The Fall of Pulse (Spoilers Within)

[Skyblade]

So, we all know that civilization on Pulse is wiped out. Ruins and Cie'th are all that are left of the once thriving population. Why? Indications are that people had been living, and advancing, on Pulse for long before the collapse. Yet, after the War of Transgression, humanity is wiped from the surface of Pulse in a miniscule amount of time. After all, those ruins had appeared abandoned for at least a hundred years, and the War of Transgression was only about three hundred years ago. So what happened during the War that caused the end of Pulse civilization?

It wasn't the War itself, for that seemed to have little impact on Pulse. Pulse was on the verge of winning, and only failed when Ragnarok was robbed of its power. Everything we hear indicates that Cocoon never launches a counterattack, they merely repair and await another invasion.

The only thing I can think of is the Fal'cie. Specifically, Anima. Each Fal'cie was tasked with certain projects. Titan with ensuring the growth of the strongest creatures, Atomos with his digging. What if Anima was the Fal'cie charged with protecting mankind and helping them advance? When Anima was pulled from Pulse, his influence over the world went with him. No longer able to help the people, the balance of the Fal'cie's tasks were shifted, and people become crushed in the grinder, overtaxed as l'Cie, and unworthy by the standards of Fal'cie like Titan.

[Ezme]

Ummm the way I understood it from the datalog was that after the war of transgression there was a civil war as is often the way in the real world. A major conflict leaves resources scarce the the people angry at those who sent them to war in the first place so often a civil incident unfolds. With that more people became l'cie hence all the stones. I think of that a bit like WWII, all the men/usful people were off fighting so others needed extra powers to fight the local "wildlife."

There could have been some cataclysmic event but I'm not sure there's any evidence for it.

[Aerio]

This was discussed a bit in another thread, but you bring up some interesting views.

http://forums.eyesonff.com/final-fantasy-xiii/131381-quetions-about-pulse-spoiler.html

[VeloZer0]

Do we know what the War of Transgression actually entailed? If Fang did all that damage to Cocoon herself then there didn't really seem to be much evidence of actual fighting any other way. I always got the vibe that the whole war was kind of just played up, when really it was just a isolated attack from a few individuals. Though I'm not really a FFXIII lore expert.

[Loony BoB]

Well, if you think about it, the Cold War wasn't all out war either. But as for the War of Transgression, there's a bit on that in the guide, too - I'll try to remember to check back and edit it into this post if someone doesn't reply with it beforehand. It's to my understanding that the war did not involve armies but rather involved the Cocoon fal'Cie ripping up Pulse to obtain resources for Cocoon and also the retaliation by Ragnarok (and subsequently I'm sure at that point armies did react against Ragnarok, if not Pulse itself). I'm not sure if it involved anything more than that at all, actually.

While I'm not sure if anything states that the people of Pulse have been wiped out entirely, we can clearly see that there are none left in the one inhabitable area the characters visit - Oerba. Whether there are other humans on the world of Pulse far from Oerba is unknown to ourselves as far as I recall.

The people of Pulse were dying out, though, largely because of civil war for resources etc, combined with fal'cie constantly making the people into l'Cie and those l'Cie subsequently becoming Cie'th (the more common result going by what we saw!) or crystal (in the case of Fang/Vanille, at the very least). There were also humans that would have likely been killed by disease or hunger as a result of the Cocoon fal'Cie raping the land of it's resources for Cocoon's benefit, which is detailed somewhere.

How long was it since Ragnarok attacked Cocoon originally, again? 600 years, wasn't it? Or was it over a thousand? I forget. Either way - easily long enough for all of the above to have a significant impact on human civilisation on Pulse, which may have only been in the millions to begin with for all we know.

[finaloblivion]

i think there probably was some actual fighting between armies or troops, as some of the ruins of airships and whatnot in the wastelands area earlier in the game is said to be from the War of Transgression, so this hints to airships and artillery being used. At least at some point. Maybe a lot of the fighting wasn't even really done between people, but by the machines that roam the Ark and such?

But as far as civilization on Pulse being gone, we can't see the whole picture but maybe the areas that the characters wander through are the only habitable regions on the planet. But, we only see so much of it in the end, and there's no way to tell. Oerba and the other cities (Haerii, Paddra) are the only ones detailed anyway. And, those regions have been affected by things that have already been listed - fal'Cie turning a higher rate of humans to l'Cie, civil war, lack of resources, or the wild getting wilder. All of these things are detailed at least a bit in the datalog. I really like the idea that Anima was the one fal'Cie that was most responsible for human development and also protecting them, and after it was removed that protection kind of faded. Not a lot of evidence to back it up, but it's a great theory.

[Future Esthar]

Also,why is Oerba so advanced and the other cities so primitive?

[Rozaheku]

I remember seeing a city road and traffic lights in the Necropolis. That's pretty advanced.

[Future Esthar]

Which one?Pradda or Haeri?

[Loony BoB]

Also,why is Oerba so advanced and the other cities so primitive?
What do you mean? I don't believe we saw any other cities. If you mean the ruins, those aren't cities, they're just old buildings. Not sure if you've been to Europe before, but you'll find that the old and the new style of buildings mix in pretty close to each other.

EDIT: The city road / traffic lights were in Oerba, I believe.

[Rozaheku]

There are ruins of an old city in the Yaschas Massif area where you can see skyscrapers etc. The place where you fight one of the Undying. That's Paddra I think.

[Loony BoB]

Ooh, I may just have to log back in and have a look-see. :)

[ShinGundam]

I remember seeing a city road and traffic lights in the Necropolis. That's pretty advanced.
Necropolis? any pics? also, any idea about these locations :confused: ?
http://i42.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/35ajj1g.jpg

[finaloblivion]

The ruins in the Archylte Steppe and Yaschas Massif are cities...ruins, of cities lol. They are Paddra and Haerii, which are mentioned in the Analects. Paddra is in Yaschas Massif, and Haerii is near the Faultwarrens.

[Future Esthar]

Exactly finaloblivion.

Also I noted the skyscraper on Pradda.
But I have my doubts if that is a modern skyscraper or just an old white big building.
It just looks very different of the layout at the entrance.
Unfortunately you can´t go there.