Yeah, she's only human. ---you know what I mean.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, Yubei, I think we see something more or less similar. I just see her as a bit more of a victim, and I'd maybe put Snow in the typical leading role instead but she's a pretty cool character.

I think the thing with her popularity is a lot of people aren't very sympathetic to characters that whine, regardless of having a good reason. Hence why you see so many complaints about Hope and his mom, and you don't see many about Sazh, who takes his tragedy in stride and is generally well-liked because of it. I'm thinking it's the same thing with Lightning; She doesn't whine from the getgo, she takes decisive action---sometimes that decisive action is smacking Sazh, punching Snow, slapping Fang. Well-deserved from her perspective at least.