Lumina

[01habbo]

A new character to appear in the upcoming game. she is described as a goth version of Serah, at first I though Square had gone nuts and created a chibi like lightning.

http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2013/01...-revealed.html

But no she is a new character, why am i sensing a Ventus/ Roxas like relationship here. :O

[KoFF]

Daaaamn, hotness! I already love the look of the new character. I must agree there is a good chance Lumina is tied to Serah (and/or Lightning). The hair color and the hairstyles... It's kinda a trademark of the sisters. It's like she's a fusion of the two O.o. It's too early for theories, but lol... How about...: She's some sort of embodiment of the 2. Lightning is the heroic messenger of darkness (in this title), Serah is her Light (no pun intended). Lumina is a word for light... Darkness and Light in unison.
............ Yeah, now I am starting to see the KH-thing too, lol. Either way, I'm pretty hyped about the character.

But chibi? You mean the left image to the right of Lightning? Because that's just another picture of Lightning in a slightly angled bird perspective. It's a pretty awesome new costume though.

[Dan]

CGI renders

Lumina:



Lightning Dark Muse costume:



and Lightning Shadow Dust costume:

[KoFF]

Much better screens. Thanks. Is it just me or does Light look... Cute in that last render? o.O.

And Lumina has blue eyes too... Could be a "cleansed" version of Serah, lol. It's been a long time since there was a new pre-mystery to munch on in the FF series. Serina.

[.A²]

lol.

[01habbo]

I like the dark muse costume, it's my favorite one so far and when I said chibi I meant Lumina.

[KoFF]

*is not seeing the chibiness*

[Zerathos986]

Considering Lightning is supposedly the hero who is to destroy the desolate world in FFXIII-3, I feel Lumina is a remnant of Serah, who'd lived her life to protect the world. She'll oppose Lightning along with Snow and Noel until Lightning either figures out she's on the wrong side, Lightning is revealed to be on the right side, Bhunivelze betrays her, or some other plot twist therein. =p

[KoFF]

Lumina seems to be a bit of mystery (other than for the most obvious reasons). I don't think she's just trying to fight Lightning. We've seen her at times appear to be aiding her or otherwise throwing some cryptic bones her way. To that extent I may however agree there is a chance she is some sort of "guiding" light for Lightning, intending to make sure she stays on the right path.
Could also be that her likeness to Serah is based on what Bhunivelze knows will affect Lightning in some twist grounded in his attempts to make sure she does her job right. I don't (yet) see why Bhunivelze would complicate things though.

The twist is, Serah IS Bhunivelze now.

Nah, but I definitely agree on the possibility of Bhunivelze turning out to be a villain rather than savior xD. At least that was my first possible theory on him. Lumina and Bhunivelze are both still huge question marks in my book though. I don't see any actual hints towards what is the case, as much as I just see loads of fodder for theories. I remember making a joke to Habs about how Lumina was Serah the way Serah thinks Lightning sees her or something down that avenue xD. Considering it has been stated that the loose ends from previous titles will be tied up in LR, I'm definitely leaning towards Serah being related to Serah as more than just a memory in Lightning's heart taken from (with a twist) or simply an entity that happens to have chosen the form she took. It's really interesting though that Lumina looks like a mix between Serah and Light, which is why I have thoughts about her being spawned from something inside Lightning somehow (in relation to Serah), or maybe something akin to how Tidus came to look like he did, being a changed dream of the past.
One could say it's obvious that she has a direct relevance to Serah, but I'm saying I believe this is the case because - it COULD have been something completely different to set your mind on a different path so you'd be surprised by the real plot twist - of the mentioning of tying lose ends.

You mentioned Lightning supposedly being the destroyer of the world. I'll assume you are taking the side of her former friends here, believing in the prophecy? Because seen from Lightning's and the gamer's perspective she's supposed to be the SAVIOR after all. I had previously been thinking that she would go through the game doing the right thing (while we are to believe that the prophecy must be false despite what the others say) but then learning at the end that Bhunivelze was deceiving her into achieving something and that the prophecy held merit (which it almost obviously will at any rate)... But with your words I come to think of it from a different angle more akin to what you are saying. Perhaps it will be kinda clear throughout the game that it is indeed the prophecy we should be aware of and that we - including Lightning - will be confused about who even is right. Even Lightning does seem to have her doubts in the trailer.
Hope is on her side though, seemingly, and I don't think Fang will be trying to fight her either, so it's still a big question how many other than Noel (I forgot if Snow knows) knows about the prophecy and are they all fighting her/not fighting her for the same reasons. Noel was always the one who was closest to the whole prophecy deal.

Also, that prophecy, Where did it come from? Is this some Yuul thing? Or has it been seen seen in an Oracle Drive? Interesting stufffffff.



EDIT: Lumina is Caius in disguise! CONFIRMEEEEED!.. Not. But I forgot I had some short thoughts about Caius and the Heart of Chaos being involved this time again. THere's probably something on it. At least Caius is confirmed to appear in the game.

[Zerathos986]

You know, if Square really wants to surprise the fans, given the complexity of Final Fantasy XIII, they could easily create a mindfuck scenario where nothing is how it's being portrayed in the trailers. For instance, perhaps the destruction of Luxerion is both necessary and yet a plot by an evil Bhunivelze, which creates outcomes that can lead to a good or bad ending. Lumina could have been a manufactured tool of Bhunivelze as you mentioned, but also be a vessel that Serah's soul can affect to provide aid to Lightning and guide her, which is why at times she appears to be helping her and at other times is attacking her. Additionally, given that Lightning is being influenced in this scenario, the attacking and aiding Lumina provides can both be the work of Serah and Bhunivelze depending on which way Lightning is swaying. For instance, if Lightning is straying from Bhunivelze's path, he'll take control of Lumina to have her either attack or advice her some way, yet at points when she's following Bhunivelze and thus straying from Serah's path, she'll use Lumina to aid or attack her. It won't be until very far into the game that Lightning realises Lumina is only a puppet and being wielded by more than one master, which either means she'll have to decide what she'll choose on her own or find some way to force one master into complete control. Meanwhile, Snow and Noel may be given either true information that Luxerion will be destroyed by Lightning, false information about Luxerion's destruction, or perhaps true information that Lightning will destroy the city, but false information on what that will lead to. Any of these tales would make them enemies of Lightning. In the end, the right course of action becomes so elusive that the only thing Lightning can be sure of is that she needs to make a decision, hence denying the plausibility of the prophecy in the trailer.

In addition, I think I may know where haboo came up with her theory on Lumina. x)

If this game is done right, I'm sure it could be the best installment of the series. However, there is every chance Ben's right. x3 I only hope it doesn't impact the XIII role in Exigo. x_X