Eden (location)



Eden, known as the "Seat of the Sanctum", is the capital city of Cocoon in Final Fantasy XIII. Named after its patron fal'Cie of the same name, it serves as the center of Cocoon's governing body, the Sanctum. Eden floats in the sky high over Cocoon and thus can only be reached by airship or a railway connected to Palumpolum.

Eden comprises the game's twelfth chapter.

Datalog
''This city, Cocoon's capital, shares its name with its fal'Cie patron. Host to the world's centers of culture and government, it functions as the heart of human society on Cocoon.''

''At the city's core rises the monumental Edenhall, seat of the Sanctum's administration. The fal'Cie Eden dwells deep within the structure's interior.''

Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning believes the fal'Cie Eden is manipulating the Sanctum and responsible for the Purge and all of the misfortune that has befallen her. She and Hope Estheim thus attempt to reach Eden and exact revenge. When the pair reaches Palumpolum, Hope's observation that the fal'Cie treat humans "like pets" causes Lightning to realize the life she had under the fal'Cie's care was meaningless, and that her plan for revenge is petty and foolish. The party discovers it is not Eden, but the Sanctum's Primarch Galenth Dysley, who is manipulating the Sanctum, and that Dysley is a disguised form of the fal'Cie Barthandelus.

Eden houses the fal'Cie Orphan, whose destruction is the party's "true" Focus. Because Orphan powers Cocoon's infrastructure and its death would equate to Cocoon's destruction, the party attempts to flee to Gran Pulse to avoid their Focus, even knowing that the consequence is transforming into Cie'th. Barthandelus draws them back to Eden by inciting political and military uproar, chiefest among which is convincing the Cavalry that Orphan is the mastermind behind the recent Pulsian threats. This forces the party to return to thwart the misguided Cavalry and put an end to Barthandelus once and for all.

The party returns to Eden amid a grand prix race, and summons their Eidolons. Rygdea and the Cavalry storm Cid Raines's office and assassinate him, and the building explodes. The fal'Cie summon Pulsian wildlife from the Fifth Ark and the oretoises and behemoths storm the capital. Yaag Rosch deploys PSICOM to fight the Pulse invasion, their target also to capture the rogue l'Cie.

The party makes their way through the chaos, meeting NORA on the way. NORA help the civilians while the party continues onward towards Orphan. They fight Yaag Rosch in his Proudclad, but convince him they are on the same side. Rosch commands the PSICOM forces to abandon the l'Cie operations, and instead help evacuate the civilians. He is attacked by King Behemoths, and detonates grenade simultaneously killing the monsters and himself.

After Orphan's destruction, Eden loses power and large portions collapse. When Ragnarok appears above Eden the Pulsian wildlife is sucked into it. After Ragnarok crystallizes Cocoon, many citizens have evacuated from Eden, while being aided by PSICOM and Guardian Corps forces alike.

The novel Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals that Eden fell on Bodhum on the Day of Ragnarok.

Final Fantasy XIII Side Story: A Dreaming Cocoon Falls into the Dawn
René is a 17-year-old prodigy attending the university after skipping several grades and finishing high school in just over a year. Ever since losing her parents at a young age and growing up in a Sanctum-run orphanage in her hometown of Bodhum, René has been considered a genius by all who know her but she is a realist who considers dreaming of fantasies and believing in miracles to be "the height of stupidity." Since childhood, she has always seen herself as superior to others as no one has been able to match her intelligence, and thus she sought to escape the orphanage. René aspires to become a member of the Sanctum and rise to a position that would allow her to participate in government operations and apply her knowledge of AMP technology.

As she enters the library to view documents on AMP models, the announcement for the Purge of Bodhum has been made. Worrying about a junior school classmate she knew from the orphanage, René tries to distract herself by working. She begins developing theories and unconsciously types them in a open text file on a terminal, theories stating that the fal'Cie don't care for human lives and allowed the population to grow to large numbers to fulfill a goal that required the loss of lives on a grand scale, and in the near future, humanity would be betrayed by their fal'Cie protectors. When she comes to her senses and stops typing, a message flashes on the console, directing her to the upper levels. She descends the hallway and calls for the elevator when she realizes she forgot her ID card on the console panel. When René returns to the reading room to get her ID card, she notices she is the only one there. A metallic statue appears before her and proclaims its purpose to eliminate her. René realizes that since Cocoon's network terminals are under fal'Cie control, they had read her theories and sent a report to a high-ranking fal'Cie that someone there possessed dangerous thoughts. René's theories are too close to the truth, so the steel statue fal'Cie was sent to exterminate everyone believed to have read them. The fal'Cie opens its chest cavity, revealing the gears it used to kill the people in the room, and advances towards René. The elevator arrives, providing René with a distraction. She shoves a stool into the fal'Cie's gears to stall it and bolts out the entrance doors.

Evening is about to turn to dusk and René calls out for help to the few pedestrians still roaming the streets. A soldier belonging to the Homeguard tells them to go about their business so he can talk with René. She is about to tell the soldier everything when she hears a familiar sound of scratching gears coming from the soldier, another exterminator fal'Cie in disguise. The revelation causes René to tremble with fear and leaves her too shocked to call out to anyone to her aid again as the fal'Cie reaches towards her. Unbeknownst to René, at the same time, the Pulse fal'Cie Anima has been defeated by a group of people within the Pulse Vestige in the Hanging Edge. The great energy wave it releases sweeps throughout Cocoon and the fal'Cie feel its effects and cease to function, including the exterminator fal'Cie. René escapes through the streets of Eden into the night. Unable to return home, René resolves to survive and find somewhere to hide under the fal'Cie's radar.

Around the time the Pulse l'Cie begin their assault on the Palamecia to rescue Vanille and Sazh Katzroy, René has spent several days continuing to evade the fal'Cie by escaping through the network of maintenance tunnels located beneath Eden. The maze of underground passages have no surveillance cameras, therefore leaving the fal'Cie unable to pinpoint her location. As she hides from her fal'Cie pursuers, René discovers her innate ability to play cat and mouse. The fal'Cie tasked with killing René has been after her ever since the events at the library. Now she can run it them while taking the time to observe its actions and gain an understanding of its abilities. From watching how the fal'Cie destroyed the stool she shoved in its gears before going after her, René knows she can escape while keeping a fair amount of distance from it.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
An aerial view of Eden is seen as an apocalyptic vista in the trial known as the Altar of Atonement in the Luxerion Cathedral.

Areas

 * Grand Prix Circuit
 * The Skywalk
 * Expressway
 * Bridge Pier Elevator
 * Ramuh Interchange
 * Siren Park
 * Leviathan Plaza
 * Edenhall Grand Foyer
 * Edenhall

Enemies
Grand Prix Circuit=
 * Anavatapta Warmech (Boss)
 * Varcolaci x2
 * Varcolaci x3
 * Bulwarker
 * -|The Skywalk=
 * Corps Defender x5
 * Sanctum Archangel, Corps Steward x2
 * Adamantheron x4
 * Sanctum Seraph x2, Bulwarker, Targeting Beacon
 * -|Expressway=
 * Behemoth King
 * Orobon x2
 * Orobon x4
 * Behemoth King, Orobon x3
 * Amphisbaena
 * Adamantheron x2
 * Corps Defender x2, Adamantheron x3
 * Proto-behemoth
 * The Proudclad (Boss)
 * -|Ramuh Interchange=
 * Adamanchelid (three separate encounters)
 * Corps Defender x4
 * Humbaba
 * Corps Steward x3, Sanctum Archangel vs Humbaba
 * Corps Defender x2, Sanctum Archangel vs Humbaba
 * Varcolaci x2 vs Corps Steward x3, Sanctum Archangel
 * Varcolaci x3
 * Corps Defender x2, Sanctum Archangel
 * Sanctum Archangel, Proto-behemoth
 * -|Siren Park=
 * Sanctum Seraph x2, Sanctum Archangel vs Vampire x2
 * Adamantheron x2
 * Vernal Harvester
 * Sanctum Inquisitrix x2
 * Adamantheron x2
 * Adamantheron x2, Sanctum Inquisitrix x2
 * Sanctum Inquisitrix x2 vs Orobon x2
 * Vampire x2
 * Sanctum Archangel x3 vs Vampire x3
 * Tyrant, Centaurion Blade
 * Orobon x3
 * Orobon x4
 * Vampire x3
 * Vernal Harvester vs Tyrant, Centaurion Blade
 * -|Leviathan Plaza=
 * Humbaba x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Juggernaut (two separate encounters)
 * Humbaba (three separate encounters)
 * Adamantoise, Left Foreleg, Right Foreleg
 * Sanctum Celebrant, Sanctum Archangel (two separate encounters)
 * Sanctum Celebrant x2, Sanctum Archangel
 * Sanctum Celebrant x2, Sanctum Archangel x2
 * -|Edenhall=
 * Tyrant x1, Centaurion Blade
 * Juggernaut
 * Sanctum Archangel x3
 * Sanctum Archangel, Sanctum Inquisitrix x3
 * Sanctum Archangel, Sanctum Inquisitrix x2
 * Sacrifice x2 (two separate encounters)
 * Sacrifice x2 vs Vernal Harvester x1
 * Sacrifice (two separate encounters)
 * The Proudclad

Creation and development
Eden, Hanging Edge and Sunleth Waterscape were the first locations to be revealed, shown in the E3 2006 trailer, albeit their names were unknown at the time.

In the early development for Final Fantasy XIII-2, Eden, the great floating city of Cocoon, has collapsed to Lake Bresha that lies at the bottom of crystallized Cocoon. Later, a different concept to the Lake Bresha version, Eden has been collapsed on Gran Pulse, at Archylte Steppe. The scene was to be in the distant future where the ancient capital of Cocoon would have been covered by different kinds of plants, flowers and other vegetation.

A certain was later used as a location in Serendipity in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Musical themes
"Start your Engines" and "Eden Under Siege" are the main tracks associated with Eden.

Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015)
Eden is one of the six default stages available in the initial arcade release.

Taking place in the Expressway area, the stage is a long albeit narrow battlefield, and as such distance is key during battle.

Midway through battle, parts of the Expressway are destroyed, and Crystal Dust begins to appear, reflecting Eden's destruction and Vanille and Fang's transformation into Ragnarok.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Scenes from Eden appear.

Etymology
In the world of Final Fantasy XIII the city of Eden is named after its patron fal'Cie.

Trivia

 * It is mentioned in the web novelization Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise- that Serah Farron was planning to attend Eden's university.
 * Jihl Nabaat talks to Sazh Katzroy about erecting a monument in Eden with the crystallized Dajh Katzroy as its centerpiece.
 * Eden is the name of the final Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII and its shape is similar.
 * Three of Eden's locations share their names with those of past summons (Ramuh, Siren and Leviathan).
 * While standing on the Leviathan Plaza and looking at the Edenhall, there is number "13" on the left wall of the entrance, an allusion to the number of the game in the series.
 * is seen in a wall portrait in the NORA house of New Bodhum in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
 * The Fifth Ark was revealed to be hidden underneath Eden. The Arks float by the use of Graviton Cores, and Eden is a floating city. It is unknown whether the Fifth Ark contributed to levitating Eden.