Analyzing the Names of Organization XIII’s Weapons (Part 4)
No. I - Xemnas (Superior of the In-Between)
Organization XIII’s leader. Through power over nothing, he seeks power over everything.
Ethereal Blades are beams of solidified Nothingness which act according to Xemnas’s will, allowing him to hold them without a hilt or handle. He can summon or dismiss them at will, and uses them primarily as bludgeoning weapons. They also are named after negative emotions, or terms related to authority. Xemnas’ weapons have some of the most straight-forward names out of anyone in the Organization. But the shapes of his weapons are interesting.
Malice, Sanction, Overlord, Veneration, Autocracy, Conquest, Terminus, Judgment, Discipline, Aristocracy, Superiority, Aggression, Fury, Despair, Triumph, Ruination, Domination, Annihilation, Tyrant, Magnificence, Infinity, Interdiction, Absolute and Round Fan (joke).
Terminus is one of Xemnas’ strongest weapons, one of the few that can be upgraded to ++ status, along with Veneration. It seems like the weapon represented by the letter “X”. According to Xehanort, the “X” represents “death” and “endings”. Terminus has a complex, cross-like design.
Overlord is similar in shape to the fleurs-de-lis. It is s a common symbol of royalty. Even Xemnas’ joke weapon, Round Fan, is an enduring symbol of royalty.
His Mystery Gear is Absolute. In a philosophical context, Absolute is another way of referring to the Supreme Being. It could also refer to the fact that he is not to be doubted or questioned. Its heart-shaped gap is a reference to his heartlessness, and also that his true name, Xehanort, is an anagram of “No Heart” with an “X”. Its shape is two Soul Eaters combined into one.
His Zero Gear is Interdiction, or Forbidden in Japanese. This is his original weapon from KH2 that looks like a lightsaber. Its name is no doubt referring to the forbidden experiments he was performing to obtain the X-blade. “X” is also a common symbol denoting when something is forbidden.
Where did the Organization’s coat and mark come from?
Nomura: Xemnas remembering his human years. One year after BbS, Xehanort as well as five other apprentices toss aside their hearts. Then the Nobody Xemnas was born, and the Organization which he creates takes a lot of things from his memories as a human. But as Xemnas had two people who he was, Terra and Master Xehanort, he takes from both of their memories.
His Pandora Gear is Infinity, which is shaped like the sword part of the X-Blade. It is a quantity without bound or end. It illustrates Xemnas’ God complex quite well. Infinity is also represented by the Greek letter Omega. The Omega is often seen paired with Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Jesus is referred to as the “The Alpha and the Omega”. But the Nobody symbol actually appears to be a combination of the Greek letter “X” or Chi, tilted at an angle, and a lower case Omega.
When combined, the symbol takes on the appearance of an Alpha and Omega Cross…upside down. An inverted cross is called a Cross of St. Peter, but it is also associated with anti-Christianity. This matches the Christian imagery that the X-Blade has, which is based on the Keys to Heaven that Jesus entrusts to St. Peter. The keys are a symbol of divine authority and they give one the power to bind both on Earth and in Heaven. Xehanort and Xemnas definitely have the most Christian imagery of anyone else.
Master Xehanort’s Keyblade has both a goat’s head and an “all-seeing eye” on it. The goat is used as the symbol of Baphomet in Satanism along with the Eye of Providence, or the all-seeing eye of God. I think the all-seeing eye is where the writers got the idea of Young Xehanort being able to track anyone through time and space with the “Recusant’s Sigil” mark on them. It seems like a really random ability. And it kind of is because it shows up on Sora’s clothes, which is weird. But it is apparently a special ability of his Keyblade having to do with a concept called “ley lines”.
The ancients believed that there are geometrical energy lines that lie under the Earth. They placed sites such as Stonehenge directly on these ley lines due to the great amount of spiritual energy accumulated at the places where the lines intersect. The ancients also believed that the human body had its own energetic ley lines called “meridians” which carried chi through the body and this belief was associated with the practice of acupuncture.
Ley lines could be also used for dowsing to find water, minerals, or even missing people. The rods will cross to form an “X” when the item or person the dowser seeks is nearby. So theoretically, Xehanort uses his Keyblade to imprint his energetic symbol (the “X”) onto someone, and through the power of dowsing, he is able to keep track of them wherever they go with his Gazing Eye.
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