Is Lightning a successful character?

[Razberry Knight]

Well I dont know how she is in XIII but saying this only from duodecim she didnt seem that cold. She ended up opening herself and all but she was a bitch to laguna xD. Well She kind of developed a liking for kain and showed some selflessness. So I guess she is not a bad character.. And I dont see where are the similarities to Cloud taking into consideration only 012.

She's pretty mellow in duodecim. I can tolerate her in there. But thats about it

I think it's unfair to base a character on Dissidia - It was just a compilation game, not a canon series title nor where the characters in their storylines.

As for Lightning, This is a really tricky one as you have to divide her from the poor executed story form the game. I generally have no problem with her in Final Fantasy XIII-1, Yes she was cold at first, but so was Squall and I regard him in my top 5. She does express herself well through out the game and you see her feelings develop. But unfortunately a lot of this feels separated from the plot which was presented in such a sloppy manner. I should also state that I refused to read any of the novellas or datalogs for extra information. You shuoldn't have to as the game has enough cutscenes, the story and depth should be presented in the game.

As for Lightning in XIII-2. The problem to me is that you rarely see her, She is not even in your party so her presence is hard to feel. I understand that you're meant to see her though Serah's eyes, but It just felt more distant to me. I would have rather continued as Lightning than played as Serah (All though I did like Noel and his conflict with Caius.) - So becuase of XIII-2 I do feel quite distant from her now. Will my mind be changed when she comes back into the foreground for this new game... I don't know... I was sorting to hoping to controlling a Team of Lightning. Hope and Noel in an XIII-3 game, but as we all know this new title is something else...

She comes around rather easily. But its like no personal development uappened in the game compared to the rest of the characters. The only ones i think were great were Hope and Sazh. And the very reason of being similar to cloud and squall is why people hate her. She's not original.

 

[Kuja9001]

And the very reason of being similar to cloud and squall is why people hate her. She's not original.

Cloud & Squall aren't original themselves.


Mod edit: @Kuja9001
Hi, it would be great if you could elaborate more on your point. Short posts like this can be considered as spam and off-topic. Please watch your other posts too. I have noticed that they are also one-liners. Thanks for your understanding.

 

[Catnip]

Well, yeah. I'd say she's successful. Look at this thread.

I like her. She only respects those who can be respected, by her definition. Which is probably arrogant, but I think it's completely fine. Self-entitlement can be a respectable trait, in my opinion. Life's what you make it, right? Right. So fuck.

 

[Starships]

Cloud & Squall aren't original themselves.

What the F ? How Cloud and Squall not original ? I've never seen a hero ever in the media that has mental breakdowns because he's been injected with a demon alien cells. Somebody who believes that opening up to people and others and having hope is stupid.

Name 20 other characters made before [ not after ] 1997 and 1999 that are SO like Cloud and Squall.


Can't think of anybody ? Yeah that's what I thought.


Meanwhile Lightning that girl who is SOOO AMAZING IN EVERY-WAAY is she a huge cliche ? Hell yes. She looks like Cloud and acts like the woman version of Squall.

 

[Razberry Knight]

Cloud & Squall aren't original themselves.

We havent seen any character like them in ff up until 13. Or at least the lwad character

 

[mattbgamer]

I have read all of your posts and I have to agree that she is a successful character. But I also agree that they could have worked on here personality a little more. I mean I understand she is the type of character who is cold and calcutating because that is the way her life has made her into, but after all that had happened to her you would hope she could show just a little bit more emotion and feelings other than "I want to take control of my own destiny".

I just hope with this last game she will be shown as the character we all want her to be.

 

[Catnip]

I think they could have also worked on that voice acting. Jesus fucking Christ, was that some terrible voice work or what?

 

[mattbgamer]

Well in my opinion since SE has started doing voice acting in FF games they haven't been the best, especially with the main characters. One word out of Tidus's mouth was more than enough for me. I dont know why they always have the crappiest main character voice actors but most of the sub characters are amazing. Like I liked Sazh and Fang, and a few others.

 

[Catnip]

One word out of Tidus's mouth was more than enough for me

lmao that's awesome.

Yeah voices like Matt McKenzie. He was a good one. Very unique sounding as well. Tara Strong was a good idea too. I don't know who casts these people but they have either incredible great taste and terribly shitty taste as the same time.

 

[kratoscar2008]

What the F ? How Cloud and Squall not original ? I've never seen a hero ever in the media that has mental breakdowns because he's been injected with a demon alien cells. Somebody who believes that opening up to people and others and having hope is stupid.

Name 20 other characters made before [ not after ] 1997 and 1999 that are SO like Cloud and Squall.


Can't think of anybody ? Yeah that's what I thought.


Meanwhile Lightning that girl who is SOOO AMAZING IN EVERY-WAAY is she a huge cliche ? Hell yes. She looks like Cloud and acts like the woman version of Squall.

Yeah after Squall and Cloud came to existance we finally started to get different kind of characters appart from the justice loving/happy go lucky/right to do/caring for others kind of JRPG heroes, the thing with Lightning is that doesnt have any justificable reason whatsoever to been a pain in the ass to deal with.

Just the fact that SE decided to refine her personality pretty much tells you that the character has been a big fail, the reason that she is popular is just because you love to hate her and people love to defend her and its a never ending cycle that make her successful at some level but the fact that she is a mediocre character (Pretty much like the whole party) cant be denied (Is the general consensus folks).

 

[Martel]

Name 20 other characters made before [ not after ] 1997 and 1999 that are SO like Cloud and Squall.

Video game characters, or just characters in general? The latter would be VERY easy, because the tropes that Cloud and Squall embody are much, MUCH older than the characters themselves. I could easily name 20 characters from books and/or films. Video games, not so much, but then, video games didn't become hugely popular until the PS1 generation (whichever generation that is; I forget...might be third) and people didn't pay as much attention. There might be some out there, the problem is nobody on this forum has played them. Offhand, I can't think of any, but that generation is the one I started with, so it's not surprising. But just because they're not easily named doesn't mean they aren't out there somewhere. Maybe not 20, but I'd be willing to bet there are a few.

Cloud and Squall were original for their time, at least in context. Lightning's problem is that she doesn't have a shred of originality...or perhaps that is her greatest strength. The fact that she's just Cloud with pink hair and tits probably makes her appealing to a wider audience: both those who can remember Cloud, and those who can't but are fanboys and, for some reason I will NEVER be able to figure out, find her attractive. She has plenty of plus points in aesthetics and reference, just nothing that she can call her own. This makes her a successful character in media, but not a successful character in the sense that she really adds to the JRPG genre, or sets a new boundary. The only boundary she sets is for how bad central protagonists can be.

 

[Starships]

Video game characters, or just characters in general? The latter would be VERY easy, because the tropes that Cloud and Squall embody are much, MUCH older than the characters themselves. I could easily name 20 characters from books and/or films.

Alrighty then Happy. Name them. Name 20 characters that are just like Squall and name 20 characters just like Cloud. Created before 97 and 99.

​

 

[Martel]

Alrighty then Happy. Name them. Name 20 characters that are just like Squall and name 20 characters just like Cloud. Created before 97 and 99.

​

Click here and here, and follow the tropes relating to the characters to see other examples; it explains things much better than I could. My point is that the most notable example of an angsty character archetype in a video game is not the first incidence of the character archetype overall at the very least. Originality is dead. It's been dead for LONG before FFVII came into the picture.

...yeah, this is me being lazy because I can't be arsed. I said I COULD do it, not that I wanted to, or would bother to satisfy people's curiosity.

Oh, and for reference, here is FFXIII's page. Just to stay on topic.

 

[Starships]

Click here and here

That's not really naming characters that are alike Cloud or Squall. That's sort of cheating, and plus some Tropes are newer than others. Plus one trope doesn't equal that every character listed underneath that trope is the same. Example I looked under " Deadpan Snarker " and are you really, really, really saying that Kuzco from the Emperors New Groove is exactly like Cloud Strife ? Oh wow; I didn't know that Cloud was a arrogant king that transformed into a Llama... oh gheez you learn something everyday..



Is Sephiroth the evil woman that tries to transform him into that Llama ?

[ speaking of Deadpan Snarkers...:dave:]

 

[Omegadruid]

I just do not get one thing.. how exactly are Squall and Lightning similar? Fighting, overall style and appearance for sure but not personality I think.
Cloud CC: A bright and nice young man with dreams and a prospect of future.
Cloud FF7: Here he adopted the personality of Zack, well not Zack exactly but what he thought Zack was. The elitist attitude but still helping the innocent and the those who need protection aka Aeris. Following trhe events of the game and the unraveling of his true persona he is a know more calm and less talkative but he is very grateful that his friends forgave him and he is determined to fight Sephiroth. He has his high moments of displaying his emotions.
FF AC: I already talked about him here.. This is where he deals with all the shit that's happened to him, he developed Geostigma and all..Well for a better explanation check the "Cloud isnt "emo"" thread on FF7 forum.

How exactly is Light similar to him.. Apparently she is a cold hearted arrogant character who doesnt give a shit about anyone, well atleast until she "develops" a bit more. Enlighten me.

 

[Catnip]

That's not really naming characters that are alike Cloud or Squall. That's sort of cheating, and plus some Tropes are newer than others. Plus one trope doesn't equal that every character listed underneath that trope is the same. Example I looked under " Deadpan Snarker " and are you really, really, really saying that Kuzco from the Emperors New Groove is exactly like Cloud Strife ? Oh wow; I didn't know that Cloud was a arrogant king that transformed into a Llama... oh gheez you learn something everyday..



Is Sephiroth the evil woman that tries to transform him into that Llama ?

[ speaking of Deadpan Snarkers...:dave:]

HAHA FUCK!

You're one of my favourites. I'm repping the shit out of you for this, holy fuck. You're a king.

 

[Razberry Knight]

I just do not get one thing.. how exactly are Squall and Lightning similar? Fighting, overall style and appearance for sure but not personality I think.
Cloud CC: A bright and nice young man with dreams and a prospect of future.
Cloud FF7: Here he adopted the personality of Zack, well not Zack exactly but what he thought Zack was. The elitist attitude but still helping the innocent and the those who need protection aka Aeris. Following trhe events of the game and the unraveling of his true persona he is a know more calm and less talkative but he is very grateful that his friends forgave him and he is determined to fight Sephiroth. He has his high moments of displaying his emotions.
FF AC: I already talked about him here.. This is where he deals with all the shit that's happened to him, he developed Geostigma and all..Well for a better explanation check the "Cloud isnt "emo"" thread on FF7 forum.

How exactly is Light similar to him.. Apparently she is a cold hearted arrogant character who doesnt give a shit about anyone, well atleast until she "develops" a bit more. Enlighten me.

They are all strongbwilled at first and give off a cold persona. Lets not take account of CC and AC. Lets only take consideration of the game he was introduced in.

Anyways...even if lightning wasnt original at all. I can forgive it, but only if she gave enough reason she is for wjat she is. Vincent valentine was a silent cold character aswell. But the differnce is he ahad a good compelling past to back it up.

Lightning is not only not original, but cliche. She lost her parents and thats the one and only reason why she acts all tough. Her entire persona was born from that.

 

[Omegadruid]

Well you know but the "cold" Cloud was really the idea that Cloud had of Zack and he was impersonating him. The elitist atittude and all. So its not fair to say that Cloud has that characteristic.

 

[Razberry Knight]

Well you know but the "cold" Cloud was really the idea that Cloud had of Zack and he was impersonating him. The elitist atittude and all. So its not fair to say that Cloud has that characteristic.

He had it in AC too. Sure he was worried about being forgiven but he still gave a lot of people the cold shoulder.

 

[Kuja9001]

What the F ? How Cloud and Squall not original ? I've never seen a hero ever in the media that has mental breakdowns because he's been injected with a demon alien cells. Somebody who believes that opening up to people and others and having hope is stupid.

Name 20 other characters made before [ not after ] 1997 and 1999 that are SO like Cloud and Squall.


Can't think of anybody ? Yeah that's what I thought.


Meanwhile Lightning that girl who is SOOO AMAZING IN EVERY-WAAY is she a huge cliche ? Hell yes. She looks like Cloud and acts like the woman version of Squall.

Squall is pretty much a better developed version of cloud minus the alien parts.
Read this

Squall is kind of similar to Guts from Berserk.