Ansem's Guide to Heartless Part 2

Trick Ghosts are enemies from Kingdom Hearts II. Replacing the Search Ghosts in one way or another, Trick Ghosts have solely appeared in Kingdom Hearts II. Their name derives from their tendency to use sneaky attacks that are hard to avoid. As with their predecessors, Trick Ghosts are Emblem Heartless. Trick Ghosts are almost like two enemies in one. A Trick Ghost attacks from a distance in the air by firing dark fireballs from the candle it holds. It may also attack by similarly releasing a slow, zig-zagging dark wisp. Alternatively, the Trick Ghost may drop to the ground and flip onto its head. On the ground, it will use a close-range strategy (similar to the Powerwild) and attack with its muscles. Though it's attacks are considerably hard to avoid at close range, they are not all so devastating. The fact that they float often high up can make them a considerately hard target to reach when not on the ground. They are also one of the few species of Heartless which uses a darkness attack. In Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+, the Trick Ghosts were recolored green. A powered-up purple version of the Trick Ghost called Magic Ghost is found in the Cavern of Remembrance.



Artillery is a Heartless that appeared on the World of Chaos. They are bluish organic cannons that are attached to the World of Chaos, and shoot blue blasts of energy at Sora as he flies by. A stronger version of them are also present, called Heavy Artillery.



The Dark Thorn is a Kingdom Hearts II Heartless boss. It was created when the Shadow Stalker became unbound by its chains. It is the final boss of the first visit to Beast's Castle. The Dark Thorn has the ability to turn invisible. Its invisibility is not very effective though, as a dim outline of the creature can still be seen and Sora can still target it, much like he could with the Stealth Sneak. Also, when invisible, the Dark Thorn is much faster. The only way to restore its visibility is to crush a large object on it, the chandelier being the object Sora uses when fighting it. Dark Thorn's attacks are primarily physical. It also bears a strong resemblance to Ifrit from the Final Fantasy series.



Darkballs are enemies from Kingdom Hearts. One of the few pureblood Heartless, the Darkball is an orb of darkness that teleports from one place to another, using a tactic similar to the more intelligent Invisible. One of the Heartless that first appeared in Hollow Bastion, it was later a common sight in every other world (excepting Awakening/Dive into the Heart and Destiny Islands). A Darkball is one step up from a Shadow and one step down from an Invisible.



Darkside is a boss from Kingdom Hearts. It is a colossal pureblood Heartless that Sora encountered 3/4 times. Instances included in the mysterious Awakening, the Destiny Islands, and in the End of the World. It also has a resemblence to Twilight Thorn which could possibly be its Nobody. Sora also glimpsed a number of Darksides within Kingdom Hearts before they were destroyed by King Mickey. Darkside can spawn Shadows and its theme song is Destati. It has a heart-shaped hole in its stomach. It creates Shadows by creating an orb which it puts in the hole in its stomach. The monster can also fire these orbs from its stomach as offensive weapons. It's also the very first boss that is battled in the series. In Kingdom Hearts, at the first battle with Darkside at Awakening, he has 240 HP, his Attack Power is 2, and his Defense Power is 2. Sora recovers no MP for hitting him (because he doesn't know any spells at the time), but he gets 18 EXP points for defeating him. Then, at the battle with Darkside at Destiny Islands, Darkside has 300 HP, his Attack Power and his Defense Power become 6. Sora recovers no MP for hitting him, because again, he knows no spells at the time, but he gets 60 EXP points for defeating him. At the last battle with Darkside at the End of the World, he has 900 HP, his Attack Power becomes 40 and his Defense Power becomes 30. Sora recovers 58 MP from hitting him, and gets 8,000 EXP points for defeating him. You can also fight with a Darkside in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It fights similarly as it does in the first game.



Gigantic Shadow is a giant version of the Shadow, encountered at Wonderland in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. It only appears after defeating many waves of Shadows in the Bizarre Room. They may look big but they're actually normal size compared to the normal-sized Sora. A Gigantic Shadow is one step up from a Neoshadow and one step down from a Darkball.



The Guardian is an enemy that serves as a defender and a provider of in-battle support to Ansem in the first two battles against him in Kingdom Hearts.



The Invisible is a sword wielding Pureblood Heartless from Kingdom Hearts. It appears in End of the World and Olympus Coliseum. As the name suggest, it has the ability to become intangible, or passing through solids with ease. One of its special attack includes throwing it's sword in the ground, while the main body turns into a ring of dark fires surrounding you. Once the time is up, the curse explodes, dealing large damage on you. Interestingly, they don't take any damage upon inflicting the damage on you. It's Nobody counterpart is the Samurai. Like Angel Stars they have a high rate of dropping Gale once you defeated them. One step down from an Invisible is Darkball and one step up is Darkside.



The Neoshadow is a Heartless from all Kingdom Hearts games. It first appeared in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts, where a hooded Roxas is shown fighting off a swarm of Neoshadows in front of the Memories Skyscraper. They are not fightable in the first prints of Kingdom Hearts, but several of them do appear in the last room of End of the World in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. The Neoshadow later makes regular appearances in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, appearing in Castle Oblivion during Chain of Memories and nearly all worlds in Kingdom Hearts II. The Neoshadow is more human-like in its body structure. It is stronger and faster than its lesser counterpart, and it is more strategic in combat. In Final Mix, the Neoshadows are among the most difficult common enemy, working together as a team to defeat Sora. In Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, they are less rare and dangerous but are still more difficult to defeat than regular Shadows. Interestingly, Neoshadows die differently when they are killed than Shadows do. When Sora kills a regular Shadow, it vanishes into thin air and releases the heart it contains. However, when Sora kills a Neoshadow, it turns into a dark liquid and disappears after a moment, but it doesn't release a heart. They seem to be the heartless counterpart of a Dusk nobody. A Neoshadow is one step up from a Shadow and one step down from a Gigant Shadow. There have been scans showing a larger version of the Neoshadow that will be appearing in Halloween Town in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.



The Possessor is a boss from Kingdom Hearts II. The Possessor possessed the Dungeon doors, turning them into Thresholder to fight Sora in Beast's Castle. After being forced out of the doors, it floats about helplessly before returning to them, bringing Thresholder back to life. Sora cannot defeat Thresholder until the Possessor is destroyed. Along with Thresholder, the Possessor is the first Heartless boss in the game.



Scar's Ghost is a ghost that appears in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+. Scar's Ghost is a manifestation of the original Scar that only appears in front of Simba, who is uneasy about taking his rightful place as ruler of the Pridelands. After Sora, Donald, and Goofy, help Simba gather his courage, all of the Ghosts gather together, forming a giant Heartless known as Groundshaker. Scar's Ghost appears in all of the areas in Pride Land and has 1 Hit Point. It is also noteworthy that Scar's Ghost never attacks, instead chasing Sora and friends if they run away and circling them if they stand still.



Shadows are an enemy from all Kingdom Hearts games, and have also been seen in screenshots of the upcoming game, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Shadows are the weakest and most common of all Heartless. They are Pure Heartless found almost anywhere, though their hot spots include the Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, Wonderland, End of the World, and The World That Never Was. Shadows are created when the darkness in an ordinary person's heart is unleashed. Other pure Heartless, like Darkside, can produce Shadows or at the very least, summon existing ones. Despite their weak appearance, they are a threat to regular people as they usually have no way of defending themselves. Even Sora had no means of defeating them, until he attained the Keyblade, since without it he can't inflict any noticeable damage to them. There is a higher "class" of Shadows called Neoshadows, who are far more organized and dangerous. Shadows also have Nobody counterparts called Creepers.



The Shadow Stalker is a boss from Kingdom Hearts II. Bearing a close resemblance to Darkball Heartless, an enemy from Kingdom Hearts, the Shadow Stalker is the third boss of Beast's Castle. Called upon by Xaldin to capture Belle as a last effort to turn Beast into a Heartless, the chandelier-like creature attacks Sora and his friends by possessing the windows, pillars, chandelier and floor of the castle ballroom. Upon being defeated, it transforms into the Dark Thorn. When merged with the floor, it attempts to devour its foes. Sora can avoid this by staying in motion and jumping. When merged with the window, the Shadow Stalker creates a surge of dark power along the floor, which leaves safe spots to stand on. When merged with a pillar, it attacks with a fierce slash attack. To defeat it, deplete the possessed object's HP Gauge and use the reaction command to force the Shadow Stalker out of the object.



The World of Chaos is the name of the true final boss in Kingdom Hearts. The World of Chaos is a giant, biological Heartless battleship that Ansem bonded himself to as his final form. Capturing Donald and Goofy, Sora was forced to fight Ansem on his own until he retracted into his Guardian. But after getting his friends out and destroying the Core, Ansem reawakened to fight the three off before they did enough damage to destroy the World of Chaos and forced Ansem to separate himself from it, leaving him mortally weakened as a result. During the battle with it Ansem wielded a large double-bladed Soul Eater pole arm. He could also shoot lasers from virtually anywhere in the room, as well as the ability to throw Bit Snipers (Final Mix). His ultimate attack consists of blowing Sora away and connects by firing countless destructive lasers tracking Sora.



The Black Ballade is a Heartless from the game Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix. The Black Ballade is a member of a strange family of Emblem Heartless. Almost every Heartless in the family have names referring to their color and a form of music. A ballade is a one-movement musical piece with lyrical and dramatic narrative qualities. When battling a Black Ballade, Sora had to watch it split into five. From those, Sora had to find the one who jumped, indicating that it was the real one. Attacking otherwise would've led to a unavoidable shock.



Blue Rhapsody are enemies from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Blue Rhapsody are members of a strange family of artificial Heartless. Almost every Heartless in the family (with the exception of Wizards and Bookmasters) shares a common trait: They look very much like Black Mages (from the Final Fantasy series), and all have names referring to their color and a form of music. A rhapsody is an instrumental composition of irregular form often incorporating improvisation. Blue Rhapsody tend to fly lower than their relatives. They utilize Blizzard magic, and in compensation they are weak to Fire magic. Blue Rhapsodies also absorb any Blizzard-like attack that is cast upon them by any party member. In Kingdom Hearts, Blue Rhapsodies have 24 HP, their Attack Power is 11, and their Defense Power is 10. Sora also recovers 9 MP for hitting one, and gets 1 experience point for defeating it. However, after the events at Hollow Bastion, the HP becomes 60, the Attack Power becomes 35, and the Defense Power becomes 27. Sora then recovers 43 MP for hitting one, and gets 60 expierience points for defeating it. An interesting paradox, the plural form for Blue Rhapsody can be both "Blue Rhapsody" and "Blue Rhapsodies."



Bookmasters are enemies from Kingdom Hearts II. Replacing the Wizard enemy from the original game, Bookmasters are close relatives to the magic-using Heartless such as Crimson Jazz. Like their predecessor, Bookmasters first appear at the Radiant Garden. After the World that Never Was is revealed, Bookmasters may also be found in Space Paranoids. Bookmasters can use all forms of magic other than Gravity, Reflect, and Cure. They can also hit you with their book. This attack is hard to deflect. There is a small chance that defeating a Bookmaster will reward Goofy with the Akashic Record weapon.