Lexaeus

Lexaeus, the Silent Hero (静かなる豪傑), is the Nobody of Aeleus and is rank V within Organization XIII. He wields control over earth and uses his massive Skysplitter Axe Sword to create earthquakes and brutally slam opponents.

Lexaeus appears in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories during Riku's storyline, working with Zexion and Vexen to try and manipulate Riku into serving them. In contrast to his fighting style and physique, he is a disciplined schemer, who often tries to keep people in line, such as Vexen. Lexaeus appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a playable character in multiplayer mode. Tetsuya Nomura said that Lexaeus "has slow movement, but has very high attack power."

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
No. V LEXAEUS

''Founding member. Tremendously strong, but surprisingly quiet-stalwart as the earth itself.''

Weapon: Axe Sword

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
No. 5 in the Organization.

A born warrior, Lexaeus effortlessly brandishes a gigantic tomahawk.

To counterbalance his rival Marluxia's bid for Sora's power, Lexaeus tried to conquer Riku, but was defeated by Riku's dark powers.

Kingdom Hearts II
Formerly Organization XIII's Number V. He once brandished a giant tomahawk, but now he has been eliminated.

Lexaeus rejected Marluxia's bid to dominate the Organization, and formulated his own plans--but the plans failed and he met his end.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Lexaeus appears once again in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, this time with a much smaller role, appearing only in the beginning tutorials. Present when Xion joined the Organization, the Silent Hero trained Roxas in Twilight Town before being sent away to Castle Oblivion. While tutoring the Keyblade wielder, it was this Nobody's responsibility to teach Roxas how to utilize the Limit Break and survive battle with low HP. Striking Roxas harshly in the back before the training session, Roxas then had to battle a Mega-Shadow and correctly execute Event Horizon, his Limit, all while at low HP.

Castle Oblivion
Organization XIII first appears in the series during the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories in Riku's storyline. Much of the Organization members' activities centers around the rivalry and strife within the Organization itself. Lexaeus is heavily involved in this feud, which originates from spite between senior members of the Organization and younger members like Marluxia and Larxene.

When Larxene and Marluxia begin to show signs of dissent, Zexion and Lexaeus begin monitoring the castle and their activities. Also active in the castle are Axel and Vexen, two other members of the Organization. Axel is too unpredictable to trust, but Lexaeus and Zexion enlist Vexen's help in spying on Marluxia. After learning that Marluxia plans to make use of Sora's power by deceiving him into feeling loyalty to Naminé, they decide to make similar use of Riku.

Confronting Riku
Vexen tries to make use of Riku's power by gathering data on him and creating a replica, but his experiments are interrupted. Though he succeeds in creating the replica, he is killed by Axel on Marluxia's orders before he can achieve total control over it, and the replica becomes independent, searching for a heart.

With Vexen gone and the replica useless, Lexaeus takes matters into his own hands, and the Nobody appears to Riku shortly before Sora confronts Axel and Marluxia at the top floor of Castle Oblivion. He tries to sway the former puppet of "Ansem" to give in to the darkness inside him and use his full dark powers. Riku refuses to cooperate, and Lexaeus attacks him, hoping to destroy him if he can not be manipulated. What happens next changes between versions. In the original he uses the last of his strength to attempt to swallow Riku in darkness, resulting in his own death. In the updated version, though the battle is close, Lexaeus manages to knock Riku unconscious. However, Riku's defeat allows Xehanort's Heartless to take control and he vanquishes an unsuspecting Lexaeus. It is in this moment that Lexaeus realizes whom he was fighting and apologizes to Zexion, stating this was a fight he shouldn't have started.

Appearance
Lexaeus is easily the largest member of Organization XIII, and his black cloak is similar to that of Vexen, with slightly longer than average sleeves. He also wears the standard black boots and gloves. Lexaeus has very angular and strong features, with a square chin, straight nose, and sharp cheekbones. He has blue eyes and small eyebrows. His hair is auburn and slicked back into rather odd, messy spikes.

Personality
Lexaeus is the most undeveloped member of Organization XIII: that is, not much is known about him. What is known, however, is that he is intelligent and laconic, only speaking when he finds it necessary, giving him the title "the Silent Hero." He's probably the most physically powerful member of the Organization. This is shown in one scene in the novel where Axel begins trying to lift Lexaeus's tomahawk to tease him. When this happens, however, Axel (who is a fairly strong member) struggles to lift it up with both arms and remarks that it "weighs a ton" before Lexaeus effortlessly lifts it up with one arm. It's also known that he's incredibly loyal to Zexion to the point that he can even be called Zexion's Henchman due to Zexion's role as the mastermind whom decided to use Riku to counter Marluxia. This is demonstrated as he readily obeys Zexion's orders and before he dies he remarks, "Forgive me... Zexion."

He may also be considered friends with Zexion, as shown when Vexen and Zexion are arguing, and Lexaeus quickly breaks it up before joining Zexion's side, displeasing Vexen. They are also seen many times together, almost all of Lexaeus's appearences in Chain of Memories are with Zexion, furthering this implication.

Fighting Style
Lexaeus is exceptionally strong physically, and uses earth to reinforce his attacks. He regularly strikes at Riku using his enormous tomahawk, and can hurl it into the air only to have it come down and flail about the combat area. He can also throw the tomahawk directly at the foe, which boomerangs back to him. He also has the ability to force a rock out of the ground before shattering it, leaving the pieces to fly around and damage the enemy. Like several other Organization XIII members, Lexaeus has the ability to levitate, which is one of the few magical abilities he displays. He does have some other supernatural abilities, however; Lexaeus can strike the floor with such force that it tilts and sometimes even makes rocks fly up from the ground. Finally, he can strike the ground with such force that a damaging, unavoidable shock wave forms and spreads throughout the arena. He is incredibly tough and does not flinch from Riku's attacks after powering up, even becoming temporarily invincible if allowed to. However, he is always susceptible to special attacks, such as Riku's Dark Aura. Gaea's Gift is another one of Lexaeus' special abilities, his strength will increase 10x and he will become temporarily invincible to almost every attack Riku uses.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Lexaeus returns as a secret boss battle along with the other slain Organization members from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. In the battle, Lexaeus and Sora each have a power meter that Lexaeus can increase. When Lexaeus increases his own meter, a large black, red, yellow, and purple aura powers up around him, protecting him from flinching, minimizing damage and pushing enemies away. He is incredibly strong, able to throw Sora up into the air and then knock him back down, or knock Sora into a pillar and then slam him with his tomahawk. He uses a number of attacks with his tomahawk and earth, which increase in damage with his power meter. Furthermore, Lexaeus causes rocks to jut out of the ground with almost every attack, unlike the Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Lexaeus, which only occasionally heaves rocks out of the ground. Sora can use a reaction command Mega Impact (メガインパクト) to siphon the power away from Lexaeus onto himself.

Weapon
Lexaeus uses a massive, heavy Axe Sword (referred to as a tomahawk in Jiminy's Journal in Chain of Memories), which is called Skysplitter, in battle. Unlike most tomahawks, Lexaeus' model is about a meter long, has a blue handle roughly as long as the blade made of black, red, and yellow metal, and appears to be laborious to use for anyone without extreme strength. Lexaeus' attacks include mostly powerful single strikes and dives, which are often so strong that rocks are propelled out of the ground. He also has been known to throw his tomahawk and have it boomerang back to him. Lexaeus' tomahawk has a small Nobody symbol above the handle although it only has a single spike. In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Donald obtains a similar weapon.

Playing as Lexaeus
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Lexaeus uses his mighty Axe Sword to attack with short-ranged, powerful attacks that chip away large chunks of enemies' HP. Via the Gear System, he can be customized along with all other playable characters, attacking in short combos that specialize in dealing heavy damage, though his attacks are slow in comparison to other characters. With Lexaeus's Limit Break, Ayers Rock, Lexaeus can perform a "charged" attack. Once the Limit Break begins, Lexaeus can charge his energy, as shown by a red aura around him; he then can release the stored energy in a powerful tomahawk smash, dealing devastating damage to the target. The attack is then followed up by a shockwave. The longer the player charges before releasing this attack, the stronger the attack will be. Depending on the amount charged, this attack can even be performed twice before obtaining Final Limits. During Lexaeus's Final Limit, Lexaeus's weapon becomes engulfed in rock before releasing the charged attack, increasing the strength and range of the attack by also adding a large addition of earth to the weapon length-wise.

Quotes
"And then there is Axel. Who knows what that one is thinking."

"Let it go, Vexen."

"But Vexen despises Marluxia. Think of the mess it would make."

"You are the Superior's... Forgive me Zexion."

"''You've done well thus far. But to possess your powers, and yet fear the darkness... What a waste."  "I sense that you do. You're also capable of controlling the darkness. Cast away your useless fear. Open your heart. Embrace the darkness."  "Then you lose both light and darkness and disappear! I, Lexaeus, will not yield to the frail heart of an infantile coward! Now, stop resisting, and let the darkness in!"  "Don't mock me!"  "You were too much trouble."  "This was a fight I should not have started..."''

Trivia

 * Lexaeus's death was altered in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories. In the new version he is killed after his fight with Riku, Xehanort's Heartless possesses Riku and easily finishes him off with a swift slash through the torso. In the original, he uses the last of his strength to attempt to swallow Riku in darkness, resulting in his own death. Either way, Riku is dragged into darkness.
 * Lexaeus is the only member of Organization XIII never shown summoning or dispersing his weapon, as it was already in his hand before he fought Riku, and disappeared outscreen when he faded away.
 * In the North American version of the game, a Secret Ansem Report misspells his original name as Eleus.
 * Xion, Zexion, and Lexaeus are the only members who never physically met Sora.
 * Lexaeus's Limit Break is named after the giant stone formation in Central Australia, also known as 'Uluru'.

Gallery
Lexaeus