Serah Farron Serah Farron [ sɛrə ] is a supporting character in " Final Fantasy XIII " , the protagonist of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , who also appears in " " . She is Lightning ' s younger sister by three years , and Snow Villiers ' s fiancée . Lightning accuses Snow of failing to protect Serah and does not initially approve of their relationship . 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 . In " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , Serah sets off on a journey through time with Noel Kreiss to find Lightning when all others believe 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 main motivation when she becomes the savior . Profile . Appearance . Serah is an 18 - year - old girl with the same pink tint of hair Lightning has . She ties her hair into a ponytail on the left side of her head , much like how Lightning ' s hair is draped over her left shoulder . Serah has blue eyes like her sister , although Serah ' s are a darker shade . She wears cat - shaped earrings representing NORA , a rebel group her fiancé belongs to . She wears a black armband on her right bicep like Lightning , 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 , ivory ankle boots , and a bandage on her left bicep to cover her l ' Cie brand . She wears an engagement pendant in the shape of Cocoon after receiving it from Snow . Producer Yoshinori Kitase describes Serah as " the cutest girl " in the game . In " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , now 21 years old , Serah wears a revealing form - fitting dress of white , reddish - pink , and gold consisting of 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 just 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 that rests 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 " . 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 she wore in " Final Fantasy XIII " . Alternate outfits . Serah has several alternate outfits released as part of downloadable content . " Summoner ' s Garb " was released on January 10th , 2012 in Japan and came as pre - order content in some countries and on March 16th , 2012 appeared as fully downloadable content ; " Beachwear " was released on February 21st , 2012 , in Asia and on February 28th , 2012 , it was available worldwide ; " N7 Armor " , costume based on " ' s " armor appeared on the net on March 27th , 2012 , in Asia and the U . S . , and the next worldwide ; " Style and Steel " , designed by Yuko Oshima , was downloadable from April 10th , 2012 . " Style and Steel " is the only free DLC for " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . A " White Mage " costume was released on May 15th , 2012 . Personality . 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 and wise , and cares deeply for those around her . Despite the grave circumstances , she stays positive and believes in a better future as long as she has her friends by her side . 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 . Serah is a strict grade school teacher with a short temper , and like Lightning , can be scary when angered , which earned her the nickname " Meanie Miss Farron " . Serah can hold her own in battle despite not having much prior experience in combat . She is determined to save the future despite learning of the peril it could put her in . Story . Early life . Serah was born three years after her elder sister , Claire . Their father died when they were young and they lost their mother to an unknown illness when Serah was twelve . With no other family to turn to , Claire took it upon herself to raise Serah and changed her name to " Lightning " . Since then , Serah has looked up to Lightning as her guardian . After Lightning graduated from high school and joined the Guardian Corps Bodhum Security Regiment she began to lose sight of her goals , and worked many hours while spending little time with Serah . " Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero - Promise - " . Serah was planning to attend the university in Eden when she fell in love with Snow during summer vacation , much to Lightning ' s dismay . From a young age , the local landmark , the Pulse Vestige , caught her attention and made Serah interested in studying history . One day , Serah visits the Vestige and finds a door leading inside the Vestige and ventures into the ruins , where she is chosen by the Pulse fal ' Cie , Anima that was entombed within the Vestige . Serah is branded a l ' Cie and dreams of transforming into Ragnarok and destroying Cocoon , but does not realize it is her Focus . She wakes up outside of the Vestige and notices the l ' Cie brand on her arm . She frantically tries to rub it off but , affected by her fear , the brand evolves and Serah walks off crying . Four days later , Serah tells Snow she had been branded a Pulse l ' Cie and tries to break up with him , but Snow refuses to abandon her and offers to aid her in figuring out her Focus . Two days later , Serah befriends a girl she aids on the beach , named Vanille . Listening to Vanille ' s problem , Serah advises her to face it later and look at it from a distance to find a way to overcome it . She tells Vanille about her nightmare of destroying the world and how she tried to run from it , but now knows she will get through with her friends ' help . Since it was her fault Serah was made a l ' Cie , Vanille apologizes but Serah , not knowing of Vanille ' s involvement , does not understand . The next day , Serah goes out to the shopping mall with Snow to find a birthday present for Lightning . Serah buys a survival knife to keep Lightning safe while she is on duty , while Snow slips away and buys two engagement necklaces . The night after , Serah and Snow attend the fireworks festival where Snow proposes to her and she accepts . On Lightning ' s birthday the following day , Serah and Snow tell Lightning about her becoming a l ' Cie , and their engagement , but Lightning believes Serah is lying as an excuse to marry Snow . Serah and Snow attempt to seek the council of the fal ' Cie in the Vestige , but since PSICOM discovered the fal ' Cie the night before , the town has been quarantined and the Vestige is off - limits . While she and Snow escape PSICOM on an airbike , Serah jumps onto a ledge on the Vestige and becomes trapped by liquid metal that pulls her into the Vestige as the fal ' Cie ' s prisoner . " Final Fantasy XIII " . Two days later , PSICOM Purge s Bodhum ' s residents and transports the Vestige to be destroyed . Both Lightning and Snow make their way through the Hanging Edge to the Vestige to save Serah . Serah tells Lightning to save Cocoon and crystallizes , leaving behind a crystal tear for Snow . Snow believes Serah will awaken , but Lightning believes her to be dead . After Lightning , Snow , and the new companions they met during the Purge — Vanille , Hope and Sazh — are turned into l ' Cie by Anima , the Vestige falls into Lake Bresha , crystallizing it on impact . Serah becomes part of the crystallized lake and the others abandon Snow , who stays behind to try and free her . She is brought aboard the " Lindblum " along with Snow when he is captured by Fang and Cid Raines ' s troops , the Cavalry , a rogue army regimen that seeks to free Cocoon from the fal ' Cie rule . What happens to Serah ' s crystal from now on is unknown , but Snow and Fang rendezvous with the other l ' Cie , forcing Snow to leave Serah behind . On the " Palamecia " , the Cocoon fal ' Cie ' s leader Barthandelus tells the group that Serah ' s Focus was to " assemble the tools for Cocoon ' s destruction " , or lure them inside the Vestige to be branded l ' Cie with the task of destroying Cocoon . This revelation cripples Snow , who until that point had believed their Focus was to save Cocoon as Serah asked . After defeating Cid Raines in the Fifth Ark , revealed to be a l ' Cie branded by Barthandelus , and observing him enter crystal stasis despite going against his Focus , Snow emerges from his depression and vows to follow Serah ' s wish to save Cocoon . In the Sulyya Springs on Gran Pulse , Vanille reveals to Snow that Serah saw the same dream of Ragnarok they did — meaning Barthandelus must have lied about Serah ' s Focus — and reasons that Serah beat her Focus by putting Cocoon ' s fate in their hands . In Oerba , Barthandelus uses Serah ' s guise to try and trick the party into turning into Ragnarok , but they see through the illusion . As the party returns to Cocoon and treks through Eden , Barthandelus tells them he is holding Serah and Sazh ' s son , Dajh , hostage . In Orphan ' s Cradle Barthandelus destroys an illusion of the crystallized Serah to unnerve Snow and Lightning . After Orphan is destroyed and Vanille and Fang transform into Ragnarok to halt Cocoon ' s descent by forming a crystal pillar to support it above Pulse , Serah wakes up from crystal sleep and reunites with Snow and Lightning . Serah forgives Lightning for not believing her and Snow begins to plan for their wedding , with Lightning congratulating the pair . " Final Fantasy XIII - Episode i - " . Serah and Snow talk about rebuilding on Gran Pulse and saving Vanille and Fang , who remain crystallized within the pillar . Serah asks Vanille what she is dreaming about in her crystal sleep , revealing she knows about Snow staying with her at Lake Bresha since he carried her crystal tear , enabling her to hear him and see what he saw . Serah theorizes the dreams people have in crystal stasis vary , since Dajh told her about his dream of playing with chocobos . Serah decides to become a school teacher and educate children on why Cocoon fell . She wants to tell them their side of the story and help them grow into adults who can think for themselves . Shortly after , she discovers Lightning is nowhere to be seen . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 Fragments Before " . Due to the timeline being corrupted Lightning is removed from history and only Serah remembers her ever returning to Gran Pulse ' s surface with them . In the two years after Lightning ' s disappearance , with help from the Cavalry , Bodhum ' s former residents build the Pulsian village of New Bodhum and some learn to use magic , including Snow and Serah . Serah learns how to fight with weapons and discovers she has more fighting prowess than she knew . Having yet to marry , Serah and Snow live together in the NORA House . Although Serah becomes a teacher like Lightning was to her to teach the children how to protect and think for themselves , deep inside , she feels unable to move forward , haunted by her memory of the day Lightning vanished and how everyone thinks she is making things up to avoid facing reality . One day , Snow tells Serah he believes her about Lightning still being alive and sets out to search for her . Serah wants to go with him , but Snow insists she stay for the sake of her students . Giving Serah his engagement pendant as the symbol of his promise to return with Lightning , Snow departs , but a year goes by and Serah never hears back from him . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . One night , Serah dreams of Lightning fighting a mysterious man within a strange world . A crystal meteorite crashes outside of New Bodhum and she awakens finding herself in new clothes . The town is ravaged by monsters and Serah is saved by Noel Kreiss , the boy she saw in her dream . He gives her a moogle that can transform into a weapon and says Mog is a gift from Lightning , who now resides in Valhalla , the middle world between the realm of the living and the unseen realm of the dead , and that she has asked him to bring Serah there . The meteorite is actually a Time Gate , and the next day Serah and Noel search the town for an artefact to activate it . Serah learns Noel is the last human left from the end of the world , and after praying to create a brighter future , Lightning gave him the chance . Serah , Mog , and Noel enter the Time Gate and travel through the Historia Crux , the crossroads of the time continuum , emerging in the Bresha Ruins in Cocoon in 5 AF . The ruins are affected by a paradox that causes a giant monster known as Atlas to appear in the area . With the help of an Academy scientist named Alyssa Zaidelle Serah and Noel solve the paradox by defeating Atlas and the Bresha Ruins are restored . While activating another gate in the area , Serah has a vision of Ragnarok crystallizing Cocoon but hides this from Noel . Their next destination , the Yaschas Massif in 10 AF , is darkened by a solar eclipse due to a paradox . They meet an adult Hope Estheim who tells them a tribe of Farseers ruled by a seeress named Yeul used to live in the ruins . He says the seeress could see the future and foretold the nation ' s destruction , causing its downfall . Hope shows them the Oracle Drive , which shows grainy images of Lightning in Valhalla . Hope believes the paradox affecting the area is also affecting the Oracle Drive , and gives Serah and Noel an artefact to help them resolve the problem . After taking a gate to Oerba 200 AF , Serah , Mog and Noel find another Oracle Drive that projects various images of Serah ' s reunion with Lightning . They are interrupted by the seeress Yeul and her Guardian , Caius Ballad , whom Serah recognizes as the man she saw battling Lightning in her dream . After Caius battles Noel and Serah , Yeul stops Caius from killing them , and warns them that changing the future also changes the past . With the paradox in Oerba solved , Serah , Noel and Mog return to the Yaschas Massif in 1X AF , an alternate reality in which the eclipse never occurred and Hope never met them . Yeul appears and gives Serah a cryptic message , saying they are the same in how they can " show others the way " . Serah and Noel repeat their introduction to Hope , who shows the now clear images of Lightning in Valhalla with the Oracle Drive . The Oracle Drive shows images of Cocoon falling at Caius ' s hand , and Noel says the crystallized Cocoon fell centuries before his birth , and the world fell into ruin . Serah says they must change the future and Hope decides to help them with everything he and the Academy do in the present time . Serah and Noel use the gate in the Pass of Paddra and emerge in the Void Beyond , a shade of Valhalla that exists in a world between the Time Gates . As Serah despairs if they will ever find Lightning , Noel reassures they are one step closer to her with each Time Gate they pass through . Traveling to the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF , Serah clutches her head in pain and recites Yeul ' s prophecy of Cocoon ' s fall as though possessed . She has a vision of Snow about to be killed by a giant flan , runs off and finds Snow half - conscious before Noel comes to their aid , and they fight off the flan together . As the flan reforms , Serah pulls a resistant Snow to safety . She introduces Noel and Snow to each other before explaining to the latter why they are there . Snow explains he has also become a time traveler , and says Lightning appeared to him in a dream telling him to protect Cocoon ' s crystal pillar from the giant flan , and Serah and Noel decide to help him by resolving the paradox that makes the flan grow . Noel and Serah journey to the Coliseum and receive a fragment from the Arbiter of Time . After Noel and Serah defeat the Faeryl in the Archylte Steppe in ? ? ? AF and stop Royal Ripeness from growing , they return to the Sunleth Waterscape and find Snow struggling in front of the giant flan despite having promised to wait for their return . After defeating it for good Snow entrusts Serah ' s safety to Noel and disappears as the paradox affecting the area has been resolved , but Serah notices a Pulse l ' Cie brand on his arm before he fades away . Serah decides it is her turn to save Snow . Back in the Void Beyond , Noel explains the Farseer tribes always had a girl with the same appearance and power who is always called Yeul , and Caius is her Guardian . In Academia 400 AF , Serah , Noel and Mog witness numerous citizens transform into Cie ' th . They are confronted by what appears to be Caius , who threatens to kill them for tampering with the timeline . Caius says they were killed as a result of learning a forbidden history sealed within a tower two hundred years ago and have now appeared before him alive , a paradox in itself . Serah and Noel find Yeul under attack by Cie ' th . Yeul dies and leaves behind an artefact that enables Noel , Serah , and Mog to use a nearby Time Gate . Yeul said Caius wasn ' t in the city , leading Serah to wonder if she and Noel met an impostor . In the Augusta Tower , 200 years before the events at Academia , Noel and Serah learn Hope had created a Proto fal ' Cie to keep Cocoon airborne without its pillar . They meet an artificial duplicate of Alyssa and learn that Hope , Alyssa and other scientists were killed in the tower 187 years ago at 13 AF , and duplicates of them were created to hide the truth . On the tower ' s top level they find Yeul who gives them an artefact and implores them to protect time . She reveals Caius is an immortal Guardian who retains memory of all timeline events , and says Lightning disappeared because the future had changed , and if Serah and Noel solve the paradoxes the past will return to how Serah remembers it . Yeul explains the Caius from Academia was a deception made by a sentient machine within the tower , then implores they show her a new future . Noel , Mog and Serah enter a battle against the Proto fal ' Cie Adam who keeps reviving itself whenever defeated . Serah charges Adam while shouting at Hope about his machines " driving her nuts " , and just before she impales Adam ' s crystal , the fal ' Cie disappears into thin air . Serah has a vision of the future and blacks out , but Noel brings her back . Through the next Time Gate , they emerge into an alternate Academia in 4XX AF where the city is peaceful and the Proto fal ' Cie was never created . They meet Hope and Alyssa and learn Hope scrapped the idea for the Proto fal ' Cie after seeing Serah yelling at him through the Oracle Drive . Hope had devised the New Cocoon Project before he and Alyssa went into the future in a time capsule he invented . Hope explains his man - made Cocoon will be made airborne through the use of Graviton Core s . After bringing Hope the cores needed Alyssa gives Serah and Noel an artefact to open a new gate in the city . Promising to meet Hope and Alyssa again a century in the future , Serah , Noel and Mog enter the Historia Crux , but get separated . Manipulated by Caius , Alyssa gave them a booby - trapped artefact to save herself from disappearing due to being a paradox herself . Caius uses the Time Gate to separate Serah and Noel into different areas of the Void Beyond , with Mog ' s soul removed from his body . Finding several apparitions of Yeul from various points in time Serah learns Yeul is a seeress chosen by the goddess Etro , the goddess of death who resides in Valhalla , the middle world between the visible and unseen realms . Serah learns the goddess released her and the others from crystal stasis on the Day of Ragnarok . The last Yeul warns Serah that she brings herself closer to death the more she changes the timeline before transforming into Caius , who forces Serah into a battle . Caius reveals it was the miracle Etro gave to Serah and the others that condemned Yeul , and that he plans to destroy time itself and send everything back to Valhalla where time does not exist , thus freeing Yeul from her curse . Caius impales Serah from behind , spilling chaos from her body . Serah awakens in New Bodhum wearing her old clothes , surrounded by NORA . When she finds Snow , he claims Lightning has been living with them ever since they got married . Serah finds Lightning on the pier who says Serah changed history , making it possible for her to come back . Serah almost believes her , but remembers the real Lightning is fighting in Valhalla and needs her help , and that she can ' t abandon Noel and her friends . Serah refuses to comply and Lightning is engulfed in chaos , a mysterious substance of the unseen realm that humans possess in their hearts . Hearing a familiar voice , Serah encounters Vanille and meets Fang , who have come to help Serah escape her dream world . They open a portal Serah can use to find Noel in his dream world and save him before he becomes trapped in it forever . Serah emerges in a desolate world and finds Noel who does not acknowledge her . Realizing she is in Noel ' s dream , Serah follows him as he interacts with Caius and Yeul and witnesses a duel between Noel and Caius where the latter emerges the victor . Serah sees Yeul die in Noel ' s arms , leaving him alone . As he is being pulled off the ground towards a light in the sky , Serah grabs hold of his arm and calls out to him and he remembers her , waking him from his dream . Noel tells Serah if they change history in a big way it will cost Serah her life , because Serah is a seeress like Yeul . Serah chooses to continue as it is what Lightning wants , and if they fix the timeline quick enough she won ' t have to see the future any further . Mog ' s soul is freed from the Void Beyond by Lightning , and he brings new information from her about Caius . Caius used to be a Pulse l ' Cie tasked with the Focus of protecting Yeul until he was saved by Etro and made immortal . From watching over the seeresses for centuries , Caius has been using his power and knowledge of their visions to warp the timeline as he pleases . They come out of a space - time distortion into New Bodhum in 700 AF , which is now a wasteland . Serah opens a portal on the beach and Lightning emerges before them , saying they are in a future she failed to save . After Lightning explains everything to them , Serah theorizes Caius ' s plan is to turn the world into a timeless world like Valhalla to break Yeul ' s cycle of rebirth . Lightning says they will need to go to the year 500 AF where Caius plans to destroy both the old and new Cocoons . She has Mog reveal a new Time Gate and as Lightning leaves , Serah asks if they will be together once everything is over , but Lightning only says , " One thing at a time , Serah . " In Academia 500 AF , the city is a labyrinth of chaos . As Serah , Mog and Noel make their way through the city they hear Yeul ' s disembodied voice warning them not to kill Caius and Etro . After fighting Caius who has arrived in Academeia from Valhalla , a wormhole tears open the sky and Caius flies into it as Chaos Bahamut . Serah , Noel and Mog follow close behind on an airship piloted by Sazh and jump through hole into Valhalla to engage Caius on the beach . Caius transforms into Jet Bahamut and fires an attack that sends them falling into an abyss of light under Valhalla ' s waves of chaos . Lightning pulls the trio towards the surface for the final battle . After Noel repeatedly refuses to kill him , Caius stabs himself with Noel ' s blade , and as his body fades away , Serah believes he had always wanted to return to Valhalla to die . A series of gates appears throughout Valhalla and Mog says the final paradox has been resolved , but he doesn ' t sense Lightning . Serah worries Caius had killed her , but Noel reassures her Lightning will be with the others since they fixed the timeline . Serah , Noel and Mog return to Gran Pulse in 500 AF , where they see the New Cocoon , named Bhunivelze , afloat in the sky and the gate to Valhalla close . Serah thanks Noel , but has another vision of the future and dies in his embrace . Serah ' s spirit enters Valhalla and is bound by chaos before Etro ' s throne . Disembodied spirits of Yeul tell Lightning that Serah will remain with them until the end of time and fade into darkness . While Lightning mourns her sister ' s death , Serah ' s spirit appears to her on Etro ' s throne . Serah explains she was aware of her eventual death , yet continued on as she promised to herself to not stop until they were together again and has no regrets . Serah asks Lightning not to forget her and promises they will see each other again . " " . Upon their last meeting , Serah ' s soul entered Lightning ' s body rather than fade into Chaos , and as Lightning rested in a crystal sleep , Serah ' s soul rested alongside her , until it was purged by the god Bhunivelze . Five hundred years later the dying world of Nova Chrysalia is facing destruction in . Nova Chrysalia is an unstable world that came into existence after the visible and unseen realms merged when Chaos was unleashed from Valhalla when Etro died . This event also awoke Bhunivelze , the god that had originlly created the deities that had created and maintained the worlds of Gran Pulse and Cocoon . Having chosen the awoken Lightning as his savior , claiming to resurrect her sister once she fulfills her task , Bhunivelze uses a replica of Serah to keep Lightning from straying from his goals . Lightning is puzzled , as she feels little toward this illusion , suspecting something to be amiss . In actuality , Serah was rescued by the newly born Lumina whose physical form became a vessel for Serah ' s soul . Lumina is the manifestation of Lightning ' s vulnerabilities and other denied feelings , which became sentient with the aid of Chaos that now flows freely and is slowly eroding Nova Chrysalia . After Lightning saves Vanille from sacrificing herself in the Luxerion Cathedral , Lumina and Yeul appear and reveal the truth about Serah ' s soul . Lightning becomes trapped by her residual failings while fighting Bhunivelze , having deducted the god ' s plan is to purge mankind from their humanity to " perfect " them . The copy of Serah , which had grown to care for her " sister " , reveals Lumina ' s origins and convinces Lightning to accept her vulnerabilities and call for aid . Lumina is reintegrated into Lightning . After Lightning and her allies sever Bhunivelze ' s hold on humanity ' s souls , Serah is among the freed as she helps her sister and their friends deliver the final blow to the deity . After witnessing the creation of a new world , a reborn Serah follows Lightning to a peaceful world that is free of gods . " " . After Serah began her life anew in the new world she is among the few who remember her past life on Gran Pulse . One day , Serah meets a reporter named Aoede who is investigating stories of people who remember a past life from " another world " . When the reporter mentions her intention to publish the stories to allow more people to remember their past lives , Serah expresses that it might keep people from living their current lives , yet encourages Aoede to find out everything before telling her where to find Snow . Gameplay . Serah starts with the Commando , Ravager , and Sentinel roles and majors in Ravager and Saboteur , but is also a good Medic . Serah is not as proficient Synergist as Noel , and she learns only a few spells for that role . While her stats can be customized in the Crystarium , Serah ' s natural stat growth emphasizes Magic . She wields a bow that can transform into a sword , and her full ATB skill is Ultima Arrow , a Ravager skill that quickly fills the target ' s chain gauge with a barrage of attacks . Creation and development . According to the " Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega " , Serah was originally planned as a playable character in " Final Fantasy XIII " , but issues during development led to turning her into a non - playable character . Character designer Tetsuya Nomura made Serah ' s hair wavy for her to have a similar silhouette to Lightning . In " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , Serah ' s facial structure underwent changes : her hair was made a darker shade of pink and her nose was made smaller . In an interview in " Famitsu " , it was revealed Serah ' s clothing from " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " was designed by Yusuke Naora , based on plugsuits from " " , as requested by director Motomu Toriyama . Isamu Kamikokuryo , the art director of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , has said the character designs are built from the scenario and setting and the new designs for Lightning and Serah are reflected within the environments they begin their journey . For Serah , he said she was cute and girly in " Final Fantasy XIII " , but that she is a little tougher and battle - ready in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Kamikokuryo has also said the balance between making a female character appealing for both genders of gamers was a challenge . The designers did not necessarily strive for a look that would appeal to both male and female gamers , but more of what design would end up the most memorable in players ' eyes and mindset . With Serah being more active in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , the designers wanted to maintain her feminine qualities , while still making sure she looks ready for a battle . According to issue 219 of " Game Informer " , Serah was given a bow able to transform into a sword to " preserve her femininity " . When designing Serah ' s and Noel ' s weapons for " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , the developers wanted weapons that could be used for both close and long - range combat . That ' s why Serah has a weapon that can switch between bow and sword forms , and Noel has twin blades that can combine into a javelin . , member of AKB48 and leader of the JUDGE 13 test players , was asked to design two alternate costumes for Serah , one of which would become an official DLC by votes from fans in a contest starting on November 15th , 2011 . The first DLC costume , called " Exposure and Defense " , was designed when the AKB48 idol was wondering whether it is possible for " Final Fantasy " girls to fight with so much showing . Oshima thought that by adding pointed shoes and a shield , Serah would be more ready to fight . The second , unnamed option , was based on a concept of " Little Red Riding Hood " . Oshima thought the idea of mixing red and white defines a character transitioning into an adult , as Serah seems to do in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . On December 3 , 2011 the voting closed with " Exposure and Defense " winning by a large margin . Oshima wore the costume at the " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " launch event . Voice . Serah is voiced in the Japanese versions by Minako Kotobuki . She is voiced by Laura Bailey in English , who previously voiced the Cloud of Darkness in the " Dissidia Final Fantasy " series and Belle in " " . Musical themes . Serah is the first non - playable , and then playable character to have a vocalized leitmotif . Main characters ' themes from previous games generally draw their leitmotif ' s melody from the respective games ' main theme s , but " Serah ' s Theme " doesn ' t alter the melody of the main theme at all . " Final Fantasy XIII " . " Serah ' s Theme " is a vocal version of the game ' s main theme , " The Promise " , composed by Masashi Hamauzu with lyrics performed by Frances Maya . It often plays when Serah is featured or mentioned in the story , mainly during cutscenes that show flashbacks of her life before the Purge . " Serah ' s Theme " plays during the fireworks festival in English - translated versions , in place of " Eternal Love " , which plays in the Japanese versions . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . " Serah ' s Theme - Memories - " is a vocal piece played to the melody of " The Future " , a variant of the game ' s main theme , " Wishes " . The lyrics tell of how Noel ' s arrival and his strength give Serah hope towards the chance of reuniting with Lightning , and alludes to what happens to her at the end of the game . A non - lyrical orchestral version of her theme is heard during the " Closing Credits " . Merchandise . Action figures of Serah have been released as part of the Play Arts KAI series and the Final Fantasy XIII Trading Arts Vol 1 . Serah ' s pendant has been sold as official merchandise in Square Enix ' s online shop , although it differs from the pendant seen in the games , as it has a larger blue crystal in the middle . Other appearances . Serah has appeared in the following games throughout the " Final Fantasy " series : Outside the " Final Fantasy " series she has appeared in : Etymology . Serah is a variation of " Sarah " .