Snow Villiers

Snow Villiers is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII and appears as a guest character in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He is a strong character and is capable of running at full speed while carrying a person, stepping on metal and easily bending it. Snow is determined to save his fiancée, Serah Farron, from her fate as a Pulse l'Cie, and everyone in Cocoon.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Snow and Serah have been living together for two years, but are yet to be married. He goes off in search of the missing Lightning, but is nowhere to be found afterward.

Final Fantasy XIII
Snow has light blond hair, blue eyes, and a stubble beard. He wears a black bandanna, black gloves, large gray boots, a light blue vest over a black shirt, and a striped blue scarf hanging from a belt under a long beige trench coat with frayed hems. The coat functions as his weapon, as it is fused with AMP technology from the Sanctum. Snow's foot size is a gargantuan 33 centimeters (about a foot long). His l'Cie brand is on his left forearm.

Snow is the leader and founder of NORA, a group that originally fought off Bodhum's wildlife and eventually became a group of rebels fighting against the Sanctum. He grew up with his childhood friends, Gadot and Lebreau, in the town of Bodhum at the edge of Cocoon, where they hunted stray monsters under the moniker of NORA. Snow has a very "heroic" personality, hence his title, "The Hero". Although his heart may be in the right place and he wishes to help anyone in need, he has a tendency to talk and act before he thinks, evident by Vanille's first impression of him being "all talk", which in turn, annoys and infuriates people (notably Lightning and Hope). Acknowledging Snow's flamboyant nature, Sazh calls him "one of the kids". Lightning describes Snow as "arrogant and chummy from the get-go, thinks he's everyone's pal", and that his best quality is being "too stubborn to die".

Snow is hot-headed and shows no fear when standing before hundreds, even thousands of PSICOM soldiers, and even disrespects high Sanctum officers like Cid Raines, who tries to befriend him. In a similar manner to Vanille, Snow hides whatever guilt he feels by constantly acting optimistic, though doing so causes some people to misunderstand him. Snow is also defined by his strong love for Serah. Even after learning about her being a Pulse l'Cie, he chooses to stand beside her and help her complete her Focus instead of fearing her. However, his relationship with Serah puts him in conflict with Lightning, who believes him to be a reckless and irresponsible idiot unworthy of her sister. As the story progresses, Lightning comes to accept Snow for who he is, and they confide in each other whenever they have doubts.

Final Fantasy XIII-2


In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Snow no longer wears his bandana, vest or scarf and now has a shorter beard and slightly longer hair. He now wears a dark red shirt under a dark gray trench coat with notably more frayed hems. His hair is now swept back and exposes his ears. He also bears a new Pulse l'Cie brand of an unknown fal'Cie on his left arm, similar in appearance to Anima's, but closer to his elbow, being only half-shown.

Toriyama has said that Snow does not have a "jealous personality", and therefore doesn't mind Serah going off with Noel Kreiss to find Lightning. Overall, Snow's personality has not changed from Final Fantasy XIII.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-
Snow is overjoyed to meet the older sister of his beloved Serah, but Lightning is far from impressed. She had never approved of him or his group's unsanctioned activities. She wants Snow to forget about dating her sister, but the young man just laughs away her demands. His flippant attitude does nothing but reinforce her original impression of him. When Serah suddenly tells Snow that she is breaking up with him, he asks her if she is joking. He tells her that being alone is fine but ever since they met, everything changed.

He implores her to tell him if he did anything wrong for her to want to break up with him. She eventually reveals her painful secret to Snow that she has become a l'Cie. Snow kneels to the ground in shock and disbelief before Serah runs away in shame. However, Snow chases after her, finding her at the beach. He vows that he will help her complete her Focus, whatever it may be, if she will only let him. Serah is fearful that the Sanctum will find out, but Snow reassures her that he will be by her side as they have come too far to quit now.

Three days later while out shopping for Lightning's birthday present with Serah, Snow slips away to buy engagement necklaces; two metal sculptures of Cocoon, under the premise of giving Serah 'the whole world'. During the annual Bodhum fireworks display the next night, Snow proposes to Serah and she says yes. He says the fireworks granted his wish for her to accept his proposal, and that he can't wait to Lightning's face when they tell her. Then he drives her into the spectacle on an aero bike, they almost share a kiss when are nearly hit and Snow drives them out. Enjoying the view from their "private heaven", Snow and Serah kiss, but the couple's happy moment is still overshadowed by Serah's pending fate as a l'Cie.

The next day, Lightning's 21st birthday, Serah reveals she has become a Pulse l'Cie, and has accepted Snow's marriage proposal. Thinking that her sister is joking, Lightning does not listen to Serah but instead shuts her out with harsh biting words. Despite Snow's attempts to amend the situation with his future sister-in-law, Lightning is resistant, telling him off for choosing to pop the question to Serah after she becomes a l'Cie. Afterward, Snow leaves, determined more than ever to save Serah now that her sister has turned her back on her.

He decides takes Serah to the Bodhum Vestige to see the fal'Cie who had branded her, Anima, in hopes of revealing her Focus and therefore convince Lightning to believe her. However, things go horribly wrong, as they are chased by PSICOM soldiers. Snow and Serah fly to the Pulse fal'Cie within the Vestige while under attack.

Their aero bike gets shot and damaged, forcing Snow to tell Serah to jump onto a ledge on the Vestige while he tries to steer; but he sees a silver liquid substance emerge from the Vestige begin to surround and engulf her after she lands. He tries to reach her but only their fingers touch, and Serah is dragged into the Vestige as the fal'Cie's prisoner. Snow explains the situation to Lightning before rushing off to rescue his future wife.

Final Fantasy XIII
As Snow makes his way to the Hanging Edge to track down the Pulse Vestige, Lightning and her ally of convenience, pilot Sazh Katzroy, derail the Purge train with the same end-destination in mind. Snow and NORA rescue the remaining Purgees, who aid them in their fight against the Sanctum. One of the Purgees, Nora Estheim, saves Snow's life from a Sanctum warmech, before another destroys the bridge they were standing on and plunges the other Purgees to the levels below. Snow manages to hold on long enough to grab Nora's hand and the end of the bridge. Unfortunately, the explosion that destroyed the bridge severely injured Nora, and she falls from Snow's grip after begging him to get her son home.

Unknown to Snow, her son, Hope Estheim is watching the entire scene from afar on a skyrail, and immediately blames Snow for his mother's death. After falling himself, Snow miraculously awakens in the ruins below, alongside his childhood friend, Gadot. The two make their way back to the surviving Purgees and the other members of NORA on the overhead skyrail, on Sanctum aero bikes.

As they land, Snow is quick to ask about the safety of the remaining Purgees, but Gadot ensures him he will look after them, as Snow has to reach the Vestige and rescue Serah. Before Hope has a chance to confront Snow about his mother's death, Snow uses one of the remaining aero bikes to travel to the Vestige. Hope and his companion, Vanille, hijack Gadot's aero bike and follow him there.

Wandering the Vestige, he eventually finds Hope and Vanille, saving them from a group of Cie'th. He tells them about Serah and Hope yells at him for wanting to save a l'Cie. Snow says that he has to do something and leaves, before returning to have Vanille and Hope stick with him for their safety. They make their way to Anima's Throne to find Lightning and Sazh already there, with an unconscious Serah. Serah tells Lightning she has to save Cocoon, but Snow intervenes and tells Serah that he will save everyone before she crystallizes before their eyes.

Snow's view of the situation only serves to further anger Lightning, but he remains optimistic, sure that his fiancée can wake up from her crystal slumber somehow. Snow begs with Anima to return Serah, offering to become a l'Cie himself, but Lightning and Sazh - who has his own motives for hunting down the fal'Cie - choose a more aggressive approach and attack it. Snow joins their plight only to be branded a l'Cie, and cast down into the crystallized Lake Bresha below.

After dreaming about the night he proposed to Serah, Snow awakens with the rest of the group, unscathed, in Lake Bresha. They try to work out their Focus, but cannot piece it together from their hazy visions. They can only figure that the legendary beast Ragnarok is somehow involved. For Snow, their Focus is clear: to save Cocoon, just as Serah asked them to before she crystallized, even if it means fighting Ragnarok itself. Now enemies of the state, they evade pursuing PSICOM troops by crossing the frozen lake, when they come across Serah's crystallized form lodged in a formation. He attempts to free her with Vanille and Sazh's aid, but without tools, they are helpless.

Snow attempts to reason with Lightning but she punches him to the ground twice for his view of the bleak situation. The rest of the party propose they move forward to stay out of the Sanctum's clutches, but Snow is resistant to leave Serah behind just to save himself. Lightning criticizes him for abandoning his plan to save the world and choosing to die instead and says to him, "Snow? You're nothing but talk." Before she leaves, Snow vows to stay with Serah and somehow complete his Focus. Much to Hope's chagrin, he is still unable to tell Snow about Nora. Snow tells Hope that Lightning will take care of him, and they will someday meet again.

As the others leave him behind, Snow resolutely continues to dig Serah's crystal out. When PSICOM forces locate him and attack, Snow goes on the defensive. In desperation, he inadvertently summons his Eidolon, the Shiva Sisters. After taming them both, he is apprehended by another l'Cie, Fang, and taken aboard the Cavalry airship, the Lindblum, along with Serah.

Aboard the ship, Snow meets the leader of the Cavalry, Cid Raines, who reveals his premise to free the world of the fal'Cie and the Sanctum's clutches. Raines reveals that the new l'Cie have been sentenced to public execution should they be caught, which angers Snow. Fang and Raines need to track down the other l'Cie, and with Serah's crystallized form now aboard the Lindblum, Snow has no choice but to comply and help them.

Lightning and Hope are tracked down in Hope's hometown of Palumpolum, where Snow and Fang intercept PSICOM's assault on them. To avoid capture, they are forced to separate - Snow with Hope, and Fang with Lightning - though they remain in communication with a wireless device, upon which they decide on Hope's home in Felix Heights as a rendezvous point. As Snow and Hope travel through the town, evading PSICOM, Snow remains oblivious to Hope's fury and hatred for him. Snow inadvertently continues to fuel the boy's rage by saying things such as that only dumb people fight the army, that it is foolish to fight if you die, and that one must only look out for themselves.

The two of them enter a crowd of people that PSICOM is preparing to Purge, and Snow fires a gun into the air, causing the frightened crowd to scatter. Later, the same crowd of people returns as an angry mob, having misunderstood Snow's intention of saving them. Snow uses his l'Cie power to shoot down an archway to block the approaching mob. Then he grabs hold of a Sanctum troop's air tech and carries Hope up to the Rivera Towers.

At one moment, Hope asks Snow a series of personal questions like what he would do if someone took his family away from him, and he could not take them back but knew who was responsible. Snow answers that there would be trouble, then asks Hope if he is alright before an Ushumgal Subjugator appears. Snow tries to stand between Hope and the machine, but the boy furiously pushes him out of the way and confronts it. After the battle, it is only when Hope is alone with Snow by a building's edge that Hope finally loses control.

Much to Snow's surprise, Hope makes him confront his guilt about his past actions hurting and killing innocent people. Hope asks how he is going to pay for everything he has done, but Snow tells him that he can't pay because nothing can rectify them, and whenever someone is dead, words are useless. Then Hope accuses him of running away whenever people die, and Snow says that all he can do is move forward until he finds the answers he needs.

Then the boy blasts Snow off the building's edge with his rage-induced power. Hope approaches Snow with Lightning's knife, ready to kill him, finally revealing himself to be Nora's son; when his intent is prevented by a PSICOM missile attack from afar. Knocked out, Hope falls off the roof of the building, and Snow lets go of the ledge to catch him, shielding the teenager with his body and ultimately breaking his fall to the streets below.

Despite being critically injured by this feat, the indomitable Snow goes on to carry an unconscious Hope on his back, ignoring both his own potentially life-threatening injuries and the fact that Hope tried to kill him, out of desperation to fulfill his promise to Nora: to get her son home. When Hope wakes up, Snow apologizes for putting his mother in danger and ultimately being unable to save her.

He says that he said many things that he never should have and believed all the apologies in the world would not have meant anything, so he waited until the time when he'd have the right to say sorry. Then Snow tells Hope that he was right about using that as an excuse to run from his guilt. Snow even gives him back Lightning's knife, revealing that it was a birthday present from Serah to keep her safe, and tells Hope that he should be the one to carry it since Lightning gave it to him.

Snow offers him a second chance to take revenge, but Hope refuses, saying "She's gone, Snow. You can take the blame... but it won't bring her back". Finally putting his hatred to rest, Hope tells Snow that he always knew that killing him would not have solved anything, but he used that goal as the motivation he needed to survive. As they talk, however, they are ambushed by the Subjugator they fought earlier, which knocks Snow unconscious as he tries to protect Hope yet again. After Hope defeats the creature with help from Lightning and Fang, Lightning helps a barely conscious Snow to his feet, claiming he will be all right since he is "too stubborn to die", and the group heads to Hope's home.

At Hope's apartment, Snow is laid to rest in one of the bedrooms, whilst Lightning looks over him, tending to his wounds. When he awakens, Lightning explains her guilt for not believing Serah and how much pain it caused her. Then Lightning asks Snow to forgive her, which Snow does, teasingly asking for Lightning's real name. Lightning tells Snow to ask Serah when she returns, with them both making amends.

Once recovered, Snow apologizes to Hope's father, Bartholomew Estheim, for his hand in Nora's death, which Bartholomew accepts upon learning of Snow fulfilling her dying wish. After Bartholomew exposes several flaws in the l'Cie's plan to take down the Sanctum, PSICOM attacks the apartment. At Hope's request, a still healing Snow hides with Bartholomew. Furious, Snow removes his coat and heads outside to face the troops, imploring them to realize he is a human and they all wish to save Cocoon. He is then rebutted by Yaag Rosch, who claims the l'Cie's lives are not worth the risk of sparing. The troops infiltrate the house and the party are forced onto the roof, where they are swiftly collected by Rygdea leading the Cavalry, and taken aboard the Lindblum.

They head to the PSICOM airship, the Palamecia, upon learning that 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. Barthandelus reveals their Focus to them, to become Ragnarok and destroy Orphan, therefore making Cocoon fall from the sky. Snow is shell-shocked, disbelieving Dysley's claim that Serah's Focus was simply to assemble them all together to bring about Cocoon's destruction.

Under Barthandelus's manipulation, they escape the airship down to the Fifth Ark, where Snow is still in disbelief over the revelation of Serah's Focus, and Lightning is quick to console him. Near the end of the Ark, they face Sanctum l'Cie, Cid Raines, who is determined to defy Barthandelus's wishes and save Cocoon, even if it means killing the party. They defeat him, and Snow is inspired by his sacrifice, realizing they can defy their fate and still complete their previously perceived Focus of saving Cocoon at any cost. Though they are unsure how, they descend down to Gran Pulse in hopes of finding answers.

Yet as the party rest for days in their Vallis Media base camp, despair begins to set in at their task ahead. Snow's optimism fades as he sees Hope struggle to recover after the party found the latter unconscious, and the lack of human presence anywhere on Pulse. When Hope comes to and tells the others to leave him behind, Snow and Lightning try to comfort him, but the boy's anguish summons his Eidolon, Alexander. After Hope faces Alexander, they head to Fang and Vanille's old village of Oerba.

As they travel there, they cross the Mah'habara Subterra and the Sulyya Springs, where Snow learns from Vanille that she had met Serah. Vanille also tells him that Serah probably had their same vision of Ragnarok, she must have overcome her Focus, and that Dysley must have lied about it, but Snow tells Vanille that he already knows. In the Skyreach, Lightning and Snow discuss Serah, and they promise to see Serah again together.

The party ascends the floors of Taejin's Tower, and ride a capsule down to Oerba. However, the dilapidated ruins of Oerba hold little answers for them, until they reach an old abandoned bridge, upon which Serah seems to miraculously appear, reciting the legend of Ragnarok. Snow suspects something is wrong and pushes Serah away, as she tells the party to destroy Orphan and save the world. He tells Serah that they are all trying to reach the same goal, at which Serah's form reveals itself to be another illusion of Dysley's. After the second battle with Barthandelus, they resolve to protect Orphan and fly back to Cocoon, where Dysley has a resurrected Cid Raines creating utter chaos in the capital of Eden.

Upon arriving in Eden, Sazh manages to pilot the airship straight into the Eden Grand Prix. The Shiva Sisters save a racer and Snow announces that the hero has saved the day. He accidentally shows his l'Cie brand to the cheering crowd causing chaos to break out. He jumps onto a transformed Shiva and tells incoming PSICOM forces to catch him if they can, as the rest of the party manage to escape the circuit and infiltrate the city. Snow and the others are soon briefly reunited with the other members of NORA, and they eventually reach Edenhall and its heart, Orphan's Cradle.

In the Narthex Throne, Barthandelus shatters illusions of Sazh's crystallized son, Dajh and Serah. In a fit of rage, Snow charges at Dysley and gets deflected by his shield. Lightning asks Snow to remember where the real Serah is, and remembering her crystal tear, he sees through the illusion. Barthandelus is defeated for a third time, and he rises from a pool, merged with Orphan. After Orphan tortures Vanille and Fang nearly strikes her, Snow and Sazh try to hold her back. Then Orphan turns the rest of the party into Cie'th, but they return to normal with a new Focus. They defeat Orphan and Cocoon begins to break down and descend. Lightning implores the party to hold onto to one another, but Fang and Vanille drift below, intending to become Ragnarok in a last attempt to save Cocoon. With their Focus officially completed, Snow is crystallized down on Gran Pulse alongside the rest of the party.

However, they awaken from their crystal stasis briefly after, to see the shell of Cocoon held up by a crystal pillar, with a crystallized Fang and Vanille holding it at its center. On the horizon, Serah appears with Dajh, and Snow is finally reunited with her. As Lightning is apologizing to Serah, Snow cuts in saying that they have a wedding to plan as long as Lightning is going to allow it. He promises her that he will make Serah happy before finally getting her approval.

Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-
Shortly after reuniting with Serah, Snow recalls his vision of everyone including Vanille and Fang laughing together, and knows that it cannot be over yet. As Serah looks at Cocoon, Snow proposes that they build their own city on Gran Pulse, since they can find their own food and hunt monsters just like back in Bodhum.

They watch Sazh leave with Dajh to help the survivors. Then not long afterward, they watch Hope leave with a soldier to reunite with his father. Serah tells Snow about her decision to become a teacher, and tell people exactly why Cocoon fell. He supports her choice and decides to build her the largest school she can imagine.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
After Lightning's disappearance due to Etro's intervention, Snow says that she must be in the crystal pillar, holding up Cocoon with Vanille and Fang despite Serah's objections that Lightning was just with them. After two years of living with Serah, Snow tells her that he believes her about Lightning still being alive out there. Leaving his engagement necklace with Serah as a symbol of his promise to return with Lightning, Snow decides to go look for her and get her blessing, and also find a way to help Fang and Vanille.

Snow has a dream of Lightning telling him about time gates and artefacts, urging him to protect Cocoon's pillar, and in turn Vanille and Fang. He travels back to Oerba, where he decides he needs to become stronger in order to save them, like back when he was a l'Cie. After Snow becomes a l'Cie again, a time gate appears to him and he goes through the Historia Crux, passing by Sazh along the way. He ends up in the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF to fight off the Miniflan as they converge into Royal Ripeness.

Having a vision of Snow in danger, Serah arrives to his aid with Noel following. He tells Snow to leave while he deals with the monster, but Snow disregards him, saying he can not run since Serah is watching before they all take on the monster together. At one point, Snow shields Serah and Noel from an attack, and deflects the energy back at the enemy. The three defeat Royal Ripeness in a combined effort, though the countless Miniflan reforming the monster forced them to retreat. After Noel confronts him about his hotheadedness, Snow tells them of his mission to protect Cocoon's crystal pillar and that Royal Ripeness's existence will wear the pillar and cause Cocoon to fall.

The party comes to the conclusion that the giant flan's existence is a paradox and follows a bunch of Miniflan to where they believe an artefact may be. As they all travel through the area together, they encounter a giant Enlil. Snow yells and waves at it to get its attention, ignoring Noel warning him not to. Taking the Enlil's silence as a "yes", Snow hops on with Noel, Serah and Mog jumping on behind him. Upon finding an artefact, Serah reflects on how being a crystal was the loneliest time of her life. Snow apologizes to her for it but is comforted by the fact that she had nice dreams while in crystal stasis, and hopes that Fang and Vanille are having nice dreams within the pillar.

Defeating the Miniflan guarding the second artefact places it in their possession. Then Snow begins playfully poking Mog, saying that he looks like something from Nautilus before Serah explains to Noel what theme parks are. Snow then says that Noel is very much like Fang and Vanille, and tells Noel that he will introduce them to him someday. Coming at a time gate, Snow tries to enter it, but since the gate is not his, a forcefield denies him access. Noel tells Snow to wait for him and Serah to come back before they leave, and not try anything rash like fighting the flan on his own.

Despite promising them he would wait, Snow continues to fight. After Noel and Serah resolve the anomalies in both the Coliseum and the Archylte Steppe ??? AF, stopping the mass number of Miniflan to appear in Sunleth and compose Royal Ripeness, they return to find Snow on the ropes in front of the monster at its reduced size. Together, they defeat it for good but Snow struggles to stand on his own and needs Serah to help him. He thanks her and Noel for their help as he couldn't do it alone after all. After Noel asks him why he continued fighting despite knowing he didn't stand a chance, Snow says that he could not stand and watch if anything were to happen to Vanille and Fang. Then Noel begins accusing him of being reckless, useless, not being anyone's protector or savior, and never thinking about how his actions hurts the people he is supposed to protect.

Snow tells Noel that he has been protecting Serah and must have protected loved ones back in his own time, asking if the two of them are doing the same thing. He says Noel was right like he said before, about needing to survive in order to return to the people he has protected, and apologizes for charging in on his own. After asking Noel to keep looking after Serah for him, Snow begins to glow and turn transparent. Noel believes Snow is fading because they resolved the paradox and he does not belong in this time. As Serah tries to hold onto him, Snow tells her not to worry since heroes never die. After she notices that he had become a Pulse l'Cie again, he says they will meet again and dissolves away.

However, sometime after his departure, Snow eventually finds his own gate and goes to the Void Beyond. Hearing about the Coliseum, he resolves to find it by using Shiva. At the same time, Snow worries about what Caius Ballad is planning.

In the Paradox Ending, "The Future is Hope", he appears in Academia 4XX AF and stops Alyssa from tricking Noel and Serah into falling into Caius's trap. He then reveals that Caius is the one who caused the paradoxes before he flies off with Mog and Serah on Shiva in Gestalt Mode to find thirteen crystals scattered throughout time while Noel remains behind to safeguard Hope, whom Snow said would be assassinated in three days.

Final Fantasy XIII


Snow's primary focus and strength is in his defensive abilities. He has the third highest strength, however, he excels in the Sentinel role, as he has the highest HP Growth out of the six characters, and weapons which provide bonuses to defense and Sentinel abilities. As a Ravager, he learns all Ice and Water spells, in keeping with his namesake, but can also learn Wind magic up to the -"ra" level.

Even though he fights with his fists, his actual weapon is a special coat combined with the AMP technology developed by the government which can enhance the strength of the wearer, depending on which emblem set is sewn into the back (although the emblems only appear during combat). Snow's Full ATB Skill is the Commando ability, Sovereign Fist, which clears the enemy's stagger gauge when executed.

Snow is the only character in the party having two exclusive skills: the first is Hand Grenade, which is only usable in the first two Chapters, and his Full ATB Skill, Sovereign Fist. Snow is also the only character whose Crystarium automatically updates at the end of Chapter 3.


 * Base Statistics

Eidolon


Snow's Eidolon is Shiva, which splits into two sisters. Their names are Stiria and Nix. Stiria is the dark-skinned elder sister, while the white-skinned Nix is the younger. Nix attacks the enemies with mostly physical attacks, while Stiria wields powerful ice and healing spells. They are capable of combining to make a motorcycle for Snow to ride on for their Gestalt Mode.

Snow is the only playable character who fights his Eidolon alone. Additionally, he doesn't help other party members to fight their Eidolon.

Weapons
See Snow's Coats Snow's weapon uses Antimatter Manipulation Principle to enhance his powers. Although it changes the appearance of his coat when in battle, the coat itself is not the weapon.

There is a glitch in the game that renders Snow's weapon outside of battle, letting him have a "different" coat on the field. If the player kills a beast on a mission with the Eidolon of another character and the summoning is executed while the beast is attacking Snow, Snow's weapon stays on him, even on the field.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Snow appears as a guest character while in the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF. He has no HP bar, and thus can not be knocked out. He also seems to be immune to status effects. Certain buffs are ineffective as well; he can, however, gain any of the 'En-' spells if cast by a Synergist monster, and his damage output will reflect as such.

Snow functions as a full-time Commando, and thus acts exactly like one. He knows Attack, Ruin, Blitz, and Launch as abilities. He is very feeble when it comes to magic, which puts him at a disadvantage when pitted against flan enemies, the main enemies in the Sunleth Waterscape.

Battle
It has been revealed that Snow will be part of a post-release DLC, in which he can be found in the Coliseum. His role is a Commando.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Snow is set to appear as a playable sub-character in Theatrhythm by buying him from collecting crystal fragments. He appears in his Final Fantasy XIII attire.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Snow appears in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game where one of the cards depicts him in his CG render from Final Fantasy XIII.

Creation and Development
Snow's original design was made by Nao Ikeda, as revealed in a Dengeki PlayStation interview. According to the April 2009 edition of Famitsu (page 50), Nomura based Snow's bandanna on an unused design that was originally planned for Kingdom Hearts coded.

Before his official name was revealed, Snow was referred to as "Mr. 33cm", referencing his large foot size. In an early E3 trailer Snow was seen using AUG role, which presumably stands for "augmenter", thus bestowing positive statuses on the party. The role's color was the same as is Synergist's, implying that at some point during development Snow might have been intended to have Synergist as one of his main roles.

Musical Themes
In Final Fantasy XIII, "Snow's Theme" is a rock tune played with electric guitars portraying his heroic personality. "The Warpath Home" has elements of his theme and Final Fantasy XIII's prelude. A strongly patriotic song that reflects Snow's involvement with NORA.

Orchestral variants of his theme are "Forever Fugitives", "To Hunt l'Cie", and "Atonement", while "No Way to Live" is a rock variant, much like his original theme.

"Snow's Theme" returns in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Etymology
"Villiers" is a common French and a surname ultimately derived from the Latin/Italian word "villa", "country-house, estate". It is also the name of a fairly well-known motorcycle company, which is referenced in his summon's Gestalt mode.

"Snow" refers mainly to his affiliation with the Ice and Water elements.

Trivia

 * Snow is one of the tallest playable characters in the Final Fantasy series at 6'7" (under the hulking Umaro of Final Fantasy VI, Kimahri Ronso of Final Fantasy X or especially Ward Zabac of Final Fantasy VIII).
 * Snow's crystal is in the shape of a heart.
 * Snow's crystal is used for the "L'Cie Paragon" trophy/achievement.
 * One of Snow's pendants has a symbol of a cat, which is the logo of NORA.
 * Additionally, a cat that NORA gave Serah after his departure is named after him.
 * Snow, in general, has similarities to the Monk class of past games (i.e: fighting bare-handed, dealing high damage, having high HP, etc).
 * Strangely, in Snow's official CG render, he is not wearing his NORA necklace or his engagement pendant, though they are present in his render on the Final Fantasy XIII summary website.
 * Snow's official CG render for XIII was the only one not used for character bios in the instruction booklet included with the game. Instead, his Gestalt Mode render is used for the guide, as well as for the save screen.
 * Snow's outfit resembles Seifer Almasy's Kingdom Hearts II apparel.
 * Despite having a CG render for his appearance in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Snow never appears in a FMV-scene.
 * As a running gag in Final Fantasy XIII, before each battle with Galenth Dysley, Snow attempts to attack him but is knocked back by some form of protective magic. This gag is continued in Final Fantasy XIII-2 when Snow is unable to use a Time Gate to accompany Serah and Noel.