Savior (Lightning Returns)



Savior is the name given to a warrior chosen by Bhunivelze to usher in the new world in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. According to a prophecy stored in an Oracle Drive, the savior is a harbinger of doom who will attempt to destroy the world, and that a hero will rise up to prevent the savior from performing their task.

Datalog
Scripture tells believers that a savior will appear at the end of the world to do God's bidding and save the souls of the people.

''When the day of salvation comes, all life will end. The souls of those chosen by Bhunivelze will be saved and reborn in the new world. The one who is tasked with delivering them is known as the savior.''

''In this sense, the savior also heralds the coming of the end. For the heretics who do not believe the teachings of the Order, or the promise of a new world, she is thought to be little more than a harbinger of destruction.''

Story


The savior is a figure of legend: a pink-haired woman chosen by Bhunivelze to free burdened souls and guide them to a prosperous new world. But the savior's true purpose is to gather souls for Bhunivelze so he can purge them of their past selves and allow them to live in eternal bliss. Lightning is chosen to be the savior, accepting the task primarily to save her sister Serah's soul, secretly stolen from her by Bhunivelze while she was sleeping and now residing inside Lumina, the manifestation of Lightning's vulnerable side. She is also chosen because she has the potential to become his new, emotionless version of the Goddess Etro, keeping the balance of the universe while Bhunivelze rules the new world.

There exists a prophecy in a surviving Oracle Drive which states the savior will destroy the world and its people, rather than save them. Noel Kreiss becomes obsessed with the prophecy, intending to kill the savior and ensure the prophecy comes to pass. There exists a group of people known as the Children of Etro, who rebel against the Order, who worship Bhunivelze; to ensure the failure of the savior's mission, the cult intends to kill anyone who could be her and thus Lightning is brought into conflict with the Children of Etro and Noel, both of whom want her dead. She also ends up fighting Snow Villiers, who wished to die as a punishment for failing to protect Serah.

During her quest to help Snow in Yusnaan, Lighting performs the role of the savior in a special play called "The Legend of the Savior". When Lighting and Bhunivelze finally come face-to-face, Lightning rebels against her assigned role and decides to save humanity and create a world free of gods. Finally, Lightning and her allies break Bhunivelze's hold on the world, then together, they fell the god before witnessing the creation of a new world and finding a new home where humans can determine their own destiny. In a sense, despite Bhunivelze's hidden agenda, Lightning ended up fulfilling the legend: freeing the souls of humanity from their burdens and leading them to a new world.

Music
The term has the eponymous theme titled "The Savior". Composed by Naoshi Mizuta, it is modeled after "Blinded By Light", and made with classical and electronic elements. It serves as one of the many battle themes in the game, appearing most frequently in the Wildlands.

Etymology
A savior is a person who helps people achieve, or saves them from something. They have appeared under numerous names in religion, such as, , , , , and.

Trivia

 * Lightning's task as the savior is akin to that of a, a being in various mythologies who escorts the newly deceased souls and gives them safe passage to the afterlife.