#you can reframe it though. so that mistakes are no longer this terrible horrible thing. but a natural event which you try to learn from.

[jcmorrigan]

Do you prefer the original Organization XIII or the new Organization/The Seekers of Darkness (or at least those we know so far)?

~~~PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE LEAKED KHIII SPOILERS DO NOT INTERACT~~~

Not really a fair question, since we DON’T know the identities of all of the True Organization yet (Is Aqua a Nort? Is she a Darkling?), and we’ve had all of the original Organization known for SEVERAL games now, so I’m naturally inclined to lean toward the original Organization if only because I know ‘em all and what their deals were (for the most part…there may be a whole Strelitzia thing in the works that reframes everything). 

Also, the two rosters are incredibly similar, with only a few swaps out here and there. Those swaps are important, though, and I’m going to touch on that.

I will say the biggest thing the True Organization has going for it is that Ansem is part of it. Ansem is a fantastic and threatening baddie, and his presence, as well as that of the Master himself, elevates this group up from Xemnas’ band of mistakes. (Like, seriously, if you consider the grand Xehanort plan, the original XIII were kind of just a big screw-up that Xemnas got wrong the first time until Master Xehanort stepped in and went HOW COULD YOU GET THIS WRONG? YOU LITERALLY TOLD YOURSELF HOW TO DO IT. THAT’S IT. I’M TAKING YOUR PEOPLE, ADDING MY OWN, AND MAKING THIS LEGITIMATE.) But…that comes with its own set of baggage as well.

And I will say…there was once a time I thought I would never come around to liking Organization XIII as a band of characters again. I used to be knee-deep in the fandom just devoted to them, and I did…things. Horrible things. Things I won’t speak of in public. I renounced what I had done and swore “never again.” But as time passed, I was able to come at the Organization with a more mature perspective (I won’t say COMPLETELY mature; I’ll say MORE mature) and appreciate them through the lens of having some more fandom experience and more experience loving villains in general.

All that being said, I have to give it to the original Organization: Xemnas’ band of screw-ups. And here’s why:

-Xaldin. This is probably the most important factor. Now, I’m no huge screaming fan of Xaldin or anything. He’s not my favorite. But I do LIKE Xaldin a lot. And Xaldin is one of the most important Organization members when it comes to actual manipulation of the worlds. He and Luxord caused the most damage that wasn’t confined to Castle Oblivion, and with Xaldin, it’s poignant because he flat-out used manipulation and bargaining to string the Beast along. It’s IMPRESSIVE. And everything pointed to his character being nasty and rotten without anything redeeming to him. Everything in II depicted him as a ruthless manipulator, and though we were supposed to think he had no heart at the time, it still looked like he was having FUN. (But guess what! Thanks to the Nort heart, HE ACTUALLY WAS HAVING FUN!) Beyond that, 358/2 Days continued down this path, painting him as a terrible mentor who had no patience with Roxas (”NO BREAKS”) and spent his days stalking and scheming. That they should bring back almost everyone else for the True Org EXCEPT one of their meanest and toughest is a shame. 

-While I do like Ienzo and Aeleus better as heroes, the original lineup meant I did get to enjoy them alongside the others in the group. And unlike Xaldin, you could make arguments that both of them had more sympathy - Zexion may have played Riku like a fiddle in CoM, but he also had those seemingly throwaway lines about the Organization coming apart and how much of a shame it was. Lexaeus had almost nothing to go on, so I could buy literally any character development on him.

-As for the outright good people, the original lineup had the ever-important Axel, Roxas, and Xion. No, it wasn’t good for them to be trapped there, but it still meant I could enjoy their struggles and their friendships in the context of “Wait…we work for the BAD guys, don’t we?” and their relationships to said bad guys, who are their ROOMMATES. Xion is one of my favorite KH characters to this DAY. Yes, she may be returning as of that recent trailer, but that’s not confirmed, and furthermore, we don’t know if she’s there of her own free will or if this is some kind of brainwash. Leading to…

-When the original lineup had good people trapped in it, they were manipulated. Roxas and Xion thought they were with the right people because it was all they ever knew. These people raised them from their conception as beings that existed. Axel started out as rotten as the rest, then had his perspective flipped by Sora and Roxas’ influence and realized he no longer fit into the cutthroat crowd. The True Org has at least one good person (Terra) and maybe more (Aqua?), but in both those cases, they’re not there out of a poetic reason like that. They’re there because they’ve been straight-up brainwashed and had different hearts stuffed into them. There’s no free will involved, which doesn’t make for as interesting of a story to me. (…This is a theme with me, I’m realizing, because I’m now recalling the parallel to my frustration with the brainwashing in DanganRonpa…)

-In the original lineup, Marluxia and Larxene were definite traitors to the rest, which made them unique and gave them an interesting subplot. Now at least one of them (Larxene) has fallen in line to work for Xehanort and doesn’t seem like she’s about to turn traitor last minute.

-Braig is a double-edged sword. On one hand, one of the things that makes him GREAT is his endurance, from II to BBS to DDD and into III. We got to see him evolve from just another minion to…there’s a reason WHY he’s ranked II. He’s one of Xehanort’s oldest confidantes and maybe even has his own plans on the side. He wouldn’t be the great character he is now if we DIDN’T have his Nortified journey. However…all the same, when he does appear in DDD and his speech patterns are modified to reflect Xehanort’s because of the heart taking over, it kind of feels tragic. He’s less of a free spirit and you can hear it in the way he talks - maybe he still seems to be happy with himself on the surface, but there’s something off about the guy who used to talk like a surfer dude now becoming loquacious as they come. 

-And Ansem? Actually better when he WASN’T tied to ANY Organization. Ansem is a powerhouse who destroys worlds. His fascination with the Darkness is almost deviant from the rest of the Norts - they focus on forging the x-blade while Ansem wishes to link the worlds to Darkness. I actually just have such a hard time picturing him blending into any GROUP. Which I’m sure will be rectified when I see it in practice, but as cool as it is that he’s now part of the big bad group, that’s actually a point against.

III could change my mind entirely, but for now, I’m nostalgic for the old Organization. Though, to be fair, Vexen is in both rosters, and he’s the one who matters most to me, so I can’t complain too much.