Xigbar

Xigbar, the Freeshooter (魔弾の射手), is the Nobody of Braig and is Rank II within Organization XIII. Xigbar utilizes spatial manipulation, and uses this to freely direct the projectiles from his weapons, twin "Arrowgun" blasters and to alter the battlefield. He commands the Sniper Nobodies.

Xigbar is the fourth to last to be defeated and the second to speak to Sora in Kingdom Hearts II, although he does so hooded at first. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar is featured as a playable character in multiplayer mode. In an interview, Tetsuya Nomura said that "Xigbar's attacks have a high range, but he has slow reloading time."

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 * Opening

No. II XIGBAR

''Founding member. He keeps an ear to the ground and a finger on the trigger. Manipulates space.''

Weapon: Arrowguns

Kingdom Hearts II

 * First Entry

''Organization XIII's Number II. When Sora called out to him, thinking he was Riku, Xigbar gave a curt reply.''

''His motives and his methods remain unclear. Surely he has a greater goal in mind, but what could it be?''

Organization XIII's Number II.
 * Second Entry

''He told Sora once that he reminded him of someone else. Puzzling words, indeed...''

Some part of him did seem to be enjoying Sora's reaction.


 * Organization XIII

''Organization XIII's Number II. Nothing else about him has come to light.''

''He vanished, leaving Sora with naught but puzzling words. Apparently Organization members can use the darkness to come and go as they please.''

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Xigbar appears for the first time chronologically in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Present when Xion joins the Organization, he is shocked when his seemingly good friend, Demyx, reveals the annihilations that took place at Castle Oblivion. Later joining Roxas on a recon mission to Agrabah, they overhear Aladdin and Jasmine discussing the rebuilding of their city after many sandstorms strike. The Freeshooter later challenges Roxas at Olympus Coliseum when he first enters the Games, claiming to "care about his future" after the defeat of a Guard Armor at Roxas' hand. Xigbar later discussed the defaulting Xion with Xemnas and Saïx in Where Nothing Gathers, later challenging "Poppet" himself in Wonderland. Xion took the form of Ventus, taking the Nobody by surprise. The Sora replica was then able to knock him down, the battle soon over.

Appearance at Hollow Bastion
Not long after arriving in Hollow Bastion and reuniting with Aerith, Leon and Yuffie, Sora engaged a number of Dusk Nobodies in battle around the city. After being led away from the main town, Sora, Goofy and Donald heard voices mocking them, but could find no source for them. After Sora demands that they show themselves, the remaining Organization members (having lost five members due to deaths and two others due to desertion) materialize, laughing. Though they are hooded, they are recognizable as the Organization from the description given to Sora and his companions by Yen Sid.

The Organization eventually departs, but Xigbar, still cloaked and hooded, stays behind to taunt Sora further, making them feel anxious about the power of the Organization. He also openly compares the similarities between a look Sora gives him and one given to him by Roxas; Sora dismisses this as random banter meant to confuse him. Xigbar then leaves, staying out of Sora's way for a very long time.

The Land of Dragons
Sora encounters Xigbar again in at the gates to the Emperor's throne room in the Land of Dragons. Having encountered another hooded man and suspected him to be his missing friend Riku, Sora inquires if he is the same person. Xigbar removes his hood, revealing otherwise and remarking that he had never heard of anyone named Riku. Xigbar summons his Snipers to distract Sora while he escapes. The diversion works, although the Nobodies were defeated, and Xigbar is able to continue his mission of summoning an enormous Heartless to harvest hearts for the Organization's plans. He manages to set the Storm Rider on the city, but it is soon destroyed by Sora, Mulan, Donald and Goofy.

The World That Never Was
Xigbar's final appearance in the game is in The World That Never Was inside Organization XIII's stronghold. After Riku and Naminé helped Kairi to escape from the Organization, they head for the Hall of Empty Melodies, a large, open-air room leading further up into the castle. Sora and his party arrive there, but are stopped by Saïx, who calls out swarms of Shadow and a few Armored Knight heartless to attack the intruders. Maleficent and Pete also arrive, expressing interest in taking the Organization's castle for themselves.

Eventually, Maleficent and Pete leave to formulate a plan for taking the castle, and Saïx heads up to rejoin Xemnas. Sora and Kairi remain separated as Riku and Kairi remain above Sora on a balcony, fighting off the Heartless gathered there. Many Heartless attack Sora as well, but they are all dispatched in a sudden rain of arrows from a hidden Xigbar. He walks into view, and asks if Sora has been a good boy mockingly, echoing the words from his first encounter with Sora. He states how Sora put the Organization in a "pickle", and he supposes that was the reason the Keyblade chose him. He also makes a very cryptic remark on how he wasn't "half the hero the others were". Sora simply takes it as an attempt to throw him off. Tetsuya Nomura, character designer for the Kingdom Hearts series, later stated that the "others" Xigbar referred to were Ven, Terra, and Aqua from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, which takes place 10 years before.

Xigbar then engages Sora in battle, referring to him as "Roxas" and expressing anger at him for betraying the Organization. Ultimately, he is defeated and begins to fade into the darkness. Before he disappears, Sora asks him why he called him "Roxas", to which Xigbar merely responds, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix contains several additional cutscenes of Organization XIII's activity. One shows a conversation at an unknown time between Xigbar and Zexion, with Xigbar having recently returned from finding new members from the Organization (including Marluxia, whom he mentions as a new recruit) while Zexion and Vexen were discussing Xemnas' visit to the Chamber of Repose. Xigbar expressed his knowledge about the events of Keyblade warriors that appeared before they found Xehanort. He also talked about his eavesdropping on Xemnas during his visits to the Chamber of Repose, and how he seemed to be conversing with someone that wasn't really there.

Appearance
Xigbar wears the usual Organization garb of a black cloak, black boots, and black gloves, though his cloak is distinguishable by more pointed shoulders and the fact that it sags at his shoulders. The sleeves of his cloak are also somewhat closer-fitting than normal, though not as close as Axel's. In terms of facial features, Xigbar sports gold eyes, pointed, elf-like ears, upturned eyebrows, and dark hair with several grey streaks tied into a long ponytail. He appears to have been injured more than once, as he wears an eyepatch over his right eye and has a jagged scar going from his left cheek to just under his left eye.

Personality
Xigbar has a laid-back and cocky attitude, and likes to taunt Sora to put him off-guard, though with limited success. When not on missions, he occasionally enjoys eavesdropping on his fellow Organization members. He relies heavily on instinct rather than on intelligence for both decision-making and fighting, making him adaptable and unpredictable in battle. He also has a habit of saying, "As if". In the English version of Kingdom Hearts II, Xigbar speaks with a California Surfer accent, possibly to emphasize on his laid-back nature. Along with Axel, Larxene and Demyx he acts as the Organization's comic relief due to his frequent sarcasm and wise cracks. Xigbar is probably the most wise-cracking of them all as unlike Axel and Larxene who know when to be serious (Demyx having his comic relief due to his klutzy persona) Xigbar never breaks character and even in his battle he still makes sarcastic comments. He also uses nicknames for the other members on occasions, calling Roxas "kiddo" or "tiger" in the Grey Area and on various missions, calling Xion "Poppet" in the Grey Area, and once calling Axel "Flamesilocks" near the end of the game, when he talks to Roxas about the outcome of the "Ven incident".

Despite his high rank, he is not given high authority like Saïx or Marluxia but instead is sent on missions and confrontations with Sora. Some have wondered if there is any ill will between Xigbar and Saïx or Xemnas but if there is it has not been demonstrated. This in combination with his personality may imply that Xigbar prefers field work to a more administrative position.

Along with the rest of the Organization he considers Roxas to be a traitor. He seems to support this view more than any other Organization member as he's the only one who states it in his battle quotes. In fact when the battle begins he remarks, "You really shouldn't have betrayed us!"

Fighting Style
As the "Freeshooter", Xigbar attacks from far range using his twin Arrowguns, firing rapid barrages of lasers at Sora. He uses his control over space to its fullest, bending his attribute to teleport, warp his shots, and levitate upside down. With this ability, Xigbar does not even have to aim at Sora to hit him. Instead, he can simply fire anywhere he wishes and open spacial rifts to redirect the shots towards the Keyblade master. Nonetheless, Xigbar is shown to be an exceptional gunslinger, as seen in the cutscene before the battle against him, when he effortlessly destroys all of the Heartless surrounding him without hitting Sora, Donald, and Goofy even once. He appears to be very quick and hard to hit, although his skills still did not give him the ability to defeat Sora and company.

Weapon
Xigbar wields two ranged weapons called Arrowguns, with this specific model called Sharpshooter. The top of each gun bears a pattern similar to the Nobody symbol. They are purplish, strangely shaped weapons that appear to be somewhat similar to crossbows. They shoot red laser arrows which bend towards a target, making them quite deadly with Xigbar's aim. Xigbar uses his Space attribute to full effect by creating wormholes to fire the shots through during battle. The blasts can be rebounded at Xigbar using the Keyblade's "Guard" ability. During Xigbar's desperation moves, they are able to fire a massive stream of powerful rounds, which glow blue rather than red, and adapt a rapid-fire ability. When held together and charged, they can fire a massive blue energy arrow that rebounds around the area, and can be angled to hit an enemy multiple times.

In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II, the arrow guns can be combined together into a makeshift sniper rifle with deadly accuracy. In the English version, Xigbar doesn't combine the guns, but uses one gun to balance the other (though the effect is the same). The rifle sight is also different in each version.

Sniper Nobodies also carry similar weapons, though theirs are much weaker, appear more like crossbows, and their crystal arrows hang in the air for a short time, allowing for a reaction command.

Playing as Xigbar
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar attacks similarly to his boss incarnation in Kingdom Hearts II, and is playable only through Mission Mode. Xigbar is customized via the Gear System along with all other playable characters, attacking in a three-hit combo that involves two shots getting fired from his Arrowguns with each hit, the combo finisher firing two larger bullets than the last two hits of the combo. His downside is that he is a strictly ranged opponent as he has no melee attacks. He is also required to reload as his weapons run on finite clips. Xigbar's Limit Break, Critical Snipe, involves the Nobody combining his two weapons into one and firing powerful shots in rapid succession.

Quotes
"Of all the faces I could see, it had to be you...Why do you always have to stare at me like I just drowned your goldfish?"

"See, that would work... if I were just any old dude. 'Cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me."

"You don't look like you're half the hero the others were."

"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is."

"You've really put Organization XIII in a pickle."

''"Be a good boy now!"  "All I'm trying to tell you, traitor, is that your time is up!"''

"Rambling? As if!"

"I guess that must be why the Keyblade chose you. But MAN, did it pick a dud this time."

"Wouldn't you like to know....."

Censorship
When Kingdom Hearts II was released in North America, one of the main changes in the game was made to Xigbar. As noted above, in the cinematic before the fight, Xigbar combines his two guns together to make a sniper rifle. He uses this move later on in the fight as well. Due to restraints on video game violence, this was changed in North America. Xigbar no longer created his sniper rifle, and instead, simply spun his guns around, using one gun as a balance to steady the gun which he sniped with. The first person HUD display was changed as well, to make it less realistic.

However, in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar's Critical Snipe limit break still consists of his Arrowguns combining into a sniper rifle.

Trivia

 * Xigbar's title in both English and Japanese is a reference to the opera Der Freischütz. "The Freeshooter" and "Madan no Shashu" are the common translations of the German title into English and Japanese, respectively. A Freischütz is a marksman who obtains seven magical bullets through a deal with the devil; the first six (so-called "free bullets") completely follow the Freischütz ' s will, allowing him to shoot at marks that would be otherwise impossible to hit. However, the seventh bullet is controlled by the devil.


 * In the North American version of Kingdom Hearts II, a Secret Ansem Report misspells his original name as Bleig.


 * Xigbar has been confirmed to have seen other Keyblade users besides Sora fight, something that was originally implied by his dialogue with Sora. Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that, when he was a human and an apprentice to Ansem the Wise, Xigbar/Braig saw the three warriors Terra, Aqua and Ven battling with their Keyblades. However, he never mentioned the similarities between Roxas and Ven. It is unknown why. Additionally, in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xigbar engages in a duel against Xion in Wonderland, who he sees as Ven rather than Xion. The reason for this is unknown, but it may indicate a connection between Ven and Sora (and so Xion, who is partly produced from Sora's memory).


 * Xigbar, along with Xaldin, was the member who found and brought Marluxia into the Organization.


 * Xigbar is Tetsuya Nomura's favorite character in 358/2 Days 's multiplayer mode.


 * It was confirmed that he will appear in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as Braig, and will have a bigger role than the other apprentices.