Keyblade Armor
Keyblade Armor[1] (鎧, Yoroi?, lit. "Armor") is a suit of armor worn byKeyblade wielders. It was first introduced inKingdom Hearts II worn byXemnas. One of its most important qualities is that it protects the wearer from the darkness surrounding theLanes Between, much like theblack coat.[2] It can also be worn during battle, at the user's discretion.
Pieces of the armor usually appear as part of the user's normal clothing, such as their boots or belts. However, the armor's leftpauldron is more important – by pressing it, the user activates the rest of the armor, which appears in a flash oflight. The armor usually appears and disappears magically and can be summoned back to its wearer at will[3], but it can also be removed physically.
Development[edit]
In "The Gathering" and "Birth by Sleep", Terra, Ventus, and Aqua each have capes attached to their suits of Keyblade Armor, but these capes were removed inKingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep due to frame rate issues.[4] InKingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, during the final cutscene in Terra's story, the Lingering Will sprouts a cape, maintaining continuity betweenKingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and later appearances such asKingdom Hearts II Final Mix andKingdom Hearts III. All three Keyblade wielders' armors are also seen with capes inKingdom Hearts III Re Mind.
Tetsuya Nomura stated in an interview that he chose to use armor to hide Terra, Aqua, and Ventus's yet-to-be-designed faces to avoid using theblack coats ofOrganization XIII again. Nomura's decision was also influenced by the recent release ofFinal Fantasy XII, which featured the armoredArchadian Judge Magisters,[5] as well as an early, canceled project of his.[6]
InKingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, at theMirage Arena, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua can change the hues of their armor.
Story[edit]
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road[edit]
Master Odin teaches his studentsXehanort,Eraqus,Vor,Urd,Bragi, andHermod how to use their Keyblade Armor and Keyblade Gliders so they can travel between worlds and search for their seven missing upper classmates.
When traveling through theCorridors of Darkness, Xehanort decides to remove his Keyblade Armor, causing him to lose consciousness. Upon waking up, he is greeted byThe Master of Masters, who explains that the black cloaks are far better at warding off darkness than the armor.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep[edit]
According toXehanort's Report, Master Xehanort had once worn his Armor as instructed, but when he felt thedarkness of theOcean Between, he decided to embrace it, rather than avoiding it.
Terra, Ventus, and Aqua wear their Armor whenever they enter the Lanes Between, or when they land at theMirage Arena. They also activate the armor when they are attacked by Xehanort at theKeyblade Graveyard.
When Terra defeats Master Xehanort in their final battle, the elderly Keyblade Master unlocks his ownheart. Terra attempts to protect himself from Xehanort by quickly activating his armor, but Terra's darkness allows Xehanort to take control anyway. Terra's armor falls to the ground in pieces as the new, younger Terra-Xehanort walks off, but rises again as Terra'ssoul animates it. It creates theWill's Cage around the two, forcing Terra-Xehanort to turn and fight. It manages to knock out Terra-Xehanort, who is swallowed by theχ-blade's aura and transported toRadiant Garden. Its job done, it kneels down with itsEnds of the Earth Keyblade in its hands, and remains there for the next eleven years.
After leaving Ventus in theChamber of Waking and encountering a confused Terra-Xehanort at Radiant Garden, Aqua damages Terra-Xehanort enough for Terra's heart to temporarily take control and cause Master Xehanort to force Terra-Xehanort into stabbing himself with theNo NameKeyblade, knocking his body out. Both Aqua and Xehanort fall into the Realm of Darkness. Aqua removes her armor, and instructs both it and herRainfell Keyblade to take Xehanort back through the closing portal to Radiant Garden.Dilan later discovers the unconscious Xehanort and Aqua's armor, andAnsem the Wise instructsBraig to carry Xehanort, and Dilan to bring the armor back to theHollow Bastion.
After Xehanort becameXemnas, he placed Aqua's armor within theChamber of Repose, where he often went to speak to it.Xigbar eventually noticed Xemnas's conversations with Aqua's armor, and would bring it up toZexion.Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days[edit]
When she fightsRoxas,Xion dons a suit of armor that combines motifs from the Keyblade Armor, theNobody emblem, and Sora's own clothes. At times, the armor also has wings, extra arms, or trailing ribbons that draw from Sora's memories, and a set of "Keyblades" which do the same.
Kingdom Hearts II[edit]
During theBattle of the 1000 Heartless,Xemnas visits Aqua's armor andKeyblade, addressing it as his "friend."Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
A portal to the Keyblade Graveyard appears atDisney Castle at one point, andSora,Donald, andGoofy enter it to find Terra'sLingering Will. It first mistakes Sora to beRiku, and finally Master Xehanort, before attacking him in a great rage. Upon its defeat, the Lingering Will realizes it has attacked the wrong person, and respectfully acknowledges Sora as aKeyblade Master.
Xemnas dons Xehanort's Keyblade Armor while attacking Sora and Riku atop hisDragon Form. During this fight, Xemnas is also able to use the weapons of the recently destroyed members ofOrganization XIII.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]
WhenSora's heart is damaged while fightingXemnas andYoung Xehanort, it begins to fall into darkness. Ventus's heart, which rests within Sora's, summons Ventus's Keyblade Armor to shield Sora's heart from the darkness until it can be healed.
However, by the time Riku enters Sora's heart, the armor has itself become immersed in darkness, transforming it into a Nightmare which uses Sora's body and Keyblade along with Ventus's own fighting style. The armor is destroyed by Riku after a long, grueling battle, and his victory was the deciding factor in his being named a Keyblade Master byYen Sid.
Kingdom Hearts III[edit]
Following theReplica Xehanorts's defeat, Master Xehanort absorbs their essence to create a new Keyblade Armor before fighting Sora, Donald, and Goofy. After an arduous battle, the trio is able to destroy the armor.
After Sora rescuesKairi, the Replica Xehanorts fuse into a copy of Xehanort's armor, but are repelled and destroyed by theGuardians of Light.
Shortly after Master Xehanort’s defeat, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus decide to venture into the Realm of Darkness to find Sora, donning their Keyblade Armor before they departed.Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind
List of armors[edit]
Eraqus's Keyblade Armor.
Bragi's Keyblade Armor.
Hermod's Keyblade Armor.
Urd's Keyblade Armor.
Vor's Keyblade Armor.
Terra's Keyblade Armor, later possessed by hisLingering Will.
Ventus's Keyblade Armor, later worn by Sora.
Aqua's Keyblade Armor.
Ventus's Keyblade Armor worn by Sora and corrupted by aNightmare.
Xehanort's second Keyblade Armor, later worn by the mergedReplica Xehanorts.
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Xion in her armor.
Other appearances[edit]
Kingdom Hearts χ[edit]
InKingdom Hearts χ, thePlayers could earn a Keyblade Armor resembling theirUnion's design during the third Anniversary event. The Keyblade Armor Avatar Parts returned inKingdom Hearts Union χ as a reward for Weekly Party Rankings in April 2018, where they were referred to as Regalia.
The male version of the Unicornis Armor.
The female version of the Unicornis Armor.
The male version of the Anguis Armor.
The female version of the Anguis Armor.
The male version of the Leopardus Armor.
The female version of the Leopardus Armor.
The male version of the Vulpes Armor.
The female version of the Vulpes Armor.
The male version of the Ursus Armor.
The female version of the Ursus Armor.
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Notes and references[edit]
- ^Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Signature Series Guide,pg. 75: "In the final battle, Xehanort takes Terra's body, leaving you to fight from within your Keyblade Armor."
- ^Xehanort's Report II: "Our Master instructed us to don armor while traveling between worlds, so that we might shield ourselves from the darkness. But there, in the Lanes Between, I could feel the force of it—the power—and from then on, I forwent my armor's "protection." I had been told the darkness would devour me, but what terrors could it possibly hold, so long as I found the strength to control it?"
- ^Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania,Question: "What happened to the Lingering Will after the battle?" /Nomura: "When Terra was revived it caused the Will to vanish, and the armor disappeared. But Keyblade Wielder's armour is like a Keyblade in that even if it disappears, it can be summoned again so long as the wearer is in their usual condition." (Translation bygoldpanner.)
- ^Interviewer: " I was very surprised to hear that in VS Arena Mode you could play with six other people." /Tetsuya Nomura: "We wanted to make it so that as many people could play together as possible, but in the end we could only do six. By the way, in theKingdom Hearts II Final Mix secret movie you can see Terra in his armor with a cape, but we took off the cape in this game. It was to make processing easier when you're playing with six people. Processing of moving fabric can be slow, so the speed it runs at is completely different if he has a cape or not."Translation via KHInsider
- ^Weekly Famitsu,Interviewer: "Does that mean the players know of these people?" /Tetsuya Nomura: "I just haven't drawn their faces. (laugh) I can't hide their faces with black hoods like in KH:FM's secret movie, too. Who knows what kind of grudges I'll invite if I just change the hood's color. (laugh) That's why I chose armors. First, I only drew the atmosphere and the rest is done by the staff. But FF12 has Judge in armor, so I made a more heroic design for them."Translation via KHInsider.
- ^Siliconera: Tetsuya Nomura's Batman Figurine Came From A Canceled Videogame Project
See also[edit]
| Kingdom Hearts Dark Road |
|---|
| Characters |
| Party members |
| Xehanort -Eraqus -Hermod -Bragi -Urd -Vor |
| Non-playable characters |
| Aced -Aqua -Ava -Baldr -Beast -Card Soldier -Carpet -Cave of Wonders Guardian -Cerberus -Cheshire Cat -Chip -Cogsworth -Ephemer -Evil Queen -Gula -Hades -Heimdall -Helgi -Hoder -Iago -Invi -Ira -Jafar -Lumière -Luxu -Magic Mirror -Maleficent -Mrs. Potts -Odin -Player -Queen of Hearts -Robed Figure -Seven Dwarfs -Sigrun -Terra -The Master of Masters -Tweedledum and Tweedledee -Vala -Vali -Vanitas -Ventus -Vidar -Wardrobe -White Rabbit |
| Locations |
| Worlds |
| Destiny Islands -Scala ad Caelum -Agrabah -Wonderland -Dwarf Woodlands -Beast's Castle -Olympus Coliseum -Enchanted Dominion -Keyblade Graveyard -Land of Departure |
| Terms |
| Alba & Ater -An Oath to Return -Black coat -Cards -Child of Destiny -Corridor of Darkness -Key Art -Key Scene -Keyblade -Keyblade Armor -Keyblade Master -Mark of Mastery -True Darkness |
| Archives |
| Artwork -Enemies -Keyblades |
