Paddra Nsu-Yeul



Paddra Nsu-Yeul [] 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 before the War of Transgression. Surrounded by mystery, Yeul is connected to Caius, Noel, Serah, and the numerous paradoxes throughout the timeline.

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

In the Japanese version, she is voiced by and by  in the English version.

Datalog
''Yeul bears the same name as the ancient seeress, Paddra Nsu-Yeul. Appearing alongside Caius in Oerba in the year 200 AF, she leaves Serah with the enigmatic words, 'If you change the future, you change the past.'''

Upon seeing Yeul's face, Noel is unable to hide his shock and confusion.

''Yeul is a seeress, burdened with the power of prophecy—her life span grows shorter with every vision of the future. She dies at a young age, only to be born once more among the Farseer people. Each reincarnation has the same appearance and ability, and is given the name 'Yeul'.''

''The Yeul who Noel befriends is the last seeress. She promises the young hunter that they will meet again, before breathing her last. The last vision she sees is not one of despair, but of hope.''

''At the height of Paddra civilization, the seeress Paddra Nsu-Yeul of the Farseers prophesized its destruction. In one of history's great ironies, the prophecy itself ignited the civil war that destroyed the nation.''
 * Message of the Orbs

The seeress realized that her very words had the power to change history and the future, and so, with her Guardian Caius and a few select escorts, she left the city for the wilderness.

''She covered her face with a veil, cast off the crown that made her ruler of Paddra, and became simply Yeul the Seeress. Soon after that, she and her small band of followers disappeared from the pages of history.''


 * Tablet of Memory

''The seeress of the Farseers knows the exact moment she will die. However, she is forbidden to change the timeline in order to save herself.''

''The seeress has no choice but to accept her preordained end. This is the law of the Farseers. Each change of the timeline creates new victims, spawns new tragedies, and not even the seeress can tell how great those losses shall be.''

Appearance and Personality


Yeul has an oval face with green eyes and long dark blue hair that is sometimes kept up, except for two long strands that frame her face. She has a lean, petite frame and at times wears a unique diadem 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-top with an opening in the center and a small crystal above her chest. She 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's age ranges from 14-17 years old, depending on which era she is met in and sometimes walks and runs with a limp.

Yeul is reserved, mostly keeping to herself. She speaks in a soft tone making her clairvoyant nature all the more present. In 700 AF, A Dying World, she is more cheerful when conversing with Noel, but the events are from Noel's point of view when he is lost in his dream world, which might affect the way Yeul is represented in that world.

Even though she is only a teenager, Yeul acts in a mature manner. Although she is always reincarnated the various Yeuls have unique quirks, interests, and hobbies that set each apart, such as singing and flower collecting.

Story
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After states that goddess Etro spilled her blood out of desperation to get her father Bhunivelze's attention, and that Lindzei created mankind from Etro's blood, and the first human created was Yeul. It is suggested Lindzei made Yeul in Etro's image. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After further elaborates that upon entering Valhalla, Yeul's soul would never fade unlike the other souls, and, taking pity on her, Etro would send Yeul back to the Mortal Realm so she wouldn't be lonely. It is suggested Yeul obtained the Eyes of Etro as a side-effect of being reborn. In Yeul's childhood her family never spoke to her to hasten the awakening of her powers, until the day Caius came and took her away.

As a seer priestess from the city of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif region, Yeul is a member of the Farseer tribe and leads her people with visions of the future. The gift doubles as a curse and the visions shorten Yeul's lifespan and eventually kill her, but she is to be endlessly reborn across different time periods. Major changes to the timeline, such as when Etro saves Lightning and her friends at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, or when Serah and Noel prevent the creation of the Proto fal'Cie in Academia, trigger Yeul's visions, causing her to see a new future.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega, it is revealed Yeul's lifespan shortens the more the number of possible futures grow and that's why Caius will try to reduce the number of possible futures to the point where there is only the one inevitable future left: world destruction. Though she originally transferred her visions into the Oracle Drive, the Guardians assigned to protect her would receive her visions of the future. While the warrior who became Gorgyra was among her previous Guardians, Yeul's current protector is Caius.

Before the War of Transgression, Yeul had predicted that Fang and Vanille would bear the power of Ragnarok and attack Cocoon. She foresaw the destruction of the Paddra nation causing disorder among the Farseers, as some wanted to flee the city while others did not, and the civil war that broke out caused the city to fall just as Yeul saw it. As the survivors fled into the wilderness and became nomads, Yeul left with her remaining Guardians. She covered her face with a veil, cast off her crown and title, and became known as "Yeul the Seeress".

Final Fantasy XIII
Paddra Nsu-Yeul is mentioned as the author of the fourth and ninth Analects, which are related to Etro's mythos, Ragnarok's attack on Cocoon, and the origins of Eidolons.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
In the near future of 10 AF, Hope Estheim's expedition in the Yaschas Massif uncovers the Oracle Drive, revealing Yeul foresaw Cocoon's crystallization. Because of the lack of data on her at the time, the Academy believed Yeul to have been a title rather than an omnipresent person.

Yeul of 200 AF
According to Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, the Yeul of 200 AF is the "Yeul who liked flowers". Yeul's first vision was of the crystallized Cocoon falling three hundred years in the future. Afterward, she has many visions of Noel and Serah on their journey to correct the timeline. When Caius says he will punish them for traveling through time and shortening Yeul's lifespan, Yeul becomes sad. Having seen them in her visions she didn't want to think of Serah and Noel as criminals, and feels she must meet them to learn their reason for changing time.

Yeul and Caius travel to Oerba where Yeul warns Noel and Serah not to touch the Oracle Drive they have found, but they activate it and see another prophecy. Caius appears and Yeul tells Noel she is not the Yeul he knew. As Caius is about to kill Noel, Yeul intervenes saying the future has been changed. She tells Serah and Noel that changing the future also changes the past and Caius suggests they leave so Yeul does not see the future any further. He takes her to the Augusta Tower to spend her final moments. Now that Yeul knows what Noel and Serah are trying to protect and feels that she can trust them, she believes they could grant her wish that the future seeresses don't see Cocoon fall.

When Serah and Noel arrive in the Augusta Tower from Academia 400 AF, Yeul gives them an artefact, imploring them to protect the timeline. Yeul reveals Caius uses her visions to remember the entire timeline, and that he is immortal. Yeul says Lightning's disappearance from Gran Pulse is the result of the future being changed, and if Serah and Noel continue to solve the paradoxes, the past will return to the way Serah remembers it. She reveals the Caius they encountered in Academia was a fake created by the tower's sentient AI, and that they saw the real Caius in the tower. Yeul tells Noel and Serah to show her a new future. After they venture into the core to defeat the AI, Yeul sees a vision of a future with everyone smiling, and dies happy, before Caius appears and carries away her body.

Yeul of 400 AF
According to Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, the Yeul of 400 AF is the "Yeul who liked to sing". Her Eyes of Etro awakened at seven years old and her first vision was of Noel in front of a singing crystal. She foresaw the Cie'th outbreak in Academia and her own death, and decided to go there.

In the streets of Academia, Yeul walks up to a pack of Cie'th before Noel and Serah come to her aid. Noel holds Yeul in his arms as she says she is a contradiction to the timeline as long as she is alive, and says Caius isn't in the city. She tells Noel she is not the Yeul he knows, but thanks him and dies, leaving an artefact for them. Her death is negated in the alternate timeline set by the defeat of the Proto fal'Cie Adam.

Yeul of 700 AF
The final reincarnation of Yeul lived in the Dying World until the events of her fifteenth birthday. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals that her father died before she was born, and her mother was in confinement during childbirth. Noel's grandmother explains to him Yeul lives away from people so they would not be tempted to use her power of foresight for evil, and shows how Noel had been protective towards Yeul since he was three years old, and that he initially hated Caius when he first arrived in his village. Noel would become an apprentice Guardian training under Caius and they protected Yeul together, but Noel was unaware she would die soon.

Noel wanted to take Yeul on a journey to find other people in the world, but Caius reprimands Noel for considering such folly. Caius claims the only way to save Yeul is by killing Etro and letting the chaos of Valhalla consume the Mortal Realm and transform it into a world like Valhalla itself, a place without a future or past. After Caius leaves to carry out the deed, Yeul dies in Noel's arms telling him they would meet again before she fades away. Later, while in a dream world back in his time, Noel learns Yeul had seen the events of his adventure with Serah through time. This gives him the strength to move on, believing he and the Yeul he knew will meet again.

Other Yeuls
Prior to fighting Lightning in Valhalla, Caius lays a Yeul's lifeless body to rest in the nearby sea. Another Yeul appears alongside Caius in New Bodhum in 3 AF, watching the members of NORA bid farewell to Serah, Mog, and Noel as they leave through the Time Gate. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals the Yeul of 3 AF is the "Yeul who liked to travel" and that her first vision was of Lightning being swallowed by chaos, and her later visions are of Lightning fighting Caius. She traveled with Caius searching for the Time Gates she saw Serah appear by.

In Yaschas Massif in 1X AF, with Noel and Serah returning from Oerba at 200 AF, Yeul appears before them and explains the Yeul they saw before was from the distant future. She tells them she traces the timeline and leads people along the right path and points at Serah, revealing her to possess the Eyes of Etro like herself. After Noel and Serah leave through a Time Gate, she dies in Caius's arms.

In the years 100 and 110 AF in Yaschas Massif, it is revealed that long ago, the monster Ugallu, a monster who could devour time, came to Paddra and threatened to destroy the nation. Many l'Cie tried to stop it, but failed. Wishing to protect her nation Yeul resorted to using her powers to seal away the monster, but by doing so inadvertently created a paradox that makes people vanish and in their place leaves "Rubies of Grief" - remnants of their memories. Yeul is plagued by guilt over her actions and in the year 110 AF, Serah and Noel encounter a Ruby of Grief that contains within it the living conscience of the ancient Yeul, who implores the two to destroy Ugallu. By doing so, Yeul's memory finds peace and vanishes, ending the paradox.

In the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF, the Yeul of that time arrives with Caius to a Time Gate after Serah and Noel leave. Caius asks her if she will allow this, and she says, "It is not for me to decide", and they leave the area.

When Serah gets separated from Noel in the Historia Crux and arrives in a shadow of Valhalla in the Void Beyond, several Yeuls from different time periods give her cryptic advice: the first one being from the distant past; the second, from New Bodhum at 3 AF, reveals to Serah they were both blessed by Etro; the third being from a future unknown to Serah tells the story of how Etro released her and the other l'Cie from crystal stasis on the Day of Ragnarok, but it distorted time and she was too weak to repair it; the fourth and last Yeul tells Serah of how the Void Beyond can take the form of a person's innermost desires. Yeul asks why Serah seeks to change time and reveals the death that awaits her if she changes the timeline any further. This "Yeul" is an illusion created by Caius.

When Serah and Noel navigate the floating blocks in Academia 500 AF, Yeul's voice tells them not to kill Etro and that only a doomed future awaits if they face Caius, hinting at Caius's scheme to have Noel kill him to ensure Etro's death. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After states the first vision of the Yeul of 500 AF was of Noel alone at the end of the world. After her first vision, she saw Noel with someone but knew he would soon be alone. She wished everyone would die so nobody would be left alone. This Yeul differs from the others in how she felt abandoned and unwanted by her mother, and how she hated people and didn't trust them, including Caius. She wished for Noel to be happy, and so requested for Caius to let the last seeress live a normal life.

In the paradox ending, "Beneath a Timeless Sky", Yeul is trapped at the end of the world in New Bodhum with Serah, Noel, and Mog. Yeul reveals she cannot have visions of the future due to time having ended when Serah defeated Caius in the Void Beyond. A meteorite lands in the distance and they rush off to investigate.

In the DLC episode, "Perpetual Battlefield", after Noel and Serah defeat Valfodr in the Coliseum and Snow says he is unable to leave, Serah catches a glimpse of an illusion of Yeul surrounded by chaos.

In the DLC episode, "Requiem of the Goddess", when Lightning sees a vision of Serah's death during her fight with Caius in Valhalla, Caius strikes her down and she comes to within the remains of Etro's temple. The spirits of several Yeuls surround Serah's spirit with chaos before the goddess's throne. They taunt Lightning by telling her that when the end of time comes, Serah will fade into darkness and remain with them forever. Lightning demands Yeul to release Serah but she summons Caius to continue his battle with Lightning.

When she emerges victorious Yeul's spirit appears to Lightning on the beach. Lightning demands her to let Serah go, but is swallowed by chaos. Yeul tells Lightning Serah's death is her fault since she was the one who asked her to embark on the journey through time that would claim her life.

In the secret ending, "The Goddess is Dead", Caius's plan to kill the goddess has succeeded as he announces to Yeul they are free from their curses, and can start over in a new world without Etro.

"Black Mist Yeul"
While generally every Yeul appears to support Serah and Noel's quest, there is another Yeul in Chapter 5 in the Void Beyond who is hostile towards Serah for trying to change the timeline. She is clouded in black mist, an indication of the power of chaos. This Yeul transforms into Caius, indicating she was a trick conjured by him, but the Yeul covered in black mist is seen in other places as well. During Lightning's monologue at the end of Chapter 5 a misty Yeul is seen sitting on a bench in Orphan's Cradle.

During the final chapter in Academia 500 AF, Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega "Unsolved Mysteries" section identifies the voice telling Noel and Serah to turn back as belonging to the "Black Mist Yeul". This is also the Yeul seen in Snow's and Lightning's DLC episodes. Lastly, the Yeul covered in black mist can be found in some Live Trigger events after beating the game; for example in the Bresha Ruins 5 AF, in the area where Ghast was fought, the player is asked to listen to the voice and the Shadow Yeul talks about Atlas. If the player beats Atlas without the Paradox Scope on, the Yeul asks Serah and Noel to free her from the shackles of the goddess, saying her only wish is to be with "him". Who the person might be is not specified.

The Yeul covered in black mist appears only in the Void Beyond, Coliseum and Valhalla, as well as briefly in Orphan's Cradle during Lightning's monologue scene; all of these locations are outside of the Mortal Realm. Thus it is possible she may not be able to manifest in the Mortal Realm, and that is why Noel and Serah only hear her voice in Academia 500 AF.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, it is suggested the Yeul enveloped in chaos in "Requiem of the Goddess" is not really Yeul, but an unknown entity that took on her form. This is supported in the novel by comparing the gentle nature of the Yeuls encountered by Serah and Noel to the bitterness the "Chaos Yeul" displays toward her fate.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Thanks to the actions of Caius at the end of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Yeul appears to have broken free from the shackles of the seeress' curse and has survived alongside her Guardian into Nova Chrysalia. Her current role in the story is unknown.

Creation and Development
Yeul was designed by Hideo Minaba.

Musical Themes
Yeul's leitmotif is titled "Yeul's Theme", and is an acoustic guitar tune composed by Naoshi Mizuta, with lyrics performed by Joelle. Mizuta wanted to create a ballad that was pretty and poignant. The piano ad-lib during the interlude was performed by Mizuta's favorite pianist, Febian Reza Pane.

The two variants of her theme are "Song of the Farseers" 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

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Yeul appears in the Trading Card Game on an ice-type card depicting her in her official render.

Etymology
"Yeul" is a Korean name that can be translated as "Shining Bird", which may be a play on a phoenix in relation to Yuel's continuous death and rebirth. 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. The latter interpretation is further enforced as Yeul's name is homophonic to the words jul or jol, which is the term for Christmas in Scandinavian languages. In fact, Yeul's name is "Jul" in the German version.

Trivia

 * Yeul sitting in the Narthex resembles a piece of promotional art for Final Fantasy XIII that depicts Lightning in a similar position.
 * As stated by Caius, there are many Yeuls, each with different interests: the Yeul presented in the official render is possibly the one who liked to collect flowers from 200 AF.
 * Daisies symbolize purity and innocence: Yeul was "pure and innocent" in her heart and all her actions were meant to keep the timeline "pure", even though she sometimes had to oppose the law of the Farseers. This makes her the opposite of her partner, Caius.