Castle Oblivion

Castle Oblivion (忘却の城) is an In-Between Realm world which appears in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and is the only real world in the game. It is controlled by Marluxia of Organization XIII, and consists of thirteen floors and twelve basements.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Our friends may be here...It was that thought that led us to Castle Oblivion, where cards rule all.
 * Sora's Tale I

A mysterious man gave Sora a card, and using it took us to Traverse Town—of all places!

It turned out the town was just a figment of our own remembrances, the first world of many that lie in Sora's heart.

And so our journey through these worlds begins.

Organization Headquarters
The history of Castle Oblivion before Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is still unclear, but it is known that it was eventually found by Xemnas of Organization XIII, who decided to convert it into a new headquarters for the Organization. It was intended to be a place to research memories, an important topic to the Nobodies of the Organization, who have only their memories to form personalities with. Xemnas sent Xigbar and Xaldin to recruit more members for the Organization, as they needed a large group in order to run the castle. Eventually, a strange Nobody named Naminé appeared in the castle and was found by the Organization. She soon became the center of their research, due to her strange abilities of memory manipulation. In order to further research, Xemnas also developed pods that could be used to piece together memories. The castle and Naminé were then entrusted to the neophyte Marluxia, but he would soon plot to use this power in a bid to seize control over the Organization. While Marluxia, and his associates Larxene and Axel controlled the top half of the castle, the senior members Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion controlled the basements. Throughout their appearances, they are shown to have a strong rivalry.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Xigbar and Zexion discussed the new Castle and the Chamber of Repose which Xemnas constructed while he was Xehanort, and which he frequently went to. Xigbar believed that Xemnas was looking for the complementary Chamber of Waking, and that this place might be somewhere in Castle Oblivion.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Castle Oblivion actually is the Land of Departure. Following the destruction after Master Eraqus' death, the area is enveloped in darkness, and Aqua brings an unconscious Ven to the castle. Aqua takes her former master's keyblade and points it towards the throne which hides the keyhole. Light envelops the area and transforms it into Castle Oblivion. The throne room becomes the Chamber of Waking, where Aqua places the unconscious Ven and departs.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
After defeating Ansem and restoring the damaged worlds, Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy find themselves in a grassy field with the King's dog, Pluto. They follow Pluto along the path to Castle Oblivion, and as soon as they enter the castle, they forget all of their skills and are forced to rely upon the castle's memory-based card system. Though Marluxia and the other Organization members tell them their memory loss is simply the nature of the castle, it is revealed that the mysterious girl Naminé is actually the one reshaping Sora's memories, so that Marluxia and Larxene can use him as a puppet warrior against Xemnas. The scheme fails thanks to the meddling of Axel, and Marluxia and Larxene are lost to the darkness at Sora's hand. Sora then uses one of Xemnas's pods so that Naminé can restore his memories, and is eventually moved to Twilight Town.

Meanwhile, Sora's friend Riku awakens from the darkness within the lowest basement of Castle Oblivion, where he faces his memories of Maleficent and the remaining darkness of "Ansem". Though he initially sets out to destroy the indelible darkness in his heart, with the help of DiZ, Naminé, and King Mickey, he is able to eventually embrace both the light and the dark, achieving balance. The three basement members, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion seek to recruit Riku in order to counter Marluxia's use of Sora, but Riku denies their requests and vanquishes them. Riku eventually defeats the Ansem in his heart, and decides not to have Naminé seal it away completely by erasing his memories; instead he sets out on the "road to dawn" in order to help while Sora is sleeping.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days takes place between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, and so in this game many of the castle's secrets are revealed. After members of Organization XIII are sent to Castle Oblivion (which starts the events in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories), Roxas learns from Demyx and Xigbar that the members assigned to C.O. (short of Castle Oblivion as used by characters in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days) were annihilated. Xion later goes to Castle Oblivion seeking answers about her existence. Axel tries to stop her, but his efforts are futile. Later, when Roxas learns from Axel that Xion was born in Castle Oblivion, he becomes determined to investigate the place for himself. However, barely has he walked in the door when he is overcome by a strange weakness and passes out entirely. During conversations between Saïx and Axel, Saïx asks Axel if he has found the Chamber of Waking, to which Axel replied that it was difficult to find since C.O. is huge and it is currently unknown if that room was ever found. It is also revealed that Axel would be sent various times by Xemnas to find the room, showing Xemnas's extreme determination to find the Chamber of Waking.

Kingdom Hearts II
The outside of Castle Oblivion was briefly shown in Roxas's final dreams, as Sora's memories end as he opens the door. The Castle's inside was only seen in the opening credits, Sora's battle with Marluxia, Riku's battle with Ansem, Naminé's placing Sora in the Memory Pod, as well as several other important events in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories illustrated in full computer graphics.

Trivia

 * The need for the card system in Castle Oblivion is unknown. Though Marluxia claims that they are simply part of the castle, he claims that the trademark memory loss was due to the castle's influence as well, when in actuality it was Naminé's doing. It is possible that the card system was created by the Organization simply to disorient and manipulate intruders like Riku and Sora.

Gallery
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Manoir Oblivion