Kingdom Hearts has had a lot of great characters throughout the games. As the franchise is a crossover between Disney and Square Enix properties, fan favorite Final Fantasy and The World Ends With You heroes and villains have appeared throughout the games while a lot of Disney's most beloved characters have played an important part in the series.
However, there are also many original characters that are just as great, with Axel being one of them. He has had a lot of character development throughout the games, going from a boss to one of the main heroes. Here are ten things players should know about him.
10 He Grew Up In Radiant Garden
When he was young, Axel was known as Lea and lived in Radiant Garden, one of the most important worlds in the series. A lot of the original and Final Fantasy characters lived here, such as Kairi, Ansem, Leon, and Aerith. However, Lea didn't know them that well and spent most of his time with his best friend back then, Isa. In Birth by Sleep, the two met Ventus and after a friendly battle, Lea became friends with him.
9 He And Isa Found Subject X
Lea and Isa often tried to sneak inside of Hollow Bastion, the castle in Radiant Garden. When they finally got inside, they met a mysterious girl who was being experimented on. She forgot who she was, being only known as Subject X (though many fans speculate that she is Skuld from Union X). Lea and Isa were determined to save her and became apprentices to Ansem the Wise, the king of Radiant Garden, but she had gone missing and the two haven't seen her in a decade.
8 He Became A Member Of Organization XIII
After Xehanort, one of Ansem's other apprentices, betrayed their leader, he created Organization XIII. All of Ansem's apprentices, including Lea and Isa, joined the group and became nobodies. They were given new names that changed the letters of the original names around with an X added in, turning Lea into Axel.
He and Saix knew that they would have to appear as loyal members of the organization if they were ever going to find out what happened to Subject X and played their parts well for a very long time.
7 He Was Introduced As An Antagonist
The first game that Axel appeared in was Chain of Memories. This game is a direct sequel to the original title. Sora, Donald, and Goofy went to Castle Oblivion, the organization's second base, and encountered some of the members in the group, with Axel being one of them. The organization fought the heroic trio so Axel seemed to be an antagonist. However, he was also helpful at times, which is why fans became so interested in his character right away.
6 He Defeated The Organization's Traitors
The other members of the organization that went to Castle Oblivion were Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, Zexion, and Lexaeus. Before they went, Axel learned that there were traitors among them and that he was to make sure they didn't return. Though only Marluxia and Larxene were the ones that planned on betraying the group, Axel was the only one to return. In order to trick Marluxia and Larxene, he pretended to be on their side and burned Vexen alive. He also had Riku Replica defeat Zexion. Lexaeus was defeated by the actual Riku and Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeated the traitors.
5 He Became Best Friends With Roxas and Xion
Roxas and Xion joined the organization a little bit before Axel went to Castle Oblivion. He got to know Roxas for a while but the three only started hanging out every day after Axel's return. After completing their daily missions that the organization sent them on, they would meet up at Twilight Town and eat ice cream together. However, Roxas and Xion were both parts of Sora and he needed them in order to be whole. When they returned to him, Axel lost his friends.
4 He Started Figuring Out That He Actually Had A Heart
All of the members in the organization were led to believe that they didn't have hearts. However, this was a lie that Xemnas told them in order to turn them into Xehanort, as this was his actual goal.
Axel was always somewhat suspicious of this lie as he did have emotions and thought that Roxas had a heart as well. He was amused by the events going on in Chain of Memories, angry when he started to lose his friends, and sad when they were completely out of his life.
3 He Became A Keyblade Wielder
In Dream Drop Distance, fans found out that Axel had a keyblade. After Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam ended and Master Yen Sid passed Riku, Axel told him that he'd catch up in no time and showed them that he could now wield a keyblade too. However, he still had a lot to learn and had trouble summoning it, which is why he didn't use it until the very end of that game. He's improved since but is nowhere near as skilled as most of his friends.
2 He Trained With Kairi
When Axel and Kairi first met, they did not get along. He treated her terribly and she was shocked when she found out that he had changed. However, as Kairi is also one of the newest keyblade wielders, Master Yen Sid sent the two of them to train together with Merlin as their teacher. During this time, they bonded and became close friends, with him still feeling bad for what he had done.
1 He Reunited With His Friends
At the end of Kingdom Hearts III, Axel and his new comrades fought against Organization XIII. During this battle, Roxas and Xion returned, which fans had been wanting for years and were thrilled to finally see. They had to fight against Saix, who, after being defeated, admitted that he felt abandoned and was jealous of Axel for making new friends. Understanding why they grew distant from each other and wanting to make things right, Saix and Axel have forgiven each other and hangout at Twilight Town with Roxas and Xion, as well as Hayner, Pence, and Olette, three of Roxas' friends from Twilight Town. Now, fans are hoping that he will finally find Subject X.