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Thoughts if Vanitas were to get some kind of 'redemption arc' later on?



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alolansentret

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By 'redemption arc' I don't mean he has to do a complete 180. But I think it would be interesting if there were a segment in a future game that focused on Vanitas and the choices he could make now that Xehanort isn't around anymore. He does say in the Monster's Inc world that he chooses to stay with darkness, but after the events of KH3 I can see him potentially slowly changing his opinion.

If this were to happen, I feel like Ven would be a main factor in helping him see other potential uses for his abilities other than just being mean for the sake of wanting to be mean. Since Ven is his brother (and technically they're also like the same person), I think it would be easier for Vanitas to empathize with him. I just want the story to go more in depth on Vanitas and how he feels, cuz I feel like BBS and KH3 give just enough to make him feel passable, but not enough to make him feel deep. I would even like to see him maybe fight alongside the other heroes for a specific scenario or something!

What do you guys think? I'd like to hear your Vanitas Story Involvement theories.
 

Idreamaboutcats

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I don’t know. It depends on where he is now, I guess. I’m not really sure what happened to him, only that his KHIII form is a replica body. Can someone else confirm his final fate? Did he become one with Ventus again after their fight, or did he just disappear and leave Ven as some sort of pure-light anomaly?

There’s also that whole “Darkness” thing going on over with Dark Inferno χ and Strelitzia’s murderer.

For me though, I would like it if he and Ven really were one again, and that Ven made peace with some darkness existing again in their heart, but that Ven has control of it like an ordinary person, or well, as ordinary as can be for a wielder.
 

alolansentret

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In KH3 when you defeat him, he says that line about choosing to stay on the side of darkness because he Is darkness, and then just disappears, like how the other nobodies do. In re:mind he doesn't have any new cutscenes, it just reuses that one and then puts him in as a data boss.

From that cutscene I assumed he had just dissipated into nothingness again, it didn't show his darkness going anywhere specific. I interpreted him as wanting to be his own person, but I can also see him eventually recompleting Ventus, I think that would be a satisfying conclusion for him.
 

May-Jor

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I'd like to see him be given more depth, but tbh I don't want a redemption because if the other redemption arcs in this series are anything to go by, it won't be executed well.
 

Zettaflare

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I'm convinced Nomura will use "Darkness" as a vehicle to bring back present Vanitas. Not sure if he will be redeemed or not but he may feel differently about the prospect then his past counterpart.

Sort of like the Repliku and Dark Riku situation
 

Cumguardian69

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Lol qnother basic wedepshewn awc? Why can't bad be bad? Vanny is a bad little boy who loves cruelty and malice for the sake of it, all the while watching his frail babby brother venty wenty shambke along like the cadaver he is into oblivion. I say again he has no need for a redemption. He doeen't need to SeE thE LiGhT or join up with bentus or whayever. He is content being evil sora and that is that
 

astertide

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I don't want a Vanitas redemption arc, I want Vanitas' POV. And I want the Ventus to see Vanitas' POV somehow, connect to him, and understand his choices. I want sibling!VanVen...


I think Vanitas is actually dead.
I think both versions in both BBS and KHIII are dead.
... I really don't think he'll stay that way.
 

Idreamaboutcats

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Well, we'll see, won't we?

The Union Cross story is about to come to a close, so maybe we might get some answers on Darkness, and if it comes down to it, Vanitas by then.
 

astertide

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Well, we'll see, won't we?

The Union Cross story is about to come to a close, so maybe we might get some answers on Darkness, and if it comes down to it, Vanitas by then.

I don't know if I want Vanitas to be Darkness.

Darkness seems to be very mysterious and always planning. It... They? Are patient and calm. They always seem to know what they're doing.

Vanitas has a very distinct personality. Angsty and edgy, reckless and judging, and still sort of... childish? All he wants is to beat Ven, to show him that he's his better half. But, unlike Darkness, he doesn't think ahead a lot. He doesn't speculate on what would happen after he forges the X-Blade and Xehanort unlocks Kingdom Hearts. He's naïve and doesn't know a lot about the world, having trained under Xehanort his whole life.

I kinda hope Nomura is just being sneaky and making us think that Vanitas is Darkness. If Vanitas is Darkness, it'll ruin his character for me.
 

Idreamaboutcats

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I don't know if I want Vanitas to be Darkness.

Darkness seems to be very mysterious and always planning. It... They? Are patient and calm. They always seem to know what they're doing.

Vanitas has a very distinct personality. Angsty and edgy, reckless and judging, and still sort of... childish? All he wants is to beat Ven, to show him that he's his better half. But, unlike Darkness, he doesn't think ahead a lot. He doesn't speculate on what would happen after he forges the X-Blade and Xehanort unlocks Kingdom Hearts. He's naïve and doesn't know a lot about the world, having trained under Xehanort his whole life.

I kinda hope Nomura is just being sneaky and making us think that Vanitas is Darkness. If Vanitas is Darkness, it'll ruin his character for me.
Me neither, but there is an implied connection there, at least. I'm still of the opinion Vanitas would've found peace being one again in Ventus' heart and, you know, letting his "brother" take the reins on their life.
 

astertide

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Me neither, but there is an implied connection there, at least. I'm still of the opinion Vanitas would've found peace being one again in Ventus' heart and, you know, letting his "brother" take the reins on their life.

I respectfully disagree, here.

This is just like Roxas, Xion and Sora's situation. They do deserve to live and be their own people.

And do you really think that Vanitas, of all people, can find peace stuffed in Ven's heart? His version of "peace" is probably burning a village or something lmao. Not disappearing forever into his brother, which, in Vanitas' opinion, would probably be the equivalent of dying. If Ventus, Sora or any other Guardian of Light asks him if he wants to do that, he'll most likely interpret that as them wanting him dead.

But I don't really believe that Vanitas can be blamed for everything that has happened. He's just a boy, who was raised under Xehanort, for goodness' sakes. He only knows everything that Xehanort told him. If Xehanort says that he's pure darkness, then he's pure darkness. If Xehanort says that he's Ventus' "better" half, then he's Ven's better half. If Xehanort says that unlocking Kingdom Hearts = Ultimate Power, then Kingdom Hearts = Ultimate Power. He literally like a young child, most of his opinions on topics that he doesn't fully understand are from adults.

IMO Vanitas and Xehanort kinda seem to mirror the Foretellers and MoM, who don't question what their Master wants, and always believing that his intentions are good.

Give the boy a chance to be happy... Without destroying worlds, that is. He must've led a pretty lonely life... And then getting stuffed into Ven's heart? Even more lonely.
 

Noivern

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By Birth by Sleep, Vanitas was my favorite character. That version of him, with the backup from the novels, felt reeeally cool to me. I would have loved to see that version be developed enough to get some sort of redemption. Not necessarily joining the main characters, but obtaining his own freedom and growing into a role that better suited him, as his role in BBS always felt weird, was what I wanted for the longest time.

But now that Darkness is a thing and they're most likely going to be ruining his character for me, I'll go with 'meh.' Whatever.
 

Face My Fears

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I would like to see Vanitas get "redemption", but I would want it to factor in what those character stories (I don't know who wrote them, but they were "official" and posted on this site) had him say. It was mega emo, but I liked the idea that Vanitas didn't want to be a part of Xehanort's plan at all and just wanted to remain in darkness - where he was at peace.

A possible redemption arc is that he is "recreated" (somehow) after the events of KH3 and he just wants to fade away into the darkness/void. Ven offers to recombine with him (somehow) if he helps them do something. Maybe after helping Ven, Vanitas actually decides that he wants to live and that it's worth it to be alive.
 

SweetYetSalty

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To me if Vanitas was to return he would have been a neutral party. Not on the good guys side, but not working for whoever the current bad guy was either, at least not without a catch. Forming uneasy alliances with whoever suits his situation. I also thought something similar about Xigbar before the secret ending of III.

They could have done a story where Ven and Vanitas make some kind of peace with one another. As seen being born of darkness does not have to automatically mean you are evil. So perhaps there is a good side to Vanitas we just haven't explored yet. That also stands to reason that maybe Ventus has a bad guy side...Union X.

But just like with @Noivern said, with Darkness now in the mix, there is a good chance it is connected to Vanitas. What would be actually cool is if Vanitas and Darkness are two separate beings and Vanitas doesn't want anyone to control Ventus but himself and they team up or something. A teamup between Ventus and Vanitas almost feels like it has to happen to before the series ends, I just don't know how and when.
 

KeyToDestiny

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Reading the posts about the Vanitas thing only convinces me that we got the absolute best ending for him in KH3. He didn't want any part of that cheesy redemption nonsense. He chose to be Xehanort's accomplice and he is Darkness. Of course now with KH3RM, it's revealed he's been hiding inside of Ventus the whole time and seeing how that's likely where he would have ended back in after KHBBS and Sora diving into Ventus' heart shows that a being calling itself "Darkness" is residing there, it pretty much lines it up with this "Darkness" and Vanitas being the same being. Which is fine by me because the less chances of redemption, the better. We don't need every villain to suddenly become a good guy or even an anti hero. It's a played out cliche and I'm glad we still have villains like Vanitas who choose to be evil because they can. There doesn't need to be some super deep reasoning for it why a villain is evil.
 

disney233

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I'd like to see him be given more depth, but tbh I don't want a redemption because if the other redemption arcs in this series are anything to go by, it won't be executed well.
OBJECTION!
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Sign

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I would like to see Vanitas get "redemption", but I would want it to factor in what those character stories (I don't know who wrote them, but they were "official" and posted on this site) had him say.

Tomoco Kanemaki wrote the short stories in the Character Files. They are as "official" as her light novel adaptations, in that you're free to see them as tertiary canon (behind the games and supplementary material like interviews, in that order), but shouldn't be considered as being on that same level.
 

GreyouTT

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Honestly I kinda liked the way he went out in 3. He was dead set on what he was and didn't feel like changing.
 
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