Xaldin

Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer (旋風の六槍), is the Nobody of Dilan and is Rank III within Organization XIII. He wields the element of Wind, and uses his element to freely manipulate his six lances without holding them directly. He commands the Dragoon Nobodies.

Xaldin appears in Kingdom Hearts II as a villain in Beast's Castle, and spends his time in the game attempting to plunge Beast into despair in the hopes of separating his heart from his body. Xaldin is a playable character in the multiplayer gameplay of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

Kingdom Hearts II
''Organization XIII's Number III. His wiles have clouded the Beast's heart.''
 * First Entry

The Organization's motives are a string of mysteries--what could their true goal be?

''Organization XIII's Number III. He wanted the Beast's Heartless and Nobody in order to acquire Kingdom Hearts.''
 * Second Entry

In the end, however, Sora and his friends destroyed Xaldin.


 * Third Entry

''Organization XIII's Number III. He sought the Beast's Heartless and Nobody in order to acquire Kingdom Hearts.''

He was a master of wind who wielded six lances--but he met his end at the hands of Sora.


 * Organization XIII

Organization XIII's Number III.

''Nobodies like him are made whenever people strong of heart and mind become Heartless. The empty shell they leave behind acts of its own will.''

''Are they empty vessels devoid of hearts? Are they roaming spirits? Or are they simply nothing at all?''

Hollow Bastion
Xaldin appears with Xemnas, Saïx, Xigbar, Luxord, and Demyx at Hollow Bastion standing at the right of Xemnas. All he does in the confrontation is laugh emptily with the rest of the group at Xemnas' empty humor.

First Attempt
Xaldin's first major appearance in the game is as a cloaked and hooded figure during Sora's first visit to Beast's Castle. At this time, Xaldin has already drained Beast of much of his hope and kindness by convincing him that Belle is plotting against him. Beast is unresponsive to Sora, Donald and Goofy when they first greet him, despite having met them before in Kingdom Hearts at Hollow Bastion. Xaldin's slippery words cause Beast to lock himself in his chambers and refuse contact with them or Belle.

Sora, fighting his way through the Heartless that have settled into the castle, eventually reaches Beast's bedroom. Xaldin tells Beast that Sora and his party are only there to help Belle against Beast, and that she has sent them to steal the rose symbolizing his curse from him with the intention of eventually taking his life. Beast, still under Xaldin's influence, attacks Sora as Xaldin flees, but Sora is able to bring Beast back to his senses.

When Sora and Beast head downstairs into the ballroom, they encounter the Shadow Stalker Heartless, which attacks them. After being defeated, it evolves into the large Dark Thorn, but that too is no match for Sora, and is destroyed. Xaldin leaves the area without actually fighting himself, stating that it wasn't over, but continues to lurk in the world until Sora returns.

Second attempt
Xaldin strikes again when Sora returns to Beast's Castle to find Belle and Beast having a private dance party. He captures Beast's rose and flaunts it in front of Beast, who goes into a rage and pursues Xaldin around his castle. Before Xaldin seems to disappear from the world entirely, he mocks Beast, taking off his hood and resolving to separate Beast's heart from him and take control of his Heartless and his Nobody. In Beast's anger, he rages at Belle for insisting on having the party. Despaired over the loss of his rose and his own beastly state, Beast orders Belle to leave the castle.

Belle shuts herself in her room, confining herself to looking out on the balcony. There she finds Beast's rose, and gladly signals to Sora from the balcony. The rose is just a trap, however, and Xaldin appears behind her, kidnapping her as well as retaking the rose. Xaldin flies down in front of Beast in his courtyard, taunting him by saying he can only carry either the rose or Belle along with him, and forcing Beast to choose which one he wants him to leave behind. Before Beast has to choose, however, Belle elbows Xaldin in the side and grabs the rose, taking the time from Xaldin's surprise to escape his grasp. Beast then attacks Xaldin, who leaps aside and conjures six long spears using his powers over wind. He battles Sora and Beast on the bridge, using his abilities to the fullest, but is eventually defeated, and fades back into the darkness.

Personality
Xaldin is a high-ranking and independent Organization member, working alone for the entirety of his presence in Kingdom Hearts II (sans his hooded appearance in Hollow Bastion). Xaldin acts sadistic and appears to revel in despair, attempting to cause hopelessness for Beast both in the castle and by taunting him and Sora during their fight. He is tall, strongly built, and very acrobatic, and his physical capabilities are greatly enhanced by his control of the attribute of wind, which he can use to move himself into a variety of attacks. Interestingly enough some of Xaldin's in battle quotes and the delivery of his lines seem to give him a sense of meaninglessness (emphasized by the fact that he will hold his arms behind his back in scenes, and even in battle).

Fighting Style
"Beware the Brink of Despair!"

-Xaldin as he readies the Serpentine Wind

Xaldin fights using six lances conjured from the wind. He can carry at least three at a time, and controls any of the lances he is not carrying by using the air around him, while at the same time floating through the air without much effort. He attacks rapidly, using the wind to hasten the speed of his strikes, and can use the Jump command his Dragoon Nobodies use, although Xaldin tends to jump multiple times and does more damage.

Although Xaldin is only the third Organization XIII member battled in Kingdom Hearts II, the fight against him was considered difficult enough that it was one of the ten battles in the game where King Mickey can rescue Sora if he is defeated (the other nine including the fight against Shadow Stalker/Dark Thorn, Xemnas (first armored form) and Cerberus). In fact many fans have pointed out that only the fights against Xemnas and Sephiroth were harder.

Weapon
Xaldin carries six Lances, called Ryūgasen (lit. Flash of the Dragon's Fang). They, along with Xaldin's attacks and Dragoon Lesser Nobodies, are a reference to Final Fantasy's Dragoon Job Class. They are purple and blue, longer than six feet, each has the shape of the Nobody symbol, and one end resembles a Dragoon Nobody's "head" combined with the lower half of the Nobody logo. Xaldin only holds up to three at a time, and the rest float around him in the wind Xaldin commands.

Xaldin can use them to thrust from long distances, twirl them around himself as a form of defense, jump down on a foe with all six pointed downward, or have them grow and fuse into an enormous dragon that he rides on before firing a whirlwind from the dragon's mouth.

Xaldin has been shown using new lances in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, though in the non-canon multi-player mode.

Dragoon Nobodies use similar spears as their weapon, and occasionally drop it in battle. Donald can then use it as a magical staff.

Additional Final Mix cutscenes
Xaldin appears in some of the additional Organization XIII cutscenes included in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix. He is present when Axel is ordered to eliminate Roxas after it is clear that Roxas has no intention of returning to the Organization, driving the order home by threatening Axel, sending one of his lances into Axel's chair inches from his head. He is also present at an Organization meeting, and breaks up an argument between Xigbar and Demyx.

Quotes
"She's scheming to take everything you have."

"This castle, your precious rose. And then--your life."

"What? To love, and be loved in return?"

"You don't know when to quit."

"A welcome indeed."

"Yes. Let your anger grow..."

"You had me worried. I was afraid you'd given up for good."

"When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully and completely. So you see, Beast--that's why we need your Heartless AND your Nobody."

"With pleasure, but I'd rather travel light..."

"I've come to take something you hold very dear."

Trivia

 * Xaldin is the only member whose weapons' names are all written in pure kanji.
 * In the North American version of Kingdom Hearts II, a Secret Ansem Report misspells his original name as Dilin.
 * In the manga of Kingdom Hearts II, Xaldin is defeated, and retreats to The World That Never Was. While walking back to headquarters he is confronted by Vexen Replica No. 44, and after a brief conversation, is killed by him, most likely on the ground that he failed as such an important task (It is possible that Xaldin was killed in self defense since he attacked the Vexen clone first). He is never shown holding his lances but instead, all six float around him.
 * Based on recently revealed scans of 358/2 Days, it appears Xaldin has been tormenting the Beast for more than a year. It is likely the Organization immediately sent Xaldin after the Beast upon discovering that he managed to travel to Hollow Bastion in search of Belle with only the strength of his heart. Such a strength, they realized, would yield an incredibly powerful Heartless and Nobody.
 * Xaldin is the only Organization member killed in a Disney-based world.
 * Although he essentially takes Gaston's place as main villain in the storyline, Gaston himself not included in the series for unknown reasons, Xaldin has personality traits more similar to that of the villain from Beauty and the Beast: the Enchanted Christmas, Forte. Both attempt to convince Beast that Belle doesn't really love him and both try to manipulate the Beast for personal (or in Xaldin's case, group beneficial) means.
 * Xaldin has the second highest seat in the Organization along with Xigbar.