Braig

Braig, mistranslated as "Bleig" in the North American version of the Secret Ansem Reports, is one of the six apprentices of Ansem the Wise, and the original persona of Xigbar. He serves as a supporting antagonist in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
A mysterious man who is up to something behind the scenes.

He and Master Xehanort have an understanding; Braig staged the Master's kidnapping to draw the darkness out of Terra, but that same darkness left Braig scarred.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Braig confronts Terra when he comes to Radiant Garden, claiming to have captured Master Xehanort. Braig leads the skeptical Terra underneath Radiant Garden, where he shows Master Xehanort chained to a large pole, to Terra's horror. Braig then engages Terra in a duel, intent on eliminating him and taking his Keyblade. Terra is reluctant to fight back out of fear of succumbing to the darkness and endangering Master Xehanort, until the latter screams for him to use the Keyblade and avoid shaming Master Eraqus. Terra fights back and eventually defeats Braig by using the power of darkness, in the process scarring Braig's face and permanently damaging his eye.

However, it later turns out that Braig was working with Master Xehanort. Angered greatly at the loss of his right eye and scarring on his face, Braig attempts to shoot Master Xehanort from behind, claiming that Xehanort said he wouldn't get hurt, but Master Xehanort threatens him into backing down and continuing with their plan to make Terra succumb to the darkness.

He later appears in the Keyblade Graveyard having succumbed to the darkness himself, indicated by his remaining eye becoming yellow, and his ears becoming pointed. He appears in front of Aqua and Ventus, attempting to get them to attack Terra and kill him for his role in the death of Eraqus, but they refuse to forsake their friend. After paying particular attention to and mocking the angry glare Ventus gives him, Aqua battles Braig for trying to turn them against their friend and defeats him. He begins to escape, and Aqua chases after him, but she realizes that she can't leave Ven in his fragile state alone, so she stops and allows Braig to return to Radiant Garden.

Later, back at the Radiant Garden, Braig leads Dilan and Ansem to an amnesiac young Xehanort, the result of Master Xehanort possessing Terra's body, and smiles discreetly but triumphantly to himself, relieved that his friend's plan worked.

However, Braig later approaches the new Xehanort, now an apprentice under Ansem, and is dismayed to find that the new Xehanort does not recognize him, and Braig's attempts to help Xehanort remember prove only to annoy him. Braig, at one point, questions if this new Xehanort is actually Terra, but Xehanort still does not respond, much to Braig's relief. Braig nevertheless says in a friendly manner that he's got Xehanort's back.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Braig became one of six apprentices to Ansem the Wise, the ruler and scientist of Radiant Garden, alongside Dilan, Even, Aeleus, Ienzo, and Xehanort. After Ansem began performing tests on Xehanort's heart, Braig convinces the other apprentices to aid him and Xehanort in conducting inhumane experiments on the human heart and the darkness within it. Such experimentation led to the mass creation of Heartless. Ansem quickly discovered their secret experiments, and immediately ordered them to stop. One day, after being advised to review their research data by King Mickey, Ansem found that the effects of their experiments had become irreversible.

Eventually, Braig and the other five apprentices dabbled too deep into darkness through their continued experiments. Braig, along with the others, was consumed by the darkness, producing a Heartless. However, the apprentices all had strong wills, and so a Nobody was also created, Xigbar. The six Nobodies formed Organization XIII, and banished Ansem the Wise to the Realm of Darkness.

Appearance
Braig wears a guard's uniform with a dark slate grey jacket, silver highlights, and two rows of gold buttons on the front. He wears a black belt and white gloves adorned with a silver, curled heart symbol. His jacket bears some resemblance to Xigbar's black coat, sporting the same pointed shoulders. He also wears black, knee-high boots and a tattered, red scarf. In terms of facial features, Braig sports brown eyes, though they turn gold upon his acceptance of the darkness, upturned eyebrows, and dark, shoulder-length hair that he wears slicked back. After his fight against Terra, he loses his right eye eye and receives a jagged scar over his left cheek, making him and Master Eraqus the only two characters that are seen receiving scars during the story. Once he is able to take the bandages off, Braig wears an eyepatch to cover his lost eye.

Braig wields two Arrowguns shaped like crossbows. They are colored in shades of silver and a faded, metallic purple and adorned with the same curled heart symbol as his gloves.

Personality
Since Braig is the original persona of Xigbar, he possesses some of Xigbar's personality. He is shown to have a laid-back, cocky attitude, and doesn't often take things seriously. Braig can also be cold and merciless at times, seen once when he kidnaps Master Xehanort and tries to eliminate Terra for his Keyblade (although this was later revealed to be staged by Master Xehanort), and again when he tries to destroy Aqua and Ventus to get Terra to fall to darkness and cruelly asking who wants to go first. He often refers to Master Xehanort as an "old coot", and like Xigbar, very frequently says "As if.".

Fighting Style
Braig, like his Nobody Xigbar, wields twin Arrowguns in battle, using them to fire a variety of quick shots. He uses a telescopic view in battle and is able to teleport, warp his bullets, and levitate upside-down via space distortion. Like his Nobody's, Braig's HUD display has a silhouette of his Arrowguns in each of the four cardinal directions. The shots Braig fires when he is sniping are violet like Xigbar's, but they seem to have explosive properties to them. He can also combine his two weapons into one in order to fire powerful shots in rapid succession. Braig is also very agile, able to make high leaps into the air, and quickly run around opponents while leaving after-images of himself.

In the Western releases of Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, his targeting reticule was changed drastically, much like his Nobody, Xigbar. Instead of the reticule used when fighting Terra (which resembled a sniper rifle scope), the American and European versions simply showed three violet dots, vaguely showing Braig's aim.



Quotes

 * "The old coot knows how to take punishment. Just like I know how to deal it out."
 * "If I heard the old guy right, you're what they call "Keyblade Master" material. So if I defeat you, that makes me the real "Keyslinger", if you catch my drift. Not the most polite way to go about it... but what can ya do?"
 * "I didn't sign up to be collateral damage! No way, as if!"
 * "I mean, what's a little scratch on my face. All things considered. I'm just glad he didn't steal my heart like Princess Whatever-It-Was. That'd ruin my week for sure."
 * "You two think you've got some grand role to play. As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off, Terra will succumb to the darkness. So, who wants to go first?"
 * "I keep forgetting, don't mess with Keyblade wielders. But you know what? That just means I made the right choice."
 * "How 'bout you leave the Popsicle with me so you can go have your little fight with Terra? You can't be too happy about him deep-sixin' your Master."