Paddra Nsu-Yeul



Paddra Nsu-Yeul (パドラ＝ヌス・ユール) is a major supporting character from Final Fantasy XIII-2. She is Caius Ballad's traveling companion and a seeress hailing from the city-state of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif on Gran Pulse during the War of Transgression. Surrounded by mystery, Yeul has important connections to Caius, Noel, Serah, and the numerous paradoxes occurring in the world.

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

In the Japanese version, she is voiced by Mariya Ise.

Appearance and Personality
Yeul has a round face with green eyes and long, silver hair that is sometimes kept up, except for two long strands that frame her face. She has a lean, petite frame and wears a unique 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-like top with an opening in the center and a small crystal above her chest. She also 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 is a very reserved person, mostly keeping to herself. She speaks in a soft tone and in a mysterious sort of way, making her clairvoyant nature all the more present. Even though being fifteen years old, Yeul acts in a mature manner well beyond her years.

Final Fantasy XIII
Paddra Nsu-Yeul is a seeress from the past on Gran Pulse and authored the fourth and ninth Analects, which are related to the Goddess Etro's mythos, Ragnarok's attack on Cocoon, and the origins of Eidolons.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Paddra Nsu-Yeul exists in many different time periods. As a seer priestess from the city of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif region, she has visions of the future that shorten her lifespan and always eventually kill her, but is reborn over and over again. Major changes to the timeline, such as when Etro saved Lightning and her friends at the end of Final Fantasy XIII or when Serah and Noel prevent the creation of the Demi Fal'Cie in Academia, also trigger these visions. Her protector is Caius, a former l'Cie who was granted the heart of Etro long ago. The Oracle Drive found by Hope Estheim's expedition in the Yaschas Massif -010 AF- and -01X AF- contains holographic images of her visions, revealing that Yeul foresaw the crystallization of Cocoon by Fang and Vanille 500 years before it happened.

In one of Serah's dreams/memories, she is able to see Noel's past in the Dying World -700 AF-. In the memory, it appears to be Yeul's 15th birthday. Both Caius and Noel care for and protect Yeul, but both appear to know that her time with them is limited. Noel believes that she feels lonely because of there only being three people left in the world, but Yeul reassures him that she is happy with him and Caius. Noel wishes to take Yeul along with him on a journey to find more people out in the world. He tells Caius of his wishes but Caius reprimands him, and sadly tells Noel that he must accept the destined future. After praying at the local shrine, Yeul smiles and tells Noel that they will meet again someday, dies in his arms and fades away.

Prior to fighting Lightning at Valhalla, Caius lays Yeul's lifeless body to rest in the nearby sea. Noel finds a way to use the Historia Crux and along the way, he somehow loses his memories, and ends up in Valhalla, where he meets Lightning, who previously had a vision of him.

Yeul appears alongside Caius in New Bodhum -003 AF-, watching the members of NORA bid farewell to Serah, Mog, and Noel as they leave through the time gate. In Oerba -200 AF-, Yeul appears behind Noel and Serah, warning the latter not to touch the Oracle Drive. When Caius appears in front of Serah and Noel, Yeul reappears behind them. She cryptically tells them that she and Caius have been watching over them. As Caius is about to kill Noel, Yeul intervenes and seemingly comforts Caius as he kneels before her. Caius suggests they leave in order to not see the future any futher. He opens a portal and they leave Serah and Noel behind.

In the Yaschas Massif -01X AF-, Yeul appears to Noel and Serah, and does not recognize them. She points at Serah, claiming that they are the same, as they can both 'show people the way' and leaves. She reappears after Noel and Serah leave through a time gate, but promptly dies in Caius's arms.

Yeul and Caius stand in front of a time gate in the Sunleth Waterscape -300 AF-, after Serah and Noel leave. Caius asks her if they will ever find the dawn, and she says, "It depends on what lies in their hearts," and they leave the area.

On the streets of Academia -400 AF-, Yeul falls under attack by Cie'th before Noel and Serah come to her aid. Afterward, he helps her up but she is then grabbed and thrown by Zenobia. After Serah and Noel destroy it, he holds Yeul in his arms as she tells him about her vision of death. She says that she is a 'contradiction' to the timeline as long as she is alive. At the same time, Serah despairs over her and Noel causing a paradox to occur, therefore sealing Yeul's fate. However, Yeul thanks them and dies, leaving an Artefact for them.

In Augusta Tower -200 AF-, Yeul from Oerba reappears to Noel and Serah, gives them an Artefact and implores them to protect time. Yeul reveals that Caius is immortal and able to remember the entire timeline. She says that even before they had met, history has been changed in accordance with the changing future. She says that Lightning disappeared because the future had changed and if Serah and Noel solve the paradoxes, then the past will return to how Serah remembers it. Yeul tells them the Caius from Academia was a deception made by a machine within the tower, and that they had seen the real Caius earlier in the tower. She says he had brought there and will soon come for her, then tells Noel and Serah to show her a new future and smiles. After they leave through a gate, Yeul prays while having another vision of the future and dies before Caius appears and carries away her body.

When Serah gets separated from Noel and arrives to the ruins of Valhalla between time, several images of Yeuls from different time periods appear to give her cryptic advice. The last one asks her why she seeks to change time and interfere with Caius. Then she tells Serah that she comes closer to death as she changes the timeline, before the illusion scatters and Caius appears.

Ultimately, it is revealed that Caius had been driven to despair by witnessing the deaths of so many Yeuls, and his goal is to open the Door of Souls, so that the world becomes timeless like Valhalla. If no future exists, then Yeul cannot see it and will not continue to die.

Creation and Development
Yeul's clothing was designed by Hideo Minaba.

Musical Themes
Yeul has her own leitmotif titled "Yeul's Theme," is an acoustic guitar tune composed by Naoshi Mizuta, with lyrics performed by Joelle. The two variants of her theme are "A Song for Time" and "Eyes of Etro." Her theme is subtly featured in "The Promised Future," while an orchestral version is featured in the "Ending Credits."

Lyrics

 * 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

Etymology
"Yeul" is a Korean name. 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.

Trivia

 * Yeul sitting in the Narthex resembles a piece of promotional art for Final Fantasy XIII that depicts Lightning in a similar position.