The events of "Chain of Memories" only took about a week.

Here's something I jotted notes down on a while back (when 358/2 Days was pretty recent, so it's been a while now) but never actually got around to posting up anywhere until now.  It's slightly off-topic for this blog's usual "replacement for the Fangirl Extermination Squad wiki and other stuff related to that story" purpose, and to be perfectly honest I've lost almost all interest in the canon KH universe at this point so I'm pretty much only posting this for the sake of finally getting this information out there in an attempt to counteract the nonsensical "the Chain of Memories events took about a month" misconception that was pretty prevalent in the fandom the last time I really paid attention... but anyway, I figure a rant about the Kingdom Hearts series and the weird, weird misconceptions of its fandom would fit better here than on either of my other blogs, so here it goes.

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Anyway... as the title says, it's pretty clear to me that the events of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories only took about a week from start to finish (in other words, from Sora's arrival at Castle Oblivion to the moment that Riku defeats "Ansem"/Xehanort's Heartless and leaves the castle with Mickey.)  For some odd reason there seems to be a perception among KH fans that it took something closer to a month, but if you look at the information available this is obviously wrong.  358/2 Days' "Secret Reports" make it perfectly clear just how long things take, at least right up to the 11th floor or so... the only reason people are getting the "month-ish" length is because they're not using a little thing called "common sense."  Here goes...

Day 24: Zexion writes that "Marluxia has succeeded in leading the Keyblade master to the castle."  In other words, this is the day when Sora first arrives at Castle Oblivion.

Day 25: Lexaeus writes "What's happening on the upper levels?" and "Zexion talks of the bond we share as an Organization, but how could such a thing exist? Still, he remains the only one I can trust."  This report is pretty much referencing a Vexen/Lexaeus/Zexion conversation that happens in Chain of Memories where they talk about Riku's arrival and other recent events.  So at this point Riku is already making his way up through the lower floors.

Day 26: Zexion writes "Simple deduction suggests Axel's outwardly inscrutable actions are the result of some directive from Saix. Why else eliminate Vexen? He simply wanted to do research."  So at this point -- just two days after Sora's arrival -- Sora's two fights with Vexen and Axel showing up to assassinate the old scientist have already happened.  In case you forgot, or were one of those people who never actually played Chain of Memories because the card-based battle system required too much thought and not enough blind button-mashing, this happens on the 10th floor of Castle Oblivion.  That means that in two days' time, Sora has climbed from the first floor to the tenth.  This is the part the "CoM took a month" crowd seems to miss -- why would Sora take multiple weeks to climb the last three floors when he only took three days at most to get through the first ten?  It doesn't make any sense at all.

Day 27: Marluxia writes "Axel is in the way, though I don't know if he's aware of our plot. Vexen had no part in our plans - why eliminate him, assuming Axel's orders were to root out traitors to the Organization?"  Doesn't really establish any clear events in the timeline, aside from showing that Sora hasn't reached Floor 13 yet at this point.  Presumably Larxene hasn't died yet either, as Marluxia refers to "our" plot and those two were the only ones in on it.

Day 28: Axel writes "I've uncovered most of what I need to know about the Replica Program, but where's the other one? I can't find any trace of it. ... Vexen was caught in the middle. Pitiable, but unavoidable. I could not risk his Program falling into their hands. Of greater concern are the traitors. Not the obvious turncoats, but the ones who will get in his and my way."  Apparently Larxene and Marluxia are still alive at this point (as Axel still mentions the "obvious" traitors), and Axel has been poking around at Vexen's research on the Replicas which suggests that it's getting close to the end now -- before he sics the Riku Replica on Zexion of course (since Marluxia died right as Riku encounters Zexion), but possibly after he's already come up with the plan to do it.  "The other one" probably refers to Xion rather than the Riku Replica, as I don't think Axel is aware that Xion is the other Replica at this point.  My guess is that Axel's report on Day 28 was written early in the day, after he'd stayed up all night searching through Vexen's research, and Larxene at least probably dies later on that day.  While it does seem like Sora's pace slowed a bit after his encounter with Vexen (otherwise he'd be up at Floor 20 by now, if such a floor existed! XD), it doesn't make any sense at all that he would randomly take weeks to climb the last three floors -- I'd say maybe a day per floor at most.

Here's what we know for sure of the timeline, compressed down for quicker reading:

Day 24 -- Sora arrives.
Day 25 -- Riku arrives.  Stuff's already going on up on the upper floors -- Naminé changing Sora's memories, Sora/Donald/Goofy's first fights with Axel and Larxene?
Day 26 -- Sora's on the 10th floor.  Axel kills Vexen.
Day 27 -- Larxene and Marluxia are still alive, so Sora's not reached the 12th floor yet.
Day 28 -- Axel's plotting to get rid of Zexion.  Larxene and Marluxia are still alive, so Sora's not gotten to the end of the memory-room on the 12th floor yet -- but I suspect he's probably already very close at the point when Axel wrote this.

So basically... Sora's story in Chain of Memories most likely takes no more than a week, and possibly as little as only five or six days depending on just how soon after Axel's Day 28 report the final battles take place.  Literally the only way it could take any longer is if you assume Sora randomly spent weeks hanging around in the memory-rooms on the last few floors.  Riku's story extends a little bit after Sora's ends, but probably not by much -- we know that Larxene was killed somewhere around the same time as Lexaeus, and that Riku encounters Zexion at the exact same time Marluxia dies in battle with Sora, Donald, and Goofy (Riku senses his "scent" fading and Zexion confirms the identity of the "scent" was Marluxia.) After the Zexion encounter there's only a few more floors left for Riku -- the final battle with the Riku Replica, and then the battle with Xehanort's Heartless, and then he's done and leaves Castle Oblivion.  Even assuming that Riku takes on a similarly slow pace to Sora during his last couple floors, I'd guess that he leaves the castle no later than Day 32.  So Sora's story is over by Day 28 at the earliest and Day 30 or so at the latest, and Riku's by Day 30 at the earliest and Day 32 or so at the latest.  Chain of Memories only takes about a week.  Not a month.  Not multiple weeks.  About a week.

And now, the part that throws people off if they don't think about things too much.  Yeah, I think I've figured out where people keep getting the "month" in the timeline... just like the above, it's from 358/2 Days' secret reports..

Day 51: Saix writes "The Replica Program continues apace, but something has gone wrong at Castle Oblivion. The Dusks returned with word that none of those we dispatched survived—but the news came in fragments. I still know too little to extract the truth. I doubt Axel would be among those lost, but I must plan for the worst."  The source of the "month" misinterpretation can probably be traced to this one report.  People see "Saix gets word from Dusks that all of the Organization XIII members at Castle Oblivion are gone" here and assume that it must have happened right after everything went down at Castle Oblivion.

...but that wouldn't make any sense.  There doesn't seem to have been much, if any, communication on a day-to-day basis between the Castle Oblivion group and the Castle That Never Was group.  In 358/2 Days you don't hear anything from the Castle Oblivion group during their assignment over there.  There's no indication in either game that they're being checked up on regularly -- Axel being sent there to root out the traitors is the only involvement that Saix and Xemnas have with the whole Castle Oblivion operation.  Xemnas and Saix aren't keeping a constant watch over Castle Oblivion, so it wouldn't make sense that Dusks would be sent to investigate the exact moment that everyone died.  Plus, Dusks aren't exactly the best investigators (as we know from Kingdom Hearts 2's Roxas intro scenes), so it's likely they took a significant amount of time to check through the castle's various floors and confirm that they couldn't find anyone.  Let's say it took two weeks before Saix sent a team of Dusks to investigate (that would mean the Dusks were sent around Day 44) and then another week for them to finish their search... that brings it right up around Day 51, and makes a lot more sense time-wise than "Marluxia and Zexion die somewhere in the late 40s, Dusks immediately sent out, and then they finish their investigation and head back in less than a day" like what the CoM-took-a-month theorists must think happened.  And apparently Axel hid from the Dusks, since they reported that no Organization members were still present at Castle Oblivion even though Axel was still hanging around at this point (as we see from the next report.)

Day 52: Axel writes "I've lost track of the Keyblade master and the other intruders. I'm the only one left in the castle. Everybody else has been destroyed. My orders were to end the traitors, but I think by this point, I fit that bill better than anybody. There's one last thing I need to look into while I'm here."  Basically, Axel has spent the past month continuing his investigation into everything that went down in Castle Oblivion, along with probably recovering from his last fight (he fought a Sora/Donald/Goofy who went on to defeat Marluxia soon afterward, after all -- and we know Axel's weaker than even Marluxia's flower-doppelganger, let alone the real Marluxia, so he's not gonna be in good shape after that fight) and at this point he's almost done with that and just wants to look into one more thing (presumably the "Room of Awakening" that's hidden somewhere in the castle.)  In the process of investigating everything, he lost track of Sora and the others, which means that DiZ has already relocated them by this point -- probably even earlier, since if they had still been in the castle when Saix's Dusk team was sent out they would've found them.

So basically... what confuses people is that the aftermath of CoM keeps going maybe a month or so after the actual events of the game have ended.  Since there's not much communication between the Organization's two bases, nobody knows for sure that everyone at Castle Oblivion is dead until Saix sends some Dusks to investigate.  Rather than reporting back to Saix right away, Axel lingers around Castle Oblivion for a few weeks investigating Vexen's research, trying to find where Sora and the others went, and looking for the Room of Awakening (and also hiding from the Dusks that Saix sent out to investigate, it seems, considering that Saix doesn't know he's still around at first but suspects he wasn't killed like the others.)  He only leaves when he's done with this extra searching, not right away after everything's over.  And searching through 13 floors aboveground and another 13 below would take a while -- he's not going to be barging up through them at full speed like Sora and Riku did, since he's looking for hidden stuff that not just anybody would be able to find

While the timeline given in 358/2 Days doesn't make it perfectly clear how long things took, it doesn't make any sense at all to assume it took the majority of a month for Sora to go from Floor 10 to Floor 13 of Castle Oblivion when we know for a fact that he only took about two days to make the trip up the first 10 floors... but if you seriously try to make the "CoM lasted a month" thing work, you pretty much have to go with Sora randomly taking a month to climb up three floors, since we know exactly when Vexen died (and that happened on the 10th floor.)

Tundo

Elemental Power: Sound                  

Weapon: Hammer
Trained Under: Xaldin              

     Tundo Rowe is a non-numbered member of Organization XIII.  He was assigned to Xaldin for training shortly after recruitment, rapidly gaining power under the elven warrior's watch and rising into the ranks of the strongest non-numbered members the Organization has within less than a year of joining.

     Tundo stands out quite a bit from his fellow Organization members in size and shape, being rather short (standing only 5 feet 6 inches in height) and quite a bit overweight, unlike nearly all other members.  His hair also stands out, being an enormous afro haircut which can make him appear to be much taller than he actually is due to its sheer size.  He's quite attached to his 'fro, putting a lot of effort into maintaining it and flying into a rage whenever it happens to be damaged.

     As is often the case with non-numbered members, Tundo has taken after his superior officer in several ways -- he is a powerful warrior, but quick to crack a joke in a non-serious situation and prone to worrying about the safety of his comrades perhaps a bit more than he should.  Unlike Xaldin, however, Tundo worries about his own safety as much or more than that of others -- at times he almost seems to border on cowardly.  In his earlier months with the Organization he would go to absurd extremes (such as rushing into a bathroom as the Fangirl alarm went off) to avoid being sent into battle against the Fangirls, only finally being assigned his first extermination mission in September of 2006 alongside fellow recent recruits Vi and Banbu (who had only just completed their training at the time, unlike Tundo who breezed through the required combat training and rapidly grew stronger.)  It seems that his aversion to being sent out on missions has lessened over time, and though he's never the first to volunteer he no longer actively tries to avoid it either.

History

    Watch this space -- more information is coming soon!

Powers and abilities

Strength: 7.5/10            
Speed: 4.5/10        
Endurance: 7.5/10                
Mastery of Powers: 7/10                                
Combat Skill: 7.5/10                   
Defense: 5.5/10          

     Tundo's elemental power is Sound, allowing him a great deal of control over the volume and other properties of all sorts of sounds around him.  Thanks to this power, his own voice is a weapon -- he has been known to use insults toward his opponents or even a call for help from stronger allies as an attack, getting his message across loud and clear while also sending the unsuspecting victim of his attack flying backward across the room in the process.  He often uses this power in conjunction with physical attacks, causing the sound of a punch or a hammer strike to be amplified to the point where it adds additional force to the blow.  Another side-effect of his power over sound is that he is utterly unfazed by loud sounds that would be unpleasant or even harmful to an ordinary person; even the roar of a jet engine at close range (or any other similarly powerful sound) has no chance of damaging his eardrums or worsening his hearing the way they would for most others.  This immunity also makes it easy for him to pick out voices or other important sounds through background noise, with his powers filtering out the interfering noise in much the same way that Demyx's powers allow him to see clearly through even rapidly-moving water.

    His summoned weapon is a large and rather heavy hammer -- not quite to the extent of Lexaeus' massive weapon, but likely heavier than the weapons of any other Organization XIII member (or at least in the same range as some of the other heavyweights.)  The flat sides of the head are decorated with an engraving of the Organization's emblem, leaving a mark shaped like the symbol within the circle of the impact craters left behind whenever it strikes the ground or some other surface.  On two occasions so far, Tundo has displayed the ability to transform his hammer into an even larger form -- the haft of the weapon extends to a length that gives Tundo tremendous reach all the way around him, and the small weighted tip on the other end expands out to a second hammer head, smaller than the first but still significant.  As of yet he is the only non-numbered member known to have ever achieved a weapon transformation under his own power, though Banbu's weapon changes shape with exposure to the sun.

    While Tundo does not possess any other unusual abilities in addition to his weapon and powers, he does have an incredible amount of physical strength and endurance -- in these areas, he is closer to the numbered members (in fact ranking above all but six in terms of brute strength) than to his non-numbered comrades, though his lack of speed and unfamiliarity with defensive techniques hold him back from the levels of greatness that all but the weakest numbered members can reach.  As even his current level is the result of less than a year's training, however, it's likely that Tundo has plenty of untapped potential left in him.

Special techniques

• Stun Belch: Tundo lets rip with a massive belch, amplifying the sound so that it sends weaker opponents flying and stuns even those at or above his own level.  Those affected by it may be disoriented for several moments afterward, making it possible for Tundo to follow up with another attack of his own.
• Mute: By staying still and concentrating with one hand on his hammer and the other held in a "shushing" position, Tundo is capable of totally silencing another person's voice or making some other sound nearby impossible for those further away to hear.  This technique can be used to disable the voice-activated transformation of a Keyblade Master's weapons, silencing their wielder's voice so thoroughly that the Keyblade's microphone cannot detect it.
• Giant Swing: Tundo spins around with his hammer held outward, smashing any enemy that dares to get too close.  He generally uses this technique when surrounded by large groups that could overwhelm him with speed and numbers if he tried to fight them one at a time.  When his weapon transforms into its stronger two-headed form, this attack becomes even more dangerous -- partly because of the second head and extended reach, but mostly because the boost in power often leads him to continue spinning until he picks up speed and becomes able to rapidly move across the battlefield like a spinning top, smashing anything in his path.
• Hammerthrow: Tundo spins around at high speeds, then flings his hammer at an opponent like a super-heavyweight boomerang.  The hammer continues to spin as it flies, crushing or knocking aside almost anything in its path, though if a powerful enough opponent manages to catch it in mid-flight (or worse, break it with a strong attack of their own) then chances are that Tundo won't be able to do much more against them -- he puts a great deal of his strength into this move and is usually rather worn-out afterward.

Estera

Elemental Power: Fear                

Weapon: Staff
Trained Under: Vexen         

     Estera Pasternack is a non-numbered member of Organization XIII.  She was assigned to Vexen for training shortly after her recruitment and has continued to work with him on various projects since, aiding him in scientific experiments (by capturing Fangirls to serve as test subjects, for example) as well as filling in as one of the Organization's medical officers alongside fellow Vexen trainee Slobodan on occasions where both Marluxia and Vexen are busy elsewhere.

    Estera is fairly average in height and build, with pale skin and gray eyes.  She is distinguished from other members primarily by her square-rimmed glasses and her black hair which hangs down in two long strands in front but is a bit shorter in the back.  When she first joined, she grew her hair out longer all-around, but at some point during her training she trimmed it in the back so that it stops just inches short of her shoulders.

    Like her superior officer, Estera is very much an intelligent and scientifically-minded individual and is constantly analyzing everything around her, particularly when it comes to situations related to her Organization duties.  She is known for her note-taking habits which rival those of Zexion, and she always carries around a small notebook which she can quickly flip open to jot something down if she feels the need.  Whereas Vexen has a bit of a temper and tends to fly off the handle if provoked beyond a certain point, Estera almost always stays calm regardless of the circumstances, tolerating Vexen's occasional outbursts but not entirely approving of them.  Despite this, she has a great deal of respect for her superior officer and would likely follow almost any reasonable order he gave to her without a moment of hesitation.

History

  Watch this space -- more information is coming soon!

Powers and abilities

Strength: 4.5/10          
Speed: 5/10        
Endurance: 3.5/10             
Mastery of Powers: 7/10                             
Combat Skill: 5.5/10                 
Defense: 4.5/10        

     Estera's elemental power is that of Fear, which allows her to instill fear into her opponents (or anyone else nearby, if the situation calls for it) as well as manipulating the fear responses of each individual affected.  For example, if someone affected by her powers would normally have a violent response to seeing something they're afraid of (such as wanting to stomp a spider to death on sight), she can cause them to instead freeze up, back away slowly, or go running in the opposite direction as fast as they can.  Her powers can cause a wide range of effects in those she uses them on, ranging from mild paranoid thoughts all the way up to full-blown panic, though stronger-willed individuals (and those with a significant power advantage over her) are likely to be able to shrug off these effects to an extent.  She is also capable of suppressing the fears of other individuals, though she generally does not do so unless they are so overwhelmed that they're behaving irrationally and are likely to bring harm to themselves or others in the process.  It's possible that her power over fear itself contributes to her unusual calm even in combat or other tense situations, as if she is capable of suppressing even her own fear if the situation calls for it.  If she were to ever face an opponent with similar fear-inducing powers, it's highly likely that she would be unaffected by them.

    Her summoned weapon is a staff, decorated (like the weapons of many Organization members) with elements of the Organization's symbol.  It is topped with a shiny black orb which floats a couple inches above the end of the staff, which can be left in place to provide added weight to her physical blows or disconnected and send floating through the air.  She is able to control the orb remotely, making it fly around enemies to distract them as well as firing small bursts of barely-visible energy (similar in appearance to the ripples that flow outward from her toward her target when she makes use of her powers) to attack from a distance.  She often uses her staff to amplify the range of her powers, grasping her staff with both hands and holding it out in front of her so that her aura of fear is "broadcast" over a wide area rather than only affecting a few select individuals at a time.  As she is somewhat frail and lacks combat experience, she prefers to fight at range (relying on her fear-inducing powers to keep her opponents at a distance) despite the fact that her weapon would almost certainly be more effective up close.

    Like Vexen himself, Estera has developed the ability to sense the energy of other beings.  Rather than operating by sight like that of her superior officer, however, Estera's energy-sensing ability works as a vague feeling she picks up whenever she is exposed to someone's energy at a close enough range.  She is quite skilled at comparing one energy signature to another, capable of measuring a new recruit's power in comparison to that of other members purely from memory after sensing each of them at full strength only once.  Extremely powerful energy signatures suddenly flaring up are known to make her uncharacteristically nervous, an effect which the energy of certain higher-ranking Organization members (such as Xemnas and Saix) is known to have on her even after nearly a year of being around them.  It's possible that this happens for the same reason that her powers sometimes fail to have their intended effect on a very powerful opponent: the energy of someone as powerful as Saix (or stronger) is simply too overwhelming for her powers to effectively subdue, and as a result her ability to silence her own fears temporarily "turns off" in the presence of such energies.

Lexaeus

Image by LilyF on DeviantArt

Original Name: Elaeus Sabato                      
Elemental Power: Earth                                       
Weapon: Tomahawk                
Number: Five                           
Position: Construction/Repair

     Lexaeus is Number Five of Organization XIII, one of the group's founding six members who has been with the Organization since its origins.  He oversees all construction and repair work done to the Organziation's base of operations, putting to good use his former training (and years of experience) as an architect.  When not busy with such things, he also assists with the Fangirl Detection System as well as attending to the standard duties of a numbered member -- training the new recruits and helping out on high-level Fangirl swarms.

     Standing over six-and-a-half feet in height, Lexaeus is the single tallest member of the Organization.  This, combined with his extremely muscular build, makes him appear to dwarf nearly any other member he stands next to (with one of the few exceptions being Xaldin) and makes him incredibly easy to point out in a crowd, even if that crowd all happens to be wearing the Organization's black cloak.  He has wavyish reddish-brown hair that sticks up and back from his head, blue eyes, and a rugged facial structure with a square jaw.  Apparently, Fangirls are not drawn to his appearance the way they are to many of his younger comrades, with some of them even squealing in disgust at the very sight of him.

    Lexaeus is defined by his tendency to calmly observe situations before acting rather than charging headlong into everything, and because of this he is one of the less-talkative members of the Organization, not being prone to much idle chatter even when among his closest friends.  Much of his off-duty time is devoted to personal improvement both of body and mind, and it is not at all uncommon to find him in the training room lifting weights with one hand while holding a book in the other.  He encourages these traits in his trainees as well, generally taking a "hands off" approach and allowing them to learn from their own mistakes in order to see that his way of doing things will help them in the end.  Though he may crack a smile at some of his sillier comrades' antics, he will almost never involve himself in them, preferring to either stand back and watch or simply walk away rather than interfering one way or another.  Despite his intimidating size and appearance, Lexaeus is for the most part a "gentle giant," slow to anger and generally not resorting to violence unless he is threatened or attacked first... or, in certain occasions (such as training new members), if he is convinced that a degree of violence is necessary to get his point across.  Even in a serious battle, however, he will avoid causing unnecessary amounts of pain or injury, aiming to knock out (or destroy) his opponent with overwhelming force as quickly and painlessly as possible.  Among the Organization, Lexaeus is closest to Vexen and especially Zexion, though he also gets along quite well with his trainees both past and present.

History

     Lexaeus in his younger years went by the name Elaeus Sabato.  He had a fairly ordinary life for many years, attending college to learn the trade of an architect and becoming well-known for his tendency to not only design structures but to head out into the field afterward and assist in their construction as well.  It was not until the year 1992 that Elaeus' life was impacted by the Fangirl menace; during this year, an unusually large Fangirl swarm rampaged through the very same Italian town where Elaeus was currently living in an apartment while working on his first major project after completing his education.  In the chaos that ensued, a young boy named Ienzo Boccaccio was separated from his parents, who nobody was able to find any trace of once the swarm cleared.  The rest of the Boccaccio family was presumed dead, and Elaeus took the boy under his wing, feeling that he would be better cared for by a friend of the family like himself than left to rot in an orphanage or passed around to countless foster-families.

     While young Ienzo entered high school at the age of ten, Elaeus continued his work, using what money he made primarily to provide a roof over his head, a steady supply of good food, and access to all sorts of reading material that he might not have otherwise had.  Three years later, as Ienzo was completing his junior year of high school, Elaeus was introduced to Ansem's Fangirl research team and immediately joined, recognizing that the creatures the group studied were the very same ones that had wreaked havoc throughout his hometown years before and separated Ienzo from his parents.  Ienzo, too, was brought into the fold, though at first he only worked as their janitor before impressing Even so much with his knowledge of various topics that he was allowed to come on board as a full-fledged researcher.  Elaeus began to learn the basics of how to fight the Fangirls, sparring with Dilan and quickly learning that the two of them were by far the strongest of the group -- and thus the most capable of protecting the others from Fangirls if they were to attack.  Another year passed, and as the members of the research team gradually began to awaken their newfound powers, they relocated their operation to a remote area of Japan and founded Organization XIII.

     Elaeus, now going by the name Lexaeus, soon got to work on designing the layout of their new base, which was to be carved out of the mountain rock itself.  At first using more conventional methods, Lexaeus found that the more he worked with the earth and stone the more his elemental powers emerged; before long, he was capable of clearing hallways with his will alone, speeding up the pace of construction tremendously.  Through continued combat training alongside Xigbar and Xaldin, he learned how to call forth his weapon as well, and before long it was clear that he was the most powerful fighter in the Organization -- in these days, Xemnas had not yet reached the heights of strength he now possesses and still lagged behind even Xigbar in terms of overall power.  He quickly took on the position of the Organization's "secret weapon" against the Fangirls, being sent out to deal with especially troublesome swarms that even his fellow numbered members did not feel confident in taking on.  Even as Xemnas surpassed him and Xaldin rose nearly to his level, Lexaeus continued to be a warrior who would only be called upon in extreme circumstances rather than being on the front lines at all times, attending to many other duties at the base first and foremost despite his overwhelming strength.  When the Fangirl Detection System was complete, it was Lexaeus and Zexion who first volunteered to operate it; though several non-numbered members (most notably Zagan and Naminé) have mostly taken over this job since then, in times when they are not available for one reason or another he will often fill in for them.

    Despite his strength and skill, it was not until years after the Organization's founding that Lexaeus was first assigned to train a non-numbered member -- a pink-haired man who had taken on the name Marluxia, and who would grow incredibly powerful under Lexaeus' watchful eye, quickly rising to the eleventh numbered rank.  Perhaps inspired by his performance in training Marluxia, it seems that Xemnas has been much more likely to assign him new recruits since then, with both Otonashi and Vi having trained under him within the last year or two.

Powers and abilities

Strength: 10/10       
Speed: 3.5/10  
Endurance: 10/10          
Mastery of Powers: 9.5/10                        
Combat Skill: 9/10                 
Defense: 9/10        

    Lexaeus' elemental power is Earth, which allows him control over the soil and rock as well as the ability to generate earthquake-like shockwaves when used in combination with his incredible strength.  He is capable of moving and shaping stone and earth structures of all sizes with little more than a wave of his hand, a power which greatly accelerated the construction of the Organization's base once he began to master his element in the group's early years.  He is not limited to merely manipulating already-present earth and stone, however; in battle he often relies upon his ability to cause temporary eruptions of his element (usually in the form of stone pillars) which are composed of condensed earth-elemental energy from within him and which quickly vanish when no longer needed.  As with most Organization members, he is utterly unfazed by attacks sharing his element, shrugging off massive earthquake tremors as though they were as insignificant as the vibrations of a cellphone on mute and shrugging off head-on impacts from rocks without so much as a scratch.  It seems that this attribute, in combination with his superhuman endurance, has given him an amazing degree of resistance to ordinary physical attacks as well -- attacks that could be lethal to other Organization members are reduced to merely a flesh wound to Lexaeus, and lesser blows often do not even register as much more than a minor annoyance.

Lexaeus' tomahawk "Skysplitter",
 as seen from several angles.

     His summoned weapon is a massive axe-like weapon, alternatively referred to as either a "tomahawk" or an "axe-sword" depending on who you ask.  Lexaeus himself, perhaps due to his skill at using it in thrown attacks or perhaps simply because calling it an "axe-sword" sounds a bit silly, seems to prefer referring to it as a tomahawk, though he does acknowledge that its shape and size are not at all within the bounds of the traditional version of that Native American weapon.  Regardless of which name one prefers to call it, Lexaeus' weapon is incredibly heavy -- to the extent where even some upper-mid-range Organization members like Axel cannot even muster up the strength lift it.  This weight adds tremendous force to its blows, especially on the rare occasion that Lexaeus deems it necessary to grasp it with both hands.  Lexaeus is also quite skilled at controlling his weapon's path after throwing it, allowing him to use it in a boomerang-like manner.

     In addition to those powers directly related to his element and weapon, Lexaeus is also capable of concentrating his power and then releasing it in a sudden burst, causing a flare of reddish energy to erupt around him with such force that enemies are thrown back.  Similar flare-ups of immense power are generated by some of his higher-level techniques, as with many Organization members, but Lexaeus is one of the few (alongside Saix) to have mastered the art of using an aura of power as an attack in and of itself.  His sheer strength also makes him nearly impossible to pin down, with even the restraining powers of Fangirls or other Organization members having great difficulty holding him for long.  Xigbar's gravity-increasing powers are all but ineffective against him, and in sparring sessions between the two he has actually found it more useful to subject Lexaeus to low gravity in order to throw off his sense of balance, as heightened gravity essentially only gives him more weight to strike back with.

Special techniques

• Stone: A simple earth-elemental technique in which Lexaeus uproots (or creates) a rock or similar object of moderate to large size and sends it flying at his target.
• Rockshatter: An improvement to the basic Stone, this technique involves Lexaeus flinging a rock at his opponents which, upon impact, shatters into many smaller rocks which bounce off in all directions and ricochet about the battlefield, striking multiple times over before finally settling down.
• Dead Drop: Taking advantage of his incredible strength and his weapon's incredible weight, Lexaeus flings his tomahawk into the air above him (or, when he has the high ground, simply drops it down in the direction of his enemies.)  As it comes hurtling back down, Lexaeus can control its path to an extent, making it swoop in to strike nearby opponents or bounce up and come diving back down for another attempt if the first is unsuccessful.
• Quake Impact: Grasping his tomahawk with both hands, Lexaeus rears back and then slams his weapon into the ground at his feet, causing an earthquake-like shockwave to rock the battlefield.  Through a combination of his earth-elemental powers and brute strength, this attack possesses enough force to topple buildings.
• Ayers Rock: One of Lexaeus' most powerful techniques.  Grasping his tomahawk in both hands, he floods it with earth-elemental power which causes it to become encased with a shell of gray stone, enlarging it several times beyond its normal size.  Once this is complete, he brings his weapon down upon his opponent with full force, usually crushing all but the most powerful foes in a single blow.

Naminé

Image by Nick-Ian on DeviantArt

Elemental Power: Memory    

Weapon: --

Trained Under: Marluxia

    Naminé is a non-numbered member of Organization XIII, joining only a day before the record-breaking Fangirl swarm that wiped the island town of Innenjima off the map began.  Unlike the vast majority of the Organization's ranks, she has been designated a "non-combat member" due to her lack of fighting ability, made even more of a problem by her inability to summon a weapon even with the aid of a Zero Gear.  Despite not being able to go out and exterminate Fangirls like the others, Naminé still aids the Organization in her own unique way, often being assigned to operate the Fangirl Detection System and being able to reverse any memory-altering effects that other members may fall victim to.

    She is one of the Organization's youngest members -- roughly the same age as Roxas and Xion, fifteen years of age as of the later months of 2006 -- and is rather small in all proportions, with fairly pale skin and blonde hair.  Due to her status as a designated non-combat member, she is not required to wear any of the Organization's uniform and instead generally wears a plain white dress and sandals, only donning the familiar black cloak, gloves, and boots when going outside in the cold.

    Due to her non-combat status, Naminé's relationship with the Organization is a bit different than that of other members, but she is dedicated to helping fight the Fangirls as best she can in spite of her lack of strength.  She is usually fairly quiet, preferring to sit and focus on her work (or on her drawings, if she isn't busy with Organization duties) rather than chattering away even when others are present.  She feels protective toward her friends and fellow Organization members, often worrying about their chances of returning safely from especially dangerous missions, but generally feels like she has no way to help them.  Among her fellow Organization members, she has grown closest to Roxas (perhaps due in part to the fact that his memory loss means that she can look into his eyes without being swamped with a clutter of past events every time) and Marluxia (who was responsible for training her when she first joins, and now acts as a sort of caretaker for her.)

History

Watch this space -- more information is coming soon!

Powers and abilities

Strength: 1/10        
Speed: 2/10    
Endurance: 1.5/10          
Mastery of Powers: 10/10                        
Combat Skill: 2/10                 
Defense: 1/10        

    Naminé's elemental power is that of Memory, making it possible for her to glimpse into one's memories simply by looking into their eyes for even the briefest moment and then, if she so wishes, rearranging and altering those memories in any way she desires.  Her only means of using these abilities in combat is to shut off an opponent's ability to form new memories altogether for a moment, causing normal beings to fall unconscious (and perhaps remain so for an extended period of time similar to a coma) and Fangirls to freeze in place at first and then shatter almost instantly afterward.  The effectiveness of this ability decreases quite a bit against stronger opponents; while she is capable of shattering weak Fangirls and causing someone in the range of a typical non-numbered member to pass out for a length of time, attempting to do so against someone as powerful as Marluxia would likely only cause him to faint for a matter of seconds before recovering.  Her power over memories also makes it easy for her to determine when someone's memory has been altered, with missing memories appearing like an unnatural blank space to her while those that have been implanted artificially come across as jagged around the edges and not fitting correctly with the rest.

    As an unusual side-effect of her powers, Naminé's own memory has been boosted such that she remembers things in abnormally precise detail, making it possible for her to draw perfectly accurate depictions of things she has seen for even a moment without much difficulty.  Oddly enough, she is not immune to the memory-altering powers of others with such abilities, making her one of the few exceptions to the "unaffected by their own element" rule that applies to the vast majority of Organization members.  However, if her memories are tampered with, she will know right away and -- if given enough time -- will be able return them to normal with little difficulty.

    Contributing to her status as a non-combat member is her lack of any weapon; even after Zero Gear training, she was incapable of calling forth anything no matter how hard she tried.  In an attempt to make up for this deficiency, Marluxia has taught her some basic martial-arts skills, and by the standards of an ordinary 15-year-old girl she would indeed by rather impressive -- her physical strength is on par with an average adult, and her speed, endurance, and especially skill are all significantly above that point of comparison.  Unfortunately, Naminé is just not cut out for serious combat on an above-human level, and even after training she would probably have difficulty confronting even an average Glomper Fangirl without making use of her memory-wiping powers to remove her opponent from the fight instantly.

Tenkyou Shikeiro

    Tenkyou Shikeiro is one of the four original "Uber-Fangirls," abnormally powerful Fangirlish entities that were spawned from the depths of the Internet itself rather than transforming from ordinary people exposed to high levels of Fangirlism.  Unlike the others of her kind, she does not have a descriptive title for herself; when the other Uber-Fangirls insist that she play along, she refuses, telling them that "titles are lame" and that she "can do whatever she wants."

    Though nearly as tall as Nitsugi Sousaku, Shikeiro generally stands with a heavy slouch which causes her to appear shorter than any of the Uber-Fangirls aside from the tiny Ekaki Kurui.  She has long, unkempt hair that is dark purple in color, with two unusually-shaped hair decorations of unknown origin attached by some unknown means.  Rather than the skirts worn by most of the Uber-Fangirls, she wears a rather long gray-greenish dress that is tattered and raggedy-looking around the edges, perhaps the result of her strange movements and habits or simply lack of maintenance.  She also carries a large, pink-furred unicorn plushie with her at all times.

    Tenkyou Shikeiro is bizarre even by Fangirl standards, an entity which even her fellow Uber-Fangirls are sometimes annoyed by or uncomfortable with.  Her behavior is extremely erratic; one moment she will seem to be carrying out a rather brilliant battle strategy and the next she will be distracted by shiny explosions in the distance and ignore her own fight altogether.  She is obsessed with ponies for reasons unknown, and once she goes off on a pony-related rant it is difficult to rein her in and get her to focus on anything else.  She laughs at almost everything, but especially things that aren't really funny, repeating the syllable "lol" over and over (sometimes while rolling on the floor) rather than making a sound resembling actual laughter.  When caught laughing at something that anyone else (especially a non-Fangirl) finds to be legitimately funny, she quickly retracts her laughter, insisting that the thing being laughed at has gotten old or that since it was meant to be funny from the beginning, it was therefore "forced" and thus not-funny according to her backward logic.  She has even been known to barge into other battles just in time to finish off her own already-weakened allies, seemingly just for the fun of it.  It's possible that she sees such things as little more than some kind of twisted prank due to the fact that the Uber-Fangirls can't permanently die so long as some fragment of them returns to the Internet after they are destroyed.

History

    Tenkyou Shikeiro spawned from the depths of the Internet some time ago, taking a coherent form when the Fangirlism of a certain website in a region of the Internet where even other Fangirls fear to tread reached critical mass.  Said website, like Shikeiro herself, is known for its disturbing, chaotic, and utterly alien nature, frequented by the absolute worst people among Internet users.  Having one of the highest Fangirlism levels throughout the Internet, she was soon hand-picked by the Fangirl Queen to serve as one of the guardians of the white orb at its very center, perhaps being the first of the Uber-Fangirls to be assigned to the core due to her claim that she alone is in charge whenever the Queen is absent.

Powers and abilities

Fangirlism Level: Varies, usually hovering around 60. 

Marluxia in "pink fluffy scythicorn" form.
Image by SpiderMilkshake on DeviantArt.

    Like everything about her, Shikeiro's abilities are extremely unpredictable.  Her Fangirlism Level is in a constant state of flux, sometimes registering a level well below that of Nama Ryokouki and other times rising to become the highest among the Uber-Fangirls, particularly when she becomes enraged.  Her strangest ability makes use of the seemingly-harmless stuffed unicorn that she carries with her everywhere. By firing a rainbow-colored beam from its horn, she is capable of turning virtually anything into an equine creature of some variety; Marluxia, when hit, transformed into a pink, fluffy unicorn with a scythe blade in place of the traditional spiraling horn, and she has also shown the ability to transform trees, rocks, and even bodies of water into horse-shaped versions of the same things.  Like the bazooka that serves as Nitsugi Sousaku's ultimate weapon, this plushie can be tucked away and recovered from some unknown space at a moment's notice if Shikeiro needs to use both hands for something.

    When enraged, she begins to charge her claws with shimmering rainbow-colored energy which greatly enhances their cutting power, sometimes projecting claw-beams from them as she swipes at her opponent.  Upon being pushed  too far, she may attempt to charge an incredible amount of this energy into a house-sized sphere and then fling it at her opponent, an attack so powerful it would threaten to disrupt the structure of the Internet itself if not interrupted (making it perhaps even as strong as Lexaeus' Ayers Rock attack, which shook the Internet, carved a deep chasm out of the core's inner surface, and caused Internet connection outages all across the continent of Australia.)

    She also possesses a variety of abilities similar to those of lesser Fangirls, including a draining touch much like that of a Glomper and the ability to change the form of her opponent's attacks or weapons into something harmless like a Cracky Fangirl.  Of course, she is also capable of transporting herself through the Internet, an ability that all Fangirls share.

Nama Ryokouki

    Nama Ryokouki is one of the four original "Uber-Fangirls," abnormally powerful Fangirlish entities that were spawned from the depths of the Internet itself rather than transforming from ordinary people exposed to high levels of Fangirlism.  She refers to herself as "The Almighty Drill That Shall Pierce All Things," referring to her drill-spear's incredible destructive power and her single-minded fighting style using it.

    She is the tallest and most muscular of the Uber-Fangirls, standing at a height of just over six feet.  Her hair is short, spiked-up on one side, and orangey-brown in color.  Unlike the rest of the Uber-Fangirls, she wears pants rather than any form of skirt or dress.  In an odd contrast to most Fangirls but closely resembling Fanboys, her hands are more humanoid rather than being tipped with sharp claws.

    Nama Ryokouki's defining personality trait is her extreme arrogance, being supremely confident in all of her abilities and decisions even when those may be a bit (or more than a bit) lacking.  Though incredibly strong, she seems to be rather unintelligent, despite thinking of herself as being smarter than anyone she faces in battle by default.  She either does not know how to count properly or has somehow gotten the idea that "outnumbering" someone is the same as overpowering or otherwise outmatching them.  She gets many other words jumbled up in the most bizarre ways, sometimes even using a word with a near polar opposite meaning of what's intended (such as describing Vexen's freezing techniques as "pyrotechnic freezing" rather than "cryogenic freezing") or mispronouncing a word immediately after hearing someone else say it correctly.  In many of these cases, she seems completely blind to her mistakes or sometimes even convinced that it is not her but literally everyone else who's getting it wrong.  At times she will even attempt to "correct" others, almost always adding at least one grammar, pronunciation, or word-usage error in the process.

History

     Nama Ryokouki spawned from the depths of the Internet some time ago, taking a coherent form when the Fangirlism of a certain online journal website reached critical mass.  Her personality seems to have been heavily influenced by the Fangirlism of the online community that brought her into the world, with many on the site insisting that the works of fanfiction stored there are superior to those on other sites despite many of them often being just as bad if not worse -- and on top of that, even more focused on certain narrow ranges of topics than the very sites they often mocked for that exact reason.  Having one of the highest Fangirlism levels throughout the Internet, she was soon hand-picked by the Fangirl Queen to serve as one of the guardians of the white orb at its very center.

Powers and abilities

Fangirlism Level: 64

     Nama Ryokouki is physically the strongest of the Uber-Fangirls by far, making her incredibly dangerous at close range.  Her drill-spear weapon extends her range and greatly enhances her destructive capabilities, especially when combined with her ability to enlarge its tip to many times its normal size -- at its maximum power, a strike from this weapon was even capable of splitting Vexen's near-indestructible shield in half.  In addition to fighting with her spear, she is fairly skilled at unarmed combat, enlarging her fists or feet immediately before impact in order to catch her opponents off guard and provided added force to her blows.  Once able to move about outside the Internet, she adds one more trick to her fighting style -- the ability to burrow beneath the surface of the ground using her drill-spear and pop up elsewhere for a surprise attack.

   Like all Fangirls, she is capable of transporting herself through the Internet.  She does not, however, seem to possess certain other basic Fangirl abilities such as the power to drain energy from her foes by touch or the ability to sprout claws from her hands.