Hope Estheim

Unreleased

Hope Estheim is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII. He is a 14-year old boy with silver hair who wears a yellow and orange coat. He is insecure and has a short temper, and often acts childish. On the other hand, he comes from a high-class family, which also reflects on his attitude. He is first seen in the game demo wearing the same Purge attire as Vanille.

Story
Hope comes from a wealthy family that lives in the port city of Palumpolum.

Hope and his mother got involved in the Purge during their vacation, meaning that the Sanctum wanted to send them to Pulse claiming that they are tainted by it. They were among the group that was saved by Snow Villiers and Team Nora. Hope's mother volunteered to fight with Snow, but apparently lost her life after saving him from a cannon blast and then falling off the destroyed motorway. Since Snow got her involved in the fight and could not save her, Hope holds a grudge against him. He travels with Lightning and the others after they all get turned into l'Cie, but secretly plots revenge on Snow. In a scene from the TGS '09 trailer, Hope confronts Snow about his mother. When Snow says that all he can do is go forward and finds answers, Hope objects and tells him that he's running from what he deserves. Snow tells Hope to tell him what he deserves, and Hope says the same fate that his mother suffered: death.

Hope turned to the fellow exile Vanille for comfort after his mother's death. Lightning, on the other hand, appears to have a disdain towards the boy, saying she has too much to worry about and she doesn't want to bother protecting a kid. Despite her initial reluctance, it appears Lightning does warm up to Hope, as she can be seen protecting him and confiding in him about her past in the TGS 2009 trailer. Hope's father was unveiled in the TGS 2009 trailer. He is a brown-haired man with glasses who works for the Sanctum. During a scene from the trailer, he is shown speaking with his son whilst the party were staying in his house. The party were leaving because Hope wanted his father to be safe, anyone harboring l'Cie would suffer a horrible fate, but Hope's father protested, saying that he did not care that Hope was a l'Cie, he was his son, and that was his home. Hope's father is seen again with his son, hiding while Snow stands wounded and bandaged before an entire platoon of soldiers led by Yaag Rosch.

Abilities
Hope fights with dual boomerangs that work differently from normal boomerangs thanks to futuristic technology. His weapons make him good at dealing long-ranged damage. His Eidolon is Alexander.

An interview in the July 2009 Famitsu revealed that there are times that Hope might even run from battle, and that it is up to the player to train him to become a brave warrior.

Trivia

 * Hope calls Lightning "Light-san", and is apparently the only character she allows to do so.

Hope Estheim