Xigbar

Xigbar, the Freeshooter (魔弾の射手 Madan no Ite, lit. Magic Bullet Shooter), is Rank II within Organization XIII. Xigbar wields the element of Space, and uses his element to freely direct the projectiles from his weapons, twin "Gun Arrow" blasters. He commands the Sniper Nobodies.

Xigbar is the fourth to last to be defeated and the second to speak to Sora in Kingdom Hearts II, although he does so hooded at first. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar will be featured as a playable character in multi player mode. In an interview, Tetsuya Nomura said that "Xigbar's attacks have a high range, but he has slow reloading time."

Kingdom Hearts II

 * First Entry

''Organization XIII's Number II. When Sora called out to him, thinking he was Riku, Xigbar gave a curt reply.''

''His motives and his methods remain unclear. Surely he has a greater goal in mind, but what could it be?''

Organization XIII's Number II.
 * Second Entry

''He told Sora once that he reminded him of someone else. Puzzling words, indeed...''

Some part of him did seem to be enjoying Sora's reaction.


 * Organization XIII

''Organization XIII's Number II. Nothing else about him has come to light.''

''He vanished, leaving Sora with naught but puzzling words. Apparently Organization members can use the darkness to come and go as they please.''

Appearance at Hollow Bastion
Not long after arriving in Hollow Bastion and reuniting with Aerith, Leon and Yuffie, Sora engaged a number of Dusk Nobodies in battle around the city. After being led away from the main town, Sora, Goofy and Donald heard voices mocking them, but could find no source for them. After Sora demands that they show themselves, the remaining Organization members (having lost five members due to deaths and two others due to desertion) materialize, laughing. Though they are hooded, they are recognizable as the Organization from the description given to Sora and his companions by Yen Sid.

The Organization eventually departs, but Xigbar, still cloaked and hooded, stays behind to taunt Sora further, making them feel anxious about the power of the Organization. He also openly compares the similarities between a look Sora gives him and one given to him by Roxas; Sora dismisses this as random banter meant to confuse him. Xigbar then leaves, staying out of Sora's way for a very long time.

Land of Dragons
In Sora's second trip to the Land of Dragons, Sora tracks a black-cloaked figure into the mountains (which is really Riku). They battle, and the mysterious figure flees shortly after; suspecting that he was Riku, Sora follows him. When Sora arrives at the Emperor's Palace, the site of his earlier battle with Shan Yu, he enters to find a man in a black cloak near the door the Throne Room. Sora calls out Riku's name, and the man unhoods himself, stepping back from the doorway.

Sora encounters Xigbar again in at the gates to the Emperor's throne room in the Land of Dragons. Having encountered another hooded man and suspected him to be his missing friend Riku, Sora inquires if he is the same person. Xigbar removes his hood, revealing otherwise and remarking that he had never heard of anyone named Riku. Xigbar summons his Snipers to distract Sora while he escapes. The diversion works, although the Nobodies were defeated, and Xigbar is able to continue his mission of summoning an enormous Heartless to harvest hearts for the Organization's plans. He manages to set the Storm Rider on the city, but it is soon destroyed by Sora, Mulan, Donald and Goofy.

The World That Never Was
Xigbar's final appearance in the game is in The World That Never Was inside Organization XIII's stronghold. After Riku and Naminé helped Kairi to escape from the Organization, they head for the Hall of Empty Melodies, a large, open-air room leading further up into the castle. Sora and his party arrive there, but are stopped by Saïx, who calls out swarms of Shadow and a few Armored Knight heartless to attack the intruders. Maleficent and Pete also arrive, expressing interest in taking the Organization's castle for themselves.

Eventually, Maleficent and Pete leave to formulate a plan for taking the castle, and Saïx heads up to rejoin Xemnas. Sora and Kairi remain separated as Riku and Kairi remain above Sora on a balcony, fighting off the Heartless gathered there. Many Heartless attack Sora as well, but they are all dispatched in a sudden rain of arrows from a hidden Xigbar. He walks into view, and asks if Sora has been a good boy mockingly, echoing the words from his first encounter with Sora. He states how Sora put the Organization in a "pickle", and he supposes that was the reason the Keyblade chose him. He also makes a very cryptic remark on how he wasn't "half the hero the others were". Sora simply takes it as an attempt to throw him off. Tetsuya Nomura, character designer for the Kingdom Hearts series, later stated that the "others" Xigbar referred to were three Keyblade-wielding knights seen in the video Birth By Sleep.

Xigbar then engages Sora in battle, referring to him as "Roxas" and expressing anger at him for betraying the Orginization. Ultimately, he is defeated and begins to fade into the darkness. Before he disappears, Sora asks him why he called him "Roxas", to which merely responds, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Personality
Xigbar has a laid-back and cocky attitude, and likes to taunt Sora to put him off-guard, though with limited success. When not on missions, he occasionally enjoys eavesdropping on his fellow organization members. He relies heavily on instinct rather than on intelligence for both decision-making and fighting, making him adaptable and unpredictable in battle. He also has a habit of saying, "As if". In the English version of Kingdom Hearts II, Xigbar speaks with a California Surfer accent, possibly to emphasize on his laid-back nature.

Xigbar is also wise-cracking and sarcastic and acts as part of the Organization's comic relief along with Axel, Larxene and Demyx. Xigbar is arguably the most sarcastic of them all since unlike Axel and Larxene who know when to be serious (Demyx being comic relief because of his klutzy demeanor) Xigbar never breaks character once. In all 3 of his appearances, Xigbar makes at least one sarcastic, nonchalant remark to Sora and co. (e.g. "Have you been a good boy?")

Despite his high rank, he is not given high authority like Saïx or Marluxia but instead is sent on missions and confrontations with Sora. Some have wondered if there is any ill will between Xigbar and Saïx or Xemnas but if there is it has not been demonstrated. This in combination with his personality may imply that Xigbar prefers field work to a more administrative position.

Fighting Style


As the "Freeshooter", Xigbar attacks from range using his twin Gun Arrows, firing rapid barrages of lasers at Sora. He uses his control over Space to its fullest, bending Space to teleport, warp his shots, and levitate upside down. In this, Xigbar does not even have to aim at Sora to hit him, he can simply fire anywhere he wishes and open rifts in space to redirect the shots towards Sora. Nonetheless, Xigbar is shown to be an exceptional gunslinger, as seen in the cutscene before the battle against him, when he effortlessly destroys all of the Heartless surrounding him without hitting Sora, Donald, and Goofy even once.

Several fans have pointed out that the fight against Xigbar is definitely one of the hardest ones in the entire game. This trait is most likely attributed to his high HP, speedy attacks and difficulty to hit. In fact many fans noted that the only mandatory boss fight that is harder is Xemnas' and his difficulty seems to be tied with or equal to Xaldin (the latter being more likely).

Final Mix additional cutscenes
Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ contains several additional cutscenes of Organization XIII's activity. One shows a conversation at an unknown time between Xigbar and Zexion, with Xigbar having recently returned from finding new members from the Organization (including Marluxia, whom he mentions as a new recruit) while Zexion and Vexen were discussing Xemnas' visit to the "Room of Sleep". Xigbar expressed his knowledge about the events of Keyblade warriors that appeared before they found Xehanort. He also talked about his eavesdropping on Xemnas during his visits to the Room of Sleep, and how he seemed to be conversing with someone that wasn't really there.

Quotes

 * ''"That's right! He used to give me the exact same look!"
 * ''"You don't look like half the hero the others were."
 * ''"You really put Organization XIII in a pickle."
 * ''"What I'm trying to say here, traitor, is that your time is up!"
 * ''"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Censorship
When Kingdom Hearts II was released in North America, one of the main changes in the game was made to Xigbar. As noted above, in the cinematic before the fight, Xigbar combines his two guns together to make a sniper rifle. He uses this move later on in the fight as well. Due to restraints on video game violence, this was changed in North America. Xigbar no longer created his sniper rifle, and instead, simply spin his guns around, using one gun as a balance to steady the gun which he sniped with. The first person HUD display was changed as well, to make it less realistic.

Trivia

 * In the North American version of Kingdom Hearts II, a Secret Ansem Report misspells his original name as Bleig.
 * Xigbar controls Sniper Nobodies. Note that they share the same reaction command (Warp Snipe).
 * He is the first Kingdom Hearts character to truly wield guns.
 * Xigbar has been confirmed to have seen other Keyblade users besides Sora fight, something that was originally implied by his dialogue with Sora. Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that, when he was a human and an apprentice to Ansem the Wise, Xigbar/Braig saw the three warriors Terra, Aqua and Ven battling with their Keyblades
 * Xigbar is one of the few members of Organization XIII throughout the series who's name isn't mentioned outside of the journal (Along with Demyx). Luxord is a minor exception to this rule, as his name shows up in the "Time" bar during the battle with him.
 * Along with Demyx and Luxord, Xigbar is one of the more "minor" members of Organization XIII, that is he doesn't have much of a role in the storyline. In contrast to the other two, Xigbar does seem to have some role in the game, as he was the one who managed to manipulate Sora into thinking that Organization XIII is merely acting ambivalent and that the Heartless were the true threat.

Xigbar