Summary
TheHeartlessfrom theKingdom Heartsseries are arguablysome of the most iconic enemy types in the entire video game industry. These are deadly creatures that are created from darkness and are constantly terrorizing the inhabitants of different worlds, whether they’re original locations or based on a Disney property, likeAladdinorHercules.
Over the years, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and all of their allies have faced a huge number of different Heartless, but not all of them were of equal power. While they managed to vanquish many weaker variants, they also had the misfortune of having to face some powerful Heartless, from huge bosses to main antagonists of entire games. But who is the truly strongest Heartless in all ofKingdom Hearts?
For most of the series, the Heartless were usually portrayed as actual living beings, and not so much as abstract figures with a specific role. But this perception of the species was significantly altered by the introduction of theLichinKingdom Hearts 3, a Heartless whose main goal is to capture lost hearts and take them further into the abyss of darkness.
The Lich is basically a Grim Reaper of sorts (not to be confused with theKingdom Hearts 2boss of the same name) and as such, it has proven to be quite strong in combat. It has the ability to cast powerful elemental magic attacks, and it can even summon other Heartless to assist him, like Vaporflys or Neoshadows.
A good number of the strongest Heartless inKingdom Heartsare individual unique bosses, rather than regular enemies. But one of the few exceptions to this rule are theInvisibles,a type of Pureblood Heartless that inhabit some of the darkest corners of this universeand, as a result, are incredibly tricky to take down.
With an intimidating human-like design that is reminiscent of the Darkside, the Invisible will usually deal a lot of damage with its huge sword or the spheres of dark power it can summon. To top it all off, it will stay true to its name and disappear into a powerful ring of dark fire that can curse its opponents with a deadly and unexpected explosion.
8Phantom
A Time Manipulator Hiding In Neverland
The Heartless simply known asPhantomis one of many optional bosses that can be confronted throughout theKingdom Heartsseries. This mysterious cloaked creature can be found residing in the Clock Tower of Neverland, and it’s the protagonist of a bizarre and tricky boss battle.
Phantom can attack with its sharp claws and even deal continuous damage to Sora with spheres of dark energy. But it also has one final technique hidden up its sleeve, which makes use of the Clock in this location, called Death Sentence. A 60-second countdown is placed on its victim and if it hits 0, not only will they immediately be defeated, but they will also not be able to be revived for the rest of the fight. Because of this spell alone, Phantom is one of the most infamous Heartless in the series.
Since Sora’s heart is almost completely devoid of darkness, he became a weak Shadow when he was turned into a Heartless. However, when this same Heartless was brought back by Jiminy’s Journal inKingdom Hearts Re:Coded, it absorbed a large number of Blug Boxes and became one of the most terrifying creatures of the Datascape.
This incarnation of Sora’s Heartless is a true force to be reckoned with, as it initially looks like a Darkside that can use deadly ice and light attacks. But this being is at its most powerful when it switches into its true form, which looks like a dark version of Sora, and can use a lot of strong techniques with its fake, dark Keyblade. It can even summon clones of itself to deal even more damage.
6Kurt Zisa
A Versatile Combatant Hiding In Agrabah
Similarly to Phantom,Kurt Zisais yet another strong Heartlesswho is featured as an optional boss in the originalKingdom Hearts.This one is hiding in the deserts of Agrabah, and it will immediately intimidate most players with its huge size, its snake-like demeanor, and its sharp scimitars. But Kurt Zisa is not powerful just because of these attributes, but also because of his unique fighting style.
It can use a silencing spell to seal its opponent’s magic, and it can summon a resistant Reflect Barrier to block all of their physical attacks. All the while, it can still deal powerful blows with its weapons and body parts. Whoever tries to face Kurt Zisa will have to quickly adapt to its versatile and effective fighting style.
5Dark Inferno
A Mysterious Secret Boss
The initial release ofKingdom Hearts 3featured just one optional super boss, and it was yet another mysterious Heartless, known as theDark Inferno. This creature looks extremely similar to the Invisible but, since this is a unique boss, it’s significantly more powerful and even harder to take down.
The Dark Inferno can perform some long and complex combos with its dual swords that can catch any opponent off guard, and the dark vortexes in its feet allow him to move at blinding speeds. And just like the Invisible, it can disappear and summon a bunch of orbs that will target its opponent to deal massive damage. There’s also a variant known asDark Inferno χ, which seems to be of equal strength as the original one.
WhenAquagot trapped in the Realm of Darkness, she was stalked and eventually confronted by a frightening creature of the dark calledDark Hide. This world is the home to the Pureblood Heartless after all, so it makes sense that it would end up becoming a really tough opponent for this Keyblade Master.
Dark Hide takes full advantage of its beast-like appearancesince it can deal significant damage with its claws, fangs, and tail. But its most complex technique is undoubtedly his most dangerous one, as it can create several afterimages of itself and send them all to attack individually, instantly overwhelming its target in the process. Dark Hide is a true example of how powerful the Heartless in the Realm of Darkness can be.
3Demon Tide (Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue)
Thousands Of Heartless Are Better Than One
TheShadowsare usually the weakest type of Heartless in these games. But, unbeknownst to most Keyblade wielders, Shadows can have a strong sense of teamwork and gather together to create powerful swarms. This can be seen in the surprisingly strong Demon Tower, but their bigger variant, theDemon Tide, can achieve an even higher level of power.
The Demon Tide is a massive swarm made up of thousands of Shadows that can attack a lot of targets with relentless waves and tornadoes. At first, this may not seem like much, but a Demon Tide was directly responsible for killing the seven Guardians of Light in the climactic final battle ofKingdom Hearts3. This was such a strong opponent that some time travel, and the joint efforts of many Keyblade wielders from the past, were required to ultimately vanquish it.
2World of Chaos
An Enormous Heartless Battleship
At the very end ofKingdom Hearts 1, Ansem combines himself with a massive Heartless known asWorld of Chaosandboth of them take the role of the final boss of the game. Not much is known about this creature, but there’s no denying how unique and fascinating it is because it looks like an organic battleship made out of darkness.
The vehicular nature of World of Chaos is also reflected in its fighting style since it has various body parts, armaments, and underlings that can simultaneously attack Sora, Donald, and Goofy with thousands of deadly projectiles. And when combined with Ansem, they both become even stronger, to the point they can even summon a dangerous Black Hole together. World of Chaos was Ansem’s final trump card to obtain the power of Kingdom Hearts, and it definitely played this role quite efficiently.
Even though the Heartless are some of the most recurring enemies in theKingdom Heartsfranchise, only one of them has kept the same appearance and level of intelligence as he had before his heart fell into the darkness. And this is no other thanAnsem, Seeker of Darkness, the Heartless of Terra-Xehanort.
As his subtitle implies, Ansem has complete control over both the darkness and all the Heartless, to the point that he can navigate the darkest corners of this universe without any real issues. But he’s also extremely effective in battle andhas proven to be a tough opponent for Sora, Riku, and all of their allies on several occasions.
Ansem’s most powerful weapon is theDark Figure, a shadowy entity that he can command to both attack others and protect himself. But he can easily manage himself without it, as he has showcased a lot of different uses for his dark powers, like lasers, bombs, mines, life-draining spheres, and even the ability to bond himself to other strong Heartless.
