is a character from the video games Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, and the original . He experimented on Xehanort, who was believed to be Ansem in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. He is voiced by Christopher Lee in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and by Genzo Wakayama in the Japanese version.

Backstory

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The original occupant of Hollow Bastion, Ansem the Wise was a respected sage and king of the Radiant Garden. He believed that darkness could spread into hearts, no matter how pure, and could take control and swallow the heart. In order to bolster defenses against the darkness threatening his world, he researched the darkness and its relation to the heart, using Xehanort as his test subject. What Ansem did not know was that his assistants were beginning to bring more people to be experimented on.

Upon discussion with the off-worlder, King Mickey, Ansem immediately ceased his experiments, realizing the danger. However, the damage was already done. Ansem found his Report was given new entries by Xehanort, now using the name Ansem as his own, who, with the others, continued their teacher's experiments, including using a machine to artificially create Heartless. Xehanort used the Heartless to ravage the Radiant Garden and sought to become one with the darkness. This led to the discarding of his body and the creation of Xemnas. Ansem's five remaining lab assistants soon suffered the same fate and became, along with Xemnas, the first six members of Organization XIII.

Because of the horror he had unleashed, Ansem was forever shamed by his students' actions and used the corridors of darkness, interdimensional pathways, to hide out of self-loathing and guilt, until he decided to take matters into his own hands and erase his mistakes. As written in one of his secret reports:

If the light of hope has been extinguished, I shall henceforth walk with darkness as a friend.

Here, in the realm of nothingness to which I have been relegated.

Darkness in the midst of nothing. Darkness in Zero.

Thus, I shall be known as DiZ.

Discarding the stolen name "Ansem"...

And going in search of revenge.

From that point on, until he cleared his name, Ansem wore concealing red robes and covered most of his face with red bandages. Using the corridors of darkess to arrive at Twilight Town, he took refuge in an abandoned manor in the forest.

Chain of Memories

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In Reverse/Rebirth mode for Chain of Memories, Riku finds himself in a completely white place. Riku hears a voice and is presented the option of going back to sleep or going back to the world and facing the darkness. Riku chooses to leave and ends up in Castle Oblivion. There, the voice guides him, reminding him of how he threw everything away for the power of darkness. The voice finally reveals himself to Riku in Twilight Town as the "Ansem" he knew. Riku quickly realizes he is not "Ansem", and the entity reveals himself as DiZ.

DiZ explains that he wants Riku to make a choice after meeting Naminé. After Riku defeats the Riku Replica, Naminé presents him with an offer: she can lock the darkness inside his body, allowing him to forget the darkness. Riku decides that he'd rather fight the darkness himself. After completing Twilight Town, Riku meets up with Mickey who reveals that he knows DiZ, but doesn't remember from where. DiZ explains that he will watch and see if Riku's decision to fight "Ansem" was the right one.

After defeating Xehanort's Heartless, Riku and Mickey walked down a path leading away from Castle Oblivion, wearing Organization XIII's coats. They meet DiZ at a fork in the road, and he asks Riku a question. "Will you take the road to light — or the road to darkness?" Riku chooses the middle road. DiZ asks, "You mean the twilit road to nightfall?", to which Riku replies, "No... The road to dawn."

Kingdom Hearts II

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DiZ's role in Kingdom Hearts II was to destroy Organization XIII, while at the same time helping Roxas reunite with Sora with the help of Riku and Naminé. However, flaws arose in his plan when Naminé started acting on her own to help Roxas, and Riku declined to help him in his revenge. As he observed Riku's loyalty to Sora, DiZ lost his lust for revenge and grew regretful of the events in his past.

Near the end of the game, DiZ removes his bandages and retakes his old name. Using a machine he created, he attempts to digitally seal away Kingdom Hearts. However, the hearts prove unpredictable and overload the machine, causing it to self-destruct and take a large chunk of Kingdom Hearts and Ansem himself with it. Just before it does, Ansem accepts that he will never fully comprehend the true power of a heart, as evidenced by the actions of Sora. His final words are to Riku, asking him to continue his plan to finish off Xemnas, and to King Mickey, asking to be forgiven for his foolishness. Ansem also tells Sora the rest is up to him, and he apologizes to Roxas for the pain he caused, although he wasn't sure if Roxas could hear him through Sora.

Kingdom Hearts characters | Fictional kings | Fictional scientists | Computer and video game anti-heroes | Christopher Lee-portrayed characters