Novels of BBS - Vanitas

[DrakeClawfang]

http://kh13.com/forum/topic/20977-volume-3-of-birth-by-sleep-novel-translated/

There's three novels so far but this is the most lengthy translation I can find, and puts a whole new spin on Vanitas, and that he wasn't so twisted and sadistic simply because he was made of darkness.

Spoiler

He was Ven when he was first created, and hated Ven for being too weak for Master Xehanort and thus his heart was split. He also hated Master Xehanort, who surprise was not a very nice guy to train under. And he had the typical existential problems you'd expect, "what am I", etc. Vanitas's ability to spawn Unversed, initially, was not something he could control, whenever he felt a strong emotion an Unversed appeared. Vanitas hated them as a symbol of his true nature and weakness and killed them.

And this is where you feel sorry for him - when an Unversed is killed, Vantias not only feels their emotions, but the physical pain too. Furthermore, Master Xehanort forced him to train by fighting them. Thus began a vicious cycle - Vanitas feels something, an Unversed appears, he kills it, he feels its pain and emotions, Vanitas gets even more bitter, sad and hateful, and stronger Unversed appear. Complicating this was he could feel the emotions Ven felt with Terra and Aqua, and knew how happy he was with them. That was the only happiness Vanitas felt, the residual happiness he got from Ven.

Eventually, Master Xehanort convinced him that the only way to reunite with Ven, to be whole and strong, was to forge the X-Blade. Thus after a life of nothing but fighting and pain, Vanitas had a goal and a purpose to focus on at last.

 

[Splintered]

Wow, I know the KH mythology is kind of a mess and they need to simplify it for the game but I kind of wish they put it in there.

NGL, Vanitas was the first villain I actually really liked in the series, I never found Ansem or any of the Organization XIII compelling (well, that's not entirely true, I liked Axel). I really liked how insane Vanitas was and how he was a constant presence in the game. I even liked his stupid "Sora lookalike thing" which if nothing else, was an interesting surprise. Even if it was a cheap one.

 

[DrakeClawfang]

Yeah, BBS had the best villains, Org 13's writers didn't know if they wanted to make them sympathetic or not, and Ansem had too little presence to be interesting, except of course for Billy Zane. Then you've got Vanitas who is batshit crazy and Master Xehanort who is such a crafty manipulating schemer that Palpatine would be impressed. I imagine he would be even more effective if he hadn't been showcased in the KH2 secret ending, imagine going through the game where Vanitas and the other Disney villains do all the work, Master Xehanort just setting things up from afar. By the time you get to the Keyblade Graveyard you'd probably not expect muuuuchHOLYSHITKEYBLADEWHIRLWIND!

 

[Vanitas]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this, tbh. I really liked Vanitas. I liked how he just didn't seem to give a damn about what he was. At first, I kind of got the impression that he was just there to troll Ven and everyone else. XD Sure, it's nice that there's a little development to his character now. But it just seems like a bit of a cop-out. I mean, we've already seen this "what am I?" scenario happen with Repliku and Org XIII. :/

 

[Danseru-kun]

This is interesting. I kinda liked Vanitas and I secretly ship him with Aqua in a twisted way. (Tequa is still my no.1 though)

 

[Vanitas]

Wow. I ship VxA in the fanon too. All thanks to fanfiction written by Alacquiene.