Vanitas

He has no control over the darkness of his heart. He is not afraid of the keyblade ... It is an abomination that was born out of hatred towards the hope of salvation. »- Master Xehanort to Terra, speaking of Vanitas

Vanitas, also known as the Masked Young Man (仮 面 の 少年 Kamen no Shōnen?), Is a wielder of the Keyblade and one of the main antagonists of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. He is the apprentice of Master Xehanort and was created by him. Vanitas is the personification of the Darkness excised from Ventus's heart and his face is identical to Sora's. From his negativity the Nescient were born.

Summary

• 1 Etymology
• 2 Appearance
• 3 Personality
• 4 Entries in the reports
• 5 Combat style
• 6 Curiosities
• 7 videos
• 8 and references

Etymology

The name Vanitas derives from the Latin word for vanity or emptiness; that's why he was chosen for this character, aside from other reasons, such as that he sounds similar to Ventus, and that he is a pun on Sora in Japanese. [1]

Appearance

Vanitas wears a red and black organic suit, and a silver helmet covered in dark glass, hiding his face. The appearance of his suit is very similar to Dark Riku in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, only in different colors. He wields the Empty Quid, red, black and silver with two blue eyes like Riku's Road to Dawn. On the chest, the marks of the suit draw the pectoral and the abdominals, due to the color of these stripes in black and red, some might think that it is related to the heartless as it is an entity of pure darkness, however Vanitas has never shown affinity with said creatures or power of control over them. Use a keychain shaped like a gear split in half. Later it is revealed that his face is identical to Sora's, only for a few small details: his hair is black and messier than Sora's, his eyes are yellow and not blue, reflecting the darkness that consumes his black heart, another difference is that his eyes do not reflect calm but a feeling of unbridled madness.

Personality

Being a being created from the Darkness of Ven's Heart and therefore from PURE darkness, Vanitas is cruel, cold and ruthless. His personality is opposite to that of Ventus, and therefore that of Sora, Roxas and Xion. Despite his great intelligence, his sudden mood swings and strange nature, they suggest that he was probably insane.

Entries in the reports

Masked Young Man (Vanitas)

Strange young man who hides his identity behind a mask.

A dark purpose seems to bind Master Xehanort, as he leaves after sowing unease in Ventus's heart with some wicked words about Terra.

Combat style

Vanitas is an expert warrior with the Keyblade and magic. In the Birth by Sleep video, he is seen casting lightning bolts and Ice magic, performing a complicated stunt, riding the blast of Keyblades that Master Xehanort sends against Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. He can move or teleport at an astonishing speed (at the beginning of the video he appears out of nowhere with his teacher). During the game this is corroborated by being one of the toughest opponents to fight, and showing strength, speed, and mastery of all the elements, including Fire, Lightning, Ice and Darkness.

In the station of awakening his strongest version is shown using all the elements in this way and doubling his normal attack power and speed, he has 4 bars of vitality and when using his limit he becomes much faster. He carries the Incomplete χ-Blade which is a Keyblade that can open Kingdom Hearts and is linked to darkness. The battle against Ventus reaches a limit point where these two collide several times until they destroy the station of awakening and continue their fight in the void.

After this, Ventus manages to pierce Vanitas, and he vaguely tries to take the χ-Blade, which then explodes in several beams of lights, just like Ventus's sword. Supposedly, Vanitas dies in that instant.

He is the cause of all the needy so these can spring from his own body as well as it can absorb them for his benefit, when he does a dark aura surrounds him and he becomes much more powerful recovering from the damage of the battle.

Curiosities

• The voice actor Haley Joel Osment, who plays Sora's English voice, is the same voice actor for Vanitas.
  • Miyu Irino also voices both Sora and Vanitas in Japanese. In an interview Irino asked Nomura to create a villain whom he could give a voice to.

• Apparently he is also related to Terra-Xehanort.

• Vanitas possesses a combat pose almost identical to Riku as well as his dark battle suit, except for the way he puts his left hand, his hand being downwards unlike Riku.

• In a fragment of its main theme it sounds similar to Sora's theme in Kingdom Hearts II.

• Vanitas bears a great resemblance to Sora since Ventus joined Sora's heart when he was weakened by the birth of Vanitas and when this happened he also joined his heart with Sora because he is the darkness of Ventus's heart so he adopts a similar appearance.

• Aside from the theory speculated above, Vanitas has Sora's face because Tetsuya Nomura wanted to surprise fans by showing a villain with the appearance of the main character of the series.

• Vanitas appeared alongside Young Xehanort in the City of Bells in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. This could mean that Vanitas is part of the 13 darkness, that is, being a member of the New Organization XIII, a fact that would be corroborated in the last trailer for Kingdom Hearts III, where Vanitas appears before Sora in a uniform of the organization.

Videos

Ventus against Vanitas (first battle).

Wind up against Vanity (final shovels).

and references

1. ↑ Tetsuya Nomura: I wanted to give it a name that meant "empty", and so I looked for something that was appropriate. When I was searching, I came across a word that meant that in Latin, Vanitas. It looks a lot like the name Ventus, and it has the kanji for "sora" in Japanese, so I thought it was perfect. Of course, in the case of Vanitas it does not mean "sora (sky)" but it does mean "kara (empty)" (these two words are written with the same kanji, but they are said differently and have different meanings).

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