Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, sometimes referred to as **Xehanort's Heartless**, is the Heartless of Terra-Xehanort and a member of the real Organization XIII.

He serves as the main antagonist of *Kingdom Hearts* and one of the main antagonists of *Chain of Memories* alongside Marluxia, as well as a supporting antagonist in *Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance* and *Kingdom Hearts III*.

His appearance and personality are primarily derived from Master Xehanort, and he retains his original form's "Dark Figure".

Ansem was created when Terra-Xehanort, masquerading as Ansem the Wise, reawakened his sleeping memories and split his heart from his body, creating a Heartless; this Heartless, also named Ansem, appears to have characteristics of both Emblem and Pureblood Heartless, and it is unclear exactly which category he falls under.

However, because Terra-Xehanort did this of his own will, he retained his memories in his new existence and gained the ability to control the other Heartless.

With their power, Ansem attacked the Realm of Light, intending to have the Heartless consume the hearts of every world and lead him to Kingdom Hearts.

## Appearance

Before possessing Riku, Ansem was little more than a wandering heart and could only appear as a featureless figure in a brown hooded robe. This robe has two dark brown straps crossing over his shoulders and chest with five metal studs lining either strap. Due to his lack of a body, he appears much shorter and crippled in this form and wears the robe's hood up to hide his lack of a face.

After Ansem possessed Riku, Ansem gained the ability to formed his own body, which, like his Nobody counterpart, shares Xehanort's tan skin, yellow eyes, and long white hair. However, his hair is smoothed back into three spikes on the top and sides of his head and lacks Xehanort's bangs and messy appearance.

Ansem wears a black, high-collared, leather coat that has a red interior and yellow lining. This coat is grey from the waist down and has several buttons lining the hips, a belt around his waist, and a second one that extends from the waist and up to the collar to connect to several smaller straps. The four shorter straps are buttoned to either side of the front of the collar while the remaining ones are buttoned to the shoulders to form spaulders. A black leather pauldron is attached to each spaulder by three buttons and two straps that button the rim of the coat and two more that cross over his upper back. On his upper chest is the Heartless emblem in the form of a brooch that holds the outer coat together in place of a zipper or buttons. Underneath this coat, Ansem wears a white, thigh-length vest. This vest is also high-collared and exposes most of Ansem's chest, with three black buttons and two thin belts near his waist closing it up while the three remaining buttons below are undone.

In addition, Ansem wears wide brimmed, white gloves with three buttons lining the forearms and a grey band on either wrist. He also wears black pants and black that are tucked into knee-high boots with silver trimming and high concave indentations in the top.

Because Ansem was born from the heart of Master Xehanort, his overall appearance is nearly identical to a younger version of Master Xehanort, and his clothes are extremely similar to his original incarnation's standard attire.

When Ansem transforms into the World of Chaos, he becomes titanic in size-standing at approximately twenty five feet tall-and monstrous in appearance. His clothes are gone, save for an organic-looking material resembling black muscle tissue that covers his legs and feet. This material has thick yellow cords in it that outline glossier sections of the material and the soles of his feet. His eyes are completely orange, and he is connected to the Dark Figure by seven organic-looking cords that extend from its open torso. These cords are black in color and fade into red at the base. The Heartless emblem that was originally on Ansem's chest is now attached to the cords attached to his back which he can use to seal himself when resting in the Dark Figure's chest cavity. In addition, he wields a staff as long as he is that resembles two Soul Eater's fused at the hilt, with the blades facing opposite directions.

As a member of the real Organization XIII, Ansem wears a black coat, wearing it in all of his appearances starting after Riku's battle with him in *Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance* up until the start of the Keyblade War in *Kingdom Hearts III*.

## Personality

Ansem is, thus far, one of only two Heartless with human-level intelligence, the other being Sora's Heartless.

His knowledge of the worlds and hearts shows that Xehanort's keen intellect has survived the transition into a Heartless.

However, what little shreds of humanity remained in the researcher have been obliterated.

Ansem is cold, calculating, and utterly ruthless.

He treats people and their hearts as either tools to be manipulated and disposed of, or of nothing more than cattle for himself and his ravenous Heartless legions.

He reveres power and knowledge above all things, and despises ignorance.

When possessing Riku he presents a cocky, confident and self-proud demeanour, even openly smirking at Maleficent as she departs to confront the heroes.

His voice rarely rises above a cold, monotonous drone, but occasionally he displays near human like emotions such as when he is berating Sora for his honesty and foolishness, or gleefully reveling in his latest triumph.

He is smug and boastful at times, and sports a near feral grin when confronting Sora at the Destiny Islands.

Ansem is prone to self-indulgent, bombastic, and flowery speeches about the nature of darkness and the status of all worlds.

However, the scientific genius of Ansem was blinded by obsession with the darkness.

His arrogance ultimately led to his destruction when the door to Kingdom Hearts opened, and his greatest thesis was, in the end, proved wrong.

Because Ansem was born from the heart of Master Xehanort, he appears to share most of his personality traits with the elderly Keyblade Master, demonstrated by his choice of words when facing Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and his desire to find, open, and become one with Kingdom Hearts itself.

In *Kingdom Hearts III*, Ansem shows a level of respect for Ansem the Wise lacked by Xemnas, referring to him "master".

After being defeated, Ansem display emotions that he never had prior.

He seemed to show a level of a bond with Riku, fondly addressing the journey they had together and acknowledging his strength as being greater than the Darkness.

Ansem also revealed his disdain for his ultimate fate, revealing that he tried to circumvent it, only to find he did not care after the others betrayed him.

Showing no hostility at those who defeated him, Ansem even comforts them when they show sympathy at him, asking them to move on and seek out what is left to seek.

## Powers, Skills & Abilities

* Levitation
* Teleportation
* Powers of Darkness
* Stealing hearts and turning them into Heartless
* Control of Xehanort's Guardian and the Heartless
* All of Riku's abilities
* Wielding a staff with two Soul Eater blades on its ends
* Sentience (unusual for a Heartless)

## Weapons

* Keyblade of People's Hearts (Destroyed)

## Family

* Mater Xehanort (Creator)
* Xemnas (Twin)