The World That Never Was

The World That Never Was is a world featured in Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

The world of Organization XIII, it is home to a seemingly endless supply of Heartless and Nobodies. The Heartless seem to spawn more here due to how close The World That Never Was is to the darkness of Kingdom Hearts. The Organization controls the world from the Castle That Never Was, a massive fortress that floats weightlessly over the expansive Dark City.

Alley to Between
The Alley to Between (狭間につながる路地) hides a portal to Betwixt and Between. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey used this portal to get into the world, thanks to Axel's sacrifice. The alley way connects to the main route that leads to the Castle That Never Was. There is the first Save Point of the world here.

Fragment Crossing
Fragment Crossing (断片を紡ぐ道) is a long series of winding streets that lead to Memory's Skyscraper. It is full of neon signs attached to vacant buildings as well as a power plant which seems to power some or all of the city. Many Shadow Heartless are here, but in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, they are eventually replaced with Nobodies. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey took this route on their way to the Castle That Never Was. Pluto also had an encounter with Axel here.

Memory's Skyscraper
Kioku no Matenrō (記憶の摩天楼) is a tall building in the World That Never Was. Located near the Castle That Never Was, the building kept watch over the residents of the Dark. On its front, it has a massive television screen that seems to flash images of memories of those nearby, although this feature is only visible in the FMV videos at the end of the first Kingdom Hearts game. A truck is visible nearby, flipped on its side in one corner of the area. Roxas was battling a legion of Neoshadows when Riku appeared at the top of the building, and after the two eliminated the Neoshadows, they began their duel.

After arriving at the World That Never Was, Sora was confronted by Roxas at Memory's Skyscraper, while two Samurai blocked Donald and Goofy. Sora and Roxas soon disappeared to the Station of Awakening, but Donald and Goofy claimed to not see Roxas.

During his battle with Xemnas, Sora was pulled into an area that included Memory's Skyscraper, called , in a battle similar to the one Roxas and Riku had.

In Dream Drop Distance, Memory's Skyscraper is accessible only for Riku. However, this is where Sora first landed when he dived into this world before being put to sleep.

Brink of Despair
The Brink of Despair (絶望を望む断崖) seems to have been made by the Castle That Never Was which hovers above it. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey arrive here and access the castle via a path using the Keyblade. It has the second Save Point of this world in Kingdom Hearts II.

Castle That Never Was
The Castle That Never Was is an enormous white castle that floats above the city, dominating its skyline. It is decorated all over with Nobody symbols.

The World of Nothing
After Xemnas's first defeat within Memory's Contortion, he flees into his Kingdom Hearts. However, a door appears that leads Sora and his friends within that Kingdom Hearts to an area named "The World of Nothing". The first area inside the door is , a passageway resembling the Dark City where skyscrapers suddenly erupt from the ground in order to repel Sora. A strange black-and-white tunnel leads from this room to a platform looking out on the gigantic Nobody that Xemnas is riding. From there, Sora can climb falling skyscraper to walkways surrounding the lower cannons of the Nobody, . Once he destroys those, Sora swings his way up to the ship's Energy Core, which is kept in a room appropriately named . After disabling the ship's energy core, he makes it up , where Xemnas sits in his Keyblade Armor, enthroned atop the dragon Nobody's head in a chamber equipped with the weapons of the defeated Organization members. After completely destroying the gigantic Nobody, Sora and Riku are left in Kyomu no Sekai (虚無の世界), a nearly-empty void of shifting greys and whites where Xemnas makes his last attempt to destroy them. He fails, however, and the boys are deposited at the Dark Margin.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, only Memory's Skyscraper, the Brink of Despair, and the real Castle That Never Was are visited in the realm between. Sora visits a dream of a dream of the World that Never Was, which appears more similar to the World of Nothing within Kingdom Hearts than the Dark City as it appears in Kingdom Hearts II, while Riku visits a dream of a dream of the Castle That Never Was. Whether or not the locations he visits exist in the real world version of the world is not yet known.

Avenue to Dreams
The Avenue to Dreams is a large urban area beginning with an enclosed alley featuring a save point and a Moogle hologram. Up a long flight of stairs lays a piece of destroyed building, blocking the path into the city that must be scaled to advance. Beyond is an area of twisting alleys surrounded by skyscrapers that can be scaled with Flowmotion. Several buildings are adorned in blue stripes with a geometric pattern and when stood upon, they raise up, throwing Sora into the air. Another building has similar white stripes and can be destroyed by using a Reality Shift. Perhaps the most notable feature of this area is a stream of blue-green mist that falls from the roof of a massive tower extremely similar to Memory's Skyscraper and flows through the streets. Beyond this tower, the pavement is revealed to be floating and broken, away from the rest of the city and leads off into a more urban area.

Contorted City
The Contorted City seems to emerge from a canyon of strange blue-green rock. This area does not have a save point. Much of the architecture here is coated in blue-green mist, many buildings float of their own accord, attached to chunks of rock separate from the road, and several shake and swing. The blue markings appear again on the shaking section that is able to launch Sora skyward. Beyond several overturned buildings, a path of broken pavement and destroyed buildings forms an upward spiral. Neon strips and signs on the buildings can be traversed with Flowmotion. In several places, floating buildings marked with red symbols will hurtle toward Sora and must be destroyed with a Reality Shift or they will cause damage.

Nightmarish Abyss
The Nightmarish Abyss features a large open plaza surrounded on three sides by skyscrapers, with a crashed truck (identical to the one near Memory's Skyscraper) blocking access to a side-street. The fourth side drops off to an abyss that is spanned by floating skyscrapers laid on their sides, forming a mostly straight path between two cliff faces and leading toward what appears to be Memory's Skyscraper and the Castle That Never Was. Several neon strips appear here that can be traversed through Flowmotion, as in the Contorted City area.

Delusive Beginning
Delusive Beginning (幻想のはじまり) lays near the bottom of the Castle That Never Was, just inside the large spinning ring. It is comprised of four hallways connecting to a circular central chamber, two connecting at the ground floor, two high above. In the central chamber rests an energy beam housed in an impenetrable shield that damages enemies of the Organization. It must be destroyed by entering the shield through a portal and using a Reality Shift on it. This will cease its attack, destroy the shield, and create a walkway to the upper levels.

Walk of Delusions
The Walk of Delusions (幻惑の歩廊) is a long, straight bridge leading from the outer edge of the castle to the castle itself, across the open area beneath it. The large spinning ring and several support beams can be seen from the walk.

Fact within Fiction
Fact within Fiction (虚実を紡ぐ回廊) is a large, open area level with the top of the castle's spinning ring and in view of the mechanism that spins it. It's the only area in Riku's side to not have a save point. It consists of several high-walled passages and thick metal pipes. Along one passage, beams of purple energy move back and forth that damage anyone who crosses them. Near the end of the area is a large circular platform where many enemies spawn. After a flight of stairs, there is a lift that rises seemingly magically to higher floors.

Verge of Chaos
The Verge of Chaos (混沌を見下ろす場所) is primarily a large, slightly curved balcony. The only way out of it is to take the elevator back to the lower levels, or to use Flowmotion on the massive pipes attached to the walls. Several other, smaller balconies sit on the wall with no way on or off but through Flowmotion. Eventually up the wall, one reaches another small balcony attached to a larger one by a staircase. A narrow bridge off this area connects to the multi-turreted tower, where Riku fights the Anti Black Coat Nightmare, on the side of the castle, that can be traversed by using Flowmotion on a large pipe. The roof of this tower is also considered a part of the Verge of Chaos.

Sanctum of Time
The Sanctum of Time (時の祭壇) is an area visited only during the final battle with Young Xehanort. After being possessed by his future Master Xehanort self, Young Xehanort transports Riku and himself to the Sanctum of Time in a similar fashion to how Ansem, Seeker of Darkness transported Riku to the facsimile of Kingdom Hearts in the final battle of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories. The battlefield is a large circular area with several cogs and clockwork devices integrated below the floor as well as atop pillars on either side of the battlefield, and it is surrounded by six different colored hourglasses. The area as a whole resembles a fractured. Peculiarly, at certain times during battle, the poles sticking out of the ground cannot have Flowmotion used on them. Beneath the glass are three red Nobody sigils.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
When Roxas abandoned the Organization, he wandered for a short time through the streets of the Dark City, likely contemplating where to go to start his search for himself. Here, outside one of the many locked stores, Roxas met with Axel, who tried to stop him from leaving, warning him that the Organization would destroy him were he to leave. Roxas, stating that no one would miss him, left a saddened Axel behind and moved along the streets to Memory's Skyscraper. Axel mutters that he would miss him, before Roxas disappeared into the darkness.

A few days later, Roxas returns to the city, hoping to engage Xemnas and the other Organization XIII members, but instead he discovered multitudes of Heartless, sent to attack the Keyblade master. Roxas fended off the hordes of Neoshadow Heartless, but realized he was outnumbered. It was then that he saw Riku atop the skyscraper. Using Roxas's Oblivion Keyblade, Riku helped the Nobody defeat all the Heartless.

The two then turned on each other and dueled. Roxas eventually defeated Riku, who had not yet mastered himself or control of the Keyblade. Riku used the darkness in his heart as a last resort and gained the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, with his Guardian, to subdue Roxas. DiZ promptly arrived to find Riku-Ansem with his hood up, and the two took Roxas back to their secret base in Twilight Town.

Kingdom Hearts II
Sora arrived in the Dark City, with the help of the Organization's traitor, Axel. Making their way through the large amounts of Heartless, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey fought to the center of the city, Memory's Skyscraper. Here, Samurai Nobodies appeared from nowhere, and Roxas appeared to Sora, challenging him to a fight. The two disappeared from the scene and while Donald and Goofy fought off the Samurai, Sora and Roxas dueled on the Dive to the Heart.

After Roxas is defeated, he tells Sora that he's a "good other." The group then continues on to the Castle That Never Was. They make their way through the many levels of the castle, meeting up with Riku and Kairi, and finishing off the remaining members of the Organization.

After meeting with Ansem the Wise on one of the upper floors of the castle, the latter sacrifices his life in an attempt to destroy Xemnas's Kingdom Hearts, the blast returning Riku to his original form. The party makes their way to the top floor and finally defeat Xemnas.

During the extensive final battle with Xemnas, much of the Dark City and the Castle That Never Was is destroyed. Chunks of building were ripped up and thrown at Sora and Riku, and the main tower collapsed off the castle. What ultimately happened to The World That Never Was following Xemnas's defeat remains unknown.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
After Sora and Riku have successfully unlocked all seven sleeping Keyholes, Sora arrives at The World That Never Was, confused to why he has not yet awoken from the realm of sleep. Xigbar appears and greets Sora, explaining "they" have been guiding him trough the Sleeping Worlds to this world since his exam began. That was possible because the mysterious man in the black robe was a version of Xehanort, thus allowing him to travel back in time, was there in that night when the Destiny Islands became a Sleeping World, just to be sure Sora ended there.

Teleporting above Sora, Xigbar launches various shots from his guns around Sora, which turns into various hooded figures, one of them being Young Xehanort. He then puts Sora into a second sleep and shows him a series of past events, explaining to him the laws of time travel that have allowed him to come to this point in time, knowing everything that is predestined to happen through the knowledge of his other selves. He shows Sora when Ansem visited him in the islands, describing him his mission, and the various visits of Sora to Traverse Town. Sora sees a large number of copies of him falling from the skies, as well as illusions of Donald, Goofy, Pluto and the King. When he tries to pursue them, Sora dozes off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Riku arrives in the Castle That Never Was, wondering why he has not awoken yet with the exam supposed to be over. He travels through the ccastle to find Sora trapped in a sphere of darkness. Riku tries to wake Sora, but the darkness around the sphere turns into the Anti Black Coat Nightmare, who Riku engages in battle. When Sora awakens from the vision, he finds himself in the Dark City and pursues an image of Naminé. When he catches up to her, she turns into Xion and runs from Sora. Ignoring Riku's voice telling him to wake up, Sora goes further in the city and reaches her, but discovers that she is now Roxas, who passes onto Sora his painful memories. Riku defeats the Anti Black Coat and tries free Sora from his slumber. Sora can hear Riku's voice again, telling the former that his dreams would lead him to a wakeless sleep. In spite of that, Sora continues through the city to a series of ruined skyscrapers. Riku is then swallowed by darkness and confronted by Ansem.

Meanwhile, in Sora's dream, he reaches an abyss with various floating skyscrapers, where he sees Kairi walking side by side with Riku. The illusions of Kairi and Riku transform into Aqua and Terra, while Sora takes on Ventus's appearance. Dumbfounded, Sora chases after Aqua and Terra, the visions morphing back into Kairi and Riku. Sora chases after them while everything as Riku proceeds with his attempts to wake him. The Memories's Skyscraper materializes in front of Sora, from where a flash of light radiates and triggering a long-forgotten memory of meeting Aqua on Destiny Islands nearly twelve years ago. Aqua suddenly turns into Ansem, and Sora is ejected from his dream. Sora then asks Xigbar if everything he just saw was placed in his mind by the Organization. Xigbar clarifies that was a dream, as it was impossible for them to insert false memories and visions into his head.

When Xenmas arrives at their location, he and Xigbar recount their plan to divide Master Xehanort's heart among thirteen vessels, turning all members of Organization XIII into versions of Master Xehanort once their Kingdom Hearts was complete. To this end Xemnas concealed from the Organization members that over time Nobodies will form new hearts, the denial of their budding hearts making it easier to turn them into vessels for Master Xehanort's heart. Xigbar taunts Sora's lack of power compared to his friends, since the Keyblade didn't even choose him, it is only those bonds with true Keyblade wielders that strengthen his heart enough to wield it himself. Angered over these revelations, Sora is left by Xigbar to battle Xemnas. Though Xemnas is defeated, Sora collapses from exhaustion, and it then consumed in darkness. Young Xehanort appears and tells him that they have successfully lured him into the deepest depths of sleep, and used the Recusant's Sigil (the "X" on Sora's shirt) to track his progress through the Sleeping Worlds and manipulate him into coming here. He elucidates that his mission was to gather his twelve selves from throughout time to welcome Sora as their thirteenth member. Sora falls unconscious shortly after and is then taken to Where Nothing Gathers. However, in the depths of his heart, Ventus's heart grants Sora his Keyblade Armor for protection to prevent him being completely consumed by the darkness.

In the meantime, Ansem reveals that Riku is actually a Dream Eater, and, over the course of the exam, has been purifying Sora's dreams of Nightmares. Ansem strives to take over Riku's body again, but remembering his secret encounter with Terra, a determined Riku resolves to make his inner darkness his own power for good and makes Ansem become part of his light, and fights back. Ultimately, Riku prevails and returns to The World That Never Was at Memory's Skyscraper, and heads to the Castle That Never Was to save Sora. To reach the castle, he needs to use his Dream Eater powers together with his Komory Bat and Sora's Meow Wow, the ones he still has because Sora is still asleep.

At Where Nothing Gathers, Riku finds the unconscious Sora, but is blocked from him by Young Xehanort, claiming that Riku originally meant to be the twelfth intended vessel, but since he built a resistance to darkness, Sora was forced to replace him. Additionally, Roxas was also failed to be usable, since he reunited with Sora. Despite the two Keyblade Wielders' interference, they have enough members for their plan. The cloaked members of the True Organizaion XIII materialize on the thrones, and Young Xehanort preapres himself to become Master Xehanort. King Mickey interrupts and freezes the group with Stopza, but Young Xehanort recovers and knocks him away, summoning a Keyblade and causing Mickey to realize that Master Xehanort has transferred his consciousness to his younger self. Young Xehanort teleports Riku to an arena and battles him, but is defeated. Upon Riku's defeat of Young Xehanort, Mickey's spell breaks and Master Xehanort reforms.

Master Xehanort announces his plans to create the χ-blade again, after his experiment with Ven and Vanitas proved a failure. The true χ-blade shattered into seven lights and thirteen darknesses at the end of the Keyblade War, and Master Xehanort will now recreate it by infusing thirteen vessels of darkness and clashing them with seven lights. Master Xehanort then prepares to turn Sora into his final vessel as Xemnas and Ansem subdue Riku and Mickey. However, Lea arrives and protects Sora. Much to Lea's shock, Saïx attacks Lea during the encounter. Surprised, both Riku and Mickey escape, but Ansem summons his Guardian, who grabs Riku and Mickey. Fortunately, the Guardian is defeated by Donald and Goofy, who arrive via Mickey's old Star Shard.

As the members of the Organization begin to fade into darkness, Master Xehanort noting that the time afforded to them by Young Xehanort's time travel has expired and they must now return to their proper places in time. However, his revival has been a success, and in time, he remains confident that the pieces for his plan will show themselves. Master Xehanort departs, and Riku and the group retrieve Sora and return to the Mysterious Tower.

Dream Eaters

 * Note that the Ghostabocky Nightmares appear in the Walk of Illusions only until Riku has unlocked the entire bridge.