The main character of Final Fantasy XIII. A former Sergeant of Cocoon's Guardian Corps who resigned so she could be free to rescue her beloved sister Serah from the clutches of the Pulse fal'Cie. Her weapon is a transforminggunblade called the Blazefire Saber. Her Eidolon is Odin◊, who transforms into a horse during his Gestalt Mode.She changed her name to "Lightning" after the death of her parents as part of an effort to change herself into a stronger, more confident person capable of protecting both herself and her little sister. While her new Stoic personality was perfect for the Guardian Corp, she ended up developing a Married to the JobIce Queen persona that hindered her Relationship Values and distanced her from Serah.The first game centers around the defrosting of this persona as she is forced to confront her failings as a caretaker and as a sister.General tropes and those present in the first game:
Armor Piercing Punch: Lightning scores three of these on Snow within the first three hours of the game. To release her pent up anger and frustration towards him.
Bifauxnen: Not in game, but in a cross promotion. She appeared in Japanese mens fashion magazine Arena Homme Plus modeling Prada's mens summer collection.
Broken Bird: Lightning's opinion about her monkier at the start of the game is that it reflects how destructive "Lightning" has been in regards to Serah and her relationship with her sister.
By-the-Book Cop: One of the reasons she had such a problem with Snow was because she saw him as a jobless law breaking thug.
Character Focus: Final Fantasy XIII only came out at the end of 2009. Following that, Lightning appeared in Dissidia 012, Itadaki Street Mobile, and Final Fantasy XIII-2. She's also got an avatar in Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and The 3rd Birthday has Aya wear Lightning's costume as an alt outfit. Lightning also appears in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and was announced to be in Final Fantasy Brigade the very same day the game itself was announced, when no one else has been mentioned yet.
Sazh refers to her as 'nee-chan' once in a while, though in his case it's less straightforward. The only time he actually says it to Lightning's face is when they've just met and he doesn't know her name — in Japan, addressing strangers as sister/aunt/grandmother depending on their age is pretty common. The rest of the time, he's talking to the others about her, which can be seen as Sazh encouraging them to think of Lightning as such.
Effortless Amazonian Lift: Easily carries around the unconscious Serah at the beginning of the game, looking rather protective.
Embarrassing Tattoo: Her brand is on top of her left breast where her heart is, hidden under her shirt. You never actually get to see it. Until Aya Brea wears her costume in The 3rd Birthday.
Expy: She was referred to as a "female Cloud" well before the game's release, and shares several traits. However, her character design*
both physically and in personality
evolved a great deal from her initial conception as his Distaff Counterpart. Also of Squall for most of the same reasons, and the gunblade.
Moreso Squall than Cloud. Gunblade? Check. Defrosting storyline? Check. Sister who is missing through most of the storyline but plays an important part? Check.
Also looks and acts a lot like Ashe. They might as well be sisters. Strangely, their character designers are different, but almost everything else about them is the same.
Freudian Excuse: Deconstructed. Serah telling Lightning about becoming a L'Cie, then that she's engaged to Snow wreaks havoc on both ends of the relationship due to circumstances.
The Heroine: She is the leader of the party, the main protagonist, and the one who holds everyone together.
Hot Chick with a Sword: Driven to take care of Serah, then to survive, then help her new team survive and all of Cocoon.
Ignored Epiphany: She actually acknowledges fairly early on that she screwed up with Serah. This lasts until Serah is crystallized, at which her grieving process skips right to the anger stage at the closest possible target (meaning Snow).
To be fair... Serah and Snow announcing the marriage BEFORE telling her about the L'cie thing didn't really help matters.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Can shoot a small stone out of the air with her gunblade in one shot. While falling.
Jack-of-All-Stats: If fully developed, she has the second-best Strength and ties for second in Magic with Vanille. She also has the second-lowest overall HP, but learns Sentinel skills that allow her to dramatically increase her evasion to physical attacks, so she can step into pretty much any role easily.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nasty to most people, especially Snow, but dearly loves her sister and grows on the group.
Knight in Sour Armor: She believes in doing what's right, which is not to say she's not incredibly bitter about just about everything.
Shock and Awe: Her magic specialty is (of course) the thunder line of spells.
Speak Friend and Enter: In one of the early cutscenes, she pounds on a door that looks like a l'Cie Brand, and then apologizes and asks the door (or the fal'Cie controlling the door) nicely to open, which works. It is explained in Episode Zero that this door turns away those who are evil:
“This door is a door of trials. It will turn away those who hold evil in their hearts, and lead on those who hold the holy spirit.” The girl with the eyes of an adult knelt before the door, and prayed. The girl with the eyes of a child followed suit. The symbol on the door glowed red, and the door opened.
Swiss Army Weapon: Her gunblade (unlike Squall's) is a weapon which can shift between its sword form to a submachine gun instead of being a bullet-powered Vibro Weapon.
In XIII-2, Lightning has gone missing and is assumed dead by all but her sister Serah. The reality is that she has been whisked to the timeless plane of Valhalla, where she has ascended to become the protector to none other than the Goddess Etro.Tropes present only in the sequel:
''And by her own decision''. In one of the fragments you can find, it says she knew she couldn't avoid this fate, so she acknowledged her defeat and crystallized, with one wish in her heart. There's no clue in-game about what this wish was.
It was revealed in an interview that her wish is to protect Serah's will. Referring to protecting the future since her crystallization is the only thing keeping the world from completely being lost.
Transformation Sequence: How she got into all that fancy armor. It looks like a less-flashy version of a Magical Girl's transformation, complete with nudity.
Snow is the leader of NORA, an armed neighbor watch that fights local monsters. When the Purge starts, they rebel against the Sanctum. He is engaged to Lightning's sister, Serah. Snow fights with his bare hands and Ice magic. His weapon is a special coat developed by the government which can alter the strength of the wearer. His Eidolon is Shiva, which splits into two sisters, Styria and Nix◊. They transform into a motorbike during their Gestalt Mode.General tropes and those present in the first game:
Always Save the Girl: Snow is VERY dedicated to rescuing Serah, to the point where he abandons the others to save her at one point.
Badass: For clarification on his badassery, see his entry in the Memetic Badass entry on the game's YMMV subpage.
Badass Abnormal: Twofold for Snow, since he clearly knows how to fight, the bullet proof strength enhancing coat lets him make the most of it. Being turned into l'cie with magic powers is just the cherry on the top.
Bare Fisted Monk: Although it's obvious he relies more on brute strength than technique. There's some skill there though, just enough for him to be efficient about it.
He acts like Zack: cheerful, Adorkable, and wants to be a hero/thinks he's a hero.
He looks a lot like Sabin, has the same personality, and even fights with his fists.
Fake Ultimate Hero: Claims to be a traditional 'save the world' hero when all he's done is trounce local wildlife. After transforming, he tries to be the real deal.
He was some sort of revolutionary before the game started, and while his tactics were questionable, he was charismatic enough to garner followers. Not exactly a hero, but probably where he got the idea that he was heroic.
Five Stages of Grief: While Lightning is trapped in the anger stage following Serah's crystalization, Snow is stuck in the bargaining stage. He is convinced that he can free her from her fate if he just sacrifices something, anything.
Gentle Giant: Jokes about his shoe size aside, Snow is a determinedromantic who believes in doing the right thing as a self-designated hero. Also, he insists on calling Lightning 'nee-san / sis' even though he isn't married to Serah yet and Lightning hates him.
Good Old Fisticuffs: He's more of a brawler than a Martial Artist, using his aforementioned coat as an Amplifier Artifact to augment his strikes rather than a pair of gloves.
Post Character Development, he's the one to set their long term goal and gets them to acknowledge how much of a team they've all become. While Lightning leads more often then him, he's more traditionally heroic and steers them towards helping bystanders (often to the other's exasperation).
Most pronounced after Barthandelus delivers a Hannibal Lecture about Serah's Focus to the party after their first boss battle against him.
Before that when Hope started to question his actions.
Hidden Depths: While he appears to be oblivious, arrogant, or thoughtless, he is in fact masking his intense fear of failure and guilt for those he's failed (Nora and Serah, in particular). Since he doesn't know how to make up for those deficiencies, he tries to be gregarious and active. He's so afraid that he'll never make up for it that he can't bring himself to apologize or acknowledge what he did that was wrong. Hope convinces him to be more mindful of his sins.
Hot Blooded: He charges headlong into danger with nary a thought.
Idiot Hero: Thinks he can save everyone with enthusiasm. His plans are never more complicated than: Summon Shiva, kick ass. He does show a practical mindset at times, but it's clear he tries to fight it. Character Development helps...
Indy Ploy: On the other hand, he is quick on his feet, which is the only reason he gets away with the above.
"Heroes don't need plans!"
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's mostly arrogant, doing things without thinking, but he's willing to do anything whatever it takes.
Memetic Hand Gesture: Snow's "right fist punches left palm" motion. Often includes a Rousing Speech. Done so often, however, that it undercuts such speeches in later chapters.
Nice Guy: Never has a bad word to say about his allies or the people of Cocoon. Even if they punch him in the face or are terrified of him.
One-Man Army: Not as much as Lightning, but still very much present.
The Paragon: He tries to be, and he can play the part, but by refusing to recognize his flaws or the challenges around him he endangers others as much as he tries to empower them. During his journey, once he actually thinks through his (rather dire) situation, he acts as one to the group, being the first to commit to rebelling against the fal'cie and by being continually cheerful in the face of the others' gloom. It pays off.
Throw Down The Bomblet: Before he gets l'cie powers he uses hand grenades to deal area damage.
Understanding Boyfriend: Stands by Serah when she becomes a l'Cie, proposing to her shortly afterwards.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: Refuses to believe they'll all either Cie'th or commit genocide; always knew they'd save the day.
Wrong Genre Savvy: He thinks he's a hero and if he makes the most heroic choices, everything will be fine. If he was in a Lighter and Softer RPG series, this would work, but not in this one...
Double Subversion: ...Except it does work. Moping about solves absolutely nothing in this game (and for l'Cie, it generally results in an Eidolon showing up to either kick you back into shape or just kill you). It's only by making the heroic choice to defeat the Big Bad rather than give up and become Ragnarok that the party saves Cocoon. Just look at Lightning's Pre-Asskicking One-Liner to the Final Boss. Ultimately, Snow is wrong only about his particular role in the story.
In XIII-2, Snow has put his marriage to Serah on hold while he looks for the missing Lightning at his fiance's request. He soon disappears altogether, having been whisked into the vortex of time.Tropes present only in the sequel:
'80s Hair: To be fair, that is likely what it looks like without the hat.
Then in one of the Paradox Endings, he bursts into the Academy HQ with the Time Police just in time to arrest The Mole and stop Serah and Noel from falling into a trap, then whisks Serah away on his time-travelling motorbike to fight Caius up and down the timeline.
Palette Swap: Notable as Final Fantasy XIII is always praised for its visuals, Snow's overall appearance isn't changing much other than coloration and hairstyle.
Oerba Dia Vanille
"Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now."
Voiced by Yukari Fukui in Japanese and Georgia van Cuylenburg in English.
Badass Adorable: The girl gets to fish enemies to death in the beginning of the game.
She learns DEATH. The adorable girl, who all but skips her way through the game learns the one spell your party can learn that will outright kill an opponent. Badass Adorable indeed.
Vanille: My name is Oerba Dia Vanille. I'm a l'Cie, from Gran Pulse. And to everyone on Cocoon... evil.
The Call Knows Where You Live: Vanille keeps silent and is willing to turn into a Cie'th rather than put Fang and the world in danger, and she unwittingly sucks the other four members of the cast into being L'cie themselves.
The Chick: Female, cute, cheerful, and tries to support everyone.
Combat Medic: Vanille is the best Medic in the early and middle stages of the game, but is eventually outpaced in terms of raw healing power by Hope. To compensate, her HP is considerably higher, improving her survivability. She is also capable of acting as a fairly good offensive mage and is the best debuffer in the game.
Death Seeker: After Jihl shows Sazh that Vanille and Fang are responsible for Dajh being made a l'Cie, Vanille begs Sazh to shoot her.
Fish Out of Temporal Water: She, along with Fang, was crystallized five centuries ago and was just brought back to life 13 days before the beginning of the game.
Faking Amnesia: Vanille pretends that she's forgotten a substantial plot-relevant swath of memory in order to avoid having to share her Dark and Troubled Past (and its ramifications for their current situation) with the rest of the party. Her partner Fang, who really has forgotten, eventually tricks her into admitting it by pretending that she's also been faking her own amnesia.
Genki Girl: Consistently cheerful and energetic despite how long they march.
Heroic Sacrifice: Vanille is crystallized at the end of the game after completing her Focus.
Improbable Weapon User: It's a sort of whip-staff that is, apparently, supposed to be used for fishing.
Ms. Fanservice: Makes frequent sexual-sounding noises in battle for no apparent reason.
Beyond that, while everyone else's l'Cie brand is on a reasonably harmless position (except for Lightning's), hers is right on the side of her asscheek, meaning she has to lift her skirt to see and check it. Wonder why that is.
To be fair, given how she's dressed quite striperiffically, the designers had not many options that didn't mean spoiling that she was a l'Cie well before Hope met her.
Reality Is Unrealistic: There has been some complaints about how fake her Australian accent is, even though Georgia von Cuylenberg is actually Australian.
Stepford Smiler: Type A. Vanille's cheerful attitude is just her way of running away from the fact that she knows that it is her Focus to destroy the world. Despite being always upbeat and positive, she has an authentic death wish and blames herself for everything that has happened.
Token Nonhuman: Vanille serves as this for the first two chapters, being the only l'cie out of the playable characters. She loses this role when everybody else becomes l'cie.
What Could Have Been: According to the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega, the development team at one point considered making Vanille the official main character of the game, but dismissed the idea as they had already released a trailer and art featuring Lightning in that role.
She also would have been a shade of blonde if they went through with it.
Whip It Good: Vanille's weapon of choice is a Binding Rod which is a whip combined with Magic Staff.
Sazh Katzroy
"You think you die, and that's that?! You think you die and everything'll be sugar and rainbows?!"
Voiced by Masashi Ebara in Japanese and Reno Wilson in English.
A professional airship pilot from Cocoon, he tags along with Lightning so that he can confront the fal'Cie. His weapons are dual pistols. His Eidolon is Brynhildr◊, a female Fire-elemental, who can turn into a race car in her Gestalt Mode.
Ace Pilot: He was a civilian pilot before the plot kicked off, but his skills are definitely top notch.
Action Survivor: Early cutscenes would seem to imply that he just picked up the guns somewhere and had no real familiarity with them. Meaning he had no combat training or experience. The description of his pistols claim they are emergency weapons assigned to pilots in case of crashes in the wilderness.
Master of None: His Strength and Magic stats are both below average; they become the worst of all six characters in the postgame. On the other hand, he has the second-highest HP and compensates for his lack of power by Dual Wielding with a ranged attack and being the earliest character to get offensive Status Buffs. With a maxed Crystarium and Ultimate weapon, he can hit a single enemy up to 18 times, making him stronger than Snow.
Sad Clown: By far the most comedic character and deliberately designed after Richard Pryor. Also, probably the most tragic character too and at times outright suicidal.
The Smart Guy: He's a pilot and he can fix robots. He's the only one in the group that knows more 'kill stuff'.
Team Dad: Takes it upon himself to look after Hope and Vanille, and, to a lesser extent, Snow and Lightning.
Token Minority: Sazh is the only black member in a cast that is mostly white (except for Fang). His son, Dajh, may qualify as a Twofer Token Minority, being the only named black NPC and the only named young child NPC.
As the pilot for Blitz Squadron, Sazh and Dajh were sucked into a temporal distortion. The "Heads or Tails" XIII-2 downloadable content shows that after spending some time in the casino at Serendipity, a place that is beyond time, they then enter a time gate and wind up even further in the future, and he aids Serah, Noel, and Hope as an airship pilot.Tropes present only in the sequel:
Catch a Falling Star: In the ending, Sazh catches the falling Serah and Noel after they leave Valhala.
"And what if that gets people around you involved? What happens when your actions end up ruining someone's life? What if someone dies? What then, Snow? How do you pay for what you've done?"
Voiced by Yuuki Kaji in Japanese and Vincent Martella in English.
A young boy originally from a high-class family. His mother was killed while volunteering to help Snow and NORA, so for that he bears a grudge against Snow. His weapon is a boomerang. His Eidolon is Alexander◊, which has the ability to turn into a fortress in Gestalt Mode.
Action Mom: His mother Nora volunteers for Snow's militia and even saves Snow at one point.
Action Survivor: Like Sazh, Hope has likely never seen combat before the events of the game although his weapon implies he has experience with hunting with a boomerang.
Cannot Spit It Out: For a good portion of the game, Hope cannot bring himself to say something about Snow's responsibility for the death of his mother, Nora.
Casual Danger Dialogue: Once he gets his head on straight, he starts doing this a fair bit, from summoning Alexander with "Need your help, big guy!" to dropping into the middle of a racetrack directly in front of an oncoming enemy mech which skids to a halt right in front of his face and saying nothing but "Hey there." He's clearly taking a leaf out of Fang's book.
Child Mage: And (eventually) the most powerful one; by end-game, the only magic class where he's weaker than Vanille is Saboteur, and only because she's got the Deathspell.
Death from Above: Hope's signature skill, Last Resort, also has elements of this trope.
Also, Does this remind you of someone?. Let's see... only fourteen, loses his mother, hates his dad, forced into life-endangering situations against his will, forms a strong relationship with a Military chick, spends a heavy amount of timing in Angst Mode, and (eventually) calls into battle a Humongous Mecha. Yes, he's the FF equivalent of Shinji.
Magikarp Power: Some players dismiss Hope as an inferior medic to Vanille because he doesn't get the higher-level healing spells until later in development. However, his magic power ultimately outstrips Vanille's.
Mama Bear: His mother Nora, who covers for her son and goes out with a bang by virtue of saving Snow's ass with a bazooka.
Whole Plot Reference: His circumstances and costume are largely modeled on Tidus from Final Fantasy X, from color scheme and daddy issues to adjusting to being taken out of his comfort zone and having his hometown blown up and separated from his parents by an evil government.
In XIII-2, the 24-year old Hope is the director of the Academy, a scientific organisation born from the new provisional government of Cocoon. Together with his fellows, he is working on building a future for humanity based on human technology.Tropes present only in the sequel:
Big Damn Heroes: Saves Noel and Serah from a monster with just his boomerang. This is the previous game's Squishy Wizard, by the way.
Bishōnen: Now that's he's grown up, he definitely qualifies.
Dawson Casting: A rare inverted example, with teenage Vincent Martella playing a man in his twenties.
Emperor Scientist: As the Director of Academy Hope is the undisputed leader of humanity. His rise to power makes more sense when you learn that his father Bartholomew and Rygdea were the ones who set up the provisional government and Academy after the fall of Sanctum.
Regent for Life: A benign version, Even after spending time in suspended animation Hope can still comes back in the future and he is still unquestioned in authority.
Improbable Age: At 24 he is the head of Academy as well as Academia the new capital of the world making him humanity's de facto leader. The game Hand Waves this ahead of time in NPC dialog as the Academy caring more about abilities than age.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hope's team builds Augusta Tower in order to create A manmade fal'Cie...which promptly kills him, his team, and proceeds to wipe out humanity hundreds of years in the future. Looks like Hope didn't get the hint the first time he came into close quarters with Killer Robots...
Older than They Look: Does he look like he's 24? (Admittedly, the silver hair may be adding a few years.)
Stepford Smiler: Implied when Serah and Noel meet with him at the Yaschas Massif, considering next to everyone he was close friends with has disappeared from his life. Even more obvious in Academia at 4XX AF where he travels into the future on a one way trip, remarking that there was no-one left for him in his own time after his father's death and so there was nothing holding him to that time and that the only people who know who he really is are Serah and Noel.
Oerba Yun Fang
"Let Cocoon get what's comin', better that than watch a friend go Cie'th."
Voiced by Mabuki Andou in Japanese and Rachel Robinson in English.
A mysterious woman from Pulse who grew up with Vanille. Her weapon is a double-bladed spear that can be split into a three-section staff. Her Eidolon is Bahamut◊, who has no element, which also turns into a flying dragon in its Gestalt Mode.
Blood Knight: It's not extremely obvious, but she seems to really enjoy kicking her opponents around. One of her battle quotes is, "You're gonna squirm!"
Fluffy Tamer: "What a sweetheart!" in regards to Bahamut.
Glacier Waif: She has the highest Strength and above-average HP, but subpar magic. She is the best Commando in the game and the second-best Sentinel after Snow.
Heroic Sacrifice: Fang is crystallized at the end of the game to save Cocoon.
Land Downunder: Gran Pulse, a challenging world with unique wildlife? Check. Fang using an appropriate accent? Check. Devotee of Deadpan Snarking? Hooboy, check.
Mythology Gag: Has quite a few; her specialty skill Highwind resembles the signature command of the Dragoon Job and is named after the surname of many of the series' previous dragoons like Ricard, Kain, and Cid. Her ultimate weapon is Kain's Lance, and she even rides a Dragon as a mount like Ricard did.
Sticks to the Back: Her spear curiously does this while most other weapons have carrying cases. There are straps near her waist, but they aren't large enough to keep the spear from jiggling everywhere.
What Could Have Been: Her character was originally conceived as a male in early preproduction. Noel in XIII-2 was likely based on this original design.
When All You Have Is a Hammer: While most of the other party members tend to agonize over solutions to their plight, Fang's solution for every problem seems to be to stab it until it stops twitching.
"Without our help, death is all of which you're capable. You saw the fools. A mindless mob drunk on fear of a few l'Cie."
Voiced by Masaru Shinozuka in Japanese and S Scott Bullock in English.
The Primarch of Cocoon, he is revered and loved by his people as a wise and fair old ruler that protects them from the horrors of Pulse, even if it means Purging cities at times. In reality, however, he is really a fal'Cie who pulls the strings on Cocoon while secretly plotting its destruction.
Badass Boast: Combines this with "The Reason You Suck" Speech, making for a truly awe-inspiring monologue when he reveals his true nature to the heroes when they confront him for the first time. The Oh Crap looks on the faces of the party are amazing.
I am fal'Cie. My name is Barthandelus; voice of the Sanctum, and Lord-Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie. Your kind feared the darkness, so we gave you light. You begged us for the Purge, and did it not come to pass? Now you spurn our counsel? You must learn your place!
Death Seeker: "Release... at last, release!" Like his ally Orphan, Barthandelus never intended to survive his plan.
Early-Bird Cameo: Although he doesn't physically appear until the third chapter, he can be heard speaking to the Purge victims at the very beginning of the game.
There's also a literal bird cameo as his Rukh Menrva shows up very early in the game.
The Emperor: Subverted; as Cocoon runs on a democracy, he was elected. Double Subverted once you realize that he's probably been every Primarch candidate for the past 1300 years, changing forms to keep up the Masquerade.
Beam Spam: In fact he never stops attacking with them.
Gold And White Are Divine: His true form initially subverts this when it first appears, almost entirely black with little gold and white, then plays it straight when his later two fights have him appearing as white and silver with more gold.
Human Sacrifice: Created Cocoon for the entire reason of breeding humans to be the ultimate sacrifice to bring the absent Maker back to the world.
Kick the Son of a Bitch: Killing Jihl Nabaat earned him a lot of goodwill from players. Of course, he proceeds to totally squander it afterwards by being such a Manipulative Bastard.
Kill Steal: Ganks Jihl Nabaat before you get a chance to.
Leitmotif: Notably the only character outside the main cast (and Serah) with one.
Light is Not Good: Uses lots of light and holy themed attacks as well as his overall appearance.
Master of Illusion: Presents himself to the people of Cocoon as an old man, but is really a multi-faced fal'Cie. Also presents himself to the party as Serah at one point.
Slasher Smile: How he always looks in his true form.
Spell My Name with an S: Some fans romanize his real name as Baldanders, a mythological shapeshifter. The Spanish translation has that romanization as canon.
Staff of Authority: Although it seems to be just a badge of office it also doubles as a Magic Wand, although he doesn't ever use his human form to battle you.
Title Drop: When disguised as Serah, he recites the lyrics to his battle theme, "Fighting Fate".
Villain with Good Publicity: If only the adoring public knew they were being bred as human sacrifices for his grand scheme.
Visionary Villain: Is out to see the world reborn by sacrificing all the fal'cie and humans alike.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He mercilessly slaughters Jihl Nabaat and his staff prior to revealing his true identity to the protagonists.
Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat
"Your son's a hero. We'll erect a memorial for him on Eden... and put his crystal on display!"
Voiced by Mie Sonozaki in Japanese and Paula Tiso in English.
A colonel in charge of running the military division PSICOM (Public Safety and Information Command) which are charged with the handling and containing Pulse activity, and as such opposes the party.Is available as DLC for FFXIII-2's coliseum.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, she was nice to Sazh, but that was only to get close to Dajh and his L'Cie-detecting abilities. She's quite the bitch after the kid turns to crystal.
For Science!: After revealing to Sazh that Vanille is the reason his son crystalized, she lets them fight it out to 'gather data' on l'cie battle power.
Glasses Pull: Jihl does this a few times to punctuate particularly callous lines. Later, she whips off her glasses and crushes them in a fit of abject rage and frustration, then gets killed a few minutes later.
Karmic Death: She holds the belief that people only live to serve a use to more important people. Cue the last seconds of her life where she realizes that she has that exact same role placed on her by her boss.
Magic from Technology: Uses Manadrives built into her stick in her boss battle in XIII-2.
Staff of Authority: Carries a fancy swagger stick for both combat and command purposes.
The Unfought: She was willing to try and give it a go, but was struck by Dysley's magic instead.
She's available for a thrashing in the DLC of XIII-2, though.
Unwitting Pawn: She didn't even know that the Primarch was only using her until he tells her, just a few seconds before he kills her by shooting his magic in her back.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: As a gameplay mechanic in her boss fight, she has the ability Sacrifice Pawn where she sacrifices any allies you haven't killed yet. Depending on the type and number of allies she sacrifices, she gains various effects: PSICOM Wardens restore her HP, Nightblade Pumas cast Daze on your party and Azure Behemoths allow her to use her Limit Break and if none are present, she instead sacrifices a large chunk of her HP to use it.
Lieutenant Colonel Yaag Rosch
"Tell me, do you really think your life is worth more than the lives of millions of Cocoon citizens?"
Voiced by Hiroki Tochi in Japanese and Jon Curry in English.
Jihl Nabaat's second-in-command, Rosch is a field commander and regularly participates in battle alongside his troops, hence the scar on his forehead. Rebels against Sanctum in the end, presumably after learning of Bart's human sacrifice plan. He dies by blowing himself up to kill two King Behemoths.
Ace Pilot: Has his own transforming mecha/airship called The Proudclad which he challenges you in.
Anti-Villain: The party has his sympathies, but he does what he thinks is best for Cocoon.
Expy: See, there's this Final Fantasy game in which there's this pretty cool villain; a high ranking officer in the goverment's service who has silver-y hair, dresses in a long, black coat, and is armed with the Masamune and he also... What was that? ...No, I'm not talking about Sephiroth. Why?
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a faint one on his forehead. It's there to show that he's not afraid to mix it up and fight to the death alongside his own troops.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Played straight in an interesting way. He has the best intentions for the people of Cocoon, and he feels that the governance of it should be left to them. However, he is afraid to speak out against the fal'Cie for fear of the retribution that may befall the citizens he's sworn to protect, so he shuts up and does what he's told.
Redemption Equals Death: After being defeated by the party, he leaves Cocoon in their hands and does this combined with You Shall Not Pass to stop some Behemoths from reaching the party.
"The public fears what it doesn't know... Strike down the phantoms before their eyes, and they sleep like babies."
Voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura in Japanese and Erik Davies in English.
A Brigadier General who runs a fleet of airships called the Cavalry. Cid, however, has secret machinations of seizing power in Cocoon and giving rule to the people rather then the fal'Cie, and helps the party in order to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, he is really a l'Cie and only helps the party on the orders of Barthandelus. He asks his Number Two to 'cut his strings' and kill him.
Adaptive Ability: Notably because he, like you, uses Paradigm Shifts to change his fighting style to better suit the battle.
Screw Destiny: He turns his back on his Focus in order to stop you, but...
You Can't Fight Fate: He becomes a crystal for his efforts and is later revived, but still kept under Barthandelus' control.
Shadow Archetype: He can easily be described as the Anti-Snow. He's idealistic, but it was turned against him. Wants to defy his fate, but is forced to follow it. Fights with his fists. The only thing missing is a short fiancée.
Satellite Character: Although supplementary materials expands his behind the scenes role as one of the co-founders of Academy along with Hope's father Bartholomew.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The game does not elaborate to his fate after he mercy kills Cid. It was implied that he is among the men made into Sacrifice cie'th in Orphan's Cradle just prior to your arrival, but the sequel then implies he survived somehow.
Other
Team NORA
Left to right: Gadot, Yuj, Maqui, Lebreau.
"The army's no match for NORA!"
Gadot Voiced by Biichi Satou in Japanese and Zack Hanks in English.
Yuj is Voiced by Wataru Hatano in Japanese and Jeff Fischer in English.
Maqui is Voiced by Makoto Naruse in Japanese and Daniel Samonas in English.
Lebreau Voiced by YūAsakawa in Japanese and Anndi Mc Afee in English.
A team of rebellious monster hunters from Bodhum. The name is an acronym for "No Obligations, Rules, or Authority" in the English version, but is a play on the word "noraneko" in Japanese (meaning stray cat). When the Purge breaks out, they become La Résistance to combat PSICOM and protect the Purge victims.
Big Damn Heroes: The whole team in Chapter 12. Triples as a Crowning Moment of Awesome and a Crowning moment of Heartwarming when they tell Snow that they don't care whether or not he's a l'Cie, they're still a team to the end.
Development Gag: During the demo stages, the art team couldn't decide what hairstyle and colour to give Yuj so they made him look like a random NPC. They went on to lampshade this in his bio, saying that he went to Eden to get a whole new look.
Voiced by Shotaro Uzawa in Japanese and Connor Villard in English.
Sazh's young son, he loves Chocobos, and Sazh purchases the Chocobo Chick for him as a gift. Showing extreme maturity for his age, he comforts his father over the untimely death of his mother. Shortly before the game started, he was branded by the Cocoon fal'Cie Kujata and was taken by Jihl Nabaat into PSICOM custody. He completes his Focus and is crystallized a third of the way through the game, nearly prompting Sazh to commit suicide. Along with Serah, he awakens from crystal stasis during the game's ending.
A baby chocobo Sazh bought for his son Dajh at Euride Gorge. It has human intelligence and frequently stands in as a physical form of Sazh's conscience.
The Conscience: Talks Sazh out of killing himself multiple times.
Killer Rabbit: It took on a armed PSICOM soldier and won.
No Name Given: The chick is unnamed. The implication is that Sazh wants Dajh to have the honor of naming it. In Episode Zero, Sazh declares that he'll give it a name "as soon as they get back" and wants to give it a "cool, cute name".
In XIII-2 Dajh named her Chocolina, as it turned out she was a girl. Yes, the same name as the merchant.
The fal'Cie powering Cocoon hidden within the capital city, He is in stasis while the other fal'Cie draw upon his massive power to cater to the whims of Cocoon's inhabitants. He is in league with Barthandelus, wishing himself destroyed to release himself from the eternity of servitude he was created for.
Clipped Wing Angel: In comparison to his monstrous first form, his true form is quite tame, because at that point, he no longer has Barthandelus' and Menrva's power.
Creepy Child: Has a childlike face in the middle of an angelic wheel.
My Name Is Orphan: Sort of. The very impressive music that plays when he appears for the first time has an extremely big, dramatic, and loud opening, and the translation of the choir's Latin is "My name is Orphan! ORPHAN!"
Also somewhat counts for his fused form when he first appears. "We are the Abandoned One. Born, but now to die. Our name is Orphan. By our hand, the world shall know redemption."
One-Hit Kill: His final form has only one attack besides Doom, which he casts at the beginning of the battle, and repeatedly casts Death.
Also, it's possible to slaughter him with Vanille's Death if you're lucky.
Our Angels Are Different: He bears some similarities with a Throne (also known as an Ophan), a high angel shaped like a wheel and that governs energy that maintains the world: Fitting, considering his role in Cocoon.
Powered by a Forsaken Child: He is the forsaken child powering Cocoon. Which is why he is out to destroy himself.
Yin Yang Bomb: His first form, which is aptly accompanied by either the debuffing skill Consummate Darkness or the buffing skill Consummate Light.
Lindzei
The deity who is said to be the creator and master of Cocoon. The people of Pulse saw Lindzei as their greatest enemy and the source of all evil in the world. Many years before the beginning of the game, Lindzei supposedly abandoned the fal'cie of Cocoon and vanished. Lindzei does not actually appear within the game, but plays a very prominent role in the back story.
Abusive Parents: Lindzei was a parental figure to the Cocoon fal'cie and abandoned them long before the game begins.
Bigger Bad: Lindzei is said to be the master of the Cocoon fal'cie, which is supported by how Barthandelus reveres it enough to fashion the female half of Orphan's shell in its image. The Ultimania states that most of the fal'cie in Cocoon bear Lindzei's symbol, which also factors heavily into Orphan's design. While not explicitly confirmed, it is likely that Lindzei was the Maker that they were trying to summon, as opposed to the god Pulse.
FinalSolution: Linzei and his Fal'Cie children Barthandelus, Orphan, and Lulusathian Judge seem to like commiting mass genocide. While Lindzei's reasons are unknown the others attempted it to open the Door of Souls.
Guardian Entity: According to the mythology, Lindzei was made to be the protector of Pulse. One can only wonder what the hell happened.
He Who Must Not Be Seen: We never actually see Lindzei, although it's represented by a symbol and various statues.
Omnicidal Maniac: The prequel story states that Lindzei is the one who destroyed a good deal of Pulse, and that only two children - Fang and Vanille - survived the slaughter.
Riddle For The Ages: Why did Lindzei abandon Cocoon? Doubles as a bit of a Driving Question, especially to the Cocoon fal'Cie. Whether or not Lindzei is The Maker is also a bit of a puzzle.
Sigil Spam: Lindzei's mark is prominent throughout Cocoon, such as the head Dysley's Staff of Authority as well as Dajh and Cid's l'cie brands.
Satan: To the people of Pulse, at any rate. The viper comparisons really drive it home.
Playable in XIII- 2
Serah Farron
"The point is, I have people I can count on. I'll make it through."
Lightning's younger sister and Snow's fiancée, Serah was branded a l'Cie by the Pulse fal'Cie Anima prior to the game. Her Focus is what draws the party together, setting the plot in motion. Along with Dajh, she is revived from crystal stasis at the end of the game.
Demoted to Extra: She was originally meant to be the seventh party member, but problems with her implementation led to her being made an NPC, which resulted in Lightning's more serious personality and Fang's Gender Flip.
Posthumous Character: Subverted; she is largely developed as such, but crystallized l'Cie are indeed Only Mostly Dead, and she's revived along with Dajh during the ending.
Living with the rest of Team NORA in New Bodhum (Snow off searching for a way to free Vanille and Fang), Serah's world is shattered when monsters attack the village. Noel saves her, handing her a weapon so she can fight.The two then set off to investigate Lightning's fate — everyone believes she's dead, but Serah's memory shows the opposite. What is behind these strange events?Tropes present only in the sequel:
Badass: After being seperated from Noel, Serah ends up running into Caius. Knowing she can't win, she fights anyway and all with just one monster. She loses, Caius compliments her for doing a much better job then Noel did!
Badass Adorable: Seems to possess fighting skills on-par with the original party members now, but she's no less cute while doing it.
Her victory pose is catching Mog and giving him a hug. Aaaaaaw.
The Beastmaster: As with Lightning, she can collect crystals of monsters and raise them akin to Pokémon, the datalog explains this is a lesser form of Summon Magic.
Beware the Nice Ones: Among her students she has a reputation as a rather strict teacher and both Snow and Noel comment she is like Lightning when she is angry.
Leads to a unique Casting Gag with Noel, who has the same seiyu as Edge Maverick from the same game.
Fangirl: Of Snow. Best demonstrated in an optional Live Trigger where Noel asks her what Snow means to her where she goes into a rapid rant about how awesome he is as seen here.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Although she has never actually fought in her life, she is just as useful as Noel, who has been fighting monsters all his life, from battle one.
It was mentioned that she learned how to defend herself, which makes sense as she and the people of Bodhum chose to go off into the wilds of Pulse in search of a beach.
In the Blood: Takes charge after Lightning goes missing.
Mythology Gag: She wields a sword that can turn into a bow, just as Lightning uses a Gunblade. In the early Final Fantasy games, Archers were a prominent Job class that got phased out in favor of Gunners as the technology of the series shifted forward.
At first, the three paradigms she's shown to have were Commando, Ravager and Medic, the same ones Lightning specialized in.
More recently, she's been shown as having Commando, Ravager, and Sentinel, which were Snow's starting paradigms in the original game.
While she begins with Snow's paradigms at the start of the game, she also majors in Ravager and Saboteur just like Lightning and Vanille, respectively. Vanille and Serah were friends before XIII began.
Development Gag: Many suspect that he's derived from the original designs for Fang when she was a male. Noel also combines his weapons to form a spear akin to Fang's.
Expy: of Silver and Trunks: Leaning more to the former than the latter.
Appearance wise, he looks a lot like Fang from the previous game, and a bit like Sora.
His involvement with time travel, outfit and choice of weapon also make him pretty similiar to Serge from Chrono Cross.
Failure Knight: The Dulcinea Effect he displays upon meeting Serah is explained when we find out the people he wanted to protect before, including his Yuel, all died and he was powerless to stop it. This is also the source of his antagonism towards Snow.
The Hunter: He is from a time where monster hunting is one of the only reliable ways of getting food.
Javelin Thrower: His Meteor Javelin skill which shifts his swords to its spear form and throws it at the enemy multiple times. He will also toss javelins when he cannot reach the enemy.
Restart at Level One: Despite being a monster hunter capable of taking out a behemoth all by himself in his backstory, Noel starts the game at the game's equivalent to level 1 just like Serah.
Voiced by Sumire Morohoshi in Japanese and Ariel Winter in English.
A mysterious little creature, he makes himself useful by transforming into a weapon for Serah. No one knows much about this strange animal who calls himself her guardian. People were led to believe that moogles don't exist, and those who meet him for the first time assume he is merely a stuffed animal. Although shy at first, once he opens up, he is quite the chatterbox, teaching Serah and Noel all about the world and its history.
Butt Monkey: He gets poked, held, and thrown around.
It's not quite disproportionate. Across the various fragments you gather, it explains that ever since Mog fell into Valhalla, he's been going with the 'weak obey the strong' rule there. He's been rejected and abandoned multiple times by many powerful opponents, who didn't want such a weak creature. When he ran into Lightning, and lost his game, he expected to be abandoned again... but she told him to come with her. It was this kindness that made him swear fealty to Lightning.
One of the young Academy researchers. Bright and cheerful , she is a popular figure within the institute and the leader in Paradox studies. She is also a smart and canny scientist, and she has become Hope’s trusted assistant.
Buried Alive: She had a recurring nightmare that she died in the Purge this way. It's implied this is how she died in the unaltered timeline.
The Mole: And you wonder just how long she's been working against Serah and Noel. She was the one who proposed the Proto fal'Cie Project, and it's implied by Hope that the rebellion of its AI was no mere accident.
Ret Gone: Her primary motivation, as she believes that her original fate was to die in the Purge, and that if Noel and Serah fix the timeline then she will disappear. She may be justified in this: she is conspicuously absent in the 500AF Academia timeline, and if you speak to the Academy scientists in 4XXAF Academia they already seem to be forgetting her existence.
Traitor Shot: She is given one that Mog witnesses once Serah and Noel unknowningly enter a sabotaged time gate.
Caius Ballad
"Lose yourself in battle, and rejoice!"
Voiced by Hiroshi Shirokuma in Japanese and Liam O'Brien in English.
A mysterious figure, said to be a rival to Lightning and shown to be an antagonist to Noel and Serah.
Always Save the Girl: He wants to create a timeless world so that he can be together with Yeul.
The Bad Guy Wins: A first for the series. Despite everything that the heroes do, their efforts ultimately amount to nothing in the face of Caius' Xanatos Gambit.
Big Bad: Described by the producers as the most powerful Big Bad in the history of the series. Considering he's immortal, knows everything that will happen in the past, present and future, controls an army of monster Mooks, wields the most powerful spells and Summon Magic in the series, finally transforms into three godlike Bahumuts which you have to fight simultaneously, and lastly succeeds in his master plan to wipe out Time itself... they're probably right.
Blood Knight: Seems to be enjoying his fight with Lightning a bit too much.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Upon obtaining all 160 fragments and witnessing all Paradox endings, Caius is shown in an alternate ending where he is seemingly talking to the player.
He also talks to the player the first time the player replays the opening battle in Valhalla.
Cursed with Awesome: He can't die. He's lived for all of recorded history, at the very least. Every 10-15 years, he gets to see the girl he loves and has sworn to protect die, and he can't do anything about it.
Death Seeker: But not so much because he wants to die, as he feels that his death will save Yeul. When Noel proves incapable of killing him, he moves on to Plan B.
Despair Event Horizon: He crosses it, and comes out the other side with a plan — if Yeul keeps dying because of seeing the future and changes to the timeline, he'll just destroy time to stop it.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Yeul. To a lesser extent with Serah and Lightning, considering that Lightning is between 5'7" and 5'10" herself and she barely reaches his shoulder when they're standing back to back.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: What he does to Noel and Serah, and how Noel kills him in the end. Too bad that, like Yeul, there are many Caius' and it meant nothing.
Lightning disgustedly remarks, during the Final Boss Preview upon the opening of the game in Valhalla, that Caius is going easy on her and Noel, that he's only testing them. She's right.
This comes more into play with Serah and Noel since he uses almost none of the mind-boggling powers that he used to fight Lightning against them. In fact, whereas Lightning could give as good as she got... both Serah and Noel were shown to be 100% helpless when fighting him. Caius even condescendingly touches Serah's face when using time voodoo to show how helpless she is... before subsequently impaling her through the back.
Morphic Resonance: Look closely at Jet Bahamut. On the left side of its head are a pair of white feathery things and something that looks like a string of beads, mirroring Caius' hair feathers and beads in his human form.
Noel calls him out for his actions in-universe; since he's gone from fighting for Etro to battling against her because of Yeul's constant deaths.
In a more meta-example of an inversion, it appears that Caius is just your typical Final FantasyOmnicidal Maniac during the prologue sequence, but, as time goes by, it's later revealed that he's an Anti-Villain with a sympathetic motive and a morally grey end for his means. This wouldn't normally be worth a mention, but it considering how jarring it is to see him declare himself an Obviously Evilmass-murderer in the first act to a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds in the final one, it honestly makes one wonder whether the writer changed his mind about the character midway through the game.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Caius's Jet Bahamut form has four regular arms, in addition to the standard draconic wings from the shoulder.
Multiple Choice Past: His surname. Either it's a shortening of "Caius of the Ballads" or it's a name he took from a fallen man out of respect, both are used in canon. Although, considering the Timey Wimey Ball in play in this game, it's entirely possible that both really are true.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Sorta. His real first name is Caius, but Ballad is not his real last name. He took on the name after defeating a warrior who nearly killed him, as a show of respect. Alternately, he was originally known by the epithet of "Caius of the Ballads", meaning that his great deeds were the subject of many songs, which then became Caius Ballad. The canon disagrees with itself on this.
Playing with Fire: His Bahamut forms very clearly use this; although it ultimately counts as Non-Elemental for tradition's sake.
Poisonous Friend: Most Yeuls would rather just live peacefully with the time they have. He... disagrees.
Real Men Wear Purple: He has a purple headband, a purple scarf, and a purple aura emanating from his sword.
Recurring Boss: You must fight either him or one of his transformations no less than eight times in the main storyline alone—if you're after 100% Completion, you'll have to fight him an additional three times.
The Rival: To Noel. Ideally, he was to be succeeded by Noel, but Noel refused to do the Klingon Promotion.
Scaled Up: Can transform into "Chaos Bahamut" to fight the heroes. In the final battle, he transforms into Jet Bahamut and summons Amber and Garnet Bahamut. You have to fight them at the same time.
Slouch of Villainy: Does so—on Etro's throne, no less!—in both occasions where he breaks the fourth wall to talk to the players: the secret ending and the scene when the opening cinematics are replayed.
Sword Beam: One of the peskier attacks he uses when you fight him.
Thanatos Gambit: He carries Etro's heart in his body, as shown in the normal ending. This means that in her weakened state, his life is tied to Etro's — kill him, and she dies, leaving the chaos of Valhalla to overflow into the real world... which would allow him to create the timeless world he wanted. His plan to destroy Cocoon was just to get Noel angry enough to murder him.
Villainous Breakdown: In the ending, when Noel points out just whyYeul keeps choosing to reincarnate, despite knowing she'll just die again. It's to be with Caius. He is openly devastated at the realization.
Xanatos Gambit: Either his plans to destroy Time succeed (by killing Etro directly, or by forcing open the Unseen Gate), or the heroes kill him... which would destroy Time as well. Lightning realises the futility of fighting against him under these conditions, and allows herself to be defeated.
"I saw death. If I were to live, it would bring contradiction to...to the timeline."
Voiced by Mariya Ise in Japanese and Amber Hood in English.
A young woman seen in the company of Caius. She seems more friendly towards Noel and Serah than he is. If her name is any indication, she was the author of some of the Analects from the first game. States that Serah is like her, as the latter's psychic dreams would indicate.
Cassandra Truth: She warns our heroes that facing Caius for the final time won't go well. If you want to finish the game, you have no choice but to ignore her.
Cleavage Window: A very small one, that while showing much more stomach than chest, still qualifies.
Ironically, there is a "real" Yeul. It's the Yeul that ends up in Valhalla after dying. She choses to become her own Legacy Character in order to be with Caius again — and because living in Valhalla is not actually "living".
"The beauty's all mine, but the products can be yours—but only if you show me the money!"
Voiced by Seiko Ueda in Japanese and Julie Nathanson in English.
A quirky traveling merchant dressed in a costume that looks like a red chocobo. She sells a wide variety of equipment to Serah and Noel during their journey.
Animal Motifs: The chocobo. Fitting, because she is one.
Cloudcuckoolander: Aside from her odd costume, she never seems to grasp the seriousness of the current situation, almost always staying peppy and cheerful even when a giant, rampaging robot is on the loose. In Academia 400 AF, however, she is openly distraught by the events going on around her, which makes the situation all the more jarring.
No Hero Discount: Of course, she is less than sane, so she probably doesn't realize that you're the hero.
Shapeshifting: It's implied in-game that she literally is the Sexier Alter Ego of Dajh's Chocobo chick. This is later confirmed in Sazh's DLC. As it turns out, Chocolina got caught up in the distortion with Sazh and Dajh and wished to help others like Sazh always helped her, so Etro turned gave her a human body and the ability to be everywhere at once.
Took A Shortcut: She's always ahead of you, all set up and ready to do business, whether it's across the map or across timelines.
Hell, she's set up shop in Oerba 200AF despite the dimensional flux.
She's even set up shop in Fake New Bohdum, a dream world, of all places!
Etro
The Goddess of Death who is said to be the creator of the human race. Etro does not actually appear within the game, but plays a very prominent role in the back story.
Despair Event Horizon: Being powerless compared to Pulse and Lindzei as well as thinking of Mwynn caused her to cross it in the myth.
Deus ex Machina: Actually, could be seen as a Deconstruction of this trope. Specifically, her Deus Ex Machina actions at the end of Final Fantasy XIII break the laws of reality, which causes a Time Crash and unleashes Chaos into the world, which Etro must attempt to seal at the cost of her life.
Divine Intervention: She often takes pity on humanity in their struggles. Final Fantasy XIII-2 confirms that the ending of Final Fantasy XIII, in which the party members were de-crystallized and had their l'Cie brands removed, was the direct result of her intervention. This intervention came with a high price...
Enigmatic Empowering Entity: She has gifted Lightning with godlike power, as well as granted Yeul and Serah with her eyes allowing them to see the future and Caius with her heart; granting him immortality.
◊, who transforms into a horse during his Gestalt Mode.She changed her name to "Lightning" after the death of her parents as part of an effort to change herself into a stronger, more confident person capable of protecting both herself and her little sister. While her new Stoic personality was perfect for the Guardian Corp, she ended up developing a Married to the Job Ice Queen persona that hindered her Relationship Values and distanced her from Serah.The first game centers around the defrosting of this persona as she is forced to confront her failings as a caretaker and as a sister.
◊. They transform into a motorbike during their Gestalt Mode.
◊, and it transforms into a bipedal mech with four machine gun turrets in its Gestalt Mode. The resemblance to magiteck armor is a complete coincidence.
◊, a female Fire-elemental, who can turn into a race car in her Gestalt Mode.
◊, which has the ability to turn into a fortress in Gestalt Mode.
◊, who has no element, which also turns into a flying dragon in its Gestalt Mode.
Living with the rest of Team NORA in New Bodhum (Snow off searching for a way to free Vanille and Fang), Serah's world is shattered when monsters attack the village. Noel saves her, handing her a weapon so she can fight.The two then set off to investigate Lightning's fate — everyone believes she's dead, but Serah's memory shows the opposite. What is behind these strange events?
