Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Ansem (アンセム, Ansemu), also known as "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness" (闇の探求者 アンセム, Yami no Tankyūsha Ansemu), is Xehanort's Heartless born from Terra-Xehanort. His physical appearance closely resembles that of a youthful Master Xehanort. He served as the main antagonist of Kingdom Keymasters and Riku's "Reverse/Rebirth" story in Chain of Memories and as one of the main antagonists in Kingdom Keymasters 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Due to him having intentionally separated his heart from his body and soul before he gave into the darkness, Ansem retained his self-hood, and intelligence after his transformation into a Heartless. Because he could think out his plans and pass for a human, he was able to destroy nearly every world in the universe without revealing his identity, up until he confronted Sora at the Final Keyhole in Hollow Bastion. Due to his unique "birth", Xehanort's Heartless appeared to have characteristics of both the Emblem and Pureblood Heartless, though it is unclear exactly which category he falls under.

"So, you have come this far, and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!"
 * —Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Richard Epcar (English), Akio Otsuka (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Deutsch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

Appearance
Before possessing Riku, Ansem was little more than a wandering heart and could only appear as a figure in a brown hooded robe. This robe has two dark brown straps crossing over his shoulders and chest with five metal studs lining either strap. Due to his lack of a body, he appears much shorter and crippled in this form and wears the robe's hood up to hide his lack of a face.

Like his Nobody counterpart, Ansem shares Xehanort's tan skin, orange eyes, and long white hair. However, his hair is smoothed back into three spikes on the top and sides of his head and lacks Xehanort's bangs and messy appearance.

Ansem wears a black, high-collared, leather coat that has a red interior and yellow lining. This coat is grey from the waist down and has several buttons lining the hips, a belt around his waist, and a second one that extends from the waist and up to the collar to connect to several smaller straps. The four shorter straps are buttoned to either side of the front of the collar while the remaining ones are buttoned to the shoulders to form spaulders. A black leather pauldron is attached to each spaulder by three buttons and two straps that button the the rim of the coat and two more that cross over his upper back. On his upper chest is the Heartless emblem in the form of a brooch that holds the outer coat together in place of a zipper or buttons. Underneath this coat, Ansem wears a white, thigh-length vest. This vest is also high-collared and exposes most of Ansem's chest, with three black buttons and two thin belts near his waist closing it up while the three remaining buttons below are undone.

In addition, Ansem wears wide-brimmed, white gloves with three buttons lining the forearms and a grey band on either wrist. He also wears black pants and black that are tucked into knee-high boots with silver trimming and high concave indentations in the top.

Because Ansem was born from the heart of Master Xehanort, his overall appearance is nearly identical to a younger version of Master Xehanort and his clothes are extremely similar to his original incarnation's standard attire.

When Ansem transforms into the World of Chaos, he becomes titanic in size-standing at approximately twenty five feet tall-and monstrous in appearance. His clothes are gone, save for an organic-looking material resembling black muscle tissue that covers his legs and feet. This material has thick yellow cords in it that outline glossier sections of the material and the soles of his feet. His eyes are completely orange, and he is connected to his Guardian by seven organic-looking cords that extend from its open torso (which co. These cords are black in color and fade into red at the base. The Heartless emblem that was originally on Ansem's chest is now attached to the cords attached to his back which he can use to seal himself when resting in the Guardian's chest cavity. In addition, he wields a staff as long as he is that resembles two Soul Eater's fused at the hilt, with the blades facing opposite directions.


 * Hair Color: White
 * Skin Color: Tan
 * Eye Color: Orange
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Ansem is, thus far, one of only three Heartless with human-level intelligence, the others being Sora's Heartless and Black Doom. His knowledge of the worlds and hearts shows that Xehanort's keen intellect has survived the transition into a Heartless. However, what little shreds of humanity remained in the researcher have been obliterated. Ansem is cold, calculating, and utterly ruthless. He treats people and their hearts as either tools to be manipulated and disposed of, or of nothing more than cattle for himself and his ravenous Heartless legions. He reveres power and knowledge above all things, and despises ignorance.

The only times when his voice rises above a cold, monotonous drone is when he is berating Sora for his foolishness, or reveling in his latest triumph. However, the scientific genius of Ansem was blinded by obsession with the darkness. His arrogance ultimately led to his destruction when the door to Kingdom Hearts opened, and his greatest thesis was, in the end, proved wrong.

Because Ansem was born from the heart of Master Xehanort, he appears to share most of his personality traits with the elderly Keyblade Master, demonstrated by his choice of words when facing Sora, and his desire to find, open, and become one with Kingdom of Hearts itself.

Abilities
Ansem is shown to possess numerous abilities mainly with the Darkness and the Heartless. He is shown to travel through time as well as possessing people by taking over their bodies such as possessing Riku. He possesses the ability to open the Corridor of Darkness as well as summon Xehanort's Guardian which originally belonged to Terra-Xehanort, in conjunction with Xehanort's Guardian, he is able to transform into a huge and powerful Heartless called World of Chaos. He also can disguise himself and has shown to be able to teleport and open Keyholes. Ansem can also enter the world of Sleep.

Weapons
Ansem uses no single exclusive weapon, though, after possessing Riku to attain a physical form, he uses the Keyblade of People's Hearts created from the six captured hearts of the Princesses of Heart. However, he can only use this weapon while possessing the body of a Keyblade wielder (even through he was created by the heart of a Keyblade Master). Later, in his World of Chaos form, he wields a weapon as massive as he is, created from two Soul Eaters combined at the handle, facing opposite directions.

When fought on his own, he simply uses the power of darkness to attack from a distance while his Guardian protects and attacks for him in battle, using no physical weapon. When Riku takes on Ansem's form after the events of 358/2 Days, he uses Soul Eater and later Way to the Dawn, just as he does normally.