201w ago - A scan from the latest issue of Jump Magazine reveals some new Final Fantasy XIII character details, and NeoGAF forum member Rpgmonkey has translated some of the scan, as follows:

Hope Estheim
• The silver-haired boy
• Uses a boomerang
• Hates Snow for getting his mother involved in the battle
• New Monster, "Cie Corpse (Husk?)"
• The eventual fate of a l'Cie
• Vanille's weapon is a fishing rod
• Lightning's great skill, "Air Blast"
• A l'Cie becomes a Cie Corpse when there's an unclear objective and they exceed their time limit, or something like that.

Vanille is shown in several of the trailers, but she is still a mystery. Shown in the trailers as a young girl looking a lot like FFX's Rikku, Vanille will use a yo-yo type of weapon.

It's not heavily detailed as to what abilities she'll have or what kind her weapon will use, but she'll be swinging it around during battles.

In a later post he clarifies some of this information:

I don't know if it's exactly a fishing rod or it's just the most accurate description, but apparently she attacks with a needle attached to a wire, so it's at least the easiest...