Ars Arcanum

Ars Arcanum (ラストアルカナム), called Final Arcana (ファイナルアルカナム) in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, is an ability, attack sleight, attack command, and limit found throughout the Kingdom Hearts series. It allows the user to string together a flurry of Keyblade swings, while often granting invulnerability during use.

Kingdom Hearts
In Kingdom Hearts, Sora obtains the special ability Ars Arcanum by defeating Captain Hook in Neverland. Ars Arcanum costs 4 AP to equip and 3 MP to activate, and allows Sora to attack with a ground combo composed of up to thirteen slashes when near a target.

Selecting the Arcanum (アルカナム) command executes the initial attack, with Bash (ブレイク) granting an additional five attacks each time it becomes available, and Finish (ジ・エンド) the final, more powerful finishing strike resulting in a total of 13 hits. The final hit of "Arcanum", as well as those of "Bash" and "Finish", can land critical hits.

In Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, the player can select "Arcanum", "Bash", and "Finish" from the last command bar, which all grant Sora invulnerability.

In Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX the initial Arcanum command, the Bash followups, and the "Finish" command are all implemented as Reaction Commands, but Bash and Finish do not provide invulnerability.

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories


In Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Ars Arcanum is the seventh sleight to be obtained, and only after level 37. Ars Arcanum is an attack sleight that delivers eight powerful blows, followed by a forward somersaulting slash.

In Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Ars Arcanum is the ninth sleight to be obtained, and only after level 42. Ars Arcanum unleashes six powerful strikes, and is difficult to interrupt. Five additional strikes can be added by pressing Triangle when prompted, resulting in a maximum of 11 total strikes. Sora is invulnerable during the attack, but pressing the button at the wrong time breaks the combo, rendering him vulnerable once again.

In all versions, its card combination is:

Kingdom Hearts II
In Kingdom Hearts II, Final Arcana is a limit exclusive to Genie after Sora has obtained both the Lamp Charm and Master Form. The limit begins with Arcana, in which Sora and Genie clutch arms and whirl around in large aerial circles. Afterwards, Bash causes Genie to transform into a large head that spins around, while shooting magical bullets. Since Sora must land after the limit is finished, Sora remains invulnerable from the time the limit begins to the time he lands on the ground regardless if Bash is used. However, Genie will begin to take drive bar damage after he transforms back from a giant head. Using Final Arcana uses up five summon gauges, but if Sora has less than five summon gauges remaining, he can still use Final Arcana and genie will be dismissed immediately after the limit is finished.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Final Arcana is also an action ability automatically equipped to Final Form. It activates as a combo finisher against a single enemy. It causes Sora combine his Keyblades end-to-end before throwing them forward into an enemy as they rapidly spin. He then telekinetically pulls them apart and has them clash with each other thrice, creating bursts of energy to further damage the target. If Finishing Plus is equipped, the second half of the move can be cancelled for the next finisher.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Last Arcanum is an action ability exclusive to Sora's Limit Form. It is a permanently equipped limit that costs 75 MP to use. It is automatically assigned to Triangle in the shortcuts menu, as long as an item isn't taking up that slot. On activation, Sora performs an initial seven-hit combo, and up to six more strikes can be executed through the "Bash" Reaction Command. Afterwards, the Reaction Command is replaced with the final hit attack "The End" resulting in 13 total possible hits, which all restore a small portion of Sora's health. Sora is invulnerable only during the initial seven-hit combo, and once again becomes vulnerable during the "Bash" and "The End" phases.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ars Arcanum is a Giga Attack Recipe that Ventus can obtain through nine different methods of Command Melding. It takes up two command slots, can be leveled up to level 6, takes 25 seconds to reload, and fills the Command Gauge by 6%. By unleashing Ars Arcanum, Ventus can string together an initial six hits, and by the player pushing triangle, can gain an additional 2 hits per prompt, with a final prompt of 3 finishing hits, resulting in a grand total of 19 possible hits. If used in midair, Ventus will return to the ground before performing the action. Ventus does not gain invulnerability during the entirety of Ars Arcanum, nor while landing from attempting to use it in midair.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
In Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Sora can obtain the attack command Ars Arcanum from a 10 LP ability link from Lord Kyroo, a 400 LP link from Skelterwild, and a chest at the Contorted City in The World that Never Was. It uses two slots in the Command Deck and has a reload time of 36 seconds. It grants +4 to Strength when attached to a Dream Eater recipe. Unlike prior incarnations, this version of the attack no longer requires any button prompts for the whole combo, and can be used midair. It deals a total of 14 hits, unleashing several spinning slashes while hovering, while finishes by slamming the Keyblade into the ground.

Kingdom Hearts Union χ
In Kingdom Hearts Union χ, Ars Arcanum is a special attack used by the KH Cloud and KH II Leon B medals. It targets a single enemy and costs 2 special attack gauges to perform. It inflicts more damage the higher the Player's HP.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Although Ars Arcanum cannot be performed by any playable character, Xion can perform a modified version of Ars Arcanum during her third boss phase. She slashes twice toward the ground, a slash upward that can air-toss an enemy, another slash toward the ground, followed by a final spinning attack which hones in on the opponent extremely quickly. While Xion is not invulnerable during this attack, it can knock back the player and deal a lot of damage, thus making it unwise to attack during this time.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Ars Arcanum appears in Final Fantasy Record Keeper as one of Sora's Soul Breaks. Using Metal Chocobo, Ars Arcanum allows Sora to deliver eight physical fire, lightning, and ice attacks to an enemy, temporarily raise his Attack a moderate amount and Defense a small amount, and gain Haste and Burst Mode.

Etymology
Ars Arcanum gets its name from the Latin ars meaning 'technique', 'skill' or 'art' and arcanum meaning 'secret'. Its Japanese name is "Last Arcanum", meaning "Last Secret".