Organization XIII

Spoiler Warning!



Organization XIII debuted in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, then known as simply, "the Organization." In Sora's story, the player was introduced to (in no particular order) Marluxia, Axel, Larxene, and Vexen. In Reverse/Rebirth, Zexion and Lexaeus were added to the cast. The Organization also appeared in Kingdom Hearts II. In this second installment, the player meets (once again, in no particular order) Xigbar, Xaldin, Saïx, Demyx, Roxas, the leader Xemnas, and the returning member, Axel.

Organization XIII is a group of thirteen "people" called Nobodies, who have no hearts, nor emotions. Many of them try to hide this fact by pretending that they posses these qualities, fooling others as well as themselves. The Organization yearns to discover the secrets of the heart and fill the empty void inside themselves by gathering hearts to form the great Kingdom Hearts so that they can become full humans again. While each member is aware of their lack of emotions - a fact that makes them feel inadequate - they fill their nonexistance with their favorite passtimes. The Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories manga contradicts this, saying that they do have emotions, but are not whole.



Organization XIII was formed by a group of scientists working under a man called Ansem the Wise. The head of this unit was Ansem's apprentice, Xehanort. This group studied the workings of the heart and were the ones responsible for the production of the first Heartless. When Ansem the Wise rejected Xehanort's theory about the workings of the heart without even bothering to hear him out, Xehanort was angered, and continued his project anyways. Through this experiment, Xehanort, and those who still stuck with him, lost their hearts and became both Heartless and Nobodies. These Nobodies became the core of Organization XIII.

Each member in the Organization dons the same uniform, irregardless of whether they are male or female. The uniform consists of a single black leather hooded cloak that trails down to the ankle. It is plainly adorned with a silver zipper and seemingly pointless silver beaded pull strings for the hood that form a semi-circle in the middle. Not much is known about the under garments of the Organization. We do know however, that they all wear hakama-esque black pants and knee high silver trimmed boots. In addition to this, they all bare black leather gloves of some unknown length, as they disappear under bell shaped sleeves.

Ranks within the Organization have little to nothing to do with power. While Xehanort's Nobody, known as Xemnas, is undoubtably the strongest as well as the leader, the rest fall in a seemingly random order. According to several sources, the member's number (and therefore his or her rank) depends on when they joined the Organization. As the group's name describes, there are a total thirteen members. Besides for having a numerical rank, each member also has an assigned title. The only exception to this is Xemnas, who, if anything else, is called "The Superior". The ranks and titles are as follows:

1. Xemnas; "The Superior"

2. Xigbar; "The Free Shooter;" Controlled Snipers

3. Xaldin; "The Whirlwind Lancer;" Controlled Dragoons

4. Vexen; "The Chilly Academic"

5. Lexaeus; "The Silent Hero"

6. Zexion; "The Cloaked Schemer"

7. Saïx; "The Lunar Diviner;" Controlled Berserkers

8. Axel; "The Flurry of Dancing Flames;" Controlled Assassins

9. Demyx; "The Melodius Nocturne;" Controlled Dancers

10. Luxord; "The Gambler of Fate;" Controlled Gamblers

11. Marluxia; "The Graceful Assassin;" Controlled Twilight Thorns

12. Larxene; "The Savage Nymph"

13. Roxas; "The Key of Destiny;" Controlled Samurai

Each of the titles correspond to whichever element the particular member controls, or the type of weapon they have.

There are a few major differences between the Nobodies within the Organization and the ones that Sora frequently encounters throughout the game. The average type that Sora fights often have strange features, inhanced speed, metallic skin in shades of white, silver, and blue, and the trademark Nobody symbol (which doubles as the logo for the Organization). The Nobodies that make up the Organization have human forms with limited special powers. One ability shared by all the members is the power to summon an oval, obsidean portal of darkness that leads to the unseen paths of darkness. These portals are known as corridors of darkness. The Organization makes use of the paths to move to and from worlds unseen. A few select members of the Organization have control over the other, weaker Nobodies, though this is only shown in Kingdom Hearts II. The members from CoM (a.k.a. "Chain of Memories") may also have had that ability, or rather, would have, had they all survived to the second game. Like their titles, each member's lesser Nobody has some similarity to them. These lesser Nobodies are called Snipers, Dragoons, Berserkers, Assassins, Dancers, Gamblers, and Samurai. Sniper Nobodies are controlled by Xigbar and, like him, carry spiky guns that shoot small red crystalized lazers. Dragoon Nobodies are controlled by Xaldin because of his affinity with air or wind, and possess a singular lance that mirrors the six that he fights with. Berserker Nobodies are under Saïx's power and, as with the previously mentioned lesser Nobodies, hold a weapon identical to that of their master. An observant player will also notice that Berserker Nobodies go through random surges of anger, much like Saïx when he becomes possessed and reverts to his werewolf side. Next are the Assasin Nobodies. This group is under Axel's control, but have nothing to do with him at all. A plausible theory is that they once belonged to Marluxia, a former comrad of Axel's, and were passed on to him. This theory is further supported by the fact that they appear to be very similar to the giant Nobody that Marluxia bonds with in the final battle of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on Sora's Story. Dancer Nobodies are the most colorful of all the lesser Nobody, featuring bright colors such as orange and pink. They are Demyx's servants and relate to him merely because of his famous line, "Dance water, dance!". The Gambler Nobodies are under Luxord's rule. Luxord, being a gambler of many things, also fights with a die, of which his Gamblers juggle three. The final of these lesser Nobodies are Samurai, which Roxas controls. While being a seemingly unlikely choice, Samurai wield two broad swords (rather than the typical katana) just as Roxas weilds two Keyblades, Oblivion and Oathkeeper.



A common thread between all of the members is the "X" that appears within each of their names. As shown through Roxas' example, we now know that each of the member's names are anagrams of their "other's" name with the letter "x" thrown in. For instance, "Roxas" is an anagram of "Sora", and "Xemnas" is an anagram of "Ansem". Xemnas' other is Xehanort; though he is not a Nobody his name is an anagram of 'no heart' with an X added. Such thought made many fans anxious to try and figure out for themselves what the rest of the Organization's members anagrammed out to. Therefore, the members have also become targets of mis-annagraming, primarily being Xemnas and Xigbar. While Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix has yet to be released, magazine scans show us how each of the member's names were decided upon. Appearantly, the name of the Nobodies' "other" appears before them in translucent, rainbow colored font (similar to the one shown at the intro to "The World That Never Was"). Then, an "x" drops down and the letters re-arrange themselves until they form a new name. It is also suggested from these magazine scans that Xemnas is the one who performs this ceremony.