Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 29, 2016

Lightning is a fictional character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. She first appeared as a playable character and protagonist in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy XIII, and reappeared as a supporting character in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and as the sole playable character in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. She was created by Motomu Toriyama, the director and scenario writer of XIII, and designed by Tetsuya Nomura, a regular character artist for the series. Their idea was to create a strong female protagonist who was adept at combat and less feminine than previous Final Fantasy heroines. Lightning has received mixed commentary from critics—much of it relating to her cold personality, which was compared to that of Final Fantasy VII's protagonist Cloud Strife. Some critics saw her in Lightning Returns as underdeveloped and unlikable, while others found her better developed and more human than in previous games. In lists later compiled by video game publications, Lightning was commended as one of the best characters in the Final Fantasy series and in video games as a whole.