Oerba Dia Vanille

Oerba Dia Vanille is a playable character in the game, Final Fantasy XIII. She is a mysterious girl with red hair tied up in pigtails, and, despite facing hardships, an upbeat and caring person.

Her outfit is apparently inspired by the traditional clothes of the Namibian Himba women. According to Dengeki PS3, the fur sash she is wearing was made from a bear she defeated by herself. She is also seen wearing the robes that the people exiled from Cocoon wear.

Story
Vanille is a resident of Pulse, along with Oerba Yun Fang, and a l'Cie like the rest of the main cast. Five centuries before the events of the game, during the War of Revalations between Pulse and Cocoon, Vanille and Fang both lost their families at the hands of Cocoon's l'Cie and fal'Cie and became close friends after meeting at Oerba's Orphanage. When Fang became a l'Cie in order to protect her and Pulse, Vanille, worried about Fang and not wanting to be left alone, tagged along with Fang and decided to become an l'Cie too. By the powers of Pulse's fal'Cie, Vanille and Fang are granted the power of Ragnarok and given the Focus to destroy both sides. In the climax of the Great War, Vanille is too scared to use the power of Ragnarok and Fang was forced to become Ragnarok on her own. Fang's incomplete Ragnarok is unable to destroy Cocoon, yet she and Vanille were crystalized as they managed to lay waste to Gran Pulse. 500 years later, Vanille and Fang were revived within Cocoon after they brought in by Galenth, who infiltrated Cocoon in order to complete its destruction. As Vanille and Fang are awakened, Vanille discovers that Fang has lost her memories of the events dealing with Ragnarok and pretends that she has forgotten them as well to hide the truth and prevent Fang from risking her life again. Events force Vanille and Fang to be separated and by the time the game begins, with Vanille meeting Serah and apologizing to her for the hardship she is to suffer in spite of her support.

As the game opens up, Vanille is among those saved by Snow Villiers and Team Nora from the train carrying exiles to Pulse. After Hope Estheim loses his mother, she provides him some comfort. Together, they ride an air vehicle into the Pulse fal'Cie. After journeying further into the fal'Cie, they are assaulted by Cie Corpses as Snow comes to their aid, joining him to save Serah before her companions all become l'Cie.

Vanille spends a fair part of the game traveling with Sazh Katzroy soon after being separated from Lightning and Hope, and the two develop a close friendship. However, that friendship is tested when, thanks to Jihl Nabaat, Sazh learns of Vanille's inadvertent role in his son, Dajh, becoming a l'Cie. Admitting fault, Vanille tells Sazh to shoot her for all the suffering that she caused him and his son, and after Sazh asks her if she thinks he will forgive her if she dies, Vanille asks him what she should do. After Sazh summons Brynhildr, who is about to strike him, Vanille stands between them in order to shield Sazh. She helps him defeat and tame Brynhildr, but still feels that she has to die for her sins. Soon after seeing Sazh apparently commit suicide, she is captured by the Sanctum and seen walking chained in a funeral procession overseen by Jihl while Sazh is encased in the casket. During their captivity, Sazh forgives Vanille when he realizes what happened to Dajh was an accident and not really her fault.

Much later, upon realizing she was responsible for the destruction of her tribe, she goes into a state of emotional distress, and her l'Cie mark begins to glow, initiating the start of her battle with her Eidolon, Hecatoncheir, which Fang helps her tame.

Later in the game, the fal'Cie Orphan forced her and Fang to summon Ragnarok to complete their intended purpose. However, Fang decides to once more assume the form on her own in an attempt to destroy both the fal'Cie and herself. But when Fang turns out to be unable to assume the form, Orphan tortures her to force Vanille into becoming Ragnarok, almost accepting the fal'Cie's demand were it not for their friends saving Fang. After Orphan's destruction, Vanille and Fang managed to summon Ragnarok together to stop Cocoon from crashing into Pulse by crystallizing it, and themselves.

Abilities and Equipment
As a l'Cie, Vanille summons Hecatoncheir, a many-armed Eidolon that transforms into a bipedal mech with four machine gun turrets. In battle, Vanille's weapon is a unique rod called the Bind Rod whose head piece looks like a pair of antlers and body consists of four long wires with hooks that deal damage to enemies by latching on and pulling. She concentrates on casting magic spells from a distance, as opposed to the close combat style of Lightning and Snow, using spells like Protect and Aero.


 * Hunter Rod
 * Pearl Wing
 * Rainbow Wing
 * Belladonna Wand
 * Morbol Wand
 * Cure Staff
 * Medical Staff
 * Rod of Thorns
 * Serpent Rod
 * Heavenly Axis
 * Abraxas
 * Mistilteinn
 * Erinys Cane
 * Tiger Claw Flail
 * Dragon Fang Flail
 * Nirvana

Trivia

 * Her Japanese voice actor, Yukari Fukui, has also voiced Terra Branford in Dissidia Final Fantasy. Though a coincidence, Hecatoncheir's Gestalt Mode slightly resembles Terra's Magitek Armor from Final Fantasy VI.
 * Her l'Cie mark is located on her left hamstring.
 * Vanille's crystal is in the shape of a rock, signifying her l'Cie element.
 * Although her middle name is the same as a spell, it is unlikely that it references the spell Dia from Final Fantasy or Final Fantasy XI.
 * Vanille is one of the series' only five playable characters, the others being Rydia, Vincent, Fran, and Fang whose appearance does not mirror their actual age. While she appears to be 17 years old, she is actually around 517 years old.