Kingdom Hearts: Independent Villains / Characters

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/KingdomHeartsIndependentVillains

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Many villains in the series are working together to achieve some sort of grand goal. However, some people just want to watch the world(s) burn.

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Riku Replica

"But there is one easy way to tell us apart, though! Unlike you... I fear nothing."

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), David Gallagher (English)

Appearances: Chain of Memories | III

"My heart was never real. I'm sure even what I'm feeling now is probably all fake."

A Replica of Riku created by Vexen and used as a tool by the Organization. He's mistaken for the real Riku by Sora when he's sent against him, and appears to attack the real Riku as well. He's ultimately destroyed at the real Riku's hands.

Always Someone Better: His motivation for defeating Riku.
Artificial Human: He's a Replica of Riku made by Vexen.
Become a Real Boy: His entire motivation is to prove he's a real person, if not become one.
Berserk Button: He has two — getting anywhere near Naminé (Sora's storyline) and being called a "fake" (Reverse/Rebirth).
Beta Test Baddie: He's actually not this at first, being created knowing full well that he's a Replica but considering himself superior to the original. Once he's brainwashed with fake memories and then rediscovers that he's a copy of Riku, though, he doesn't take it very well.
""I'm me" he says. Must be nice, being real. A fake like me could never get away with saying something like that! That's right! I'm a phony! A fake! The way I look, the way I feel, everything I remember! And even this newfound power! I thought by finding some new strength, I could finally be someone...Someone who is not at all you! But... nothing changes... I'm still just empty! Everything about me is borrowed. As long as you're around, I'll never be more than a shadow!
Brainwashed and Crazy: After his first fight against Riku, he's brainwashed into thinking he really is Riku, setting him up for his tragic arc in Sora's story.
Break the Haughty: He's pretty arrogant when he first appears chronologically. Larxene puts him in his place in an instant.
Chekhov's Gunman: After finishing Chain of Memories, he dies and is forgotten... until 358/2 Days came out, and it turns out Xion is a Replica just like him. And then in III it's revealed that while his body was destroyed his heart survived in the Realm of Darkness, until he was able to find the real Riku and merge with him.
Clone Angst: He's Riku's copy given fake memories, and is tormented by the revelation that his life is a lie.
Cool Sword: His copy of the Soul Eater.
Cosmic Plaything: He spends the entirety of Chain of Memories being jerked in different directions by the Organization, one member at a time.
Devour the Dragon: Spurred on by Axel's manipulations, he attacks and absorbs the weakened Zexion's life force to obtain a power boost, believing that by possessing power the real Riku doesn't he could assert an identity of his own. Of course, this doesn't work out and he attacks Riku, having flown right over the Despair Event Horizon and deciding that one way or another there would only be one Riku after this.
Fake Memories: Throughout Sora's storyline, since Vexen had him implanted with the memories Naminé was force-feeding Sora to see what would come of it.
Heel–Face Turn: At least during Sora's storyline. Though he realizes his memories of Naminé aren't real, they're all he has, so he keeps true to them by protecting her from the Organization. Unfortunately, Axel dangles the chance for him to assert his own identity...
Heel–Face Door-Slam: In Riku's story, Axel goads him into attacking the real Riku after Marluxia's death. It spells his defeat.
Heroic Sacrifice: In the climax of III, his immaterial heart forces Dark Riku (which has his heart from the past) out of the replica that Dark Riku was using to stay anchored in the present. When Riku asks Riku Replica to enter the now empty replica so he can stay, Riku Replica chooses to fade away instead so that the empty replica can be used to give Naminé a body.
Hot-Blooded: Maybe even moreso than Riku in Kingdom Hearts, and that's saying something. However, this is justified by the fact that Vexen doesn't really understand hearts, not having one himself, and by the fact that Larxene manipulates him into it the entire time.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Instead of using the empty replica body to save himself, he tells Riku to use it to give Naminé a body instead.
- The Japanese version takes it a bit farther with the Riku Replica telling Riku that he's "leaving (Naminé) to you." A Call-Back to the first game when Riku tells Sora "I leave Kairi to you."^note But this is unfortunately Lost in Translation.
Jerkass: When he was first created he basically acts exactly how Riku did when he was evil and mocks the original Riku for fearing his darkness a fact that Riku doesn't appreciate. After his memories are rebooted by the Organization and he comes to believe that he is the real Riku this is downplayed as while he is still confrontational with Sora and mocks the concept of forgetting pointless memories (aka the ones about their other friends on the Islands) he is still very protective of Naminé and eventually his arrogance disappears once he finds out he's a Replica.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: More like pushed off by Axel. He goes to fight Riku to prove which of them is superior after all.
Killed Off for Real: Zig-zagged. In a series where several recurring characters suffer from losing their hearts, which invokedWord of God states is different from death since they can regain their hearts, the Replica is one of the few characters confirmed to have died. However, he is referred to as having "seemingly" died in Dream Drop Distance's story recaps. III reveals that his heart survived in the Realm of Darkness, though he then dies for good at the end of that game.
Mirror Match: During Reverse/Rebirth.
No Place for Me There: After Marluxia is defeated he essentially says this to Sora.
Obi-Wan Moment: He's rather quiet and tranquil as he dies.
Only Known by Their Nickname: "Riku Replica" is all we have to use for him.
Pre-Final Boss: In Chain of Memories he's the last boss Riku fights before Ansem.
Red Herring: Sora is led to believe he's fighting the real Riku whose memory has also been affected by Castle Oblivion. It isn't until he's defeated for the fourth and final time Larxene appears and reveals to Sora he has been fighting a replica of Riku who's been implanted with fake memories.
The Rival: Being based on Riku, he serves as one to Sora, and the real Riku.
Spared by the Adaptation: In the manga, he survived, but was then destroyed in the ''II'' adaptation.
Stable Time Loop: His Heroic Sacrifice of sending Dark Riku (who's actually his past self from an unknown point after his creation) back to his own time insures that he will go through the events of Chain of Memories, leading to him making the exact same sacrifice.
Stupid Sacrifice: He has no real reason to simply let himself fade away rather than take Dark Riku's empty Replica vessel, seeing as there's nothing stopping Vexen from making another one for Naminé to inhabit. Even if that can't be done for some reason, Riku Replica could have just taken the vessel for now and either help the Guardians of Light or flee to ensure the vessel remains intact, then have his heart removed so Naminé can take the vessel and simply return to Riku until a new vessel can be provided for him.
Teleport Spam: If you hated Riku's Dark Aura back in the first game, you will loathe this guy.
There Can Be Only One: Ultimately decides, partly due to Axel's manipulation and part his own identity crisis, that there can only be one Riku in the 'verse and the other one has got to go. He's not really that broken up about being the loser in the equation. When he returns in III, he refuses to take the Replica vessel anchoring his past-self to the present and live partially because the world "already has [Riku]".
Tragic Villain: The poor guy had a bunch of fake memories planted in him to make him do whatever the Organization wanted, and eventually didn't even have those. By the end, he was so desperate to assert an identity of his own that he was willing to kill anyone he thought would get in the way of that, and when fatally injured by his original part of him was clearly glad that the pain would soon be over.
The Unfavorite: The 358/2 Days secret reports reveal that the Riku Replica and Xion were part of the same replica program, but he was somehow deemed inferior to Xion which is why he was relegated to the role he played, rather than be planted to live among the Organization the way Xion was.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Never treated as anything more than some sort of experiment, a tool, or a toy. Axel himself in the Secret Reports in 358/2 Days notes how the Riku Replica actually developed his own identity and regrets the way he drove him off the deep end after befriending Xion, another replica.
Yandere: For Naminé. The scary thing is that the Organization's plan basically amounted to Sora becoming just as crazy as he concerning protecting Naminé.

Sephiroth

"I am The Chosen One! I shall lead you to the Promised Land!"

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Lance Bass (I, English), George Newbern (II, English)

Appearances: I | II

"The light doesn't suit you."

The famous Final Fantasy VII villain appears as a fiendishly hard optional boss in both I and II. In the latter, there's a bit of a subplot with him and Cloud — in the former, Cloud mentions that he's "looking for someone," but the two only interact in a cut-scene added to the Final Mix. When he appears in II, he is the embodiment of Cloud's darkness, following and haunting him in an attempt to convince Cloud to give in to despair.

For tropes concerning Sephiroth's appearance in his home franchise, see his character page.

For tropes concerning Sephiroth's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, see the DLC Pack 2 Characters Page.

Adaptational Nice Guy: Compared to the Omnicidal Maniac with delusions of Godhood he's usually portrayed as, this Sephiroth is more focused on Cloud and everyone else is just incidental. A big difference is how polite he is even to people he's trying to kill, even commending and sparing Sora after their fight.
Affably Evil: He remains calm and polite even when expressing his intent to slay Sora and Cloud.
Arch-Enemy: Cloud's, naturally, to the extent that he actively seeks out Cloud midway through II for no reason other than to taunt him. His skirmishes with Sora and Tifa in the same game were more impersonal than malicious, making this Sephiroth simply "antagonistic" than outright "evil."
Ascended Extra: His role in II is slightly larger than his role in the first game, even factoring into the main plot for a brief period of time, and actually getting some characterization.
Badass Longcoat: Of the No Shirt, Long Jacket variety.
The Battle Didn't Count: Immediately after Sora defeats him in II, Sephiroth's reaction to being bested is not to show any signs of being gravely wounded (as any other boss would), but brushing himself off and noting that only Cloud can defeat him.
BFS: Wouldn't be Masamune if we could fit it in the picture. That sucker's seven feet, as usual.
Blade Spam: His Flash technique in KHII, of the "Simultaneous Blade Spam" variety. Sephiroth dashes past Sora, and if you don't use the Block Reaction Command, Sora instantly is bombarded with about 7-9 slashes.
Casting a Shadow: A few of his attacks in both games, as well as the Battle Aura he adopts in later phases of his boss battle.
Colony Drop: His most powerful attacks involve meteors, naturally, though they're on a Dissidia scale rather than the planet-crushing one from VII.
Composite Character: This version of Sephiroth seems to be a mix of his depictions in Advent Children and Crisis Core. While he definitely has powerful antagonism and rival with Cloud as emphasized in Advent Children, his more Ax-Crazy tendencies shown in VII are absent. His overall Noble Demon personality is also a bit closer to his Nice Guy depiction in Crisis Core, before his Sanity Slippage.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In II, he begins his first attack while the pre-battle intro poses are still being done. Further, it can only be avoided by Reaction Commands or Reflect, and you have a smaller window to do this than in the rest of the fight since he starts it earlier. A lower-level player can find themselves wiped out in one hit before they even realized the fight had begun.
Damage-Sponge Boss: As to be expected from a Superboss, but it's to an absolutely ridiculous level, especially in the first game. The game shows a maximum of five health bars. Sephiroth has six. As a result, it doesn't even look like your attacks are damaging him, even though they are.
Duel Boss: The fights with Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts I & II have Sora confronting him alone, without Donald or Goofy.
Enemy Without: It is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that he's the physical embodiment of Cloud's own darkness rather than the "real" Sephiroth. To further emphasize this point, Sephiroth has the exact same facial features as Cloud, even sporting Cloud's blue eyes instead of the green eyes the Sephiroth of FFVII possesses.
Evil Counterpart: He can be considered one to Tifa. They are both the physical embodiment of Cloud, with Tifa being Cloud’s light, while Sephiroth is Cloud’s darkness.
Evil Versus Evil: He's fighting the Heartless and Nobodies but that doesn't mean he has any heroic goals in doing so; he's only interested in fighting Cloud.
HP to One: His signature Heartless Angel attack, with an MP to Zero effect to boot.
Iaijutsu Practitioner: His fighting style in I invokes this, although with Masamune's size he doesn't sheath it so much as just hold it by the blade and let go when he needs to swing.
Leitmotif: "One-Winged Angel", like in Final Fantasy VII.
Mana Burn: Along with taking your HP to One, Heartless Angel zeroes your mana if it hits you, preventing you from immediately using Cure. Unless you have an Elixir on hand, it's likely curtains for you after that.
Mr. Fanservice: Come on, it's Sephiroth. He's a well-built long-haired Bishonen in black leather as usual.
Never Say "Die": Pseudo-example; his declaration in the first game of "I will lead you to the Promised Land" becomes more threatening when you remember that most interpretations of the "Promised Land" in VII were that it was The Lifestream.
One-Hit Kill: In II, when he says "That's enough", not hitting the Reaction Command, using Reflect, or dodge-rolling with perfect timing is an immediate Game Over at lower levels. At higher levels, it'll shave off almost all of your HP.
One-Man Army: Carves through a horde of Heartless like cake while Leon and Cloud are plain outnumbered - just to taunt Cloud and teleport away. Enemy Mine isn't a philosophy of his.
One-Winged Angel: Notably averted, despite being the Trope Namer; Sephiroth has exactly one form, though it's all he needs to be a challenge. If you're being literal, he has one wing in the first game and three in the second - on the other hand, the hip-wings do make an interesting callback to his actual One-Winged Angel form.
Only I Can Kill Him: Inverted; Cloud is the only one able to destroy him. Even after Sora gives him a particularly long beating, Sephiroth just brushes himself off, compliments his skill, and invokes the trope.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Shouts "STOP!" when Cloud begins to channel light energy. Given Cloud's darkness is what keeps him from dying for good, it's understandable that Cloud embracing the power of light, therefore gaining the power to truly destroy Sephiroth would give him a scare.
Perpetual Molt: Every time he teleports, he leaves behind a few black feathers, and he sheds a few during his combos in II.
Playing with Fire: Just because, though it's possibly an application of Evil Is Burning Hot. Alternately, it could be a reference to his infamous Super Nova attack.
Power Echoes: He has a very heavy echoing reverb to his voice in I but it makes it difficult to understand what's he saying in battle.
Punch-Clock Villain: Sephiroth's only interests are really in tormenting Cloud, otherwise he stays out of the conflicts of the real villains and has no interest in it. He challenges Sora to a duel in II to see if the Keyblade would choose him to be its new master if he won. After essentially fighting to a draw and coming to a conclusion that only Cloud can actually kill him, he loses interest in battling with Sora.
Readings Are Off the Scale: Kind of. In his boss battle in I, his health doesn't actually start depleting until after you've knocked him about a few times, giving the impression that he has so much health that the game can't properly convey it.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: His normal black coat has red color added to give this trope.
A Sinister Clue: Subverted; he wields the Masamune with his right hand in the first game, but his left in the second.
The Stoic: Almost never raises his voice or even changes his mood.
Superboss: A completely optional boss in I and II, and easily the hardest boss in both (although the rewards for actually beating him are easily worth it).
Teleport Spam: He constantly teleports in flashes of dark light.
Villainous Breakdown: Gameplay example; in both games, his fighting style becomes more frantic the less HP he has. When the battle starts, he fights by slowly walking towards Sora and swinging Masamune when it will hit, sticking to relatively simple attacks (and Flash in II). After he's taken a bit of damage, he starts running, hits a bit harder, and starts using Heartless Angel. A few more hits, and then he gets serious; he starts flying and dashing around, uses Meteor, and attacks much more rapidly.
- Story-wise, he freaks out when Cloud starts using the power of light.
Villain Respect: Right after Sora bests him, Sephiroth dusts himself off and compliments Sora's skills.
White Hair, Black Heart: A rare instance in this series where a white-haired evil character is not a Xehanort.
Winged Humanoid: He perpetually has his wing(s) showing.
Worthy Opponent: Considers Cloud to be one, as well as Sora to a lesser extent.
You Kill It, You Bought It: The reason he challenges Sora to a fight in II. Upon seeing the Keyblade, he wonders aloud if the legendary weapon "won't change its mind" after he kills Sora. Presumably, he only wants it as a Tragic Keepsake to torment Cloud.

The Hostile Program

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hostile_program.png

Appearances: II

A virus program created by the MCP and released by Sark to cause chaos in both Radiant Garden and Space Paranoids to deal with Sora and Tron. Despite its resemblance to the Heartless, it is not one itself.

A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Averted. It's a monstrous program created specifically to attack other programs by Sark and The MCP. released into a populated world like Radiant Garden is a spearhead for their invasion.
Canon Foreigner: It is one of the few characters exclusive to a Disney world that is not a Heartless or Disney character.
Energy Weapon: Sweeps the area with these. A different attack has it fire multiple diamond shaped nodes that home in on you in short bursts.
Floating Limbs: It's claws, which are able to extend indefinitely and fire lasers in separate sweeps at the same time
Foe-Tossing Charge: What it does periodically to gain distance or if you pressure it for too long, and one of its more dangerous moves.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: Spends a lot of the battle moving to different points in the area, firing lasers and nodes.
Game-Breaking Bug: If playing the PS2 version of II on backwards compatible PS3 consoles, it could become invincible (and thus impossible to defeat) due to a bug in the emulator. A patch was released to fix this.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In an odd variation, when the Program is hit, it drops cluster orbs, which don't defeat it, but can be used to cripple its movement and make it easier to hit. The Program does this through no fault of its own, so it isn't a Tactical Suicide Boss.
The Juggernaut: a weaker version than usual, but it's implied that it's main purpose is to clear the path for MCP to take over with its generated Heartless. Without the cluster data unique to its own world to cripple it, it'd be a much bigger threat in the outside world with civilians if let outside.

The Experiment

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/khii_experiment.png

Appearances: II

A mechanical creature intended to be a playmate for Lock, Shock, and Barrel. It's a creation of Dr. Finklestein's like Sally, but lacks a Heart like she has. To fill this void, it steals Christmas presents, believing that the joy from a gift from ones heart will help this problem.

Alas, Poor Villain: Upon learning of its motives, Sora remarks that he pities it.
Body Horror: Its pieces can be taken off and put together again. Halfway through the fight it has to shift in such a way that it's pelvis becomes it's new head.
Canon Foreigner: The character is original to the game; however, its design is based on props used in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Composite Character: Perhaps incidentally so, but it's not considered a Heartless or a Nobody in spite of having traits of both. It's an empty vessel with some kind of a plan to gain a heart and has evident intelligence like a Nobody; but it also actively hunts down its obsession instinctually to (unsuccessfully) fill its own void of being, has some kind of tie to darkness, and suits the world it appears in like a Heartless.
Dash Attack: In its first phase, it tends to slide around the arena with the wheels it has on its feet, jabbing forward with its claws.
Detachment Combat: Each part can move on its own, but the creature's torso needs to be beaten for it all to be brought down.
Eye Beams: The initial head can juggle you with these.
Foil: Acts as this with Sally, but also less obviously with Xion as well:
- All three were/are considered puppet-like experiments of scientists that made them on a whim. While Sally was a creation of passion with a heart of her own and some form of allowance to be who she wanted to be, The Experiment and Xion were made for an express - though optional - purpose, and are ultimately destroyed for trying to gain independence - though Xion returns and changes that when replicas become important again in the plot.
- All three defy the series conventions in different ways, Sally is a patchwork doll that got a heart because Finklestien's passion from the moment she was created. The Experiment lacks a heart, but is able to move, think, and act without ever being considered a Nobody or some kind of a Heartless; and Xion is initially a replica being, made of memories and meant to essentially Kill and Replace Sora by assimilating them.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: While everything about the Experiment makes it clear that the thing is not a Heartless, it's still considered one for the purposes of leveling up Wisdom Form.
Lone Wolf Boss: It has no affiliation with the Organization or Maleficent and acts of its own volition.
Multiple Head Case: It initially has a ghoulish sewn face with a mop of stringy hair, the skull that makes up its pelvis becomes another head once it loses its legs, though it still uses the first to attack with its lasers.
Nothing Is Scarier: What force that animates and keeps it alive is never explained, despite it defying everything about Kingdom Heart's universal lore and logic. The game doesn't know what to categorize it as other than a puppet, and the dark energy leaving its remains as it dies shows there was something with a will there...
Only Known by Their Nickname: As it came to life suddenly before confirming it was sentient, it is technically a nameless being, but everyone calls it The/Doctor Finklestien's Experiment.
Our Monsters Are Weird: -Which is saying something, considering the types of creatures this series has. It's a puppet made of Nightmare Before Christmas movie props that in-universe runs on Wrong Context Magic. It has some form of artificial spirit or will (which dissipates once its defeated), but what that is exactly is not explained. It's form also is so unstable it can realign its body plan completely to keep fighting.
Perverse Puppet: Described as such by other characters, and it gets very violent when it is cornered.
Shown Their Work: The pieces the creature is made from are background props from the movie - e.g, its right arm is a machine from Oogie's Lair, and it's left is the exit of the chute Santa falls through.
Spin Attack: How it fights when it is just a torso.
Vacuum Mouth: Its left arm, when detached. Getting caught has it hit you multiple times.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: All it is doing is trying to find a heart of its own, unintentionally taking away joy in the process. What's even sadder is that, per 3D's revelation that anything could get a heart of its own given enough time, had Sora and company not fought it... a heart just might've developed in the poor guy after time passed.
Unskilled, but Strong: Its fighting style is not particularly complicated, but it hits like a truck and it's ability to split apart allows its simple moves to work in tandem with each other and cover parts of the area, making it much more tricky to deal with.
- When detached, it's right arm in particular is the most dangerous to approach. The only thing it does is flail its claws madly in random directions.

Phantom Aqua

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Willa Holland (English)

Appearances: 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-

"Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's."

A malevolent doppelganger of Aqua she encounters during her adventures in the Realm of Darkness. It is the physical manifestation of all of Aqua's fears and doubts crafted by the remains of the Magic Mirror in the World Within.

An Ice Person: Like Aqua, she can use Blizzard magic. Her most often used attack is to conjure four giant ice blocks and fire them at Aqua.
Casting a Shadow: Downplayed. Phantom Aqua doesn't use any darkness-based attacks, but her Bizzaga shards are shrouded in dark energy.
Creepy Monotone: While Willa Holland voices Aqua with a dose of Dull Surprise, Phantom Aqua manages to make it sound truly menacing.
Dance Battler: Being an evil copy of Aqua, it's only natural her fighting style is just as graceful and elegant as the original's.
Dark Action Girl: She's a villainous doppelganger of Aqua and has all of her skills.
Dark Reprise: Her Leitmotif is a sinister and psychotic arrangement of Aqua's own theme.
Doppelgänger Attack: Phantom Aqua's signature ability is to create multiple copies of herself to confuse Aqua.
Enemy Without: She is all of Aqua's fears and doubts made flesh... And she doesn't like you one bit.
Establishing Character Moment: The first boss fight with her opens with her walking out the mirror and spouting the above quote before engaging Aqua in battle.
Evil Counterpart: To Aqua, naturally.
Evil Laugh: Occasionally lets one out during the boss fight.
Final Boss: She is the final opponent of the Zodiac Boss Rush.
Mirror Boss: Literally and figuratively. She is a dark copy born from a Magic Mirror and she has all of Aqua's attacks as well as a few of her own.
Occult Blue Eyes: Her eyes are a paler shade of blue than Aqua's, highlighting her otherworldly nature.
Recurring Boss: Fought three times throughout the game... four times really, if you count the Zodiac Boss Rush.
Straw Nihilist: All throughout the World Within, Phantom Aqua subjects you to constant mockery and tosses a slew of nihilistic jeers at you.
You'll never see the Realm of Light again.
Is there any point in continuing this fight?
No one can save you, and no one wants to.
Are you really worthy of being a Keyblade Master?
You're a failure.
Just let go of everything and fade into the darkness.
Superboss: Serves as a part of the Zodiac Boss Rush.
Super Mode: She can use Aqua's Spellweaver.
Teleport Spam: Constantly teleports around the arena.
Took a Level in Badass: With each battle, she gets stronger and more difficult. The fight with her in the Zodiac Boss Rush is her at her strongest.
Unblockable Attack: The Zodiac version of her introduces red Keyblade swings and Spellweaver orbs that can't be blocked, setting the trend for superbosses in Kingdom Hearts III using red to mark their unblockable attacks.

Schwarzgeist

Appearances: Kingdom Hearts III

A secret Gummi Ship boss hailing from the game Einhänder. Initially sent after the titular ship in its home game, the Schwarzgeist is a Humongous Mecha fought in the middle of a storm, and proves to be one of the toughest Gummi challenges in the game, firing salvos of missiles, lasers and aided by an endless number of shields. Its second form, the Monitor, also returns, now a required part of the fight.

Adaptation Species Change: In Einhänder, Schwartzgeist and the Monitor are simply space attack mechas. In Kingdom Hearts III, both of them are Heartless that only look like space mechas, like all the other Gummi enemies.
Attack Its Weak Point: Much like Einhänder, the narrow part that fires the lasers is the only place the Schwarzgeist will actually take damage.
Boss Subtitles: The trophy/achievement list gives it a title: Menace of the Ocean Between.
The Bus Came Back: It resurfaces after a 21-year long absence since its original game's release.
Defeat Means Playable: One of the fight's rewards is a Gummi version of the Schwarzgeist itself.
Easter Egg: Bring the Endymion ship to battle against it, and the original version of "Thermosphere" will play in lieu of its remix.
Fragile Speedster: The Monitor lacks the power and bulk of the Schwarzgeist, but is extremely fast, relying on you being worn out from the main fight and either choking or letting your guard down to defeat you at the last minute.
Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: It has zero relation to the main plot, only serving as a Superboss and a cool throwback to Einhänder.
Gratuitous German: A holdover from Einhänder, where German had become the dominant language of Earth and thus all the enemies had German names. Schwarzgeist translates to Black Ghost and Monitor to...well, Monitor.
Humongous Mecha: The Monitor is roughly the same size as the Gummi Ship, but both ships look tiny compared to the Schwarzgeist.
Leitmotif: It brings with it a remix of "Thermosphere", its battle theme from its home game. The Monitor gets the original version of "Afterimage".
Mechanical Abomination: While Schwartzgeist and the Monitor are actual space mechas in Einhänder, Kingdom Hearts III changes both of them into Heartless that still look like space mechas.
Mighty Glacier: The Schwarzgeist is entirely stationary save for the moving missile launchers and moving up and down for certain attacks, but said attacks tend to hit like a truck. While it has surprisingly low health for a Gummi Ship boss, it makes up for it by having a small weak point constantly summoning shields to block your attacks.
Mythology Gag: When you confront it for the first time, it will enter the fight by flying over your ship from behind, just like in Einhänder. The Monitor flying out of the top of the main ship upon its destruction is also from the original game.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Schwarzgeist is German for "Black Ghost".
Sequential Boss: After Schwarzgeist itself is defeated, the Monitor, a smaller ship located in the Schwarzgeist's head, ejects and attacks on its own, like in its home game. Unlike the original game, the Monitor fight is mandatory, whereas not destroying a certain part of the Schwarzgeist would skip the entire phase.
Superboss: An optional boss, and one of the tougher fights in the game.

Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Independent Villains

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Riku Replica

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), David Gallagher (English)

Appearances: Chain of Memories | III

Sephiroth

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Lance Bass (I, English), George Newbern (II, English)

Appearances: I | II

The Hostile Program

The Experiment

Phantom Aqua

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Willa Holland (English)

Appearances: 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-

Schwarzgeist

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Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Independent Villains

Edit Locked

Due to lengthy periods between releases and the prevalence of Late Arrival Spoilers, spoilers from installments before 2010 may be unmarked. Read at your own risk.

Riku Replica

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), David Gallagher (English)

Appearances: Chain of Memories | III

Sephiroth

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Lance Bass (I, English), George Newbern (II, English)

Appearances: I | II

The Hostile Program

The Experiment

Phantom Aqua

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Willa Holland (English)

Appearances: 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-

Schwarzgeist

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