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Lightning (character)
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Lightning (given name Claire Farron) is a character in the Final Fantasy XIII series of games. Prior to the events of Final Fantasy XIII, she was a soldier in Coocoon's Guardian Corps, and she uses this military training throughout the saga. She is the sister of Serah Farron.
History[edit]
Before Final Fantasy XIII[edit]
Lightning lives with her sister in Bodhum, where she works as a soldier for the Guardian Corps. She is protective of her sister Serah, and shows a dislike for Serah's partner Snow Villiers. In the days leading up to The Purge, Serah reveals to Lightning that she has been branded a l'Cie, to which Lightning reacts negatively. When The Purge is announced, Lightning quits her post in order to be purged so she can attempt to rescue Serah.
Final Fantasy XIII[edit]
In Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is a protagonist and playable character throughout much of the game. She manages to find Serah inside the Pulse Vestige, but Serah quickly turns to crystal as she completes her focus. Lightning and her companions Snow, Sazh, and Vanille attempt to fight the Fal'Cie responsible for branding Serah, but are branded l'Cie in the process. Angry at both the Sanctum and at the Pulse fal'Cie for branding her, Lightning journeys off with Hope to the town of Palumpolum in an attempt to seek revenge. Along the way, she attempts to talk Hope out of his own revenge plot.
Eventually her party manages to reunite with Snow and meets Fang, but they are captured by Cavalry leader Cid Raines, who claims to want to topple the Sanctum. Cid helps the group launch a rescue attempt for Sazh and Vanille, who have been taken hostage aboard the airship Palamecia. This attempt is successful, and while they escape they are given their true focus by Bartandelus: to transform into Ragnarok, defeat the fal'Cie Orphan, and destroy Coocoon.
She and the rest of her party grapples with this fate while they journey through Gran Pulse, eventually having their hands forced by Bartandelus's schemes. The group travels to Eden and kills Orphan, sending Coocoon into freefall. While all six of them try to transform into Ragnarok to stop Coocoon's fall safely, Fang and Vanille transform themselves so that the others might live. This act completes Lightning's focus and she turns into crystal. Seeing this sacrifice, the goddess Etro takes pity on the party, and removes the l'Cie brands from Lightning's party (minus Fang and Vanille) along with Sarah, returning them to human form as Coocoon stands in the air atop a crystal pillar. After a long adventure with Snow, Lightning gives him her blessing to marry Serah.
In between Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2[edit]
The goddess Etro pulls Lightning into Valhalla and shows her a vision of time. In response, Lightning dedicates herself to become Etro's warrior against the forces of Chaos. Lightning's presence in New Bodhum is erased, and everyone except Serah believes that she sacrificed herself to form the crystal pillar that holds up Coocoon.
Final Fantasy XIII-2[edit]
Lightning defends Valhalla against Caius Ballad. During this, Lightning pulls Noel Kreiss from his time in history 700 years after the fall of Coocoon in Final Fantasy XIII, and sends him back in time to meet her sister Serah. She watches over Serah and Noel's adventures, eventually ending in Serah's death. Knowing this to be her fault, Lightning decides to atone for this by turning herself to eternal crystal, allowing her memories of Serah to survive forever.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII[edit]
Lightning is brought out of crystal stasis by the god Bhunivelze, who makes a deal with her that he will resurrect her sister Serah if Lightning will help save the souls of the living before the world ends.
Behind the scenes[edit]
In the Japanese script, Lightning's civilian name is given as Éclair Farron, éclair being the French word for "lightning" (as well as a type of cream-filled pastry). This was changed to Claire when it was localized, itself a feminine French name meaning "clear", "brilliant" or "radiant". On the other hand, Farron is a masculine given name from the Gaelic language family, and means "thunder". Thus, Lightning's name references that thunder often follows lightning in the wild.
