Darkness: Difference between revisions

{{Q|All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end.  The heart is no different.  Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every Heart returns to the darkness whence it came!  You see, darkness is the Heart's true essence...|[[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness]]}}

[[File:Heartless hires.png|thumb| The emblem of the Heartless, Hearts that have been conquered by  darkness]]

==Story==

In [[The Gathering]] and [[Birth by sleep (Video)|Birth by sleep]] videos, Master Xehanort said to Terra, Aqua, and Ventus that [[Keyblade|Keyblades]] are the remains of the Keyblade Wielders after the [[Keyblade War]] between the battle of Light and Darkness.

===''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]''===

The most major story development about light and darkness in the story is Riku's constant struggle throughout the game against the darkness in his heart. He tries to shun the darkness and "Ansem" out of him, but he cannot do it. Because of this, "Ansem" taunts him that darkness is his destiny. Riku finally finds a revelation in himself when he talks with [[Naminé]] after [[Zexion]], in the guise of Sora, blinds him with light. Riku finds that darkness is not bad, and he should use it along with light to help defeat his enemies, and give him more power. This changes Riku, and "Ansem", thinking that Riku has turned to the darkness, mockingly tells him that he was right about Riku's destiny. Riku fights "Ansem" and destroys him. However, "Ansem" still lingers in Riku's heart. Riku later declines Naminé's offer to seal "Ansem" away in Riku's heart. Then, at the end of the story, [[Ansem the Wise|DiZ]] asks Riku which path he wishes to take. He decides to take the road to dawn, a path leading from darkness to light.

When Sora and the others confront Xemnas, he asks the warriors why they hate darkness. King Mickey replies that they do not really hate it, and are just scared of it. He goes on to say that the world has both light and darkness, and darkness is half of everything. He then says that it makes him wonder why they are scared of the dark. Riku answers that "it's because of what's lurking inside it", meaning Xemnas and the other villains.

[[Image:Corridor of Darkness.jpg|thumb|244px|[[Saïx]] opening a Corridor of Darkness for [[Roxas]].]]

While darkness is often associated with evil, it can be used for the force of good. If one can accept darkness into themselves without allowing the darkness to consume them, they may wield its powers without succumbing to its influences (as in Riku's situation).

Darkness is also seen being manipulated into attacks by the Heartless and Nobodies, and to a greater degree Maleficent, the members of Organization XIII, and Riku. Sora can also slightly manipulate Darkness in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' through his [[Drive Form]], Anti Form, in which he reawakens the darkness that was created when he became a Heartless.

There are many items that have used for protection against darkness. Some of these items are seen as simple things such as the [[Midnight Anklet]] and [[Champion Belt]] which boost the equipped character's resistance to dark-element attacks, or the infamous [[Black Coat]] worn by King Mickey, Riku, and the members of Organization XIII which protect the wearer from the negative effects of using the Corridors of Darkness.

[[File:Terra's_Darkness.png|thumb|Terra submitting to darkness.]]

Darkness creates and feeds off of primal emotions such as revenge, hate, greed, and fear. In the process, it makes those it affects experience and exhibit these feelings while constantly making those feelings stronger, eventually leading to the affected becoming a Heartless. Darkness can also change the physical appearance of those it affects, up to such extremes as a normal person becoming a [[Shadow]] and Riku taking on the form of [[Riku-Ansem|Ansem, Seeker of Darkness]]. Also, those who use the Corridor of Darkness, or come in contact with Darkness of any form on a regular basis, have their Heart "stained" by Darkness, which leads to a change in eye color to a golden yellow, and the ears becoming pointed. Members of Organization XIII and Naminé do not experience this due to the fact that they are Nobodies and do not have hearts to stain. Riku does not have yellow eyes because the explosion of the [[Kingdom Hearts Encoder]] cleansed his body from the effects of Darkness. The effect is probably not instantaneous though as Terra's eyes did not change color when he gave into his darkness.

<!-- Please note the above article referencing Nobodies and Corridor of Darkness users as Darkness users, please see Talk:Darkness and declare reasons for removing people from this list -->

*[[Master Xehanort]]

*[[Shan-Yu]]

When Nobodies or Replicas are defeated, they usually fade back into the darkness. It is unknown what it is like at their final destination, or if they retain any consciousness at all.

{{KH series}}