Application ∵ Siren's Pull

[caliginose]

Character Information

General


✦ Canon Source: Kingdom Hearts
✦Canon Format: Video Game
✦ Character's Name: Master Xehanort
✦ Character's Age: Unknown - estimated mid sixties.
✦ What form will your character's NV take? Classy. Very much resembling an iPhone, with text/audio/video options and a blue, reptilian-like eye emblazoned on the back in place of the Apple logo.


Abilities


✦ Character's Canon Abilities: The 'master' in his name comes from his mastery of the Keyblade, an ancient weapon shrouded in mystery and legend. Though conflicting tales abound concerning the Keyblade's destructive and restorative properties, ultimately what it is capable of and the extent of its power largely depends on its wielder. Through long years of study, experience, and experimentation, Master Xehanort has developed his skills with the Keyblade to almost supernatural levels, the fruits of a life spent testing the limits - or lack thereof - of his own power and the capabilities of his weapon. Time and again, through flashbacks, cutscenes, and player encounters, Xehanort is shown to possess power greater than any other contemporary Keyblade Master, besting his peers, in this case Master Eraqus, as well as the younger generation of Keybearers. Multiple encounters and varying tactics that include sealing his heart and memories are required to finally bring about his defeat, implying that one-on-one in a contest of pure power Xehanort still has the odds stacked in his favor.

His 'power' falls into two camps, the physical and the magical, with an extra, overreaching condition that is the potency and breadth of his personal darkness. Understandably, it is in the physical realm that Xehanort has the most weakness; his whole purpose for manipulating Terra was so that he could take his much younger body for himself, replacing what he considers to be a weakened, withered husk that impedes his progress toward his ultimate goals. His hunched posture and insistence on the same rate of motion no matter what he's doing (that is, a walk that varies between brisk and not so brisk) show that he does feel his age, but his lack of speed is balanced by a startling amount of strength, the 'old man' capable of easily lifting another person off the ground with one hand, and doing so without any apparent strain. He is strong and extremely hardy, withstanding Keyblade blows from opponents like Terra, who would, presumably, possess muscle strength greater than his own.

But it is without a doubt on the magical front that Xehanort truly dominates. He has transitioned from standard spells into mystic arts apparently of his own devising and with a multitude of variations that he can call up at will. His elements of choice are Blizzard, Thunder, and Earth; the spells themselves are without name or distinctive form, but can range from typical bolts or blasts to freezing opponents and manipulating the ground beneath his feet. Outside of his favorites, Xehanort has shown the ability to use Wind -based skills as well, implying that he potentially has mastery over all elements (a potential that most Keyblade Masters share) and simply selects the type and form best suited to a given situation. Beyond the elementals, Xehanort has in his repertoire shielding abilities, a form of telekinesis or matter-manipulation (as when he controls a flying stream of discarded Keyblades), and likely the same support skills and augmentations that apprentice Keybearers learn, such as Esuna and Cure and the means to don armor. His magical stamina is colossal; not once during any encounter did he become taxed or unable to utilize his spells.

Empowering the physical and magical both is Xehanort's darkness. Years of exposing himself to it, drawing it to himself, manipulating it to his will, and harboring it within his heart has created in him a deep well of terrifying might. He can use it to travel between worlds and warp across the battlefield; he can summon Heartless from the Realm of Darkness; he can sense it within people and worlds; he can amplify any of his other abilities with it, or simply produce it willfully as bolts, shots, and streams to cause damage to opponents. And, when he so chooses, he can use it to destroy entire worlds, covering them with darkness so that little else but tattered fragments remain.

All of this would not be possible without Xehanort's other 'power', that being his vast store of knowledge. There is arguably no one else, save for Yen Sid and perhaps Eraqus, that knows and has studied the workings of the heart, the Keyblade, Kingdom Hearts, the Keyblade War, and the properties of Light and Darkness as much as he. Xehanort has used, will use, or could use this knowledge to create beings from pure darkness, to split, manipulate, or remove hearts, to take over the bodies of others, and to locate and unlock the Heart of All Worlds.

✦ Weapons: Keyblade. Not being exactly spry, he does not utilize his Keyblade for acrobatics or combo after combo, instead preferring to warp within range of enemies to attack or using it to channel spells. His Keyblade can also be used to lock/unlock the hearts of people and worlds (and simpler things, like doors), to the point where he can remove hearts entirely and affect the light and darkness within them. It can be dismissed and called up at will, meaning that stealing it is more or less impossible.


History/Personality/Plans/etc.


✦ Character History: Wikia.

✦ Point in Canon: Near the end of the shared character paths but before the Final Chapter. After manipulating various characters onto paths predetermined, in some cases, years in advance, Xehanort is waiting with Vanitas for Terra, Aqua, and Ventus to arrive at the Keyblade Graveyard.

✦ Character Personality: Noble and obsessive, gregarious and sociopathic, philosophical and endlessly cruel, Xehanort would discard the World so that he could remake it as he sees fit and has, throughout much of his long life, worked toward such an end. All that he does is in service to this ultimate purpose, relentlessly pushing the boundaries of the heart, the world, and the very light and darkness that dwells within all things. A scholar and a theorist, his speech and his papers are overflowing with questions: what was? What could be? What lies beyond the farthest reaches, and is there some place farther still? He possesses as much unshakable resolve as he does need; nowhere can you find a man more devoted to his cause or a man that toes the line more closely between purpose and madness with a healthy helping of honest curiosity that surely, surely, no scholar can do without.

Necessity and realism are close bedfellows with cruelty in him, allowing for the manipulation and abandonment of old friends and innocents alike. Xehanort's journey toward the man - the beast, some would call him - that he is today began when he left behind the tiny world he called home in pursuit of greater things. Since that time there has been much that he has obtained, utilized, and eventually put aside in favor of yet more. Even those that should have been closest to his heart, the man that he called brother and his own pupil, are measured by how much of a hurdle they present and how suited they are for the role that he has decided that they must play. This is only practical, only logical, and not once has Xehanort hesitated in the name of morals or doubt or the question of just how 'righteous' his actions truly are.

Heartless though Xehanort may be, he is not a man of illusions, either. He does not consider himself a god, or undefeatable, or infallible. He's far too sensible for that, working slowly and meticulously based on decisions that he reached through long contemplation, his favored worldview among them. He considers an ideal world (and an ideal heart) to be one that balances darkness and light, acknowledging and often proving that one cannot coexist without the other, that one begets the other and always will. He takes this dual approach to much in his life, making plans within plans, considering each side of a problem, testing the validity of every answer. Only once his designs have come to pass does he left this carefulness slip, opening the doors to the more dark, passionate interiors of his heart; this is a man who would tear the earth and laud the heroic dead and call down darkness upon a world to crush hopes and enflame the soul.

As to be expected of one as...busy as he, Xehanort possesses an astonishing level of patience, enough to wait years in order to accomplish his goals, but that does not mean he is exactly tolerant. He does not suffer fools lightly; when they serve no greater function, he is just as apt to ignore them and walk away as he is to make his displeasure known in a more physical sense. His not inconsiderable social airs and graces are presented purposefully, often as a means to convince the people around him of his benign nature and good intentions. That isn't to say it is entirely a facade, as most of his polite manners and intellectual dialogue are present even when he is not engaged with fooling the ignorant masses. He is refined and staid in his way, up until the moment he indulges in his favorite theatrics. Xehanort is a fan of grand gestures and pontificating, often at the same time, and he is completely capable of injecting dramatics into his speech and actions either to achieve an end or simply because he wants to - the World's oldest ham, as it were.

But within him there are hints of old habits and lingering outlooks, showing themselves infrequently but nonetheless present. His old home remains entrenched in his heart, despite the overwhelming smallness of that tiny, unchanging island. When his pupil had nothing to look forward to but a slow fading, Xehanort saw fit to take him back to that place of peace and stillness, showing for a moment a sense of pity and dignity. Ventus had served his purpose as well as could be expected and even Xehanort, to whom people are often little more than pawns to be placed and sacrificed, saw fit to honor the dying.

✦ Character Plans: Initially, his only goal will be to return to his own world - his plans were coming to fruition at last, after all. If discovering a means to do so involves manipulating locals, fellow outsiders, and investigating the inner workings of the various factions, then so be it. He hasn't spent years researching and working toward the moment he just left behind only to miss it now. Of course, once he learns that certain individuals - in this case, Terra and Aqua - are in residence on the island as well, his plans will shift somewhat. His two primary aims will remain the same: forging the χ-blade and obtaining Terra's body for himself. Producing the specific conditions necessary to accomplish either will be understandably difficult, but Xehanort has much in the way of patience and is more than capable of nudging events and circumstances into his favor over time.

Outside of personal aims, he remains a man of scholarly inclinations, given to study and exploration of new phenomena. With a new world and new rules at his fingertips, there is more than enough on the island to keep him intellectually occupied when not involved with the more recalcitrant subjects of his endeavors. Personable, learned, authoritative on quite a few topics, and in possession of volumes-worth of information concerning other worlds, he has much to offer and is always willing to receive more in return. Investigating the Core is likely to become a side project of his, given its penchant for breaking transdimensional rules.

✦ Appearance/PB: Character model.

Writing Samples

✦ First Person Sample

[ to look at the man in the midday video feed, one is immediately struck by the intensity of his eyes. focused, sharp as glass but harder, so much harder - every other impression must come afterward, from the clear indications of his age to the gravel-heavy tones of his voice.

intimidating visage aside, his inquiry is civil and composed, if bordering on tired; he does sound a little out of breath. ]

I'm afraid I have exhausted the limited knowledge I was so thoughtfully given when I arrived. Much of the city is not as this map describes it and the kind young lady that led me this far had to return to her post. The inclement weather is unkind to this old body of mine; a place of shelter is all I need and time enough to rest from my ordeal.

...ah, forgive me. Weary though I may be, that is no excuse for rudeness.

My name is Master Xehanort and I hail from a World outside of this one. A situation not uncommon amongst you, my peers, if what I have been told is correct.

[ a soft sigh, tinged with some regret. ] With a situation not unlike mine, you must have your own daily trials to face, but I see no other course but to put myself in your good offices.

For those in the pursuit of knowledge, there is much I can offer in return for your benevolence.

✦ Third Person Sample

Anger, when properly directed, had a multitude of uses. Rage was one of the most common avenues that led the unsuspecting to darkness, holding a lauded position with the likes of pride and ignorance and the best of intentions. He had witnessed it, fostered it, guided it to fruition within himself and others many a time, but there were inevitable moments when it served no purpose other than as a hurdle between the mind and rational thought. Then it twisted and poisoned, choked out thought and practicality, and made itself the center of the world, burning and consuming until the body was left weak and trembling and the mind numb from the excesses of the heart.

Xehanort's anger, when he came to realize what had transpired, was swift and inconceivable. The day had come at last - years of work! A lifetime of effort! The final act to a grand play that had taken decades to stage, decades of absolute devotion and focus that had, in an instant, been put into utter jeopardy.

But swift to come, swift to leave, and soon wrath faded into cool, dark composure; never had he conceived of a plan without taking into account the possibility of failure.

All will be as it should be.

They will see it done. "...no, no, I am well enough, child. A shock to my system, yes, but I was not injured."

The young woman's weary smile gained a little more life, tinged at the edges with a touch of selfish relief. She would be relieved, after all, to be spared caring to an old man who lay on the dirt without responding to her tired prodding. He took her hand when she offered it, kept his grip comfortably feeble, and allowed her to help him pat away the layer of grime that had found its way onto his clothing. This is Siren's Port, she told him while she did so, and there was no current means to leave. There were places to stay for a time - she could show him, if he would like.

"I have troubled you far too much already." The grave tones came easily, as certain as they were regretful. "This is enough."

Again, relief flickered across her sweet, boring face, colored by some little guilt, but that was how it had always been for the weak-hearted. She would escort him beyond the ring of security, at least, and use that to banish the shame over her selfishness.

There was comfort in this familiar display. Always, in all worlds, it was the same. To draw him here, to ruin his so-careful undertakings, there had to be more in this place that did not meet the eye, but if the people of this world shared the same brittle fractures and fissures in their hearts, learning what he needed to know and doing what had to be done was only a matter of patience, vigilance, and action. This could be done. Time was the only limitation, but it was a burden with which he had become very familiar. He could bear it for some little while longer.

"Thank you, my dear," he said to her, polite and dismissive, once she used her own device to give him a map and, she assured him, all the information that he would need to make his way through the city. There was a little more, the most basic of explanations for the damage and the dissent and the far-off sounds of violence and anger, but when she turned back to give it to him, he was already gone. The line of police and media around the diamond was unbroken; they had not been disturbed by the passing of an old, bent man with his arms clasped behind his back.

But because the woman was not looking for this discrepancy, she did not realize, and so Master Xehanort entered the city as silent and unnoticed as a shadow.