Lightning is a young woman with wavy rose pink hair and pale aqua eyes. Lightning's eye color is officially noted as blue, though in the FMVs and promotional art, they often appear green due to green aspects around the pupil. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before, Serah says that Lightning resembles their mother.

In Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning seeks to save her younger sister Serah but becomes entangled in a plot that endangers Cocoon, her homeworld. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning serves as a knight protecting the goddess Etro from her fated rival, Caius Ballad. In the concluding tale, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the god Bhunivelze chooses Lightning to be a savior, tasked to save the people's souls before the end of the world.

Credit : 株式会社スクウェア・エニックス
Character Design : Tetsuya Nomura