Heart: Difference between revisions

The primary meaning for "heart" in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' setting does not refer to the physical organ,<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]''''', '''Vexen:''' "How does he do it? A creature absent a heart, and yet able to exist. Not even my finest replica can do that. [...] THIS is all they meant by "heart"? We've been chasing the wrong box!"</ref> but instead to a metaphysical animating force. What actually makes up a heart is a mystery to virtually everyone in the setting,<ref>'''''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''''', '''Ansem:''' "We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach."</ref> leading many characters to devote themselves to researching the heart to unlock its mysteries. However, this research helped demolish the barriers between worlds, setting up the events for the first Heartless invasion and causing many worlds to be plunged into darkness.

As of yet, it has been determined by the various characters that the heart is primarily made up of [[light]] and [[darkness]], the latter of which formed due to people's greed. The exceptions to this are the [[Princesses of Heart]], maidens whose hearts are free of darkness, and hearts artificially made devoid of light or darkness, such as [[Ventus]] and [[Vanitas]]. Additionally, [[Dr. Finkelstein]] attempted to create an artificial heart for the purpose of making the [[Heartless]] more terrifying, rather than pursuing knowledge. He believed that the key elements of the heart are memories and surprise so his [[Dr. Finkelstein's ingredients|ingredients]] contained the essence of these two components. However, when [[Oogie Boogie]] consumed the heart that the doctor had created, it had an underwhelming effect. Oogie Boogie's plan was to control the Heartless by taking the heart, but few Heartless answered his call. This indicates that Dr. Finkelstein's hypothesis about hearts is incorrect, reinforcing the mystery surrounding hearts. Later, the [[real Organization XIII]] also attempt to create an artificial heart by collecting data of both positive and negative emotions on a program chip and installing it in [[Baymax 1.0]]. [[Vanitas]] states that his heart of pure darkness was restored by the Organization using the negative emotions collected by Monsters, Inc. Both suggest that hearts are constructed from emotions.

The heart appears to be responsible for the composure of memories, will, goals, and ambitions, as is the case in the transfer of [[Master Xehanort]]'s heart into [[Terra]] and the internal struggle of wills inside [[Terra-Xehanort]]. Despite lacking a heart, Nobodies inherit these traits from their original selves. The heart is also responsible for emotions, as beings lacking one, such as the Nobodies, cannot feel emotions.