Jihl Nabaat



Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat [dʒɪl nəbɑːt] (ジル・ナバート, Jiru Nabāto) is an antagonist in Final Fantasy XIII. She is an officer in the Cocoon army, the commander of PSICOM, and is an enemy of Lightning and her allies. She wears glasses and blond hair reaching all the way down to her knees, and wields a baton which she uses in a fencing fashion.

Jihl has both political and personal motivations for opposing Lightning's group. She graduated first in her class and quickly advanced in the ranks of the military to the position she holds as lieutenant colonel. She is in charge of daily policy and takes strategic command of the PSICOM soldiers. Jihl is described as intelligent, yet cruel and heartless, and she sees the l'Cie as subhumans. Yaag Rosch is her right-hand man. Jihl is voiced by Mie Sonozaki in the Japanese version and by Paula Tiso in the English version.

Story
Jihl is first seen at the end of Sazh's flashback of the fireworks festival in Bodhum. She smiles innocently as she watches Sazh and his son Dajh enjoying themselves, giving the playing the initial impression that she must be a nice woman. Sometime later, at the Sunleth Waterscape, Sazh explains to Vanille how he lost track of his son at Euride Gorge. Through the fal'Cie Kujata, Dajh was turned into an l'Cie in order to protect it from Vanille and Fang. Vanille and Fang are remorseful for the boy's transformation, but can only flee before Jihl and her squadron investigate the commotion and discover Dajh unconscious. Jihl merely smiles coyly as her soldiers explain to a distraught Sazh that his son will need to be quarantined. Sazh leaves angrily, planning to go to Pulse and figure out how to complete his son's Focus for him. Jihl, meanwhile, puts her own plans into action.

Arriving at Nautilus, Jihl captures the wandering Sazh and Vanille, telling him that finding them was apparently Dajh's Focus all along. She plays with Sazh's emotions by revealing how his crystallized son, Dajh Katzroy, became an l'Cie through Vanille's actions. Vanille runs off crying as Jihl's soldiers take aim at her but Jihl tells them to stand down. Sazh, who previously did not suspect Vanille, is enraged and pursues Vanille to a stone bridge in front of a large castle. Jihl lets him go, assuming Sazh will kill Vanille and himself as well. Sazh can not bring himself to kill Vanille, so he pulls the gun to his head, yet still, he can not seem to pull the trigger on himself. Jihl returns to capturing him and Vanille, once again toying with Sazh's emotions by telling him that the Sanctum will build a memorial in Eden and use Dajh as a monument to "the tragic hero who saved Cocoon". After Sazh objects to it, Jihl heartlessly asks him whether or not Dajh should be remembered as the son of a hated Pulse l'Cie or rather a monument to sacrifice. She renders Sazh unconscious and watches as Vanille is taken to the Palamecia via airship with him in a coffin.

When Lightning's group brakes into the Palamecia with Cid's help and regroup with Vanille and Sazh, Jihl, who Sazh is now ready to fight for what she has done to Dajh, stands between them and Galenth Dysley. However, Galenth, who reveals his true nature as the fal'Cie, Barthandelus, decides he would rather manipulate the l'Cie, fatally strikes her down with his magic along with the other Palamecia crew members.

Trivia

 * Although thought to be one of the main antagonists, she makes very few appearances in the game, and is even killed off before the player has a chance to fight her.
 * Jihl was designed by Nao Ikeda, who also designed the members of NORA.
 * Jihl is 166 cm tall and 176 cm tall with heels, according to the Ultimania guide.
 * Her Japanese voice actor also voiced Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca from Final Fantasy XII, while her English one, Paula Tiso, voiced Lulu from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2
 * Her facial features, along with her hair and glasses, bear a striking resemblence to Quistis Trepe, Squall Leonhart's instructor from Final Fantasy VIII