𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹"
Empty creature from Ventus riven... to you, the name Vanitas shall be given."
—Master Xehanort, upon Vanitas' creation
Four years before the events of
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ventus served as Master Xehanort's apprentice. The Keyblade wielder was sent to the Keyblade Graveyard, where he was forced by his master to face several Heartless in an attempt to forge the χ-blade. Ventus was unable to use his darkness and was knocked unconscious. Losing his patience, Master Xehanort then proceeded to use his Keyblade to unlock Ventus' heart, extracting the darkness within and resulting in an orb of dark energy forming into a young boy in a mask. This creature was then given the name "Vanitas" by Master Xehanort.
At first, Vanitas was a faceless being much like a Heartless but with red eyes. The first thing he felt was sadness for his separation from Ventus. However, that sadness soon turned to hate and contempt for what he considered his weakness. This eventually turned into self-hatred as Vanitas, in a way, hated himself for being so weak. Though Vanitas was well-aware of his own existence, what soon followed was an intense uncertainty towards himself as he felt very lost and anxious about his future and started questioning why he was born.
But every time he felt something, a creature was created from his body from that feeling. These creatures, called the Unversed, were nightmarish caricatures of his fledgling emotions, coming in all shapes and sizes. Their sudden existence irritated Vanitas; he was disgusted by the fact such monsters were born from him. Looking at the Unversed was like looking at his own weakness that he did not want to admit, so he started to kill them with his Keyblade without any hesitation. But every time he destroyed an Unversed, Vanitas felt intense physical pain running through his body: the very pain he inflicted on the creature. The destroyed Unversed, instead of dispersing, were quietly re-absorbed into Vanitas, bringing with them the pain and negative feelings that came with their deaths. The feelings returning to his mind added more fuel to the irritation he was feeling and in turn another Unversed of "irritation" was born from him, creating even more negativity and thus creating more Unversed. So began a vicious cycle: an Unversed would come to be, Vanitas would destroy it, and with its return, another would be created from his pain.
Around this time, a newborn’s heart came into contact with Ventus’ fractured heart; this newborn was Sora, who offered to fill the empty spaces in Ventus’ heart and support him until he was strong enough to heal his own heart. However, since Vanitas was the other half of Ventus’ heart, Sora directly contacted his heart as well. A sharp pain pierced his chest and Vanitas' body fell to the ground of the wasteland near the Keyblade Graveyard, verging on the edge of consciousness and feeling himself being engulfed by absolute Darkness. That was when Vanitas heard Sora's voice and then he saw Light. The Light eventually surrounded his whole body and he heard a voice say, "Let's open the door". Upon opening his eyes, Vanitas found out that now he had a normal boy's face; he’d receive Sora’s face due to the connection of their hearts. He also realized that someone, probably also a newborn heart like himself, had saved Ventus' heart from completely fading away.
Despite this, Vanitas could not abide being around Ventus. He told Master Xehanort that if Xehanort kept both him and Ventus, Vanitas couldn't guarantee that he could keep Ventus alive, since his innate hatred and longing for his other half made it so Vanitas found it hard to suppress his natural impulse to hurt or maybe even destroy the comatose boy. To allow both Ventus and Vanitas to grow without destroying each other, Xehanort had to take Ventus to the Land of Departure, asking Master Eraqus to take care of the boy and train him, while Vanitas remained with Xehanort.
After Master Xehanort leaves Ventus under Master Eraqus’s care in the Land of Departure, he finds Vanitas waiting outside of the room. Master Xehanort tells Vanitas that he should have stayed behind in the Badlands, and Vanitas instead answers with an inquiry into Ventus’s wellbeing. Upon the lack of response, he dismisses any concern. Xehanort informs Vanitas of the existence of thirteen ancient darknesses and their fates. Vanitas dodges all of Xehanort’s questions about the subject, either answering them with questions of his own or dismissing them entirely. Xehanort suggests that it was destiny that brought him, Vanitas, and Ventus together, which causes Vanitas to become lost in thought. Ultimately, Vanitas denies any connection to true Darkness, but Xehanort remains curious of Vanitas's true nature. Due to the link between his heart and Ventus's, Vanitas could feel some of what Ventus felt, discovering the bond between Ventus and Terra. Vanitas reported this to Master Xehanort, who decided to use their bond against the two.
After Ventus left, however, Vanitas started to miss him greatly, and he kept wondering why they got separated from each other, soon even blaming Xehanort for their separation. This once again brought him to feel miserable and anxious about his future without Ventus; the more he thought about these questions, the more anxious, irritated, and lonely he felt, and the more Unversed were formed. In immense pain, Vanitas began to destroy the Unversed in a rage, restarting the cycle of perpetuating pain and suffering that he could not escape. As Vanitas suffered from the trauma, Master Xehanort only coldly watch his creation harming himself from far away.
During this time, a new torment appeared. Ventus awoke from his comatose state and began to live again. Since Ventu’s heart was Vanitas’ other half, Vanitas was able to see all the memories that Ventus formed. Ventus was well cared for by Master Eraqus, nursed back to health by his new Master and fellow students Terra and Aqua. As Ventus quickly developed strong friendships with Terra and Aqua, Vanitas could only watch his other half’s happy memories fill his mind, unable to feel the pleasant emotions associated with them. Already immensely jealous of Ventus for previously not being able to feel anything in his comatose state, Vanitas was consumed with a loathing envy for his other half’s happy life apart from him. More Unversed spewed from his body, continuing his torturous existence.
Vanitas desperately wanted to escape from the vicious cycle of anguish, but as young as he was at that time, he simply didn't know any ways other than killing the Unversed. Time and time again, until Vanitas destroyed one Unversed too many and the pain became too much for him to endure; he collapsed in tears, unable to do more than cry in the desolate Keyblade Graveyard. Taking advantage of Vanitas' brokenness and sadness, Xehanort finally approached him and told him that the only way to be freed from his sufferings was by becoming the χ-blade. Becoming the χ-blade was also the only way for him to truly unite with Ventus again. The χ-blade would bring salvation not only to him but also to the whole world.
Mad with desire to free himself from his unbearable fate, Vanitas seized onto this one hope, and to become the χ-blade fixated itself in his head as his goal, his whole life purpose, and his only Light of Hope to lead him out of that Darkness. With this agreement, determined to unite with Ventus and put an end to his own suffering, Vanitas became Master Xehanort's apprentice, accepting training to strengthen himself in preparation for reuniting with Ventus. Thus Vanitas, born from the darkness in Ventus' heart, became a dark enigma and a chaotic weapon, the source of the Unversed, and a key component in Master Xehanort's dark machinations.
𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹"
A mysterious boy who hides his face behind a mask. He has ties to Master Xehanort. Vanitas warned Ventus that Terra was in some kind of danger but disappeared before explaining any further."
—Journal entry for Vanitas (The Masked Boy)
Four years later, Master Xehanort views the battle between Terra and Aqua as part of their Mark of Mastery exam. He leaves the room afterwards to find a hidden Vanitas awaiting him. The two converse about Ventus, and Vanitas claims that Ventus' performance was weak and "someone needs to break that loser in". Master Xehanort agrees but tells Vanitas to do so somewhere else as he needed to keep up appearances. Vanitas complies, deciding to give Ventus an "incentive" to leave home.
Vanitas later appears before Ventus in his room, speaking of Terra being a different person, and that Ventus should follow and try to help him before it's too late. Ventus becomes very defensive, saying that Vanitas does not know the first thing about Terra and that they will always be friends. Vanitas is unimpressed and simply mocks Ventus’ friendship with Terra, telling him to grow up and threatens Ventus with the loss of Terra. Claiming that unless Ventus sees it for himself and looks beyond his "tiny world", he will never know the truth, Vanitas vanishes into a Corridor of Darkness.
Vanitas then travels to different worlds, spreading his Unversed across them to create chaos and misery in hopes of making Ventus strong enough to forge the χ-blade.
After his first few ventures throughout the worlds, Ventus spots Vanitas in the Lanes Between and is lured to the Keyblade Graveyard. Ventus interrogates the masked boy about his claims that Terra has changed and what he meant about Terra being a different person, but Vanitas insultingly reiterates what he said before—that Terra will be gone forever—and challenges Ventus to a duel, intent on testing his power and revealing for the first time he is a Keyblade wielder.
Despite Ventus' best efforts, Vanitas easily outmatches Ventus, gaining the upper hand mid-way, and knocking him to the ground. Vanitas then prepares to eliminate Ventus, deeming the boy too worthless to be of use, but just before Vanitas could execute the coup de grace, Mickey Mouse appears out of nowhere, repelling Vanitas and healing Ventus. Mickey then reprimands Vanitas for using his Keyblade to maliciously bully others, and the two then proceed to fight Vanitas. Together they defeat him, but the boy callously gives them the win and simply shrugs off the fight upon his loss. He leaves the world, claiming that Ventus is on "probation" as a warning.
After the battle against the Trinity Armor in Radiant Garden, the ensuing argument forces Terra, Ventus, and Aqua to go their separate ways. While Aqua is in the Central Square, Vanitas appears, taunting her by calmly inquiring about Ventus and if he has gotten stronger. When Aqua asks what he means, Vanitas becomes hostile, stating that he is asking the questions and claiming that between the two of them, he will be the only one who will walk away alive. The masked boy attacks Aqua, threatening to eliminate her, and the two fight a vicious battle with Aqua emerging the victor.
After the duel, Aqua attempts to unmask Vanitas while he is unconscious, but the dark enigma quickly recovers, startling her with an insane laugh. He then compliments her skill and congratulates her on her victory, making an ambiguous comment about her being his backup plan, revealing that it was all a ruse to test her strength. Ventus returns to Aqua's side just as Vanitas leaves in another Corridor of Darkness. This encounter indicates that Vanitas may have sought to possess someone other than Ventus if Ventus proved too weak to reform the χ-blade, with Aqua being the best candidate.
While in Neverland, Vanitas encounters and kidnaps Mickey on Master Xehanort's orders to use Mickey as bait to lure Ventus back to the Keyblade Graveyard. Though the fight is not shown, it is clear Vanitas wins. The villain later crosses paths with Aqua again, this time with Ventus' cherished Wooden Keyblade, a gift to Ventus from Terra. Vanitas cruelly mocks Aqua for playing treasure hunter with the Lost Boys, derisively referring to them as "kiddies" before proceeding to tell her that Ventus' newfound strength means he has "outgrown" the toy, and then snaps the Wooden Keyblade in half, an act that both enrages and horrifies Aqua.
Throwing the pieces aside, Vanitas claims that he has also outgrown his need for Aqua as his backup plan and draws his Keyblade, intent on eliminating her. Aqua, outraged by the act of cruelty and at the thought of Ventus being in danger, calls Vanitas a "freak" and battles the dark enigma once again, soundly defeating him and knocking him unconscious. Aqua, believing she has finally finished Vanitas and exhausted by the battle, passes out, as a revived Vanitas takes the opportunity to escape once again.
Vanitas encounters Ventus again in Destiny Islands, after the latter is thrown through a portal summoned by Terra. Ventus initially tells Vanitas that he is through with him. But Vanitas simply tells him that since he is strong enough, Ventus can join with him to forge the χ-blade. Ventus refuses, claiming that the χ-blade cannot be forged if he does not fight. Vanitas, though slightly angered, remains unfazed, responding only by coldly stating that Ventus was once "too broken to talk back".
Then, in the ensuing flashback, Vanitas explains his birth from the darkness in Ventus' heart, and how he took his place as Master Xehanort's apprentice. This causes Ventus great pain in regaining his memories. Vanitas then gives Ventus a reason to fight, challenging the boy to come find him in the Keyblade Graveyard, the one and only place where the χ-blade can be forged, where he threatens to kill Terra and Aqua by "choking the life out of them" to see how long Ventus will "play the pacifist". He then disappears into a Corridor of Darkness after demanding Ventus forge the χ-blade through battle. Ventus, haunted by Vanitas' deranged threats, and determined to end this once and for all, goes to the Keyblade Graveyard.
When Terra, Ventus, and Aqua approach their final showdown with Vanitas and Master Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard, intense battles ensue. The two villains meet up with the trio, with Master Xehanort explaining his ultimate goal for the χ-blade. The trio armors up and Terra quickly charges towards them. Master Xehanort intervenes, however, blocking Terra's path with massive rock formations. As Terra continues to pursue Master Xehanort, Vanitas goes after Aqua and Ventus, riding on a cloud of Keyblades Master Xehanort created. The two fight valiantly against the dark apprentice, but not before Vanitas returns to Master Xehanort's side before the latter freezes Ventus. He battles Terra alongside Master Xehanort, who later commands Vanitas to go after Ventus and Aqua again.
Vanitas attacks Aqua from above, knocking her unconscious with a devastating blow, and prepares to impale her through the chest while Ventus lies helpless and frozen. Ventus summons all his willpower, however, and thaws out of the ice to face Vanitas in battle, defeating him once again to protect Aqua. Vanitas compliments Ventus on his skill and finally reveals his face, explaining himself to be the source of the Unversed plague affecting the worlds.
Glowing with dark energy, Vanitas then summons several Unversed to restrain Ventus as he proudly explains his plan: to spread the Unversed across the worlds, in hopes of luring Ventus from home and making him strong enough to forge the χ-blade. Approaching his restrained other half, Vanitas forcefully integrates himself into Ventus, invading his heart and completing Ventus physically before taking over his body. In a burst of light, Vanitas and Ventus are transported to the Dive to the Heart. Ventus' pillar now hosts a picture of Vanitas alongside his own, revealing their shared heart is now combined, but not complete. Descending from above, Vanitas reveals himself wielding an incomplete version of the χ-blade.
Vanitas claims their union was incomplete; they only managed to make a fraction of the χ-blade. He then demands to join with Ventus once again to fully repair and complete the legendary weapon, but Ventus refuses, vowing to defeat Vanitas and destroy the χ-blade. The dark apprentice contemptuously laughs at Ventus' declaration, warningly reminding the "idiot" that the χ-blade is made of Ventus’ heart too, and if it is destroyed, Ventus' heart would vanish forever. However, Ventus rebukes his dark half, saying he will fight for his friends and destroy both Vanitas and the χ-blade no matter what, even if the price is his heart. The determination irritates Vanitas, and he once more mocks Ventus’ friendships as the reason to fight. The two Keyblade wielders then begin a final decisive showdown in the Dive to the Heart, both intent on protecting what’s important to him.
While Ventus metaphysically battles Vanitas in their shared mind, Aqua and Mickey in the Keyblade Graveyard are attacked by Ventus-Vanitas, the body of Ventus now possessed by Vanitas’ influence. Ventus-Vanitas summons the completed χ-blade and tries to attack Aqua, only for her to be saved by Mickey. He then goes on to explain that he plans to unlock Kingdom Hearts so the worlds can be connected and the legendary Keyblade War can begin again. Aqua, sick of Vanitas' nonsense, confronts him in a furious battle one last time.
Vanitas' metaphysical battle with Ventus comes to an end. At the climax, Vanitas destroys the station pillar on which they were fighting and forces a D-Link on Ventus in hopes of completing their fusion; however, this also allows Ventus to copy all of Vanitas' move, albeit replacing them with Light versions. Ventus prevails and finally lays a finishing blow on Vanitas, who loses his grip on the incomplete χ-blade and helplessly gropes for it as it shatters. Vanitas’ eyes close as he dies, fading away into Ventus’ heart and taking all Unversed in existence with him.
At the same time as Vanitas and the incomplete χ-blade’s destruction in Ventus’ heart, Vanitas’ control over Ventus’ body in the real world is relinquished. The completed χ-blade in the real world reverts to its incomplete form and become unstable, momentarily shocking Ventus-Vanitas and allowing Aqua to overpower him and defeats her possessed friend while the χ-blade self-destructs. Unfortunately, it is a pyrrhic victory, as Ventus loses his heart and falls into a coma in the process, and his previously-possessed body collapses heartless in front of Aqua. Ventus’ heart flees from his comatose body, taking the submerged Vanitas with him.
Aqua later places Ventus’ body in a chamber within the newly created Castle Oblivion to keep him safe while she goes to reclaim Terra from the Darkness. During her search for Terra, she feels a powerful force coming from the Keyblade Graveyard. As Aqua goes to investigate, she discovers it is the remnant of Vanitas, a physical embodiment of his lingering thoughts and powerful emotions left over after Vanitas' defeat. Aqua engages in battle with the phantom and emerges victorious, with the Vanitas Remnant disappearing back into darkness. She successfully locates Terra, but fails to completely reclaim him, only able to send his body and heart away from the Darkness at the cost of herself becoming lost in the Darkness instead.
Alone and sorrowful, Ventus’ damaged-but-complete heart wandered, but because of their connection long ago, it finds its way to a young Sora, currently in the process of in his own Awakening. Feeling Ventus’ exhausted emotions and weakened spirit, Sora accepts Ventus’ heart and takes it into his own body, granting Ventus shelter and rest while Sora gains the ability to use the Keyblade. Vanitas, now recombined within Ventus’ heart, spends the following years between the end of
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep to the start of
Kingdom Hearts III sleeping within Ventus’ heart as it resides within Sora’s heart.
𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 3𝓓 𝓓𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶 𝓓𝓻𝓸𝓹 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮"
Even if you are not the prisoner."
—Vanitas to Sora
Twelve years later, when Young Xehanort appears before Sora within the cathedral at La Cité des Cloches, Vanitas's heart appears within Young Xehanort in the Realm of Sleep. Ventus' heart reacts inside Sora and allows him to see an image of Vanitas alongside the Xehanort. In unison, Xehanort and Vanitas call Sora a hypocrite, claiming that he has turned his own heart into a prison (as Ventus, Roxas and Xion (and Vanitas by proxy) are trapped inside Sora), even if Sora himself is not the prisoner. The pair then vanish. Vanitas refers to the comatose Ventus, who found refuge within Sora's heart after the events of
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Though Vanitas still lacks a body following his defeat, Sora was able to see him physically due to Ventus's heart reacting to Vanitas's from within him..
At some point prior to his destruction, Vanitas's fractured heart was collected by Young Xehanort and brought to the future to serve as a member of the real Organization XIII. Vanitas, now wearing a black coat, gathers with the rest of the real Organization at The World That Never Was to welcome the return of Master Xehanort and to forcefully induct Sora as their final member. However, their efforts to implant Sora with a fragment of Xehanort's heart is derailed upon the arrival of Lea, Donald and Goofy, whose interference causes the Organization's allotted time to expire, forcing them to withdraw with their numbers incomplete.
𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓘𝓘𝓘"
Join your heart with mine!"
—Vanitas upon discovering Ventus inside Sora’s heart
As his time was up without a proper vessel in the future, Vanitas's heart was returned back to its original place in time, though he, along with the other time-traveling members of the real Organization, soon reassemble in the future. There, they are given refined replicas from Vexen's early batches of the Replica Program to use as vessels for their hearts, thus allowing them to remain anchored to the present time.
Vanitas discovers he is now able to bring forth Unversed from the negative emotions of others and not just his own. Vanitas ponders on how, despite having disappeared following his battle with Ventus at the Keyblade Graveyard years ago, he has returned due to having been "called back" by Sora. Vanitas goes on to note that he has ancient memories of the Keyblade Graveyard, though he does not know how he got them or whether they belong to him, Ventus, or someone else.
Vanitas soon resumes his goal of retrieving Ventus' heart to make himself complete, but with him in control. Vanitas first appears in Monstropolis, in which he explains that he encountered the monster Randall Boggs during his travels to recover his strength. Randall explains that his world is powered up by the screams of children that serve as a source of energy thanks to Monsters Inc. Vanitas decides to manipulate Randall into using his desire for revenge. Vanitas also encourages Randall to collect more scream power as if a child's heart becomes broken, then they'll provide unlimited amounts of negative emotions. The two proceed to put their plan into motion with Vanitas providing Randall with an army of Heartless and Unversed.
Upon causing enough havoc and chaos, the villains decide to create a giant Unversed known as the Lump of Horror, in which Randall later sends it after Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mike Wazowski, and Sulley. After the heroes defeat his remaining minions, Vanitas senses Ventus's heart residing within Sora's body, and soon decides to confront Sora and his allies personally with the intention of extracting his "brother's" heart from Sora. However, Sulley catches Vanitas off-guard by surprising him from behind and chucks him through a series of doorways to prevent him from returning.
Vanitas makes his second appearance at the Land of Departure. In hopes of finding Ventus, Vanitas follows Aqua, Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the Land of Departure, where Sora's group attempts to awaken Ventus and reunite his heart with his body. Vanitas emerges and commends Aqua for being able to keep Ventus's body hidden away for so long. Aqua creates a barrier to fight against the masked boy while keeping Ventus safe from harm. Vanitas clashes evenly with Aqua at first, then turns his assault onto the comatose Ventus. Aqua shields her friend with her body and Vanitas nearly finishes off the weakened Keyblade Master, only for Sora to release Ventus' heart, allowing the latter to return and save Aqua. Seeing himself heavily outnumbered, Vanitas chooses to retreat for the time being and update the Organization on Ventus's status.
Vanitas later returns at the Keyblade Graveyard, where he along with Xehanort's various incarnations send off a swarm of Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed to wear down the Seven Guardians of Light. Despite this, the guardians prevail and the battle between light and darkness continues. When the guardians face off against the Organization in the Skein of Severance, Vanitas fights alongside Terra-Xehanort against Ventus and Aqua at the Twist of Isolation. As Ventus tried constantly to reach Terra's heart inside Terra-Xehanort, Vanitas mockingly says he feels left out. Ventus in turn tells Vanitas that they are the same and Vanitas would be returning to his heart.
As it seemed Aqua and Ventus were no match for Vanitas and Terra-Xehanort, Sora arrived to help support them. Upon finally being defeated, Vanitas's mask slowly shatters apart, revealing his face to Sora, who appears surprised at the uncanny resemblance to himself. Vanitas explains to the shocked boy that they look alike because Sora's heart replaced him as the missing piece of Ventus's heart. Vanitas reveals that since Sora kept Ventus's heart safe for years, this makes the three of them "brothers". Ventus and Sora try to resonate with their "brother" to join their side and reject the darkness in hopes of redeeming him, only for Vanitas to reject this offer instead. Vanitas states that he is darkness, and in that sense, is already by their side as the shadow they cast. Before fading away, Vanitas reveals that he was content with his role as nothing more than "darkness", as that is the role he has chosen for himself, before fading away with a satisfied grin, his heart returning back to its proper place in time as he becomes the sixth member of the real Organization to fall.
One year after Master Xehanort’s defeat and Sora's disappearance, a data recreation of Vanitas, along with the rest of the real Organization XIII, is fought by a digital copy of Sora with the hopes of uncovering the real Sora's location from the encrypted data they possessed. After defeating all thirteen data recreations however, the results proved inconclusive.
DLC Retcon: In the
Re Mind addition to the original game, during Vanitas' final battle, a new revelation on Vanitas's existence is revealed. Vanitas explains that he wasn't "the same" as Ventus describes himself to be with him, but rather is his own independent entity. He was merely buried and hidden deep in Ventus's heart for a long time, and all Xehanort did was tear him apart from Ventus.
Union X later reveals Vanitas is a fragment of one of the thirteen darknesses who escaped to the future in the hearts of ancient keyblade wielders.
At the moment, I do not play Vanitas with this element in mind. ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
