The in-game lore surrounding Square Enix’s acclaimed Kingdom Hearts series is not one to be taken lightly. Well-known to its fans as one of the most confusing and complicated ever created. With so many of its games running parallel and intersecting, you’d be forgiven for finding it hard to understand just why Sora was plucked from Destiny Island and handed a Keyblade in the first place
The start of all Kingdom Hearts lore can be traced back to one event: The Keyblade War. They were fought for various reasons, but mostly revolved around the body of Kingdom Hearts and those wishing to wield its power or protect it. This is a look back into what started these wars, why they were fought, and their eventual significance within the lore.
10 What Is Kingdom Hearts?
Kingdom Hearts is described as “The heart of all worlds”, thought to be the containment for all hearts and a source of ultimate power and knowledge. The Keyblade War was believed to have started because of those wishing to wield its power for their own desire, resulting in a conflict between light and darkness, ending with the Kingdom Hearts’ eventual disappearance.
Xehanort describes it as: “The light, the symbol of the World’s hope, was devoured by shadow. Leaving nothing but ruin… An utter failure. But, the first light—the light of Kingdom Hearts—it can give us a new start. An empty World, pure and bright…”
9 The Age Of Fairytales
The age of fairytales denotes the time in which the world was one and bathed in the light of Kingdom Hearts. Before people wished to wield its power. Kairi’s grandma tells Kairi the story in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and within her memories in Kingdom Hearts, seeing it as more of a legend than a true time.
8 The X-Blade
The X-Blade is a legendary Keyblade and counterpart to Kingdom Hearts, being the key to opening the doors and wielding its power.
It is believed that the X-Blade is the weapon from which all other human-wrought Keyblades were imperfectly forged. After the events of the Keyblade Wars, Kingdom Hearts vanishes and the X-Blade shatters, breaking into twenty separate pieces; seven light, and thirteen dark, referencing the Seven Guardians of Light and Real Organization XIII.
7 The Master Of Masters
The Master Of Masters appears in Kingdom Hearts X; A Keyblade Master and creator of the No-Name Keyblade, inset with his own eye so that he may witness all future events, leading to his writing of the Book of Prophecies.
The Master has six apprentices, five of which become ‘The Foretellers’ and the other, Luxu, his right-hand man. The Master tells Luxu the world is fated to be destroyed and rebuilt, and only through planning and multiple lifetimes would there be a way to overcome the darkness that would follow. He eventually disappears, leaving Luxu with a box he’s never to open along with his Keyblade No-Name, with the strict instruction to avoid the upcoming conflicts in order to be a witness to all future events.
6 The Foretellers
The Master’s other five apprentices become ‘The Foretellers’, renamed Aced, Ava, Gula, Invi, and Ira. Each is gifted a Book of Prophecies, foretelling of an event that would doom the world, and giving each a unique role in preparation for the upcoming conflict.
Attempting to avoid the inevitable, Each Foreteller led a separate union of Keyblade wielders, using the Book of Prophecies to create holograms of worlds to send their union members to draw Lux, the particles of light dropped by Heartless.
Ava, leader of the Vulpine Union is given the role of staying out of future conflicts and instead, recruiting Keyblade wielders to be part of a separate faction named ‘The Dandelions’ who would venture to another world to ensure the light’s survival.
5 The Book Of Prophecies
The Book of Prophecies was written by The Master through the future events his No-Name Keyblade would bear witness. To do this, he gifted it to Luxu to be handed down from Keyblade Master to apprentice throughout time.
A copy of The Book of Prophecies was gifted to each of The Foreteller’s, with an entry describing: “On that fated land, a great war shall transpire. Darkness will prevail and the light expire.”
4 Conflict Of The Unions
After the Master’s disappearance, the union leaders discover evidence of a traitor among them, resulting in distrust and animosity between the group. Aced then discovers a Lost Page from the Book of Prophecies in Gula’s possession, detailing that an eventual traitor was foretold and causing Aced to attack him.
Ava steps in to save Gula’s life, who then confides in her of his intention to summon Kingdom Hearts for himself in order to lure the Master back. Ava attempts to dissuade Gula from his plan but is unsuccessful, resulting in the unions turning on one another and competing over the world’s Lux in preparation for the upcoming war.
3 Ava’s Betrayal
As the Unions ready for war, Ava continues gathering Keyblade wielders of all unions to join The Dandelions. Tasked with avoiding the conflict and instead ensuring the survival of light.
Ava recruits five Keyblade wielders as per the Master’s instructions to succeed as future Foretellers but ultimately goes against the Master’s wishes in which of them should receive the Book of Prophecies. Ava gives the book to Dandelion member Brian, in the hope this small change in history might change the inevitable outcome.
Ava in her last attempt to change the future and find the Master tracks down Luxu. Luxu explains that the Lost Page was an additional part of the prophecy the Master wanted to keep secret, making Ava question whether this conflict was actually the Master’s plan all along. Ava accuses Luxu of being a traitor for assisting the Master, and attacks him, signaling the start of the Keyblade War in the Badlands.
2 The Keyblade Graveyard
First seen in Kingdom Hearts II, The Badlands at the end of the Keyblade War became ‘The Keyblade Graveyard’, littered with an assortment of iconic Keyblades from fallen wielders.
The Keyblade War eventually saw the foretold splitting of the X-Blade, along with the departure of Kingdom Hearts. Luxu watched all of this unfold from a safe vantage point with the No-Name Keyblade, allowing the Master to see how the war would end as per his instructions.
1 The Legend and Xehanort
The eventual legend of the Keyblade War through time became distorted, with the Keyblade seen as both a bringer of chaos and a weapon of redemption. It was thought as more people desired Kingdom Hearts, more darkness crept into the world causing the forging of Keyblades in the X-Blade’s image for those who wished to wield Kingdom Hearts for their own dark desires.
Much later, we would see Keyblade Master Xehanort research the Keyblade War and seek to recreate the X-Blade and wield Kingdom Hearts for himself. He hoped that this would result in another Keyblade War, one that with his utilization of Kingdom Hearts, would recreate the world according to his wishes as a balance between light and darkness.
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