Noel Kreiss

Noel Kreiss is a character in the Lightning Saga, being a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and a supporting character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Noel is the last remaining Farseer from 700 AF and has traveled back in time to change his fate. After meeting Lightning in Valhalla, he accompanies her sister Serah Farron on her quest to reunite with Lightning and change the future. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Noel is called the "Shadow Hunter", and acts as an adversary for Lightning as she fights to save the souls of humanity before the end of the world.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Noel is an 18-year-old man with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. When Ultros sees Serah, he states that he likes girls pretty, but that Noel is even prettier. He wears a black V-neck top with tribal patterns and a print of angel wings on the back, along with a simple pendant. He wears a leather bracer on his left arm, a ring on his right hand, and wraps his right arm with cord. He wears large blue sirwal-style trousers with decorated hems, and low-cut sandal-like leather boots. A green pouch and hunter's knife are attached to his belt in the back, which is adorned with small lavender cloth ties. Under the angel wings on the back of Noel's top and on his dagger, there are lines in Etro script. The script on his top translates to: Seeker of Miracles at History's End — Walker of the Realm Unseen, and the text on the dagger reads: Travel the desolate wasteland in search of hope's past.
Noel's sword set is called Flame Fossil. The sword he wields in his right hand has two bladed prongs stylized like red flames, complete with a silver holster with angel wings meant to hold his smaller sword. The holster is placed on one side of the bigger sword, vertically aligned in-between the prongs via a sliding mechanism. The sword he wields with his left hand is a simple yellow-brown blade similar to a gladius. The swords combine into a spear via the prongs bending to form a spearhead due to their sections being connected by rivets along with the sheath being pulled-back along the said sliding mechanism; the said sheath itself also extends an inner-layered-holster allowing the shorter sword to be fully inserted as the shaft-ended-half of the spear (likely to prevent Noel's hands from being cut should he hold the spear from there).
In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Noel's clothing and weapons remain the same in basic design, but his overall color scheme has darkened and has more subdued colors, likely to reflect his change in attitude (along with having a scar above his left cheek just below towards the far end of his eye socket). His sword set is now called "Shadow Hunter", a black palette swap of Flame Fossil with white patterns in its contrast. If the player waits until after Day 8 to fight Noel, he wears his Battle Attire outfit from Final Fantasy XIII-2.
====Alternate outfits====
Noel has five alternate outfits as part of downloadable content in Final Fantasy XIII-2: his "Battle Attire" costume was released on January 10th in Japan, February 7th in America and included with Nordic Edition of the game or as part of the pre-order bonus DLC pack—"Fight in Style"—for Europe and Australia; "Spacetime Guardian" was released in February 2012; "N7 Armor" was released in March 2012 and "Assassin's Creed" was released in April 2012. His "Black Mage" outfit was released in May 2012. In the Steam version of the game, the outfits "Battle Attire," "Spacetime Guardian" and "Black Mage" are included by default. However, the outfits "N7 Armor" and "Assassin's Creed" are not available due to licensing issues.
Noel Kreiss - Battle Attire.png|Battle Attire.
Noel Kreiss - Spacetime Guardian.png|Spacetime Guardian.
Noel Kreiss - N7 Armor.png|N7 Armor.
Noel DLC Ezio.png|Ezio Auditore.
Noel Kreiss - Black Mage Attire.png|Black Mage.
===Personality===
In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Noel is cocky, cheerful, confident but soft-spoken. He is a self-sufficient hunter. Due to the effects of a time paradox, Noel suffers from amnesia. Coming from a future where humanity is almost extinct, he has some trouble with his speech, and thus tends to speak in a straightforward manner. He is excited to explore new places and meet new people, and is defined by his determination to protect others. He is assertive and remains calm and collected when facing people with provoked anger, such as the members of NORA. Noel stands by his beliefs and morals, and, as a remnant from his upbringing, values life and is reluctant to hurt or kill others unless necessary. This initially makes him dislike Snow Villiers for his brash personality, and having his head in the clouds believing in self-sacrifice.
In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Noel's attitude towards the value of life has changed. He no longer feels anyone's death adds to his already-burdened conscience, though his attitude of killing only when necessary remains in his work as a vigilante. Noel is more serious, determined, and aggressive, though he partially returns to his old self after Lightning helps him let go of his guilt.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After===
Noel was the second to last child to be born in the Farseer tribe that lived a nomadic existence on the ruined Gran Pulse 200 years after the crystallized Cocoon came crashing down after its crystal pillar shattered. The event left the world in ruin and warfare broke out that killed the majority of mankind. After Noel's parents died, he was raised by his grandmother.
When Noel was three, the seeress Paddra Nsu-Yeul was born and Caius Ballad arrived in the village. Noel's grandmother explained Caius is the seeress's Guardian and that Yeul lives away from people so they would not use her power of foresight for evil, although Caius permitted Yeul to stay in the village and live a normal life.
Noel had three friends: a boy named Yanny, Yanny's cousin Rigo, and a girl named Natarle. One day, while Noel and Yanny were playing with a three-year-old Yeul, they were attacked by a Strigoi and saved by Caius, inspiring Noel to aspire to become strong like him. Despite initially disliking him, Noel became Caius's student to become the new Guardian for Yeul.
A day before Yeul's birthday, Yanny goes hunting alone and doesn't return after a heated argument with Noel. Rigo had already died from recklessly trying to stop an adamantoise on his own. After Noel's grandmother had died, he and Yeul lived with Natarle's family, but after all the village adults passed away, Natarle got sick and died as well, leaving Noel, Yeul, and Caius the only ones left.
After single-handedly killing a behemoth, Noel is acknowledged by Caius to be strong enough to become Yeul's Guardian. Learning it means he would have to kill Caius to succeed him as per ancient Farseer tradition, Noel refuses to go through with it. Noel wants to take Yeul on a journey to find other people so she will not be lonely anymore, but Caius says it is a futile dream. Once learning that if the Heart of Chaos inside of Caius stops beating, the goddess Etro will die, unleashing the chaos of Valhalla and destroying the past, Noel is forced to fight him and is defeated.
Caius leaves for Valhalla to go through with his resolve to free Yeul from her fate of endless reincarnation. The following day, Yeul reveals to Noel she had a vision of him arguing with Caius and the goddess's gate. She reveals that every time a seeress sees the future her lifespan shortens until it kills her. Noel vows to value the time he has left with Yeul.
===Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before===
At the end of her life, Noel finds Yeul praying at the Farseers' Relic. She promises a tearful Noel they will meet again before disintegrating into light. Noel embarks on a journey to find Valhalla, become a warrior worthy to be recognized by Etro, and gain the power of chaos needed to change his fate. When close to death his body becomes cold and unresponsive, and seeing Noel's unwavering resolve, Etro opens her gate to him.
===Final Fantasy XIII-2===
Noel falls out of Etro's gate over Valhalla, the middle world between the world of the living and the unseen realm of the dead. He is caught by Lightning flying on Bahamut. Recognizing Noel from a vision she had, Lightning tells him to guide her sister Serah to Valhalla and work together with her to change the future. She gives him a moogle named Mog to keep Serah safe and covers Noel's escape, but he loses most of his memories.
Arriving with the Time Gate's meteorite form in New Bodhum in 3 AF, Noel comes to Serah's aid when she is attacked by monsters. Serah tells him she saw Noel with Lightning and Mog in a dream. He tells her he is from 700 years in the future and offers to take her to Lightning. The meteorite is a Time Gate and Noel tells Serah Lightning is waiting on the other side.
The next day, Noel and Serah enter the Time Gate after finding an artefact to activate it, and fly through the Historia Crux. They emerge at Bresha Ruins in 5 AF and are attacked by an invisible giant, Atlas, who retreats further into the ruins. Noel and Serah are taken into custody, but are freed by Academy scientist Alyssa Zaidelle who wants to learn about the gates and paradoxes, but as long as Atlas is around causing trouble, the ruins will be closed off. Noel and Serah resolve the paradox affecting the area by destroying Atlas and the Bresha Ruins are restored to their former glory. After finding an artefact and activating another gate, Serah has a vision and lies to Noel saying it's nothing, although he doesn't believe her.
Noel, Mog, and Serah re-enter the Historia Crux and travel to the Yaschas Massif in 10 AF. The area is darkened by a paradoxical solar eclipse and they meet the Academy leader, a 24-year-old Hope Estheim, who has full knowledge of Noel due to the events at Bresha Ruins five years ago. Hope and Alyssa, who is now Hope's assistant, talk about the Farseers who used to live in the Paddra ruins and a seeress Yeul who had foretold the nation's destruction. Noel is amazed there were once so many Farseers they had populated a city. Noel uses one of Hope's tools, an ancient device called the Oracle Drive to induce images of Lightning and the events of the Day of Ragnarok ten years ago. The device displays grainy images of Lightning's battle with Caius in Valhalla. Noel and Serah use the artefact given to them by Hope to resolve the paradox affecting the area, and, in turn, the Oracle Drive.
At Oerba in 200 AF, Noel, Serah, and Mog activate the Oracle Drive on the old schoolhouse, producing images of Serah's reunion with Lightning after Cocoon's crystallization. When Noel and Serah are confronted by Caius and Yeul, Noel calls out her name, but she tells him she is not his Yeul. Caius explains Yeul does not exist as a single person, and that he has come to punish Serah and Noel for tampering with the timeline. Before Caius can kill Noel, Yeul steps in, saying time has already been changed, and she and Caius leave.
Returning to the Yaschas Massif in 1X AF, Serah and Noel enter an alternate reality where the eclipse never occurred and see the now clear images of Lightning in Valhalla, and the Oracle Drive projects images of Caius and Cocoon falling. Noel says in his time the world fell into ruin after Cocoon's fall, but Serah assures they can prevent it.
The next Time Gate they enter takes them to the Void Beyond, the realm between Time Gates. As Serah begins to doubt them ever finding her sister, Noel reassures they are one step closer to Lightning with each gate they pass through. After activating the gate in the Bresha Ruins' underground tunnels, Noel gets concerned for Serah and asks if she is having more visions, but she lies to him again.
At the Sunleth Waterscape in 300 AF, they witness Miniflan appear out of nowhere in a phenomenon caused by a paradox. Serah has a vision and runs off frantic. Noel follows her and they find Serah's fiancé Snow being attacked by a Royal Ripeness. Noel tells Snow he will handle things, but Snow shoves him aside and the three defeat the monster together. The Miniflan reform the monster and the party retreats at Noel's insistence. Noel criticizes Snow, telling him people who do not know when to retreat don't live long, but ultimately decides to put their differences aside and work with him. After finding an artefact to open the gate to the next location, Noel tells Snow to wait for him and Serah to return.
In the Coliseum, Noel, Serah, and Mog encounter the Arbiter of Time, who demands they leave and gives them a fragment in return. Noel says Snow is the type of person who likes to charge into danger thinking self-sacrifice will save everyone, but only gets innocent people killed. After Noel and Serah defeat the Faeryl in Archylte Steppe in ??? AF and resolve the anomaly causing Royal Ripeness to continue growing, they return to the Sunleth Waterscape and find Snow not waiting for them as he had promised, but on the ropes in front of the flan that has reduced in size.
After defeating the giant flan for good, Noel accuses Snow of being self-centered and never thinking about how he hurts the people he is supposed to protect. Snow tells Noel he must have protected loved ones back in his own time, but Noel says he couldn't protect them all which is why he is now alone. Snow entrusts Serah's safety to Noel and vanishes. Noel speculates it is because Snow does not belong in this time and the paradox had been resolved.
Back in the Void Beyond, Serah asks Noel about Yeul and if she is also traveling through time. Noel believes the Farseer tribes had a girl with the same appearance and power and the name Yeul was passed down through the generations. When Serah asks how his era will change if they solve the paradoxes, Noel believes it will be a future where he does not exist, but is fine with it since it would be better if his time had never happened.
The trio arrives at the city of Academia in 400 AF where people are mysteriously transformed into Cie'th. Caius appears and calls the trio contradictions in the timeline. He claims Serah and Noel were killed after learning the forbidden history sealed within a tower two hundred years ago and have now appeared before him alive and well, a paradox in itself. They find Yeul being attacked by Cie'th and Noel holds the dying Yeul in his arms who tells them Caius wasn't in the city.
They use the artefact given by Yeul to travel 200 years into the past to the Augusta Tower, where Noel and Serah learn Hope had created a Proto fal'Cie to keep Cocoon airborne without its pillar. Noel confesses he sensed something off about Caius in Academia, and thinks he wasn't the real Caius. Noel, Serah, and Mog meet an artificial duplicate of Alyssa who tells them of an incident that occurred in the tower 187 years ago at 13 AF: Hope and the real Alyssa were killed as they were in the way of the Proto fal'Cie's A.I., and now that they know the tower's forbidden history, Serah and Noel can never leave.
On the tower's top level, they encounter the Yeul they had met in Oerba who gives them an artefact and implores them to protect time. She reveals Caius is immortal and retains memory of all timeline events. She says Lightning disappeared because the future had been changed, and if Serah and Noel solve the paradoxes, the past will return to how Serah remembers it. Yeul tells them the Caius from Academia was a copy made by the Proto fal'Cie Adam, the source of the paradox, and the real Caius is in the tower, then implores they show her a new future. Noel, Mog, and Serah battle Adam, who keeps returning whenever defeated until Serah erases it from existence by scolding Hope out loud for creating it. Serah has another vision and blacks out, but Noel brings her back.
The trio returns to Academia in 4XX AF to find an alternate reality where the city is peaceful and the Proto fal'Cie is gone. They meet up with Hope and Alyssa, who explain Hope scrapped the Proto fal'Cie project after seeing Serah yelling at him through the Oracle Drive, and he and Alyssa went into the future in a time capsule he invented. They plan to build a man-made Cocoon made airborne through the use of five Graviton Cores. After finding the cores, Noel and Serah get an artefact from Alyssa. Noel, Serah, and Mog enter the Historia Crux, but Noel becomes separated from Serah and Mog as a result of Alyssa betraying them, having given them a booby-trapped artefact from Caius.
He emerges in the Void Beyond and engages Caius, but is defeated and disappears into a dream world based on his home world, reliving the highlights of his past without acknowledging Serah watching and following him. When Noel is being pulled off the ground toward a light in the sky, Serah grabs hold of his arm and calls out to him and he remembers her. She tells him he was living in a dream and light is restored to the Dying World. Noel tells Serah he has regained some of his memories and that she is at risk of dying since she has the Eyes of Etro like Yeul, but Serah chooses to continue since it's what Lightning wants. Activating the Oracle Drive at the Farseers' Relic, the two discover that Yeul's final vision was a grainy image of reuniting with Noel. Noel vows to settle things with Caius once learning he is the one causing the paradoxes.
They emerge in what appears to be New Bodhum in 700 AF. The village is a wasteland, and on the beach Lightning appears from a portal saying they are in a future she could not save. Lightning says Caius plans to kill Etro while she sleeps in Valhalla and unleash chaos into the world through an unseen doorway that opens for the souls of the departed to create a timeless world. Lightning says that in 500 AF, Caius will attempt to bring down the old Cocoon and Hope's new one in one fell swoop. Mog reveals the final Time Gate and Lightning returns to Valhalla.
Noel, Mog, and Serah travel to Academia in 500 AF, the time of the prophecy of Cocoon's fall, and hear Yeul's voice telling them not to fight Caius and risk killing Etro. Caius enters Academia from Valhalla to battle them and a wormhole opens in the sky. Caius in his Chaos Bahamut form flies into it.
Noel, Mog, and Serah jump into the wormhole and emerge in Valhalla. Odin saves them from their fall before they face off against Caius on the beach. Noel tries to convince him Yeul wanted to be reborn so she could be with him, but Caius does not listen and Noel cuts him down. Caius transforms into Jet Bahamut and Noel covers Serah from its blast. As they fall into the bottomless abyss beneath Valhalla's waves of chaos, they are saved by Lightning.
After Noel and Serah destroy Jet Bahamut, Noel tells Caius he does not intend to kill him. Caius claims to have killed Lightning, but Noel knows he is lying. Noel disarms Caius when he threatens Serah, but stops himself from impaling him at the last second. Caius forces Noel's blade through his chest, telling him to bear the burden of the eternal paradox. Noel laments how Caius had been consumed by sorrow and despair due to watching so many Yeuls die over the centuries, and how he sought to die in Valhalla. Noel places Caius's sword as a grave marker, hoping his former mentor finds peace.
Noel, Serah, and Mog return to Gran Pulse in 500 AF to find Hope's new Cocoon, Bhunivelze, afloat. After the gate to Valhalla closes, Serah thanks Noel, but has another vision and dies in his arms. As Noel, Mog, and Hope mourn for Serah, the world turns dark and Mog weakens as he reveals Etro is no more. Noel remembers Caius's words about the Heart of Chaos, Etro's own heart that had been given to Caius eons ago, realizing he played into Caius's scheme and killed the goddess as Gran Pulse and Bhunivelze are infected by chaos.
===Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII===
In time, Gran Pulse and Valhalla merged and formed a chain of islands in a Sea of Chaos that became known as Nova Chrysalia. In Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories-, it is revealed Noel, Hope, Snow, and Sazh started with a quest to help the world. Aiding Snow in hunting monsters, Noel felt helping people would allow him to atone for his mistakes, but Snow never blaming him for Serah's death became too much for Noel to bear. After Hope disappeared, Noel lost contact with Snow.
When the Order of Salvation—followers of the God of Light Bhunivelze who has promised to create his followers a new world—arose as the new authority in Nova Chrysalia, Noel was suspicious of them. He sneaked into the Luxerion Cathedral to warn them, gaining the title of Shadow Hunter. Learning Snow had accepted the title of "Patron" from the Order angered Noel, and he refused to consider Snow's side of the story. The Order tried to use food and supplies to uphold their laws in Luxerion to stamp out the Children of Etro cult, but Noel stole some supplies and brought them to the starving cultists, earning their respect, and snuck into one of the elder's homes to leave a warning. The Order became scared of the Shadow Hunter and began to distribute provisions equally again.
When the rumors of the savior began to spread, a mysterious girl called Lumina appeared along with an Oracle Drive containing a fake prophecy of Noel killing Lightning and being reunited with Yeul in a new world. Noel had become consumed by guilt, feeling responsible for the world's current state and Serah's death. He had become a vigilante in Luxerion and developed a reputation as a deadly swordsman and an enemy of the Order, gaining a following in the Children of Etro, a cult that worships the late goddess. Though some believed him to be the leader of this cult, Noel remained unaffiliated with anyone and worked alone in the dark of night to put to right any injustices he came across.
Noel witnesses Lightning's arrival in Luxerion and stalks her as she investigates the murders of pink-haired women in the city being committed by a group of fanatical followers of Etro, collectively known as the Children of Etro. When Lightning finds an Oracle Drive, Noel ambushes and briefly clashes with her while Lumina watches with amusement. Noel explains the prophecy says Lightning needs to die by his hand, but runs off as it is not yet time for him to kill her.
When Lightning saves the newest victim of the Children of Etro, Noel aids her in dispatching the cultists and tells them he has no affiliation with "fanatics with blood on their hands." Once the cultists are defeated, Noel and Lightning turn their blades on one another, but before they can do battle Noel hears the Order's sentries approaching and flees, inviting Lightning to pursue him to the Den of Shadows.
Lightning finds him by another Oracle Drive, viewing the prophecy and reaffirming his belief that he must kill her. Lightning comes to understand Noel is obsessed with the prophecy for the hope of meeting Yeul again. Provoked by Lightning, and believing that one final death on his conscience means nothing, Noel attacks her. However, when he gets an opening to strike at Lightning, he destroys the Oracle Drive instead, knowing that killing Lightning is not what Yeul would want. He realizes that while Yeul never gave up hope, he himself gave into his guilt, letting it dictate his decisions.
Yeul's spirit appears from the damaged Oracle Drive to tell him they will be reunited soon, giving Noel closure as Lightning saves his soul. Noel asks if Bhunivelze's new world will be a paradise, but Lightning says it will be a world where people will simply live and work together. Noel decides to stop living in the shadows, and departs on good terms, Lightning having understood his motives. Later, she can spot him around Luxerion helping out the citizens.
On the evening of Nova Chrysalia's final day Noel arrives at the Luxerion Cathedral and saves Lightning from a Chimera, curious as to why she is fighting the Order. Noel concludes there could be only one reason she would turn against Bhunivelze: to save Serah.
Noel fights alongside her and stays behind to hold off Bhunivelze's devouts and monsters while Lightning rushes to stop the Soulsong, a ritual that would obliterate the dead, including Serah's soul. Lightning succeeds, but Noel and the others are captured by Bhunivelze with their souls sealed in his body. Lightning travels to Cosmogenesis to face Bhunivelze and frees Noel and the other souls and they work together to defeat Bhunivelze.
As the Apocalypse begins, Noel joins the others using their Eidolons to fight Bhunivelze using Sazh's Eidolon Brynhildr, declaring that they will fight even if it means their deaths. After Bhunivelze's defeat, he finds Yeul and her past lives who have agreed to remain in the forming unseen realm to fill the late Etro's position in maintaining the cycle of reincarnation and thus the stability of the new world. Noel protests to their choice, and Caius, still alive due to having become a manifestation of Chaos itself, asks if he would rather take Etro's place than let Yeul be bound to another fate. When Noel is willing to take the burden, Caius tosses him away from the forming black hole as Nova Chrysalia collapses, alongside Yeul's final incarnation from Noel's time, ultimately fulfilling the promise she had made to him as they depart for the new world together.
===Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories-===
In the new world, the reborn Noel and Yeul move to the subtropics where they live in a two-story wooden house near a busy marketplace, as after an age of loneliness they find the sight of people comforting. They are visited by Aoede, a reporter who investigates stories of people having memories of another world, and Noel relates his story from the old world's alternate timeline in 700 AF to being the Shadow Hunter in Luxerion. Noel admits his time of dwelling in regret over Serah's death in Nova Chrysalia gave him an understanding in Caius's motivation to destroy the world. After the interview the three have lunch at the market and Noel gently watches over Yeul as she dances in reverie of all the sights. Before Aoede leaves Noel directs her to Fang and Vanille.
==Gameplay==
In the Lightning Saga, Noel's elemental focus is wind attribute, with presence of ice in Final Fantasy XIII-2. Outside his original appearance, he mainly wields the ice element.
===Final Fantasy XIII-2===
Noel is geared toward high Strength and HP, as opposed to Serah's better proficiency in magic. Noel begins with the Commando, Ravager, and Sentinel roles. He majors as Commando and Synergist, and is a good Medic. He is not as proficient as a Saboteur and he learns only a few spells for that role. Noel's full ATB skill is Meteor Javelin, a Commando ability that hits the enemy multiple times, but clears the chain gauge. Noel fights with two swords, which he can combine into a spear to jab enemies, and throw it like a javelin.
===Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII===
Noel is fought as a boss during the main quest in Luxerion. If the player waits until Day 7 or later to fight Noel, he will don the Battle Attire DLC costume from Final Fantasy XIII-2 and uses a new weapon, which he drops, the Endless Paradox. In this case, he will be called "Noel Kreiss+" and has increased stats.
After the battle against Noel in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the people of Luxerion will occasionally mention him fighting monsters, calling him the Blue Blaze. Noel can be found in the following locations across Luxerion under certain conditions:
*Crossing the ticket barrier in North Station will result in Noel walking from North Station towards the city. This situation is available between 21:00 and 0:00.
*Crossing the ticket barrier in South Station will result in Noel walking from South Station towards the Warehouse District. This situation is available between 16:00 and 19:00.
*Walking by the stairs in Pilgrim's Passage will result in Noel appearing close to the Clock Tower. This situation is available between 3:00 and 6:00.
Noel's weapon, if fought on Day 7 or later in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, is called Endless Paradox. This refers to the ending of Final Fantasy XIII-2 where Caius tells Noel to bear the "eternal paradox".
==Musical themes==
"Noel's Theme," composed by Naoshi Mizuta, is a prominent track in Final Fantasy XIII-2, serving as a base for the main battle theme "The Last Hunter." It has a lyrical version titled "Noel's Theme ~Last Journey~" among several arrangements, which is remixed as the darker "Noel's Theme ~The Shadow Hunter~" and briefly reprised in "Noel & Yeul ~The Promise~" in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
==Other appearances==
Noel has appeared in the following Final Fantasy media:
*Final Fantasy Tactics S as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Mobius Final Fantasy as a costume.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
==Behind the scenes==
As with the other characters in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Noel's face was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, while the rest was designed by Yusuke Naora. Noel was first revealed in screenshots and a teaser video from the 2011 E3 trailer of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Noel was designed as a newcomer character who knows little about Cocoon and Gran Pulse, because the developers wanted to have him in a similar position to a newcomer player to Final Fantasy XIII. Naora designed Noel with his profession as a hunter in mind. He gave Noel lightweight clothes and a pouch to store a hunter's knife.
Developers draw several differences between Noel and Snow. The game's director, Motomu Toriyama, describes Noel as "having a different type of chivalry from Snow", while the game's producer, Yoshinori Kitase, describes Noel as "attractive and stylish", as opposed to Snow being "the tough guy type". Comparing him to Lightning, Toriyama calls Noel "a brave young man burdened by a heavy destiny—a different type of a protagonist to Lightning". Yusuke Naora has said he based the colors of Noel's Flame Fossil sword, red and yellow, on those of the original nameless protagonist from Final Fantasy III in Yoshitaka Amano's artwork .
According to Kitase, Noel was created as a male protagonist with a similar age to Serah as a counterpoint after she was named the main female lead. Noel's appeal as a character comes from him hailing from a vastly different environment from Lightning and Serah's, therefore making him "detached from their reality and ignorant of life in Cocoon", and "a protagonist well beyond his years."
When designing Serah's and Noel's weapons for Final Fantasy XIII-2, the developers wanted weapons that could be used for both close-range and long-range combat. That's why Serah has a weapon that can switch between bow and sword forms, and Noel has twin blades that can combine into a javelin.
Noel shares certain characteristics with Oerba Yun Fang, who was originally designed as a male character, in that he has a straightforward cocky personality, has trouble remembering parts of his past, wears tribal clothing with a similar color palette, has a red double-bladed weapon that can also be used as a spear, and his full ATB skill is performed using a spear and clears the enemy's stagger gauge when performed.
Noel is the only permanently playable character in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy who was never a l'Cie.
==Gallery==
==Etymology and symbolism==
 The second "s" may be added purely for pronunciation.
Noel's name may be a reference to his role in the story. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 he is given a new "life" or "birth" when he arrives in Valhalla and is granted a chance to change the world's fate. His name juxtaposes with Yeul's, as "Yule" is another word for Christmas.
Noel does not use the same format for his name like a number of other Pulsians, such as Oerba Yun Fang, Oerba Dia Vanille, Paddra Ballad-Caius and Paddra Nsu-Yeul, who use the format of home village-clan-personal name, but Noel uses personal name-family name, like people from Cocoon. One of the hunters in the Archylte Steppe visited during the events of Final Fantasy XIII-2 states that their tribe was formed by a group of former citizens of Cocoon who grew tired of having to rely on the fal'Cie and machines, so the Cocoon naming style may have carried over.
His name is pronounced "Nol" instead of "No-el" like the normal English given name or "No-al" in French. In Japanese, his name is phonetically pronounced like "No-el".
==Citations==
de:Noel Kreiss
fr:Noel Kreiss
pl:Noel Kreiss
pt-br:Noel Kreiss
ru:Ноэль Крайсс
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy XIII-2
Category:Characters in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Category:Main characters