The following is a list of known Keyblade wielders, characters who have successfully wielded a Keyblade in battle. Not included are characters who have held a Keyblade only for it to return to the hand of its true holder, such as Leon or Jack Sparrow, as a Keyblade will refuse to be wielded by anyone without a strong enough heart.
Master Xehanort was a Keyblade Master that devoted himself to the Darkness, and wished to create the χ-blade so that he could obtain Kingdom Hearts. To do that, he devised several schemes, and manipulated the necessary people very carefully. He also formulated several contingency plans in case his original failed. Eventually, he used his Keyblade to extract his heart so that it could enter and take over Terra's body, thus creating Terra-Xehanort, and - after inadvertently sealing away both his and Terra's hearts and memories using his Keyblade - subsequently the Xehanort who would become Ansem's apprentice. After his revival, he plans to use thirteen different versions of himself to clash against seven heroes of light to successfuly create the X-blade.
Master Xehanort's Keyblade has a double-edged appearance with a separated black blade, a black hand-guard and teeth resembling a battle axe. His Keyblade possesses two shafts, making it somewhat unique. It also contains a single eye on its head, similar to that of the Soul Eater and Way to the Dawn.
Master Eraqus was a Keyblade Master who protected the Land of Departure and had Terra, Aqua, and Ventus as pupils. After Aqua became a master, he told her the secret responsibilities that came with such a title.
Aqua is a Keyblade Master who was active before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. Her initial Keyblade is named Rainfell, which later transforms into the Stormfall. Her Keyblades are often between Terra and Ventus' in terms of length. Near the end of Birth by Sleep, she begins using Eraqus' Keyblade after picking it up in a corrupted Land of Departure. Her attempt to save Terra causes her to lose her own Keyblade, and Eraqus's Keyblade becomes her only weapon while she wanders in the Realm of Darkness.
The Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony was unintentionally (and unknowingly) performed between Aqua and Kairi when, as Aqua protected Kairi from Unversed near the castle entrance in Radiant Garden, Kairi touched Aqua's Keyblade.
Master Yen Sid
Although Master Yen Sid has not been shown to wield a Keyblade during the series, he is acknowledged to have been a Keyblade Master. He now watches over the Lanes Between and solicits guidance from the stars. He is also seemingly the original owner of Mickey's Star Seeker Keyblade. Master Eraqus stated Yen Sid retired from his position, but remained active in watching over the Realms of Light and Darkness.Despite his retired status, he can still perform Mark of Mastery Exams to select new Keyblade Masters, such as when he acknowledged Mickey and Riku as Masters following their exams. It could be speculated that if a situation is dire enough, he will take up his Keyblade once again to help fight Master Xehanort and other villians.
Master Mickey Mouse
As an apprentice to Master Yen Sid, Mickey wielded the Star Seeker, a gift from his master. His adventures with Ventus and Aqua comprised his Mark of Mastery exam, and after their disappearance, he returned to the Mysterious Tower, feeling he had failed the exam, his friends, and his master. He returned the Star Seeker to Yen Sid, only for the master to give it to his pupil once more, revealing that Mickey had in fact passed his exam and become a Master.
After the worlds began to disappear due to the Heartless, Mickey set out to find a Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness in order to seal the Door to Darkness alongside a Keyblade from the Realm of Light, and thus stop the Heartless. He obtained the Kingdom Key D during that journey. The Kingdom Key D is identical to Sora's Kingdom Key, except that the colors are reversed, with the hilt being silver and the blade gold. Some Square-Enix materials give this Keyblade the name "Kingdom Key DarkSide".
During the events of Kingdom Hearts coded, King Mickey returned to wielding his Star Seeker.
Riku was the one originally intended to wield Sora's Keyblade, as he had performed the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Terra. However, Riku was initially denied the ability as he chose to submit to darkness, which weakened his heart and caused the Keyblade to choose Sora. Instead, Riku used the Soul Eater, a sword which grew more powerful when used with darkness. Although not a true Keyblade, the Soul Eater is an intermediary for a Keyblade, and possesses many powers that a Keyblade has. When Sora first arrived at Hollow Bastion, Riku was able to temporarily take the Keyblade from him, but Sora's heart later proved stronger, and he reclaimed the Keyblade from Riku.
After being possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, Riku wielded the incomplete Keyblade of People's Hearts, which had been forged from the hearts of six of the seven Princesses of Heart. However, this Keyblade was destroyed when, after defeating Riku, Sora used it to free Kairi's heart from his body.
When Riku encountered Roxas in The World That Never Was, he was again able to temporarily wield a Keyblade, that being Roxas's Oblivion. However, while as a Keyblade Wielder he was able to fight with the weapon, it was not his, and Roxas soon reclaimed it.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Riku's Soul Eater was used as an intermediary for the manifestation of the Way to the Dawn, Riku's true Keyblade. This Keyblade represents Riku's nature as a being of light and darkness, in both name and form.
Terra is a Keyblade apprentice, who was active before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. His initial Keyblade is named Earthshaker, which later transforms into the Ends of the Earth. His Keyblades are often much longer than those of Ventus and Aqua.
Terra initiated the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with Riku on the Destiny Islands - before the destruction of the Land of Departure - and made Riku promise never to tell anyone about it.
Terra's body was later possessed by Master Xehanort, thus giving birth to Terra-Xehanort. Subsequently, Terra's heart (alongside that of his master Eraqus, which had come to reside in Terra after Eraqus' death) began an internal struggle against Xehanort's, which led to Xehanort inadvertently sealing away both their hearts and memories using his Keyblade. At the same time, Terra's mind possessed his former Keyblade Armor, creating the Lingering Will.
After Master Xehanort possessed Terra's body and became Terra-Xehanort, he retained the ability to summon his original incarnation's Keyblade, though he wielded it as Terra would have. Terra-Xehanort used his original incarnation's Keyblade to fight the Lingering Will and Aqua. After being defeated, Terra's heart began to fight back, causing Xehanort to stab himself in order to rid himself of Terra. However, this did not work as intended, and instead sealed both their memories and subsequently the ability to wield a Keyblade, leading Terra-Xehanort to forget everything but the name Xehanort for a period of time.
After Master Xehanort possessed Terra's body and became Terra-Xehanort, Terra's soul was left within his armor, giving it life and turning it into the Lingering Will. Being a remnant of Terra, it is able to wield his Ends of the Earth Keyblade.
Ventus is a Keyblade apprentice, who was active before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. His initial Keyblade is named Wayward Wind ("Fresh Breeze" in Japanese). His Keyblades are often shorter than those of Terra and Aqua.
During their final battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, Vanitas possessed Ventus's body in order to summon and wield the χ-blade. However, Ventus destroyed it in the Dive to the Heart using his own Keyblade. When Aqua tried to figure out where she should leave Ven's heart deprived body, it summoned Wayward Wind to open the pathway to the ruined Land of Departure.
As a being created from the darkness of Ventus's heart, Vanitas had the power to carry a Keyblade of his own, which is known as Void Gear. It bears a strong resemblance to Riku and Master Xehanort's Keyblades. It is mostly various shades of grey and red, with a gear-like shaped hilt and tip, and blue eyes in the center of the guard and near the top of the blade.
Aside from his own Keyblade, he also wielded the legendary χ-blade. This was believed to be more powerful than any Keyblade, but was ultimately destroyed by Aqua (in the Keyblade Graveyard) and Ventus (in the transformed Dive to the Heart station). Vanitas seemingly met his end when both the physical and mental manifestations of the weapon were destroyed. However, it is possible that he survived in some capacity, as he has appeared in one of the trailers for Dream Drop Distance.
Sora gained the ability to wield the Keyblade when the Keyblade rejected Riku's heart and chose Sora as it's wielder.
Sora's Keyblade is a Keyblade from the Realm of Light, and first appeared before him as his home world, Destiny Islands, was consumed by the Heartless. Its default form is the Kingdom Key, which uses a Hidden Mickey as its token.
Sora is sometimes able to use other wielders' Keyblades. For example, when fighting Roxas, he was able to steal Roxas's Oathkeeper and Oblivion, making a total of three Keyblades. Also, at one point during their final battle with Xemnas, Riku lent his Way to the Dawn to Sora.
Riku handed his Destiny's Embrace to Kairi at The World That Never Was in order to protect Sora. Kairi used this Keyblade to fight against the Heartless for one battle in The World That Never Was. The reason Kairi was able to wield a Keyblade is that she touched Aqua's Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, which initiated a Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony.
As of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Kairi begins training with Master Yen Sid in order to become a full-fledged Keyblade warrior and prepare herself for the upcoming battle against Master Xehanort.
As the Nobody of Sora, Roxas was also able to wield the Kingdom Key. In fact, Roxas was able to wield the Keyblade at the same time as Sora because his Keyblade was "lost" by Sora in Castle Oblivion. As Organization XIII's "Key of Destiny", Roxas was the only member actually able to collect hearts. Like the other Organization members, Roxas was able to modify the form of his weapon using Gears.
In order to duplicate this ability and replace Roxas with an even more compliant puppet, the Organization created the Replica, Xion. Xion gradually leeched Roxas's powers over the Keyblade, but when the two were forced into mortal combat, Roxas eventually defeated her and reabsorbed his lost powers. This awakened his latent Synch Blade ability, which enabled him to wield both the Oathkeeper and Oblivion, which represent Sora's memories of Kairi and Riku. As Roxas essentially is Sora, Sora is also able to use Synch Blade.
Due to the constant lies the Organization had been feeding him about Xion and himself, Roxas left the group and eventually returned to Sora, leading them to attempt to use Sora's Keyblade for their own goals.
Xion, the fourteenth member of Organization XIII, could wield a Keyblade due to the fact that she was a Replica of Roxas, and thus an indirect Replica of Sora. She was created from the memories belonging to Sora that Roxas holds. She was able to use a false Kingdom Key to manipulate the power of light in the same way as Sora and Roxas. She became best friends with Roxas and Axel, sharing sea-salt ice cream with them on top the Twilight Town station tower. Xion chose to end her life and give Roxas back his powers that she had taken, asking him to free Kingdom Hearts from the Organization's grasp.
Similar to his real-world counterpart, Data-Sora wielded the Kingdom Key, albeit a data version. He utilized this weapon to fend off Heartless and Bug Blox. Data-Sora gained the Keyblade in the data Awakening, but lost it when the real Maleficent destroyed it in data Agrabah. However, even though he was merely a data construct, the strength of his heart recreated the Keyblade in data Hollow Bastion. Like the original Sora, he lost his memories after his first adventure, but was helped by King Mickey in discovering the secrets of the mysterious message in Jiminy's Journal.
His fate was left unclear, but it is assumed that he still resides within the Journal as an entry.
Young Xehanort is a version of Master Xehanort from another era and was trained to travel in time by "Ansem". He acts as an obstacle to Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam, along with Ansem and Xemnas. He is able to use a Keyblade that uses the combined designs of Master Xehanort's Keyblade and the No Name Keyblade.
Young Xehanort cannot wield a Keyblade on his own. Master Xehanort was possesing Young Xehanort. Which means Master Xehanort was tapping into his own power to produce a keyblade.
Lea is the original persona of Axel. When his Nobody vanished, Lea was revived. He gained the ability to wield a Keyblade after requesting that Yen Sid let him train to become a Keyblade wielder. Assisted by Merlin and the Three Good Fairies, Lea underwent hastened training in a place where time flowed differently. He later assisted Riku and Sora in their Mark of Mastery exam, when they were confronted by the newly-revived Master Xehanort and the new Organization XIII. After Yen Sid named Riku a Keyblade Master, Lea finally managed to summon his Keyblade for the first time. His Keyblade is currently unnamed and contains design elements of the two keyblades made attainable through contact with Lea. The lower portion of Lea's keyblade looks like that of the keyblade Bond of Flame as well as his Chakrams. The blade and teeth resemble a line of fire extending out and curling back, like a less stylized version of the keyblade Frolic Flame, minus the cartoon face at the base.
The Foretellers are a mysterious group of Keybalde Wielders who lead the five unions—Anguis, Leopardos, Unicornis, Ursus, and Vulpeus. Their are five Foretellers in total, each with their own unique appearance based on their union.
The protagonists of Kingdom Hearts χ are a group of Keyblade Wielders who were alive at the time of the Keyblade War. They each belong to one of the unions.
Fake Keyblade wielders
Armor of the Master
An Unversed created from the powerful lingering thoughts and feelings of Vanitas, who had been destroyed by his other half and Aqua.
The Vanitas Remnant has the power to carry a Keyblade of its own, that being a monochrome version of Vanitas' Keyblade, the Void Gear. It is much more powerful than the original as it is fueled by the dark feelings Vanitas left behind, making it much less willing to leave openings for a counter-attack.
AntiSora and Sora's Heartless
AntiSora, a Heartless made by Riku to mimic Sora's appearance and abilities, carried a shadow-copy of the Kingdom Key.
Sora's Heartless, a digital manifestation of Sora's time as a Heartless, could take on the AntiSora's shape in its latter phases, and also wielded a fake Keyblade.
During one of Zexion's schemes in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, he disguised himself as Sora and used a fake Kingdom Key to envelop Riku in light. Later, when his plan failed, he decided to fight with Riku. During their battle, he stole Riku's cards and made copies of the Soul Eater for he and his clones to use. He also made Dummy Cards, which were used to stun Riku.
In Kingdom Hearts II, when Genie became a summon partner for Sora, he was able to copy Sora's Drive forms and wield his own copy of the Keyblade. In each form, he could perform a different kind of attack. This Keyblade was attached to his tail, as if Genie was the Keychain.
Mimic Master's Fakes
In Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, the Mimic Master could be fought in the Mirage Arena. Mimic Master was able to create copies of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, which possessed their moves and their original Keyblade.
The Riku Replica is a copy of Riku who can wield a copy of his Soul Eater.
Anti-Riku is a dark copy of Riku who only appears in the multiplayer mode of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Like Riku in the final boss fight, Anti-Riku wields the Oblivion, though, it is much darker than the ordinary version of the Keybalde.
- Despite the fact that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness wielded the Keyblade of People's Hearts for a short time, he should not be considered a Keyblade wielder because he was using Riku (an actual Keyblade wielder) as a medium for handling the weapon.
Notes and references
- ↑ KINGDOM HEARTS MASTER ARMS KINGDOM KEY DarkSide
- ↑ Director's Secret Report XIII, p. 28; Tetsuya Nomura: "There isn't necessarily one Keyblade for the dark side and one for the light side, just as many as there exist people with qualified hearts. Concerning the conditions to wield one, at this stage, 'those with strong hearts' is the only obvious one. However, less obvious conditions still exist and there are still plans for an opportunity to reveal those. Riku's 'Way to the Dawn' and Kairi's Keyblade are naturally the same type of Keyblade as Sora's. However there is no particular explanation for the Soul Eater's transfer and occurrence, as well as Riku's handing it to Kairi. When there isn't a normal process of acquisition, I think it's okay to think there is some deeper meaning there."