Xehanort

Master Xehanort is a Keyblade master and the original incarnation of Xehanort. He serves as the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. He was the original master of Ventus and later the creator and master of Vanitas.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
In his youth, Xehanort was an islander from Destiny Islands who had dreams of leaving his home in search for something greater. At some point he found a way to depart his home world and was trained to be a Keyblade Master, eventually befriending another Keybearer named Eraqus. Throughout his life Xehanort traveled to many different worlds and obtained vast knowledge concerning Keyblade lore, the power of Light and Darkness, the mysteries of the Keyblade War and Kingdom Hearts. Realizing the power unlocking "the heart of all worlds" would grant, Xehanort set his goal on finding a way to open the door to Kingdom Hearts.

Having become an old man at that point, Xehanort realized he needed a new vessel so his knowledge would not be wasted and his goal of obtaining Kingdom Hearts could be realized. To this end he discovered a young boy named Ven and began training him to become a Keyblade wielder. Being too weak and gentle to be his Master's vessel, Xehanort instead used Ven to enact his ultimate plan. By shattering Ven's heart in two to create a heart of pure light: Ventus, and a heart of pure darkness: Vanitas, Xehanort intended to forge the X-Blade, a Keyblade capable of unlocking Kingdom Hearts.

Unfortunately the process left Ven in a comatose-like state with his broken heart of pure light slowly fading out. Xehanort decided to leave Ven to die in a peaceful setting in his old home, the Destiny Islands. To his master's surprise Ventus' heart somehow survived and Xehanort realized the boy could still be of use. But Ventus was still far too weak in comparison to Vanitas, for the two needed to be equal in power for the creation of the X-Blade. Xehanort brought his former apprentice to his old friend Eraqus to train Ven and make him stronger.

At this point Xehanort set his eyes on one of Eraqus's apprentices: Terra, within whom he sensed the correct potential to be his new vessel. Xehanort sabotaged the Master Qualification Exam taken by Terra and Aqua and later told him that if he were to become a true Keyblade Master, he would have to embrace the darkness in his heart rather than fight it. Shortly thereafter, Master Xehanort and Vanitas disappeared on an apparent quest to find the Princesses of Heart.

During his travels, Master Xehanort manipulated Master Eraqus's apprentices, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, who had been sent to find him and destroy the Unversed, a malicious species created as a side-effect of Vanitas's existence. Working with a man named Braig and who desired the Keyblade for himself, Master Xehanort staged his own capture and had Braig fight Terra, with Terra succumbing to the darkness and disfiguring Braig's face permanently. Lying that Vanitas was responsible for the whole chaos, Xehanort formed a pact with Terra to destroy him and took Terra under his wing, calling him by the name "Master Terra" and gaining the young man's trust.

Later on, Xehanort abducted Mickey Mouse as bait to lure Ventus to the Keyblade Graveyard, where he revealed to him the truth about his past, stating also that Master Eraqus knew about it. While Ven went to see Eraqus, Xehanort told Terra that Eraqus had gone mad and was about to destroy Ventus. Terra was tricked into defeating Eraqus in battle, allowing Xehanort to callously deliver the finishing blow to his former friend. Xehanort covered the Land of Departure in darkness, completely destroying the world and leaving nothing but the castle's remains.

Soon enough Terra, Aqua and Ventus discovered the truth and confronted Master Xehanort and Vanitas at the Keyblade Graveyard (the remains of the legendary Keyblade War). There Master Xehanort revealed to them his true plans as well as his intention to use Terra's body as a vessel to continue his existence long enough to see his plans of obtaining Kingdom Hearts reach fruition. In the ensuing battle Xehanort froze Ventus and had Vanitas knock Aqua out cold, causing Terra to lose control of his anger and succumb again to the darkness in his heart.

Terra used the power of darkness to defeat the elderly Keyblade master, but Xehanort enacted his final scheme and used his Keyblade to unlock his own heart and transfer it into Terra's body, prolonging his life and transforming him into the new Xehanort. Master Xehanort's original body faded into darkness with a triumphant smile, though his victory was short-lived. Terra's mind and thoughts were preserved within his discarded armor and became the Lingering Sentiment, which halted the new Xehanort from leaving the battlefield and swiftly defeated him yet again, knocking him unconscious.

In one of the game's final scenes, it is revealed that the hearts of Master Xehanort and Terra were, at the time, battling over internal dominance within the new Xehanort. However, with the destruction of both "Ansem" (Xehanort's Heartless) and Xemnas (Xehanort's Nobody) at the hands of Sora and Riku, the status of Master Xehanort is currently unknown.

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

His attire is nearly identical to the clothes that Xehanort's Heartless wears, 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's cloak has a gold lining on the edges, while Master Xehanort's cloak has black ones. This is later carried on to Xehanort's Heartless, explained because this particular Heartless was made from the heart of Master Xehanort.

Master Xehanort is briefly shown when he was younger, though his face is never shown. He's seen with fairly long, silver hair and a mildly tanned skin. He also wears a sleeveles black shirt and pants of the same color.

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 his own Keyblade, which has a black/silver finish, a spiky shaft, a head resembling the blade of a battle axe, and bears some similarities to the Oblivion Keyblade. His Keyblade also has two demonic-like eyes that were previously unique to the Soul Eater, Way to the Dawn, and Vanitas's 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. His ice magic not only damages on impact, but also spreads through Terra's left arm freezing it in the process. After grabbing Ventus 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 where he can turn it into a ball of blue-purple energy that can be fired into the sky and apparently summons Kingdom Hearts.

His greatest and arguably deadliest ability, however, is that of using his Keyblade to transfer his heart into the body of another, displayed when he does this to Terra and takes over him completely, combining his own powers with Terra's powers and creating the ultimate Keyblade Master, Xehanort. It is through the actions of the Lingering Sentiment and Aqua that Master Xehanort loses his memories along with his ability to wield the Keyblade, thus becoming a less dangerous enemy. But still even without the Keyblade, he is a foe not to be underestimated, demonstrated in Master Xehanort's numerous battles with Sora (in the forms of "Ansem" and Xemnas).

Personality
Much like Xehanort, "Ansem", and Xemnas, Master Xehanort is shown to be a cunning, callous, and purely evil being with the sole goal of merging with Kingdom Hearts. To this end, he is willing to put whatever he pleases on the line or destroy anything in his way, demonstrated when he manipulates several characters such as Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Braig, and even Maleficent; creates Vanitas, a sentient being for the sole purpose of forwarding his evil plan; and slays his old friend, Master Eraqus, in cold blood, after tricking Terra into defeating him in battle.

Master Xehanort is not without good points, however. His past shows that he was once a noble man who willingly took Ventus as an apprentice and cared for him until he started to lose his grip on sanity. Even after this, he still shows pity for Ventus and leaves him under Eraqus's care, although at the end of the game he appears to have put this behind him, shown when he freezes Ventus solid and almost kills him.

Overall, Master Xehanort is arguably the catalyst of all the events in the series, and could even be seen as the true villain of the franchise. He shares most of his personality traits with Xehanort's Heartless, while Xehanort is an amnesiac and Xemnas appears to have more of Terra's characteristics than Master Xehanort's characteristics. For unknown reasons, he has a tendency to turn away from the people he speaks to, shown when he speaks to characters such as Terra, Vanitas, and Eraqus.

Trivia

 * Tetsuya Nomura stated the relationship between Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus is something like old classmates.
 * Master Xehanort is voiced by Chikao Ohtuska, the real-life father of Akio Ohtsuka, the Japanese voice actor of Xehanort and "Ansem". Chikao Ohtsuka previously voiced Captain Hook (but was replaced by Naoya Uchida for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep).
 * According to one of Xehanort's Reports, it stated that his first hometown had a beach. Nomura confirmed in a interview that Master Xehanort is from Destiny Islands.
 * In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Yen Sid wonders if Master Xehanort still has "distracting thoughts". This is a sign that the two have possibly met before, possibly as Xehanort and Eraqus's master.
 * Tetsuya Nomura has confirmed in recent interviews that Xehanort will return in future installments and that Kingdom Hearts III will feature his final battle against Sora, but it is currently unknown if he will return in his younger incarnation (the new Xehanort) or as Master Xehanort.