Caius Ballad



Caius Ballad (カイアス・バラッド) is the main antagonist in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He is Lightning's fated rival, and is an important figure in both Noel's past and Serah's future.

Hailing from the future, Caius is the immortal guardian of the timeline and the seeress, Paddra Nsu-Yeul. Therefore, he pursues Noel and anyone who gets in his way, seeking to carry out an all-out war against all who tamper with the space-time continuum. In the Japanese version, he is voiced by Hiroshi Shirokuma. In the English version, he is voiced by Liam O'Brien.

Appearance and Personality
Caius is a tall, slender, and muscular man with light bronze skin and purple eyes. He also has long straight purple hair adorned with feathers and tribal beads, and wears a long, purple bandanna. He wears form-fitting black and purple armor with dark boots lined with white fur that bears a strong resemblance to Bahamut. He wields Ragnarok, a large sword with an eye in the hilt that emanates a purple flame after it opens.

Caius is an all-powerful warrior of equal strength to Lightning, able to fight on even terms with her. As an immortal overseer of the timeline, he sees Serah and Noel as "contradictions" in it, and so he believes that they should pay for tampering with the timeline with their lives. He is described as a person with a calm personality, but he rarely displays his emotions, making it difficult for others to tell what his thoughts or intentions are. Despite his actions, Caius's agenda is to destroy Etro in order to save Yeul from her endless fate.

Story
Originally a resident of Gran Pulse in the distant future, Caius was made a l'Cie to serve as guardian to Paddra Nsu-Yeul with full knowledge of the timeline. In order to continue his mission and protect her many reincarnations, Etro infuses her heart, the Heart of Chaos, into Caius's body to make him immortal. But this act would in itself become a curse.

Caius is among the last remaining humans on the world as he takes Noel under his wing to serve as Yeul's protector. Upon learning that Noel had managed to defeat a Behemoth, Caius acknowledges the boy is now strong enough to become Yeul's new Guardian. Caius says that in order for Noel to become Yeul's new sworn servant, Noel must defeat him in battle, just as he challenged and defeated the previous guardian to win the title. However, much to Noel's dismay, Caius also says that Noel will ultimately have to kill him, just as he killed the previous servant since there can only be one at a time. Later when Noel tells Caius about his plan of receiving the guardian's power and going on a journey with Yeul to find other people so that she will not be lonely anymore, Caius reprimands him, saying that it is a futile dream since they and Yeul are the only three people left at all.

Then he says that if the Heart of Chaos residing in him is destroyed, his death would ensure Etro's own demise, causing the Chaos contained in Valhalla to be released and time to be distorted. Noel continues to refuse the notion of having to kill Caius, so the latter says in that case, Noel will have to be the one who dies instead. After Caius defeats Noel, he tells the boy that he has no hope of beating him the way he is now. Noel tells him that distorting time will only sadden Yeul, but Caius says even if it does make Yeul sad, she will at least be saved. He tells Noel that he is going to Valhalla to kill Etro himself and free Yeul from her fate and disappears.

While laying Yeul's lifeless body to rest in the waters off Valhalla's shore, a saddened Caius asks if she never asked for this kind of eternity. Then he has a vision of Cocoon crashing into Gran Pulse and Etro's shrine. Enraged, he summons a swarm of Pantopoda and other monsters to challenge Lightning to a battle. His army is countered by her summoned army of monsters and the Eidolons. Though he gets frozen by the Shiva Sisters, Caius quickly breaks free and grabs Nix, telling her to embrace the terror before throwing her into Stiria. As Caius sees Lightning riding Odin towards him, he conjures a barrage of Comets to counterattack.

After she dodges his onslaught, he sends a blade of energy at her as she is midair. She deflects his attack and they meet face-to-face. Caius admits that he is impressed by her strength before they clash blades. At one point, deciding to put and end to this while having the upperhand, Caius grabs Lightning's gunblade and aims it directly at his heart, which begins to glow. When Lightning backs away in shock, Caius uses Ragnarok to envelope himself in a dark cloud and transforms into an entity known as Chaos Bahamut. He furiously swipes at Lightning before sending her flying over Valhalla. She remounts Odin and they continue their duel as Chaos Bahamut gives chase to them along the beach and into the city. Lightning defeats him but he promptly returns with a surprise attack.

After Odin saves her, Caius returns in his human form. He fires magic projectiles at Lightning, but she sends them back at him. He survives her attack and they continue to exchange and clash blades in a gravity field he creates with his power over Chaos, with Caius at one point remarking on Lightning being a worthy opponent. She eventually manages to take Caius down, and he gets buried under a pile of rubble. However, as Lightning saves Noel as he falls from the sky, Caius emerges from the rubble as Chaos Bahamut and continues to engage her in an aerial dogfight over Valhalla. He returns to find Lightning and Noel after their conversation, and summons a large meteor above Etro's shrine before transforming to escape the impact.

From New Bodhum -003 AF-, to Yaschas Massif -01X AF- and later Sunleth Waterscape -300 AF-, Caius watched over Noel and Serah's progress alongside Yuel.

In Oerba -200 AF-, Caius reveals himself to the trio saying, "If you change the future, you change the past." Then he emerges from behind the vision they induced from an Oracle Drive. Revealing that Yeul has told him of their actions across time, believing t have been the cause of the temporal disruptions, Caius states his intention to punish them. He proceeds to he fights them before sending multiple blades of energy towards them to severely wound them. Telling a defiant Noel that he is not the man he knew, Caius was about to deal the deathblow when Yeul intervenes, saying that time has already been changed. He kneels before her, asking if they can accept it, to which Yeul gives a silent nod. Caius tells her they should go in order to not see the future any further than this, opening a portal for them to depart through. It would be revealed that Caius took Yuel to the Augusta Tower, letting her meet with Noel and Serah in private and reveal his nature as her Guardian. After she died, Caius carries her away while weeping for her. He picks up her flower and then her body. He sheds silent tears, saying that he will now carry her pain in his heart and laments on how her life was short, just like his memories of all the other Yeuls who had passed on, and carries her away.

Later, finding him separated from Serah in Valhalla's shade in the Void Beyond, Caius stabs a fallen Noel in the back, releasing his Chaos before disappearing. He later appears to Serah and engages her in battle. Caius admits he is impressed by her before appearing on Etro's crystal throne. Then he tells Serah that Noel gave up more quickly than that and accepted his fate, before knocking her down with magic. Serah fires an arrow at him and he halts time just before her arrow hits him. Coming off the throne, Caius walks behind a frozen Serah, telling her that when her wishes are answered and miracles are created, tragedy will fall upon someone else, and asks if she can bear that kind of burden.

He unfreezes time and blasts her against a wall. Then as Caius holds his foot on Serah's weapon, he tells her that he is fighting her and Noel to save Yeul. He says that Etro's actions in the events of Final Fantasy XIII, altering the events of the Day of Ragnarok, caused a time distortion that cut Yeul's life short. To that end, Caius intends to destroy history by killing Etro, and sending everything back to Valhalla, the place without time, or a future. He disappears and impales her from behind, releasing her Chaos as well, telling her to rest in the world she wished for.

In Academia -500 AF-, Caius sees Serah, Mog, and Noel approach the Academy's headquarters from a building's edge. He transforms into Chaos Bahamut and swoops at them before flying off towards the new Cocoon. He eventually engages them as Chaos Bahamut while they pursue him over the city atop an airship piloted by Sazh Katzroy. Then he reverts to his human form, telling Serah she now realizes that she is like Yeul and, being impressed by her determination, decides to kill her first. After fighting her and Noel atop the airship, Caius strikes Serah down and is about to deliver the finishing blow before Noel steps in.

Caius remarks that Noel would have made a worthy guardian because of his ability to protect his friends. Then he says everything he ever does is to protect Yeul's soul. Believing that she is born only to die young without leaving anything behind in the world and endure cycles of meaningless deaths and reincarnations, he will stop at nothing to free it, even if it means destroying time itself. Then Sazh flips the airship vertically, and in a joint effort, Noel and Serah strike Caius in midair, sending him flying. However, he transforms back into Chaos Bahamut and flies into the wormhole that opened in the sky before they jump into the wormhole after him.

After Noel and Serah arrive in Valhalla with help from Odin, Caius blasts them down and continues their fight on the beach. Refusing to face defeat, Caius tells Serah and Noel that they cannot kill him now. As Noel asks Caius if he believes causing mass destruction will make Yeul happy, Caius asks which one since he has known many Yeuls throughout the countless years. Noel attempts to convince Caius that Yeul continued being reborn out of her own will, and she kept coming back in order to see him again. The now furious Caius does not listen and clashes blades with Noel before the boy manages to take him down. However, Caius returns in the form of Jet Bahamut and fires an attack at Noel and Serah.

After the final battle, a weakened Caius returns in human form. He asks Noel if he believes Yeul's resurrections are his fault and begs Noel to kill him if his death will free her. Then Caius attempts to force Noel by saying that he had killed Lightning and condemned her to an eternal slumber. He also says that since time does not flow properly in Valhalla, the "things that shall happen" in their future have "already been decided" in his past, and has therefore known exactly how this will end, even before their battle began. When Noel still refuses to give in to his demands, saying he cannot be provoked, Caius tells him that he knows the value of life from being born at the end of days and does not have it in him to kill another person.

Caius, however, remains determined to provoke Noel and tries to do so by attacking Serah. Noel disarms Caius and lunges at him with his sword. Though he stops himself at the last second, Caius says that in the act of changing time's path, someone must die. He takes Noel's blade, tells him to bear the bruden of the eternal paradox, and forces the blade through him and dies as the Chaos within his body bursts out before he and his sword soon fade away into nothingness.

Caius reappears in the secret Paradox Ending, "The Goddess is Dead", sitting on Etro's throne in Valhalla's shade. He says that everyone played straight into his hands before telling Yeul that they can start over and create a new world without a goddess. Using Ragnarok, he calls forth Chaos and his left eye glows red as he smirks.

Creation and Development
Caius's clothing was designed by Yusuke Naora, who also designed Serah and Noel's clothing. His design was chosen after several designs from various members of the development team were drawn and compared to select the best one (similar to Mog). Naora stated that he was inspired by Yoshitaka Amano for the character's armor and accessories — Leon from Final Fantasy II in particular.

Musical Themes
Caius has an eponymous leitmotif, titled "Caius's Theme," composed by Naoshi Mizuta. It is a dramatic and mellow orchestral piece with a Latin chorus that represents his godlike status, as well as a hidden tragic side to him.

Two variants of his theme are "Followers of Chaos" and "Heart of Chaos." His theme is also featured in "The Promised Future," the Final Boss Theme "An Invisible Abyss," "Eternal Paradox," and the "Ending Credits."

Lyrics

 * Dea Mortis, iuravi
 * Carissimam servaturum
 * Dea Mortis, servabo
 * Ut tempora recte ducam


 * Etsi cor in Chaos,
 * Aut Fortuna bella ferat
 * Occurram et obviam ibo.

Translation

 * Goddess of Death, I will keep
 * My vow my beloved,
 * Goddess of Death, I will see to it
 * That time is steered in the right direction


 * Though I am drawn by the heart of Chaos,
 * Or beautiful Fortune, I shall bear it
 * Those shall I meet and face

Battle
Even in his human form, Caius is capable of powerful magic such as Comet and using Chaos to suit his needs and assume the monstrous dragon form of Chaos Bahamut, and later that of Jet Bahamut.

Caius in his human form is fought by Serah and Noel in Oerba -200 AF-, the Void Beyond -???- AF, the Dying World -700 AF-, Academia -500 AF-, and Valhalla -??? AF-.

Etymology
Caius is an alternate spelling of Gaius, a common Roman given name. It was a praenomen of many famous Romans throughout history, including Julius Caesar, and through his line, Augustus Caesar and Caligula; Gaius Cassius Longinius, a leading conspirator in Julius Caesar's assassination; and Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, the famous historian.

His family name, Ballad, could come from the French world "ballade," which means either a little song, or a poetic form. A ballad is also characterized by describing unusual events; "divine" powers are frequently mentioned in them, which alludes to how Caius is a "god" in his own way, similarly to Lightning.

Trivia

 * According to Dengeki PlayStation magazine, Caius is said to be the most powerful antagonist in the Final Fantasy series.
 * When Caius transforms into Jet Bahamut in the middle with Garnet Bahamut and Amber Bahamut on both his sides floating around a rather small platform, bears a certain resemblance to Zable Fahr the God Beast of Darkness in Seiken Densetsu 3, another game of Square, with both entities at the sides being fakes, with the middle one being the real and most powerful one.
 * Similar to how Lightning cried once throughout Final Fantasy XIII, the only time Caius cries is in Augusta Tower.
 * During one scene in Valhalla's shade, Caius and Serah are seen back to back, similar to a moment with him and Lightning in Valhalla, and his debut appearance in the game's first trailer.
 * Caius shares his English voice actor, Liam O'Brien, with Kain Highwind from the DS version of Final Fantasy IV as well as Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Additionally, his vocal timbre and appearance are similar to Kain's. Caius also draws elements of his character from Garland as both act antagonistic towards Lightning and the goddess she fights for.