Roxas

is a character from Square Enix's video game franchise Kingdom Hearts, who first appears as a cameo during the final scenes of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and makes his first full appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. He is a "Nobody" who was born from the series' main character Sora after he briefly lost his heart during the events of the first game. Kingdom Hearts II reveals that he is a member of Organization XIII, a group of Nobodies who need him for his ability to wield the Keyblade, a weapon that allows him to capture hearts. As a member of the organization, Roxas bears the title . He is also the protagonist of the video game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which revolves around his origins. He is voiced by Kōki Uchiyama in Japanese and Jesse McCartney in English. Director Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Roxas is an important character in the series, and that Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was created to elaborate upon his backstory. Since his introduction in Kingdom Hearts II, Roxas has received positive critical response from video game publications, with most of them focusing on his development in 358/2 Days. Various merchandise based on him has been produced. Creation and development After his cameo at the end of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, the series' director, Tetsuya Nomura, was questioned about the character, However, he refrained from revealing too much about him and said he would become an important, playable character for the franchise. The developers wrote Roxas' story in Kingdom Hearts II to add mixed feelings to the game in a short time frame. After receiving a positive fan response to Roxas' scenario, Nomura concluded that it was well-executed. He also stated that Roxas' merging with Sora in the game was one of the most memorable scenes in the series for him. Nomura later commented that Roxas was one of the first characters created for Organization XIII and was always intended to be its 13th member. The meaning of Roxas' name was meant to be revealed in a scene in Kingdom Hearts II that shows the letters in the word "Sora" rearranged with the "X" added to expand the connection between the characters. However, this scene was omitted since Nomura found it difficult to implement time-wise.