I’m a trans woman and it’s very obvious and Not Surprising that Xion is my favorite character after Sora and Kairi. She’s an incidental trans allegory that’s a great source of comfort and pride, but it comes specifically from the people putting the ideas together. These sorts of headcanons are really just great examples of the sacred little bond between a person and art. The way these characters and stories can correlate and compare with real life humanity is a lot more important to me than dopey far fetched theories. If there’s anything I believe this series is about first and foremost, it’s emotion and not logic
As a cis woman I adored Xion from way early on but only started to notice these incidental themes years later; I think having friends that came out as trans helped me become more aware of things like this that I'd completely missed before! I had wondered if people considered Xion a trans allegory and I think it's super cool that she is, honestly it's silly that this video surprised me as much as it did LOL The fact that it's the people who love, cherish and/or respect her who get to see her true face in the story of Days just makes the allegory so much sweeter.
THIS! This is the Xion essay I've always wanted. Outstanding job. ❤️ One of the reasons Xion is one of my favorite characters in KH is how a huge part of her struggle in Days is rooted in how she just wants to be seen as an individual. To Xemnas, she's a discount Sora; to Xigbar, she's a memory of Ven; to Saïx, she's an object; to DiZ (and to a lesser extent, Riku and Naminé), she's a means to an end. And Axel spends most of the game conflicted on whether he sees her as a puppet or a friend. The only character in Days who wholeheartedly sees her as herself is Roxas, and it says a lot that he's the one she entrusts her death to. And while we're on the topic of her death, to me, the saddest thing about the ending of Days is the fact that Xion escapes the villainous cult who belittled her existence and experiences, only for the good guys to do the exact same thing. Look, I know our heroes empathize with her situation, but Riku lines like "Take some time to think about who needs you more" and "Whatever answer you come up with, has to be right for everyone" when Xion says her friends need her, are some of the coldest and most manipulative in the whole series and only reinforce why he's the final boss. Regardless of how desperate he was, what he did was wrong. It was wrong to convince Xion that her life had any less value than Sora's and that things would be better off if she returned to him. Despite the following line not being about Xion, I think Kairi said it best: "What right did I have to take those feelings and experiences away? Nothing is as it should be." Conclusion: Xion works beautifully as a trans icon and everytime I think about her through that lens, I am reminded of a great fanart I saw once, where she would talk to Naminé at the end of KH3 and say something along the lines of "We got to be who we chose to be. I'm Xion, I'm a girl. Isn't that amazing?" (If someone finds it, pls link it.) And that... that is the kind of beautiful message the world needs right now. #XionLives ✌🏻❤️
Can I just say how validating it is whenever you talk about nobodies being stand-ins for marginalized groups? I thought that interpretation was just me projecting haha But yeah gender is weird and I know plenty of people who consider Xion an absolute gender non-conforming icon, also I'm surprised you didn't mention the quote "Look at me, Roxas. Who do you see? If you see somebody else's face... a boy's face..." Like hello, the vibes there are undeniable And YEES to that ending, great video!! ^•^
I'm nonbinary, and hell yeah! Xion is totally a trans girl! I've loved this interpretation ever since I first heard about it. I think, especially for a cis person, you handled this topic extremely well, and I'm very happy to see you talk about this and bring up some important stuff. Thank you so much for making this!
As a trans man who is also on the older side of being a millennial, I remember a time of not seeing trans headcanons in fandom (and hostility from people if I mentioned being trans), and to see them often for Xion made my heart swell in this wonderful way. It just isn't as lonely when you see people feeling as strongly as you do, if that makes any sense? It's hard for me to describe in words. But this video is fantastic, and thank you for it! I want to add that I always appreciate your commentary on KH women in your videos, you always put into words what bothers you about the writing without insulting the characters, just demanding more from their writer.
I'm so sorry fandom wasn't as welcoming as it should have been, but I hope we continue to get better? Xion is such a great character, and it seems very fitting that she brings us up to a higher level of empathy. And feminist critiques are my favorite thing so... I'm happy I can do that without being anti-feminist 🤭🤭
thank you so much for this analysis!! trans/non binary xion is one of my favourite hcs, at first it was just me projecting onto my favourite character, but i love that there's actual proof for it as well!!
Freaking awesome. Even as a cis dude, I've always noticed how much the concept of identity is a BIG point of Days, and especially Xion, so it's so satisfying to see it being talked about. I'm a not sure I /toootally/ agree about the point at the end about Xion being the "docile" oppressed person, because even as you point out, and one of the things that make me admire her character so much, is that she does resist to it in the way she can, by running away and seeking not only how to live her life, but to not confine to the societal burdens and functions thrust upon her (by the organization). Kinda like playing the long game in a way that would contribute to dismantling them! Xion escapes her abusive environment several times while searching for the truth and for herself, which narratively, I also think is a great thing to add to viewing her through a trans lens.
Oh yes she is very proactive in ACHIEVING her justice, but she does so by keeping most of her hurt to herself, and my point was just u can get upset when things build up, and ur allowed to express those not fun feelings 🤗
@@Aeba OH now I totally get that and agree 100%! Heck this was my exact issue with how re:coded portrayed data sora bottling up his "hurt" like Jesus or something, babies it's okay to vent out your trauma
As much as I would've appreciated this video to come from a trans person, as it's always nicer to hear interpretations of trans characters from people who have that experience with not identifying with the gender they were born with.. You did put together your thoughts well and it's better to have a video like this than to not have a video on the topic at all. However I really disagree with the way you treat Xion's character status in Days and the female characters in KH. The whole point of Days was to expand on Axel and Roxas' characters, as they were technically introduced in KH2. And while Xion is also a focus, being an added character with just as much plot relevance, I don't think it's fair to say she should have been the main character. Through the cutscenes we do get of Xion and Axel without Roxas we're able to further understand what's really going on with the organization, but as the days cut back with none of them ever telling Roxas, through that and his diary entries it emphasizes how much they hid from him, even if they thought it was for his own good. If we got it from Xion's point of view, we wouldn't have understood Roxas as well as a character, and it would've been a very odd choice to have the game focus on a character introduced in that game.. and have the characters' this game was made to give more backstory for, be once again left as side characters. I'm not saying I don't think we should've seen more of Xion, it would've been nice to get more scenes and show her experiences a little bit more, but I don't think she should be the main character of that game, in any way. Annd about all female characters' in the games having things happen to them for their male counterparts development.. I really don't think that's true? I won't talk too much about Namine because I haven't played through CoM and skimmed to find select cutscenes in that game, though i know most of the major plot beats of course. But as for Xion herself your own analysis shows how much development she has, and she does have agency and whatnot, along with her own development. Her finding out about her identity IS her own development, she runs away from the organization and looks further into her past. Just because she ends up talking to Axel about it doesn't mean it only mattered for his own reaction. Honestly I think Axel better describes what you're saying about the female characters in this game. He doesn't really do a lot besides befriend the two and teach them a little about life in general (being nobodies without memories), and hide things from them he doesn't want them to know. For the most part he does just kinda do what the organization tells him to, and we don't really see him actually rebel until KH2. Xion's story is given plenty of time to shine, and her development is more centered on Roxas and Axel for plot reasons. As explained in Dream Drop Distance, she wasn't really her own person (or, much of one at all) until she befriended Roxas and Axel and started to form a personality and an identity of her own. Though it's influenced by other characters that doesn't mean it only happens to support them. The game shows her own struggles with her identity and absolutely shows her making her own choices to further her own development. Like I said, she leaves the organization multiple times trying to learn more about herself, or what the right thing to do is given her circumstances. Towards the end of the game, she does have a choice to make. She could go back to the organization, keep her own life, or sacrifice it for Roxas/Sora. (It was kind of for both of them at the end of the day.) She could've stayed alive and left both of them behind, but she actively chooses to make that sacrifice when the time comes. She's heavily influenced by Riku and what he tells her about Sora and their situation in general, but her death resulting in Sora's return isn't framed as something that affects him. It's shown to be something that affects Roxas, and Axel's emotions don't get shown as clearly because Roxas is mostly having a breakdown at that point. Even further, with her own final words she makes it clear this isn't over and this isn't all that she wanted to do. She wants to free Kingdom Hearts and stop Xemnas once and for all, but is unable to do so due to her circumstances, hoping Roxas may be able to do it for her. Meanwhile Aqua is mostly treated as the main character of BBS. While she isn't given as much development/as many things don't happen to her she's still given plenty of it. Throughout Birth By Sleep she's shown to be struggling with her faith in Terra, she wants to believe in him but given the lies she's told she has to wonder if he had given in to the darkness. By that logic, wouldn't Terra's actions only happen to see how she would react to it? Ventus, too, as even though it doesn't happen to him as often it's still something he's left to question. Even further while she was doing what Eraqus told her to do, watching over Terra and trying to bring Ventus home, she still shows regret for it and by the time she's confronted about it she seems unsure if it was warranted or not. Ventus even says she was terrible for doing it. By the next time something major happens, finding out about Eraqus' death, they take the time to show how she reacts to it, and once she sees Terra again, shows how upset she is by partially blaming him for it, despite him being manipulated into doing so. Even further her final battles of Birth By Sleep (At least in her Story mode and the Final Episode, not the secret one) it's mostly showing how she reacts to Ventus and Terra being basically possessed, and in Ventus' case, half-dead. If you were to go through her story to me it absolutely comes across the opposite of your claim, that things happen to the others to show how Aqua deals with and reacts to it. And I feel like I shouldn't need to mention how the entirety of 2.8 Fragmentary Passage is exploring her character a lot more and showing how she's developed and how she feels about everything that's happened to her and around her. Kairi you get a free point on as pretty much everyone can agree she lacks development, lol. But you gotta give her credit for the little she has, at least. With KH1 her not wanting to leave the island and trying to convince Sora they don't really need to go, and even further throughout KH2 and properly translated scenes in KH3. She is kind of dragged along for the ride but at least that's partially due to her own issues of not wanting to be left behind. She technically does have a choice, she could've stayed on Destiny Islands living out her comfortable life with the other characters there, but she chooses to continue to follow Sora and kind of Riku. I'm not gonna say she's a super developed character or that she isn't used as a plot device for Sora most of her screentime, because that'd just be a lie. But I do think there should be at least a little acknowledgement for what she does get. And I doubt this'll go acknowledged but I think the characters in Dark Road and KHUX deserve some level of credit. Skuld doesn't show up as often in game but she's still shown her own dynamics between characters and her own beliefs regarding the Keyblade War, I wouldn't say she's a character that would be defined by male characters just because she goes through those experiences with mostly male characters. (Depending on the player anyway.) Strelitzia too, though she ultimately died and is used as motivation for Lauriam to go off and figure out what happened to her, she is still given her own development and her own goals, goals she unfortunately didn't have the courage to go through with before her death. They could've easily just went "oh yeah my sister's missing by the way. you should care about this because she's my sister and not because of her at all." (which spoiler alert most people consider Strelitzia's perspective in her story and don't seem to care as much about how it affects Lauriam.) They gave her development with the time she was alive during, and considering KH4's trailer she likely has plenty yet to come. Nobody knows where that's going. And they sort of took a similar route to the Dark Road characters, even though (spoilers) they do all end up dead, they still get their own motivations, goals, chances to shine before they're gone from the story. Anyway, TLDR, I dunno it just feels really shallow to write it off as "all female characters in this game are written poorly just because they interact with male characters throughout the plot." Like, I dunno, if some of the genders were switched would you really be saying the same thing? I feel like it's more of an issue about sometimes struggling with characters' stories connecting, as you could easily make arguments for male characters being put into similar situations you say all female characters fit into. Which I disagree with.
You can’t keep being so funny in videos about such serious topics. It’s too much for my emotions to handle. I went from literally spitting out mac and cheese through my nose at one of your jokes to crying by the end of the video 😭 Excellent video as usual though. Love this channel.
days is a very special game for me the themes of friendships falling apart and of nothing lasts forever so enjoy the time you have it helped me through a lot of rough times for me growing up losing my own friend groups due to freands growing distant from each other or moving away this game was with for most of all of it. Xion being a trans character does not lessen my love for this game but adds to it. if days is able to help other people in other Ways than when it helped me then I can't help but see that as beautiful
I literally searched for "xion is trans" because I thought to myself, "Someone _must_ have already done a video on this, right?!" So glad I wasn't wrong~
I have never heard this interpretation before but I LOVE IT. Thank you for bringing it to my attention in such a respectful and thorough way. Excellent video.
this is so good!!! trans xion is one of my favorite hcs, and is one that i know is really personal to a lot of folks so its great to hear it talked about so well nd in a video format. also your point about the female charas being used for man pain hit really hard ;__; maybe some day we'll break that trend... anyway thanks for another banger video !! great content as always
xion is SO INCREDIBLY TRANS....................the best thing about xion is how trans girls can look at xion and see a trans girl, and trans boys can look at xion and see a trans boy, and us nonbinary ppl can look at xion and see a nonbinary person and we are ALL VALID AND CORRECT. and while i have my specific interpretation of xion's gender i also love seeing other trans ppl find joy in their own, different interpretations as a butch nonbinary girl i get SO MUCH comfort from interpreting xion as a butch nonbinary girl, as to me xion is having Gender(TM) pressed onto her from both sides and i see a big part of xion's arc as being her carving out her own individual identity outside of the memory of kairi that she was initially based on. in xion, i see my own struggle with the societal pressure to conform to a prescribed idea of what "girl" means, and the sense of not being able to fully live up to that and the gender confusion which follows (i.e. scenes such as those where xion is flickering between herself and other male characters) - that whole "if i'm not a girl, does that make me a boy?" and then "if 'boy' doesn't feel right either, where DO i fit in to the grand scheme of gender?" i love xion so much you have no idea i will say, i don't entirely agree that xion was a Passive Oppressed Person(TM) - i think she was certainly a lot more passive towards the beginning, but it made some narrative sense as she was still finding her feet in just........being a person at all, and SHE was the one who began to investigate the lies and deceit around them and then fight back against the organisation. one of the things i love about her is that she is definitely quite a quiet, introverted person, but you see her develop this steely, stubborn will and insatiable curiosity about HERSELF and the power structures that have been trapping her and her friends. without xion, the plot of 358/2 days would not have moved forward. i DO agree with your general point about Passive Oppressed Person(TM) characters tho and this video as a whole - thank u for spreading the good word of Xion Trans Actually
Thank you so much for sharing your feelings and experiences Xion 🤗🤗 there is so much Good Gender Stuff u can interpret from her. 🙆♀️ I answered another comment about this so i guess i just didnt convey it well enough (:/) but what i INTENDED to mean was not that Xion was being a Passive Oppressed Person(TM), but that she just keeps so much of her hurt inside, and so do a lot of Trans people and really anyone whose not a cishet, white man, and so much of that pressure to keep it inside is the fear of being seen as "one of the bad ones", but I think it is entirely acceptable to whine and throw tantrums and scream because the system SUCKS and it DESERVES to be SCREAMED AT!! So that was really the point, hopefully to take some of the emotional burden off of LGBTQIA+ people if they ever want to let it out. Sorry i was so bad at that 😔
youtube recommending this to me 2 months after coming out as non binary and 3 days after starting a replay of KH2 is both really cool and kind of scary
Xion is trans!! I love my trans daughter! Really thank you for this video. I'm not a trans woman myself but I am nonbinary and I also just really love good trans headcanons and trans coded characters. Xion in particular is so important to me on so many levels even before we get to talking about gender identity or the discrimination she faces, but seeing her grow and learn and struggle and triumph in reclaiming her personhood and embracing her identity is just fucking great. And the love and support she gets from her friends is amazing. My favorite moments of other characters interacting with Xion are when somebody close to her makes a point of remembering her or seeing her: Axel remembering her as he spends time with Kairi, Roxas seeing her face when no one else does, Sora looking her in the eye and saying her name for the first time. Xion is such a great character for anyone who's ever felt cast aside or unloved to see that they can and will be loved by someone who truly sees them.
Y'know, ever since I found your channel last month and watched generally random videos, deep diving into aspects of these wonderful characters I (admittedly) looked at little more than beyond surface level, I was around 110% wondering why and hoping that a video on Xion's transgender mini-saga would appear from any media format. Things and scenes I didn't quite get when I was playing 358 at Roxas' age and craving Sea-Salt ice-cream with the squad have slowly come together for me in recent times--thanks to visual avenues being allowed to depict these subjects. So, thank you from my Kingdom-loving Heart that you gave my favorite heroine in the series such a thoughtful and respectful spot to shine! 14 has always been a enthralling number for me, and now I think it's my favorite. Sorry, Roxas... Also, sorry for my long comment. Little too much coffee and playing ReꚛMind (WTH is that weird punctuation symbol even called?) for the first time has got me in a particularly Xion-y mood.
Im glad we r on the same wavelength 😉 deep diving into characters is what i love most!! Also the symbol in Re𝄌Mind is a Coda, its a symbol for music sheets
I'm so happy I found your channel!! You have so much personality and such a distinct voice that is so hard to find. I appreciate how real you are in all of your videos and this one in particular really hit me too. Looking forward to whatever else you make, KH or otherwise. You've got a great presentation that brings me joy.
She is! Xion’s always been my favorite character and while I didn’t understand transness at the time I first played Days, I did eventually come to the realization, along with my own Non-binary realization, she’s got such a great narrative, I’m glad that she also has a Girlfriend in Naminé after kh3. I don’t Make the rules.
I have seen Xion as a trans woman for a long time, only recently starting to see her as genderfluid. However the genderfluid thing is moreso because I am genderfluid and I see a lot of her struggle in me. She always will be my favorite Kingdom Hearts character.
I don't remember when it was that I saw a reddit comment/post talking about Xion being trans. And I was just like "Oh. So *that's* why I've always liked her." Anyways great video!
I will admit that I have never thought that she was Trans I was kind of of the thought that she was genderless until she decided to see herself and show herself as female. Which you have to admit happened very early in her life. I was always much more in tune with the idea that she is an empath. One that because she was surrounded by people that think they don't have feelings was never thought how to separate her thoughts and feelings from those around her. Often getting lost in the feelings of others to the point that if she didn't grow such a strong sense of self she would have been lost altogether. And because no one except Roxas and Axel cared if she had lost herself no one would know. When you take into account that a replica also takes the form of how the heart inside it thinks and feels about itself if she hadn't learned how to be her own person she may have never built those walls that keep her herself and not someone else. Her natural empathy is also likely why she could feel Kairi in KH3, it wasn't so much that she was feeling only Kairi but rather she was feeling everyone in the graveyard and Kairi's where likely still there. Xion's wonderful ability to forgive Saix and the others around her even when they treat her horribly I have always seen as something that she does because she feels their emotions and knows at lest subconsciously why they are acting the way that they do. That said I still think that Isa is going to have a lot to make up for before the five of them go and eat ice cream at the end of KH3. I am very much looking forward to Xion's next character arc. Now that hopefully she has learned to keep her empathy at levels that are safe for her. I really have no guesses as to where they will take her both she and Roxas need a good new story arc as to what they are going to do next. After all they have never before been given a chance to learn what they want to do with there lives. Still with Lea, Isa, and the twilight trio I am sure that Xion and Roxas are in good hands. The plot will likely have something to do with Subject X but the character arcs could really go anywhere.
amazing video as always.i love the idea of trans xion and happy to see it being talked abt. xion's identity and experiences can be interpreted in different ways and i love that abt her (i personally see her as nonbinary). i do agree with you that days should've focused more on xion and her struggles, having so many scenes spent on axel and roxas being sad bc xion is sad instead of focusing on her was a waste of precious screentime imo. that reminds me of the interview in the 358 unltimania where they reveal there's a cut Pinocchio world in the game where xion explores the concept of puppets growing hearts. it makes me sad they didn't go through with it.
I also think so. I may be actually very much wrong about how I think (I'm a cishet man so well, I may be really wrong indeed). I really think that after kh3 she already is born with an actual female body. I mean, not that is actually important, but much trans people even change their body to fit with their real gender. And I think that's good for her. Go girl give us that big smile. Anyway, and having any body she has or want to have (hah, nice for the only not nobody of the organization) I love her and support her for how she is. Nice video, go on with this. You're great. And sorry for my bad english xD.
hi, number 1 xion fan in existence here, and as a trans girl myself, this video was. So fucking touching??? ;w; like, whenever i get really attached to a character in media, the first bit that comes to mind is "Oh yeah, this character is trans, no doubt." and xion was no exception to this but, like, i always saw tons of trans metaphors in her story and to see those in a tangible, watchable video that's not inside of my mind is really fucking validating, and i cannot thank you enough thank you for spreading the facts of my favorite character in this series this video gave me a big dumb goofy smile :)
yeahh!!!!!! and Axel is a transman. he protects his young friend with experience!! (he's much more subtly trans, but in japanese Lea is pronounced ria. so, thats my thoughts)
While I'm not trans, Xion is literally my second favorite character, my favorite being Roxas. I am big fan of the Xion being trans theory, though I also don't mind her just being female if that is how people see her. I saw part of a comic that had Xion talking to Namine and she was all excited saying (from what I remember): "I'm here. You're here! WE'RE BOTH GIRLS!" Even though I'm a guy and not trans, the comic strip resonated in a way with me. After that I think I started seeing Xion differently. It also helps when you think about her being made from Sora's memories and having a girl's body would likely cause some body dysmorphia (I hope I spelled that right). Uh anyway I love Xion, she deserves all the head pats.
ICON!!!! amazing video!!!! honestly kh is such a trans series... i've met so many fellow trans people in this fandom and trans hcs in kh in particular have helped with my identity So Much! also like you said there's so many other good things to do with hcs in kh!!! it's helped me a lot in terms of my mental health to hc characters as having things i have or my friends have that i see in them. overall i'm just very very excited to see a youtuber talk about this!
xion is so trans I named myself after her. I also wrote an entire essay about nobodies and queerness (queerness here meaning anything outside of the expected mainstream, not just lgbtqia+ stuff) so I'm glad more people are starting to talk about the topic
Xion is straight up my favorite character of all time, and I love this gal with all my heart. The moment I learned what Transgender means, what it _is_, her story just clicked even more into place for me. I'm a Cis lesbian, so I can't 100% get it, but I've also had and still have dozens of friends who are Trans, Nonbinary, or generally gender nonconforming, and I'm glad that this character I already loved is just that much more awesome. Also Roxas really do just be me when someone misgenders any of my friends, I too go feral and challenge those people to a duel in a Denny's parkinglot with a stale baguette, can confirm.
@@Aeba Oh yeah 100%, I feel like if Roxas had his skateboard in the castle that never was he'd just rocket off an improvised ramp and yeet it straight into Saix's face XD
omfg i’m transfemme but i didn’t come out till like last year but xion has always been like my favorite character ever and it’s so funny to me seeing just how many of my favorite characters are trans coded LOL also, it’s funny bc i dressed up as roxas once in third grade (even tho i liked xion way more), but i literally looked exactly like xion LOLLL
I haven't watched the full video just yet but Xion being trans is something I never thought about at all but oh my God its perfect and makes so much sense the more I think about it just from the title of the video alone. It all literally clicked in my head in an instant and recontextulizes her entire character arc in a incredibly deep way and very tragic way thats so true to the lives of trans people. And it makes her coming back fully formed as herself in KH3, while still kind of dumb, all the better despite its execution and its even better, espeically for trans people, that she gets a happy ending. KH is neat sometimes
I'm a trans girl myself, and I really wish topics like this were more open without hostility. I used to be on Twitter, but because I was trans, people said my opinions on the kh franchise didn't matter. So I deleted my account after this and a separate incident, just showed I wasn't welcomed. I'm glad though that there are some good cisgender people out there that do accept transgender people the way they are, and thankfully I became best friends with one before I left Twitter that we met irl. He's like my Sora lol, his personality is just waay too similar. But yeah, I've been struggling to stay alive with these tiny bits of hope in this dark world, and I hope in the future everyone can come to accept each other. But I know it's going to take a very long time... and idk if I'll be around when that day comes...
Im so sorry that that happened to you! Twitter is a sh*t place with a bunch of sh*t people, but i hope u r surrounding urself with community and love and kindness. You mean a lot to the world, and I hope we can do our duty and make it a better place for you ❤
@@Aeba meh, it's too late for me lol. I'm 31 going on 32 this August. I just hope it gets better for the future generations of trans kids tbh. I mostly just isolate myself in my room, and just text my friend and talk to him on vr chat. That's more than I thought I would ever get back when I was 13, so that's enough for me.
Tangentially related, but I am like 90% sure Riku is written as gay, or at least bi. The other 10% is thinking that Nomura is so bad at writing women that a friendship between two dudes is more compelling than an intentional heteroromantic relationship
I actually like what someone said about her being Nonbinary or was it a fanfiction though that inspired it.... anyways I love the idea! It really makes sense after all
As much as I'd like that to be true, it's unfortunately simply not. Not even allegorically. Xion is a puppet who became a person. Her gender is not just a minor detail, it's actually wholly irrelevant to her character on its own. The only reason to bring up Xion's gender when discussing her character is in relation to her existing identity crisis caused by her being something that was made artificially through a fictional process. As Axel puts it best "Xion is Xion." She is a very interesting case of a character who cannot possibly fit mundane human experiences because she is necessarily fictional in her origins. Xion's story is about a lot of things-identity, bonds, trust and how it can be abused, sacrifice, what it means to be alive... Vast and interesting topics, but none of them are about the trans experience or even include rep as a window for cis people to understand it. Oversimplifying the mountains of details and text that we have on Xion and her identity into an admittedly quirky and entertaining but ultimately misguided analysis is troubling. I would love to see good trans rep in more media going forward, but Xion isn't where you'll find it. I think it's great that people can relate to Xion and use her character to find a voice for expressing their own personal experiences, but that is not the same thing as the text actually alluding to Xion being trans or even an allegory for trans experiences. It's an important distinction to make when making any analysis of fictional media that your subject and how it's interpreted be separate.
I’m not saying I’m against this idea but I always thought from a story perspective that Xion was female because of the time that Kairi’s heart resided in Sora
You're thinking a little too technically, Xion has a great journey about self-discovery that lends itself very easily to a Trans interpretation, and many fans have connected with her through their shared gendered experiences. (Also Xion is basically a Memory Leach that syphoned Sora's most important memories, his memories Kairi, and that why she looked like Kairi)
Hell if you wanna dive deeper into this allegory it actually says an awful lot about Sora himself because Vexens algorithm literally ran over a fraction of sora’s memories and decided that Xions appearance was his idealised fantasy of a person, which actually runs well with the personality’s of each of the people somehow born from Sora, Xion is the one that actually acts the most like Sora himself, I’m definitely rambling now but fuck it guess who’s right it is to waste my own time. I feel like the connection you draw between Org XIII and marginalised people is heightened when you look at Xemnas, he’s kinda the archetypical cult leader in a way, a lot of people call Ansem SoD a cultist but Xemnas is more like an actual real cult leader because as you come to learn he’s completely full of shit and he knows it, everyone in the organisation is to some level a victim and being taken advantage of (except Xigbar but even Xemnas doesn’t know that) and it really informs how Xemnas spins the narrative for everyone’s opinion on Xion and even Roxas (who’s the outsider among them) everyone else in the group has at least someone else, the apprentices have each other, Larxene and Marluxia seem to have memory of knowing each other despite not knowing their true pasts and both Luxord and Demyx seem to have settled in well enough in a way Roxas never did before Axel took him in. Wow I’ve been typing since the video started so imma stop now. And if any of this offended you then good because anyone who would get offended by this deserves to get shit on. Fuck you. You know who you are. Bitch
yet as a kid i always wondered why i loved Xion so much. and yet.. i can see why alot more now.. I swore i commented on this video last year or early this year i could of swore i did. but ye
Congrats on figuring out a part of yourself! 🤗 and Absolutely!! I really want her to get keyblades that look like the ones she uses in her armor form at the end of Days 🌇
@@Aeba Honestly the only reason I still have 'Lawrence' as my name here is because of technical anxiety with my email. I've made a lot of attempts at making my own design for Xion, and a lot of them have been hit or miss, but I'm really happy with my latest attempt.
@@slateoffate9812 super cool! I hope u the muse finds u for all ur future designs 🤗 and the time will come when the time comes to change emails and such
My only issue with trans Xion is that, if the main evidence is that certain characters don't see her as a her when looking at her, implying they're transphobic, then that means Axel might've been transphobic since he saw her with the hood up instead of her actual face during at least one moment. That's somehow more upsetting to me then the murders he committed in Chain of Memories, lmfao
Axel originally saw her as a blank puppet, thats why her appearance is like that in some scenes as it switches from what Axel sees and what Roxas sees. As Axel becomes closer to Xion he first sees her as Naminé and then how she sees herself, a black haired Kairi so i dont think its transphobic, he just couldnt see her real self till he became friends and connected with her
She is literally a doll(xion)made by memories of real people,a robot can be programmed with human taughts,and can be programmed to act male or female,but it is a robot,so xion is literally a doll that came to life,like pinocchio he was wood, and then carved into a doll,he was never a real human boy but if it makes people more relatable to a character they like then I could say well pinnochio is a real boy,or a transgender as pinnochio was wood that was made in a form of boy so now he is a boy,so if we are grabbing objects and then forming them into a shape of a human then yes before they are made to look into a gender type then urs technically they are either genderless,but we are talking about objects,was a doll literally so when the characters abuse her is because xion is a doll and hate towards trangenders,when Xion was a failure to the organization's plan xion was deemed a failure,so they never taught of xion as a human or female or male they seen representations of whatever they seen but In the end to just about every one that used xion, xion was just a tool/doll,but people interpret things to whatever makes them feel relatable to the character they like,but In the end its the creators interpretstion and yours or mine,when they called xion a it,it was not to discriminate against xions sex,it was cause xion is literally a doll made from memories of different characters,grow up.
I think interpretations like this are valid but limiting because it's about looking at the events of the story through a lens that shifts context and ignores the lore to fit a very specific idea that is supported through the vague terminology and dialogue that KH is known for. xion's story is not about gender identity but can be interpreted as if it were. trying to point out the holes would only make you look like a bigot in their eyes
This is a bit of a stretch. Not to discount the quality of the work done here, but Xion is not trans. She's constantly well, a She. She is designed with the female model similar to Kairi and Nomine. She has the bit of extended chest to indicate her breasts. And she's even stated to be an extension of Sora's memories of Kairi. I know Kingdom Hearts has a lot of colorful themes and the LGBT community has thrown a lot of attachment and pulling at straws, Sora and Riku for example, but remember this it's also a series made in Japan. Japan, generally, a very traditional culture. The lines, dialog, speech patterns are all done in Japanese first. Then the English cast has to match it to a degree. This explains weird gaps in sentences and even character actions.
Of course Xion's story is about identity. But since identity is not exclusively about sexuality, it can be related to anything. In the story of Kingdom Hearts, Xion was created by Organization 13 so that she could steal Roxa's powers, the organization could control the Keyblade, and Sora would sleep forever. -Zion- Xion could also be a Jew who has to survive in a Nazi world. " Is it that I supposed to not even exist?" "We can't afford to take any more chances on you. You were a mistake we never should have made." "A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have the right to be." And in picking out those quotes, it occurred to me that I was right. It is about race, NOT sexuality. The nobodies represent a race in Kingdom Hearts.
@@Aeba If it makes you happy, transsexual people are a race. Roxas, Xion and Namine (because of Chain of memories and KH 2) definitely represent a minority that is discriminated against because of their origin.
TransGENDER people are not a race, and conflating the plights of racism, homophobia, and transphobia is racist, homophobic, and transphobic. I dont understand where this is coming from as I have said accross multiple videos, including the one u r commenting under, that the Org could be a metaphor for all kinds of underrepresented groups, including racialized people, so ur argueing against me on something i already believe in, but way to make sure i know u didnt actually watch the vid 👍 also ur pride flag pfp is giving cognitive dissonance realness hunty, u better werk it diva. Real pathetic that you would come here to diarrhea word dump AT THE END OF PRIDE MONTH right after women and LGBTQIA+ rights are being stripped away. The shrinking circle of fascism is never going to include you, terf ♥ stop fighting for ur own subjugation
I'll be honest. I do not care for PC, Wokeness, etc in Kingdom Hearts. All I want is GOOD, INTERESTING CHARACTERS + interesting story. That's it. Period. If any of the characters happen to have dark skin, be gay, whatever - that's just a detail, a small part of their overall identity. As long as it's not ALL THEY ARE. Same goes for straight characters. This is my opinion, and you can agree or disagree all you want. See y'all in KH4
What about it makes you cringe? Is it my hair? My skits? My costumes? Is my analysis lacking in some way? Please let me know I would love to improve my rhetorical skills and my Trans Activism 😊
i really liked this video, im a trans girl and i always liked her being trans. xion deeply resonates with me and i feel like trans ppl get almost no representation, and the little representation we do get is often awful. So it upsets me that it feels like many, maybe most, KH fans have a negative reaction to interpreting Xion as trans. I think you illustrated a lot about why her experience resonates with trans people. Xion wasn’t meant to be a girl, she was meant to be genderless, she was meant to be a silent, unfeeling “soldier” (which is also how a lot of trans girls grow up feeling, dealing with gender expectations). The organisation in a way can represent this way AMAB people are often raised to be. Xion sacrifices herself for Roxas but also bc she can’t bear to live as someone (a boy, Sora) she isn’t. It’s very dark to bring up in a kingdom hearts discussion (tw: suicide), but i dont know any trans person who hasn’t been suicidal at some point. Xion represents that, in a way. She chooses to die as herself, rather than what society (the organisation) wants her to be, a strong, silent, unfeeling boy. Sadly while she is a great trans rep, I sincerely doubt she was intentionally written to be. But it doesnt matter, when minorities don’t get representation they go looking for it and can find it in unexpected places. So its valid. I’m also autistic and I feel I see many blatantly autistic coded characters but next to no actually autistic characters. and then we get hate for headcannoning. it sucks >:’C edit: her complete disconnect from her ‘boy’ self (sora) also resonates, for most trans ppl its frustrating bc ppl get to know us as our repressed selves, and then we come out and break that and ppl have to mourn that person they thought existed. I feel an enormous disconnect to my past self, i was so, so buried deep within myself, and was playing a role I felt forced to play. In Xion’s case, the boy shes meant to be is not even just an aspect of her, or repression, its literally a WHOLE ASS OTHER DUDE, which IS how it feels for a lot of trans ppl, that they have to pretend to be a complete different person
![Lethal Company Music Video 🎵 "Follow The Orders" [VERSION A]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QeooZB4Z7RA/mqdefault.jpg)
aeba didn't have to drag both ansem tw and hmk in the same video, but she did that...for me
🤙🤙
I’m a trans woman and it’s very obvious and Not Surprising that Xion is my favorite character after Sora and Kairi. She’s an incidental trans allegory that’s a great source of comfort and pride, but it comes specifically from the people putting the ideas together. These sorts of headcanons are really just great examples of the sacred little bond between a person and art. The way these characters and stories can correlate and compare with real life humanity is a lot more important to me than dopey far fetched theories. If there’s anything I believe this series is about first and foremost, it’s emotion and not logic
Absolutely!! Those are my thoughts exactly! "The sacred bond between a person and art" is so nice and smart! Sorry just love those words together 💞
As a cis woman I adored Xion from way early on but only started to notice these incidental themes years later; I think having friends that came out as trans helped me become more aware of things like this that I'd completely missed before! I had wondered if people considered Xion a trans allegory and I think it's super cool that she is, honestly it's silly that this video surprised me as much as it did LOL
The fact that it's the people who love, cherish and/or respect her who get to see her true face in the story of Days just makes the allegory so much sweeter.
@@LunamFlore absolutely!! That love is what makes the world go round ❤❤🌎🌍🌏❤❤
THIS! This is the Xion essay I've always wanted. Outstanding job. ❤️
One of the reasons Xion is one of my favorite characters in KH is how a huge part of her struggle in Days is rooted in how she just wants to be seen as an individual.
To Xemnas, she's a discount Sora; to Xigbar, she's a memory of Ven; to Saïx, she's an object; to DiZ (and to a lesser extent, Riku and Naminé), she's a means to an end.
And Axel spends most of the game conflicted on whether he sees her as a puppet or a friend.
The only character in Days who wholeheartedly sees her as herself is Roxas, and it says a lot that he's the one she entrusts her death to.
And while we're on the topic of her death, to me, the saddest thing about the ending of Days is the fact that Xion escapes the villainous cult who belittled her existence and experiences, only for the good guys to do the exact same thing.
Look, I know our heroes empathize with her situation, but Riku lines like "Take some time to think about who needs you more" and "Whatever answer you come up with, has to be right for everyone" when Xion says her friends need her, are some of the coldest and most manipulative in the whole series and only reinforce why he's the final boss. Regardless of how desperate he was, what he did was wrong.
It was wrong to convince Xion that her life had any less value than Sora's and that things would be better off if she returned to him.
Despite the following line not being about Xion, I think Kairi said it best: "What right did I have to take those feelings and experiences away? Nothing is as it should be."
Conclusion: Xion works beautifully as a trans icon and everytime I think about her through that lens, I am reminded of a great fanart I saw once, where she would talk to Naminé at the end of KH3 and say something along the lines of "We got to be who we chose to be. I'm Xion, I'm a girl. Isn't that amazing?"
(If someone finds it, pls link it.)
And that... that is the kind of beautiful message the world needs right now. #XionLives ✌🏻❤️
Exactly! finding ur own existence is such a worthwhile journey
Can I just say how validating it is whenever you talk about nobodies being stand-ins for marginalized groups? I thought that interpretation was just me projecting haha
But yeah gender is weird and I know plenty of people who consider Xion an absolute gender non-conforming icon, also I'm surprised you didn't mention the quote "Look at me, Roxas. Who do you see? If you see somebody else's face... a boy's face..." Like hello, the vibes there are undeniable
And YEES to that ending, great video!! ^•^
Oh yeah they are definitely there to mean SOMETHING, its so not just u ☺️
Gender 💟
I'm nonbinary, and hell yeah! Xion is totally a trans girl! I've loved this interpretation ever since I first heard about it. I think, especially for a cis person, you handled this topic extremely well, and I'm very happy to see you talk about this and bring up some important stuff. Thank you so much for making this!
Ah good! I happy I could meet the bare minimum of human decency 🙏
I don’t think I’ve ever been more delighted by seeing a title show up in my feed. The more discussion on this topic, the better.
🤗☝️☝️
As a trans man who is also on the older side of being a millennial, I remember a time of not seeing trans headcanons in fandom (and hostility from people if I mentioned being trans), and to see them often for Xion made my heart swell in this wonderful way. It just isn't as lonely when you see people feeling as strongly as you do, if that makes any sense? It's hard for me to describe in words. But this video is fantastic, and thank you for it!
I want to add that I always appreciate your commentary on KH women in your videos, you always put into words what bothers you about the writing without insulting the characters, just demanding more from their writer.
I'm so sorry fandom wasn't as welcoming as it should have been, but I hope we continue to get better? Xion is such a great character, and it seems very fitting that she brings us up to a higher level of empathy.
And feminist critiques are my favorite thing so... I'm happy I can do that without being anti-feminist 🤭🤭
thank you so much for this analysis!! trans/non binary xion is one of my favourite hcs, at first it was just me projecting onto my favourite character, but i love that there's actual proof for it as well!!
Of course! It was absolutely not just u projecting!! There's a lot there for us all to interpret💙
Freaking awesome. Even as a cis dude, I've always noticed how much the concept of identity is a BIG point of Days, and especially Xion, so it's so satisfying to see it being talked about.
I'm a not sure I /toootally/ agree about the point at the end about Xion being the "docile" oppressed person, because even as you point out, and one of the things that make me admire her character so much, is that she does resist to it in the way she can, by running away and seeking not only how to live her life, but to not confine to the societal burdens and functions thrust upon her (by the organization). Kinda like playing the long game in a way that would contribute to dismantling them!
Xion escapes her abusive environment several times while searching for the truth and for herself, which narratively, I also think is a great thing to add to viewing her through a trans lens.
Anyway TRANS XION SUPREMACY
💙💟💙
💁♀️
Oh yes she is very proactive in ACHIEVING her justice, but she does so by keeping most of her hurt to herself, and my point was just u can get upset when things build up, and ur allowed to express those not fun feelings 🤗
@@Aeba OH now I totally get that and agree 100%! Heck this was my exact issue with how re:coded portrayed data sora bottling up his "hurt" like Jesus or something, babies it's okay to vent out your trauma
😭😭 let me take care of u bbies
As much as I would've appreciated this video to come from a trans person, as it's always nicer to hear interpretations of trans characters from people who have that experience with not identifying with the gender they were born with.. You did put together your thoughts well and it's better to have a video like this than to not have a video on the topic at all.
However I really disagree with the way you treat Xion's character status in Days and the female characters in KH. The whole point of Days was to expand on Axel and Roxas' characters, as they were technically introduced in KH2. And while Xion is also a focus, being an added character with just as much plot relevance, I don't think it's fair to say she should have been the main character. Through the cutscenes we do get of Xion and Axel without Roxas we're able to further understand what's really going on with the organization, but as the days cut back with none of them ever telling Roxas, through that and his diary entries it emphasizes how much they hid from him, even if they thought it was for his own good. If we got it from Xion's point of view, we wouldn't have understood Roxas as well as a character, and it would've been a very odd choice to have the game focus on a character introduced in that game.. and have the characters' this game was made to give more backstory for, be once again left as side characters. I'm not saying I don't think we should've seen more of Xion, it would've been nice to get more scenes and show her experiences a little bit more, but I don't think she should be the main character of that game, in any way.
Annd about all female characters' in the games having things happen to them for their male counterparts development.. I really don't think that's true? I won't talk too much about Namine because I haven't played through CoM and skimmed to find select cutscenes in that game, though i know most of the major plot beats of course. But as for Xion herself your own analysis shows how much development she has, and she does have agency and whatnot, along with her own development. Her finding out about her identity IS her own development, she runs away from the organization and looks further into her past. Just because she ends up talking to Axel about it doesn't mean it only mattered for his own reaction.
Honestly I think Axel better describes what you're saying about the female characters in this game. He doesn't really do a lot besides befriend the two and teach them a little about life in general (being nobodies without memories), and hide things from them he doesn't want them to know. For the most part he does just kinda do what the organization tells him to, and we don't really see him actually rebel until KH2.
Xion's story is given plenty of time to shine, and her development is more centered on Roxas and Axel for plot reasons. As explained in Dream Drop Distance, she wasn't really her own person (or, much of one at all) until she befriended Roxas and Axel and started to form a personality and an identity of her own. Though it's influenced by other characters that doesn't mean it only happens to support them. The game shows her own struggles with her identity and absolutely shows her making her own choices to further her own development. Like I said, she leaves the organization multiple times trying to learn more about herself, or what the right thing to do is given her circumstances. Towards the end of the game, she does have a choice to make. She could go back to the organization, keep her own life, or sacrifice it for Roxas/Sora. (It was kind of for both of them at the end of the day.) She could've stayed alive and left both of them behind, but she actively chooses to make that sacrifice when the time comes. She's heavily influenced by Riku and what he tells her about Sora and their situation in general, but her death resulting in Sora's return isn't framed as something that affects him. It's shown to be something that affects Roxas, and Axel's emotions don't get shown as clearly because Roxas is mostly having a breakdown at that point. Even further, with her own final words she makes it clear this isn't over and this isn't all that she wanted to do. She wants to free Kingdom Hearts and stop Xemnas once and for all, but is unable to do so due to her circumstances, hoping Roxas may be able to do it for her.
Meanwhile Aqua is mostly treated as the main character of BBS. While she isn't given as much development/as many things don't happen to her she's still given plenty of it. Throughout Birth By Sleep she's shown to be struggling with her faith in Terra, she wants to believe in him but given the lies she's told she has to wonder if he had given in to the darkness. By that logic, wouldn't Terra's actions only happen to see how she would react to it? Ventus, too, as even though it doesn't happen to him as often it's still something he's left to question. Even further while she was doing what Eraqus told her to do, watching over Terra and trying to bring Ventus home, she still shows regret for it and by the time she's confronted about it she seems unsure if it was warranted or not. Ventus even says she was terrible for doing it. By the next time something major happens, finding out about Eraqus' death, they take the time to show how she reacts to it, and once she sees Terra again, shows how upset she is by partially blaming him for it, despite him being manipulated into doing so. Even further her final battles of Birth By Sleep (At least in her Story mode and the Final Episode, not the secret one) it's mostly showing how she reacts to Ventus and Terra being basically possessed, and in Ventus' case, half-dead. If you were to go through her story to me it absolutely comes across the opposite of your claim, that things happen to the others to show how Aqua deals with and reacts to it. And I feel like I shouldn't need to mention how the entirety of 2.8 Fragmentary Passage is exploring her character a lot more and showing how she's developed and how she feels about everything that's happened to her and around her.
Kairi you get a free point on as pretty much everyone can agree she lacks development, lol. But you gotta give her credit for the little she has, at least. With KH1 her not wanting to leave the island and trying to convince Sora they don't really need to go, and even further throughout KH2 and properly translated scenes in KH3. She is kind of dragged along for the ride but at least that's partially due to her own issues of not wanting to be left behind. She technically does have a choice, she could've stayed on Destiny Islands living out her comfortable life with the other characters there, but she chooses to continue to follow Sora and kind of Riku. I'm not gonna say she's a super developed character or that she isn't used as a plot device for Sora most of her screentime, because that'd just be a lie. But I do think there should be at least a little acknowledgement for what she does get.
And I doubt this'll go acknowledged but I think the characters in Dark Road and KHUX deserve some level of credit. Skuld doesn't show up as often in game but she's still shown her own dynamics between characters and her own beliefs regarding the Keyblade War, I wouldn't say she's a character that would be defined by male characters just because she goes through those experiences with mostly male characters. (Depending on the player anyway.) Strelitzia too, though she ultimately died and is used as motivation for Lauriam to go off and figure out what happened to her, she is still given her own development and her own goals, goals she unfortunately didn't have the courage to go through with before her death. They could've easily just went "oh yeah my sister's missing by the way. you should care about this because she's my sister and not because of her at all." (which spoiler alert most people consider Strelitzia's perspective in her story and don't seem to care as much about how it affects Lauriam.) They gave her development with the time she was alive during, and considering KH4's trailer she likely has plenty yet to come. Nobody knows where that's going. And they sort of took a similar route to the Dark Road characters, even though (spoilers) they do all end up dead, they still get their own motivations, goals, chances to shine before they're gone from the story.
Anyway, TLDR, I dunno it just feels really shallow to write it off as "all female characters in this game are written poorly just because they interact with male characters throughout the plot." Like, I dunno, if some of the genders were switched would you really be saying the same thing? I feel like it's more of an issue about sometimes struggling with characters' stories connecting, as you could easily make arguments for male characters being put into similar situations you say all female characters fit into. Which I disagree with.
Dont take this the wrong way but i think saying that Xion is the real main character of days really does a disservice to Roxas.
You can’t keep being so funny in videos about such serious topics. It’s too much for my emotions to handle. I went from literally spitting out mac and cheese through my nose at one of your jokes to crying by the end of the video 😭
Excellent video as usual though. Love this channel.
Ty!🤗🤗
lgbtq+'s rise up, we feast like kings tonight
days is a very special game for me the themes of friendships falling apart and of nothing lasts forever so enjoy the time you have it helped me through a lot of rough times for me growing up losing my own friend groups due to freands growing distant from each other or moving away this game was with for most of all of it. Xion being a trans character does not lessen my love for this game but adds to it. if days is able to help other people in other Ways than when it helped me then I can't help but see that as beautiful
Thank u so much for sharing ❤ Days really is a special title
I literally searched for "xion is trans" because I thought to myself, "Someone _must_ have already done a video on this, right?!" So glad I wasn't wrong~
Glad I could b here for u!💙💙
Literally did the same thing
I have never heard this interpretation before but I LOVE IT. Thank you for bringing it to my attention in such a respectful and thorough way. Excellent video.
Oh I love this song
🎼🎶🎵
Xion, made of memories of Kairi, she’s seeing Kairi in all these memories and she goes “I wanna be Girl too please“ and she is!
this is so good!!! trans xion is one of my favorite hcs, and is one that i know is really personal to a lot of folks so its great to hear it talked about so well nd in a video format. also your point about the female charas being used for man pain hit really hard ;__; maybe some day we'll break that trend... anyway thanks for another banger video !! great content as always
xion is SO INCREDIBLY TRANS....................the best thing about xion is how trans girls can look at xion and see a trans girl, and trans boys can look at xion and see a trans boy, and us nonbinary ppl can look at xion and see a nonbinary person and we are ALL VALID AND CORRECT. and while i have my specific interpretation of xion's gender i also love seeing other trans ppl find joy in their own, different interpretations
as a butch nonbinary girl i get SO MUCH comfort from interpreting xion as a butch nonbinary girl, as to me xion is having Gender(TM) pressed onto her from both sides and i see a big part of xion's arc as being her carving out her own individual identity outside of the memory of kairi that she was initially based on. in xion, i see my own struggle with the societal pressure to conform to a prescribed idea of what "girl" means, and the sense of not being able to fully live up to that and the gender confusion which follows (i.e. scenes such as those where xion is flickering between herself and other male characters) - that whole "if i'm not a girl, does that make me a boy?" and then "if 'boy' doesn't feel right either, where DO i fit in to the grand scheme of gender?"
i love xion so much you have no idea
i will say, i don't entirely agree that xion was a Passive Oppressed Person(TM) - i think she was certainly a lot more passive towards the beginning, but it made some narrative sense as she was still finding her feet in just........being a person at all, and SHE was the one who began to investigate the lies and deceit around them and then fight back against the organisation. one of the things i love about her is that she is definitely quite a quiet, introverted person, but you see her develop this steely, stubborn will and insatiable curiosity about HERSELF and the power structures that have been trapping her and her friends. without xion, the plot of 358/2 days would not have moved forward. i DO agree with your general point about Passive Oppressed Person(TM) characters tho and this video as a whole - thank u for spreading the good word of Xion Trans Actually
Thank you so much for sharing your feelings and experiences Xion 🤗🤗 there is so much Good Gender Stuff u can interpret from her. 🙆♀️
I answered another comment about this so i guess i just didnt convey it well enough (:/) but what i INTENDED to mean was not that Xion was being a Passive Oppressed Person(TM), but that she just keeps so much of her hurt inside, and so do a lot of Trans people and really anyone whose not a cishet, white man, and so much of that pressure to keep it inside is the fear of being seen as "one of the bad ones", but I think it is entirely acceptable to whine and throw tantrums and scream because the system SUCKS and it DESERVES to be SCREAMED AT!! So that was really the point, hopefully to take some of the emotional burden off of LGBTQIA+ people if they ever want to let it out. Sorry i was so bad at that 😔
@@Aeba AH ok no that makes absolute sense and i agree with you fully, sorry for misinterpreting your point!!
No no! Obviously i needed to speak better
youtube recommending this to me 2 months after coming out as non binary and 3 days after starting a replay of KH2 is both really cool and kind of scary
It KNOWS
Xion is trans!! I love my trans daughter!
Really thank you for this video. I'm not a trans woman myself but I am nonbinary and I also just really love good trans headcanons and trans coded characters. Xion in particular is so important to me on so many levels even before we get to talking about gender identity or the discrimination she faces, but seeing her grow and learn and struggle and triumph in reclaiming her personhood and embracing her identity is just fucking great. And the love and support she gets from her friends is amazing. My favorite moments of other characters interacting with Xion are when somebody close to her makes a point of remembering her or seeing her: Axel remembering her as he spends time with Kairi, Roxas seeing her face when no one else does, Sora looking her in the eye and saying her name for the first time. Xion is such a great character for anyone who's ever felt cast aside or unloved to see that they can and will be loved by someone who truly sees them.
Exactly!! I love her too ☺This is such a great comment, I really don't have anything to add 🤣 Thank you so much for sharing!!
I'm trans myself, and I loved Xion as my favorite character, long before I realized why. Thank you for talking about this
2:51 AAAAAAAAAAA
No but once again, another fantastic video, thank you so much for making it ♥♥♥♥
🙆♀️🙆♀️💞
Y'know, ever since I found your channel last month and watched generally random videos, deep diving into aspects of these wonderful characters I (admittedly) looked at little more than beyond surface level, I was around 110% wondering why and hoping that a video on Xion's transgender mini-saga would appear from any media format. Things and scenes I didn't quite get when I was playing 358 at Roxas' age and craving Sea-Salt ice-cream with the squad have slowly come together for me in recent times--thanks to visual avenues being allowed to depict these subjects. So, thank you from my Kingdom-loving Heart that you gave my favorite heroine in the series such a thoughtful and respectful spot to shine! 14 has always been a enthralling number for me, and now I think it's my favorite. Sorry, Roxas...
Also, sorry for my long comment. Little too much coffee and playing ReꚛMind (WTH is that weird punctuation symbol even called?) for the first time has got me in a particularly Xion-y mood.
Im glad we r on the same wavelength 😉 deep diving into characters is what i love most!!
Also the symbol in Re𝄌Mind is a Coda, its a symbol for music sheets
THIS VIDEO RULES thank you for this :D
Glad u liked it!!😊
As a trans women I have been thinking about this for awhile and I 100 % agree with this interpetation
I'm so glad you like it 🤗💙💗🤍💗💙
I'm so happy I found your channel!! You have so much personality and such a distinct voice that is so hard to find. I appreciate how real you are in all of your videos and this one in particular really hit me too. Looking forward to whatever else you make, KH or otherwise. You've got a great presentation that brings me joy.
She is! Xion’s always been my favorite character and while I didn’t understand transness at the time I first played Days, I did eventually come to the realization, along with my own Non-binary realization, she’s got such a great narrative, I’m glad that she also has a Girlfriend in Naminé after kh3. I don’t Make the rules.
I'm so glad she could b there for u in that way 🤗🤗
Namixion supremacy.
I have seen Xion as a trans woman for a long time, only recently starting to see her as genderfluid. However the genderfluid thing is moreso because I am genderfluid and I see a lot of her struggle in me. She always will be my favorite Kingdom Hearts character.
I don't remember when it was that I saw a reddit comment/post talking about Xion being trans. And I was just like "Oh. So *that's* why I've always liked her." Anyways great video!
I will admit that I have never thought that she was Trans I was kind of of the thought that she was genderless until she decided to see herself and show herself as female. Which you have to admit happened very early in her life.
I was always much more in tune with the idea that she is an empath. One that because she was surrounded by people that think they don't have feelings was never thought how to separate her thoughts and feelings from those around her. Often getting lost in the feelings of others to the point that if she didn't grow such a strong sense of self she would have been lost altogether. And because no one except Roxas and Axel cared if she had lost herself no one would know. When you take into account that a replica also takes the form of how the heart inside it thinks and feels about itself if she hadn't learned how to be her own person she may have never built those walls that keep her herself and not someone else. Her natural empathy is also likely why she could feel Kairi in KH3, it wasn't so much that she was feeling only Kairi but rather she was feeling everyone in the graveyard and Kairi's where likely still there.
Xion's wonderful ability to forgive Saix and the others around her even when they treat her horribly I have always seen as something that she does because she feels their emotions and knows at lest subconsciously why they are acting the way that they do. That said I still think that Isa is going to have a lot to make up for before the five of them go and eat ice cream at the end of KH3.
I am very much looking forward to Xion's next character arc. Now that hopefully she has learned to keep her empathy at levels that are safe for her. I really have no guesses as to where they will take her both she and Roxas need a good new story arc as to what they are going to do next. After all they have never before been given a chance to learn what they want to do with there lives. Still with Lea, Isa, and the twilight trio I am sure that Xion and Roxas are in good hands. The plot will likely have something to do with Subject X but the character arcs could really go anywhere.
amazing video as always.i love the idea of trans xion and happy to see it being talked abt. xion's identity and experiences can be interpreted in different ways and i love that abt her (i personally see her as nonbinary). i do agree with you that days should've focused more on xion and her struggles, having so many scenes spent on axel and roxas being sad bc xion is sad instead of focusing on her was a waste of precious screentime imo. that reminds me of the interview in the 358 unltimania where they reveal there's a cut Pinocchio world in the game where xion explores the concept of puppets growing hearts. it makes me sad they didn't go through with it.
God that Pinocchio world would've been good **Goofy floating in fountain**
I also think so.
I may be actually very much wrong about how I think (I'm a cishet man so well, I may be really wrong indeed).
I really think that after kh3 she already is born with an actual female body. I mean, not that is actually important, but much trans people even change their body to fit with their real gender. And I think that's good for her. Go girl give us that big smile.
Anyway, and having any body she has or want to have (hah, nice for the only not nobody of the organization) I love her and support her for how she is.
Nice video, go on with this. You're great. And sorry for my bad english xD.
Yeah! and there's no need to think that hard about the technicalities of what body this what body that, it is a fantasical world after all! 🤗
@@Aeba yeah that's exatcly what I think. We don't even really know what a human is in KH. I mean, they say nobodys aren't humans but... XD
I want to say, I simply SAW THE TITLE, thought about what I know about Xion already, and was like 'wait that makes a lot of sense holy wow'.
Rewatching this banger video for the first time in months
Ty. This is a fantastic read ❤
hi, number 1 xion fan in existence here, and as a trans girl myself, this video was. So fucking touching??? ;w;
like, whenever i get really attached to a character in media, the first bit that comes to mind is "Oh yeah, this character is trans, no doubt." and xion was no exception to this
but, like, i always saw tons of trans metaphors in her story and to see those in a tangible, watchable video that's not inside of my mind is really fucking validating, and i cannot thank you enough
thank you for spreading the facts of my favorite character in this series this video gave me a big dumb goofy smile :)
🤗💙💗🤍💗💙🤗
Y'know what?
Yes. Absolutely. It makes absolute sense, and adds a whole new layer to Xion's experience in this story.
Its a very good interpretation 🤗
yeahh!!!!!! and Axel is a transman. he protects his young friend with experience!! (he's much more subtly trans, but in japanese Lea is pronounced ria. so, thats my thoughts)
Absolutely!! Everybody needs a mentor🙆♀️💞💙
Yea I love elder trans Axel!
@@griffinraynor8425 gotta protect baby trans!
I just love your shit man
While I'm not trans, Xion is literally my second favorite character, my favorite being Roxas. I am big fan of the Xion being trans theory, though I also don't mind her just being female if that is how people see her. I saw part of a comic that had Xion talking to Namine and she was all excited saying (from what I remember): "I'm here. You're here! WE'RE BOTH GIRLS!" Even though I'm a guy and not trans, the comic strip resonated in a way with me. After that I think I started seeing Xion differently. It also helps when you think about her being made from Sora's memories and having a girl's body would likely cause some body dysmorphia (I hope I spelled that right).
Uh anyway I love Xion, she deserves all the head pats.
ICON!!!! amazing video!!!! honestly kh is such a trans series... i've met so many fellow trans people in this fandom and trans hcs in kh in particular have helped with my identity So Much!
also like you said there's so many other good things to do with hcs in kh!!! it's helped me a lot in terms of my mental health to hc characters as having things i have or my friends have that i see in them.
overall i'm just very very excited to see a youtuber talk about this!
They ARE good hcs!🙆♀️💙💟💙
oh wow......you are officially my new favorite kingdom hearts content creator
🥰 i'm very touched 💕
So THATS why baby me loved her in Days so much.
It's all coming together 💙💟💙
xion is so trans I named myself after her. I also wrote an entire essay about nobodies and queerness (queerness here meaning anything outside of the expected mainstream, not just lgbtqia+ stuff) so I'm glad more people are starting to talk about the topic
Xion is straight up my favorite character of all time, and I love this gal with all my heart. The moment I learned what Transgender means, what it _is_, her story just clicked even more into place for me. I'm a Cis lesbian, so I can't 100% get it, but I've also had and still have dozens of friends who are Trans, Nonbinary, or generally gender nonconforming, and I'm glad that this character I already loved is just that much more awesome. Also Roxas really do just be me when someone misgenders any of my friends, I too go feral and challenge those people to a duel in a Denny's parkinglot with a stale baguette, can confirm.
Lol im so glad that Xion has had such a positive influence on u!🤗 and Roxas is a VERY good example for us cis allies 😈
@@Aeba Oh yeah 100%, I feel like if Roxas had his skateboard in the castle that never was he'd just rocket off an improvised ramp and yeet it straight into Saix's face XD
omfg i’m transfemme but i didn’t come out till like last year but xion has always been like my favorite character ever and it’s so funny to me seeing just how many of my favorite characters are trans coded LOL
also, it’s funny bc i dressed up as roxas once in third grade (even tho i liked xion way more), but i literally looked exactly like xion LOLLL
I haven't watched the full video just yet but Xion being trans is something I never thought about at all but oh my God its perfect and makes so much sense the more I think about it just from the title of the video alone.
It all literally clicked in my head in an instant and recontextulizes her entire character arc in a incredibly deep way and very tragic way thats so true to the lives of trans people. And it makes her coming back fully formed as herself in KH3, while still kind of dumb, all the better despite its execution and its even better, espeically for trans people, that she gets a happy ending.
KH is neat sometimes
I love your channel
❤❤❤💫
I was wondering why your channel isn't more popular
I'm a trans girl myself, and I really wish topics like this were more open without hostility. I used to be on Twitter, but because I was trans, people said my opinions on the kh franchise didn't matter. So I deleted my account after this and a separate incident, just showed I wasn't welcomed. I'm glad though that there are some good cisgender people out there that do accept transgender people the way they are, and thankfully I became best friends with one before I left Twitter that we met irl. He's like my Sora lol, his personality is just waay too similar. But yeah, I've been struggling to stay alive with these tiny bits of hope in this dark world, and I hope in the future everyone can come to accept each other. But I know it's going to take a very long time... and idk if I'll be around when that day comes...
Im so sorry that that happened to you! Twitter is a sh*t place with a bunch of sh*t people, but i hope u r surrounding urself with community and love and kindness. You mean a lot to the world, and I hope we can do our duty and make it a better place for you ❤
@@Aeba meh, it's too late for me lol. I'm 31 going on 32 this August. I just hope it gets better for the future generations of trans kids tbh. I mostly just isolate myself in my room, and just text my friend and talk to him on vr chat. That's more than I thought I would ever get back when I was 13, so that's enough for me.
Oh hey this is the KH vid this trans fem has been waiting to see since the game came out 💜
As ever, when I see Xion dying I just remember that she and Roxas ✨are friends✨
And then I cry.
Wow. You explained all of this perfectly. Basically a perfect RUclips video. ty so much for making this
Tangentially related, but I am like 90% sure Riku is written as gay, or at least bi. The other 10% is thinking that Nomura is so bad at writing women that a friendship between two dudes is more compelling than an intentional heteroromantic relationship
Please don’t give Nomura any ideas for ZIPPER EYES 😫😭😭
yes but also my headcanon is roxas is transmasc/repressed trans fem coded ok bye
Let's not forget that when Xion is fully forced into this roll, she basically kills herself.
Yes
Xion made me realize I'm nonbinary.
Thats so great! Its amazing how fiction can affect us 💛⬜💜🖤
I actually like what someone said about her being Nonbinary or was it a fanfiction though that inspired it.... anyways I love the idea! It really makes sense after all
We want more more more
As much as I'd like that to be true, it's unfortunately simply not. Not even allegorically. Xion is a puppet who became a person. Her gender is not just a minor detail, it's actually wholly irrelevant to her character on its own. The only reason to bring up Xion's gender when discussing her character is in relation to her existing identity crisis caused by her being something that was made artificially through a fictional process. As Axel puts it best "Xion is Xion." She is a very interesting case of a character who cannot possibly fit mundane human experiences because she is necessarily fictional in her origins.
Xion's story is about a lot of things-identity, bonds, trust and how it can be abused, sacrifice, what it means to be alive... Vast and interesting topics, but none of them are about the trans experience or even include rep as a window for cis people to understand it. Oversimplifying the mountains of details and text that we have on Xion and her identity into an admittedly quirky and entertaining but ultimately misguided analysis is troubling. I would love to see good trans rep in more media going forward, but Xion isn't where you'll find it. I think it's great that people can relate to Xion and use her character to find a voice for expressing their own personal experiences, but that is not the same thing as the text actually alluding to Xion being trans or even an allegory for trans experiences. It's an important distinction to make when making any analysis of fictional media that your subject and how it's interpreted be separate.
Paragraph after paragraph but didnt watch 30secs into the video, tut tut thats not good media analysis
FUCK YEAH
I’m not saying I’m against this idea but I always thought from a story perspective that Xion was female because of the time that Kairi’s heart resided in Sora
You're thinking a little too technically, Xion has a great journey about self-discovery that lends itself very easily to a Trans interpretation, and many fans have connected with her through their shared gendered experiences.
(Also Xion is basically a Memory Leach that syphoned Sora's most important memories, his memories Kairi, and that why she looked like Kairi)
I know you had that strawman at the beginning of the video, whether or not xion is trans she's still my waifu.
Well then, you aren't the transphobic strawman 🤣🤣
@@Aeba 😂😂😂
Hell if you wanna dive deeper into this allegory it actually says an awful lot about Sora himself because Vexens algorithm literally ran over a fraction of sora’s memories and decided that Xions appearance was his idealised fantasy of a person, which actually runs well with the personality’s of each of the people somehow born from Sora, Xion is the one that actually acts the most like Sora himself, I’m definitely rambling now but fuck it guess who’s right it is to waste my own time. I feel like the connection you draw between Org XIII and marginalised people is heightened when you look at Xemnas, he’s kinda the archetypical cult leader in a way, a lot of people call Ansem SoD a cultist but Xemnas is more like an actual real cult leader because as you come to learn he’s completely full of shit and he knows it, everyone in the organisation is to some level a victim and being taken advantage of (except Xigbar but even Xemnas doesn’t know that) and it really informs how Xemnas spins the narrative for everyone’s opinion on Xion and even Roxas (who’s the outsider among them) everyone else in the group has at least someone else, the apprentices have each other, Larxene and Marluxia seem to have memory of knowing each other despite not knowing their true pasts and both Luxord and Demyx seem to have settled in well enough in a way Roxas never did before Axel took him in. Wow I’ve been typing since the video started so imma stop now. And if any of this offended you then good because anyone who would get offended by this deserves to get shit on. Fuck you. You know who you are. Bitch
yet as a kid i always wondered why i loved Xion so much.
and yet..
i can see why alot more now..
I swore i commented on this video last year or early this year i could of swore i did. but ye
Im glad to see your comment now 🤗
I can’t believe I’ve never heard this interpretation before. I absolutely love it
I've recently realized I'm genderfluid, and yeah! Xion deserves her own game! And a new keyblade.
Congrats on figuring out a part of yourself! 🤗 and Absolutely!! I really want her to get keyblades that look like the ones she uses in her armor form at the end of Days 🌇
@@Aeba That one? I dunno. I don't really see Xion willingly associating herself with that specific weapon again.
Ok! Regardless i just hope it fits her personality 😊
@@Aeba Honestly the only reason I still have 'Lawrence' as my name here is because of technical anxiety with my email.
I've made a lot of attempts at making my own design for Xion, and a lot of them have been hit or miss, but I'm really happy with my latest attempt.
@@slateoffate9812 super cool! I hope u the muse finds u for all ur future designs 🤗 and the time will come when the time comes to change emails and such
I usually like to see her as non-binary but this is an exquisite analysis
👌👌😊💛💟💜🖤
My only issue with trans Xion is that, if the main evidence is that certain characters don't see her as a her when looking at her, implying they're transphobic, then that means Axel might've been transphobic since he saw her with the hood up instead of her actual face during at least one moment.
That's somehow more upsetting to me then the murders he committed in Chain of Memories, lmfao
Axel originally saw her as a blank puppet, thats why her appearance is like that in some scenes as it switches from what Axel sees and what Roxas sees. As Axel becomes closer to Xion he first sees her as Naminé and then how she sees herself, a black haired Kairi
so i dont think its transphobic, he just couldnt see her real self till he became friends and connected with her
@pasteldreamer oh i completely forgot about this until now but yeah what you said is fair enough
Why would you name a video “Is Trans Y’All”, is that like, a question?
The title is "Xion IS Trans Y'all"?
@@Aeba not that I see, maybe RUclips is messing up or something but it’s just “Is Trans Y’All” the start of the title isn’t even capitalized.
@@OldManMcLoyf i guess. Hope its fixed soon 🙏
@@Aeba (Doing the overdone joke 🥴)
She is literally a doll(xion)made by memories of real people,a robot can be programmed with human taughts,and can be programmed to act male or female,but it is a robot,so xion is literally a doll that came to life,like pinocchio he was wood, and then carved into a doll,he was never a real human boy but if it makes people more relatable to a character they like then I could say well pinnochio is a real boy,or a transgender as pinnochio was wood that was made in a form of boy so now he is a boy,so if we are grabbing objects and then forming them into a shape of a human then yes before they are made to look into a gender type then urs technically they are either genderless,but we are talking about objects,was a doll literally so when the characters abuse her is because xion is a doll and hate towards trangenders,when Xion was a failure to the organization's plan xion was deemed a failure,so they never taught of xion as a human or female or male they seen representations of whatever they seen but In the end to just about every one that used xion, xion was just a tool/doll,but people interpret things to whatever makes them feel relatable to the character they like,but In the end its the creators interpretstion and yours or mine,when they called xion a it,it was not to discriminate against xions sex,it was cause xion is literally a doll made from memories of different characters,grow up.
I think interpretations like this are valid but limiting because it's about looking at the events of the story through a lens that shifts context and ignores the lore to fit a very specific idea that is supported through the vague terminology and dialogue that KH is known for.
xion's story is not about gender identity but can be interpreted as if it were.
trying to point out the holes would only make you look like a bigot in their eyes
This is a bit of a stretch. Not to discount the quality of the work done here, but Xion is not trans. She's constantly well, a She. She is designed with the female model similar to Kairi and Nomine. She has the bit of extended chest to indicate her breasts. And she's even stated to be an extension of Sora's memories of Kairi. I know Kingdom Hearts has a lot of colorful themes and the LGBT community has thrown a lot of attachment and pulling at straws, Sora and Riku for example, but remember this it's also a series made in Japan. Japan, generally, a very traditional culture. The lines, dialog, speech patterns are all done in Japanese first. Then the English cast has to match it to a degree. This explains weird gaps in sentences and even character actions.
Of course Xion's story is about identity. But since identity is not exclusively about sexuality, it can be related to anything. In the story of Kingdom Hearts, Xion was created by Organization 13 so that she could steal Roxa's powers, the organization could control the Keyblade, and Sora would sleep forever. -Zion- Xion could also be a Jew who has to survive in a Nazi world. " Is it that I supposed to not even exist?" "We can't afford to take any more chances on you. You were a mistake we never should have made." "A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have the right to be." And in picking out those quotes, it occurred to me that I was right. It is about race, NOT sexuality. The nobodies represent a race in Kingdom Hearts.
Ok, transgender isn't a sexuality tho...
@@Aeba If it makes you happy, transsexual people are a race. Roxas, Xion and Namine (because of Chain of memories and KH 2) definitely represent a minority that is discriminated against because of their origin.
TransGENDER people are not a race, and conflating the plights of racism, homophobia, and transphobia is racist, homophobic, and transphobic. I dont understand where this is coming from as I have said accross multiple videos, including the one u r commenting under, that the Org could be a metaphor for all kinds of underrepresented groups, including racialized people, so ur argueing against me on something i already believe in, but way to make sure i know u didnt actually watch the vid 👍 also ur pride flag pfp is giving cognitive dissonance realness hunty, u better werk it diva. Real pathetic that you would come here to diarrhea word dump AT THE END OF PRIDE MONTH right after women and LGBTQIA+ rights are being stripped away. The shrinking circle of fascism is never going to include you, terf ♥ stop fighting for ur own subjugation
I'll be honest. I do not care for PC, Wokeness, etc in Kingdom Hearts. All I want is GOOD, INTERESTING CHARACTERS + interesting story. That's it. Period.
If any of the characters happen to have dark skin, be gay, whatever - that's just a detail, a small part of their overall identity. As long as it's not ALL THEY ARE. Same goes for straight characters.
This is my opinion, and you can agree or disagree all you want. See y'all in KH4
Cringe
What is cringe?
@@Aeba IDK the video makes me cringe
What about it makes you cringe? Is it my hair? My skits? My costumes? Is my analysis lacking in some way? Please let me know I would love to improve my rhetorical skills and my Trans Activism 😊
i really liked this video, im a trans girl and i always liked her being trans. xion deeply resonates with me and i feel like trans ppl get almost no representation, and the little representation we do get is often awful. So it upsets me that it feels like many, maybe most, KH fans have a negative reaction to interpreting Xion as trans. I think you illustrated a lot about why her experience resonates with trans people. Xion wasn’t meant to be a girl, she was meant to be genderless, she was meant to be a silent, unfeeling “soldier” (which is also how a lot of trans girls grow up feeling, dealing with gender expectations). The organisation in a way can represent this way AMAB people are often raised to be. Xion sacrifices herself for Roxas but also bc she can’t bear to live as someone (a boy, Sora) she isn’t. It’s very dark to bring up in a kingdom hearts discussion (tw: suicide), but i dont know any trans person who hasn’t been suicidal at some point. Xion represents that, in a way. She chooses to die as herself, rather than what society (the organisation) wants her to be, a strong, silent, unfeeling boy.
Sadly while she is a great trans rep, I sincerely doubt she was intentionally written to be. But it doesnt matter, when minorities don’t get representation they go looking for it and can find it in unexpected places. So its valid. I’m also autistic and I feel I see many blatantly autistic coded characters but next to no actually autistic characters. and then we get hate for headcannoning. it sucks >:’C
edit: her complete disconnect from her ‘boy’ self (sora) also resonates, for most trans ppl its frustrating bc ppl get to know us as our repressed selves, and then we come out and break that and ppl have to mourn that person they thought existed. I feel an enormous disconnect to my past self, i was so, so buried deep within myself, and was playing a role I felt forced to play. In Xion’s case, the boy shes meant to be is not even just an aspect of her, or repression, its literally a WHOLE ASS OTHER DUDE, which IS how it feels for a lot of trans ppl, that they have to pretend to be a complete different person