The Heartless (ハートレス Hātoresu) are beings of darkness that manifest in two forms, "Pureblood" and "Emblem". While most Heartless are in fact manifested hearts, they behave entirely devoid of emotion, and thus were named "Heartless".[1]
The Heartless are the primary enemy type in the Kingdom Hearts series, with various subspecies appearing as enemies in every game.
Story
Before Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
In an attempt to draw out the darkness in the heart of his pupil, Ventus, Master Xehanort summoned several Neoshadows to fight him, but Ventus was overwhelmed and nearly destroyed by the Heartless instead.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
As Aqua wanders the Realm of Darkness following her battle with Terra-Xehanort, she encounters a group of Darksides. Although she initially summons Master's Defender, she decides to let the Darksides come at her without resisting. However, Terra's Keyblade and Ventus's Keyblade come to her rescue, a last symbol of hope from her old friends Terra and Ventus, and destroy the Darksides. Her spirit returning, and in hopes of returning to her home, Aqua presses on through the Realm of Darkness, along the way encountering many Pureblood Heartless, including Shadows, Neoshadows and Darkballs. During this time, she is stalked and attacked by the massive Dark Hide, engaging it in combat and emerging victorious after a strenuous battle.
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-
Aqua fights off numerous Purebloods in the Realm of Darkness, which included Darkballs, Neoshadows, Shadows, and a huge swarm of Shadows called Demon Tower. Extremely rare elemental Heartless, such as Water Core, Flame Core, Earth Core, and Fluttering attack Aqua as she journeys through the realm. While in the remains of Enchanted Dominion, Aqua railslides through a forest of thorns, evading the punches and energy blasts of numerous Darksides. A swarm of Shadow called the Demon Tide attempts to attack Riku when he tries reaching the Door to Darkness, but Aqua holds it off.
Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Building on Ansem the Wise's research into the nature of the heart, two of his apprentices, Xehanort and Master Xehanort's co-conspirator, Braig, experimented on people's hearts without his knowledge, convincing Ansem's other apprentices, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo, to assist them.
During the experiments, Xehanort discovered the Heartless and named them. Ansem's Report 3 One of them leads him to the heart of Radiant Garden. After further study, he built the Heartless Manufactory inside Ansem's castle and created the first artificial Emblem Heartless. Ansem's Report 8
After discovering his apprentices' experiments and realizing his error in trying to interfere with the nature of the heart, Ansem the Wise ordered his apprentices to cease their research. However, they overthrew Ansem, banishing him to the Realm of Darkness while Xehanort took his name. Their continued experiments eventually led the group to lose their hearts, turning them into Heartless and Nobodies, and Xehanort's Heartless, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, began planning to find and take the power of Kingdom Hearts.
In the meantime, the Heartless consumed most of the world, leaving only Hollow Bastion, and they began spreading to other worlds. Ansem began manipulating Maleficent and her allies to use the Heartless in their bid to conquer all worlds and take Kingdom Hearts. In this conquest, Enchanted Dominion, Castle of Dreams, Dwarf Woodlands, The Land of Dragons, Pride Lands, Beast's Castle, La Cité des Cloches, Prankster's Paradise, The Grid, Country of the Musketeers and Symphony of Sorcery were destroyed by the Heartless, along with the homes of Bambi and Dumbo.
Kingdom Hearts
Maleficent sends the Heartless to invade many worlds, to consume their hearts and search for the seven Princesses of Heart. Many of her allies use the Heartless to advance their own plans, in many cases to conquer their own worlds.
Sora encounters Heartless within his Dive to the Heart, including a Darkside. A few days later, when Riku opens the door to the heart of the world, the Heartless invade en masse, and they succeed in devouring the islands, despite Sora obtaining the Keyblade and attempting to stop them.
After he escapes to Traverse Town, Sora meets Leon and Yuffie, who explain to him the nature of the Heartless and tell him his Keyblade both draws them to him and is the best weapon against them. This leads Sora to fight the Heartless alongside Donald Duck and Goofy, in an effort to save the worlds.
Sora eventually learns that the Heartless are being used by Maleficent to capture the seven Princesses of Heart and open the door to Kingdom Hearts, so that she and her allies can rule over all worlds. However, Ansem, possessing Riku's body, uses the Keyblade of heart to drown Maleficent in her own darkness and transform her into her dragon form. After she is destroyed by Sora, Ansem reveals that, like the other villains, she was being used by the Heartless.
Ansem challenges Sora in order to claim Kairi's heart and complete the Final Keyhole, but Sora defeats him. Sora then uses Ansem's Keyblade on himself, in order to free Kairi's heart and complete the Keyhole so it can be sealed. Although he succeeds, he loses his own heart and becomes a Shadow Heartless in the process. Kairi's light restores Sora to his human form, and he soon travels to the End of the World to stop Ansem from reaching Kingdom Hearts.
Ansem uses a great many Heartless in an effort to defeat Sora, but he is finally beaten in front of the Door to Darkness. Ansem reaches out to Kingdom Hearts to try and control the darkness he expects within, but he is destroyed by the light of Kingdom Hearts.
In order to stop an immeasurable wave of Heartless from emerging through the Door to Darkness, Sora closes and locks the door with the help of Riku and Mickey, who are stuck in the Realm of Darkness.
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
The Heartless appear inside Castle Oblivion, variously formed either from Sora's memories or Riku's darkness as they seek to indoctrinate the two boys.
In the memory-copy of Agrabah, the Heartless caused enough mayhem for Jafar to take control of the city, and attempt to force Aladdin to waste his wishes stopping them.
In the memory-copy of Halloween Town, the Heartless appeared as a result of Dr. Finkelstein creating a potion to retrieve true memories.
Axel, due to his friendship with Sora's Nobody, Roxas, is fascinated by Sora's Heartless, as Sora was able to hold onto his mind and feelings when a Heartless should be mindless and instinctual, something that only one other Heartless, Ansem, was able to accomplish.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
After Maleficent and Ansem's defeat, the Heartless run wild without a guiding will behind them, although villains like Pete are able to summon and control small groups of them. As a Keyblade-wielding member of Organization XIII, Roxas is often sent on missions to defeat them and collect hearts. During one of his early missions, Marluxia introduces Roxas to fighting Heartless, explaining to him the difference between Pureblood Heartless, which contain no hearts, and Emblem Heartless, which release hearts upon defeat. He tells Roxas that the hearts he collects will gather to form Kingdom Hearts, the ultimate goal of the Organization. Marluxia and Zexion emphasize the importance of Roxas's role in collecting hearts for the Organization's purposes. Xemnas creates Xion to duplicate Roxas's abilities, as a failsafe should Roxas have proved inadequate for the purpose of collecting hearts.
After Xion's death, Roxas attempts to reach the Organization's Kingdom Hearts in the hopes of bringing her back. However, he is stopped by numerous Neoshadows, which he slays with the help of Riku.
Kingdom Hearts II
After Sora awakens in Twilight Town, he travels to the Mysterious Tower, where he meets Pete, Maleficent's second in command, who is working to make an army of Heartless for Maleficent's use. After defeating his squad of Heartless, Sora realizes that the worlds are still in danger. He meets with the Tower's master, Yen Sid, who explains Sora's new mission, telling him that although Sora and company prevented a catastrophic invasion of the Realm of Light by Heartless, there are still many Heartless throughout the worlds. Maleficent and Pete continue to use the Heartless in their attempts to conquer worlds, and as Axel reveals during the Battle of the 1000 Heartless, Organization XIII is using Sora to release the hearts of every Heartless he destroys to create their own Kingdom Hearts.
In Halloween Town, Dr. Finkelstein creates an "artificial" Heartless called The Experiment. When it comes to life, it chases presents, hoping that the joy of the presents would be enough to give it a heart.[2] The Experiment is eventually defeated by Sora, Donald, and Goofy when they arrive in Halloween Town the second time.
With this knowledge, Sora heads for the Organization's base world, The World That Never Was, to stop their plans for Kingdom Hearts. Inside the Castle That Never Was, Saïx shows off the Organization's Kingdom Hearts to Sora's group, and he summons a great many Shadows to attack.
Kingdom Hearts is damaged when Ansem the Wise fails to encode it as data, causing hearts to rain down over the Dark City, spawning a great swarm of Shadows that attack the castle. Maleficent and Pete take on the swarm, sending Sora and company to defeat Xemnas, atop the castle.
Kingdom Hearts coded
Digital representations of the Heartless appear within the datascape of Jiminy's Journal, just as they had appeared in the real worlds. The bugs infecting the Journal also appear as various species of Heartless. The source of the bugs, the digital representation of Sora's Heartless, absorbs the defeated Heartless in order to increase in power, but it is defeated by Data-Sora and King Mickey, and the journal is repaired.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Before beginning Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam, Yen Sid explains that the Dream Eaters are manifestations of darkness that serve as the Sleeping Worlds' counterpart to the Heartless.
Ienzo reveals to Lea that when a Heartless and Nobody are destroyed and their hearts find their vessels, they are returned to the place they became a Heartless and Nobody. However, if that world is destroyed or otherwise unavailable, they would appear in Traverse Town.[3]
Kingdom Hearts III
During their closing research into the New Seven Hearts and Replicas, the real Organization XIII regularly employs Heartless, alongside Nobodies and Unversed, to both further their experiments and rebuff Sora's attempts to stop them.
When the seven guardians of light arrive at the Keyblade Graveyard, the Organization sends the remaining reserves of their armies to quash the heroes. Sora and his friends are able to repel the first assault, but after Terra-Xehanort confronts them and leaves them in disarray, the swarm attacks again and is able to extinguish the guardians. However, before the Lich can consummate their deaths, Sora exploits the power of waking to bring them back, and in the process generates a singularity that returns them to before the battle. This time, the Lingering Will drives off Terra-Xehanort, allowing the spirits of the fallen Keyblade wielders to rise up and help Sora finish off the massive swarm. In one last attempt, Dark Riku summons a final swarm of Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed to overwhelm the guardians, but Yen Sid arrives and uses his powers to clear a path to the waiting organization.
Design
In general, Heartless are beastly creatures with yellow, beady eyes. Pureblood Heartless are the more primitive, using more chaotic fighting styles. They are ink-black in color and have antenna.
Emblem Heartless have more varied shapes, colors, and are branded with Xehanort's symbol to differentiate them from the Pureblood ones. They possess unique abilities, for example, the Leechgrave uses its tentacles to eat other Heartless.
The Heartless emblem resembles a heart with a fleur-de-lis at the bottom and a spiky "X" crossing through the centre.
When the Marionette possesses toys, the Heartless insignia appears on them.
Nature
Pureblood Heartless are natural Heartless, born from the darkness in people's hearts. They are more common in places that are close to or saturated in darkness. Upon their destruction, they simply disappear in puffs of darkness, without a heart leaving its body.[4] While Purebloods have less variety, they are far more numerous in quantity and often attack in swarms.
Emblem Heartless, on the other hand, were originally created from a machine designed to reproduce the process of a heart being consumed by darkness.[5] Once that machine was activated, most stolen hearts become Emblems, provided they contain darkness. They are more common on the worlds within the Realm of Light, and usually mimic the shape of creatures or objects within that world.
Heartless – Emblem or Pureblood – possess several key characteristics that define them as Heartless. Pureblood Heartless are generated naturally from the darkness within people's hearts. Heartless are born when a heart is consumed by the darkness within it, or when a Heartless steals the heart. They can also be drawn out by a dark being like Maleficent or a source of dark power like the Keyblade of heart.[6] This process will occasionally also form Nobodies, which are born from the body and soul left behind when the heart is lost.[7] Being born from darkness, they are mindless and act on instinct; because of such, their only goal is stealing more hearts to turn into Heartless. But what they desire above all are the hearts of worlds, and thus they enter worlds in search of the way into the hearts of the worlds. When they consume these colossal hearts, the remains of the world form new worlds, such as Traverse Town and End of the World.
At the same time, Heartless seek out the users of the Keyblade, since the Keyblade holds the power to lock and unlock hearts.[8] If a Heartless is slain by a Keyblade, it will reunite with the body and soul it left behind, if it isn't currently a Nobody. In order to stop the users of the Keyblades, the Heartless use the Keyblade itself as a homing beacon, but ultimately desire to take the heart that commands it. Because of this, Keyblade wielders are under constant attack.
The strength of a Heartless is proportional to the depth of the darkness from which it was born. The darker the heart forming a Heartless, Emblem or Pureblood, the more powerful and more monstrous the resulting being will be.[9] An exception to this is Xehanort's Heartless, who retained his human appearance for unknown reasons. This is a contrast to Nobodies, which determine rank according to the strength of the heart, and whose appearances become more human as they increase in power. Furthermore, as beings of elemental darkness, some Heartless are able to take possession of other beings or even inanimate objects, granting them immense dark power and often reshaping their very forms to suit their purpose.
The Heartless, being mindless, usually have no master to direct their actions and instead act on the instinct to consume more hearts. However, there are some higher beings who can command them. Heartless will obey those with an affinity for darkness and a strong will. If many people attempt to control them, the Heartless will side with whomever is most powerful.[10] However, those with hearts, such as Maleficent, endanger themselves, as the Heartless are attracted to their hearts and if they show weakness, the Heartless will not hesitate to consume their hearts.[11]
On the other hand, higher ranking Heartless, like Xehanort's Heartless, can fully command other Heartless without endangering themselves. Also, Organization XIII is able to command them as well with their strong wills, but are not endangered of being consumed by them for their lack of a heart.
Heartless make use of the "Corridors of Darkness", inter-dimensional pathways that connect the many worlds. These pathways are located in the Realm of Darkness, and thus are very dangerous to use if one is not accustomed to the darkness.
The Heartless invasion
- "Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that. However, the Heartless are darkness made real---and darkness lingers yet in every heart. The Heartless are fewer. But while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them."
- —Yen Sid
While the Heartless were not researched with the intent of creating a fighting force, their very nature as manifestations of the destructive force of darkness made them naturally suited for conquering and destroying the various worlds. Their natural ability to travel to various worlds through the use of Corridors of Darkness makes it virtually impossible to fully defend a world from Heartless, and the method in which they are created and exist makes it practically impossible to cut them off at the source. Even fighting them once they appear is made difficult due to their immunity to standard weaponry.
According to the Ansem's Reports, a Keyblade can lock the heart of a world away from the Heartless forever. However, this does not keep the Heartless out of the world; it simply prevents them from destroying it. The citizens of the worlds remain fair game to the Heartless. Although the Door to Darkness was sealed, the Heartless continue to exist naturally in fewer numbers due to the darkness still existing in people's hearts. However, evil beings such as Pete and Organization XIII seek to create abnormally strong Heartless by forcing beings with strong hearts to succumb to darkness. Thus increasing the threat the Heartless pose.
The primary weapon for destroying the Heartless is the Keyblade, as it is both specially suited for manipulating the bonds between heart, body, and soul which create Heartless, and it is the only object able to thwart the Heartless in their goal of devouring a world's heart. However, in the absence of the Keyblade there are several other options. Magic is effective against the Heartless, as are magical weapons. In either situation, invading Heartless can be made disorganized by defeating the major Heartless which leads them, or the dark heart which attracted them to that world. While this does not by any means purge the world of its Heartless, it gives no small respite from their threat. Emblem Heartless that are destroyed by a Keyblade release the heart within them, sending it to a Kingdom Hearts where it waits for its body and soul to be freed, so that the person it once was can be woken once again.
End of the World and Kingdom Hearts
The Heartless reside wherever darkness is abundant, especially the Realm of Darkness. However, they also reside in places such as the End of the World, a collection of the remnants of worlds that is located near the darkness. Another area that the Heartless live in is The World That Never Was, the world of the Nobodies that rests dangerously close to the darkness upon which the Heartless thrive.
Heartless, as they seek and consume hearts, also desire to return to the greatest heart, the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts, that resides deep within the Realm of Darkness. And because of this, Heartless seek immense darkness, enough to completely consume the Realm of Light. The entryway into this place of great power is the Door to Darkness, the door that separates the realm of light and the realm of darkness. However, with the efforts of Sora and the King, the door is closed, which causes the worlds lost to the darkness to be restored, and prevents a massive army of Heartless from pouring into the realm of light.
The forces of the Heartless were extremely weakened after the door to Kingdom Hearts was sealed off, though there were still many left. At the end of Kingdom Hearts II, it is unknown what exactly happened to the Heartless and if they still pose a threat. It should be noted though that Yen Sid has mentioned that the only true way to destroy all Heartless is to have all people have light filled in their hearts and no darkness, leaving nothing to create a Heartless or something for them to thrive for.[12]
List of Heartless
- Heartless listed in italics are exclusive to Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, or Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix.
- Heartless listed in bold serve as bosses.
Pureblood Heartless
Wayward Wardrobe's branchees Heartless
Wayward Wardrobe's high-heeled boot Heartless
Wayward Wardrobe's skirt Heartless
- Anti-Sora KH.png
- Xehanort's guardian KHBBS.png
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Emblem Heartless
- Dark Score Bag KHX.png
Infernal Engine's archers
_KHII.png)
_(Art).png)
Special Heartless
- Ansem, Seeker of Darkness (Guardian) KHIII.png
![Scar[14]](/File:Scar_KHII.png)
Gummi Heartless
- Note: The Gummi Enemies that appear in Kingdom Hearts are merely Gummi Ships piloted by Heartless. Those that appear in Kingdom Hearts II are Heartless themselves.
- Flare Shooter KHIII.png
- Magnespace KHIII.png
- Patafly KHIII.png
- Sprinkler KHIII.png
- Wing Spinner KHIII.png
- Dazzling Ball KHIII.png
- Float Lantern KHIII.png
- Space Worm KHIII.ping
Possessed by Heartless
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_KHIII.png)
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Notes and references
- ^ Ansem's Report 3: "One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts II, Sora: "Santa Claus thinks maybe it left because it was trying to find a heart." / Dr. Finkelstein: "That's quite possible. Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart." / Sora: "But if it wanted a heart, why was it going around stealing all those Christmas presents?" / Sally: Maybe because...presents are a way to give your heart to someone special.
- ^ Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Ienzo: "When someone who's lost their heart is recompleted, they should return to the place where it happened. And if that world is unavailable for whatever reason, a refuge is made for them in the realm between—a world called "Traverse Town". They would be sent there."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Marluxia: "The ones you just defeated are known as Purebloods. Purebloods don't release any hearts when you defeat them. In other words, don't bother with them."
- ^ Secret Ansem's Report 5: "The six traitors were operating a laboratory that churned out those cursed shadows. Not only did they generate "pureblood" Heartless from living hearts, but they then used those Heartless to synthesize artificial versions of the creatures as well. These synthetic Heartless bore insignias and were called "Emblems." Pureblood or Emblem, these Heartless act only to fulfill their instinctive needs. They single-mindedly detect hearts and swarm around them."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania "As Yen Sid says in Kingdom Hearts II, the Heartless cannot be separated from the darkness in people's hearts, and have been around for a long time. Beings of darkness can draw out the darkness in the heart, so Master Xehanort could summon the Neoshadows with his own hands. In the same way, when Xehanort and Ansem the Wise's students begin to perform the first experiments on the darkness of the heart, artificial Heartless were created in large numbers."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts II, Yen Sid: "At times, if someone with a strong heart and will---be they evil or good---becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts, Leon: "The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Pete: "I'll give that pirate somethin' he can reeeally be greedy about. Then I'll summon a great big whopper of a Heartless!"
- ^ Kingdom Hearts II, Saïx: "The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts, Maleficent: "Don't steep yourself in darkness too long. The Heartless consume the careless."
- ^ Kingdom Hearts II, Goofy: "But if people have light in their hearts, the Heartless would go away!"
- ^ Ansem, Seeker of Darkness appears to have characteristics of both Emblem and Pureblood Heartless, in both his human and world forms. In both forms, he carries the Heartless emblem on his chest, though in human form it could possibly be an article of clothing. Notably, though, the otherwise identical outfit worn by Master Xehanort does not possess the emblem. Furthermore, the shadowy symbiote attached to him in both forms possesses the "hollow heart" shared by many other Pureblood Heartless. Though it is uncertain what the situation of this Heartless is, it is possible that this makes him both an Emblem and Pureblood Heartless.
- ^ Kingdom Hearts II, Pete: "Anger and jealousy turned the king of Pride Rock into a Heartless!"