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, they relinquish a Lost Illusion and a synthesis Recipe that allows the Moogles to craft a replica of the defeated Organization member's signature weapon. Defeating an Absent Silhouette also allows Sora to challenge his or her Data Rematch at the Garden of Assemblage.

After Demyx's "battle" in the Olympus Coliseum Underworld, a brief cutscene commences in which he explains to Sora about the Absent Silhouettes.

Whenever Sora challenges an Absent Silhouette to a battle, the Absent Silhouette takes the form of the slain member it represents and fights him. 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. There, it challenges them to an arduous battle.

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 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 fist 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 decides to join Sora in order to defeat Xaldin during his second visit.
 * 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.

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.

Trivia

 * It was once suggested that the Absent Silhouette is a type of Nobody, since it appears in the same fashion a Nobody does, although this is most likely untrue, as Vanitas's Remnant appears after what seems to be an Absent Silhouette, and Vanitas was an Unversed, not a Nobody.

Notes and references
Absent Silhouettes Absent Silhouette Abwesende Silhouetten