Radiant Garden


 * This article is about the world. For the castle itself, see Hollow Bastion.
 * For the article about the mines below the castle, see Cavern of Remembrance.

The Radiant Garden (レイディアントガーデン) is a world in Kingdom Hearts II. However, it appears in the other two games as Hollow Bastion, the castle which lies in the center of the world. The rest of the world is destroyed in those two games. The world itself was named Hollow Bastion during Xehanort's Heartless and Maleficent's reign of the castle. It regains its name in Kingdom Hearts II after Tron finds a record of it in the computer's database and shows everyone what the town looked like when it started out. Everyone from the Radiant Garden remembers the name.

In Kingdom Hearts II, the Radiant Garden plays a similar role to Traverse Town from Kingdom Hearts, as a sort of "home base" for Sora.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
It has been confirmed that the Radiant Garden will make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Terra and Ven are at the cliffs of the world. Terra states that some time ago Ven saved him. Ven replies that it was the natural thing to do because they're friends. At the Great Maw, Terra, carrying an unconscious Ven, tells someone (who it was wasn't shown) that he doesn't care about becoming master and, as he summons his Keyblade, that he uses his power for his friends. In the new TGS 2009 trailer for the game, Ven is shown encountering Even, Dilan, and Aeleus in Radiant Garden. Dilan and Aeleus block Ven's way with their respective weapons, exclaiming that he can not enter the castle, and Even glances at Ven, saying that they might have some sort of connection in the future (it was also shown Ienzo was standing there when he said this). Terra is also shown to be fighting Braig who somehow managed to capture Master Xehanort and claims he is better suited to wield the Keyblade. Aqua, Terra and Ven have been shown fighting an Unversed in the town of this world. Ansem the Wise could also appear in this world, but has not yet been shown.

Story Between Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Hollow Bastion was once a glorious castle towering over the Radiant Garden and owned by a respectful king, Ansem the Wise. Much of the history of the castle is unknown, other than that Ansem ruled from it. However, eventually Ansem's apprentice Xehanort overthrew his former mentor, and remodeled the castle to include mechanical components. The result was a twisted bastion; half beautiful castle, half distorted factory. According to Leon, Maleficent invaded Hollow Bastion's world with her Heartless nine years before the events of Kingdom Hearts. Some residents managed to escape, many of whom ended up in Traverse Town. However, the youngest known resident, Kairi, was sent into the oceans of the worlds by Xehanort and ended up in Destiny Islands. During her reign in the castle as one of Ansem's minions, it is probable that Maleficent either created or remodeled the castle's keep, which has decorations and models of roses and her thorned plants.

First Visit
Sora and his friends reunite with Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid, who have started the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, an organization attempting to rebuild the world that they once lived in. After reuniting with Merlin as well, Leon makes Sora, Donald, and Goofy honorary members of the committee and takes them to view the restoration work on the Bailey. There, after a surprise attack, the party has their first real encounter with Organization XIII in the form of taunts and cryptic messages. After defending the town from Nobodies and unlocking the pathway to other worlds via his committee card, Sora heads out to search for King Mickey and Riku.

The party returns briefly to visit and assist Merlin, who has a surprise: Pooh's book, the entrance to the 100 Acre Wood. However, a raid by Heartless damages the book when they try to steal it from Sora's group, leading to Pooh's amnesia and the search for the book's Torn Pages.

Second Visit
When the party is called again to Hollow Bastion, they reunite with Cloud, who vows to go after Sephiroth. They then are sent by Cid and Merlin to assist Leon in the Bastion itself; along the way, they meet the Gullwings for the first time. After reaching the Bastion, they first see Ansem's study and are introduced to his seemingly malfunctioning computer system after a brief encounter with Tifa. After an unplanned trip to Space Paranoids courtesy of Stitch, they finally meet with the King in Ansem's study, who promises to talk after they finish helping Tron. Sora and his party copy Tron's scrambled data, finding out about Ansem the Wise.

Mickey explains about Ansem the Wise, his impostor, and the Heartless and Nobodies that resulted, most notably Xemnas. While he explains many things to them, Sora learns that the King can't tell him about Riku. He charges them to go find the missing Riku and Kairi, but there is a sudden explosion outside the Bastion. Heartless and Nobodies are pouring through a hole blown in the outer wall. Sora's party encounter Maleficent, who orders her Heartless to attack, and the Gullwings, who they trick into joining Leon's side. They also find Sephiroth, looking to fight Cloud.

The party makes their way to the Bailey, where they witness the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, the Gullwings, Cloud, and Tifa's attempts to stop the Heartless, as well as an encounter between Cloud and Sephiroth. Mickey orders them to find Riku and Kairi instead of fighting the Heartless, but Sora refuses and leaps into the fray, joined by Donald and Goofy. Their first encounter is with Demyx, who attempts to eliminate Sora again. However, Sora and his group take out Demyx for good. Mickey catches up with them and admits his earlier decision was hasty. An explosion caused by a Heartless causes a boulder to fly at Mickey; Goofy takes the blow instead and is seemingly killed. Spurred on by his sacrifice, the three jump into the battle, assisted by the other residents of Hollow Bastion. Goofy is alright in the end and reunites with them; together, they work to halt the Heartless invasion.

They are triumphant in the end, but are confronted by Xemnas and Saïx, who reveals, with help from Axel, Organization XIII's master plot. Maleficent appears and attempts to claim Kingdom Hearts for her own. She helps Sora escape so he can help her find a way to get rid of the Nobodies by sending him and his friends into the Realm of Darkness. There, they find the two clues needed to unlock the identity of Roxas, as well as the way to unlock the second set of adventures in each World.

Third Visit
On the third and final main visit to Hollow Bastion, the Master Control Program has taken over Cid and Ansem the Wise's computers, causing the claymores in Hollow Bastion to go crazy and attack the residents. Sora, Donald, and Goofy go into Space Paranoids to contact Tron while Cid works on a program to delete the MCP. When downloaded into Tron, the party is able to retake control of Hollow Bastion's computers and restore order. In addition, Tron finds information on Ansem's data of Hollow Bastion's existence before the Heartless came, then reveals it to all residents, reminding everyone its true name and nature: the Radiant Garden.

The Town
Sora first arrives in the Radiant Garden (still known as Hollow Bastion at the time) at the Marketplace where all the shops are located. Down the stairs past the item shop is the Borough, which seems to be a residential area and where Merlin's House is located. It's also the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee's base of operations and leads to the world 100 Acre Wood.

If you continue, you will come across the Bailey which at first allows a look of the Villain's Vale and access to the Restoration Site. After the events of your first journey to Space Paranoids, the Bailey is changed, with the outer wall of the city broken down and you can walk to the Castle Gate.

If you go to the Restoration Site, you will find equipment to restore the city. It is also changed after your first visit to Space Paranoids, which allows you to get two new treasures. At the end of the Restoration Site you will find the Postern. The Postern leads to the Corridors under the castle which lead to Ansem's study. Ansem's study includes of his desk and personal library and his computer room. Ansem's study leads to the world Space Paranoids and the Heartless Manufactory.

Outside of the Town
If you go to the Castle Gate from the Bailey, a old gate that is similar to the one in Kingdom Hearts. From the Castle Gate, you will reach the long and winding Ravine Trail that eventually leads to the Crystal Fissure, a small cave-like area with glowing crystals. This leads to The Great Maw, a large area where the Battle of the 1000 Heartless is fought. The next and last area is the Dark Depths where you can fight Sephiroth after your third and final visit.



Villain's Vale
From here you have a view of the Villain's Vale which is an unreachable in Kingdom Hearts II. It acts as a base of operations for Maleficent and her forces of darkness. After learning that Maleficent was killed, Pete showed up here, to see if it was true. He found an empty fortress, but was soon greeted by a Diablo and a resurrected Maleficent. She begins to use it as a base of operations, even though now there are only two in her league.

When Sora and co. first arrive in Hollow Bastion, at the base of the Vale is a swarm of Shadow Heartless. Leon and the rest of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee wish to restore the city but need to get rid of the Heartless first. After the Battle of the 1000 Heartless, the base of the Vale is no longer surrounded by Heartless. The Heartless were probably amassed together by Maleficent and Pete for their army and then used to attack Hollow Bastion. The Heartless, however, sided with Organization XIII and did not finish attacking the city.

Villain's Vale appears in several flashbacks (or rather, flashforwards) seen in Timeless River. As Maleficent treats Pete badly after his failure, the latter begins wishing he could return to the old days when he captained the Steamboat Willie. In response, the worlds gave Pete a doorway to his past to atone for his mistakes. He shows the door to Maleficent, who orders him to go to the past and destroy the Cornerstone of Light so that they may take control of Disney Castle in the present.

The fortress also acts as the driving force of most of Maleficent's actions during this game. After losing Hollow Bastion to the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, she deems the crumbling fortress unworthy, and begins searching for a new, grander castle in which to rule, setting her sights on both Disney Castle and the Castle that Never Was.

Cavern of Remembrance
In Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix, new areas are added including the Cavern of Remembrance and the Garden of Assemblage (where data of defeated Organization XIII members can be accessed and fought against). These areas can be accessed from a new hole in the Postern. Alternatively, after completing all stages in the Cavern of Remembrance, the Garden of Assemblage can be accessed via an entrance hewn out of the rock in the left side of the Restoration Site, thus saving players the trouble of scaling the mineshaft in the Cavern of Remembrance.

Heartless
Devastator, Magnum Loader and Strafer only appear in the Radiant Garden's streets during the time when the MCP has gained control of the town's defense systems.

Trivia

 * Although Kairi and Ansem the Wise, two characters original to the Kingdom Hearts series, called this world home at some point, this world can be looked at as the only world based on Final Fantasy in the series as most Final Fantasy characters in the game are originally from here. Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are presumably from Disney Castle originally.
 * This is the only world that ever changes its name.
 * Radiant Garden as seen in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep has an uncanny resemblence to a Final Fantasy VIII Garden.
 * The castle overlooking Radiant Garden vaguely resembles the Castle That Never Was.