A former sergeant of the Cocoon military, Lightning sought the fal'Cie of Pulse in order to ask it to save her sister Serah, whom the fal'Cie had turned into a l'Cie. However, much to her dismay, Lightning was turned into a l'Cie herself. Lightning has long pink-brown hair and is 177 cm tall (5'10"). Originally named Éclair Farron (エクレール・ファロン Ekurēru Faron?)[24], she discarded her birth name after her parents died in an attempt to emotionally reinforce herself so she could protect Serah, though this only caused tensions to rise between them. For her design, character designer Tetsuya Nomura was asked to create a "female version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII". During development, he described her as "not very feminine".[25] Lightning wields a weapon called a Blaze Edge that is a combination of a gun and a sword (one collapsing into the other). and she can also manipulate gravity with a device on her thumb (though due to Sazh's interference, this device becomes damaged).[26] In battle, she is agile and uses acrobatic moves. As a l'Cie, she can summon the Eidolon Odin to fight by her side in battle, who can assume a horse-like form that she can ride on.[27] While riding, Lightning dual wields Odin's detachable sword. Her l'Cie mark is in the center of her chest. Her strongest unique special attack is called Scene Drive.[28]
