Lightning is the key protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels, serving as a primary protagonist in XIII, a supporting character of XIII-2 and the sole playable character of Lightning Returns.
Born as Claire Farron, or Éclair Farron in the original Japanese-language version, she lost her parents when she was 15 years old. Claire takes on her codename of Lightning to become a stronger person to help her younger sister Serah, only to cause tensions between them as a result. In the first game, she is a former Sanctum soldier who sets out to save her sister from the fal'Cie, then strives to save Cocoon from destruction. At the beginning of XIII-2, she is whisked away to Valhalla, capital of the Unseen World, to act as the Goddess Etro's protector, sending messages to her allies and guiding Serah through time to put things right. She fails, causing the death of Etro and the release of chaos, a dark energy kept trapped by the goddess. In Lightning Returns, Lightning ends up serving the god Bhunivelze as the savior for the inhabitants of Nova Chrysalia during its final days, fighting old friends and enemies alike to save their souls. She is voiced by Ali Hillis in English and by Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese.