Hope Estheim

Hope Estheim is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII. He is the son of Nora and Bartholomew Estheim. Hope's father works for the Sanctum. In the beginning of the game, he loses his mother, Nora, in Hanging Edge during the Purge. He blames Snow Villiers for her death and seeks revenge.

Appearance and Personality
Hope's outfit consists of an orange and yellow coat, a detailed green scarf over a black shirt, black gloves with white palms though the thumbs remain black (the left glove has a yellow wristband over it), deep green pants that stop just below his knees, a black storage pack on his left leg, and light green shoes with black laces and straps. He has distinctive silver hair and of all the playable characters, he is the shortest and the youngest. In Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise, when Lightning sees Hope and his mother shopping, she says that Hope's face resembles that of his mother's.

Hope starts off as a sensitive and insecure child, who is afraid of war and confrontation. When Snow attempts to hand him a gun at Hanged Edge, Hope crawls back shaking his head in fright. On the other hand, he holds a deep resentment towards Snow for the part he played in the death of his mother. After his mother dies, he starts looking to Oerba Dia Vanille for comfort and support, possibly in response to her kindness towards him. This is shown when he wants to follow Snow and wants Vanille to go with him when he grabs her wrist. When PSICOM attacks the Pulse fal'Cie, Hope grabs Vanille's hand and hides behind her out of fear. In Lake Bresha, Hope shows anger for being dragged into the whole situation, as well as fear from the dangers he faces. As the game proceeds, Hope slowly matures due to the time he spends with Lightning as he gets inspired by her and begins to look up to and confide in her as a mother figure.

Story
After seeing a fal'Cie two days prior to the game storyline while visiting Bodhum during their vacation, Hope and his mother were captured by PSICOM and sentenced to be Purged under the notion they were tainted by Pulse. They were among the group that was saved by Snow Villiers and NORA at Hanging Edge. Hope's mother volunteered to fight with Snow, but lost her life after saving him from a cannon blast and then falling off the destroyed motorway as Hope watched from afar. Since Snow got her involved in the fight and could not save her (despite his efforts to do so), Hope holds a grudge against him. Frozen from the shock of watching his mother fall to her death, Oerba Dia Vanille slaps Hope, tells him to snap out of it and go with her to a safer place. After they remove their Purge attire, Vanille smiles at him and hands him a gun. Then she hugs him, asks him if reality hurts, tells him that it is okay to run away, and waves good-bye to him. Shortly after Vanille leaves, Hope follows her. They find Snow surrounded by the other members of NORA as he is about to go to the Lowerworld Vertigo, and Hope's grudge intensifies when he learns Snow's group bore the same name as his mother. Vanille encourages him to follow Snow into the Pulse fal'Cie to let out his repressed anguish. As Vanille checks out Gadot's vehicle, Hope approaches her, says "I wanna tell him, it's just that...", and softly grabs her wrist. When Vanille asks him if he knows how to fly the vehicle, he tells her maybe, and she pushes him onto it. She gets on behind him and points towards the Pulse fal'Cie. After Vanille puts her arms around his waist, Hope begins to reconsider as he doesn't want to be made into a l'Cie, but Vanille reassures him. Then Gadot tries to stop them, but they take off and ride to the fal'Cie. After they crash-land inside the fal'Cie, Hope slightly regrets going due to the fear of becoming a l'Cie. When he asks Vanille if she is scared and she says, "Not so much.", Hope tells her that she doesn't get it. After she explains the situation to show Hope that she does understand, he tells her that if soldiers find them there they will be Purged. Vanille asks Hope what his problem is, and he yells at her saying that Pulse is hell on Earth. Vanille hugs him again, telling him to calm down but Hope pushes her away, and tells her to get off him. Soon Hope and Vanille are surrounded by Cie'th until Snow arrives to help them. After Snow tells them that he is rescuing Serah, a Pulse l'Cie, Hope yells at him for trying to save a Pulse l'Cie since they are the enemy. As Hope, Snow, and Vanille find Lightning and Sazh with Serah, he and Vanille witness Serah's crystallization. When PSICOM begins attacking that fal'Cie, Hope grabs Vanille's hand screaming in fright. Then the doors to Anima's Throne open, causing Hope to hide behind Vanille. After everyone enters the chamber containing Anima and Lightning actives it, Hope runs away to escape but gets blocked off and ends up becoming a l'Cie.

After the party awake in Lake Bresha and learn they've become l'Cie, Hope yells at Lightning for attacking the fal'Cie and then at Snow for the whole situation being his and Serah's fault. Snow tells him to watch it and Hope crawls back to Lightning's feet. He looks up at her angry expression, backs off and holds his head in fright, until Vanille assures him that everything will be fine. A while after leaving Snow behind, they find ancient ruins containing an airship and use it to escape but it gets damaged and crashes down towards the Vile Peaks. After Lightning leaves Vanille and Sazh Katzroy, Hope decides to go after her after Sazh says that he'd be better off with her. Lightning reveals to Hope that she got involved with the Purge by quiting the military in order to save Serah. Hope tells her that she was brave in giving up everything for Serah and how he could never do that. Lightning says that it was not a question of can or can't, because it was something that she had to do. Then after Hope tells her that it was easier for her to say, Lightning scales a wall leaving him behind. When Sazh and Vanille find him, he tells them that it is hopeless since he cannot go along with Lightning or go home. After Vanille asks Hope about his dad, he remembers the night of the fireworks festival in Bodhum with his mom, he reveals how he and his mom were forced onto the Purge train, and that his mom fought in order to return home. When Vanille tells him that his dad would be worried, Hope says that his dad does not care about him. After they find remains of a Pulse ship, Hope tells Vanille that the Pulse fal'Cie could have brought it up from Pulse, though Sazh and Vanille do not think so. Afterward, Lightning returns and continues forward. Later after she resolves to go to Eden and destroy its fal'Cie whether or not Snow gets in her way, Hope joins her as he shares Lightning's hatred for Snow. They plan to go through the Gapra Whitewoods to Palumpolum, and board a train to Eden. When Lightning summons Odin for the first time out of her frustration with Hope as a burden, he prepares to attack Hope, but after Lightning saves him, Hope helps her fight Odin. After Lightning's mark stops glowing, Hope asks her if he is a hindrance and promises to try harder. She apologizes for the things she said to him prior to summoning Odin, and decides to train him. After they defeat a PSICOM unit, Hope rests while Lightning checks the area. When she returns, she finds Hope fast asleep. While sleeping, Hope mutters "Mom?" with Lightning telling him "Not by a long shot."

Afterward, Hope is seen with Lightning about to enter the Gapra Whitewood, asking her to let him take the lead. Lightning asks him if he can handle it but Hope says "It's not a question of can or can't." Lightning smiles at him, gives him the nod to go ahead, tells him to look forward and that she will guard his back. After some time, Lighting lets Hope borrow a knife that she received as a birthday present and good luck charm. He asks Lightning about NORA's name, which she explains its humorous origins to Hope's dismay as it was his mother's name. Hope later reveals to Lightning that he believes his mother's death was Snow's fault, and that Snow dragged him, his mother, and Serah into that nightmare, so he is not letting Snow get away with it. He also tells Lightning that he wanted to go with her in order to get stronger at all costs. During this time, Hope creates Operation Nora in honor of his mother. When Lightning asks him if he's bent on revenge, Hope says he understands that revenge won't bring his mother back, but a simple apology from Snow won't be enough. After she tells him that his mother's death was truly the Sanctum's fault, Hope tells Lightning that if that's really the case, he will take down the Sanctum as well.

In Palumpolum, Hope shows Lightning a path through abandoned drain pipes that will help them sneak past the PSICOM soldiers. While underground, Hope shows Lightning the fal'Cie Carbuncle, which provides Palumpolum with its food supply. Later, he tells Lightning that since the Cocoon fal'Cie protect and provide for its people, they possibly view Cocoon citizens as pets. Afterward, Lightning tells him to abandon Operation Nora as she previously believed that fighting was the only way to survive. Hope is confided with Lightning's past after he tells her that he wanted to change his name since he feels that l'Cie have nothing to hope for. After riding an elevator back up to the surface, Hope and Lightning are ambushed by Yaag Rosch and his troops. Lightning tells him to run while she keeps them busy, but Hope refuses. Snow and Fang arrive and attack the soldiers while riding Shiva along an ice path. At the same time, Lightning protects Hope as she attacks the troops from below. After he and Lightning are rescued, Lightning gives him to Snow while she goes off with Fang. Soon afterward, Hope confronts Snow about his mother. When Snow says that all he can do is go forward and find answers, Hope objects and tells him that he is running from what he deserves. Snow tells Hope to tell him what he deserves, and Hope says the same fate that his mother suffered: death. He uses his l'Cie power to blow Snow off a high ledge. As Hope is about to kill Snow with Lightning's knife, a Sanctum airship fires a shot behind him and, just as what happened to his mother, sends him over the ledge. Snow jumps off after him, catching him in midair and shielding him from the fall. As a result, after realizing someone who was willing to give his life for him could not possibly have deliberately killed his mother, Hope finally apologizes to Snow, he accepts the apology, and the two finally become friends. When they are suddenly attacked by a Sanctum machine, which knocks Snow unconscious, Hope decides to fight it alone until Lightning and Fang arrive on the scene. After the battle, he returns Lightning's knife and tells her that Operation Nora failed. While being embraced by her, Hope tells Lightning that if he could, he wanted to protect her after she promised to protect him.

Hope takes Lightning, Fang, and Snow to his house where they meet his father. He told his dad that the party would leave once they were done resting up because he wanted his father to be safe, since anyone harboring l'Cie would be Purged, but Hope's father protested, saying that he did not care that Hope was a l'Cie, he was his son, and that was his home. Hope hides with his father while Snow stands wounded and bandaged before an entire platoon of soldiers led by Yaag. Soon, Rygdea and more of Cid's soldiers arrive and Hope and the rest of the party leave with them, leaving Hope's father behind as he and the others board the Lindblum and are eventually reunited with Vanille and Sazh on the Palamecia.

After leaving Cocoon, Hope and Vanille get sucked of the airship they were using after it is damaged by a Pulse monster, saved by the rest of the party flying Bahamut into Pulse. Later in the Terra Incognita, Hope is being comforted by Snow and Lightning, with the latter telling him that he was not going through the ordeal alone and smiles at him. Hope tells Lightning that he does not want his friends to get hurt because of him and his fear causes his l'Cie mark begins to glow, initiating his fight against Alexander, which he manages to tame with help from Lightning and Fang.

After returning to Cocoon from Pulse, Hope summons Alexander on a highway in Eden in order to block off incoming Sanctum forces.

After Orphan's defeat, Hope wishes for Fang and Vanille's return among Serah and Dajh, but cannot find them. Lightning is seen reassuring him.

Abilities and Equipment
Hope fights with boomerangs that work differently from normal boomerangs thanks to futuristic technology and design. But his true strength lies in his Magic Attack power, which makes him the best Ravager in the party. Besides that, Hope is the only character to be able to learn all elemental spells as a Ravager. His weapons make him good at dealing long-ranged damage. Hope's full ATB skill, Last Resort, deals large non-elemental magic damage to all foes. His Eidolon, Alexander, has the ability to turn into a fortress that stands on one side of the battlefield.

Musical Themes
In Final Fantasy XIII, "Hope's Theme" is a melancholy tune composed with acoustic guitar. A variant of his theme "Sustained by Hate," is heard during his failed attempt at killing Snow, and again when he summons Alexander for the first time.

Trivia

 * While Hope sometimes refers to her as "Light" in the English version, he calls Lightning "Light-san" in the Japanese version.
 * His l'Cie mark is on his left wrist, mostly covered by his wristband.
 * Hope's weapons use sky-based names, most being of mythological birds.
 * Hope's crystal is in the shape of a star, almost resembling the crystal in the Final Fantasy IX [[Media:FfixLogo.jpg|logo]].
 * The animation sequence for Hope's full ATB skill, Last Resort, greatly resembles the White Magic spell Holy in Final Fantasy X.

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