List of Keyblade wielders
The following is a list of known Keyblade wielders, characters who have successfully wielded a Keyblade in battle. Not included are characters who have held a Keyblade only for it to return to the hand of its true holder, such as Leon or Jack Sparrow, as a Keyblade will refuse to be wielded by anyone without a strong enough heart.
Keyblade Masters
Master Xehanort
Master Xehanort is a Keyblade Master that devoted himself to the Darkness, who wished to obtain the χ-blade and rule Kingdom Hearts. To do that, he made countless plots to move his puppets very carefully. Eventually, he used his Keyblade to pass his heart into Terra's body, becoming the present Xehanort.
Master Xehanort's Keyblade has a double-edged appearance with a separated black blade, a black hand-guard and teeth resembling a battle axe. His Keyblade possesses two shafts, making it somewhat unique. It also contains a single eye on its head, similar to that of the Soul Eater and Way to the Dawn.
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Master Eraqus
Master Eraqus was a Keyblade Master who protected the Land of Departure and had Terra, Aqua, and Ventus as pupils. After Aqua became a master, he told her the secret responsibilities that came with it.
Eraqus's Keyblade, Master Keeper has a very simple design. His Keychain is the "Mark of Mastery" symbol. After his defeat, his Keyblade is passed on to Master Aqua.
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Master Aqua
Aqua is a Keyblade Master from before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. Her original Keyblade is named Rainfell, but it later transforms into the Stormfall. Her Keyblades are often between Terra and Ventus's in length. Near the end of the game, she begins using Eraqus's Keyblade after she picks it up in a corrupted Land of Departure. Her attempt to save Terra eventually causes her to lose her own Keyblade, and Eraqus's Keyblade becomes her only weapon while she wanders in the Realm of Darkness.
Aqua unintentionally initiated the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Kairi in Radiant Garden when Kairi touched her Keyblade while Aqua stood between her and the Unversed at the castle entrance.
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Master Yen Sid
Although Master Yen Sid is not shown wielding a Keyblade, he is acknowledged to have been a Keyblade Master who now watches over the Lanes Between and counsels with stars for guidance, and appears to be the original owner of Mickey's Star Seeker Keyblade. Master Eraqus himself has stated Yen Sid retired from his position, still remaining to watch over the Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness.
After the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Mickey returns the Keyblade, believing that he has failed Yen Sid, but Yen Sid hands it back, encouraging him.
Master Mickey Mouse
As an apprentice to Master Yen Sid, Mickey wields the Star Seeker, a gift to him from his master. His adventures with Ventus and Aqua actually comprise his Mark of Mastery exam, and after their disappearance, he returns to the Mysterious Tower, feeling he has failed the exam, his friends, and his master. He returns the Star Seeker to Yen Sid, but Yen Sid returns it, revealing that Mickey has in fact passed his exam and become a Master.
After the Heartless plague began and worlds began disappearing, Mickey set out to find a Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness in order to seal the Door to Darkness alongside a Keyblade from the Realm of Light, and stop the Heartless. He obtained the Kingdom Key D during that journey. The Kingdom Key D is identical to Sora's Kingdom Key, except that the colors are reversed, the hilt being silver and the blade gold. Some Square-Enix materials give this Keyblade the name "Kingdom Key DarkSide".[1]
During the events of Kingdom Hearts coded, King Mickey returned to wielding his Star Seeker.
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Keyblade wielders
Terra
Terra is a Keyblade apprentice from before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. His original Keyblade is named Earthshaker, but it later transforms into the Ends of the Earth. His Keyblades are often much longer than those of Ventus and Aqua.
Terra initiated the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Riku on the Destiny Islands before the destruction of the Land of Departure and made Riku promise never to tell anyone about it, telling him to keep it a secret.
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Terra-Xehanort
After Master Xehanort possesses Terra's body and becomes Terra-Xehanort, he retains the ability to summon his original incarnation's Keyblade, though he wields it like Terra would. Terra-Xehanort used his original incarnation's Keyblade to fight the Lingering Will and Aqua. After being defeated, Terra's heart begins to fight back, causing Xehanort to stab himself in order to rid himself of Terra, but accidentally sealing his memories and thus his ability to wield a Keyblade, ultimately forgetting everything but the name "Xehanort".
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Lingering Will
After Master Xehanort possessed Terra's body and became Xehanort, a part of Terra was left within his armor, giving it life. Being a remnant of Terra, it is able to wield his Ends of the Earth Keyblade.
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Ventus
Ventus is a Keyblade apprentice from before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. His original Keyblade is named Wayward Wind ("Fresh Breeze" in Japanese). His Keyblades are often shorter than those of Terra and Aqua. During his final battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, Vanitas possesses his body in order to summon and wield the χ-blade. However, Ventus destroys it in the Dive to the Heart, using his own Keyblade. When Aqua tries to figure out where she should carry him to, Ven's body reacts and summons Wayward Wind to open the pathway to the ruined Land of Departure.
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Vanitas
As a being created from the darkness of Ventus's heart, Vanitas has the power to carry a Keyblade of his own which is known as Void Gear. It takes a strong resemblance to Riku and Master Xehanort's Keyblades. It is red with a round, gear-like shape on the end with blue eyes on it.
Aside from his own Keyblade, he is also able to wield the legendary χ-blade. It was believed to have more power than any other Keyblade in the universe, but it is destroyed by Aqua (in the Keyblade Graveyard) and Ventus (in the transformed Dive to the Heart station) in the end.
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Sora
Sora gained the ability to wield the Keyblade when he reached out his heart to Ventus after sensing Ventus's shattered heart. By joining his heart with Ventus's he gained the ability to wield his own Keyblade, as well as Ventus's.
Sora's Keyblade is a Keyblade from the Realm of Light, and it appears before him as his home world, Destiny Islands, is consumed by the Heartless. Its default form is the Kingdom Key, which uses a Hidden Mickey as its token.
Sora is sometimes able to use other wielders' Keyblades; for example, when fighting Roxas he is able to steal Roxas's Oathkeeper and Oblivion, for a total of three Keyblades, and at one point during their final battle with Xemnas, Riku lends his Way to the Dawn to Sora.
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Roxas
As the Nobody of Sora, Roxas is also able to wield the Kingdom Key. In fact, Roxas was able to wield the Keyblade at the same time as Sora because his Keyblade was "lost" by Sora in Castle Oblivion. As the "Key of Destiny" of Organization XIII, Roxas is the only member able to actually collect hearts. Like the other Organization members, Roxas is able to modify the form of his weapon using Gears.
In order to duplicate this ability, and to replace Roxas with an even more malleable puppet, the Organization created the Replica, Xion. Xion gradually leeches Roxas's powers over the Keyblade, but when the two are forced into mortal combat, Roxas eventually defeats her and reabsorbs his lost powers. This awakens his latent Synch Blade ability, in which he is able to wield both the Oathkeeper and Oblivion, which represent Sora's memories of Kairi and Riku. As Roxas essentially is Sora, Sora is also able to use Synch Blade.
Due to the constant lies the Organization had been feeding him about Xion and himself, Roxas leaves the group and eventually returns to Sora, leading them to attempt to use Sora's Keyblade for their own goals.
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Xion
Xion, the fourteenth member of Organization XIII, can wield a Keyblade due to the fact that she is a Replica of Roxas, and thus an indirect Replica of Sora. She is created from the memories belonging to Sora that Roxas holds. As a being created out of memories, she was able to use the Kingdom Key to manipulate the power of light in the same way that Sora and Roxas can.
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Data-Sora
Similar to its real-world counterpart, Data-Sora wields a data version of the Kingdom Key. He utilizes this mighty blade to fend off Heartless and Bug Blox. Data-Sora gains the Keyblade in the data Awakening, but loses it to the real Maleficent in data Agrabah. However, even though he is merely a data construct, the strength of his heart recreates the Keyblade in data Hollow Bastion.
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Riku
Riku was the one originally chosen to wield Sora's Keyblade, but he was denied that when he chose to submit to darkness, weakening his heart and causing the Keyblade to choose Sora. Instead, Riku uses the Soul Eater, a sword which grows more powerful when used with darkness. Although it is not a true Keyblade, the Soul Eater has many of the same abilities as one, and is considered a sort of Keyblade by several sources. When Sora first arrives at Hollow Bastion, Riku is able to temporarily take the Keyblade as well, but Sora's heart proves to be the strongest, and he reclaims the Keyblade from Riku.
After being possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Riku is used as a wielder for the incomplete Keyblade of People's Hearts, which Xehanort had forged from the hearts of six of the seven Princesses of Heart. However, this Keyblade is destroyed after Riku is defeated by Sora, who uses the Keyblade to free Kairi's heart from his body.
When Riku encounters Roxas in The World That Never Was, he is again able to temporarily wield a Keyblade, Roxas's Oblivion. However, while as a Keyblade Wielder he is able to fight with the weapon, it was not his, and Roxas soon reclaims it.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Riku's Soul Eater is somehow used as an intermediary for the manifestation of the Way to the Dawn, Riku's true Keyblade. This Keyblade represents Riku's nature as a being of light and darkness in both name and form.
Riku is also somehow able to copy and transform his Keyblade into the Destiny's Embrace, which he allows Kairi to temporarily use.[2]
Terra initiated the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Riku on the Destiny Islands before the destruction of the Land of Departure and made Riku promise never to tell anyone about it.
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Kairi
Riku hands his Destiny's Embrace to Kairi at The World That Never Was in order to protect Sora. Kairi uses this Keyblade to fight against the Heartless for one battle in The World That Never Was. The complete reason Kairi was able to wield a Keyblade is that she touched Aqua's Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, which initiated a Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony.
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Wielders of fake Keyblades
No Heart
The No Heart is a digital simulation of Xehanort in his Keyblade Armor. It only appears in the "Machinations unto Darkness" battle in the Mirage Arena.
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Armor of the Master
The Armor of the Master is a digital simulation of Master Eraqus in his Keyblade Armor. It only appears in the "Mentor of Light" battle in the Mirage Arena.
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Vanitas Remnant
As an Unversed created from the powerful thoughts and feelings of Vanitas, the Vanitas Remnant has the power to carry a Keyblade of its own, a monochrome version of Vanitas's Keyblade, the Void Gear.
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AntiSora and Sora's Heartless
AntiSora, a Heartless made by Riku to mimic Sora's appearance and abilities, carries a shadow-copy of the Kingdom Key. The Sora's Heartless, a digital manifestation of Sora's time as a Heartless, can take on the AntiSora's shape in its latter phases, and it also wields the fake Keyblade.
Zexion
In Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, during one of Zexion's schemes, he disguises himself as Sora and uses a fake Kingdom Key to envelop Riku in light. Later when his plan fails, he decides to fight with Riku. During their battle he steals Riku's cards and makes copies of the Soul Eater for his clones and him to use. He also makes Dummy Cards, which stun Riku.
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Genie
In Kingdom Hearts II, when Genie becomes a summon partner for Sora, he can copy Sora's Drive forms and wields his own copy of the Keyblade. In each form, he can perform a different kind of attack. This Keyblade is attached to his tail as if Genie was the Keychain.
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Mimic Master's Fakes
In Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, the Mimic Master can be fought in the Mirage Arena. Mimic Master is able to create copies of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, which possess their moves and their original Keyblade.
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Trivia
- Despite the fact that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness wielded the Keyblade of People's Hearts for a short time, he cannot be considered a Keyblade wielder because he was using Riku (an actual Keyblade wielder) as a medium for handling the weapon.
Notes and references
- ^ KINGDOM HEARTS MASTER ARMS KINGDOM KEY DarkSide
- ^ Director's Secret Report XIII, p. 28; Tetsuya Nomura: "There isn't necessarily one Keyblade for the dark side and one for the light side, just as many as there exist people with qualified hearts. Concerning the conditions to wield one, at this stage, 'those with strong hearts' is the only obvious one. However, less obvious conditions still exist and there are still plans for an opportunity to reveal those. Riku's 'Way to the Dawn' and Kairi's Keyblade are naturally the same type of Keyblade as Sora's. However there is no particular explanation for the Soul Eater's transfer and occurrence, as well as Riku's handing it to Kairi. When there isn't a normal process of acquisition, I think it's okay to think there is some deeper meaning there."
