Xehanort

**Xehanort**, also known as **Master Xehanort**, is a major character in the *Kingdom Hearts* series, the central antagonist of the Dark Seeker Saga, and Ephemer's descendant. Xehanort is the main playable character of *Kingdom Hearts Dark Road*, which takes place during his youth and explores his journey to becoming the Seeker of Darkness.

A Keyblade Master who once taught Ventus, he believes that darkness and light should exist in perfect balance, and for this reason, he seeks to conquer Kingdom Hearts and recreate the worlds according to his wishes. Through his many different incarnations, including Terra-Xehanort, his Heartless Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, his Nobody Xemnas, and the time-travelling Young Xehanort, Xehanort is ultimately responsible for the series of events that repeatedly threaten the worlds with destruction, including the mass release of Heartless into the Realm of Light, the creation of the Nobodies and Organization XIII, and the formation of the real Organization XIII. He has also brought tragedy to many that have crossed his path, including Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua.

Role in the series

## Personality

Xehanort is shown to be a cunning, callous, and pragmatic being with the sole goal of merging with Kingdom Hearts and obtain ultimate knowledge, as the lives of innocent people and even those who care for him meaning absolutely nothing to him. To this end, he is willing to put whatever he pleases on the line or destroy anything in his way, demonstrated when he manipulated several characters such as Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Braig, and even Maleficent, created Vanitas, a sentient being born for the sole purpose of forwarding his evil plan, and slew his old friend Master Eraqus in cold blood after tricking Terra into defeating him in battle. He even shrugged off ruining Terra, Ventus, and Aqua's lives by telling Mickey and Riku that they were destined to fall, and went as far as to refer to Sora as a "dull, ordinary boy". Xehanort tends to have a series of back-up plans to occur whenever his previous scheme fails, and his skill for this has given him a reputation as a "devious tactician", as relayed to Mickey by Yen Sid.

Despite his overwhelming malice, Xehanort has been shown to have some slight sympathy for his victims, such as when he takes pity on Ventus, following the rupture of his heart, and decides to leave him to perish peacefully on the Destiny Islands. All of Xehanort's other seeming virtues are revealed to have sinister intentions behind them, demonstrated when he only took Ventus as an apprentice and cared for him solely with the intention of making the boy his vessel once he was strong enough, and when he only accepted Master Eraqus's invitation to witness the Mark of Mastery exam win back Eraqus's trust following their falling-out and sabotage the exam to put Terra on the path to darkness so as to make him his new vessel after deciding to instead use Ventus for the χ-blade. Like his other incarnations, Xehanort puts on a polite façade to make other people do what he desires. In his final moments, however, and ironically, he admits to Sora that his true intention was to create a world devoid of corruption and develops a newfound respect for Sora upon his defeat at the boy's hands, allowing him to close Kingdom Hearts and telling him "very well done".

As a youth, Xehanort was the most level headed of his classmates. He would face any situation with the calculated calmness that would define his elder years but with more snark. Xehanort was also very deductive and is capable of reading individuals well, such as being able to deduce Jafar's more sinister intentions in obtaining the magic lamp from the cave of wonders after the latter staged a conversation with Iago to obtain it for the benefit of Agrabah. Unlike Eraqus, he did not believe that light and darkness representing good and evil are absolutes and felt there was more to them than just being opposing forces. Despite his collected nature, he was not immune to sorrow and anger. After the fall of his comrades, Xehanort had become more despondent and had resigned himself to his quarters for a time and visited their graves often. These events and Baldr's final words would push him to explore the worlds to learn more about the nature of light and darkness.

Overall, Xehanort is the true catalyst of all the events in the series so far, having been responsible (either directly or indirectly) for converting Terra into the first of his many vessels, arranging his younger self's quest through time, the Disney Villains' hunt for Kingdom Hearts, the creation of Vanitas, the Unversed, and the original Organization XIII, the release of the Emblem Heartless and Nobodies, and the plaguing of the Sleeping Worlds with the Nightmare Dream Eaters. Xehanort has a few unusual tendencies and quirks, however, such as turning away from the people he speaks to, or over-dramatizing his hand gestures when delivering a speech, even flexing his fingers in a peculiar grasping motion.

Upon noticing how Sora reminded him of Eraqus, Xehanort got a chance to speak with his old friend, who convinced him that they had finally reached "checkmate". For the first time, Xehanort admits defeat, seemingly reclaims his friendship with Eraqus and develops a respect for Sora.