Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII garbs

Garbs are costumes in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and are an integral part of the Schema system. One feature allows players to change the garments' color via a color wheel in a customization menu. The garb the player has set as default is the one Lightning wears on the field (sans pre-rendered video scenes). Garbs also have certain locked abilities, auto-abilities, and stats; thus choosing a suitable garb can give the player a strategic advantage in battle.

When equipped with a costume from another Final Fantasy game, Lightning will be granted special sound effects, victory poses, and victory fanfares originating from the costume's respective game.

List of Garbs
The following is listed according to the in-game "Category" setting.

Color Customization
Players can change colors of garb to their preferences. The parts that can be customized depend on the garb. The player can either select all parts of a garb at once, or individual parts, and choose a new color from the menu. Colors can also be customized and added to the garb.

Development
Player reaction to the downloadable costumes in Final Fantasy XIII-2 was mixed, as some players felt the effect should be more than cosmetic. With the previous games in the trilogy there was always a request from the development team to be able to change the look of the characters when their paradigm roles switched, and with new system memory resources opening up with a single playable character this became possible with Lightning Returns. However, the concept of changing outfits didn't come first but naturally found its way into the game based on the compatibility between how the game mechanics were set up.

The developers wished to try and match the look of a garb with what proficiencies it would grant in battle, and strove for different looks for more offensive, defensive and magical-oriented garbs. For different garbs, the team only pitched for outfits they felt would definitely work, and thus there was little need to cut any of them out. Once getting down the last few, the decisions were made democratically as a team of what went in and what was left out. As the player has only one playable character in the game, it was decided she could change between jobs, and thus many garbs were built with the look and feel of traditional Final Fantasy jobs. Although players can freely assign abilities to go with different outfits, the distinctive look of the garbs was designed to give visual clues on what kind of "job" it could be made into.

Yuji Abe has singled out Primavera as a "classic thief outfit" from the Final Fantasy series, based on a redesign and rearrangement of the outfit worn by Locke in Final Fantasy VI, and said that there are numerous garbs in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII that are re-imaginations of his original outfit.

The White and Black Mage outfits available as DLC in Final Fantasy XIII-2 were well-received and there was demand from the fans to bring back past Final Fantasy titles. To respond to that demand, garbs reminiscent of previous Final Fantasy heroes were added to Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII: the Splendid Admiral and Heartstealer garb are based on Yoshitaka Amano's depictions of Faris Scherwiz from Final Fantasy V and Locke Cole from Final Fantasy VI, respectively. With regard to the Miqo'te outfit from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the leaders of each project came together to make it happen since the release dates for both games were fairly close to each other.

Garbs based on Yuna's summoner and gunner attires from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 respectively were included mainly because of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster which was also coming to PlayStation 3, one console on which Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is coming to. Yuna's default Staff and Ring along with Tidus's Brotherhood and Buckler are equippable too.

Cloud's SOLDIER 1st Class-based garb was included because of the demand of a French fansite (ffdream.com), who gave to the producers, Kitase and Toriyama, two drawings of "Lightning Strife". . An Aerith Gainsborough-based costume was shortly available as part of the downloadable content between December 17th and 20th, 2013, but since then has been taken down as it is meant to be acquired through redeeming a code obtained from purchasing a guide book or the Collector's Edition. In February 2014, Aerith's costume was reintroduced as a DLC.

Lightning's Mist Wizard garb originally had a victory pose many considered "out of character", in which she raised her arms and crossed her weapons behind her head. After its debut in the game's E3 2013 demo, Square Enix changed it to a pose similar to that of L'ange Noir, in which she puts hand on her waist. Guardian Corps also got change in victory pose based on a battle stance Lightning often took in Final Fantasy XIII, as weapons don't fold like gunblades did. Knight of Etro's victory pose is also changed.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Some of Lightning's garbs appear in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. They are of the element associated with the garb in question.

Etymology
In the Japanese release, Ambivalence is the state of feeling simultaneously positive and negative emotions about the same thing, generally considered to be a psychologically confused state of mind with constantly fluctuating opinions. This could allude to Lightning's drained emotions, that she doesn't know who or what she is anymore, or the morally grey area being Bhunivelze's Savior puts her in. Strangely in the English release the standard garb is renamed Equilibrium which carries a more positive sense of being composed, tranquil and balanced, referencing Lightning's equal boosts to strength and magic.

Dust and Shadow is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Lyndsay Faye.

L'ange Noir is French for "black angel". L'automne means 'autumn' in the same language.

Vajra means 'thunder' in Sanskrit, "" is the highest rank of Buddhist in Buddhism religion, who will becomes a new Buddha in the future.

Shogun, which literally means military general, was one of the hereditary military governors of Japan from 1192 to 1867.

Fūrinkazan, was the battle standard used by the Sengoku period daimyo.

Lilitu is the Babylonian translation of the mythical figure "Lilith". Its Japanese name, Kiskil-lilla, is a straight transliteration of the Lilith figure described in Tablet XII of the Epic of Gilgamesh, ki-sikil-lil-la-ke.

Pallas Athena is named after the classical Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare after which the city of Athens is named. In Olympian myth, Athena is protected by her Aegis, a formidable protective barrier identified as either a decorated animal skin or a shield and it afforded her near invincibility, much like the Heroic Guard ability attached to the garb.

Trivia

 * Aside from the Mist Wizard garb, the Midnight Mauve garb is the only one required to complete the game due to its importance in the play "Legend of the Savior".
 * Lightning wears her Duelist garb in the promotional images for Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories-. Writer Daisuke Watanabe meant for the characters' outfits to be left for readers' imaginations.
 * The Equilibrium was described by Isamu Kamikokuryo as his favorite out of all all the garbs.
 * The locked ability "Relentless Assault" of the Siegfried garb refers to the paradigm (COM/RAV/RAV) from the previous games in Final Fantasy XIII series. The Relentless Assault ability combines physical attacks with elemental magic.
 * All garbs that end in "ence" or "ance" share parts from the savior's Equilibrium garb, known as Ambivalence in Japan. They also have the savior's symbol and share the same victory pose.
 * Mist Wizard+ mistakenly says the garb comes with Thunderstorma, an ability that doesn't appear in the game, when its locked ability is actually Element.
 * Martial Monk's pattern and color scheme is highly reminiscent of Bruce Lee's iconic yellow and black tracksuit from "Game of Death".