Vanitas

Something to consider about Vanitas’ design. So, his standard outfit seems very similar to every Dark Riku variation we have, right? From a lore perspective, Vanitas came before Riku and Ansem. So what if Ansem, vaguely remembering his time as Xehanort, recreated Vanitas’ appearance from memory when he took over Riku? It would explain why the designs are close, but not exact. Our memory warps over time. And if every dark version of Riku just copied off of Ansem-ku, then it would explain why there hasn’t been much variation between the dark teens of the series.