Organization XIII

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editing of this article by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. Such users may discuss changes, request unprotection, or create an account.

Organization XIII (XIII機関, Jūsan Kikan^?) is a fictional group of thirteen Nobodies created by Tetsuya Nomura and Kazushige Nojima and featured in Square Enix and Buena Vista Games' PlayStation 2 role-playing game, Kingdom Hearts II. They were originally introduced in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix's secret ending video "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]", where the Japanese was translated as "the Thirteenth Order", then as the Organization (機関, Kikan^?) in the game Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. They seek to discover the mysteries that lie within the heart and use the power of Kingdom Hearts to become complete humans. As Nobodies, they lack emotion and morality, unable to feel guilt and remorse for their actions. Most members mask their true nature by pretending to have emotions, deceiving both themselves and those they meet. The game novels offer an alternative view, stating that they do have emotions, but feel incomplete.

Contents 1 Background 2 Nobody 3 Members 3.1 I. Xemnas 3.2 II. Xigbar 3.3 III. Xaldin 3.4 IV. Vexen 3.5 V. Lexaeus 3.6 VI. Zexion 3.7 VII. Saïx 3.8 VIII. Axel 3.8.1 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories 3.8.2 Kingdom Hearts II 3.9 IX. Demyx 3.10 X. Luxord 3.11 XI. Marluxia 3.12 XII. Larxene 3.13 XIII. Roxas 3.13.1 Story 4 References

Background

The first six members of Organization XIII are Nobodies of assistants of Ansem the Wise in his experiments with the heart. The assistants and Ansem built an underground facility in the Radiant Garden where they conducted experiments with the heart, using themselves as test subjects. After speaking with the off-worlder, King Mickey, Ansem saw the immorality of what he was doing and ceased his involvement. The assistants and their leader, Xehanort, did not share his moral compunction and continued their experiments. This eventually led to tragedy and the creation of Nobody versions of the assistants. Xemnas, the Nobody of Xehanort, became the "Superior" and founded Organization XIII in order to learn about the secrets of the heart and to recover their hearts and become complete beings again. To that end, they deliberately send Heartless into various worlds with the expectation of Sora killing them, releasing the hearts inside the creatures, which then bond with the Organization's artificial version of Kingdom Hearts, the "heart of all worlds" located in the World That Never Was, granting more usable power for the Organization. To further that goal, the Castle That Never Was was built in the World That Never Was to serve as a headquarters.

Each member's name is an anagram of their original self's name with an X added. The origins and original names of members VII to XII are unknown at this time.

Nobody

Nobodies (ノーバディ, Nōbadi^?) are creatures without hearts. They are leftovers "born" in Twilight Town, existing as merely the body and soul of people who lost their hearts to darkness. As they lack hearts to possess light or darkness, they are shunned by both; they are nothing, according to the cosmology of the Kingdom Hearts universe, but still exist. Unlike Heartless, Nobodies attack people with definite planning and feel the need to be complete (finding and reuniting their bodies with their lost hearts, but they will do anything to obtain any heart in order to end their feelings of incompleteness). The members of Organization XIII, being the most powerful Nobodies because of the strong hearts they had when they were "whole," kept human form while weaker ones assumed malformed, inhuman forms that are able to alter their physical shapes via contortions and stretches. Most of the members of the Organization tend to control one type of Nobody, usually suited to their fighting style.

Dusk is the most common type of Nobody, along with Creeper. The "high-ranking" primitive Nobodies (Assassin, Berserker, Dancer, Dragoon, Gambler, Samurai, Sniper, and Sorcerer) are direct servants of the Organization member that they represent. Other types of Nobodies include Twilight Thorn, an unnamed nobody called forth by Marluxia, an unnamed dragon-like nobody called forth by Xemnas, and countless Nobody ships.

Members

The members are presented by assigned number order; the numbers show seniority of the members with I being the most senior, and XIII being the newest member. They all also receive titles indicating their role in Organization XIII and their personality, unique elemental powers, and their own breed of primitive Nobodies.

I. Xemnas

Originally introduced as Unknown in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, then mentioned as the Superior in Chain of Memories, Xemnas (ゼムナス, Zemunasu^?) is the Nobody of Xehanort and the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts II. His name is derived from an anagram of "Ansem" with an "X", due to Xehanort taking his mentor's name prior to the discarding of his body. Like his counterpart, Xemnas is collecting hearts, but he intends to use Kingdom Hearts to create a world where Kingdom Hearts's power is shared with all Nobodies to make them whole. He can manifest some sort of energy as red "aerial blades" (which are similar in appearance to lightsabers, but lack a handle, instead extending from his palms or used as projectiles) with it, use the element of nothingness, and control the Sorcerer Nobodies.^[1] He exaggerates the emotions of rage and sorrow despite, as a Nobody, not being able to feel either. Most Organization members fear him because of his power; Vexen quickly agrees to eliminate Sora when Marluxia makes the empty threat of reporting the failure of his Riku Replica to Xemnas.

He is the man who fought Sora in the Final Mix version of the original Kingdom Hearts at Hollow Bastion to test Sora, though his identity was not revealed at that time. In Kingdom Hearts II, he first appears talking to Roxas on the beach of The Realm Of Darkness. Later, he makes an appearance in front of Sora at Hollow Bastion along with his fellow members. Xemnas then later reappears at Hollow Bastion when the enormous Heartless army attacks, and the player first glimpses his face.

Xemnas is confronted by Sora again in the World That Never Was when DiZ attempts to contain Kingdom Hearts' power. They talk, and Xemnas reveals that he is trying to build a new empire one heart at a time, and he thanks his former master for this, stating that Ansem the Wise "is the source of all Heartless." DiZ, however, claims that Xemnas has learned nothing, and that is why his plot will ultimately fail. DiZ's machine explodes, leaving a huge hole in Kingdom Hearts which triggers many of the hearts to rain down and become Heartless, hindering Xemnas's plans. However, Xemnas uses what was left of Kingdom Hearts' power, taking on a new form to fight Sora and company. Though he was thought to be defeated, Xemnas manages to separate Sora and Riku from the others to fight them. During this battle, Xemnas tries to turn Sora and Riku against each other, asking Sora if Riku is trustworthy, and asking Riku if he isn't jealous of Sora. His efforts fail, and the two friends defeat Xemnas, who then fades back into darkness.

Xemnas is voiced by Paul St. Peter in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and by Norio Wakamoto in the Japanese version.

II. Xigbar

Xigbar (シグバール, Shigubāru^?), the "Freeshooter", is a senior member of the Organization. He controls the Sniper Nobodies that share the same affinity for sharpshooting as he does.^[1] Being a sniper by nature, Xigbar uses gun arrows which can be combined into a rifle-like weapon (which was removed from the English localization). As he has the element of space,^[1] he can stand upside down in the air, alter the space of the battlefield, and teleport himself and his bullets. Xigbar wears an eyepatch over his right eye and possesses a scar on the opposite cheek, but how he gained these is unknown.

Xigbar talks a lot, and likes to insult people. He has a "laid-back" attitude and accent, and fights based on instinct. He initially appears before Sora at Hollow Bastion near the beginning of the game to taunt Sora, though he never takes off his hood, and compares him to Roxas out of the glare he got from Sora, commenting "He used to give me that exact same look." Later, Xigbar appears at The Land of Dragons to transform one of the world's sacred dragons into a Heartless. He succeeds, but Riku travels to the world to warn the Emperor about the dragon. Sora sees Xigbar and, due to his cloaked appearance, confuses him with Riku, whom he had met earlier. Xigbar escapes, but not before summoning his Sniper Nobodies. He confronts Sora again at the World That Never Was and calls him Roxas, confusing the Keyblade master. Xigbar fights Sora and is defeated. His original name was Braig (ブライグ, Buraigu^?, mistranslated as Bleig in the North American version).

Xigbar is voiced by James Patrick Stuart in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and Hochu Otsuka in the Japanese version.

III. Xaldin

Xaldin (ザルディン, Zarudin^?), the "Whirlwind Lancer", wields six lances, and uses the element of wind.^[1] With his powers, he can shield himself with wind or even transform his lances into a dragon that can blast his opponents with whirlwinds. He also controls the Dragoon Nobodies who all wield spears much like his own.^[1]

Xaldin confronts Sora in Beast's Castle when he manipulates the Beast's rage by various means so that a powerful Nobody and Heartless could be created from the Beast, forcing Beast to turn on those he cares about. But Sora's interference with his plan forces Xaldin to take more drastic measures: stealing the mystical rose to force Beast's rage. Sora and Beast find him, and he then reveals to them that the Organization needs Kingdom Hearts to once again become complete beings. He then escapes to kidnap Belle. Sora and Beast run to the castle bridge, where Xaldin waits and forces Beast to make the ultimate decision: whether Belle or the rose is more important to him. The plan fails when Belle gets away with the rose in hand and Xaldin's impulsive actions led to his downfall against Sora. His original name was Dilan (ディラン, Diran^?, mistranslated as Dilin in the North American version).

Xaldin is voiced by David Dayan Fisher in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and Yōsuke Akimoto in the Japanese version.

IV. Vexen

Vexen (ヴィクセン, Vikusen^?), the "Chilly Academic", is the research scientist of the group and loves to study the secrets of the heart. He is often very stoic in his behavior. Vexen is ranked higher than the others in Chain of Memories. He can control the power of ice and carries a large shield in battle that blocks any frontal attacks made against him.^[1] His fighting style typically revolves around hindering Sora's movement, and when he is fought in Twilight Town, his attacks include sending icicles to chase Sora, creating slippery frozen puddles on the ground and freezing Sora in a block of ice.

In Chain of Memories, he appears to help in Marluxia's plot, but is actually siding with Zexion and Lexaeus. He first battles Riku in order to gather data to create a replica of him. However, Vexen cared nothing for his "experiment" and allows Naminé to manipulate the Riku Replica 's memories against his wishes. When he encounters Sora, Vexen says that he came to collect his "debt" and provokes Sora's anger by making him believe that he controlled Riku rather than created a replica. After their battle, Vexen gives Sora the card to Twilight Town with the intention of revealing something important to the boy. Marluxia considers him a traitor as a result and sends Axel to kill him, suspecting that he will reveal the existence of Roxas to Sora.

In Twilight Town, Vexen attempts to reveal to Sora why he feels as though he has been to Twilight Town despite being fairly certain that he had never been there. Sora and Vexen battle again after Vexen tells Sora to throw away his memories and listen to his heart. After being defeated, Vexen sees Sora as a true threat; even after being weakened by false memories, Sora remained very strong. Just as Vexen is about to reveal to Sora Marluxia's plot to use him and Roxas' presence, Vexen is struck from behind by one of Axel's chakrams. Despite pleading for mercy, Axel lays the deathblow to Vexen, telling him, "Now you can be nothing instead of just being nobody." His original name was Even (エヴェン, Even^?), and he was interested in studying Xehanort's heart.

In the Chain of Memories manga, there is a research lab in the lower levels of Castle Oblivion where Vexen spends most of his time. He is also portrayed as being hot-headed because of the lack of respect he receives from the younger members, such as Axel. He produces a set of Vexen Replicas that leave Castle Oblivion along with the Riku Replica in a humorous omake short.

Vexen is voiced by Tatsuya Kando in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

V. Lexaeus

Lexaeus (レクセウス, Rekuseusu^?), the "Silent Hero", is a well-built, muscular fighter in Organization XIII's ranks. Lexaeus is one of the two members of the Organization in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories that appears in Riku's story only. He employs a large tomahawk and the element of earth in battle, throwing his tomahawk, breaking rocks and shaking the arena itself.^[1]

Lexaeus, along with Vexen and Zexion, are older members of the Organization who are less than pleased when they are forced to submit to the will of newcomers like Marluxia. When they realize the Lord of Castle Oblivion plans to overthrow the Organization by capturing and manipulating Sora, Lexaeus and Zexion decide to capture Riku and use him in the same fashion to counter Marluxia.

Lexaeus seems to keep an eye on events unfolding in the higher floors of Castle Oblivion and he is the one that informs Zexion that Axel has killed Vexen. When it became dangerously apparent that Sora might fall into Marluxia's grasp, Lexaeus confronts Riku directly, trying to convince him to open himself up to the power of the darkness in his heart. Riku refuses to give in and Lexaeus attacks him. In a very close battle, Riku manages to defeat the warrior, but with his last bits of strength, Lexaeus releases all of the darkness within him in hopes of overwhelming and consuming Riku. However, King Mickey protects Riku from the part of Xehanort's Heartless in his heart. His original name was Aeleus (エレウス, Ereusu^?, mistranslated as Eleus in the North American version).

In the Chain of Memories manga, Lexaeus is portrayed as liking puzzles.

Lexaeus is voiced by Tatsuya Kando in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

VI. Zexion

Like Axel, Zexion (ゼクシオン, Zekushion^?), the "Cloaked Schemer", is a skilled manipulator by nature. Appearing in Chain of Memories, his talents lie outside of battle; he is the only Organization member who does not fight in a gameplay battle and lacks a voice actor.

He is one of two Organization members who appear only in Riku's story. He has the ability to identify individuals by their scent and is able to sense when they die by noticing their scents fading, and seems to be able to do so from great distances. He can also shapeshift. His element is unknown.

Zexion informs Vexen and Lexaeus when he senses two new scents in the lowest basement of Castle Oblivion. One of the scents is Maleficent, and he senses that she is eliminated by the other visitor, one with a scent "exactly similar" to that of Xemnas (referred to as the Superior). With little information on what was happening, he and the others decide to await development. Not long after, he identifies the other guest in the castle: Riku. He observes the boy's progress through Castle Oblivion until Vexen's death, when he and Lexaeus decide that they should use Riku just as they believe Marluxia will use Sora.

After Larxene, Lexaeus, and even Marluxia are killed, Zexion sees that Riku is no longer needed and attempts to destroy Riku himself. He does not plan to use brute force, though, partly because of personal preference, and partly because Riku already defeated Lexaeus, one of the stronger Organization members. He leads Riku into a manifestation of Destiny Islands, Sora and Riku's home, in which Riku sees his friends disappear without saying a word. Zexion appears and wages psychological war on Riku, telling him about how he threw away his friends and his home, opened the door to darkness, and destroyed his islands.

Following Riku's battle with a Darkside Heartless, Zexion uses his power to disguise himself as Sora and attacks him, telling him that he's become nothing more than a pawn of the darkness. He engulfs Riku in light, but a vision of Kairi (who is actually Naminé in disguise) manages to convince Riku to shed his fear of the darkness and accept both it and the light. With newfound strength, Riku follows Zexion's dark scent through the light and strikes him, but Zexion escapes. His escape is short-lived, however, as Axel brings the Riku Replica down to him and convinces the replica that he can become real by gaining power that the real Riku does not have. The replica agrees, and per Axel's suggestion, kills Zexion.

Zexion's weapon is unknown, as Nomura wants an air of mystery to surround it, to the point that the weapon panel for Zexion that would show what he wields in the World That Never Was is completely destroyed. Nomura stated in an interview he has an idea of what Zexion's weapon should be, but he will keep it to himself for now.^[1] In a recently published scan, featuring his battle in the new Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, he is seen using a copy of Riku's Soul Eater, suggesting that his weapon can emulate others.

He was originally Ansem the Wise's youngest lab assistant and test subject, under the name of Ienzo (イエンツォ, Ientso^?). He was the one that convinced Ansem the Wise that they should expand the horizons of their research.

VII. Saïx

Saïx (サイクス, Saikusu^?, Saix in the original Japanese language version), the "Luna Diviner", wields a claymore. He controls the element of moon and the Berserker Nobodies, who wield weapons much like his own.^[1] His powers and fighting style are a play on the lunar effect and he is somewhat psychotic in nature. He has an X-shaped scar on his forehead.

Despite his rank, Saïx is respected as if he were second in command. He is a calm and collected man who shows no emotion, belying his extensively cruel nature. Axel has a clear dislike of him. Saïx becomes the one to brand Axel as a traitor to the group for attempting to derail the Organization's plans for Sora. It is Saïx who captures Kairi after she escapes from Axel and decides to use this to his advantage. After Sora defeated the Heartless army at Hollow Bastion, Saïx appears and summons even more Heartless for Sora to defeat. Maleficent attempts to use her own Heartless to battle Saïx, but his Dusks quickly dispatch them.

Later, at the World That Never Was, when Naminé helps Kairi escape, Saïx appears to deal with the two, but is stopped by Riku in the guise of Xehanort's Heartless. However, Saïx escaped before any permanent damage could be done. Once Kingdom Hearts neared completion, Xemnas gives him permission to destroy Sora and his friends, and Saïx appears quite happy to be allowed to do so. Despite appearing calm, Saïx shows his true beast-like nature when he fights Sora in the World That Never Was, going into a berserk state by absorbing the moonlight from Kingdom Hearts. After Sora defeats him, he becomes mortally wounded and dies while pining for Kingdom Hearts to give him his heart.

Saïx is voiced by Kirk Thornton in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and Ginpei Sato in the Japanese version.

VIII. Axel

Axel (アクセル, Akuseru^?), the "Flurry of Dancing Flames", utilizes a pair of chakram, as well as the element of fire with the Assassin Nobodies under his control.^[1] Axel is a strong fighter, and can create walls of fire or fling his weapons to execute lethal attacks. He is a skilled manipulator and one never quite knows whose side he is really on.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Working as a double agent in Castle Oblivion, Axel pretends to join with Larxene and Marluxia in their plan to seize control of the Organization using Sora. To gain their trust, he assassinates Vexen when ordered by Marluxia to rid them of "traitors." Afterwards, in order to derail Marluxia's plans, Axel sets Naminé free so that she can reveal to Sora the truth about how she manipulated his memory.

Eventually, Axel confronts Marluxia, prepared to destroy him by reminding him of the order to wipe out traitors of the Organization. Marluxia uses Naminé as a shield to keep Axel at bay, though Axel resolves to go through anyone, even Naminé, in order to kill Marluxia. When Sora makes a sudden appearance, Marluxia vanishes with Naminé, leaving Sora to fight Axel. Axel, specializing in ranged attacks, is able to throw and strike with his chakrams, create a fire wall, and, when faced for the second time, turn his chakrams into fireballs that can seek out Sora. Sora defeats Axel, after which he states the existence of their relation before vanishing, letting Sora believe him to be gone for good. After Marluxia is defeated by Sora, Axel enlists the aid of the Riku Replica that Vexen created to get rid of Zexion in Castle Oblivion's basement levels so it could fight the real Riku.

Throughout both the main storyline and "Reverse/Rebirth," Axel seemingly inadvertently refers to himself, Vexen, and Naminé as "nobodies." The significance of these comments is only evident in Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts II

Axel's role and motives are fully revealed in Kingdom Hearts II and revolve around Roxas, whom Axel sees as a dear friend. He attempts to personally bring Roxas back into the Organization by force, knowing that if Roxas was to find and meet face to face with Sora, the two would fuse to complete Sora; and Roxas, as the individual Axel knew, would no longer exist. When Axel fails to stop Roxas from joining Sora, Axel turns his back on the Organization to further his own plans. Outside of Organization orders, he kidnaps Kairi with intent on using her to bring Sora to him, but Saïx stole her away from him so that the Organization could use her to fuel Sora's anger. During the second visit of Twilight Town, Saïx warns Sora that Axel will stop at nothing to turn him into a Heartless, as Axel's reason for his betrayal was only to see Roxas again. Axel reappears after the Heartless invasion of Hollow Bastion in front of Sora, and informs Sora that Organization XIII has been manipulating him the whole time, apologizes for getting Kairi involved, before he promptly escapes when Saïx appears, interrupting Axel's explanation for what happened to Kairi.

Axel, whose feelings for Roxas live on, now focused on Sora, finds the young hero in a pathway to the World That Never Was and chooses to fight with him rather than against him. When he and Sora are attacked by a large group of hundreds of Nobodies, he performs a kamikaze attack and sacrifices himself to save Sora. With the last of his strength, Axel opens a corridor of darkness to the World That Never Was, all while asking Sora to rescue Kairi and commenting how Sora, like Roxas, made Axel feel like he had a heart.

Axel is voiced by Keiji Fujiwara in both Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, while he is voiced by Quinton Flynn in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II.

IX. Demyx

A blond fighting musician, Demyx (デミックス, Demikkusu^?), the "Melodious Nocturne", uses a sitar shaped like the Organization's symbol as his weapon and controls the Dancer Nobodies.^[1] He does not enjoy fighting, but can control the element of water^[1] with his sitar to replicate himself and to execute powerful and intimidating attacks such as create large pillars of water. He appears to be one of the younger members of the Organization.

Demyx first appears in the Underworld, where he is confronted by Sora for stealing the Olympus Stone, an object that protects the wearer from the restrictive effects of the Underworld. Demyx seems not to take his mission seriously at first, joking around with Sora and complaining that his superiors had mistakenly chosen him to carry them out, as he claims he is a poor fighter. He also confuses Sora with Roxas, having been given orders by his superiors to "liberate" Sora's true disposition with aggression. He fights Sora with the use of his water clones, not taking the young Keyblade master seriously at the time and leaves after losing. The two soon cross paths again at Hollow Bastion during the massive Heartless attack. Upon being reminded that he is a Nobody, and therefore has no heart, thus little, if any, actual emotion, Demyx denies that he lacks a heart. In response, he commands the "traitor" to be silent, and unleashes his full power. Unfortunately for Demyx, Sora defeats and kills him.

Demyx is voiced by Ryan O'Donohue in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and Kenichi Suzumura in the Japanese version.

X. Luxord

Being the "Gambler of Fate", Luxord (ルクソード, Rukusōdo^?)'s life is permeated by gambling. He loves to gamble and sees battle as just another form of it.^[1] Like Zexion, he is more a strategist than a powerful fighter. Described by Jiminy Cricket as 'a master of rhetoric', Luxord speaks with a pronounced English accent, and uses his eloquent words to confuse and intimidate his opponents. He uses a deck of 52 playing cards that change size, similarily size-changing dice and the element of time.^[1] He is in control of the Gambler Nobodies.^[1] He is also capable of transforming his foes into dice or cards, greatly reducing their abilities in this form.

Luxord appears at Port Royal, where he revives the curse of the Aztec gold, and the cursed pirate nuisance along with it. Luxord makes use of the opportunity to scout the powerful Grim Reaper Heartless and the gold's curse to ascertain as to whether or not they would be useful to the Organization in terms of Sora's part in their plan and making Port Royal's people assist in it as Heartless. For amusement, he has his Gambler Nobodies steal four of the Aztec medallions while having Grim Reaper curse Jack Sparrow, resulting in a "scavenger hunt game" to get the medallions back. Sora defeats Grim Reaper in order to free Jack from his curse and Luxord collects the forthcoming heart before escaping without fighting Sora and his party himself. Later, at the World That Never Was, Luxord appears before Sora and traps his companions in his playing cards, leaving Sora to fight alone in a battle against time. He has the ability to transform Sora into a card or a die similarly to that of the Gambler Nobodies. In his final gamble, he raises his cards to defend himself from Sora's final strike, but in vain. Luxord fades back into darkness, unable to comprehend how "Roxas" could do something like that.

Luxord is voiced by Robin Atkin Downes in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and by Jouji Nakata in the Japanese version.

XI. Marluxia

A relative newcomer to the Organization, Marluxia (マールーシャ, Mārūsha^?) is lord of Castle Oblivion, the "Graceful Assassin" and the main antagonist of Chain of Memories. In battle, he wields a scythe and the element of flower. His abilities in battle are impressive and can summon crescent waves from his scythe and create large amounts of rose petals to strike his enemies.

Along with Larxene, Marluxia conspires to overthrow the Organization by using Naminé to manipulate Sora's memories. He is the first member of the Organization to battle with Sora in Castle Oblivion after luring Sora into his domain, though the fight is nothing more than a test of Sora's strength. He gives Sora his first set of world cards to proceed through the castle.

He declares Vexen's replica of Riku a failure and threatens to tell Xemnas about it. The intimidation tactic is effective and Vexen reluctantly agrees to Marluxia's order to kill Sora. Axel remarks that Vexen would kill Sora, thus rendering their plans useless, but Marluxia is confident Vexen will fail. He assigns Axel to eliminate Vexen when the latter fails to kill Sora and almost tells Sora about Roxas.

Upon Axel's return, Marluxia extends his trust to Axel as he has done with Larxene. However, Axel betrays them and convinces Naminé to do what she thinks is right. Larxene fails to kill Sora and was eliminated as well. Marluxia recaptures Naminé and is confronted by Axel, who accuses Marluxia and Larxene of being traitors for conspiring against the Organization. Axel attempts to kill Marluxia, however, Marluxia returns to the thirteenth floor with Naminé, tricking Axel into fighting Sora for him.

Seeing that Axel has been defeated, Marluxia anticipates Sora's arrival on the thirteenth floor. He orders Naminé to erase Sora's memories, but she refuses. When Marluxia implies that he will kill her for disobeying him, Sora demands that Naminé erase his memories for her safety, as his promise will remain and he can protect her. Marluxia says that Sora would become just like the Riku Replica, but the Riku Replica surprises Marluxia, who then engages Sora. The two fight, only for Sora to realize he has been fighting a replica of Marluxia; he enters a door to a dark, starry realm to begin the final showdown. The real Marluxia, in his Marluxia Redux form, atop a machine that has some of his abilities, confronts Sora and the final battle ensues. Marluxia, like the other members of the Organization, is killed, and Sora seals the door with his Keyblade.

Marluxia is voiced by Tatsuya Kando in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

XII. Larxene

The only female member and the "Savage Nymph", Larxene (ラクシーヌ, Rakushīnu^?) conspires with Marluxia to overthrow Organization XIII by using Sora to achieve their ends. An arrogant sadist by nature, she is abrasive and uncaring for the feelings of others and tries to make people suffer though mindgames and acts of violence. She gets along well with Axel, and is unaware that he is using her to investigate her conspiracy with Marluxia. Larxene uses the element of thunder to fight and wields knives held between her fingers as her weapons.^[1] Compared to the other members, she is incredibly agile and can call forth bolts of lightning in battle.

In her first encounter with Sora, she kicks Marluxia's plans into high gear when she attacks Sora, causing him to see his lucky charm, which Naminé has turned into a shape of a star different from Kairi's. After the battle, Larxene mocks Sora, claiming he's trying to "play" the hero. The trust Marluxia and Larxene place in Axel proves to be a mistake when he derails their plans by setting Naminé free. Naminé reveals to Sora that the Organization has been using him since he stepped into Castle Oblivion. Larxene appears to Sora, after he fought the Riku Replica for the fourth time, planning to destroy them all. Again, Larxene mocks Sora for "chaining" himself to false memories of Naminé and the "promise" he made to her. To add injury to insult, she abuses Naminé by violently pushing her to the ground knocking her out. This cruel act proves fatal, as her taunting delays her finishing Sora off long enough for Donald and Goofy to return to Sora's aid, and, Sora's anger aroused, the three of them fight and kill Larxene, leaving only Marluxia to contend with.

In the Chain of Memories manga, there is a library in the upper area of Castle Oblivion where Larxene spends most of her time reading a book entitled Marquis de Sade, presumably about the infamous French writer, who was the namesake of sadism.

Larxene is voiced by Rieko Katayama in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

XIII. Roxas

The youngest and newest member of the Organization, Roxas (ロクサス, Rokusasu^?), the "Key of Destiny", was "born" when Sora briefly became a Heartless in Kingdom Hearts. However, due to a combination of Sora's short time as a Heartless and Kairi's heart causing Sora's revival, Roxas has no memory of being Sora. He wields two Keyblades, and controls the element of light and the Samurai Nobodies.^[1] His name is an anagram of "Sora" with an "x" added.

Roxas' first appearance was in the Special Secret Movie "Another side, Another story…" that is unlockable if the player accomplishes certain tasks in Kingdom Hearts; he was the first Organization member to be revealed. He later appeared in an additional video, "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]", for Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. When pre-release screenshots and video showed this character without an Organization cloak, he was featured prominently, emphasizing his importance to the future game's plot. In the absence of an official name, fan names included Glowing-Eyed Unknown and Dual-Wielding Unknown as he appears in "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]" and Blond-Haired Kid or BHK when he was shown in his Twilight Town outfit. The Square Enix-given name in Kingdom Hearts Series α Ultimania ~Introduction of Kingdom Hearts II~ was Misterious Boy [sic] (謎の少年, Nazo no Shōnen^?).

He is voiced by Jesse McCartney in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and Koki Uchiyama in the Japanese version.

Story

During Roxas' time in the Organization, he and Axel became best friends, but because Roxas had no prior memories of his life before and had many questions as to why he was chosen as a Keybearer, Roxas deserted to find answers the Organization was unable or unwilling to give.

Riku, motivated by his desire to help Sora regain his memories and awaken, confronted Roxas in the World that Never Was. Roxas was victorious in the first encounter; after Riku changed his form to take possession of the power of darkness, Roxas was defeated. Riku took him to DiZ who placed Roxas in a virtual Twilight Town created within Sora's memories without any memory of the Organization and with a fabricated identity to throw off his pursuers. But while Naminé restored Sora's memories as DiZ wished, Roxas is affected by seeing his other self's memories in dreams. As a result of DiZ's scheme, Roxas lived a normal life in a simulated Twilight Town until his past came back to haunt him when Axel infiltrated the simulated town to save him from DiZ.

Despite Axel's attempts to stop him and the reclamation of his memories as the thirteenth member of the Organization, Roxas merged with Sora in the beginning of the game as part of DiZ's plan of revenge to use a "complete" Sora to fight the rest of the Organization. However, he appeared two more times near the end of the game in the World That Never Was. The first was a confrontation with Sora that led to a one-on-one fight. The fight is never fully explained and is left open for interpretation. Roxas appears once again with Naminé before Kairi enters the corridor of darkness back to Destiny Islands. He and Naminé imply that they will not fade but live on within Sora and Kairi as both a part of them and as their own separate beings, as seen in the ending cinematic when they smile at each other through their other selves.

References