Radiant Garden


 * This article is about the Radiant Garden excluding Hollow Bastion from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. For the article about the castle itself, see Hollow Bastion.

The Radiant Garden (レイディアントガーデン) is a world in Kingdom Hearts II. However, it appears in the other two games as Hollow Bastion, the castle which lies in the center of the world. The rest of the world is destroyed in those two games. The world itself was named Hollow Bastion during Xehanort's Heartless and Maleficent's reign of the castle. It regains its name in Kingdom Hearts II after Tron finds a record of it in the computer's database and shows everyone what the town looked like when it started out. Everyone from Radiant Garden remembers the name.

In Kingdom Hearts II, the Radiant Garden plays a similar role to Traverse Town from Kingdom Hearts, as a sort of "home base" for Sora.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
It has been confirmed that the Radiant Garden will make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Terra and Ven are at the cliffs of the world. Terra states that some time ago Ven saved him. Ven replies that it was the natural thing to do because they're friends. At the Great Maw, Terra, carrying an unconscious Ven, tells someone (who it was wasn't shown) that he doesn't care about becoming master and, as he summons his Keyblade, that he uses his power for his friends.

The Town
Sora first arrives in Radiant Garden (still known as Hollow Bastion at the time) at the Marketplace where all the shops are located. Down the stairs past the item shop is the Borough, which seems to be a residential area and where Merlin's House is located. It's also the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee's base of operations and leads to the world 100 Acre Wood.

If you continue, you will come across the Bailey which at first allows a look of the Villian's Vale and access to the Restoration Site. After the events of your first journey to Space Paranoids, the Bailey is changed, with the outer wall of the city broken down and you can walk to the Castle Gate.

If you go to the Restoration Site, you will find equipment to restore the city. It is also changed after your first visit to Space Paranoids, which allows you to get two new treasures. At the end of the Restoration Site you will find the Postern. The Postern leads to the Corridors under the castle which lead to Ansem's study. Ansem's study includes of his desk and personal library and his computer room. Ansem's study leads to the world Space Paranoids and the Heartless Manufactory.

If you go to the Castle Gate from the Bailey, a old gate that is similar to the one in Kingdom Hearts. From the Castle Gate, you will reach the long and winding Ravine Trail that eventually leads to the Crystal Fissure, a small cave-like area with glowing crystals. This leads to The Great Maw, a large area where the Battle of the 1000 Heartless is fought. The next and last area is the Dark Depths where you can fight Sephiroth after your third and final visit.

In Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, new areas are added including the Cavern of Remembrance and the Garden of Assemblage (where data of defeated Organization XIII members can be accessed and fought against). These areas can be accessed from a new hole in the Postern. Alternatively, after completing all stages in the Cavern of Remembrance, the Garden of Assemblage can be accessed via an entrance hewn out of the rock in the left side of the Restoration Site, thus saving players the trouble of scaling the mineshaft in the Cavern of Remembrance.

Heartless
Devastator, Magnum Loader and Strafer only appear in Radiant Garden's streets during the time when the MCP has gained control of the town's defense systems.

Trivia

 * Although Kairi and Ansem the Wise, two characters original to the Kingdom Hearts series, called this world home at some point, this world can be looked at as the only world based on Final Fantasy in the series as most if not all Final Fantasy characters in the game are originally from here. Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are presumably from Disney Castle originally.