I was going to make a reply in the "Hidden Meaning" thread, truth be told, but it closed as I hit reply. xD
I don't want this going to waste:
Why is Xehanort named Xehanort? What significance does "No Heart" and "Another" have for him? Surely it can't just be the fact that he took out his heart and placed it in Terra, since, uh, he was named Xehanort before that happened. And in any case, that's not much of an explanation for No Heart since Xehanort does have a heart and it's not as if this is referring to MX's non-existent Nobody.
Given that they hinted at MX's past in BbS, I think there's more to him than we know.
So, the whole "X" thing, as explained by Nomura, is due to the X-Blade. The Organization included the X as both a testament to the X-Blade, a symbolism of betrayal, and the fact that they were new people, different than their somebodies. The same can possibly be said of Master Xehanort- that is, he wasn't always named Xehanort, and wasn't the same person as we know him now, but instead added the X in later.
That's not to say, though, that his name was No Heart or Another before, but that either the attribute of "No Heart" or "Another" (whatever they mean), was what made the man become Xehanort as we know him now.
So, what about MX in his past could have applied to "No Heart" and/or "Another"?
Look at the connection to Riku.
Terra has a moment of clairvoyance in which he sees Xehanort in the same shoes as Riku, a collision of past and future. Both considered the island to be a "prison."
If Xehanort is like Riku in that respect (or rather, Riku like Xehanort), what other similarities could the two hold as an instance of history repeating itself?
We already know of another. Both of them opened their hearts to darkness.
In Riku's case, what happened? It granted Ansem SoD an entry point into Riku's heart.
See where I'm going with this?
In Xehanort's case (or whatever his name was before the incident I'm about to describe), could he have allowed a heartless to enter his heart as well?
Xehanort was aware of the existence of the heartless and had access to them, as we see in the flashback to Ven's training.
Now, obviously there is a bit of a problem with this. Namely that it complicates Xehanort even further. But when you think of it from a parasitic point of view, it's not that complex. Think of the original Xehanort as a heartless. One which took over MX's heart (before he was even named MX). Then Terra's heart. Then Riku's heart.
It's essentially jumping from vessel to vessel, adding hearts to its power.
This is not unlike what MX said in his report- that by extracting one's heart and placing it in another, and repeating continually, someone could hypothetically live forever. And what's more, it is accumulating the power of each heart it takes.
As for why this Heartless is regarded as Xehanort, let's start with No Heart.
No Heart is the name of the Heartless. In fact, any Heartless can be regarded as No Heart. No Heart is the same thing as saying Heartless. Then when it starts taking over others hearts, it becomes Another being. Hence, by taking on a new existence, it does the same as the Organization, adds in the X, and scrambles it into an anagram, Xehanort.
The question is, who is this No Heart, this Heartless? I doubt it would be just any plain old heartless. It's one with a plan, with sentience.
If we extrapolate on what it's doing- gathering hearts one by one to be assimilated into itself- the end goal would probably be to absorb every heart in existence- to be a Heartless of all hearts. A Heartless Kingdom Hearts.
Maybe it's the heartless, the very first, one which is a reflection of KH itself?
Not sure. Just something to think about.
I don't want this going to waste:
Why is Xehanort named Xehanort? What significance does "No Heart" and "Another" have for him? Surely it can't just be the fact that he took out his heart and placed it in Terra, since, uh, he was named Xehanort before that happened. And in any case, that's not much of an explanation for No Heart since Xehanort does have a heart and it's not as if this is referring to MX's non-existent Nobody.
Given that they hinted at MX's past in BbS, I think there's more to him than we know.
So, the whole "X" thing, as explained by Nomura, is due to the X-Blade. The Organization included the X as both a testament to the X-Blade, a symbolism of betrayal, and the fact that they were new people, different than their somebodies. The same can possibly be said of Master Xehanort- that is, he wasn't always named Xehanort, and wasn't the same person as we know him now, but instead added the X in later.
That's not to say, though, that his name was No Heart or Another before, but that either the attribute of "No Heart" or "Another" (whatever they mean), was what made the man become Xehanort as we know him now.
So, what about MX in his past could have applied to "No Heart" and/or "Another"?
Look at the connection to Riku.
Terra has a moment of clairvoyance in which he sees Xehanort in the same shoes as Riku, a collision of past and future. Both considered the island to be a "prison."
If Xehanort is like Riku in that respect (or rather, Riku like Xehanort), what other similarities could the two hold as an instance of history repeating itself?
We already know of another. Both of them opened their hearts to darkness.
In Riku's case, what happened? It granted Ansem SoD an entry point into Riku's heart.
See where I'm going with this?
In Xehanort's case (or whatever his name was before the incident I'm about to describe), could he have allowed a heartless to enter his heart as well?
Xehanort was aware of the existence of the heartless and had access to them, as we see in the flashback to Ven's training.
Now, obviously there is a bit of a problem with this. Namely that it complicates Xehanort even further. But when you think of it from a parasitic point of view, it's not that complex. Think of the original Xehanort as a heartless. One which took over MX's heart (before he was even named MX). Then Terra's heart. Then Riku's heart.
It's essentially jumping from vessel to vessel, adding hearts to its power.
This is not unlike what MX said in his report- that by extracting one's heart and placing it in another, and repeating continually, someone could hypothetically live forever. And what's more, it is accumulating the power of each heart it takes.
As for why this Heartless is regarded as Xehanort, let's start with No Heart.
No Heart is the name of the Heartless. In fact, any Heartless can be regarded as No Heart. No Heart is the same thing as saying Heartless. Then when it starts taking over others hearts, it becomes Another being. Hence, by taking on a new existence, it does the same as the Organization, adds in the X, and scrambles it into an anagram, Xehanort.
The question is, who is this No Heart, this Heartless? I doubt it would be just any plain old heartless. It's one with a plan, with sentience.
If we extrapolate on what it's doing- gathering hearts one by one to be assimilated into itself- the end goal would probably be to absorb every heart in existence- to be a Heartless of all hearts. A Heartless Kingdom Hearts.
Maybe it's the heartless, the very first, one which is a reflection of KH itself?
Not sure. Just something to think about.
