The Story Of Roxas

Kingdom Hearts as a whole is very complicated and long. I could write out the length of a term paper to explain the whole story, and it still wouldn’t make sense. One thing KH fans can’t deny is that some of the characters have the most compelling stories in the series. While, Roxas may be the other half of Sora, he is quite the opposite of him, since Sora is happy and quirky and Roxas is troubled and unsure of himself.

Now, I can’t exactly talk about Roxas without mentioning Ventus, However that is a whole other story unto itself and even I don’t fully understand it. However, I will talk about Ventus in brief detail. During the events of Birth By Sleep, three keyblade wielders fought a battle with Master Xehanort and Venitas. In the process Ventus’ heart left his body, and in order to stay alive, he melded with Sora’s heart. Aqua then took Ventus’ body and locked it deep within a castle in hopes she could wake him up once again.

Years later, during the events of Kingdom Hearts, Sora stabs himself with the Keyblade of Heart to save the life of his childhood friend Kairi. Although, Kairi was able to revive Sora moments later after he was turned into a Heartless. But, since Sora sacrificed himself and turned into a Heartless, his Nobody was created, thus Roxas was born. Confused and unaware of where and who he is, Roxas is then approached by a man in a black cloak, who gives him his name. A name which is Sora rearranged with an X in between. The man we learn to be as Xemnas, leader of Organization XIII, and the nobody of Xehanort himself. He promises Roxas that he can give him purpose if he joins him.

Roxas joins, becoming the 13th member. He is shy and doesn’t talk to the other members. Roxas, at this point, is still a little unaware of who he is. Xemnas starts giving him tasks to start training, since he can wield a keyblade. A man in the organization named Axel is paired up with him, almost as a babysitter, to keep an eye on him. The wisecracking Axel slowly gets Roxas to open up more when he buys them ice cream after the mission. Buying ice cream and sitting at the clock tower in Twilight Town after every mission becomes a routine for them, which starts their friendship. Various organization members are assigned with Roxas over time to teach him how to fight Heartless as well as explain to him the purpose of the organization is to collect hearts. When Axel has to go off on a secret mission for xemnas, Roxas is paired with a new member of Organization XII

Just like Roxas, Xion was quiet and didn’t say a word to anyone for days at a time. After a couple days of working together, Xion said her first word “Roxas.” After that day, Xion let her hood down and opened up more to Roxas, which started their friendship. One day, Roxas and Xion encountered a new and stronger Heartless than they ever have before. It was then Xion found out she could also wield the Keyblade, which shocked Roxas. Finally Roxas had someone he could relate to and that made their friendship grow stronger. He then buys her ice cream and shows Xion the spot on top of the clock tower where he and Axel spent their time. Xion shared with him that she also has no memory of who she is or what they are.

The next day, Roxas went on a mission with Xigbar, but he fell unconscious before the mission even started, which caused him to be in a coma for several weeks. Which came as a result of Sora going into the memory pod in the events of Chain of Memories. In that time, Xion visited Roxas many times, placing seashells next to him that she found on her missions to the Destiny Islands. When Roxas wakes up, he meets Xion at the clock tower. There, she gives him a seashell she found on a mission. He holds the shell up to his ear to listen to the sounds of the ocean, which awakens a memory of a boy and a girl side by side at a beach. A memory of which is not his own, but Sora’s memory. This occurred as a side effect of the memory restoration project happening to Sora.

Later, Roxas was surprised when he sees Axel, as he was told the members who went on the mission with Axel were killed. Roxas expresses to him that he was worried about him and his sudden disappearance. Axel finds this confusing since Nobodies like them aren’t supposed to have emotions or feelings. Nobodies don’t have hearts and therefore can’t have emotions of any kind.

Days go by and Roxas hasn’t seen Xion since the day Axel came back. However, the three of them find Xion, while fighting a Heartless. Xion explains to him that she can no longer wield a keyblade. Axel, gives a solution that Roxas can go on missions with Xion, collecting double the amount of hearts to make up for Xion until she figures out how to get it back. While that plan works for a time, Xion eventually leaves the organization to find answers to questions about who she is. Roxas goes on a search to find her but comes up with nothing, until days later when he finds her in Twilight Town being cold and distant to him. Axel appears and fights with Xion, and brings her back to the organization. This leaves Roxas confused on what’s going on.

Roxas tries to seek help from Xemnas and asks him where Xion is. Xemnas doesn’t give him any straight answer. However, their conversation triggers a name in Roxas’ mind “Sora.” Roxas goes into another coma, now that the restoration project is more than halfway done. Roxas sees the memory of Donald and Goofy leaving Sora’s side. When he wakes up, a tear falls down his face since he feels he lost Axel and Xion as his friends. For the first time, Roxas feels sadness. Xion returns, and upon that return Roxas gets weaker day by day while Xion grows stronger. Xemnas then reveals to Roxas that Xion is nothing more than a literal puppet created by the organization to harness the power of the keyblade. Roxas hides away trying to figure out why he is in the organization. Is the organization corrupt? Is he also a puppet? Did Axel know the whole time?

Roxas confronts Axel about what he knows, and to see if he has answers on who he is. Axel tells him that he can’t tell him and that the truth is not worth knowing. Roxas feels anger for the first time from this conversation and runs away from him and the organization. The organization tries to retaliate by attacking Roxas during his escape, but he gets away anyway. Axel catches up to him to try and reason with him and bring him back. Telling him that the organization will destroy him if he turns his back on him. Roxas tells him “No one will miss me.” and leaves. Axel then says to himself “that’s not true, I would.”

With nowhere else to go, Roxas goes to the clock tower. Xion appears with her hood up and they share ice cream together one last time. Xion explains to him that she has to return to Sora and return his memories to him. Roxas is confused by her response, but she takes off her hood and her face is not her own but the face of Sora. She tells Roxas that he needs to return to Sora as well. Roxas fights for his life against Xion.

Roxas defeats Xion but slowly loses memories of her. She is returning to Sora and says her goodbyes. She tells him to not let Xemnas have Kingdom Hearts and all the hearts they captured have to be freed. Before she can finally die, Roxas remembers her and is trying to save her as best he can but to no hope. Her final words to him “I’ll see you again.”

Roxas takes both his and Xion’s keyblades and transforms them into both the Oblivion and Oathkeeper keyblades, dual wielding for the first time. He tries to return to the organization to finally end Xemnas and free the hearts, but he is stopped by a strange man in a black cloak and covered eyes. The man Kingdom Hearts fans know as Riku. Riku tries to take Roxas with him so he is not destroyed by Organization XIII and can return Roxas to Sora. Roxas almost defeated Riku, however Riku awakened a power of darkness inside of him to one up Roxas.

Roxas wakes up in a bed in Twilight Town. His memories are reconfigured of a life he hasn’t lived but are nonetheless normal. This starts the events of Kingdom hearts 2. Over the next seven days, pieces of his memories are returning to him, but none of them about Xion. He meets a young girl named Namine who explains to him that he is part of a project to try and revive Sora and his memories. Axel comes to see Roxas to try and help bring back his memories. Roxas eventually learns that he is in a simulation of Twilight Town. Towards the seventh day, Roxas searches the abandoned mansion to find answers. There, Axel confronts him to try and bring him back one last time. Roxas brings out his two keyblades, which surprises Axel. Upon Axel’s defeat, Roxas tells him he will see him again, and Axel retreats. Roxas then finds a hidden room that holds Sora’s memory pod. He is then confronted by a man named Diz. Diz finally explains to Roxas that he is the other half of Sora, his Nobody. Roxas protests that he is his own person, but when the pod opens revealing Sora, he understands his purpose.

During the events of Kingdom Hearts 2, Sora is awakened with no memories of the life Roxas had lived. Sora is repeatedly called Roxas each time he faces a member of Organization XII. This is because Roxas is now a part of Sora, dwelling in his heart. When Sora reaches the world where the organization resides, he has a mental struggle with Roxas to which they face off. Roxas with his hood up is unrecognizable to Sora, However when Sora defeats Roxas his face is revealed. Sora still doesn’t know who he is. Later, as Sora continues to defeat the other organization members, they continue to call him Roxas. Riku explains to him who Roxas is. Finally, Sora got to meet Roxas as he emerged from Sora to talk to Namine who emerged from Kairi’s heart. Finally, Sora understood that Roxas was inside him and Roxas was finally at piece upon the acceptance of who he was.

In the events of Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora and all of his friends took a final stand against Xehanort and his army. During the fight with Xemnas and Saix, a third hooded figure under their control fought against Sora and Axel (who now went by his original name Lea). This hooded figure was revealed to be Xion, who then defected once again to Xemnas. Roxas then manifested from Sora’s heart to join the fight. Xemnas escaped but together they defeated Saix. Roxas, Axel, and Xion were once again reunited, to which they all embraced each other and shed tears of happiness.

When the battle was over, everyone who fought alongside Sora gathered together at Destiny Islands and celebrated. Then Roxas, Axel, and Xion went to the clock tower in Twilight Town to share ice cream together, who were then joined by Hayner, Pence, and Olette, the friends Roxas made when he was in the simulation. Now that the three of them are real people, maybe their story can continue in the next installments of Kingdom Hearts.