Jihl Nabaat



Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat (ジル・ナバート中佐) [dʒɪl nəbɑːt] is an antagonist in Final Fantasy XIII. She is an officer in the Cocoon army, a commander of PSICOM, and is an enemy of Lightning and her allies. Yaag Rosch is her right-hand man.

She is voiced by in the Japanese version and by  in the English version.

Datalog
Jihl Nabaat is a talented PSICOM officer who graduated at the head of her class.

''As the supervisor in charge of Dajh's testing, she grew close to his father, Sazh. However, her kindness was simply a ruse to gain access to the boy's l'Cie ability to sense Pulse entities.''

''She captures Sazh and Vanille in Nautilus, using them as bait in her scheme to draw the other Pulse l'Cie out of hiding. Jihl's plans backfire when her carefully laid ambush is unable to contain the l'Cie, and Barthandelus disposes of her as he would any other tool.''

Appearance and Personality


Jihl is 166 cm tall (176 cm with heels) according to the Ultimania guide. She has blond hair reaching all the way down to mid-thigh, and wields a baton which she uses in a fencing fashion. Jihl's glasses, which she normally wears unless in a fight, are thin-framed and have her initials in Cocoon Script engraved in the arm.

Jihl has both political and personal motivations for opposing Lightning's group. She graduated first in her class and quickly advanced in the military ranks to the position she holds as lieutenant colonel. She is in charge of daily policy and takes strategic command of the PSICOM soldiers. Jihl is described as cruel and heartless, and she sees all l'Cie, from Pulse and Cocoon, as subhumans. On top of that, she's no less than a cold-calculating sadist who sees herself above normal humans, seeing them as flawed objects she can use in her own agenda, as a result, Jihl loses patience easily when things go wrong, projecting blame on her subordinates and giving desperate orders to regain control. However, Jihl is very loyal and helpful to the Primarch Galenth Dysley, to the point of sacrificing herself so he could escape.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Nabaat is intrigued by the human nature as at one moment they fight each other to the death and the other one, they form "shaky alliances" making themselves unsolvable contraditions.

''Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-
Proceeding the incident at Euride Gorge, Jihl and her PSICOM troops were sent to monitor the facility, deemed as an official "state of emergency". Arriving on the grounds, she met Sazh Katzroy and his six-year-old son, Dajh, who had been detained for inspection. She dispatched injured tourists to the plant's plaza, before sealing off the area, taking Sazh and his son back to the offices to discuss Dajh's condition.

Learning that the young boy had been branded a Sanctum l'Cie, Jihl ordered him to be placed under PSICOM supervision in hopes of determining his Focus. She implored Sazh to allow his son to remain under their custody for further testing; though Sazh was initially reluctant, he eventually relented. When Dajh asked to go to the annual Bodhum Fireworks, Jihl authorizes the trip - along with a troop of PSICOM soldiers - hoping it could possibly lead them to discovering his Focus.

Jihl traveled alongside Sazh and Dajh, and as their vehicle drove into Bodhum, Dajh's Focus was finally revealed; he could sense Pulse beings. Jihl dispatched a team to excavate the ruins as she supervised the rest of the trip. The Pulse fal'Cie Anima was discovered in the Pulse Vestige, and the Bodhum lockdown was initiated by Jihl and Yaag Rosch.

After using Dajh's power to confirm that the Pulse l'Cie, Serah Farron, had been engulfed by the Vestige Ruins, she returned him to a monitoring facility, with the intention of developing and using Dajh's powers to protect the people of Cocoon. Dajh was to be held under her supervision for an indefinite amount of time. Jihl authorized Sazh's last request of traveling to Palumpolum to buy his son a coloring book, offering him use of the military airships, unknowing of Sazh's true intention of taking his son's Focus into his own hands.

''Final Fantasy XIII
Arriving at Nautilus, Jihl's true colors are revealed when she captures the wandering Sazh and Vanille, telling the two that having them arrested was apparently Dajh's Focus all along. She plays with Sazh's emotions by showing him the enhanced security footage from Euride Gorge, revealing how his crystallized son became a l'Cie through Vanille's actions. Vanille runs off crying with Jihl telling her men to stand down while letting Sazh go on the assumption that he will kill Vanille for them and supply them with more invaluable data. But Sazh can not bring himself to kill Vanille or commit suicide.

Immediately after, Jihl's group captures him and Vanille, with Jihl once again toying with Sazh's emotions by telling him that the Sanctum will build a memorial in Dajh's honor within Eden, putting his crystal in display. After Sazh objects to it, Jihl heartlessly asks him if he would want Dajh to be remembered as the son of a hated Pulse l'Cie or as a symbol of sacrifice. Rendering the furious Sazh unconscious with her baton, Jihl oversees him and Vanille being taken to the Palamecia for public execution with the Primarch Galenth Dysley overseeing the matter.

When Lightning's group breaks into the Palamecia with Cid's help and regroup with Vanille and Sazh, Jihl becomes vexed with how she is losing control of the situation, and seems to lose control of herself at one point, smashing her glasses into the floor. Once the l'Cie arrive, with Sazh wanting to settle things with her, Jihl goes to confront the l'Cie so Dylsey can escape. However, Dysley, deciding to reveal his true nature, deems Jihl to have outlived her purpose and fatally strikes her down with his magic, along with the other Palamecia crew members, so he can talk to the l'Cie personally.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Jihl appears as downloadable content. As she is dead, Jihl is among the lost souls bound to battle in the Coliseum until the Day of Reckoning. Encountering Serah and Noel, Jihl states her ideals to them while questioning if they are strong enough to win her services in the Paradigm Pack.

Battle


Jihl majors in the Saboteur role, able to summon PSICOM soldiers and militant units like Azure Behemoth and Nightblade Puma to her side and seemingly using the Sanctum's AMP-technology in her attacks. Jihl's Full ATB Skill is Sadistic Surge, delivering a series of slashes before knocking the opponent into the air to be consumed in an explosion of purple energy. As part of a Paradigm Pack, Jihl acts as a Saboteur with Sadistic Surge as her Feral Link attack.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Jihl appears in Trading Card Game in her sketch made by Nao Ikeda.

Trivia

 * She shares her English voice actress, Paula Tiso, with Lulu from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, and her Japanese voice actress, Mie Sonozaki, with Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca from Final Fantasy XII.
 * Jihl makes a cameo appearance in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. She replaces Red XIII in the Battlegen manual alongside Yaag Rosch.
 * In Final Fantasy XIII-2, her hair is more silverish, compared to Final Fantasy XIII.
 * The Arbiter of Time's remark of Jihl showing off her abilities reflects how she was seen only in scenes outside the battleground in Final Fantasy XIII. It also covered the fact that Jihl was killed by Dysley before even fighting against Lightning and her allies as she intended.
 * While wearing her glasses, Jihl bears a strong resemblance to Quistis Trepe from Final Fantasy VIII.