Ansem, Seeker of Darkness is a major antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. He is the Heartless incarnation of Xehanort who is obsessed with Darkness and seeks to prove his superiority over Light. He is also the archenemy of Riku who he possesses in Kingdom Hearts.
He was voiced in Japanese by Akio Ōtsuka (who also voiced Terra-Xehanort and Master Xehanort from Kingdom Hearts III onwards in the same franchise) and in English by Billy Zane and Richard Epcar (who also voices Terra-Xehanort in the same franchise and the Joker in the Injustice franchise and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and also voiced Yhwach in Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- He time traveled into the past giving Young Xehanort the ability to time travel and gave him the mission to gather vessels to possess so they could forge the X-blade which makes him responsible for the formation of the Real Organization 13 and the events of both Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III.
- He manipulated Riku into opening his heart to him allowing him to possess his body and take him as his vessel.
- He stabbed Maleficent with the Keyblade of Heart, which turned her into her Dragon form and ended up causing her to lose her body after being defeated by Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
- Tried to take Kairi’s heart from Sora to complete the Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts.
- After the Keyhole is opened, he attempts to kill Kairi, Donald, and Goofy only to be stopped by Riku resisting his control. He takes back control and sends Riku’s heart to the Dark World
- In the End of the World he attempts to open the door of Darkness to claim Kingdom Hearts and use it to destroy all worlds with the power of Darkness.
- After his defeat a fragment of his consciousness remained in Riku which caused him to take control of his body and kill Lexaus and attempt to take complete control of his heart.
- He fought Riku in an attempt to take over his body again.
- Even after his defeat, his presence was left on Riku as he struggled with controlling his powers, with Riku even turning into the form of Ansem at one point when he fought Roxas.
- After time traveling from the past Ansem once again attempts to convince Riku to join him and when he refused, he attempted to kill him.
- Ansem restrained Riku to prevent him from interfering with Xehanort turning Sora into his be vessel.
- He kidnapped Ansem the Wise and corrupted Aqua, turning her into Anti-Aqua.
- Tries to force Ansem the Wise into finding data for a lost test subject until the latter is rescued by Hayner, Pence and Olette.
- Alongside Xemnas, Young Xehanort, and Master Xehanort they attempt to kill Sora, Riku, and King Mickey during the Keyblade War.
- Despite the high heinous standards of Kingdom Hearts, Ansem stands out due to lower resources with his attempted Omnicide, his role in creating The True Organization, and his personal villainy towards Riku.
- Compare to Xemnas and his original self Master Xehanort who want to use Kingdom Hearts to create a better universe. Ansem want to plunge the entire universe into everlasting darkness. He also doesn't seem to be affected by Master Xehanort's original tragedy like Xemnas was.
- Despite being Heartless, nothing indicates he has any moral agency issue, as he's far too intelligent and has the capacity of positive emotions such as respect toward Riku and Ansem the Wise.
- In fact, there's friendly low intelligent Heartlesses which players can do minigame challenges with. Doubling down that Ansem choose to be evil.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He has some respect for two individuals. One is Ansem the Wise, who unlike Xemnas, he still refers to as Master. The second is Riku, who after their final battle, Ansem admits he is stronger than him. He even reflects on their relationship, all before giving a speech about how there is more to seek in this world & tells both Sora and Riku to move forward and seek it.
- Like Xemnas, his defeat and subsequent death are played for sympathy with Sora showing pity for him and Riku admitting he is going to miss him. In addition he is sent back to the past to be killed and his heart absorbed by Master Xehanort's original heart, reducing him to become just another page of Xehanort's life.
Trivia[]
- Ansem is the only version of Xehanort to be NPE.
External Links[]
- Ansem, Seeker of Darkness on the Disney Wiki
- Ansem, Seeker of Darkness on the Villains Wiki
- Ansem, Seeker of Darkness on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki
