Okay, since Tumblr screwed me over last time I wanted to say this, and I decided I actually wanted it out there, I'm gonna say it all again but this time it's in an essay.
Ienzo's whole situation just fills me with pure visceral rage. Ienzo lost his parents first, which must have been tough if he was even old enough to remember it. There can be a whole feeling of abandonment that comes with that, not to mention any trauma involved if he happened to see anything. It was probably scary and/or confusing for him when he began staying with Ansem too.
I'm not gonna get into the experiments Ansem was doing cuz we have no idea how Ienzo fit into any of that, but once Terranort showed up that's when Ienzo was getting in involved. Ienzo was a kid, and kids are unfortunately easily manipulated. Terranort manipulated a legit child and got Ienzo to manipulate his own father figure into helping with their research bullshit. Which eventually got Ansem sent to the Realm of Darkness for wanting to put a stop to it all, and Ienzo probably thought his father figure was dead after that.
And the way Ienzo reacts to seeing Ansem again is horrible. He says he was the one that fucked up. He felt guilty about that! Ienzo believed, as children usually do, that he did something horrible and everything was his fault. He had so much guilt for something he didn't do! He thought that just being a child made him at fault cuz as a child he couldn't have done anything! Of course it's the other way around, but that's not the way children think.
Another thing about all that that pisses me the hell off is all the other adults around. Maybe they did care about him, but obviously not enough to remove him from the situation. Even could have done something, Aeleus could have, Dilan could have, fuck Braig cuz he was even more in on it all than anyone else, but none of them did anything. None of them tried to make sure Ienzo wasn't involved. It wasn't Ienzo that failed to do anything, it was them. The adults failed to protect him, a literal child, from everything going on and Ienzo! Ienzo is the one that thinks he failed! It's fucking disgusting.
Then there's the whole becoming a Nobody thing. Ienzo lost his heart at about eight years old. The experience alone must have been terrifying. Then he wakes up and he's a Nobody! He had to grow up not having any emotions/not believing he could have any, which is even more manipulation, now from Xemnas. He grew up wanting a heart for fucks sake! And he got bitter too. You can tell with all of Zexion's sarcasm and backhanded insults that he isn't happy. He can't do anything about his situation. He got stuck in the organization and when you feel helpless in a situation you don't wanna be in, you get mad about it. Obviously Zexion got mad but kept it inside and only let it show through his sarcasm and insults.
Basically all of Ienzo's life makes me wanna go absolutely feral. This kid was robbed of a normal childhood. He didn't deserve that and he didn't deserve anything that happened to him. He was a kid who was manipulated into manipulating his father figure then lost his fucking heart and no one stopped him from getting involved. He's got guilt about it all and that's just wrong. So absolutely downright wrong. And like, that's normal! Which sucks, but it's normal, especially since Ienzo hadn't really grown up in a proper way so he still thinks like a kid in terms of thinking he fucked up when he had no control over anything that happened. And god, it just pisses me off so fucking much! He deserved to have the chance to grow up like a normal kid and not have all this bullshit happen to him cuz of shitty adults! And I'll stop now cuz I'm just gonna end up repeating myself over and over again.