I will say this... I liked Paine for her angsty moments. That aside, I feel that (out of the two) I enjoyed Lulu better. Why? Because she is darker, more mysterious, and, well, she is a Black Mage. She reflects me more than Paine does. Even though I felt Paine was a decent counter-balance to Rikku's over-bubbly personality, I felt that Lulu was one of the few things that held Yuna's pilgrimage together. whatever my views, I liked them both, yet Lulu more. Dealing with the topic of 'putting Lulu in Paine's place', well, if Square Enix did that for every 'sucky' character, then we wouldn't be able to have such quality discussions like this, now would we?