The Gambler is a high-ranking Nobody controlled by Luxord that is found in Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III.

Story

Kingdom Hearts II

Once Luxord invokes "parley" from the pirates' code, he summons four Gamblers to keep a cursed medallion each. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack Sparrow later find one at the Ship Graveyard, promptly defeating it and gaining the medallion back. They then set out to find the other three to return them to the chest and free Jack from the Grim Reaper's curse.

Design

A Gambler does not seem to have an actual body, and is instead an animated set of clothing. Its upper body is comprised of a pink coat with very thin, dark salmon-colored bell sleeves. It juggles dice and playing cards decorated with Nobody symbols in various ways through these sleeves. Either side of its long neck sports a dark salmon colored spike like those on the Nobody logo, and the Nobody's "head" has the same shape. The Gambler's lower body is a faded pink gown that widens near the base and is decorated by several small, white Nobody logos. Its feet are long, flat, and black. The Nobody's lower and upper bodies are not directly connected in any way, and the two halves will occasionally become separated when the Gambler is being attacked. Its overall body structure is meant to resemble the Nobody sigil. Like all Nobodies, Gamblers have astonishing flexibility.

The deck of cards it floats with depict Vexen, Lexaeus, Marluxia, and Larxene, with their respective number in the Organization on the top-right and bottom-left corners. There is also an ace among them, simply showing the Nobody emblem and having an "A" in the corners.

The Gambler is based on the eponymous job class from Final Fantasy.

Strategy

Kingdom Hearts II

Gamblers frequently appear in Port Royal, especially where Barbossa is fought. They drop the most amount of munny of any enemy, but not by defeating one. Instead, munny is rewarded by winning one of its games. Winning a game, be it a Dice or Card game, forces the Nobody to drop 100 munny and stuns it. If there are multiple Gamblers present, one game will force all Gamblers on the ground to drop 100 munny. For example: Sora engages four Gamblers in a battle and one challenges him to a dice or card game. If he wins and all four Gamblers happen to be on the ground, they will collectively drop 400 munny. However, all present Gamblers only drop munny if they are not considered airborne from either two of their movement animations or from their reeling animation caused by winning a card game.

Sora can also get a Nobody Guard shield or Twilight Shard by winning. The Jackpot ability makes them drop 50 additional munny for every Jackpot ability equipped. Therefore, all party members should have Jackpot equipped, and Sora should have the Wishing Lamp Keyblade equipped to maximize the munny acquired. The same strategy can be used in the Underworld Cups to score an abundance of points. If Sora loses a game, he will be transformed into a card or die depending on the game played. The transformation will not occur if he loses a game with a summon active.

In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Gamblers also serve as a great source to level up Master Form with the Jackpot and Drive Converter abilities equipped, the latter of which replaces munny with Drive Orbs. Equip the Wishing Lamp and Sweet Memories Keyblades to boost the effect.

Kingdom Hearts III

Thunder magic excels at destroying groups of Gamblers due to their weakness to it. While they can't be easily farmed for munny using their Reaction Command like in Kingdom Hearts II, they still drop 40 munny upon being defeated. Their Card Shuffle attack can be blocked from behind, so using a Dodge Roll isn't necessary.

Technique		Element	Status	Power	Block?	Repel LV
Spin Attack (回転攻撃, Kaiten Kōgeki)		Physical	—	0.6 per hit	◯	2
		Advances towards the target while spinning.
Dice Press (ダイスプレス, Daisu Puresu)		Physical	—	1.5	◯	2
		Summons a giant die that rolls at the target.
Card Shuffle (カードシャッフル, Kādo Shaffuru)		Physical	—	0.3 per hit	△	—
		Ten cards surround and strike the target.
Guard/Block: △ = Can be blocked; O = Can be blocked and interrupted (melee) or deflected back (projectile); X = Cannot be blocked.

See also

• Nobody Guard

• High-ranking Nobody
• Kingdom Hearts II enemies
• Hades Paradox Cup
• Kingdom Hearts III enemies