Absent Silhouette

An Absent Silhouette (アブセント・シルエット) is a phantom version of the five Organization XIII members who were destroyed in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories: Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene. They appear in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix as a set of optional boss battles, and upon defeat they relinquish a Lost Illusion and a synthesis Recipe that allows the Moogles to craft a replica of the member's signature weapon. Defeating a member's Absent Silhouette also allows Sora to challenge their Replica Data at the Garden of Assemblage.

Whenever Sora challenges an Absent Silhouette to a battle, the Absent Silhouette takes the form of the slain member it represents and fights him. At first, the Absent Silhouette looks like a sphere of darkness with nothingness and the slain member's element circling around it; a picture of the slain member's weapon is also featured in the center of the sphere. When Sora accepts its challenge, it warps Sora, Donald and Goofy to wherever its member was last fought, with the exception of Marluxia's, which is the area of the second to last battle against him. There, it challenges him to an extremely difficult battle.

Though they are serve as a rematch with a boss from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, each Absent Silhouette has a vastly different fighting style than in the previous game. For example, in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Larxene throws her Foudre and Zexion uses his Book of Retribution to create doppelgangers of himself using skills stolen from his opponent, while in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Larxene's Silhouette creates doppelgangers of herself for speedy attacks from multiple directions and Zexion's Silhouette uses the Book of Retribution to trap his prey in a pocket dimension.

In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, the optional boss Vanitas's Sentiment shares multiple similarities with the Absent Silhouettes, as it first appears as a sphere of darkness with a silhouette of the keychain for Vanitas's Keyblade, and appears after Vanitas's defeat in the Keyblade Graveyard.
 * 1) Vexen's Absent Silhouette is fought at the 11th Floor facsimile of The Old Mansion, and relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Guide to Experimentation Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at the Merchant's Shop after the shop is remodeled.
 * 2) Lexaeus's Absent Silhouette is fought at the Station of Remembrance, and relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Power Exceeding Power Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at The Sandlot after Sora defeats the Nobodies there.
 * 3) Zexion's Absent Silhouette is fought at the 3rd Basement facsimile of Destiny Islands, and relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Book of Shadows Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at the Cave of the Dead: Inner Chamber after Sora escapes Hades.
 * 4) Marluxia's Absent Silhouette is fought at the Station of Oblivion, and relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Undying Flowers Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at the Beast's Room after Beast decides to join Sora in order to defeat Xaldin.
 * 5) Larxene's Absent Silhouette is fought at the Station of Remembrance, and relinquishes a Lost Illusion and the Secret Thunder Recipe. The portal to the battle appears at the Isla de Muerta: Rock Face after Sora lands at Isla de Muerta.

Trivia

 * It is never explained why the Absent Silhouettes are fought where they are. One possibility is that they only appear where another member of the Organization has appeared, which is true for the four of the five locations (Demyx appeared in the Olympus Coliseum, Luxord appeared in Port Royal, Roxas, Axel, and Saïx appeared in Twilight Town, and Xaldin appeared in Beast's Castle). Additionally, the merchant in Agrabah said that his riches were brought from a man in a black coat, which is then interpreted by Sora to be a member of the Organization.
 * It is also suggested that the Absent Silhouette is a type of Nobody, since it appears in the same fashion a Nobody does.
 * Ansem the Wise may be responsible for the Silhouettes, as he told Aqua that he "created the duplicate beings of nothing."
 * The Lingering Sentiment shares some similarity with the Absent Silhouette

Absent Silhouette