Absent Silhouette

An Absent Silhouette (アブセント・シルエット) is a phantom version of one of the five Organization XIII members who were eliminated at Castle Oblivion in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories: Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene. They appear in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix as a set of optional bosses, and, upon defeat, relinquish a Lost Illusion and a synthesis Recipe that allows the Moogles to craft an item resembling the defeated Organization member's signature weapon. Defeating an Absent Silhouette also allows Sora to challenge his or her Organization XIII's Replica Data at the Garden of Assemblage.

Story
After Sora and company have a brief brush with Demyx in the Cave of the Dead: Inner Chamber, a ghostly sphere appears, emblazoned with the image of a Lexicon titled Absent Silhouettes, but they decide not to mess with it. Later, after the group faces Demyx's water forms in the Underworld Caverns: Atrium, the Nobody retreats, but he reappears before they can move on to the Lock. He tells them about Absent Silhouettes, which he describes as "shadowy presences of those who were slain." He explains that they can take many forms, and that even though they are only shadowy presences, Sora can face them in battle.

The Absent Silhouette initially appears as a dark sphere depicting a silhouette of the slain member's weapon, with thornbeams and wisps of the respective member's element circling around it. When Sora accepts an Absent Silhouette's challenge, it warps him, as well as Donald and Goofy, to the location that the Organization member it represents was defeated, then takes on the form of its respective Organization member before commencing the battle.

Gameplay
Though they serve as rematches with bosses from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, each Absent Silhouette has a vastly different fighting style than in that game. For example, in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Larxene throws her Foudre and Zexion uses his Book of Retribution to create doppelgangers of himself using skills stolen from his opponent, while in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Larxene's Absent Silhouette creates clones of herself for speedy attacks from multiple directions and Zexion's Absent Silhouette uses the Book of Retribution to trap his prey in a pocket dimension. The Absent Silhouettes do not speak at all; instead they simply grumble, grunt, laugh, or cry out when hit or when they perform their attacks.


 * 1) Vexen's Absent Silhouette is fought at the 11th Floor facsimile of the Old Mansion, and it relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Road to Discovery Recipe. The portal to the battle appears in The Peddler's Shop after the shop is remodeled during Sora's second visit to Agrabah.
 * 2) Lexaeus's Absent Silhouette is fought at the Station of Remembrance, and it relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Strength Beyond Strength Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at the Sandlot after Sora defeats the Nobodies there on his second visit to Twilight Town.
 * 3) Zexion's Absent Silhouette is fought at the 3rd Basement Floor facsimile of Destiny Islands, and it relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Book of Shadows Recipe. The portal to the battle appears in the Cave of the Dead: Inner Chamber upon reaching it during Sora's first visit to the Olympus Coliseum.
 * 4) Marluxia's Absent Silhouette is fought at the Station of Oblivion, and it relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Eternal Blossom Recipe. The portal to the battle appears in The Beast's Room after Beast asks Belle and Sora to leave his castle.
 * 5) Larxene's Absent Silhouette is fought at the Station of Remembrance, and it relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Cloaked Thunder Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at the Isla de Muerta: Rock Face after Sora lands at Isla de Muerta during his first visit after the gunpowder battle on the Interceptor.

Unversed Remnants
In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, the Vanitas Remnant and the Battle Mission Unversed appear throughout the worlds. Like the Absent Silhouettes, the Vanitas Remnant initially appears as a dark sphere depicting the Keychain of the Void Gear, and the Battle Mission Unversed appear as dark spheres depicting the Unversed emblem. However, the spheres are only surrounded by wisps of darkness, without any thornbeams.

Notes and references
Absent Silhouettes Absent Silhouette Abwesende Silhouetten