Purge

The Purge is a form of  in Final Fantasy XIII. It is conducted by the Sanctum, the fal'Cie-run government of Cocoon, to get rid of those believed to have been "touched" by Pulse.

Datalog
''To the millions who call Cocoon home, the lowerworld of Pulse represents a constant source of fear. Suspected association with Pulse means stigmatization as an enemy of the state and all mankind—even for born and raised citizens of Cocoon.''

''The recent discovery of a fal'Cie from Pulse near the city of Bodhum caused widespread civil unrest. After placing the city's entire population under quarantine due to the possibility of contamination, the Sanctum then announced its intent to forcibly relocate the affected to Pulse in an emergency measure dubbed by authorities as the Purge.''

Prologue
After a Pulse fal'Cie was discovered within a Pulse Vestige in the town of Bodhum, everyone who was in Bodhum at the time were accused of being tainted by Pulse and the people of Cocoon cried out for their expulsion. The Sanctum's personal army, PSICOM, quarantined the town and rounded up the people, regardless of whether they were citizens or tourists.

The deportees were forced to wear "Purge clothing" (restraint robes with a metal device that bound their hands, controlled by a remote held by a PSICOM soldier), and forced onto 'Purge' trains, while those who tried to run were fired upon. Then they were sent to the Hanging Edge on the outskirts of Cocoon to be exiled to Pulse.

Battle
Upon entering the Hanging Edge, the true nature of the Purge is revealed: the Sanctum's method of executing the supposedly tainted civilians under the ruse of exiling them to Pulse. As the last train enters the restricted zone, Lightning and her ally Sazh Katzroy derail the train and fight their way through PSICOM forces toward the Pulse Vestige.

To stop the Purge, the Bodhum resistance group NORA led by Snow Villiers attacks PSICOM. They come across a group of Purgees and recruit those willing to join their resistance effort to drive PSICOM back. A number of deportees join NORA's cause while the rest are moved to another location for their safety. NORA and its volunteers enter battle against PSICOM and their militarized beasts, but it ends with NORA's defeat when a Skytank destroys the bridge they are on, killing many of those who fall off.

Aftermath
The outcome of the Purge is the death of countless victims including Hope Estheim's mother, the main cast being turned into Pulse l'Cie (with the exception of Vanille and Fang), the destruction of the Hanging Edge, and the crystallization of Lake Bresha. Afterward, PSICOM is dispatched to hunt down the fugitive l'Cie and Purge survivors.

Via newscast, the Sanctum later announces the Purgees arriving to their new homes on Pulse, deeming the Purge a 'success', but revealed the possibility of more Purges being done in the future when necessary. When Lightning, Hope, Snow, and Fang are found in Palumpolum, the army begins to gather civilians suspected of having any contact with the l'Cie but Snow's intervention saves them. Later, news coverage shows the people Snow had saved and reveals the populace's outcry for them to be Purged as well, but a Purge of Palumpolum never comes to pass.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before, it is revealed that the Sanctum never planned to exile the people in Bodhum to Pulse, and announced the Purge as a forced relocation to cover up their true motives. It's revealed that PSICOM received secret orders from the Sanctum to massacre the civilians, so PSICOM took them to the Hanging Edge, an uninhabited area where the deed could be carried out in secrecy from the rest of Cocoon. It is also revealed that although a Purge of everyone in Palumpolum was not implemented, it was approved of in advance.

In the six months after Cocoon's fall, after the new provisional government reveals the truth behind the Purge to the public, PSICOM was dissolved and its remaining members were chased out of Cocoon into exile in Pulse's frontier lands, their families were discriminated against for association, and the former members of the Sanctum were arrested for conspiracy to commit genocide under the name of the Purge.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, a cemetery with an epitaph dedicated to the victims of the Purge can be found in the Bresha Ruins.

In Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence it is revealed that Aoede, a reporter caught up in the Purge, later helped expose Sanctum's lies by airing Purge footage with the help of broadcast hacks by Maqui.

Notable Purgees

 * Hope Estheim
 * Nora Estheim
 * Oerba Dia Vanille
 * Lightning
 * Sazh Katzroy
 * Alyssa Zaidelle (introduced in Final Fantasy XIII-2)

Trivia

 * Fang is the only main character to not be involved in the Purge.
 * During at least a couple of points during Final Fantasy XIII, members of the party borrow the term for their own use. After the group decides to take on Galenth Dysley on the Palamecia, Snow comments "Time to Purge a Primarch!" Later, when the group is confronted with several Berserkers in the Fifth Ark, if Sazh is in the party, he will auto-talk "If you gotta Purge something, why don't you start with those?!"
 * In addition to "Purge", the terms "deportation", "relocation", and "migration" are used as euphemisms, with Dysley referring to the citizens involved as "Brave Pulse pioneers". Coincidentally, the trophy granted to the player for taking 10,000 steps on Pulse is titled "Pulsian Pioneer".
 * The electronic board in the Purge train displays the words "CHIBA", "INAGE", etc. in Cocoon script. These are references to the stations of a Soubu Main Line railway line in Japan.
 * The Purge is referenced in a question in the Brain Blast quiz in Final Fantasy XIII-2. The airline providing flights between Cocoon and Gran Pulse came up with a special offer that proved disastrous because of its name: "Smile and say 'Purge'".

Чистка Purgation