Atlas (Final Fantasy XIII-2)


 * Serah: "An arm!?"
 * Noel: "Yeah, and not looking to shake hands, I'm guessing..."
 * —Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss when Paradox Alpha first attacks.

Atlas (アトラース) is a bio-mechanical giant and antagonist that dwells within the Bresha Ruins in Cocoon at 5 AF in Final Fantasy XIII-2. It attacks Serah and Noel when the protagonists first arrive there using its left arm while the rest of its body is invisible under the name of "Paradox Alpha," and it flees once PSICOM arrives and begins firing on it with their ships.

Story
When he hears that Atlas's presence will shut down the site in the Bresha Ruins, Noel offers to stop the giant and sets off with Serah to find it with Alyssa Zaidelle giving them information through radio communication. The Paradox Alpha attacks them along the way, and soon Noel discovers Atlas in its true form.

He and Serah learn via Alyssa of a mysterious energy surge within the ruins, and that a mysterious device has appeared. Serah asks if the device appeared with Atlas, and she figures that if Atlas is a weapon built by humans, they must have designed a way to stop it. Noel states the machine's appearance is no coincidence, and he offers the choice of either finding the device that controls Atlas or facing him head-on.

If the player chooses the first of these two options, Noel and Serah find the mysterious device in working condition after they exit a Temporal Rift. They activate the machine, thus causing Atlas to weaken, and together Noel and Serah eventually find the giant and challenge it to battle in its true form.

In one of the game's Paradox endings, a group of Atlases run amok as Noel and Serah attempt to defeat them. However, the two died in the process with their weapons embedded in an Atlas's head.

Battle
Paradox Alpha and Atlas can be fought in Bresha Ruins -005 AF-.

Music
Atlas is associated with the two themes: "Worlds Collide" and "Giant Impact", both composed by Naoshi Mizuta. The first theme, "Colliding Worlds", is heard during Noel and Serah's fight against Paradox Alpha, while "Giant Impact" plays during their fight against Atlas in its true form.

Etymology
In Greek mythology is one of the Titans, a race of primordial giants, who fought against the gods of Olympus. When the Titans lost, Zeus punished Atlas by forcing him to spend eternity at the western horizon holding up the sky on his shoulders.

Trivia

 * The model for Atlas is a modified model of the fal'Cie Titan.