Ansem Reports

The Ansem Reports are the pages of an extensive report on the Heartless and studies on the heart's behavior that have been scattered across the universe. They were originally written by the philosopher Ansem, the former leader of Hollow Bastion. These reports begin to delve into the ideas of the Heartless, loss of heart, and the existence of Nobodies.

Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with my people's smiles and respect.

But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand.

I believe that Darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times.

Darkness..
Darkness of the Heart.

How is it born?
How does it come to affect us so?

As ruler of this world, I must find the answers.

I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the Darkness.

The experiments caused the test subjects hearts to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are!

My treatments proved no signs of recovery.

I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Sometime later, I went below and was greeted by the most strangest sight.

Creatures that seemed born of Darkness.

What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts to my experiments?

The shadows that crawl beneath the castle...

Are they people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of Darkness?

Or something entirely beyond imagination?

All my knowledge has provided no answer.

One thing that I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples.

They are multiplying underground even as I write this report.

They still need a name.

Those who lack hearts..
I will call them the Heartless.

The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.

I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the heartless become Heartless themselves.

Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles.

Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?

It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?

To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle.

In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something.

Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence.

I had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So, I opened the door.

What I saw on the other side mystified me.

What was that powerful mass of energy?

That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?

A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless.

The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too--the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world.

The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?

I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily.

None of the records even mention such a substance. Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out!

Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place.

There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart. As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless.

By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless. This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing.

The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially.

Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces "gummi blocks." It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel.

We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade." The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.

I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened.

Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart. Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness.

Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses.

My body is too frail for such a journey, but I most do this.

I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.

In opening the door that stores a world's hearts, the wall around that world is broken down. We see this as a shooting star. Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi Blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds.

The cause of a world's wall collapsing is the appearance of the Heartless, but finding a world's door takes time. And robbing a world of its heart is a similar case.

If the door has been closed by the key known as the Keyblade, you probably cannot reach that world's heart again. Before the one with the Keyblade appears in this world, I must take measures to do something.

Supposing that there is a close relationship between the Princesses and the Keyblade, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other...

I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is...

I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.

I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation.

My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied.

In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart.

The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report...)

There are still so many unknown worlds.

The present world.
The world of darkness.
The world of light.

And,
The world in-between.

Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder?

When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go?

Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?

Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears.

However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?

If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere.

An existence neither of darkness nor of light.
An in-between existence.
Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light.

This mystery cannot be easily resolved.
The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one.

But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent.
Therefore I shall call them...

"The non-existent ones."

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