| “ | Vanitas: Fine. Then I'll give you a reason to fight. Ventus: What? Vanitas: Come and find me... at the one and only place to spawn the χ-blade, the Keyblade Graveyard. There, you're gonna see me choke the life out of Terra and Aqua. Then we'll see how long you play the pacifist. Ventus: Wait! |
„ |
| ~ Vanitas threatening Ventus before leaving. |
| “ | Vanitas: I'm the piece of Ventus that was taken away, and you're the piece Ventus needed to be whole again. So...why shouldn't you and I look exactly the same? You define me, Sora, the same way that Ventus does. We are brothers who, together, make a greater whole. Sora: Then why won't you stand by our side? Instead of with darkness? Vanitas: Because I am darkness. And I do stand by your side. I'm the shadow that you cast. How much closer could I be? Sora: But I didn-! Ventus: But I didn't ask for this. To be sifted apart, nice and neat. We should be free to choose. Not just light, not just darkness. We decide what we are. Vanitas: But... Ventus, I did decide who I am. You see? Ventus: And what you are is darkness? Vanitas: What I am is darkness. Ventus: ... Okay. Sora: How is that okay? Vanitas! |
„ |
| ~ Vanitas' last words before fading away. |
Vanitas, also known as The Masked Boy, is a major antagonist of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. He serves as the secondary antagonist Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep and a supporting antagonist in Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts Union x.
Vanitas is a Keyblade wielder, Master Xehanort's apprentice, Ventus' dark embodiment and the progenitor of the Unversed, and the evil counterpart/"brother" of Sora.
He is also the 11th member of the real Organization XIII.
He is voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese and Haley Joel Osment in English, both of whom also voice his brother/good counterpart: Sora, and Kash D. Langford from Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. While possessing/merged with Ventus, his voice is blended with those of Kouki Uchiyama in Japanese and Jesse McCartney in English.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- During the Age of Fairy Tales, it was him that killed Strelitzia by controlling Ventus to dirty his hands before leaving while taking the form of Foreteller Ava. This would led Ven to having nightmares and briefly allowing Lauriam, her brother, to believe that he himself did the deed.
- It was also this atrocity that inspired Ventus to trap Vanitas inside himself for time immemorial since it is barely possible to destroy a Darkness entity even with a host body.
- He is incredibly sadistic, and enjoys bringing pain and death upon others. This is shown when he takes the time to kill Aqua despite that action not being very conducive to his plans.
- While initially thought to lack moral agency due to being made of Darkness, he eventually reveals to himself that he does have a clear moral agency, and actively chooses to be evil.
- Taunts Ventus about his weakness and mocks him, saying that he will never see Terra again if he doesn't pursue him.
- He gleefully assists Master Xehanort in his plans, though they weren't on the same page because:
- During a conversation in Dark Road, Vanitas somewhat covered up the truth when he was asked about his origins regarding Darkness entities from the Age of Fairy Tales.
- While Xehanort's first plan to forge the x-blade was for him and Ven to battle at the fated place, Vanitas disregarded his order to keep him alive by attempting to kill him simply because "as far as he was concerned, his job was done". He would've gone through with his disloyalty had it not been for King Mickey's accidental arrival via Yen Sid's Star Shard.
- Xehanort himself is an extremist with a tragic background who felt, under the influence of the Master of Masters, that he needed to purge the universe and recreate it so it would have a proper balance of light and darkness. Vanitas on the other hand tried to commit omnicide three times and was fully aware of what he was doing.
- Created the Unversed and sent them across multiple different worlds to wreak havoc as well as putting the Princesses of Heart in danger. It was all done to "strengthen" Terra and Ventus for dark purposes.
- In Neverland, he ambushed Mickey and knocked him out cold so Ven would be lured to the Badlands so he could learn from Xehanort about his purpose. He also snapped the wooden Keyblade, a present from training with Terra, in half just to spite Aqua.
- At the Keyblade Graveyard, he simultaneously fought Aqua and Mickey while possessing Ventus' body during his fight against the former with the unfinished x-blade.
- His Lingering Spirit attacked Aqua in the Badlands while she was searching for Terra, who became Xehanort's new vessel. This may be minor due to a lack of explanation story wise and is designed as a Secret Boss battle.
- Freed and teamed up with Randall Boggs to gather negative energy from the screams and sadness of human children to reconstruct his heart with the Unversed. It not only caused collateral damage to Monsters Inc., but it also put Mary "Boo" Gibbs, a pre-adolescent human child, in danger.
- While him getting flung from door-to-door by Sulley may be a comedic moment to the audience, it is brief and doesn't detract from his heinousness since he is taken completely serious in-universe.
- Tried to seize the comatose Ventus in the Land of Departure and nearly killed Aqua had it not been for Sora figuring out from Ven on how the power of waking is utilized.
- While he kept calling Ventus and Sora "Brothers", the feeling isn't mutual as it is played out of sadism as stated above despite him having Sora's face, due to Ventus's heart having been within Sora's heart in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.
- Before being sent to his time, he rejected Sora’s and Ventus’s offer to redeem him into joining their side, content with being the evil individual he is, proving he has complete moral agency and is evil entirely by his choice.
Trivia[]
- Vanitas is the first character from the Kingdom Hearts games to be Pure Evil. Ironically, his face is identical to that of his "brother", Sora, who is Pure Good.
- His Novelization version doesn’t count . Since he was abused by Xehanort and he could feel the joy and happiness Ventus was experiencing at the Land of Departure due to their shared connection, it him extremely jealous and resentful and desperate to merge with Ventus to be free of his life of constant suffering.
- According to an interview with Nomura, there is a reason why Vanitas insisted that "it never hurts to have a backup" after fighting Aqua in Radiant Garden. If he had failed to forge the x-blade with Ventus, he would've tried to force the same process on Aqua due to her light being as strong as his. If this came to fruition, it would've made him worse.
External Links[]
- Vanitas on the Villains Wiki
- Vanitas on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki
- Vanitas on the KH Wiki
- Vanitas on the Disney Wiki
