Paddra Nsu-Yeul



Paddra Nsu-Yeul (パドラ＝ヌス・ユール) [ɪuːl] 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 and by  in the English version.

Appearance and Personality
Yeul has a round face with green eyes and long, steel blue 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 she is only a teenager, Yeul acts in a mature manner well beyond her years. However, though essentially the same, the various Yeuls have unique quirks that set each apart from the others, such as singing or flower collecting.

Story
As a seer priestess from the city of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif region, a member of the Farseer tribe who received the Eyes of Etro to lead her people with her visions of the future. However, the gift doubled as a curse as her visions shorten her lifespan and eventually kill her, only to be endlessly reborn across many different time periods. 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 Proto fal'Cie in Academia, also trigger these visions, causing Yeul to see the new future. Though she originally transfered her visions into the Oracle Drive, the Guardians assigned to protect her recieve her visions of the future. While the warrior who became Gorgyra was among her previous Guardians, Yeul's current protector is Caius.

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 -010 AF- and -01X AF-, Hope Estheim's expedition in the Yaschas Massif uncovered the Oracle Drive, revealing that Yeul foresaw the crystallization of Cocoon by Fang and Vanille 500 years before it happened. However, 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 700 AF
In the Dying World -700 AF-, it appears to be Yeul's 15th birthday. Along with Caius, Noel also cared for and protected Yeul, but was unaware that she would die soon. Wanting to make her happy, Noel wanting to take take Yeul along with him on a journey to find more people out in the world.

However, Caius reprimands him for consider such folly while revealing a way to save Yeul by killing Etro and make the world like Valhalla. After Caius leaves to carry out the deed, Yeul dies soon after, telling Noel that they would meet again before she fades away. It would be later while a dream world back on his time that Noel learned that Yeul had watched the events of his adventure with Serah and gave him the strength to finally move on.

Yeul of 200 AF
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, explaining to the latter that she is not the girl he knows in his time, Yeul cryptically tells them that she have been watching over them. As Caius is about to kill Noel, Yeul intervenes saying the future has just been changed and comforts Caius as he kneels before her. Caius suggests they leave in order to not see the future any further. He opens a portal, taking Yeul to Augusta Tower to spend her final moments.

When Serah and Noel arrive, Yeul gives them an artefact while imploring them to protect the timeline. Yeul continues by revealing that Lightning's disappearance from Gran Pulse was caused by the future being changed and if Serah and Noel continue to solve the paradoxes, then the past will return to the way Serah remembers it. Yeul reveals to them a sentient machine within the tower had conjured the enemies that threatened them, including the Caius from Academia. Telling Noel and Serah to show her a new future, Yeul dies seeing a vision of a future with everyone smiling before Caius appears and carries away her body.

Yeul of 400 AF
On the streets of Academia -400 AF-, Yeul walks up to a pack of 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. Yeul tells Noel that she is not the Yeul he knows, but thanks him and dies, leaving an artefact for them. Her death is negated in -4XX AF-.

Other Yeuls
Prior to fighting Lightning at Valhalla, Caius lays Yeul's lifeless body to rest in the nearby sea. Another 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 the Yaschas Massif -01X AF-, the two returning from Oerba -200AF-, Yeul appears before Noel and Serah while explaining that the Yeul they saw before was from the distant future. She tells them that she traces the timeline and leads people along the right path. Yeul says that she came in order to confirm something, then has a vision. She points at Serah, cryptically revealing her to possess the Eyes of Etro like herself before leaving. She reappears after Noel and Serah leave through a time gate, but promptly dies in Caius's arms. 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 and arrives to the shadow of Valhalla in the Void Beyond, several images of Yeuls from different time periods appear to give her cryptic advice. The last one, revealed to be an illusion created by Caius, asks her why she seeks to change time and interfere with Caius. Then she cryptically reveals to Serah the death that would await her if she changes the timeline any further, before the illusion scatters and Caius appears.

Ultimately, in the secret Paradox Ending, "The Goddess is Dead", Caius's plan succeeds he announces to Yeul that they can start over and live in a new world without Etro.

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.
 * 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 and was from 200 AF.
 * Yeul's age ranges from 14-17 years old, depending on which era she is met.
 * Caius putting Yeul to rest in the lake in Valhalla in the start of Final Fantasy XIII-2, mirrors the scene where Cloud rests Aeris in the lake in Forgotten Capital in Final Fantasy VII.