Xehanort

Master Xehanort is a Keyblade Master and the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Unlike his old classmate and friend, Master Eraqus, who has three apprentices, Master Xehanort only has one apprentice, the enigmatic Vanitas. He was also the first person to use the Heartless.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Master Xehanort was once an islander from Destiny Islands, who had a dream of leaving the islands on his own. Years later, he found a way to leave his home world and become a Keyblade warrior, and during his life as a warrior, he befriended another Keybearer named Eraqus, and started training his own apprentice named Ventus.

However, as years went by, Xehanort started to change. He became sinister and was determined to figure out the mysteries of the heart. He experimented on Ventus, using the Heartless to hold him down while Xehanort unlocked his heart and created Vanitas, Ventus's darkness incarnate.

Xehanort decided to drop what was left of Ven on his old home, Destiny Islands. However, Ven still seemed to have a consciousness, summoning his Keyblade in his sleep. Xehanort felt pity for his former apprentice, so he left Ven in the hands of his old friend, Eraqus, to train Ven and make him into a Keyblade Master.

Appearance
Master Xehanort appears to be an old man, bald except for thin eyebrows and a long silver goatee. His ears are pointed and his eyes are yellow. He has broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back. He overall appears as a somewhat feeble old man, certainly deceiving given his absolute power.

His attire is nearly identical to the clothes that Xehanort's Heartless wears in Kingdom Hearts, namely, a white and black cloak with a red inner lining, a white shirt, black boots and white gloves. The only major difference in appearance between them is that Xehanort's Heartless has his chest bared, along with his emblem on the front, while Master Xehanort does not. There are a few minor changes as well - Xehanort's Heartless's cloak has a gold lining on the edges, while Master Xehanort's cloak has black ones. The similarities in appearance, along with his name, have given rise to immense speculation to a connection between the two.

Abilities
Despite his bent and fragile appearance, Master Xehanort seems to be one of the most powerful figures to appear in the Kingdom Hearts universe and also has the ability to wield his own Keyblade, which has a black/silver finish, a spiky shaft, a head resembling the blade of a battle axe, and bears some similarities to the Oblivion Keyblade. He is clearly a very powerful mage and possesses exceptional physical strength. With his magical abilities he is able to make massive columns of earth erupt from the ground and has also been shown to be able to lift hundreds of Keyblades from the ground with a powerful manipulation of wind, creating a destructive vortex which moves at his will. His ice magic not only damages on impact, but also spreads through Terra's left arm freezing it in the process. After grabbing Ventus by the head with a single hand and crushing his helmet he instantly froze his entire body although it appears to have been only externally as he was still conscious and moved his eyes.

He also displayed the ability to either teleport or move at an extreme speed as he appeared to have vanished when Ven attempted to slash him from the back. His skill with the Keyblade is also impressive. He deflected Terra's powerful strikes effortlessly and is able to wield it with either hand. He also has an as-of-yet unexplained ability involving the Keyblade. He can turn it into a ball of blue-purple energy that can be fired into the sky and apparently summons Kingdom Hearts.

Trivia

 * Tetsuya Nomura stated the relationship between Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus is something like old classmates.
 * Master Xehanort will be voiced by Chikao Ohtuska, the real-life father of Akio Ohtsuka, the Japanese voice actor of Xehanort and Xehanort's Heartless.
 * Master Xehanort is the second voice acting role that Chikao Ohtsuka has done for Kingdom Hearts, the first one being Captain Hook.
 * Master Xehanort has a tendency to turn away from the people he speaks to, as displayed when he speaks to Terra, Vanitas, and Master Eraqus.