Paddra Nsu-Yeul



Paddra Nsu-Yeul [] is a major supporting character from Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. She is Caius Ballad's traveling companion and a seeress hailing from the city-state of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif on Gran Pulse before the War of Transgression. Surrounded by mystery, Yeul is connected to Caius, Noel, Serah, and the numerous paradoxes throughout the timeline.

Her full name stands for "Yeul of the Nsu clan, from the city of Paddra".

Datalog
''Yeul bears the same name as the ancient seeress, Paddra Nsu-Yeul. Appearing alongside Caius in Oerba in the year 200 AF, she leaves Serah with the enigmatic words, 'If you change the future, you change the past.'''

Upon seeing Yeul's face, Noel is unable to hide his shock and confusion.

''Yeul is a seeress, burdened with the power of prophecy—her life span grows shorter with every vision of the future. She dies at a young age, only to be born once more among the Farseer people. Each reincarnation has the same appearance and ability, and is given the name 'Yeul'.''

''The Yeul who Noel befriends is the last seeress. She promises the young hunter that they will meet again, before breathing her last. The last vision she sees is not one of despair, but of hope.''

''At the height of Paddra civilization, the seeress Paddra Nsu-Yeul of the Farseers prophesized its destruction. In one of history's great ironies, the prophecy itself ignited the civil war that destroyed the nation.''
 * Message of the Orbs

The seeress realized that her very words had the power to change history and the future, and so, with her Guardian Caius and a few select escorts, she left the city for the wilderness.

''She covered her face with a veil, cast off the crown that made her ruler of Paddra, and became simply Yeul the Seeress. Soon after that, she and her small band of followers disappeared from the pages of history.''


 * Tablet of Memory

''The seeress of the Farseers knows the exact moment she will die. However, she is forbidden to change the timeline in order to save herself.''

''The seeress has no choice but to accept her preordained end. This is the law of the Farseers. Each change of the timeline creates new victims, spawns new tragedies, and not even the seeress can tell how great those losses shall be.''

Appearance and Personality
Yeul has an oval face with green eyes and long dark blue hair that is sometimes kept up, except for two long strands that frame her face. She has a lean, petite build. At times she wears a unique diadem headdress with a semi-transparent veil that partially hides her face, though she can modify the headdress to remove the veil and let the rest of her hair down. She wears a white halter-top with an opening in the center and a small crystal above her chest. She wears a short wrap-around pleated white and pastel purple skirt with a fur pelt in the back, along with bright yellow boots similar to s. Her wrists are adorned with numerous bracelets, and she wears armbands on her biceps and beaded necklaces.

Yeul's age ranges from 14-17 years old, depending on which era she is met in and sometimes walks and runs with a limp. Despite her age, Yeul acts mature and is reserved, mostly keeping to herself. She speaks in a soft tone making her clairvoyant nature all the more present. Due to being endlessly reincarnated her soul was fragmented, and each version has unique quirks, interests, and hobbies that set her apart from the other incarnations, such as singing and flower collecting. The Yeul of 700 AF is more cheerful than the Yeuls met before when she converses with Noel, but the events are from Noel's point of view when he is lost in his dream world, which might affect the way Yeul is represented in that world.

Story
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After states that goddess Etro spilled her blood out of desperation to get her father Bhunivelze's attention, and Lindzei created mankind from Etro's blood. The first human created was named Yeul and was said to been fashioned by Lindzei in Etro's image. Yeul passed on to Valhalla but was unable to fade like the others. Taking pity on her, Etro sent Yeul back to the Mortal Realm so she would not be lonely, beginning her cycle of reincarnation. It is suggested Yeul obtained the Eyes of Etro as a side-effect of being reborn, becoming a seer priestess from the city of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif region. The gift of seeing into future events, such as the War of Transgression and the Catastrophe, doubles as a curse and the visions shorten Yeul's lifespan and eventually kill her.

Major changes to the timeline, such as when Etro intervened at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, or when Serah and Noel prevent the creation of the Proto fal'Cie in Academia, shorten Yeul's life; the more possible futures are created, the more severe the effect, as told in Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega. Yeul originally transferred her visions into the Oracle Drive so the Guardians assigned to protect her would receive her visions of the future. While the warrior who became Gorgyra was among her previous Guardians, Yeul's current protector is Caius whose Heart of Chaos makes him immortal.

When the Paddra l'Cie were powerless against an Ugallu, a creature of the void meant to destroy Paddra, Yeul refused to accept that fate for her home and sealed it away. Though she stopped the monster from destroying her home, Yeul still foresaw the destruction of the Paddra nation. Her new prophecy incited disorder among the Farseers that led to a civil war and Paddra fell as Yeul had seen it. As the survivors fled into the wilderness and became nomads, Yeul left with Caius and others loyal to her. Covering her face with a veil, Yeul renounced her crown and title and became known as "Yeul the Seeress". Every incarnation of Yeul that followed would be born into a normal family before being taken by Caius the moment she would utter her first word.

Final Fantasy XIII
Paddra Nsu-Yeul is mentioned as the author of the fourth and ninth Analects, which are related to Etro's mythos, Ragnarok's attack on Cocoon, and the origins of Eidolons.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
In 10 AF Hope Estheim's expedition in the Yaschas Massif uncovers the Oracle Drive, revealing Yeul foresaw Cocoon's crystallization. Due to lack of data the Academy believes Yeul to have been a title rather than an omnipresent person.

Yeul of 200 AF
According to Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, the Yeul of 200 AF is the "Yeul who liked flowers". Yeul's first vision was of the crystallized Cocoon falling three hundred years in the future. Afterward, she has many visions of Noel and Serah on their journey to correct the timeline. When Caius intends to punish them for traveling through time and shortening Yeul's lifespan, Yeul is saddened yet feels Serah and Noel have their reasons for changing the timeline.

In Oerba, Yeul warns Noel and Serah not to touch the Oracle Drive they have found, but they activate it and witness a prophecy. Caius appears and though Noel calls out to her in surprise, Yeul tells Noel she is not the Yeul he knew. As Caius is about to kill Noel, Yeul intervenes saying the future has been changed. She tells Serah and Noel that changing the future also changes the past, and Caius suggests they leave so Yeul does not see the future any further, and takes her to the Augusta Tower to spend her final moments. Feeling she can trust Serah and Noel after learning they are trying to protect the timeline, she believes they could grant her wish for her future selves to not see Cocoon fall.

When Serah and Noel arrive in the Augusta Tower from Academia 400 AF, Yeul gives them an artefact and reveals Caius uses her visions to remember the entire timeline, and that he is immortal. Yeul says Lightning disappeared from Gran Pulse because the future was changed, and if Serah and Noel continue to solve the paradoxes, the past will return to the way Serah remembers it. She reveals the Caius the two encountered in Academia was a fake created by the tower's sentient AI, and that they saw the real Caius in the tower. Yeul tells Noel and Serah to show her a new future. After they venture into the core to defeat the AI, Yeul sees a vision of a future with everyone smiling, and dies happy, before Caius takes away her body.

Yeul of 400 AF
According to Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, the Yeul of 400 AF is the "Yeul who liked to sing". Her Eyes of Etro awakened at seven years old and her first vision was of Noel and Hope Estheim in front of a singing crystal which contains the crystallized Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang. Inspired by the strength in Hope's eyes, Yeul aspired to be strong like him. After foreseeing her own death during the Cie'th outbreak in Academia, Yeul ventures there.

In the streets of Academia, Yeul walks up to a pack of Cie'th before Noel and Serah come to her aid. Noel holds Yeul in his arms as she explains her survival would have caused a contradiction to the timeline, and says Caius isn't in the city. She tells Noel she is not the Yeul he knows, but thanks him and dies, leaving an artefact for him and Serah. Her death is negated in the alternate timeline set by the defeat of the Proto fal'Cie Adam.

Yeul of 700 AF
The final reincarnation of Yeul lived in the Dying World until the events of her fifteenth birthday. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals that her father died before she was born, and her mother was in confinement during childbirth. Noel's grandmother explains to him Yeul lives away from people so they would not be tempted to use her power of foresight for evil, and shows how Noel had been protective of Yeul since he was three years old, and that he initially hated Caius when he first arrived in his village. Noel would become an apprentice Guardian training under Caius and they protected Yeul together, but Noel was unaware she would die soon.

Noel wanted to take Yeul on a journey to find other people in the world, but Caius reprimands Noel for considering such folly. Caius claims the only way to save Yeul is by killing Etro and letting the chaos of Valhalla consume the Mortal Realm and transform it into a timeless world without a future or past, similar to Valhalla itself. The day after Caius leaves to carry out the deed, Yeul reveals to Noel she had a vision of him arguing with Caius and the goddess's gate. She tells him that every time a seeress sees the future her lifespan shortens until it kills her. Noel vows to value the time he has left with Yeul, and she dies in Noel's arms telling him they would meet again. Later, while in a dream world back in his time, Noel learns Yeul had seen the events of his adventure with Serah through time and the two of them reuniting, giving him the strength to move on.

The Yeul seen during the opening to Final Fantasy XIII-2 is from 700 AF; after dying and passing on to Valhalla, she is laid into the waves of chaos by Caius. What this means is unknown, but if Caius, Noel, and Yeul were the last remaining humans, this Yeul may have been unable to be reincarnated, as humanity became extinct in her timeline.

Other Yeuls
A Yeul appears alongside Caius in New Bodhum in 3 AF, watching the members of NORA bid farewell to Serah, Mog, and Noel as they leave through the Time Gate. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals the Yeul of 3 AF is the "Yeul who liked to travel" and that her first vision was of Lightning being swallowed by chaos, and her later visions are of Lightning fighting Caius. She traveled with Caius searching for the Time Gates she saw Serah appear by.

In the Yaschas Massif in 1X AF, with Noel and Serah returning from Oerba at 200 AF, Yeul appears before them and explains the Yeul they saw before was from a distant future. She tells them she traces the timeline and leads people along the right path and points at Serah, cryptically revealing her to possess the Eyes of Etro like herself. After Noel and Serah leave through a Time Gate, she dies in Caius's arms.

In the years 100 and 110 AF in the Yaschas Massif, it is revealed the actions of a past incarnation of Yeul inadvertently created a paradox when she sealed an Ugallu in the void. The paradox makes people vanish and in their place leaves "Rubies of Grief" — remnants of their memories. In the year 110 AF Serah and Noel encounter a Ruby of Grief that contains the living conscience of the ancient Yeul, who implores the two to destroy Ugallu. By doing so, Yeul's memory finds peace and vanishes, ending the paradox.

In the Sunleth Waterscape in 300 AF, the Yeul of that time arrives with Caius to a Time Gate after Serah and Noel depart. Caius asks if she will allow this, and she says, "It is not for me to decide", and they leave the area.

When Serah is separated from Noel in the Historia Crux and arrives in a shadow of Valhalla in the Void Beyond, several Yeuls from different time periods give her cryptic advice: the first one being from the distant past; the second, from New Bodhum at 3 AF, reveals they are both blessed by Etro; the third from a future unknown to Serah tells the story of how Etro released her and the other l'Cie from crystal stasis on the Day of Ragnarok, but it distorted time and Etro was too weak to repair it. The fourth and last Yeul is the one who "lives and dies in all the ages". She tells Serah of how the Void Beyond can take the form of a person's innermost desires and asks why Serah seeks to change time and oppose Caius. She reveals the death that awaits her if she changes the timeline any further. This "Yeul" is an illusion created by Caius.

When Serah and Noel navigate the floating blocks in Academia 500 AF, Yeul's voice tells them not to kill Etro and that only a doomed future awaits if they face Caius, hinting at Caius's scheme to have Noel kill him to ensure Etro's death. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After states the first vision of the Yeul of 500 AF was of Noel alone at the end of the world. After her first vision, she saw Noel with someone but knew he would soon be alone, and wished for everyone to die so nobody would be left alone. This Yeul differs from the others in how she felt abandoned and unwanted by her mother, and how she was distrustful of others, including Caius. She wished for Noel to be happy, and so requested for Caius to let her final incarnation live a normal life.

In the paradox ending, "Beneath a Timeless Sky", Yeul is trapped at the end of the world in New Bodhum with Serah, Noel, and Mog and no longer can have visions of the future due to time having ended when Serah defeated Caius in the Void Beyond. A meteorite lands in the distance and they rush off to investigate.

In the secret ending, "The Goddess is Dead", Caius's plan to kill the goddess has succeeded as he announces to Yeul they are free from their curses, and can start over in a new world without Etro.

"Black Mist Yeul"
While generally every Yeul supports Serah and Noel's quest, there is another Yeul in Chapter 5 in the Void Beyond who is hostile towards Serah for trying to change the timeline. She is clouded in black mist, an indication of the power of chaos. This Yeul transforms into Caius, indicating she was a trick conjured by him, but the Yeul covered in black mist is seen in other places as well. During Lightning's monologue at the end of Chapter 5, a misty Yeul is seen sitting on a bench in Orphan's Cradle. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, it is suggested the Yeul enveloped in chaos is not really Yeul, but an unknown entity that took on her form. This is supported in the novel by comparing the gentle nature of the Yeuls encountered by Serah and Noel to the bitterness the "Chaos Yeul" displays toward her fate.

During the final chapter in Academia 500 AF, the Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega "Unsolved Mysteries" section identifies the voice telling Noel and Serah to turn back as belonging to the "Black Mist Yeul". This is also the Yeul seen in Snow's and Lightning's DLC episodes. Lastly, the Yeul covered in black mist can be found in some Live Trigger events after beating the game; for example, in the Bresha Ruins 5 AF, in the area where a Ghast was fought, the player is asked to listen to the voice and the Shadow Yeul talks about Atlas. If the player beats Atlas without the Paradox Scope on, Yeul asks Serah and Noel to free her from the shackles of the goddess, saying her only wish is to be with "him". Who the person might be is not specified.

The Yeul covered in black mist appears only in the Void Beyond, Coliseum and Valhalla, as well as briefly in Orphan's Cradle during Lightning's monologue scene; all of these locations are outside of the Mortal Realm. Thus it is possible she may not be able to manifest in the Mortal Realm, and that is why Noel and Serah only hear her voice in Academia 500 AF.

In the DLC episode, "Perpetual Battlefield", after Noel and Serah defeat Valfodr in the Coliseum and Snow says he is unable to leave, Noel believes Snow might have gotten on someone's bad side, and Serah catches a glimpse of an illusion of Yeul surrounded by chaos.

In the DLC episode, "Requiem of the Goddess", when Lightning sees a vision of Serah's death during her fight with Caius in Valhalla, Caius strikes her down and she comes to within the remains of Etro's temple. The spirits of several Yeuls surround Serah's spirit with chaos before the goddess's throne. They taunt Lightning by telling her that when the end of time comes Serah will fade into darkness and remain with them forever. Lightning demands Yeul to release Serah but she summons Caius to continue his battle with Lightning. When she emerges victorious, Yeul's spirit appears to Lightning on the beach. Lightning demands her to let Serah go, but is swallowed by chaos. Yeul tells Lightning that Serah's death is her fault since she was the one who asked her to embark on the journey through time that would claim her life.

The nature of the Shadow Yeuls is revealed in Lightning Returns.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
After Caius's actions in destroying Etro ensured her freedom, Yeul and her numerous incarnations have spent the past five centuries in the remains of Etro's Temple in the Wildlands of Nova Chrysalia. It is revealed that the many incarnations of Yeul, including the shadow version, are fragments of the original and that their lingering reincarnation caused the events of Final Fantasy XIII-2 as it influenced the Chaos. By the time Lightning is chosen as the savior, the Yeul incarnations are the only thing keeping Caius alive. Only the 700 AF incarnation, the final Yeul from Noel's time, desires to leave for the new world. Though the many versions of Yeul help Lightning face him, Caius proves beyond her ability to save.

After Bhunivelze has been felled and Nova Chrysalia begins to collapse Yeul's past incarnations remain by Caius's side as he is consumed in Nova Chrysalia's destruction, but the final Yeul is allowed to accompany Noel to the new world.

Creation and Development
Yeul was designed by Hideo Minaba.

Voice
In the Japanese version, she is voiced by and by  in the English version.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Yeul's leitmotif is titled "Yeul's Theme", and is an acoustic guitar tune composed by Naoshi Mizuta, with lyrics performed by Joelle. Mizuta wanted to create a ballad that was pretty and poignant. The piano ad-lib during the interlude was performed by Mizuta's favorite pianist, Febian Reza Pane.

The two variants of her theme are "Song of the Farseers" and "Eyes of Etro". Her theme is subtly featured in "The Promised Future", while an orchestral version is featured in the "Ending Credits".

"Yeul's Theme"

 * Sooner than memories begin to fray
 * Everything from the past just swept away
 * Remembering when all who have gone are now lost


 * Many paths, many seasons I have seen
 * Time has washed them away just like the sea
 * So many fates and dreams will become tragedies


 * To see you safe
 * To watch you grow
 * Visions of love, my only hope
 * Such loneliness is worth the price
 * I'll protect you with my life


 * Constantly guiding despite the cost
 * Hoping against fear when all is lost
 * Pity not my destiny, no
 * My sacrifice is worth this


 * To see you safe
 * To watch you grow
 * Visions of love, my only hope
 * This loneliness is worth the price
 * I'll protect you with my life


 * This burden I must bear alone
 * For many lives and more to come
 * My loneliness is worth the price
 * I'll protect you with my life


 * I'll protect you with my life

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
"Noel & Yeul ~The Promise~" is a nineteenth track on the first disc of the game's soundtrack and is an arrangement of "Yeul's Theme" containing the track's vocals along with short instrumental moments of "Noel's Theme".

"Noel & Yeul ~The Promise~"

 * Sooner than memories begin to fray
 * Everything from the past just swept away
 * Remembering when all who have gone are now lost


 * Many paths, many seasons I have seen
 * Time has washed them away just like the sea
 * So many fates and dreams will become tragedies


 * To see you safe
 * To watch you grow
 * Visions of love, my only hope
 * Such loneliness is worth the price
 * I'll protect you with my life

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Yeul appears in the Trading Card Game on an ice-type card depicting her in her official render.

Etymology
Yeul is a Korean name that can be translated as "Shining Bird", which may be a play on a phoenix in relation to Yeul's continuous death and rebirth. Additionally, Yeul may be derived from "Yule" – an alternate way of referring to Christmas – and may indicate a close connection to Noel, whose name is also an alternate way of referring to Christmas. The latter interpretation is further enforced as Yeul's name is homophonic to the words jul or jol, the term for Christmas in Scandinavian languages. In fact, Yeul's name is "Jul" in the German version.

Trivia

 * Yeul sitting in the Narthex resembles a piece of promotional art for Final Fantasy XIII that depicts Lightning in a similar position.
 * As stated by Caius, there are many Yeuls, each with different interests: the Yeul presented in the official render is possibly the one who liked to collect flowers from 200 AF.
 * Daisies symbolize purity and innocence: Yeul was "pure and innocent" in her heart and she wanted to keep the timeline "pure", even though she sometimes had to oppose the law of the Farseers. This makes her the opposite of her partner, Caius.