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- Oct 13, 2007
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The true nature of a Nobody's existence (/lack of existence) is something that's hinted at, but never really said straight out, which tends to cause confusion about what they really are and how they came to be (/not to be).
However, I think I might have managed to piece together a full explanation of what they really are that fits with all of the information that we've been given (not including any 358/2 Days spoilers, since I haven't played that yet).
A Nobody, despite common belief, does not actually have a body. It's amusingly ironic to say "Heartless are Hearts, Nobodies are Bodies," but that's not really true. Nobodies' physical forms are created from the bodies of their Others, and can even prevent the Others' bodies from returning if their Heartless is killed, but they're not really the same thing.
What a Nobody really is is something more like a photo negative. When someone's heart is lost and their body fades, it releases an enormous amount of energy. In the case of a person with a strong heart, a reverse imprint of the heart is pressed into that energy, which manifests a form (the Nobody) in the realm of Twilight using that imprint. The imprint can be somewhat distorted if the heart is not strong enough, which causes the lower Nobodies to look and act less human than the numbered members of the Organization.
The reason why I say that a Nobody is like a photo negative is because of this: since the reaction starts from the inside, the personality traits of the Nobodies are like those of the Other, only reversed. The things hidden deep within the person's heart become the outer layer of personality, while the most prominent traits are hidden below. Roxas and Sora are a good example of this, along with Namine and Kairi - they have similar traits, but manifest them in opposite ways.
As for whether or not a Nobody can feel, it could go either way. Yen Sid's belief would be that Nobodies behave according to the personality imprint, but aren't really guided by an actual being - they don't really exist as a person (in the same way as an AI like an IM bot doesn't exist as a person). However, considering the fact that the Nobodies are able to compare their experience as a Nobody to their experience as a Somebody and are actually willing to do so, it seems more likely that there is a conscious being there, even if it doesn't feel as deeply because its personality is based on an imprint of a heart rather than a real heart.
When a Nobody is killed and its body fades into darkness, the energy that created it is freed, and is therefore available for the heart to use to reform its own body if it is later freed. Since it's apparently more complicated to revive a person if the Nobody is killed first, I would assume that the energy constituting the body seeks out the heart upon its release, rather than vice-versa. In any case, the reason why a person with an existing Nobody cannot normally revive even if their Heartless is killed is because they can't make a body out of nothing - Sora was an exception, but he likely formed his temporary body out of Light donated by Kairi as a Princess of Heart.
The idea of Somebodies' bodies fading and being restored is probably why the idea of Nobodies was deemed necessary in the first place. After all, the bodies have to go somewhere, and since they're able to lose their physical form in the first place, they might as well be able to reform into something else while not in use.
Concerning the fate of the Nobodies themselves, I imagine that the Nobody's personality returns to its Other along with the Other's body, but is hidden deep down and mostly inaccessible. I doubt that the Nobodies who were killed are really any worse off than Roxas is, since Roxas had to return everything to Sora anyway. The game is frustratingly unclear about what ends up happening to the Nobody's consciousness, however.
And that's just about everything, I think.
However, I think I might have managed to piece together a full explanation of what they really are that fits with all of the information that we've been given (not including any 358/2 Days spoilers, since I haven't played that yet).
A Nobody, despite common belief, does not actually have a body. It's amusingly ironic to say "Heartless are Hearts, Nobodies are Bodies," but that's not really true. Nobodies' physical forms are created from the bodies of their Others, and can even prevent the Others' bodies from returning if their Heartless is killed, but they're not really the same thing.
What a Nobody really is is something more like a photo negative. When someone's heart is lost and their body fades, it releases an enormous amount of energy. In the case of a person with a strong heart, a reverse imprint of the heart is pressed into that energy, which manifests a form (the Nobody) in the realm of Twilight using that imprint. The imprint can be somewhat distorted if the heart is not strong enough, which causes the lower Nobodies to look and act less human than the numbered members of the Organization.
The reason why I say that a Nobody is like a photo negative is because of this: since the reaction starts from the inside, the personality traits of the Nobodies are like those of the Other, only reversed. The things hidden deep within the person's heart become the outer layer of personality, while the most prominent traits are hidden below. Roxas and Sora are a good example of this, along with Namine and Kairi - they have similar traits, but manifest them in opposite ways.
As for whether or not a Nobody can feel, it could go either way. Yen Sid's belief would be that Nobodies behave according to the personality imprint, but aren't really guided by an actual being - they don't really exist as a person (in the same way as an AI like an IM bot doesn't exist as a person). However, considering the fact that the Nobodies are able to compare their experience as a Nobody to their experience as a Somebody and are actually willing to do so, it seems more likely that there is a conscious being there, even if it doesn't feel as deeply because its personality is based on an imprint of a heart rather than a real heart.
When a Nobody is killed and its body fades into darkness, the energy that created it is freed, and is therefore available for the heart to use to reform its own body if it is later freed. Since it's apparently more complicated to revive a person if the Nobody is killed first, I would assume that the energy constituting the body seeks out the heart upon its release, rather than vice-versa. In any case, the reason why a person with an existing Nobody cannot normally revive even if their Heartless is killed is because they can't make a body out of nothing - Sora was an exception, but he likely formed his temporary body out of Light donated by Kairi as a Princess of Heart.
The idea of Somebodies' bodies fading and being restored is probably why the idea of Nobodies was deemed necessary in the first place. After all, the bodies have to go somewhere, and since they're able to lose their physical form in the first place, they might as well be able to reform into something else while not in use.
Concerning the fate of the Nobodies themselves, I imagine that the Nobody's personality returns to its Other along with the Other's body, but is hidden deep down and mostly inaccessible. I doubt that the Nobodies who were killed are really any worse off than Roxas is, since Roxas had to return everything to Sora anyway. The game is frustratingly unclear about what ends up happening to the Nobody's consciousness, however.
And that's just about everything, I think.