Wikia

Yeul: "You and I are the same."

Serah: "What do you mean?"

Yeul: "You, too, can show others the way."

—Yeul and Serah in Yaschas Massif at 01X AF.

"This young girl bears the same name as the ancient seeress responsible for prophesying the War of Transgression. She travels with Caius, but her reasons for doing so are unknown. Yeul speaks little, and her expression rarely gives any hint of her emotions."

—Online Description

Paddra Nsu-Yeul (パドラ＝ヌス・ユール, Padora-Nusu Yūru^?) [pɑːdrɑ su ɪuːl] is a major supporting character from Final Fantasy XIII-2. She is Caius Ballad's traveling companion and a seeress hailing from the city-state of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif on Gran Pulse before the War of Transgression. Surrounded by mystery, Yeul has important connections to Caius, Noel, Serah, and the numerous paradoxes throughout the timeline.

Her full name stands for "Yeul of the Nsu clan, from the city of Paddra".

In the Japanese version, she is voiced by Mariya Ise and by Amber Hood in the English version.

DatalogEdit

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

See also: Datalog/Significant Persons.

Yeul bears the same name as the ancient seeress, Paddra Nsu-Yeul. Appearing alongside Caius in Oerba in the year 200 AF, she leaves Serah with the enigmatic words, 'If you change the future, you change the past.'

Upon seeing Yeul's face, Noel is unable to hide his shock and confusion.

Yeul is a seeress, burdened with the power of prophecy—her life span grows shorter with every vision of the future. She dies at a young age, only to be born once more among the Farseer people. Each reincarnation has the same appearance and ability, and is given the name 'Yeul'.

The Yeul who Noel befriends is the last seeress. She promises the young hunter that they will meet again, before breathing her last. The last vision she sees is not one of despair, but of hope.

See also: Fragment/Crimson Memories.

Message of the Orbs

At the height of Paddra civilization, the seeress Paddra Nsu-Yeul of the Farseers prophesized its destruction. In one of history's great ironies, the prophecy itself ignited the civil war that destroyed the nation.

The seeress realized that her very words had the power to change history and the future, and so, with her Guardian Caius and a few select escorts, she left the city for the wilderness.

She covered her face with a veil, cast off the crown that made her ruler of Paddra, and became simply Yeul the Seeress. Soon after that, she and her small band of followers disappeared from the pages of history.

See also: Fragment/Oracle of Etro.

Tablet of Memory

The seeress of the Farseers knows the exact moment she will die. However, she is forbidden to change the timeline in order to save herself.

The seeress has no choice but to accept her preordained end. This is the law of the Farseers. Each change of the timeline creates new victims, spawns new tragedies, and not even the seeress can tell how great those losses shall be.

Spoilers end here.

Appearance and PersonalityEdit

"I am one of many Yeuls."

—Yeul to Serah

Yeul has an oval face with green eyes and long, coral dark blue hair that is sometimes kept up, except for two long strands that frame her face. She has a lean, petite frame and at times is seen wearing a unique diadem headdress with a semi-transparent veil that partially hides her face, though she can modify the headdress to remove the veil and let the rest of her hair down. She wears a white halter-like top with an opening in the center and a small crystal above her chest. She wears a short wrap-around pleated white and pastel purple skirt with a fur pelt in the back, along with bright yellow boots similar to moccasins. Her wrists are adorned with numerous bracelets, and she wears armbands on her biceps and beaded necklaces.

Yeul's age ranges from 14-17 years old, depending on which era she is met and is sometimes seen walking and running with a slight limp.

Yeul is a reserved person, mostly keeping to herself. She speaks in a soft mysterious tone making her clairvoyant nature all the more present. In 700 AF, A Dying World, she seems more cheerful when conversing with Noel, but the events are from Noel's point of view when he is lost in his dream world, which might affect the way Yeul is represented in that world.

Even though she is only a teenager, Yeul acts in a mature manner. Although she is always reincarnated as the same person, the various Yeuls have unique quirks, interests, and hobbies that set each apart, such as singing and flower collecting.

StoryEdit

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After states that goddess Etro spilled her blood out of desperation to get her father Bhunivelze's attention, and that Lindzei created mankind from Etro's blood, and the first human created was Yeul. Moreover, it is suggested Lindzei made Yeul in Etro's image. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After further elaborates that upon entering Valhalla, Yeul's soul would never fade away unlike other souls, and taking pity on her, Etro would send Yeul back to the Mortal Realm so she wouldn't be lonely. It is suggested Yeul obtained the Eyes of Etro as a side-effect of being reborn. It is also revealed that in Yeul's childhood, her family never spoke to her to hasten the awakening of her powers, until the day Caius came and took her away.

As a seer priestess from the city of Paddra in the Yaschas Massif region, Yeul is a member of the Farseer tribe who leads her people with visions of the future. The gift doubles as a curse and the visions shorten Yeul's lifespan and eventually kill her, but she is to be endlessly reborn across different time periods. Major changes to the timeline, such as when Etro saves Lightning and her friends at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, or when Serah and Noel prevent the creation of the Proto fal'Cie in Academia, trigger Yeul's visions, causing Yeul to see a new future.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega, it is revealed Yeul's life span shortens the more the number of possible futures grow and that's why Caius will eventually try to reduce the number of possible futures to the point where there is only the one inevitable future left: world destruction. Though she originally transferred her visions into the Oracle Drive, the Guardians assigned to protect her would receive her visions of the future. While the warrior who became Gorgyra was among her previous Guardians, Yeul's current protector is Caius.

Before the War of Transgression, Yeul had predicted the destruction of the Paddra nation. Her prophecy caused disorder among the Farseers, as some wanted to flee the city and escape their fate, while others did not, and the civil war that broke out caused the city to fall just as Yeul saw it. As the survivors fled into the wilderness and became nomads, Yeul left with her remaining Guardians. She covered her face with a veil, cast off her crown and title, and became simply known as "Yeul the Seeress".

Final Fantasy XIIIEdit

Paddra Nsu-Yeul is mentioned as the author of the fourth and ninth Analects, which are related to Etro's mythos, Ragnarok's attack on Cocoon, and the origins of Eidolons.

Final Fantasy XIII-2Edit

In the near future of 10 AF, Hope Estheim's expedition in Yaschas Massif uncovers the Oracle Drive, revealing that Yeul foresaw the crystallization of Cocoon by Fang and Vanille 500 years before it happened. Because of the lack of data on her at the time, the Academy believed Yeul to have been a title rather than an omnipresent person.

Yeul of 200 AFEdit

"If you change the future, you change the past. You can remold history as your heart desires."

—Yeul to Noel and Serah.

In Oerba, Yeul appears behind Noel and Serah, warning the latter not to touch the Oracle Drive they have found. When Caius appears in front of Serah and Noel, explaining to the latter that she is not the girl he knows in his time, Yeul cryptically tells them that she has been watching over them. As Caius is about to kill Noel, Yeul intervenes saying the future has just been changed and comforts Caius as he kneels before her.

Yeul tells Serah and Noel that changing the future also changes the past, and they could shape the timeline however they please. Caius suggests they leave in order to not see the future any further. He opens a portal, taking Yeul to Augusta Tower to spend her final moments.

When Serah and Noel arrive in Augusta Tower, Yeul gives them an artefact while imploring them to protect the timeline. Yeul continues by revealing that Lightning's disappearance from Gran Pulse was caused by the future being changed, and if Serah and Noel continue to solve the paradoxes, the past will return to the way Serah remembers it.

Yeul also reveals that Caius uses her visions to remember the entire timeline, and that he is immortal. She says that a sentient machine within the tower had conjured the enemies that threaten them, including the fake Caius from Academia. Telling Noel and Serah to show her a new future, Yeul dies after seeing a vision of a future with everyone smiling, before Caius appears and carries away her body.

Yeul of 400 AFEdit

"If I were to live, it would bring contradiction to... to the timeline."

—Yeul to Noel and Serah.

On the streets of Academia, Yeul walks up to a pack of Cie'th before Noel and Serah come to her aid. Noel helps her up, but she is grabbed and thrown by Zenobia. After Serah and Noel destroy it, Noel holds Yeul in his arms as she tells him about her vision of death.

She says that she is a contradiction to the timeline as long as she is alive. At the same time, Serah despairs over her and Noel causing a paradox to occur, therefore sealing Yeul's fate. Yeul says that Caius isn't in the city and tells Noel that she is not the Yeul he knows, but thanks him and dies, leaving an artefact for them. Her death is negated in the alternate timeline set by the defeat of the Proto fal'Cie Adam.

According to Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, the Yeul of 400 AF is the "Yeul who liked to sing". Her Eyes of Etro awakened at seven years old and her first vision was of Noel in front of a singing crystal. She foresaw the Cie'th outbreak in Academia and her own death, and decided to go there.

Yeul of 700 AFEdit

"You don't have to cry. We will meet again."

—Yeul's last words to Noel

The final reincarnation of Yeul lived in the Dying World until the events of her fifteenth birthday. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals that her father died before she was born, and her mother was in confinement during childbirth. In the book, Noel's grandmother explains to him Yeul lives away from people so they would not be tempted to use her power of foresight for evil, and shows how Noel had been protective towards Yeul since he was three years old, and that he initially hated Caius when he first arrived in his village. Eventually Noel would become an apprentice Guardian training under Caius and they protected Yeul together, but Noel was unaware she would die soon. Wanting to make her happy, Noel wanted to take Yeul along with him on a journey to find other people out in the world.

Caius reprimands Noel for considering such folly while revealing a way to save Yeul by killing Etro and let the chaos of Valhalla consume the Mortal Realm and transform it into a world like Valhalla itself, a place without a future or past. After Caius leaves to carry out the deed, Yeul dies in Noel's arms telling him they would meet again before she fades away. Later, while in a dream world back in his time, Noel learns Yeul had seen the events of his adventure with Serah through time. This gives him the strength to move on while believing he and the Yeul he knew will meet again.

Other YeulsEdit

"As you change the timeline, you come closer to death."

—Yeul to Serah

Prior to fighting Lightning in Valhalla, Caius lays a Yeul's lifeless body to rest in the nearby sea. Another Yeul appears alongside Caius in New Bodhum in 3 AF, watching the members of NORA bid farewell to Serah, Mog, and Noel as they leave through the Time Gate. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals the Yeul of 3 AF is the "Yeul who liked to travel" and that her first vision was of Lightning being swallowed by chaos, and her later visions are of Lightning fighting Caius. She traveled with Caius searching for the time gates she saw Serah appear by.

In Yaschas Massif in 1X AF, with the two returning from Oerba at 200 AF, Yeul appears before Noel and Serah while explaining that the Yeul they saw before was from the distant future. She tells them that she traces the timeline and leads people along the right path. Yeul says that she came in order to confirm something, then has a vision. She points at Serah, cryptically revealing her to possess the Eyes of Etro like herself before leaving. She reappears after Noel and Serah leave through a Time Gate, but promptly dies in Caius's arms.

In the years 100 and 110 AF in Yaschas Massif, it is revealed that long ago, the monster Ugallu, a monster who devoured time, came to Paddra and threatened to destroy the nation. Many l'Cie tried to stop it, but all of them failed. Wishing to protect her nation from Ugallu, Yeul resorted to using her powers to seal away the monster, but by doing so inadvertently created a paradox makes people vanish and in their place leaves "Rubies of Grief" - remnants of their memories. Yeul is plagued by guilt over her actions and in the year 110 AF, Serah and Noel encounter a Ruby of Grief that contains within it the living conscience of the ancient Yeul, who implores the two to destroy Ugallu. By doing so, Yeul's memory finally finds peace and vanishes, ending the paradox.

In the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF, the Yeul of that time arrives with Caius to a Time Gate after Serah and Noel leave. Caius asks her if she will allow this, and she says, "It is not for me to decide", and they leave the area.

When Serah gets separated from Noel in the Historia Crux and arrives in a shadow of Valhalla in the Void Beyond, several Yeuls from different time periods appear to give her cryptic advice: the first one being from the distant past, the second from New Bodhum at 3 AF reveals to Serah they were both blessed by Etro, the third being from a future unknown to Serah tells the story of how Etro released her and the other l'Cie from their crystal stasis on the Day of Ragnarok, but distorted time in the process and was too weak to repair it. The fourth and last Yeul, tells Serah of how the Void Beyond can take the form of a person's innermost desires. Yeul asks her why she seeks to change time and stands in Caius's way. She reveals to Serah the death that awaits her if she changes the timeline any further. This "Yeul" is revealed to be an illusion created by Caius, before the illusion scatters and Caius appears.

When Serah and Noel navigate the floating blocks in Academia 500 AF, Yeul's voice can be heard, telling them not to kill Etro and that only a doomed future awaits them if they face Caius, hinting at Caius's scheme to have Noel kill him to ensure Etro's death. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After states that the first vision of the Yeul of 500 AF was of Noel alone at the end of the world. After her first vision, she saw Noel with someone but knew he would soon be alone. She wished that everyone would die so that nobody would be left alone. This Yeul greatly differs from the others in how she felt abandoned and unwanted by her mother, and how she hated people and didn't trust them including Caius. However, believing she could trust Caius a little, she wished for Noel to be happy, so requested for Caius to let the last seeress live a normal life and have happiness.

In the paradox ending, "Beneath a Timeless Sky", Yeul is trapped at the end of the world in New Bodhum with Serah, Noel, and Mog. Yeul reveals that she cannot have visions any more due to time having ended when Serah defeated Caius in the Void Beyond. As the four wander around, a meteorite lands far away and they rush off to investigate.

In the DLC episode, "Perpetual Battlefield", after Noel and Serah defeat Valfodr in the Coliseum and Snow reveals that he is unable to leave, Serah catches a glimpse of an illusion of Yeul surrounded by chaos.

When Lightning sees a vision of Serah's death during her fight with a past incarnation of Caius in Valhalla in the downloadable episode, "Requiem of the Goddess", Caius strikes her down and she comes to within the remains of Etro's temple. The spirits of several Yeuls surround Serah's spirit with chaos before the goddess's throne.

They taunt Lightning by telling her that when the end of time comes, Serah will fade into darkness with them due to their shared trait as seeresses, and remain with them forever. Lightning demands Yeul to release Serah but she summons Caius to continue his battle with Lightning. When she emerges victorious against him and Chaos Bahamut, Yeul's spirit appears to Lightning on the beach. Lightning still demands her to let Serah go, but is swallowed by chaos along with Odin. Yeul tells Lightning that Serah's death is her fault, since she was the one who asked her to embark on a journey through time that would ultimately claim her life.

In the secret ending, "The Goddess is Dead", Caius's plan to kill the goddess has succeeded as he announces to Yeul that they are now free from their curses, and can start over in a new world without Etro.

"Black Mist Yeul"Edit

While generally every Yeul from every timeline appears to support Serah and Noel's quest, there is another Yeul in Chapter 5 in the Void Beyond who appears hostile towards Serah for trying to change the timeline. She is clouded in black mist, an indication of the power of chaos. This Yeul is shown transforming into Caius, indicating she was just a trick conjured by him, but the Yeul covered in black mist is seen in other places as well. During Lightning's monologue at the end of Chapter 5 a misty Yeul is seen sitting on a bench in Orphan's Cradle.

During the final chapter in Academia 500 AF, Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega "Unsolved Mysteries" section identifies the voice telling Noel and Serah to turn back as belonging to the "Black Mist Yeul". This is also the Yeul seen in Snow's and Lightning's DLC episodes. Lastly the Yeul covered in black mist can be found in some Live Trigger events after beating the game; for example in the Bresha Ruins 5 AF, in the area where Ghast was fought, the player is asked to listen to the voice and the Shadow Yeul talks about Atlas. If the player beats Atlas without the Paradox Scope on the Yeul asks Serah and Noel to free her from the shackles of the goddess, saying her only wish is to be with "him". Who the person might be is not specified.

The Yeul covered in black mist appears only in the Void Beyond, Coliseum and Valhalla, as well as briefly in Orphan's Cradle during Lightning's monologue scene; all of these locations are outside of the Mortal Realm. Thus it is possible she may not be able to manifest in the Mortal Realm, and that is why Noel and Serah only hear her voice in Academia 500 AF.

In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After, it is suggested the Yeul enveloped in chaos in "Requiem of the Goddess" DLC episode is not really Yeul, but an unknown entity that took on her form. This is supported in the novel by comparing the gentle nature of the Yeuls encountered by Serah and Noel to the bitterness that the "Chaos Yeul" displays towards her cursed fate.

Spoilers end here.

Creation and DevelopmentEdit

Yeul was designed by Hideo Minaba.^[1]

Musical ThemesEdit

{{{image}}}
"Yeul's Theme"

Trouble with the audio sample?

Yeul's leitmotif is titled "Yeul's Theme", and is an acoustic guitar tune composed by Naoshi Mizuta, with lyrics performed by Joelle. Mizuta wanted to create a ballad that was pretty and poignant. The piano ad-lib during the interlude was performed by Mizuta's favorite pianist, Febian Reza Pane.^[2]

The two variants of her theme are "Song of the Farseers" and "Eyes of Etro". Her theme is subtly featured in "The Promised Future", while an orchestral version is featured in the "Ending Credits".

LyricsEdit

Sooner than memories begin to fray

Everything from the past just swept away

Remembering when all who have gone are now lost

Many paths, many seasons I have seen

Time has washed them away just like the sea

So many fates and dreams will become tragedies

To see you safe

To watch you grow

Visions of love, my only hope

Such loneliness is worth the price

I'll protect you with my life

Constantly guiding despite the cost

Hoping against fear when all is lost

Pity not my destiny, no

My sacrifice is worth this

To see you safe

To watch you grow

Visions of love, my only hope

This loneliness is worth the price

I'll protect you with my life

This burden I must bear alone

For many lives and more to come

My loneliness is worth the price

I'll protect you with my life

Other AppearancesEdit

Final Fantasy Trading Card GameEdit

Yeul appears in the Trading Card Game on an ice-type card depicting her in her official render.

Trading Card Game card.

GalleryEdit

Yeul's in-game render.

Paddra Nsu-Yeul.

Yeul promises Noel they will see each other again.

Yeul and Caius in the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF.

Yeul comforting Caius in Oerba 200 AF.

Yeul being laid down into Valhalla's waters by Caius.

Yeul of 200 AF after death.

EtymologyEdit

"Yeul" is a Korean name. Additionally, Yeul may be derived from "Yule" – an alternate way of referring to Christmas – and may indicate a close connection to Noel, whose name is also an alternate way of referring to Christmas. The latter interpretation is further enforced as Yeul's name is homophonic to the words jul or jol, which is the term for Christmas in Scandinavian languages. In fact, Yeul's name was changed to "Jul" in the German version, further strengthening this connection.

The name 'Yeul' or 'Uel' in Korean means 'Shining Bird' or what can be considered the phoenix. This could allude to Yeul being reborn whenever she dies.

TriviaEdit

Yeul sitting in the Narthex resembles a piece of promotional art for Final Fantasy XIII that depicts Lightning in a similar position.
As stated by Caius, there are many Yeuls, each with different interests: the Yeul presented in the official render is possibly the one who liked to collect flowers from 200 AF.
- The meaning of the daisy in the render is closely story-related as daisy symbolizes purity and innocence: Yeul was "pure and innocent" in her heart and all her actions were meant to keep the storyline "pure", even though she sometimes had to oppose the law of the Farseers. This makes her an opposition of her partner, Caius.