Vanille was created for Final Fantasy XIII by director Motomu Toriyama, who made her the game's narrator, and writer Daisuke Watanabe.

Additional commentary has focused on her overall story arc and relationship with fellow character Oerba Yun Fang, praising it as one of the best aspects of the game.

Vanille, as with the rest of the cast of Final Fantasy XIII, was created by director Motomu Toriyama and scenario writer Daisuke Watanabe, with the overarching theme being "characters at the mercy of a predetermined, unjust fate".

When asked to make her outfit different from the people of Cocoon, he decided to go with an ethnic costume design and examined tribal cultures around the world.

[7] Vanille's design changed little in Lightning Returns, with the only addition being a pink-coloured headdress with ornate horns intended to give an impression of divinity.

They are destined to become Ragnarok, a monster that will destroy Cocoon and fulfil the fal'Cie's wish to summon their creator, dubbed the Maker, through a mass human sacrifice.

[16] Thirteen days before the start of Final Fantasy XIII, she and Fang wake from crystal stasis in the Pulse Vestige holding the fal'Cie Anima, initiating the chain of events that would lead to the Sanctum's Purge.

[22] In Final Fantasy XIII-2, though still held in the pillar, Vanille and Fang appear to help protagaonist Serah Farron escape from an endless dream.

On the day of the apocalypse, Fang along with protagonist Lightning persuade Vanille to stop the ritual and instead use her power to free the dead and enable them to be reborn in a new world.

[30] To promote the game and the character, Square Enix released a wide variety of merchandise utilizing Vanille's image including a clear poster, keychain, drinking glasses, and a small stationary figurine as part of their Trading Arts Mini line.

[40][31] Since her appearance in Final Fantasy XIII, Vanille has received mixed reception, with Push Square writer Sammy Barket bemoaning her presence in its sequel.

[48] While Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of Edge felt she was another example of "queasily sexualised infants" in the franchise, he noted the character's "ditzy" personality also betrayed a "mountain of guilt".

[50] Jess Kinghorn in an article for PlayStation Official Magazine – UK felt that her Australian accent was used to set her and Fang apart from the rest of the cast as "directorial shorthand to communicate their displacement in time", and was a better example to illustrate this aspect than "having the pair spout Ye Olde English".

[52] However, some were more critical of her portrayal, with GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd calling Vanille a "incessantly irritating waif" whose "superbubbly voice and high-pitched monosyllabic chirps exceed tolerable limits", even in a genre known for such characters.

[15] Journalist Natalie Flores described Vanille as a "subversion of the happy girl archetype" due to her utilization of a bubbly facade to mask "the cynicism and darkness that lurks underneath".

While the character manipulates and lies to get what she wants and protect those close to her, using her "empathetic, cute, and bubbly" aspects to disarm others, this also leaves Vanille infuriated.

Karmarrec further praised the character's positive front despite her awareness of the events surrounding the first game's story, and her companion's own animosity towards the inhabitants of Gran Pulse.

He however lamented that possibly due to the character's guilt she grew very little during the course of the subsequent games and related media, despite how well developed he found her characterization and the attention to detail in her design in Final Fantasy XIII.

[57] Flores additionally noted Vanille's relationship with Fang also allowed her to relate to the character "as a queer person", noting that while the characters were never stated to be in a relationship their closeness, willingness to defend each other, and were "one of the first examples — if not the first example" of two women aware of each other's "most significant flaws, mistakes, and regrets, yet choose to love each other and push each other to be better people regardless", and emphasized the impression it had on her as a young girl.

[58] GameSpot staff regarded Vanille and Fang's relationship "platonic or otherwise" as one of the best love stories in video games, further stating it may be "the only glimpse of human warmth in this otherwise ice-cold adventure".