Ansem the Wise

Ansem the Wise, also known by his alias DiZ, is the former ruler of Radiant Garden who spent much of his time in his study examining the mysteries of the heart. He is voiced by Genzo Wakayama in Re:Chain of Memories and the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II. In the English version of Kingdom Hearts II, he is voiced by Christopher Lee.

A Grave Mistake
Ansem the Wise, a decade ago, was the ruler of the Radiant Garden, as well as a wise scientist. He was also the master of apprentice scientists Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo before they became Nobodies.

The sage was also the one who found the young Xehanort, on the brink of death, in the aftermath of a great battle by those who used Keyblades to fight, and nursed him back to health. Though the man had no memory of what happened to him before arriving at Radiant Garden, he still possessed a remarkable intellect and an insatiable curiosity. Thus, he became Ansem the Wise's apprentice, joining the five others.

However, as the years grew, Ansem the Wise became worried that the darkness of people's hearts would one day swallow his beloved home. In order to understand and counter it, Ansem began conducting tests on Xehanort's heart. Ansem also hoped to unlock Xehanort's hidden memories, with his apprentice Even also showing interest. However, the more he probed, the more he became worried about Xehanort's wellbeing and his supposedly superhuman abilities.

Still, Ansem eventually constructed a large laboratory in the basement of his castle, encouraged by Ienzo. However, Ansem's six apprentices used the laboratory in order to conduct inhumane experiments on the human heart and the darkness within it. Ansem immediately ordered his apprentices to cease their experiments and sealed the chamber. Still, Ansem sinked into despair over his error in experimenting on Xehanort, but a king of another world, King Mickey (Gummi Ship travel was now possible, thanks to Xehanort opening the door in Ansem's basment) arrived. The two rulers became great friends, conversing over many subjects, and their companionship began to heal Ansem's heart. King Mickey eventually advised Ansem the Wise to review the research data, but found the "Ansem Reports", using his name, but written by Xehanort. Ansem began to see that the damage he had done had become irreversible.

Eventually and unfortunately, the six apprentices dabbled too deep into the darkness behind his back. They were consumed by it, with Xehanort producing his Heartless as well as his Nobody, Xemnas, the founder and leader of Organization XIII. The five other apprentices also produced powerful Nobodies, making the elder members of the Organization. Ansem, his mistakes catching up to him, was also plunged into a realm of nothingness, and became embittered by the betrayal of his apprentices.

A New Identity
For some time, Ansem remained in the empty realm, constantly writing in order to maintain his sanity. Here, he also discarded his old, stolen name, and became DiZ, or "Darkness in Zero". Eventually, he found a way to escape when he gained the power of darkness, though he did not intend to let himself be consumed by it like his apprentices. With his newfound powers, DiZ also garbed himself in red robes and a mask made of red bandages in order to fully conceal his identity.

Using the corridors of darkness, DiZ found Twilight Town, and took refuge in an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of the town. There, he began researching the Nobodies and the Heartless, as well as watching Sora and King Mickey's efforts to defeat the Heartless from the sidelines.

Castle Oblivion
DiZ, hoping to gain revenge on Organization XIII, infiltrates the Organization's second base, Castle Oblivion. There, he monitors Sora and encounters Naminé. He also aids Riku in his quest to defeat his darkness, though not revealing his true identity for some time (instead, he took on the form of Xehanort's Heartless). DiZ also re-encounters King Mickey, but is privately saddened that he cannot talk to him like in the old days. Still, King Mickey begins to suspect DiZ's identity. Regardless of that, DiZ provides Riku and the King with Organization cloaks as well as the card that will draw out Xehanort's Heartless. Using it, Riku defeats Xehanort's Heartless, though a part of him still lingers in Riku's heart. He and King Mickey then set off, though DiZ appears to them at the crossroads in the grassy plain, asking which path they will take. Riku chooses the middle road, which DiZ refers to as the "twilight road to nightfall". However, Riku calls it the "road to dawn".

The Beginning of the End
DiZ soon returned to Naminé to aid her in the task to restore Sora's memories after they were broken apart in Castle Oblivion. Since the castle was still under control of the Organization, DiZ convinced Naminé to move Sora, Donald, and Goofy to his facility in Twilight Town. However, Sora was taking too long to awaken, and DiZ was soon noticed that Riku arrived with blindfold on, offering his aid to wake Sora. DiZ convinces a lone Riku to retrieve Roxas, Sora's Nobody. However, Riku had no choice but to take on the form of Xehanort's Heartless in order to fully utilize the power of darkness and defeat Roxas. DiZ, seeing Riku's (taking on the name Ansem) devotion to Sora, slowly began to lose his lust for revenge, hiding it behind laughter. Still, DiZ continued with the plan, placing Roxas into a digital facsimile of Twilight Town where he could live out his days until it was time for him to reunite with Sora.

In the events of Kingdom Hearts II, DiZ, Riku, and Naminé still co-operate with each other to restore Sora. However, Naminé begins reaching out towards Roxas, to DiZ's annoyance, while Riku only intends to stick around until Sora awakens. Nonetheless, Roxas fuses with Sora eventually, though Riku does not dispose of Naminé as DiZ had wanted. The three go on their separate paths, while Sora goes off on his journey. Unfortunately, Sora does not function the way DiZ wanted, and all of his plans fall apart. It becomes increasingly obvious to the former ruler that the heart is something he cannot truly understand.

At this point in the story, DiZ has clearly established prejudices against Nobodies. He, unlike Riku, has no pity for Roxas when they abduct him. Later, when Roxas demands answers to his questions, DiZ responds that a Nobody doesn't have a right to know, "nor does it even have a right to be." Similarly, he does not care what becomes of Naminé, and only keeps her around due to her usefulness, telling Riku he can dispose of her after their job is finished. This prejudice is likely due to his hatred of his former apprentices and the Nobodies that they have become.

The World That Never Was
DiZ eventually infiltrates the Organization's home world, The World That Never Was. With Sora's strength of heart having obliterated DiZ's plans, he takes it upon himself to stop Xemnas by using a machine to digitally encode Kingdom Hearts, which Xemnas had been feeding human hearts in order to eventually extract its power to become whole. However, as he climbs the Nobody's headquarters, he is attacked by Nobodies, though he is saved by his old friend King Mickey. Seeing no more reason to hide his identity, DiZ unmasks himself. King Mickey asks Ansem why he didn't come to him before, but Ansem feels that the task of defeating Organization XIII was his. He also explains to King Mickey his part in causing Riku to take on his dark form, and the regrets he had concealed with his true identity. He and King Mickey then set off to seal away Kingdom Hearts.

Ansem the Wise, finding a good spot, begins encoding Kingdom Hearts, but sees that the power of Kingdom Hearts is too great to be controlled, adding insult to his realization of the heart's unpredicatable true nature. The machine begins to overload, and Ansem does his best to contain it, but to little avail. Sora, Riku, and their companions, as well as Xemnas, all arrive at Ansem's location. Ansem throws bitter words and accusations at Xemnas, though Xemnas simply retorts that Ansem himself was the reason for the destruction wrought on the worlds. Ansem, though he knows his errors, sees that both he and his former apprentice are as still ignorant to the true essence of the heart as they were ten years ago. The machine then goes critical, only moments away from exploding. Ansem takes the time to give King Mickey and Riku final words, and sincerely apologizes to Roxas for all he has done, though he is not sure if Roxas can hear him due to the fact that Roxas is fused with Sora. It is at this point that his prejudice against Nobodies has excluded Roxas and, possible, Namine. The machine then explodes, killing Ansem. But his death is not in vain, as the explosion restores Riku to his true form, and undoes Xemnas' work on Kingdom Hearts.

Trivia

 * Genzo Wakayama, Ansem's Japanese seiyuu, also voiced another Disney owned character: Zeus, from the 1997 film Hercules. Christopher Lee, Ansem's English voice, is a veteran actor with a reputation gained over many decades, and famous for dozens of roles, the most-well known are of his incarnation of Dracula, the Sith Lord Count Dooku from the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and Saruman from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to name a few.