Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)

""Maybe Cocoon is past saving, but it's our home. And we'll protect it or die trying! We live to make the impossible possible! That is our Focus!""

- —Lightning ""This solitary young woman speaks little of herself - even her true name is a mystery. She is known to others simply as 'Lightning'.""

- —Online Description

Lightning, real name Claire Farron (Eclair Farron in the Japanese version), is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, as well as the narrator and a temporary playable character in Final Fantasy XIII-2. In Final Fantasy XIII, she tries to save her younger sister, Serah, only to be turned into a l'Cie like her. She fights to survive and see Serah come out of crystal stasis. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning is now serving as a knight protecting the goddess Etro in Valhalla from her fated rival, Caius Ballad. 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.

Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning is a young woman with long, light pink hair, a heart-shaped face, and pale aqua-colored eyes. Lightning's eye color has been officially addressed as blue, though in the FMVs and promotional art they often appear green due to green aspects around the pupil. In Final Fantasy XIII, she wears a variation of the standard Guardian Corps uniform, consisting of a sleeveless white overcoat over a brown turtleneck shirt zipped up to the top, a green metallic pauldron over her left shoulder, the pauldron bearing yellow stripes symbolizing her previous rank as a sergeant. She wears a red cape attached to her uniform near her left shoulder blade, 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 that hangs from her waist and is 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 slightly above her left breast. The higher of the two armbands Lightning wears is also worn by her sister, Serah. Both wear it on their right bicep. Lightning is determined, concentrated and independent. Initially, she is a cold and standoffish person to others, often distancing herself from her companions; which stems primarily from her irritation over her refusal to believe her sister Serah's plight, as well as 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 Serah and his own failure to protect her as he promised. Lightning's early solution to things that annoy or upset her is to distance herself from them, either emotionally or physically. There are a few times when she attempts to reach out to her companions for help, but refusing to show any signs of weakness, she comes across to them as arrogant. Over time, however, Lightning does begin to show compassion and trust towards others, and sees the errors in her approach.

Her strong independent nature during the beginning of Final Fantasy XIII probably originates from her career in the Guardian Corps. Lightning appears as somewhat ruthless during the Purge, as she and Sazh Katzroy make their way through Cocoon as battle rages inside it. She seems to find it somewhat difficult to trust people. Nevertheless, Sazh followed Lightning as she just carried on with what she had to do regardless of his presence. Although she is annoyed with him at first, she eventually takes Hope Estheim under her wing, and shows him the ropes of battle. As she teaches him how to survive and look out for himself, she develops a bond with him as he becomes, in a way, almost like a little brother or son to her; and possibly as a result of seeing a bit of herself in him, she comes to confide in him and realize the mistakes she had made with Serah. Then she slowly begins to accept Snow and ultimately forgives him when she realizes he, too, cares deeply for Serah. By the time Lightning meets Fang, her rage at those who are fal'Cie slaves has dissipated, and her anger, despite finding out the woman's unwilling involvement in the situation, is short-lived. In the end, she becomes the leader and, to some degree, protector of the other Pulse l'Cie as they challenge their fate.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning wears a silver and gold Valkyrie-like suit of armor with a shield on her right arm. She also wears thigh-high armor boots, and over her left leg is a long sash made of white feathers, symbolizing her deep connection with Etro. She also has a new gunblade modified to look more like a traditional sword. The symbol with Etro script on Lightning's shield is also on Serah's dress, and both sisters wear an image of a golden bird on their outfits where their l'Cie brands used to be. Lightning wears the bird on her chestplate where her necklace used to be. Her new gunblade also has Etro script on the hilt below the blade. Due to her quest to save Serah and all of Cocoon, Lightning has learned to trust the people around her, and ask them for help when she knows that she cannot do something alone. She also expresses her emotions more, rather than keeping them bottled up inside her.