Luxord

Luxord the Gambler of Fate is number X in Organization XIII. He first appeared, cloaked and hooded, before Sora along with Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Demyx and Saïx to taunt him in his return to Hollow Bastion. He harassed Sora and his friends in Port Royal and later confronted Sora in the World that Never Was. Although his role in the game is minor, he is one of the Organization members who had not been defeated outside of The World That Never Was. He, as a man who deals in games and fate, controls the Gambler Nobodies.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will feature Luxord as a playable character.

Port Royal
Upon making second rounds to the worlds in search of the Organization's stronghold, Sora once again allies with Jack Sparrow in Port Royal, where he learns that Will Turner has gone missing while investigating the theft of cursed pirate gold by a man in a black cloak. They seek out Will on the Black Pearl and find him on the Interceptor.

Luxord appears on the Black Pearl after they have recovered Will, with the cursed gold beside him, greeting Jack Sparrow. He reveals that he is at Port Royal to assess the value of the cursed gold to the Organization and calls up Grim Reaper, a Heartless. After the Heartless is thrown overboard, Luxord invokes the right of parley before Jack can get off a shot with his pistol. He agrees to hand over the chest, but takes four medallions from it when he does so, sending them off to his Gambler Nobodies, who escape with them. This has the effect of returning the curse on Jack and tying his curse to Grim Reaper, who becomes cursed, as well. The Grim Reaper then knocks Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack onto the Interceptor, and has the cannons of the Black Pearl destroy the ship. Sora and the others survive, and track down the medallions, and defeated the Grim Reaper back at Port Royal, lifting the curse on Jack. Even with Luxord's experiments having failed, he manages to bring the heart that the Grim Reaper was holding to Kingdom Hearts, and promptly flees.

Where Nothing Gathers
During several additional scenes in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, Luxord is featured with a prominent speaking role. Immediately after taunting Sora, the Organization returns to their meeting chamber. In response to talk about making plans, Luxord says that he'll "Pass out some cards.", meaning he intends to dabble around here and there, stirring things up to see what he can do. This inadvertently instigates a small argument between Xigbar and Demyx, and after Xaldin breaks it up, Luxord disappointingly remarks "There goes my entertainment."

He is again seen just before Sora enters The World That Never Was, discussing Axel with the remaining members. He notes that Axel may have gained something by putting his life on the line to help Sora. When Xigbar reacts that, as Nobodies, they have no life to put on the line, Luxord replies: "Yes, Axel gambled with something he didn't have - and he probably won." He then adds with a smile: "Obviously a cheater."

The World that Never Was
Luxord appears once more in the game, in the Organization's fortress in The World that Never Was. When Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy enter the area where Luxord waits, Sora walks ahead of the rest. Materializing between Sora and his friends, Luxord uses cards to remove Sora's allies from the area, and challenges Sora to a game involving time. Luxord fights against Sora, using a variety of tricks and games of luck with his playing cards, but in the end, Sora is able to wear Luxord's time down and defeat him. As Sora readies a finishing blow, Luxord raises his cards to shield himself, but Sora slices through the card and finishes Luxord off. Before fading into darkness, Luxord utters in disbelief of his loss, and like many other Organization members, calls Sora by the name Roxas.

Personality
Luxord is a man of games and luck; his challenge to Sora and Jack to find the medallions has a game quality to it, and the Heartless he summons cannot be attacked unless all the coins are in the chest, giving a side-objective to the battle. He also uses games of chance in his own battle with Sora. However, his enjoyment for games can backfire on him, both in and out of battle. His enjoyment of The Game is further portrayed in his additional scenes in the Final Mix version of the game, which show him in an almost uncaring light - he seems to not be bothered as long as he can continue to gamble and see interesting things.

Luxord is also portrayed as a master of rhetoric, with an advanced vocabulary (for example, describing the Grim Reaper Heartless as "a veritable maelstrom of avarice", meaning endlessly greedy, using it to taunt his opponents. He also possesses a notably British accent, giving him an air of sophistication. Another interesting note is that, unlike most other members of the Organization, who banter with Sora in some fashion before fighting, when Luxord appears to him he calmly smiles and says "I'd rather just skip the formalities", and begins the battle right away.

Fighting Style
Luxord, his element being time, uses it in unorthodox methods when compared to other Organization members. One might not even see his element as time at first glance. He shortens the odds originally by dispatching of Sora's companions before attacking Sora himself. Luxord does not have a HP bar; during the battle, Luxord and Sora each have a "time" bar that depletes over time and when they are damaged. The first to have theirs depleted loses the battle. This means that the player must watch Sora's HP and time gauges to make sure neither are emptied. He can also momentarily slow down Sora's movements when given the chance.

Luxord's main weapons are playing cards, which he can use as a means of hiding or shielding himself, as combat weapons for melee attacks, as projectiles, and as traps for Sora to spring. Luxord frequently jumps from one end of the battle field to another, making it hard to land a combo. Another attack not involving the cards is of course, the Game ability. By using the "Begin Game" reaction command, Sora must successful stop a flashing "O" symbol - if he succeeds, Luxord is stunned and he drops HP balls, if Sora fails, he is transformed into a card or die. Sora must later stop four "O" symbols instead of one to win the game.

Beyond this, Luxord often summons his cards to track Sora and distract him, and although they can be dispatched with the Reaction command "Flip", this also springs the trap on them. Luxord can turn himself into a card and hide himself among several cards - Sora must find Luxord's card and Flip it to make him reappear. When his time bar is short, Luxord covers the entire ground with his cards and abandons any pretense of a game, rising and vanishing from the cards to attack Sora rapidly from behind.

Quotes

 * "How could you, Roxas?"
 * "The darkness in mens hearts, drawn to these cursed medallions; And this Heartless, a veritable maelstrom of avarice. I wonder, are they worthy to serve Organization XIII?"
 * "I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies."
 * "Sora, bravo!"
 * "I'd rather just skip the formalities!"
 * "Just a few souvenirs, for the memories."

Battle Quotes

 * "The first to run out of time is the loser!"
 * "A challenge is it?"
 * "Cards!"
 * "Don’t squander your time!"
 * "Do you know the rules?"
 * "Look closely."
 * "Look who’s on top of the game!"
 * "Scatter!"
 * "Fold!"
 * "Sora!"
 * "You played the game quite well."
 * "Good!"
 * "I think not"

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version, Luxord was voiced by seiyuu Tokusatsu actor Jouji Nakata, whose last involvement with Square Enix was to voice Weiss of Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus and provided the voice of Kron on Disney's movie Dinosaur. The English dub had Luxord voiced by Robin Atkin Downes, who voiced Genesis on Dirge of Cerberus, Delita Heiral in the English version of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, and Davy Jones in the video game adaptations of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.


 * According to the Kingdom Hearts Character Report Volume 2, Luxord is Tetsuya Nomura's favorite member of Organization XIII.


 * It is interesting to note that Luxord, a master of cards, was not named lord of Castle Oblivion. The irony is that the actions taken within Castle Oblivion are determined by the use of cards, and the next member, Marluxia, was instead named Lord of Castle Oblivion. It is unknown why this is so. One possible explanation is Xemnas was aware of Marluxia's traitorous nature, and wanted to prove it, while Luxord is loyal to his cause.


 * According to Will Turner's tale aboard the Black Pearl, Luxord apparently killed all of the crew members Will was with. It is also under speculation that these crew members may have elected to be turned into cursed pirates.


 * Though it may be coincidental, Luxord partially shares a name with the real-world Luxor casino. This may draw some inspiration for the gambler theme.