Xion

Xion is the fourteenth member of Organization XIII, first appearing in the game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. She is not actually a Nobody, and not even a true member of the Organization. Instead, she's an imperfect replica of Sora created from his leaked memories by Xemnas as a fail-safe in case Sora proved to be useless to Organization XIII's plans. This, in consequence, slows Sora's progression of regaining his memories to fully awaken while in his pod, something which Naminé, DiZ, and Riku recognize.

As Sora's memories are the basis and component of her being, Xion initially resembles Kairi, who was Sora's strongest memory at the time of her birth, though her physical appearance eventually changes depending on who is viewing her and who they have connections with. Riku and Axel see her as Xion (and later, as Sora), while Xemnas and Xigbar see her as Ventus, and Saïx only sees her as a hooded doll.

Like Sora and Roxas, Xion can wield a Keyblade, the Kingdom Key, leading to a brief confrontation with Riku who questions why she can wield the Keyblade, and whether or not it is real.

Xion's name contains the Japanese words for "tide" (潮), fitting the oceanic naming theme of Kairi and Naminé, and Aster tataricus (紫苑). According to Japanese floriography, Aster tataricus is used to mean "I won't forget you" or "remembrance."

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
When Axel is sent to Castle Oblivion, Xemnas entrusts Roxas to look after Xion, who quickly bonds with him. She reveals her ability to wield the Keyblade to him, and looks after him when he falls into a coma for several weeks in conjunction to Sora being put to sleep to regain his memories. After discovering that Sora and Riku had slain all of the Organization members (except Axel) that were in Castle Oblivion at the time, Roxas, Axel, and Xion all begin spending more time together as per Roxas's suggestion and become fast friends, resembling in some points Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

However, a series of events begin to split the trio apart: While DiZ and Naminé oversee the restoration of the sleeping Sora's memories (moving him from Castle Oblivion to Twilight Town), Roxas begins to experience the process for himself, and begins to ponder over how he is able to wield the Keyblade and doubt the Organization's motives; Axel is reprimanded by their superiors for placing his friendship with Roxas and Xion before the Organization's goals; and Xion is thrown into disarray after a confrontation with Riku, who questions who she is and why she wields the Keyblade, becoming torn between staying with her friends and leaving the Organization to merge with her true self as Riku suggests. Eventually, Xion decides to take Riku's advice and leaves the Organization.



After her departure, Xion comes into contact with Naminé at Twilight Town's Old Mansion, questioning her own existence and the fate that will soon befall Roxas. Around this time, she discovers that she is not a Nobody, but an imperfect Replica of Sora created from his sampled memories by Xemnas as a fail-safe in case Sora turned out to be useless to the Organization's plans; her probable resemblance to Kairi is because the memories she holds of Sora are those containing her. However, Xion's appearance ranges with different people depending on their connection to Sora, such as Riku seeing her as Sora the very first time he observed her face at Beast's Castle. Naminé also reveals in their meeting that with Xion created as a memory being, once she returns to Sora, everyone's memory of her will be forgotten in the process, and that Naminé herself can't stop it. Furthermore, Naminé's attempts to restore Sora's memories not only affect Roxas, but Xion as well, stating why they both keep having memory relapses throughout the game. Xion accepts the facts, and decides to go back to Sora. Before she does, though, DiZ barges in with the news that an Organization member has followed her, in which Xion says she will take care of it, despite Naminé's protests, and heads out of the mansion. It is Axel who has arrived, having finally tracked Xion down. Not only is Axel curious of Xion's motives, he is also obsessed with trying to capture her again, in order for Roxas to return to the Organization. Xion refuses, leaving Axel no choice but to accomplish his mission with full force, leading to a heated battle. Having defeated Xion, Axel brings her back to the World That Never Was, soon after fainting from fatigue. Xemnas then steps out from the shadows and carries the unconscious Xion away to reprogram her into the Sora-like machines she will take forms of later.



Soon afterwards, Xion confronts Roxas at the Twilight Town train station, and after revealing her altered form to him, transforms into armored machines as fixed by Xemnas and attacks him, in order to absorb Roxas and become the "real" Sora, thus fulfilling her purpose, which would overall prevent the real Sora from ever awakening. With her Secret Reports that are obtained at the end of the game, it seems that this appears to be a ruse. In her words, she knows that she and Roxas cannot coexist, placing him in danger if so, and has chosen willingly to disappear and not let Xemnas succeed: a fact that she states when she later dies. Aware that Roxas would not be able to kill her, and Axel had admitted that he could not either in his own Report, she forces Roxas to fight her instead. After a long and grueling battle, Roxas manages to defeat her, while she regains her original appearance in his view. When done, he doesn't seem to recall who she is, though she says it's okay.

Cradling her in his arms, Roxas shares an emotional conversation with her, during which she explains to him that she had no regrets for meeting him or Axel, reveals the true colors of the Organization to him, and pleads with him not to let Xemnas win before dying peacefully in his arms. Saddened, Roxas holds Xion's essence and degenerating crystallized body until she is completely gone, leaving behind a sole seashell, in addition to inadvertently bringing the restoration of Sora's memories to a complete stop.

Among the other Secret Reports obtained at the end of the game, it is revealed that she is experiment "No.i" of the Replica Project, and that she was bestowed a proper name, Xion, because living things need names to give meaning to their existence, and being a member of the Organization.

Moments before the end of the game, Roxas has returned to the World That Never Was in order to destroy Xemnas and "set Kingdom Hearts free", but before he can reach the castle he is being stalked by Neoshadow Heartless as well as a determined Riku, standing on top of the skyscraper as seen in the Deep Dive trailer. He looks down upon the Nobody, before Roxas starts his path up the skyscraper. Through him, Xion is able to throw the Oblivion keyblade to Riku in order to tell him to stop Roxas before he can reach Xemnas, because she believes he is not strong enough to face him yet. In turn, touching the Oblivion causes Riku to recall flashbacks of the time spent together with her, causing him to be in slight confusion and shock for a moment. When both Roxas and Riku finished eradicating the Heartless, and turned on each other for a battle, while losing the first, Riku manages to stop Roxas once he removes the cloth from his eyes and transforms into Xehanort's Heartless. Unconscious then, Xion talks to Roxas through his mind, telling him not to be sad because she has become one with him and Sora, then she tells him that soon he too will become one with Sora. Despite the fact that memories of Xion have been forgotten by everyone, she tells him that she still has her own memories, so she doesn't mind that he has forgotten her, as she won't forget him or Axel.

Personality
First arriving at Organization XIII, Xion is a shy secluded individual. When going on a mission with Roxas, Xion begins to open up to him, and later Axel. She does seem to express emotions due to her nature of existence, and is always happy to be with her friends. However, she is somewhat emotionally fragile, becoming deeply enraged with the right provocation. After finding out the origins of her existence, she also becomes deeply confused and lost.

Xion seems to take an interest in seashells. While Roxas was in a coma when Sora was put to sleep, Xion put a seashell on his bedside table every day he was asleep. In her nightmare at Destiny Islands, Roxas is in the dream and picks up a shell while whispering her name. And after Xion died, all that was left of her was a single seashell. This might reference how Kairi also had a liking for seashells and made her lucky charm that she gave to Sora.

Fighting Style
As a Replica of Sora, Xion's fighting style as a playable character is very similar to his. Many of her moves greatly resemble Sora's original Kingdom Hearts incarnation. However, Xion's movement is quite similar to Limit Form's, jumping back and stepping forward between attacks and slashing through the enemy in the finisher. Like Roxas, she thrusts with one hand and her finisher resembles the Vortex ability. Xion's Limit Break, Event Horizon, involves covering her Keyblade in an aura of Light and performing a devastating combo. Xion can also call down elegantly shaped pillars of light to attack nearby and far away enemies. Before Xion obtains the Keyblade herself, she is limited to simply shooting magic out of her hand, none of which is Light-based.

Xion is very good at handling her weapon, being able to fight with it using her right or left hand. Her boss battle depicts her using many powerful melee attacks she seemed to have inherited from Sora. She also uses her element of Light much more often during her boss fight, such as creating spiraling circles of Light that suck in the player, leaving them vulnerable to one of Xion's aforementioned physical attacks. She can also use a Light spell similar to Ragnarok, and can envelope her weapon in Light to make her other attacks even more powerful.

Weapon
As Sora's Replica, Xion can wield the Keyblade. She wields her weapon fairly skillfully, being able to disarm Axel. Because Xion and Roxas are both part of Sora, they can both wield his Keyblade, even at the same time. Xion and Roxas can share keychains with each other, allowing them to use the same Keyblades and limit break in multiplayer mode. After she is absorbed by Roxas, Roxas gains the ability to duel-wield Keyblades; his original, and Xion's.

Playing as Xion
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xion fights in the exact same manner as Roxas, acting as nothing more than a gameplay carbon copy. Like Roxas, she also has low, but even stats, which make her just as versatile as Roxas, able to specialize in any specific area. Via the Gear System, Xion can be customized along with all other playable characters, using Keyblades to augment any specific combat area the player wishes. Xion's Limit Break, Event Horizon, is the exact same Limit Break that Roxas uses. She rapidly attacks around the field while her Keyblade is enveloped in light, slashing away at enemies with great speed and strength. During the Final Limit, Xion summons four thin pillars of light that quickly move in straight paths to the ends of the field, dealing heavy damage to any enemies in their path. Unlike Roxas however, Xion is unable to Dual-Wield her Keyblades by using the Zero Gear and three ability units; her weapon will just revert to a Kingdom Key+ with this panel combination.

Trivia

 * Xion's name was coined by Tomoco Kanemaki, one of Days 's scenario writers. Tetsuya Nomura took a liking to it and notes that it has many meanings.


 * Xion, Zexion, and Lexaeus are the only three Organization members that never physically met Sora. But Xion is the only one Sora never knew of, as Sora technically learned about Zexion and Lexaeus through Jiminy's Journal entries of the slain Organization members from Chain of Memories obtained in Kingdom Hearts II.


 * During Xion's battles, Roxas is transported to Wonderland, Halloween Town, Agrabah, and finally Twilight Town. It is unknown why Xion does this, though this is most likely a side effect of having Sora's memories, as said person has visited these worlds before, with the exception of the real Twilight Town, although Sora visited a memory-generated Twilight Town in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.


 * During her nightmare at Destiny Islands, Xion recalls not Sora's but Riku's memories of his confrontation with Zexion, something Sora never had the knowledge of. It is possible that some of the leaked memories that created Xion came also from Riku, however, that is never revealed. It's possible it could be due to the fact that she was with Riku at the time of the nightmare.


 * During a scene where Xigbar is about to battle Xion in Wonderland, he sees her appearance as Ventus, which distracts him, allowing her to knock him to the ground. This is likely due to the fact that she is made of Sora's memories, and emitted Xigbar's memories of Ven, but Ven's connection to Sora's memories or Sora remains unknown.


 * In one of the Secret Reports Xion wrote, she states that she was born in Castle Oblivion.

Xion