Editing Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Terra-Xehanort, at the time using his king's name, "Ansem", willingly gave his heart to the darkness in the pursuit of knowledge, creating both his Heartless and his [[Nobody]], [[Xemnas]]. His Heartless was able to retain its selfhood for uncertain reasons, though it was believed that this was due to Terra-Xehanort's willing abandonment of his heart; <ref>'''[[Secret Ansem Report 10]]''': "But what if one willingly releases one's heart from one's body? Sora and Xehanort retained their selfhood even after becoming Heartless."</ref> even Ansem himself was briefly confused by his sentience. <ref>'''Ansem Report 12''': "The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet nothing. This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain and has yet to take the form of a Heartless. A close eye must be kept on this situation. Much is still unknown."</ref> As a result, he could command the lesser Heartless without consequence,<ref>'''[[Secret Ansem Report 5]]:''' "A human's command would be ineffective; the Heartless would easily steal the human's to increase their own ranks. But what if an even stronger Heartless was giving the commands? If he cast aside his own body and soul and became a Heartless, would he be able to control the otherwise intractable Heartless?"</ref> and came to learn of the existence of [[Nobodies]],<ref>'''Ansem Report 13''': "However, I am certain that if your "self" is here, the other by definition does not "exist". The other one, which does not exist, shall be dubbed "Nobody"."</ref> including his counterpart [[Xemnas]]; the two collaborated to fulfill Master Xehanort's goal of obtaining the [[χ-blade]].<ref>'''''The Story So Far: Darkness:''''' "His heart, Ansem, manipulated [[Maleficent]] and [[Riku]] into gathering the seven pure lights he needed: the [[Princesses of Heart]]. His body, Xemnas, founded [[Organization XIII]], who would serve as the thirteen darknesses.</ref>

Disguising his actions as a thirst for knowledge, Ansem sent the Heartless to many worlds in search of the [[Princesses of Heart]] to serve as the pure [[light]]s to forge the [[χ-blade]]; many worlds fell in the process. Though in time, he took to observing [[Maleficent]]'s cabal as they carried out the task, unknowingly, for him. Regardless if Xemnas could create thirteen darknesses, Ansem could create the lesser [[Keyblade of heart]] from the seven pure lights to open the [[Door to Darkness]], which leads to [[Kingdom Hearts (world)|Kingdom Hearts]].

Ansem, as the Robed Figure, appears at [[Destiny Islands]]' [[Keyhole]] shortly before its fall into darkness, noting that it has been "connected" and insulting [[Sora]]'s ignorance of what was to come—however, as he is operating as a portal between times, he is not talking simply about how the islands will be consumed by the Heartless, but instead referencing how it will become a [[Sleeping World]]; the Sora and Riku from a year hence will travel back to this moment to follow Destiny Islands into the darkness, and in turn, he will follow them. He vanishes when Sora's back is turned. Later, when the future Sora and Riku enter the Sleeping Worlds, he is there to call upon [[Ursula]]'s phantom to attack them. After her defeat, Ansem again notes that the world has been connected.{{storylink|Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance}}

Seeing the same kind of lust for power that he had once seen in [[Terra]] coming from [[Riku]], Ansem appears before him following his battle with Sora. Riku is confused over why the Keyblade left him, to which Ansem explains; only a strong heart can wield a Keyblade. He tells Riku that to become stronger, he must open his heart to the darkness and let his entire being become one with it. Riku complies, opening himself to the darkness. However, Ansem uses this to possess Riku, regaining a body.

Posing as Riku, Ansem meets Maleficent as the Final Keyhole forms. He informs her the Heartless will overrun Hollow Bastion once it's unlocked, but she is unconcerned; believing she can use the darkness to rule the worlds. Sneering, he creates the [[Keyblade of heart]] from the six captive [[Princesses of Heart]]'s hearts. Seeing the keyhole remains incomplete, Ansem realizes they are at a standstill; they need the power of Kairi's heart. Maleficent leaves him to guard the princesses, while she deals with Sora, [[Donald Duck|Donald]], and [[Goofy]]. After she is defeated, Ansem follows her to a hidden chamber, asking if she needs help. Once Sora sees him and the Keyblade of heart, Ansem tells him it can unlock the hearts and demonstrates on Maleficent; resulting in her being overwhelmed by darkness and transforming into her dragon form. When the dragon is felled, Ansem notes the dark fairy arrogantly believed she controlled the Heartless when it was the other way around, and takes his leave.

Ansem shortly returns, having shaped Riku's body to resemble [[Terra-Xehanort]]. Now that his pawns have served their roles, he plans to kill Kairi. Donald and Goofy bravely make a stand against Ansem in order to protect Kairi, but know it's hopless. Before he can dispose of them, Riku briefly regains enough control to paralyze the Heartless and warn them to run, allowing Donald and Goofy to escape with Kairi. Aggravated, Ansem banished Riku's heart to the [[Dark World]] {{Storylink|Kingdom Hearts Final Mix}} taking complete control. Ansem then allows himself to be enveloped by the darkness flowing out of the Keyhole, to find the [[Door to Darkness]] at [[End of the World]].

As Sora, his humanity having been restored by Kairi's light arrives at the remnants of Destiny Islands at End of the World, Ansem appears, bearing Riku's form. He explains Riku's fall to darkness, that he desperately sought to escape the island "prison" enough to open his heart to the darkness. Afterward, Ansem explains his philosophy: that worlds and hearts begin and end in darkness. Thus, darkness is the heart's true essence. Sora denies this, in words and in battle, with Ansem. During the battle, Ansem summons both his familiar, the [[Dark Figure]], and a [[Darkside]] Heartless to assist him. As the battle rages on, Ansem leads the trio to the endless abyss where the [[Door to Darkness]] resides. This time, Ansem transforms into the [[World of Chaos]], a monstrous Heartless ship, which he creates from darkness and captures Donald and Goofy, though Sora rescues them.

After having his battleship destroyed, a battered and weakened Ansem taunts Sora that just the Keyblade isn't enough to close the [[Door to Darkness]]. He weakly cracks open the doors, asking for Kingdom Hearts to fill him with the power of darkness. However, Sora tells him that like the heart of a person, deep down Kingdom Hearts is light. At that moment a pure light does indeed burst from the doors instead of darkness, hitting Ansem full on. Surprised and confused, Ansem could only question as to why light was behind the door to ''darkness''. Being a Heartless and having already been weakened by Sora, Ansem couldn't withstand the light and was obliterated; giving Riku his body back.

During the [[Battle of the 1000 Heartless]] at [[Hollow Bastion]], King Mickey reveals the truth about "Ansem" to Sora, Donald, and Goofy—the Heartless wasn't the real king of Radiant Garden, but the Heartless of an impostor. While the trio is shocked and dismayed to learn this, Mickey pacifies them by telling them that Ansem was still a powerful enemy that needed to be stopped.

Ansem appears in a memory from [[Jiminy's Journal]] in Destiny Islands, opening a Corridor of Darkness for Riku to [[Hollow Bastion]].<!--place this chronologically-->

Ansem first appears alongside his Nobody counterpart, Xemnas, outside of the Old Mansion, waiting for Sora. Seeking to use [[Roxas]] as a possible 13th member of the [[Real Organization XIII]], Ansem and Xemnas tell Sora to give his heart to darkness, to recreate Roxas. They don't humor Sora's plan to recreate Roxas in the virtual Twilight Town created by [[Ansem the Wise]], claiming it is just data. After breaking Sora with their words, both leave through a [[Corridor of Darkness]], after summoning a swarm of [[Neoshadow]]s and [[Dusk]]s for Sora, Donald, and Goofy. After this, they watch Sora leave [[Twilight Town]] from a rooftop, just as [[Xigbar]] arrives to berate them. Ansem defends his choice to be direct with guiding Sora, due to the boy being slow with hints.