Oerba Dia Vanille

Oerba Dia Vanille [vʌ'niːɫ] is a playable character and the narrator in Final Fantasy XIII. Her full name stands for "Vanille of the Dia clan, from the village of Oerba".

In Final Fantasy XIII, Vanille is a mysterious girl who is friends with Fang. Despite facing many hardships, Vanille remains a caring and upbeat person. After joining Hope Estheim and his mother Nora as a victim of the Purge, Vanille is drawn into a conflict to decide the fate of Cocoon.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, she makes a cameo appearance alongside Fang when they meet Serah Farron in her dreamworld.

In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Vanille has been gifted with a special power and is under the care of the Order, a major religious cult based in the city of Luxerion dedicated to worshiping the god Bhunivelze.

Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2
Despite her chronological age, Vanille has the physical appearance of a nineteen year-old. Her bright red hair is tied in curled pigtails. She has green eyes, and pierced ears with silver hoop earrings. She wears a light pink halter top, an orange and yellow skirt, and beige boots. She wears a fur pelt around her waist, which she uses to carry her weapon. According to Dengeki PS3 magazine, it is made from a bear she defeated herself. She wears numerous bracelets, and three beaded necklaces, along with an assortment of beads attached to various parts of her clothing. Her outfit is inspired by the traditional clothes of the Namibian women. Vanille's l'Cie brand is located on her upper left thigh, but mostly remains hidden beneath her skirt.

Vanille has a childlike innocence, and is considerate, understanding, and at times, headstrong and stubborn, but has the maturity of someone her age. Vanille is empathetic, easily driven to tears, and cares deeply for other people, Fang in particular. Vanille tries to remains positive in situations others deem hopeless. She tries to cheer up her friends when they're down and see the bright side of things, but her bubbly personality is a façade to hide her fear and guilt. Vanille faces her past mistakes, learns to stop running away from her problems, and to fight for her friends and what she believes in.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Vanille's appearance remains largely unchanged, but she now wears a headdress resembling a traditional Indian. The headdress is comprised of a red and gold veil that covers her hair and shoulders, gold ornaments that cover her forehead, and two long silver horn-like ornaments that protrude from the back and curve around the sides of her head.

Vanille does not show a trace of her previously bubbly personality, and has become a devout follower of Bhunivelze. From listening to the voices of the dead, Vanille has become solemn, deeply affected by their suffering.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-


Vanille was a resident of Gran Pulse in the village of Oerba. During the War of Transgression six centuries before the events of Final Fantasy XIII, Vanille and Fang lost their families at the hands of Cocoon's l'Cie and fal'Cie. After meeting at Oerba's orphanage they became friends. Fang decided to become a l'Cie and Vanille tagged along. By the powers of the Pulse fal'Cie Anima, Vanille and Fang were granted the power of Ragnarok and given the Focus to destroy Cocoon.

Vanille was too scared to use the power of Ragnarok, so Fang became Ragnarok alone, but only scarred Cocoon's shell. Taking pity on the people of Cocoon, the goddess Etro intervened and crystallized Fang and Vanille before they could finish the job. The crystallized Fang and Vanille were placed within the Pulse Vestige, which was taken into Cocoon in the war's aftermath.

Six hundred years later, Vanille and Fang awaken from crystal stasis. Fang has lost the memory of their previous Focus and Ragnarok. Not wanting anymore people to get hurt, Vanille pretends she has as well and later takes on the burden of Ragnarok to spare Fang the guilt. Although Fang's l'Cie brand is scorched and unchanging, Vanille's brand is still active, thus Fang vows to complete their Focus. After two days of looking for answers with no luck, they return to the Vestige and discover Serah has been branded a Pulse l'Cie. Vanille blames herself for Serah's misfortune, assuming Anima transformed Serah to complete their Focus.

After stealing a pair of ID cards two days later, Fang and Vanille travel to Euride Gorge to find the fal'Cie Kujata, which Fang plans to destroy to restore their memories. Dajh Katzroy enters the room and the fal'Cie brands him a Sanctum l'Cie in response to Fang and Vanille's threat. The two are pursued by PSICOM troops and separated when Fang forces Vanille to escape without her. Vanille returns to the Vestige where she leaves her weapon and then wanders around Bodhum, beginning to see Cocoon as a peaceful paradise.

Four days later, Vanille meets Serah on the beach. When Vanille tells Serah about her dilemma, Serah advises Vanille to find a way to overcome it. She tells Vanille about her nightmare of destroying the world and how she tried to run from it, but now knows she will get through with her friends' help. Vanille apologizes for her role in Serah becoming a l'Cie, but Serah is oblivious to Vanille's involvement and does not understand. Two days later, Vanille attends Bodhum's fireworks festival. Inspired by her meeting with Serah, Vanille wishes for Cocoon's safety. The next morning, the Sanctum announces its discovery of Anima within the Vestige and quarantines Bodhum in preparation for the Purge. The following day, Vanille boards the Purge train alongside Hope and Nora in the hopes of returning home and escaping her Focus.

Final Fantasy XIII


While entering the Hanging Edge, the Purge train is derailed by Lightning and Sazh. Along with the rest of the Purgees, Vanille, Nora, and Hope are found by Snow Villiers and his resistance group, NORA. Nora joins their effort to fight PSICOM and is killed in battle, after which Vanille has Hope stick with her. Since Hope blames Snow for his mother's death, Vanille encourages him to approach Snow, but he leaves before Hope has the chance. Vanille and Hope steal Gadot's airbike and follow Snow to the Vestige.

They crash-land inside the Vestige and Vanille recovers her weapon. They are saved from a Cie'th ambush by Snow and choose to accompany him. They meet with Lightning and Sazh, and find Serah outside Anima's Throne. Serah asks Lightning to save Cocoon and transforms into a crystal, meaning she had fulfilled her Focus. Lightning, Snow, and Sazh attack Anima, after which Vanille's new acquaintances are branded l'Cie. PSICOM's assault on the Vestige destroys it and they fall down to Lake Bresha, with Anima's power crystallizing it on impact. Vanille pretends that she, too, had just been branded by Anima. The group interprets their Focus having something to do with Ragnarok and destroying Cocoon, although Snow remains positive their Focus is to follow Serah's wish to save it.

Soon after leaving Snow behind with Serah's crystal, the party stumbles upon a Sanctum airship which Sazh pilots out to the skies of Cocoon. The airship comes under fire from a wave of enemy ships and crash-lands in the Vile Peaks. Lightning announces she is heading for Eden to destroy its patron fal'Cie and take down the Sanctum. Lightning leaves with Hope chasing after her, and Sazh and Vanille choose to run from their fate in the opposite direction. Vanille and Sazh arrive in the Sunleth Waterscape on their way to Nautilus. Vanille asks Sazh about his family and he reveals he is Dajh Katzroy's father and was branded in his attempt to complete the boy's Focus. Overcome with guilt, Vanille cannot bring herself to tell Sazh about her involvement.

In Nautilus, breaking news footage of the chaos in Palumpolum is broadcast throughout the park. Sazh notes the appearances of Lightning, Hope, and Snow in the footage, but Vanille is shocked to see another familiar face: Fang. They attend the Pompa Sancta parade and visit the Chocobo Corral, where Sazh reveals he intends to turn himself in to the Sanctum to see Dajh one last time, even if it means his execution. Vanille tries to dissuade him by telling him who was responsible for the Euride Gorge incident, but before she has a chance to admit her involvement, they are attacked by the Sanctum. The two flee to the Clock Tower, where Dajh appears and crystallizes in Sazh's arms. Jihl Nabaat arrives with her troops, and the boy's Focus is revealed: to capture servants of the lowerworld fal'Cie. Nabaat reveals it was Vanille and Fang who threatened Kujata and made the fal'Cie brand Dajh.

Vanille flees the scene and Nabaat lets the enraged Sazh pursue her, curious as to how much data they could collect by watching two l'Cie duel. Within the courtyard of the Fiendlord's Keep, Vanille reveals her true nature as a l'Cie from Gran Pulse and demands Sazh to shoot her. He is unable to do so and his Eidolon Brynhildr manifests. The two defeat it together, but Sazh again points his guns at Vanille afterward. Vanille accepts her punishment, but Sazh is too heartbroken to take her life. They are captured by Nabaat’s regiment and imprisoned on the Palamecia. During their captivity, Sazh realizes that since Vanille awoke from crystal stasis, Dajh will awaken too. He forgives Vanille when he realizes what happened to his son was an accident. With help from the Cavalry, Lightning, Snow, Hope, and Fang infiltrate the airship to rescue Vanille and Sazh.

Sazh and Vanille escape their cell, retrieve their weapons, and proceed to meet them halfway, where Vanille is reunited with Fang. The party reaches the bridge and confronts the Primarch, Galenth Dysley, who reveals his true identity as the fal'Cie Barthandelus. Dysley says the party's Focus is to destroy Orphan, the fal'Cie who sustains Cocoon, and that Serah's Focus was to gather them together to be made l'Cie and accomplish that goal. The party escapes the descending Palamecia with Menrva in its airship form, and is taken to the Fifth Ark beneath Eden.

In the Fifth Ark, the group's l'Cie powers are fully awakened and they run into the Cavalry leader Cid Raines, who reveals himself as a Sanctum l'Cie whose Focus is to help them destroy Cocoon and summon the Maker. Cid defies his Focus and attempts to kill them, but is defeated and to everyone's surprise, he turns to crystal. Inspired by this, the party decides to also defy their Focus and after Vanille and Lightning help Fang tame her Eidolon, Bahamut, a new path to the Ark's lowest level is revealed. Vanille finds a Pulsian airship, and everyone agrees to travel to Gran Pulse to find a way to change their fate.

After days of searching, they find Gran Pulse void of human life and decide to journey to Oerba. When the party finds the ruins of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif, Vanille says she became Ragnarok and scarred Cocoon's shell centuries before. Fang is puzzled as to why she turned into crystal despite doing nothing in the war. The party crosses the Archylte Steppe into the Mah'habara Subterra where, in the Flower-filled Fissure, Fang says it was she who became Ragnarok and scarred Cocoon, not Vanille. The shock of having her deepest lie exposed causes Vanille's Eidolon, Hecatoncheir, to appear, and she learns Fang bluffed about regaining her memories to coax a confession from her. Once they tame Hecatoncheir, Fang reassures Vanille she is no longer alone, as their new friends from Cocoon are their new family.

In the Sulyya Springs, Vanille tells Snow she had met Serah in Bodhum and how she was made a l'Cie because of her. She tells him Serah had the vision of Ragnarok like the rest of them, and theorizes Serah beat her Focus by passing Cocoon's fate over to them, and that was the act that made her turn to crystal. The party ascends Taejin's Tower and at the top, Vanille and Fang reminisce about their hometown, describing it as a village filled with flowers, but are shocked to see their home devoid of life and color. The party rides a capsule down to the outskirts of Oerba and traverse the dilapidated village and encounter Barthandelus at the end of a broken railway bridge.

Knowing Barthandelus has resurrected Raines and caused more chaos in Cocoon, the party heads to Eden with the airship Barthandelus left them to stop the fal'Cie's plan. They make their way through the chaos in Eden to Orphan's Cradle. As Fang falls under pressure, Vanille proposes they promise to protect Cocoon as their new home. Inside the Narthex, the party defeats Barthandelus but Menrva flies into a pool of liquid and awakens Orphan. The fal'Cie demands Fang to become Ragnarok and tortures Vanille to try and force her hand. Fangs submits to Orphan's demands and Vanille is released. Vanille and Fang see their friends transform into Cie'th – who attack Fang – triggering her transformation into an incomplete version of Ragnarok.

After Fang fails to destroy Orphan, she transforms back into a human. Orphan tries to force Fang to finish the job by subjecting her to a cycle of torture as Vanille helplessly watches. Refusing to run away, Vanille prepares to stand up to the fal'Cie. Orphan explodes and sinks into its pool, releasing Fang. With the help of the powerful memories of everything they had gone through, the rest of the party reverts from their Cie'th forms. They believe their transformation back into humans was another fal'Cie trick, and that their new Focus is to save Cocoon and everyone's brands turn white. Orphan's true form rises from the pool and the party sets out to destroy it.

After Orphan is destroyed, Orphan's Cradle vanishes, and the party is left floating above Eden as Cocoon begins to fall. As Lightning, Sazh, Hope and Snow float away, Vanille and Fang stay behind. They join hands and become Ragnarok to stop Cocoon from crashing into Pulse. They surround Cocoon with lava, summon the crystal dust from Oerba, and crystallize it and themselves, forming a crystal pillar to support Cocoon over Pulse. Lightning, Sazh, Hope, and Snow awaken from crystal stasis on Pulse, beneath the newly crystallized Cocoon, with their brands gone. As Serah and Dajh appear over the horizon, they realize Vanille and Fang made the ultimate sacrifice, fulfilling their Focus for all of them. Vanille and Fang remain within the core of Cocoon's pillar, holding hands, in a crystal sleep.

Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-
Vanille feels at peace now that the harm she unintentionally caused has been undone. She says they will meet again someday, and tells everyone to live their lives as she and Fang will watch over them. Vanille knows that Serah will be strong enough to handle the realization of her and Fang's crimes and tells Snow to stand by Serah. After reassuring Fang that Serah will forgive her for getting her involved, they feel goddess Etro smiling at them. Hearing Fang telling Snow and Lightning not to try and rescue them, Vanille laughs and says, "What are you gonna do? You know what they're like..."

Final Fantasy XIII-2


Dreaming within the pillar, Vanille reflects on how she and Fang felt Etro's presence the first time they turned to crystal, and again when they tried to hold up Cocoon as Ragnarok. Remembering how the priests of Oerba referred to Etro as a dark and scary goddess, Vanille wonders if they were wrong. She recalls Hope's visits to her and Fang, and urges Hope to save the future. She tries to call out to Serah, to tell her she and Fang had a dream about being in a new place with a young man and woman they had never met before. Seeing how happy they were, Vanille tells Serah not to give up and make a future where everyone is happy again.

Vanille and Fang appear to Serah in her dream in the Void Beyond, explaining they could connect since they are all dreaming. They had come to save Serah from being trapped in the endless dream Caius Ballad placed her in, and that Noel needs her help before he becomes trapped in his own dream. Needing to resume their role in maintaining the pillar, Vanille and Fang disappear, leaving a portal to lead Serah to Noel. By the year 500 AF, Hope and the Academy, along with Sazh, save the crystal holding Vanille and Fang before Cocoon finally falls.

Vanille appears in the paradox ending, "Vanille's Truth", where Serah, Mog, and Noel find her in Oerba XXX AF, an alternate timeline where a crystallized Vanille remained in Oerba after the War of Transgression, continuing to lament about her inability to fight for the people she cared about, and how she wasn't there for Fang as she had promised. Serah hears Vanille's voice and promises to find Fang for her.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII


Vanille and Fang awoke from crystal stasis in Nova Chrysalia thirteen years ago and were taken in by the Order in Luxerion. Vanille had gained the power to hear the voices of the dead and is worshipped as a saint by the people of Luxerion. As her power makes her of great interest to people wishing to exploit it, Vanille lives under the Order's protection in the Luxerion cathedral. Fang came to believe Vanille is being used as a tool of the gods and abandoned the Order to become the leader of the Monoculus bandit group in the Dead Dunes.

As Lightning fights to save the world as Bhunivelze's savior, she can contact Vanille in relation to the murders committed there by the Children of Etro, a rebel cult that worships the late goddess Etro and opposes Bhunivelze. When Lightning returns to Luxerion with Fang, Vanille tells them about the trapped souls suffering within the Chaos before preparing to perform an unknown ritual.

Battle


Vanille concentrates on casting magic from a distance, as opposed to the close combat style of Lightning and Snow. Despite being able to use the Attack command at the start of the game, she cannot use it after Chapter 3 because she does not have the Commando role, which she unlocks in Chapter 10. When the player first acquires Vanille in the Pulse Vestige, she already has three ATB slots. She's the only one able to fight her Eidolon with five ATB slots as it's possible, albeit difficult, to acquire a third-tier weapon before that.

Vanille has the second highest Magic stat in the game, making her a good Ravager, and she can learn all elemental spells up to the -"ra" rank with Fire and Ice being her -"ga" specialty. She is an effective Saboteur, specializing in abilities that decrease the enemies' defenses. She has the only Full ATB Skill that is not a Commando or Ravager ability: Death, a Saboteur ability that deals heavy non-elemental magic damage to an enemy and may inflict instant KO. Vanille's strength lies in her Medic role, where she rivals Hope when it comes to effective healing and, due to her higher HP stat, is less likely to be knocked out by powerful attacks.


 * Base Statistics

Eidolon


Vanille's Eidolon is Hecatoncheir, a multi-armed, Earth-elemental Eidolon that transforms into a bipedal mech with four machine gun turrets. Vanille calls her Eidolon by the pet name "Hecaton" (a nickname found on the inner circle of his summon symbol, rather than 'Hecatoncheir').

Weapons


Vanille's weapon is a Binding Rod. Its head piece resembles a pair of antlers and the body consists of four long wires with hooks that deal damage to enemies by latching on and pulling, similar to a fishing rod.

Creation and Development
According to the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega, the development team at one point considered making Vanille the official main character, but dismissed the idea as they had already released a trailer and art featuring Lightning in that role.

Voice
Vanille and Fang speak with an accent different from the rest of the party. They speak in an Okinawan dialect of Japanese in the original version, and with an Australian accent in the English localization. The idea to cast two characters with Australian accents came from the localization team, who requested the voice directing team to look for either Australian- or New Zealand-sounding voices; the rationale was that the team wanted Fang and Vanille to sound like they were from another world, but more in a sense of having a different melody to their voices, rather than a thick accent.

Vanille's Japanese voice actress is Yukari Fukui. Her English voice actress is Georgia van Cuylenburg. Georgia van Cuylenburg spent six months recording Vanille's dialogue; she had two recording sessions per week which lasted four hours. As with the rest of the English cast of Final Fantasy XIII, Georgia van Cuylenburg was able to listen to the original Japanese dialogue, which had been recorded first, for tone reference.

While the other characters in Final Fantasy XIII were intended to be "Americanized", Georgia van Cuylenburg was asked to adhere to the original Japanese performance and use a "high, squeaky, and upbeat" voice, as Vanille initially wants to misdirect the other characters with her happiness. Georgia van Cuylenburg has stated that the most difficult aspect of voicing Vanille was making a type of high-pitched moan required for the character, which was not easy to make sound natural.

Musical Themes
"Vanille's Theme" is composed of solo piano, and represents her cheerful nature and inner guilt. "Prelude to Final Fantasy XIII" recurs as a motif within "Vanille's Theme", which is intended to reflect her role as the game's narrator.

Variants of her theme include two orchestral arrangements called "Lost Hope" and "Eidolons on Parade". The third variant "Memories of Happier Days", also begins with solo piano like her original theme, but turns into a melancholy but uplifting orchestral piece. A short reprise of her theme is heard in "Sulyya Springs", and at the beginning of "The Road Home". An orchestral motif of her theme is heard in "Nascent Requiem", the final battle theme.

Piano Collections: Final Fantasy XIII
"Vanille's Theme" is part of the "Vanille's Theme ~ Memories of Happier Days ~ The Road Home" track on the album. It is the sixth track on the album.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Many cards depicting Vanille in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One of them is a close-up of Vanille's face, and and another displays her render. A card for Hecatoncheir in Gestalt Mode also exists, with Vanille riding atop it. The cards are earth-elemental.

Vanille appears as a selectable avatar in Kingdom Hearts Mobile. She and Sazh are currently the only characters from Final Fantasy XIII to appear in the game.

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

Merchandise
Action figures of Vanille have been released as part of the Play Arts series.

Etymology and Symbolism
Vanille is French for "vanilla", a type of spice used as flavoring for various sweet foods. Dia is Spanish and Portuguese for "day", which may allude to her bright personality.

The Japanese pronunciation of Dia, with a long "i" sound, is also a common Japanese abbreviation for "diamond", possibly alluding to Hecatoncheir being an Earth-elemental summon.

The characters of Fang and Vanille are based on the Ragnarok myth of Líf ("life") and Lífþrasir ("eager for life") - the only humans who will survive Ragnarok. They sleep through earth's destruction and upon awakening will find the earth verdant again. will become the progenitors of a new race of humans, and their descendants will inhabit the world. This is congruent with the idea that Fang was originally envisioned as a male character.

Trivia

 * Vanille's eidolith is used for the "Instrument of Faith" trophy/achievement.
 * A replica of her eidolith appears as an adornment for monster allies in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
 * Vanille shares her Japanese voice actress with Terra Branford from Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
 * Vanille shares her clan name with the spell Dia from Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy XI. However, the Japanese pronunciation of her clan name is different.
 * A photo of Vanille and Fang can be found in Oerba, proof of their past existence.
 * While her fellow comrades are branded on the upper half of their bodies, Vanille's brand is located on the lower half of her body.
 * Final Fantasy XIII includes a nude character model for Vanille, for the scene where she comes out of crystal stasis.
 * In Episode Zero -Promise-, Fang mentions that Vanille loves cooking and making up her own meals, though they are not always good.
 * Vanille is seen in a cutscene from the intro to the title-screen of Final Fantasy XIII, but the scene is never shown in the actual game.
 * Vanille's Binding Rod is one of the special weapons reward in Final Fantasy XIV's Lightning Strikes event.