Player (KHχ)

Player is the playable protagonist of Kingdom Hearts χ and Kingdom Hearts Union χ. A Keyblade wielder from Daybreak Town, they are chosen to join a faction prior to the Keyblade War to compete for Lux.

Following Player’s imprisonment within the data Daybreak Town, they chose to be reborn as the cloaked figure who would end up raising Xehanort.

Development
Prior to the 5.0.1 update of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, Player's default male appearance is fully visible in several flashbacks. Following the update, the scenes were either altered to remove Player from frame or exchanged for other scenes entirely, leaving Player's appearance and gender ambiguous.

Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]
Player is chosen by the Keyblade and joins one of the five Unions. After joining one, they meet their Chirithy, who acts as their companion throughout their adventures. Player goes on missions throughout various worlds to defeat Heartless and collect Lux.

Chirithy tells Player about the Foretellers, the Book of Prophecies, and the impending Keyblade War, explaining that the Foretellers hope to harness the power of the future to prevent the war from taking place.

Some time later, Player is approached by Moogle and loaned a Light Draw Bangle in order to obtain Crystals of Light from Raid Bosses, unaware of the Moogle's reluctant exchange with the Nightmare Chirithy. Later, Nightmare Chirithy, posing as Player's real Chirithy, gives them the Power Bangle. One night, Chirithy secretly shows Player a dream in which the Master of Masters speaks to the Foretellers within the Clock Tower. However, Nightmare Chirithy interferes with the dream, waking them up.

The next day, Player meets Ephemer, a Keyblade wielder from a different union. He explains to Player that the worlds the wielders visit on missions are holograms, or "projections", and that he is investigating how the projections are created as well as why the Unions are collecting Lux. When Player describes their dream of the Clock Tower, the pair decide to go there to investigate.

Together, Ephemer and Player find an entrance into the Clock Tower, but turn back before entering and promise to meet again the next day. At night, Player excitedly tells Chirithy about their new friend and their meeting tomorrow, but on the next day, they are left waiting alone at the Fountain for Ephemer, who never arrives.

Unbeknownst to Player, Strelitzia observes them waiting for Ephemer throughout the day and sympathizes with their plight.

One night, Ephemer appears to Player in a dream and tells them to find him before disappearing at the entrance of the Clock Tower. Player searches for Ephemer at the Tower, where they encounter Ava, who decides to test their strength in battle. Player loses, and Ava tells them that she senses their potential, but also their sadness. While they sleep that night, Ava appears in their room, speaking with Chirithy about the dream Ephemer sent to Player.

Player continues carrying out their daily missions. One day, they are approached by Skuld, a Keyblade wielder and a friend of Ephemer's. Skuld tells Player that she had a dream in which Ephemer told her to find and help Player. While talking, Skuld and Player witness Aced and Invi fighting on the rooftops; the two then decide to go looking for Ephemer. On the way to the Clock Tower, Player and Skuld are ambushed by a group of Darklings, a type of Heartless they have never seen before. After defeating the Darklings, Nightmare Chirithy briefly appears and reveals that the Darklings used to be Keyblade Wielders themselves.

Player, Chirithy, and Skuld make their way to the Foretellers' Chambers, where they are confronted by one of the Foretellers. The Foreteller reprimands the group for trespassing, then claims that Ephemer was acting under ulterior motives and imply that he died by their hand.

Enraged, Player confronts the Foreteller, but is defeated. Afterwards, the Foreteller compliments their strength and reveals themself to be Ava in disguise. She tells Player and Skuld about the Dandelions, a group of Keyblade wielders she is training to escape the Keyblade War and continue the fight against darkness. She also reveals that Ephemer has already joined the Dandelions, and invites Player and Skuld to join as well. Skuld agrees, but Player hesitates, reluctant to leave behind those who will fight in the Keyblade War.

One day, Player witnesses two Keyblade wielders arguing in Fountain Square. Player and Skuld both attempt to intervene in the conflict, but more wielders appear to join in the argument. Aced arrives and states that each wielder can only trust their own Union. Player steps up to Aced, who challenges them to a fight. Aced defeats player and Ira appears to confront him. After an argument, Aced leaves, and Ira warns Player and Skuld that the Keyblade War is inevitable.

After collapsing, Player dreams of the impending Keyblade War. They wake to find Skuld and Chirithy beside them; Skuld tells Player that Ava has gone missing, and the pair decide to seek out Gula, as Chirithy believes he may know what happened to her. Gula tells them that anything they do to stop the War is pointless, as the only person capable of doing so is the Master of Masters. Gula and Ava had searched for him to no avail, but Ava decided to find the Master’s sixth apprentice, Luxu, to ask for his whereabouts. Gula tells them the secret passage written in the Lost Page of the Book of Prophecies, and how the traitor will be the one who will set the War in motion with a single strike, sounding the Clock Tower’s Bells. As they speak, the bells from the Clock Tower sound, commencing the beginning of the end.

Player and Skuld part ways, with Skuld asking Player not to participate in the War. Player decides not to fight; however, Nightmare Chirithy appears to taunt their decision, and reveals that the Power Bangle in Player's possession has been drawing on the power of darkness. When Chirithy asks which wielder Nightmare Chirithy belongs to, it claims to belong to Player. It summons Darklings to fight, and once they’re defeated, it absorbs the Darklings and becomes a Nightmare monster. With its defeat, Nightmare Chirithy disappears “for now,” and announces it’ll see Player “in another dream.”

Player joins in the battle against the other unions at the Badlands. Player encounters and fights against four of the five Foretellers, all except their Union leader, one by one. With each battle, Player grows weaker, and they see other wielders fall, Keyblades land on the ground, and the hearts of others float into the sky. Eventually, Player collapses on the ground in pain, finding themself to be the last survivor on the battlefield. Chirithy appears before them, embracing and telling them to rest. The light of Kingdom Hearts appears in the sky; then, Skuld appears before Player, followed by Ephemer. Player berates him for breaking his promise, which he apologizes for. Then Ephemer reaches out his hand and Player takes it, joining them in the next world.

Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]
Player suddenly awakens to Chirithy casually telling them to wake up, as they are running late for their mission. Player hesitates at first, as something seems off. There is a faint feeling that something terrible had recently happened, though there is no memory of such an event. Brushing off this feeling, Player continues to conduct their missions and travel to several worlds, often teaming up with other Dandelions to form a Union χ.

However, Player soon starts to have nightmares of a horrific war between Keyblade wielders. Though they seem to be nothing more than dreams, they feel real, as if Player actually experienced them. This worries Chirithy, who goes to Ephemer and Skuld for advice. Knowing the truth, the two instruct Chirithy to prevent Player from remembering their past to protect them.

Later, Player is recruited by Brain after hearing reports of glitches in Daybreak Town. After some reconnaissance, Player and Brain discover that the datascape they currently reside in is being forcibly connected to a data world that was never connected to the original Daybreak Town. This investigation also reveals that Ventus was not one of the intended Union Leaders, leading to the conclusion that he is a replacement for the missing and presumed dead Strelitzia. While continuing to investigate the glitches, Player encounters several Darklings who only say the phrase "Not You." This annoys Chirithy to the point of confronting the Darklings, asking why they continue to pursue player if they are not their target. The Darklings do not respond before getting destroyed. With many questions remaining, Player ends the mission and returns to Daybreak Town.

Then, they appear through a portal to help their friends midway through a battle against darkness. After pushing the darkness back, it suddenly returns, claiming it cannot be destroyed as it has no form. Then, Darklings suddenly appear and surround Ventus, all stating "You" to Player's shock. In a last ditch effort, watches Ventus strike at darkness in a huge flash of light, nearly killing him in the process.

Player, Ephemer and Skuld are talking outside of Ventus's room in a hallway. Later, Player, the Union Leaders and Elrena enter the lifeboat room in an effort to evacuate data Daybreak Town to the real world and seal whatever darkness they harbor with them. The room contains five working pods and one broken which causes an issue for the seven people in the room, which in who gets in a pod and who is left behind. It is eventually decided that Lauriam, Ventus, Elrena, and Brain each take a pod, leaving one working pod left.

Player, Ephemer and Skuld, still in the data world, ponder if their friends are safe before being approached by four darknesses. They demand a gate to pass out of the data world, which Ephemer refuses. While preparing for a fight, Ephemer tells Player to take a lifeboat and escape. Player responds by suddenly attacking and calling him a fool possessed by darkness they lectured Ephemer that letting them escape would be a grave error. But they proposes returning the body in exchange for a gate, which Ephemer also refuses. The possessed Player and the four darknesses then attack and defeat Ephemer and Skuld, with them about to take Skuld's life. In an act of desperation, Ephemer, launches a beam through Player's chest that opens a portal behind them, sucking them and the four darknesses through it.

Appearing in a data cable, Player is severely wounded and surrounded by the four darknesses. They commend the darkness possessing Player for goading Ephemer into creating a portal, but suggest leaving the body before they perishes together. However, Player just laughs and seals the exit revealing they were not actually possessed and it was all an act to trap darkness to ensure the safety of their friends. The four darknesses are enrage and try to escape, to no avail. Player had outsmarted the darkness and won however, the wounds received were still real and fatal knowing this is the end Player eventually collapses in exhaustion and embraces Chirithy before being engulfed by a bright light. The two find themselves in a white void with many other Keyblade wielders. Chirithy now presents Player with two options: Player falls asleep and Chirithy becomes the guardian of their heart as a Dream Eater, or they could not sleep and continue the cycle of transferring hearts as normal. Player chooses to not sleep, embraces Chirithy one last time, and the pair transform into a heart and float away.

Between Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross] and Kingdom Hearts Dark Road
At some point Player's heart merged with an unknown figure.

Personality
Ephemer notes that Player doesn't talk much and may be shy. They care deeply for their friends; when they believe one of the Foretellers killed Ephemer, they are willing to stake their own life to avenge him, and when Daybreak Town collapses, they sacrifice themself so that Ephemer and Skuld can survive. Upon knowing that Xehanort is a distant descendant of Ephemer, they most likely were happy to know that their sacrifice in their first life saved their dear friend and sought it as a tribute to care for him as a sign of their friendship.

Customizing Player
In a similar fashion to Kingdom Hearts Mobile and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded's Avatar Menu, Player is a customizable avatar. Except for gender, every aspect of Player's appearance can be changed at any time during the game, and in Kingdom Hearts Union χ, the gender can be changed as well.