Jihl Nabaat



Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat [dʒɪl nəbɑːt] is an antagonist in Final Fantasy XIII. She is an officer in the Cocoon army, a commander of PSICOM, and is an enemy of Lightning and her allies. Yaag Rosch is her right-hand-man.

Nabaat is voiced by in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII and by  in the English version. Both voice actresses reprise their roles in the "A Study in Elegant Death" DLC scenario in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Datalog
Jihl Nabaat is a talented PSICOM officer who graduated at the head of her class.

''As the supervisor in charge of Dajh's testing, she grew close to his father, Sazh. However, her kindness was simply a ruse to gain access to the boy's l'Cie ability to sense Pulse entities.''

''She captures Sazh and Vanille in Nautilus, using them as bait in her scheme to draw the other Pulse l'Cie out of hiding. Jihl's plans backfire when her carefully laid ambush is unable to contain the l'Cie, and Barthandelus disposes of her as he would any other tool.''

Appearance and Personality


Jihl Nabaat is 166 centimeters tall (176 centimeters with heels) according to the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania. She has blonde hair that reaches all the way down to her mid-thigh, and she wields a baton that is primarily used for fencing. Nabaat's glasses, which she normally wears unless in a fight, are thin-framed and have her initials in Cocoon script engraved in the arm. As confirmed in the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega, Jihl only wears the glasses to appear kind and trustworthy prior to crushing them on the Palamecia, a representation of her discarding her guise and fully assuming her true personality.

Nabaat has both political and personal motivations for opposing Lightning's group. She graduated first in her class and advanced in the military ranks to the position she holds as lieutenant colonel. She is in charge of daily policy and takes strategic command of the PSICOM soldiers. Nabaat is described as cruel and heartless, and she sees all l'Cie, regardless of whether they are from Pulse or Cocoon, as subhuman. She is a cold and calculating sadist who sees herself superior to ordinary humans, whom she views as flawed objects she can use in her agenda despite any loyalty they may possess towards her. As a result Nabaat loses patience when things go wrong, projecting blame on her subordinates and giving desperate orders to regain control. Despite this Nabaat is loyal to Primarch Galenth Dysley, willing to sacrifice herself so that he may escape when Lightning and the other Pulse l'Cie reach the main deck of the Palamecia.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Nabaat is intrigued by the human nature because at one moment they fight each other to the death and the next, they form "shaky alliances", making themselves unsolvable contradictions.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-
Prior to the incident at Euride Gorge, Jihl Nabaat and her PSICOM troops were sent to monitor the facility, deemed as an official "state of emergency". Arriving on the grounds, she met Sazh Katzroy and his six-year-old son, Dajh, who had been detained for inspection. She dispatched injured tourists to the plant's plaza before sealing off the area, taking Sazh and his son back to the offices to discuss Dajh's condition.

Learning the young boy had been branded a Sanctum l'Cie, Nabaat ordered him to be placed under PSICOM supervision in hopes of determining his Focus. She implored Sazh to allow his son to remain under their custody for further testing; though Sazh was reluctant, he relents. When Dajh asked to go to the annual Bodhum Fireworks, Nabaat authorized the trip, sending him in the company of a troop of PSICOM soldiers and hoping this could lead them to discovering his Focus.

Nabaat traveled alongside Sazh and Dajh, and as their vehicle drove into Bodhum, Dajh's Focus was revealed; he could sense beings of Pulse origin. Nabaat dispatched a team to excavate the ruins as she supervised the rest of the trip. The Pulse fal'Cie Anima was discovered in the Pulse Vestige, and the Bodhum lockdown was initiated by Nabaat and Yaag Rosch.

After using Dajh's power to confirm that the Pulse l'Cie Serah Farron had been engulfed by the Vestige Ruins, Nabaat returned him to a monitoring facility with the intention of developing and using Dajh's powers to protect the people of Cocoon. Dajh was to be held under her supervision for an indefinite amount of time. Nabaat authorized Sazh's last request of traveling to Palumpolum to buy his son a coloring book, offering him use of the military airships, unaware of Sazh's true intention of taking his son's Focus into his own hands.

Final Fantasy XIII
Arriving in Nautilus, Nabaat's true colors are revealed when she captures the wandering Sazh and Vanille, telling the two that having them arrested was Dajh's Focus all along. She plays with Sazh's emotions by showing him the enhanced security footage from Euride Gorge, revealing how his crystallized son became a l'Cie through Vanille's actions. Nabaat tells her men to stand down while Vanille runs off, and lets Sazh go after Vanille on the assumption that he will kill her and supply them with invaluable data. However, Sazh cannot bring himself to kill Vanille or commit suicide.

Immediately after this, Nabaat's group captures Sazh and Vanille, and she once again toys with Sazh's emotions by telling him that the Sanctum will build a memorial in Dajh's honor within Eden, putting his crystal on display. After Sazh objects she asks if he would want Dajh to be remembered as the son of a hated Pulse l'Cie or as a symbol of sacrifice. Rendering Sazh unconscious with her baton, Nabaat oversees his and Vanille's transport to the Palamecia for public execution with Primarch Galenth Dysley overseeing the matter.

When Lightning's group breaks into the Palamecia with the help of Cid Raines and reunites with Vanille and Sazh, Nabaat becomes vexed with how she is losing control of the situation, and smashes her glasses into the floor. Once the l'Cie arrive, Nabaat confronts them so Primarch Galenth Dysley can escape. Dysley, deciding to reveal his true nature, deems Nabaat to have outlived her purpose and strikes her down with his magic, along with the other Palamecia crew members, so he can talk to the l'Cie personally.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Nabaat returns in Final Fantasy XIII-2 through downloadable content. As she is dead, Jihl is among the lost souls bound to battle in the Coliseum until the Day of Reckoning. With a quartet of PSICOM Wardens praising her, Nabaat appears before a confused Snow. She joins the other gathered combatants to engage each other in the Coliseum. Encountering Serah and Noel, Nabaat explains her ideals while questioning if they are strong enough to win her services in the Paradigm Pack.

Battle


Nabaat majors in the Saboteur role, able to summon PSICOM soldiers and militant units like Azure Behemoth and Nightblade Puma to her side and use the Sanctum's Antimatter Manipulation Principle-technology. Nabaat's Full ATB Skill is Sadistic Surge, an attack comprised of a series of jabs, after which she launches her target into the air and consumes it in an explosion of purple energy. As part of a Paradigm Pack, Nabaat acts as a Saboteur with Sadistic Surge as her Feral Link.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Jihl Nabaat appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. Her card depicts Nao Ikeda's concept artwork, and another one her CG render from Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Trivia

 * Jihl Nabaat shares her English voice actress, Paula Tiso, with Lulu from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, and her Japanese voice actress, Mie Sonozaki, with Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca from Final Fantasy XII.
 * Nabaat makes a cameo appearance in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. She replaces Red XIII in the battlegen manual and appears alongside Yaag Rosch.
 * In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Nabaat's hair is more silver in coloration, compared to the blonde hair she had in Final Fantasy XIII.
 * The Arbiter of Time's remark of Nabaat showing off her abilities reflects how she was only seen outside of battle in Final Fantasy XIII. It also covers the fact that Nabaat was killed by Dysley before she had the chance to fight against Lightning and her allies.
 * When recruited, Nabaat joins the list of characters who say "FINAL FANTASY XIII-2: The Story So Far..." after the player loads a save file.