Final Fantasy XIII
Playable characters
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Lightning
A former Sergeant of the Cocoon military, Lightning sought the fal'Cie of Pulse only to be made a l'Cie much to her dismay. Lightning has long pink-brown hair and is 177 cm tall (5'10"). Originally named Éclair Farron, she discarded her birth name after her parents died in an attempt to emotionally reinforce herself so she could protect her sister Serah, though this only causes things to worsen between them. For her design, character designer Tetsuya Nomura was asked to create a "female version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII". During development, he described her as "not very feminine". Lightning wields a weapon called a Blaze Edge that is a combination of a gun and a sword (one collapsing into the other) and can also manipulate gravity with a device on her thumb (though due to Sazh's interference, this device becomes damaged).In battle, she is agile and uses acrobatic moves. She can also summon the Eidolon Odin to fight by her side in battle, who can assume a horse-like form that she can ride on. While riding, Lightning dual wields Odin's detachable sword. Her l'Cie mark is in the center of her chest. Her strongest unique special attack is called Scene Drive.[26] Her Japanese voice actress is Maaya Sakamoto.
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Snow Villiers
Prior to becoming a l'Cie, Snow is the head of Team Nora, a resistance group against Cocoon. He is a big character and is capable of running while carrying two people.He was nicknamed "Mr. 33 cm" by the staff of Final Fantasy XIII as a nod to his shoe size. He uses his fists to take down opponents, focusing on brute force compared to the fast and agile Lightning. After becoming a l'Cie, Snow gains the power to summon the Shiva Sister Eidolons, Nix and Styria, who can combine into a motorcycle form for Snow to ride while toting a large gun. Unlike most grapplers, Snow changes his runes on his coat rather than buying new gloves. His Japanese voice actor is Daisuke Ono.
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Vanille is a mysterious but upbeat young girl with red-brown hair worn in pigtails who lives in Oerba Village located within Gran Pulse, also serving as the game's narrator.Her weapon is a kind of foldable fishing rod with multiple lines that can be reeled. She has been a l'Cie for a long time, and has been crystallized and restored again and again to finish Focuses the fal'Cie assigned. Her most recent restoration is in order for her to summon the Eidolon Ragnarok to defeat the fal'Cie Ophan together with the others in the party. Her Eidolon is Hecatoncheir, a multiple-limbed, earth-elemental summon who can transform into a bipedal mech armed with machine guns that she can pilot. Vanille is voiced by Yukari Fukui in the Japanese version and Georgia van Cuylenburg in the English version.
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Sazh Katzroy
Sazh is a middle-aged man with an afro whom Lightning knows from her time serving in the military; he is a professional airship pilot. Sazh wields dual pistols (which can be combined to form a collapsible rifle), and his strong point is striking enemies from a distance. His l'Cie mark is at the base of his neck. He has a six-year-old son named Dajh - saving him is Sazh's main motivation. He also has a pet baby chocobo that lives inside his afro. Sazh is described as having good judgment and moral discernment. He has a gentle personality and is easily moved to tears, and joins the party early in the game. His Eidolon is Brynhildr, a female fire-elemental knight original to this game, who can transform into a race car. His Japanese voice actor is Masashi Ebara.
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Hope Estheim
Hope is a fourteen-year-old boy with silvery-blonde hair and orange, yellow, and green clothing. He uses collapsible boomerangs in battle. During the Purge, his mother offers to help Snow and Team Nora fight off PSICOM. She dies during the battle, and though Snow honors her final request to protect her son, Hope nonetheless hates Snow in a grief-induced rage for his connection to his mother's death. His Eidolon is the holy-elemental summon Alexander, which transforms into a fortress in Gestalt Mode, and is able to blast enemies from afar with multiple cannons. His Japanese voice actor is Yūki Kaji. His English voice actor is Vincent Martella.
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Oerba Yun Fang
A raven-haired woman who comes from Oerba Village, donning clothing resembling the traditional Indian Sari adorned with tribal accessories, and bearing the mark of a l'Cie on her left shoulder. As revealed by Tetsuya Nomura in an interview, during the early stages of development she was originally scripted to be a male character.[45] Though she is a l'Cie from Pulse, she actually works for the Cocoon Sanctum under Cid. She wields a spear that can transform into a sansetsukon in battle, and her Eidolon is Bahamut, who can take flight in his Gestalt-mode. Fang can also assume a lizard-like berserker form. She is voiced by Mabuki Andou in the Japanese version of the game.[46]
Villains
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Jihl Nabaat: An intelligent but cruel woman with knee-length blonde hair and glasses who is a Lieutenant Colonel of PSICOM. She is first seen in interrogating the captive Vanille and Sazh in the trailers. She sees the l'Cie as subhumans, and is bent on exterminating them. As the henchwoman of Galenth Dysley, Nabaat is the final obstacle between the main party and Galenth; however, she is killed by the latter when he decides she has outlived her usefulness. Nabaat is voiced by Mie Sonozaki in Japanese.
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Yaag Rosch: An intimidating-looking man with a scar on his forehead and silver hair that is tied back in a ponytail. Rosch is Nabaat's right-hand man in PSICOM and Lightning's former superior. Unlike Nabaat, Rosch has begun to question his order from the Holy Government though he feels he must follow his orders for the sake of its people. He is mortally wounded after fighting the main party in Proud Clad; after begging of them to save Cocoon, Rosch sacrifices himself to ensure the main party is not pursued. Rosch is voiced by Hiroki Tōchi in Japanese.
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Cid Raines: An Air Force Brigadier from Sanctum who commands the warship Lindblum and uses a Blaze Edge as his weapon. Like Rosch, Cid doubts the government in its current state and sees Cocoon should be run by its people instead of the fal'Cie. He later ends up becoming a l'Cie and, soon after, a Cie Corpse after failing to achieve his Focus. After fighting Lightning's group before he ends up being crystalized and disintegrated. However, Cid is revived by Galenth to create chaos in Eden until Rygdea puts him out of his misery. Cid is voiced by Yūichi Nakamura in Japanese.
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Galenth Dysley: The main antagonist of the game, and leading figure of the Sanctum of Cocoon. In reality, he is actually the fal'Cie King of Pulse, using Lightning's group to summon the Eidolon Ragnarok to deal with Ophan. He assumes his true form, Baldanders, before being assimilated into Ophan. He is voiced by Masaru Shinozuka in Japanese.
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Ophan: A wheel-like fal'Cie of the sun element who betrayed Galenth and created Cocoon. As a result, Ophan's defeat is the Focus of Lightning's group. First appearing after assimilating Galenth, Ophan uses its power to turn all but Vanille and Fang into Cie Corpses. However, when Fang uses her l'Cie power to kill it, Ophan retaliates by torturing her until the others return to normal and destroy Ophan's shell, therefore defeating Ophan in its true form.
Other characters
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Serah Farron: Though mentioned by her given name in earlier news, Yoshinori Kitase confirmed her appearance and full name during Gamescom 2009. Serah is Lightning's younger sister and engaged to Snow - a relationship of which Lightning does not approve. Serah is the first Pulse l'Cie in Cocoon by the Fal'Cie Anima, and her mark is located in her left arm and also given the Focus to lure most potential l'Cie to the ruins where Anima resides. She crystalizes after unknowingly fulfilling the Focus through Lightning and Snow as they attempt to find a means to save her in the fal'Cie's place. After Ophan's defeat, Serah returns to normal and is reunited with her sister and Snow. Serah is voiced by Minako Kotobuki in Japanese.
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Rygdea: A captain working under Cid Raines's command, later killing him as an act of mercy. He is voiced by Yasuyuki Kase in Japanese and Josh Robert Thompson in English.
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Dajh Katzroy: Sazh's son, whose mother died when he was three. The baby Chocobo that rides around in Sazh's afro actually belongs to Dajh, who bought the little chocobo at a gift shop during their travels together. When Dajh unexpectedly becomes an l'Cie, he is taken from Sazh by Jihl Nabaat as a martyr for Cocoon to use his power of sensing "Pulse" to track down other l'Cie. Like Serah, Dajh returns to normal after Ophan's defeat. Dajh is voiced by Shōtarō Uzawa in Japanese.
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Team Nora: In the Jump Festa 2009 and the official global trailer The four known members of NORA are featured in the first Final Fantasy XIII demo, although Maqui does not participate in battles, three characters who are part of Snow's resistance group, Nora, are seen in the hijack of the captives' train. The first three characters were designed by Nao Ikeda, who based their clothing on sports, having been inspired by NBA, beach volleyball, and snowboarding fashions, respectively.The four known members of NORA are featured in the first Final Fantasy XIII demo, although Maqui does not participate in battles.
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Gadot, a man with orange hair and dark olive skin. He uses a machine gun in battle, providing quick assistance when it comes to executing combos. Gadot is voiced by Biichi Satō in Japanese.
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Lebreau, a black-haired woman with a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder and a sense of invincibility. She uses a shotgun in combat and acts as the team healer. Gadot and Lebreau are said to be childhood friends of Snow. Lebreau is voiced by Yū Asakawa in Japanese.
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Maqui, a relatively younger, blond-haired, worrisome man with goggles on his head. He was friends with Serah prior to meeting Snow, whom he idolizes to the point of dressing himself in a attire similar to his. Maqui is voiced by Makoto Naruse in Japanese.
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Yuge: Voiced by Wataru Hatano in Japanese.
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Final Fantasy versus XIII
Noctis wields many weapons, ranging from swords, spears, and lances to guns. He controls them with telekinesis (through the power of the Crystal), using them for both attack and defense. Nomura has stated that each weapon has a different usage and is not directly limited by normal standards of attack; for instance, some weapons are also usable as shields (as seen in the trailers). Noctis also has the ability to teleport or to suddenly move at a high speed, though it is unknown what role this skill will have in the actual gameplay.
Noctis's personality is different from any other character in the Final Fantasy franchise (including that of Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII and Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII) and is one that Nomura had wanted to try out for a long time. In the past, protagonists were given strong personalities while distinctive ones were delegated to the supporting cast, but Nomura states that Noctis's idiosyncrasies mark a departure from this tradition. Although his character is said to be hard to define given his complexities, a good measure of his personality can be sensed from his first meeting with Stella. Noctis hides his shyness underneath a façade of coolness in front of her, which creates a cold and unsociable impression. However, he smiles and acts more openly around his friends, a testament to Nomura's statement that "[Noctis] is not the least bit a silent, gloomy little boy."
Stella Nox Fleuret, a young woman with blonde hair, is said to be the princess of the Fleuret family of the country Tenebrae (Latin for "darkness") and an enemy to Noctis, though her allegiances are under suspicion. Stella Nox is Latin (albeit incorrectly inflected) for "Night Star." Fleuret is the French name of the fencing foil, a direct reference to Stella's weapon of choice, a rapier. Like Noctis, she is able to materialize weapons from thin air, as she is shown summoning her rapier from a rune similar to one used by Noctis to summon his sword, though Stella's rune is golden while Noctis's is blue.
Like that of Noctis, a good measure of Stella's personality can be sensed in her first meeting with Noctis. For instance, in their discussion about the power they share (defined as a special ability to see the "light") and its connection to an old legend, Stella is very open about the matter while Noctis seems reluctant to talk about it, suggesting that they keep it a secret. Stella is described to be ladylike and extremely polite but direct in her manner — a reflection of her proper but strong upbringing. She acts according to her beliefs, and doesn't shy away from problems. Nomura states that she will be the first to stand out from other female characters in the Final Fantasy franchise, although it is not specified how.
Noctis has three companions who have been revealed in the video game magazine Famitsu. The first is a man with light brown hair and glasses who is seen wearing a suit and driving the protagonist's car. The second is a bulkier man with dark brown hair and a scar on the left side of his face. The third is a younger man with blond hair who is seen carrying a shotgun and teasing Noctis. These three people are Noctis' friends; they speak casually and amicably with him, and they also accompany him during his travels.
Another character, shown in a white cloak (possibly a symbolic contrast to the protagonist's darker clothing, which may imply another character foil), is seen facing off with Noctis in a building near Noctis' castle. Noctis approaches the character angrily, and they cast spells at each other, implying that they are enemies.
Soldiers have been featured in the trailers as well. These unknown warriors wear medieval-styled armor but carry assault rifles that resemble modern automatic weapons. Some of these soldiers are marauders trying to take the crystals as their own, as many of them attack Noctis.
Another man, older than Noctis and dressed in a business suit, is shown leading a meeting with several other men. He is seated at the head of a long table in a large room that resembles a cathedral.
Final Fantasy agito XIII
Twelve characters have been revealed so far, all appearing to be students. Their weapons include a longsword, a katana, handguns, a shotgun, a mace, a bow and arrow, a spear, a scythe, an extending flail, martial arts, a flute, and a deck of cards.
