King Mickey

Mickey Mouse, often referred to as King Mickey, The King, His Highness, Your Highness, or more commonly as Your Majesty, is the king of Disney Castle, a recurring character, and, along with Donald and Goofy, the main Disney protagonist in the Kingdom Hearts series. He travels the worlds battling the forces of darkness and is a Keyblade Master, and the chosen Keyblade wielder for the Realm of Darkness, though he follows the path of light. Originally believing that the darkness had to be eliminated, he eventually realized that light and darkness are interdependent and cannot exist without the other due to his encounters with Riku.

Though he is known as the King of Disney Castle, his true name is Mickey Mouse.

While only being 2' 3" (69 cm) tall, King Mickey is an incredibly powerful character in the Kingdom Hearts universe, as shown when he defeated three Darkside Heartless in a single blow whilst inside the Realm of Darkness. First studying under Yen Sid, Mickey is possibly the inventor of Gummi Ships. He is the first to realize the threat of darkness spreading between worlds, and one of the characters most strongly affiliated with light, including Sora. His strength is not always readily apparent, as his character remains very simple spoken, colloquial, and lighthearted, but contrary to this appearance, King Mickey has played a major role in all Kingdom Hearts games.

Master Xehanort

Master Xehanort is a Keyblade Master, the first master of Ventus, and the creator and master of Vanitas, the primary original incarnation ofAnsem and Xemnas, and the future self of Young Xehanort. He serves as the main antagonist of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and the central antagonist of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

He is the central antagonist of the "Xehanort Saga", the first part of the Kingdom Hearts series.

Ventus and Vanitas

"I've become a part their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power... and I'm theirs!"

—Ventus to Vanitas before their final battle

Ventus, also known as Ven, is one of the main protagonists in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. His name means "wind" in Latin, similar to how Sora's name is Japanese for "sky". He was a Keybladewielder before Sora ever became one, and was apprenticed to both Xehanort and Eraqus. He is the youngest of the trio formed by himself, Terra and Aqua.

Ventus's heart is severely damaged by the creation of his dark counterpart, Vanitas, and then again when the χ-blade forged from their hearts is destroyed. Both times, Sora's heart reaches out to mend Ventus's heart, and by the end of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus's heart has gone to sleep within Sora so that it can recover until it is fully healed and ready to rejoin his body, which lies comatose but safe within the Chamber of Waking. The official Japanese website refers to Ventus as the "Swift Wind Returning to Bonds" (絆巡る疾風 Kizuna Meguru Shippū^?).

"He has no control over the darkness in his heart. The Keyblade is not his to bear. He's an abomination beyond hope of salvation."

—Master Xehanort to Terra

Vanitas, also known as The Masked Boy, is a Keyblade wielder and one of the primary antagonists in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. He is the second apprentice of Master Xehanort, the embodiment of the extracted darkness from Ventus's heart and the source of the Unversed.

Vanitas's name is derived from the Latin word for "vanity" or "emptiness", and was chosen for its meaning, that it sounded similar to "Ventus", and that it was a written pun on "Sora" (空^?, lit. "emptiness") in Japanese.^[1]

Terra

Terra spent his days as a Keyblade apprentice training under Eraqus at the Land of Departure, along with his friend, Aqua. Terra's long-time dream was to become a Keyblade Master.

One day during training, Master Xehanort visited the Land of Departure, bringing with him a near-catatonic Ventus, in order to ask Eraqus to take care of the boy and train him as a Keyblade wielder. Terra greeted Ven, and he and Aqua introduced themselves, but when Terra started asking him questions about himself, Ven collapsed with a cry of agony. Eraqus explained to Terra that Ventus had no memory. Ventus woke up a few days later.

Ventus later began training with Terra and Aqua, becoming fast friends with them, and Terra often sparred with Ventus. After one long day of training, Terra told Ven and Aqua about his dream of being a Keyblade Master and gave Ven his wooden Keyblade to use instead of Ven's wooden Sword, saying that he, Ven, and Aqua, all carry the same dream.

Aqua

Aqua is one of the main protagonists of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. From the view of the story, it is revealed she is one of the Keyblade Wielders before Sora. Like Terra and Ventus, it is her dream to become a Keyblade Master, a dream she is the only one of the three to accomplish.

Her name is Latin for "water", while Kairi's name in Japanese means "sea". The only connection between the two is that Aqua met Kairi in Radiant Garden in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and put a protective spell on her necklace, which later brought Kairi to Destiny Islands. Kairi, by accidentally touching Aqua's Keyblade during this time, also inherited the Keyblade from Aqua. The official Japanese website refers to Aqua as the "Dancing Waters Forming Bonds" (絆繋ぐ舞水 Kizuna Tsunagu Busui^?).

Axel/Lea

Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames (おどる火の風 Odoru Hi no Kaze^?), is the Nobody of Lea, and is Rank VIII within the original Organization XIII. He wields fire and enhances his weapons, twin chakrams, with his pyrokinesis to unleash powerful rapid attacks. The Assassin Nobodies are under his control.

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Axel was the trump card for the rest of the Organization as a double agent in Castle Oblivion to keep track of Marluxia's plans. In Kingdom Hearts II, Axel betrayed the Organization for his friendship with Roxas and acted of his own accord to try and help Sora, though he originally wanted to turn Sora into a Heartless to get Roxas back. Axel appears inKingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as a playable character in Mission Mode and one of the main protagonists.

Lea, his complete being's original name, was revealed in the Day 356 Secret Report and also mentioned by Saïx. Lea was friends with Saïx's original persona, Isa.

Xion

Xion is the Rank XIV member of the original Organization XIII, and appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as one of the main protagonists and antagonists. She is not a normal Nobody, and is only a nominal member of the Organization. Because of this, she does not have a throne in Where Nothing Gathers, nor does she have a title or a type of Nobody to control. Instead, she is an imperfectReplica of Roxas created from Sora's leaked memories as a fail-safe in case both Sora and Roxas proved to be useless to Organization XIII's plans. While this enables her to use the Keyblade, Xion's existence also halts Sora's progression of regaining his memories to fully awaken while in his pod, something which Naminé, DiZ, and Riku recognize.

As Sora's memories are the basis of her being, Xion initially resembles Kairi, who was Sora's strongest memory at the time of her birth, though her physical appearance eventually changes depending on who is viewing her and who they have connections with. Roxas, Axel, and Riku see her as Xion (and later as Sora), Xigbar sees her as Ventus, Xemnas sees her as Sora, while Saïx (and also Axel, initially) sees her only as a hooded doll. As Naminé stated while talking with Riku, Xion's face was originally blank, until Sora's memories found their way into Xion and she gained an identity.

Xion's name was coined by Tomoco Kanemaki, one of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days's scenario writers and the writer of the Kingdom Hearts novels. Tetsuya Nomura took a liking to it and notes that it has many meanings. Xion's name contains the Japanese words for "tide" (潮 shio^?), fitting the oceanic naming theme of Kairi and Naminé, and Aster tataricus (紫苑 shion^?), which, according toJapanese floriography, means "I won't forget you" or "remembrance". It is also revealed within the Secret Reports that her "original name" was "No.i", her ID as an experiment of the Replica Program. The "i" used here is in fact the imaginary number.

Xion was voted "Best New Character" in the 2009 Nintendo Power Awards.

Roxas

Roxas (Japanese: ロクサス Hepburn: Rokusasu^?) is a fictional character from Square Enix's video game franchise Kingdom Hearts. First revealed during the final scenes of the 2004 title Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Roxas is a "Nobody", a being created when the series' main character Sora briefly lost his heart during the first game of the series. Kingdom Hearts II revealed that Roxas is a member of Organization XIII, a group of Nobodies who needed Roxas as he could wield the Keyblade, a weapon that allows him to capture hearts. As a member of the organization, Roxas bore the title "Key of Destiny" (めぐりあう鍵 Meguriau Kagi^?, lit. "Serendipitous Key"). He is also the protagonist of the video game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which revolves around his origins. In the Japanese games, Roxas is voiced by Kōki Uchiyama, while Jesse McCartney takes the role in the English versions.

Since his first cameo in the series, director Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Roxas is an important character to the series, and that in order to explain his back story in more detail than done in Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was created. Since his introduction in Kingdom Hearts II, Roxas has received positive critical response from video game publications with most of them focusing on his development in 358/2 Days. Various types of merchandising have been released based on his character.

Story so far

Three Keyblade apprentices, Terra, Aqua and Ventus, train under Master Eraqus to one day become Keyblade Masters. However, when Aqua is named Keyblade Master after passing her Mark of Mastery, Eraqus's fellow Keyblade MasterXehanort mysteriously disappears as monsters called the Unversed begin spreading throughout the worlds. Terra is sent to defeat the Unversed and locate Master Xehanort. Ventus is goaded into following Terra by Xehanort's enigmatic apprentice, Vanitas, and Aqua is instructed by Eraqus to bring Ventus back home. Along the way, Terra slowly begins to lose control in the darkness inside his heart, but finds solace with Master Xehanort, who appears to understand him.

Terra crosses paths with a young boy named Riku and chooses him as his successor. Ventus befriends fellow Keyblade apprentice, Mickey Mouse, and crosses paths several times with Vanitas. He eventually learns that Vanitas is actually the embodiment of the darkness inside him, extracted by Master Xehanort as part of his plan to forge the legendary χ-blade, capable of unlocking Kingdom Hearts itself. Ventus confronts Master Eraqus about this, who attempts to destroy him to stop the χ-blade's creation, but falls at the hands of Terra and Master Xehanort, the latter whom reveals his true intentions afterward.

Terra, Aqua and Ventus eventually battle both Master Xehanort and Vanitas in the Keyblade Graveyard, where Ventus and Terra's fates are sealed: Terra converted into Xehanort's vessel while his mind took residence in his discarded suit of armor, Vanitas merging back into Ventus and taking brief control over his body in a fight with Aqua and Mickey physically before the χ-blade he used is imperfect as the fusion is revealed to be. In his mind, Ventus sacrifices himself to destroy Vantias. However, as Aqua placed Ventus comatose body to rest inside the Land of Departure, reformatted as Castle Oblivion, Ventus's heart makes contact with the heart of a young boy named Sora, entering the boy's body.

While looking for Terra, Aqua finds Xehanort in the Radiant Garden, where he was sent following the χ-blade's destruction, and battles him in an attempt to rescue Terra. As Xehanort begins to sink into the Realm of Darkness, Aqua follows and sacrifices her armor and Keyblade to save Terra's body while she remains in the darkness. Xehanort, now with amnesia, is found by the sage king of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, and taken in as his apprentice. However, with the aid of his ally Braig, Xehanort unknowingly embarks on a back-up part he arranged if his plan had failed. By that time, Mickey passes his Mark of Mastery under Yen Sid and is awarded the title of Keyblade Master.

Kairi

Kairi is one of several original characters appearing in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, and also one of the main characters in the series. She is the original persona of Naminé. Kairi was born in Radiant Garden and currently lives on Destiny Islands along with her two best friends, Sora and Riku. She is four during Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, fourteen during Kingdom Hearts and fifteen during Kingdom Hearts II. Kairi's name is derived from the Japanese word for "sea" (海 Kai^?), though her full name is homophonous with the word for "nautical mile" (海里 Kairi^?).

Riku

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

—Riku

Riku is one of the main characters in the Kingdom Hearts series. He lives on Destiny Islands with his best friends, Sora and Kairi, and all three of them dream of venturing from Destiny Islands to find out what lies beyond.

Riku is five years old during Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, fifteen during the events of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and sixteen during the events of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Riku's name is derived from the Japanese word for "land".

Sora

Sora is the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series. He lives on the Destiny Islands with his best friends Riku and Kairi, and all three of them dream of venturing from Destiny Islands to find out what lies beyond. His home was consumed by darkness, sending him on a journey to many worlds across the Realm of Light. An upbeat youth, he travels with his new friends Goofy and Donald Duck in search of his missing friends, and uses his newly acquired weapon, the Keyblade, to put an end to the threats that destroyed his world.

The main series focuses primarily on Sora's own journey and his growth as a Keyblade wielder, while several side stories follow the characters that are linked to Sora.

Sora is four years old during the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, fourteen during Kingdom Hearts through Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and fifteen during the events of Kingdom Hearts IIthrough Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Sora is the original persona of his own Heartless and Roxas, the source of Xion's memories, and the bearer of Ventus's heart.

Sora's name is derived from the Japanese word for "sky".