Final Fantasy XIII Characters
LightningLightning is the main character of Final Fantasy XIII, and her name, Lightning, is actually merely a code name she has issued to herself, hiding her true full name.
Lightning is said to be reluctant to talk about herself and her past. Mentally and physically, Lightning is a strong independent woman. She's muscular (but not overly muscular as Character Designer Tetsuya Nomura thought any more and people wouldn't like as a main character) but she is not sweet. She is strict to herself, to others, and has little respect for whiners. She is said to be comparable to a noble soldier.
As seen in the trailers thus far, Lightning wields a unique sword with the ability to transform into an oversized handgun.
Sazh KatzroySazh has known Lightning since they were both serving in the Coocoon army. He is said to be a very vocal character, but is not afraid to show his soft side as he is emotional and sympathetic. He has a pet chicobo, which lives in his afro for safe keeping.
Sazh uses two handguns for battle, but can also use his hands if he is not equiped with any guns.
Snow VilliersSnow Villiers is a member of Coocon's fal'Cie, one of the "chosen people". His character was designed with the idea that he should be able to carry a grown person under each arm and be able to run with them. He hasn't been seen yet standing next to anyone, so it's hard to guess roughly how tall he actually is.
He is seen for a moment in the Final Fantasy XIII trailers on the Shiva Sisters Motorcycle, pulling up guns blazing to what appears to be saving Lightning. He has said to be a Rushi, of whom are out to protect Cocoon, which complicates matters as to why he would kill Cocoon troops and save Lightning.
Snow's weapon of choice are his fists of steel, however, he has also been seen using a machine gun. As well he rides around on a motorcycle that can transform into the ice summon Shiva. His style of combat is said to be humourous as he is a wild character. Snow has been nicknamed Mr. 33cm because of his enormous shoe size.
Oerba Dia VanilleOerba resides in Pulse, and is a L'Cie. She has been seen wearing rather tribal clothing, as well as being disguised as a prisoner, so as to help Lightning and Team Nora free some residents of Pulse. Her weapon of choice is a fishing rod type weapon.
Hope EstheimHope Estheim is a fourteen year old boy who lived a peaceful life in Cocoon, until he was banished to Pulse for reasons unknown. Journeying with his mother, their transport to Pulse was interrupted by the battle on Hanged Edge. His mother, under Snow's request, joined the battle, and lost her life in the process.
Hope now blames Snow for the loss of his mother, and directs all his sadness and anger towards him.
Hope's speech is usually quite reserved, but with the duress of travelling with Lightning and becoming a l'Cie, he sometimes lets his emotions get the better of him and has outbursts of frustration or anger.
In battle, Hope uses dual weapons which can best be described as futuristic boomerangs.
GadotGadot is a member of Team Nora, and that he uses a machine gun. Gadot has a tattoo on his right arm represents his motif "fire".
LebreauLebreau is a member of Team Nora, and she uses a rifle as her main weapon. She also acts as healer during battles. Character designer Nao Ikeda explains why she dresses the way she does, and it is because Team Nora's main base is on a beach, and so as a result, her design was based off of volleyball players.
MaquiMaqui is a member of Team Nora, and he uses a machine gun as his main weapon. Character designer Nao Ikeda describes Maqui as an intreverted character, but now idolizes Snow, and tries to mimic the way Snow dresses.
YugeYuge is a non-playable member of Team Nora, and he uses a machine gun as his main weapon.
Final Fantasy XIII StoryLittle is know about the story behind Final Fantasy XIII thus far, but Square Enix has dropped a few details about the prologue to the story of Final Fantasy XIII, and it's theme of determination, fantasy and futurism.
What we know is that there are two prominent parts of the world in Final Fantasy XIII, Cocoon, and Pulse. Cocoon is a haven from humans, and was created by one of the powerful crystals in the game. Cocoon is permanently air born high in the Clouds. Below Cocoon is Pulse, which is believed to be the entire planet, Square has merely referred to it as what is below Cocoon. Crystals in Final Fantasy XIII are beings themselves, with specific motives and plans, and are far superior to humans, it seems.
Nonetheless, while this specific Crystal (or possibly a couple working together), the one that created and maintains Cocoon, resided in Pulse, it is said that in determining the effect Pulse would have on humans, this Crystal decided what would be the best environment suitable for humans, and thus created Cocoon. It is unclear if humans existed before the creation of Cocoon. Cocoon itself is a highly advanced society in Final Fantasy XIII, still protected and maintained by the Crystal.
Even more broad is that a battle of the gods lies behind Final Fantasy XIII, but nothing more is known about this. In Cocoon, the citizens, and holy government, prosecute anyone in Cocoon who has been, or is believed to be, influenced in any way by the people of pulse, and are banished from Cocoon.
Even more vague, the a Crystal in Pulse, as a symbol of piece, chose the people of Pulse and determined their fate and led the world. Then she was chosen, Lightning, as the enemy of mankind who will destroy the world. This could mean that Cocoon plans to somehow destroy Pulse a la Kefka in FFVI, and Lightning is chosen to stop them, or it could mean something different entirely.
In the beginning of Final Fantasy XIII, all of Pulse is pretty outraged with Cocoon, and they organize an assault against Cocoon, or which Lightning leads. This leads to a quasi-revolution. It's said that Cocoons strengths as a fortress are susceptible to infiltration, which furthermore is frightening to the citizens of Cocoon as this could open up Cocoon to possibly falling from it's place in the sky.
The only other known thing is that the Crystal of Cocoon is influencing others fate as well, and choosing defenders for Cocoon, to compliment it's already established defenses. They are said to be called Rushi, and are out to defend the Crystal of Cocoon, and Cocoon itself, and to take down Lightning.
Final Fantasy XIII Battle System Final Fantasy XIII's battle system, known as Command Synergy Battle, is a fast paced evolution of the traditional Active Time Battle System. Designed to be visually similar to the action sequences of Advent Children, combat is much smoother and flashier.
The system is command based, meaning a menu is used to control the actions of characters. Once battle is initiated an ATB guage begins to quickly fill up, far faster than previous titles which used a similar system.
Once the ATB guage fills to a set point, a slot becomes available. As of now, most characters have either three or four slots available, althoughthis is likely to increase throughout the game. Individual commands such as Attack, Fire, Blizzaga, etc can be assigned to slots, either while the guage is filling or beforehand.
The interesting aspect of this system is that you can press triangle to execute any number of chained moves. You can assign one slot to attack, wait for the guage to fill and then execute a single attack, or you could place Attack, Fire and Launch in three seperate slots, and have them executed together. Considering it is possible to both interrupt enemy attacks, and have your own attacks interrupted, it is likely that both short and long chained attacks will be useful.
Another aspect of battles is the break system. If an enemy is dealt enough successive damage in a short duration, their status becomes break. When this occurs the enemy begins to flash a different color, indicating that they can be successfully launched into the air. Once an enemy is launched into the air they are relatively defenseless, and attacking a launched enemy increases the time they remain airborne.
Final Fantasy XIII is known to feature eidolons (also known as summons or aeons in other titles). Each character has their own unique summon, which they call to aid them in battle. During combat, eidolons have two distinct forms. In the first form, which they enter battle in, the eidolon replaces all the party members bar the one who summoned it. In this form the player has no direct control over the summon, instead it fights alongside the summoner following AI routines. After some unknown set condition is met, eidolons are able to enter their second form. Known as the Drive Form for Shiva, and Gestalt Mode for Odin, this form (for Shiva at least) changes the gameplay to a far more real time affair, with combos being entered off the face buttons of the controller.
Little else is known about the battle system, except that there is a quantity known as TP points, which serve an unknown function, and that by pressing either L1 or LB, the player is able to change the paradigms of party members.
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