Lightning

[Jonathan]

Lightning (ライトニング Raitoningu?) is the key protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels, serving as a primary protagonist in XIII, a supporting character of XIII-2 and the sole playable character of Lightning Returns. Born as Claire Farron, or Éclair Farron (エクレール・ファロン Ekurēru Faron?) in the original Japanese-language version, she lost her parents when she was 15 years old. Claire takes on her codename of Lightning to become a stronger person to help her younger sister Serah, only to cause tensions between them as a result. In the first game, she is a former Sanctum soldier who sets out to save her sister from the fal'Cie, then strives to save Cocoon from destruction. At the beginning of XIII-2, she is whisked away to Valhalla, capital of the Unseen World,[54] to act as the Goddess Etro's protector, sending messages to her allies and guiding Serah through time to put things right. She fails, causing the death of Etro and the release of chaos, a dark energy kept trapped by the goddess.

[Jonathan]

In Lightning Returns, Lightning ends up serving the god Bhunivelze as the savior for the inhabitants of Nova Chrysalia during its final days, fighting old friends and enemies alike to save their souls. She is voiced by Ali Hillis in English and by Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese.

[Jonathan]

In Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero: Promise, a novel set before the main game, it is revealed that Lightning and Serah's parents died when they were young and Lightning worked hard so she could become a protector for her sister, but ended up neglecting her in the process.[39] A few days before the main events of the game, Lightning is saved by Snow and the other members of rebel group NORA from an attack by dangerous wildlife. Despite this, Lightning objects to the group's activities, and Snow's relationship with Serah.[40] Lightning realizes too late, on her 21st birthday, that Serah has been branded as a l'Cie—a human cursed with magical powers and a task to complete within a time limit[41]—by the Pulse fal'Cie Anima, initially thinking that Serah was using it as an excuse to get married.[42] She then resigns her position as a member of the Guardian Corps and submits herself for the Purge, a forced relocation of citizens who have come into contact with Anima,[43] to save her sister.

[Jonathan]

In Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning advances on Anima to save her sister. Joined by Snow, along with Hope Estheim, Sazh Katzroy and Oerba Dia Vanille, three of the surviving exiles, Lightning finds Serah, who turns to crystal after asking them to save Cocoon. Lightning and the party defeats Anima, and they are marked as l'Cie when PSICOM, Cocoon's main military force, destroys the Vestige. Lightning, skeptical of Snow's faith to save her sister, abandons both him and Serah, still in crystal stasis: the pair are later rescued by Oerba Yun Fang and the Cavalry, a rogue section of Cocoon's military forces. After an airstrike, Lightning ends up traveling with Hope. During their time together, she inadvertently summons Odin, then trains Hope to fight against the Sanctum. From there, she learns of Hope's mother, Nora, and unwittingly helps support Hope's intention to kill Snow.

[Jonathan]

However, during a conversation with Hope, Lightning realizes that she is misdirecting her anger, partly stemming from being made an enemy of her homeworld,[44] and tells Hope to abandon his attempt on Snow.[45] During the course of the game, Lightning struggles to deal with her nature as a l'Cie and realizes that she had resented herself for distrusting her sister,[46] acknowledging Snow's relationship with Serah and his faith that they will restore her to normal as a result.[47] After killing the fal'Cie Orphan to save Cocoon, Lightning is allowed to continue her life as a human and ends the game reconciling with Serah, who has also been restored to normal.

[Jonathan]

In Final Fantasy XIII: Episode I, a short novel which takes place immediately after Cocoon's fall, Lightning, feeling uneasy about whether her battle is over or not, leaves to find a way to save Fang and Vanille from their fate. Before she leaves, she gives her blessing to Snow and Serah's marriage. Eventually, she finds herself caught in a dark void, but decides to keep moving forward.

[Jonathan]

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning disappears from Gran Pulse with everyone except Serah thinking she sacrificed herself to save Cocoon with Vanille and Fang.[49] In reality, Lightning was whisked away to Valhalla, capital of the Unseen Realm,[50] as a direct result of the Goddess Etro's intervening to release her and the other l'Cie from crystal stasis. This, in turn, causes the timeline to become distorted and Lightning to be erased from that moment in history.[51] Though tempted by Caius Ballad to return to her own world, she chooses to stay in Valhalla and accepts her new role as the dying Etro's protector, also hoping to atone for the deaths she caused during her time as a l'Cie.[52][53] It is she who instructs Noel Kreiss and Serah to stop Caius from releasing Valhalla's chaos into the world of the living and destroying time.[54] In her DLC episode, Requiem of the Goddess, Lightning is defeated by Caius after learning of her sister's death and her role in it, with Caius believing her dead.[55]

[Jonathan]

Though she nearly falls into despair, she is comforted by Serah's spirit, who reassures her that she knew what she was doing and asks Lightning not to forget her.[56] Vowing to not lose hope and remember Serah, Lightning sits on Etro's throne and enters crystal stasis, allowing her be unaffected as the chaos is released and reforms Gran Pulse in Valhalla's image.

[Jonathan]

In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning wakes from her crystal stasis five hundred years later in the world of Nova Chrysalia.[58] The world is set to end in thirteen days, and the god Bhunivelze chooses her to be the savior, a spiritual guide for the souls of humanity: in return, Lightning will get the chance to resurrect Serah.[59] She is aided by Hope, whom Bhunivelze has returned to his teenage form, and the two are stripped of their emotions so they can focus completely on their tasks.[60] During her journey, she frees her former allies of emotional burdens, reunites with Odin in the form of a white Chocobo, and frequently crosses paths with Lumina, a doppelganger of Serah and the physical manifestation of Lightning's vulnerabilities, which she forcibly suppressed when she took on her codename.[61] She also begins to doubt whether she is truly human anymore, and upon learning that Bhunivelze also stole Serah's soul from her and manipulated her memories, plans to betray him when the new world

[Jonathan]

is formed.[62][63] On the final day, Lightning fights Bhunivelze, who wishes to transform humanity into his ideal image and has been shaping Lightning as Etro's replacement.[64] Though prepared to fulfill her new role, Lightning accepts Lumina as a part of herself and calls for aid. Everyone she has saved, including Serah, unite with her and defeat Bhunivelze. Lightning then witnesses the creation of a new universe and goes with her allies and the souls of humanity to a new world. In the game's epilogue, she is seen in normal clothes going to reunite with her friends.