Lightning

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Final Fantasy XIII. (Discuss)

Lightning

CG render of Lightning
Series	Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII
First game	Final Fantasy XIII
Created by	Motomu Toriyama
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voiced by	Maaya Sakamoto[1]
Fictional information
Weapon	Blaze Edge

Lightning (ライトニング, Raitoningu^?) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the the video game Final Fantasy XIII. She was created by Motomu Toriyama, the game's director and scenario writer, and designed by Tetsuya Nomura.

Concept and creation

Motomu Toriyama wanted Lightning to be a new type of female character, with an athlete's body and a less feminine nature than some of the previous female characters of Final Fantasy.^[2][3] His guideline to Tetsuya Nomura to make her "strong and beautiful", "someone like a female version of Cloud from FFVII".^[2][4] Multiple designs were considered for her, including some designed by other staff members.^[4] Some of her original characteristics were blonde hair and Asian-looking features.^[4][5] Nomura defines Lightning as "serious", "unforgiving", "relentless" and "a kind of individualistic person", in direct contrast with Snow Villiers' passionate nature.^[6] The final art was made less Asian-looking than originally conceived, while the blond hair color was given to Hope Estheim in favor of a pinker color.^[4][5] She is 21 years old in the game.^[7]

While serving Toriyama's intent, Nomura tried not to make her too masculine as he felt players would have difficulties associating emotionally with her otherwise. Lightning's hairstyle and hot pink hair color were made to reflect this more feminine side of her. Although Nomura explained that she is essentially a "cool character" and that "you can't have a cool character without sex appeal",^[4] it was also stated that Lightning's sexy aspect was transfered to Oerba Yun Fang when the latter character's design changed from being a male character to a female.^[5] The game's producer Yoshinori Kitase also commented on the difficulty of balancing Lightning's depiction, as she is both a woman and a professionally trained warrior. He noted that Maaya Sakamoto's voice acting helped bring out Lightning's feminity.^[1]

Lightning's name continues a tradition of naming Final Fantasy protagonists with names related to the weather or skies. The name was not chosen by Nomura, who was surprised by it, as he was thinking about stopping this naming tradition.^[4] According to Toriyama, there is "a strong element of mystery about her character".^[8]

Battle skills

Lightning's weapon is a Blaze Edge (ブレイズエッジ, Bureizu Ejji^?), a fictional cross between a gun and a sword used by experimented soldiers.^[9] It has sometimes been called a gunblade by the gaming press in reference to the weapon which appeared in Final Fantasy VIII, although the Blaze Edge is able to shoot bullets from a distance, unlike the other weapon. Early in development, Lightning also had a Gravity Bomb device at her disposal, which could be used to generate an electrical shield in battle or manipulate time and gravity.^[8][10]

Early in the game, and like the other playable characters, Lightning becomes a l'Cie, a being magically marked by the god-like "fal'Cie" creatures to do their bidding. Lightning's mark appears as a tattoo on the covered part of her chest;^[11] it grants her superhuman strength as well as a rose-shaped crystal which she can use to summon the Eidolon Odin. In battle, Lightning can command Odin to turn into a horse-like creature that she mounts, taking up his double-bladed sword for a short amount of time.^[12] Her strongest unique special attack is called Scene Drive.

Appearances

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Prior to the release of Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning was considered for inclusion in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, a crossover game released for the 20th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series. However, the idea was scrapped due to it putting restriction on her abilities in Final Fantasy XIII. However, an image of her was included as a special "player icon".^{[citation needed]}

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise

Episode Zero: Promise is a series of web novellas written by Jun Eishima, depicting the thirteen days leading up to the events of the main game.^[13][14] The first part of the series, titled "Encounter", sees Lightning opposing the engagement of her younger sister Serah Farron to Snow Villiers, the leader of the rebel group Team Nora.^[13]

Though her given name is a mystery, Lightning's family name is Farron. After her parents died, she chose the name of "Lightning" as a means to escape the vulnerabilities and insecurities of her former self and in order to become a different person -- strong enough to care for her young sister Serah.

Final Fantasy XIII

This section requires expansion.

Sneaking into a train holding those who are to be Purged from Cocoon, Lightning fights her way through the cars with Sazh rallying the Purgees as PSICOM sends its forces after the train and derail it at Harden Edge. As the surviving Purgees escape and are found by Team Nora, Lightning presses forward to Pulse's fal'Cie, Anima, with the intent on killing it. Joined by Snow, who attempts to beg for Serah's return, along with Hope and Vanille, two of the surviving Purgees, Lightning finds Anima and provokes it. Though she defeats it with Snow and Sazh's aid, Anima marks her and the others as l'Cie before destroying Harden Edge.

Over the course of the game, Lightning strives to deal with her nature as a L'Cie while eventually learning her Focus is to stop the Santum. Though she defeats Sactum's leader and the the fal'Cie Ophan, Lightning is allowed to continue her life as a human as she and Snow are reunited with Serah.

Merchandise

This section requires expansion.

Reception

This section requires expansion.

References

External links

• ‹ The template below (Wikia) is being considered for deletion. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›

Lightning on Final Fantasy Wiki, an external wiki