Xigbar

Xigbar, the Freeshooter (魔弾の射手), is the Nobody of Braig, Rank II within the original Organization XIII and a member of the real Organization XIII. He is a supporting antagonist in Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III. Xigbar has power over space, and he uses this to freely redirect the projectiles fired from his twin Arrowguns, as well as to alter the battlefield. He commands the Sniper Nobodies.

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar is featured as a playable character in Mission Mode. In an interview, Tetsuya Nomura said that "Xigbar's attacks have a high range, but he has slow reloading time." He also said Xigbar is his favorite character to play as in Mission Mode.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days


Xigbar was formed when his original persona, Braig, and the other five apprentices dabbled too deep into darkness through their continued experiments. Braig found Even and Ienzo lying lifelessly on the ground inside Ansem's computer room, and he was surprised by Xehanort, who summoned No Name and proceeded to stab him in the chest, extracting his heart. In his last moments, Braig asked if the man before him truly was the Master Xehanort he knew, only to be scoffed at, as his attacker preferred to be called "Ansem." Although his heart would go on to become a Heartless, Braig's strong will enabled his body to continue existing as the Nobody Xigbar. The Nobodies of the six apprentices formed Organization XIII, and they banished Ansem the Wise to the Realm of Darkness. Because of his original self's strong ties to Master Xehanort, Xigbar was aware of the true purpose of Organization XIII.

Xigbar found and inducted Marluxia into the Organization. After his return to the Castle That Never Was, he dropped in on Zexion to find out what he knew about Xemnas's private room in the Chamber of Repose, hinting that it is part of pair with a rumored "Chamber of Waking" that lies within the Organization's new headquarters at Castle Oblivion.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Present when Xion joins the Organization, Xigbar is shocked when Demyx reveals the eliminations that took place at Castle Oblivion. Later joining Roxas on a recon mission to Agrabah, they overhear Aladdin and Jasmine discussing the rebuilding of their city after many sandstorms strike. Xigbar also tells Roxas that while Heartless leave a heart behind when destroyed, there is nothing left when a Nobody perishes. On a recon mission to Olympus Coliseum, Xigbar tells Roxas about how Nobodies come into existence, and that they are looking to refill the empty seats left by the demise of the Castle Oblivion team. Xigbar later challenges Roxas at Olympus Coliseum when he first enters the Games, claiming to "care about his future." The fight is cut short when the Guard Armor appears. During a mission in Halloween Town, Xigbar takes it upon himself to teach Roxas a "hard and valuable lesson" by letting him vanquish a Heartless that was not their target; he then saves Roxas from an attack by Chill Ripper, their real target.

Xigbar meets with Xemnas and Saïx in Where Nothing Gathers several times to discuss the defaulting Xion before challenging "Poppet" himself in Wonderland. Xigbar then sees Xion as Ventus, and Xion is able to quickly strike Xigbar down with the power she was unknowingly sapping from Roxas. While Xemnas and Saïx are annoyed when Xion defects, Xigbar is only amused.

Kingdom Hearts II


Not long after arriving in Hollow Bastion and reuniting with Aerith, Leon, and Yuffie, Sora engages a number of Dusk Nobodies in battle around the city. After being led away from the main town, Sora, Goofy, and Donald hear voices mocking them, but they can't find their source. After Sora demands that the sources of the voices show themselves, the remaining Organization members 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 hooded, stays behind to taunt Sora further, and compares the glare Sora gives him to the way Ventus used to look at him. Sora dismisses his words as babble, and Xigbar returns to the World That Never Was. As the Organization discusses whether Sora is strong enough to slay Heartless for them, Xigbar assures them that Sora is clearly pure of heart, and calls Demyx on trying to excuse his own laziness.

After the Battle of the 1000 Heartless, the members meet again to discuss whether Sora can still be controlled, now that he knows the Organization is using him. Xigbar posits that Sora's altruism will ensure that he continues to slay Heartless, and expresses concern that Xaldin's desire to beat Sora into submission will endanger their plans.

Xigbar then travels to The Land of Dragons, where he transforms a dragon into the Storm Rider Heartless to harvest hearts for the Organization. Sora runs into a hooded Xigbar at the gates to The Emperor's throne room and confuses him with Riku, but Xigbar reveals himself and summons several Snipers to distract Sora as he vanishes.

After Axel sacrifices himself to save Sora, Xigbar waits in Where Nothing Gathers and voices confusion at what Axel was trying to achieve.

Later, Sora and his friends storm the Castle That Never Was, and are held up by a swarm of Heartless summoned by Saïx in the Hall of Empty Melodies, just as Kairi, Riku, Maleficent, and Pete arrive in two more groups. Xigbar unleashes a rain of bullets from above to destroy the Heartless surrounding Sora. He attempts to confuse Sora by criticizing his skill and treating him as if he were Roxas, then engages him in battle. Though he is defeated by Sora, but as he fades into darkness, he continues to mock Sora's ignorance of Roxas.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
With the destruction of his Heartless and Nobody, Braig is revived as a human at the Heartless Manufactory, alongside the other former members of the Organization. Young Xehanort arrives and wakes Braig before the others, and the two decide to take Isa with them in order to further Master Xehanort's plans to create the real Organization XIII.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance


By the time Sora reaches The World That Never Was, Braig has once again become his Nobody, Xigbar, and makes his entrance to Sora. He explains that the new Organization had secretly arranged for Sora's journey through the Sleeping Worlds to bring him to their domain, and hands the reins to Young Xehanort as the youth places Sora in a deep sleep.

Later, as Sora reaches the edge of the dreamlike Dark City, Xigbar and Xemnas confront him again, explaining to the boy that the true purpose of Organization XIII was to gather thirteen potential vessels for Xehanort's heart, and provokes Sora's shock by revealing that he is already a completed vessel. When Sora resolves to fight the two Organization members, a livid Xigbar leaves Xemnas to deal with Sora.

Later, at Where Nothing Gathers, Xigbar is in attendance as Master Xehanort returns and attempts to make Sora his final vessel. However, they are interrupted by the arrival of Lea, Donald, and Goofy, resulting in the expiration of the Organization's allotted time. As the time-travelling members retreat to their rightful points in time, Master Xehanort and the Nobodies, including Xigbar, flee elsewhere.

Kingdom Hearts III
Xigbar informs the Organization of the black box's existence, prompting their search for it, but declines to provide any additional details.

During Sora's visit to Olympus, following a particularly fraught rescue in a collapsing building, Xigbar intrudes on Sora and company, who taunts Sora that he will never recover his power like Hercules did, insinuating that Sora cannot recover his power without endangering others. Nevertheless, he is cryptically supportive of Sora, pushing him to keep looking for his lost power. Later, he observes as Maleficent and Pete, following faulty information from Hades, dig up Pandora's Box instead of the Black Box, feeling disappointed that it was the not the same box.

Sometime after, Xigbar arrives in Twilight Town and cautions Ansem and Xemnas against sharing too much of their plans with Sora.

After Sora manages to destroy the Demon Tide in the Keyblade Graveyard, Xigbar confronts them alongside Dark Riku and instructs his colleague to hold them off, then retreats. However, Sora and Riku shortly catch up to the pair at the Skein of Severance, where they manage to vanquish both darknesses. Faking his termination, Xigbar claims that he would have won had he the Keyblade that Xehanort promised him, to the Guardians' protests, then throws himself off a wall into the canyon below.

After Master Xehanort's ultimate defeat and the departure of the Guardians, Xigbar returns to claim the resurfaced black box and his ancient No Name Keyblade, just as Ira, Aced, Invi, and Gula return to the world, having been summoned by the realization of the Keyblade War and the opening of Kingdom Hearts. He identifies himself as their erstwhile companion, Luxu, and affirms that events have transpired just as the Master had foretold. He remarks on Ava's absence, claiming that like him, she has fulfilled her true role.

Design
Xigbar wears the usual Organization garb of a black cloak, black boots, and black gloves, though his cloak is distinguished by its more pointed, sagging shoulders. The sleeves of his cloak are also somewhat closer-fitting than normal, though not as close as those on Axel's cloak. In terms of facial features, Xigbar sports gold eyes, pointed ears, upturned eyebrows, and dark hair with several grey streaks that is tied into a long ponytail. His gold eye and pointed ears are traits that he gained due to harboring a fragment of Master Xehanort's heart, which he accepted during his time as Braig. The grey streaks in his hair, which is also considerably longer than Braig's and worn tied back, are the primary indicators of his status as a Nobody, as these traits were lost upon his reunion with his original heart.

Xigbar's right eye is badly damaged and covered with a black eyepatch. He also has a large, jagged scar extending from his left cheek to just under his left eye. His original self, Braig, received these injuries when he fought the Keyblade wielder Terra in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Personality
Xigbar is laid-back and cocky, taking pleasure in taunting his opponents. When not on missions, he occasionally enjoys eavesdropping on his fellow Organization members. In the English version of the series, Xigbar speaks with a stereotypical surfer accent, emphasizing his extremely casual attitude, and habitually uses the phrase "As if." He relies heavily on instinct as well as intelligence, making him adaptable and unpredictable in battle. He is described by Roxas as being difficult to trick.

Xigbar is one of the more genial members of the Organization, alongside Axel and Demyx, due to his fondness for wisecracks and sarcasm. He is rarely serious, even making sarcastic quips during battle. Like Demyx, Xigbar has given several members of Organization XIII nicknames, calling Roxas "kiddo" or "tiger", Xion "Poppet", and Axel "Flamesilocks". Despite this, Xigbar seems to care very little for his fellow Organization members, such as displaying casual indifference when he tells Roxas that what had happened to the members stationed at Castle Oblivion and even states that he is glad the castle is quieter. In the Organization's final meeting, Xigbar jokingly remarks that there are more free seats. Xigbar does show a degree of empathy on occasion, especially towards Xion when she failed to defeat the Organization's "impostor".

Despite his high rank, Xigbar is not given high authority like Saïx or Marluxia, and is instead sent on missions against Sora. He does, however, maintain a position of importance in the Organization due to his past with Xehanort, and is privy to information about the Organization's leader that few others know. Xigbar has a habit of divulging relatively important information to his enemies through his taunts, though he is typically vague enough that they do not understand his meaning, namely his numerous comments to Sora about Ventus and Roxas. Xigbar does not seem to be intimidated by Xemnas as some other Organization members are, going so far as to spy on him in the Chamber of Repose. Xigbar considers Roxas to be a traitor, like the rest of the Organization.

Unlike the other Organization members, Xigbar does not express fear or remorse while fading into darkness, instead chuckling rather triumphantly and giving Sora a cocky reply to the final question Sora asks him. Given his general knowledge of Xehanort's plans and his subsequent return, Xigbar may have known beforehand that he would be restored.

However, it is revealed that Xigbar's personality is an entire ruse and that he is a vessel of the heart of Luxu, who put on the facade in order to get close to Xehanort and make certain that his plan to enact a second Keyblade War and summon Kingdom Hearts comes to pass, as per the role given to him by the Master of Masters.

Abilities
Xigbar strikes his enemies from a distance, attacking with rapid barrages of laser bullets. He uses space manipulation to teleport, warp his shots, and levitate upside down, making him agile and difficult to hit. Xigbar can open spatial rifts to redirect the shots he fires, enhancing his accuracy. Xigbar possesses deadly aim, as seen in Kingdom Hearts II, when he destroys a group of Heartless surrounding Sora, Donald, and Goofy without harming any of the protagonists even once.

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar has a Limit Break called Critical Snipe, in which he fires massive energy bullets at enemies, using an over-the-shoulder third-person-shooter mode to aim. His Final Limit shoots orbs of coloured energy.

Weapon
Xigbar wields two ranged weapons called Arrowguns; the main model he wields is called Sharpshooter. The top of each weapon bears a pattern similar to the Nobody symbol. They are purple, strangely shaped weapons resembling crossbows, and shoot red laser arrows which bend towards a target. Xigbar can create wormholes to direct his shots. The shots can be rebounded at Xigbar using the Keyblade's "Guard" ability. During Xigbar's desperation attack, the Arrowguns are able to fire a massive, rapid-fire stream of powerful rounds, which glow blue rather than red. When held together and charged, the Arrowguns can fire a massive, blue energy arrow that ricochets around the area, and can be angled to hit an enemy multiple times. After several attacks, the Arrowguns need to be reloaded.

The Arrowguns can be combined together into a makeshift sniper rifle with deadly accuracy. When Kingdom Hearts II was released in North America, one of the main changes in the game was made to Xigbar's Arrowguns. 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 and Europe. Xigbar no longer creates his sniper rifle, and instead, he simply spins his guns around, using one gun as a balance to steady the gun with which he snipes. The first person HUD display was changed as well, to make it less realistic. Xigbar's sniper rifle was later brought back for Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, despite keeping many changes from the English versions, and was retained in the English release of the game in the HD 2.5 ReMIX bundle. Interestingly, the Japanese HUD display is decorated with a black silhouette of Xigbar's individual Arrowguns in each of the four cardinal directions.

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar combines his twin Arrowguns into one during his Limit Break, this kept in the English adaption as well, as it lacks the targeting graphic featured in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.

In Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance, Xigbar utilizes his sniper rifle once more in a cutscenes while confronting Sora. The rifle, as well as the scope HUD, were both retained in the English release.

After the defeat of Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts III, Xigbar reclaims his No Name Keyblade.

Trivia

 * Despite Xigbar appearing as a major antagonist in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Hōchū Ōtsuka and James Patrick Stuart are only credited for voicing Braig in the game's opening scene, and Xigbar's name does not appear at all in the credits.

Notes and references
Xigbar