Ventus

Ventus, also known as Ven or the "Swift Wind Returning to Bonds" (絆巡る疾風), is one of the main protagonists in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. His name means "wind" in Latin, similar to how Sora's name is Japanese for "sky". He was a Keyblade wielder before Sora ever became one, and was apprenticed to both Master Xehanort and Master Eraqus. He is the youngest of the trio formed by himself, Terra and Aqua.

Ventus's heart is severely damaged by the creation of his doppelgänger, Vanitas, and then again when the χ-blade forged from their hearts is destroyed. Both times, Sora's heart reaches out to mend Ventus's heart, and by the end of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus's heart has gone to sleep within Sora so that it can recover until it is fully healed and ready to rejoin his body, which lies comatose but safe within the Chamber of Waking.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
''One of Master Eraqus's pupils. He usually goes by "Ven" for short. He and Terra and Aqua train together, sharing both a healthy rivalry and a strong bond of friendship.''

Haunted by the masked boy's warnings about Terra, Ven defied Master Eraqus, ran away from home, and set off for the outside world to find his friend.

Since Ventus is younger, Terra and Aqua tend to be very protective of him.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Four years before Aqua and Terra take their Mark of Mastery exam, Ventus served as an apprentice to Master Xehanort, as part of the elderly Keyblade Master's plans to forge the legendary X-blade. However, Ventus proved to be a poor candidate, and when he refused to use his darkness to fight several Neoshadow Heartless in the Keyblade Graveyard, Master Xehanort finally lost patience with him and used his own Keyblade to unlock and extract the darkness from Ventus's heart, using it to form a being of pure darkness who is then named "Vanitas" by Master Xehanort.

Unfortunately, the process left Ventus in a comatose state, with his broken heart of pure light slowly fading out. Master Xehanort, disguised in a Black Coat, then took Ventus to the Destiny Islands to allow him to live out his last days peacefully. Ventus is sent to the Dive to the Heart, where he comes in contact with the heart of a newborn Sora. After a brief discussion, Ventus's heart connects with Sora's, mending his broken heart and allowing Ven to stay alive until he someday becomes strong enough to repair the damage by himself. Ventus then summons a Keyblade and shoots a ray of light into the sky above, much to Master Xehanort's surprise.

Following these events, Xehanort brought Ventus to Land of Departure, where he could train as an apprentice to Master Eraqus. Terra and Aqua met Ventus with open arms. However, when Terra asked Ventus about his past, he screamed out in agony, eventually falling unconscious. Eraqus revealed that this was because Ven had lost his memories. Afterwards, he remained asleep for some time. As he slept, Aqua kept watch over him, to keep him safe. Some time later, Ven woke up. Overjoyed, Aqua quickly alerted Eraqus and a worried Terra about Ven's recovery.

It was then that his heart began to heal and he started to form strong bonds of friendship with Terra and Aqua. During a training session, Ventus loses humiliatingly, but Terra and Aqua reassure Ven that he was getting stronger. As time went on, Terra and Ven grew close, forming a brotherly bond. Terra even went so far as to give Ven his wooden training Keyblade and recite a mock inheritance ceremony. Together, the three of them shared the same dream: to become Keyblade Masters.

Years later, Ventus awakes to a meteor shower and hurries out to look at the stars. Later, both Terra and Aqua join him. When Ven asks about stars and the light, Terra explains how each star is another world and compares the light to Ven, who doesn't understand. After a brief spat between the two boys, they, along with Aqua, spar in order to prepare for the Mark of Mastery exam the next day. Following their workout, Aqua gives both Ven and Terra good luck charms and tells them the story behind the charms. The charms, also known as Wayfinders, were gifted with a powerful magic that formed an "unbreakable connection". Upon receiving the charms, Ven and his friends return to their castle for the night, eagerly awaiting the exam.

However, things don't go smoothly. During the exam, Master Xehanort rigs the test, and the orbs of light attack Ven and his friends. Together, the three fight off the orbs, and the exam continues.

After the exam, it's clear that Ventus has earned the interest of Master Xehanort and his apprentice, Vanitas. Though their intentions are rather ambiguous at the time, Vanitas decides to give Ventus some incentive to leave his home. When Vanitas appears in Ven's room, he leaves dark hints of Terra's fate and how he'll "become a different person". Ven becomes very defensive, telling Vanitas that he doesn't know the first thing about Terra. However, once Vanitas leaves, via the Corridor of Darkness, Ven hurries out to find his friend in hopes of giving him a warning.

Unfortunately, Ven arrives much too late, as Terra leaves to go on his mission. Left with no other choice, Ventus leaves his home and begins a journey of his own.

He visits a number of worlds and builds new friendships along the way. In the Dwarf Woodlands, he helps Snow White escape the woods and guides her to the Dwarfs' home. There, he learns that Snow White encountered Terra and immediately tries to get to the bottom of things. After facing several more Unversed along the way, Ven encounters the Queen in the form of an old lady, and she tells Ven that Terra threatened her with his Keyblade. Refusing to believe this, Ventus leaves in hopes of finding Terra, wondering what's gotten into him.

Then, in the Castle of Dreams, Ven befriends Jaq and Cinderella. Though Terra isn't there, Ven still lends a hand, helping gather supplies for Cinderella's dress, and even facing Lucifer. When the dress is complete, Cinderella thanks Jaq and Ventus, and the two talk about their dreams. It's here that Ven decides that his dream is to become a Keyblade Master; the dream he and his friends all share.

It's in Enchanted Dominion that Ven gets another clue regarding Terra. After freeing Princess Aurora's heart, Ven encounters Maleficent. Maleficent reveals that Terra helped steal Aurora's heart, but Aqua arrives just in time to convince Ven otherwise. She then asks Ven to go home with her, but he refuses, remembering the cryptic warning left by Vanitas.

Coincidentally, Ven encounters Vanitas again after leaving Enchanted Dominion, and he follows him straight to the Keyblade Graveyard. There, Ven tries to get some answers out of Vanitas, who simply restates what he said before, that Terra will be gone forever. The two battle, but Vanitas easily outmatches Ven and nearly kills him. It's not until King Mickey arrives, that Vanitas is defeated. Upon his defeat, Vanitas tells Ventus that he's on probation and disappears, leaving Ven and Mickey alone.

The two introduce themselves to one another, and Mickey tells Ven about the Star Shard. Apparently, it allows him to travel to different worlds, but he still doesn't know all of its secrets. Shortly after, the Star Shard sends the two of them both to Radiant Garden, and Ven tries to follow Mickey, only to be intercepted by Aeleus and Dilan. After spying an Unversed, Ven gives up his search for Mickey and instead trails after the Monster. He's interrupted several times, by Scrooge McDuck, who gives him lifetime passes to Disney Town, and Merlin, who tells him of the book to the 100 Acre Wood.

Eventually, he does find the Unversed he was chasing, as well as Terra and Aqua. Together, they face the Trinity Armor, but after its defeat, things change for the worse.

First, Aqua tries to tell Ven to go home, and then she and Terra get into a fight regarding the darkness and Eraqus's intentions. The whole time, Ven is left completely confused, as he'd never seen his friends bicker in such a way. In the end, he tells Aqua that she's let being a Master go to her head, and he leaves to find Terra again.

His search is interrupted again, when he spots Ienzo being attacked by the Unversed. Without any hesitation, Ventus protects the boy and defeats his attackers. Even arrives shortly after and thanks Ventus for his help. Then, when asked about Terra's location, he tells Ven to look in the Outer Gardens.

Though Ven does find Terra, their reunion is short lived, as Terra leaves, telling Ven that he can't come along, but when he really needs him, he knows he'll be there. Meeting up with Aqua again, Ven asks to come along, but Aqua orders him to return to the Land of Departure in a somewhat harsh manner. Seeing Ven's disappointment, Aqua softens and explains that she merely doesn't want him to get hurt before departing.

For a while, Ven stays in Radiant Garden, reminiscing about the times when his friendship wasn't strained by newfound complications. He's left wondering just what it means to be friends, and after meeting Lea and Isa he becomes more and more curious about friendship.

Thus, when he continues his travels, Ven has a new resolve. Rather than search for Terra and Aqua, he decides to go out and make some new friends in hopes of redefining his simplistic views of friendship.

By the time he leaves Olympus Coliseum, Ven finally comes to understand what it means to be friends and realizes that he, Terra, and Aqua will patch things up someday.

Later, in Neverland he finds Mickey's Star Shard, only for Captain Hook to steal both it and Tinker Bell. Together, both he and Peter Pan team up against the pirate captain, saving Tink in the process.

Together, Ventus, along with Peter and the Lost Boys, decide to put their own personal treasures in the empty chest they stole from Hook. As the Wooden Keyblade holds many cherished memories for Ven, he puts it in the chest, for his best memories with Terra and Aqua are still to come. With Hook out of the way, he also retrieves the Star Shard from Tinker Bell after a little persuasion from Peter, only to be whisked away to the Mysterious Tower.

Upon his arrival, Ven meets Donald Duck and Goofy, who take him straight to Yen Sid. There, it's discovered that Mickey went missing, but when Yen Sid uses his magic to find him, they discover that the King is in danger. Determined to save Mickey, Ven departs from the Tower and returns to the Keyblade Graveyard, but when he reaches Mickey, everything changes.

It turns out that Master Xehanort was waiting for him the whole time, and that's not all. Xehanort reveals Ven's destiny to forge the χ-blade. He tells Ven that this is the real reason why he was never allowed to leave home and constantly told to return, out of fear for the χ-blade's creation.

After learning of his past, Ventus returns to Eraqus, only for his Master to try and destroy him upon realizing Xehanort's plans. Fortunately, he is saved by Terra and sent to Destiny Islands, much to his displeasure. There, he encounters Vanitas again, who taunts him into remembering how Master Xehanort broke their heart in twain.

Once the memories return, Vanitas decides to give Ventus a reason to fight: Vanitas tells Ventus to come to the Keyblade Graveyard, the only place where the χ-blade can be forged, and threatens to kill Terra and Aqua to see if Ventus will continue to "play the pacifist." Left with no choice, Ven leaves in hopes of setting things right, once and for all. Once reunited with his friends, Ventus explains the situation between himself and Vanitas, and, admitting that he is terrified over the very thought of the χ-blade, asks to be destroyed in the event that he does have to fight Vanitas, much to their shock. However, there's little time to mull over Ven's request, as both Master Xehanort and Vanitas arrive.

During their final battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, Master Xehanort encases Ven in ice and throws him off a cliff. Aqua manages to catch him before he hits the ground. Braig quickly appears and fights Aqua. Stalling long enough, Braig withdraws from the battle. Vanitas knocks out Aqua as he drops down from a cliff. Before the enigma can finish her off, Ventus uses all of his willpower to thaw out of his frozen state and fights Vanitas. After the battle, Vanitas reveals his true intentions and explains that the Unversed came from his negativity. Trapping Ven with several Floods, Vanitas merges with Ventus and takes over his body.

However, Vanitas is defeated by Aqua and Mickey, and right as the χ-blade is damaged by their fight, Vanitas and Ventus engage in a metaphysical battle, where Vanitas tries to rejoin with Ventus and repair the χ-blade. Ven, however, refuses and chooses to defeat Vanitas and destroy the weapon, even if it means the destruction of his own heart.

The two engage in a decisive battle, and towards the end, Vanitas forces a D-Link on Ventus in hopes of completing their fusion. However, Ventus prevails, and the χ-blade is destroyed along with Vanitas. Unfortunately, this also results in Ventus losing his heart, leaving him in a comatose state. Aqua later places his body in a chamber within Castle Oblivion. Somehow, Ventus's heart finds its way to a young Sora, in his own Awakening, and his heart passes on into Sora's body, granting Sora the ability to use the Keyblade.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
While Ventus does not make a physical appearance in the game, Xemnas and Xigbar see Xion (an imperfect Replica of Roxas) as Ventus. Xigbar states that Ventus had always looked at him as if he had "drowned [his] goldfish" before he is defeated by Xion. Xigbar reveals that his original persona has met the real Ventus.

Kingdom Hearts II
When Sora first returns to Hollow Bastion and encounters Organization XIII, Xigbar stays behind to taunt him, at one point commenting that "he" used to give him the same glare that Sora did. Tetsuya Nomura has confirmed that Xigbar was referring to Ventus glaring at Braig when he was frozen in the Keyblade Graveyard.

Later in the story, at The World That Never Was, Sora encounters Xigbar again, who comments that the Keyblade chose "a dud this time" and mentions that Sora doesn't look like "half the hero the others were", referring to Terra, Aqua, and Ventus.

Blank Points
Ventus is seen at the Land of Departure, sleeping on a bench outside before Terra wakes the boy by approaching him. They both smile and look up to the sky while uttering Sora's name with a sense of renewed hope. This is only symbolic, however, as Ven's true body is in the Chamber of Waking.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Data Namine tells Mickey and Data Sora that Ventus is one of the ones connected to Sora's heart that must be saved. Later on, Mickey tells Yen Sid that they've located Ventus's heart.

Abilities
Due to his untainted heart of light, Ventus is similar in nature to the Princesses of Heart. Like Ansem will later do in Kingdom Hearts, Master Xehanort attempts to use Ventus's heart to create a special Keyblade that will allow him to obtain Kingdom Hearts. Ventus loses his heart due to this, but like the Princesses, Ventus's body enters a comatose state, rather than fading away or becoming a Nobody.

Keyblade and fighting style
Out of the main trio of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ventus is the fastest and most agile, which reflects in his primary fighting style of dodging, quick movements and swift combo attacks. Ventus has a close affinity for the wind and light elements and mixes both into several of his techniques and high-level magic attacks.

Ventus's way of holding his Keyblade is as of now unique in the Kingdom Hearts-Universe as he wields it almost always in a reverse grip. While other characters like Sora have shown instances of reverse wielding, Ventus is the only one who uses a backhanded style as standard. Furthermore, his personal keyblade, Wayward Wind, is specifically designed for wielding it in a reverse grip.

Ven's primary battle style consists of very fast, wide backhanded strikes with his blade in quick succession to deal damage and doesn't let his enemies recover. The single strike isn't as powerful as i.e. Sora's two-handed strikes or Terra's powerful blows, but the very quick barrage of blows add up for possibly even more overall damage.

In addition to his swift standard attacks Ventus has access to a variety of exclusive Attack Commands in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Ven can use his natural affinity for acrobatics to unleash an extended version of the Ars Arcanum-Combo and exhibits advanced keyblade-throwing abilities like Wind Raid, Spark Raid and Treasure Raid.

Using his wind affinity, Ventus can use the Tornado Strike Command to sweep his opponents away. Another exclusive, ultimate attack, Salvation, enables Ventus to use his light affinity to its fullest.

Ventus also makes heavy use of his wind powers in his personal finishing commands, the Air Flair series and his ultimate finisher, Stratosphere. Lastly, Ventus has another "Finish" Command exclusive to him, which is called Celebration and doesn't really hurt an enemy but gives other benefits, probably an allusion to Ventus's benign and kind-hearted personality.

Magic
Although not as professional in magic as his classmate, Aqua, Ventus has access to a broad variety of magic spells as well as two spells exclusive to him in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

These two spells, Tornado and Faith, again show his close ties to the wind and light elements.

Tornado can also be used by Sora in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, but chronologically, Ventus was the first to use it.

While Faith is also useable by other characters in the Kingdom Hearts series like King Mickey or Queen Minnie, Ventus's version has a distinct other form that is similar to Salvation, but is much faster to execute. It is also quite similar to Roxas's and Xion's Limit Break, Event Horizon.

Miscellaneous
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep introduces the new ability variations of Command Styles and Shotlocks.

Beside a variety of these abilities usable by all three or two of the protagonists in Birth by Sleep Ventus has access to three unique Command Styles and two exclusive Shotlocks.

His first personal Command Style, Fever Pitch, which is gained near the beginning of the game, lets Ventus use his speedy combat style to its fullest.

The second exclusive Command Style, Cyclone, is a powerful 2nd level Command Style which has Ventus use his wind powers to attack with wide-ranged spinning slashes in all directions.

Ventus's third exclusive Command Style is called Wingblade. By activating this 2nd level Style, Ventus seemingly discards his keyblade in exchange for six white-silver glowing swords of light which float behind him like six glowing wings, reminiscent of the picture of a Seraph, a six-winged Angel.

In terms of shotlocks, Ventus has access to two unique ones for him and a third just for storyline purposes. The two freely usable consist of Pulse Bomb and Multivortex, his ultimate shotlock. These also fit splendidly into Ventus's overall "wind and light" theme by being light-based (Pulse Bomb), and a mix of both. (Multivortex) The third exclusive Shotlock is Dark Link, which can only be used when in a Dimension Link with Vanitas in Ventus's final battle.

While he may not have that much physical defense and endurance, it's very difficult just to land a hit on him. Ventus has shown to be a very skilled acrobat and possesses the best evasion and mobility commands in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

Small and spry, Ventus has access to the already well-known Dodge Roll technique, as well as an offensive variant named Thunder Roll.

Furthermore he can use the Glide and Superglide abilities as well as another offensive version called Fire Glide.

While other characters, namely Sora and Roxas, have used Dodge Roll and Glide before, their offensive variations are as of now unique to Ventus.

The Reversal command allows Ventus to quickly dodge an enemies attack and rush behind it, similar to the Reaction Command in Kingdom Hearts II used against the Dusk Nobodies.

D-Link
Ventus becomes a D-Link for Terra and Aqua, after they received the Wayfinder, Aqua made for the three of them. While in link with Ventus, they can use swift and quick commands, reflecting Ventus's swift fighting style.

Personality
As mentioned earlier, Ventus is the youngest of the three Keyblade warriors. Personality-wise, he has many similarities with Sora; he's sweet, cheerful, curious, and gets excited at anything new or interesting. He seems to feel a bit disappointed whenever Aqua and Terra refuse to allow him to join them on their missions because they do not want to put him in "harm's way." When he gives them their passes to Disney Town, he grudgingly mentions that Scrooge McDuck told him to "take two grown-ups," but he doesn't seem to dislike his status as the youngest of the three.

He also makes new friends easily in different worlds and really cares about his best friends Terra and Aqua, viewing Terra as an older brother. Ventus is very much unable to cope with Terra turning and subsiding to the darkness in his heart. Some of his traits and personality might have passed on to Sora when his heart joined him. Along with his kind personality, he also shows a lot of bravery, especially evident when he battles Vanitas for the final time, where he promises to fight for his friends no matter what, knowing the fact that he would lose his heart as a result.

Appearance
Ventus bears an uncanny resemblance to Roxas, bearing identical facial features. Further highlighting this resemblance is Ventus's outfit, which is strikingly similar to Roxas's own Twilight Town clothes. He wears a jacket that resembles a fusion of Roxas's jacket (white on the right side) and Sora's jacket in Kingdom Hearts II (black on the left side), also reminiscent of the Yin and Yang symbol. The collar of the jacket is red and pleated, again, similar to the collar on Roxas's own jacket. Underneath this, he wears what appears to be a grey vest with a single button and several white, angular patterns on it. He wears a third layer under this, in the form of a plain, high-necked, black shirt. He also has a chunk of dull green and grey armor on his midsection that appears to be under his vest, and another piece of armor on his left shoulder. Master Eraqus wears a similar piece of armor, though more blue-green, and more obvious. Ventus's pants are also similar to the pants Roxas wore, though Ven's balloon outward slightly before closing up about halfway down his legs, similar to caprice pants. These pants are colored in shades of grey, black, and white. He also wears an ornate, dull green and grey piece of armor on his upper-left arm, along with a black and white checkered wristband that is, once again, strikingly similar to Roxas's, but with white edges as opposed to Roxas's black-edged wristband. Like Aqua, he wears two criss-crossing straps on his chest, on which he wears a silver badge vaguely resembling the Heartless emblem or the Nobody emblem turned upside down. His boots are rather odd when compared to Aqua's and Terra's, as they resemble an armored version of normal street shoes in shades of dull green and grey.

Ventus's mannerisms are also echoed by Sora and Roxas; in particular, when standing around he often places his hands behind his head, in the same stance that Sora uses. Throughout both the canonical story and the extra-canonical videos of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus echoes Sora and Roxas in various ways. For example, in the opening video, Ventus is shown falling through a Station of the Dive to the Heart due to the Kingdom Key and Soul Eater shattering the pillar, in a similar way to how Sora and Roxas fall from shattered Stations at the beginning of their games. At the beginning of his episode at the Land of Departure, Ventus falls asleep outside after watching a shooting star, and a little while later, he yawns, and then is startled to find Aqua standing over him, who giggles upon his reaction and teases him affectionately, mirroring how Kairi startled Sora awake in the original Kingdom Hearts.

When touching the piece of armor on his shoulder, Ventus becomes fully clad in armor. In Birth by sleep, Ventus's suit of armor shares the coloration of the pieces he normally wears, predominantly sporting shades of green and gold. In this suit, Ventus adds a yellow cape to his outfit that is discolored, almost appearing rusted. The armor on his knee is gold and bears a sharp, upward-pointing hook on the outer side of each one. Ventus's helmet has a notably different design from Aqua and Terra's, appearing more squashed and flat at the top. His helmet also has two prongs on either side of his head which point backwards and angle diagonally upward. Strangely, Ventus's boots are colored completely gold in this outfit, as opposed to the multi-colored ones he normally wears. In Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Ventus's armor is altered. He loses his cape, his boots change to more closely resemble those in his unarmored state, and the coloration changes much more than Terra or Aqua's. Ventus's armor loses the greens entirely, now sporting steel blue, gold, and black armor, with several red lines decorating it.

During the climax of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus is forced to fuse with Vanitas, and ends up donning Vanitas's red and black bodysuit. While his physical body remains the same, his eyes take on Vanitas's golden hues, and he wields his Keyblade forward, like Vanitas, rather than in his usual reverse-handed fashion.

Other appearances
While he doesn't appear in game, in Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Ventus is briefly shown in the Chamber of Waking in Castle Oblivion during the opening sequence.

Quotes

 * ''"Look - whoever you are - you don't know the first thing about Terra. Me and him will always be a team. You trying to pick a fight or what?"
 * ''"Ah, it's okay. You were probably just seeing things. It happens to all of us when we're afraid."
 * ''"Sorry, Aqua. But I can't go with you. It's just...I have to find him before it's too late!"
 * ''"Y'ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?"
 * ''"No, I owe him. Mickey saved me once. And I can't risk putting his friends in danger. Don't worry. I swear I'll bring him back safe."
 * ''"In your prison? That's your excuse...for keeping me imprisoned here, isn't it?"
 * ''"No, I won't do it. He told me, the only way the the χ-blade can be forged is if you and me fight. Well guess what? I'm not fighting."
 * ''"Please don't do this, Master! I'm not strong enough!"
 * ''"I've got a better idea. How 'bout I destroy you both?"
 * ''"Get out of my head!"