Hollow Bastion
Hollow Bastion is an original world created for the Kingdom Hearts series which serves as the home to many Final Fantasy characters who appear in the series. It is also one of the most important worlds to the storyline because its scope is not limited by a Disney movie. In addition to its role in Kingdom Hearts as the location of the "final Keyhole", it serves as the hub world of Kingdom Hearts II.
Hollow Bastion is dominated by a castle which, now derelict, once was the world's seat of power. The castle gate is accessed through a moving platform in the Rising Falls. Underneath the entrance are the Waterways which provide plumbing throughout the castle. The Entrance Hall of the castle is directly through its imposing marble doors. A library is here, containing knowledge collected by its former scientists. Also accessible from the Entrance Hall is the Lift Stop, a complex series of elevators which provide transportation to different parts of the castle. Its peculiar construction forces travelers to exit to an exterior portion of the castle called the Great Crest in order to reach the Castle Chapel. The chapel segues to the Grand Hall, the location of the final Keyhole which can only be completed with the help of the seven Princesses of Heart.
Aside from the castle itself, there is a town at its foot which is the base of operations for the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee in Kingdom Hearts II. This town contains a marketplace and borough which lead to the castle bailey. Merlin also relocates here after departing from Traverse Town. Branching from the bailey are two paths. One takes the Ravine Trail through a valley to a bluff with a vista of the Hollow Bastion castle. The other goes through the Reconstruction Site to the Postern at the base of the castle. A previously unknown entrance here leads to Ansem's Study and his computer room.
Hollow Bastion was once a peaceful kingdom called the Radiant Garden, ruled by Ansem the Wise. In his thirst for knowledge, he began studying the darkness in people's hearts, with six apprentices, including Xehanort. Ansem grew wary of the experiments and stopped them. Unknown to him, his apprentices continued his work, producing the Heartless from hearts that were overwhelmed by darkness. A chain of events led to Ansem the Wise being banished, Xehanort splitting into two beings, and the world overwhelmed by darkness. Empty, the castle was later adopted by Maleficent as a headquarters. In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, a new area has been created called Cavern of Remembrance. The most notable part of this new area is a pit with thirteen gates, each with a silhouette of the weapons of all Organization XIII members, leading to a data-based rematch against those members.