Chernabog

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Chernabog is the demonic denizen of Bald Mountain, that appears as a boss at the End of the World in Kingdom Hearts, and is set to appear in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He originally appeared in Disney's Fantasia, in the segment set to "Night on Bald Mountain".

The Japanese version of the game uses "Squirming Evil", the track used for most Disney Villain battles. However, in the international version of Kingdom Hearts, as well as in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, the background music for the battle with Chernabog is an arrangement of "Night on Bald Mountain", renamed "A Night on the Bare Mountain."

Chernabog is one of only eight enemies who do not have entries in Jiminy's Journal. The others are AntiSora, Bit Sniper, the Cave of Wonders Guardian, Shadow Sora, the Crank Tower, Glut, and the World of Chaos.

Story

Chernabog's world, Symphony of Sorcery, was destroyed prior to Sora's trip to the End of the World, and, like other destroyed Worlds, fragments of the Symphony of Sorcery appeared there. In this case, Bald Mountain, Chernabog's lair, survives, as well as the resident demon. On their way to confront Ansem, while fighting his legions of Heartless, Sora, Donald, and Goofy encounter Chernabog. He wakes up and promptly attacks the trio, but is defeated after a battle in an explosion of fire. Once defeated, a hole will appear on the mountain where he was standing, leading you deeper into the world. After Sora restores the Worlds, Chernabog returns to his home World, and isn't encountered again until Sora, accompanied by Riku, visits the Symphony of Sorcery in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Other appearances

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

Chernabog appears as a Scratch Card icon on the Villains Card.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

A January 2012 V-Jump magazine issue has revealed Chernabog to return along with a new world, Symphony of Sorcery, with a screenshot showing Riku facing him in an area similar to the one where he was encountered in Kingdom Hearts at End of the World.

Design

Chernabog is a gigantic, muscular, humanoid demon. His skin is entirely colored black, and he is so large that Sora is roughly the size of his head. His head sports two curved horns, he has four fangs in his mouth, and his eyes are a glowing yellow. He has enormous, black, bat-like wings, and his wingspan is larger than he is tall. Chernabog is always seen trapped from the knees-down in a volcano.

Abilities

Chernabog has many frightening powers at his disposal. His main ability is to control fire, and uses it in various ways such as breathing fire or shooting fireballs from his hands. He can also cause the volcano he resides in to erupt with tremendous force, flap his huge wings to create a gale to blow opponents away, and, when in desperate need, summon six orbs of light to attack opponents.

Strategy

In this battle, Sora and party can fly around the area, similar to the battle with the Phantom and the World of Chaos.

Although his attacks are few, they are very upscale and dangerous to the health bar. The most powerful attack is when he looks as though he is bent over, apparently hurt, but then rises triumphantly, causing the volcano to erupt violently. This attack gets more powerful later in the battle. Another attack would be when he consistently breathes fire, either from left to right, or right to left. When he begins to lose health, he will use variants of Aero to knock the party far away from him, at which point he will send out beams of light similar to the ones Ansem casts from his World of Chaos form.

A good way to avoid the first one is to quickly fly away, and press to signal to Donald and Goofy to follow Sora, so that they will not perish either. The second can be avoided by simply flying behind his head, and merely waiting for him to stop breathing fire. Also, now would be a good time to attack from the back of his skull. The third cannot be avoided, but the fourth can be difficultly maneuvered past.

As Chernabog is fought while in flight, summons are not available to the party, which can be a serious hindrance. However Sora can get around this by landing on his shoulder or the summit of the mountain. Summoning Tinker Bell can be a tide turning advantage. Also, using Aeroga can help a great deal, as it helps decrease the damage dealt. You gain the Superglide ability for winning the battle.

Origin

Chernabog first appeared in Walt Disney's Fantasia, during the Night on Bald Mountain segment, in which he erupts from the mountain in the same way as in the game. Chernabog awakens on top of Bald Mountain on Walpurgis Night, and uses his dark powers to raise ghosts, skeletons, demons, witches, harpies, goblins, and zombies from a nearby town. He summons fire and lava, and makes the wretches in his control dance and fly around, before he destroys them. However, the Angelus bells suddenly begin ringing, heralding sunrise, driving Chernabog and his slaves back into hiding, as a line of monks proceeds through the forest and a ruined cathedral to the sounds of the "Ave Maria".

His name is taken from the Slavic deity Crnobog, whose name means "black god". However, Disney designed him with Satan in mind. His Japanese name, "Demon of Fantasia", references his role in Fantasia, the Disney film he first appeared in.

Video

Chernabog - Kingdom Hearts

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