Serah Farron | Earning her trust

Serah Farron is a character in the Lightning Saga, being playable in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and making appearances in Final Fantasy XIII and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. She is the younger sister of Lightning and the fiancée of Snow Villiers.

In Final Fantasy XIII, Serah is the first Pulse l'Cie in Cocoon and her destiny is one of the game's central plot points. Lightning accuses Snow of failing to protect Serah and does not initially approve of their relationship. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Serah sets off on a journey through time with Noel Kreiss to find Lightning when everyone believes her to be dead, a journey that also becomes a quest to save the future. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, saving Serah's soul is Lightning's primary motivation when she becomes the savior.

Serah has the same pink tint of hair that Lightning has. She ties most of her hair into a ponytail on the left side of her head, much like how Lightning's hair drapes over her left shoulder. Serah has blue eyes like Lightning, although Serah's are a darker shade.

She wears cat-shaped earrings representing NORA, a rebel group led by her fiancé, and a black armband on her right bicep and a bandage on her left bicep to cover her l'Cie brand. Her outfit consists of a red plaid-pleated skirt lined with black lace, a white sleeveless dress shirt, a semi-transparent pink sweeper vest, an extra matching hair tie on her left wrist, black thigh-high stockings with a white diamond shape attached to the top of her left stocking, and ivory ankle boots. She wears an engagement pendant shaped like Cocoon after receiving it from Snow. The engagement pendants

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, now 21 years old, Serah wears a revealing white, reddish-pink, and gold form-fitting dress. It has a white top, pink sections on the front and back connecting the top to the skirt over black shorts, cut-out sides at the waist, crisscrossing pink straps on the sides of her torso, and two straps that go over her shoulders into a cross-back shape. She wears a storage pack on her right hip that hangs from her waist, pink and black thigh-high leggings, and purple ankle boots. The outfit mysteriously appears on her while she sleeps before the first paradox manifests.

Serah retains her earrings and engagement necklace and wears a pink choker, short pink sleeves under gray gloves that have gold ornaments, and gold armbands, one in the shape of a bird resting on her left bicep where her l'Cie brand used to be. Similar to Lightning's use of a gunblade that can switch between gun and sword, Serah wields a bowsword, though its true form is that of her new moogle companion, Mog. The symbol on the front of Serah's dress is also on Lightning's shield. Etro script is written on both symbols, the blades of Serah's weapon, the back of her dress, and her storage pack. The script on Serah's outfit translates to: Witness to Times Forgotten — Restorer of Lines Disjointed. She is slightly taller, being very close to Lebreau's height and closer in height to Lightning.

In her CG render for Final Fantasy XIII-2, Serah's ponytail is held by a pink band matching her outfit, but in-game, she retains the black band that she wore in Final Fantasy XIII.

Her crystal is in the shape of a teardrop that Snow holds onto for most of the story in Final Fantasy XIII.

Art Director Isamu Kamikokuryo consistently draws Serah and Lightning with blonde hair in concept art, despite their more "official" appearance. Additionally, Kamikokuryo's Serah concept art for Final Fantasy XIII-2 looks older and less skinny than her in-game appearance. A few details on her outfit are also different (such as a different choker).

According to Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise-, Serah is a straight-A student, and one of her favorite subjects is history. Serah is mature, wise, and cares deeply for those around her. Despite the grave circumstances, she stays positive and believes in a better future, drawing strength from her friends. Serah is a better cook than Lightning, who, in turn, is better at home improvement work.

In the three years that have passed in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Serah is emotionally scarred by past events, but she retains her strong and caring personality. While caring towards her students, Serah is a strict grade schoolteacher with a short temper, adopting Lightning's mannerisms, which earned her the nickname "Meanie Miss Farron" from her pupils, much to her dismay. Serah can hold her own in battle, despite not having much prior combat experience. She is determined to save the future, despite learning of the peril that it could put her in.

After receiving proper training, Serah proves herself to be a natural fighter. She swiftly masters many weapons and has exceptional reflexes. Her fighting style capitalizes on her superb agility, jumping while firing her bows and skillfully performing backflips, similar to Lightning. She learns magic and, out of herself and Noel, Serah is the more magically oriented fighter.

Serah gained the Eyes of Etro after her awakening, allowing her to see future visions; this comes with the cost of shortening her lifespan.