Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)/Dissidia (PSP)

Unreleased

Lightning is one of the new characters introduced in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, representing Final Fantasy XIII. She battles using a variety of swordplay and magic using her three Paradigm roles to change fighting styles during combat. In her EX Mode, she wields the Omega Weapon, and her EX Burst is Odin's Gestalt Mode under the name of "Gestalt Drive".

Attire
Lightning's appearance is identical to her original render. She has light pink hair and pale aqua eyes, and wears a primarily white military uniform, adorned with several belts and buckles, with a red cape. Her weapon of choice is the Blazefire Saber Gunblade, which can shift between gun and sword forms.

In her first alternate costume, Lightning's outfit is darker, her cape is dark brown and her hair is white, to match her concept artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

Her second alternate costume consists of the generic uniform for female Guardian Corps artwork.

Lightning's DLC outfit is based on Aya Brea, the protagonist of The 3rd Birthday, another Square-Enix title. The outfit consists of torn blue jeans, different boots, and a sleeveless black shirt that exposes her midriff. The outfit is only available by purchasing said game.

Lightning's currently unnamed Manikin version is scarlet pink.

Story
Lightning comes to after finding herself by Cosmos' side. After meeting Jecht and Kain over the Warrior of Light's earlier words, she is advised to see if she is stronger than the Warrior by teaming up. Though Lightning rejects the idea, she and the Warrior team up against the waves of Warriors of Chaos. During the fight, Lightning meets Cloud, who warns her not to underestimate their opponents. Soon after, she meets up with Jecht and Kain over her impression of the Warrior of Light.

Lightning has been seen in screenshots speaking to Warrior of Light, unsure of why Cosmos has called her and Kain to fight. At some point in time she is seen talking to Laguna Loire. At another point, she talks with Firion, stating that she senses something about his rose, which surprises him. She is also shown running past Kain to an injured Bartz, who says Kain attacked him. Kain then attacks Lightning. Another scene shows her pointing her gun at a Manikin of herself and then turning to look at a Manikin of Warrior of Light. At some point, she somehow teamed up with Kefka to defeat his own allies, although Kefka also hinted at the overall nature of the conflict shortly before leaving to take care of other matters.

In two of the cutscenes presented to the public, Lightning confronts Garland who decides to leave her for the Manikins to destroy while telling her that most of her comrades may have likely been all wiped out. Later, after barely escaping with her life, Lightning confronts Cosmos about the mission she gave them. Though she wants to save the world, Lightning believed the quest for the crystals is nothing but a suicide mission before the Warrior of Light agrees before raising his sword on her as she complied.

Battle
Lightning is described as a Paradigm Commando, using her Paradigm Shift abilities from Final Fantasy XIII to shift between Commando, Ravager, and Medic roles during battle by pressing L and R at the same time. Each role has its own moveset, allowing Lightning to change her fighting style completely. As a Commando, Lightning uses primarily melee attacks, as a Ravager she casts magic, and as a Medic she uses Cure spells to recover her Brave without attacking.

EX Mode
Gestalt Drive qJWagp9bDMM Lightning's EX Mode is Equipped Omega Weapon, swapping out her Blazefire Saber for her strongest gunblade in Final Fantasy XIII. While in EX Mode Lightning gains the abilities "Omega Weapon (ATK)" and "Grav-Con Unit." The Omega Weapon bonus automatically inflicts Break on opponents when she attacks if their Bravery is less than 30% of their base Bravery, and Grav-Con Unit completely protects her from all Wall Rush damage.

Lightning's EX Burst is Gestalt Drive, where she attacks the enemy with Odin's double ended sword. The EX Burst Starts off with Lightning doing a backflip and shooting at the same time, similar to the final Attack in her combo when she has 4 ATB gauges in Final Fantasy XIII. The Gestalt Mode dial will appear and the player must input the button and analog combination to unleash Storm Blade, Lightning Strike, Razor Gale, and Thunderfall on the enemy before the time runs out. Should the player miss an input combination, Lightning will skip directly to the final blow, Zantetsuken.

Allusions

 * Reflecting her disdain of being a l'Cie in Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning does not like the notion of being a Warrior of Cosmos. The line Lightning says when initiating her EX Burst, "I control my fate!," alludes her refusal to be a pawn of the fal'Cie.
 * Lightning's EX Mode ability "Omega Weapon (ATK)" refers to the Quick Stagger ability in Final Fantasy XIII, an ability that instantly Staggered opponents when attacking if their Stagger gauge was 90% full. Lightning's strongest series of weapons come with this ability, while 'Grav-Con' refers the device in Final Fantasy XIII which Lightning uses when she jumps from high altitudes in order to slow her descent to prevent injury.
 * In the TGS trailer's FMV sequence as she battles Garland, other than rose petals, Lightning's charge was nearly identical to the one seen at the Palumpolum's Agora (beginning of Chapter 7) of Final Fantasy XIII.
 * Meeting with Firion, Lightning comments a sense of familiarity with the wild rose he possesses. This plays on how her Eidolith crystal is shaped like a rose.
 * While her Brave attacks are based from the actual moves she uses in Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning's HP attacks and Brave to HP attacks are used by Odin in both his modes. Many of Lightning's Commando-based attacks are amalgamations of two separate skills she uses, like Blitz formed from the spinning Blitz attack, and ending with her Scourge attack with the gunshot.
 * In the TGS Trailer, as Lightning is about to fight a manikin of herself, she has her Blazefire Saber in Gun-Mode, the camera zooms in on her as she looks to her right to see the Warrior of Light's manikin. The camera did the same thing seen in the Opening FMV of Final Fantasy XIII when she was surrounded by PSICOM soldiers.
 * Her Paradigm Roles, Commando, Ravager and Medic, are based upon her primary roles in Final Fantasy XIII.
 * When Lightning uses the Bravery attack Army of One, watery lines appear on the top and bottom of the screen similar to when she uses this ability in Final Fantasy XIII.
 * At the end of the Final Trailer for the game, the camera zooms in on Lightning's eye, imitating the opening of Final Fantasy XIII as she enters the Hanging Edge.
 * When performing Lightning Strike, she exclaims "This is gonna sting!" this is a reference to what Sazh says when he performs an attck when in Nautilus.

Trivia

 * Lightning was originally set to appear in the first Dissidia, but was scrapped as the developers did not want to lock down her character design and move set before Final Fantasy XIII was released.
 * Prior to the official announcement, a hoax had "revealed" that Lightning would appear in Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning. The hoaxes involved elaborate fake magazine pages created in Photoshop and complete with fake Lightning 3D models.
 * Lightning's artwork is based on an artwork of her for Final Fantasy XIII. Her Dissidia art was the first time Tetsuya Nomura drew the Blazefire Saber, which he found difficult due to it having so many parts.
 * Coinciding with Lightning wearing Aya Brea's outfit in Dissidia 012, Aya can also wear Lightning's Final Fantasy XIII attire as an alternate outfit in The 3rd Birthday.
 * Lightning and Aya also share the same Japanese voice actress.
 * Though she knows the move in Dissidia 012, in Final Fantasy XIII Lightning cannot learn Curasa.
 * Lightning, along with Firion, Tifa, and Prishe, are the only Warriors of Cosmos who never summon their weapons. In Lightning's case, she draws her weapon from her holster.
 * Lightning is the third character in the Dissidia series to wield a gunblade, after Squall and Bartz.
 * Lightning's holster for her gunblade is absent in her victory pose, causing her gunblade to disappear behind her back.