Kingdom Hearts: What Are The Heartless?

thegamer.com:

One of the most popular video game series over the past two decades mixes two unlikely groups of characters. Square Enix developed Kingdom Hearts by combining the magic and nostalgia of Disney characters with the edgy, sometimes ruthless nature of Final Fantasy characters. Through this sprawling series that consists of 13 total games, the plot can be a bit convuluted but rewarding.

RELATED: Cutest Heartless In Kingdom Hearts, Ranked

While there are many Disney villains that you'll experience in your journey, the main enemy in the Kingdom Hearts series are the Heartless. These creatures of darkness are responsible for countless worlds that have been broken and consumed by darkness. But where did these creatures come from and what is their true purpse?

The Heartless originate in the Realm of Darkness and seek to consume hearts. Their ultimate goal is to absorb Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts. There are two types of Heartless: Pure and Emblem. The pure Heartless are born from the darkness found in people's hearts and continue to consume them. Legends say that people's hearts were originally pure and full of light, until they began fighting over it. This caused their hearts to become infected with darkness and spawn Heartless. These pure Heartless are smaller in size with yellow eyes, however, there are other stronger and more rare pure types.

Emblem Heartless were created in Radiant Gardens in Ansem the Wise's lab. When Xehanort became Ansem's apprentice, Ansem showed him his various experiments on the Heartless. Xehanort became obsessed with the Heartless and started pushing the boundaries on the experiments, until his own heart became consumed by darkness. Xehanort began experimenting with the pure Heartless in