Nora Estheim Nora Estheim is a minor character in " Final Fantasy XIII " . A resident of Palumpolum , she is Hope Estheim ' s mother and the wife of Bartholomew Estheim , hoping to repair the fractured relationship between her son and husband . Datalog . " Nora is Hope ' s mother . " " Worried about the worsening relationship between her son and his father , Nora wonders how to break down the barriers Hope has created . Wanting to protect her boy from the horrors of the Purge , she volunteers to join the battle , but is killed during the chaotic conflict . " " Nora begs Snow to get Hope home , but the NORA leader never hears the boy ' s name before she slips from his grasp . " Profile . Appearance . Nora has green eyes and layered shoulder - length warm silver hair . She wears a simple brown necklace under an orinoco and vanilla - colored summer knit wrap sweaterdress with a leather waistband , off - shoulder sleeves , ivory capri pants , and brown wedge sandals . Personality . Nora cares deeply for her son and husband , but is troubled by their relationship growing ever more distant since Hope reached the difficult age of a teenager . In " Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero - Promise - " , it ' s mentioned that Nora never opposes her husband , and would make excuses for his inability to spend time with her and Hope because of his job . In the " Final Fantasy XIII Scenario Ultimania " , Nora is described as being a cheerful but elegant upper class housewife with a sense of casualness . It is also said that she ' s good at sports . She has a sense of humor , often calling herself tough because she is a mother . As Hope ' s mother , she is very protective of him and willing to risk her life to ensure his safety . Story . " Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero - Promise - " . After six months of planning , in an effort to heal the rift between Hope and his dad , Nora takes her son on a ten day vacation in the seaside town of Bodhum to see the annual fireworks show . After checking in to their beach resort condo , Nora and Hope visit the shopping mall . As they look at chocobo chicks in a pet shop , Nora and Hope unknowingly inspire Lightning to plan a vacation away from Bodhum for her birthday to spend time with her sister Serah . In the evening five days later , Bartholomew calls Nora to tell her an urgent business trip has come up . Hope doesn ' t believe it since his father often neglects him and Nora for his job , and resents Nora never blaming Bartholomew for breaking his promises . Forcing her voice into a happy tone , Nora tells Bartholomew that since the clean up operation after the incident three days prior has ended she wants to visit Euride Gorge as they had planned . When Hope says his father is not coming , Nora says Bartholomew will join them in time for the festival and that there ' s nothing he can do about it since the Euride incident affected his job . Nora is hurt by Hope ' s harsh words , so he changes the subject and helps her wash vegetables she got from Yuj , Maqui , and Lebreau . When Hope calls Nora shameless for getting the vegetables for free , she says she ' s a tough mother and laughs . The following day Nora and Hope visit Euride , but the plaza is closed off and the place is full of PSICOM soldiers . After they visit the fal ' Cie Kujata , they head back to the entrance and hear people passing by talk about a little boy being hurt in the accident . Nora hopes the child does not die since there ' s nothing worse than a child dying before their parent . Hope thinks to himself that regardless , when a family member dies it ' s still sad for those left behind . Nora asks if Hope hates his father and says Bartholomew isn ' t good at these kinds of things , but many people in the Sanctum depend on him and he wants to do a good job . Hope assures Nora he ' s not mad at his father since he will join them for the fireworks . Hope considers talking to his dad on the night of the festival if it will make Nora happy . During the show two days later , Bartholomew is unable to make it . Nora wishes upon the fireworks and Hope laughs at her sentimentality . Nora wished for Bartholomew to join them next year , but Hope claims they are better off without his father . Unbeknownst to them , PSICOM discovers the Pulse fal ' Cie Anima within the nearby Pulse Vestige . The next morning , the Sanctum announces the discovery and Hope and Nora are caught within the town ' s subsequent quarantine . At the train station among a group of tourists , a frantic Nora begs with a PSICOM soldier for Hope to be allowed to return home , willing to stay behind herself , but her pleas fall on deaf ears . They are subjected to be Purge d to Pulse with everyone else in Bodhum and spend the night in the barricaded town . Queuing for the Purge train in the station following day , Nora and Hope meet Vanille when she bumps into Nora . After making sure Vanille isn ' t hurt , Nora and Vanille briefly talk about where they are from . Nora stops asking questions to tend to the distressed Hope , and because of Nora ' s kindness , Vanille decides to join them aboard the train . " Final Fantasy XIII " . After entering the Hanging Edge , Lightning and Sazh Katzroy derail their Purge train , and Hope , Nora , and Vanille are among the stranded group found by Snow Villiers and his rebel group NORA . Telling Hope not to worry , Nora chooses to fight alongside Snow against PSICOM . As she and the rebels descend the bridge , Hope , Vanille , and the other Purgees are moved to another location for safety . The resistance drives off a group of soldiers , but a Havoc Skytank attacks the rebels . Under heavy fire , Snow attempts to grab a dropped rocket launcher but fails . Before the Skytank can fire its main cannon , Nora takes the rocket launcher and downs it , saving Snow ' s life . As the Skytank descends its main cannon fires , destroying the bridge they are on , and gravely injuring Nora . As everyone on the other side of the destroyed bridge slides off , Snow tries to drag Nora back to safety , but the piece of bridge they ' re on tilts and they slide down . He grabs hold of Nora ' s hand and grabs hold of the bridge ' s edge . She begs Snow to get " him " home before succumbing to her injuries from the blast . Snow tries to hold on to Nora ' s lifeless body , but loses his grip with Vanille and Hope watching from afar . Since Nora died in the act of saving Snow ' s life , Hope blames Snow for her death and it serves as the catalyst for him to accompany Vanille and follow Snow into the Pulse Vestige , and be branded a Pulse l ' Cie . When the remainder of the group splits up in the Vile Peaks , Hope joins Lightning in her vendetta against the Sanctum to grow stronger and eventually face Snow . In the Gapra Whitewood , taking Lightning ' s advice to form a plan to help him fight , Hope names his plan of revenge after his late mother : Operation Nora . When Lightning tells Hope that Nora wasn ' t killed by Snow but by the Sanctum , he decides to punish both . In Palumpolum , after Snow and Fang save Hope and Lightning , the latter forces Hope to go with Snow as they split up . As he runs through the city with Snow , Hope listens to the NORA leader unknowingly insult Nora and the events surrounding her death . Stopping to rest in the Rivera Towers section of the city , Hope recalls Nora from a moment of his childhood , pushing him to finally confront Snow and nearly kill him , making Snow realize that Hope was the one Nora was talking about just before she died . After Snow apologizes for putting Nora in danger and being unable to save her , Hope realizes he used revenge as a way to cope with her death and give himself a reason to survive , so he puts his mother ' s death behind him and ends Operation Nora . At Hope ' s house , he explains to Bartholomew what happened , and though he grieves for Nora , Bartholomew forgives Snow for having fulfilled her dying wish : getting Hope home . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Fragments Before " . In the six months after the Day of Ragnarok , Cavalry Captain Rygdea summons Bartholomew to a secret meeting in Palumpolum ' s historic concert hall and shows him an ID card containing internal documents from the Sanctum made by the late PSICOM official Yaag Rosch . As footage of PSICOM carrying out the Purge is projected , Bartholomew imagines the horrors Nora and Hope went through . It is said that Nora had saved Snow ' s life twice : when she shot down the Havoc Skytank , and when she unknowingly shielded Snow from the explosion that killed her . Bartholomew punishes himself for using work as an excuse to not go to Bodhum with Hope and Nora , for if he had gone , they would have been together during the Purge and he wouldn ' t have let Nora pick up a gun . He learns the l ' Cie were unknowingly being helped by the fal ' Cie who were using them to destroy Cocoon and sacrifice its inhabitants to bring back the Maker . Bartholomew recalls the absurdity of the truth that the fal ' Cie the people of Cocoon saw as gods for centuries sought out a god themselves at the cost of innocent lives like Nora . Rygdea plans to use the Purge footage to expose the truth behind everything that led to Cocoon ' s fall , so the former Sanctum members will be held responsible . He asks Bartholomew to join the new provisional government and put his influence in the political and business worlds to good use . Bartholomew recalls Nora telling him how Hope wrote an essay about wanting to grow up to be a researcher like his father . She said it was proof he was doing a job worthy for Hope to think that way . Nora said that when Hope was older , he would have a father to look up to and be proud of , and thus be able to live with his head held high even long after they die . The memory of Nora ' s encouragement persuades Bartholomew to accept Rygdea ' s offer , but he wants to build a public research institute that will publicize its findings without interference from the government , so people ' s animosity towards Pulse will vanish and nothing like the Purge will happen again . He wishes to form a higher education parallel to the institute for children like Hope , an institute which eventually becomes known as the Academy . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Hope mentions Nora in the Yaschas Massif in 1X AF , when he says he wants to bring Lightning , Vanille , Fang , and his mother back , believing that due to the time distortion he could alter the events before the Day of Ragnarok . After Lightning defeats Bhunivelze and frees Hope from his control , Nora and Bartholomew ' s spirits offer him the chance to reunite with them in the new world . Hope chooses to save Lightning from falling into darkness instead , and help her and his friends end Bhunivelze ' s reign over humanity . In the follow up novel , " " , there is no mention of Hope ' s parents and he lives alone as a young man . Creation and development . Nora was designed by Nao Ikeda . She appeared in a very early PlayStation 2 beta version of " Final Fantasy XIII " , as the game ' s opening area , the Hanging Edge , was the only area made for this system . Voice . Nora ' s Japanese voice actress is Komina Matsushita and her English voice actress is Mary Elizabeth McGlynn , who also voiced Rosso the Crimson in " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy Artniks " . Nao Ikeda ' s sketch of Nora appears as a trading card . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Nora appears in her sketch made by Nao Ikeda . " Triple Triad " . Nora appears on a card in the version available via " Final Fantasy Portal App " . Etymology .