Kurt Zisa

Kurt Zisa is an enemy from the US and European versions of Kingdom Hearts, and also from Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. He is named after Kurt Zisa of Medford, NY, who won Square's "KINGDOM HEARTS: Name-In-Game" sweepstake, held almost two months prior to the game's release in the US.

First appearing exclusively to Americans and Europeans, the giant Kurt Zisa is one of the strongest enemies in the game, rivaling the Clock Tower Phantom and Sephiroth. It was released into Agrabah after the keyhole at Hollow Bastion was revealed.

Kurt Zisa is an optional boss. The way to fight it is to go to Aladdin's house and choose to ride Carpet to the desert. During a cutscene, Kurt Ziza will attack and engage a boss fight in the middle of the desert. There is no escaping the battle.

Kurt Zisa, unlike its counterpart the Phantom, yields no prize for defeating it. Instead, it gives more Experience Points compared to most bosses (10,000 points). It resembles a golden Bandit with six arms and a cobra head (though it more strongly looks like the Luna Bandit, the Luna Bandit didn't exist until Kingdom Hearts II came out), and uses psychic abilities in its sand-filled coliseum.

Forms of battle
Kurt Ziza fights in three forms, each with different attacks.

Prowl Mode
In stage 1, Kurt Ziza wields two glowing spheres in each of its top hands. Magic is unusable for the group, even Sora. Kurt Ziza uses nothing but physical attacks in this form. The spheres in his hands must be destroyed. Once destroyed, magic will be available to the party again and battle will fall into stage 2.

Stunned Mode
Kurt Ziza will become stunned and fall into a sitting position and his head will coil out like a snake. Kurt Ziza is vulnereable now and Sora can harm his 5 bars now. His only attack is weak bite attack. After a while, Kurt Ziza will turn into stage 3.

Shield Mode
In stage 3, Kurt Ziza is enveloped in a circular force field. He is floating around the sand arena. He will shoot thunderbolts at the party and make fireballs rise from the ground. Sora can only damage the shield through magic. Summon spells work well against the shield. When the shield is destroyed, Kurt Zisa will go into stage 2 again. After a while, stage 1 will commence again.

After Stage 3
The battle continues like this until Kurt Ziza is defeated.

Tips
Since Kurt Zisa is a very difficult boss to defeat, it is suggested to Summon Tinker Bell right before Magic is unusable, so if Sora is defeated, he will have another chance.

Attacks
This section lists Kurt’s attacks according to what mode Kurt uses them.

While Kurt is In Prowl Mode
Kurt’s most damaging attacks come while he is in Prowl Mode. Here they are and how to deal with them: ---

No Magic
Kurt casts this powerful spell every time he enters Prowl (including the first seconds of the battle). When he casts this spell, you will be unable to cast magic spells, so healing can become a problem very fast. Your best bet is to simply have a strong manual weapon and plenty of healing items in your items list. Never Again looses its effect when Kurt leaves Prowl mode.

Mad Dash
Kurt will lunge toward Sora and friends if the distance between them becomes too great. Roll toward Kurt slightly to the left or right to avoid his blades (but don’t roll too far past him) to be in a good spot to pound away at his energy orbs.

Roundhouse
This action is both an attack and a defense. Kurt will spin his two blades quickly around his body while standing in one spot. The spinning blades will repel attacks coming from the other side and knock Sora away if he tries to run past them. To avoid damage, either stand close to Kurt’s legs or roll away from him.

Spinning Blade
Kurt will jump in the air and begin to spin quickly. He will then swoop down on Sora. If he comes at Sora spinning vertically (like a wheel), wait for him to approach and dodge roll quickly to the left or right the moment he is about to hit. If he comes at you spinning horizontally (like a frisbee), simply high jump over him before impact. It may help to stand at the top of a dune before trying this so that you will fall into the valley and Kurt will glide over you. Also stay close to the wall and stay under Zisa before he comes down at you.

While Kurt is in Defenseless Mode
Kurt may be knocked off his feel, but he isn’t out for the count in Defenseless mode.

Whip Lash
This desperate flailing of Kurt’s neck may damage Sora if the head strikes him.

While Kurt is in Shield Mode
Some of Kurt’s most spectacular offensive spells are cast in this mode. Here they are and how to deal with them:

Fireballs
Kurt will signal this attack by rotating his arms and a design will appear on the front of this shield. He will hover around the battlefield as balls of fire appear randomly throughout the playing field. The balls explode into flame after a certain period or if Sora touches them. Just avoid the fire balls and try not to do anything that requires Sora to stand still (such as cast the Spell or Heal).

Sandstorm
Kurt will call forth a powerful desert cyclone to engulf Sora. If you pay close attention to Kurt’s arms, you will see him do a ‘lift up’ motion as if raising the storm out of the ground just before it happens. If Sora is trapped in the cyclone, simply roll out of it. Sandstorm will not chase after Sora once he’s free.

Meteor Shower
Kurt will summon balls of dark energy out of the ground. The ground will appear to bubble as the balls burst in and out of the ground. Kurt will also hurl huge balls of darkness at Sora at the same time, making it difficult to dodge completely. Kurt likes to call Meteor Shower in conjunction with other attacks for a double assault.