Darkside

The Darkside is a Pureblood Heartless that is found in all Kingdom Hearts games. It is one of the bosses at the Awakening, Destiny Islands, End of the World, and Twilight Town. It is associated with the theme "Destiny's Force," which plays during each of its encounters, except in its appearance in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, in which "Struggle Away" is played.

Design
A Darkside is a massive, muscular, humanoid Heartless with black skin. Its legs are rather short and its feet are very thin and curl upward. Its arms are quite long, and it has two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. There is a large, heart-shaped hole in the Heartless’s abdominal area, which penetrates straight through from the front to the back. Its head is covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles. Only its small, glowing yellow eyes are visible. In Kingdom Hearts, Darkside had a flap of skin where the heart on its body creases at the top, whereas in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories this flap of skin was removed for unknown reasons.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
In the ending of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Aqua is seen wandering in the Realm of Darkness. A Darkside rises before her, several more appearing around her as well. Aqua summons Master Eraqus's Keyblade, but loses hope and decides to let the darkness consume her. As one of the Darksides prepare to attack, two shimmering lights destroy them. Closer examination shows that the lights are Terra and Ventus's Keyblades, Earthshaker and Wayward Wind. Aqua then looks on as the Keyblades disappear from sight.

Kingdom Hearts
As Sora progressed through the Awakening, his shadow eventually grew into the Darkside. Sora attacks the giant, but is eventually sucked into its darkness. The Heartless later attacked the Destiny Islands after the Door to Darkness was opened, eventually being sucked up into a dark cloud that loomed above the islands, whereas Sora was sucked up along with it and transported to Traverse Town. A Darkside later rose up from the ground below and interfered with the battle between Sora and Ansem at End of the World. Sora also glimpsed a number of Darksides within the Door to Darkness before they were destroyed by King Mickey.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
The Darkside is fought in Twilight Town (during a mission involving Roxas and Xion) in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. After Roxas depleted its HP, he found himself strangely weakened, his Keyblade knocked from his grasp. The blade reappeared in Xion's hands, and then she destroyed the massive Heartless in a single strike.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Sora fights the Darkside in the card world Destiny Islands, with the Heartless appearing in a way very similar as it did in the first Kingdom Hearts. When Riku enters the card world, he too faces it, Zexion creating a replica of Riku and transforming it into the Darkside to show Riku what he "truly was."

Kingdom Hearts II
A Darkside appears in Roxas's dreams of Sora's memories.

Kingdom Hearts coded
A data version of the Darkside appears in Kingdom Hearts coded, which is battled by Data-Sora.

Strategies
A Darkside uses its size and strength as well as its height to overpower opponents. It can punch the ground, creating a pool of darkness, summoning Shadows to assist it in battle. It can also fire blasts of dark energy from its chest. Its powerful desperation move involves pulling a dark energy orb out of the ground and launching it into the sky, causing it to fall to the ground as smaller energy blasts


 * Attacks
 * Darkside punches the ground, causing a dark pool and mild shockwave to form. This attack gives birth to a small number of Shadows.
 * Darkside scoops up an orb of darkness, which splits into many smaller orbs that rain from the sky.
 * Darkside creates a dark force in the heart-shaped hole in its body, which fires homing dark missiles. These can be dodged by standing behind the massive Heartless, or reflected back at the Darkside for major damage.

Darkside is an easy-medium boss, and can be defeated very quickly. Its weaknesses are its head and hands. This is simply a hack-and-slash battle, with no real strategy needed. Simply attack at every opportunity and avoid Darkside's attacks. If you get low on health, defeat the Shadows that spawn as they drop HP orbs, or use Cure. If you can climb Darkside's arm and attack its head, you gain tech points for every combo finisher landed.
 * Kingdom Hearts

This memory-based incarnation of the Darkside utilizes the same tactics as its Kingdom Hearts counterpart, Card Breaks an easy way to avoid damage. Again the player must attack the arms to deal damage, Sora having to jump in order for this to be done. If a Gimmick Card appears, a plank of driftwood will appear that Sora can hop upon and float up to the Darkside's head on to deal extra damage. A combination of high-numbered Attack Cards as well as Cure Cards are recommended.
 * Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

This strategy holds similar to Riku's battle with the Darkside. Riku can utilize Dark Mode, Dark Firaga being the most reliable Sleight in his arsenal, considering he only has two. Dark Break can be used more commonly, but it will often miss. It does have a tendency to hit the head, however. It should be noted that Sleights should not be abused by either Sora or Riku, as missing with them wastes much-needed cards, and the player will eventually run out.

This strategy can be used in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, the only difference being the Gimmick Card causes large plateaus to spawn.

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Roxas is also faced with the Darkside, having Xion as a partner. Xion will mainly cast Fire spells from a distance, so focus on attacking the Heartless's hands. It utilizes all techniques from past encounters, the same tactics able to be used in order to prevent most damage. The same strategies can be used, but it is advised that the player Jump as much as possible to avoid the Darkside's devastating long-range shockwave attack, used after many of its tactics. Roxas should also be in constant motion to avoid the energy that rains down, using Block to deflect the energy balls back at the boss. This battle should not be too much of a difficulty.
 * Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Its attacks always follow a pattern, starting with summoning the Shadows and ending with the dark balls falling from the sky. The pattern goes on until it is defeated.

In this battle, the Darkside will have three forms. Data-Sora will be standing on a cliff, out of reach of the Darkside. When it punches the ground, a purple aura will appear as three Shadows form. Attack the hand and deal with the Shadows later. After you deplete its HP, it will rise to its next stage.
 * Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

In this form, the Darkside will be covered in a layer of bugged blox. As it punches down on the ground, several blox will fly out and hit you. Aim for the hand and attack the layer of blox covering it and strike it with your might. If you're not quick enough, the hand will turn transparent, and you cannot land an attack on it. However, when you do, the Darkside will slump foward and its head will lay stunned, within your reach. Attack it with your Keyblade. After the momentary stun, the Darkside will lean back and release a shower of orange blox at you. They can deal damage, but it can be easily dodged with Dodge Roll. It will then keep repeating the cycle. Destroy the remaining HP to enter the last stage.

In its last form, the Darkside will become entirely invisible, hiding in a bunch of orange blox. In the center of the swirling mass, there is a purple blox, which represents the Darkside's health. Dodge Roll is useful for this, as the Darkside will hop around, each time releasing a small shock wave. Consequently, it will turn into a swirling mass of blocks, and prove lethal if contact is made. When the blox stop moving and separate, attack the purple blox in the center. If you destroyed any orange blox before, they will regenerate at this time. But do not be idle with your time; it will close after some time, dealing much damage if caught inside. Destroy the blox by repeating the process until the Darkside's HP is depleted.

Trivia

 * The Darkside battle shares many similarities with the Twilight Thorn, a gigantic Nobody. Both appear in Roxas and Sora's Awakenings, respectively, and are the first bosses of the game. Their Japanese names, Twilight Zone and Darkside, are both science-fiction horror serials.
 * The Darkside is the only Heartless boss to appear in every game. However, in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts II, it is only seen in cutscenes.