358/2 Days Countdown: XII

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Published on September 18, 2009 @ 03:07 pm

Written by Raz

Howdy, folks!

We hope you've been having as much fun participating in the Organization XIII countdown as we've had writing it! Finally, the fans get a chance to voice their opinions on the front page! And now, a personal favorite - Number 12, Larxene:

What We Know So Far:

Larxene was introduced in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. She is the only female in Organization XIII, most known for her strong personality (and strong is putting it lightly). She enjoys nothing more than putting others down. It's obvious she gets a thrill out of watching her victims squirm beneath her venomous words. Some would even call her a sadist. After all, she was seen reading Marquis De Sade in the Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories manga. On top of it all, every insult is backed up with several devious giggles.

Larxene was one of the upper-floor members in Castle Oblivion. She was in cahoots with Axel and Marluxia in a conspiracy attempt to take over the Organization. They would do this by using Naminé to manipulate Sora into being their slave. This brutal blond showed little respect to her elders, calling Vexen's experiments pointless "toys". During her first encounter with Sora she was quick to remind him, "I'm a bad guy, so you'll have to go through me!" The cloaked woman even went as far threatening to smash his good luck charm from Naminé.

Axel's betrayal of the conspirators against the Organization left Larxene furious. She mocked Sora's feelings for "that witch" Naminé. She even hauled out and slapped her! In the end, however, it was Larxene's taunts that lead to her demise. Sora, enraged by her lies, vanquished the antennae sporting Nobody.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen or heard much about the fiery tempered Larxene. The only clip we have seen of her in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days shows her on a mission with Roxas in Twilight Town. Does this portend that the Chain of Memories members will have a premature exit in Days? No matter how big her role, Larxene is guaranteed to remain her same nasty self, though. When it comes to gameplay, Larxene is like lightening - striking hard and fast with her vividly colored knives.

What the Fans Think:

Despite her electrically charged demeanor (or more likely because of it), many fans have grown to love to hate Larxene. She brought some well needed estrogen to the Organization. Finally there was someone around to let Sora know just how stupid he was acting!

*TwilightNight* is a resident fan of the snarky villainess, and manager of the Larxene Fan Club. Here's what she has to say -

Before getting into the high lights of why Larxene is amazing from my point of view, from what we've been given, at least, I have to admit that when you count the original GBA Chain of Memories, I wasn't a fan of her. This was not because I hated the character; it was because I never knew about her in her entirety. In that long gone point in time, I didn't, and still don't, have CoM. All I could do was read the overall plot progress and plot points in writing. Or in the script, and minor videos. Those were my sources. I could recall somewhat being interested in her character, as she isn't exactly hard to miss in a lot of ways, along with some other members. But I wasn't such a huge fan of the series. It was mostly something I kept up from with time to time. I was also, as hard to believe, focused on Sora being my favorite character, and when I have one, I usually am completely into that specific person, so I didn't blink twice when I knew of Larxene. It wasn't love at first sight. However, that all changed once KHII: FM+ came into existence, and with it, we were given Re: CoM. What better way to know a character than in full 3D glory compared to sprites and bubble boxes?

And, thus, sparked (pun intended) my heart into loving that glorious woman with those two forelocks sticking out of her head.

What quickly went through my mind was that this female, from all the limited original girl characters KH had to offer, was different. Whether people take it the good way or bad way, it's up to them. Me? I took it in a good way. As I said, completely different. Different from the typical stereotypes that we've been given so far. This one wasn't sweet, wasn't innocent, wasn't a do-gooder, wasn't nice, wasn't emo, wasn't quiet, wasn't a damsel in distress, wasn't the usual cookie-cutter sugar like the rest of them. She wasn't the same old song. Nor did she remotely looked like another Kairi, thank God, considering we're what, at our fourth now? (though much love to Olette too) While we can predict that each girl in the series would do the "right thing" in the end, we got a contrast where it's more of a guess. Rather, this female wouldn't bother with anything good, actually. She does what she wants. Yes. Larxene was mean, she was nasty, she was boisterous, she was flirty, she was without scruples, she was the first real fighter with boobs, she was tough, she was arrogant. And she was a bitch, admittedly, and I loved every minute of it. This female can rip you a new one. Who else would make her first appearance and kick Sora with high heeled boots deep in his gut? And twice. Between Kairi/Naminé/Olette, Larxene was the utter and polar opposite of them that stood out on her own. I don't call her the anti-princess regime for no reason. She was unique among them. She was a breath of fresh air <--- something that I gladly took, since while I do love Naminé, and am neutral to Kairi, none really were any fun. While Larxene's actions are negative (but who's isn't in the Organization? The only distinction that separated her was that she laughed), she provided a sense of entertainment with it, because she was so out there.

Her personality shone through the screen. They made an incredible choice for her Japanese VA, because it's through Yuko Miyamura that she truly comes alive. Once I heard that evil laugh, it marked the first time I really was into a character in KH. And as I continued to shift through Re: CoM video and Re: CoM video, my mind was made up. She was awesome. For playing a villain, she succeeded. We can all agree that Larxene is cold, ruthless, enjoys seeing others make fool of themselves, whether she provided the bait or not, hurts feelings, and taunts a lot of people to get a reaction. All the while chuckling. Along with being quite bossy and domineering. In fact, this is what everyone else who loves her prefer the most: the callous vixen, after all. You would think the amount of negatives will make her dislikeable, when instead, it actually works for her. She's a bitch, that much is true, and has traces of sadistic personality disorder. But we were presented with more than that. There are other aspects to her character, even to the little things. She can actually make jokes, is very outgoing. She has this childlike quality about her, very playful, and seen smiling, laughing, and giggling. She takes on a lot of exaggerated movements, mannerism, and expressions. When she's actually not furthering her and Marluxia's plan, or giving someone hell, or if she doesn't mind your company, you get a...laid-back chick, as we've seen when she interacts with the other members (minus Vexen). She almost appears approachable. Larxene showed disappointment, with of course, anger, when everything fell apart. But under all these traits, there was one thing that stood out, at least to me: her death. Perhaps it was her VA again, yet, for playing and being an antagonist, her erasure wasn't the typical one we see when we think of a great evil being killed. What did happen was that she was desperately trying to stop herself from fading, her face wasn't all high and mighty anymore, the only time where she looked like she might be vulnerable, for once, and her voice was sad. I thought for a moment that she was about to cry, actually. It reminded me of Saïx's own death, where you never saw coming him kneeling and reaching for the moon, begging for his actual Heart. It's interesting that this happens when they are dying (Larxene and Saïx actually weren't the only two to show a sort of emotion at their end), but that's besides the point.

Basically, I believe she had the potential needed to be a complex female character. And, ultimately, explored. Merely because there are so many paths and roads that are open for development depending on where you want to take it when it comes to her. She would have been incredible if given depth, and hopefully, this won't mean that she'll be wussified like Axel was. Whether we love to hate her, hate to love her, just hate, or just love, I would still like my bitch, first and foremost, thanks.

In regards to 358/2 Days, I never expected much screen time due to circumstance shown (CoM so early, and then the trailers telling us that we were not going to focus on the Organization members and add to their lack of depth with the way the concentration was going). Yet, from what I've witnessed, on the Larxene side of things, I would be, and was, satisfied to see her, despite the short amount of time before she moves to CO. She was even thoughtful at one point, the rare cases where she showed there was more than she seemed, perhaps. I've also always wondered how she treats Roxas, so we got that.

What I'm most looking forward to, though, is the multiplayer. I cannot wait to kick ass as Larxene. And I've heard some good points on her gameplay, some that I've seen for myself. It looks fun and epic. She's wicked fast, to the point that enemies, barely, if at all, touch her. This enables her to gather the most gems and prices, which works if you're in a group. She even does a few gymnastics with her fighting, doing cartwheels, mid-air spins, etc. She's not the most balanced character, or so I've been told, but the panel system works for you to equip and set her stats and strength up, so she can be Godlike if driven to the right level. And weapons also aid in.

I can't wait to get this in my DS ^^.

Needless to say, Larxene left a lasting impression on me, and as of now, she remains my topmost favorite character.

Some fans just can't see what's so great about Larxene. They find her rudeness unappealing. It pains them to see their favorite characters physically abused. Before Larxene, no villain had had the gall to bitch-slap a leading lady! Any Larxene hater will be quick to cite the fact that her VA is, in fact, the Wendy's girl.

"I should tell you that I am in an EXTREMELY foul mood."

Conclusion:

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days comes out on September 29th in the USA, and on October 9th in Europe. It's not too much longer until we get the chance to whoop Heartless as the Savage Nymph!

Head on over to our forums to get your opinions on the front page!