Seven Guardians of Light
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Theseven guardians of light (7人の光の守護者, Shichinin no Hikari no Shugosha?), is a group nominally consisting of sevenKeyblade wielders that is first referenced inKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
Story[edit]
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]
Following their sealing of the sevenSleeping Keyholes,Sora andRiku both end up inThe World That Never Was. While the former is put into a deep slumber byXemnas,Xigbar, andYoung Xehanort, Riku escapes from within Sora's dreams and arrives in the real world. Reaching the castle and meeting up withKing Mickey, Riku faces Young Xehanort before the other members of thereal Organization XIII appear and taunt the heroes.Master Xehanort then reveals his plans to them: while he had originally attempted to create theχ-blade and summonKingdom Hearts usingVentus andVanitas, this was not the proper method; instead, a clash between thirteenhearts ofdarkness and seven hearts oflight would create the χ-blade and allow Xehanort to properly accomplish his goals. He then states that, should the heroes want to protect the sevenPrincesses of Heart, they would need to gather seven guardians of light to defend the princesses and face the darkness.
Mickey hypothesizes that the guardians could include himself, Sora, Riku, and his three lost friends (Terra,Aqua, and Ventus), but cannot think of a seventh. Xehanort then contradicts this count, claiming that Sora and Terra, the latter of whom he refers to as "another on your list", belong to the Organization. Just as Xehanort prepares to send a piece of his heart into Sora to create the thirteenth vessel,Lea arrives to help the heroes escape, later joined byDonald andGoofy. Having been thwarted from claiming Sora, Xehanort tasks both groups with filling in their numbers before they meet again as destined.
Later, after Riku rescues Sora from theArmored Ventus Nightmare, Lea reveals that he has been training to use aKeyblade, and surprisingly manages to summon his Keyblade,Bond of the Blaze, as he speaks.Yen Sid then tells Riku to bringKairi to him, where he declares her to be another guardian of light.
Kingdom Hearts III[edit]
Yen Sid sends both Lea and Kairi toMerlin, where the two are trained in order to join the guardians of light and be able to battle against thereal Organization XIII in equal footing. Meanwhile, both Riku and Mickey seek out a way to rescue Aqua from theRealm of Darkness, while Sora travels to other worlds in order to regain his lostpower of waking. In time, he joins Riku and Mickey as the former battles againstAnti-Aqua, and succeeds in expunging the dark influence from Aqua and rescuing her from the dark realm. Aqua and Sora then head toCastle Oblivion, which Aqua then reverts back into theLand of Departure, to retrieve and awakenVentus. However, their efforts are halted byVanitas, who seeks to take Ventus's heart for himself. While Aqua fends off the dark warrior, Sora is able to use the power of waking to restore Ventus's heart to hisbody, prompting an outnumbered Vanitas to flee. Lea and Kairi finish their training around the same time, allowing the seven guardians of light to be properly convened and reunited with old friends.Donald Duck andGoofy, despite their lack of Keyblades, are also dubbed guardians of light.
The guardians of light head for theKeyblade Graveyard the next day, greeted byMaster Xehanort, Young Xehanort,Ansem,Xemnas, and Vanitas, who send a large wave ofHeartless,Nobodies andUnversed to wear them down. Despite overcoming the army of creatures, the guardians are confronted byTerra-Xehanort, who intends to extract their hearts by force. While Ventus and Lea are knocked out by him, Donald manages to repel their foe by channeling all his stamina into a Zettaflare spell. However, aDemon Tide appears and swallows all the guardians for theLich to take their hearts. Sora manages to hang on thanks to Kairi's power and restores himself, saving his friends. The guardians once again face Terra-Xehanort, who is repelled by theLingering Will.Xigbar andDark Riku unleash a new wave of Nobodies, Unversed and Heartless to wear down the guardians. However, Yen Sid arrives and uses a wall of light to create a path for the guardians to head after the Organization, though Donald and Goofy stay behind to back-up Yen Sid.
Confronting the Organization at the crossroad of Keyblades, the guardians watch as Xehanort summons a labyrinth from the depths of the ground to serve as the arena for the final battle. In the ensuing battles, Dark Riku is extracted from hisreplica by theRiku Replica of the present, leaving a vessel forNaminé's heart;Xion's present day heart inside Sora takes control of the replica inhabited by her past self;Roxas is revived, after sensing his friends in danger, inhabiting a replicaVexen prepared for him; and Kairi is kidnapped by Xemnas. TheDark Figure turns on Terra-Xehanort, revealing itself as the vessel of Terra's heart. Sora helps restore Terra, who then takes Kairi's place in the group.
Master Xehanort reveals that all the clashes have forged twelve Keyblades and one more clash will create the thirteenth and final one needed to create theχ-blade. Ruthlessly slaying Kairi, Master Xehanort enrages Sora into clashing with him, creating the thirteenth Keyblade, which fuses with the others to become the χ-blade. Xehanort summons Kingdom Hearts to begin his plan, but the arrival of the others guardians gives Riku the idea of trapping Xehanort in the past. While the King, Riku, Lea, Roxas, Xion, Terra, Ventus and Aqua hold off Kingdom Hearts, Sora is joined by Donald and Goofy in sealing Xehanort. This drags them toScala ad Caelum, where they defeat theReplica Xehanorts and Master Xehanort himself in several battles. As Xehanort declares his victory, the other guardians arrive, explaining Kingdom Hearts is closing. The lost heart ofEraqus appears from Terra, convincing Xehanort to admit defeat. Xehanort gives the χ-blade to Sora and departs to the afterlife with his friend. With everyone's help, Sora seals Kingdom Hearts for good, returning everyone to the Keyblade Graveyard and finishing the seven guardians' role. However, Sora uses the power of waking one last time to look for Kairi, rescuing her at the cost of fading away.
Members[edit]
- Sora: A boy fromDestiny Islands who has the ability to wield the Keyblade. With the help of friends, he has saved the world several times.
- Riku: Sora's best friend and a Keyblade Master.
- Mickey: The king ofDisney Castle and a Keyblade Master.
- Lea: The human form ofAxel and one of the new Keyblade wielders under MasterYen Sid andMerlin.
- Kairi: APrincess of Heart, one of Sora's closest loved ones, and one of the new Keyblade wielders under Master Yen Sid and Merlin.
- Aqua: One ofEraqus's students and a Keyblade Master who was brought back from theRealm of Darkness by Sora, Riku, and Mickey.
- Ventus: One of Eraqus's students who was brought back from his sleep by Sora's Power of Waking.
- Terra: One of Eraqus's students. Initially a member of thereal Organization XIII asTerra-Xehanort's vessel, he manages to regain control of his body with the help of Sora. After Xemnas captures Kairi, Terra takes her spot as a guardian of light during the final battle.[1]
- Roxas: Sora's Nobody and a member of the firstOrganization XIII. With the help ofIenzo,Vexen, and others, Roxas manages to obtain a vessel for his heart. After Xemnas injures Lea, Roxas takes his spot as a guardian of light during the final battle.
- Xion: Replica No. i and a member of the firstOrganization XIII. Her past self was restored as a replica by the real Organization. Her past heart was later replaced by her present heart that was within Sora. She temporarily participates in the guardians' final battle.
Gallery[edit]
Original[edit]
Replacements[edit]
Allies[edit]
Artwork[edit]
The Seven Guardians of Light (alongside allies Donald and Goofy) in theKingdom Hearts III manga.
The Seven Guardians of Light (alongside allies Donald and Goofy) in an illustration from the third volume of theKingdom Hearts III novel.
Notes and references[edit]
- ^Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania, pg. 682
