Lea

Lea is a main character in the Kingdom Hearts series. When he is initially introduced in both his original series and in The Interference, he is under the guise of his Nobody Axel, but special circumstances allow him to become human again. He is a victim of Xehanort's original rampage, and an ex-member of Organisation XIII.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Lea grew up in Radiant Garden with his best friend Isa. The two of them often planned to invade the castle together. One day, Lea came across a boy in the town square by the name of Ventus, whom he quickly tried to befriend. The two of them sparred with one another, with Lea remarking that he'd rather have him as a friend than Isa, though he was joking.

Some time later, after several attempts to invade the castle, Lea and Isa succeeded and ended up inside Ansem's computer room on the day that Xehanort turned himself into a Heartless. Though the specific circumstances are unknown, both of them lost their hearts, and each produced a Heartless and a Nobody.

Becoming Axel
When Lea's Nobody was taken in by Organisation XIII after the accident, he was dubbed under the name 'Axel', combining the letters of his name with an X. He became the Organisation's eighth member, along with Isa's Nobody Saïx who became the seventh. The two of them originally planned to join the Organisation in order to take it over to find their own hearts.

As the years passed, Axel gained a reputation as an extremely ruthless and talented killer. On the other hand, his relationship with Saïx changed drastically, with the two of them drifting apart as Saïx gained more ground within the Organisation. Axel continued to harbour a desire to take over the Organisation, but was unable to make a move on that desire while he was alone.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
One day, Axel was assigned to a new Organisation member by the name of Roxas. He took care of him for the first week of his life and was eventually assigned on multiple missions with him, helping train him in carrying out Organisation missions. Axel and Roxas quickly became friends, with Axel inviting him on top of the Twilight Town clock tower to eat ice cream and talk.

Soon, however, Axel had to leave for a mission. A new outpost at Castle Oblivion was being set up, and Axel was sent to watch over the members assigned there. If they showed any sign of (heavily-suspected) insubordinance, he was to eliminate them to make sure they didn't succeed in mutiny.

The suspicions were true in regards to Marluxia and Larxene, heads of the castle's upper floors. The two of them aimed to use a girl named Naminé (recognised by the rest of the Organisation) to override the memories of Sora, Roxas' other and transform Sora into a weapon to use against Xemnas. As such, Axel battled Sora under the guise of Marluxia's ally. Upon defeat, he handed Sora a number of cards and cryptically warned him about the effects Naminé's powers would have on his memories, before disappearing.

Later, Marluxia and Larxene dispatched Axel to take care of Vexen, who had crafted various attempts to. He eliminated Vexen easily and was accepted into Marluxia and Larxene's plan. Once accepted, Axel got to work, releasing Naminé and confronting Marluxia for his treachery. Though Marluxia used Naminé as a shield, Axel tried to attack regardless, causing an interrupting Sora to be easily manipulated into attacking Axel.

Defeated again, Axel faked his death and focused his efforts on Zexion, the remaining other member in the castle. Axel delivered Zexion a Destiny Islands card as he had promised earlier. Upon Zexion's failure to defeat Riku using the card, Axel brought Vexen's Riku Replica down to meet him, and ordered the Replica to kill Zexion. Then, Axel completed the last part of his mission -  scouring the building for any signs of a secret chamber that Xemnas was heavily invested in, but he was unsuccessful.

Upon returning almost a month after his original departure, Axel located Roxas, shocking the boy who had thought him to be dead. Roxas, it turned out, had become close friends with the Organisation's latest member, Xion, though she disappeared as soon as Axel returned. After a few days, Axel and Roxas were sent on a mission to recover her. Upon finding her, Roxas introduced the two of them, and when Xion seemingly came out of her shell, Axel was astounded to see that her face was a copy of Naminé's.

Though friends with her, Axel became curious as to Xion's origins, while at the same time passing the days with Roxas and Xion. Eventually, Axel discovered that Xion was a Replica as opposed to a genuine Nobody. Axel became conflicted in how to deal with Xion; he both treated her roughly and carefully, causing his friendship with Roxas to waver. Eventually, after she ran away again, Xion's identity was explained to the entire Organisation, and Roxas left.

Angry, Axel sought out Xion and captured her, but fainted from fatigue after returning to the castle. Some days later, Axel's memory of Xion disappeared, leaving only the memory of Roxas.

The Interference
At the beginning of The Interference, Axel embarks on a mission to recover Roxas from the virtual Twilight Town, though this is never shown, as Alexander Karsath doesn't enter the simulation.

Axel's first appearance is in Chapter 19. Coming to take Kairi, he is stopped by Alexander, with whom he briefly fights. Alex's questions during the battle, however, become far too personal, and when a group of Dusks suddenly intervene he leaves the battle.

He briefly appears after the Battle of 1000 Heartless to tell Sora and friends about Xemnas and the goal of Organisation XIII - namely, that the elimination of Heartless plays towards, not against, their plans. Sora asks about Kairi, who was recently captured; Axel apologises, but runs when he sees Saïx approaching.

He returns when the friends are trying to access The World That Never Was, helping them fend off a large group of Dusks. When the numbers prove to be overbearing, however, Axel threatens to prepare his strongest attack - however, Alex stops him, knowing he is about to kill himself in order to protect them. After a quick demonstration, Sora, Alex and Axel perform a Limit, eliminating the need for Axel's special attack and allowing him to join them as a party member.

Personality
Lea, regardless of his identity, is essentially Chaotic Good - quite tricky, barely predictable, and incredibly dangerous. Although he did follow orders as an Organisation member, Lea almost always followed these tasks through because they did something for him, rather than because they were orders. While a long time ago those personal goals would have been related to eliminating Organisation competition, they quickly transformed into the need to preserve his and Roxas' friendship.

Lea very clearly cares for his friends and is extremely protective, or possessive, of them; Roxas was the last remaining friend he had. As such, Roxas is an incendiary point for Axel, the pun intended - when frustrated, he channels his anger into his fire magic. In a negative form, his possessiveness can lead to him doing rash, harmful things to his friends. In its worst form, he is prepared to perform a suicide attack to defend Sora, although he is instantly talked out of it. Learning that Roxas is not only okay but still capable of experiencing the outside world through Sora is what calms him down.

Appearance
Lea is a young adult in his mid-twenties standing at, at least, 6'5" in height or taller. He is very thin, with long limbs, broad shoulders and a small waist. He has light skin, bright green eyes, small eyebrows and long, spiky red hair with two strands dangling over his face. Under his eyes while he is a Nobody are a pair of small purple teardrop tattoos which he may have gotten during his Organisation time; they are gone when he is restored.

In The Interference, he wears his Organisation XIII uniform for the duration. This consists of a long black leather coat with a hood and silver beaded pulls, black trousers, black knee-high boots, and black leather glothes. His version of the Organisation coat has very close sleeves. From Trials of Remembrance onward, he wears undescribed casual clothing.

Powers and Weapons
As a teenager, Lea often jokingly wielded a pair of special flying discs. When he became a Nobody, these may have become the intermediaries for his chakram, a pair of large, spikey red-and-silver throwing discs. As a Nobody, he also gained the innate element of Fire. Axel often combines the two, using his chakram as 'mines' to channel fire through. He is shown to be capable of using fire without them, though, as he sets an arena on fire and immolates Vexen using mere gestures. He is also capable of using an attack similar to Selfdestruct in which he turns himself into a bomb, although it runs the risk of completely destroying him. This is what kills Axel in the original game.

When Lea returns to being human, he is still capable of both summoning his Nobody's chakram and using Fire magic.

Source games

 * Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, 2004
 * Kingdom Hearts II, 2005
 * Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, 2009
 * Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, 2010