Lifeless

Lifeless is a new kind of enemy present in Kingdom Hearts III: The Heart's Greatest Weapon and Kingdom Hearts III: Eternal Light. They are the resulted fusion of a Heartless and a Nobody, specifically ones that are somewhat similar to each other. This technique is only usable by the Dark Knight, the story's antagonist, and they are the majority of the power behind the Dark Knight's forces. He uses mostly the fallen Organization XIII members to make Lifeless out of. The Lifeless were inspired by the "Arrancar" of the anime/manga Bleach.

Appearance
Lifeless can take the form of human beings. But despite having a heart (captured by a Heartless) and a physical form (the "shell" left by a Nobody), they are not completely human but are instead "humans from the darkness". They can initiate a freakish transformation back to whatever form they had as a Heartless or Nobody, depending on which part of their fusion was the stronger one. If a Lifeless is defeated in battle, whether in their released state or not, the heart captured by the Heartless is set free. However, the two halves that make up the Lifeless are ultimately destroyed, unable to ever be resurrected again.

Since the defeat of Marluxia's Lifeless, the Dark Knight has seemingly stopped creating Lifeless and is now left with only Xehanort's Lifeless as the sole surviving Lifeless.

List of Lifeless
'''*Lilith '''

The resulted fusion of a Darkball Heartless and a Sorceror Nobody. This Lifeless takes the form of a black haired woman with a distinct love for chaos and pain and starts to whine and complain when she is losing. She attacked Sora and the others when they visited Olympus Coliseum. She was able to control the mind of Hades' dog Cerberus into rampaging around the Underworld and attacking Hades. But when she battled Sora and lost control of Cerberus, Lilith was forced to use her Heartless powers to even the odds. She could turn into the smoke ball and fly around the field, wield ethereal blades and fly. In her transformed state, Lilith bears the face of a Darkball Heartless and her body also transforms into that of a Nobody. Even though she goes ballistic when attacking Sora, she is done in by Cerberus crushing her with his giant paws.

First Appearance: Chapter 17 | Last Appearance: Chapter 18

'''*Xaldin (Organization XIII) '''

The resulted fusion of Xaldin's Nobody form and the Storm Rider Heartless. He first appeared during Sora's visit to the Land of Dragons. In his Lifeless state, Xaldin remains as the form he took as a Nobody. He uses the Heartless to kidnap the princesses that Mulan and Shan Yu are in charge of escorting. But after capturing them, he faces Sora and Shan Yu in battle. Despite losing the princesses, Xaldin blows Sora and Shan Yu off a cliff and get them separated long enough to delay their plans. But when Sora returns with Shan Yu to stop Kairi and Mulan from marrying in place of the princesses, Xaldin angrily attacks and transforms in the process. His powers varied between his capabilities as a Nobody and the skills of the Heartless he fused with. His transformed state makes him appear more like his Heartless half. But despite being more giant and swift, Sora and friends used Thunder spells to subdue the giant and destroy him.

First Appearance: Chapter 32 | Last Appearance: Chapter 33

'''*Warden Cage '''

The resulted fusion of the Parasite Cage Heartless and a Berserker Nobody. This Lifeless takes form of a muscular man in a red commander's suit and dark black facial hair. He was in charge of the Dark Knight's prison planet out in the space between the worlds. He kept inmates that would eventually be used to make more Lifeless. Cage also had a prisoner that he was going to use to power up the Lifeless like never before, Presea Combatir. He planned to take Presea's Exsphere and use it to increase the strength of the Lifeless. But when Presea's location was found and Sora's group broke into the prison to save her, Cage intervened and caught Presea. In his transformed state, he was a human-like creature that beared physical traits of the Parasite Cage, including the giant mouth on his stomach. Before fighting Sora, he invoked his transformed state, saying he was waiting for the chance to get revenge at Sora for what he did to him inside Monstro. He thrashed away at Genis, who tried his hardest to save Presea, and Genis soon found himself almost down for the count. However, Cage did not count on Genis' belief in what a "real friend" is and is destroyed Cage after casting Meteor Storm at him.

First Appearance: Chapter 30 | Last Appearance: Chapter 35

The resulted fusion of the Prison Cage Heartless and a Dragoon Nobody. He was the second in command of the Dark Knight's prison, serving under Warden Cage. This Lifeless appears as a skinny figured man in a white coat and long purple hair. Parasite's personality is quite the same as Lilith, craving nothing more than seeing the prisoners tortured and in pain. The prisoner he disliked the most was Presea, unable to make her bend to their use. When Sora and the others broke into the prison to save her, Parasite intervened and knocked Sora out before throwing him and his team into the same cell as Presea. Sora's team managed to escape and made their way to the Warden's office to break Presea's cuffs, but Parasite was there and willing to kill. Despite using his powers to make sickles out of his hands, he was casually defeated before Cage intervenes. But when Cage is defeated, Parasite screams out in agony at his master's death. With her cuffs off, Presea easily beats Parasite to death shortly after.
 * Parasite

First Appearance: Chapter 30 | Last Appearance: Chapter 35

The resulted fusion of Oogie Boogie's Heartless and Luxord's Nobody form. This was not a "willing" transformation as the Dark Knight fuses them on the spot. They were both henchmen of the Dark Knight during his business in Halloween Town. When fused, they had the appearance of Luxord's human body, but had Oogie's facial features, giant stomach and skin tone. He was the shortest lived Lifeless as, even though he used Luxord's tricks and Oogie's dangerous toys to fight, they were killed when Oogie's attack goes overboard and finds it redirected back at them, destroyed by exploding dice.
 * Oogie Boogie / Luxord

First Appearance: Chapter 39 | Last Appearance: Chapter 39

The resulted fusion of Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas of Organization XIII. The Dark Knight had revived both halves of the former Master Xehanort and fused them together to make the strongest Lifeless ever. He first appeared when Sora and friends broke into the World of Nothing, home to where the deceased Nobodies went to. The Dark Knight had released Xion from deep within Roxas and caused her to attack out of rage. But when Xion lost and fell to Roxas, Xehanort appears and attacks Xion without hesitation. He then tosses Xion aside, saying she was of no use anymore. Enraged, Sora and the others attacked Xehanort. Even after a dragged out fight, Xehanort was unable to be beaten easily and held his own. He was forced to drop the fight when it went on too long and fled with the Dark Knight. He appears again during "Kingdom Hearts III: Eternal Light" and joins Vanitas in confronting Sora's group in the Keyblade Graveyard. He again fights Sora and company, joined this time by all the Keyblade wielders of the group, Raine and the Lingering Sentiment. Xehanort manages to escape again, but not without having the Lingering Sentiment chasing after him into the corridor he flees from. He's set to make his next appearance, possibly his final, during the final chapters of "Kingdom Hearts III: Eternal Rest" where he will face Sora's team once more.
 * Xehanort

First Appearance: Chapter 42 | Last Appearance: Chapter 75

'''*Larxene (Organization XIII) '''

The resulted fusion of Larxene's Nobody form and a Wizard Heartless. She was first in the Realm of Nothing, apart of the remains of Organization XIII after the Dark Knight took Xemans. She was fueled with anger towards Sora since last seeing him. The Dark Knight revives Larxene's Nobody and fuses it with a Heartless sometime offscreen during "Kingdom Hearts III: Eternal Light" and she attacks Aqua, hoping to break her spirit, in the Realm of Darkness. When fighting Sora, she transformed into her new form, bearing a Wizard Heartless' hat and summoning Yellow Opera Heartless around her. She also had twin lightning sabers from her sleeves. Even though her newfound powers were "shocking" to the others, Sora used a Trinity move with Donald, Goofy and Aqua, mixing fire and ice magic to cast sprinkles of water all over her. The water caused Larxene to short circut and explode, finally destroying the malicious Nobody.

First Appearance: Chapter 41 | Last Appearance: Chapter 63

'''*Marluxia (Organization XIII) '''

The resulted fusion of Marluxia's Nobody form and the Leechgrave Heartless. This is the only Lifeless that Sora doesn't know one of the fusion parts since it was Roxas that took this Heartless on during Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. He maintains Marluxia's physical shape, but when transformed, he grows spikes from his Organization XIII cloak and can summon dangerous plants and vines to kill his opponents. He first appeared in the Realm of Nothing and had control of the remains of Organization XIII after Xemnas left. Even after trying to get revenge on Sora twice and frustrated that the "traitor" Nobodies (referring to Axel, Namine, Roxas and Xion) obtained hearts, he willingly left the Realm of Nothing and agreed to be the Dark Knight's next Lifeless. He attacks Sora again in Castle Oblivion, during "Kingdom Hearts III: Eternal Light" after Ventus is awoken. Even though he had an advantage since Sora sacrificed his ability to wield the Keyblade to wake up Ventus, Sora regains the Keyblade and uses it to subdue Marluxia for the final time, insulting him and calling him a "coward" in the process.

First Appearance: Chapter 41 | Last Appearance: Chapter 65