Gran Pulse

Gran Pulse (グラン=パルス, Guran-Parusu), also known simply as Pulse (下界, furigana: Parusu) to the citizens of Cocoon, is the giant world which lies underneath the floating continent in Final Fantasy XIII. Gran Pulse can be considered the conflicting parallel of Cocoon, it is a world of natural evolution where animals and plants are free to grow to tremendous sizes. Gran Pulse features an open world design with a more free style of gameplay, a stark contrast to the more story driven and linear experience of Cocoon.

Datalog
''The savage world derives its name from that of the god Pulse. Its vast wilderness is populated by creatures ranging from the monstrous to the deadly, and its fal'Cie seem to have taken a decidedly less friendly approach toward human dealings than those of Cocoon, cultivating the land for settlement, but demonstrating little concern beyond that.''

''At one time in its history, Gran Pulse was home to a thriving civilization and many great cities. Now it is home to many great ruins, and people are nowhere to be seen.''

Story
The people of Cocoon are made to believe that Gran Pulse is a living hell for humans. In order to remain in control, the Sanctum keeps the people of Cocoon in constant fear of a Pulsian invasion. This irrational fear is further strengthened by an event known as the War of Transgression, which tells of an army from Pulse attempting to attack Cocoon many centuries ago. The aftermath resulted in many artifacts and warships from Pulse being found in the outer-rim of Cocoon.

However, the citizens of Gran Pulse were no different than the people of Cocoon, as they saw the world above as the source of evil, fear, and eventual invasion. The fal'Cie of Cocoon would often steal valuable resources from Gran Pulse, and this only increased the hatred between the two worlds.

At present time, the human civilization that once lived on Gran Pulse is long perished, with lingering architecture being its only living testament. The buildings of the Yaschas Massif and Oerba suggest a relatively advanced race, though primitive in comparison to the highly advanced technology of Cocoon. It is unknown exactly how the humans on Pulse died out, but it is suggested that the majority were transformed into l'Cie in an act of desperation. As a result, the world of Pulse is now populated entirely by monsters and Cie'th. It is not completely certain whether or not humanity on Pulse was wiped out entirely, as the party does not explore the full length and breadth of the continent, and early concept artwork does show humans living among the ruins of Pulse cities, no other humans apart from the party are ever encountered during the game.

According to datalog entries, Gran Pulse was named after its creator, the Maker, known as Hallowed Pulse, who left many centuries ago entrusting the mission of perfecting the world to the fal'Cie. In contrast to Cocoon, the fal'Cie of Pulse are notably indifferent toward humanity, cultivating the land to support life with no concern beyond that.

At the final scenes of the game, Cocoon's inhabitants are seen evacuating on Pulse. Voices of Vanille and Fang say that "this is your world now", suggesting the migration of all Cocoon inhabitants to Pulse, free from the Fal'Cie.

List of Areas on Pulse

 * Vallis Media
 * Yaschas Massif
 * Archylte Steppe
 * Mah'habara Subterra
 * Sulyya Springs
 * Taejin's Tower
 * Oerba
 * Faultwarrens

Trivia and Notes

 * Square Enix Promotional material describes the worlds in Final Fantasy XIII as Cocoon being "scripted battles", compared to Gran Pulse as "random encounters".
 * Since the last two remaining survivors of Gran Pulse, Fang and Vanille, speak with Australian accents (in the English dub), it can be assumed that the other people who once inhabited the land also spoke with Australian accents. Since the geographic location of the continent of Australia has earned it the nickname of "the land down under," the world of Gran Pulse can also be analogous to literally being "the land down under" from the above world of Cocoon, in which the people who reside there speak with North American accents.
 * The inhabitants of Gran Pulse notably have their names in a different form from those on Cocoon. On Cocoon, names are written in the North American format (first name, last name), while on Gran Pulse, names use an Eastern format. The people had the area in which they came from first and then both their clan (family) name and first names come after. Two examples are Oerba Dia Vanille ("Vanille of the Dia clan, from the village of Oerba") and Oerba Yun Fang ("Fang of the Yun clan, from the village of Oerba"). On Cocoon, their names would simply be written as Vanille Dia and Fang Yun.
 * It can be assumed that Pulsian, or at least Oerbans are excellent saboteurs since both survivors of War are majoring in this role. Vanille even has Death as her Full ATB Skill, an ultimate debuff magic spell.

Gran Pulse Pulse