Hollow Bastion



Hollow Bastion is a World from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. Not based on a Disney film, though showing Disney influence, Hollow Bastion is a colossal castle that towers above the rest of its world, the Radiant Garden. At one point, it was the only remaining part of the world, along with the waterways beneath it. Because of this, the world itself was known as "Hollow Bastion" in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and most of Kingdom Hearts II. However, it regains its original name by the end of Kingdom Hearts II.

Unlike the rest of the Radiant Garden, which poses as Final Fantasy's world, Hollow Bastion has no relation to Final Fantasy whatsoever. Many point out Hollow Bastion is reminicent of two Disney movies, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. However, it is mentioned that both actual worlds were destroyed, and Beast's Castle serves as a world on its own in Kingdom Hearts II.

Kingdom Hearts
Sora and the rest of the party enter Hollow Bastion at the Rising Falls, appropriately named as they are waterfalls that run up instead of down. Jumping on mystical floating rocks and ledges takes the party to the first of many magical platforms that are scattered throughout the castle. The platform takes Sora to the Castle Gates, the main entrance of Hollow Bastion which is made up of a set of balconies and lifts running outside the castle. From here, the party can travel down into the underground water system or enter the castle itself.

Going down the nearby platform or leaping off the edge of the balcony takes the party to Base Level, an area full of ledges, switches, and enemies. Succesfully climbing to the balcony near the entrance earns extra treasures, while taking a nearby bubble carries them to the Waterway, where a series of gates, switches, and bubbles must be navigated to operate the castle gate controls. Off of the Waterway is a small room, the Dungeon.

Going in the doors at the other end of the Castle Gates area takes the party to the massive two-level Entrance Hall, where a large puzzle must be solved to continue up the castle by allowing access to the second half of the Castle Gates area. Going left takes the party to the Library, also the site of a large puzzle involving organizing misplaced books; Belle and Aerith can later be found here after the Hollow Bastion Keyhole is locked. Also accessible from the Library is the first of many entrances to the Lift Stop, a series of magic lifts separated by mystical barriers.

Continuing up the castle by taking the lift on the other side of the Castle Gates area is the Great Crest, where the largest of the magic lifts is located. After a long and slow journey across the front of the bastion, the party is dropped on the other side, where they can take the Lift Stop to the next area, the High Tower, where the crest can be moved to create a way up to the upper levels of the castle. Through the Lift Stop at the opposite end of the High Tower is the entrance to the castle Chapel, where the confrontations with Maleficent take place. Once passed, the final area holding Hollow Bastion's Keyhole and the Princesses of Heart, the Grand Hall is open to confront Riku in. Eventually, the Keyhole here can be sealed.

Kingdom Hearts II
Because of the damage to Hollow Bastion in the first game, much of the focus in Hollow Bastion the second time around is on the village that surrounds the bottom of the castle. Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in the Marketplace, which houses the world's Moogle shop, as well as Uncle Scrooge and his venturing nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Past the Marketplace is the Borough, which sits next to one of the massive walls of the village defenses. From there, the party can drop in on their friends at Merlin's House or continue to the Bailey, which eventually suffers a bit of damage at the hands of the Heartless.

The good news is the damage to the Bailey allows access to the remains of the Castle by opening up an entrance to the Restoration Site. Fighting their way through this area in turn takes them to the Postern, site of a save point and the entrance to the bastion itself. Going inside, the party must navigate the twisting Corridors before reaching the end at Ansem's Study, where many of the mysteries surrounding Ansem can be solved, but many more created. Going through the hidden entrance finally takes the party to the Heartless Manufactory, and from there the entrance to Space Paranoids.

After the Bailey is damaged, one final area opens up, where the battle against the Heartless culminates. Leaving the Restoration Site by going through the hole in the fort wall leads to the Ravine Trail for a series of battles against the masses of Heartless with help from a few surprising friends. From the trail, the party can enter the Crystal Fissure, use the save point, and travel on to The Great Maw, a massive canyon, and from there, The Dark Depths, a cliff where several important confrontations take place.

History
Hollow Bastion was once a glorious castle towering over the Radiant Garden and owned by a 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. Maleficent, during her reign in the castle as one of Ansem's minions, made additional changes as well. It is probable that she either created or remodeled the castle's keep, which has decorations and models of roses and her thorned plants.

Kingdom Hearts
Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive at Hollow Bastion in time to find Riku attacking another intruder, the Beast. Sora, Donald, and Goofy confront Riku, but he declares he is the Keyblade's true holder; it jumps into his possession, leaving Sora defenseless except for his old wooden sword. Because Donald and Goofy had instructions to follow the Keyblade bearer, they reluctantly leave Sora for Riku. Sora goes to help the injured Beast, and taking up his old wooden sword, the two team up to enter the castle.

After traversing the castle waterways to unlock the main door, Sora and Beast enter Hollow Bastion. Beast is tricked away from Sora by an illusion of Belle. Riku, Donald, and Goofy appear soon after, where Riku further taunts Sora and shows he has embraced his dark side by attempting to blast Sora with his dark powers. Goofy blocks the blast, and he and Donald decide to rejoin Sora's side. Sora's strength of heart with his friends back by his side pulls the Keyblade away from Riku and back to him. After a fierce battle, Riku is defeated and flees. Beast rejoins the party after watching the encounter, observing that Sora's heart was what helped him win.

Riku is upset at losing the Keyblade, but encounters Heartless Ansem, who promises him that he can make Riku's heart stronger through darkness and allow him to regain possession of the Keyblade. Riku succumbs to Ansem's pledge and powers, and becomes consumed by Ansem and the darkness. In the meantime, Maleficent has attempted to use the gathered Princesses of Heart to open the Bastion's Keyhole. The Ansem-possessed Riku meets with her to check her progress, where Maleficent declares she will control and use the darkness for her own purposes; however, she or Ansem-Riku cannot unlock the Keyhole without Kairi's missing heart.

Sora and friends manage to travel through the labrynthian castle to reach the chapel; there they meet with and confront Maleficent. Overconfident in her abilities, she is soundly defreated. Escaping back to Ansem-Riku for help, she is stabbed through the heart by his Dark Keyblade, which unlocks the darkest parts of her heart and allows her to transform into a large, powerful dragon. Sora's party defeat her again, allowing her to be burned away by the darkness. Ansem-Riku disappears again, and Sora and company travel to the Grand Hall, where the Keyhole and Princesses are located. There, Sora finds Kairi unconscious on the floor. He tries to wake her, but Ansem-Riku appears to tell Sora her heart is missing. Sora figures out that Kairi is a princess, and that Riku is no longer in control of his own body. Ansem-Riku tries to pull Kairi's heart out of Sora, weakening him, and then tries to attack Sora with the Dark Keyblade. Sora blocks it in time, and the two fight for possession of Kairi's heart, with Sora again triumphant.

Ansem-Riku disappears, but the Keyhole begins reacting to the presence of Kairi's heart. Sora attempts to lock the Keyhole, but without Kairi's heart, it cannot be opened to be re-sealed. Sora puts two and two together and figures out the only way to free Kairi's heart is to stab himself with the Dark Keyblade. It works; Kairi's and the other Princesses' hearts are freed and the Keyhole opened, but Sora falls into darkness, becoming a Heartless himself.

Kairi wakes just in time to see Sora disappear. Ansem, now in full possession of Riku's body, appears to gloat over the completed Keyhole, but Riku temporarily re-takes control of his body to warn Kairi and the others the Heartless will overrun the castle; she is forced to escape with Donald and Goofy. The three return to the entrance, and hesitate, wondering if they should go back to close the Keyhole. There, they meet up with a Heartless that Kairi realizes is Sora. Sora's heart, placed in her body by the unlocking, and her own heart restores Sora to his body. Beast stays behind to hold off the Heartless and continue looking for Belle, and so the group departs Hollow Bastion.

Cid manages to find a way to allow them to return and seal the keyhole. They return and help Beast reunite with the re-awakened Belle, and jump through the Keyhole to fight the Behemoth. After a conversation with Leon's group, who have returned to restore their homeworld, Sora seals the Keyhole at Hollow Bastion.

In the Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix version, Sora also has his first encounter with Organization XIII in the chapel by way of a hooded figure known only as "Unknown". After some cryptic messages, Unknown leaves, revealing in Kingdom Hearts II that he was testing Sora.

Kingdom Hearts II


Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud have started the Hollow Bastion Restoration committee; an organization attempting to rebuild the world that the four grew up on. Sora first arrives here after meeting with Yen Sid in Twilight Town and has his first real encounter with Organization XIII here. After defending the town from Nobodies, Sora heads out to search for King Mickey and Riku. When he returns, he finally meets the King, and learns that the King can't tell him about Riku. Sora also enters the world of Space Paranoids for the first time. After defeating the giant Heartless army Maleficent has conjured, he kills Demyx, and meets Saïx and Axel who both tell him that they cannot help him. He also learns of the Organization's plans. When he returns yet a third time, he travels into Space Paranoids, and when he defeats the MCP, he learns from the data Tron gathered the true name of the town; Radiant Garden.

Kingdom Hearts
Regular
 * Elixir
 * Megalixir x 2
 * Mega-Potion

Gummis
 * Dispel-G x 4
 * Esuna-G
 * Flare-G x 2
 * Float-G x 3
 * Holy-G
 * Thundaga-G
 * Tornado-G x 2
 * Ultima-G

Power-Ups
 * AP Up
 * Defense Up
 * Power Up

Synthesis
 * Mythril x 2
 * Orichalcum x 3

Special
 * Blizzaga Ring
 * Firaga Ring
 * Oblivion
 * Thundaga Ring

Dalmatians

 * 61, 62, & 63 - Grand Hall on the lefthand ledge near the Keyhole platform.
 * 91, 92, & 93 - On a ledge near the entrance point at Rising Falls.
 * 94, 95, & 96 - Far lefthand platform at the Castle Gates. You will need to take the moving platform or use Glide to get there.
 * 97, 98, & 99 - On a Gravity platform near the entrance of the High Tower.

Trinities
Blue
 * Dungeon - Center of the room.
 * Great Crest - Right-hand lower balcony, near the landing point for the large magic lift.

Red
 * Entrance Hall - Second floor, in front of the tusked stone statue.

Green
 * Library - Second floor, same area as the table and save point.

Kingdom Hearts II
Regular
 * Drive Recovery
 * Hi-Potion x 2
 * Elixir
 * Tent

Power-Ups
 * AP Boost x 5

Synthesis
 * Mythril Shard
 * Mythril Stone
 * Mythril Gem
 * Mythril Crystal

Maps
 * Castle Perimeter
 * The Great Maw

Recipes
 * Moon Recipe
 * Skill Recipe

Special
 * Cosmic Chain
 * Gullwing
 * Torn Pages
 * Ukelele Charm

Trivia

 * Part of the original music for Hollow Bastion involved a segment from the Sitar Concerto No. 2
 * Promotional images of Kingdom Hearts II depict Sora, Donald and Goofy in battle on the upper levels of the castle as it appeared in the first game, as well as five Organization members at an unspecified location outside the castle, as opposed to six members appearing in the town.