Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)

Lightning, real name Claire Farron, is a playable character and the main protagonist in Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. She is initially shown to be a cold person, who distances herself from her companions, but later shows a caring and compassionate side. She fights to survive and see her sister Serah come out of crystal stasis.

Lightning has the distinction of being only the second female main protagonist of a game in the mainstream Final Fantasy series, the first being Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI.

Appearance and Personality
Lightning is a fit young woman with long, light pink hair, pale aqua-colored eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She wears a uniform for the Guardian Corps, based around a sleeveless white overcoat over a brown turtleneck-like shirt and green metallic pauldron with yellow stripes symbolizing her rank as a sergeant. Notably, she also wears a red cape attached to her back on the left side, a long black sleeve over her left arm, knee-high leather boots, and a brown mini-skirt over high-topped black shorts. Her gunblade is carried behind her in a black case which hangs off her belt, along with a red pack strapped to her left leg. In addition, she also has a necklace with a lightning bolt pendant, two black bands around her right bicep, and a silver navel piercing. Her l'Cie brand is located on her left breast.

Lightning is very determined, concentrated, and independent. Initially, she is extremely cold and stand-offish to the others she encounters, which stems primarily from her irritation over her refusal to believe her sister Serah's plight and then becoming a l'Cie just as Serah did; much of her motivation is fueled from what she perceives as failing to properly protect Serah and wanting to make things right, which leads her to lash out at those she believes are responsible for that and the subsequent Purge: namely, the Sanctum, its fal'Cie and, to a point, Snow Villiers due to his relationship with her sister. Her early solution to things that annoy or upset her is to distance herself, either emotionally or physically.

Over time, however, Lightning does begin to show compassion and see the errors in her approach. Although she is annoyed with him at first, she eventually takes Hope Estheim under her wing and then slowly begins to forgive Snow when she realizes he too cares deeply for Serah. By the time she meets Fang, her rage at those who are not fal'Cie slaves has dissipated, and her anger despite finding out the woman's unwilling involvement in the situation is short-lived. Eventually, although she retains her tendencies towards reticency and independence, her passion, intelligence, and authority truly shape her as she steps into her role as a leader of the other Pulse l'Cie.

Early Life
Lightning's father died when she was young, and her mother from an unknown sickness when she was fifteen. With no other family to turn to, Lightning was given the job of raising her younger sister, Serah. In an attempt to get over the pain her parents' deaths caused and become an adult as quickly as possible, she decided to change her name from Claire Farron to simply "Lightning". After graduating from high school, Lightning decided to join the Guardian Corps Bodhum Security Regiment under Lieutenant Amodar, where she attained the rank of sergeant, and was scheduled for officer training before the events of the game. However, she slowly began to lose sight of her goals, and worked many hours while spending little time with Serah.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-
Even after they rescued her from an aquatic ambush, Lightning has always held a disdain for the Bodhum monster-fighting group NORA. Snow Villiers, their leader and Serah's boyfriend, is a particular point of annoyance for her, and after a forced encounter with him, Lightning vows to have nothing to them as well as dissuade her sister's affections for the exuberant man. As Lightning's twenty-first birthday approaches, she begins to feel guilty for her lack of attention to Serah, feeling that the girl likely only got involved with Snow in order to quell her feeling of loneliness. Browsing the mall, she overhears a conversation between two tourists, Nora Estheim and her son, Hope, inspiring her to plan a vacation away from Bodhum for her birthday with Serah. She then notices two fugitive l'Cie, Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang, but believes they must be from Eden before she leaves the mall with her superior officer.

A few days later, the Cavalry are trying to hunt down Vanille. Though they do not explain the intention behind their investigation, Captain Rygdea asks Lightning to brief him on areas in Bodhum that teenagers are likely to visit in hopes of finding her. Regardless, she suspects it may have something to do with the "incident" at Euride Gorge.

While attending the Bodhum fireworks festival, Lightning learns of a Pulse-related incident at the nearby Vestige being kept under wraps by the Sanctum. Amodar warns her not to investigate, as it would only lead to trouble.

The next day on Lightning's birthday, Serah reveals her fate as a Pulse l'Cie, as well as her engagement to Snow. Lightning refuses to believe either claim, driving Serah away and demanding Snow to leave as well, leaving her alone to open Serah's birthday present by herself: a survival knife. It is only when the Sanctum announces a Pulse fal'Cie is residing within the Vestige that she is forced to believe them, though by then it is too late: after learning that the Sanctum plans to Purge the entire town, Lightning immediately tries to find Serah, but Snow reveals that she is being held captive inside of the Vestige.

Although military personel are exempt from the Purge, Lightning resigns from her job in the Guardian Corps without hesitation and boards the Purge train. As she waits in line, she is approached by a pilot, Sazh Katzroy, who is also a voluntary Purgee. As allies of circumstance, they are forced to work together as Lightning tries to rescue her sister before she is taken out of reach.

Final Fantasy XIII
As the train enters the Hanging Edge, Lightning takes it over with the aid of Sazh. While the surviving Purgees escape and are found by NORA, Lightning and Sazh fight their way through PSICOM soldiers to reach the Pulse Vestige. Lightning keeps her own motives to herself, despite Sazh's probing, determined to reach the Vestige and find Serah.

Within the Vestige, Lightning finally reveals Serah's fate to Sazh, just before they find her unconscious outside Anima's Throne. Unknown to Lightning, Snow also infiltrated the Vestige to find Serah, and the two arrive in time just as Serah awakens. She asks Snow and Lightning to save Cocoon before she suddenly begins to glow and rises in the air; her Focus apparently fulfilled, she crystallizes before their eyes. Snow attempts to approach and beg with the fal'Cie to release Serah, but Lightning takes a more aggressive approach, attacking Anima, alongside Snow and Sazh. Anima finally awakens, but on the cusp of defeat, brands everyone present a l'Cie before a burst of energy causes the Vestige to fall, casting them down to Lake Bresha below.

Down in the crystallized lake, the group of strangers try to deduce their Focus. Whilst the details still remain hazy, they recognise the beast Ragnarok, and presume they are tasked with destroying Cocoon. Despite Snow's optimism that they are to save Cocoon as Serah wished, Lightning is less than enthused about her new fate. Running from PSICOM troops, they come across Serah's crystallized form. Snow promises to stay behind and protect Serah, whilst Lightning is convinced she is saying goodbye for good and grows irritated enough with Snow's failure to protect Serah that their encounter comes to blows. She splits with Snow and leads the group onwards out of PSICOM's clutches, finding an airship that Sazh attempts to pilot, though they are soon pursued. In an act of desperation, Lightning instructs Sazh to fly close to the sun-like fal'Cie Phoenix, but the ship is damaged and it crashes in the Vile Peaks.

Lightning's impatience towards the group causes them to separate; although Hope initially follows her, she eventually just leaves him behind as well. When the group reconvenes by chance, Lightning resolves to head to Eden and destroy its fal'Cie, as she refuses to die as one of their tools. Once again Hope is the only one to follow her, as Vanille and Sazh aimlessly wander in the opposite direction. At first, Lightning is unwilling to have the young man tag along with her, worried he would only slow her down. In her frustration and anger at having to look after him, she inadvertently summons her Eidolon, Odin, who attacks the teenager. The two defeat the Eidolon together, which seems to finally persuade Lightning to have faith in the boy and help him "toughen up."

Lightning and Hope make their way to the Gapra Whitewood, where she lets him take the lead while she acts as his backup. Later, she gives him the knife Serah gave to her as a birthday present for his protection. Hope reveals to Lightning the grudge he holds against Snow for his mother's death, and she helps him to devise 'Operation Nora' to keep him focused but immediately regrets it after he calls it his plan for revenge. After they escape the Gapra Whitewood and see Palumpolum in the distance, Lightning suggests that she and Hope visit his house, in order to change his mind about revenge and also because he needs to tell his father about his mother's death.

The city is littered with PSICOM and Sanctum officers, so Lightning and Hope are forced underground to avoid capture. When they reach the Nutriculture Complex and Lightning sees the fal'Cie, Carbuncle, she has a revelation: she has always been a fal'Cie pawn, even before becoming a l'Cie; and in having that comfort taken from her, she wrongly turned to blindly fighting to avoid facing reality. Realizing she had dragged Hope into the same delusion, Lightning tells Hope to abandon Operation Nora, and as she relives her guilt for not believing Serah when told she was a l'Cie, Lightning reassures Hope that she will not abandon him. Later after Lightning reveals to Hope why she changed her name for Serah's sake, she blames herself for him being confused and willing to give up now that they no longer have a plan in mind.

The two ride an elevator back to the surface, where they are immediately surrounded by soldiers led by Yaag Rosch, who intend to execute them publically. Lightning attempts to convince Hope to save himself while she distracts the army, but at the last moment, Snow and Fang intervene with their own gunfire and use of Snow's Eidolon. Lightning forces Hope to run with Snow, while she escapes with Fang. They decide on Hope's home in Felix Heights as their rendezvous point using Fang's wireless device, but before Lightning can warn Snow about Hope's grudge against him, the latter reveals his intention to complete Operation Nora, and they are cut off before Lightning can attempt to reason with him. On their journey, Lightning learns that Fang is not only a l'Cie as well, but originally from Gran Pulse: she and Vanille were crystallized centuries before, but woke up in the Bodhum Vestige without knowing why. Although Lightning is angry at Fang and backhands her when she learns of the woman's involvement in Serah's tranformation, she then says that the act of aggression didn't change anything, taking into account Fang's assurance that Serah will wake from crystal stasis just as they had.

The two women reunite with Snow and Hope at Felix Heights, where Snow was badly injured from a fall while protecting Hope. Lightning gets her knife back from Hope, then embraces him, promising to protect him before he promises to do the same for her in return. At Hope's house, Lightning looks after Snow and tends to his injuries. When he finally awakens, she explains the pain she felt for not trusting Serah and then apologizes to him for her behavior towards him and his relationship with Serah, which he gladly accepts. However, their conciliation is interrupted by the need to figure out what to do next. Hope's father shoots several holes in their main plan, but while they continue to discuss the issue, the house is attacked by PSICOM troops, once again led by Colonel Rosch. He tells the l'Cie that although he personally doesn't agree with hunting them and everything else Pulse-related down, it is what the people want. However, chaos suddenly ensues, and the l'Cie are rescued by the Cavalry ship the Lindblum.

Aboard, they learn Sazh and Vanille are being held captive on the Palamecia and Lightning recognizes that the Sanctum are trying to draw them out of hiding. Regardless, going after the two happens to line up with another mission: confronting the Sanctum Primarch, Galenth Dysley. After meeting up with Sazh and Vanille, they confront Dysley, who abruptly reveals himself to be fal'Cie Barthandelus. He tells them something both baffling and crushing to their cause: their Focus is not to save Cocoon, but to destroy it by turning into Ragnarok, and that Serah's true Focus was also only to gather them together for that purpose. Shocked, the party is forced to flee while on a smaller ship while the Palamecia falls, which autopilots them to safety but hits a gate, leading into the Fifth Ark.

Within the Fifth Ark, the l'Cie's powers are fully awakened. Snow apologises to Lightning for being wrong about Serah's Focus, but she insists that they have to honor Serah's wishes and save Cocoon, even if it isn't their Focus. After some time, the run into Cid Raines, who further explains that as a Sanctum l'Cie marked by Barthandelus, he was aiding them as part of his secret Focus, and that the fal'Cie intend to destroy Cocoon as their plan to bring back their Maker. However, Raines denies his Focus and tries to kill them to save his home; although the l'Cie defeat him, most of them are inspired to and defy the fal'Cie in the same way he did... except Fang, who claims she will complete their Focus herself, inadvertently summoning her Eidolon, Bahamut, for the first time. Regardless, the others protect Fang despite her rebellion, and Lightning asks her to fight with them, which she eventually agrees to.

The group finds a ship with a transgate leading to Gran Pulse, which they take hoping to find answers on the world below. But Pulse is completely devoid of human life, and the party begins to lose their resolve. As their brands continue advancing, Hope despairs and inadvertently summons Alexander, but Lightning encourages Hope, telling him that the Eidolon represents his inner power. After taming Alexander, the party agrees to journey to Oerba together so that they can find a way to remove their l'Cie brands, and they travel through the Archylte Steppe. After going through the Mah'habara Subterra, the party stops to take a break in the Skyreach of the Sulyya Springs. Lightning and Snow drift away from the rest of the party and talk about Serah. For the first time, Lightning asks Snow about their planned wedding, and promises him that they will see Serah again soon before shedding silent tears behind him. Then Snow promises Lightning that they will see her together, after they save Cocoon. In Oerba, the party is surprised to see Serah there, reciting the legend of Ragnarok. Lightning is suspicious, and bids Serah to stop, but the girl tauntingly reveals Lightning's real name: Claire. Snow steps in between them and it is revealed that Serah is truly Dysley in disguise, trying to manipulate the party into completing their Focus and his bidding. Lightning leads the assault against him before they take an airship back to Cocoon, knowing Barthandelus has wreaked chaos and havoc in the capital, Eden.

Sazh manages to crash the airship into the Eden Grand Prix, where Lightning rides Odin in Gestalt Mode to escape the Sanctum and infiltrate the city, heading for Eden's heart, Orphan's Cradle. They find that the chaos was a ruse, but approach Barthandelus in the Narthex Throne, where he summons the crystallized Dajh and Serah before the party and destroys them, much to their horror. However, Lightning quickly sees through Barthandelus' illusion and implores Snow to remain strong and keep fighting. In trying to force Vanille and Fang to become Ragnarok, Lightning and the others are easily dispatched and turned into Cie'th. It is only when they relive their previous experiences that they manage to return to their human forms, overcoming Barthandelus' tricks. They defeat Orphan and begin turning into crystal as Cocoon falls from the sky. Lightning is crystallized along with the rest of the party at the foot of Cocoon.

They awake briefly afterwards, where they see that Vanille and Fang have managed to fulfill their Focus by both saving and destroying Cocoon by encasing it in crystal. As Serah and Dajh approach the party from the horizon and have their moments with Snow and Sazh, Lightning comforts Hope regarding Vanille and Fang's departure then reunites with Serah herself. Though she begins to apologize to her sister for not listening to her, it is cut short when Snow reminds them that they "have a wedding to plan." Snow then reassures Lightning that he will make Serah happy, Lightning says that she knows he will, and congratulates them.

Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-
Immediately after the ending of the game, Lightning decides to find a way to save Vanille and Fang from the crystal pillar. She believes that they will be able to find the answer hidden away somewhere on Gran Pulse, and perhaps discover other Pulsian survivors in the process. However, Lightning worries about the fact that they are no longer l’Cie, and believes it will be a very long and difficult journey. She decides to take up the task on her own, after coming to the conclusion that Snow, Hope, and Sazh would all be tied down with other responsibilities and would not be able to accompany her.

Feeling the need to depart quickly, Lightning quietly leaves the others behind, and suddenly feels a strange force driving her forwards. She then disappears into a warp of some sort, and finds herself in a mysterious empty dimension which is devoid of life and dislodged from time. Asking herself where she is trying to go, she slowly walks forward into the darkness.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
A direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII was confirmed at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere. In a very short trailer, taking place after the events of -Episode i-, Lightning was shown in Valkyrie-like armor, and what appears to be a modified version of her Blazefire Saber. A new male character she is seen back to back with is said to be her rival.

In Battle
Lightning majors in the Commando, Ravager, and Medic roles. Compared to most of her companions, she has rather high physical and magical attack stats, though her weapons give her the lowest stat boosts. Magic-wise, Lightning is quite utilitarian, able to use all four elemental "-strike" attacks, all elemental magic to the "-Ra" rank, as well as casting Thundaga. Lightning's Full ATB Skill, Army of One, increases the target's Stagger gauge.
 * Base Statistics

Eidolon
Lightning's Eidolon Odin takes the form of a large armored knight with a two-bladed sword joined at the hilt, and in Gestalt Mode is able to transform into the horse Sleipnir, which Lightning rides on while wielding Odin's sword split into two. In non-Gestalt form Odin uses a combination of Thunder based spells and physical attacks. Lightning has multiple ways to help with both her Ravager role to boost the enemies' chain gauge, and her Commando role to keep the gauge high.

Weapons
See Lightning's Gunblades

Voice
Lightning is voiced by Ali Hillis in the English release of Final Fantasy XIII. In the Japanese release, Lightning is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto, who previously voiced Aerith Gainsborough in Advent Children, Crisis Core, and the Kingdom Hearts series.

Development
Early in development, Lightning was meant to be a flirtatious character with more sex appeal. In order to make Lightning a more 'serious' heroine in the veins of previous heroes Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart, Fang's character - which was originally a man - was rewritten as a woman, and some of Lightning's traits were transferred to her. Though Lightning's real name is eventually revealed to be Claire, it was originally "Averia", referring to a species of flowering plants. At this stage, "Éclair" was used during auditions in place of Averia to keep the name secret.

Lightning's appearance has also developed greatly from its initial concept. Square released an initial CG render of Lightning before any of the other characters were seen; when the rest of the cast were revealed, Square released another render of Lightning, with some notable differences from the initial release. In the early materials she had slightly less feminine traits, her hair was a faded crimson color rather than pale pink, and her eye color was a much lighter shade of blue. Though her outfit remains the same, its overall color scheme was lightened ever so slightly.

Lightning's house was originally meant to be a visitable location in the game, but ended up being cut from the final product. Concept art from Ultimania Omega shows Lightning lives in a peanut-shaped house standing over water, and a portion of the roof opens up.

Musical Themes
In Final Fantasy XIII, "Lightning's Theme" is an acoustic orchestral variant of the main battle theme, "Blinded By Light". Her theme displays the fragile interior that she tries to suppress. It plays when she outlines her plan to take down the Sanctum at the Vile Peaks, inadvertently helps Hope form Operation Nora, tells Hope about why she changed her name, and when Fang educates her about how a l'Cie brand works. The melody is interwoven with many different tracks and appears in several different forms in the game, appropriate for the main character.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy


Lightning will appear as a playable character in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. She battles with a fighting style based on the Paradigm Roles Commando, Ravager and Medic. Pressing L and R at the same time changes her role and her moveset between the three. She uses Odin's Zantetsuken blades to deal HP attacks, which are based on Odin's Gestalt Mode attacks. Her EX Mode is to wield the Omega Weapon, and she uses Zantetsuken as her EX Burst. One of her alternate costumes gives her white hair and a more subdued color scheme for her outfit to match her concept art by Yoshitaka Amano. A second alternate costume gives her the generic female Guardian Corps uniform. Her third outfit puts her in the outfit of Aya Brea, the protagonist of The 3rd Birthday, another Square Enix game (Lightning's outfit will appear in The 3rd Birthday as a downloadable costume for Aya).

Nomura and his staff originally wanted to include Lightning in the original Dissidia Final Fantasy, but ultimately decided to leave her out to avoid revealing her abilities before Final Fantasy XIII was released. Nomura later stated he personally would include Sazh in a Dissidia sequel over Lightning, but his only request was for Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV; both he and Lightning, along with Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII, were the first three new characters confirmed for Dissidia 012.

Itadaki Street Mobile
Lightning is set to appear in the upcoming Itadaki Street Mobile. So far, she is the only Final Fantasy XIII character to appear in the game.

Kingdom Hearts
Lightning appears as an avatar in the Nintendo DS Kingdom Hearts game Kingdom Hearts Re:coded.

The 3rd Birthday
In the The 3rd Birthday, the main character Aya Brea has several different outfits she can wear. One of these being Lightning's outfit. Just like any other outfit for her in the game, this outfit can be torn up as she takes damage. Lightning's l'Cie marking can be revealed as more damage is done to this outfit. She can also use Lightning's Blazefire Saber, as she is seen using it in Gun mode.

Etymology
"Claire" is a French name, the feminine form of the common name Clair. As the feminine name, Claire directly translates as "clear", while Clair can mean light-colored, bright, and pale, among other meanings. "Éclair" is a French word that means "Lightning," but is more commonly associated with a type of pastry, which may explain why she is renamed "Claire" in the Western releases. The surname "Farron" comes from the Gaelic language, meaning "thunder." The combination of the two references thunder coming after the lightning.

Trivia

 * Excluding spin-offs and sequels, Lightning is the second central female protagonist in the main series after Terra Branford of Final Fantasy VI, as well as the first central protagonist to wear a cape since Terra.
 * A special edition PlayStation 3 featuring an image of Lightning was released on December 17th in Japan.
 * On the day of the US release of Final Fantasy XIII, a special edition Xbox 360 featuring Lightning on a faceplate was released. The faceplate is only available through pre-order on certain websites and stores.
 * Lightning's initial weapon, Blazefire Saber, has multiple inscriptions that read "Invoke my name - I am Spark" and "blinding instant" written in the Pulsian alphabet. In Cocoon writing, her name, Lightning, is also engraved on the weapon.
 * As a character, Lightning closely resembles a Red Mage; using weapons, Black Magic, and White Magic in conjunction, although not excelling greatly in one of those particular aspects.
 * The higher of the two armbands that Lightning wears is also worn by her sister, Serah. Both wear it on their right bicep.
 * Lightning's Eidolith crystal takes the shape of a pink rose bloom, and red petals can be seen when she summons Odin and then changes it into Sleipnir in Gestalt Mode.
 * Lightning appears in Dissidia Final Fantasy as a set of two player icons to represent Final Fantasy XIII, along with Noctis for Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Ace for Final Fantasy Type-0, though these icons can only be obtained through passwords.
 * In Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-, it is mentioned that Lightning is better at housework than Serah but that Serah is a better cook.
 * In her official CG render, Lightning is not wearing her lightning bolt necklace.
 * Lightning's eye color has been officially addressed as blue, though in the FMVs and promotional art they often appear to be green due to green aspects around the pupil.
 * On December 14 2010 all Japanese Square Enix Members accounts with an 'Ultimate' status on their name received a special Christmas present from Tetsuya Nomura: an art plate with an original illustration of Lightning with the text, "She must not be forgotten."
 * Lightning's appearance in Final Fantasy XIII-2 was designed by Isamu Kamikokuryo in cooperation with Tetsuya Nomura, who drew a rough outline of her armor. Kamikokuryo then added a number of details.
 * Lightning, along with Cid Raines, are the only l'Cie that never have their l'Cie brands revealed onscreen during the events of Final Fantasy XIII.