Xehanort

Unreleased

Master Xehanort is a major character in the upcoming PSP game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Not much is known about him, but he is apparently a powerful mage and a skilled Keyblade warrior. Prior to release of his name, he was known as "Bald Man", "Old Man", or most commonly "UEM" meaning "Unknown Elder Mage". Some fans affectionately refer to him as "Baldinort" after the release of his name, which reflects his different hairstyle and in order to distinguish him from the current Xehanort. Any connection Master Xehanort has to Xehanort, or any other character, is currently unconfirmed.

The Gathering
They stand still for a few moments before something catches their attention and they all look up. A figure, too blurry to make out in the heat, is walking towards the three Keyblade Masters and words appear, briefly, on the screen in this order: "Master of Keyblade", "The lost two, "Memory of Xehanort", "Chasers", "Keyblade War", "It all began with..." and the screen goes blank showing the last caption entitled: "Birth by sleep".

Birth by sleep
This is a secret movie in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. The two are charged by Terra, and Master Xehanort responds by shifting the earth beneath them to create a rising plateau that carries Terra above the rest. Master Xehanort then lifts the ground beneath himself as well, creating a cliff much higher than the surrounding terrain. It becomes apparent that Master Xehanort and Vanitas have great power; while Vanitas strikes Terra with Thunder, and is immediately pursued by the other two knights, Terra chases after Master Xehanort, who creates a Keyblade cyclone to aid Vanitas against the two knights.

Vanitas chases and battles the two knights on the cyclone, and neither are able to overcome him. Noticing that Terra is getting closer to Master Xehanort, Vanitas directs the cyclone towards Terra, knocking him off the cliff. The two other knights watch in horror, and one of them is hit by the cyclone, crashing to the ground. The knight's helmet is gone, revealed that the knight is a blue-haired woman, confirmed by Nomura as Aqua. The third knight comes to her aid and she unleashes Reflect magic on Terra to protect him from the cyclone, which protects him from the cyclone until the cyclone pushes him up to the cliff where Master Xehanort is where it explodes, blasting the cyclone to pieces. Terra is dropped to where Xehanort is. Terra briefly duels Master Xehanort until the old man freezes his left arm. The third knight attempts to attack Master Xehanort from behind, but Master Xehanort teleports himself behind him and grabs him by the helmet, crushing it and freezing him. Terra tries to stop him, but Vanitas reappears and hits him off the cliff with the cyclone's remains. Master Xehanort freezes the third knight's body solild and throws him off the cliff, shattering his keyblade and helmet. Aqua catches his body and his face is revealed to have a striking resemblance to Roxas. Though frozen, he moves his eyes to indicate that he is still alive. His name, as confirmed by Nomura, is Ven.

Master Xehanort's Keyblade reverts into a purple and blue ball of flame-like energy. Master Xehanort then raises his hand to the sky while holding the sphere, and the ball of energy promptly shoots upwards to part the gathering dark clouds, revealing what appears to be Kingdom Hearts by means not fully explained. Terra removes his helmet to look up at Kingdom Hearts as his eyes turn yellow.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Little is known about the role the old man will play in the game. However, it has been known for quite a while that the main characters Terra, Aqua, and Ven are searching for him.

Sometime, either early in the story or before it entirely, Master Xehanort disappeared alongside his enigmatic apprentice. The details of their disappearance are uncertain as of yet, but it is known that it foreshadows a great disaster in the universe of Kingdom Hearts. Apparently, he is in search of the Princesses of Heart, and judging by the trailer "Birth By Sleep", he is also seeking Kingdom Hearts.

During the course of the game, he meets alone with Terra in the Gathering Place. He seems ashamed about his apprentice's lust for dark power, almost sorry, and perhaps lets on that he is not quite as evil as some may think. He further went on to say that those who submit to darkness are not qualified to wield the Keyblade, and that man (likely being his apprentice) is already a monster infused with darkness. He then seems to plead that Terra use his power to defeat the darkness and correct his mistake. This mistake is probably Xehanort not being able to stop his apprentice from falling into darkness.

Eventually, Master Xehanort faces off against the three warriors, alongside his apprentice. He utilizes incredibly powerful magic, especially what appears to be Blizzard magic that can completely freeze a person. He also wields a hefty Keyblade ambidextrously and moves with amazing speed. Terra, Ven, and Aqua stand no chance against him during the duel. As the battle comes to an end, he turns his Keyblade into a ball of dark energy and uses it to summon a Kingdom Hearts with a blue aura in the sky.

Appearance
Master Xehanort appears to be an old man, bald except for thin eyebrows and a long white goatee. His ears are pointed and his eyes are amber. He has broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back. He overall appears as a somewhat feeble old man, certainly deceiving given his power.

His attire is nearly identical to the clothes that Xehanort's Heartless wears in Kingdom Hearts, namely, a white and black cloak with a red inner lining, a white shirt, black boots and white gloves. The only major difference in appearance between them is that Xehanort's Heartless has his chest bared, along with his emblem on the front, while Master Xehanort does not. There are a few minor changes as well - Xehanort's Heartless' cloak has a gold lining on the edges, while Master Xehanort's cloak does not, etc. The similar appearance, along with his name, have given rise to immense speculation to a connection between the two.

Abilities
Despite his bent and fragile appearance, Master Xehanort seems to be one of the most powerful figures to appear in the Kingdom Hearts universe and also has the ability to wield a Keyblade. His Keyblade has a black/silver finish, a spiky shaft, and a head resembling the blade of a battle axe. It bears some similarities to Riku's Soul Eater and the Oblivion Keyblade.

He is clearly a very powerful mage and possesses exceptional physical strength. With his magical abilities he is able to make massive columns of earth erupt from the ground and has also been shown to be able to lift hundreds of Keyblades from the ground with a powerful manipulation of wind, creating a destructive vortex which moves at his will that his apprentice sometimes rides. His ice magic not only damages on impact, but also spreads through Terra's left arm freezing it in the process. After grabbing Ven by the head with a single hand and crushing his helmet he instantly froze his entire body although it appears to have been only externally as he was still conscious and moved his eyes.

He also displayed the ability to either teleport or move at an extreme speed as he appeared to have vanished when Ven attempted to slash him from the back. His skill with the Keyblade is also impressive. He deflected Terra's powerful strikes effortlessly and is able to wield it with either hand. He also has an as-of-yet unexplained ability involving the Keyblade. He can turn it into a ball of blue-purple energy that can be fired into the sky and apparently summons Kingdom Hearts.

Trivia

 * Tetsuya Nomura stated the relationship between Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus is something like old classmates.
 * Master Xehanort will be voiced by Chikao Ohtuska, the real-life father of Akio Ohtuska, the Japanese voice actor of Xehanort and Ansem (Xehanort's Heartless), possibly impling a father/son like connection with the elder Xehanort and the current young Xehanort.

Maître Xehanort