Lightning (Dissidia PSP)

The former soldier does have a gentle heart, though her harsh mannerisms and speech can leave a cool impression.

Description

Lightning is the sole representative from Final Fantasy XIII introduced in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. With the aid of five comrades, she once stopped a nefarious plot by the fal'Cie to destroy her world, Cocoon, defying her Focus and challenging her fate of eternal servitude. Lightning fights by using three paradigm roles from her original title, combining gunblade attacks, elemental magic, and healing abilities.

Lightning is the main protagonist of the Dissidia 012 storyline as she leads the other five new heroes in their battle against the manikins. To keep in with her role as the leader of the new heroes, her main rival is Garland, the leader of the villains.

Profile[]

Appearance[]

Lightning is identical to her appearance in Final Fantasy XIII. She has light pink hair and aqua eyes, and wears a primarily white Guardian Corps military uniform, adorned with several belts and buckles and a red cape on her left shoulder. She wields the Blazefire Saber gunblade, which can shift between gun and sword forms.

Lightning's first alternate outfit, "Midnight Cloak", is based on concept art by Yoshitaka Amano. . Lightning's cape is dark brown, her hair is white, and her uniform has an overall darker color scheme. Her gunblade is darker, with the hilt changing from a predominantly dark pink to a dark gray.

Lightning's second alternate outfit, "Guardian Corps Uniform", is the uniform of a Guardian Corps officer in Final Fantasy XIII. She wears a khaki coat held closed by a black belt and several buckles with blue pauldrons, gray short-sleeved turtleneck, brown tights, different boots, and a black officer's cap with an intricate design.

Lightning's bonus downloadable outfit is based on Aya Brea, the protagonist of The 3rd Birthday, another Square Enix title. The outfit consists of torn blue jeans, different boots, and a sleeveless black shirt that exposes her midriff, and a plain pendant on a black string. The outfit is available by purchasing the "Twisted Edition" of The 3rd Birthday.

Lightning's manikin, Fleeting Flash, is pink.

Default outfit.

First alt outfit.

Second alt outfit.

Third alt outfit.

Lightning's manikin, Fleeting Flash.

Equipment[]

Lightning's default weapon is her signature Blazefire Saber, which she switches between sword and gun modes as needed for different attacks. In her EX Mode she wields the Omega Weapon, her strongest gunblade in Final Fantasy XIII. When using her HP attacks and EX Burst, Lightning wields the Zantetsuken, both in its separated and connected forms as needed.

Lightning's Blazefire Saber.

Lightning's Omega Weapon.

Lightning's Zantetsuken swords.

Lightning's Zantetsuken swords connected.

Crystal Blazefire Saber used by Lightning's manikins.

Crystal Omega Weapon

Crystal Zantetsuken swords.

Crystal Zantetsuken swords connected.

Personality[]

The two of you can do whatever you want. But don't go asking me to believe in this crap. Me...I make my own fate. I'll keep looking for hope until I find some.

Lightning

Much like her depiction in Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is a serious, cold, and determined young woman who acts as the leader in the conflict against Chaos's forces. She gets frustrated by those who don't take the conflict seriously (such as Vaan and Laguna), and she disapproves of Kain and the Warrior of Light's plan to win the conflict by incapacitating the other warriors. Lightning does not trust Cosmos, likely due to her general distrust to higher beings from her past experiences.

Lightning's cold exterior conceals a gentler side. Due to her distrust in Cosmos, her comrades become her emotional support, and she apologizes to them for her rash decision in fighting the manikins. Her sacrifice is done for the other warriors of Cosmos in the hope that they end the cycle.

Story[]

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Prologus[]

Lightning awakes by Cosmos's side and meets the Warrior of Light, discussing the position of the war with Chaos. She meets Jecht and Kain and is advised to see if she is stronger than the Warrior by teaming up with him. Though Lightning rejects the idea, she and the Warrior team up against the waves of warriors of Chaos. During the fight, Lightning meets Cloud, who warns her not to underestimate their opponents. Soon after, she meets Jecht and Kain and discusses her impression of the Warrior of Light with them, before heading off to meet with Cosmos.

Treachery of the Gods[]

At some point Lightning found Firion's wild rose when he dropped it. She kept the rose with her, often going off alone to look at it, as it somehow sparked her memories. After a battle with Exdeath, Lightning regained some of her memories of home, recalling that there too, she was forced to fight for the gods against her will. Yuna consoles her they all have control over their own fates, but must rely on each other to realize this. Lightning thanks her for her help and asks her to call her "Light". Firion, meanwhile, is hesitant to approach Lightning and discuss the flower openly, but after several failed attempts comes clean about what he wants. She gives the rose back, but asks him to let her have it again once he recovers all his memories.

While Lightnign is traveling with Yuna, they hear Cosmos call her warriors back to Order's Sanctuary. On the trip back they battle Golbez, who wishes to gauge their strength. Vaan meets up with them and takes them to Laguna and Tifa, who are lost due to Laguna look at his map wrong. Kain soon arrives as well, and with the map set right they set out for sanctuary in the proper direction.

After obtaining her dormant crystal with the other warriors, Lightning leads Laguna, Vaan, and Tifa back to the battlefield where they are ambushed by manikins. When Kefka arrives with Kuja, Lightning fights the latter while the others try to hold off the manikins. After defeating Kuja, Lightning expresses disgust to Kefka for relishing his comrade's demise. He hints at the conflict's overall nature and leaves. Attempting to catch up with the others, Lightning finds an injured Bartz, who mumbles that Kain attacked him. Shocked at Bartz's revelation, Lightning dodges a sudden attack from Kain.

After Lightning fights off Kain, Exdeath and Garland appear with the former revealing he has already been attacking other warriors of Cosmos. Kain leaves with the unconscious Bartz with Exdeath in pursuit, while Garland takes his leave, deciding to abandon Lightning for the manikins. Garland says her comrades have likely been wiped out by them already, and enlightens her about the nature of manikins.

Barely escaping with her life, Lightning reveals to Cosmos Kain attacked her and that she thinks the war is doomed. Though she wants to save the world, Lightning believes the quest for the crystals is a suicide mission. The Warrior of Light agrees before raising his sword on her. With Cosmos intervening and calling off the battle, Lightning learns the Warrior of Light and Kain have been working together to ensure their side's victory in the next cycle, which only serves to further anger her. Laguna, Vaan, and Yuna arrive to Order's Sanctuary, and Lightning is the first among the four to propose that they take out the manikin infestation. They leave to destroy the manikins, and along they way find Tifa and Kain who agree to help them.

After fighting waves of manikins, the group is ambushed by Exdeath and Golbez. They learn that the manikins are making their way to Cosmos, and Kain agrees to hold Exdeath and Golbez while Lightning leads the others in a final stand against the manikins at the Empyreal Paradox. Upon arriving, they are ambushed by Garland, The Emperor, the Cloud of Darkness, Kefka, and Ultimecia.

After defeating the warriors of Chaos, they learn they were just buying time for the next wave of manikins to arrive from the portal. Lightning feels guilty for having led the others to their deaths, but her companions agree that they all wanted to end the cycles of warfare and are prepared to die. As they look towards the emerging manikins, Kain rejoins them and they charge at the waves of manikins to close the portal.

They are overwhelmed, and Lightning's allies collapse. Lightning is the last one standing and throws her Zantetsuken into the portal, sealing it. With a smile on her face, she collapses in defeat. As Shinryu takes the other warriors to the next cycle of conflict, it does not revive Lightning and her team because they lost their powers by the storm of manikins. When the Warrior of Light looks up at her, she smiles at him before fading away.

Confessions of the Creator[]

After the player defeats the Southern Lufenia gateway to access the northern continents, Lightning can be found wandering near the Citadel of Trials teleport stone, provided she is not currently in the player's party. When spoken to she brushes off the help of the "mured moogle", saying that changing one's name does nothing to change reality, and the party needs to stop fleeing and face the truth. As the world of the "Confessions of the Creator" is a hypothetical nightmare world where the cycles of war kept going and Feral Chaos killed all summoned warriors, the Lightning present is likely a specter, a ghost of the true Lightning. She vanishes when the player advances past the Mirage Sandsea to the Lands of Discord.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay[]

Lightning is described as a Paradigm Commando. She fights by using her three paradigm roles from Final Fantasy XIII: Commando, Ravager, and Medic, and switches between them by pressing the shoulder buttons at once to cycle between them in that order. As a commando she specializes in melee attacks, the Ravager has various magical projectile attacks, and the Medic lets Lightning use curative spells to increase her Bravery without attacking. This gives Lightning a lot of versatility, with many of her Ravager attacks creating projectiles to pressure opponents and create openings for her to land hits with her more powerful Commando attacks. Her HP attacks are close and mid-ranged, but have a bit of start-up. Lightning moves fairly quickly and her Bravery attacks execute relatively fast, but her attacks overall do not do as much damage as other characters.

Attacks[]

Bravery attacks: Commando[]

Bravery attacks: Commando

Move	Type	CP (Mastered)	AP	Priority	Effect	Damage type	Obtained	Image
Blitz	Ground	20 (10)	100	Melee Mid	Wall Rush	Physical	Initial
	Spin forward attacking from all sides, then shoot a blast of gunfire to knock the opponent back. Does more damage the longer it makes contact. — — Wall Rush (→)
Launch	Ground	20 (10)	140	Melee Low	Wall Rush	Physical	Level 3
	Three quick slashes that throws the opponent through the air. — — Wall Rush (↑)
Ruinga	Ground	20 (10)	80		Wall Rush	Magical	Level 20
	Toss an orb that explodes and launches the opponent into the air. — Wall Rush (↑)
Smite	Aerial	20 (10)	100	Melee Low	Wall Rush	Physical	Initial
	Two aerial slashes ending in with a powerful downward smash. — — Wall Rush (↓)
Ruin	Aerial	20 (10)	80	Ranged Low	Chase	Magical	Level 6
	Toss up to three small orbs that damage on impact and knock the opponent back. Chase Chase — Chase
Blaze Rush	Aerial	20 (10)	100	Ranged Low	Wall Rush	Physical	Level 15
	Fire three gunshots at the opponent, then charge in to slam them away. — — Wall Rush (→)

Bravery attacks: Ravager[]

Bravery attacks: Ravager

Move	Type	CP (Mastered)	AP	Priority	Effect	Damage type	Obtained	Image
Fire	Ground	20 (10)	100	Ranged Low	None	Magical	Initial
	Press Circle up to three times to fire three small fire projectiles which travel slowly and then pick up speed; homes in on the opponent. — —
Aerora	Ground	20 (10)	100	Ranged Low	None	Magical	Level 18
	Throw an orb of wind that deals multiple blows and toss the opponent up.
Thundaga	Ground	20 (10)	80	Ranged Low	Chase	Magical	Level 24
	Conjure several lightning bolts that stays for a long duration, even if Lightning sustains an attack. — Chase
Army of One (ground)	Ground	20 (10)	130	Melee Mid	Chase	Physical	Level 27
	Spin towards the opponent while slashing, then perform a combo of slashes and gunshots that knock them up and away. — Chase
Watera	Aerial	20 (10)	100	Ranged Mid	None	Magical	Initial
	Throw a large orb of water that slowly tracks the opponent and explodes on impact.
Thunder	Aerial	20 (10)	80	Ranged Low	Chase	Magical	Level 8
	Quickly strike the opponent with three lightning bolts. — — — Chase
Blizzara	Aerial	20 (10)	100	Ranged Low	Absorb	Magical	Level 29
	Summon a burst of cold wind which later condenses into an ice shard, knocking the opponent upwards.
Army of One (midair)	Aerial	20 (10)	130	Melee Mid	Chase	Physical	Level 35
	Spin towards the opponent while slashing, then perform a combo of slashes and gunshots that knock them up and away. — Chase

Bravery attacks: Medic[]

Bravery attacks: Medic

Move	Type	CP (Mastered)	AP	Priority	Effect	Damage type	Obtained	Image
Cure (ground)	Ground	20 (10)	100	N/A	None	Magical	Initial
	Heal Bravery without attacking. Can be cast in quick succession, but does not restore a lot. The amount healed with each hand motion is always random, but amount healed is always equal to 21% base bravery. — — — — —
Cura (ground)	Ground	20 (10)	100	N/A	None	Magical	Level 22
	Heal Bravery without attacking. Requires strict timing on casting. In order to chain correctly, wait until the last moment while her hand is still up. Restores 25% of base Bravery. — —
Cure (midair)	Aerial	20 (10)	100	N/A	None	Magical	Level 13
	Heal Bravery without attacking. Can be cast in quick succession, but does not restore a lot. The amount healed with each hand motion is always random, but amount healed is always equal to 21% base bravery. — — — — —
Cura (midair)	Aerial	20 (10)	100	N/A	None	Magical	Level 32
	Heal Bravery without attacking. Requires strict timing on casting. In order to chain correctly, wait until the last moment while her hand is still up. Restores up to 25% base Bravery. — —

HP attacks[]

HP attacks

Move	Type	CP (Mastered)	AP	Priority	Effect	Damage type	Obtained	Image
Razor Gale	Ground	30 (15)	300		Wall Rush	None	Initial
	Twirl swords overhead and slice to send a swirl of cutting wind towards the opponent. Has strong tracking and decent speed. — Wall Rush (→)
Lightning Strike	Ground	30 (15)	300	Ranged High	None	Magical	Level 11
	Conjure a horizontal line of lightning bolts in front of Lightning, then send a large lightning bolt to strike the opponent again if they hit.
Crushing Blow	Aerial	30 (15)	300	Melee High	None	N/A	Initial
	A short-ranged charging attack with swords outstretched. Lightning will rise or fall slightly depending on the opponent's position to her before charging at them.
Thunderfall	Aerial	40 (20)	300		Wall Rush		Level 37
	Spin swords and conjure several lightning bolts that damage and lift the opponent into the air, then slam them back down. The swords can damage the opponent at close range, but do no HP damage. — Wall Rush (↓)

Bravery to HP Attacks[]

Bravery to HP attacks

Move	Type	CP (Mastered)	AP	Priority	Effect	Damage type	Obtained	Image
Flourish of Steel	Ground	30 (15)	300	Melee High	None	Physical	Launch
	Perform a twirling combo of sword slashes. — Wall Rush (↑)

EX Mode[]

Lightning's EX Mode is Omega Weapon equipped, where she swaps out her Blazefire Saber for her strongest gunblade in Final Fantasy XIII, the Omega Weapon. While in EX Mode, Lightning gains the abilities "Omega Weapon" and "Grav-Con Unit." The Omega Weapon bonus automatically inflicts Break on opponents when she lands a successful attack while their Bravery is less than 30% of its base value, and Grav-Con Unit completely protects her from Wall Rush damage by projecting a force field to bounce her back into the air when she hits a solid surface.

Lightning's EX Burst is Gestalt Drive, where she attacks with a backflip and a barrage of gunfire before attacking with the Zantetsuken. The player has to enter the commands shown on the screen as Lightning attacks the opponent with Lightning Strike, Thunderfall, Stormblade, and Razor Gale appearing at random. Lightning finishes the EX Burst with Zantetsuken, where she spins around with swords outstretched to unleash multiple blows that slit away the screen. She lands and the opponent is slashed behind her, dealing HP damage from the spinning blows. Failing to input the commands will result in Lightning skipping to Zantetsuken and less Bravery damage done.

Default outfit EX Mode.

First alt outfit EX Mode.

Second alt outfit EX Mode.

Third alt outfit EX Mode.

Equipment[]

Lightning can equip Swords, Daggers, Greatswords, Katanas, Guns, Parrying Weapons, Shields, Bangles, Gauntlets, Hats, Helms, Headbands, Ribbons, Clothing, Light Armor, and Chestplates.

Exclusive weapons[]

Gallery[]

CG render.

Lightning during her fight with Garland in the opening FMV.

Lightning Strike EX Burst.

Thundefall EX Burst.

Stormblade EX Burst.

Razor Gale EX Burst.

Zantetsuken.

Victory pose.

Behind the scenes[]

Lightning was considered to appear in the first Dissidia, but was scrapped as the developers did not want to lock down her character design and moveset before Final Fantasy XIII was released. Prior to the official announcement, a hoax had "revealed" Lightning would appear in Dissidia Final Fantasy: Universal Tuning. The hoaxes involved elaborate fake magazine pages complete with fake Lightning 3D models.

Coinciding with Lightning wearing Aya Brea's outfit in Dissidia 012, Aya can also wear Lightning's Final Fantasy XIII attire as an alternate outfit in The 3rd Birthday. Wearing it will change Aya's voice to sound like Lightning's. When Lightning wears Aya's outfit, she doesn't have her l'Cie brand or navel piercing.

Lightning's Dissidia art was the first time Tetsuya Nomura drew the Blazefire Saber, which he found difficult due to it having so many parts.

In pre-release versions of Dissidia 012, Lightning's Cura attack was called Curasa.

Voice[]

Lightning is voiced in Japanese by Maaya Sakamoto and in English by Ali Hillis. She shares her Japanese voice actress with Aya, as well as Aerith Gainsborough.

Allusions[]

• When Lightning initiates her EX Burst, she shouts, "I control my fate!" She sometimes says this when using her full ATB skill, Army of One, in Final Fantasy XIII.
• Lightning's EX Mode ability, "Omega Weapon," is based on the Quick Stagger ability in Final Fantasy XIII, an ability that instantly Staggers opponents whose stagger gauge is 90% full.
• Lightning's other EX Mode ability, "Grav-Con Unit", refers to the Antimatter Manipulation Principle device in Final Fantasy XIII, which Lightning uses when she jumps from high altitudes to slow her descent.
• The attack Lightning uses when beginning her EX Burst, back-flipping off the opponent and firing a barrage of gunfire at them, is similar to the final attack in her combo when she has four ATB gauge segments in Final Fantasy XIII. The button commands used to input her attacks during her EX Burst are the same commands used in Final Fantasy XIII.
• In the Dissidia 012 opening FMV she battles Garland. Aside from the rose petals, Lightning's charge is nearly identical to the one seen at the Palumpolum's Agora (beginning of Chapter 7) of Final Fantasy XIII. As the scene ends, the camera zooms in on Lightning's eye, imitating the opening of Final Fantasy XIII as she enters the Hanging Edge.
• Her victory pose in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy is a variation of her pose in Final Fantasy XIII.
• Meeting with Firion, Lightning senses some familiarity with his wild rose, referring to the rose shape of her eidolith and the rose petal motif in her attacks.
• While Lightning's Bravery attacks are based on the moves she uses in Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning's HP attacks and Brave to HP attacks are used by Odin in both his modes. Many of Lightning's Commando-based attacks are amalgamations of two separate skills she uses, like Blitz formed from the spinning Blitz attack, and ending with her Scourge attack with the gunshot.
• As Lightning is about to fight a Fleeting Flash manikin in a cutscene, she has her Blazefire Saber in gun-mode, the camera zooms in on her as she looks to her right to see a False Hero nearby. This alludes to a similar scene in the intro of Final Fantasy XIII when she is surrounded by PSICOM soldiers.
• Her paradigm roles—Commando, Ravager, and Medic—are based upon her primary roles in Final Fantasy XIII.
• When Lightning uses Army of One, a visual distortion appears on the top and bottom of the screen. The same distortion appears in Final Fantasy XIII when a full ATB Skill is used.
• When performing certain actions, Lightning will use exclamations similar to those of her comrades from Final Fantasy XIII. For example, when using Lightning Strike, she exclaims, "This is gonna sting!" alluding to what Sazh says when he performs an attack.
• When Lightning faces Garland, he says, "You dare to oppose your fate?", alluding to Lightning's attempt to defy the fal'Cie and resist her Focus in Final Fantasy XIII. It also refers to Barthandelus.
• At the end of Prologus when the Warrior of Light orders Lightning to stay and wait for Kain and Jecht, she replies, "Who died and made you Primarch?", referring to the Primarch position of leadership of Cocoon's government.
• While fighting Onion Knight, Lightning will say "Need someone to toughen you up?" referring to when she took Hope Estheim under her wing in Final Fantasy XIII. Onion Knight's line when facing her, "Maybe I can pick up some pointers", also alludes to this. One of Lightning's lines when entering battle, "Some things in life you just do", refers to another of her conversations with Hope, "It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do." In Dissidia Final Fantasy NT this is one of her sample voices.
• The Cloud of Darkness's opening line towards Lightning is a possible allusion of when a despairing Lightning was about to abandon Hope prior to Odin's intervention.
• The name of her manikin, Fleeting Flash, alludes to the conversation she had with Hope about her choice of name: "Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect. It only destroys."
• While in her Commando paradigm, Lightning's ATK is increased by one. This results in her Chase attacks and EX Burst doing slightly more damage if she is in her Commando role when using them. In Final Fantasy XIII, being in Commando role gives a bonus to attack power.
• When Lightning speaks to Warrior of Light in Chapter 5 of Treachery of the Gods, she says "I keep looking for hope until I find some." This refers to what she said to Orphan, "When we think there's no hope left, we keep looking until we find some."
• When facing Warrior of Light, she says "Great, now I'm fighting fairy tales", alluding to the Eidolon battle that in Cocoon was said to be a fairy tale.
• Two of Lightning's defeat lines, "How can it end like this?" and "I can't stop now", were also used when defeated as the party leader in Final Fantasy XIII.
• One of the items needed to make Zantetsuken and Odin Blade is Survival Knife. Lightning's sister Serah, gave her a survival knife for her birthday.
• Lightning's exclusive weapons allude to the three-tier weapon system of Final Fantasy XIII, where each weapon could be upgraded twice to become each character's ultimate weapon. In Final Fantasy XIII, the Blazefire Saber is upgraded into the Flamberge and then into the Omega Weapon; and the Axis Blade can be upgraded into the Enkindler.
• Lightning's two ultimate weapons allude to Odin's Zantetsuken, which Lightning dual-wields.
• When the Warrior of Light explains Kain's plan to save Cosmos's warriors by putting them to sleep, Lightning replies, "And you expect me to buy that?" This was her response to learning that Serah was a l'Cie and would marry Snow.
• When fighting Cloud, Lightning will say, "I know what it feels like to be a tool", alluding to her being a l'Cie and the time she spent manipulated by Barthandelus.
• Tidus's opening line against Lightning, "Look out, here comes a hero!", references both of their games. On her end, it alludes to Snow, who always proclaimed to be the hero of any situation.
• While fighting Bartz, Lightning will say "Not a care in the world, huh?". This is what Sazh says about Vanille in the Vile Peaks.
• When Lightning is fighting Sephiroth, he says, "You are also a cursed warrior". This alludes to how Lightning, a former soldier, becomes a cursed l'Cie.
• Lightning says to Laguna "Just keep your eyes front". This is what she said to Hope in Final Fantasy XIII at the Gapra Whitewood.
• One of her encounter lines, "There's no going back", alludes to what she said to Oerba Yun Fang in Final Fantasy XIII when entering Oerba.
• One of her lines when entering battle, "Let's do this," is what she said to her party in Final Fantasy XIII before facing Barthandelus.