Ansem the Wise

Ansem the Wise (his alias being DiZ) is the ruler of Radiant Garden prior to its ironic destruction by his apprentice scientists Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo before they and the sixth, Xehanort, became Nobodies.

A Grave Mistake
The sage was also the one who found the young Xehanort, on the brink of death, in the aftermath of a great battle by those who used Keyblades to fight, and nursed him back to health. Though the man had no memory of what happened to him before arriving at Radiant Garden, he still possessed a remarkable intellect and an insatiable curiosity. Thus, he became Ansem the Wise's apprentice, joining the five others.

However, as the years grew, Ansem the Wise became worried that the darkness of people's hearts would one day swallow his beloved home. In order to understand and counter it, Ansem began conducting tests on Xehanort's heart. With the empty suit of armor he found at said battlefield, Ansem also hoped to unlock Xehanort's hidden memories, with his apprentice Even also showing interest. However, the more he probed, the more he became worried about Xehanort's wellbeing and his supposedly superhuman abilities.

Still, Ansem eventually constructed a large laboratory in the basement of his castle, encouraged by Ienzo, known as the Chamber of Rest. However, Ansem's six apprentices used the laboratory in order to conduct inhumane experiments on the human heart and the darkness within it. Ansem immediately ordered his apprentices to cease their experiments and sealed the chamber. Still, Ansem sinked into despair over his error in experimenting on Xehanort, but a king of another world, King Mickey (Gummi Ship travel was now possible, thanks to Xehanort opening the door in Ansem's basment) arrived. The two rulers became great friends, conversing over many subjects, and their companionship began to heal Ansem's heart. King Mickey eventually advised Ansem the Wise to review the research data, but found the "Ansem Reports", using his name, but written by Xehanort. Ansem began to see that the damage he had done had become irreversible.

Eventually and unfortunately, the six apprentices dabbled too deep into the darkness behind his back. They were consumed by it, with Xehanort sealing their fate and the ruination of Radiant Garden with his separation in his Heartless and Xemnas, his Nobody. The others followed, with their Nobodies joining Xemnas in the founding of Organization XIII. Ansem, his mistakes catching up to him, was also plunged into a realm of nothingness while the Heartless consumed his world, embittered by the betrayal of Xehanort and his other apprentices.

A New Identity
For some time, Ansem remained in the empty realm, constantly writing in order to maintain his sanity. Here, he also discarded his old, stolen name, and became DiZ, or "darkness in zero". Eventually, he found a way to escape when he gained the power of darkness, though he did not intend to let himself be consumed by it like his apprentices. With his newfound powers, DiZ also garbed himself in red robes and a mask made of red bandages in order to fully conceal his identity.

Using the corridors of darkness, DiZ found Twilight Town, and took refuge in an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of the town. There, he began researching the Nobodies and the Heartless, as well as watching Sora and King Mickey's efforts to defeat the Heartless from the sidelines. DiZ also began to use laughter as a mask to hide his true feelings of regret.

Castle Oblivion
DiZ, hoping to gain revenge on Organization XIII, infiltrates the Organization's second base, Castle Oblivion. There, he monitors Sora and encounters Naminé. He also aids Riku in his quest to defeat his darkness, though not revealing his true identity for some time (instead, he took on the form of Xehanort's Heartless). DiZ also re-encounters King Mickey, but is saddened that he cannot talk to him like in the old days. In time, Riku defeats Xehanort's Heartless, though a part of him still lingers in Riku's heart. He and King Mickey then set off, though DiZ appears to them at the crossroads in the grassy plain, asking which path they will take. Riku chooses the middle road, which DiZ refers to as the "twilit road to nightfall". However, Riku calls it the "road to dawn". DiZ soon returned to Naminé to begin work to restore Sora's memories after they were broken apart in Castle Oblivion. However, DiZ was astonished to see Riku had return to assist him.

The Beginning of the End
Since the castle was still under control of the Organization, DiZ convinced Naminé snd Riku to move Sora, Donald, and Goofy to his facility in Twilight Town. However, Sora was taking too long to awaken, so DiZ convinced Riku to retrieve Roxas, Sora's Nobody. However, Riku had no choice but to take on the form of Xehanort's Heartless in order to fully utilize the power of darkness and defeat Roxas. DiZ, seeing Riku's (taking on the name Ansem) devotion to Sora, slowly began to lose his lust for revenge. Still, DiZ continued with the plan, placing Roxas into a digital facsimile of Twilight Town where he could live out his days until it was time for him to reunite with Sora.

In the events of Kingdom Hearts II, DiZ, Riku, and Naminé co-operate with each other to restore Sora. However, DiZ intended to have Naminé disposed of once she fullfills her part, annoyed by her reaching out towards Roxas. But Riku, having. Nonetheless, Roxas eventually joins with Sora as DiZ envision, and Sora sets out on his journey, though he does not function as DiZ had intended. In addition, DiZ's orders to Riku on ensuring Naminé's disappearance are directly disobeyed before he left as well, due to the fact Riku only stuck by DiZ to restore Sora and nothing more. It becomes increasingly obvious to the former ruler that the heart is something he cannot truly understand.

The World That Never Was
DiZ eventually infiltrates the Organization's home world, The World That Never Was. With Sora's strength of heart having obliterated DiZ's plans, he takes it upon himself to stop Xemnas by using a machine to digitally encode Kingdom Hearts, which Xemnas had been feeding human hearts in order to eventually extract its power to become whole. However, as he climbs the Nobody's headquarters, he is attacked by Nobodies, though he is saved by his old friend King Mickey. Seeing no more reason to hide his identity, DiZ unmasks himself. King Mickey asks Ansem why he didn't come to him before, but Ansem feels that the task of defeating Organization XIII was his. He also explains to King Mickey his part in causing Riku to take on his dark form, and his regrets. He and King Mickey then set off to seal away Kingdom Hearts.

Ansem the Wise, finding a good spot, begins encoding Kingdom Hearts, but sees that the power of Kingdom Hearts is too much great to be controled, adding insult to his realization of the heart's unpredicative true nature. The machine begins to overload, and Ansem does his best to contain it. Sora, Riku, and their companions, as well as Xemnas, all arrive at Ansem's location. Ansem throws bitter words and accusations at Xemnas, though Xemnas simply retorts that Ansem himself was the reason for the destruction wrought on the worlds. Ansem, though he knows his errors, sees that both he and his former apprentice are as still ignorant to the true essence of the heart as they were ten years ago. The machine then goes critical, only moments away from exploding. Ansem takes the time to give King Mickey and Riku final words, and sincerely apologizes to Roxas for all he has done, though he is not sure if he can hear him. The machine then explodes, killing Ansem. But his death is not in vain, as the explosion restores Riku to his true form, and undoes Xemnas' work on Kingdom Hearts.

Triva

 * In the japanese version, Ansem was voiced by seiyuu Genzo Wakayama, who voiced Zeus on Disney's Hercules. In the English dub, Ansem was voiced by famous actor Christopher Lee.