Character from Kingdom Hearts by Tetsuya Nomura / Square Enix & Disney
The sage-king of Radiant Garden who studied hearts, was betrayed by his apprentices, and assumed the identity of DiZ to seek vengeance — eventually sacrificing himself for redemption.
Ansem the Wise is the morally complex heart of Kingdom Hearts' adult cast. A once-gentle scholar-king who studied the mysteries of the heart to protect his people, he was betrayed by his own apprentices — led by the amnesiac Xehanort he had nursed back to health — and exiled to the Realm of Darkness. The experience broke something in him. He returned as DiZ — Darkness in Zero — consumed by vengeance, willing to treat Nobodies as subhuman tools and to manipulate Namine and Roxas without remorse. He viewed all Nobodies as empty abominations, unworthy of compassion or rights. But watching Sora, Roxas, and Namine showed him the cruelty of his own dehumanization. His ultimate act — detonating his Kingdom Hearts Encoder to destroy Organization XIII's artificial Kingdom Hearts — was both a tactical sacrifice and a desperate attempt at atonement. His last words to Roxas were an apology, and his survival in the Realm of Darkness gave him time to fully reckon with his sins.
As Ansem, a distinguished older man with blond hair slicked back, a short mustache and goatee, and orange eyes, wearing a periwinkle labcoat over a dark vest and violet ascot. As DiZ, his face is wrapped in red bandages with crossed belts over his head, and he wears a long red cape over black clothing with grey segmented armor.
Also known as: Ansem the Wise, DiZ, Darkness in Zero