Cie ' th Cie ' th [ siːθ ] is a term from the " " series , appearing in " Final Fantasy XIII " , " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , " " and " Final Fantasy Type - 0 " . It refers to one of the two states that befall a l ' Cie : those who fail to complete or unsuccessfully fight against their Focus . Datalog . " When a fal ' Cie takes a human to be one of its l ' Cie servants , that person is given a Focus to be completed . Should the l ' Cie fail to fulfill this Focus before his or her brand advances to its final stage , that l ' Cie becomes a Cie ' th . Mired in eternal sorrow and regret , and robbed of all free will , Cie ' th are damned to wander the world unliving and undying , until their corrupted flesh at last can move no more . For Cie ' th , there is no salvation . " Profile . Becoming a Cie ' th . The Cie ' th are the non - sentient remains of a former l ' Cie . They move on instinct and are hostile toward living beings , including their former friends , which makes them widely feared as they can wield magic . This is specially true to The Undying , a group of Cie ' th whose hatred towards their former fal ' Cie masters has made them all the more dangerous . Only when they turn into Cie ' th Stone s do the Cie ' th show some of their former humanity , mostly their regret of failing their Focus and asking somebody to complete it in their stead so they can rest in peace . When chosen by the fal ' Cie , a l ' Cie is marked with an incomplete brand , a tattoo - like inscription . The brand completes over time , working as a timer for the l ' Cie to complete their Focus , a mission dictated by the fal ' Cie that branded them . Should the l ' Cie fail , or the time runs out , the l ' Cie loses their humanity and crystals cover and twist their body . Their heart is sealed in endless despair , a fate more torturous than death . It is said the rate at which a l ' Cie becomes a Cie ' th depends on their psychological state : the more panicked and distressed , the faster they will turn . As time runs out the Pulse l ' Cie brand sprouts arrows and eventually an eye , and when the eye is fully opened , the l ' Cie is transformed . It appears that some l ' Cie can partially transform into Cie ' th willingly , taking on Cie ' th - like qualities and sometimes keeping their minds . This mode of transformation can be reversed with help from an outside agency . Fal ' Cie can transform humans instantaneously into Cie ' th by branding them without assigning them a Focus . Orience Cie ' th are former l ' Cie who defied the Focus given to them by the Crystal of their respective nation . The Crystal transforms the l ' Cie as punishment . Appearance . The Cie ' th are best recognized by their crystallized and deformed appearance . While most are humanoid , some are more monstrous . They have a hand / arm motif associated to them , as most of their most notable protrusions are or resemble deformed arms , with some having a pair of hands covering where their " eyes " should be . Cie ' th have no emotions , intelligence , or goals , and live trapped within their crystallized bodies . They have long claws instead of hands , but retain the facial features of their past selves . A pulsating red light in their chest keeps them alive . If one looks closely at a Cie ' th , the face of the human it was before is visible . Special Cie ' th , like Raktavija , have two faces and also two brands , hinting that some Cie ' th can be formed from more than one person . Few to no Cie ' th have their brands on other places than the torso or back , and some Cie ' th , like the Seeker or Chonchon , have no visible brand . The fal ' Cie who created them also seem to influence the appearance the Cie ' th become . The Cie ' th of Gran Pulse fal ' Cie have black , rough crystals formed all over their body , while the Cie ' th of Barthandelus , a Cocoon fal ' Cie , have a body of smooth , white crystals . Cie ' th Stones . It is possible for Cie ' th to still complete their Focus . Over the course of years , the energy of a Cie ' th may dry out , and they turn into a crystalline tombstone , unable to move about but gaining the ability to communicate and ask others to complete their Focus for them . These Cie ' th Stones are found in abundance throughout Gran Pulse . The Undying . There is a powerful group of Cie ' th known as The Undying , who have a unique appearance compared to the other Cie ' th . These Cie ' th defy the will of the fal ' Cie that made them into l ' Cie and are filled with hatred toward everything that lives . In " Final Fantasy XIII " , completing a mission which has one of these Cie ' th as a mark , normally allows the player to access a previously closed - off area , except for the first and last marks , which initiate and finish the series respectively . Story . " Final Fantasy XIII " . When Gran Pulse was still populated by humans , the local fal ' Cie branded many of them as l ' Cie to take on various tasks , such as slaying powerful monsters . Many were unable to follow through with their Focus and turned to Cie ' th , and after humanity died out , the former sites of civilization became populated by roaming Cie ' th with Cie ' th Stones scattered throughout the land . The fal ' Cie branding so many as l ' Cie may have led to the Gran Pulse civilization dying out , with fewer and fewer people remaining compared to the Cie ' th until only the latter were left . During the War of Transgression , the village of Oerba was protected by the fal ' Cie Anima , who branded many of the villagers as l ' Cie to fight Cocoon . Fang and Vanille ' s attack on Cocoon failed and the pair was forced into a premature crystal stasis by the goddess Etro . Barthandelus , the leading fal ' Cie of Cocoon , brought Anima ' s throne into Cocoon with Fang and Vanille ' s crystals inside it . Having lost its patron fal ' Cie , Oerba was left to fend for itself until all the people died out , leaving only Cie ' th roaming the streets . Anima remained dormant within the Pulse Vestige on the shores of Bodhum inside Cocoon until Fang and Vanille come out of crystal stasis centuries later . Fang ' s brand is scorched but Vanille ' s is still active . The pair leaves the Vestige to explore Cocoon and find a way to complete Vanille ' s Focus to prevent her from becoming a Cie ' th . Two days later , after the two have left , a local girl named Serah Farron finds the door leading inside the Vestige open and ventures inside , being branded a l ' Cie by Anima with a Focus of turning into Ragnarok and laying waste to Cocoon . Eight days later , after PSICOM , Cocoon ' s anti - Pulse military force , discovers the opening , a battalion ventures inside . Anima brands them all l ' Cie , but they soon transform into Cie ' th . Over the next two days , Serah is taken captive by the fal ' Cie , and PSICOM seals the Vestige and moves it to the Hanging Edge . Serah ' s sister , Lightning and Serah ' s fiancé , Snow Villiers , infiltrate the Vestige to save her , with Sazh Katzroy , Hope Estheim , and Vanille tagging along . They find Serah but she enters crystal stasis after asking Lightning to save Cocoon . The party confronts Anima who brands the party as l ' Cie with Focus of turning into Ragnarok and destroying Cocoon . As PSICOM attacks the Vestige , the dying Anima falls into Lake Bresha crystallizing it on impact , and the remaining Cie ' th from the Vestige begin to roam around the lake . The newly - branded l ' Cie escape the lake unharmed , but little do they know their every move is being monitored by Barthandelus , who wants to see the l ' Cie ' s Focus fulfilled . After Barthandelus catches the l ' Cie and sends them to the Fifth Ark to hone their skills , the party runs into Cid Raines . Raines is a Sanctum l ' Cie branded by Barthandelus with Focus of helping the party destroy Cocoon . He defies his Focus and attempts to kill the party , partway transforming into a Cie ' th . Before his transformation is complete , he is defeated and enters crystal stasis despite having defied his Focus . After the party moves on , Barthandelus revives Raines from his crystal stasis and reverts his transformation into a Cie ' th , instating him as a puppet Primarch to incite a civil war . The party escapes to Gran Pulse and finds it populated by Cie ' th and monsters . They help some of the Cie ' th Stones around by completing their Foci , but eventually return to Cocoon after learning of Barthandelus ' s plan to destroy Cocoon from the inside . During the party ' s return to Cocoon , the Cavalry , deeming Raines a traitor to their cause , assassinates him . The Cavalry infiltrates Edenhall to attack Orphan , the fal ' Cie they perceive to be in charge of enslaving mankind , when in reality , it is the fal ' Cie that sustains all of Cocoon . The party follows them , but discovers the Cavalry turning into Cie ' th as a result of Barthandelus branding them without a Focus . The party defeats Barthandelus and Orphan is awakened . Orphan wants the party to destroy it , but they refuse . Fang turns on the party , and the shock from her betrayal transforms everyone but Vanille into Cie ' th , who turn on Fang . The party reminisces everything they have gone through and reverts their transformation , their l ' Cie brands burning out . As Orphan has shown its true colors as an enemy of Cocoon , the party destroys it . Fang and Vanille combine their powers and transform into Ragnarok . They save Cocoon by crystallizing it with a pillar of crystal erected to support it above Gran Pulse . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . After the Day of Ragnarok , Cie ' th become scarce , as there are few fal ' Cie who brand l ' Cie anymore and mankind again populates Gran Pulse . In one future in the year 400 AF , the Proto fal ' Cie Adam uses Cie ' th as enforcers to wipe out any opposition to it , but as Serah and Noel fix the paradox es across the timeline , this future is eradicated . " " . After Chaos is released into the mortal realm , Cie ' th are all but gone from the land that is left , Nova Chrysalia . Snow , the last remaining l ' Cie in the world , partway transforms into a Cie ' th after absorbing a mass of Chaos he had been keeping under control at the heart of the Patron ' s Palace in Yusnaan , but Lightning reverses his transformation by giving him hope for the future . The god Bhunivelze begins crafting a new ultimate life form to replace humanity with in case they do not meet his high standards , and the creature he forms in the Ultimate Lair , Ereshkigal , resembles a Cie ' th . However , Lightning slays it . " Final Fantasy Type - 0 " . l ' Cie are given a Focus by one of the four Crystals of Orience . They do not have a time limit , but if they fail at the task given to them they will turn into Cie ' th . After Milites Empire annihilates Lorican Alliance with the Ultima Bomb , some cadets in Akademeia ponder if the Black Tortoise l ' Cie were turned to Cie ' th for being unable to protect their Crystal , but ultimately have no way of knowing what the l ' Cie ' s exact Focus was . Celestia temporarily assumes a Cie ' th form before permanently remaining in that form after going against her Focus by letting Class Zero reach Pandæmonium . Class Zero also fights a Cie ' th - like Gilgamesh during their trials in Pandæmonium . The Dracobaltian s ' fate can be seen as equivalent of a fate of a Cie ' th . As per legend , their blasphemy to the Crystal had them cursed and turned into bloodthirsty monsters . Unable to ease their suffering , the Dracobaltians attack anyone on sight . Other appearances . " Pictlogica Final Fantasy " . Some of the Cie ' th from " Final Fantasy XIII " appear as enemies . " Final Fantasy All the Bravest " . Some of the Cie ' th from " Final Fantasy XIII " appear as enemies . " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " . Some of the Cie ' th from " Final Fantasy XIII " appear as enemies . Etymology . Many Cie ' th in the " Lightning Saga " are named after mythological creatures related to death . Most of the Undying are named after enemies of the Roman Empire , except from Wladislaus , which is named after a Polish king .