Vanitas

Vanitas (ヴァニタス) is a character and one of the primary antagonists in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. He is the sole apprentice of Master Xehanort, the game's main antagonist. Vanitas is from the darkness of Ventus's heart extracted by Master Xehanort to further his evil plan. Vanitas's birth sparked the threat of the Unversed.

Creation
Four years before the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus served as Master Xehanort's apprentice. The Keyblade wielder was sent to the Keyblade Graveyard, where he was forced by his master to face several Neoshadows. Ventus lost the battle, and was knocked unconscious. Master Xehanort then proceeded to use his Keyblade to unlock Ventus's heart, resulting in Vanitas's formation. The dark enigma, who appeared from an orb of dark energy, would be the source of the Unversed as well as a key component in Master Xehanort's plans.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
After Master Xehanort viewed the battle between Terra and Aqua as part of their Master Qualification Exam, he left the room to find a hidden Vanitas awaiting him. The two conversed about Ventus, and Vanitas claimed he still needed to make him stronger. Vanitas later appeared before Ventus in his room, spoke of Terra no longer being himself, and vanished into a corridor of darkness.

After his first few ventures throughout the worlds, Ventus spotted Vanitas in space and was led to the Keyblade Graveyard. Vanitas approached him, spoke of Terra losing his identity again, and challenged him to a duel. Vanitas gained the upper hand mid-way, knocking Ventus down. Mickey Mouse later appeared, healing Ventus. The two then proceeded to fight the dark enigma, who left yet again upon his defeat.

After the fight, Mickey's Star Fragment sent Ventus and Mickey both to Radiant Garden. There he reunited with his friends to tackle a massive Unversed, but afterwards Terra, Ventus, and Aqua went their separate ways. While Aqua stayed behind to contemplate, Vanitas appeared and approached her, the two fighting a vicious battle. After the duel, Aqua attempted to remove Vanitas's helmet, but the dark enigma startled her with an insane laugh. Ventus overheard Vanitas's last few words to Aqua, returning to her side just as he left in another corridor of darkness.

Vanitas later found Aqua in Neverland as well with Ven's (formerly Terra's) cherished Wooden Keyblade. The dark enigma snapped the toy weapon in two, battling Aqua once again. He left Aqua exhausted and enraged at the thought of Ventus being in danger, but just as soon as he had appeared, Vanitas vanished yet again in a dark corridor.

When Ventus later returned to the Land of Departure, he was attacked by Master Eraqus. Terra came to his rescue and battled his old Master, throwing his friend into a portal he summoned, much to Ventus's displeasure. The portal led him to Destiny Islands, where Ventus encountered Vanitas. Vanitas explained his birth from the darkness in Ventus's heart, and how he took his place as Master Xehanort's apprentice. This caused Ventus great pain in regaining his memories, Vanitas vanishing as Ventus fled the world.

When Terra, Ventus, and Aqua approached their final battle with Vanitas and Master Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard, intense battles ensued. The two darklings met up with the Keyblade wielders, Terra charging them. Master Xehanort intervened, however, blocking Terra's path with massive rock formations. As Terra continued to pursue Master Xehanort, Vanitas went after Aqua and Ventus. The two fought valiantly against the dark warrior, but not before he returned to Master Xehanort's side after Ventus was frozen. He battled Terra alongside Master Xehanort, who later commanded Vanitas to go after Ventus and Aqua again.

Vanitas attacked Aqua from above, knocking her unconscious, and prepared the final blow while Ventus lay helpless and frozen. Ventus summoned all of his willpower, however, standing and facing Vanitas. The dark enigma revealed his face, revealing himself to be created from the darkness in Ventus's heart while summoning many Unversed to hold Ventus down as he forcefully integrated into him. In a burst of light, Vanitas and Ventus were transported to the Awakening, Ventus's pillar now hosting a picture of Vanitas, as well. Vanitas wielded an incomplete version of the X-Blade.

As Ventus battled Vanitas in the Awakening, Aqua and Mickey were forced to battle Vanitas/Ventus in the physical world as they fused together, altering Ventus's form to have Vanitas's golden eyes and bodysuit. Vanitas/Ventus summoned the completed X-Blade, attacking. As Aqua defeated the Vanitas/Ventus fusion and destroyed the X-Blade, Vanitas's metaphysical battle with Ventus came to an end after they shattered the pillar, with Vanitas fading out of existence, taking all Unversed in existence with him and relinquishing his control over Ventus. Unfortunately, Ventus loses his heart and falls into a coma in the process.

Appearance
Vanitas wears a black and red organic-looking bodysuit, which is quite similar to Riku's Dark Mode from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. He wears a silver helmet covered with dark glass, hiding his face from view. It is revealed that his face is identical to Sora's face, although he possesses golden-yellow eyes, black hair, and paler skin. In an interview with Nomura, it is revealed that this similarity is due to Sora's heart connecting with Ventus near the beginning of the game, and had anyone else connected with Ventus's heart, Vanitas would look like that person. He wields a Keyblade that is colored in red and black, also bearing two blue eyes that were previously unique to Riku's Soul Eater, Way to the Dawn, and the Keyblade used by Master Xehanort.

Personality
As a being created from the purest of darkness, Vanitas is proud, cunning, cruel, and pure evil. The lives of others, including that of even Master Xehanort, hold absolutely no value to him, and as a pragmatist, he would strike without a moment's thought or warning. His overall personality is in an extremely stark contrast to Ventus, Sora, Roxas, and Xion who are all valiant, value friendship, and possess heroic qualities.

Fighting Style
Vanitas is a skilled warrior with the Keyblade and with magic. He is seen casting fire, thunder, and blizzard magic, performing complicated acrobatics, and even rides the flying Keyblades that Master Xehanort sends out. Vanitas also counterattacks if he is struck multiple times, making him difficult to fight in close combat. Also, Vanitas's battle stance greatly resembles Riku's battle stance. It also seems that Vanitas can be summoned by Master Xehanort by force of will.

Trivia

 * After his first spoken line, Nomura made a joke saying that he was to voice Vanitas. Nomura also stated in another interview that Vanitas's identity was familiar and perhaps also shocking. It was later revealed that Vanitas was voiced by Miyu Irino, the Japanese voice actor for Sora. According to Nomura, Irino had said for a while that he wanted to play an evil character, and Nomura jokingly stated he sort of got carried away with it.
 * Vanitas's name is derived from the Latin word for "Vanity" or "Emptiness", and was chosen for its meaning, that it sounded similar to "Ventus", and that it was a written pun on "Sora" in Japanese."Nomura: I wanted to give him a name that meant 'empty', and so I looked for something that would be appropriate. When I was searching I found a word that meant 'emptiness' in Latin, 'Vanitas'. It looked a lot like Ventus's name, and in Japanese it has the kanji for 'sora' in it, so I thought it was perfect. Of course in Vanitas's case it doesn’t mean 'sora [sky]' but 'kara [empty]' [These two words are written with the same kanji, but are said differently and have different meanings.]"
 * Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania refers to him as the Masked Youth (仮面の少年).
 * Out of all the antagonists to appear in the series, Vanitas has had the most boss battles fought against him, to a total of seven battles in all.

Notes and References
Vanitas