The Epic, The Epic Hero, and The Epic World of

1. The Epic, The Epic Hero, and The Epic World of

2. A Reminder: Epic Narrative Elements • Focus on Heroes and Heroic Actions. Heroes can be female or male, tragic or epic. • Non-Natural/ Supernatural elements • Glorification of the Past • Battles • Long Formal Motivational Speeches • Council of Gods/ Great Leaders/ Divine Intervention • Vast Setting • Epic Invocation and Statement of Theme • Common Names/ Places • Under World • Religion • Nostaliga

3. Epic Narrative Elements • Begins In Medias Res • with the sudden heroic action of the character Lightning fighting soldiers of Cocoon on an exportation ship full of Gran Pulse contaminated Cocoon citizens to be relocated (presumably) from the upper world of Cocoon into the underworld Pulse.

4. Epic Narrative Elements • A Long Narrative • Is accessed at certain points in the quest, written across the screen, spoken by the interaction of characters, and visually presented during story action and battle scenes. All of theses elements make the narrative more immersive. • Epic Catalogue • In addition, the narrative mythologies of lands, actions, and characters are recorded and accessible during game play at each stage via a side menu and set in chapters.

5. Epic Narrative Elements • Vast Setting • Explorations of the worlds Cocoon and Gran Pulse • UnderWorld • Gran Pulse (seen as more chaotic and supernatural whereas Cocoon is a world created within the upper atmosphere of Pulse and is portrayed through myth as an Eden of safety and human civilization.)

6. Religion and Biblical themes • Humans are expelled from the “paradise” world (Cocoon) created by a supernatural creature for fear that certain humans have been tainted by the “underworld” Gran Pulse.

7. Council of Gods/ Great Leaders/ Divine Intervention • The Maker • creates Gran Pulse, humans, and Fal'Cie to guide influence over humans and "control" history and then disappears. • Fal'Cie • are powerful, but limited by their nature, so they grant "chosen" humans powers so long as humans do "missions" for them. They are either Cocoon Fal’Cie or Pulse Fal’Cie. • I’Cie • are humans chosen to do the bidding of a Fal’Cie Humans that don't complete their mission turn into zombie monsters called Cieth. If they complete their mission they turn into crystal (supposedly a good thing, a kind of immortality, according to the Fal’Cies, but the humans prefer to simply remain human.) • Human Grand Councils • are secretly run by Fal’Cie though they say they have little day to day involvement with human government.

8. Religion and Nostalgia • Barthandelous, a servant of the maker, is nostalgic for the age when the Maker remained on Gran Pulse. Wishing to cause the Maker to return he creates Cocoon that is supported by the Fal’Cie Orphan and plans to destroy Cocoon and humans. • Humans inside Cocoon fear another attack by Gran Pulse (one that partly damaged their flying paradise many years ago) and are nostalgic for a return to innocence.

9. Multiple player third person perspectives that can be semi-controlled • Gives the game narrative an additional immersive element. This can be seen as an advantage for deepening and passing along cultural values of the epic narrative in way that could have more successful elements than traditional oral and written epics such as Gilgamesh and the Iliad.

10. Epic Heroes of Final Fantasy 13 • Lightning-the main protagonist of the game, a former soldier and older sister to Serah • Snow Villiers-Serah's fiancé and leader of NORA, a paramilitary group • OerbaDiaVanille-l'Ciefrom Pulse • SazhKatzroy-a civilian pilot and father to a young boy, Dajh • Hope Estheim- young exile of cocoon looking for revenge on Snow for his mother’s death. • OerbaYun Fang-l'Ciefrom Pulse who is working with the Sanctum's Cavalry branch.

11. Epic / Tragic Hero • All of the previously listed heroes participate in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat themand returns home significantly transformed by his/her journey. • .

12. Epic Themes/ Recurring SituationsThat Drive Plot • Identity/Self and Warrior Skill are Important • Specifically, the heroes learn that the fate given as destined by supernatural beings can be fought against when supporting one another, their “family” of outcast I’Cie. All heroes originally start their quest in search for family and friends rather than specific political or world affiliations. In the end it is the love between them all and the sacrifice of Vanille and Fang inn particular that keep both Gran Pulse and Cocoon from destruction. • Love vs. War • Ifepic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society the epic originates from, these heroes not only value battle and love of world, but above all love of each other.

13. Epic Themes/ Recurring SituationsThat Drive Plot (continued) • Amnesia • (Vanille and Fang forget they have been through the same struggles years before), • A hero corrupted by an evil force • (Fang and Vanille corrupted by the destructive force Rangnarok. However, they use it for preservation in the end), • Mistaken identity (Fang, Vanille, Hopr. And Barthandelous), • Self-sacrifice