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Xion ([personal profile] attheclocktower) wrote2017-11-29 04:22 pm

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Player Information
Name: Gorse
Age: Hasn't changed since last time
Contact: [plurk.com profile] gorsecloud
Current characters: Tataru Taru

Note: Tower of Animus generally should come with a content warning for physical and psychological horror, torture, experimentation on children, and references to suicidal ideation. Xion's own history includes some references to pretty severe torture, some very unhealthy mindsets bordering on suicidal ideation, codependency and unhealthy coping mechanisms, and some body horror.
Only some will be referenced in this app, but I wanted to give fair warning.


Character Information
Name: Xion
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Appearance: Would you believe how happy I was when we got more than one good concept art image of her

I technically have a picture of what I envision her older (16/17) form to be like but that involves not being embarrassed about three year old art.
Age: 2-3 years (physically appears 14)
Canon Point: End of Day 300
Transferring From: Tower of Animus
Canon History: I still thank myself for making this
Canon Personality:

One of the biggest aspects of Xion's personality is her struggles - particularly with her sense of identity and her sense of worth. Canonically, at her original pull point, Xion is in the midst of a slow loss of self-identity, particularly coming to believe that she is less of her own person and much more a part of Sora. And she's already in the midst of a grand loss of self-worth, particularly after learning that she is a replica, who has caused so many problems just by existing. As a part of this, Xion struggles with a high tendency to blame herself for certain actions and events, particularly ones she has some direct involvement with.

Xion has a very all-or-nothing way of dealing with pressure; when faced with it, her resolve either hardens like steel or crumples entirely. An example of the former would be when faced with all of the different obstacles and pressures against returning to Sora. During all this time, even when facing her own friends, her resolve never wavers - not that we can see. On the other hand, when faced with Saix's criticisms of her performance and her existence, she breaks away and flees the situation, unable to withstand his insults. The difference that determines which of the two reactions is difficult, but generally, when the cause is one she considers worthwhile, she's much more likely to face any pressure associated with dignity. Especially when her friends are involved.

To Xion, the most important things are her friends (and later her family). They were all she had to live for the longest time, and later, they're what she was willing to give up everything for, rather that let herself live to be the one to destroy them. They are an utterly inextricable part of her life - she's spent most of her days with them, and they've helped her out of many a tight spot and through many a difficult time. Particularly with Roxas and Axel, she admits outright in her personal journal that she loves them - a very bold claim after being raised in an environment where she's constantly told she cannot feel (even if her being a Nobody is a lie).

Under more normal circumstances, Xion can be curious and inquisitive. In the end, she's still very young, experience-wise. Her knowledge base is patchy at best - it's shown once in canon that she knew what a candelabra was, and yet didn't understand the concept of love without explanation. She's willing to ask questions, particularly with people she trusts.

However, when it comes to people, particularly ones she doesn't know, she's much more cagey. She's less shy and skittish than she could be, owing to her not being as married to Organization doctrine as she used to be, but she's definitely no socialite. Even for those she does meet and speak to, it can be difficult to get her to open up. With her deepest secrets, particularly her origins, what she is, and what she was made for, she plays her cards very close to her chest, and it can take a great deal of time before she'll willingly show her hand.

It doesn't help that when Xion is faced with a very upsetting or stressful personal events or revelations, Xion's instinct is to withdraw. Canon shows how, upon being confronted with her failures by Saix, her defeat at the hands of Riku, and the slow emergence of Sora's memories, Xion abandons her friends at the clock tower and stops spending time with them and speaking with them. Similarly, she does not discuss how her Keyblade has stopped working for her until pressed. She does not wish to burden her friends with her problems, and doesn't even like talking about them until she can understand and figure them herself - an extremely difficult task, given her own inexperience. However, Xion is very bad at hiding her emotions, so even to those who don't know her well, should they find her, it will likely be all too clear that something is bothering her.

Xion can be very sentimental - she's the one who starts the tradition of leaving Roxas a gift on his pillow (a shell) every day while he's asleep. She also shows a fondness for collecting shells, and always keeps a Thalassa shell with her (until Roxas took it). She holds her memories in very high regard - almost as high as her friends. They're all that she really has that is "her own," and they're all that would've been left when she would've returned to Sora.

Personality Shifts:

Unfortunately, as is probably normal for a horror game, Xion has become incredibly desensitized to a lot of awful things, thanks to all the bad things that have happened to her and her friends such as being brainwashed and kidnapped and physically tortured multiple times. This is such to the point that when Cid Highwind (FFVII) told her that being a Turk would paint a target on her back if Hojo ever came to the Tower, her reply was essentially "Okay but Jason is worse." Xion is basically used to the zombie apocalypse adage: "There is no safe, only safer." Monster attacks are seen as normal. Experiments and psychotic games are unfortunate but a thing that must be endured. She's just used to not living in a safe/calm place anymore.

Conversely, as also predictable for a horror game, Xion has developed certain negative tendencies and phobias after traumatic incidents, particularly deaths. Thanks to being crushed by her costume in the Halloween event, being trapped in a small crystal and tortured by Ganondorf, and later being buried alive, Xion now has a tendency to get rather uncomfortable in very small enclosed spaces, especially if the small places cause any difficulty in breathing. She has a slight discomfort of flames (due to a Tower death), and of heights (due to Vanitas leaving her dangling off the Tower once), and low-level red lights. One of her strongest reactions though comes from if she is restrained, particularly her arms, owing to an encounter with Jason where he grabbed her arms to restrain her, then strapped her down on a morgue table, killed her close friend in front of her, and then proceeded to vivisect her.

She's lived long enough and experienced enough for a lot of her inexperience and naivety to have worn off. It does still show itself occasionally, however, not to mention the Tower has never really given her much experience in what having a normal life - and many aspects of it - is like. Things like a decent selection of food, getting decent clothing without making it, and a bed you don't have to sleep in are foreign concepts to her. Additionally, she's still rather slow on the uptake when it comes to romantic matters. She has developed a crush or two, but didn't realize what it was until much later, after the subject of them had already left the Tower.

Several of her beliefs and feelings about certain facts have shifted - some very dramatically. For instance, she no longer cares nearly as much about being a replica. However, this change is not the result of gaining the belief that she is just as much a person as anyone else - at least not solely. She has begun to develop that idea lately, aided by her friends; however, the bigger factor has always been the fact that in the Tower, there were always so much bigger things to worry about then the circumstances of one's birth.

A similar shift is an increase in her self-confidence, which shows itself more in how it doesn't. This is to say, Xion's less likely to be down on herself and blame herself than she used to. Additionally, she's more likely to take on tasks and jobs, seeing them as something that needs to be done, and herself as someone who can.

On the other hand, she now has a fear of abandonment, owing to all the friends who have come and gone in the Tower. Most particularly in the period of February to July of 2013, almost all of Xion's parental figures vanished from the Tower one by one. In some cases, Xion would be told to go to someone else who would help her in the place of the person who'd vanished, but only for that person too to vanish shortly thereafter. She has consequently grown wary of such people, to the point of acting distant and outright turning down Diarmuid's help when he offered (at the behest of one of her previous guardians).

In a way, Xion's development in Animus has reflected the same development as canon for her - going from spectator to driver of her own fate. July of 2013 was a huge turning point for her. She - and the Tower at large - found out several pieces of Dax's research, which made her realize that several people she knew were in danger, including Reno. She also learned that the Tower residents were being conditioned in learned helplessness. At that point, she resolved to not fall prey to it, and for a little while became almost reckless in her attempts to fight the admins, culminating in the end of July infiltration of the admin levels and her personal encounter with Jason afterwards.

However, the most dramatic shift has been her attitude towards her future. For the longest time she struggled with the decision about what to do about her life back home. She knew -from talking to others - that her future was not set in stone. In addition to that, she formed strong bonds, friends and family, in the Tower. She has constantly fallen back and forth between wanting to stay with them, and knowing that she couldn't abandon everyone back home, should her worlds be restored. However, for the longest time, she was afraid of acting on the possibility of changing the future, for fear of making things worse. For a while, she even considered not going home at all. And yet, when she faced down Riki's attempts to retake the machine room in the Ex Machina event, she said something very important - that they would never stop fighting for a future they could believe in. It was after this that she came to a realization - that why couldn't that same idea apply back home as well? And so, Xion came to the conclusion that she could fight for a future that she wanted - one where Sora woke up, but not at the expense of her and Roxas.
Abilities: Keyblade - The Keyblade has several powers - it can manifest and disappear at the will of the wielder. It also has the power to lock and unlock any door or portal. It also has the ability to return to the wielder's hand, should they ever be disarmed. Beyond this, there is an inherent magical nature to the Keyblade itself - despite its unwieldy shape and form, it functions quite similarly to a sword, and can have very powerful cutting ability when required. It seems to draw power from the wielder's strength of heart. Xion has a fair amount of experience with her Keyblade at this point, but has taught herself primarily through battle. Her skills won't be able to hold up as well against anybody who's had significant formal training.
  • Magic - Magical abilities in KH verse are heavily dependent on the Final Fantasy elemental spread - with Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Cure being the main elements, plus others thrown in, and these abilities leveling up over time (-ra, -aga). They're also not particularly unique - instead they're teachable like any other skill, and some people have more of a particular aptitude for it than others. Xion's aptitude in particular seems to be pretty decent (as it's her primary method of fighting throughout certain points in the game), especially the more she's able to use it. Because of these factors, while I'll mainly list magic as it's available in Days, it theoretically should be possible for Xion to learn other magic from Kingdom Hearts games (games with noticeably more magic than the rest of the series include Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance). I will also list the spells she has officially learned in the Tower. The spells (as they are in Days) are as follows:
    • Fire - A simple spell that shoots a small fireball that homes in on either Xion's intented target, or if no target is specified, then the nearest opponent. The attack does have a limited range before it disappates on its own, however, so dodging is possible. All Days fire-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be ignited if successfully hit by an attack.
    • Fira - Releases a fireball that, when hitting an opposing target, explodes, damaing nearby enemies. Unlike Fire or Firaga, it does not have homing properties. All Days fire-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be ignited if successfully hit by an attack.
    • Firaga - A spell that travels in an arc, homing towards the nearest opponent as it heads for the ground. Upon hitting either the ground or an opponent (whichever comes first), the attack explodes. All Days fire-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be ignited if successfully hit by an attack.
    • Blizzard - Releases a block of ice that, after flying forwards, homes in towards the target in short bursts. All Days ice-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be completely or partially encased in ice if successfully hit by an attack.
    • Blizzara - This spell creates a small, stationary ice field, that explodes when any enemy comes into contact with it. All Days ice-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be completely or partially encased in ice if successfully hit by an attack.
    • Blizzaga - Creates a small, concentrated point of magical energy. After a few seconds, this point of energy explodes outwards in massive spikes of ice. All Days ice-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be completely or partially encased in ice if successfully hit by an attack.
    • Thunder - The caster summons several small lighting bolts, which travel away from the caster in a straight line. All Days thunder-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be jolted, which periodically "jolts" the opponent for a small but respectable amount of damage over time.
    • Thundara - This spell causes several thunderbolts to rain down around the caster for several seconds. If the caster is to move after casting the spell, the spell will not move with them, but continue to rain down bolts where the caster was previously standing. All Days thunder-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be jolted, which periodically "jolts" the opponent for a small but respectable amount of damage over time.
    • Thundaga - When cast, this spell picks either the nearest opponent, or the one the caster has specifically targeted, and sends a single, massive bolt of electricity down to strike them. All Days thunder-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be jolted, which periodically "jolts" the opponent for a small but respectable amount of damage over time.
    • Aero - Sends a small concentrated ball of air at an opponent. If it strikes them, it unfurls, not enough to strike nearby enemies but enough to do damage and possibly disorient the opponent. All Days air-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be tossed into the air, often kept disorientated until they hit the ground
    • Aerora - This spell sends a small, minature tornado spinning across the ground for several seconds. This spell in particular has a high chance of tossing grounded enemies into the air. All Days air-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be tossed into the air, often kept disorientated until they hit the ground
    • Aeroga - This spell creates violent, swirling winds around the caster, that after a second spin outwards, knocking any nearby enemies away. All Days air-element attacks include the risk that the enemy may be tossed into the air, often kept disorientated until they hit the ground
    • Cure - A basic healing spell which restores - based on skill - a minor to moderate amount of health on either the user or whoever they direct it towards. (I tend to treat Days healing spells in general as field medicine. They're able to heal minor wounds and surface injuries, but no substitue for proper medical attention for something more serious, though they can help in slowing bleeding or temporarily stabilizing someone)
    • Cura - Functionally, this spell works much like Regen in the Final Fantasy series, in that it heals smaller amounts bit by bit over a longer period of time.
    • Curaga - This spell creates a small field that both the caster and any allies are able to use. While standing in this field, health is restored. It is possible for enemies to enter this field and damage the caster and any allies making use of it.
    • Bind/Stun (as it appears in BBS) - learned in the Tower, it is a spell that, when cast, ends up "gluing" someone in place with what appears to be small electrical charges. They can still attack and move about, but they cannot move from the spot to which they are currently bound. The spell's effects last anywhere from 15-30 seconds.
    • Barrier (as it appears in BBS) - learned in the Tower, a simple spell that briefly erects a spherical wall that blocks most minor and moderate attacks headed for the user. It only lasts for a few seconds at most, and is localized almost exclusively around the user (someone will have to be very close for them to block for them as well)

  • Movement Abilities - Movement abilities are sort of a catchall term for different skills associated with getting around Xion has and is able to learn. Some of them - such as basic Block or Dodge Roll - only require a certain amount of strength or acrobatic skill. Others, like Float, Haste, and Auto-Life, are much more supernatural in nature.
    • Block - A move where a Keyblade - or some other weaponry - is used to block incoming attacks. There appears to be some slight supernatural element involved, as projectile attacks and attacks that would be unlikely to be blocked by only a bar of metal are still able to be warded. In Days, numerous different effects can be added to Block with practice, including the power to infuse it with the different elements available in Days to deal damage, to generate HP prizes (which allow her to heal) while blocking, and the ability to block in a complete circle, including attacks behind herself. Additionally, with enough practice Xion can - with focus - minimize recoil, attack immediately after blocking, and block while surging forward, jumping, and retreating.
    • Dodge Roll - An ability that requires more acrobatic ability than magical, a dodge roll is simply a somersault, often used while moving or running, to dodge attacks. Xion can practice it to the point where, if she learns to focus on it, she can move pretty fluidly back into an attacking stance upon exiting a dodge roll. However, Days does have some (other) modifications for Dodge Roll that are a bit more supernatural in nature, particularly the ability to knock enemies aside and deflect attacks while dodge rolling.
    • Aerial Recovery - Moving acrobatically, the user is able to (after being knocked into the air and stunned) reorient themselves and land on their feet. With practice, this move can be done more quickly, or even used to attack or knock nearby foes away.
    • High Jump - a passive ability that allows Xion to jump higher than normal. The effect can be increased, although it caps out at Xion being able to jump twice as high as normal.
    • Float - an active ability, one that - when used - allows Xion to fall very slowly, like sinking through water.
    • Air Slide - a move that allows Xion to "dash" through the air mid-jump, helping her to reach bridge larger gaps. With practice, the number of times that she can dash can be increased.
    • Haste - a passive ability that essentially allows Xion to move more rapidly with the aid of magic. With the right amount of practice, its effect can be increased. However, the effect isn't too significant - ultimately she won't be more than three times faster than normal.
    • Sliding Dash - A move that allows Xion to slide quickly across the ground to close the distance between herself and opponents. The move doesn't have a massive range, probably no more than 30 feet.
    • Auto Life - An ability that allows Xion do revive at full health if she is knocked out/otherwise severely incapacitated. Note that Auto-Life can only be used once per day (possibly even less frequently if restricted). Also note that Auto-Life does not reset in how much jeopardy she needs to be in order for her to activate her Limit Break.
    • Scan - Xion is able to get the general jist of how much more health/stamina an opponent has before they will be defeated. (Out of fairness to other players, I say this ability tends to work much more effectively on animals and monsters/non major NPCs.)
    • (Note: While Xion can possess the Glide ability in Mission Mode, I play her as never having recieved it, as Roxas recieves the ability after Tinker Bell teaches him how to fly in Neverland. Flying in Neverland is something that Xion is notably excluded from, to the point where she laments not being able to at the Clock Tower in one cutscene.
    • Strike Raid (as it appears in... throughout the series really) - Learned in the Tower, an ability where she throws her Keyblade in spinning motion towards enemies, then calls it back to her, rather like a boomerang. With practice, she should be able to learn to augment this ability with different elemental attributes on her own, though she has not done so yet.

  • Limit Break/Final Limit - A Limit Break is a particular type of attack that she is unable to use unless she is in dire straits. It can be used more than once if - by the attack's end, she's still in serious trouble, however each successive time will be more and more difficult and require her to be in more and more mortal jeopardy. In her limit break, Xion cloaks her Keyblade in light and attacks a foe quickly and successively. An example of her limit break can be seen here. Her Final Limit attached to the end of her Limit Break, in which Xion sends out narrow pillars of light in perpendicular lines (either an X or + formation) that deal damage to whatever they hit. A good (though brief) example of her Limit Break and Final Limit together can be seen here.
  • Dark Corridors/Teleportation - Dark corridors are magical passageways that can be used to travel between distant locations quickly like teleportation, or even between worlds. The only downside is prolonged, frequent exposure to the Corridors of darkness can have a corrosive effect on one's heart if they are not wearing a dark coat or have a heart of pure light. Also, in game Xion is shown being able to teleport for very short distances, through a method independent of corridors. However, I tend to follow the belief that this ability is more of a gameplay mechanic, a pathfinding aid to keep Xion's AI from being left behind on joint missions, as opposed to an actual ability that she possesses.
  • Hacking - I believe that Xion, as a replica, was "programmed" with several abilities upon her creation. Most of these are simple things that would've saved time teaching her - things like how to walk and basic language and etc. One of these abilities that's relevant in particular though is how to hack certain technological devices, most particularly computers. It's possible we see this in canon, when she hacks the Organization computer to find the files about Castle Oblivion and herself, halfway or so through the game. For Xion, using this "ability" feels like going on autopilot. It's an ability she can use but she can't explain how she does it to an observer, because she doesn't really consciously understand the process.
  • Memory Absorbtion - A latent ability, wherein Xion may absorb the memories (primarily) of those who are closely connected with Sora (Generally I play this as Sora, Roxas, alternate versions of herself in games that allow AUs and possibly Ventus). Presumably though, with the right interference/modification, it could be extended to include others. It is an ability that she cannot control. It's never clearly stated, but this ability appears to be in a significantly weaker form during the majority of the game. Implications between the game, novels, and manga implied that Xion's ability was modified on Day 299. Because Roxas only begins to start quickly losing strength after that point, I take the Day 299 changes to mean that this ability was significantly amplified. It was later modified again on Day 356, which pushed this ability to its absolute strongest and enabled her to access the boss form that will be discussed further below, and the machines that the Organization made for that form's use. It is an ability I really do think will work best nerfed unless specifically plotted otherwise with you guys in advance.
  • Boss Form - if Xion is programmed (or otherwise manipulated) to do so and absorbs enough power and memories, she can transform into a creature with multiple different forms, in addition to being much larger than normal (to get a sense of her scale, particularly in final form, see here). Her strength is increased greatly while in these forms, and she is able to use abilities she would not be able to otherwise, detailed below. She is unable to access this form without outside interference - it's not something she can train herself to do. It's worth noting that some of the abilities she gains in this form are based on the memories of those she's absorbed memories from (Sora, Roxas), as well as the worlds her bossfight takes place in (Wonderland, HalloweenTown, Agrabah, and Twilight Town, in order). It's not at all unreasonable to say that her abilities in her bossform may change if either influence is altered/added to, and in the very unlikely event I do anything with this, I will be more than willing to discuss things out, to make sure she's powerful but not too overpowered.
    • First form - In this form, Xion gains a pair of wings that can be extended or retracted, giving her the power of flight. One of her abilities in this form is to do a Dashing attack after gathering power, swinging her Keyblade in a sideways slash. While in flight, she uses a similar attack, diving towards her opponent (down towards the ground if they happen to be grounded when she is not) with her Keyblade held like a lance, not entirely unlike Sora's ability of Sonic Blade. Lastly, she is able to jump into the air and surround herself in a sphere of fire, allowing her to recover some damage and damaging opponents who touch the sphere. It is possible to interrupt this technique, if opponents are able to hit her before the shield comes up.
    • Second form Unlike her other forms, Xion does not have any peculiar physical attributes, although she does appear to be slightly more flexible. However, she does gain the ability to create a vortex on the ground, doing no damage but drawing slow-moving enemies towards the center and making them vulnerable to other attacks. She's also able reinforce her strikes with the power of Light. Most notably, however, she is able to use one of Sora's abilities, Ragnarok, where she creates a large series of spiraling light projectiles, which home in on their target for a respectable distance. She's also able to use the same healing-with-fire-shield technique that she used in her first form, although it will be much more effective in healing her than before.
    • Third form - In this form, Xion gains an extra pair of arms and three extra weapons for a total of fou. One of her attacks in this form involves jumping into the air and striking the ground, damaging anyone in the nearby vacinity. In this form, Xion is able to use another one of Sora's abilities - Ars Arcanum, in which she cloaks all of her weapons in light and strikes opponents quickly and repeatedly in a long combo of blows for heavy damage. As with the second stage, she is able to create a vortex on the ground that does no damage but draws slow-moving opponents to the center. Lastly, as with her first two stages, she is able to surround herself with a sphere of fire and heal damage, however it is more effective still, fully recovering her.
    • Final form - Here she's able to use one of Sora's most powerful attacks, Trinity Limit, in which she creates a massive pillar of light that does heavy damage to all within its radius. In addition, she's also able to use what appears to be a variation of Magic Hour, one of Roxas' Limit Breaks. During this attack, she creates smaller pillars of light that strike the ground around her randomly for a significant length of time, each strike dealing heavy damage to those caught in it. She's also being shown to create a medium-sized sphere of darkness that does damage to all that touch it or are inside it. As with her previous forms, she can create a sort of vortex on the ground, which does no damage but draws stationary and slow-moving opponents to its center, making them vulnerable other attacks (such as Trinity Limit). However, in final form, the vortex that Xion can create is much, much larger compared to that of the second and third forms.


    In addition, she's learned decent hand-to-hand combat from Reno, and some self-taught skills in sewing. She is and remains mostly an utter disaster at cooking, however.

    So far as nerfs go, her memory absorption and boss form will probably work best as completely nerfed. The hacking may need to be nerfed as well, depending on you think of it as a more "magical" ability or part of her being a replica. It doesn't affect much at this point so I don't mind either way.

    I'm basing this roughly off of what I've seen on other players nerfs, but magic in general will come with the usual exhaustion caveat, with more advanced magic draining her faster; The more supernatural movement abilities will likewise have a similar effect, though the acrobatics-based movement abilities should be unaffected.

    Her darkness corridors will probably need to be limited to places she's been, and probably with only a certain radius as well. Her limit break in particular can only be used once per day at most and will require significant rest near a mana pool afterwards. Final limit can be used once a week tops and will require multiple days' rest.

    Inventory: Her clothing - an Organization coat, boots (have mild darkness-repelling properties) and some ordinary clothing she made personally underneath it. A pin identifying her as a member of the Turks made by Reno. Also a bracelet and pendant given to her by her adoptive parents.
    Belt and pouch - This pouch currently contains all of her most precious objects.
    • Several shells - some given to her by Roxas, some from Zo, others collected from the Tower Honestly for space's sake it's probably her favorites, so around 15-18
    • a paper crane
    • a paper songbird
    • some of her more incriminating and treasured correspondence... I REALLY WISH I COULD COUNT/LINK THIS ALL BUT IT'S KIND OF SCATTERED AND SOME OF IT WAS HANDWAVED... some of it's here though; probably no more than around ten letters, all told


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