Kingdom Hearts: Ventus / Characters

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.

Ventus ("Ven")

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ventus_khiii_0.png

"Friends forever..."

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Jesse McCartney (English)

Appearances: II Final Mix | 358/2 Days | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | Union χ[Cross] | III | Melody of Memory

"At least I have some [friends]! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power... and I'm theirs!"

A rookie Keyblade wielder who trains alongside Terra and Aqua at the Land of Departure. He runs away from home to find Terra after receiving a warning of things to come. Despite not being as skilled as the other two, he's still a capable combatant and is eager to explore new worlds and make friends. He has some connection to Master Xehanort and his new apprentice Vanitas, which he cannot remember.

The events of Birth By Sleep damage Ven's heart to the point he loses it, causing him to fall into a coma. Aqua places his body to rest in Castle Oblivion to hide him while he recovered. Somewhere in the castle's halls, Ven is still waiting to find his heart again and wake up. The last cutscene of the game reveals that his heart made its way to Sora and rests inside him, still to this day.

In III, Sora regains the Power of Waking to wake up Ventus to save Aqua from Vanitas, he becomes one of the Seven Guardians of Lights, during the final battle he and Aqua fight Vanitas and Terra-Xehanort and after their battle, they finally reunite with Terra and managed to help Sora stop Xehanort. After Master Xehanort’s final defeat, Ven and his friends place their good luck charms on Master Eraqus’ Keyblade with everything finally back to way it was.

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A-F

Abusive Parents: Four years before Aqua and Terra take their Mark of Mastery exam, Ventus served as an apprentice to Master Xehanort, as part of the elderly Keyblade Master's plans to forge the legendary χ-blade. While not related by blood, the old master would put Ventus through tasks beyond his strength and ignore the boy's pleas. It reached its peak when he refused to use his darkness to fight several Neoshadow Heartless in the Keyblade Graveyard, Master Xehanort finally lost patience with him and used his own Keyblade to unlock and extract the darkness from Ventus's heart, nearly killing Ven.
Adorably Precocious Child: Ventus is often protected by Terra and Aqua, and thus feels disappointed whenever they refuse to allow him to join them on their missions because they do not want to put him in danger. As a result, Ventus shows a rebellious side when he constantly refuses Aqua's suggestions, later orders, to return home. When he gives them their passes to Disney Town, he grudgingly mentions that Scrooge McDuck told him to "take two grown-ups," but he doesn't seem to dislike his status as the youngest of the three.
"My name's Ventus. Call me Ven."
Amnesiac Hero: He can't remember anything before he arrived at the Land of Departure, including his former apprenticeship to Xehanort and his time as a group leader of the Dandelions.
And I Must Scream:
- During the final battle of Birth By Sleep, Ventus is frozen alive by Master Xehanort. Granted, he does escape via Heroic Willpower just in the nick of time to save Aqua, but winds up being pinned down by some Unversed just for Vanitas to commit Grand Theft Me.
- He ends up in another one at the end, as by defeating Vanitas and destroying the χ-Blade, Ventus basically shattered his own heart. The only reason he isn't Deader than Dead is because what remains of him took shelter in Sora's heart to heal. Meanwhile, his body lapses into a coma and is placed in the throne room in the Land of Departure by Aqua, who then seals the world's keyhole, turning it into Castle Oblivion. It's not until III AND twelve years later that she's able to return with Sora and recover him.
Anime Hair: As he's a Kingdom Hearts protagonist, this was a given.
Asleep for Days: The character who spends the longest amount of time in this state in the entire series, who's been comatose for thirteen years, finally waking up on the eve of the Second Keyblade War. He also spends a few days in a coma after having his darkness removed by Master Xehanort to create Vanitas, where he was looked after by Aqua.
Badass Adorable: Was selected to be a Dandelion during the events of Union χ, meaning that he was a sufficiently remarkable Keyblade Wielder while still being sweet enough to gush over the Spirits' cuteness.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: With Vanitas at the end of his story in Birth by Sleep.
Beat Them at Their Own Game: During his final battle in Birth by Sleep, due to his unique relationship with the boss, as well as where the battle takes place, Ventus forms a D-Link with Vanitas and uses his own Commands and Shotlock against him to overwhelm him.
Beware the Nice Ones: Ventus is small, cute and adorable. This does not mean that he will not unleash a can or proverbial whoop-ass on you if he needs to. As soon as he's awakened in Kingdom Hearts III, he launches himself from his chair, smashes through Aqua's shield - which Vanitas and Sora cannot do (though admittedly, it was cracked and weakened beforehand by Vanitas' fireball) - and Vanitas is barely able to block Ventus's strike. The thought of facing Sora, Aqua and Ventus is enough to make Vanitas decide that it's really not worth it.
Big Brother Worship: Of Terra. It's rather depressing how long it takes for poor Ven to accept that maybe there is something bad going on with him. This is a deconstruction as Ventus' admiration of Terra is one of the things the bad guys use against him in several occasions. When Vanitas decides to give Ventus an "incentive" to leave home, he appears in Ventus's room, he leaves dark hints of Terra's fate and how he'll "become a different person". Ventus becomes very defensive, telling Vanitas that he doesn't know the first thing about Terra. However, once Vanitas leaves, via the Corridor of Darkness, Ventus hurries out to find his friend in hopes of giving him a warning. This all leads to Ventus' adventure starting and him falling straight into Xehanort and Vanitas' plan.
Big Damn Heroes:
- In 3D Ventus shields Sora's heart from Master Xehanort's darkness with his Keyblade armor, which kept Sora from being taken over directly.
- In III, once his heart is restored from his body he immediately breaks through Aqua's barrier around protecting him and launches himself at Vanitas, preventing the latter from killing Aqua.
Big "NO!": When Vanitas is about to kill Aqua in the Keyblade Graveyard. Ventus manages to unfreeze himself through sheer willpower, then he screams this which gets Vanitas attention, leading to the two fighting, exactly as Xehanort wanted.
Blow You Away: Befitting his name, he gains access to stronger Wind-based abilities than Terra or Aqua, including Wind Raid, the Tornado spell, the Multivortex shotlock and the Glide skill. One of his unique command styles is the Cyclone command style, which ends with Ven creating a twister, while his other two advanced command styles deal with flight. He retains access to Wind Raid when he returns as an ally in III.
Break the Cutie: Happens to him several times through varying degrees throught Birth by Sleep.
- First, there's his reunion with Terra and Aqua. Together, they face the Trinity Armor, but after its defeat, things change for the worse. First, Aqua tries to tell Ventus to go home, and then she and Terra get into a fight regarding the darkness and Eraqus's intentions. The whole time, Ventus is left completely confused, as he'd never seen his friends bicker in such a way. In the end, he tells Aqua that she's let being a Master go to her head, and he leaves to find Terra again. Though Ventus does find Terra, their reunion is short lived, as Terra leaves, telling Ventus that he can't come along, but that they will meet again when they need each other. Meeting up with Aqua again, Ventus asks to come along, but Aqua orders him to return to the Land of Departure in a somewhat harsh manner. Seeing Ventus's disappointment, Aqua softens and explains that she merely doesn't want him to get hurt before departing. For a while, Ventus stays in Radiant Garden, reminiscing about the times when his friendship wasn't strained by newfound complications. He's left wondering just what it means to be friends, and after meeting Lea and Isa he becomes more and more curious about friendship. Thus, Ventus decides to continue his travels with a new resolve. Rather than search for Terra and Aqua, he decides to go out and make some new friends in hopes of redefining his simplistic views of friendship.
- Upon his arrival on Mysterious Tower, Ventus meets Donald Duck and Goofy, who take him to speak with Yen Sid. Ven is informed that Mickey went missing, but when Yen Sid uses his magic to find him, they discover that the King is in danger. Determined to save Mickey, Ventus departs from the Tower and returns to the Keyblade Graveyard to find him. However, he also encounters Master Xehanort, who was waiting for his arrival, and reveals Ven's destiny to forge the χ-blade. He tells Ventus that this is the real reason why he was never allowed to leave home and constantly told to return, out of fear for the χ-blade's creation. After learning of his past, Ventus returns to Eraqus, only for his Master to try and destroy him upon realizing Xehanort's plans. Fortunately, he is saved by Terra and sent to Destiny Islands, much to his displeasure. There, he encounters Vanitas again, who taunts Ventus into remembering how Master Xehanort broke their heart in twain. Once the memories return, Vanitas decides to give Ventus a reason to fight: Vanitas tells Ventus to come to the Keyblade Graveyard, the only place where the χ-blade can be forged, and threatens to kill Terra and Aqua to see if Ventus will continue to "play the pacifist." Left with no choice, Ven leaves in hopes of setting things right, once and for all. Once reunited with his friends, Ventus explains the situation between himself and Vanitas, and, admitting that he is terrified over the very thought of the χ-blade, asks to be destroyed in the event that he does have to fight Vanitas, much to their shock. However, there's little time to mull over Ven's request, as both Master Xehanort and Vanitas arrive.
Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: By the end of Birth by Sleep, he successfully defeats Vanitas and destroys the χ-Blade, but ends up losing his heart and becoming comatose in the process.
Cain and Abel: The Abel to Vanitas' Cain. In III, Vanitas outright calls Ven his brother, and goes Laughing Mad when Ven rejects the idea that they're brothers and insists they're the same person.
Call-Forward: Nearly replicates Sora's famous speech to Riku in I with "my friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"
Catchphrase: "I'm Ventus. Call me Ven," and all variations thereof.
Character Development: Ventus starts off the game the same as Sora, a Wide-Eyed Idealist Nice Guy. Buy after his Break the Cutie moments from above, he greatly changes into being something surprising to stop Xehanort and Vanitas, going to the extent of destroying the χ-Blade Vanitas was wielding despite knowing full well that it would result in his heart being destroyed as well.
Character Tics: He often places his hands behind his head like Sora does. This is probably because Sora picked it up from him when the former sheltered the latter's heart.
Child Prodigy: His strength of heart and potential as a Keyblade wielder made Ava appoint him as one of successors to the Foretellers after the Keyblade War.
Child Soldier: With the reveal that he was a Keyblade Wielder during the war.
The Chosen Zero: The poor kid admits to Ephemer and Skuld that he doesn't know why Master Ava chose him as one of the new Union leaders when he's not especially good at anything, has never made the top rankings, and has always been alone. They assure him that she must've had a reason. It turns out she didn't because she never picked him to be a leader. Strelitzia was supposed to be the fifth new leader, not Ven.
Color-Coded Characters: Green to Terra's red-orange and Aqua's blue-purple. Expressed most prominently through their Wayfinders, though their outfits also play a part. This also means Wind Is Green, though ironically none of his actual wind attacks fit, just Ven himself.
Composite Character: Ventus replaces Gus in the Cinderella world.
Connected All Along:
- In Birth by Sleep, Ven personally meets seven people, five of who would eventually become the founding members of the Organization XIII. Notably, these include Lea; Ven and Lea only meets once, but Lea later becomes best buddies with Ven's doppelganger, Roxas, something that is pointed out in III.
- Who would have thought that Ventus and the original forms of Marluxia (Lauriam) and Larxene (Elrena) had a shared history together? Though, not much is known about it at this point.
Cool Board: His Keyblade Glider is a flying skateboard, sans wheels. Which of course means he can go Sky Surfing.
Dark Is Not Evil: Even as Xehanort's apprentice and before his darkness was extracted to make Vanitas, he was largely the same person as he is in the game. In fact, the reason his darkness was removed in the first place was because he was too soft for Xehanort's purposes, even with all that darkness within him.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Ventus can be seen as a deconstruction of Sora in the first game. Both are Wide-Eyed Idealists that go through a journey throught their respective games. However, while Sora also had his share of Break the Cutie moments, his positivity and optimism remained, and he ended his journey accomplishing his tasks to rescue the worlds and Kairi. Ventus, on the other hand, is left utterly broken by his journey and he crosses the Despair Event Horizon to the point of asking Terra and Aqua to kill him, and ending his journey having to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to put a stop to Vanitas.
Decoy Protagonist: You'd think he'd be the chief protagonist due to his resemblance to Sora and Roxas. As it stands, both Terra and Aqua are both somewhat more important protagonists. Ven still has an important role to play, though.
Deep Sleep: Ven has been asleep for around 10 years by the time the events of Kingdom Hearts take place.
Demonic Possession: If Vanitas can truly be perceived as a demon, then Ven is his victim for this trope. Played with in 3D, when he summons his armor to protect Sora's heart, and it ends up being overridden by Xehanort's darkness in Sora's place, enveloping it in black ink and making it very hostile to Riku.
Despair Event Horizon: He crossed it when Master Xehanort told him of his true nature. His change in behavior is nothing but depressing, the once bright eyed and optimistic Ventus doesn't smile once after that and he even goes as far as trying to tell Terra that Master Eraqus was right in trying to kill him. But what really showed that Ventus crossed it were his words when reunited with Terra and Aqua in the Keyblade Graveyard, after the two tried making him feel better by saying they'll find a way and that the three of them will always be together.
"I'm asking you, as a friend....Just, put an end to me."
Determinator: Despite Vanitas completely outclassing him the last time they fought, Ven adamantly refuses to give up when the time comes for their rematch. His determination is so strong that he willingly destroys Vanitas and inflicts catastrophic damage on his own heart to keep his Evil Counterpart from wielding the χ-Blade.
Distaff Counterpart: In the same way that Aqua is one for Sora, Ventus can be seen as one for Kairi. They're both The Heart of their respective trios, join said trios later than the other two and serve as Protectorate for the other two. Both Ventus and Kairi also have pure hearts of light which makes them crucial for the plans of the Big Bad. Ventus and Kairi also come from different worlds than the other two in the trio (Sora and Riku being from Destiny Islands, Kairi being from Radiant Garden. Terra and Aqua being from Land of Departure, Ventus being from Daybreak Town).
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Whenever his heart is in critical condition.
Empty Shell: He was this at a point in the past when his heart is damaged. Also his fate from the end of Birth By Sleep until III.
Endearingly Dorky: Ventus is possibly even more dorky than Sora, given his nature, which is only highlighted when he interacts with Zack and Hercules.
Everyone Has Standards: Even though Master Xehanort put him through a lot of grief, pain and misery, Ventus is in no mood to give his former master a beatdown after the latter's final defeat in III.
Friendly Address Privileges: He's is constantly saying:
Ventus: Call me Ven!
Fastball Special: When teamed up with Hercules, he is thrown, but when teamed with Stitch, he does the throwing.
- Brought back in the Re:Mind DLC of III: his Icy Slider Combination Attack with Aqua has her telekinetically launch him at the enemy.
Faux Death: Appears to die after defeating Vanitas at the Dive to the Heart. Of course, while his body lies dormant in the Castle Oblivion, his heart survived the battle and is currently being looked after by Sora.
Final Boss: Technically the final boss of Aqua's storyline, as Ventus-Vanitas. His armor is also the final boss of 3D.
Foreshadowing:
- Near the beginning of the BBS, Ventus is at the Station of Awakening and he talks with Sora's newborn heart. Ven says that they will "open the door," and as he does so, the voice of the newborn heart speaks alongside his voice. There's also the imagery of Ventus — as a ball of light — entering Sora. It's later revealed that Ven's heart eventually will enter Sora's body to recover after the events of this game.
- In Union χ, for viewers that pay attention to outfit events, Terra and Aqua are available as outfits, but not Ventus, yet Sora, Riku, and Kairi have all had outfits based on them released too. So why isn't Ventus available? Because he himself appears in the game.
- That he is the 'imposter' Dandelion leader was hinted at before being confirmed in the January 2020 update of Union χ; previous updates had Ven seeming unfamiliar with what was written in the rulebook the other leaders had read, and admitting he didn't know why he was even chosen. Another observation that can be interpreted as a hint that something's up is that he uses the Missing Ache Keyblade, which in that game is a Reverse-focused Keyblade.
Fragile Speedster:
- Has the fastest attacks but the lowest HP growth. Curiously though, his defense is the highest, but only by a couple points.
- Worth noting that in the fight with the Xehanort Replicas in Re:Mind, Ven is one of the characters who doesn't have a Block command, instead using Aerial Dodge.^note
Friendless Background: When meeting up with Ephemer and Skuld after the Keyblade War, Ven reveals he has always been alone and wishes he had friends. The other Dandelion leaders became his first friends.

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Go Out with a Smile: After he has destroyed Vanitas and the χ-Blade, his body fades away with a smile on his face, knowing that he has kept the worlds and his friends safe.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Possibly the purest and kindest non-Princess of Heart in the series, and he's got the gold hair to prove it. invokedFridge Brilliance kicks in when you realize that he's essentially one of them because his is a heart of pure light, just like the Princesses of Heart. This is because Xehanort forcibly removed all the darkness from it to create Vanitas, who is pure darkness.
Hammerspace: Ventus actually pulls a huge wooden keyblade from somewhere behind him during a cutscene in Neverland.
Harmless Freezing: Nope! Ventus getting frozen is certainly not harmless, as it clearly hurts a lot and nearly gets him killed.
The Heart: Unlike Aqua and Eraqus, he's willing to give Terra the benefit of a doubt with regards to him potentially falling into darkness. And like Kairi, he has no darkness in his heart (since it was forcibly extracted to make Vanitas). Furthermore, by the end of the game, he also ends up as a heart, inside of Sora's heart. There's more than a few reasons to think that Ven's role more closely resembles Kairi's than Sora's.
Heroic Sacrifice: He destroyed the χ-Blade even though he knew it would destroy his heart, along with Vanitas's.
Heroic Willpower: When Vanitas is about to kill Aqua, Ven frees himself from his Human Popsicle state through sheer willpower.
He's Back!: In III he awakens just as Vanitas is about to try to strike down Aqua.
Hover Board: His Keyblade Glider is one, which he can use in battle with his exclusive Sky Climber Command Style.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: As Union χ reveals, Ven's early history is colorful; he used to be a leader during the Age of Fairytales, has met and befriended many people, and experienced amazing things. However, by the time of Birth by Sleep, his entire world has been reduced to just Terra, Aqua, Eraqus, and the Land of Departure. Even "regaining his memories" at the climax of the game does not do justice, since it only brings back the memories of the last four years or so. However, the ending of III suggests that Ven remembers at least parts of his time back then, since he happily welcomes Chirithy into his arms.
Human Popsicle: He gets frozen by one of the game's Big Bad's to the point that he cannot move. It is lampshaded when Braig refers to Ventus as a Popsicle.
Identical Stranger:
- Is physically identical to Roxas and has the same voice, right down to even his outfit almost exactly like Roxas's Twilight Town clothes the latter was born in. This is due to their shared connection to Sora; since Ven is within Sora when the latter releases his heart and "gives birth" to Roxas in the first game, Roxas ends up resembling Ven instead of Sora. When they are finally in the same room in III, they exchange curious looks but there's no real reaction from them or their friends (and in fairness, they do have bigger concerns at the time). Now that they're both showing up in the same game, III does subtly tweak their designs and keeps Roxas in his Organization coat (until the ending cutscenes) to better differentiate them.
- After meeting Sora and Riku on Destiny Islands, Aqua notes that Sora looks just like Ven. Ven and Sora are facially highly similar, but she seems to consider it based on their shared personality traits and Character Tics more. Although she doesn't give it much thought, considering Sora has been connected to Ven since birth, this is very much not a coincidence.
Idiot Hero: Ven is far from stupid, especially when compared to Sora, but he is hopelessly naive. Unfortunately, naivety is not something that can bring you good in a universe chock full o' chessmasters.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The three fairies of Sleeping Beauty even note that he's just like Aurora, with no darkness in his heart. This is a deconstruction, as the only reason Ventus is so pure of heart, it's because his darkness has been forcefully removed and personified as Vanitas, nearly costing him his own life and putting him in a comatose state.
Incredible Shrinking Man: Gets inexplicably shrunken down to the size of Jaq and Gus while visiting the Castle of Dreams. Especially notable since Terra and Aqua arrived just fine (the latter eventually gets shrunken down too, but explicitly through the Fairy Godmother's magic). Even poor Ven himself has no idea how he got shrunk!
Ventus: What is going on? Somebody tell me how I got so SMALL!
The Ingenue: Ventus is a very good male example, though the reason that he is so pure and innocent is that Master Xehanort forcibly extracted all the darkness from his heart. Still played straight though, as the Ven in the flashback is shown to be largely the same as his present self.
Innocent Blue Eyes: Has bright blue eyes and is the Wide-Eyed Idealist of the trio due to not having any memories of living anywhere but the Land of Departure.
Jack of All Stats: In Birth by Sleep. While he's not as strong or bulky as Terra or as good at magic as Aqua, most of his stats are well-rounded to the point where he can use melee and magic equally well.
Just a Kid: The reason he's not allowed to take the Master Qualification Exam. Aside from being half of Xehanort's plan, meaning Eraqus doesn't want him to ever leave the Land of Departure.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Noting Ephemer and Skuld's close friendship, Ventus admits that he is envious of them because he has always been alone. Skuld and Ephemer assure Ventus that they consider him a friend.
Keet: Ventus is just as adorable and cheerful as Sora, but in less of a "hyperactive puppy" kind of way and more of a down-to-earth, gently smiling fashion.
Last of His Kind: As of III, Ventus is the only known Dandelion who lives beyond the Age of Fairytales (technically Lauriam and Elrena are still around too, but we've only seen their Nobody forms at the moment).
Leitmotif: "Ventus", a mix of Sora and Roxas's themes.
Light 'em Up: Ven's specialty aside from wind is light-based spells like Faith and Salvation. Also reflected in his Wingblade Command Style which is basically his version of Sora's Final Form with blades of light instead of dual Keyblades, as well as some of his Shotlocks, Pulse Bomb and Dark Link.
Light Is Good: Thanks to Xehanort forcibly removing his darkness from his heart, Ventus is the only male character to have a heart only filled with light.
Living Relic: Subverted. With the revelation of his backstory in Union χ, Ven is literally a relic, in that he came from a previous era far removed from this one. However, because he is amnesiac, nobody sees him as anything but a teenage Keyblade wielder rookie, and as far as he is concerned, Ven views himself as nothing more than that, either.
Lonely Piano Piece: Birth By Sleep features Ventus' theme, a melancholy remix of both Roxas' and Sora's themes. This is because Ventus' heart has been sleeping within Sora since prior to the plot of the original game, which is why Roxas (Sora's Nobody) looks like him and can dual wield Keyblades; he has access to both Sora's and Ventus' weapons.
Love Freak: In terms of being a Friendship Freak, he might just be the biggest one in the series. His motivation through his entire story can be summed as making/saving/protecting friends.
MacGuffin Super-Person: In Birth By Sleep, he is the light half to the dark half for Vanitas in Master Xehanort's first chronological attempt at making the χ-Blade. If the two clash at equal strength, a proto-χ-Blade will form, bringing pieces into place for a possibility of The End of the World as We Know It.
Magic Knight: Compared to Terra and Aqua, Ventus has relatively equal attack and magic stats and can use a variety of exclusive moves on both ends.
Meaningful Name: See Blow You Away above, in addition to his connection and many parallels to Sora.
Mercy Kill Arrangement: Upon finding out about his role in Xehanort's plans, he tells Terra and Aqua to, in the event that he does end up fighting Vanitas and forging the χ-Blade, "put an end to him."
Mind Rape: The creation of Vanitas, leaves Ventus in a catatonic state and memoryless for quite some time. Then, just before the story's ending Ventus returns to the Graveyard, only to be confronted by invokedMaster Xehanort. Just a smirk caused his sleeping memories to return, the pain causing him to scream and collapse. It became so much that before the last battle he begs his friends to destroy him. If you didn't cry at the look of his face after that you have no soul.
Morph Weapon: His Wingblade command style transforms his Keyblade into an arsenal of magical floating swords that float behind him in a wing formation.
My God, What Have I Done?: The constant strain of remembering what happened to Strelitzia puts Ventus to sleep in his room. Through his dreams, Ventus finally remembered what happened to her. Under the presence of Darkness posing as Master Ava, he was hypnotised by the dark influence and yet didn't kill Strelitzia but instead just took her rulebook (as ordered by Darkness) after Darkness killed Lauriam's sister and left the warehouse. Waking up afterwards, Ventus starts to cry, feeling guilt-ridden about what happened.
Mysterious Past: Master Xehanort apparently found Ventus... somewhere. Union χ reveals that he was alive hundreds of years ago and used to be one of the five Union leaders who lead the surviving Keyblade wielders after the Keyblade War.
Mythology Gag: While every character shares some of their trademark skills with Sora, which is more or less just a testament to those abilities being series mainstays, Ven gets Ars Arcanum, Dodge Roll, and Glide. His Wingblade command style is also heavily based on Final Form in appearance and fighting style, with a combo finisher that looks like Trinity. As for links to Roxas, Ventus also receives the Reversal ability, while Faith and Salvation create pillars of light to attack enemies like Roxas's Event Horizon.
Nice Guy: Similar to Sora, Ventus is sweet, cheerful, curious, and gets excited at anything new or interesting. He also makes new friends easily in different worlds and cares deeply about Terra and Aqua.
Older Than They Look: His surprising backstory aside, Ven loses his heart at the end of Birth by Sleep, which seems to have stopped his body from growing, as come III 12 years later, he is physically still 16 years old.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Usually goes by Ven (mainly by his own insistence), though he's also sometimes called Ventus.
Personality Powers: Specializes in wind and light and is bright and cheerful.
Power Floats: His Sky Climber command style has him float in the air as he attacks. He also floats while attacking with his Windblade Command Style.
Power Gives You Wings: The Exclusive Wingblade Command Style for him. It's considered one of his strongest Command Styles, and it gives him 6 Blades of Light that act like Wings for him, and he attacks with them relentlessly.
Protectorate: Terra and Aqua treat Ventus like a little brother/son and are fiercely protective of him. Terra was willing to fight his master to the death if meant protecting Ven.
Pyrrhic Victory: The end of his story results in Vanitas' defeat. At the same time, Aqua breaks the proto-χ-Blade outside of his heart. Their combined victory destroys Vanitas, but also plunges poor Ven into a more-than-a-decade long coma.
Really 700 Years Old: Union χ reveals that Ventus is this. He was a Dandelion, a group of Keyblade wielders chosen by Master Ava to avoid the Keyblade War. Keep in mind that Union χ, like its predecessor, is set hundreds of years before the other games.
Reverse Grip: Contrary to every other Keyblade wielder, Ven wields his Keyblade like this, while his starting blade is designed with this in mind, with the grip on the side, all of his other blades are standard, straight Keyblades. When his Keyblade Armor is possessed by the darkness in Sora's heart, it still uses this grip.
Sealed Good in a Can: Of a sort as of the end of Birth By Sleep. Ventus is in a coma due to the split of his heart and his Heroic Sacrifice of destroying his dark half. As a way to protect him until she could find a way to revive him, Aqua turned the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion, putting him deep within the castle, in a chamber that only she can find, meaning that only she can restore him when the time is right.
Shipper on Deck: Ventus apparently ships Terra and Aqua in the Japanese version, as when Scrooge McDuck invites him to Disney Town and tells him to bring his parents, he brings Terra and Aqua. In the English version, this was changed to Scrooge telling him to bring "two grown-ups".
Shirtless Scene: In his awakening, he's topless.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Most notably towards Maleficent and Vanitas, when they keep badmouthing Terra.
Space Cop: He is shown to be one in training as he is a rookie Keyblade wielder.
Spanner in the Works: Is viewed as one In-Universe. After Luxu's Secret Report from III described "an imposter" among the Dandelion leaders who is "someone the Master did not choose" and "a virus in the program he so carefully wrote", Brain discovers in the January 2020 update to Union χ that Ven had taken Strelitzia's destined role as a Dandelion leader. Despite Brain's claim that he would act as a "virus" to the Master's plan, as Ava subtly changed his role, Ventus (and the Darkness that possessed him) seems to be what Luxu referred to, since Ven (and thus Darkness) escaping to the future was not obviously planned, as half of the 13 Darknesses were supposed to be vanquished in Data Daybreak Town's sealing.
Split-Personality Merge: Vanitas tries to force this with Ventus at the climax of Birth by Sleep, which would cause The End of the World as We Know It if he succeeded. Ven eventually manages to break the merger at the cost of putting himself in an eleven-year-long coma, which he spends sleeping inside Sora's heart.
Steven Ulysses Perhero: His name is Ventus, meaning wind, and his signature attacks all specialize in the manipulation of wind, light, and high-speed attacks.
Spectacular Spinning: He has an entire fighting style based on this concept called Cyclone.
Storm of Blades: He has a command style that combines this with Multi Wielding called Wing Blade. The style also pops up in his "Multivortex" Shotlock, with several blades of wind and light helping him.
Suicide by Cop: One of the most depressing scenes in the game. Once Ventus discovers his role Xehanort's plans and that if he and Vanitas fight, the χ-Blade will be forged, he tries to avoid fighting with Vanitas...It doesn't work and Vanitas, being who he is, threatens to kill Terra and Aqua if Ventus refuses to fight. Ventus' response? He asks Terra and Aqua to kill him after their reunion. The two are left in Stunned Silence by the request.
Sword Beam: When D-Linked with Vanitas, Ven can use the Dark Link Shotlock, in which he fires a beam of light from his Keyblade. Vanitas can also use a similar attack called Dark Cannon, which can result in a Beam-O-War if the two characters launch their attacks at the same time.
Taking You with Me: Pulls this on Vanitas when he shatters his own heart to destroy the χ-Blade and stop Vanitas from using it to kill Aqua. Downplayed in that while he doesn't die, he is rendered a comatose vegetable.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Many of Ven's unique commands in Birth by Sleep are variants of Strike Raid, such as Treasure Raid, Spark Raid, Payback Raid, and Wind Raid. He retains Wind Raid in III.
Teleport Spam: In full effect when using Vanitas's Dark Splicer against him.
Tomato in the Mirror: Brain reveals that he was not intended to be one of the five Union leaders, taking the spot meant for Strelitzia. Ven didn't know, though. And Brain, thankfully, realises as much.
Took a Level in Badass: When he first encounters Vanitas, it's a Hopeless Boss Fight. The paradigm shifts at endgame, when Vanitas knocks out an unsuspecting Aqua and then decides to go for a deathblow. Ven, who was just frozen by Master Xehanort earlier, literally defrosts himself with his anger and shows Vanitas no mercy. During his subsequent Battle in the Center of the Mind, Ven delivers an absolutely stunning one-two punch of a Patrick Stewart Speech and a Talk to the Fist to Vanitas. More asskicking ensues, with a hyperkinetic battle that causes Ven's Awakening station to shatter, culminating in a zero-g fight where Ven cribs off of Vanitas by D-Linking with him and ultimately defeats him. And remember, Ventus was well aware that Vanitas's defeat would destroy his heart in the process.
Tornado Move: Ventus creates a huge tornado called Tornado. It allows the user to create a whirlwind that sucks up enemies in its path, leaving them stunned. The direction of the tornado can be controlled. But it leaves him vulnerable to upcoming attacks.
Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Xehanort did something to him a few years ago that was so awful, he can't remember anything of it. Unfortunately, the memories eventually come back. Considering he remembers Xehanort siccing a mob of Neoshadows on him and holding him in contempt for not giving in to his inner darkness, it's probably for the best that we do not know the full extent of his traumas.
Twin Telepathy: Vanitas has a seemingly one-sided version of this with him according to the Xehanort's Reports, though this might've been what Ven weaponized in their Battle in the Center of the Mind when he made a D-Link with Vanitas.
Unnecessary Combat Roll: His dodge maneuver is the "Dodge Roll", which can be upgraded to the Thunder Roll. The tactic leaves him invulnerable for its duration, though, so it's not really 'unnecessary'.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the Dwarf Woodlands, the Queen ends up dropping the poisoned apple by mistake, only for Ven to point it out and return it to her. There's no way he could have known it was poison, and everything works out fine a couple hours later, but had he not returned that apple, the Queen would have lost her weapon against Snow White.
Unwitting Pawn: Like Terra and Aqua, he was this to Master Xehanort and Vanitas in BBS, having been exploited by Master Xehanort and tricked by Vanitas in their first attempt to forge the χ-Blade. Recent story updates in Union X also reveal that Ven was one for Darkness, who's the true culprit who killed Strelitzia. Darkness lured Ven to the warehouse by pretending to be Ava, put him in a hypnotic daze to prevent him from interfering in Strelitzia's murder and to make him pick up her guidebook, and hid inside him offscreen after talking with him as 'Ava' to make him believe he was legitimately chosen to be a leader.
Weapon Twirling: He's prone to spinning his Keyblade during his ready-but-idle animation and also before opening chests.
Wham Shot:
- The Secret Movie in II Final Mix showed his battle with Terra and Aqua against Master Xehanort. However, at that time, the trio was wearing their armor, until near the end when Ventus was frozen and his mask came off a bit to reveal his face, confusing players as to why "Roxas" was in that battle.
- Likewise, when Ven first steps into frame and introduces himself as the third Dandelion leader after the end of the Keyblade War, when he shouldn't have even been born yet.

"We should be free to choose. Not just light, not just darkness. We decide what we are."

Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Ventus

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.

Ventus ("Ven")

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Jesse McCartney (English)

Appearances: II Final Mix | 358/2 Days | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | Union χ[Cross] | III | Melody of Memory

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Characters / Kingdom Hearts: Ventus

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.

Ventus ("Ven")

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Jesse McCartney (English)

Appearances: II Final Mix | 358/2 Days | Birth by Sleep | coded | Dream Drop Distance | 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- | Union χ[Cross] | III | Melody of Memory

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