War of Transgression The War of Transgression was a war fought between Cocoon and Gran Pulse between six and seven hundred years prior to the events of " Final Fantasy XIII " . Datalog . " Several hundred years ago , the armies of Pulse attempted to invade Cocoon in a conflict known today as the War of Transgression . The Sanctum ' s fal ' Cie were able to repel the lowerworld forces before they breached Cocoon ' s interior , but not before they managed to seriously damage areas lying near the world ' s outer rim . " " Details surrounding the clash remain shrouded in mystery , but the government ' s swift and decisive response to this violent Pulsian transgression minimized casualties and greatly boosted public faith in both the Sanctum and their fal ' Cie . " Fragment of Invincibility . " The War of Transgression that pitted Cocoon against Pulse took place 700 years before the catastrophe . The common wisdom on Cocoon is that the war was sparked by a Pulse invasion ; however , Pulse records claim that the culprit was a ' demon from Cocoon . ' Historians remain divided to this day . " " The people of Pulse had always feared invasion from the sky , and made preparations accordingly . These included ' immortals ' , war machines of immense strength and durability that were able to fight fal ' Cie even when half - destroyed . The ancient weapons were designed for a defensive war on the ground , not offensive airborne assaults . Some historians claim that this proves it was Cocoon that instigated the war . " Prelude . It was thought by the inhabitants of Gran Pulse that Cocoon was created by the deity Lindzei , the Maker of the Cocoon fal ' Cie . Numerous resources were stolen from Gran Pulse and some of its people lured to Cocoon with sweet promises of paradise , giving those who remained on Gran Pulse the impression that Cocoon was a source of evil that must be destroyed . Similarly , the inhabitants of Cocoon were made to believe that Gran Pulse was a primal , hellish world filled with unknown terrors and monsters . Cocoon ' s plundering of Pulse ' s resources ignited the wrath of the Pulse fal ' Cie Anima , and caused it to wage war on the floating world . The Cocoon fal ' Cie wish for Cocoon ' s destruction so that the expiring human souls from the countless extinguished lives would reveal Etro ' s gate , the gateway to the unseen realm . The fal ' Cie thus hope to call their Maker back into the world of the living so that the world could be reborn . Unable to destroy Cocoon themselves because they have been crafted for the purpose of its maintenance , the fal ' Cie Barthandelus plans to have Pulse l ' Cie destroy Orphan , the fal ' Cie that sustains Cocoon by lending its power to all the rest of the fal ' Cie . Battle . Two Pulse l ' Cie from the northern village of Oerba were chosen by Anima to destroy Cocoon : Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille . Their Focus is to destroy Cocoon by transforming into a being known as Ragnarok . Due to Vanille ' s fear of the beast ' s power , she ran off and left Fang to carry out the task on her own . Fang ' s incomplete Ragnarok cracked Cocoon ' s outer shell . The goddess Etro , knowing that Cocoon ' s destruction and the resulting deaths would disrupt the natural order , transformed both Fang and Vanille into crystals before they could complete their Focus . Aftermath . Cocoon suffered considerable damage during the war : its shell was cracked open and the Sanctum fal ' Cie had to salvage components from Pulse to mend it . The War of Transgression spread fear of Pulse among the citizens of Cocoon , which lasts for centuries . Almost the entire human population of Pulse was wiped out with those who survived being outnumbered by the monsters patrolling the underworld . Exactly how this happened is unknown , but it was likely a combination of many things . The Cie ' th Stone ' s mention of Pulse fal ' Cie turning people into l ' Cie with vague Foci , and many Pulsian ruins are left swarming with Cie ' th . Anima was the protector of Oerba , but after the war , the Pulse Vestige containing Anima and Vanille and Fang ' s crystal forms was taken into Cocoon by Barthandelus , leaving Oerba defenseless .