Orphan



Orphan is an antagonist and the final boss of Final Fantasy XIII. He is a wheel-like fal'Cie and the source of Cocoon's power, and rests within Orphan's Cradle. Orphan is voiced by Hiro Shimono in the Japanese version and in the English version.

Datalog
''This mysterious being fuels the fal'Cie Eden with the power necessary to maintain Cocoon's complex operational systems, and as such, its death would bring about Cocoon's certain destruction. Nevertheless, its death is what Barthandelus desires, for he seeks to offer the lives of the world’s millions of inhabitants in sacrifice to call the vanished Maker back to this realm.''

''As Sanctum fal'Cie and l'Cie are themselves incapable of harming Orphan, Barthandelus requires the assistance of Pulse l'Cie. If they can transform into Ragnarok and destroy Orphan, Cocoon's demise will be assured.''

Story
Residing within a pool in a deep sleep, Orphan is the main power source to Eden, enabling it to siphon power from other fal'Cie to keep Cocoon afloat. By the game's end, Orphan is awakened from its rest after Galenth Dysley's defeat, fusing with him as it emerges after Menrva dives in to complete the fal'Cie's birth. Fused with Barthandelus as it rises from its rest, Orphan reveals having the same desire to use Ragnarok to destroy Cocoon as a means of summoning the Maker, even if it would mean its own death; Orphan's true desire was to be killed all along, living so long in keeping Cocoon alive yet unable to die and in a state of unbirth. In fact, through Barthandelus's Pulse propaganda, Orphan was setting up its own executioners by the time it could be born and thus be able to die.

Orphan thanks the group of having freed it from its bondage, and asks them to complete their Focus. Orphan tortures Vanille demanding her to become Ragnarok, saying that summoning the Maker is the salvation the world needs, a chance to begin anew. Fang can no longer bear Vanille's torture and promises to fulfill Orphan's wish. The others try to stop her, but Fang fights back and everybody but Fang and Vanille appear to turn into Cie'th and attack Fang. Orphan laughs while Fang bears the Cie'th's attack and ponders whether it is her punishment for having chosen salvation.

Fang transforms into Ragnarok and destroys the barrier around Orphan, but is unable to defeat Orphan entirely and transforms back into a human. Orphan proceeds in torturing Fang and healing her wounds to torture her more, trying to force her to become Ragnarok again. Vanille walks up to Orphan, and Fang tells her to run. Vanille shakes her head and says she would rather die trying than keep running away. Unable to break Vanille's spirit, Orphan's shell explodes and it sinks back into the pool. The other party members, back in their human forms, come to retrieve Fang, and together they decide to destroy Orphan to free the people from under the fal'Cie's slavery at which all of their l'Cie brands turn white. Orphan's true form emerges from the pool, and the party destroy it once and for all. As Orphan dies, the deaths of the other Sanctum fal'Cie follow, and Cocoon begins to fall from the sky.

Battle


Orphan is fought as the game's final boss in two states. The first is using a blade-like shell created from Barthandelus with elements of the fal'Cie impression of Lindzei, as an angelic figure, projecting from the right side with her face is also present on the wheel's plates on the fal'Cie's back. After the shell is destroyed, Orphan appears as its true self during the final battle, assuming a near-invincible wheel-like form that when staggered causes him to assume a weakened angel form.

In his true form, Orphan is at level 51 and has 3,390,000 HP. This makes him the final boss with the most HP, a record previously held by Safer∙Sephiroth with a maximum of 400,000.

Development
Orphan's battle models were designed by Chikako Nakano. The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega reveals the planning side told Nakano he was free to do what he wanted, except for two points: the game designers wanted Orphan to appear as a child after its transformation; before Orphan transforms, the developers wanted it to be extravagant. For Orphan's first form Nakano used an orphan's parents as the motif, having the transition from shelled form to true form give meaning of "an orphan being born from the loss of parents". Initially Nakano had heard Dysley would transform into Orphan, so the first form's right side Nakano included a face that looks like Barthandelus. The mother on the left side is Lindzei as Dysley envisions it, but it differs from the god's actual appearance and is more sinister.

Music
Orphan's battle themes are "Born Anew" for its first form and "Nascent Requiem" for his second form.

Etymology
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of his or her parents. This is proved when Orphan's first form is introduced, referring to itself as "The Abandoned One", and the symbolic transition to its true form. This also can be seen in Orphan's position as a fal'Cie, infantile visage and boss themes, "Born Anew" and "Nascent Requiem". In addition, Orphan's final appearance and name allude to the (singular form: Ophan), a class of celestial beings described in the  (a non-canonical work excluded from Biblical scriptures). They are never-sleeping creatures guarding the throne of God, and are generally depicted as fiery, eye-covered wheels.

Trivia
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 * The script engraved on the blade-like structure of Orphan's first form appears to be a revised version of the lyrics "Fighting Fate" written in the Cocoon alphabet. While in its first form, Orphan refers to itself with plural pronouns.
 * The Cocoon fal'Cie's symbol, which is referred to as the "Lindzei symbol" in the Ultimania Omega, is prominent in Orphan's design, its staggered form in the final battle being especially close to its shape.
 * Orphan's final form, when staggered, is not immune to the Instant Death effect by Vanille's Full ATB Skill Death. As explained by battle planner Nobuyuki Matsuoka in Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania, this is done to pay homage to The Final Fantasy Legend in which the final boss can be instantly defeated with the weapon Chainsaw, which may inflict instant death. Why the Final Fantasy XIII team wanted to pay homage to a game that wasn't from their team and wasn't even a Final Fantasy title in Japan is unknown, however.