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125-457: Xehanort was created by Kingdom Hearts director and designer, Tetsuya Nomura , who decided to revise elements of the character when Square Enix greenlighted Kingdom Hearts II . Critical response to Xehanort was originally mixed as a result of his multiple alter-egos with different names potentially being confusing to the audience. His further exploration in Birth by Sleep and his boss battles were

250-576: A music career with Dot Records , with his first and second albums mostly as Spock. After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission: Impossible for two seasons, hosted the documentary series In Search of... , appeared in Columbo , and made several well-received stage appearances. Nimoy's portrayal of Spock made a significant cultural impact and earned him three Emmy Award nominations. His public profile as Spock

375-930: A shtetl in Russia and could relate to the play when they saw him in it. Later that year he starred as Arthur Goldman in The Man in the Glass Booth at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. He starred as Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1974, one year prior to its release as a feature film, with Jack Nicholson in the same role. During the run of the play, Nimoy took over as its director and wanted his character to be "rough and tough," and insisted on having tattoos. The costumer for

500-427: A "heavy", where his character used street weapons like switchblades and guns or had to threaten or attack people. He overcame his Boston accent , but realized his lean appearance made stardom unlikely. He decided to be a supporting actor rather than take lead roles, an attitude he acquired from his childhood: "I'm a second child who was educated to the idea my older brother was to be given respect and not perturbed. I

625-424: A $ 1.75 tip. Nimoy spent more than a decade playing only small parts in B movies and the lead in one, along with a minor TV role. He believed his performance as the title role in the 1952 film Kid Monk Baroni would make him a star, but the film failed after a brief cinema showing. During his military career, the film gained a larger audience on television, and after his discharge he got steadier work portraying

750-574: A cameo appearance in Star Trek Into Darkness . Nimoy's interest in photography began in childhood; for the rest of his life, he owned a camera he had rebuilt at the age of 13. During the 1970s, he studied photography at the University of California, Los Angeles . His photography studies at UCLA occurred after Star Trek and Mission: Impossible while he was seriously considering changing careers. His work has been exhibited at

875-473: A character which the players study throughout each installment of the series. Ansem symbolizes the heart while Xemnas symbolizes the body, leading to the focus of the original Xehanort in the future titles. In retrospect, Nomura believes this was properly explored, as each game builds up Xehanort's character until his full introduction. The biggest change to Xehanort's character in Kingdom Hearts II

1000-432: A child, Nimoy took miscellaneous jobs to supplement his family's income, including selling newspapers and greeting cards, shining shoes, or setting up chairs in theaters, and when he got older, selling vacuum cleaners. He began acting at the age of eight in a children's and neighborhood theater. His parents wanted him to attend college and pursue a stable career, or even learn to play the accordion , so he could always make

1125-431: A child, he spent much of his free time playing baseball, swimming, fishing and building fortresses. When he was in middle school, his father told him that an era of computers would come and bought him his own computer. Nomura played Legends of Star Arthur: Planet Mephius on it and started creating his own video games by learning programming . He first tried a Nintendo product with the tennis and ping-pong variant of

1250-476: A devotee of method acting concepts derived from the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavsky , realizing the stage allowed him to explore his original inspirations for acting: the "psychological, emotional, and physical territories of life that can't be done anywhere else". Like his method actor role model, Marlon Brando , Nimoy wore jeans and T-shirts. Between studies, he took a job at an ice cream parlor on

1375-400: A godly figure" during his early days at Square. At that time, Nomura was also taught the basics of game design by Ito. He told Nomura never to stick to existing concepts but rather to reuse just specific ideas and explained concepts such as ease of control and effortless accessibility of magic spells. Ito's work as a battle system designer inspires Nomura when thinking of the gameplay system for

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1500-470: A group of organizations engaged in Holocaust denial . Nimoy said he experienced a strong "sense of fulfillment" from doing the film. In 2007, he produced the play, Shakespeare's Will by Canadian Playwright Vern Thiessen . The one-woman show starred Jeanmarie Simpson as Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway . The production was directed by Nimoy's wife, Susan Bay. In April 2010, Nimoy announced that he

1625-412: A historic cataclysm that produced the universe's present, fragmented state. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep , he attempts to use the hearts of his pupils Ventus and Vanitas to forge the χ-blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts to incite another war and create a new world where light and darkness exist in perfect balance. He transfers his heart into Terra 's body to prolong his own life, but is defeated through

1750-663: A huge fan of Star Trek and Star Wars , as Xehanort's rival, Master Eraqus , is voiced by Mark Hamill . Following Nimoy's death in 2015, Rutger Hauer assumed the role in Kingdom Hearts III , later to be replaced by Christopher Lloyd in the Re:Mind DLC and Melody of Memory following Hauer's own passing. Meanwhile, the youthful Xehanort was voiced by Takanori Okuda and Benjamin Diskin . Diskin commented he had to manage his pitch to sound as young as Okuda. As

1875-1015: A leading role as Mustapha Mond in Brave New World , a TV-movie version of Aldous Huxley 's 1932 novel . From 1994 to 1997, he narrated the Ancient Mysteries series on A&E including "The Sacred Water of Lourdes " and "Secrets of the Romanovs ". He appeared in advertising in the United Kingdom for the computer company Time Computers in the late 1990s. In 1997, he played the prophet Samuel, alongside Nathaniel Parker, in The Bible Collection movie David . He appeared in several popular television series, including Futurama and The Simpsons , both as himself and as Spock. In 2000, he provided on-camera hosting and introductions for 45 half-hour episodes of

2000-403: A living, but his grandfather encouraged him to do what he then wanted to do most, which was acting. Nimoy realized he had an aptitude for singing, which he developed in his synagogue's choir. His singing during his bar mitzvah at age 13 was so good he was asked to repeat his performance the following week at another synagogue. William Shatner said, "He is still the only man I know whose voice

2125-440: A man possessing Terra until his proper introduction as Master Xehanort in Birth by Sleep . With Xehanort's eventual death in Kingdom Hearts III , Inverse believes that creator Tetsuya Nomura is aiming to create a proper successor to Xehanort, as seen in extra cutscenes revealing that one of the villain's comrades, Luxu, turned out to have his own proper agenda and is seen busy aiming his new plans with other warriors. Nevertheless,

2250-459: A mobile platform and wanted it to play slightly differently from other titles in the series. The result was Kingdom Hearts Coded , a game set after the events of Kingdom Hearts II , which was later remade for the Nintendo DS in 2010. In the meantime, Nomura was also responsible for the main character designs and orchestration of The World Ends with You for the Nintendo DS. In 2009, he

2375-485: A mystery, HardcoreGamer said that Kingdom Hearts Union X - Dark Road further explores Xehanort's origins as it further examines the origins of the Keyblade weapons and their wielders. Comic Book Resources listed his alter egos as the sixth most challenging boss ever in the game, while his true persona ranked second behind Yozora. MeriStation referred to the character in general as complex and manipulative, while at

2500-465: A new Organization, sending their hearts into replica bodies to co-exist with their present selves. In Kingdom Hearts III , after he is defeated and his past selves are eliminated during a showdown against Sora 's group, he surrenders and allows his heart to pass on together with his former friend Eraqus. The mobile game Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road explores the character's backstory, during his time training with Eraqus in his youth, and reveals him to be

2625-452: A passion" that led to his acting career, saying "I never wanted to do anything else." Shatner has said that Nimoy also worked on local radio shows for children, often voice acting Bible stories: Obviously, there was something symbolic about that. Many years later as Captain Kirk, I would be busy rescuing civilizations in distress on distant planets while Leonard's Mr. Spock would be examining

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2750-671: A pet shop, and driving cabs. Nimoy played an army sergeant in the 1954 science fiction thriller Them! and a professor in the 1958 science fiction movie The Brain Eaters , and had a role in The Balcony (1963), a film adaptation of the Jean Genet play . With Vic Morrow , he co-produced Deathwatch , a 1965 English-language film version of Genet's play Haute Surveillance , adapted and directed by Morrow and starring Nimoy. The story deals with three prison inmates. Partly as

2875-438: A profession although he ultimately abandoned the idea. Nomura went to vocational school to learn magazine and advertising artwork. Nomura then looked for an advertising job at a publishing company. However, he eventually applied to Square after he had seen a job advertisement with a drawing by Yoshitaka Amano . In 1991, Nomura was hired by Square and at first worked as a debugger for Final Fantasy IV . Some time later,

3000-465: A result of his role, he then taught drama classes to members of Synanon , a drug rehab center, explaining: "Give a little here and it always comes back". He had guest roles in the Sea Hunt series from 1958 to 1960 and a minor role in the 1961 The Twilight Zone episode " A Quality of Mercy ". He also appeared in the syndicated Highway Patrol starring Broderick Crawford , and as Luke Reid in

3125-439: A result, Diskin was afraid about his performance due to how the early trailers of Kingdom Hearts III could be received. Diskin had played the numbered titles of the franchise and thus had little knowledge about his character since Xehanort's identity was primarily explored in the non-numbered games. Throughout the recording of Kingdom Hearts 3D , no one told him what his character was going through, or what his motivations were. As

3250-532: A result, the actor had little understanding of the narrative. Xehanort is re-established as an elderly Keyblade Master from the Destiny Islands who acquired the means to transplant a piece of his heart into the bodies of others, which he uses to orchestrate the events up to Kingdom Hearts III to suit his agenda. Throughout the series, Xehanort is driven by an obsessive interest in the Keyblade War,

3375-1085: A running theme in Star Trek fan clubs. Star Trek writer Nicholas Meyer said that "the link between Spock and Holmes was obvious to everyone." Meyer gives a few examples, including a scene in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which Spock quotes directly from a Doyle book and credits Holmes as a forefather to the logic he was espousing. In addition, the connection was implied in Star Trek: The Next Generation , which paid homage to both Holmes and Spock. By 1977, when Nimoy played Martin Dysart in Equus on Broadway, he had played 13 important roles in 27 cities, including Tevye, Malvolio in Twelfth Night , and Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over

3500-450: A stylized and chibi way and came up with the idea for the " Limit Break " attacks. He also took part in the making of the story and had a hand in plot elements such as Aerith 's death. In 1998, Nomura worked on both Parasite Eve and Brave Fencer Musashi . He then designed characters and monsters for Final Fantasy VIII in what he described as his "actual style of drawing", working alongside art director Yusuke Naora to realize

3625-589: Is how his doppelganger, the Heartless Ansem Seeker of Darkness, was revised to feel more like an imposter of the real Ansem the Wise, with more villainous traits. Kingdom Hearts II features another Xehanort doppelganger, the Nobody Xemnas, who is the leader of Organization XIII. The concept of Organization XIII began with Xemnas as the first member and Roxas, Sora's Nobody, as the last. Each of

3750-452: Is the foil of Eraqus based on his research from his diaries and how their values of light and darkness contrast with each other. Xehanort's further exploration of darkness and light was compared with the writing of Hayao Miyazaki 's work as well as Clamp 's, especially X . Xehanort constantly performs experiments on the main characters to further develop his studies. GamesRadar claimed that Kingdom Hearts III further developed Xehanort in

3875-486: Is the protagonist of the series and that Xehanort's arc would end in such a title. In retrospect, Nomura said it was difficult to enjoy Sora's side of the story and instead like Xehanort's character when making the narrative. Billy Zane voiced Ansem in the first game. He was replaced by Richard Epcar for the later titles. Reflecting on his work, Epcar enjoyed his works in the Kingdom Hearts franchise due to all

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4000-569: The Final Fantasy series in the same capacity with 2001's Final Fantasy X . He worked with the staff so that the characters' clothes would be identical in full motion videos and in-game scenes, unlike in Final Fantasy VIII . In February 2000, he started working as the director of Kingdom Hearts with the production team consisting of over one hundred members from both Square and Disney Interactive . Nomura first heard of

4125-473: The Color TV-Game console and later borrowed a Family Computer in high school. Around that time, Dragon Quest became Nomura's favorite because it surprised him and introduced him to video games with story elements. His art teacher in high school pointed him towards the works of Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano . Nomura also created his own manga during class and intended to do this as

4250-540: The Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy X-2 . For the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII metaseries which featured new titles based on Final Fantasy VII , Nomura was once again the character designer. A sequel to Kingdom Hearts started development around the completion of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix , an international version which added more foreshadowing elements regarding

4375-642: The Griffith Observatory 's historic 2002–2004 expansion. In 2009, he voiced "The Zarn" in the television-based movie Land of the Lost . He voiced the Star Trek Online massive multiplayer online game, released in February 2010, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as Xehanort , the series' leading villain. Tetsuya Nomura , the director of Birth by Sleep , said Nimoy was chosen for

4500-404: The Kingdom Hearts games. When designing characters, Nomura wants their names and outfits to be related with their personalities. An example occurs in Final Fantasy X where the protagonist Tidus was given a colorful uniform in order to reflect his cheerful personality and to contrast with the previous moody Final Fantasy characters. His name as well as Yuna 's, another character appearing in

4625-594: The Priestly Blessing . The accompanying spoken blessing is "Live long and prosper". Nimoy conceived the " Vulcan nerve pinch ", which he suggested as a replacement for the scripted knock out method of using the butt of his phaser. He wanted a more sophisticated way of rendering a person unconscious. Nimoy explained to the director that Spock had, per the story, attended the Vulcan Institute of Technology and had studied human anatomy. Spock possessed

4750-686: The Sunset Strip . In 1953, Nimoy enlisted in the United States Army Reserve at Fort McPherson Georgia, serving for 18 months until 1955, leaving as a Staff Sergeant. He had been in the Army Special Services , putting on shows which he wrote, narrated, and emceed. One of his soldiers was Ken Berry , whom he encouraged to go into acting as a civilian and helped contact agents. During that period, he directed and starred in A Streetcar Named Desire , with

4875-612: The University of California, San Diego , compared Xehanort's multiple identities and antagonism to the rehabilitation of Emperor Hirohito during the American occupation of Japan after the Pacific War. Tiago Clariano from the University of Lisbon notes that the multiple Xehanorts have a tendency to contradict each other's goals, but even in his final defeat, the villains are being played by an unknown force, Luxu, who will also replace him in upcoming games. CinemaBlend praised how

5000-416: The fourth season episodes " Letters of Transit " and " Brave New World " parts   1 and   2. Nimoy reprised his role as Master Xehanort in the 2012 video game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance . On August 30, 2012, Nimoy narrated a satirical segment about Mitt Romney 's life on Comedy Central 's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . In 2013, Nimoy reprised his role as Ambassador Spock in

5125-1158: The "Night of Decision" episode of the ABC / Warner Bros. western series Colt .45 . Nimoy appeared four times in ethnic roles on NBC 's Wagon Train , the number one rated program of the 1961–1962 season. He portrayed Bernabe Zamora in "The Estaban Zamora Story" (1959), "Cherokee Ned" in "The Maggie Hamilton Story" (1960), Joaquin Delgado in "The Tiburcio Mendez Story" (1961), and Emeterio Vasquez in "The Baylor Crowfoot Story" (1962). Nimoy appeared in numerous episodes of Gunsmoke , as well as in Steve Canyon (1959), Bonanza (1960), The Rebel (1960), Two Faces West (1961), Laramie (1961), Rawhide (1961), The Untouchables (1962), The Eleventh Hour (1962), Perry Mason (1963), Combat! (1963, 1965), Daniel Boone , The Outer Limits (1964), The Virginian (1963–1965; first working with Star Trek co-star DeForest Kelley in "Man of Violence", episode 14 of season 2, in 1963), and Get Smart (1966). He appeared in

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5250-637: The 1950s. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the United States Army as a Staff Sergeant in the Special Services , an entertainment branch of the American military . He originated and developed Spock beginning with the February 1964 Star Trek television pilots " The Cage " and " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", through series' end in early 1969, followed by eight feature films and guest appearances in spin-offs. From 1967 to 1970, Nimoy had

5375-636: The 1994 IMAX documentary film, Destiny in Space , showcasing film-footage of space from nine Space Shuttle missions over four years time. In 1999, he voiced the narration of the English version of the Sega Dreamcast game Seaman and promoted Y2K educational films. Together with John de Lancie , another actor from the Star Trek franchise, Nimoy created Alien Voices , an audio-production venture that specializes in audio dramatizations. Among

5500-530: The 1995 Outer Limits series. He appeared on Gunsmoke in 1961 as Grice, in 1962 as Arnie, and in 1966 as John Walking Fox. Nimoy and Star Trek co-star William Shatner first worked together on an episode of the NBC spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , "The Project Strigas Affair" (1964). Their characters were from opposite sides of the Iron Curtain , though with his saturnine appearance, Nimoy played

5625-457: The 2005 film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children , and directed Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), while coming back as creative director for the sequel Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024). Nomura's father influenced his interest in art and games early on, creating little drawings and unique Sugoroku board games for him. Nomura started drawing at the age of three years and developed his own Sugoroku games during his elementary school years. As

5750-598: The 2009 Star Trek film , and Star Trek Into Darkness . Nimoy also directed films, including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Three Men and a Baby (1987), and his career included roles in music videos and video games. In addition to acting and filmmaking, Nimoy was a photographer, author, singer, and songwriter. Nimoy's acting career began during his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances throughout

5875-525: The 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness , both directed by J. J. Abrams . Following Star Trek in 1969, Nimoy immediately joined the cast of the spy series Mission: Impossible , which was seeking a replacement for Martin Landau . Nimoy was cast in the role of Paris, an IMF agent who was an ex-magician and make-up expert, " The Great Paris ". He played the role during seasons four and five from 1969 to 1971. Nimoy had been strongly considered as part of

6000-851: The Atlanta Theater Guild. Soon after he was discharged, his wife Sandi was pregnant with their second child, and they rented an apartment while he became a cab driver in Los Angeles. He once picked up Senator John F. Kennedy at the Bel Air Hotel in 1956, before the Democratic Convention began on August 13. As the Senator was not carrying any cash, Nimoy had to follow him into the Beverly Hilton to collect his $ 1.25 from someone Kennedy knew. He got

6125-554: The Atlantean King Kashekim Nedakh in the Disney animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Nimoy provided a comprehensive series of voice-overs for the 2005 computer game Civilization IV . In the television series The Next Wave he interviewed people about technology. He hosts the documentary film The Once and Future Griffith Observatory . Nimoy and his wife, Susan Bay -Nimoy, were major supporters of

6250-743: The Cuckoo's Nest . In 1981, Nimoy starred in Vincent , a one-man show which he wrote and published as a book in 1984. The audio recording of the play is available on DVD under the title, Van Gogh Revisited. It was based on the life of artist Vincent van Gogh , in which Nimoy played Van Gogh's brother Theo. Other plays included Oliver! , at The Melody Top Theater in Milwaukee, 6 Rms Riv Vu opposite Sandy Dennis , in Florida, Full Circle with Bibi Anderson on Broadway and in Washington, D.C. He

6375-548: The Friday "Adventure Night" segment of the radio drama series Mutual Radio Theater , heard via the Mutual Broadcasting System . In 1986, Nimoy lent his voice to the 1986 cartoon movie The Transformers: The Movie for the character Galvatron. In Bradbury's 1993 animated TV film The Halloween Tree , Nimoy was the voice of Mr.   Moundshroud, the children's guide. Nimoy lent his voice as narrator to

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6500-780: The Internet. He also had a character part as a psychiatrist in Philip Kaufman 's 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers . Nimoy won acclaim for a series of stage roles. In 1971 he played the starring role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof , which toured for eight weeks. Having performed in the Yiddish theater as a young man, he said the part was like a "homecoming" for him because his parents, like Tevye, also came from

6625-525: The Keyblade War and see what happens afterward with his own eyes. However, by the time he finds a way to accomplish this, he will only have a few years left to live. Since he wants to become young again, he finds Terra and defeats him with darkness so he can take his body. This is the Xehanort that Ansem the Wise takes in and makes his number one apprentice. In response to rumors saying that Sora's story would end in Kingdom Hearts III , Nomura answered that Sora

6750-516: The ability to project a unique form of energy through his fingertips. Nimoy explained the idea of putting his hand on his neck and shoulder to Shatner, and they rehearsed it. Nimoy credits Shatner's acting during the "pinch" that sold the idea and made it work on screen. Nimoy reprised Spock in Star Trek: The Animated Series and two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation . When the new series Star Trek: Phase II

6875-567: The anthology series Our 20th Century on the AEN TV Network. The series covers world news, sports, entertainment, technology, and fashion using original archive news clips from 1930 to 1975 from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and other private archival sources. In 2001, Nimoy appeared on the television show Becker , where he played Dr. Emmett Fowler, a professor who cannot recall his former student. Nimoy played

7000-538: The book Kingdom Hearts II (Boss Fight Books Book 16) , Alexa Ray Corriea describes Ansem as a mad scientist whose multiple personalities would confuse the audience. Xemnas' early characterization was described as the "gray area" of the series since, during Kingdom Hearts II , the character and his group were not related to darkness or light. Comic Book Resources enjoyed Riku's handling of Xehanort's powers, as he managed to use them to overcome his inner darkness in both Chain of Memories and Dream Drop Distance . The same

7125-588: The border into Poland while his mother and grandmother were smuggled out of the Soviet Union in a horse-drawn wagon by hiding under bales of hay. They reunited after arriving in the United States. His mother, Dora (née Spinner; 1904–1987), was a homemaker, and his father, Max Nimoy (1901–1987), owned a barbershop in the Mattapan section of Boston. He had an elder brother, Melvin (1926–2022). As

7250-605: The combined efforts of Ventus, Terra, and Aqua , gaining amnesia in the process. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance , Xehanort returns to his original form following the destruction of Ansem and Xemnas, who are revealed to have been created to re-enact his original plan. He intends to gather seven "guardians of light" and thirteen "seekers of darkness" in the form of the Princesses of Heart and Organization XIII , respectively. He uses time travel to assemble Ansem, Xemnas, and other versions of himself from across time into

7375-588: The company's staff was divided and he was placed in the team in charge of Final Fantasy . After he had received some training by artist Tetsuya Takahashi , Nomura designed the monsters for Final Fantasy V . At that time, each Final Fantasy developer had their own plan book as a compilation of ideas to present to the director of a game. While the others typed their plan books at the computer and then printed them out, Nomura wrote his by hand and attached many drawings which impressed director Hironobu Sakaguchi and event planner Yoshinori Kitase . Nomura then became

7500-433: The creation of the non-playable characters . In 2008, he was the character designer of Dissidia Final Fantasy . The game was originally envisioned by Nomura as a Kingdom Hearts spin-off featuring a cast of Disney characters. He later felt uncomfortable with the Disney characters fighting each other and instead opted to use Final Fantasy characters. Nomura was responsible for the character designs, which changed much of

7625-416: The critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII Remake . He worked as the director of the project, character designer, and concept designer. After a successful launch, Nomura would go on to work on downloadable content for the game called "intermission", which released in 2021. During this, he was also working on the next installation, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth . Work for that project began in 2019, however, it

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7750-419: The descendant of Ephemer . USGamer praised Xehanort's debut in the series for giving the narrative a major impact as he takes over the role of the Disney villains and corrupts and possesses Riku's body. The scene is noted to expand the series' lore little by little, not only through Riku's actions but also because it explores the ruined Hollow Bastion, which is a former lively place now ruled by Xehanort. In

7875-410: The desire to give Quinto full media attention as the character. His final role as Spock was in the 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness . Nimoy died in February 2015 after a long case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His death was international news and was met with expressions of shock and grief by fans, Star Trek co-stars, scientists, celebrities, and the media. An asteroid

8000-399: The ending when Eraqus' spirit contacts his dying friend in regards to how there is "more to light than meets the eye", referring to the chess game they played as children. Giving up, Xehanort fully yields, sees the power of the light, and entrusts the χ-blade to Sora before dying. The chess game was replicated in real life, with GamesRadar finding it ridiculously expensive. Despite calling him

8125-407: The film Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013. According to biographer Dennis Fischer, Spock was Nimoy's "most important role". Spock became an icon and one of the most popular alien characters ever featured on television. Viewers admired his composure and intellect and his ability to take on any task successfully. As a result, Nimoy's character "took the public by storm", nearly eclipsing the star of

8250-595: The film. The same occurs within the Kingdom Hearts series where the scenes that show unknown characters are left to the player's imagination until the following scene reveals it. Nomura received the "Excellence in Visual Arts" award by the International Game Developers Association for his work on the first Kingdom Hearts game , alongside Shinji Hashimoto . In IGN 's "The Top 100 Video Game Creators of all Time" Nomura

8375-426: The final boss fight from the game. The site noted that Ansem still manages to further corrupt Riku, labeling his resulting personality as unwilling to reunite with Sora. His next form Xemnas' handling in Kingdom Hearts II was called predictable. This led to more criticism as Ansem's and Xemnas' destructions led to the return of the original Xehanort, rendering the heroes' actions meaningless. William Humberto Huber from

8500-516: The game during a discussion between Shinji Hashimoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi regarding the use of the character of Mickey Mouse in a video game. He was inspired to work on Kingdom Hearts by Nintendo 's platforming game Super Mario 64 . After discussing with the Disney staff, Nomura convinced them to use original characters with him as the character designer. The game's protagonist, Sora , became his favorite character he had designed so far. Following Kingdom Hearts , Nomura worked once again on

8625-529: The game, also have a common theme, the former being Okinawan for "Sun" and the latter Okinawan for "night". Various characters such as Squall Leonheart and Lulu are given multiple accessories, making the games more challenging for the programmers. When directing Advent Children , Nomura explained how the film was different from Western films due to the lack of direct answers from the plot. He added that he wants viewers to interpret certain scenes themselves and then discuss them with friends as another way to enjoy

8750-421: The graphic director of Final Fantasy VI . For this game, he conceived the characters Shadow and Setzer as well as their background stories. Their designs were reused from some of Nomura's abandoned concepts for Final Fantasy V . Following several smaller projects, Nomura was asked to be the principal character designer of Final Fantasy VII in replacement for Amano. Nomura drew the game's characters in

8875-421: The inclusion of new characters and new gameplay mechanics. For 2011's Final Fantasy XIII-2 , Nomura only created the new characters' faces as other staff members designed their clothes. Once the Kingdom Hearts coded remake was released, Nomura and his companions had already thought about creating Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance , a game that would set up the events of Kingdom Hearts III . The game

9000-666: The initial cast for the show, but remained on Star Trek . He co-starred with Yul Brynner and Richard Crenna in the Western movie Catlow (1971). He also had roles in two episodes of Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1972 and 1973) and Columbo (1973). He appeared in television films such as Assault on the Wayne (1970), Baffled! (1972), The Alpha Caper (1973), The Missing Are Deadly (1974), Seizure: The Story Of Kathy Morris (1980), and Marco Polo (1982). He received an Emmy Award nomination for best supporting actor for

9125-401: The look and style of Amano's illustrations. In 2010, Square released Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep , a prequel of the first Kingdom Hearts that explained scenes shown in Kingdom Hearts II and its updated version. In early 2011, Square released a follow-up to Dissidia titled Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy . The game carried several ideas Nomura had ever since early development, such as

9250-658: The morality of man- and alienkind. Nimoy took drama classes at Boston College , and after moving to Los Angeles , he used $ 600 he saved from selling vacuum cleaners to enroll at the Pasadena Playhouse , supporting himself by being a theatre usher, taxicab driver and stocking vending machines. However, he was soon disillusioned and quit after six months, feeling that the acting skills he had already acquired from earlier roles were more advanced: "I thought, I have to study here three years in order to do this level of work, and I'm already doing better work". He became

9375-480: The more realistic approach to the game's graphics. Additionally, he wrote the character's background stories and was the battle visual director in charge of designing fight sequences. Afterwards, Nomura worked on several different projects for Square, for example as a character designer of the 1998 fighting game Ehrgeiz which also used characters from Final Fantasy VII . Nomura was the character designer for 2000s beat 'em up The Bouncer before he returned to

9500-542: The nickname of "Terranort" who becomes one of the biggest culprits behind several lost across the franchise until Sora reaches him in the Keyblade Graveyard from Kingdom Hearts III . Meanwhile, The Nameless One, Xehanort's own Keyblade remains as one of the oldest weapons in the narrative especially when it is revealed it was passed on from the Masters of the Masters and was forged from the x-Keyblade itself with

9625-541: The original members' name is an anagram of their original name prior to becoming a Nobody, with the addition of the letter "X", which is revealed in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep to be derived from the χ-blade . The organization's members wear black, hooded coats that shield them from the corrosive effect of prolonged use of the Corridors of Darkness, portals they use to traverse among worlds. Following

9750-454: The people he met. Xemnas was voiced by Norio Wakamoto in Japanese and Paul St. Peter in English. Peter felt that the quick audition led to a positive response from the staff. He came to enjoy voicing Xemnas alongside Wormmon from Digimon Adventure 02 . He found the role challenging as he had to work as carefully as Wakamoto. For the eventual release of Birth by Sleep , Ryōtarō Okiayu

9875-425: The point where we can say that." Wishing to stop using the character of Sora temporarily, Nomura instead wanted to continue the series with games that explained different subplots. This resulted in the creation of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS in 2008 which explored events that set up the story of Kingdom Hearts II . In mid-2007, Nomura mentioned a desire to create a spin-off Kingdom Hearts game on

10000-504: The possession of Terra's body in the prequel by Xehanort and how they would become the villains from the main games. Nomura claims a hidden message in Xehanort's last lines when he hints that somebody else is in Terra's heart. Chikao Ōtsuka died during the development of Kingdom Hears III . While Square was compiling Ansem's voice, in the same scene they could hear Master Xehanort's line. At the time, no substitute voice actor had been chosen, so

10125-416: The prequel explores Xehanort's character while highlighting how he nearly succeeds in defeating all the protagonists from the game. Comic Book Resources noted that several of Xehanort's actions contribute to the heroes' downfall. Another aspect of Birth by Sleep touched on by 3DJuegos was the relationship between Xehanort and Eraqus. In "How Kingdom Hearts Reframed Darkness", Fanbyte writes that Xehanort

10250-641: The project and other key members of the original Final Fantasy VII development team, Kitase and Kazushige Nojima returning as producer and scenario writer. At E3 2015 , Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced with Nomura confirmed to be the director of the game. Nomura designed the charications in the "Torna" organization for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 . Nomura also designed bosses for the Eden raid in Final Fantasy XIV 's expansion, Shadowbringers . In April 2020, Nomura and Square Enix launched

10375-539: The recently announced Kingdom Hearts IV . Like the previous games, he will be in charge of the character design, the story, and the concept design. As for this project’s release date, and when more news would be shared, no release date was given, and any more visual showcases for the game will come at a later date, and not during the summer. Nomura also created art pieces for his characters on post cards which could be purchased in October 2022. He also created artwork which

10500-446: The recurring enigmatic character of Dr.   William Bell on the television show Fringe . Nimoy opted for the role after previously working with Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman on the 2009 Star Trek film and offered another opportunity to work with this production team again. Nimoy also was interested in the series, which he saw was an intelligent mixture of science and science fiction, and continued to guest star through

10625-439: The release of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix , Nomura revealed a connection between the cameo characters and Xemnas, but wanted to leave it up to people's imagination, as he still could not reveal their identities. This was done through the fight sequence between Sora's predecessors and the unnamed elder, who is later revealed to be Master Xehanort, and his apprentice Vanitas. Nomura explained that Master Xehanort wishes to bring back

10750-456: The role specifically because of his role as Spock, to play opposite Mark Hamill , famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars , as Nomura was a fan of both series and wanted to pit them against each other. Nimoy reprised this role for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in 2012. After his death in 2015, Nimoy was replaced for the role as Xehanort by Rutger Hauer , who died and

10875-517: The same time redeeming in his final moments, he accepts his defeat to Sora and gives him the χ-blade to the youth as he moves to the afterlife with Eraqus. Fanbyte noted that there were several theories about Xehanort's character within the fandom that could become true in Kingdom Hearts III . The two of them are whether or not enigmatic Luxu was his true identity or whether Sora's replica Xion became another vessel carrying Xehanort's heart. GameDeveloper lamented that Xehanort's role in Kingdom Hearts III

11000-410: The same website found Xehanort to be one of the most incoherent characters ever seen in gaming due to the multiple plans he carries across the franchise. In La Légende Kingdom Hearts , Xehanort's multiple alter egos are noted to having too many mysteries. His relationship with Luxord is never addressed whereas Xemnas is interested in finding Ventus. When Xehanort possessed Terra, the writer gave such form

11125-575: The series' plot. Nomura continued his work on the series with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. He had originally planned to work directly on the PlayStation 2 sequel Kingdom Hearts II . However, desire from fans to play the original game on a portable console resulted in the creation of Chain of Memories which would bridge the gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II . Afterwards, Nomura

11250-424: The series, William Shatner 's Captain Kirk, adds Fischer. Nimoy was later credited for bringing "dignity and intelligence to one of the most revered characters in science fiction". Nimoy and Shatner, who portrayed his commanding officer, became close friends during the series' television run, and were "like brothers", according to Shatner. Star Trek was broadcast from 1966 to 1969. For his role as Spock, Nimoy

11375-529: The series, as well as other Square Enix titles such as The Bouncer and The World Ends with You . He also created well-known Cactuar , Gilgamesh and Tonberry characters. Additionally, Nomura created and has led the development as director of the Kingdom Hearts series since its inception in 2002 and has been creative producer in The World Ends with You series. He has also directed

11500-589: The show's fourth season, even after his stated 2012 retirement from acting. Nimoy's first appearance as Bell was in the Season   1 finale, " There's More Than One of Everything ", which explored the possible existence of a parallel universe . In the May 9, 2009, episode of Saturday Night Live , Nimoy appeared as a surprise guest in the Weekend Update segment with Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine , who play

11625-477: The show, Sharon White, was amused: "That was sort of an intimate thing.   ... Here I am with Mr. Spock, for god's sakes, and I am painting pictures on his arms." In 1975, Nimoy toured with and played the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company 's Sherlock Holmes . A number of authors have perceived parallels between the rational Holmes and the character of Spock, and it became

11750-439: The staff thought that maybe some line they had recorded previously was playing, but it turned out that Akio Otsuka, the voice actor for Ansem that took Xehanort's identity, was playing the part. The staff, surprised by how uncomfortable they felt, decided to ask him to play the role. Master Xehanort was voiced in English by Leonard Nimoy in Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance . This was an intentional casting call from Nomura,

11875-489: The subject of praise. Xehanort was originally conceptualized by Tetsuya Nomura as a villain who would only appear in the video game Kingdom Hearts . However, when Square Enix got the approval to make the sequel Kingdom Hearts II , Nomura put together an outline for the character. He was often told by the manga artist that they felt "the characters come alive however they want," and some parts did change from their original conceptualization. Nomura conceived Xehanort as

12000-716: The television film A Woman Called Golda (1982), for playing the role of Morris Meyerson, Golda Meir's husband, opposite Ingrid Bergman as Golda in her final role. In 1975, Nimoy filmed an opening introduction to Ripley's World of the Unexplained museum located at Gatlinburg, Tennessee , and Fisherman's Wharf at San Francisco, California. In the late 1970s, he hosted and narrated the television series In Search of   ... , which investigated paranormal or unexplained events or subjects. In 2000–2001 he hosted CNBC TV series The Next Wave With Leonard Nimoy , which explored how e-businesses were integrating with technology and

12125-522: The villain and Shatner played a reluctant U.N.C.L.E. recruit. On the stage, Nimoy played the lead role in a short run of Gore Vidal 's Visit to a Small Planet in 1968 (shortly before the end of the Star Trek series) at the Pheasant Run Playhouse in St. Charles, Illinois . His legacy as that character is key to the enjoyment of Star Trek . The way that Spock was used as a device for

12250-835: The voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon . In May 2011, he made a cameo appearance in the alternate version music video of " The Lazy Song " by Bruno Mars . Aaron Bay-Schuck , the Atlantic Records executive who signed Mars to the label, is Nimoy's stepson. Nimoy provided the voice of Spock as a guest star in a Season   5 episode of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory titled "The Transporter Malfunction", which aired on March 29, 2012. Also in 2012, Nimoy reprised his role of William Bell in Fringe for

12375-597: The works jointly narrated by the pair are The Time Machine , Journey to the Center of the Earth , The Lost World , The Invisible Man , The First Men in the Moon , and several television specials for the Sci-Fi Channel. In an interview published on the official Star Trek website, Nimoy said that Alien Voices was discontinued because the series did not sell well enough to recoup costs. In 2001, Nimoy voiced

12500-438: The writer claiming it was given its own distinctive name on purpose. Zane's work as Xehanort (Ansem) was noted by Kotaku in an article involving "cheesy video game voice acting", as the writer claimed "Zane's performance is a combination of rocky growlings and deep bass utterances" as a result of how many taunts he makes during the cutscenes, making the villain stand out. CinemaBlend enjoyed Nimoy's performance. Hauer's portrayal

12625-408: The writers to examine humanity and examine what it meant to be human, that's really what Star Trek was all about. And in finding Leonard Nimoy, they found the perfect person to portray that. Matt Atchity, editor-in-chief of Rotten Tomatoes Nimoy was best known for his portrayal of Spock , the half-human, half- Vulcan character he played on Star Trek from the first TV episode in 1966 to

12750-528: The young Spock and Kirk in the Star Trek which had just premiered days earlier. In the sketch, the three actors attempt to appease long-time Trekkers by assuring them the new film would be true to the original Star Trek . In 1991, Nimoy starred in Never Forget , which he co-produced with Robert B. Radnitz . The movie was about a pro bono publico lawsuit by an attorney on behalf of Mel Mermelstein , played by Nimoy as an Auschwitz survivor, against

12875-443: Was also the main character designer of Final Fantasy XIII . The graphics capabilities of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 compared to previous consoles allowed Nomura to use more complex elements in the character designs than before, such as Lightning's cape and detailed facial features. This in turn meant that the art team had to do much more work for each character or area than in previous games. Nomura did not take an involved role in

13000-401: Was chosen as Terra's Japanese voice as the staff wanted an actor who sounded similar to Chikao Ōtsuka , Xehanort's original voice, and Akio Ōtsuka , Xehanort's later voice who also voiced the villain while using Terra's body. The staff found Chikao's to be a dry sort of voice, and Akio's a deep, resonating sort of voice, and liked how Okiayu bore elements from both actors. This eventually led to

13125-418: Was hired by Square initially as a monster designer for Final Fantasy V (1992), before being shifted towards secondary character designer alongside Yoshitaka Amano for Final Fantasy VI (1994). Final Fantasy VII (1997) had him working in the original story alongside Hironobu Sakaguchi , and marked his debut as the lead character designer, a capacity he would retain for several future installments of

13250-826: Was honored by Symphony Space with the renaming of the Thalia Theater as the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater. From 1982 to 1987, Nimoy hosted the children's educational show Standby...Lights! Camera! Action! on Nickelodeon. He was an occasional voice actor in animated feature films, including the character of Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie in 1986. He narrated the 1991 CBS paranormal series Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories . In 1994, he voiced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in The Pagemaster . In 1998, he had

13375-753: Was in Camelot , The King and I , Caligula , The Four Poster , and My Fair Lady . After Paramount agreed to settle a lawsuit by Nimoy for Star Trek merchandise royalties, he agreed to join Star Trek: The Motion Picture , the first in the Star Trek film series . By 1986, Nimoy had earned more than half a million dollars in royalties. In 1975, Nimoy's renditions of Ray Bradbury 's " There Will Come Soft Rains " and "Usher II", both from The Martian Chronicles (1950), were released on Caedmon Records . During 1980, Nimoy hosted

13500-461: Was listed at number 84. Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy ( / ˈ n iː m ɔɪ / NEE -moy ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famed for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original Star Trek series in 1966, then Star Trek: The Animated Series , the first six Star Trek films , Star Trek: The Next Generation ,

13625-571: Was named 4864 Nimoy in his honor. For the Love of Spock (2016) was produced by his son Adam about his life and career, and Remembering Leonard Nimoy (2017) was produced by his daughter Julie about his illness. Leonard Simon Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in an Irish section of the West End of Boston, Massachusetts , to Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav , Ukraine . His parents left Iziaslav separately, his father first walking over

13750-498: Was nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series , and has long remained the only Star Trek actor nominated for an Emmy . Among Spock's recognized and unique symbols Nimoy incorporated into the series is the Vulcan salute , which became identified with him in pop culture. Nimoy created the sign from his childhood memories of the way kohanim (Jewish priests) hold their hands when giving

13875-493: Was not to upstage him   [...] So my acting career was designed to be a supporting player, a character actor." He played more than 50 small parts in B movies, television series such as Perry Mason and Dragnet , and serials such as Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), in which he played a Martian named Narab. To support a wife and two children, he often took other work, such as delivering newspapers, working in

14000-433: Was planned in the late 1970s, Nimoy was to be in only two of eleven episodes, but when the series was elevated to a feature film, he agreed to reprise his role. The first six Star Trek movies feature the original cast including Nimoy, who also directed two of the films, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . He played the elder Spock in the 2009 Star Trek reboot film and briefly in

14125-432: Was poorly developed as Square Enix was more focused on developing the Disney properties, with Xehanort and his underlings having little screen time until Sora ends most of his journey. This further gave the ending an arc fatigue as the player has to face all of Xehanort's incarnations in a single row without breaks. In retrospect, Inverse claims that Xehanort was a villain shrouded in mystery due to his early appearances as

14250-466: Was praised by MeriStation , who noted that Xehanort was one of the actor's final works before his death. Christopher Lloyd 's performance in the DLC was praised by TheGamer , as they believed he fit the character. Tetsuya Nomura Tetsuya Nomura ( 野村 哲也 , Nomura Tetsuya , born October 8, 1970) is a Japanese video game artist , designer, producer, and director working for Square Enix . He

14375-473: Was released for the Nintendo 3DS owing to the team's positive reaction to the console's quality. Nomura confirmed that he would be considering what he called an "HD Technical Test" in order to commemorate the series' tenth anniversary and to entice players new to the series. This occurred on March 3, 2012 in the form of a premiere event where footage from the game, including its full CGI introduction sequence,

14500-425: Was released in 2005, resolving the elements foreshadowed in the first game's secret ending. As a result of being set a year after previous titles, Nomura was careful to make the plot accessible to newcomers. After Square Enix had finished development of the updated version Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix , Nomura was approached by Disney which expressed interest in a sequel. He said "We have various ideas, but we're not at

14625-500: Was retiring from playing Spock, citing both his advanced age and the desire to give Zachary Quinto full media attention as the character. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep was to be his final performance; however, in February 2011, he announced his intent to return to Fringe and reprise his role as William Bell. Nimoy continued voice acting during retirement; his appearance in the third season of Fringe includes his voice (his character appears only in animated scenes), and he provided

14750-401: Was revealed in an interview with him that progress for the game would be shown in the year 2022. As for a specific date on when it would be shown, or a release date for the project, one was not announced. He would begin working on it as the creative director (the person in charge of the creative vision for the game), as well as the concept designer and the character designer. He is also working on

14875-623: Was said with how Riku once again used Ansem's power for justice in Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days to defeat Roxas and help in Sora's awakening in the former game, as Roxas was needed to awaken the comatose teenager. The site listed Sora's and Riku's fight against Xemnas's as one of Riku's best action sequences. Xehanort manipulating Riku into using the darkness has been compared to Queer Lens due to parallels seen in his journey with self-acceptance and real-life experiences of accepting one's sexual identity, according to TheGamer . GamesRadar enjoyed

15000-649: Was showcased to celebrate the game's release. In May 2012, Nomura revealed he was working as the director of a new Kingdom Hearts game that had yet to be announced by Square Enix. He was directing Final Fantasy XV which originally entered production as Final Fantasy Versus XIII shortly before its announcement in May 2006. Nomura left his position of director on Final Fantasy XV following "changes in development structure" by Square Enix in December 2013. After his departure from Final Fantasy XV , development of Final Fantasy VII Remake began, with Nomura directing

15125-420: Was so strong that both his autobiographies, I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995), were written from the viewpoint of coexistence with the character. Leonard Nimoy played the elder Spock, with Zachary Quinto portraying a younger Spock, in the 2009 Star Trek reboot film, directed by J. J. Abrams . In 2010, Nimoy announced that he was retiring from playing Spock, citing both his advanced age and

15250-603: Was succeeded by Nimoy's Star Trek co-star Christopher Lloyd . Nimoy voiced Sentinel Prime in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon . He was a frequent and popular reader for Selected Shorts , an ongoing series of programs at Symphony Space in New York City (that also tours around the country) which features actors, and sometimes authors, reading works of short fiction. The programs are broadcast on radio and available on websites through Public Radio International , National Public Radio and WNYC radio. Nimoy

15375-547: Was the director and lyricist for the CGI animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which was released in 2005 in Japan. This marked his film debut, and he redesigned the characters as well. Nomura joined the film's crew after producer Yoshinori Kitase called him and eventually became the director because of his attachment to the character of Cloud Strife . He split the role of directing with Takeshi Nozue. Kingdom Hearts II

15500-484: Was two bar mitzvahs good!" His first major role was at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets 's Awake and Sing! , about the struggles of a matriarchal Jewish family similar to his during the Great Depression . He said, "Playing this teenage kid in this Jewish family that was so much like mine was amazing   ... The same dynamics, the same tensions in the household." The role "lit

15625-408: Was used to introduce Kingdom Hearts IV , which displayed many of the characters he has created through the games long timespan. Nomura considers Yoshitaka Amano one of his biggest inspirations when doing artwork. His four "seniors" Hironobu Sakaguchi , Yoshinori Kitase , Hiroyuki Ito and Tetsuya Takahashi were also described as major influences. He even compared Sakaguchi to something "like

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