Time travel Time travel is a recurring motif in the " Final Fantasy " series which focuses on carrying people through time and possibly allowing them to change their fate . Appearances . " Final Fantasy " . Garland makes a pact with the Four Fiends to be sent through time to become an immensely powerful being known as Chaos . After the Warriors of Light have defeated the Four Fiends and saved the crystals , the Fiends create an archdemon , Chaos , using Garland ' s body , and send him 2 , 000 years into the past . Following Chaos into the past the Warriors discover it was Chaos who had sent the Four Fiends into the future , creating a time loop paradox . Defeating Chaos in the past breaks the time loop and the Warriors are sent back to their own time , but they have altered the timeline and nobody has any memories of the events . " Final Fantasy II " . Deumion ' s past is experienced firsthand in the Arcane Labyrinth . " Final Fantasy VIII " . The ability to time travel revolves around the desire to change the past and the wish to preserve a single moment in time and avoid an unwanted future . Ellone is a young woman with the power to transfer people ' s consciousnesses into other people ' s from the past . Although limited to people she has had contact with , Ellone hopes to change the past and prevent a series of events from happening . She discovers , however , that her attempted manipulations were a part of the causes that lead to the events she wishes to erase , and learns that attempting to change the past in such a way is futile . She acknowledges that the information and new perspective gained by witnessing the past events can help one to alter the present and future . Ultimecia , a sorceress who lives far in the future , knows of a coming " prophecy " of her being defeated by a " Legendary SeeD " . To prevent this , Ultimecia intends to compress time into a singularity with a form of magic known as time compression and absorb all that ever had and ever would exist , including all time and space , to become " a living god " . Using the Junction Machine Ellone , Ultimecia sends her consciousness back in time to possess and control past sorceresses . She controls Edea Kramer and pursues Ellone because the Junction Machine has a limit to get even further back in time to start the time compression . After Edea is freed from her control , she possesses Rinoa Heartilly and then Adel . Adel is killed and Ultimecia possesses Rinoa at which point Ellone sends Ultimecia ' s and Rinoa ' s consciousnesses back into the Adel of the past , and then brings only Rinoa back . Ultimecia casts the time compression spell but when Ellone severs the mental link she cuts Ultimecia off from the earlier time periods and leaves the spell incomplete . This allows a group of SeeDs from the present to travel through time , encounter Ultimecia in her realm , and kill her . As the time compression spell is broken and time begins to revert back into its original form , one of the SeeDs , Squall Leonhart , ends up too far back in time and meets himself as a child and plants the idea of forming the SeeD organization that would one day defeat Ultimecia , thus becoming the " Legendary SeeD " Ultimecia plans to avoid facing in the future . " Final Fantasy X - 2 . 5 ~ Eien no Daishō ~ " . The novel focuses on Yuna and Tidus being transported to a Besaid of 1000 years ago that greatly differs from the Besaid they know from their time . " Final Fantasy XI " . Scattered throughout Vana ' diel are numerous statues that resemble Atomos , called the " Cavernous Maws " , which act portals to twenty years into the past , around the time of the Crystal War ' s end . Lilisette uses the portals to prevent the events that would lead to her father ' s death , while Lady Lilith , a version of Lilisette who hails from a reality in which the Crystal War never ended , used them to ensure the continuation of her future by erasing Lilisette ' s future . Despite the efforts of the both of them , neither erase the other future and instead only achieve a balance between the two realities . However , it is also revealed that the goddess Altana had once rewritten the timeline to prevent its ruin . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . The universe is divided in two halves ; what could be called the mortal world , or the world of Gran Pulse and Cocoon , and the world of the dead , the unseen realm . Valhalla is the middle realm that exists in - between . Whereas beings are born , live , and die in the mortal world , Valhalla is a world of entropy that exists outside the timeline of the world of Gran Pulse , a world without a past or future . Those who reside in Valhalla can see the span of the entire timeline by gazing into the mortal world . The ability to travel in time originates from the goddess Etro who resides in Valhalla . The legends state that Etro places a piece of chaos , a malevolent energy that seeks to return everything to entropy , into every human , giving them a " heart " . Certain people possess more " heart " as a gift from the goddess than others , giving them greater affinity to chaos , and can enter the Historia Crux and travel in time . As Yeul explains to Serah in the Void Beyond : " The power to step outside the timeline . The power to witness the future . These gifts come from Etro . Her servants are known by her blessings . " Lead scenario writer for " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , Daisuke Watanabe , has explained in an interview that because the goddess Etro saved Serah by releasing her from her crystal stasis she acquired powers normally inaccessible to humans , and this is why she can time - travel when passing through the Time Gate s . Other people , namely Lightning , Sazh , and Snow , who were also saved from crystal stasis by Etro , also have the power to use the Historia Crux to travel in time ; however , Hope appears not to have this power . Noel Kreiss hails from 700 AF , an era where humanity is extinct except for him . He prays for the goddess to grant him the gift of chaos so he may follow Caius Ballad to Valhalla . His prayer is answered and he is taken to Valhalla where he meets Lightning , Etro ' s champion who fights to protect Etro ' s temple from Caius . Lightning asks for Noel to find her sister Serah , and sends him through a Time Gate to New Bodhum 3 AF . For Noel and Serah to travel in time they use Time Gates and artefacts to open them . The Historia Crux is the crossroads of history , " the ability to step outside of the timeline " as Yeul puts it . Whenever a Time Gate to the Historia Crux is opened with an artefact writing in Etro ' s script briefly floats in the air , indicating a link to the goddess . It may well be that the Time Gates are consciously created by the goddess , rather than things that arise out of paradox es , as Snow Villiers is unable to follow Serah and Noel through a Time Gate despite being a time traveler himself , because the gate in question was not " meant for him " . Because Lightning resides in Valhalla she can keep an eye on Serah and Noel ' s journey to solve the paradoxes in the timeline , and eventually leaves Valhalla through a Time Gate to meet them in New Bodhum 700 AF , although their encounter is brief . Caius , who possesses the Heart of Chaos , wants to bring about the end of history . Because of the Heart of Chaos Caius can travel to Valhalla from where he creates paradoxes in the timeline to set the stage for a mass sacrifice to open Etro ' s gate . This would allow chaos seep into the mortal world , and transform the world into Valhalla . Caius cannot travel in time like Noel and Serah do , but he sends messages from Valhalla to his past self ; this is why the Caius of 200 AF knows Noel . After manipulating the timeline to suit his needs the city of Academia in 500 AF becomes so affected by chaos Caius is able to enter there from Valhalla . When he is about to destroy both the old and New Cocoons his plans are foiled by Serah and Noel and he opens a portal to Valhalla . After a gruesome battle on Valhalla ' s shores Noel ' s sword pierces Caius ' s Heart of Chaos . The paradox comes to an end and the Time Gates begin to vanish one by one , marking the end of Serah and Noel ' s time - traveling journey . Another method of time travel is invented by Hope Estheim who is unable to use Time Gates : a suspended animation capsule that can be used to travel forward in time . " Final Fantasy XV " . From Chapter 9 onwards , the party can use Umbra to " travel back in time " to Lucis or , later , to Altissia . This is purely a gameplay feature , however . If the player is having Cid upgrade their weapons , Cid will not call the party to come pick them up if they " travel to the future " to rest . When going back to Lucis , the day and night cycle is restored to what it was at the beginning of the game . " Final Fantasy Tactics " . In the " The War of the Lions " version , Ramza Beoulve encounters Balthier from " Final Fantasy XII " . Although Balthier only explains he needs to return to the Cache of Glabados to put things back as they were , it can be assumed he was displaced in time . Ramza also meets Luso Clemens from " " , still with his Gran Grimoire . Luso Clemens finds the Grimoire of the Rift which enables him to travel hundreds of years into the past to a time where Ivalice possessed all sorts of magicks , different races and technologies . Luso joins a clan and makes several friends in this magickal time , doing errands in every location and saving Jylland from the supremacy of clan Duelhorn and the dark ambitions of the Khamja organization . Every time an important event occurs the Grimoire writes down , in itself , the essential facts , creating something of a journal that fills its own pages . The great sage Lezaford tells Luso the only way he can return home is by completing his story at the time he finds himself in ; that is , he should live life to the fullest while in this Ivalice until his " job " is done . Upon defeating Illua and the monster from the Rift , Luso returns to his era , keeping the Grimoire . " Final Fantasy Legend III " . The party can travel through time with the " Talon " and possessing the correct " Talon " Units , but they can only go to a specific eras . The effects of the flooding and its threat can be seen upon the world of the past , present and future . After the Heroes of Light meet up with Rolan in Spelvia they find him consumed by monsters . They release him , but along with it the darkness trapped within Rolan is unleashed upon the world , plunging it into darkness and the party is sent over a decade into the past to a time where they are just being born . The party travels the world uncovering many mysteries that explain the events that took place in the original world , and the reasons why the cities were tainted . The heroes defeat Chaos ' s minions , and Chaos himself reverting the timeline back into normal , and the heroes are sent back to their own world . The Adventurer travels back in time to give Tiz the hourglass . " World of Final Fantasy " . Time is suspended while Reynn and Lann are within Nine Wood Hills or the Coliseum connected with it , allowing them to spend as much time there as they like before returning to the world of Grymoire with no time having passed there since they left . By visiting The Girl ' s Tearoom , Reynn and Lann may travel throughout time to intervene in battles , taking the place of those who would normally fight them . Following the battle , those whom the two intervened for might have limited awareness of the aid they had been granted , though the opponent will have no knowledge of anything unusual having happened . Following the release of the Cogna into Grymoire , Reynn and Lann use this ability to great effect , intervening repeatedly throughout Grymoire on mass scale before the Cogna can wreak devastation upon the world . Following the game ' s ending , a shouted " No ! " from Reynn reveals that she will not accept events as they happened and the sacrifice of her brother , Lann . Tama uses her remaining power to rewind time to the party ' s entry in the final dungeon , in the process altering events to a timeline in which she was never a part of their journey and Serafie handles all of the tasks that were set to her in the original timeline . The player then continues events in the altered timeline , working towards a better resolution for the world of Grymoire . The party is later able to restore Tama with the aid of the Girl Who Forgot Her Name from The Girls ' Tearoom . Etymology . is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space , generally using a theoretical invention , namely a time machine . It has a commonly recognized place in philosophy and fiction , but has a very limited application in real world physics , such as in quantum mechanics or wormholes .