Lightning - Final Fantasy
Lightning was originally born as Claire Farron and is the protagonist of the Japanese role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII. This game was developed by Square Enix and was released on the Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and other platforms. The game is set in the fictional floating world of Cocoon, where a government called the Sanctum is persecuting civilians who have come into contact with Gran Pulse, the much-feared world below. She acts as a narrator and a temporary playable character in the sequel, Final Fantasy XIII-2, a game that builds on the events of Final Fantasy XIII.
Lightning was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, a veteran character producer of the Final Fantasy series, and created by Motomu Toriyama. Lightning has inspired a range of fan art, made appearances in spin-off games, given rise to merchandise, and has been recreated in a number of different figures. Since her first appearance, Lightning has also made appearances in Dissidia Final Fantasy, Opera Omnia, Theatrhythm, Record Keeper, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and other titles. Lightning was well received in public polls and is one of the most well-known Final Fantasy characters.
Appearance and Personality
Lightning is a young woman that has wavy, light pink and blue eyes. In Final Fantasy XIII., she wears a variant of the Guardian Corps outfit and a red cape attached on her back that reaches down to her ankles. She has a large leather pouch that is fixed on her left leg. She has a necklace with a lightning bolt symbol on it and always has her gunblade with her, which rests in a black case that can be found hanging off her belt. Lightning also wears an off-white jacket with brown straps and a tall collar, brown shorts, and fingerless gloves that are blue and yellow. She also wears a pair of dark boots with a piece of armor strapped to them to help protect the bottom of her legs.
Lightning is a determined, serious and independent character. In the beginning, she can seem harsh and unwelcoming, sometimes even standoffish and unsociable. She seems to only worry about her own welfare. She derives a lot of her motivation from wanting to protect her younger sister Serah and is often violent and aggressive towards the Sanctum, the fal’Cie, and the Snow Villiers. Eventually, as the game progresses, Lightning meets Hope Estheim and begins to show a more caring side, allowing her to open up emotionally to other characters and people around her. Hope acts as a kind of replacement sibling that treats Lightning as a role model and mentor. Through their adventures together, Lightning realizes the mistakes that she made with Serah and begins to improve as a person.
Backstory
Lightning and her sister Serah are residents of Cocoon, an artificial world that floats above a planet called Gran Pulse. These regions are controlled by a group of fal’Cie, a divine race of beings. The fal’Cie on Cocoon are called the Sanctum, and the fal’Cie that inhabit Gran Pulse are called the Pulse, these two groups are at odds with one another. In the novel Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero: Promise, it is revealed that Serah and Lightning’s parents passed away when they were young and Lightning promised to look after Serah, a commitment she could not fulfill.
Lightning ends up resenting Serah and Snow’s romantic relationship, and the rebellious behaviour of Snow’s group, NORA. Lightning eventually learns that Serah becomes a l’Cie (a person given incredible powers in exchange for completing missions called Focuses) through the Gran Pulse fal’Cie Anima. At first, Lightning believes Serah is using this fact as an excuse to run away and marry Snow. Serah is imprisoned by Anima, which causes Lightning to resign from the Guardian Corps and volunteer with the Purge (a forced relocation of people purported to have come into contact with Anima) in order to save her sister.
Lightning is joined by Sazh Katzroy and reaches Anima with Hope, Snow, and Oerba Dia Vanille. They find Serah and she turns to crystal, but Lightning and the rest of her party are branded as l’Cie when PSICOM, Cocoon's main military force, destroys Anima. Lightning abandons Snow and Serah, who are later rescued by Oerba Yun Fang and the Cavalry, a section of the Guardian Corps that is actually a rebel group underneath the surface. Now traveling with Hope, Lightning inadvertently summons Odin and unknowingly aids Hope’s plan to kill Snow while protecting and training him. Throughout the entire game, Lightning struggles with her role as an l’Cie, her guilt in how she has treated Serah, and how she has been made an enemy of Cocoon. In the end, she accepts Snow’s relationship with Serah and they kill the Sanctum fal'Cie Orphan to save Cocoon and everyone, with the exceptions of Vanille and Fang, can return to their normal lives.