Hope Estheim

Hope Estheim is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII who also appears in a major supporting role in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. He is the son of Nora and Bartholomew Estheim.

In Final Fantasy XIII, Hope loses his mother during the Purge. He chooses to journey with Lightning in order to become stronger, and avenge his mother's death by getting revenge against the person he holds responsible, Snow Villiers.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, an adult Hope is the head of a scientific expedition team called the Academy. Because of his research, he knows that Serah and Noel Kreiss are traveling through time, and he helps them in their quest to find Lightning and save the future.

It has been confirmed that Hope will return as a supporting character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, as an advisor of sorts for Lightning.

Final Fantasy XIII


Hope has short silver hair and light blue-green eyes. Of all the playable characters he is the shortest and the youngest. In Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-, when Lightning sees Hope and Nora shopping, she says Hope's face resembles that of his mother's. He wears a short-sleeved orange and yellow jacket with a detailed green neckerchief over a black shirt, and black gloves with white palms. He wears deep green cargo pants with a black storage pack hanging from a black belt over his left leg, and light green boots. His l'Cie brand is on his left wrist, mostly covered by his yellow wristband.

As evident in Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-, Hope is close to his mother, always confiding in her and relying on her for protection. Hope has had a distant relationship with his father ever since he reached adolescence. In Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-, Hope describes himself as helpless since he always runs away from his problems instead of confronting them. Since the start of Final Fantasy XIII Hope has an intense grief-induced resentment towards Snow for the part he plays in his mother's death.

Being a victim of circumstance, Hope starts off as a naive, insecure, and sensitive individual. On multiple occasions, Hope wants to confront Snow but is too grief-stricken to form the words he wants to say. Hope's speech is usually reserved but due to being dragged into the Purge, witnessing his mother's death, and becoming a l'Cie, he tends to make outbursts of anger and frustration whenever his emotions get the better of him. His naivety makes him quick to blame others for his misfortunes, and his sensitive and insecure nature causes him to be easily affected by harsh words and rash actions, especially when they involve personal subjects.

After Nora's death, Hope turns to Oerba Dia Vanille for emotional support in response to her kindness towards him. Even though he is confused by her cheerful nature, he easily strikes up a friendship with her and accepts her attempts to comfort him. As a result, Hope has a tendency of clinging onto her. Hope soon comes to depend on Lightning for support and guidance as she shares his hatred for Snow, and he sees her as a strong and independent person he can learn from. Looking up to Lightning as a role model of sorts, Hope tries to follow her example as a former soldier in order to gain experience in battle and knowledge of how to survive in the world.

Due to his time under her tutelage, Hope matures into an efficient fighter. He is also to speak in a more straightforward manner and control his emotions to a certain degree. He develops a symbiotic relationship with Lightning, bonding with and confiding in her as a close friend and mentor as they help each other understand things about themselves. After he forgives Snow for his part in Nora's death and overcomes his grief, Hope becomes willing to throw himself into harm's way for the sake of others. He begins to show his sense of humor and comfort his friends. Hope gives his companions words of encouragement and wisdom, as well as remain positive in otherwise negative situations, ultimately living up to his namesake.

Final Fantasy XIII-2


In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Hope initially appears at 10 AF, when he is 24 years old. Now mature in appearance, he has straight and slightly longer hair, and a new outfit, though he retains his yellow wristband, Hope now wears different gloves and an outfit reminiscent to a PSICOM uniform that consists of a long-sleeved yellow and white coat with a light blue necktie. He wears light gray pants, black boots, and has black and red storage packs along the left shoulder and waist of his coat. Hope keeps his boomerang, but is not seen using it often.

Ever since the events of Final Fantasy XIII, Hope has grown into an intelligent and confident leader, admired by many, even though he sometimes continues to show moments of vulnerability.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-
Hope and his mother, Nora, are staying in a beach resort on vacation in the seaside town of Bodhum to see the annual fireworks show eight days away. His father, Bartholomew, is due to join them, but calls at the last minute to cancel due to being too busy with work, much to Hope's relief. Hope and Nora visit the Euride Gorge, but with buzz still circulating about the incident four days prior, Hope and Nora return to Bodhum.

Two days later at the fireworks festival, Hope laughs at his mother's insistence on the wish-making tradition, since he believes it is for children. When Hope asks Nora what she wished for, he is disappointed his mother wished for his father to be able to be with them next time, and says they are better off without him. Unbeknownst to both of them, PSICOM discovers the Pulse fal'Cie, Anima, within the Bodhum Vestige. Hope and Nora are caught within the subsequent quarantine of the town the next day and unable to return home. The day after, they are forced upon the Purge train, alongside a young woman they bump into on the platform, Vanille.

Final Fantasy XIII
On the way into the Hanging Edge, the Purge train is derailed by the escape of Lightning and her ally of convenience, Sazh Katzroy. Hope, Nora, and the rest of the Purgees, are rescued by the resistance group NORA and their leader, Snow Villiers. Being chased by Sanctum troops, some Purgees choose to fight alongside NORA and despite Hope's silent protest, Nora is one of the last to join Snow's cause. As she and the other armed Purgees follow Snow and Gadot down the skyrail, Lebreau and the other NORA members lead Hope's group away. Vanille and Hope watch the subsequent battle that results in the bridge with the other Purgees collapsing, causing Hope's mother to fall to her death after saving Snow's life.

Vanille tries to comfort Hope on his loss and he decides to stick by her during the rest of the escape. When Snow and Gadot return and reconvene with the other Purgee group, Vanille encourages Hope to confront Snow about Nora's death, but he hesitates long enough for Snow to leave. Vanille shoves him onto Gadot's abandoned aerobike and they follow Snow into the Pulse Vestige.

After they crashland inside the Vestige, Hope regrets following Snow out of fear of becoming a l'Cie and being Purged to Pulse. They hear Snow's voice and realize he is heading their way. They are ambushed by a group of Cie'th, but Snow saves them and tells them about Serah. Hope yells at him for wanting to save a Pulse l'Cie since they are the enemy, but Snow leaves to save her anyway, but returns and takes Hope and Vanille with him. Hope witnesses Serah's crystallization outside Anima's Throne and the army begins to destroy the Vestige. After Lightning, Sazh and Snow aggravate the sleeping fal'Cie, it awakens and brands them all l'Cie - including Hope, despite his attempt to escape.

In the crystallized Lake Bresha, Hope is the first to point out everyone in the group is now l'Cie. Distraught about being caught up in what he believes to be other people's problems, Hope lashes out at the others for attacking Anima and blames Snow and Serah for dragging him into the mess. Despite their differences everyone decides to work together to solve their Focus. Though they identify the legendary beast Ragnarok in a shared dream vision, they cannot work out what they have been tasked to do.

Snow finds the crystallized Serah stuck in the crystallized lake and the others choose to leave him behind. Hope tries to tell Snow about Nora, but Snow tells him to hurry or he will be left behind. In the abandoned ruins at the edge of the lake, the party finds an old airship. Sazh attempts to pilot it, but it sustains damage from a PSICOM pursuit and crashes in the Vile Peaks.

Lightning leaves the group to outrun PSICOM and Hope follows her. After learning how Lightning joined the Purge to save Serah, Hope tells her it is easy for her to charge into danger without a second thought since she's strong. Lightning abandons Hope, and Sazh and Vanille find him, and Hope travels with them until Lightning rejoins the group and reveals her plan to go to Eden. Seeing it as the chance to grow stronger and confront Snow, Hope decides to follow Lightning despite her reluctance to continue "babysitting" him. The two are separated from Vanille and Sazh and decide to go through the Gapra Whitewood and Hope's hometown, Palumpolum, to catch a train to Eden. At one point, Hope takes control of a Pulsian Dreadnought and clears a path for them.

Lightning's patience with Hope runs thin as he fails to keep up with her. She threatens to leave him behind again and inadvertently summons her Eidolon, Odin, who attacks Hope. Lightning saves him and his aid in defeating the Eidolon persuades her to have faith in the boy and help him 'toughen up.' Later, Lightning watches over Hope as he sleeps and hears him ask for his mother.

In the Gapra Whitewood, Hope asks to take the lead, and Lightning gives Hope the survival knife Serah gave her for her birthday. After Lightning reveals what NORA stands for, Hope's grudge against Snow grows. He reveals his hatred for Snow to Lightning and after Lightning tells Hope to form a strategy to help him focus and survive, he conceives 'Operation Nora', his plan for revenge against Snow and Sanctum. After defeating an Aster Protoflorian and exiting the Gapra Whitewood, they see Palumpolum on the coast in the distance. Lightning suggests they stop by his house, but Hope objects since he doesn't want to see his father. She tells Hope he needs to let his father know what happened to Nora.

To avoid the PSICOM troops stationed throughout the city, Hope leads Lightning underground into the Nutriculture Complex, where they see the fal'Cie Carbuncle, which provides Cocoon with its food. Upon hearing Hope talk about how the fal'Cie treat humans like their pets, Lightning realizes fighting blindly to make up for doubt and confusion is not the answer and tells Hope, "Operation Nora is over". After Hope accuses Lightning of abandoning him, she reassures him that she will not. Lightning tells him to talk to his father in order to find the hope that he needs to continue fighting.

Returning to the surface, Lightning and Hope are ambushed by Yaag Rosch and his troops. Lightning tells Hope to save himself while she distracts them, but he refuses to leave her. An explosion goes off with Snow and Oerba Yun Fang arriving on the scene. Lightning forces Hope to run away with Snow and the two manage to escape. While hiding in a tunnel, Snow unknowingly insults Hope's mother and the events surrounding her death. During a wireless conversation with Lightning, Hope tells her he is going through with Operation Nora.

Hope and Snow enter a crowd of people that PSICOM is preparing to Purge, and Snow fires a gun into the air causing everyone to scatter. Hope comes across a frightened young girl and tries to help her but she throws her Carbuncle doll at him. The crowd of people returns as an angry mob. After the girl pushes Hope to the ground, Snow uses his l'Cie power to shoot down an archway to block the approaching mob and Hope places the girl's doll on the fallen archway. Then Snow hijacks a Sanctum air mech and carries Hope to the Rivera Towers.

Hope continues asking Snow a series of personal questions to justify his belief for revenge. An Ushumgal Subjugator ambushes them and Snow tries to stand between Hope and the machine, but Hope pushes him out of the way and charges it for battle. Afterward, Snow and Hope have a chance to catch their breath by the edge of a building. Hope questions Snow about his past actions and accuses him of running away before using his l'Cie power to blast Snow off the ledge. Standing over Snow with Lightning's knife in hand, Hope reveals to Snow that his mother died on his account. As Hope prepares to kill Snow, a Sanctum airship fires shots behind Hope, sending him over the ledge. Snow catches him in midair and shields him from the fall with his body.

Hope awakens on the streets below to find that Snow had saved him. Snow apologizes for his part in Nora's death and returns Lightning's knife to Hope. Hope hesitates to take his revenge upon the weakened Snow, realizing he pursued revenge for the wrong reasons. After settling their differences, they are attacked by the Ushumgal Subjugator from before. It knocks Snow unconscious, prompting Hope to fight it alone until Lightning and Fang arrive to help. Hope returns Lightning's knife, thus ending Operation Nora. The reunited party travels the rest of the way to the Estheim Residence and meet Hope's father.

Hope tells his father what happened to Nora and the two repair their relationship. When PSICOM attacks the house, Lightning, Hope, and Fang fend them off. Snow confronts Yaag Rosch about his actions and chaos breaks out. Under Lightning's orders, Hope makes his father look like an unwilling accomplice by tying him up. Rygdea and more of the Cavalry soldiers arrive, and Hope and the rest of the party leave with them, boarding the Lindblum.

They head to the Palamecia upon learning Sazh and Vanille are being held captive onboard. They reunite with the prisoners, and are forced to face Galenth Dysley in his true form, the fal'Cie Barthandelus, who claims their Focus is to become Ragnarok and kill the fal'Cie Orphan, the source of all of Cocoon's power. Sazh attempts to pilot an airship to freedom, but it is under Dysley's control. They fly into Eden and land in the Fifth Ark, where the party's l'Cie powers are fully awoken. After Fang tames her Eidolon, Bahamut, Hope resolves to make his own decisions from now on, without influence from the Sanctum or the fal'Cie, and see what Gran Pulse is like for himself.

Using an old Pulsian airship, they exit the Ark out into Gran Pulse and create a base camp in the Vallis Media. Hope gathers food and supplies with Sazh's Chocobo Chick until his brand advances and he falls unconscious and is found by the rest of the party. Coming to, Hope talks about Fang and Vanille's hometown of Oerba, and how it might have the answers they are looking for. He tells the others to go on without him and inadvertently summons his Eidolon, Alexander. Lightning tells Hope that Alexander represents his inner strength, and has appeared because he can continue fighting. After taming the Eidolon with Lightning and Fang's help, Hope begins to believe Eidolons come to give l'Cie hope, not to end their journey through death. He says he will ask for help earlier next time and decides to continue on his journey with the others.

As they travel through Pulse, Hope has a talk with Vanille in Yaschas Massif. He tells her that if he and his mother had not been at the fireworks in Bodhum and gotten forced onto the Purge train, he wouldn't have learned a world like Gran Pulse even existed. Vanille mentions a promise they made to see Pulse together, but Hope does not remember making such a promise. Hope tells her people sometimes lie to keep themselves going when they are afraid and protect others from harm, but it is what they do after the lie that matters; and that if one works hard enough, they can make it come true.

The party crosses the Archylte Steppe to the Mah'habara Subterra. In the tunnels, Hope tampers with another Dreadnought and falls into the path of the incoming fal'Cie Atomos. A group of Dreadnoughts saves him from getting crushed, and enables the party to travel to the Sulyya Springs. Reaching the top level of Taejin's Tower, Fang and Vanille see their home village void of life and color, but Hope comforts Vanille by holding her hand and tells her to keep having faith.

They arrive in the dilapidated village where the party is confronted by Barthandelus, who reveals his plan of having tricked the Cavalry into destroying Orphan. The party wonder whether they can return to Cocoon to help if it means playing into Barthandelus's hands, but Hope reminds Lightning that she once told him it is not a question of can or can't, they just have to go and do it.

The party returns to Cocoon, interrupting a race on the circuit in Eden with their Eidolons. They fight their way through the city and make their way to Orphan's Cradle. Hope tells the party that Barthandelus is turning innocent people into Cie'th in order to make them feel guilty, lose faith, and become Ragnarok. Reaching the Nascent Throne, the party fights Barthandelus again.

Briefly upon Barthandelus's defeat, Orphan is awakened and transforms everyone except Vanille and Fang into Cie'th. Remembering everything they went through, the group reverts back to normal. They save Fang from her cycle of torture at Orphan's hands and say that they now have a new Focus. Hope concludes that if they have the power to destroy Cocoon, they also have the power to save it, after which everyone's brands turn white.

After Orphan's defeat, Cocoon loses power and falls from the sky. Hope grabs Sazh's and Lightning's hands as Orphan's Cradle vanishes and they are left hovering midair over Eden. They witness Fang and Vanille sacrifice themselves to become Ragnarok and save Cocoon. Hope is crystallized alongside the rest of the party at the base of the crystallized Cocoon. Soon after they awaken from the crystal stasis, with their brands wiped clean. Though Serah and Dajh Katzroy also awake from crystal stasis, Hope is upset to find that Vanille and Fang have not awoken, but remains positive, remarking they have defied their fate before.

Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-
Hope sees a group of soldiers from the Cavalry, and runs off towards them with the others in tow. He asks one of the soldiers about his father, and learns he is still alive, much to his relief. Upon learning about Bodhum sustaining heavy damage and the irony of its population being 'saved' by the Purge, Hope wonders how Lightning and Snow are handling the news since Bodhum was their hometown. After Sazh leaves with Dajh, Hope remains with Snow and Serah. Another soldier comes and tells Hope that his father is arriving on the next cargo transport, and Hope leaves with the soldier to reunite with him.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
After history has been altered causing Lightning's disappearance, Hope finds her survival knife near the base of Cocoon's crystal pillar and gives it to Serah. When Serah and Noel arrive in the Paddra Ruins of Yaschas Massif 10 AF, Hope comes to their aid by finishing off the giant Aloeidai with his boomerang to negate the spacetime vortex it generated upon defeat.

Hope is glad that Serah remembers him and introduces himself to Noel as the leader of the Academy, revealing that Noel and Serah's appearance in the Bresha Ruins five years ago enabled the Academy to analyze the Time Gates and predict their arrival to the ruins. He says that within the last ten years, Serah was not the only one who disappeared but Snow, Sazh, and Dajh as well. Hope says that the paradoxes started happening a few years ago and believes if he can solve their cause he could see everyone again. They meet his assistant, Alyssa Zaidelle, who was involved with them in the events at Bresha.

Hope tells Noel and Serah that he has something to show them and Alyssa playfully grabs his arm but he softly pushes her off and leads the way. Hope tells them how he joined the Academy as a way to atone for what happened to Lightning, Fang and Vanille, and to build a society using man-made power. He tells the legend of the Farseers and the seeress Yeul who foretold Paddra's destruction and how it came true when its people brought their nation to ruin in a civil war.

Hope shows Serah and Noel the Oracle Drive, an ancient device that shows images of events that should be considered impossible. Noel activates it to show images of the Day of Ragnarok. Hope believes that a seeress left behind records of the future and uses the Oracle Drive to project blurry images of Lightning's fight with Caius Ballad in Valhalla. Hope theorizes that the current paradox affecting the area might be affecting the Oracle Drive and gives an artefact to Noel and Serah so they can find the cause of the paradox.

After the paradox is resolved negating their initial meeting, Noel and Serah are forced to repeat the process of being welcomed by Hope in 1X AF, before he again uses the Oracle Drive to show them the now clear images of Lightning in Valhalla. Hope confesses that he too wanted to change history to bring back Lightning, Vanille, Fang, and his mother. When the Oracle Drive shows images of Cocoon falling at Caius's hands, Hope resolves to do what he can at his end to prepare for the crisis while Serah and Noel continue to fix the timeline.

Three years later, while overseeing the construction of Augusta Tower, Hope and Alyssa devised the Proto fal'Cie Project as a means to keep Cocoon airborne without the crystal pillar. Acting on its own whim from the future, the Proto fal'Cie Adam arrives to that moment in time to reprogram the tower's AI and slaughter Hope, Alyssa, and all the Academy members to maintain the time and order it is thriving in. Luckily, in 1X AF, Hope caught a glimpse of Serah and Noel's fight with Adam at 200 AF, with Serah yelling at him for building the fal'Cie through the Oracle Drive and abandoned the project, negating his and Alyssa's future deaths. Hope begins the New Cocoon Project to build a new man-made Cocoon.

In 13 AF, Hope learned about the Thirteenth Ark through the Oracle Drive, and invented a time capsule for him and Alyssa to enter suspended animation and reawaken 387 years later, in Academia 4XX AF, where the Ark was supposed to appear. Welcoming Serah and Noel to "the future they saved", Hope invites them to Academy headquarters where he tells how he was forced to abandon the Proto fal'Cie Project and begin the New Cocoon Project. After investigating the Thirteenth Ark, the Academy discovered it floats through the use of a Graviton Core. Hope concludes that the new Cocoon would need five of them.

After Noel, Serah and Mog bring him the Graviton Cores, Alyssa gives them an artefact to open a new gate in the city. Hope and Alyssa go to see them off and Hope speaks of the time where, if not for his friends, he would have let himself be consumed by hate. He tells Serah of how her wish to save Cocoon motivated him and the others to work together, how Fang and Vanille continue to fulfill that wish, and that he will be using the time capsule to go a hundred years into the future to oversee the final step in his New Cocoon Project.

In Academia 500 AF, Hope and a squadron of soldiers appear to provide Noel and Serah backup as they are attacked by Chaos Bahamut and a summoned swarm of monsters. He joins Noel and Serah in pursuit of Chaos Bahamut, but Serah tells Hope not to follow and make sure that Fang and Vanille are safe, which he does. After Caius is defeated by Noel and Serah in Valhalla, Hope learns from Sazh that Vanille and Fang have been safely removed from the crystal pillar. Cocoon falls to the ground and the new Cocoon rises, which Hope christens "Bhunivelze".

Learning that Noel, Mog and Serah have returned from Valhalla, Hope takes an airship to greet them only to find Serah has died. As they mourn over her, Noel reveals that Serah was a seeress and was killed by her visions of the future. The world begins to go dark and Hope catches a weakening Mog in his arms. Mog tells them that the goddess Etro is gone. A seal appears in the sky and Bhunivelze and everything on Gran Pulse is consumed by chaos before the world turns into Valhalla.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
It is confirmed that Hope will aid Lightning by sending messages via wireless com.

Abilities and Equipment


Hope fights with boomerangs that work differently from normal boomerangs; thanks to Antimatter Manipulation Principle and design he is able to throw the boomerang once and hit multiple enemies without having to throw it again.

Hope's true strength lies in his magic power; he has the highest Magic growth out of the six playable characters in Final Fantasy XIII and is the only one to learn all elemental spells as a Ravager up to the -ga level, though he lacks the -strike skills, meaning he cannot physically attack in the role. Because of this he can be considered the most proficient character in the use of the Ravager role. Hope's Full ATB Skill, Last Resort, deals non-elemental magic damage to random targets.

Hope is the most supportive-oriented character. As a Synergist he is more proficient with defensive buffs, learning the Bar-Spells early in the game; and he also learns the entire family of Cure spells as a Medic. Hope is the only character with only one offensive primary paradigm role and is the only playable character in Final Fantasy XIII that may acquire every -ga leveled spell in all of the roles. However, Hope has the lowest HP of all the playable characters.

In the Commando role when performing multiple physical attacks using his boomerang, Hope moves his hand as if to throw it again, even though it is not in his hand. Hope is also the only one able to cast Ruin without holding his weapon; this can be accomplished by choosing Attack first and stacking Ruin after.


 * Base Statistics

Eidolon


Alexander is a non-elemental Eidolon who has the ability to turn into a fortress in his Gestalt Mode. When Hope calls for Alexander, he is launched from an even larger fortress in the sky.

Hope is the only member of the main party whose Eidolon is the same gender as their l'Cie partner.

Weapons
Hope's weapons have inscriptions with the names of mythological birds; Hope's initial weapon, Airwing, has an inscription that reads Phoenix. In his appearance in the Final Fantasy XIII-2 his weapon appears to have an inscription reading "To the heavens soars the phoenix" upon close inspection. In Final Fantasy XIII, Hope is the only character whose default weapon has a passive ability.

Hope's weapon is the only one not visible while outside of battle. He puts it away as his victory pose, but if seen from behind, it's obvious that it slides into the middle of the seat of his pants, rather than into a pocket. Cutscenes avoid showing where he pulls it from with camera angles cutting it offscreen. It is never implicitly stated where Hope received his first boomerang; the first scene it was shown was during the scene where Vanille receives her weapon, but she did not give the boomerang to him. It is left unclear as to whether or not he had it with him in Bodhum.

Development
Hope was designed by Tetsuya Nomura in Final Fantasy XIII and Hideo Minaba designed his clothes in Final Fantasy XIII-2. Lightning was originally designed as a silver-haired character, but when the decision was made to make her pink-haired, the silver color was transferred to Hope.

For Final Fantasy XIII-2 the game's director, Motomu Toriyama, felt keen to portray Hope as a more mature person; that's why he returns to the story as a grown-up who works as a leader of the Academy.

The Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega producer and director interview reveals scrapped plans for a Hope DLC scenario episode, in the vein of Sazh's, Snow's and Lightning's episodes. Originally, a DLC was planned involving Hope and a journey through the Augusta Tower. Players would have ventured through the tower, completing a number of Live Triggers. The aim of DLC was to stop Alyssa from killing Hope and based on player's Live Trigger choices, player would have either continued the game or receive a game over. However, this scenario was scrapped.

There are some hints that point toward Hope being planned as a playable character for Final Fantasy XIII-2 at some point during development. He seems to have some combat data and even a chocobo riding animation, but it is unknown if these were meant for his scrapped DLC episode. A young version of Hope is found in the game data, which is not the same model as used in Final Fantasy XIII although it has the same clothes and otherwise similar appearance. It is unknown why a model of a young Hope was made for Final Fantasy XIII-2, which was never used.

Final Fantasy XIII
In Final Fantasy XIII, "Hope's Theme", composed by Masashi Hamauzu, is a melancholy tune composed with acoustic guitar representing his sensitive and vulnerable nature, as well as the emotions he goes through while coping with the loss of his mother.

There are two variants of his theme: the orchestral version is titled "Sustained by Hate", which plays during his failed attempt on Snow's life and when he summons Alexander for the first time, and the slow, acoustic version is called "This Is Your Home", which plays during the party's visit to his home.

A piano version of his theme titled, "Hope_PfNer3", is included on the Final Fantasy XIII: Original Soundtrack PLUS album.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
In Final Fantasy XIII-2, "Hope's Theme - Tomorrow's Dream -" is a calm, mellow, rustic, and jazzy rearrangement of his original theme, and a variant of the main theme, "FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 ~Wishes~". It is composed with acoustic guitar, violin, and piano. While it hints at his vulnerability like his original theme, it also symbolizes his wish to bring back the people who are dear to him.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Hope makes a cameo appearance in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as a tutor in the in-game manual. He teaches the player about Assists alongside Fang.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Hope is featured on three cards as part of the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One of his cards depicts a FMV shot of him in the Hanging Edge, another is his Final Fantasy XIII CG render, and the other is his Final Fantasy XIII-2 CG render. His cards appear within "Wind" set.

Etymology
It is possible the name "Hope" was chosen for him, because he was somewhat "hope" for Cocoon, to free it from the control of the fal'Cie. Est is Latin for "is," whilst Heim is German for "home." Concluding, his full name means "hope is home". This is also somewhat alluded to by Lightning in Chapter 7 in Palumpolum's Nutriculture Complex, when she says that he needs to know what hope he was named for by going home and talking to his father. By doing so, he finds the new-found hope enabling him to continue on his journey.

Trivia

 * While Hope sometimes refers to Lightning as "Light" in the English version, he calls her "Light-san" for the rest of the game after she tells him to in the Japanese version. Presumably a minor error, Hope will sometimes call Lightning "Light" in battle shortly before the cutscene in which she tells him to do so.
 * Hope's eidolith is in the shape of a star, almost resembling the crystal in the Final Fantasy IX [[Media:FfixLogo.jpg|logo]].
 * Hope's crystal is used for the "Instrument of Change" trophy/achievement.
 * The animation sequence for Hope's full ATB skill, Last Resort, greatly resembles the White Magic spell Holy in previous Final Fantasy games. Furthermore, Alexander is the series' main Holy-elemental summon.
 * In Episode Zero -Promise-, it is revealed Hope once visited the Sunleth Waterscape on a school field trip.
 * According to the datalog in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Hope is a favorite among the people of Academia.