman god of the same name, who was frequently associated with the Underworld and death. Its Japanese name, "Ogre", carries a similar meaning, as the word "ogre" is believed to be derived from the name "Orcus".
Strategy
The Orcus are a rare and powerful Heartless that have a very similar fighting style to the smaller, less powerful Invisible. They are swift and will try to stay out of attack range, so the use of magic, particularly the homing Fire Spell, is highly recommended. It is important that the player not use Thunder or any of the Spell's upgraded forms, as they will heal the Orcus. A well-timed aerial combo is another good way to damage this type of Heartless.
Orcus use more powerful variants of the Invisibles' attacks. They may slash at the player with their swords if at close range, but a carefully timed Block can prevent the damage caused by this tactic. Orcus are also capable of shooting several downward energy balls that may grant the Lv. 1 status effect, but this attack can easily be avoided with a simple chain of Dodge Rolls, Air Slides, or even the Glide ability. The Orcus' last attack is by far their most devastating to one's health, the Heartless vanishing while their swords fly around the battlefield, dealing damage every time they collide with the player. This will occur several times and can easily be avoided by Dodge Roll or Glide, the Orcus finishing their combo by reappearing and spawning a massive shockwave with a relatively long range and high power. It is recommended that Glide be used to avoid this attack. Both the energy ball combo and the shockwave tactic will leave the Orcus vulnerable to attack to some degree, so long as the player dodge the combo first and then move swiftly with a quick aerial combo.