Darkness (13)
Thirteen ancient beings discarded their physical forms, prompting a plan to imprison them inside hearts and make them vulnerable again.
The thirteen original Darknesses are sentient beings with a history reaching back to the Master of Masters' youth. They abandoned physical form to spread through hearts and avoid ordinary destruction. Their existence is distinct from darkness as a natural force, the Heartless in general, and Xehanort's thirteen chosen vessels.
The Master explains that a formless enemy cannot be defeated in the usual way. His proposed solution is to cultivate hearts capable of containing it. This includes himself and his six apprentices for the seven strongest Darknesses, the five new Union leaders for five more, and the data world for the last.
The later account divides them differently. Dark Road and Union χ reports seven sealed in the lost masters. We see the player character in Union χ trapping four through the data world's connecting passage.
The remaining two were said to have perished in Daybreak Town's destruction, but that report is incomplete. One hid in Ventus and was eventually manifasted as Vanitas. The other Darkness's ultimate fate is unresolved. We do see Darknesses guided Maleficent , kill Strelitzia and speak with Luxu, but its unclear which ones these are.
Related
Tagged in
- Kingdom Hearts (Story & Lore)
- Age of Fairytales (Story & Lore)
- Unversed (Story & Lore)
- Ventus (Characters)