Is Lightning a successful character?

Well yes. She's gained a huge fandom and fans adore her to bits and SquareEnix loves her as well. I mean she's getting her own game. How many fans fan over Zidane Tribal ? Bartz Klauser ? Onion Knight ? Basically nobody.

Yet I don't see why. Why is she popular ? Is it because she's a strong female character ? Well that's not unique or rare in the Final Fantasy universe. Just look at Rydia, Celes, Beatrix, Garnet, Yuna. The list goes on. There's even Fang in the same game as her who is also a strong female character.

Yet I find Lightning to be cold, rude, a bully, selfish, immature, manipulative, abusive and just a huge Cloud tryhard. Yet Final Fantasy fans treat her like she's the best Final Fantasy hero ever made.

Yet somebody like Zidane Tribal who is kind, supportive, changes and helps people, understanding, clever, self-sacrificing, brave, sweet, and caring gets no support what so ever. Maybe because he has a tail ? So ? And ? Goku has a tail and none of the DBZ fans care.

And yet picture this. Snow is a woman and Lightning is a man. Lightning slaps and punches Snow. How do you feel ? EXACTLY. Lightning is basically " Abuse is okay if it's towards a man " and it pisses me off to the fullest.


People say that there's such things as Karma and nice people get awarded in life and people award and respect kindness. I think that is a huge fairy tale. I think that Lightning proves that kindness gets ignored and only good looks matter. Most of Light's fans usually say " but she's so hot " so there you go. Karma is nothing but a dream and kindness gets ignored. Hot people all the way.

It's BS.


/ goes and hugs Zidane.
 
(To the OP a word of warning, your posts in reply need to be more substantial than one word. Don't want that being picked up on)

On the subject or lightning, I like her as a character and well there could be an infinite amount of reasons why she is so popular amongst the fans. For me I know deep down she a is Cloud 2.0 but I think I love her for that reason. There have been many 'strong' female characters like _Rabbit mentions but to me she has an extra layer because it is more of a persona in terms of being like that to protect her sister.

Liffhtning can be a bully but through the games we saw her evolve and come to terms with herself and see lets say a brighter aspect of light and not always the negative. i think what helps is the fact that the voice actor for her is someone I love for her talent. She brings more depth for me than any current voice acted female role.

I love Cloud....they share similar traits but she is still unique in their own right, and I can't wait to see how she develops in Lughtning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
 
She does not go against 'typical gender roles.' If anything she codifies them. She starts off as a insufferable bitch because she "had to do it to protect Serah" or some shit, but it was actually a worthless front to hide the weakness inside her. When she finds out that being an insufferable bitch is actually not productive in doing anything but being an insufferable bitch, she stops and basically becomes an ineffectual background character whose only purpose was to say what the party's goal was then spout out a nonsensical monologue at the very end of the game involving 'achieving the impossible.' She was not important or effective in any way, and her 'going against gender roles' only served to hurt and distance people she cared about.

sometimes people use nicknames in place of their real name but lightning is special and so she gave herself that nickname but then wants everyone to use a shortened version of that nickname making everyone wonder why she didnt just call herself light instead of lightning in the first place

god she is such a stupid character

That being said i dont know why she is popular but i guess its the result of her "Cool" appereance that gives the false notion of a good character. In her new game the entire point to eliminating everybody but Lightning from the plot is so that nothing can stand in her way from being the rightful fan favorite she was destined to be (and constantly robbed of by having the personality of wet cardboard with a stick shoved up her sand laden neither regions).

@Mosh

I told you it was going to be an action game, didnt i?


 
Frankly, I'm amazed that people can provide a character analysis of Lightning at all; she's like a black hole. Character interpretations might go into her, but absolutely nothing is reflected on the surface, because she lacks any kind of characterization or character development whatsoever.

In a way, that might be what makes her so popular: she is what you make of her. This is a very good idea for making a character popular: I mean, look at what it did for Samus Aran until Metroid: Other M. She was defined by her actions in lack of words, and she kicked arse. The Zelda series is immensely popular, yet the characters have so little personality it's not even funny. Yet it works. People still like them for the personality they perceive in them. It's not really that hard to see.

Lightning, unfortunately, speaks, but she has had plenty of speaking done for her, as well. She's been compared to Cloud - a ridiculously popular character - and the interpretation of her supposed character has been provided numerous times by Square Enix...likely because if they didn't, nobody else would be able to spot just exactly what she was, given how utterly void of anything resembling personality she is. People see what they want to see, and what they're told to see. That's essentially why she is so popular and successful. It's not because she's well-designed, or anything as grand as that.

As for gender roles...the idea that Lightning defies them is laughable. Go watch Revolutionary Girl Utena if you want to see a woman spit in the face of gender roles. The Action Girl was being done much more successfully by Lara Croft before Lightning had even been thought of, and for strength of character in a female video game character, look to Terra, Ashe, or even Yuna compared to Lightning. She's just another weak attempt by Square Enix to make a strong female protagonist who just winds up being a blank slate that people have to colour in themselves if they want to see anything from her.
 
look to Terra, Ashe, or even Yuna compared to Lightning. She's just another weak attempt by Square Enix to make a strong female protagonist who just winds up being a blank slate that people have to colour in themselves if they want to see anything from her.

Lol at Terra and Yuna.
 
Lol at Terra and Yuna.

:ffs:

I think you missed my point. Shall I spell it out in a simple sentence for you?

Lightning is such a weak protagonist that even weak protagonists look like fully developed characters when compared to her.
 
She's just another weak attempt by Square Enix to make a strong female protagonist who just winds up being a blank slate that people have to colour in themselves if they want to see anything from her.

A silent protagonist has MUCH more personality than her. Hey Yuna is a pretty strong character, Terra just needed more screentime , Ashe as the rest of the party was meh.
 
I guess her fan-base has a lot to do with how she has been marketed to the audience. Her image is so publicly marketed that people who aren't exactly fans of the FF franchise, still recognise her association with such. For instance, when they see an image of her, it is likely that they'll be able to identify her as 'that Final Fantasy chick'.

Admittedly, I was a tad disappointed with FF13, I mean as the first FF installment in the 'next gen' console(at the time) (PS3) I had high expectations for it. When FFX was the first to be released on the 'next gen' console at that time, it didn't fail to deliver to the audience. Therefore, I was expecting FF13 to top FFX. However, it failed to do so, significantly in terms of character development IMO. There was really nothing in any of the FF13 characters that really drew me to them. Lighting was quite dull. BUT, for some reason, I can't help but still like the game. The combination of the amazing soundtrack and spectacular visuals really created an atmosphere that all the FF installments never failed to deliver. Despite the disappointingly unappealing personalities of the characters in FF13 (like Lightning) the game, I still enjoyed the game.
 
Yuna not a strong character? I disagree entirely. She's probably the strongest female character in the series in terms of perseverance and will. She may not be physically strong, but when you look at all the crap she went through.....I think a lot of other characters wouldn't have been able to go through half of what she had to go through. Or any average joe or jane would have cracked under the pressure. She knowingly went through her pilgrimage with the knowledge that she would die in the end. Could I do that? Hell freaking no.

Anyway, back to Lightning: No, I don't think she is a successful character. Maybe in terms of popularity? I guess you can argue that she is. But in terms of character progression and growth: no. She's an extremely bland character and a pretty weak protagonist in my opinion.
 
:ffs:

I think you missed my point. Shall I spell it out in a simple sentence for you?

Lightning is such a weak protagonist that even weak protagonists look like fully developed characters when compared to her.

even worse protagonists could've worked too.
 
Yes, I think she is successful and she's definitely one of my favorite.

SE has needed a character like this for a long time. A character who is a good guy but not necessarily nice about it. A character that speaks their mind, acts on it without hesitation, and is always driving forward. A character that says, "Cut the bullshit and keep moving," instead of stopping to have a deep, philosophical soul-searching insight into the depths of their psyche. This character feels like a real persona and is a foil for all the trite saccharine, people-do-not-act-that-way characters we've been fed for the better part of a decade.

So yes. I think Lightning is a successful character and her attitude strikes me as being a remarkable breath of fresh air. She acts, does, says, is what I feel like a normal person would do with her background and situation. I love her for her fresh attitude and it's really incidental to her gender, though that is nice as well. Many times, Lightning does and says the stuff I've always wanted to say to characters being soppy idiots just before plunging into a war. "SHUT UP, MOVE OUT!" kind of thing.

I like her. I'll definitely buy anything related to her and she's going to be a long-time favorite.
 
Honestly, its a mix crowd. obviously not everyone loves her if there are FF13 haters likemyself. honestly, she isn't that successful. she's been promoted the heck out of. But when you look at her as a humble character that has risen because she's that great? You start to see, this character is just a character that has only promotion but none of the unique qualities or great persona to back it up.

She's on a high horse of media, or a really spoiled queen SE has placed her. If a peasant met her and had no idea who she was? would that person like this character? And its odd tht some people still vote her as one of the hottest characters in FF which is a complete overstatement.

overall, she's overrated, and even the reviewers know that. she's way too cold, her backstory has no interesting features. many fans like her for not being unique but a "Cloud clone". So whats the point of her being "lightning" she mightaswell been Cloud in an opposing world.


here's the gist of it. SHe's a woman, and femminists sells apparently. thats all she is. I now understand why my friends like her, she's not a great unique character, just the character certain girls who play ff want to be or relate to (which i hope changes soon).

EDIT: don't get me wrong, it's not wrong to like that type of character...but is it really something we haven't seen before? theres plenty of room for unique-ness in the series, however this character just doesn't have enough back story to hold up for her personality. i get it your cold, we like that but what else do you got?
 
She's on a high horse of media, or a really spoiled queen SE has placed her. If a peasant met her and had no idea who she was? would that person like this character? And its odd tht some people still vote her as one of the hottest characters in FF which is a complete overstatement.

Hmm agree. Re- playing Dissidia 012 I quickly remembered why I loathe that game. Tifa Lockhart- TIFA LOCKHART says to Lightning " I wish that I could be good as you ". I... I was steaming in flames.

:rage: :rage: :rage:
 
With legions of fans who somehow see her as being one of the best characters ever conceived in fiction, Motomu Toriyama himself on the precipice of proposing to his virtual waifu, the renaming and re-dedication of an entire sub-par trilogy of games to her and with Square-Enix eager to promote her as the new poster-girl of the Final Fantasy franchise, I think we've hit rock bottom. Even I can't see it going any lower than this. Lightning's fundamental success is here with the marketing and nigh-ubiquity, but that's pretty much it.

As a character, has she ever hit an emotional chord with me that other attempts such as Celes, Zidane and Yuna have done? All I remember about Lightning as a character is the perpetual apathy and that's just mildly putting it. It's that one note she hits and while you can argue that she may loosen up a bit later on, it doesn't matter to me when I don't remember those moments. I don't remember the development - assuming she was provided with any, sans that silly moment when Hope of all people somehow grants her this not-very-impressive epiphany that even I'm hard pressed to fully recall what real impact it has. You mention Lightning to me and I can only remember the grouch. It's the only personality trait of hers that sticks in my memory. In fact, I don't think I can even dedicate more than two descriptive sentences about her without mentioning her appearance, clothing or vocation.

EDIT: /in before anyone says I HAVE just dedicated more than two sentences to Lightning. Touché.
 
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.
 
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