"
Who am I? What am I... here for?"
—Xion
Xion is the fourteenth member of
Organization XIII and first appears in the game
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, in which she could be viewed as both a main protagonist and antagonist. She is not actually a
Nobody, and not even a true member of the Organization. Instead, she's an imperfect
Replica created from
Sora's leaked memories as a fail-safe in case Sora or
Roxas proved to be useless to Organization XIII's plans. While this enables her to use the Keyblade, Xion's existence also slows Sora's progression of regaining his memories to fully awaken while in his pod, something which
Naminé,
DiZ, and
Riku recognize.
As Sora's memories are the basis of her being, Xion initially resembles
Kairi, who was Sora's strongest memory at the time of her birth, though her physical appearance eventually changes depending on who is viewing her and who they have connections with. Roxas, Axel, and Riku see her as Xion (and later, as Sora), while Xemnas and
Xigbar see her as
Ventus, and
Saïx sees her only as a hooded doll.
Xion's name contains the Japanese words for "tide" (潮,
shio[color:62be=#00e]?), fitting the oceanic naming theme of Kairi and Naminé, and
Aster tataricus (紫苑,
shion[color:62be=#00e]?). According to
Japanese floriography,
Aster tataricus is used to mean "I won't forget you" or "remembrance." It is also revealed within the
Secret Reports that her "original name" was "No.
i", her ID as an experiment of the
Replica Program. The "
i" used here is in fact the
imaginary number.