List of Keyblade wielders

The following is a list of known Keyblade wielders, characters who have successfully wielded a Keyblade in battle. Not included are characters who have held a Keyblade only for it to return to the hand of its true holder, such as Leon or Jack Sparrow, as a Keyblade will refuse to be wielded by anyone without a strong enough heart.

Master Xehanort
Master Xehanort is a Keyblade Master that devoted himself to the Darkness, wishing to obtain the χ-blade and thus enter Kingdom Hearts. To this end, he contrived numerous plots and manipulated many people into becoming pawns of his device. Eventually, he used his Keyblade to transfer his heart into Terra's body, becoming the present Xehanort and his other incarnations. Master Xehanort is, in one form or another, behind nearly everything that has happened in the Kingdom Hearts franchise so far.

Master Xehanort's Keyblade has a double-edged appearance with a separated black blade, a black hand-guard and teeth resembling a battle axe. His Keyblade possesses two shafts, making it somewhat unique. It also contains a single eye on its head, similar to that of the Soul Eater and Way to the Dawn.

It is stated by his younger self that out of all the Keyblades in existence, Master Xehanort's is the most ancient and is somehow connected to the Keyblade War.

Master Eraqus
Master Eraqus was a Keyblade Master who protected the Land of Departure and served as Terra, Ventus, and Aqua's teacher. After Aqua was named a Keyblade Master, Eraqus told her the secret responsibilities that came with such a title. Eraqus was slain by his former friend, Xehanort.

Eraqus's Keyblade, the Master's Defender, has a very simple design. His Keychain is the "Mark of Mastery" symbol. After Eraqus's murder, his Keyblade was passed on to Aqua.

Master Aqua
Aqua is a Keyblade Master who lived before Sora ever embarked on his first journey. Her standard Keyblade is the Rainfell, but it later transforms into the Stormfall. Aqua's Keyblades are of average length in comparison to Terra and Ventus's; she inherits Eraqus's Master's Defender after she finds the abandoned weapon in the Land of Departure, which is slowly being swallowed by the darkness. Aqua's attempt to save Terra after he falls into the Realm of Darkness causes Aqua to lose her Keyblade; the Master's Defender becomes her only weapon in the dark realm.

Aqua unintentionally initiated the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Kairi in Radiant Garden; Kairi touched Aqua's Keyblade by mistake when attempting to get away from several Unversed at the entrance to Ansem the Wise's castle.

Master Yen Sid
Although Master Yen Sid is not shown wielding a Keyblade, he is acknowledged to have been a Keyblade Master who now watches over the Lanes Between and counsels with stars for guidance, and appears to be the original owner of Mickey's Star Seeker Keyblade. Master Eraqus himself has stated Yen Sid retired from his position, still remaining to watch over the Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness.

After the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Mickey returns the Keyblade, believing that he has failed Yen Sid, but Yen Sid hands it back, encouraging him.

Master Mickey Mouse
As an apprentice to Master Yen Sid, Mickey wields the Star Seeker, a gift to him from his master. His adventures with Ventus and Aqua actually comprise his Mark of Mastery exam, and after their disappearance, he returns to the Mysterious Tower, feeling he has failed the exam, his friends, and his master. He returns the Star Seeker to Yen Sid, but Yen Sid returns it, revealing that Mickey has in fact passed his exam and become a Master.

After the Heartless plague began and worlds began disappearing, Mickey set out to find a Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness in order to seal the Door to Darkness alongside a Keyblade from the Realm of Light, and stop the Heartless. He obtained the Kingdom Key D during that journey. The Kingdom Key D is identical to Sora's Kingdom Key, except that the colors are reversed, the hilt being silver and the blade gold. Some Square-Enix materials give this Keyblade the name "Kingdom Key DarkSide".

During the events of Kingdom Hearts coded, King Mickey returned to wielding his Star Seeker.

Master Riku
Terra initiates the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Riku on the Destiny Islands before the destruction of the Land of Departure, and makes Riku promise to keep it a secret.

Riku was the one originally chosen to wield Sora's Keyblade, but he was denied that when he chose to submit to darkness, weakening his heart and causing the Keyblade to choose Sora. Instead, Riku uses the Soul Eater, a sword which grows more powerful when used with darkness. Although it is not a true Keyblade, the Soul Eater has many of the same abilities as one, and is considered a sort of Keyblade by several sources. When Sora first arrives at Hollow Bastion, Riku is able to temporarily take the Keyblade as well, but Sora's heart proves to be the strongest, and he reclaims the Keyblade from Riku. After being possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Riku is used as a wielder for the incomplete Keyblade of heart, which Xehanort had forged from the hearts of six of the seven Princesses of Heart. However, this Keyblade is destroyed after Riku is defeated by Sora, who uses the Keyblade to free Kairi's heart from his body.

When Riku encounters Roxas in The World That Never Was, he is again able to temporarily wield a Keyblade, Roxas's Oblivion. However, while as a Keyblade Wielder he is able to fight with the weapon, it was not his, and Roxas soon reclaims it.

Riku's Soul Eater eventually matures into the Way to the Dawn, his true Keyblade. This Keyblade represents Riku's nature as a being of light and darkness in both name and form. Riku was also able to summon a second Keyblade in the form of the Destiny's Embrace, which he gives to Kairi as her permanent Keyblade.

After King Mickey informs Master Yen Sid of the secrets that Ansem and Naminé hid within Jiminy's Journal, Yen Sid invites Riku and Sora to take the Mark of Mastery exam, but only Riku passes.

Young Xehanort
While temporarily possessed by Master Xehanort, Young Xehanort wields a variation of Master Xehanort's Keyblade to battle Riku in The World That Never Was. Young Xehanort is not a true Keyblade wielder, since he is the incarnation of Master Xehanort before he became a Keyblade wielder, and was only used as an intermediary by Master Xehanort.

Terra
Terra is a Keyblade apprentice from before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. His original Keyblade is named Earthshaker, but it later transforms into the Ends of the Earth. His Keyblades are often much longer than those of Ventus and Aqua.

Terra initiated the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Riku on the Destiny Islands before the destruction of the Land of Departure and made Riku promise never to tell anyone about it, telling him to keep it a secret.

Terra-Xehanort
After Master Xehanort possesses Terra's body and becomes Terra-Xehanort, he retains the ability to summon his original incarnation's Keyblade, though he wields it like Terra would. Terra-Xehanort used his original incarnation's Keyblade to fight the Lingering Will and Aqua. After being defeated, Terra's heart begins to fight back, causing Xehanort to stab himself in order to rid himself of Terra, but accidentally sealing his memories and thus his ability to wield a Keyblade, ultimately forgetting everything but the name "Xehanort".

Lingering Will
After Master Xehanort possessed Terra's body and became Xehanort, a part of Terra was left within his armor, giving it life. Being a remnant of Terra, it is able to wield his Ends of the Earth Keyblade.

Ventus
Ventus is a Keyblade apprentice from before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. His original Keyblade is named Wayward Wind ("Fresh Breeze" in Japanese). His Keyblades are often shorter than those of Terra and Aqua. During his final battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, Vanitas possesses his body in order to summon and wield the χ-blade. However, Ventus destroys it in the Dive to the Heart, using his own Keyblade. When Aqua tries to figure out where she should carry him to, Ven's body reacts and summons Wayward Wind to open the pathway to the ruined Land of Departure.

Vanitas
As a being created from the darkness of Ventus's heart, Vanitas has the power to carry a Keyblade of his own which is known as Void Gear. It takes a strong resemblance to Riku and Master Xehanort's Keyblades. It is red with a round, gear-like shape on the end with blue eyes on it.

Aside from his own Keyblade, he is also able to wield the legendary χ-blade. It was believed to have more power than any other Keyblade in the universe, but it is destroyed by Aqua (in the Keyblade Graveyard) and Ventus (in the transformed Dive to the Heart station) in the end.

Ventus-Vanitas
Ventus-Vanitas is the result of the union between Ventus and Vanitas during their final battle and as such, Ventus-Vanitas is able to wield both the incomplete and complete versions of the χ-blade.

Sora
Sora gained the ability to wield the Keyblade when he reached out his heart to Ventus after sensing Ventus's shattered heart. By joining his heart with Ventus's he gained the ability to wield his own Keyblade, as well as Ventus's.

Sora's Keyblade is a Keyblade from the Realm of Light, and it appears before him as his home world, Destiny Islands, is consumed by the Heartless. Its default form is the Kingdom Key, which uses a Hidden Mickey as its token.

Sora is sometimes able to use other wielders' Keyblades; for example, when fighting Roxas he is able to steal Roxas's Oathkeeper and Oblivion, for a total of three Keyblades, and at one point during their final battle with Xemnas, Riku lends his Way to the Dawn to Sora.

Roxas
As the Nobody of Sora, Roxas is also able to wield the Kingdom Key. In fact, Roxas was able to wield the Keyblade at the same time as Sora because his Keyblade was "lost" by Sora in Castle Oblivion. As the "Key of Destiny" of Organization XIII, Roxas is the only member able to actually collect hearts. Like the other Organization members, Roxas is able to modify the form of his weapon using Gears.

In order to duplicate this ability, and to replace Roxas with an even more malleable puppet, the Organization created the Replica, Xion. Xion gradually leeches Roxas's powers over the Keyblade, but when the two are forced into mortal combat, Roxas eventually defeats her and reabsorbs his lost powers. This awakens his latent Synch Blade ability, in which he is able to wield both the Oathkeeper and Oblivion, which represent Sora's memories of Kairi and Riku. As Roxas essentially is Sora, Sora is also able to use Synch Blade.

Due to the constant lies the Organization had been feeding him about Xion and himself, Roxas leaves the group and eventually returns to Sora, leading them to attempt to use Sora's Keyblade for their own goals.

Xion
Xion, the fourteenth member of Organization XIII, can wield a Keyblade due to the fact that she is a Replica of Roxas. She is created from the memories belonging to Sora that Roxas holds. As a being created out of memories, she was able to use the Kingdom Key to manipulate the power of light in the same way that Sora and Roxas can.

Data-Sora
Similar to its real-world counterpart, Data-Sora wields a data version of the Kingdom Key. He utilizes this mighty blade to fend off Heartless and Bug Blox. Data-Sora gains the Keyblade in the data Awakening, but loses it to the real Maleficent in data Agrabah. However, even though he is merely a data construct, the strength of his heart recreates the Keyblade in data Hollow Bastion.

Kairi
Kairi is able to wield a Keyblade because she touched Aqua's Keyblade when she was a child, initiating a Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony. At The World That Never Was, Riku gives his Destiny's Embrace to Kairi so that she can help protect Sora. Later, Yen Sid learns of Kairi's ability, and after Riku and Sora's Mark of Mastery exam he invites her to the Mysterious Tower so that she can also train to combat the reformed Organization XIII.

Lea
Formerly the Nobody Axel, Lea has gained the ability to wield a Keyblade by seeking training under Master Yen Sid who, with the help of Merlin and the Three Good Fairies, compressed the time needed to train with magic.

No Heart
The No Heart is a digital simulation of Xehanort in his Keyblade Armor. It only appears in the "Foresight unto Darkness" battle in the Mirage Arena.

Armor of Eraqus
The Armor of Eraqus is a digital simulation of Master Eraqus in his Keyblade Armor. It only appears in the "Light's Lessons" battle in the Mirage Arena.

Vanitas Remnant
As an Unversed created from the powerful thoughts and feelings of Vanitas, the Vanitas Remnant has the power to carry a Keyblade of its own, a monochrome version of Vanitas's Keyblade, the Void Gear.

Mimic Master's Fakes
In Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, the Mimic Master can be fought in the Mirage Arena. Mimic Master is able to create copies of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, which possess their moves and their original Keyblade.

AntiSora and Sora's Heartless
AntiSora, a Heartless made by Riku to mimic Sora's appearance and abilities, carries a shadow-copy of the Kingdom Key. The Sora's Heartless, a digital manifestation of Sora's time as a Heartless, can take on the AntiSora's shape in its latter phases, and it also wields the fake Keyblade.

Riku Replica
The Riku Replica is a copy of Riku who can wield a copy of his Soul Eater.

Zexion
In Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, during one of Zexion's schemes, he disguises himself as Sora and uses a fake Kingdom Key to envelop Riku in light. Later when his plan fails, he decides to fight with Riku. During their battle he steals Riku's cards and makes copies of the Soul Eater for his clones and him to use. He also makes Dummy Cards, which stun Riku.

Genie
In Kingdom Hearts II, when Genie becomes a summon partner for Sora, he can copy Sora's Drive forms and wields his own copy of the Keyblade. In each form, he can perform a different kind of attack. This Keyblade is attached to his tail as if Genie was the Keychain.

Anti-Riku
Anti-Riku is a dark copy of Riku who only appears in the multiplayer mode of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Like Riku in the final boss fight, Anti-Riku wields the Oblivion, though, it is much darker than the ordinary version of the Keybalde.

Foretellers
The Foretellers are a mysterious group of Keyblade Wielders who lead the five unions—Anguis, Leopardos, Unicornis, Ursus, and Vulpeus. Their are five Foretellers in total, each with their own unique appearance based on their union.

Protagonist
The protagonists of Kingdom Hearts χ are a group of Keyblade Wielders who were alive at the time of the Keyblade War. They each belong to one of the unions.

Trivia

 * Despite the fact that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness wielded the Keyblade of heart for a short time, he is not considered a Keyblade wielder because he was using Riku as a medium for handling the weapon.