Game:Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

This article is about the enemy. You may be looking for the character.

Xehanort's Heartless is a boss in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. He is fought twice in both games under the name "Ansem", a pseudo name he took on from his old master.

Appearances

Kingdom Hearts

In the first battle, Xehanort's Heartless fights Sora, Donald, and Goofy fight in the End of the World, alongside his Guardian Heartless. He takes it easier on the party at first, so fight ferociously but cautiously. Use aerial Keyblade combos, since Xehanort's Heartless floats and attack magic isn't very effective.

At the beginning of the battle, Xehanort's Heartless will make few attacks, which should make attack combos easy to perform. When he does attack, he shoots energy disks resembling Strike Raid, uses his Guardian to attack physically, and sends his Guardian to attach itself to Sora while he creates an energy shield around himself that deals damage. Usually, this can be avoided, as Xehanort's Heartless yells "Submit!" before doing this, so Sora can Superglide out of harm's way. However, in the event when the Guardian does manage to attach itself to Sora, a "?" will appear over Sora's head, and the Attack command will occasionally change to Freeze for the Guardian to hold Sora in place while Xehanort's Heartless does damage to him. It is best to physically attack Xehanort's Heartless while within reach, and heal with Curaga periodically, because the Guardian will gradually reduce Sora's HP. Alternatively, you may stay out of Xehanort's Heartless's reach, and then hit the Freeze command - Sora will just be held in place while Ansem will be too far away to deal any damage to him. Also, this prevents Sora from losing any HP. Be sure to attack Xehanort's Heartless while the Guardian is attached to Sora, as this makes the attachment shorter; it's also a good idea to use special attacks such as Ragnarok and Ars Arcanum to end the attachment and battle sooner.

In the second fight, Sora fights him alone. Ansem uses two new attacks: one resembles Sonic Blade, in which he shoots back and forth across the arena. This can be blocked using Guard or Aero. The second has him sending Guardian into the ground, creating dark pools underneath Sora which the Guardian shoots out of with its fist raised (indicated by the line "My strength returns"). During this time, Ansem is invincible, and the attack must be avoided either by running, Supergliding or by using Dodge Roll. Failing to evade this attack can be highly damaging or fatal, depending on the amount of HP Sora has. He still uses his Guardian to possess Sora. As in the first battle, stay out of harm's way by Gliding or Supergliding. However, if Sora is possessed, you have two options: attack Ansem periodically and heal when necessary (as the Guardian reduces Sora's HP), or stay out of Ansem's way and activate the Freeze command for the Guardian to hold Sora in place, so that nothing will be done to lower Sora's HP count.

The third and final fight with Ansem involves the World of Chaos - see World of Chaos for more strategy information.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Riku fights Ansem twice in this game. The first time, Ansem shoots out a bolt of lightning that travels horizontally. This can avoided by jumping or dodging. Ansem's only other attack during this first fight is a weak physical attack using Guardian. The second time Ansem is fought is during the Final Battle of Riku's Story. This time around, Ansem brings into play some of his attacks from the first game, such as the Sleights Dark Rush (where he zooms back and forth across the arena) and Dark Shadow (when he sends his Guardian into the floor, creating pools of darkness that the Guardian rises out of, fist raised). It's best to use zero cards to break Dark Rush (Although it can be jumped over with perfect timing in CoM), but Dark Shadow can be avoided easily by dodging.

In Re:Chain of Memories, note that Ansem still uses his Strike Raid-like attack during the final battle - Riku can either break this attack or dodge it.