is a character from the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix, within the wider Final Fantasy series. She first appeared as a playable character and the main protagonist in the 2009 role-playing video game Final Fantasy XIII, in which she is a resident of the artificial world of Cocoon. After her sister Serah is declared an enemy of Cocoon, Lightning attempts to save her and is chosen by divine powers to destroy Cocoon. Lightning reappears as a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2, acting as protector of the Goddess Etro. She is the sole playable character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, wherein she sets out to save the people of her dying world. Outside the XIII series, Lightning has been featured in multiple Final Fantasy games and has cameo appearances in other video games.
Lightning was created by Motomu Toriyama, the director and scenario writer of XIII, and designed by regular Final Fantasy artist Tetsuya Nomura. The design goal was a character who was less feminine than previous Final Fantasy heroines in both appearance and personality. Aspects of her early design and personality were later altered, or transferred to other characters. After XIII, Lightning's design was revised several times to reflect her role and development in each game, particularly in Lightning Returns. Her real name in Japanese, Éclair Farron, was originally a placeholder. Because of her first name's association with a type of pastry, it was changed to "Claire" in other countries.
Lightning has received mixed commentary from critics, with focus on her cold personality, which was compared to that of Final Fantasy VIIs protagonist Cloud Strife. She was criticized for her relative absence in XIII-2. Her role in Lightning Returns met with mixed reception; some critics saw her as underdeveloped and unlikable, while others found her better developed and more human than in previous games. Lightning later appeared on lists, compiled by video game publications, of the best characters in the Final Fantasy series and in video games as a whole. She has been received favorably in polls of public opinion by Famitsu, Square Enix, and other organizations.
Character design
Lightning was created by Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama. Her character design was by regular Final Fantasy artist Tetsuya Nomura. Nomura said multiple designs—including some by staff members other than himself—were considered for Lightning, while Toriyama has claimed that Nomura's first draft "looked so cool and strong that there was no need for any retakes". Because of the graphical capacities of Final Fantasy XIIIs prospective platforms, Nomura was able make Lightning's design more detailed than his previous work, highlighting her cape and facial features. Commenting on an early form of her design, Nomura described her as a "cool character", defined as serious and unforgiving. Despite this, the feminine elements in her design to keep player empathy. Characteristics from early designs included blond or silver hair and Asian-looking facial features. Her final art was made less Asian, and her hair color changed to pink. Lightning's final hair color and hairstyle were intended to reflect her femininity, and to counterbalance her athletic body. Creating her promotional CG render was fairly easy due to the number of details available for her appearance and outfit.
Lightning's real name is in Japanese and Claire Farron in English. During the early stages of production, Lightning's name was Averia: "Éclair" was used to keep this name secret, but was eventually chosen as her official name. Her English name, Claire, was chosen because the name "Éclair" is closely associated with a type of pastry. The name "Lightning" was not chosen by Nomura but by other members of the development team. Nomura had wanted to abandon the tradition of naming Final Fantasy protagonists after weather events, and was surprised by the choice. Several models of Lightning's house were constructed for XIII but were removed due to space issues. Her weapon in XIII, the Blazefire Saber (known as in the Japanese version), mirrors the ability of the game's Eidolon summoned monsters to transform into animal-, human- and vehicle-like shapes. Lightning's Eidolon, a version of the summon Odin, was intended to appear like a father figure and present Lightning as a knight on horseback. In later XIII games, Odin was developed into a friend to whom Lightning could show her deeper feelings.
Due to global demand and the development staff's desire to further Lightning's character, development began for a sequel to XIII. The game tackles the question of whether Lightning is happy after the events of XIII. Even before a sequel was greenlit, Toriyama had wanted to create a truly happy ending for the character. Lightning's outfit in XIII-2 was designed by Isamu Kamikokuryo. He worked from a rough sketch by Nomura of how Lightning should appear. Nomura "fought hard" to create the draft design. The outfit was redone several times by Kamikokuryo: a qipao and a science fiction-inspired design were both discarded because they clashed with the game's atmosphere. The final design was inspired by the valkyries of Norse mythology. The outfit was meant to reflect the environment around Lightning. It features a feather motif to represent Lightning's light, delicate side and her growing powers. She was depicted as having transcended her human limits, making it difficult to depict her as a normal person.
Her outfit in Lightning Returns was designed by Nomura. He was told by Toriyama to create something representative of her final battle, with "strength" as the main guideline. The resultant outfit, which resembles a leather bodysuit, has spinal column patterns on its sleeves and is primarily colored red and white. Nomura later commented that he felt "a strong reaction within [himself]" while creating Lightning's final look. Nomura's design was Kamikokuryo's favorite out of the many outfits created for the character. Her other outfits for the game were designed by Kamikokuryo, Toshiyuki Itahana, and Toshitaka Matsuda. Many of the outfits were inspired by designs of regular Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano. In addition to the new costumes, Lightning's in-game model was rebuilt from the ground-up. Her breasts were enlarged and several of her outfits were designed to present her in a more feminine way. For the game's epilogue, Toriyama wished for Lightning to appear in an everyday setting and normal clothes. The team considered ending the game with Lightning either meeting or speaking with her allies, but Toriyama wished the story to begin and end with her alone. He has claimed that Lightning, with her solo role in Lightning Returns, was the Final Fantasy series' "first female protagonist".
Influences Toriyama wanted Lightning to be a type of female character previously unseen in Final Fantasy games, one with an athlete's body and a less feminine nature. His guideline to Nomura was to make her strong, beautiful, and "like a female version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII". Commenting on the resemblance, Toriyama stated that the similarities between the characters only extend to their cold personalities and their military backgrounds, and that otherwise "Lightning really [is] her own person". Nomura compared the two shortly before the Japanese release of Lightning Returns, saying that he had "desired for her to be carefully developed and loved for a long time, like Cloud." Toriyama has said that, among the characters he had been involved in creating, Lightning was his favorite female character from a video game, alongside Yuna from Final Fantasy X and Yoyo from Bahamut Lagoon.
Personality
In contrast to other characters in the Final Fantasy series, whose personality traits were molded to fit a story, Toriyama conceived Lightning's basic personality before XIIIs narrative had been finalized. She has a cold demeanor, which was meant to clash in an entertaining way with the outspokenness of Snow Villiers. Nomura commented that Lightning has "a strong element of mystery about her character". She originally had a flirtatious aspect to her personality, which was transferred to Oerba Yun Fang when Fang was changed from male to female. Daisuke Watanabe, writer for the XIII trilogy, paid particular attention in the original game to fleshing out Lightning's non-romantic relationship with Snow, and to showing her development as a person while protecting Hope Estheim.
For Lightning Returns, the developers wanted to portray Lightning in several different lights, in contrast to her static personalities in prior appearances. One of their highest priorities was to make Lightning a character who had lost much in her life and become deeply vulnerable as a result. Designer Yuji Abe elaborated that, because of her losses and newfound vulnerability, Lightning came across as darker, slightly numbed to her surroundings, and "like a puppet, like someone who doesn't quite have her real self inside". He elaborated that this effect shows "the kind of vulnerability she has, and it's the point from which she starts to change afterward". The decision to expand her personality in this way was originally suggested by producer Yoshinori Kitase, who was concerned that Lightning's coolness in previous games had made it difficult for players to bond with her. Lightning's motion capture actress across the XIII games was Naho Nakashima. She described the experience as enjoyable and ultimately emotional, describing Lightning in 2013 as "a precious existence" for her.
Across her speaking appearances, Lightning is voiced by Ali Hillis in English and Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese. Sakamoto was impressed by Lightning, whom she called "cold" and "strong". She was asked to portray Lightning's strength while showing hidden vulnerabilities. Voicing Lightning was initially strange as she was used to gentler roles such as Aerith Gainsborough, a central character in Final Fantasy VII and its companion media. Commenting on the difficulty of balancing Lightning's depiction as a woman and a trained warrior, Kitase noted that Sakamoto's acting helped to bring out Lightning's femininity. Hillis was given the role of Lightning after speaking a few of the character's lines during audition, and was then given a book about the Final Fantasy XIII universe, which she found a little "overwhelming" when she read it. One of the challenges Hillis faced was recapturing the emotion and energy of Sakamoto's Japanese performance in the character's English rendition. Hillis described her main priority across the series as portraying "every single layer of who [Lightning] was as a person", working with staff to make her seem like a real person. Hillis felt that Lightning's character became more sarcastic and battle-hardened by the events of Lightning Returns.
Appearances Final Fantasy XIII series