Master Eraqus

Master Eraqus (マスター・エラクゥス, Masutā Erakwusu) is the fictional character and one of the ally characters of the Kingdom Keymasters series. He is a Keyblade Master and the master of Terra and Aqua, and he also serves as the second master of Ventus.

His name is an anagram of "Square", a reference to Square Enix, the developers of the Kingdom Hearts series. Tetsuya Nomura stated in the Ultimania that he had actually forgotten the basis of the name, and that the producer had to remind him that it was an anagram.

"Fear leads to obsession with power, and obsession beckons the Darkness."
 * —Master Eraqus to Terra.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Mark Hamill (English), Makio Inoue (Japanese), Not Known (French), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Portuguese)

Biography
One of the true Keyblade Masters and also Terra, Aqua, and Ventus's teacher. He has a strong aversion to darkness, and believes it is the duty of every Keyblade Master to rid the world of it.

Though strict on the outside, he is not unkind, and loves his pupils like his own children.

Appearance
Master Eraqus, like his student, Terra, bears a distinct Japanese influence in his choice of clothing. He wears a white, red lined haori that has a hood, along with slightly shorter than normal, light-colored hakama. Underneath his haori, he wears a navy blue shirt with a large white X pattern on the front. He also has jagged scars over his right eye and left cheek inflicted by Master Xehanort, much like the wounds Braig received from Terra.

Like his pupils, Eraqus wears pieces of armor, in his case gold and black armored boots and a dull blue-green section that covers his abdomen. This second piece of armor sports the same symbol worn by his students near the top. Eraqus's black hair is tied into a short, high topknot, with one bang falling off to the right side of his face. He also has a short, triangular soul patch and a mustache. Eraqus's Keyblade Armor greatly resembles samurai armor, fitting in with his Japanese theme.

Master Eraqus physically resembles Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series. Mark Hamill, Eraqus's English voice actor, was chosen specifically by Tetsuya Nomura for his role as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.


 * Hair Color: Black
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Blue
 * Age: Not Known
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Master Eraqus is a strong Keyblade master, caring for Terra, Ventus, and Aqua as his own children. Stern and willing to instruct, one major goal he has in life appears to be preserving peace throughout the worlds, as he rashly attacks Ventus when Eraqus discovers that through his dark half, Vanitas, Ventus can create the χ-blade, the weapon that sparked the Keyblade War and the means Master Xehanort intends to use to fulfill his goals. Unlike Master Xehanort, Eraqus has an open aversion to darkness, believing that it must be destroyed at all or any costs, and has at least partially ingrained these beliefs into his apprentices.

Despite his sometimes cold actions toward his apprentices, he still cares deeply for them. He has Aqua look after Terra as he travels the worlds because he is concerned for him, apologizes to Ventus and appears deeply pained before he attempts to attacking the boy, and sheds a tear when he is forced to face off against Terra. Despite his relationship with Xehanort having been strained over the years, Eraqus seems to attempt to overlook his former friend's past actions to a degree. Even after he and Xehanort have a fight that results in Eraqus being scarred, he still asks Xehanort to watch over the Mark of Mastery with him.

Powers and Abilities
Master Eraqus serves as a boss for Terra, after Terra prevents him from executing Ventus. During battle, Eraqus uses many quick lunging attacks, and is able to land many hits before the combo finisher. He also has several desperation attacks, each based on the light element.

Abilities
Master Eraqus appears as a boss in Terra's storyline after the Keyblade wielder rescues Ventus from an attempt by Eraqus to kill him, and Terra is forced to fight him. Eraqus is a skilled Keyblade Master and magic user who focuses on harnessing the power of light for his attacks. His light-based magic skills are some of the most advanced seen in the series so far.

During battle, Eraqus uses many quick lunging attacks, and is able to land many hits before the combo finisher. He also has several desperation attacks, each based on the light element.

Fighting Style
Master Eraqus is very experienced with a Keyblade. When he attacks, he uses a combination of Keyblade melee and magic. If he uses magic, he uses light as his main form of offence. It often takes the form of a chain extending from the tip of his Keyblade.

Weapons

 * Main article: Master Keeper

Master Eraqus wields a rather basic Keyblade named "Master Keeper", which is grey in coloration. It has the appearance of an old fashioned skeleton key, and the teeth are shaped like an "E". Its Keychain is the Mark of Mastery symbol. He summons his Keyblade in a fashion similar to Terra, shrouded in a series of golden blocks.

Aqua uses the Master Keeper to seal Castle Oblivion at the end of Birth By Sleep. In a trailer for III Sora is shown finding the Master Keeper on Destiny Islands.

Past
A young Xehanort and Eraqus are playing chess, discussing about the Keyblade War. When Xehanort mentions the "Lost Masters" actually started the war, Eraqus feigns ignorance, and Xehanort remains unconvinced.

Where Xehanort muses on how on the land where the Keyblade War was fought, darkness will prevail and light expire, while Eraqus counters him by claiming that the light might surprise Xehanort and prevail, and Xehanort expresses interest in this possibility.

Pre-Kingdom Keymasters Birth By Sleep
In the past, Eraqus was a Keyblade user alongside his fellow apprentice Xehanort. When Eraqus passed the Mark of Mastery, he succeeded his Master in becoming steward of the Land of Departure while Xehanort was free to travel the worlds as a Seeker.

Years later, Eraqus is reunited with his friend before learning of Xehanort's intent to recreate the χ-blade, the legendary weapon from which the Keyblades were modeled after and was capable of unlocking Kingdom Hearts, by causing another Keyblade War. When his pleas failed to reach him, Eraqus resolved to strike his friend down, only to be scarred instead. Sometime after, having took Aqua and Terra under his wing, Eraqus receives a new apprentice in Ventus, with Xehanort faking regret to win his friend's trust back for his agenda.

Kingdom Keymasters Birth by Sleep
Eraqus holds the Mark of Mastery exam for Terra and Aqua, with Ventus and Xehanort as witnesses. In the end, Eraqus names Aqua master while refusing to give Terra the mantle on the grounds that he is unable to control his darkness. Despite the formality, Eraqus confides to Terra that he has the potential to become a Keyblade Master. Little does Eraqus know that Xehanort had used his dark powers to tamper with the course of the Exam itself. Soon after, he conveys to Aqua the responsibilities that go with her status and what she is required to do if he died for any reason. With Xehanort no where to be seen, Eraqus sends Terra and Aqua to find him shortly after being contacted by Master Dennotin about the spawning of the mysterious Unversed. Sensing a possible connection between the two events, Eraqus later instructs Aqua to look after Terra, as he fears his apprentice may be tempted by the darkness. However, after Terra departs, Aqua and Eraqus witness Ventus leaving as well, and he instructs Aqua to bring Ventus back.

Upon seeing Ventus later returning, Eraqus welcomes him back home with open arms, only to find the boy confused and enraged as he questions him about the χ-blade and his role in its creation. Eraqus, realizing that Xehanort never intended to give up his agenda and revealing to the boy his role in the plot, sees killing Ventus to be the only way to put Xehanort's plot to an end for good. However, Xehanort arranged Terra to arrive to save Ventus from Eraqus. Sensing that Terra has indeed descended into darkness, the youth refusing to let him kill Ventus, Eraqus is left with no choice but to eliminate them both. However, after throwing Ventus into a portal leading to the Destiny Islands, Terra mortally wounds Eraqus. In the end, Terra regretting fighting him while he sees that turning his Keyblade on his own apprentices was an error on judgement, Eraqus is impaled from behind by Xehanort and fades in Terra's arms.

Avenging Eraqus's death, and the destruction of the Land of Departure, were among Terra's primary sole motivation for to confront and defeat Xehanort during the events in the Keyblade Graveyard. However, after Xehanort began taking Terra's body as the first of his new vessels, he was amazed that Terra's heart is resisting his dominance, Xehanort learns that Eraqus's heart endured and entered Terra's heart and thus gave him the means to resist Xehanort. Both Eraqus' position as protector of the Land of Departure, and his Keyblade, were inherited by Aqua.

Notes & Trivia

 * It is also worth noting that Master Eraqus's name consists of the letters of the playable characters Terra, Aqua and Ventus in a very specific pattern, of two letters; this being "Er" from T'er'ra, "Aq" from 'Aq'ua and "Us" from Vent'us'.