is a fictional group of characters featured in Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios' Kingdom Hearts video game series. The group comprises thirteen beings, including Xemnas and his twelve followers.
The concept of the Organization was originally introduced in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix within a bonus ending titled "Another Side, Another Story [deep dive]", where their Japanese name was translated as the "Thirteenth Order". The group was later introduced as the "Organization" in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, where they serve as the main antagonists, and have the same role in Kingdom Hearts II. Organization XIII is prominently featured in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, as some of its members are playable characters and it introduces a new female member named Xion. Several members, prior to becoming Nobodies, appear in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, return following their restoration in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and also appear in Kingdom Hearts III.
The group was moderately well received by reviewers, and comments focused on their difficulty as adversaries and mysterious nature, which fueled expectations for future titles. Roxas specifically received press comments, focusing on his introduction in Kingdom Hearts II.
Concept and creation
The members of Organization XIII were created by the series' director Tetsuya Nomura and other members of his development staff. The concept began with Xemnas as the first member and Roxas as the last. Each of the original members' names are anagrams of their original name prior to becoming a Nobody, with the addition of the letter "X", which is revealed in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep to be derived from the χ-blade. The members wear black, hooded coats that shield them from the corrosive effect of prolonged use of the Corridors of Darkness, portals they use to traverse various worlds. The emblem associated with the Nobodies and Organization XIII was designed to resemble a splintered heart as a complement to the Heartless emblem. Nomura tried to portray the characters ambiguously, rather than explicitly good or evil. Throughout the games' development, Nomura has often left certain plot holes and relations regarding Organization XIII characters—along with the series' other characters—unexplained until the release of a sequel; feeling that games should give fans room to speculate and use their imagination.
In Chain of Memories, the staff had several of the Organization's members defeated as part of the plot. While Nomura intended to have them be fought at Olympus Coliseum in the Kingdom Hearts II, he dropped the idea due to time constraints and later applied it to Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix and remakes in the form of optional "Absent Silhouette" boss fights where the player fights defeated Organization members. Since the battles were optional, the difficulty of the fights was increased and the Chain of Memories-exclusive characters were given previously unseen powers. After working with the first game, Nomura gained interest in including the Mushroom XIII Heartless, most of which served to yield rare items in the game. This interest continued during the development of Kingdom Hearts II, as he intended to add new variants of "Mushroom" Heartless in the game. Consequently, they are featured in the Final Mix release as the "Mushroom XIII", thirteen Heartless wearing black cloaks that mimic traits of the Organization XIII members. For 358/2 Days, the developers believed the Organization and its large number of characters was a good fit for multiplayer gameplay. Once the group was decided to be a central part of the gameplay, the staff felt Roxas's role as a member would be a suitable theme for the plot.
Several former members appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, having regained their hearts following the destruction of their Heartless and Nobodies. In both the game and Kingdom Hearts III, Master Xehanort is revealed to be the organization's true leader and creates it as it was meant to be: The Thirteen Seekers of Darkness with Xigbar and Saïx. Enlisting under false pretenses to reconstruct Roxas to fight them, Vexen uses the Replica technology to create vessels for Xehanort's time-displaced incarnations while the recreated Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, Vanitas, and Xion are made into thralls like Saïx.