Final Fantasy XIII/Awesome

• This scene. Just...everything about that scene.
• Moms are tough.
  • To clarify, Hope's mom saved Snow from a gunship by firing a rocket launcher up it's laser's ass. Hence the above line.
• Big Damn Snow's epic save in Palumpolum. Check it out.
• When the party first goes to Gran Pulse. l'Cie also appear to be expert acrobats.
• The ending, which also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
• How about the one scene with Sazh and Vanille, the two comic relief characters escaping from the Palamecia? Both of them are being held hostage, but when two guards come in to take them away, one is taken out by Sazh after his chocobo chick body slams his face, and when the automated flying thing tries to apprehend them, Vanille picks up a gun, screaming as she empties a clip into it. In FFXIII, you don't mess with the comic relief.
  • The scene shortly before the capture - you know, the scene where Sazh just found out Vanille's secrets and nearly shoots her, than nearly shoots himself is a more meta CMOA for Vanille's (English) voice actress. Up until then, Vanille's voice acting was the weakest in the game - too chirpy, shrill, unrealistic and obnoxious. Then came this one scene, and I forgave her everything.

Vanille: My name is Oerba Dia Vanille. I'm a l'Cie from Gran Pulse, and to the everyone on Cocoon - evil. Shoot me! For your son.

• • • It's also a crowning moment for the characters themselves. These lines may not seem impressive, but in context, they rival Assault On Eden in terms of awesomeness.

Vanille: (broken voice) "It's not over..."
Sazh: (fires over Vanille's shoulder) "Okay, fine! You want me? Come and get me!"

• Lightning on the Purge train at the beginning of Chapter 1. the train hits a bump in the tracks, and without a weapon, she bashes the guard and then takes over the train.
• In the second cutscene of Chapter 12, when Lightning leads everyone in jumping off of the Grand Prix track. She falls maybe 500 feet, makes the landing, and kills about a dozen Homeguard and PSICOM soldiers before Vanille lands.
• Lightning's attitude is a Crowning Moment of Awesome. Especially in the first half of the game, where she blows up trains, armies, aircrafts, zombies, and a god like being with a casual self-assurance that makes her act like she's just going to pick up some bread from the store.
  • A prime example of the above. Do not try to take Lightning prisoner.
  • This troper is already congratulating Lightning for doing what no other Final Fantasy protagonist has done so far, regardless of how practical and reasonable it would have been: Picking up a rocket launcher and blasting the enemies with it! Oh, Selphie would be proud.
• Lightning shouting "I'm No One's Slave!" when she uses Army of One in the final battles of the game, especially against the final boss' first form.
  • Army of One alone is awesome. Push an entire into Stagger and watch as the percentage skyrockets easily to 999%.
• Hope, in Chapter 7. He tries to fight the Ushmajal Subjugator by himself, after Snow gets swatted aside.

Hope: Always the hero. You want to die? ...You can't.
"Battle Team Changed - Hope: Ravager"
Hope: I won't let you!

• • Even the interface gets a CMOA here.
    • And then? Just when it looks like Hope's toast, Lightning and Fang come out of nowhere and have their own Big Damn Heroes moment. And suddenly a Hopeless Boss Fight becomes a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
    • Hopeless Boss Fight? With careful management of the Paradigms Hope could Cherry Tap the thing to death all by himself.^[1]
  • Hope gets another one just before the final battle:

Hope: You say you want your Day of Wrath, do you? Well it's coming right up!

• Snow has a lesser Big Damn Heroes moment in the very first chapter: Hey C'ieth, you want to chunk up Tagalong Kid Vanille and Hope? Not if Snow's fist has anything to say about it.
• I'd say Dysley gets one when the heroes first confront him. Seeing a frail old man effortlessly destroy numerous troops, including Jihl, is quite a sight. Then he follows it up with an epic speech to open the fight:

Dysley: I am fal'Cie. My name is Barthandelus. Voice of the Sanctum and Lord Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie. Your kind feared the dark and 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!

• • I completely agree with the above. You initially dismiss Dysley as a frail old man, but seeing him fry soldiers and Jihl makes you think this could be interesting. Seeing him become fal'Cie Barthandelus pretty much makes you go Oh Crap... the epic quote he says, along with our heroes similataneous Oh Crap, makes it even better.
• Orphan gets one at the end with his Dynamic Entry accompanied by Crowning Music of Awesome. His speech before the fight, with his Voice of the Legion is also made of win:

Orphan: We are the Abandoned One, born but now to die. Our name is Orphan. By our hand, the world shall know redemption.

• Lightning's final speech to Orphan before initiating the final battle.
  • Capped off by the opening line in said battle (provided she's the party leader):

"Find your own road to hell!"

• "You want quiet? Wait for the next train."
• Hope is an instant away from killing Snow. Then there's an explosion, and Hope gets knocked off the side of the building. What's Snow's response? Without even thinking about it, he drops off the side of the building, grabs Hope, and cradles his body with his own to shield him as they fall through multiple panes of glass and hit the ground. That is what it means to be a hero: to save even the ones who want to kill you. Then, when Snow recovers, despite being so badly wounded he can barely walk, he puts Hope on his shoulders, pockets Hope's knife, and then proceeds to haul him across the city. That is where, in my eyes, Snow went from a well-intentioned idiot to a true hero worthy of the title. See the whole scene here.
  • Completely agreed. And adding onto it, he's shown at one point to be scaling a building rung by rung. Despite being badly wounded and carrying Hope on his shoulder, this guy will NOT GIVE UP.
• Yaag Rosch's You Shall Not Pass moment. Before that, cementing himself as A Father to His Men.
• Any time Fang ends a battle with Highwind, due to the impossibly cool animation of the move multiplied by her own awesomeness (and hotness). Especially if it's a Boss Battle. Doubly so if the boss was about to finish off the party with a One-Hit Kill move.
• A truly underrated example in Chapter 10: As you waltz through the Fifth Ark, you come across Cid Raines. Shortly afterward, Lightning assumes he's a traitor and attacks him. And by this point, Lightning has proved herself as a very capable Action Girl. However, when she attacks Cid Raines, he stops her strikes barehanded (he has gloves, but still), briefly takes her gunblade, and sent her flying. In other words... he just curbstomped Lightning.
  • In addition, the revelation that he's a l'Cie, and the immediate boss fight, show that Cid Raines is truly an underrated character.

1. ↑ It'd still be easier to take a pounding to bring Lightning and Fang in though...