- "'χ'... A most ancient letter. Some say 'kye,' but the meaning is the same. Death... A letter that spells endings."
- —Master Xehanort
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The χ-blade (χブレード Kīburēdo) is a legendary weapon introduced in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Despite looking similar to a Keyblade, it is something "altogether different"; rather than being a man-made counterpart to Kingdom Hearts, it coexists with Kingdom Hearts. As such, it is an alternate method to the Keyblade of People's Hearts for opening Kingdom Hearts; instead of opening the Door to Darkness, it summons Kingdom Hearts directly to the wielder. The Keyblade War occurred because of a lust for power that led to the urge to create the χ-blade and open Kingdom Hearts, and Master Xehanort later enacts his plots for the same reason.
Story
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
- "This χ-blade will open a door — one that leads to all worlds. Then, Keyblade bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts! And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin!"
- —Ventus-Vanitas
Within his reports, Master Xehanort stated that the χ-blade could be created when a heart of pure light and a heart of pure darkness intersected, both equal to the other. To that end, after seeing that Ventus is of no use to him as a vessel and extracting his darkness to produce Vanitas, Xehanort formulated a scheme to create the χ-blade from Ventus and his counterpart fusing back into one once they are of equal strength. However, though the χ-blade was finally created with their reunion, Vanitas's fusion with Ventus was incomplete. As a result, the weapon becomes unstable as Vanitas attempts to complete the fusion to the core to rectify the matter. After Aqua and Mickey Mouse defeat Ventus-Vanitas in the Keyblade Graveyard, as Ventus metaphysically defeats Vanitas at the cost of his well being, the χ-blade explodes with Aqua and the comatose Ventus consumed in the blast.
Kingdom Hearts II
Xemnas's memories of Master Xehanort's fascination with the χ-blade led him to name each of the members of Organization XIII with an anagram of their original name that contains an additional "X".[1]
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
In the aftermath of the failed attempt to create the χ-blade through the fusion of Ventus and Vanitas, Master Xehanort, while possessing Terra's body, figured out the true way to create the legendary weapon: thirteen darknesses needed to be gathered to counteract the seven Princesses of Heart; the resulting clash between light and darkness would again spawn the χ-blade. Setting the next phase of his plot in motion, Master Xehanort tricks the evil fairy Maleficent into gathering the Princesses of Heart in the form of Terra-Xehanort's Heartless, Ansem. At the same time, Terra-Xehanort's Nobody, Xemnas, creates Organization XIII alongside Xigbar with the ulterior motive of splitting Xehanort's heart into the bodies of its members to create the thirteen darknesses. This phase of the plot is ultimately foiled by Sora, however, who defeated both Ansem and Organization XIII.
Unfortunately, Xehanort had accounted for this, and he had his Heartless go back in time and share his time-travelling ability with his younger self, who would gather twelve incarnations of Xehanort from across time to form a new, "true" Organization. After revealing to Mickey and Riku that both the new Organization and the "Lights" who will oppose them are short a few members, Master Xehanort and the Organization leave The World That Never Was with the intention of meeting again in the future to create the χ-blade.
Design
The χ-blade appears to be made up of two crossing Kingdom Keys, with the teeth facing outward. It has a filigree that slightly resembles one on the Ultima Weapon, and the blade slightly resembles the Dream Sword.
It should be noted that the incomplete χ-blade's coloring is more red-orange than bluish-yellow, and the blade is slightly covered with an aura of darkness. It also seems that the incomplete one appears to have chips in the side of the blade, and it lacks a part of the filigree on one side, and part of the Kingdom Key's hilt, that makes it look somehow broken or shattered. The Keychain's two crossed Kingdom Keys is reminiscent of the symbol of the "Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven". Although it is not seen in this incarnation, it is especially significant that the Kingdom Key has a silver blade and gold hilt, and the Kingdom Key D has a gold blade and silver hilt, matching the keys on the symbol. When the χ-blade hits a target, the released symbols are gold and dark blue stars, symbolic of light and darkness.
The Keychain is a black and red heart that is similar to the Heartless symbol, only without the fleur-de-lis bottom and jagged cross, with two Kingdom Keys crossed over it. The chain starts out as two separate chains that form into one.
Although χ-blade is pronounced "Keyblade", the letter "χ" is the letter chi from the Greek alphabet. This is why the name of the weapon is spelled "χ-blade", but, as Master Xehanort explains, can be pronounced "Kye-blade". Master Xehanort explains to Ventus, with a visual demonstration of the ancient letter "χ", that he is not referring to a Keyblade that Keyblade Wielders use. He continues to state that the letter itself carries a meaning of "death" and that it "spells endings".
The incomplete χ-blade
- Χ-Blade Keychain KHBBS.png
The χ-blade's Keychain token
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Notes and references
- ^ Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Ultimania: "Xemnas gives Organization members names with an X in them. This has something to do with Master Xehanort’s interest in the χ-blade."