Larxene

Larxene, the Savage Nymph (非情の妖姫), is the Nobody of Elrena, Rank XII within the original Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories as the secondary antagonist of Sora's story and a member of the real Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts III as a supporting antagonist. Larxene is one of only two female members of the Organization, and has a very sadistic nature. She controls lightning, and uses it to thrash opponents with rapid attacks while also attacking them with her weapons: electrified throwing knives.

She is one of the members stationed at Castle Oblivion during Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories and is part of an internal struggle between the senior and rookie members.

Larxene appears as a playable character in the non-canonical Mission Mode of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and is the first playable female character in the series.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
On an unknown world, Larxene's original persona, Elrena, became a Heartless, her strong will allowing her body to continue on as her Nobody, Larxene.

Larxene was discovered by Xigbar and became the twelfth and only female member of Organization XIII. Shortly after joining, she found Axel and engaged in a conversation with him. She asked him how she looked in her new outfit, and when he did not produce a response, she took it as a sign that he found her unsatisfying to talk to. Axel explained that he was simply confused as to why she started talking to him for no reason and that it wasn't that he found her presence unappealing, he simply found it "nothing". After a moment of silence, Larxene quietly complained that the castle was boring, and then bid goodbye to a still-confused Axel.

Sometime later, she met another new member, Marluxia, with whom she is well-acquainted at this point. After asking him how he arrived at the Organization, the two neophytes agreed that the castle was boring. The discussion soon shifted to their roles in the Organization, including the importance of having hearts. In a surprisingly profound statement, Larxene said that having a heart was painful and wondered if Nobodies like her and Marluxia were better off not regaining their hearts.

As the two walked off together, they started formulating plans to overthrow Organization XIII.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Larxene expressed her disgust when Roxas awoke on the seventh day and was present when Xion joined the Organization. She trained Roxas in Twilight Town before being sent away to Castle Oblivion. While tutoring Roxas, it was her responsibility to teach him how to wield magic. Larxene showed a true hatred of having to train Roxas and seemed to loathe every moment of it. She slipped out the fact there was another Keyblade wielder besides Roxas. Upon being asked who it was, she replied, "Mind your own beeswax." Later on in the Grey Area, however, she seems to begin to acknowledge Roxas's skill, and even considers telling him about her and Marluxia's plot.

Before Axel left for Castle Oblivion, it was revealed that Saïx knew about Marluxia and Larxene's plans to overthrow Organization XIII. This is why he sent them and the other "useless" members to Castle Oblivion, along with Axel who had orders to eliminate those who planned to betray the Organization.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Larxene is assigned to Castle Oblivion to help conduct experiments on memories; within this castle is Naminé, a young girl and Nobody with the ability to manipulate memories. Sora is led to Castle Oblivion by Marluxia as part of his and Larxene's plan to obtain the power of the Keyblade with which they could take over the Organization. Joining in on this plot is their fellow member Axel, one of Larxene's closer friends; however, unbeknownst to her or to Marluxia, this is all a ruse on Axel's end, as he is assigned by the Organization as a double agent to gather evidence of their plan and, if their suspicions proved true, eliminate them.

As soon as Sora enters Castle Oblivion, Naminé began manipulating his memories as per Marluxia's orders; soon, he begins to gain false memories of Naminé being a childhood friend until all he is unable to remember is her name. At that point, Larxene confronts Sora directly, revealing Naminé is being held hostage in the castle, and attacks him viciously, revealing a lucky charm Naminé had apparently given him years ago, motivating him into remembering her name. In reality, the charm is that of his friend Kairi, having changed shape by Naminé. Larxene fights Sora, taunting him and calling him heartless for "forgetting" about Naminé before she is defeated and escaped.

Larxene is later approached by senior member Vexen, who offers to help her. He suggests they use his Riku Replica to test Sora's strength. As per Larxene's suggestion, Vexen decides to have Naminé alter the replica's memory so that it would think it is the real Riku, much to the replica's chagrin. She even goes as far as beating up the replica to subdue it when it tries to resist. As a result, Sora clashes with the replica over protecting Naminé, thus motivating Sora into ascending further up the floors of Castle Oblivion.

Finally, Larxene and Marluxia goad Vexen into fighting Sora head-on before having him killed by Axel so as to keep Vexen out of their way and to test Axel's loyalties. As soon as Axel is let in on their plot, which seems sure to come to fruition, Axel releases Naminé behind their backs, allowing her to confess to Sora. Their plot having fallen apart, Larxene reveals the nature of Naminé and the Riku Replica to Sora before attacking him in a rage. Larxene is eventually defeated in a brutal battle against Sora and fades back into darkness.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
After having returned to her human form, the real Organization XIII recreates her as the Nobody Larxene and re-inducts her into the Organization.

Larxene wearing her black coat appeared alongside her fellow members of the real Organization XIII at Where Nothing Gathers. As the heroes advance, the Organization's allotted time expires and its members, including Larxene, retreat to their rightful points in time.

Kingdom Hearts III
Following the failure to turn Sora into their final member, Larxene is tasked, along with Marluxia, to search the worlds for the New Seven Hearts, who replaced six of the previous Princesses of Heart.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy encounter Larxene at the Gorge at Arendelle. Having no memories of his time in Castle Oblivion, none of them recognize her. Larxene, however, remembers them, and attempts to prevent them from getting any closer to Elsa, visibly disgusted by their meddling. She entraps Sora and his friends in an icy labyrinth, through which they make their escape and attempt to reach Elsa. Later when Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive at the Mountain Ridge and prepare to meet Elsa, Larxene appears in front of them who admits that she was tasked to follow Elsa believing she is one of the New Seven Hearts. She tells them that Elsa's magic is either light or darkness and that she should be able to choose for herself. With her power of lightning, she blows them off the ridge.

Larxene reappears back at Arendelle, who is surprised that Anna's love for Elsa after sacrificing herself to save her filled both of their hearts with light. She then warns Sora that if he doesn't find his seven Guardians of Light, they would go after Anna and Elsa. She also reveals that the Organization has already gathered their thirteen seekers of darkness, before disappearing in a Corridor of Darkness.

At the Keyblade Graveyard, having regrouped with Demyx, Luxord and Marluxia. They are seen talking about their time in the previous Organization. Larxene berates Demyx for being useless. She and the others are interrupted by the arrival of Xemnas, who informs them of his reasons for having chosen the respective members of the previous Organization: the first six were apprentices of Ansem the Wise, the next two joined shortly after, and members nine through twelve — referring to Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene — had an "ancient Keyblade legacy", which Xemnas promises to reveal to them.

Larxene is seen again in the Skein of Severance at the Keyblade Graveyard, accompanied by Luxord, Marluxia, and Xemnas as they fight off King Mickey. Sora comes to the King's aid, and the two of them defeat Larxene. As she fades away, she complains once again that she lost to "a bunch of losers". However, she feels that being a vessel for Xehanort's heart would be an even worse fate. When Sora asks why Larxene followed Xehanort, she tells him she was tagging along for the ride. When being asked who she is with, she simply tells him it is her secret, before vanishing.

Design
Larxene wears the normal Organization black coat and gloves, along with knee-high boots (though with more narrow toes and higher-heels). Her blonde hair is slicked back and about jaw-length, with two long strands styled into a distinctive antennae-like appearance. Larxene's eyes are a vivid green and she is very slim with an hourglass figure that sets her apart from the other members, due to her gender, though her petite appearance belies her true strength. After being chosen as a member of Real Organization XIII, her eyes turn gold.

In her entry in Jiminy's Journal in Kingdom Hearts II, Larxene looks slightly different, as her hair is lighter, almost white, and she seems to be wearing lipstick.

Personality
Although Larxene is normally smiling, she can be undoubtedly cold, ruthless, and uncaring, and appears to love nothing more than to bring other people down. Described the most as a domineering woman of strong personality, who does not ask but tells, she has a sharp wit and sardonic remarks ready to spite others. Her jokes tend to be more ill-humored as well, enabling anyone to successfully get irritated, and sometimes if pushed far enough, yell or charge at her in anger, a reaction which she seems to find humorous. In the Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories manga, Larxene was seen reading a book about the infamous French writer, the namesake of , which is clearly related to her sadistic nature.

Along with the callousness, however, she oddly displays childish and playful behavior, laughing and giggling excessively. She, although recognizable with her overall behavior, also appears to have a flirtatious attitude towards Axel compared to others, with reasons for doing so not addressed. Laidback and almost passive to those she likes (or refers to an as good company), Larxene expresses herself in a dramatized manner, constantly making outrageous expressions and hand movements. She taunts Vexen incessantly after he is threatened with charges of treason and incompetence from Marluxia (though that could be connected to her personal dislike of the man), and toys with Sora before fighting him the first time. When she drops her façade, she smiles and attacks him, sending him flying with a powerful kick and informs him that she is a "bad guy", mocking his failure to remember Naminé.

After she discovers Axel's unexpected betrayal and sees that Marluxia's and her plans have fallen apart, while affected negatively and almost seemed disappointed when speaking of it, her friendly manner vanishes and she attacks Sora in a rage. Nevertheless, surprisingly in death, she sounds out a cry of what appears as sadness as she is fading.

In one of the Kingdom Hearts novels that correlate with the series, she meets Marluxia for the first time and has just joined the Organization as the sole female. Being that she was the newest recruit, she asks him what the Organization's goal, and Marluxia repeated to her what Xemnas once told him: so that they were here to regain back their hearts. She had gone silent in thought at the answer, before saying that a heart was not really necessary. She felt having one was painful, and she was fine with the way things are now, perhaps implying that she was hurt emotionally for most of her original self's life, and that lacking a heart keeps the pain at bay.

In Kingdom Hearts III, her snarkiness is toned down when she's facing her enemies, though her temper is still present (likely due to her first demise at Sora's hands); however, she is her usual rude and sharp-tongued self during Organization meetings. Having been charged with looking for the New Seven Hearts, Larxene does her utmost to keep the guardians of light away from them as it would interfere with the Organization's plans.

Abilities
Larxene is an exceptionally capable fighter; both times she talks to Sora, she is able to kick and jab him repeatedly faster than he can retaliate, and send him flying through the air with a single kick; the second time she does this, she heavily injures Sora to the point that he can barely stand. She is also strong enough to hold the Riku Replica by the head, and easily toss it across the room with one hand. Her strength is clearly known by many of the characters, such as the Riku Replica who claims to fear nothing, yet cowers at Larxene.

Larxene's physical fighting skills resemble that of a ninja. She uses her knives between her fingers to act like claws and is able to infuse them with electricity and throw them at Sora. She is also the most agile member of the Organization, often using quick kicks and jabs to produce extra pain to the opponent. Along with her manipulative nature, this sadism earned her the title "Savage Nymph".

With magic, Larxene is able to able to call down lightning upon the battlefield, as well as to perform levitation and local teleportation. Her sleights and special abilities all involve her use of these abilities.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, she can be battled as an Absent Silhouette and as data, but this time she uses totally different tactics. She can split herself into multiple copies that attack Sora individually or in concert, and her attacks focus more on physical strikes than magic. However, she still uses some thunder magic, the strongest of which is a revolving wall of ball lightning similar to Hades's wall of fire. By using the Reaction Command "Merge," Sora can stun her by throwing her "back into herself".

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Larxene has a Limit Break called Voltic Rush, which causes her to slash away at enemies rapidly.

In Kingdom Hearts III, Larxene is able to construct The Labyrinth of Ice pocket dimension by combining her electrical prowess with ice, though she notes "it's not [her] thing" working with ice. She also shows the power to take herself, Sora, Donald, and Goofy briefly out of sync with the rest of Arendelle with a dome of darkness. For combat, Larxene can now elongate her knives to match her height; she uses them while zigzagging around the battlefield to disorientate and attack her enemies.

Weapon
Larxene carries a set of eight throwing Knives between her fingers in battle. Her main set of knives are collectively called Foudre, meaning "Lightning" in French. Each knife appears as one of the Organization insignia's spikes in yellow and blue. Larxene will either throw these weapons at her opponent or speed by them, slashing them with the knives still between her fingers. The knives that she carries can also be used in close quarters combat for finishing blows. All of Larxene's knives have French names, and these names are references to natural phenomena like wind and storms. In the French version of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, all of Larxene's weapons have German names.

Notes and references
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Larxene