Heartless



Heartless are the darkness in hearts of living beings given shape and form. They have a thirst for hearts, and are most attracted to pure hearts, such as Sora's. Their existence became known after one was created by Ansem, as revealed by his reports. Artificial Heartless were later created by Xehanort's Heartless. They first appear in Kingdom Hearts.

Origin
Though the origin of the Heartless is not explicitly described or shown, there was one point where there was not a single person with darkness in their heart, and only light existed, and as such all the worlds were connected. However, people began to grow selfish over the light, and thus darkness was born in their hearts. This darkness eventually consumed the light, but the children of light were able to craft new worlds, though they would remain separate. However, the greatest light would reside in the darkness, and until the day comes when that light breaks through the darkness, darkness would continue to thrive.

An unknown, but large, amount of time later Ansem the Wise, the ruler of the Radiant Garden, discovered the threat of the darkness. In order to combat it, he and his six apprentices, Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo, tried to find a way to prevent the darkness from consuming the world, performing many experiments on the human heart. However, Ansem the Wise began to see the immorality of what he was doing, and ceased his experiments.

But Xehanort and the others continued with their experiments, discovering the Heartless and their nature. They also constructed a large factory that could reproduce the creation of Heartless, thus making Artificial Heartless. Thus, the Heartless, once a minor threat, turned into a force that threatened all the worlds.

Heartless Types
Pure Heartless are the natural Heartless, born when people's heart are normally consumed by darkness. They are inky-black in color, with yellow beady eyes. They are more common in nature in places that is close to or saturated in darkness. Upon their destruction, they simply disappear in puffs of darkness.

Artificial Heartless, on the other hand, are created from machines that reproduce the process of a heart being consumed by darkness. They have more varied shapes, colors, and are branded with Xehanort's symbol to differentiate them from the pure ones. They mostly appear in the many worlds that reside in the realm of light, unlike natural born Heartless.

Nature
Heartless, artificial or not, possess several key characteristics that define them as Heartless. All Heartless are created when the darkness that resides in a person's heart consumes him or her, thus giving the darkness shape and form (this process occasionally form Nobodies, which are born from the body and soul left behind when the heart is lost). Being born from darkness, they are mindless and master-less, and their only goal is to find hearts, wishing to consume them and consequently create more Heartless. But what they desire above all are the hearts of worlds, and thus they enter worlds in search of the way into the hearts of the worlds. When they consume these colossal hearts, the remains of the world form new worlds, one being Traverse Town, and the other being the End of the World.

At the same time, Heartless seek out the users of the Keyblade, since the Keyblades are weapons of light, light being the greatest enemy of the Heartless. In order to stop the users of the Keyblades, the Heartless use the Keyblade itself as a homing beacon, but ultimately desire to take the heart that commands it. Because of this, Keyblade wielders are under constant attack.

Ranking
Heartless, being formed from darkness, have varying strengths, depending on the amount of darkness in a person's heart. And the greater the darkness that forms a Heartless, artificial or pure, the more powerful and more monstrous it gets. This is a direct contrast to Nobodies, which determine strength by the strength of the will, and the powerful a Nobody, the more humanoid it is.

Control
The Heartless, being mindless, usually have no master to direct their actions. However, there are some higher beings who can command them. But the key to controlling them is an affinity for darkness, and a strong will. Those with hearts, such as Maleficent, endanger themselves however, as the Heartless are attracted to their hearts. If they show weakness, the Heartless will not think twice of consuming their hearts.

On the other hand, higher ranking Heartless, like Xehanort's Heartless, can fully command other Heartless without endangering themselves. Also, Organization XIII, is able to command them as well with their strong wills, but are not endangered of being consumed by them for their lack of a heart.

Travel
Heartless make use of the "corridors of darkness", inter-dimensional pathways that connect the many worlds. These pathways are located in the Realm of Darkness, and thus are very dangerous to use if one is not accustomed to the darkness.

Residence
The Heartless reside wherever darkness is abundant, including the Realm of Darkness itself. However, they also reside in places such as the End of the World, a collection of the remnants of worlds that is located near the darkness. Another area that the Heartless live in is The World That Never Was, the world of the Nobodies that rests dangerously close to the darkness upon which the Heartless thrive.

Kingdom Hearts
Heartless, as they seek and consume hearts, also desire to return to the greatest heart, the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts, that resides deep within the realm of darkness. And because of this, immense darkness, enough to completely consume the realm of light. The entryway into this place of great power is the Door to Darkness, the door that separates the realm of light and the realm of darkness. However, with the efforts of Sora and the King, the door is closed, which causes the worlds lost to the darkness to be restored, and preventing a massive army of Heartless from pouring into the realm of light.

Pure Heartless

 * Shadow - Kingdom Hearts
 * Neoshadow - Kingdom Hearts (seen), Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (playable)
 * Gigant Shadow - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Darkball - Kingdom Hearts
 * Invisible - Kingdom Hearts
 * Darkside - Kingdom Hearts
 * Possessor - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Shadow Stalker/Dark Thorn - Kingdom Hearts II

Emblem Heartless

 * Soldier - Kingdom Hearts
 * Large Body - Kingdom Hearts
 * Air Soldier - Kingdom Hearts
 * Defender - Kingdom Hearts
 * Lance Soldier - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Armored Knight - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Stealth Soldier - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Guard Armor - Kingdom Hearts
 * Opposite Armor - Kingdom Hearts
 * Red Armor - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Pirate - Kingdom Hearts
 * Air Pirate - Kingdom Hearts
 * Battleship - Kingdom Hearts
 * Cannon Gun - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Grim Reaper - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Bandit - Kingdom Hearts
 * Fat Bandit - Kingdom Hearts
 * Luna Bandit - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Fortuneteller - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Blizzard Lord - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Volcanic Lord - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Red Nocturne - Kingdom Hearts
 * Blue Rhapsody - Kingdom Hearts
 * Yellow Opera - Kingdom Hearts
 * Green Requiem - Kingdom Hearts
 * Black Ballade - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Crimson Jazz - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Emerald Blues - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Silver Rock - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Wizard - Kingdom Hearts
 * Bookmaster - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Gargoyle Knight - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Gargoyle Warrior - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Thresholder - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Hot Rod - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Aeroplane - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Minute Bomb - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Hammer Frame - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Bulky Vendor - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Driller Mole - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Assault Rider - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Nightwalker - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Bolt Tower - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Rapid Thruster - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Storm Rider - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Crescendo - Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
 * Creeper Plant - Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
 * Tornado Step - Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
 * Rabid Dog - Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
 * Magnum Loader - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Strafer - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Devastator - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Living Bone - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Aerial Knocker - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Groundshaker - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Aquatank - Kingdom Hearts
 * Sea Neon - Kingdom Hearts
 * Screwdiver - Kingdom Hearts
 * Jet Balloon - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Missilediver - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Sheltering Zone - Kingdom Hearts
 * Barrel Spider - Kingdom Hearts
 * Pot Spider - Kingdom Hearts
 * Pot Scorpion - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Pot Centipede - Kingdom Hearts
 * White Mushroom - Kingdom Hearts
 * Rare Truffle - Kingdom Hearts
 * Black Fungus - Kingdom Hearts
 * Pink Agaricus - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Powerwild - Kingdom Hearts
 * Bouncywild - Kingdom Hearts
 * Sniper Wild - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Shaman - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Chimera - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Toy Soldier - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Graveyard - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Prison Keeper - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Search Ghost - Kingdom Hearts
 * Grand Ghost - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Trick Ghost - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Behemoth - Kingdom Hearts
 * Destroyed Behemoth - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Arch Behemoth - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Wight Knight - Kingdom Hearts
 * Hook Bat - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Surveillance Robot - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Fiery Globe - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Icy Cube - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Morning Star - Kingdom Hearts II
 * Gargoyle - Kingdom Hearts
 * Wyvern - Kingdom Hearts
 * Blue Wyvern - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Angel Star - Kingdom Hearts
 * Trickmaster - Kingdom Hearts
 * Stealth Sneak - Kingdom Hearts
 * Sneak Army - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
 * Parasite Cage - Kingdom Hearts
 * Behemoth - Kingdom Hearts
 * Phantom - Kingdom Hearts
 * Kurt Zisa - Kingdom Hearts (US/EU), Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (Japan)
 * Ansem - Kingdom Hearts
 * Guardian - Kingdom Hearts
 * World of Chaos - Kingdom Hearts
 * Illuminator - Kingdom Hearts II

Other

 * Anti-sora - Kingdom Hearts
 * Shadow Sora - Kingdom Hearts
 * Scar's Ghost - Kingdom Hearts II