in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep to be derived from the χ-blade. The members are depicted to wear black, hooded coats that shield them from the corrosive effect of prolonged use of the Corridors of Darkness, portals they use to traverse among worlds. Following the release of the Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Nomura revealed a connection cameo characters and Xemnas, but wanted to leave it up to people's imagination as he still could not reveal their identities. This was done through the fight sequence between Sora's predecessors against the unnamed elder, later revealed as Master Xehanort, and his apprentice Vanitas. Nomura explained that Master Xehanort wishes to bring back the Keyblade War and see what happens afterward with his own eyes, but once he finds a way to accomplish this he is an old man with only a few years left to him. Wishing to become young again, he finds Terra, and defeats him with darkness so he can take his body. That is the Xehanort that Ansem the Wise picks up, and makes his number one apprentice. In response to rumors saying that Sora's story would end in Kingdom Hearts III, Nomura answered that Sora is the protagonist of the series and that instead Xehanort's arc would end in such a title. In retrospect, Nomura said it was difficult to enjoy Sora's side of the story and instead like Xehanort's character when making the narrative. Casting Billy Zane voiced Ansem in the first game. He was replaced by Richard Epcar for the later titles. Reflecting on his work, Epcar enjoyed his works in the Kingdom Hearts franchise due to all the people he met. Xemnas was voiced by Norio Wakamoto in Japanese and Paul St. Peter in English. Peter felt that the quick audition led to a positive response from the staff. He came to enjoy voicing Xemnas alongside Wormmon from Digimon Adventure 02. He found the role challenging as he had to work as carefully as Wakamoto. For the eventual release of Birth by Sleep, Ryōtarō Okiayu was chosen as Terra's Japanese voice as the staff wanted an actor who sounded similar to Chikao Ōtsuka, Xehanort's original voice, and Akio Ōtsuka, Xehanort's later voice who also voiced the villain while using Terra's body. The staff found Chikao's to be a dry sort of voice, and Akio's a deep, resonating sort of voice, and liked how Okiayu bore