Cocoon (Final Fantasy XIII)

Cocoon (コクーン) is a floating continent in the world of Final Fantasy XIII. It floats in the sky above the land of Gran Pulse (known simply as Pulse to the people of Cocoon) like a low-hanging moon. Cocoon's altitude from Gran Pulse is about the arm's length of the fal'Cie Titan. Although Cocoon has the appearance of a small planetoid, it is actually hollow and its inhabitants live inside of the shell, making it similar in concept to a. Cocoon is a futuristic paradise filled with highly advanced technology which protects it against the supposed intruders from the planet below. It is ruled by the Sanctum.

Three years later in Final Fantasy XIII-2, the Sanctum has fallen and has been replaced by a new provisional government led by the Academy. Many of Cocoon's inhabitants have moved to Gran Pulse and built new settlements while others remained in Cocoon. Over the centuries, with no more fal'Cie to maintain it, Cocoon's shell slowly deteriorates, causing the rest of its residents to migrate to Pulse.

Datalog
''From her lofty seat, the world of Cocoon has long enjoyed tranquility. The interior of her spherical shell supports several sprawling cities and a population numbering in the tens of millions. Although a variety of dangerous beasts prowl the wilds, advanced technology and the protection of the world's fal'Cie keepers ensure residents a peaceful and prosperous existence. Travel to the lowerworld of Pulse is forbidden, but given their deep-seated cultural fears of the place, Cocoon citizens would not even think to venture beyond the paradise they know.''

II. Lindzei's Nest

''And lo, the viper Lindzei bore fangs into the pristine soil of our Gran Pulse; despoiled the land and from it crafted a cocoon both ghastly and unclean. Lies spilled forth from the serpent's tongue: 'Within this shell lies paradise.' Men heard these lies and were seduced and led away. O cursed are the fools who trust a snake and turn their backs upon the bounty of Pulse's hallowed land! For those who dwell in that cocoon are not Men, but slaves of the demon Lindzei. Ye who honor Pulse: rise unto the heavens, and cast down the viper's nest!'' :-- Author unknown

''Cocoon is a massive sphere, constructed and set in the sky by the powerful and enigmatic beings known as the 'fal'Cie.' Up until 0 AF, it was a floating paradise that was home to several million people. Now, however, the broken shell rests on an immense crystal pillar, bereft of the power source that once kept it aloft. The interior of the sphere has deteriorated, forcing the population to relocate to the land below.''

Profile
Cocoon is said to have been built by the fal'Cie many centuries ago to protect humanity from the savage world of Pulse. The current population of Cocoon is said to number in the tens of millions, although the exact figure is unknown. Cocoon is home to many futuristic cities, such as the capital city of Eden, the port city of Palumpolum, the beach town of Bodhum, and the carnival city of Nautilus.

There are also expansive highroads located in the Hanging Edge, the exotic nature reserve of the Sunleth Waterscape, and ruined city of Bresha located on the outer-rim of Cocoon. However, due to the fall of the fal'Cie Anima, the lake near Bresha was crystallized.

Five centuries prior to the events of Final Fantasy XIII, there was a great war between Cocoon and Gran Pulse called the War of Transgression. Little is known about the war, but it is responsible for the large crack in Cocoon's outer shell which exposes its interior.

The people of Gran Pulse believed Cocoon to be a false paradise built by the devil Lindzei, who lured people to it with sweet promises, only to enslave them and steal their souls. Gran Pulse inhabitants saw the people of Cocoon as impending intruders and the source of evil in the world; as Oerba Yun Fang put it, "Cocoon's a floating nest of vipers ready to strike". Similarly, the people of Cocoon were made to believe that Pulse is an aspect of hell, and its forces are always poised to invade their beautiful world.

Structure
Cocoon is an artificial world built and powered by the fal'Cie, who are responsible for running everything from the artificial sun, Phoenix, that provides the world with light and warmth and controls the weather, to cultivating the land and providing food and water, to keeping the world of Cocoon floating within Gran Pulse's atmosphere.

It is mentioned in the game's Datalog that Cocoon has over eight million fal'Cie. The fal'Cie Eden is the one maintaining Cocoon's complex operational systems, and is itself powered by Orphan, the fal'Cie responsible for keeping Cocoon afloat, that resides in a deep sleep in Orphan's Cradle, an alternate dimension created by Eden.

After its fall in 0 AF, Cocoon is encased within a crystal structure and supported over Gran Pulse by a crystal pillar. Over the centuries, however, erosion causes the pillar to slowly weaken. Cocoon's shell deteriorates, causing the rest of the residents to relocate to Pulse. By 500 AF, Cocoon's shell is completely gone, leaving only its crystal pillar.

Final Fantasy XIII
In reality, Cocoon is a sacrificial vessel of millions of innocent human lives, used by the fal'Cie as their means of summoning the Maker back to the world. The fal'Cie provide the humans a "paradise", with their intent to summon the mythical beast Ragnarok to destroy Orphan, and thus robbing Cocoon of its power source. With Orphan destroyed, the complex operational systems keeping Cocoon running would fail, and the floating continent would fall from the sky.

The fal'Cie plan to call the Maker, the god who created both the fal'Cie and humans, back into the world for the world to be reborn, by opening Etro's Gate by sending a huge amount of human souls through it. The fal'Cie believe they can achieve this by sacrificing Cocoon and all its inhabitants. However, the fal'Cie themselves are unable to destroy Cocoon to their core programming and purpose, so they need the help of Pulse l'Cie. After leaving Cocoon from the Fifth Ark, the six Pulse l'Cie destined to destroy Cocoon flee to Gran Pulse in the hopes of changing their fate. They soon travel to Oerba, where they find an ancient prophecy of the events 500 years before. The l'Cie return to Cocoon, charge through Eden, and make their way into Orphan's Cradle.

At the end of the game, Orphan is destroyed and the floating world begins to fall from the sky. At this point, two Pulse l'Cie, Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang, transform into Ragnarok and build a pillar from the ground up by crystallizing both Cocoon and themselves. The world is saved and the shell of the now crystallized Cocoon remains, supported by the crystal pillar. Over the next three years, some Cocoon citizens leave Cocoon and settle nearby on Pulse, building the village of New Bodhum and beginning construction on a city near the pillar's base.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Serah returns to Cocoon with Noel Kreiss and Mog. They arrive in the Bresha Ruins at 5 AF, where a war machine called Atlas had came from a point in the future and has been running amok. It was by this time that Noel reveals that the time Atlas comes from is when Cocoon falls and sets up the future he comes from. But Noel was unaware that of one of the factors in Cocoon's fall was Royal Ripeness's existence in the Sunleth Waterscape in 300 AF, caused by a faeryl in the Archylte Steppe, in an unknown year, swallowing an artefact that enabled the Miniflan it sucked in to wind up in Sunleth. Killing the Faeryl to digress Royal Ripeness into Mutantomato, with Snow's help, Serah and Noel defeated the fused flan to undo its role in Cocoon's fall.

After learning of Cocoon's fate through the Oracle Drive in 10 AF, Hope Estheim decides to use the Academy's resources to devise a way to stop or minimize the damage Cocoon's destined fall could cause. Eventually, Hope comes to the conclusion that a new Cocoon must be made, and he begins a centuries long project to do so. Caius Ballad takes advantage of this however, in a plan to crash the new Cocoon with the old one in the year 500 AF. But when Noel and Serah stop Caius from carrying out his plan, with the crystal holding Vanille and Fang removed in time, Cocoon falls while Bhunivelze rises.

List of Areas on Cocoon

 * (unvisitable)
 * Bodhum (XIII)
 * Euride Gorge (XIII)
 * Eden (XIII)
 * Fifth Ark (XIII)
 * Gapra Whitewood (XIII)
 * Hanging Edge (XIII)
 * Lake Bresha (XIII) /Bresha Ruins (XIII-2)
 * Nautilus (XIII)
 * Orphan's Cradle (XIII)
 * Palumpolum (XIII)
 * Pulse Vestige (XIII)
 * Sunleth Waterscape (XIII, XIII-2)
 * Vile Peaks (XIII, XIII-2)

Trivia

 * The crystallized version of Cocoon seen at the end of the game is presented on The End screen, making up the Final Fantasy XIII logo.
 * A Cocoon-like image is present on the map of the Archylte Steppe on Gran Pulse in Final Fantasy XIII. In return, Cocoon is absent from the Archylte Steppe's sky in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
 * Cocoon is a Dyson shell, a hypothetical world which consists of a hollow shell surrounding a "sun" (in this case, the fal'Cie Phoenix) at its core, with the surface of the world being on the inside of the shell.
 * Noel Kreiss originates from a timeline in which Cocoon no longer existed. With the metashield never having been created, war led to the destabilization of the Crystal Pillar and the full impact of Cocoon on Gran Pulse led to it becoming a desolate and barren world.

Cocoon