Roxas

"He...was the only one I liked... He made me feel...like I had a heart."

- Axel

Roxas is Sora's Nobody (his name is an anagram of Sora with the letter X added.) and the newest, not to mention youngest member of Organization XIII, and bears the title "Key of Destiny". He is also the mysterious hooded figure in Another Side, Another Story as well as in Deep Dive.

Birth
As said in the Secret Ansem Reports, Roxas was born when Sora stabbed himself with the Keyblade forged from the hearts of six of the seven Princesses of Heart in order to free Kairi's heart at the cost of his own. But Sora's time as a Heartless was short, as Kairi's light had fetched Sora's heart from the darkness, restoring him to his former self. Thus, Sora and Roxas co-existed, but Roxas would be without his true memories, and the two were incomplete without one another. Even so, Roxas' status as Sora's Nobody granted him the ability to use the Keyblade. This, along with his emotions, make Roxas a very unusual Nobody.

Time in the Organization
Roxas, having been born in Twilight Town, is soon discovered by Xemnas, and is given his name. Having nowhere else to go, Roxas joins the Organization in hopes of finding the answers he needed. On that same day, Roxas meets Axel, and the two soon become best friends.

Even so, Roxas is growing increasingly impatient for the truth about himself, even as he uses the Keyblade (though he does not why he can wield it) to bring the Organization closer to their goal of attaining Kingdom Hearts.

Eventually, Roxas becomes fed up with recurring dreams of Sora, the other self he didn't know, eventually deciding to leave the Organization to find Sora and know who these people he didn't know were. Axel, who knew Sora's location at the time, intercepts Roxas and tries to convince Roxas not to go though with it, warning him that the Organization would destroy him if he betrayed them, but Roxas is indifferent, and continues on, leaving a sad Axel behind.

Capture
Roxas, at one point, encounters Riku at Memory's Skyscraper, as countless Neoshadow Heartless surround him. Roxas gives Riku his Oblivion Keyblade to use, and the two fend off the Heartless together but as soon as that threat is gone, they turn on each other. As they battle, Riku questions why Roxas has the Keyblade, but Roxas only demands he be quiet. Though Riku managed to take him down, Roxas ends up the victor. This forced Riku to clads himself in darkness and takes on Xehanort's Heartless' form to use the power of darkness. With his newfound strength, Riku is able to knock Roxas uncocsious and bring him to the old mansion in Twilight Town, where Roxas came into being and where DiZ resides. DiZ's intention is to join Sora and Roxas together, so Sora would be complete once more whole his regaining his memories. However, he knows the Organization will hunt fervently for their missing member, so DiZ places him in a digital copy of Twilight Town. There, Roxas would be kept safely away from the Organization while he himself lives unaware of his nature as a Nobody until the time is right.

Digital Twilight Town


For some time, Roxas lives a normal life in the digital Twilight Town, becoming best friends with three kids: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. It is this time in the digital Twilight Town that serves as the prologue to Kingdom Hearts II. But soon, he begins experiencing dreams of Sora, and mysterious events start to pop up around town. Strange white creatures, the Nobodies, start popping up around town, stealing photographs and attacking Roxas for no reason. However, whenever danger rears its head, the Keyblade inexplicably comes to aid him, and disappears once the threat is gone.

Along with the Nobodies, Roxas comes into contact with Naminé several times, seeming to know things about Roxas that he himself doesn't. Their meeting in turn brings Roxas into contact with Kairi, who Roxas knows has a close connection with Sora. He also meets a mysterious man in a black cloak, who at one point asks a cryptic question: "Can you feel Sora"? He also meets another mysterious figure masked in red bandages, DiZ. Though these three's intentions are not known, one person named Axel, claiming that he knows Roxas, arrives, and has more clear intentions: he wants to bring Roxas back with him to the Organization's fold, though he's not afraid to defeat the young boy to accomplish his goal. He battles Roxas but only DiZ's timely aid spares Roxas from defeat.

In addition to these mysterious people, Roxas also begins to see strange anomalies. Time often freezes, and only he and select people seem to be unaffected. He also sees strange "glitches" around town that he cannot explain. For some time, Roxas continues to be befuddled by all these events.

That all changes when summer vacation comes to a close, and the truth comes out: Roxas learns he is a Nobody from Naminé, and that he is supposed to meet with Sora, the one from his dreams, in order to complete him. Along with that, Roxas discovers that he is living in a digital Twilight Town, and that his friends aren't real, just data. He once again encounters Axel, who has been ordered to eliminate Roxas if he refuses to return, but DiZ manages to freeze Axel in his tracks, along with the rest of the world, save for Roxas, and tells him to go to the haunted mansion. He does so, and there he encounters Naminé, who reveals information on Organization XIII. However, she is interrupted by DiZ, but before she is taken away, she promises him that they will meet again, even if they do not recognize each other. Desiring to see Sora, Roxas makes his way through the mansion, and begins to recall his former life, and realizing that he had been captured and placed into the digital world by DiZ and the mysterious cloaked man, destroys DiZ's computer in anger, even though it is just a digital copy.

Roxas then meets Axel one last time, but his best friend only has the intention of following out on his orders. The two battle once more, but this time Roxas is able to call on all of his dormant abilities, including summoning his two weapons: Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and soundly defeats his old friend, though with great regret. Roxas hopes that they will meet again, though Axel chuckles and responds that only Roxas has a next life, and then retreats into the darkness. Roxas then enters the pod room where Sora is kept, but not before seeing Donald and Goofy slumbering in their own pods. DiZ is there to greet him, revealing his intentions and fueling Roxas' rage with cutting remarks about Roxas' purpose and nature.

Roxas, in his anger, tries to cut down DiZ, but sees that this DiZ is only a hologram. It vanishes, and the pod in the center of the room opens. All his anger drains away when he sees Sora slumbering in the pod. With a sad smile, he remarks that his "summer vacation...is over". At this point, the prologue ends.

Resting and Hints
Roxas, though he does not truly appear to Sora throughout most of the game, is frequently mentioned. Most of the Organization members call Sora "Roxas", confusing and frustrating him. Roxas himself manages to maintain a presence within Sora despite "resting". The first time this is hinted is when Sora departs from Twilight Town for the first time, saying goodbye to Hayner, Pence, and Olette. To his surprise, a tear rolls down his eye, expressing Roxas' own sadness in separating from his friends. And even they feel a certain connection to Sora, though they had never met before.

During the second visit to Twilight Town, Roxas' presence within Sora is again apparent. As Sora looks through the crystal orb and at the orange sun, he can subconsciously feel Roxas within him. Then while Sora, Donald, and Goofy's brief stay in a realm of nothingness, Riku leaves two clues for them, one of which is a picture from the digital Twilight Town, which shows Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing in front of the abandoned mansion. Despite Sora having never seen Roxas before, he immediately knows that the name of the boy in the picture is Roxas.

Finally, a dying Axel reveals his intent to Sora and his relation to Roxas before fading into nothingness. His death, as Xenmas said, was strong enough to finally awaken Roxas at last.

Encounter
The hints of Roxas' presence within Sora come to a climax in the World That Never Was. At Memory's Skyscraper, two Samurai Nobodies arrive and block Sora from Donald and Goofy. Then, Roxas, shrouded in an Organization cloak, confronts Sora, summoning a Keyblade (much to Sora's surprise). The two are transported to the Station of Serenity, and they share an intense battle. During their fight, Roxas says that he is someone from the dark, and Sora wonders if he is Riku. His guess is incorrect, and Roxas says that he had defeated a Riku once. He also asks a strange question: "Tell me, why did he choose you?!", and attacks Sora in a rage. At one point, Roxas floats from above, and sees the images of Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy next to Sora, and finally understands. Still, Roxas continues to attack, but Sora defeats him in the end. Dropping his weapons, whle remaining the events after his "birth", a wounded Roxas' hood drops and his face is revealed. He turns to Sora with a smile and says "You make a good other".

Sora returns to the World That Never Was, asking his companions about the mysterious Keyblade wielding Nobody, but Donald and Goofy say that they saw no one other than themselves, and Sora had just disappeared, leaving them to fight some Nobodies. Sora is confused, but continues on.

As Sora makes his way up the Organization's stronghold, the Organization members, before being cut down one by one, make more and more confusing remarks about Roxas. After Saïx is defeated, Sora asks why the Organization calls him "Roxas", and Riku reveals that Roxas is his Nobody, which gives him the power to use the Keyblade. He also explains that Roxas left the Organization, and Riku tried to bring him to DiZ, but was defeated. But the next time, Riku had taken on the form of Xehanort's Heartless and used the darkness as a weapon, and managed to bring Roxas back so that he may join with Sora in order to awaken him from his sleep. However, Riku realizes that Roxas had left in the first place because he wanted to meet Sora in the first place, and thus didn't have to fight him. Sora sadly expresses that he wants to meet Roxas as well, but Riku points out that Roxas rests within him.

After Xemnas' seeming defeat, Roxas and Naminé reunite, with Roxas projecting himself through Sora before Naminé joins with Kairi. They are happy that they met again, and say that unlike other Nobodies, they got to meet their original selves and become whole. Finally, Roxas and Naminé believe that as long as Sora and Kairi are together, so will they, and accept their place within Sora and Kairi.

Roxas and Naminé are seen one last time, when Sora and Riku return to Destiny Islands. As Sora and Kairi reunite, they smile at each other, while Roxas and Naminé do the same.

Personality
Roxas, unlike other Nobodies, seems to possess emotions, stemming from the fact that he is a special Nobody. He is far more prone to anger than Sora, whom he expressed some hatred for being compared to him early due to their relation, which DiZ notes with amusement in their encounter. On the other hand, Roxas tends to be ironically melancholy and stoic, especially as he comes to realize the truth about himself.

Battle technique and weaponry
In battle Roxas wields two Keyblades, the Oathkeeper and Oblivion. He controls the element of light and the Samurai Nobodies. Although it would normally be impossible for a Nobody to wield a Keyblade, Roxas, as the Nobody of the chosen wielder, Sora, can wield them. Of course, as the Heartless use the Keyblades as a homing signal, he is constantly under attack by them when not under the protection of Organization XIII, though they do not seek out his heart, unlike Sora.

When he attacks with his full power and the element of Light, Roxas becomes a much more dangerous foe. He can glide at fast speeds(leaving behind a lens flare) and control 13 sword-shaped shields which can connect too form a laser array. He can rush forward at his opponent leaving behind a trail of light. He can levitate the keyblades in the air and whirl them rapidly. He can also counter an extended combo with one of his own. His special attack seems too be floating in the air and shooting 13 light arrows around the arena which light it up and then shooting blue balls of light at his opponent from two spheres next to him. He can also perform the Duel Bout technique(similar too his Samurai Nobodies) where he rushes at his opponent and slashes at them, causing massive damage if not repelled. But the twist is that Sora could use Roxas' keyblades if he does repell the attack.

In comparison to Sora, Roxas seems to have a far more aggressive style: he is constantly on the offensive, and abandons any defensive moves he had previously used, such as Guard.

It also seems that Roxas is one of the more powerful members of the Organization, being superior to Axel but somewhere underneath Xemnas.

Video
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Roxas: Confrontation and Origins (Final Mix+)