Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)

Unreleased

Lightning is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII, and the main protagonist. She is the second female protagonist in the main series, the other being Terra Branford of Final Fantasy VI. She wields a gun-sword that can switch between its forms. She is shown to be a cold person, who distances herself from her companions.

By her own account, Lightning cast away her true name and chose the codename "Lightning" instead after her parents died, to distance herself from her past. Her family name is Farron; her first name is currently unknown.

Story
In the web novel, it is revealed that Lighting lost her parents when she was around Hope's age, and ever since then, acted as a mother to her younger sister, Serah, even adopting her current name as a sign of her resolution. However, during her entry into the military police as a sergant of its PSICOM division, she lost sight of her goals as she becomes acquainted with Team Nora, and her dislike of Snow is made very apparent, as she consistently refers to him as a horrible man, or a "worthless unemployed man". She even blames her lack of attention to Serah as a reason for her spending time with Snow. In the novel, Lightning's 21st birthday is approaching, and she was going to plan a small vacation with Serah in hopes of taking her attention away from Snow.

Final Fantasy XIII
Sneaking into a train holding those who are to be Purged from Cocoon, Lightning fights her way through the cars with her old friend Sazh Katzroy rallying the Purgees as PSICOM sends its forces after the train and derail it. As the surviving Purgees escape and are found by Team Nora, Lightning presses forward to Pulse's fal'Cie with the intent on killing it.

However, Lightning is chosen by one of the Crystals as a l'Cie to take down Cocoon and its tyrannous government, the Sanctum. She assists in the rescuing of Oerba Dia Vanille, Hope Estheim, and other "purgees" from the claws of PSICOM, teaming up with Snow Villiers, whom she has yet to forgive for his part in Serah being taken by the fal'Cie. As a result, Lightning attacked Snow for mentioning Serah's name as he vowed to set things right, stopping as he intends to do it by any means necessary. She doesn't like the fact that she has to protect a child, Hope Estheim, while fighting off the Sanctum. However, she eventually begins to care about him enough to warn him, as when she and Hope were surrounded by soldiers she told him to run while she stayed to fight them.

Abilities




Lightning has been shown to possesses incredible power with both weapons and magic. In the first trailer, she had a gravity control device called Gravity Bomb, activated by small imprints on her right thumb and index finger, which allowed her to perform feats normally impossible, including attacking while upside down in the air and landing safely from leaps otherwise impossible to survive. She can also create an "electrical shield" and is adept in magic, using various Thunder and Fire spells, as well as a new spell known as Ruin. She fights in a very fast-paced manner, moving with great speed and using her unique weapon as both a gun and sword, and possesses an ability that seems to freeze enemies in time while she speeds up. Her Eidolon is Odin.

In the web novelization Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise, it is revealed by Lightning's superior, Sergeant Major Amoda, that Lightning's initial weapon is a gun-sword called Blaze Edge. Gun-swords are a weapon only used by the most skilled soldiers. In the game, weapons can be upgraded and one of Lightning's upgraded gun-swords is called Slash Carbine.

Design
Lightning's visual design is based off of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII as Tetsuya Nomura was asked to design a female version of him. Another connection with Final Fantasy VII is the fact that she is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto who previously voiced Aerith Gainsborough.

Trivia

 * Lightning's facial structure has changed during development. In the early materials, she had slightly less feminine traits and her hair was a faded crimson color rather than pale pink.
 * Tetsuya Nomura wanted to include Lightning in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a bonus character, but felt that this could have affected Final Fantasy XIII in the process by locking down the image of the character's skills and so forth. Instead, two mugshots of her appear as Player Icons, along with Icons featuring Noctis Lucis Caelum, representing Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and the card-wielding character of Final Fantasy Agito XIII.
 * A special edition PlayStation 3 featuring an image of Lightning will be released on December 17th in Japan.
 * Lightning's initial weapon, Blaze Edge, has an inscription that reads "White Flash. Call upon my name."

Lightning