Why an elderly character?

[D.D.D]

So, I know this actually might belong in the BBS section, but since this has to do with Master Xehanort and he has a pretty big role in DDD, I thought I'd post it in spoilers just in case any of your answers have to deal with his actions in DDD.

Anyways, my question is why Nomura decided to make the main villain of KH an elderly old coot? Like, I know there's the shock factor that the biggest villain, mastermind, and most powerful (this is debatable, I guess) character in the series is an old guy.

But why else? Just for the heck of it? Or do you think he had a reason for making the main baddie an old guy?

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Lol it's nothing new. It's always been a cliche in fantasy stories to have an ancient wizard or witch to be the main villain.

 

[Cosmic+Amarna]

Yeah, it prolly helps illustrate that sense of wisdom or knowledge that comes with age. Also we get to have Xehanort as a teen/young adult and Xehanort(s) that are in their 20's. Best of both worlds eh?

 

[D.D.D]

Yeah, it prolly helps illustrate that sense of wisdom or knowledge that comes with age. Also we get to have Xehanort as a teen/young adult and Xehanort(s) that are in their 20's. Best of both worlds eh?

Agreed. That's another aspect I liked a lot about DDD; we got to see Xehanort when he's younger. He's always been one of the most intriguing characters to me.

Lol it's nothing new. It's always been a cliche in fantasy stories to have an ancient wizard or witch to be the main villain.

That's a pretty good point. Yet a lot of characters are young in KH. Maybe it was just to draw contrast with them?

 

[Cosmic+Amarna]

That's a pretty good point. Yet a lot of characters are young in KH. Maybe it was just to draw contrast with them?

I'm thinking that too. The story does have a lot of younger characters in it and having the main villain be an old man does show the contrast. Sora and his friends are all in their young teens when KH takes place and in many ways they are still kids. Roxas and Ventus are presumably young as well. Idk how old Terra and Aqua are but I imagined them being around ~17,18,19 in BBS, which is still young compared to Eraqus, Xehanort, Yen Sid, Ansem the Wise, and Merlin who are just some peeps that are old. I think it helps convey something like a tale of how the kids have good intentions/hearts and unfortunately some of them grow up and become corrupted, losing their pure intentions and now because of this we have to fight to save Riku and Kairi, and oh s*** the whole universe.

 

[Reagan Rayden]

Master Xehanort didn't really do anything "evil" in his youth to be a villain. It was until he was older that he needed to do something evil (take Terra's body and force Ven and Vanitas to fight to the death to create a weapon) to survive.

In DDD we learn that his other selves from the past are involved in the new Organization XIII. He is the eldest and therefore the leader.

 

[State]

What's wrong with him being old? This "old coot"...

+ Is the most powerful Keyblade wielder and Master in history.
+ He's responsible for the events of KH1 (tells Maleficent of the Princesses).
+ Brought some Heartless from the Realm of Darkness.
+ Can directly interact with hearts.
+ Created a Keyblade wielder (Vanitas).
+ Comatose'd his former apprentice (Ventus).
+ Killed his friend.
+ Almost recreated history's deadliest weapon (Xblade).
+ Almost brought back an omnipotent force (KH).
+ Took over Terra's body.
+ Comatose'd Ven again.
+ Is the cause that Aqua is trapped in the Dark Realm.
+ His Heartless almost plunged the Realm of Light into darkness.
+ His Nobody almost plunged the Light Realm into nothingness.
+ Can corrupt people's hearts.
+ There are now thirteen offspring of him walking on the same grounds.
+ Has small access to the power of time.
+ Will cause one of history's bloodiest conflicts.

 

[Zul]

Nomura, after drawing Terra's face, wanted a way to connect him to the current xehanorts(he based Terra's face off of KH2 Xehanort), so he made this possession sub-plot, and Xehanort's reason for possessing Terra is because he was getting old. That's my guess, that his current form was derived from a combination of new character designs and retcon.


If you look at the original "gathering" video in KH2, the xehanort walking towards TAV is actually standing straight with his arms to his sides, only in the BBS KH2FM is he revealed to be old.

 

[Dreaded_Desire62]

Master Xehanort didn't really do anything "evil" in his youth to be a villain. It was until he was older that he needed to do something evil (take Terra's body and force Ven and Vanitas to fight to the death to create a weapon) to survive.

In DDD we learn that his other selves from the past are involved in the new Organization XIII. He is the eldest and therefore the leader.

We don't exactly know much about his childhood. Maybe he did do something evil maybe he didn't, but it seems irrevelant to the current Kingdom Hearts timeline. Also, I'm just thinking since Master Xehanort attempted to take over Sora's body to make him a member of Organization XIII, do you think he might succeed? Also, couldn't there be another reason why he wants Sora? Sora's a year younger than Riku and probably the youngest Keyblade Wielder around right now and Master Xehanort used Terra's body that way he could live to see what happened with the Keyblade Wars, so he might decide to use Sora's body as a way to see Kingdom Hearts like he planned with Terra and the other members of Organization XIII

 

[MATGSY]

Xehanort's hardly the only elderly villain in the series. Just how many of the Disney villains are potentially/definitely over 50? I dare ya to find a Disney film where the villain is younger than the hero, good luck.

Well OK, Syndrome was kinda an obvious answer

Anyway it's a common thing for the bad guy older. Makes the hero look more of a wide-eyed idealist by contrast I suppose.

 

[inverse K-blade7]

We don't exactly know much about his childhood. Maybe he did do something evil maybe he didn't, but it seems irrevelant to the current Kingdom Hearts timeline. Also, I'm just thinking since Master Xehanort attempted to take over Sora's body to make him a member of Organization XIII, do you think he might succeed? Also, couldn't there be another reason why he wants Sora? Sora's a year younger than Riku and probably the youngest Keyblade Wielder around right now and Master Xehanort used Terra's body that way he could live to see what happened with the Keyblade Wars, so he might decide to use Sora's body as a way to see Kingdom Hearts like he planned with Terra and the other members of Organization XIII

Actually,

Spoiler Show

Riku was his first choice for a vessel. He only picked Sora because Riku had proven himself too resistant to the darkness to be suitable anymore.

 

[Nanaya Shiki]

Nomura, after drawing Terra's face, wanted a way to connect him to the current xehanorts(he based Terra's face off of KH2 Xehanort), so he made this possession sub-plot, and Xehanort's reason for possessing Terra is because he was getting old. That's my guess, that his current form was derived from a combination of new character designs and retcon.

Now my question here is, do we know exactly how Xehanort looked during his younger days?
While his possession of Terra is what determined his appearance for all later Xehanorts, I am confused as to what his appearance was before the possession.
If i recall, wasn't there a scene in the beginning of BBS where he was standing on the beach of Destiny Islands? It seems like he had the same hairstyle. Terra sported this same style as well (shorter). Did Terra look somewhat similar to Xehanort when he was younger or..?

 

[Sign]

Spoiler Show

 

[D.D.D]

We don't exactly know much about his childhood. Maybe he did do something evil maybe he didn't, but it seems irrevelant to the current Kingdom Hearts timeline. Also, I'm just thinking since Master Xehanort attempted to take over Sora's body to make him a member of Organization XIII, do you think he might succeed? Also, couldn't there be another reason why he wants Sora? Sora's a year younger than Riku and probably the youngest Keyblade Wielder around right now and Master Xehanort used Terra's body that way he could live to see what happened with the Keyblade Wars, so he might decide to use Sora's body as a way to see Kingdom Hearts like he planned with Terra and the other members of Organization XIII

I have a feeling Master Xehanort also might want him for his ability to connect with hearts so easily. Which makes me wonder...why are there so many similarities between Xehanort and Sora? They both came from DI, they both are Keyblade Wielders, they both can connect to hearts and influence them, they both are on the extreme sides of either Light or Dark, etc... Though, often villains will have something important in common with the hero, so I guess it's probably not anything special when it comes to Xehy and Sora.

What's wrong with him being old? This "old coot"...

+ Is the most powerful Keyblade wielder and Master in history.
+ He's responsible for the events of KH1 (tells Maleficent of the Princesses).
+ Brought some Heartless from the Realm of Darkness.
+ Can directly interact with hearts.
+ Created a Keyblade wielder (Vanitas).
+ Comatose'd his former apprentice (Ventus).
+ Killed his friend.
+ Almost recreated history's deadliest weapon (Xblade).
+ Almost brought back an omnipotent force (KH).
+ Took over Terra's body.
+ Comatose'd Ven again.
+ Is the cause that Aqua is trapped in the Dark Realm.
+ His Heartless almost plunged the Realm of Light into darkness.
+ His Nobody almost plunged the Light Realm into nothingness.
+ Can corrupt people's hearts.
+ There are now thirteen offspring of him walking on the same grounds.
+ Has small access to the power of time.
+ Will cause one of history's bloodiest conflicts.

I never meant that him being old was a bad thing. In fact, I think it makes him more badass.

I also thought the fact that he's older and the main characters are mostly young might have to do with the entire 'Light of Children's Hearts repairs the world' story that Kairi's grandma told. IDK if that legend actually happened in the past of KH's timeline, but it probably also represents what's happening currently, IMO. Sora and co. are the kids trying to rebuild the world (well, more like prevent Xehanort from destroying it, I guess).

 

[Cosmic+Amarna]

I also thought the fact that he's older and the main characters are mostly young might have to do with the entire 'Light of Children's Hearts repairs the world' story that Kairi's grandma told. IDK if that legend actually happened in the past of KH's timeline, but it probably also represents what's happening currently, IMO. Sora and co. are the kids trying to rebuild the world (well, more like prevent Xehanort from destroying it, I guess).

I have thought this same thing before, I think that we may be right about that. I do think that the legend told by Kairi's G mum is accurate, I mean they would be stupid not to use that since it is from the very first original entry/game. I think that something like it actually happened in the KH past but she is telling a story so it is being conveyed in that fashion, just like how they keyblade war is a tale, a myth, a story. I think that the G mum's tale is very relevant to what's going on.

 

[Dreaded_Desire62]

I have a feeling Master Xehanort also might want him for his ability to connect with hearts so easily. Which makes me wonder...why are there so many similarities between Xehanort and Sora? They both came from DI, they both are Keyblade Wielders, they both can connect to hearts and influence them, they both are on the extreme sides of either Light or Dark, etc... Though, often villains will have something important in common with the hero, so I guess it's probably not anything special when it comes to Xehy and Sora.



I never meant that him being old was a bad thing. In fact, I think it makes him more badass.

I also thought the fact that he's older and the main characters are mostly young might have to do with the entire 'Light of Children's Hearts repairs the world' story that Kairi's grandma told. IDK if that legend actually happened in the past of KH's timeline, but it probably also represents what's happening currently, IMO. Sora and co. are the kids trying to rebuild the world (well, more like prevent Xehanort from destroying it, I guess).

Yeah, that's true. I'm just wondering if Xehanort is going to go back for Riku as a vessel since Sora failed or if he is going to use Sora again as a vessel. He could probably recreate the X-blade by fighting Kairi since he is almost like Vanitas now, complete darkness.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Yeah, that's true. I'm just wondering if Xehanort is going to go back for Riku as a vessel since Sora failed or if he is going to use Sora again as a vessel. He could probably recreate the X-blade by fighting Kairi since he is almost like Vanitas now, complete darkness.

The one light-one dark heart method is flawed. It results only in a fraction of the true X-blade.
While the resulting weapon (the one shown in BBS) is certainly powerful, it's also very fragile, so even if Ventus did not have resisted his forced fusion with Vanitas, there would have been only a 2/20-part of the blade which falls short of the true, perfect version which Xehanort seeks.

 

[Chill]

Because he'd have an absolute truckload of wisdom.

 

[ajmrowland]

Yeah, it prolly helps illustrate that sense of wisdom or knowledge that comes with age. Also we get to have Xehanort as a teen/young adult and Xehanort(s) that are in their 20's. Best of both worlds eh?

yeah, we just need middle-aged(mid-life crisis) xehanort, and a xehanort who's approaching retirement.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

yeah, we just need middle-aged(mid-life crisis) xehanort, and a xehanort who's approaching retirement.

You forgot Baby Xehanort with his rattle of doom. ;P