Kingdom Hearts (game)
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts coded
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
Kingdom Hearts χ
Kingdom Hearts Union χ
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory

Defender

Revision as of 01:41, 10 December 2023 by Aid1043 (talk | contribs) (Tower of Trials)
For other uses, see Defender (disambiguation).
Defender
Japanese ディフェンダー
Rōmaji Difendā

Type Emblem Heartless
Games Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts coded
Kingdom Hearts χ
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory
Variations
Eliminator
Armed Warrior
Pleasure Dog
Upright Defender
Reversed Defender

The Defender is an Emblem Heartless introduced in Kingdom Hearts.

Defenders are made up of two parts: the Defender itself wields a shield with a mind of its own. Though Defenders do not do much themselves, their shields use Fire and Blizzard magic, block attacks, and bite approaching targets.

Design

The Defenders themselves are rather simple in design, resembling a knight clad in purple and blue armor with white trim and yellow buttons; they also have the tell-tale Heartless zig-zag jawline, with a purple head and a silver jaw. The arms and torso are also proportioned much larger than the head and legs, the arm not holding the Defender's main weapon actually rests ape-like on the ground. They bear the Heartless emblem on their chests.

In battle, the portion of a Defender that tends to be seen most is its massive and fearsome shield, also called the Defender. The barrier portion of the shield is a simple blue and light blue pattern with gold trim, but far more prominent is the very large and very dangerous blue-black dog head, complete with sharp fangs and spiked collar. The dog also has three glowing yellow eyes arranged in a triangle formation, a feature they oddly share with the far more delicate-looking but equally dangerous Angel Stars.

The Defender's name is a reference to the Defender job class from the Final Fantasy series.

Strategy

  • Guards against frontal attacks with its dog-faced shield, though limit attacks can overcome this.
  • Shoots fireballs at enemies for a mid-range attack.
  • Sprays a freezing "breath" from the "mouth" of its shield.
  • "Bites" nearby enemies with its shield.
  • Swings its shield around once to knock away nearby enemies.

If timed correctly, Sora can earn Tech Points for blocking attacks in Kingdom Hearts.[6][7][8] A Defender has a 0.2% chance, or a 1 in 500 chance, to leave behind its shield, so it is recommended to equip as many Lucky Strike abilities as possible to obtain the shield.

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c x0 when attacking the front.
  2. ^ x0.75 after rescue.
  3. ^ x0.6 after rescue.
  4. ^ 50 prior to August 12, 2020.
  5. ^ 528 prior to August 12, 2020.
  6. ^ Before Kairi's rescue, 13 Tech Points can be earned for blocking the shield thrust attack in Kingdom Hearts
  7. ^ Before Kairi's rescue, 48 Tech Points can be earned for blocking the fireball attack in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. An additional 13 Tech Points can be earned if the fireball attack is deflected back at the Defender.
  8. ^ After Kairi's rescue, 12 and 180 Tech Points can be earned for blocking the fireball attack in both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, respectively. An additional 25 and 19 Tech Points can be earned for deflecting the attack back at the Defender in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, respectively.