Guardian

The Guardian is an Emblem Heartless that is found in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

Design
A Guardian is a large, dark grey, funnel-shaped, mechanical Heartless with a diamond-shaped opening in its front, exposing its glowing, yellow eyes. Two dark grey, diamond-shaped guns are mounted on either side of its body. Each of these guns sports a red, pyramidal spike on both of its ends. There is a black ring that acts somewhat like a gyroscope hovering around its base, despite not being directly connected to the Heartless. This ring bears a vague resemblance to the top half of the Nobody symbol. The Guardian has a red spike on the top of its head, and its Heartless emblem is just below the opening for its eyes.

A "guardian" is a being that watches over or protects another. This may reference its similar appearance to the Watcher Heartless, or, because of its greater power, the fact that it "guards" its weaker relatives.

Strategy
Guardians can be a tad tricky to defeat during early missions of the game, but they become easier to destroy as the player levels up. They do not possess a lot of HP, so offensive magic and aerial combos are highly recommended for use. They have only one attack, shooting a single long-ranged laser in the player's direction. This tactic has a chance of dealing the Null-Defense status effect, but it can be easily avoided through the use of Dodge Roll. So long as the player uses offense and defense in a balanced manner, Guardians should fall relatively easily. They have a chance of dropping rare Shining Shards when defeated, but also appear with several Watchers in the first encounter with one. For this match, the player should use aerial combos in order to eliminate the lesser Heartless before pursuing the Guardian.