Zexion

Zexion, the Cloaked Schemer, is number VI in Organization XIII, and the youngest of the original six members. He appeared in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a participant in the struggle within the Organization between the newer and veteran members. He is also central to the plot to use Riku as a puppet in Castle Oblivion.

Unlike the other Organization members, Zexion's weapon was originally unknown, and his talents lie outside of normal combat. In an effort to keep Zexion's weapon unknown, his gravestone in the The World That Never Was laid destroyed. This was because all the gravestones, besides the title of the member, also depicted their weapon of choice. It was later revealed that Zexion's weapon was a lexicon, a kind of large book, to be precise, a dictionary.

Zexion will appear in the upcoming game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, as one of the playable characters in multiplayer mode. Tetsuya Nomura called Zexion a "mysterious character" for the game. The team is aiming for Zexion to absorb enemy attacks with his book, then use their own attacks against them. This follows a trend where the Organization members bear abilities and skills mirroring those of Final Fantasy jobs (ex. Xaldin = Dragoon/Dragon Knight, Luxord = Gambler, Demyx = Bard, Larxene = Ninja, etc.). In Zexion's case, his abilities mirror those of a Blue Mage, whose attacks are those taken from enemies.

Origins
Zexion is the Nobody of Ienzo, who was the youngest of Ansem the Wise's original six apprentices. Ienzo was the apprentice who tried to persuade Ansem to go further with his own research, and helped Xehanort complete the research into the secrets of the heart once Ansem refused to continue experimenting. He, along with Xehanort and Even (the original name of Vexen), is one of only three apprentices to be mentioned by name outside of the listing in the Secret Ansem Reports.

Ienzo and the other apprentices eventually helped Xehanort rebel against Ansem and banished him to the Realm of Nothingness. They went further than Ansem ever dared in researching the Heart and eventually all turned into Heartless. Due to their strong will, their Nobodies kept their memories and general appearance. Ienzo took the name Zexion, an anagram of his original name with an X added.

Discovering Riku
After Sora had been lured into Castle Oblivion, Zexion discovers two other scents deep in the dungeons of the castle. One of them belongs to a Maleficent formed from someone's memory, having been given life by Castle Oblivion's unique properties. Originally, he mistakes the other scent to be that of "The Superior", an (at the time) unnamed entity within the Organization. Eventually, however, Zexion and his cohorts determine that the scent belongs to Riku, who had appeared in the Castle by force of will after Sora arrived. Vexen hypothesizes that the darkness in Riku's heart caused Zexion to mistake him for "the Superior" (Xemnas), calling the effect "fascinating". Specifically, Riku's heart is plagued by the presence of Ansem. The relationship they share is that "Ansem" and Xemnas both originated from Xehanort; "Ansem" is Xehanort's Heartless, and Xemnas is his Nobody.

Opposition to Marluxia
Zexion, as well as Lexaeus and Vexen, come to see that Marluxia, keeper of Castle Oblivion, intends to take control of Organization XIII, with the help of Larxene, by using Sora as their puppet. Though they see that they can use Riku to counter Sora, they decide to oppose Marluxia's plot by having Vexen investigate Marluxia under the guise of offering to help using the Riku Replica he creates with combat data from the real Riku. However, Vexen is eventually killed on Marluxia's orders by Axel, whom Zexion and Lexaeus had been unsure about trusting. Axel later tells them he had performed the deed only to gain Marluxia's trust, and continues to cooperate with Zexion in tracking Sora and Riku.

Seeing that Vexen's efforts to derail Marluxia's plan had failed, Zexion sends Lexaeus to sway Riku into joining them, but Riku refuses to allow darkness to control him and defeats Lexaeus in combat. With the last of his strength, Lexaeus tries to envelop Riku in darkness, but Riku breaks free and continues ascending Castle Oblivion.

Confronting Riku
After Lexaeus dies in his failed attempt to subvert Riku's resistance to darkness, Zexion discusses the Organization's fate with Axel and learns that Larxene has been killed as well, bringing the number of Organization members eliminated to three. Axel tells him that he himself was defeated by Sora as well, and that Marluxia is almost certainly the next to go. Zexion decides that with the possibility of Marluxia dying soon, Riku is no longer needed, and heads off to intercept him.

Zexion appears before Riku while he is between floors of the castle, shortly after the death of Marluxia. As the force of Marluxia's death shakes the castle, Riku halts with surprise and comments how a very strong scent in the air has died. Zexion materializes in front of him and tells him that Sora has just defeated Marluxia. Riku is surprised to learn that Sora is also in the castle, but Zexion tells him he would never be able to face him after having such darkness in his heart. He gives Riku a World Card to Destiny Islands, and Riku winds up facing a Darkside Heartless. After he defeats it, Zexion reappears, and continues to play on his guilt, telling him Sora will always oppose him as a host of the dark. Sora then appears himself, brandishing his Keyblade and accusing Riku of being corrupt. He envelops Riku in light, rendering him unable to do anything. Instead of drowning Riku into helplessness, however, the predicament causes Naminé to come to his aid, in the guise of Kairi, telling him that he should stop rejecting the darkness within his heart, and istead tells him to draw on that power to free himself of the oppressing light and strike out at Sora. He wounds Sora, whose disguise falters to reveal Zexion, who had been using his powers of illusion to deceive Riku. Zexion is astounded by Riku's ability to control the darkness, and is also enraged at his perserverance. He decides to engage Riku in combat himself, albeit wounded, making it all the more surprising that the battle is rather dificult. Zexion uses various methods to absorb Riku's powers and also makes illusionary clones of himself. Riku eventually overcomes and defeats Zexion.

After escaping from Riku, Zexion appears in a room, where Axel and a companion are waiting. In a panic, Zexion thinks Axel's companion is Riku himself, but then realizes it's only the replica. Axel and the replica then approach Zexion, and Axel directs the replica's attention to his lack of wholeness. He tells him that if he can find strength that the real Riku doesn't have, he can become a whole person of his own, rather than a mere puppet or whole copy of Riku. Axel then suggests that he should start by eliminating Zexion. Zexion is horrified by Axel's suggestion, and Axel says that it would be far more entertaining to watch Riku and Sora than to aid Zexion any longer. The replica grabs Zexion by the collar of his cloak and drains him of his lifeforce, leaving Axel as the only survivor of Castle Oblivion among the Organization.

Characteristics
Zexion is distinguished from the other members of Organization XIII by his approach to dealing with his enemies; namely, he does not fight them outright, but uses schemes and illusions to bring them down. He wields the element of "illusion" and has no visible weapon during the game, although he does have a weapon that is revealed in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix. His weapon panel in the Proof of Existence (an area of the Castle that Never Was displaying the Organization members' weapons and titles) is shattered in the original, but shows through cutscenes in Kingdom Hearts: re-Chain of Memories that his weapon is, in fact, a book which attacks through a flurry of pages and trapping people within it. Zexion also has the ability to identify the "scents" of others, with great accuracy and at great distances. The "scent" he smells may be based off other things than mere odour, and is affected by presence of darkness in the heart, an entity's power in the castle, and other factors.

Zexion stands out in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as the mastermind behind the actions of those members who are actual loyal to the Organization. He is aware to the Organization's decline, calling it "deplorable". Zexion also takes his missions seriously (In contrast to Demyx or Xigbar who do not take their missions seriously.) Zexion is fond of politeness and greetings, which is shown in one of the cutscenes in Chain of Memories. In the cutscene, Zexion is seen on one of the bottom floors of the Castle Oblivion basement. Lexaeus then appears, not saying a word to Zexion; upon Lexaeus's arrival Zexion says, "Don't I even get a hello, Lexaeus?"

Of the three senior members (the other two being Lexaeus and Vexen) with the lowest thrones in their meeting chamber, named "Where Nothing Gathers", he seems to have the highest, Vexen's being the lowest, indicating he is the most competent of the three, which is certainly not untrue, being the mastermind for the ploy chronicled in the Reverse/Rebirth storyline, which only failed through Axel's betrayal of both sides. Axel's betrayal of Marluxia, by releasing Namine, caused a chain reaction, since it was Namine, in the guise of Kairi, who convinced Riku to accept both the light and dark, which led to him breaking free of Zexion's trap in the Destiny Islands, something Zexion least expected. Immediately after, as previously stated, Axel himself appeared and had the Riku Replica kill Zexion.

The fact that he acts as the mastermind behind Lexaeus and Vexen shows that his rank in the organization may in fact be higher than his number would lead one to beleive. This is further reinforced by an additional scene in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ where he is seen to have a conversation with Xigbar. He repremends Xigbar's habit of eavesdropping, and even talks down to him, stating that he should get back to work. When Xigbar informs him that he was hoping to just have a "friendly chat" with him, Zexion shrugs him off and tells him he has more important matters to attend to, and finishes the conversation by telling Xigbar that if he is through resting, then it would be in his best interest to get back to work.

It is speculated (though this has no official basis) that Xemnas may have known about the rebelious thoughts harbored by Marluxia, and as a result placed Zexion in command of the lower regions of Castle Oblivion in order to weed out the traitor. This would seem plausible based on Zexion's apparent rank and level of competence, though nothing official has been stated in regards to it.

Fighting Style
Although Zexion perfers not to direct a foe directly, he can easily hold his own if forced into a battle. In Kingdom Hearts: re-Chain of Memories, he has a unique fighting style; he steals and hoards his foe's cards until he has enough to use it in his own deck. He has copies of his lexicon float around and attack the opponent. His standard attack steals Riku's attack cards, and his standard sleight creates a tornado of dark energy that has drags Riku in, and then damages Riku while stealing his cards. When Zexion hoards enough cards, he copies the Soul Eater and clones himself, gaining the uses of two new sleights. In one, Zexion's clones vanish while Zexion grabs Riku and drains his HP. Zexion's other new sleight is a sleight in which he and his clones vanish and then reappear near the perimeter of the island and each fire an energy beam. The beams meet and Zexion and his clones rotate while shooting the beams, making the beams sweep across the island. His standard attack now becomes a combo with each of the clones slashing once in turn. Meanwhile, the lexicons are spreads out through the island encased in a blue flames. Each of those lexicons support and act as the health of a clone. Destroying a lexicon causes a clone to dissappear, and the destruction of the last clone frees all the stolen cards, and Zexion reverts to attacking with his lexicons until he hoards enough cards again.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, Zexion returns as an optional boss. Zexion's fighting style is totally different however; in the islands, his Absent Silhouette's only attack it to ensnare his prey in his lexicon. However, once they have been captured, Zexion transports them to another dimension where lexicons float around, being conducted by a clone of Zexion, who can hide as a lexicon himself. Only a reaction command used on the clone after depleting its HP frees them from the dimension. Meanwhile, they are either bombarded by lexicon copies and explosions, ensnared in life-draining lexicons, or have their commands mixed up. However, if the right commands are selected, HP, MP, Munny balls, or experience points can appear, while another command temporarily removes all the decoy lexicons. His greatest attack involves transporting his quarry into yet another dimension, one which is pitch black save for three spotlights one which will be blue. The blue light will rotate between the three lights thirteen times until it comes to a complete stop, after which the entire area will be bombarded by meteors, with Zexion's laughing heard. However, the spotlight where the blue light stops on will be protected by a barrier. The Zexion clone is also forced into the barriered area, leaving him vulnerable to attack.

In both instances, he is shown to be a particularly powerful opponent, noted by many to be more difficult than Ansem in Kingdom Hearts: re-Chain of Memories' Reverse/Rebirth.

Trivia

 * Zexion is notable for being the only Organization member that originally could not be battled in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. However, in Re:Chain of Memories, the PlayStation 2 remake, he can be battled in Riku's storyline. He also appears in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix as an optional boss character.
 * In the Japanese version of the game, Zexion was voiced by popular voice actor Akira Ishida, whose last involvement with Square-Enix was to voice Makenshi of Final Fantasy Unlimited and will soon voice Kuja in the upcoming Dissidia: Final Fantasy.
 * Zexion in the manga is usually seen cooking and is killed by the real Riku. He also visits the floor where Lexaeus was killed and never makes an alliance with Axel.
 * In the manga, Zexion is described as "the leader of the underground members". He also appears to have a habit of giving orders, as noted by Lexaeus' thoughts when Zexion tells him to go and retreive Riku, and also by the fact that he tells Lexaeus not to "dissapoint (him) like Vexen did." Finally, when visiting the floor where Lexaeus is killed, he states: "Lexaeus, I can't beleive I lost you too..." and then throws a piece of Lexaeus' puzzle to the ground, coldly stating "You useless idiot."
 * Zexion's death was altered for the PlayStation 2 remake of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, as were Lexaeus' and Vexen's. In the original, Zexion's death takes place off-screen, although the sound of a striking blade is heard after the Riku Replica comes at Zexion with his sword.  In the remake, Zexion is cornered by the Riku Replica and is "absorbed" by him.
 * Zooming in on Zexion's lexicon reveals that it is titled Another Side below another illegible line. Furthermore, the inside of the book contains a picture on the left and a new chapter starting with a T on the right.
 * Zexion is the only Organization member in either disk of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ that gives experience in mid-battle; in Final Mix, a reaction command causes experience to appear, and in Re:Chain of Memories, his lexicons gives out experience when destroyed.
 * Counting the implied ranks of other members, Zexion's level of authority seems to be fourth, behind Saix as the apparent second in command and Xaldin, whose rank of three seems to be one of the organization's only accurate ones.
 * Zexion is one of the most popular members of Organization XIII, along with Axel, Roxas, Demyx, and Xemnas. This is mostly due to his "emo" appearance or his cold attitude.

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Zexion