Ansem, Seeker of Darkness: Difference between revisions

'''Ansem, Seeker of Darkness''', sometimes referred to as '''Xehanort's Heartless''', is the [[Heartless]] of [[Terra-Xehanort]] and a member of the [[real Organization XIII]]. He serves as the main antagonist of ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}'' and the "[[Reverse/Rebirth]]" scenario in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]'', as well as a supporting antagonist in ''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]''.  His appearance and personality are primarily derived from [[Master Xehanort]], and he retains his original form's "[[Dark Figure]]".

Terra-Xehanort, at the time using his king's name, "Ansem", willingly gave his heart to the darkness in the pursuit of knowledge, creating both his Heartless and his [[Nobody]], [[Xemnas]]. His Heartless was able to retain its selfhood for uncertain reasons, though it was believed that this was due to Terra-Xehanort's willing abandonment of his heart; <ref>'''[[Secret Ansem Report 10]]''': "But what if one willingly releases one's heart from one's body? Sora and Xehanort retained their selfhood even after becoming Heartless."</ref> even Ansem himself was briefly confused by his sentience. <ref>'''Ansem Report 11''': "The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet nothing. This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain and has yet to take the form of a Heartless. A close eye must be kept on this situation. Much is still unknown."</ref> As a result, he could command the lesser Heartless without consequence,<ref>'''[[Secret Ansem Report 5]]:''' "A human's command would be ineffective; the Heartless would easily steal the human's to increase their own ranks. But what if an even stronger Heartless was giving the commands? If he cast aside his own body and soul and became a Heartless, would he be able to control the otherwise intractable Heartless?"</ref> and came to learn of the existence of [[Nobodies]],<ref>'''Ansem Report 13''': "However, I am certain that if your "self" is here, the other by definition does not "exist". The other one, which does not exist, shall be dubbed "Nobody"."</ref> including his counterpart [[Xemnas]]; the two collaborated to fulfill Master Xehanort's goal of obtaining the [[χ-blade]].<ref>'''''The Story So Far: Darkness:''''' "His heart, Ansem, manipulated [[Maleficent]] and [[Riku]] into gathering the seven pure lights he needed: the [[Princesses of Heart]]. His body, Xemnas, founded [[Organization XIII]], who would serve as the thirteen darknesses.</ref>

Disguising his actions as an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Ansem sent the Heartless to many worlds in the search of the [[Princesses of Heart]] to serve as the pure [[light]]s to forge the [[χ-blade]]; many worlds fell in the process. Regardless if Xemnas could create thirteen darknesses, Ansem could create the lesser [[Keyblade of heart]] from the seven pure lights to open the [[Door to Darkness]], which leads to [[Kingdom Hearts (world)|Kingdom Hearts]].

Ansem had secretly intended this to ensure Xehanort was put in contact with the right hearts; which could be brought to the future to fill the ranks of the second Seekers of Darkness should the original Organization. {{Storylink|Kingdom Hearts III}}

As Sora, his humanity having been restored by Kairi's light arrives at the remnants of Destiny Islands at End of the World, Ansem appears, bearing Riku's form. He explains Riku's fall to darkness, that he desperately sought to escape the island "prison" enough to open his heart to the darkness. Afterward, Ansem explains his philosophy: that worlds and hearts begin and end in darkness. Thus, darkness is the heart's true essence. Sora denies this, in words and in battle, with Ansem. During the battle, Ansem summons both his familiar, the guardian, and a [[Darkside]] Heartless to assist him. As the battle rages on, Ansem leads the trio to the endless abyss where the [[Door to Darkness]] resides. This time, Ansem transforms into the [[World of Chaos]], a monstrous Heartless ship, which he creates from darkness and captures Donald and Goofy, though Sora rescues them.

Riku catches up to Roxas at [[The World That Never Was]], but Roxas proves to be too powerful and Riku is left with only one way to overwhelm the Nobody: unleashing his inner darkness. This allows Riku to manifest Xehanort's powerful guardian, who seizes Roxas and knocks him unconscious but also forces Riku to take on Ansem's appearance. Feeling that he has sacrificed his identity, Riku takes on Ansem's name.

Once Riku finds Sora in the throne room with Mickey's help, Ansem appears before them along with Master Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Xemnas, [[Xigbar]], [[Saïx]] and the rest of the new Organization. Master Xehanort proceeds to reveal that Ansem's possession of Riku's body, along with overseeing Maleficent's gathering of the Princesses, was all part of his master plan with Riku meant to become the vessel to complete the Organization. Ansem restrains Riku from trying to save Sora from becoming Master Xehanort's final vessel, but [[Lea]]'s unexpected intervention distracts Ansem long enough for Riku to break free. Ansem summons his Guardian and has it grab Riku and Mickey, but the Guardian is defeated by Donald and Goofy. As the heroes advance, the Organization's allotted time expires and its members, including Ansem, retreat to their rightful points in time.

{{main|Game:Ansem, Seeker of Darkness|World of Chaos}}

When Ansem takes possession of Riku's body to procure a physical form, his fighting capabilities increased greatly, and he gains the ability to fly. His new body allows him to fight alongside his guardian by having it possess others to trap them while he utilizes an energy shield to both protect himself and damage foes.

Ansem does not wield a specific weapon. Instead, Ansem simply uses the power of darkness and his Guardian, when present, to attack opponents.  

While possessing Riku in ''Kingdom Hearts'', he wields the [[Keyblade of heart]], which was created from the six captured hearts of the Princesses of Heart. Later, in his World of Chaos form, Ansem wields a weapon as massive as he is, a dual-bladed [[Soul Eater]] halberd<!--薙刀 per ultimania-->. When he briefly possess Riku to take down Lexaeus, he wields his Soul Eater. In ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'', Ansem briefly wields Frollo's sword to threaten Riku but does not actually use it to fight.

Despite being a version of Master Xehanort, a Keyblade wielder, Ansem is unnable to wield a Keyblade because he gave his heart to the darkness.<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance]]''''', '''Riku''': "You used to be a Keyblade wielder. But darkness stole your heart, and the Keyblade with it."</ref>

File:Keyblade of heart KH.png|The [[Keyblade of heart]], wielded by Ansem while he is possessing Riku.