Kingdom Hearts is obviously a generally rather juvenile series, but some of its deeper and more
interesting aspects are contained within the group of villains that form the main opposition within Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, a set of mysterious black robed figures known originally only as 'The Organisation' and later on as Organisation XIII. In a series where good and evil tend to be divided in very clear-cut ways, as befits its Disney based origins, the Organisation represent an intriguing shade of grey, embodying concepts such as duplicity, cruelty and the search for identity.

To explain the basic idea behind Organisation XIII, it's necessary to delve slightly into KH lore - I'll try and keep it mercifully brief. The main antagonists of the series are the so-called Heartless, created when people succumb to the darkness in their hearts and are transformed into monstrous creatures. Kingdom Hearts II put a spin on this idea - the body left behind when somebody becomes a Heartless eventually begins to act with a will of its own, creating a being called a Nobody. Nobodies exist between light and darkness, and are often said to barely exist at all. Lacking hearts, they are incapable of emotion or any form of attachment, and are often said to barely exist at all. Organisation XIII is formed out of 13 of the most powerful nobodies, who were strong willed enough to retain their human form and memories of their past lives, and command many of the other Nobodies.

OK, lore lesson over. The reason why the Organisation makes such a fascinating set of opponents lies in the characterisation of the individual members. Unlike many secret cabals in videogames, the Organisation is neither entirely dedicated to your destruction, nor ironically particularly organised at all. In their very first appearance in Kingdom Hearts:Chain of Memories they are already conspiring against each other, and the player is essentially caught in the middle of a civil war between the more established members and newer upstarts. The various members take delight in double crosses and confrontations, and see the main player character Sora as merely a tool to be used in this internal struggle rather than a major threat that they need to band together against. There's even a double agent involved, the No. 8 Axel, who plays both sides against the middle before later himself betraying the remaining members. The result is an enemy group who comes off less as a faceless army and comes out as a set of individual characters. Neat little touches are inserted to reinforce the idea of individuality, such as the flamboyant and unique weapons each member wields (complete with corresponding titles) and the particular tweaks to the uniform black cloak they all wear.



The Organisation's emotionless nature also gives an interesting insight into their actions and motivations. They are by far the most 'evil' of all the entities who appear in the series and are capable of quite serious action (Axel personally executes the 12th member Larxerne and the 6th member Zexion has the life forcibly drained out of him), but there's considerable difference in character between the lesser members, who carry much stronger memories of their past lives and thus display much more obvious 'character' and the more senior members who are clearly more cold and unfeeling. This difference is also mirrored in the Organisation's motives. Their ultimate goal is Kingdom Hearts, the source of all power within the universe of the game. While the Organisation's leader Xemnas follows the old 'claim ultimate power and conquer the world' cliche, the others have a much more touching aim - they hope that Kingdom Hearts can restore their own hearts to them and make them complete beings again. Yet they seek to accomplish this goal through evil means, since they have no sense of morality or conscience left anymore.



There's one final reason why the Organisation is much more than a standard set of villains, and that's because they have a very unique relationship to the lead character Sora. Sora himself briefly became a Heartless in the events of the original game, and thus a corresponding Nobody was created named Roxas. His existence is not revaled until KIngdom Hearts II but it is also revealed that he joined the Organisation as their No. 13 and was key to their plans. He rejoins with Sora during the prologue of Kingdom Hearts II, but the other members repeatedly try to reawaken him, particularly Axel, with whom he was particularly close. Axel eventually betrays the Organisation in the hope of reuniting with Roxas, and ultimately sacrifices his existence in defence of Sora in the memory of his friend.

There's much still unexplained about the Organisation, and the part of the lore they occupy is arguably the most interesting aspect of the Kingdom Hearts story, and niche that is set to be explored further in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. But they already represent a brilliant fusion of character, concept and plot. Even in a series filled with famous faces from the world of animation, they stamp themselves firmly as an iconic and interesting set of antagonists.