Final Fantasy XIII-2 challenge day twenty-seven
(So, so long because I missed three days and also because I love Serah.)
Your thoughts on Serah’s development in XIII-2: Serah's development was subtle, awesome and honestly, surprising. When Square named Serah as protagonist of XIII-2 I was baffled at their choice - why not Lightning? I was surprised that they would pass over a character that obviously resonated with the fanbase in favour of a character that had been an NPC. I think that this was a smart choice on Square's choice in the end though, and the addition of another new character to your party - Noel - just really hit the message home: this is a different game. But that's getting into tangential territory.
Serah's development was subtle and slow, I feel. Slow is not bad though, not at all. If she developed too fast as a character I would not have believed it. Her first big step was, obviously, believing Noel about his being from the future and choosing to travel the timeline with him in order to find Lightning. She stopped waiting for Snow to come back, finally put some faith in herself and her abilities, and went to go look for her long-missing sister. I think the next phase in her growth was during her time in the Sunleth Waterscape with Snow. I have it in my head that Snow treated her like she didn't know how to handle herself, and when she fought in front of him, she cemented it for herself - that she was a capable fighter, and that she was genuinely growing. That pushed her toward the resolution to turn it around and save him. The next big step was when Yeul died in Academia, and Serah realized that her and Noel's actions were causing Yeul's deaths. Seeing Noel in such pain over Yeul's death probably had an impact on her, too, just really hit it home that she couldn't simply do what she wanted without severe reprecussions. But then came the time in the Augusta Tower, and realizing that if she didn't do something, Hope and Alyssa could die. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, indeed. But she pulled through, and the future rewarded them with a thriving Academia!
The next part of the story had Serah's resolve seriously set in. I believe she reached the height of her development here. When she rejected the fake Lightning, that was the moment she really, really came into her own. No amount of pretending, no amount of running, no amount of sitting and waiting was going to replace a real future, one that she had fought for, protected, and shaped with her own actions. And then she went and proved herself even more by going into Noel's dream and waking him up! She acknowledged Noel's role in her growth - "Lightning, I've come a long way, and it's all thanks to Noel. That's why, when I reach Valhalla, I want him with me." She went into his dream not only out of a need for a good fighting partner for the rest of the way, but because she recognized his contribution to her growth, and that it was simply right to have him by her side when she finally saw Lightning again. To see that she hadn't done it all on her own - that strikes me as very mature. AND THEN she resolved to keep on fighting in spite of the very real possibility that she could die, indirectly of her own doing! If that's not resolve, I don't know what is.
