Snow Villiers

Snow Villiers is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII who appears as a guest character in Final Fantasy XIII-2, and will also make an appearance in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII although what his role will be is still unknown.

Snow is an orphan who was raised in a Sanctum facility. He is the leader and founder of NORA, a group that originally fought off Bodhum's wildlife and eventually became a group of rebels fighting against the establishment. He grew up with his childhood friends Gadot and Lebreau in the town of Bodhum at the edge of Cocoon, where they hunted stray monsters.

Snow is determined to save his fiancée, Serah Farron, from her fate as a Pulse l'Cie despite Serah's sister Lightning's disapproval of their relationship. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, he goes off in search of Lightning who has disappeared, being the only one to believe Serah's claims that her sister is still alive.

Final Fantasy XIII
Snow has light blond hair, blue eyes, and a stubble beard. He wears a black bandanna, black gloves, large gray boots, a light blue vest over a black shirt, and a striped blue scarf hanging from a belt under a long beige trench coat with frayed hems. The coat functions as his weapon, as it is fused with AMP technology. One of Snow's pendants has a symbol of a cat, which is the logo of NORA. Snow's foot size is 33 centimeters (about a foot long). His l'Cie brand is on his left forearm.

Snow keeps calling himself "The Hero". Although his heart may be in the right place and he wishes to help anyone in need, he has a tendency to talk and act before thinking, which can infuriate the people around him. Acknowledging Snow's flamboyant nature, Sazh calls him "one of the kids". Lightning describes Snow as "arrogant and chummy from the get-go, thinks he's everyone's pal", and that his best quality is being "too stubborn to die".

Snow is hot-headed and and fearless in the face of danger and has little regard to authorities. Snow hides whatever guilt he feels by acting optimistic, though doing so causes people to misunderstand him. Snow is defined by his love for Serah and even after learning about her being a Pulse l'Cie, he chooses to stand beside her and help her complete her Focus. His relationship with Serah puts him in conflict with Lightning, who at first believes him to be an irresponsible idiot unworthy of her sister.

Final Fantasy XIII-2


Snow no longer wears his bandana, vest or scarf and now has a shorter beard and slightly longer hair. He wears a dark red shirt under a dark gray trench coat with frayed hems. His hair is swept back and exposes his ears. He bears a new Pulse l'Cie brand of an unknown fal'Cie on his left arm closer to his elbow than his original brand.

Director Motomu Toriyama has said that Snow does not have a "jealous personality", and therefore doesn't mind Serah going off with Noel Kreiss to find Lightning. Overall, Snow's personality has not changed from Final Fantasy XIII.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Snow has been reported to appear in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII wearing a new outfit.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-
Snow is overjoyed to meet his girlfriend's older sister, but Lightning is far from impressed. She had never approved of him or his group's unsanctioned activities and wants Snow to forget about dating her sister. Snow laughs away her demands and his flippant attitude does nothing but reinforce Lightning's original impression of him.

When Serah tells Snow she is breaking up with him, he is shocked and tells her that ever since they met his life has changed. She reveals that she has become a l'Cie and is now an enemy of Cocoon before running away. Snow chases after her and vows to help her complete her Focus, whatever it may be. Serah is fearful that the Sanctum will find out, but Snow reassures her that he will be by her side.

Three days later while out shopping for Lightning's birthday present with Serah, Snow slips away to buy engagement necklaces; two metal sculptures of Cocoon, under the premise of giving Serah 'the whole world'. During the annual Bodhum fireworks display Snow proposes to Serah and she accepts. He says the fireworks granted his wish and that he can't wait to see Lightning's face when they tell her. He drives her into the spectacle on an aero bike, and while enjoying the view Snow and Serah kiss, but the couple's happiness is overshadowed by Serah's pending fate as a l'Cie.

The next day, Lightning's 21st birthday, Serah reveals she has become a Pulse l'Cie, and has accepted Snow's marriage proposal. Thinking that her sister is joking, Lightning does not listen and shuts her out. Despite Snow's attempts to amend the situation Lightning doesn't listen to anything he has to say. Snow leaves, determined to help Serah alone.

Snow decides to take Serah to the Bodhum Vestige to see the fal'Cie who had branded her, Anima, in hopes of revealing her Focus. They are chased by PSICOM and Snow and Serah fly to the Pulse fal'Cie within the Vestige while under attack. Their aero bike gets shot and damaged, and Serah is forced to jump onto a ledge on the Vestige. Silver liquid substance emerges from the Vestige and drags her inside as the fal'Cie's prisoner, while Snow escapes the situation unharmed. He goes to explain the situation to Lightning before rushing off to rescue Serah.

Final Fantasy XIII
As PSICOM purges the town of Bodhum the Vestige is taken to Hanging Edge the fal'Cie and Serah still inside it. Snow makes his way to the Hanging Edge as well to track down the Pulse Vestige. Lightning derails the train carrying the Purgees with Sazh Katzroy and Snow and NORA rescue the remaining Purgees, who aid them in their fight against the Sanctum. Snow and the rest of NORA gather the Purgees together and hand out weapons for any volunteers.

One of the Purgees, Nora Estheim, saves Snow's life from a Sanctum warmech, before another destroys the bridge they are standing sending the Purgees plummeting down to the abyss below. Snow manages to hold on long enough to grab Nora's hand at the end of the bridge, but the explosion that destroyed the bridge severely injured Nora, and she falls from Snow's grip after begging him to get her son home.

Unknown to Snow, her son, Hope Estheim, is watching the entire scene from afar on a skyrail, and blames Snow for his mother's death. After falling down the bridge Snow miraculously awakens in the ruins below, alongside his childhood friend, Gadot. The two make their way back to the surviving Purgees and the other members of NORA on the overhead skyrail.

As they arrive, Snow is quick to ask about the safety of the remaining Purgees, but Gadot ensures he will look after them, as Snow has to reach the Vestige and rescue Serah. Before Hope has a chance to confront Snow about his mother's death, Snow uses one of the remaining aero bikes to travel to the Vestige. Hope and his companion, Vanille, hijack Gadot's aero bike and follow him.

Wandering the Vestige, Snow eventually finds Hope and Vanille, saving them from a group of Cie'th. He tells them about Serah and Hope yells at him for wanting to save a l'Cie. Snow has Vanille and Hope stick with him for their safety and they make their way to Anima's Throne to find Lightning and Sazh already there, along with an unconscious Serah. Serah awakens and tells Lightning she has to save Cocoon, but Snow intervenes and tells Serah that he will save everyone. Serah begins to glow and crystallizes. A tear-shaped crystal falls from her grasp to Snow's hand. This greatly bewilders the group, as turning into crystal means a l'Cie has completed their Focus.

Snow's view of the situation only serves to further anger Lightning, but he remains optimistic, sure that his fiancée will wake up from her crystal slumber. Snow believes the legends that state that l'Cie who complete their Focus gain eternal life, but Lightning believes Serah to be dead. Snow begs with Anima to return Serah, offering to become a l'Cie in her stead, but Lightning and Sazh - who has his own motives for hunting down the fal'Cie - choose a more aggressive approach and attack it. Snow joins their plight only to be branded a l'Cie along with everyone else. As the PSICOM destroys the Vestige it falls down to Lake Bresha below, crystallizing the entire lake on impact.

After dreaming about the night he proposed to Serah, Snow awakens with the rest of the group, unscathed, in Lake Bresha. After realizing they have become l'Cie they try to work out their Focus, but cannot piece it together from the hazy vision they saw. They can only figure that the legendary beast Ragnarok is somehow involved. For Snow, their Focus is clear: to save Cocoon, just as Serah asked them to before she crystallized. Now enemies of the state, they evade pursuing PSICOM troops by crossing the crystallized lake, when they come across Serah's crystallized form lodged in a formation. Snow attempts to free her with Vanille and Sazh's aid, but without tools they are helpless.

Snow attempts to reason with Lightning but she punches him to the ground. The rest of the party propose they move forward to stay out of the Sanctum's clutches, but Snow is doesn't want to leave Serah behind. Lightning criticizes him for abandoning his plan to save the world so quickly and choosing to stay behind and die instead. Before she leaves, Snow vows to stay with Serah and complete his Focus. Hope is still unable to tell Snow about Nora and Snow tells him that Lightning will take care of him, and that they will meet again.

As the others leave him behind, Snow continues to dig Serah's crystal out of the crystal formation. When PSICOM forces attack him Snow goes on the defensive and inadvertently summons his Eidolon, the Shiva Sisters. After taming them he is apprehended by another l'Cie, Fang, and taken aboard the Cavalry airship, the Lindblum, along with Serah's crystal.

Aboard the ship Snow meets the leader of the Cavalry, Cid Raines, who reveals his premise to free the world of the fal'Cie and the Sanctum's clutches. Raines reveals that the new l'Cie have been sentenced to public execution should they be caught. Fang and Raines need to track down the other l'Cie, and with Serah's crystallized form now aboard the Lindblum, Snow has no choice but to comply and help them.

Lightning and Hope are tracked down in Hope's hometown of Palumpolum, where Snow and Fang intercept PSICOM's assault on them. To avoid capture, they are forced to separate - Snow with Hope, and Fang with Lightning - though they remain in communication with a wireless device. The group decides on Hope's home in Felix Heights as a rendezvous point. As Snow and Hope travel through the town Snow remains oblivious to Hope's hatred for him and inadvertently continues to fuel the boy's rage by saying that it is foolish to fight if you die, and that one must only look out for themselves.

Snow and Hope enter a crowd of people that PSICOM is preparing to purge, and Snow fires a gun into the air, scattering the frightened crowd. The same crowd of people returns as an angry mob and Snow uses his l'Cie power to shoot down an archway to block the approaching mob. He grabs hold of a Sanctum troop's air tech and carries Hope up to the Rivera Towers.

Hope asks Snow a series of personal questions such as what he would do if someone took his family away from him, and he could not take them back but knew who was responsible. Snow answers that there would be trouble. An Ushumgal Subjugator appears and Snow tries to stand between Hope and the machine, but the boy pushes him out of the way and confronts it. After the battle Hope finally loses control.

Hope makes Snow confront his guilt about his past actions where innocent people got hurt and killed. Hope asks how he is going to pay for everything, but Snow says nothing can rectify them, and when someone is dead words are useless. Hope accuses him of running away when people die, and Snow says that all he can do is move forward. Hope blasts Snow off the building's edge and approaches him with Lightning's knife, ready to kill him, revealing himself to be Nora's son. A PSICOM missile attack hits the building and knocks Hope out, sending him falling over the edge. Snow catches him midair and shields him with his body as the two fall to the streets below.

Despite being injured by this feat, Snow carries an unconscious Hope on his back in order to fulfill his promise to Nora to get her son home. When Hope wakes up, Snow apologizes for putting his mother in danger and being unable to save her. He says that he said many things he should not have and believed all the apologies in the world would have been useless. Snow tells he used that as an excuse to run from his guilt and even gives Hope back Lightning's knife, saying it was a birthday present from Serah to keep her safe, and tells Hope he should be the one to carry it since Lightning gave it to him.

Snow offers him a second chance to take revenge, but Hope refuses, having realized revenge is meaningless and wouldn't bring Nora back. Putting his hatred to rest, Hope tells Snow he knew that killing him would not have solved anything, but he used that goal as the motivation he needed to survive. They are ambushed by the Subjugator they fought earlier, which knocks Snow unconscious as he tries to protect Hope. Hope attempts to fight the beast alone but is soon joined by Lightning and Fang, and the three destroy the monster together. Afterward, Lightning helps a barely conscious Snow to his feet, claiming he will be all right since he is "too stubborn to die", and the group heads to Hope's home.

At Hope's apartment, Snow rests in one of the bedrooms while Lightning looks over him, tending to his wounds. When he awakens, Lightning explains her guilt for not believing Serah and how much pain it caused her. Lightning asks Snow to forgive her, which Snow does, teasingly asking for Lightning's real name. Lightning tells Snow to ask Serah when she returns.

Once recovered, Snow apologizes to Hope's father, Bartholomew Estheim, for his hand in Nora's death, which Bartholomew accepts upon learning of Snow fulfilling her dying wish. After Bartholomew exposes several flaws in the l'Cie's plan to take down the Sanctum, PSICOM attacks the apartment. Snow removes his coat and heads outside to face the troops, imploring them to realize he is a human and they all wish to save Cocoon. He is rebutted by Yaag Rosch, who claims the l'Cie's lives are not worth the risk of sparing. The troops infiltrate the house and the party are forced onto the roof, where they are collected by Rygdea from the Cavalry and taken aboard the Lindblum.

The group heads to the PSICOM airship, the Palamecia, upon learning that Sazh and Vanille are being held captive onboard. They reunite with the prisoners, and are forced to face Galenth Dysley in his true form, the fal'Cie Barthandelus. Barthandelus claims their Focus is to become Ragnarok and destroy Orphan, making Cocoon fall from the sky. Snow is shocked to hear Dysley's claim that Serah's Focus was to assemble them to bring about Cocoon's destruction.

Under Barthandelus's manipulation they escape the airship down to the Fifth Ark, where Snow remains shocked over the revelation of Serah's Focus. While in the Ark the group runs into Cid Raines, who is revealed to be a Sanctum l'Cie branded by Barthandelus whose Focus is to help them destroy Cocoon. Determined to defy Barthandelus and save Cocoon, Cid attacks the party. Cid is defeated, but goes on to turn into a crystal anyway. Snow is inspired by Cid's sacrifice, realizing they can defy their fate and still fight to save Cocoon. After finding an airship the group descends down to Gran Pulse in hopes of finding answers.

As the party rest for days in their Vallis Media base camp, despair begins to set in at their task ahead. They find Pulse completely void of human life. Snow's optimism fades as he sees Hope struggle to recover after the party finds the latter unconscious. When Hope comes to and tells the others to leave him behind, Snow and Lightning try to comfort him, but the boy's anguish summons his Eidolon, Alexander. After Hope faces Alexander, they head to Fang and Vanille's old village of Oerba.

As they travel there, they cross the Mah'habara Subterra and the Sulyya Springs, where Snow learns from Vanille that she had met Serah. Vanille tells him that Serah had the same vision of Ragnarok and must have overcome her Focus, meaning Dysley must have lied about it. Snow tells Vanille he already knows. In the Skyreach, Lightning and Snow discuss Serah. Snow still holds the crystal Serah left for him and watches Cocoon floating on the sky through its glow. In the end, Lightning and Snow promise to see Serah again together.

The party ascends the floors of Taejin's Tower, and ride a capsule down to Oerba. The dilapidated ruins of Oerba hold little answers for them, until they reach an run-down bridge, upon which Serah miraculously appears reciting the legend of Ragnarok. Snow suspects something is wrong and pushes Serah away, as she tells the party to destroy Orphan and save the world. Serah's form turns out to be another illusion of Dysley's. After the second battle with Barthandelus, they resolve to protect Orphan and fly back to Cocoon, where Dysley has a resurrected Cid Raines and created utter chaos in the capital of Eden.

Upon arriving in Eden, Sazh pilots the airship into the Eden Grand Prix. Snow accidentally shows his l'Cie brand to the cheering crowd and chaos breaks out. They escape the circuit and infiltrate the city. Snow and the others are briefly reunited with the other members of NORA, who scold Snow for leaving them behind. NORA says they will support Snow no matter if he has become a l'Cie. Snow and the others eventually reach Edenhall and its heart, Orphan's Cradle.

In the Narthex Throne, Barthandelus shatters illusions of Sazh's crystallized son, Dajh, and Serah. In a fit of rage, Snow charges at Dysley and gets deflected by his shield. Lightning asks Snow to remember where the real Serah is. Snow remembers he still has Serah's crystal tear, and sees through the illusion. Barthandelus is defeated in his final form and he merges with Orphan. It is revealed that Orphan's goal is the same as Barthandelus's: to destroy Cocoon to summon the Maker.

Orphan tries to make them turn into Ragnarok and destroy him and Fang decides to become Ragnarok to grant Orphan's wish. Snow and Sazh try to hold Fang back, but Orphan turns everyone but Fang and Vanille into Cie'th. After Fang fails to destroy Orphan it tries to force Vanille to become Ragnarok, but she rejects the offer. Orphan explodes and sinks into a pool of silver liquid. Snow and the others return to normal claiming they have seen a new Focus. Lightning calls out that their Focus is to save Cocoon and the party's l'Cie brands turn white. They defeat Orphan in its true form and Cocoon begins to break down and descend.

As Orphan's Cradle disappears the party is left hovering midair above Eden. Fang and Vanille become Ragnarok and save Cocoon by encasing it in crystal and forming a pillar to support it above the ground. With their Focus completed, Snow is crystallized down on Gran Pulse alongside the rest of the party.

They awaken from their crystal stasis briefly after with their l'Cie brands gone. They see the shell of Cocoon held up by a crystal pillar, with a crystallized Fang and Vanille holding it at its center. Serah and Dajh were released from crystal stasis as well and Snow is reunited with his fiancée. As Lightning begins to apologize to Serah, Snow cuts in saying that they have a wedding to plan. He promises to make Serah happy and Lightning congratulates the couple.

Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-
Shortly after reuniting with Serah, Snow recalls his vision of everyone laughing together, including Vanille and Fang, and knows it is not over yet. As Serah looks at Cocoon, Snow proposes that they build a city on Gran Pulse, since they can find their own food and hunt monsters just like back in Bodhum.

They watch Sazh leave with Dajh to help the survivors. Not long after they watch Hope leave with a soldier to reunite with his father. Serah tells Snow about her decision to become a teacher, and tell people why Cocoon fell. He supports her choice and decides to build her the largest school she can imagine.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
At the start of Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning has disappeared. Snow says she must be in the crystal pillar holding up Cocoon with Vanille and Fang, but Serah objects that Lightning was just with them. However, nobody else remembers Lightning returning with them.

After two years of living with Serah, Snow tells her he believes her about Lightning still being alive. Leaving his engagement necklace with Serah as a symbol of his promise to return with Lightning, Snow decides to go look for her and also seek a way to help Fang and Vanille.

Snow has a dream of Lightning telling him about Time Gates and artefacts, urging him to protect Cocoon's pillar, and in turn Vanille and Fang. However, the exact course of the events is murky, as it is implied in a dialogue choice during a second playthrough of Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF that he lied about these things to make Serah feel better. Snow travels to Oerba where he decides he needs to become stronger, like back when he was a l'Cie. After Snow is branded a l'Cie by an unknown fal'Cie, a Time Gate appears to him and he goes through the Historia Crux, passing by Sazh along the way. He ends up in the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF to fight off the Miniflan as they converge into Royal Ripeness.

Having a vision of Snow in danger, Serah arrives to his aid with Noel following. Upon meeting Serah, Snow believes he must be dreaming, but Serah assures she is real. Noel tells Snow to back off while he deals with the monster, but Snow disregards him and they take on the monster together. At one point, Snow shields Serah and Noel from an attack, and deflects the energy back at the enemy. The three defeat Royal Ripeness in a combined effort, but the countless Miniflan reform the monster, forcing them to retreat. After Noel confronts Snow about his recklessness, Snow tells them of his mission to protect Cocoon's crystal pillar and how Royal Ripeness will wear down the pillar and cause Cocoon to fall.

The party comes to the conclusion that the giant flan's existence is a paradox and follows a bunch of Miniflan to where they believe an artefact may be. As they travel through the area they encounter a giant Enlil. Snow yells and waves at it to get its attention, ignoring Noel's warnings. Taking the Enlil's silence as a "yes", Snow hops on with Noel, Serah and Mog and they ride on its back to get across the valley. Upon finding an artefact, Serah reflects on how being a crystal was the loneliest time of her life. Snow apologizes to her for it but is comforted by the fact that she had nice dreams while in crystal stasis, and hopes that Fang and Vanille are having the same experience within the pillar.

Defeating the Miniflan guarding the second artefact places it in their possession. Snow begins playfully poking Mog, saying he looks like something from Nautilus. Serah explains to Noel what theme parks are. Snow says Noel resembles Fang and Vanille, and tells Noel that he will introduce them to him someday. Coming at a Time Gate, Snow tries to enter it, but since the gate is not his, a forcefield denies him access. Noel tells Snow to wait for them to come back and not try anything rash.

Despite promising Serah and Noel he would wait, Snow continues to fight. After Noel and Serah resolve the anomalies in both the Coliseum and the Archylte Steppe ??? AF, stopping the mass number of Miniflan to appear in Sunleth Waterscape and compose Royal Ripeness, they return to find Snow on the ropes in front of the monster at its reduced size. Together they defeat it for good, but afterward Snow struggles to stand on his own and needs Serah to help him. He thanks her and Noel for their help as he couldn't do it alone after all.

After Noel asks him why he continued fighting despite knowing he didn't stand a chance, Snow says he could not stand and watch if anything were to happen to Vanille and Fang. Noel accuses him of being reckless and useless but Snow says Noel has been protecting Serah and must have protected loved ones back in his own time. He says Noel was right about needing to survive in order to return to the people he has protected, and apologizes for charging in on his own. After asking Noel to keep looking after Serah for him, Snow begins to glow and turn transparent.

Noel believes Snow is fading because they resolved the paradox and he does not belong in this time. As Serah tries to hold onto him, Snow tells her not to worry since heroes never die. She notices he has become a Pulse l'Cie and he says they will meet again, dissolving away.

Sometime after his departure Snow finds his own gate and enters the Void Beyond. Hearing about the Coliseum, he resolves to find it by using Shiva. Snow worries what Caius Ballad is planning and once in the Coliseum, Snow encounters many of the residents of the world before Serah and Noel arrive.

Snow battles Noel and Serah after she decides to show him how much she has matured during her journey with Noel. After the Arbiter of Time allows the two to leave, Snow reveals he is bound to the Coliseum and needs to stay behind, promising to be with Serah again once the matter is dealt with. Until then, Snow decides to hang out with Gilgamesh, Ultros, Typhon, and the Pupu.

In the paradox ending, "The Future is Hope", Snow appears in Academia 4XX AF and stops Alyssa from tricking Noel and Serah into falling into Caius's trap. He reveals that Caius is the one who caused the paradoxes before flying off with Mog and Serah on Shiva in Gestalt Mode to find thirteen crystals scattered throughout time, while Noel remains behind to safeguard Hope, whom Snow said would be assassinated in three days.

Final Fantasy XIII


Snow has similarities to the Monk class of past games by fighting bare-handed, dealing high damage and having high HP. Snow's primary strength is in his defensive abilities and he has the third highest Strength. He excels in the Sentinel role, and has the highest HP growth out of the six characters, and weapons which provide bonuses to defense and Sentinel abilities. As a Ravager, he learns all Ice and Water spells in keeping with his namesake, but can also learn Wind magic up to the -"ra" level. Snow's Full ATB Skill is the Commando ability, Sovereign Fist, which clears the enemy's stagger gauge when executed.

Snow is the only character in the party who has two exclusive skills: the Hand Grenade only usable in the first two chapters, and his Full ATB Skill, Sovereign Fist. Snow is also the only character whose Crystarium automatically updates at the end of Chapter 3.


 * Base Statistics

Eidolon


Snow's Eidolon is Shiva, which splits into two sisters. Their names are Stiria and Nix. Stiria is the dark-skinned elder sister, and the white-skinned younger sister is called Nix. Nix attacks the enemies with mostly physical attacks, while Stiria wields powerful ice and healing spells. They are capable of combining into a motorcycle for Snow to ride on for their Gestalt Mode.

Snow is the only playable character who fights his Eidolon alone. Additionally, he doesn't help other party members to fight their Eidolon.

Weapons
See Snow's Coats. Snow's weapon uses Antimatter Manipulation Principle to enhance his powers. Although it changes the appearance of his coat when in battle, the coat itself is not the weapon. The coat enhances the wearer's strength depending on which emblem set is sewn onto the back (although the emblems only appear during combat). Snow's weapon is the only weapon that cannot subtract or change forms.

There is a glitch in the game that renders Snow's weapon outside of battle, letting him have a "different" coat on the field. If the player kills a beast on a mission with another character's Eidolon and the summoning is executed while the beast is attacking Snow, Snow's weapon stays on him, even on the field.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Snow is a guest character in the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF. He has no HP bar, and thus cannot be knocked out. He is immune to status ailments and certain buffs are ineffective as well; he can, however, gain any of the En- spells if cast by a Synergist monster.

Snow functions as a full-time Commando using Attack, Ruin, Blitz, and Launch. He is feeble when it comes to magic, which puts him at a disadvantage when pitted against flan enemies, the main enemies in the Sunleth Waterscape.

Boss


Snow is part of a post-release DLC, in which he can be found in the Coliseum and fought against as a boss.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Snow appears as a playable sub-character in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, when he is purchased by collecting crystal fragments. He appears in his Final Fantasy XIII attire.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Snow appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game on four different cards. One of the them depicts him in his CG render from Final Fantasy XIII, one from an in-game scene, one from Final Fantasy XIII-2, and one in Theatrhythm.

Kingdom Hearts
Snow appears as an avatar in the Nintendo DS Kingdom Hearts Re:coded game, along with Serah, Lightning, Sazh and Vanille.

Development
Snow's original design was made by Nao Ikeda, as revealed in a Dengeki PlayStation interview. According to the April 2009 edition of Famitsu (page 50), Tetsuya Nomura based Snow's bandanna on an unused design that was originally planned for Kingdom Hearts coded.

Before his official name was revealed, Snow was referred to as "Mr. 33cm", referencing his foot size. In an early E3 trailer Snow was seen using AUG role, which presumably stands for "augmenter", bestowing positive statuses on the party. The role's color was the same as is Synergist's, implying that at some point during development Snow might have been intended to have Synergist as one of his main roles.

The Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega reveals scrapped plans for an extension to Snow's DLC scenario episode entitled "Perpetual Battlefield". Alongside the existing part of the episode in the Coliseum, there would have been a separate minigame in which players would play as Snow riding through the Archylte Steppe. The player's objective would have been to try and kill 30 monsters using Snow's skillset—which included being able to spin, drift, jump and use a water-based spell. Once this part of the DLC was scrapped, this minigame was used as a base for the Chocobo Racing minigame in Serendipity.

Musical Themes
In Final Fantasy XIII, "Snow's Theme" is a rock tune played with electric guitars portraying his heroic personality. "The Warpath Home" has elements of his theme and Final Fantasy XIII's prelude. It is a patriotic song that reflects Snow's involvement with NORA.

Orchestral variants of his theme are "Forever Fugitives", "To Hunt l'Cie", and "Atonement", while "No Way to Live" is a rock variant, much like his original theme.

"Snow's Theme" returns in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Etymology
"Villiers" is a common French and a surname ultimately derived from the Latin/Italian word "villa", "country-house, estate". It is also the name of a fairly well-known motorcycle company, which is referenced in his summon's Gestalt mode.

"Snow" refers to his affiliation with the Ice and Water elements, and may have been a counterpoint to Lightning whose name is also weather-related.

Trivia

 * Snow is one of the tallest playable characters in the Final Fantasy series at 6'7" (under the hulking Umaro of Final Fantasy VI, Kimahri Ronso of Final Fantasy X or Ward Zabac of Final Fantasy VIII).
 * Snow's eidolith crystal is in the shape of a heart.
 * Snow's crystal is used for the "L'Cie Paragon" trophy/achievement in Final Fantasy XIII and the "No Retreat" trophy/achievement in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
 * A cat NORA gave Serah after his departure in Final Fantasy XIII-2 is named after him.
 * Strangely, in Snow's official CG render, he is not wearing his NORA necklace or his engagement pendant, though they are present in his render on the Final Fantasy XIII summary website.
 * Snow's official CG render for Final Fantasy XIII was the only one not used for character bios in the instruction booklet included with the game. Instead, his Gestalt Mode render is used for the guide, as well as for the save screen.
 * Snow's Final Fantasy XIII outfit resembles Seifer's Kingdom Hearts II apparel.
 * Snow's Final Fantasy XIII-2 hairstyle resembles Setzer's hairstyle from Kingdom Hearts II.
 * Despite having a CG render for his appearance in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Snow never appears in a FMV-scene.
 * As a running gag in Final Fantasy XIII, before each battle with Galenth Dysley, Snow attempts to attack him but is knocked back by some form of protective magic. This gag is continued in Final Fantasy XIII-2 when Snow is unable to use a Time Gate to accompany Serah and Noel.
 * Snow, Lightning, Sazh, Hope and Noel appeared as models for the Showcase Prada 2012 Men's Spring/Summer Collection.