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Final Fantasyis a long and illustrious series, packed with as many beloved entries as it is controversial ones. Square Enix keeps the series tightly guarded, though isn’t afraid to pump out plenty of entries itself.Final Fantasy 13is a prime example, forming a trilogy of games and even a shared universe in its mythos.
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Much of the story of Final Fantasy 13 and its sequels are centered around Fal’Cie and the individuality of humanity, with deeper layers of this unfolding with each game. Due to updates in lore, easily missable content, and some inconsistencies in translation, it can at times be difficult to keep up with all the terms, and how the greater mythos connects.
Though the general mythos of the Final Fantasy 13 series is shared across the games within theFabula Nova Crystallisuniverse, such as Type-0, this article will only deal with how it is showcased within the Final Fantasy 13 games.
What Are Fal’Cie?
This question gets a little complicated, as each of the three games explores the concept differently, adding more layers with each game. In a meta sense,they are Final Fantasy 13’s rendition of Crystals.Each Fal’Cie is born from a crystal that always remains at its centre, and L’Cie turn to crystals upon achieving their focus. Within the first game, they are presented asunfathomable god-like machines that govern Cocoon, though there are others that also exist on the land of Gran Pulse thatoppose the Sanctum Fal’Cie of Cocoon.
As the games continue, they become rather fathomable indeed. It is revealed thatthe Fal’Cie wish to reunite with their Maker, and enacted a plan to keep humans locked in Cocoon and away from Gran Pulse so that they could beused toopen a gate to their creators. In this regard, we see that they are powerful, but only with the abilities that they were given by their creators.The Pulse Fal’Cie were created by Pulse, and the Cocoon Fal’Cie were made by Lindzei, as evidenced by Datalog lore entries.
However,LindzeiandPulseare also Fal’Cie created by another being altogether,Bhunivelze. This Creator is seen unequivocally as a godly figure with power over existence itself. As such,Fal’Cie can be seen as god-like, though only with the powers granted to them by Bhunivelze, the Ultimate Creator.
The Creation Myth As Depicted By The Games
Though the original Final Fantasy 13 features many revelations in its story as to the purpose of Fal’Cie and their intent with humanity, it doesn’t directly deal with the greater deities. Most of this is examined in optional mythos Datalog entries that detailwritten accounts of the Fal’Cie and their creators, and the nature in which the world came into existence. Directly, theCocoon Fal’Cie claim humanity is just used to open the Gates to return their Maker.
Datalog entries hint at an original ‘Luminous’ that despaired upon seeing the state of creation and fell into a deep slumber, later revealed to be Bhunivelze. In order to redirect the world,they created Pulse and Lindzei, the first Fal’Cie. We then see that thegoal of Pulse was to find the gate to the Unseen Realm, the existence of which Bhunivelze believed cursed his realm of life.
However,Etro was created after Pulse to assist in this task, though Bhunivelze unknowingly fashioned Etro after his own murdered mother and cast her aside.Etro was then replaced by Lindzei, who would go on to create Fal’Cie that, as myth depicts it, would protect Bhunivelze’s world. In time, he alsocreated humanity from ‘traces of Divine’, shown to be the blood of the replaced Etro.
After having satisfied their goals, they are said to havedeparted the worldand left it in the hands of their own Fal’Cie and Humanity. This got twisted by the Fal’Cie, who made enemies of each other between Cocoon and Pulse. They claimedL’Cie (humans cursed by Fal’Cie) were a divine blessing or curse, depending on affiliation, and that they would ultimately bring about Ragnarok.
Bhunivelze And Mwynn
The games themselves never specify an exact beginning to existence, with the earliest point beingMwynn, the mother of Bhunivelze. She was feared by her son, and so Bhunivelze killed her to assume control over all of the Living World. However, he feared his mother even in death.He believed Mwynn laid a curse upon the Living World, that it would eventually be destroyed by Chaos.
As such, he sought to destroy her entirely, thoughhad no means to access the Unseen Realmthat dead souls travel to, without relinquishing control of the Living World. As such, he created Pulse, Etro and Lindzei to search out the gate to the Unseen World so that he might go there directly andremove his mother’s existence and cursein its entirety.
Before he could achieve this, Bhunivelze created Etro, and subsequently deprived her of power due to her resemblance to his mother. Etro killed herself and ended up in the Unseen Realm herself, andwitnessed the final moments of Mwynn. Here, she asked Etro to take her place andrestore balance across the two realms, the Living World and the Unseen Realm. Meanwhile, Bhunivelze entered into a crystal sleep to await the discovery of the gate.
After being eventually awoken from his slumber with Chaos having overtaken the world,Bhunivelze appoints Lighting as his Saviour of Humanity. Being human herself, only she can touch the souls of humanity and return them to Bhunivelze, who ultimately seeks to use their power to replace them with beings of his own creation.
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Pulse, Lindzei, And Etro
Pulse, Lindzei and Etro aresomething akin to siblings, created one after another by Bhunivelze, who can be seen as a parental figure to them.Each was created with a specific purpose, though only Pulse and Lindzei remained loyal to Bhunivelze. Etro was left without purpose and found a new one through Mwynn.
Pulsewas the first created. They were made to scour the world of Gran Pulse todiscover the gate between the two realms. They carried out this duty fatefully, eventually creatingadditional Fal’Cie of their own to assist in their taskbefore vanishing. In time they came to be seen as gods in their own right, despite only being a Fal’Cie.
Etrowas the second created. She was intended to assist in finding the gate, butwas discarded and given no powerswhen she was inadvertently created in the image of Mwynn, which angered Bhunivelze. As a result,she killed herself and ended up in Valhalla, a gateway existence between the Living World and the Unseen Realm, the ultimate end for all souls. Here,she discovered the final remnants of Mwynnand was given the task of restoring the balance between both realms. As a result, she came to watch the very gate she was asked to search for, though now with a different goal.
Finally cameLindzei, who worked closely in tandem with Pulse. Where Pulse destroyed the world to uncover the gate,Lindzei was tasked with preserving the world. To this end, theycreated Fal’Cie that were self-sufficient, moulded humans from the blood and body of the fallen Etro, andcreated Cocoon to ensure their perseverance. Satisfied, they too left the Living Realm and became seen as a godly figure.
Only Etro remained accounted for. Though she did not make humans, she grew fond of them. In an attempt to balance the world and give them more freedom, she wouldinfuse each human soul with a fragment of Chaosas they passed through the gate, and then return their soul to the Living World to be reborn anew. In this way, she created a cycle that would help preserve the world. She would also intervene at critical points,removing the brand of the L’Cieand creating a crystal pillar beneath Cocoon at the end of Final Fantasy 13.
Chaos And Valhalla
Chaos is a primordial energy within Final Fantasy 13. It is ancient, having already existed when Mwynn and Etro arrived at the Unseen Realm. In this sense, it is as potent and important a force as Bhunivelze himself, existing as his parallel and opposite.Aspects of this Chaos exist in the Living Worlddue to the fragment placed within Humanity by Etro, though has the capability to run rampant if the order is disturbed. It just so happens that the order is disturbed whenYeul, a human that Etro took pity upon, has the chaos of all her lives released when Etro stops the destruction of Cocoon and Gran Pulse.
Valhallameanwhile exists as astepping stone between the Living World and the Unseen Realm, akin to a waiting room before you pass on entirely. It is only accessible through Etro’s Gate or other extreme scenarios, such as how Lightning is brought there directly by Etro.Time does not flow here,so all of time across existence can be seen from Valhalla. It is alsothe place in which Chaos rests, and so the opening of Etro’s Gate would Chaos to roll into all worlds, which it ultimately does in Lightning Returns.
The Living World And Unseen Realm
At the very beginning, Mwynn and Bhunivelze existed. Bhunivelze killed his mother to take control of the Living World and upset the balance of the realms.The Living World is physical, holding life and planets and crystals, a great land for Bhunivelze to shape and rule. It is seen as a realm of Life.
This exists in sharp contrast to the Unseen Realm.Souls travel to the Unseen Realm upon death, making it a realm of the Dead. There is no physical layer to the Unseen Realm, as only souls and Chaos dwell within. Though Etro would establish a cycle here to keep the realms in balance,Bhunivelze would upset thisdue to this obsession only with the Living World.
Many smaller realms exist in between, such as Valhalla or the Realm of the Gods, though these are only small pockets of reality. The full cycle of life takes place across the Living World and the Unseen Realm.
