Lightning is the worst character in the history of Final Fantasy

[razorrozar7]

So the warriors of light from FF I were better characters than lightning...? Honestly...? Do you seriously expect me to believe that or agree with it...?

Well put. The warriors of light were barely character at all.

[Eagle299]

But unlike those characters Hope has not much of a cause to fight since something happened to him that could not be helped.

Serah and Dajh could be brought back but not Nora.

Hope´s cause is the same as Vanille and Fang.

The difference being that Vanille and Fang felt responsible for past mistakes.

Hope starts whiny and I understand how he feels.

But later he overcomes his fears.
He turns out to always be the one to encourage the others and lead the way.

The kid has it´s merits despite not being a Rambo.

You know who else wasn't Rambo? Rydia. And Rydia's involvement in her story was a hell of a lot more tragic than anything that happened to Hope. Her mother was killed by two knights from a neighboring kingdom who then used a magic bomb ring to destroy her village. Cecil and Kain even admitted fault to this right in front of her, then tried to kidnap her. True, in Cecil's defense, he thought he was just slaying an evil dragon, part of his sworn duty as a knight, and delivering an item for his king. He had no idea killing the dragon would kill an innocent woman just defending her village, nor did he know he was delivering a WMD. But from Rydia's POV, he was every bit the stereotypical evil dark knight. I would have severely questioned he judgement if she didn't sic Titan on Cecil and Kain when he walked up to her and said, "Our Bad."

And she got over this a hell of a lot faster than Hope did. Even her new found fear of fire when she had to.

Hope, OTOH, got loaded onto a train by Nazi Stormtroopers for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a muscle bound idiot and his ragtag rebel group rescued him and his mother from being exiled to the hellish enviornment of the world. His mother joined the fight, and died in the effort to fight the power. Hope held a grudge against the guy who did everything in his power to protect both himself and his mother, merely failing to protect her, not killed her.

So Hope is more whiny and less emotionally mature than a 6 year old girl.

[Zora]

But who is more realistic? Hope or Rydia?

Also, while it's a bit of a stretch to say that Snow is at fault, from Hope's point of view Snow was at fault because his terrible leadership put people in danger. Snow had great intentions, just not the skills to go with it. And that's one of Snow's flukes we see again and again.

[Dreddz]

Lightning knew how to slap a bitch when they got out of hand so I liked her somewhat.

[LowCaloriePie]

So Hope is more whiny and less emotionally mature than a 6 year old girl.

More like Rydia is more strong and emotionally mature than a fourteen-year-old boy. Rydia's strong nature as a character doesn't make Hope any more of a weak one. No one could expect either kid to get over the trauma of their respective losses within the timeline of each game's story.

[Zora]

So Hope is more whiny and less emotionally mature than a 6 year old girl.

More like Rydia is more strong and emotionally mature than a fourteen-year-old boy. Rydia's strong nature as a character doesn't make Hope any more of a weak one. No one could expect either kid to get over the trauma of their respective losses within the timeline of each game's story.

It's perhaps worth adding that Rydia may have had a lot more time than any other character in the game in the summoner's world. More than enough time to absorb the loss of her parents. Chapter 7, (SPOILER)where Hope comes to term with Nora's loss, or at least begins to, occurs, what, maybe three days after Nora's death? A week at most.

[dayrinni]

I beat the game a few days ago.

I am very impressed with Lightning's fighting skills. They are very entertaining to watch I must say. It was the main reason why I kept playing the game.

My quick thoughts on Lightning as a character:
(SPOILER)When I first started playing, I had no clue what the characters were talking about in regards of Pulse/cocoon/focus/etc, and all that jazz. After beating the game, I went back and started to watch many of the cut scenes on youtube to understand the beginning better. I dunno, I guess her personality just grew on me after watching them. She seemed real to me. I enjoyed her reasoning for changing her name. It is childish, but she was young and immature at the time and had to grow up fast. It was nice seeing her admit that to Hope. She has a lot of walls up and there is other scene whetr she is with Snow on the cliff there, talking about Serah. She let some of those walls down. So she does have something inside of her but keeps it buckled up. I wish the game had less characters (I think this for all FF's), so the story could focus heavily more on them. So...if they had less characters (or just did a better job in the story telling) in FF13, I'm sure Lightning (assuming they kept her) would have been a much more interesting character. They tried to show it but it wasn't really enough unless you really thought it about/watched the cut scenes back to back.

Just my opinion/perspective on things.

[Nebulance]

Lighting is a badass. She is far better at being a major protagonist than Yuna.

Wasn't Tidus the major protagonist? I mean, yes, Yuna was one of the main characters, but it is Tidus' story...

In any case, yes Lightning is a badass.

[VeloZer0]

Wasn't Tidus the major protagonist?

In theory, but there are some (including myself) that consider his contribution to the story to be marginal in comparison to that of Yuna or Auron. (as in I feel that the whole game could have essentially gone down just the same if he was never there)

[AntagonistGB]

I really despised Lightning. She had virtually no reason to act the way she did. I dunno, nothing about her felt sincere, and she really went out of her way to make me hate her by beating up characters that I preferred to her for, again, no reason.

As for the Tidus protagonist thing, yes, Yuna and Auron are the central focuses of the story, but Tidus is who we see the game through. It's his story because he's telling it to us, and everywhere he goes, we go. Also the game (SPOILER)begins with his birth and ends with his death. That has to count for something. :V

And as for Hope, he probably has the best story arc. Either him or Vanille. While my favorite character in the game is Sazh, hands-down, seeing both of the former from characters I couldn't stand to characters I genuinely liked was something I can't really say I've experienced in a Final Fantasy game before. Contrast to Lightning and Fang, who started out obnoxious, had no natural growth, and randomly decided at various intervals to be less bitchy. (and in Fang's case, skate back and forth between being a bitch and mother figure to the group)

[BG-57]

She has some cool qualities, the stoic samurai ethic and her take no prisoners battle style. I even like the way she shows frustration by saying 'Tch'. She's not really emotionless, she just internalizes really well.

That being said, her reveal of her softer side is not handled all that great, although better than Hope's conflict with Snow. She maintains the facade too well and drops it too suddenly, so it feels a bit strange.

She's a good example of the Valkyrie warrior type beloved in the FF series, but there are better ones: Agrias and Beatrix, to name two.

[Clo]

She's one of my favorite characters in the game so far.

[Ultima Shadow]

Completely off-topic:

So Hope is more whiny and less emotionally mature than a 6 year old girl.

According to a certain official strategy-guide, Rydia is apparently 7 when she's a child.

But who is more realistic? Hope or Rydia?

When I play FF4, the only thing in this entire world that's real to me is adult Rydia's two bouncy bazanagas. /smug

[Kenshin IV]

You've encountered Snow right? And Hope?

[[.Pearl.]]

I think you're talking about Shadow from FF6.

Lightning is the greatest character ever. She is finally a female who isn't afraid to kick some ass to get where she wants, much like Ashe was (who also rules). I loved that she tried so hard to be stoic but her real feelings came out when Hope was in danger.