News ► KH 20th anniversary event Q&A masterpost

[SweetYetSalty]

For all we know, the old guy could be Old Sigurd.

You know the mobile game Final Fantasy Dimensions had a Dark Knight named Sigurd. Two mysterious Sigurds in Square mobile games. I smell a conspiracy!

I don't know who that old guy is but he needs a backstory like right now. Sora and friends have been playing on his graveyard for years now. Think about every time you play KH1's opening. Every time you play as Sora collecting coconuts, every time he and Riku race, every time Selphie plays jump ropes, they are doing it on some random old guys grave, mocking him with their happiness. No wonder the islands fell to darkness. Don't blame Riku, it's this guys fault. This needs to be brought to everyone's attention, and I shall not rest until this old guy gets his story told!

 

[Dreq the Dreck]

Oh yeah, that Japan-only popularity poll. That rubbed me the wrong way. The elephant in the room: Japan-only. The most jarring thing: (to my knowledge) it was an unranked poll.

It was a simple "vote for your #1 favorite male and female character". That's really reductive and limiting. This video explains the importance of ranked surveys better than I can, much of which is in the first 70 seconds. We could've learned so much nuance behind those placements, and said placements may have even changed.

 

[*TwilightNight*]

Oh yeah, that Japan-only popularity poll. That rubbed me the wrong way. The elephant in the room: Japan-only. The most jarring thing: (to my knowledge) it was an unranked poll.

It was a simple "vote for your #1 favorite male and female character". That's really reductive and limiting. This video explains the importance of ranked surveys better than I can, much of which is in the first 70 seconds. We could've learned so much nuance behind those placements, and said placements may have even changed.

Exactly. It's good if we take it as a starting basis back then, but if we are talking female characters, Aqua is the one of note. Male characters, Roxas and Sora. So the discussion about popularity in Japan, what is the basis for it? How does one know [insert character] is more popular in the East than the West? What are we critiquing? All Nomura said was that there was fan demand for characters to come back. That could vary. What did he listen to, where, were they discussions amongst fans talking about it, etc. Was it just Roxas and Xion? Because the question itself was asked in a way that makes them the primary focus.

I know for sure that Roxas was the primary target to come back with that demand, considering Nomura hinted it in KHIII itself how everyone misses Roxas and not her (Naminè). And that's definitely meta.

 

[Zettaflare]

For all we know, the old guy could be Old Sigurd.

I thought the same thing too when I first saw him at the end of Union. If Eraqus is really descended from Brain it makes sense for Sigurd to be an old man by the time Xehanort is born in Scala.

 

[Chie]

I never actually considered that before but that would make complete sense. Sigurd is the "blue" of the group!

 

[Squood!]

I never actually considered that before but that would make complete sense. Sigurd is the "blue" of the group!

The blue of what group?

We barely know the guy why are we applying him to a group now

 

[Absent]

Poll contests are weird depending on where you are. The biggest example of East vs West is the Pokémon fandom.

The Subway brothers and Gum Leader Erika are super super popular, meanwhile they’re go under the radar in the West.

 

[Chie]

The blue of what group?

We barely know the guy why are we applying him to a group now

Sigurd is part of an unknown organization that uses wireless communication (the "keyblade secret society" i suppose) and seem to be the protagonists of Missing Link.

I know my bringing up the color thing is kind of a random "me thing" but he's absolutely part of a group.

----

The colors thing is more esoteric but, even though this is a game where you play as your own custom character, there's a member of this group wearing all white in the pre-rendered cutscene in the trailer. We see him and people wearing all red and all green as players in the gameplay bits. This is probably nothing to most people, but it's something I think about. Sigurd is kind of a bluish-purple, and the old man wears a blue robe.

 

[Sign]

It only just hit me that Xaldin may have been a casualty of that last minute decision to revive Roxas and Xion. We all thought it was weird that a character like him who made such a strong impression was suddenly relegated to be a silent bystander, especially when Vexen, who was in a coma alongside him in DDD, was brought on board to the True Organization. Given that Xaldin also has a chess piece in KH3, it seems like the plan was to bring both of them back into the fray. Last minute changes would have led to his role being severely cut, only they forgot or didn't have time to swap out his piece from all those cutscenes.

 

[Face My Fears]

It only just hit me that Xaldin may have been a casualty of that last minute decision to revive Roxas and Xion. Admittedly I am basing this solely on the chess pieces lol. Xaldin's piece is used in the game, so we know he at one point was supposed to be a member of the True Organization XIII but wound up getting his role severely cut and relegated to a silent background character. RAX's pieces, however, were all absent and only used years later for merchandising.

When was Xaldin's piece used? I don't think I saw it in KH3.

I'm pretty sure the same way people got pissed that Dilan and Aeleus were present in KH3, they would get pissed if Xaldin and Lexaeus were used over Roxas and Xion.

Personally, I was hoping for DISNEY or Final Fantasy characters to be the last darknesses instead of rehash Organization.

Anyway, speaking of the 20th Anniversary Event... did they ever say when they were going to release the footage of the event? Is there a confirmed date?

 

[Sign]

When was Xaldin's piece used? I don't think I saw it in KH3.

I'm too lazy to take my own screenshot so here's someone's pic from Reddit (Xaldin's piece is #4):

I'm pretty sure the same way people got pissed that Dilan and Aeleus were present in KH3, they would get pissed if Xaldin and Lexaeus were used over Roxas and Xion.

That's not what I'm saying at all? There is no scenario in which Roxas and Xion would be absent from KH3, but their roles would have differed from the final product based on how the rest of the story and characters were written. I'm proposing that the decision to revive these characters, really just Xion in particular, meant that she now needed a spot in the Organization to accomplish that. Whatever their reasons were, they decided they could not keep all of the members, so someone had to be kicked out in order for Xion to take their place. Xaldin may have been the unfortunate casualty of that decision.

Aeleus settled in nicely in his new role among the support cast as of DDD, so this really has nothing to do with him, or Roxas for that matter as he has a silver piece and likely wouldn't have impacted any decisions surrounding the Org.

Personally, I was hoping for DISNEY or Final Fantasy characters to be the last darknesses instead of rehash Organization.

Anyway, speaking of the 20th Anniversary Event... did they ever say when they were going to release the footage of the event? Is there a confirmed date?

I don't think they've even acknowledged it since the initial announcement lol

 

[Face My Fears]

I'm too lazy to take my own screenshot so here's someone's pic from Reddit (Xaldin's piece is #4):

That's not what I'm saying at all? There is no scenario in which Roxas and Xion would be absent from KH3, but their roles would have differed from the final product based on how the rest of the story and characters were written. I'm proposing that the decision to revive these characters, really just Xion in particular, meant that she now needed a spot in the Organization to accomplish that. Whatever their reasons were, they decided they could not keep all of the members, so someone had to be kicked out in order for Xion to take their place. Xaldin may have been the unfortunate casualty of that decision.

Aeleus settled in nicely in his new role among the support cast as of DDD, so this really has nothing to do with him, or Roxas for that matter as he has a silver piece and likely wouldn't have impacted any decisions surrounding the Org.



I don't think they've even acknowledged it since the initial announcement lol

Well I guess from that screenshot it is Xaldin... but he wasn't necessarily the one that got kicked. There's literally Vexen and Demyx as "reserve members" that are actually voiced in KH3. It's odd that Xaldin had a piece, then was reduced to nothing, when it might have been easier to just use Vexen or Demyx as placeholders.

Although, I suppose Vexen/Demyx were always planned to have their redemption storyline, so Nomura would have known he would never use them.

 

[Sign]

Well I guess from that screenshot it is Xaldin... but he wasn't necessarily the one that got kicked. There's literally Vexen and Demyx as "reserve members" that are actually voiced in KH3. It's odd that Xaldin had a piece, then was reduced to nothing, when it might have been easier to just use Vexen or Demyx as placeholders.

Although, I suppose Vexen/Demyx were always planned to have their redemption storyline, so Nomura would have known he would never use them.

We know for a fact that that piece corresponds to Xaldin since it's on the store listing for the irl chess board on SE's website. The screenshot is just to prove it's in the game.

Yes, I did consider it odd to boot someone out when they had already reserve members. That's why I mentioned they might have had reasons for not wanting to add any more to the roster. We'll never know though lol

Ngl there's little basis for all this but randomly remembering the discrepancy in chess pieces got me thinking.

 

[Squood!]

Personally, I was hoping for DISNEY or Final Fantasy characters to be the last darknesses instead of rehash Organization.

The only character from either side that I can actually see in the Org is Sephiroth, mostly cuz he's the ONLY antagonist FF character we've had here.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

I agree that Xaldin likely was scrapped from the group. I'm not going to pretend he was a character I really cared about, but he fits what Xehanort looks for in a vessel and I'm shocked he was ultimately not chosen, not even for backup. But I don't wanna put the blame just on Roxas and Xion, or in this case Xion. Because for what the original 13 Seekers of Darkness was setting up, she fits.

Young Xehanort wanted Roxas or Sora for that 13 spot. He didn't get either of them. Xion was made specifically to replace Roxas/Sora. She's the plan C to their plans A and B. She can use the Kingdom Key and copy their powers. Thematically she is the Sora/Roxas replacement. They just did a sloppy job of her as a seeker unlike Dark Riku's replica.

I'll say this forever, but the characters that didn't fit were Marluxia, Larxene, and to a lesser extent Demyx. Adding them completely goes against what Xemnas said in DDD, even with the Union X backstories, which is another can of worms.

Still, Xion likely did bump off Xaldin. Sucks for him, but I got Data Xion in ReMind which is better then any Xaldin fight previously so...I wouldn't trade. But could you imagine if Xaldin was the 13th vessel? All that buildup for a Sora replacement and it's Xaldin? You gotta admit that would be hilarious trying to make a big deal out of Xaldin being number 13, I kinda want to see a "what if" scenario of it now.

 

[Face My Fears]

I agree that Xaldin likely was scrapped from the group. I'm not going to pretend he was a character I really cared about, but he fits what Xehanort looks for in a vessel and I'm shocked he was ultimately not chosen, not even for backup. But I don't wanna put the blame just on Roxas and Xion, or in this case Xion. Because for what the original 13 Seekers of Darkness was setting up, she fits.

Young Xehanort wanted Roxas or Sora for that 13 spot. He didn't get either of them. Xion was made specifically to replace Roxas/Sora. She's the plan C to their plans A and B. She can use the Kingdom Key and copy their powers. Thematically she is the Sora/Roxas replacement. They just did a sloppy job of her as a seeker unlike Dark Riku's replica.

I'll say this forever, but the characters that didn't fit were Marluxia, Larxene, and to a lesser extent Demyx. Adding them completely goes against what Xemnas said in DDD, even with the Union X backstories, which is another can of worms.

Still, Xion likely did bump off Xaldin. Sucks for him, but I got Data Xion in ReMind which is better then any Xaldin fight previously so...I wouldn't trade. But could you imagine if Xaldin was the 13th vessel? All that buildup for a Sora replacement and it's Xaldin? You gotta admit that would be hilarious trying to make a big deal out of Xaldin being number 13, I kinda want to see a "what if" scenario of it now.

They could have packaged it as Vanitas as the 13th member. But Xion worked much better and her return resulted in a godly boss fight and theme... and also Xion is queen.

I can't even imagine what DISNEY world Xaldin would fit in. You're right, Xaldin works way better than Marluxia and Larxene. Xemnas was pissed off about traitors and he brings back the top ones? I'm HOPING that there's an explanation in KH4. Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord (and probably Demyx) will have ties to Quadratum/The Foretellers somehow, which will explain why Master Xehanort brought them back. I would love to see the non-Xehanort clone choices being recommendations from Xigbar, who was trying to help the Master of Masters with some plan.

 

[LoneFox]

If Xion wasn't originally planned to be in the new Organization, then Repliku probably wasn't either. When Xehanort decided to bring back replicas, wouldn't he start with the successful one instead of the failure? Also, story-wise, isn't the main purpose of Repliku to provide a replica body for Naminé? Why would she be returning if Roxas and Xion aren't? This means there would have been two members who got booted/sidelined to make room for the replicas, one being Xaldin and the other probably Vexen.

The chess piece was probably left in intentionally, because they didn't want to put Xion on the dark side.

Xemnas was pissed off about traitors and he brings back the top ones?

I think Xehanort wanted as many of his vessels as possible to be keyblade wielders, and prioritized that over past loyalty. This makes sense, because his plan was to start a Keyblade War.

I would love to see the non-Xehanort clone choices being recommendations from Xigbar, who was trying to help the Master of Masters with some plan.

More like pretending to help the MoM while actually doing his own thing. But otherwise this is a good point. It seems clear to me that Luxu originally brought those two into the organization because he knew that they would cause disorder within it.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

They could have packaged it as Vanitas as the 13th member. But Xion worked much better and her return resulted in a godly boss fight and theme... and also Xion is queen.

I can't even imagine what DISNEY world Xaldin would fit in. You're right, Xaldin works way better than Marluxia and Larxene. Xemnas was pissed off about traitors and he brings back the top ones? I'm HOPING that there's an explanation in KH4. Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord (and probably Demyx) will have ties to Quadratum/The Foretellers somehow, which will explain why Master Xehanort brought them back. I would love to see the non-Xehanort clone choices being recommendations from Xigbar, who was trying to help the Master of Masters with some plan.

Honestly I'm surprised Vanitas ranked so low in the Seekers. Given his association with Master Xehanort, he should have been the first non-Xehanort member selected with Xigbar. It felt like the 13th member was suppose to be a shock member and a former hero, given the former choices were Riku, Roxas, and Sora (this makes me wonder when Dark Riku was selected). That would make sense why they would be last to join. Now granted by the time KH3 happens it's not a shock moment but a sloppy rushed one with very little attention to how it happened.

Terra could have worked since they already had the 13 line during the Terranort scene, but Master Xehanort already said they had him in DDD, so timeline wise he couldn't be the one to replace Sora. Given all the Union X tie ins, I'm somewhat surprised number 13 wasn't Ephemer or Strelitzia.

As for why members 9-12 were selected. Xemnas said it was for their "ancient Keyblade legacy" I would have been less critical of it if he had some control over them, but they have full free will to backstab him if they so choose.

If Xion wasn't originally planned to be in the new Organization, then Repliku probably wasn't either. When Xehanort decided to bring back replicas, wouldn't he start with the successful one instead of the failure? Also, story-wise, isn't the main purpose of Repliku to provide a replica body for Naminé? Why would she be returning if Roxas and Xion aren't? This means there would have been two members who got booted/sidelined to make room for the replicas, one being Xaldin and the other probably Vexen.

The chess piece was probably left in intentionally, because they didn't want to put Xion on the dark side.


I think Xehanort wanted as many of his vessels as possible to be keyblade wielders, and prioritized that over past loyalty. This makes sense, because his plan was to start a Keyblade War.


More like pretending to help the MoM while actually doing his own thing. But otherwise this is a good point. It seems clear to me that Luxu originally brought those two into the organization because he knew that they would cause disorder within it.

Dark Riku didn't have to be Riku Replica. They could have used time traveled Riku-Ansem. I don't think Nomura knew who the 13 Seekers were going to be when he came up with the concept. Xaldin and Vexen were both probably options and make more sense then the traitors, especially in the case of Vexen. But they were clearly not finalized which is why they are on bed rest in DDD, unlike obvious choices Xigbar and Saix. I think they were purposely keeping certain slots in the 13 Seekers open in case they wanted to revive a Roxas and Xion, and certain members were placeholders. Ironically we ended up with 15 total members and 12 Replicas. We'll probably never know for sure, all we can do is speculate.

 

[Squood!]

Riku-Ansem is literally just Ansem in a twink body tho

 

[AdrianXXII]

Honestly I feel like Xion must have been planned or at least under strong consideration from early on, even if her inclusion wasn't always guaranteed. The main reason I think this is that the "Real" Organisation 13, seems to largely consist out of Final or Major bosses from previous entries.

Ansem (KH1, Riku: CoM), Marluxia (Sora: CoM), Xemnas (KH1, Sora: DDD), Xigbar/Braig (Aqua: BBS), Master Xehanort (Terra: BBS), Terranort (Terra & Final Ep: BBS), Vanitas (Aqua & Ven: BBS), Young Xehanort (DDD) and Dark Riku as an enemy Riku stand in (KH1, Coded, Days).

Xion not being included would have made her the odd one out. I mean technically with Re:Coded, there'd have also been an argument for there to be a Roxas in the line up, which kinda tracks with him being the original 13th candidate.

Saix, Larxene and Luxord are kind of outliers, though all of them are part of the final Boss "rush" of previous games. Okay with Larxene it's a bit of a stretch...