< Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII/Characters


A list of characters from Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Playable Characters

Claire/Eclair "Lightning" Farron

"It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do."

Voiced by Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese and Ali Hillis in English.

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 transforming gunblade 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 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.

General tropes and those present in the first game:

Lightning: [before using Army of One]: "I'm no one's slave!"
Lightning: [before using Zantetsuken]: "The storm is here!"
Lightning: Nice gun.

"Odin... Cut us a path!"

“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.

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:

Snow Villiers

"Since when have heroes ever needed plans?"

Voiced by Daisuke Ono in Japanese and Troy Baker in English.

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.
  • 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.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Literally. Although, since he wants to live and breathe this trope, this had to happen sometime.
  • The Big Guy: At somewhere around 6'7", he's the biggest human PC in a Final Fantasy game yet.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Boisterous Bruiser: And how!
  • Clothes Make the Superman: Before the L'cie did, anyway.
  • Determinator: He never believes destroying Cocoon is his Focus and strives relentlessly to save it instead.
  • Does Not Know His Own Strength: Especially around Hope and Serah.
  • Expy: Of Shinjiro Aragaki, of Persona 3 fame. If you can't see it, compare his plot line with Hope to Shinji's plot line with Ken.
    • He is also basically Seifer.
    • 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 determined romantic 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.
  • Hair of Gold
  • The Hero: Deconstructed. He identifies himself as one, but at first the world is just so crapsack that he mostly serves as a source of irritation for Lightning, the actual protagonist, until Character Development happens...
    • 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).
  • Heroic BSOD:
    • 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.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Compared to Serah, Snow is HUGE.
  • Hunk: Lampshaded by Serah in XIII-2.
  • Fearless Fool
  • An Ice Person: As with Lightning, it's not hard to see why this is his main magic element.
  • Ideal Hero: Leads to being an Idiot Hero, at first, since he doesn't consider anything other than ideals when trying to be heroic. However, as the most idealistic one in the team, he can also be the most clear-sighted, which becomes important after the Trauma Conga Line renders everyone doubtful and unsure.
  • 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.
  • Keet
  • Hurricane Kick: His version of Blitz is one.
  • Large Ham: Just listen to his shouts, boasts, and cries! Troy Baker was clearly not afraid to unleash the hog.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Judging by his Shirtless Scene.
  • Megaton Punch: Snow's Sovereign Fist.
  • 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.
  • Perma-Stubble
  • Paradigm System
    • Commando
    • Ravager
    • Sentinel. With the most support equipment for defending, he's got this role down pat; except he's missing Elude.
  • Roundhouse Kick: His version of Blindside are these.
  • Shirtless Scene: Snow is ripped.
  • Stone Wall: Has the highest HP of any character, but the worst Magic and only slightly above-average Strength. He is best in the Sentinel role.
    • Mighty Glacier: With a certain setup he can become a very powerful physical attacker by sacrificing some of his very high HP count.
  • Summon Magic

"Cool them 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-Ass-Kicking 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:

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.

A mysterious girl with red hair tied up in pigtails who, despite facing hardships, is an upbeat and caring person. Her weapon is a strange kind of fishing rod. Her Eidolon is the many-armed Hecatoncheir, 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.

Vanille: My name is Oerba Dia Vanille. I'm a l'Cie, from Gran Pulse. And to everyone on Cocoon... evil.

"Come on Hecaton!"

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 [dead link] , a female Fire-elemental, who can turn into a race car in her Gestalt Mode.

"I summon Brynhildr!"

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:

Hope Estheim

"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.

Hope [before using Last Resort]: I decide my fate!

"We need your help big guy."

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:

  • Adventure Archaeologist
  • Badass Bookworm: Is head of the Academy research group.
  • 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.
  • Bishonen: 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.
  • Hot Scientist
  • 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.
  • Meaningful Name: Snow even lampshades it in a paradox ending.
  • The Messiah
  • 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.)
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: His reasons for entering the Academy were to find a way to bring back Lightning, Fang, Vanille, and his mother Nora.
  • Supporting Leader
  • Static Stun Gun: His new boomerang has an electromagnetic pulse which stuns paradox creatures.
  • 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.

"I'd tear down the sky if that's what it took to keep Vanille safe."

"Rain down hell!"


Sanctum Officials

Primarch Galenth Dysley/Barthandelus

"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.

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.

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.

Fang: "He really wants us dead!"

Brigadier General Cid Raines

"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.

Lieutenant Amodar

"Listen up, Farron! Your mission is to dominate this field of battle! I wanna hear that blade sing!"

Voiced by Yuji Ueda in Japanese and Dave Wittenberg in English.

A lieutenant in the Bohdum Security Regimen of the Guardian Corps and Lightning's immediate superior.

Captain Rygdea

"Damn idealism! Ya feed it blood and it howls for more!"

Voiced by Yasuyuki Kase in Japanese and Josh Robert Thompson in English.

A soldier in Cid Raines's airship fleet, he is Cid's right hand man and aids the party at his request.

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 Yū Asakawa in Japanese and Anndi McAfee 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.

Dajh Katzroy

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.

Chocobo Chick

/Chocolina

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.
  • Fan Nickname: Frocobo
  • Head Pet: Resides in Sazh's Funny Afro.
  • Hot-Blooded
  • Intellectual Animal
  • Killer Rabbit: Its entry in the Datalog implies it. The fact that it took on a armed PSICOM soldier and won confirms it.
  • 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.
  • Precision F-Strike:

Sazh: "Hurry the what up?"

Orphan

"You overreach yourselves."

Voiced by Hiro Shimono in Japanese and Michael Sinterniklaas in English.

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.
  • Death Seeker
  • Eldritch Abomination
  • Evil Orphan
  • Eye Beams
  • Fan Disservice: He has a creepy giant, serpentine woman caressing him through the whole final battle.
  • Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Luckily he gets mauled another cutscene later.
  • Holy Hand Grenade / Light Is Not Good: Like Barthandelus, his attacks are light-based.
  • I Am Legion: When fused with Barthandelus and a representation of Lindzei.
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate: The premise. If he could, there would be no need to train l'cie, the main party, into killing him. So there would be no game.
  • Mechanical Lifeform
  • 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."
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Killing everyone for some vague 'rebirth'.
  • 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.
  • Slasher Smile: Right before the final battle.
  • Voice of the Legion
  • 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.
  • Final Solution: 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."

Voiced by Minako Kotobuki in Japanese and Laura Bailey in English.

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.

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:

Noel Kreiss

"You want her? Then you're gonna have to go through me!"

Voiced by Jason Marsden in English and Daisuke Kishio in Japanese

A mysterious youth from Gran Pulse who appears to protect Serah when New Bodhum is attacked by monsters. They set out together to find Lightning.

"What a pretty little girl! I do like 'em pretty! But look at this boy, he's even prettier!"

Others in XIII-2

Mog

"Time for some moogle magic. Kupo"

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.
  • Cloudcuckoolander
  • Disproportionate Reward: He swore fealty to Lightning because he lost to her... In a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
    • 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.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Empathic Weapon/Living Weapon: He turns into Serah's bowsword.
  • Exposition Fairy: Mog sure knows a lot about time travel and paradoxes.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Mog doesn't remember much of anything before Valhalla.
  • Legacy Character
  • Made of Iron: Go on, throw him at anything. No matter what he bounces off or where he falls, he'll be fine.

"You guys play rough, kupo."

Alyssa Zaidelle

"It's my friend's. She died here. Running from the Purge. And me? I'm one of those who survived."

Voiced by Yoko Hikasa in Japanese and Kim Mai Guest in English.

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.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: For Hope.
  • Deus Est Machina: The Proto Fal'cie Adam she created.
  • Girly Run
  • Hot Scientist
  • Mission Control
  • Of Corsets Sexy
  • Older Than They Look: She's the same age as Hope if the demo is to be believed; does she look 24
  • Sexy Secretary: She's Hope's.
  • She's Got Legs
  • Shorttank: Has something of this as her physical design. Whether or not it shows up in her personality is to be revealed.
  • Who Wears Short Shorts?
  • Spoiler tropes:
    • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
    • Freudian Excuse: Alyssa believes that she is only alive because of an anomaly in the timeline, and that if Serah and Noel correct the timeline then she will be Ret-Gone.
    • Help Face Turn: Except she turned to the villain for help!
    • Lured into a Trap: How she betrays Serah and Noel.
    • 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.
  • Badass: He's said to be the strongest rival in the Final Fantasy series! And he shows it too by completely owning the Shiva sisters with one grab to the face!
  • 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.
  • The Battle Didn't Count: Constantly. Justified in game mechanics by giving him the Auto-Raise status.
  • 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.
  • BFS: The biggest one in the game, so far.
  • 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.
  • Colony Drop: He favours the Comet spell.
  • 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.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Has purple eyes and purple hair.
  • 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.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: He has the same voice as Kain Highwind.
  • Evil Weapon: Or it at least looks that way, it even has an eyeball and it glows. Just like another sword.
  • Expy: His character designer Yusuke Naora said his look was inspired by Leon.
  • Feather Motif: He seems to share this with Lightning (his are, of course, black, to contrast with her white).
  • Gravity Master: Outside of summoning comets, his favorite spell is Gravity, he spams it in every fight.
  • Hair Decorations: Beads and feathers and headbands, oh my!
  • Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
  • 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.
  • Immortality Inducer: The Heart of Chaos.
  • 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-es, and it meant nothing.
  • Just Toying with Them:
    • 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.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He is fast. And he hits hard. Each and every time.
  • Love Makes You Evil: All of that chaos and destruction just to keep Yeul alive.
  • Magic Knight
  • Manipulative Bastard: The ending and the secret ending, Caius, you bastard!
  • 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.
  • Motive Decay / What the Hell, Hero?:
    • 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 Fantasy Omnicidal 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 Evil mass-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.
    • Cursed with Awesome pretty much explains everything. The writers wanted the What the Hell, Hero? reaction from the get go.
  • 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.
  • Not So Stoic: He is shown crying once, and goes batshit crazy during the final battle.
  • 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.
  • Purple Is Powerful
  • 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 One Hundred Percent 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.
  • Sticks to the Back
  • Summon Magic
  • 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.
  • Time Master
  • Villainous Breakdown: In the ending, when Noel points out just why Yeul keeps choosing to reincarnate, despite knowing she'll just die again. It's to be with Caius. He is openly devastated at the realization.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Can transform himself into Bahamut.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
  • 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.
  • You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Paddra Nsu-Yeul

"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.

Chocolina

"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.
  • Bare Your Midriff
  • 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.
  • Expy: She's one to O'aka.
  • Fluffy Fashion Feathers
  • Genki Girl
  • Intrepid Merchant: So much so that she appears at least once in most of the different timelines
  • 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.
  • Stripperific
  • The Pollyanna
  • Thigh-High Boots
  • 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 backstory.

Valfodr, The Arbiter of Time

"You seek a trial?"

Voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura in Japanese and Steve Blum in English.

The keeper of the Coliseum, where he handles the downloadable content fights and gives a background story to each enemy.

Back to Final Fantasy XIII
  1. ↑ both physically and in personality
  2. ↑ The glasses grant Debuff Duration -33%
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