Keyblade Master

**Keyblade Master** is the title given to exceptional Keyblade wielders who pass the Mark of Mastery exam in the *Kingdom Hearts* series. There are a total of 16 known Keyblade Masters: Master Eraqus, Master Xehanort, Master Yen Sid, Master Aqua, Master Terra, Master Mickey, Master Riku, The Master of Masters, Master Invi, Master Ava, Master Gula, Master Ira, Master Aced,  Master Luxu, Master Odin and Master Ephemer. Currently, out of said 16 individuals, 10 remain active: Master Mickey, Master Aqua, Master Terra, Master Riku, Master Invi, Master Gula, Master Ira, Master Aced, Master Luxu and the Master of Masters.

Master Xehanort previously lost his memories, becoming the younger Terra-Xehanort, but was restored following the destruction of his Heartless and his Nobody. Yen Sid retired his title and passed his Keyblade down to Mickey, Eraqus was slain by Master Xehanort, who himself was slain by Sora. After the Second Keyblade War, the Foretellers, who were heavily implied to have died in the First Keyblade War, were somehow revived and then summoned by Luxu while the Master of Masters, who had remained active but kept a low profile and ended up manipulating Xehanort into his path, would soon join them, meaning almost all the masters of the old are currently alive again, with only the fates of Master Ava, Master Ephemer and Master Odin remaining unknown.

A Master is not necessarily the most powerful Keyblade wielders as Master Xehanort (both in his own body and Terra's body) and Master Aqua have both been defeated by Sora, who isn't a Master. Like Mickey and Riku, Sora also has the Power of Waking, one of the most powerful abilities a Keyblade wielder or Keyblade Master can possess, despite not having the title of Master.

The Keyblade Master, upon passing the Mark of Mastery exam, is given the choice to either travel to many worlds and explore his or her horizons, or to succeed his or her predecessor and take refuge in his or her own world to protect it from malevolent forces and later take on more apprentices.

## Powers and Abilities

All Keyblade Masters share the ability to extract the hearts of themselves or others, this is shown when Master Xehanort extracts the hearts of Auroraand himself. They can also extract part of the heart as well, for instance, Xehanort extracts the darkness from Ventus's heart, and creates Vanitas. Luxu shows an even greater control of this ability, not even needing a Keyblade to transfer his own heart into new vessels over the century.

Keyblade Masters also have the ability to perform the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, a trial in which a person is chosen to inherit the power of the Keyblade by clutching the Keyblade in their hand and allowing it to accept them. This is shown when Terra performs it on Riku, and when it is accidentally performed on Kairi when she grasps Aqua's Keyblade. The Master of Masters has the ability to extract keyblades from the hearts of others and can somehow create Keyblades even without that power, although as he is the first Keyblade Master and had studied the X-Blade, he is likely the only one who has the knowledge required as none of the Keyblade Masters have shown the ability to just create a Keyblade even from others hearts.

In addition to performing the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, Masters can conduct the Mark of Mastery exam upon potential Keyblade Masters. Although Yen Sid is a retired Master, he is still able to conduct the exam.

Also, Aqua is able to sense that the ceremony has been performed on Riku, although it is not known whether all Keyblade wielders can sense this, or if it is a Master's ability.