Xion

Lore & Background

Xion was conceptualized during development of Kingdom Hearts II, in which the staff wanted to explain why Roxas left Organization XIII. Scenario writer Tomoko Tanemaki came up with the idea for her character, while director Tetsuya Nomura designed her. The staff wanted to create a new member who was different in nature from the other members. Xion's black hair was requested by Kanemaki, as she wanted Nomura to design a black-haired female character. The staff based Xion on Kairi but with a different hair color. Nomura stated that Xion, Kairi, and Naminé had the same 3D polygon model's faces and differed only in their hair, but that the three had individual personalities. The staff thought it would be boring if all characters from Organization XIII were Nobodies and wanted Xion to be an exception. As another means to bring confusion to gamers, the staff made Xion's hood disappear and reappear depending on which character was looking at her.

In Their Own Story

In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Xion is the newest member of Organization XIII. She befriends fellow member Roxas who, like her, has the ability to summon the Keyblade weapon to capture hearts for the Organization's ambition, involving elimination of creatures called Heartless. She also befriends Axel after he and Roxas cover for her when she temporarily loses her ability to use the Keyblade. Later in the game, she begins questioning her nature of existence after being defeated by the Organization impostor Riku and experiencing several memories unknown to her. She discovers that she is an imperfect replica of Sora who was created by the Organization from his memories to duplicate Roxas's powers, and that her existence prevents Sora from regaining the memories he lost during the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Xion is torn between staying with her friends and merging with Sora, but decides to leave the Organization to protect Roxas after realizing that Sora's memories are making her stronger while weakening Roxas. However, Axel is forced to capture her and return her to the Organization's leader Xemnas, who reprograms her to carry out her true purpose of absorbing Roxas and becoming a perfect replica of Sora. The fight ends in her asking Roxas to stop Xemnas's plans before fading from existence. Her existence merges with Sora, which causes everyone else's memories of her to disappear. In Kingdom Hearts III, the Organization recreates Xion from physical records of her existence to serve as one of Xehanort's thirteen 'seekers of darkness', but she regains her memories from Sora's heart and reunites with her friends as an ordinary girl. The downloadable content (DLC) of Kingdom Hearts III, 'Re Mind', features a data copy of Xion the player can face as part of a series of multiple boss fights, unlocked after all eleven data battles prior to her are completed.

Reader's Guide

Xion appears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as the newest member of Organization XIII. She befriends Roxas and Axel, and later discovers she is an imperfect replica of Sora created from his memories. She decides to leave the Organization to protect Roxas, but is captured and reprogrammed by Xemnas. She asks Roxas to stop Xemnas's plans before fading from existence. Her existence merges with Sora, causing everyone else's memories of her to disappear. She is mentioned in Kingdom Hearts coded as one of the people connected to Sora's heart. She makes a cameo appearance during the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and during Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. In Kingdom Hearts III, the Organization recreates Xion from physical records of her existence to serve as one of Xehanort's thirteen 'seekers of darkness', but she regains her memories from Sora's heart and reunites with her friends as an ordinary girl. The DLC 'Re Mind' features a data copy of Xion as a boss fight, unlocked after all eleven data battles prior to her are completed.

Did You Know?

• Xion's name is an anagram of 'X' and 'No.i', the latter being an imaginary number, and also corresponds with the word shio (潮; lit. 'Tide') and the character Naminé (ナミネ; lit. 'the sound of waves').
• Xion's name also means the flower Aster tataricus (紫苑, shion), which can be translated to 'I won't forget you' or 'remembrance.'
• Scenario writer Tomoko Kanemaki came up with the idea of Xion being a replica when writing the novel adaptations of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, in which a replica of Riku was introduced.
• The staff made Xion's hood disappear and reappear depending on which character was looking at her, causing various misunderstandings to the point debuggers often asked Nomura if it was a software bug.
• In the English version, Xion is voiced by Alyson Stoner in most appearances, with Hayden Panettiere voicing her in select games.