PunkRex said:
Simple Bluff said:
Lightning though. Goddamit.
I would like to know what people who actually like Lightning specifically like about her. I can understand the logic of how shes just as 'badass' as certain male protagonists so she kind of evens the playing field in that respect but... I don't really like those male characters either. Cloud and Squall were bloody grating, until Kingdom Hearts at least.
Well I have an analytical outlook as to why I like the character:
1. Her motif. Lightning's character is "tough female", something that has not really been done in the entire series. Yeah, Tifa did it to a degree, but she was more of the "nerd's first wet dream" thanks to her giant breasts and sexualizing. More focus is put on Lightning's character motif than her sex appeal in the original game. Believe me, I have problems with some of these outfits as they are more sexualizing her and putting more focus on partial nudity. I think her character motif once refined a bit (say to like Sully from Fire Emblem Awakening level) can be a GREAT replacement to the weakly developed character motif of the "kooky girl" (Yuffie/Sephie/Rikku/Vanille) and all of her unusualness.
2a. In her development stage in the first game, she did things better than other characters I know of. Lightning is a "better Miranda Lawson than Miranda Lawson" due to having a FAR better connection with her sister Serah than with what's-her-face Oriana. With Lightning, we get to see how she interacts and acts around Serah and what exactly happened between them that caused the events of FF13 to happen thanks to the flashbacks. With Lightning and Serah, they have an "Overprotective Mother/ Rebellious teenage daughter" relationship and we see how Lightning looks over this relationship in Pallumpolum to realize that she pushed Serah away with her overbearing attitude when all Lightning was trying to do was protect Serah against anything that could harm her.
However, Miranda Lawson fails to provide that information because she is so secretive with it. All you hear from her is "I'm genetically perfect, I work for the Illusive man, I have a twin sister". This is put on a loop (much like Snow Viller's dialogue in the original game) so we don't get an idea about who Miranda's sister is. We don't know her sister's name (Oriana from what wiki told me), what their relationship is like, what Oriana sounds like, her mannerisms, her hopes, her dreams, etc. There is NO CONTEXT to the relationship between Miranda and Oriana. When you DO see Oriana, they don't give her a voice or character and after Miranda is convinced by Shepard to go talk with her, it cuts to black. Basically, me wanting to get to know Miranda was a huge waste of time and the only form of development she has is her obligatory ass shot.
2b. Lightning does what Sasuke Uchiha (from the manga Naruto) FAILS to do. In the original game, Lightning was so angry (completely justified as I will explain this next point in 2c) and was so wrapped up in her anger that she was going to go on a revenge streak. However, she begins to realize that the plan she first had was not the best one once she calmed down and traveled with Hope. She sits down with Hope and reviews what her life has been like living with Serah, which this makes her fully realize that she was as much to blame for what happened to Serah as Snow, Sanctum, and PSICOM were. She decides to learn from her mistakes and tries to give Hope the closure with his father that she never had with Serah.
Sasuke Uchiha FAILS to do so because when he goes on his revenge streak, he doesn't LEARN A DAMN THING. When the truth about Itachi Uchiha (his brother) is revealed, instead of learning from the mistakes made for going after revenge, Sasuke immediately decides "Hey you know what I should do next? TAKE REVENGE ON KONOHA"! The story of Itachi Uchiha was one of blood feuds, discrimination and blaming the many for the actions of the few, however this story goes in one ear and out the other with Sasuke by him DOING THE SAME DAMN THING AS THE COUNCILORS DID WITH THE UCHIHA CLAN AND GOING ON AN EXTERMINATION HUNT. This little dumbass goes on his "journey" and for the next 5 years, the reader watches him do acts of federal crimes including kidnapping, attacking leaders, and murder! Then out of the blue, with the use of a completely convenient flashback, Sasuke Uchiha is magically A GOOD GUY AGAIN. AFTER HE KIDNAPPED, ATTEMPTED AN ATTACK ON WORLD LEADERS AND MURDERED SOME HIGHER UPS IN KONOHA. And you know what he wants to do now? Become Hokage, A WORLD LEADER. JUST LIKE THE ONE HE MURDERED BEFORE BECOMING A GOOD GUY. When people tell him he can't do that because they would not allow it, Sasuke's answer is "fuck you, I can do whatever I want!"
I apologize for the capital letters last paragraph, I'm just angry over the dumb and idiotic character development Sasuke has and what the writer allows him to get away with.
2c. Lightning's "seemingly un relatable but misunderstood" characterization is a bit reminiscent of Byakuya Kuchiki's characterization in the Soul Society Arc of Bleach. With Lightning, she seemed unapproachable and very distant. However as time went on, you realized how screwed up her life got thanks to PSICOM, Sanctum and the Fal'cie. Lightning was having the worst day of her life in the game due to having her home, family, job, citizenship and rights taken away from her. Not to mention Lightning was unjustifiably hunted down by PSICOM because the Fal'cie wanted their precious "sleeping god" to return to this world and used her as their tool. Lightning had legit problems that would have broken a normal person down due to having so much taken away from her. She made a promise to herself to protect Serah from harm after her parents died and took the name "Lightning" over her real name Claire to signify this change.
Byakuya Kuchiki was like that in the way of how he seemed like a bad person but the situation he was put in went and put everything in perspective. Byakuya seemed like a total d*ck when you met him. He attacked Rukia, stole Ichigo's powers and almost killed him, prosecuted Rukia to being executed for the crime of giving Soul Reaper powers to a human, left his lieutenant to rot in prison for a while, and when Ichigo got Rukia out of there Byakuya told Ichigo he would "kill him first and kill Rukia with his own hands". So how does this make Byakuya a "good character"?
Getting the full context of Byakuya's story. When the arc was on the climax, Byakuya revealed the truth to Rukia: His deceased wife was actually Rukia's older sister and both Byakuya and Rukia were brother and sister in law. He had made a promise to Hisana (Rukia's sister) that she would find Rukia and take care of her. A year after Hisana died, he found Rukia. Byakuya mentioned he also made a promise to his dead mother and father that he would uphold the law with his honor and duty as the new head of the Kuchiki household. When Rukia was charged for illegal actions, Byakuya was at a crossroads due to what he promised both his wife and his parents. The situation tore him apart in the inside due to these conflicts of interest and ultimately he felt like he had to uphold the law due to being the head of the household and who others look up to. Even if that person that he was punishing happened to be Rukia. Byakuya thanks Ichigo for showing him how wrong he was and that he should have been fighting to change the law instead of just going with it.
Both Lightning and Byakuya seemed not relatable but when you heard their stories, they connections could be made and I could feel bad for both of them because both characters were given crappy situations.
3. She was not "sexualized" in any way. She does not have a big butt, or big breasts or trying to seduce people or even looking for someone to fall in love with. She has normal proportions that are not focused on and ultimately don't become part of her "development" (again, NOT like Miranda). Believe me, I do like sexy women like Tifa or Bayonetta but only when they are strong written characters. Ultimately though, I like characters like Celes or Terra from Final Fantasy VI that are not sexualized but very pretty. Lightning fits this very well.
4. Lightning's costume and gunblade were great and effective. Her costume wasn't idiotically designed like the characters in FF10 and leaned more to the FF8 designs of clothing. She was clean and attractive. Lightning style of dress seemed functional for who she was and what she did. In fact her shoulder pad is used in cutscene form to tell PSICOM units she was a Guardian Corps member and that she could not be Purged. However, she quit her job and told the PSICOM member to Purge her anyways so she could secretly get to Serah in chapter 1.
I've always HATED the gunblade before FF13. Why? Because it's an impractical and stupid design!!! Those gunblades were always leaving me on edge on how they worked and how they did not blow up in the user's face (looking at you Squall Leonhart's Gunblade)! For the first time ever, Lightning's Gunblade was PERFECT. It was practically designed, transformed from gun to blade, worked with the environment and looked like it had been properly tested by engineers and designers so it WOULDN'T explode in Lightning's hands. I loved this Gunblade and hope Square takes notes on HOW to make a good gunblade like Lightning's in the future.
5. She does not take stupidity from anyone (and neither do I). When Snow was acting full of himself, she punched him twice and knocked some sense into him. When Hope was acting whiney, Lightning taught him how to man up a bit. Eventually he decides to pull his own weight I.E taking point, and moves forward. Thanks to the training Hope was given to Lightning, Hope became a successful military man and now works with LIghtning to stop the end of the world in this upcoming game. I connect with her is the sense of how she does things I like to see and how I think things should go when a certain situation happens.
This is the reasons why I like Lightning. Hope this help =D
