Is Lightning a successful character?

[SkyKiller17]

Saving her sister was part of the reasoning that i'm sure many can empathize. but the problem is that once she turned to crystal, their efforts just didn't seem so believable. .

Actually, I found her (and the other characters) attitude and behavior very realistic. When Serah turned to crystal it was over! The belief and understanding about fal-Cie and l-Cie are considered a curse. Lightning lost everything and since she believed she had no control decided to give up and just focus on fighting, which is what she attempted to train Hope to do. But when it was learned that Serah might wake up there was hope and Lightning's character changed!

Second, i genuinely believe she should've ended in the first. .

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Are you saying Lighting should have died at the end? I think if that happened it would have ruined and contradicted that last line she said to Orphan, about how their focus is to make the impossible, possible. Secondly, in ff2, it's obvious how screwed up things are with the attempt to erase Lightning from history. I'd say she is a very pivotal character, specifically for this story.

But what has all of this to do about whether or not she's successful as a character?

Lightning is the face of the Final Fantasy XIII series and the popularity of her character has spurred on the continuation of the series through XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. Clearly this indicates that she is a success both commercially and to the fans of the game series itself. Square Enix seems to have been spearheading a lot of their marketing through a "pioneer character" (see the upcoming Final Fantasy XV) in their later series, as such it was this exposure to Lightning which got fans on board (I'm not implying these fans were die-hard Final Fantasy lovers).

As I see it, that's the core of the issue since individual opinions on her character development isn't what's being discussed here.

^This is what always confused me, how many people express such harsh criticism about something that got awards, best sellers, sold all or most copies? It must not have been that bad considered how many people--in this instance--have purchased, played the game and created fan-made content as contribution!? If the question is being asked whether or not Lightning is a successful character, I say in terms of sells, gaming and business, the answer is yes. But whether or not a certain percentage of people disagree with that is irrelevant. Everyone will have their opinion and it will be different to others, even the person who created and developed what is being debated.

 

[Razberry Knight]

Actually, I found her (and the other characters) attitude and behavior very realistic. When Serah turned to crystal it was over! The belief and understanding about fal-Cie and l-Cie are considered a curse. Lightning lost everything and since she believed she had no control decided to give up and just focus on fighting, which is what she attempted to train Hope to do. But when it was learned that Serah might wake up there was hope and Lightning's character changed!

Lightning's personality is based on her parents disappearing. According to the novel, it was something pretty petty but since Lightning had to take care of Serah all alone and she once admired her father, she decided to take a cold personality and she overdid it to the point that she's cold to Serah too. Now...this isn't exactly "BAD" but it sort of just takes away from why Lightning is the way she is.

It shows us that Lightning is more petty than having to hold a burden of taking care of her sister. And then there's Serah...the key to the entire plot. Serah in FF13 was mostly a vague idealized character to save. We didn't really see why she was worth saving. To Lightning and Snow, perhaps due to the fact that Lightning is her sister and Snow was engaged to her, but dig deeper and that was potential for more scenes and really engage and sympathize. We've seen characters lose siblings and given up and kept it that way because they didn't want false hope.

Vanille to me is still an annoying character, her reasons are absurd at times. and i dont believe the idea that Vanille hides behind this persona. She hasn't changed even when we know about her. Hope hwoever was a very interesting character. Losing his mom...i just wish he showed alot more emotion early on.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Are you saying Lighting should have died at the end? I think if that happened it would have ruined and contradicted that last line she said to Orphan, about how their focus is to make the impossible, possible. Secondly, in ff2, it's obvious how screwed up things are with the attempt to erase Lightning from history. I'd say she is a very pivotal character, specifically for this story.

No....i believe that Lightning's character would've been better when they didn't make any sequels at all. In the end of FF13, she had potential to have a new personality, but in FF13-2 and LR:FF13 she devolved more and more.

This is what always confused me, how many people express such harsh criticism about something that got awards, best sellers, sold all or most copies? It must not have been that bad considered how many people--in this instance--have purchased, played the game and created fan-made content as contribution!? If the question is being asked whether or not Lightning is a successful character, I say in terms of sells, gaming and business, the answer is yes. But whether or not a certain percentage of people disagree with that is irrelevant. Everyone will have their opinion and it will be different to others, even the person who created and developed what is being debated.

What is a good way of showing is that FF13-2 (the sequel) had significantly lower sales. So was it a financial success? yes. Does it matter? no. But were the sequels a success? i'm going to say that SE knew they weren't going to be.

 

[Vivi-Gamer]

No....i believe that Lightning's character would've been better when they didn't make any sequels at all. In the end of FF13, she had potential to have a new personality, but in FF13-2 and LR:FF13 she devolved more and more.

My thoughts exactly. To me Final Fantasy XIII felt concluded, the notion to make it into sequel felt very forced, How just after the moment of XIII's ending a terrible tragedy struck and Lightning feel into a pit of abyss... It was just unbearably convoluted - Let alone where XIII-2 took the story with it's time traveling and then LR with it's world at the brink of extinction... it was just too much.

But what is really sad is how they destroyed everything they built with Lightning through the first game. She appeared ice cold towards everyone she encountered but as the game progresses you see her compassion and regret bloom into a humanized character. At the end of Final Fantasy XIII we had Claire, but beyond that, as soon as she feel into that pit after XIII-1, she was gone and completely deconstructed. In LR it is even worse as Lightning wakes up from her slumber and she is void of emotion - which they say is down to the God. It just felt so strange, I felt so disconnected from the character due to that.

 

[Busta]

Yeah, I believe Lightning was a great character and personality for her role, but people have to understand she's not Garnet, or Tifa, or Aeris, or Yuna. She's her own character. She's not a happy go lucky kinda girl who smiles and laughs and takes a dayoff to relax.

Lightning is all about getting stuff done. Mission, rescuing those she loves, and taking charge when she feels she knows the best way to go about solving a problem. I honestly don't think we've seen a female character with her personality yet in the FF series. She's the girl who someone could do that thing where they act like they are going to punch her in the face, and I bet she doesn't even flinch. She's got moments where she can let emotions take over, like in FFXIII-2 at times, but when family and friends are involved, isn't that human nature?

Lightning in my book, is a good and yes, successful character.

 

[Razberry Knight]

You see..I dont think she was for several reasons. Let me clarify Paine is a much more interesting character than Lightning. Paine had multiple sides being developed. So shes definitely an option First, I believe a character such as Lightning needs backstory to make her who she is. Lightning is cold-straight talker, get it done etc. But she clearly shows alot of emotion, specifically anger. Its not a bad archetype for characters but it feels like its just a second cloud and as a woman who gets tired of the typical female archetypes in final fantasy, you would expect Lightning to be one of my favorites...but because of her backstory, it just doesnt appear to be a character I would get behind on. It appears more on the maturity level of Tidus when it came to his father. Lightning just didn't have enough to justify her behavior. There was no personality altering event that really justifies who she is now.

The thing is Cloud was a character who was already a leader, by his supposed backstory of being an ex-SOLDIER. Lightning however has none of that....Lightning has the motivation but none of the merits to being leader.But nothing that helps her to get to who she is. And all she was leading was a group of kids and somewhat two imature adults. With that type of cast, she just wasnt a successful main character. And before anyone complains about cloud's party was similar, Tifa was tough and mature, and even though Baret had weird dialogue he was a genuine character too, Yuffie was optional, and at least Aerith was connectable.

Then of course there is 13-2 and 13-3 that make her one of the most inconsistent characters out there. Despite everything that shouted "Lightning was designed to be support", I probably could ignore it and move on. But unfortunately the sequels devolve her character more and more. At the end of 13, lightning had potential to be something more, but Lightnings character reverts to the cold and depressing personality, it was to the point that Lightning was dull.I believe if anyone defends Lightning it would be against their better judgement.

 

[Galadín]

You see..I dont think she was for several reasons. Let me clarify Paine is a much more interesting character than Lightning. Paine had multiple sides being developed. So shes definitely an option First, I believe a character such as Lightning needs backstory to make her who she is. Lightning is cold-straight talker, get it done etc. But she clearly shows alot of emotion, specifically anger. Its not a bad archetype for characters but it feels like its just a second cloud and as a woman who gets tired of the typical female archetypes in final fantasy, you would expect Lightning to be one of my favorites...but because of her backstory, it just doesnt appear to be a character I would get behind on. It appears more on the maturity level of Tidus when it came to his father. Lightning just didn't have enough to justify her behavior. There was no personality altering event that really justifies who she is now.

The thing is Cloud was a character who was already a leader, by his supposed backstory of being an ex-SOLDIER. Lightning however has none of that....Lightning has the motivation but none of the merits to being leader.But nothing that helps her to get to who she is.

Lightning does have a back story which gives us justification for the character she turns into. She lost her parents and raised herself and her sister all by her lonesome, that alone should justify the character we see during the course of FFXIII. She's been through hell already and taken great responsibility on her shoulders. This is why Lightning's guilt over not having protected Serah drives her to take charge of the situation. Her resolve and determination to right the wrongs, which we see later as the story progresses and the group becomes a cohesive unit, and prior training coupled with her willingness to shoulder responsibility made her a natural leader (Sazh differed to her from the get, Vanille and Hope are kids, Snow is Snow- 'nuff said- and Fang's only concern was Vanille, so who else would it have fallen to? ).

Lightning is not a cold, detached character. She has very deep emotions that she finds hard to express. At the beginning of the story, she is basically falling apart, the weight of her guilt is immense which is why she finds anger easier to deal with. It fuels her and she can use it. We see that she is the kind to rail against fate, a person who would fight to the bitter end rather than go out with a whimper. Her displays of anger stemming from her loss and guilt are not above reproach but in light the circumstances, we know where her behaviour is coming from; we can see her personality and the justifications for the person she is. Yes on the surface she can come across as being hard, but never devoid of emotion or caring.

And all she was leading was a group of kids and somewhat two imature adults. With that type of cast, she just wasnt a successful main character. And before anyone complains about cloud's party was similar, Tifa was tough and mature, and even though Baret had weird dialogue he was a genuine character too, Yuffie was optional, and at least Aerith was connectable.

The supporting team is neither here nor there when judging an individual character's personality. Just because it could be perceived that Lightning's entourage was less than ideal, this doesn't make her any less of a character. It just means her team sucked and she had less to work with.

 

[Busta]

In a way Lightning, looking back on the last couple posts, reminds me more of Squall than anyone else in the series; personality-wise. Squall was praised for God-knows-whatever reason, when his sense of humor, and personality were less entertaining than a cinder block. He sat back and let Zell be the jokester, let Rinoa and Irvine and Quistis (I think that was the librarian chick's name) kinda show all their colorful personalities. Squall resembled Lightning where he did not focus on anything except the mission at hand. Heck, even Rinoa wanted in his pants and he seemed blinded to that fact.

Now I haven't played Lightning Returns so I can't judge off of her performance in that game, but she carries almost a similar emotional consistancy from FFXIII to FFXIII-2. Her motivational reasons may have changed due to whoever needed saved, but her passion seemed to remain the same. She just didn't show it over the top like someone like say Tidus would as a main character, or even Tifa.

I know maybe comparing her to a male lead like Squall may be somewhat different to look at, but then think to Ashe in FFXII and she was also somewhat of a lead on the female side and her emotions always were kept under control for the most part and kept the calm of others in the group down at times.

 

[Razberry Knight]

@Galadin I'm not saying she had no backstory, I'm saying the backstory given doesn't justify who she is now...Yes Lightning lost her parents (in a really not so impressionable way). But this is where reality comes in...Lightning at her age wouldnt possibly be able to handle herself to the point that she got rich, was a jerk towards serah and all. Growing up fast doesn't mean becoming a jerk. Does it mean a loss of innocence? Perhaps...but it doesnt show in Lightning. Her life is really privileged.


Her taking charge doesn't appear to be out of guilt either. She was part of the military. Her Role of the leader and who she is leading does affect her as a character individually. Her little interaction showed she was heavily distant. The only thing that made her relevant was saving serah alongside snow but that puts her even more at the supporting character. Fang as much as she only cared about Vanille was at least talkative enough to humor the whole group.

And I never doubted she had strong emotions just that most of them were about the same thing. Now I dont see what you see...I dont see that anger fuels her to move forward or it coming from guilt. I don't see that because she stays the same way eveen after having room to develop throughout the story. Hate Hope all you want, but he had the most character development.

Lightning stays the same even when she claim she learned. She doesnt become compassionate, she continues to stay silent and talk whenever it was convenient. Rarely did she ever speak to the whole group. Others did the talking for her.

 

[The Witch]

No, not really. I think she is the worse character in the game, actually. it sucks though, i love her design and i love her character background (being a soldier) but her personality... the creators tried too hard to make her bad ass, it just feels forced.

 

[Ed Elric]

I never really like Lightning at all-- In my opinion, she wasn't a good character and she never appealed to me. Commercially, Lightning was a big success. Why else would they do the sequels-- her being the main character, if she wasn't? I also felt like Lightning contradicted herself. She was strong, but cold. She was the leader, but quiet. She wanted to save Serah..but then she didn't? I also felt like she never really took responsibility. Yeah, she is a soldier--but that's something she was trained to do. Her character alone imo, wouldn't have learned the responsibilities. She tended to blame others for what was going on.

Fang on the other hand.. She's a strong character and much more llikable than Lightning.

 

[The Witch]

i completely agree. Fang was FANTASTIC and she deserved to be the lead female imo. she was strong and bad ass without seeming like she was forced that way. she also has an awesome accent and awesome clothes

you're right about light blaming others, something i noticed with her character too.

 

[SquallKefka17]

Hmmm in terms of finance for Square she is. I liked light in FFXIII she reminded me of a female Squall another slightly moody character clearly holding back at emotions and snapping at people. But like Squall she felt like a proper warrior for all that for me all the steely warrior type lead characters had that in FF (Squall,Cloud,Cecil).

But turning her into a goddess and insisting she was their best character ever by Square made me turn on her slightly. Square didn't allow you to decide whether you like lightning or not they sorta insisted you just should. I liked the character she was in XIII not so much in Lightning Returns think I passed that to find out how XIII series ends more than anything.

 

[Phosphoric Ooze]

Lightning is the most badass female in Final Fantasy history so yes.

 

[Sunowo]

I think she's one of the best FF protagonists ever made, if not the best. So yes I believe she's pretty popular among fans.