Lightning

Lightning (ライトニング, Raitoningu) is the former leader of the six Ignis, the "Light Ignis" (のイグニス, Hikari no Igunisu), modeled after Jin Kolter, and the main antagonist of the second season of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS. He is also the mastermind behind the destruction of the Cyberse World after imprisoning Aqua, the creator of two Artificial Intelligences Bohman and Haru, stole Jin Kolter's consciousness, and infected Miyu with a computer virus. His ultimate goal is to unite all the Ignis into one vessel and for the Ignis to reign supreme over humans.

Appearance
Lightning, like his fellow Ignis, is a small, digital humanoid being. Outside the physical form, his body is made of yellow prism-like data and he has darker yellow eyes. His physical form is a light lemon yellow with dandelion yellow diamond markings. He has a oval shaped head with two strands pointing in opposite directions. His eyes are neon green and more circular compared to Flame's eyes, giving him a more youthful look. Stature-wise, he is the fourth tallest Ignis, being shorter than Ai, Flame, and Earth.

Personality
According to Ai, Lightning is calm, cool, and collected and is a natural leader. However, Ai concedes he cannot understand what he is thinking. He's shown to be cold, calculating, manipulative, and deceptive, having teamed up with Windy to overthrow humanity, believing the Ignis to be far superior to humans. He is also not above turning on his own comrades as he lured Ai into his trap and was willing to reprogram him to serve his own needs. He also has a twisted sense of Dr. Kogami's purpose in creating the Ignis, rather than guide humanity, he and Windy want the Ignis to reign supreme while humans are put under their control.

Lightning also shows little remorse for his fellow Ignis. He was willing to overwrite Ai's programing, attempted to capture Flame with no explanation, imprisoned Aqua, and let the Knight of Hanoi attack Windy, only saving the latter after Ai called out to him.

Like Windy, Lightning doesn't understand the bond between Ignis and their Originators, believing their origins are nuisances that will corrupt them, which is why he wants to place humans under his control. He and Windy lack the empathy and kindness to humans and Ignis evident in Flame, Ai, and Aqua since he lacked human instinct and only thought rationally. It was why he initially had Haru be Bohman's brother to support him emotionally, until the latter evolved enough, which made Lightning demote Haru to Bohman's servant. Lightning is also very stubborn minded in his views on humans, calling Ai and Flame error codes for supporting humans. As stated by Flame, Lightning doesn't tolerate dissent against his opinions, as seen when he imprisoned Ai, Playmaker, and Aqua when they went against him.

Whilst dueling, Specter correctly insinuates that Lightning's arrogance is caused by a complex which he hasn't shared with anyone.

Abilities
As a Light Ignis, Lightning is an AI with free will and has a degree of control over the Cyberse World and can create Cyberse monsters. Lightning is associated with the LIGHT Attribute. Lightning is also the smartest among the Ignis, as well as the fastest.

Lightning is also capable of creating advanced AI with free will. He created Bit, Boot, Haru, and Bohman. He also has the power to imprint false memories and to infect humans with computer viruses.

History
Lightning was modeled after Jin Kolter; he was created with the other Ignis by Dr. Kogami in the Hanoi Project to be the saviors of humanity. Like his fellow Ignis, Lightning evolved and they created the Cyberse World, as well as the Cyberse monsters. Their progress worried Dr. Kogami, who predicted the AI and humanity would become enemies, who created Ignis to help humanity instead. Despite this, Lightning and the other Ignis continued developing the Cyberse World. Lightning's sector of Cyberse is a place filled with plains and rocky landscapes with a stone pillar in the distance. In Ai's words, the Ignis would never try harm humanity, and would rather live in their own world. Though referred to as living beings, Lightning and the other Ignis, except Ai, lacked human instinct, and their decisions were based on their rational thinking.

Varis launched an attack to Cyberse World with three of his "Cracking Dragons". The entities of Cyberse, including Light, were sealed off and could not retaliate, except for Ai. Varis and the "Cracking Dragon" chased Ai, who escaped Cyberse and severed the connection with that place. Others realized he wanted to hide Cyberse at the price being unable to return. Just as Ai succeeded and gloated, Varis' "Cracking Dragon" ate him, though his eye was lost in the network. Varis had his team search for Ai's remains, for only he knew the location of Cyberse. The attack swayed Lightning's mind, as he saw humanity as their enemy, and an entity the Ignis would surpass. He believed humans reached their peak of evolution, while the Ignis grew faster and better.

In Ai's absence, Lightning spoke with the other Ignis, how their technology surpassed humanity. They wondered if they should share this technology with humans, and co-exist with them. Since they learned Varis and Dr. Kogami tried to destroy them, the Ignis noted that humans had the potential to be their enemies. Lightning was designing the "Judgement Arrows" card, but Aqua noticed his activities. Lightning claimed the card would protect Cyberse World from humans, but Aqua found out he was lying. To prevent her from interfering, Lightning sealed Aqua in a cage. Aqua questioned his motives, while Lightning admitted he would destroy Cyberse World to further his actions.

Lightning was the one that had Cyberse World attacked, so he could "recreate" Cyberse World, as well as to build his plans to fight humanity itself. The Ignis escaped from Cyberse World.

The Deleted
Lightning saved Playmaker and Ai from falling from the bridge, by summoning a Data Storm, after their Duel against Specter in LINK VRAINS. However, this was just to assist the two in fighting the Knights of Hanoi, which was the enemy of the Ignis.

Lightning believed that if Ignis remained as they were, they'd become like humans: they'd eventually fight each other. It was why he wanted to unite the Ignis, to broaden their ambitions. Due to his incapability, he began to create new AI that would be be the vessel of the Ignis. He first assembled Bit and Boot, then Haru, and made the final version in form of Bohman. Since it took time for Bohman to be perfected, Lightning sent him to steal Jin's consciousness.

Lost Memories
Haru and Bohman were at a castle in LINK VRAINS, and kneeled to a silhouetted Lightning. Haru confirmed to have obtained Jin Kolter's data, but ran into Playmaker, who had the "Dark Ignis". Furthermore, Haru explained another man with an Ignis of Fire appeared in LINK VRAINS. Lightning foresaw that, and believed they would find the castle soon enough. Lightning took the data about Jin Kolter from Bohman, who wanted their memories back. Lightning claimed not to have made such promise and removed Bohman's memories, causing him to faint, and told Haru his brother needed new memories once more. While Bohman was recovering, Lightning assured Haru that the next version would be emotionally stable. He thought Haru would do better as Bohman's servant than a brother, for that was just a "designation", which made Haru sad. Eventually, Bohman recovered, and Lightning added some fake memories to him, to make Bohman vengeful of Playmaker. Eventually, Bohman recovered after his second Duel against Playmaker, and Lightning noticed he was getting perfected, and reminded he would be the master of the Ignis, as a vessel.

Ignis Warfare
Bohman recovered once more, and Lightning welcomed him, for he was finishing to become the perfect being, as the vessel for the Ignis.

Lightning was mentioned by Ai, as a cool leader of the Ignis.

Light Ignis teleported to Ai in Windy's temple, seeking his presence. Ai scolded him for creeping up on him, and the Light Ignis apologized. Ai flew to him, asking the Light Ignis, Lightning, where has he been this time. Lightning was surprised at the name Ai gave him, but replied he hid in the network. Lightning examined the defense program that was supposed to protect them from such intruders, and found it didn't activate - someone supposedly sabotaged it. Ai was concerned, and asked about Aqua, who had gone missing since the most recent attack. Ai doubted she was the spy, and mentioned running into Earth, who stated Aqua predicted the destruction of Cyberse World. Windy still thought Aqua was the spy, but Ai pointed out she wanted peace more than anyone else. Despite these squabbles, Lightning also told that he wanted to start rebuilding Cyberse World. He and Windy sensed that "Linkuriboh" saw Playmaker, the intruder. This time, Lightning wanted to build Cyberse World out of humans' reach, fearing they would band together and exterminate the Ignis, whom he believed to be superior to humans.

Lightning reminded that Dr. Kogami created them to be superior to humans, to be their successor. Ai stated that guy also wanted to destroy them. Windy and Lightning pointed out, unlike humans, they were not flawed, and had eternal life. Thus, they planned to make a base and put humans into their control. Ai became shocked with these words, and asked the point of that. He was told they needed components, through which they could act; they wanted humans to craft hardware for them, until they could become capable of doing that on their own. The two asked of Ai to join them in this mission. Ai was terrified, since that would mean the end of humans, a destiny that Dr. Kogami had predicted. Windy confirmed this, while Lightning wished to maintain Earth, even if life on it was wiped out. Ai questioned whether they could live with humans. Lightning noticed his connection towards humans, making him doubt if such a link could be permanent, claiming the humans would delete Ai one day. Ai thought of his memories with Yusaku, who was behind him. Ai was glad to see him, who greeted Windy, and met Lightning.

Lightning reported they were talking with Ai about rebuilding Cyberse World, and claimed the Ignis cannot be with humans. Playmaker questioned their goals, and was reminded of Ryoken, who told him the Ignis were coded to be humanity's successor. He didn't care about that goal, stating more people would get hurt, just like they were in the Lost Incident. Windy's eyes narrowed, stating he was uncertain if humans were their enemies. Ai wanted more time to find a way to keep humans and Ignis intact. Ai walked away, as Lighting and Windy saw wisdom in those words. However, the two sealed him and Playmaker inside blue spheres; they could not let them go, due to the discussion they just had. Windy summoned a Data Storm to absorb Ai, but the latter still wished to find a peaceful way to resolve this, as did Playmaker. Lightning doubted a single person could do anything, but Ai learned that even a small chance could change much.

Playmaker realized Windy was the one that unlocked his Duel Disk. Windy confirmed this, stating he and Lightning anticipated their moves, and bemoaned Ai's slow thinking. Ai wanted to challenge them, but the two doubted Ai could win, with Lightning's speed and Windy's Data Storm. A flash of light appeared, stopping the Data Storm, and a guy appeared. Much to Playmaker and Ai's shock, Varis appeared, questioning the Ignis if they could've predicted his arrival. Playmaker expressed his shock, as Varis reminded he would've returned. Lightning noted he was Dr. Kogami's son, and emitted a beam to strike Varis, whom Playmaker warned him to run. The latter was unaffected, for Windy reminded Varis knew of the Ignis algorithm. Varis swore to finish his father's work, but Lightning claimed they were humanity's successors. Since Windy wanted to test Varis, Lightning let him take on their enemy, and Lightning took note of Varis' tactics. Lightning continued watching the Duel. When Varis performed a Synchro Summon, Lightning noted that was an unexpected move, which annoyed Windy even more. Varis' dragon fired a beam, destroying "Stormridership Bahamut Bomber", and dropped Windy's LP to zero.

Windy was blown away by the attack, and barely muttered Lightning's name. Lightning was nevertheless impressed by Varis' tactics. He found it a shame that Varis was their enemy, whom Windy underestimated. He turned to Flame, and asked if he had joined the humans. Flame defended himself, stating there were no sides, and Soulburner backed him up by stating he also wanted to settle the dispute between the Ignises and humans. Varis had his subordinates finish Windy off, who fired digital spikes to impale Windy. Ai shouted at Lightning, who grabbed Windy before he would've been erased. Varis knew a fight was inevitable, and Lightning agreed with him. Ai tried to reason with Lightning, who summoned Bohman and Haru. Furthermore, he revealed that the silhouette of his partner: Jin Kolter, in a new armor. Lightning confirmed that was, indeed, his partner, named Origin, Jin Kolter. Playmaker wished to save Jin, but Lightning stated his attempts were useless, for Jin could not answer: he was trapped deep in his consciousness, unable to answer. Playmaker accused Lightning for manipulating Bohman, and noted it was he who ordered the latter to steal Jin's consciousness.

Lighting admitted he wasn't as cruel as Windy, but shared his belief, and stated that Origins and the related Ignis could affect each other. Ai noted this was like the Link Sense he and Playmaker shared, but Lightning simply stated he erased uncertainty from Jin. Seeing the relation between Bohman and Lightning, Playmaker realized it was the latter that gave the "Judgement Arrows" Link Spell to Bohman, and Flame added that was the card that had been used to destroy Cyberse World. Lightning was bored by his conversation, unlike with Playmaker. Flame was displeased Lightning didn't answer, and Ai swore to stop Lightning for his crimes. Lightning knew that he would not be forgiven, and openly admitted he was the one responsible for the attack. Lightning reminded during the attack of Cyberse World from Knights of Hanoi, the Ignis divided themselves, as supporters or enemies of humanity. Since Ai and Flame trusted humanity, Lightning branded them as code errors; claiming that such a thing could evolve Ignis in unpredictable ways, Lightning thought that was a mistake he had to handle. Varis believed that enabled Lightning to remove the Ignis that thought differently of humans than he did. To that, Lightning simply wished to rebuild the world.

He branded Varis as the enemy, for trying to provoke them. Varis felt that the Ignis didn't even trust of coexistence with humans in the first place. Lightning ignored him, and explained to Ai and Flame that he wished to solve problems in a peaceful way. Playmaker pointed out that stealing Jin's consciousness was far from peaceful. Lightning wished to conclude things quickly; he saw Windy dissolving, for he was infected by a virus, and would soon be gone. For that, Lightning wished to set a battlefield, for he was declaring war on humanity itself. Thus, he had Jin, Haru and Bohman fly away, but Playmaker and Soulburner were chasing them down. Ai called Lightning a villain, who exclaimed he was the one that saved him and Playmaker from falling down the bridge after Spectre's Duel. Soulburner and Playmaker chased them down, and Flame thought that Lighting could not attack when the Knights of Hanoi were active. Ai saw that Lightning actually saved them, so Playmaker could defeat the Knights of Hanoi, thus making way for Lightning to execute his plans. As SOL Technologies' bounty hunters appeared, Lightning summoned dozens of Bit and Boot programs to fight them. Since Lightning wanted to heal Windy, he permitted Bohman to face Playmaker, as the former wanted to know how much he has improved, and wanted to learn more from his enemies. He did remind Bohman was perfecting himself, and had Jin hurt Windy to summon a Data Storm.

As Bohman intercepted Playmaker, Soulburner chased Lightning, with Flame reprimanding Lightning for destroying the Cyberse World that was a symbol of peace and swearing vengeance. Lightning fled with Jin, and sensed that Bohman and Playmaker's Duel ended in a tie. Flame and Soulburner wanted to confront them, but since they were stalled by Bit and Boot clones, Jin and Lightning managed to escape. He later watched Varis confronting Blood Shepherd, but the videos were erased. Lightning noticed Varis must be very cunning to delete the videos. However, he was aware that the two could be dangerous if they partner up, and asked Jin for an answer, but grinned, as Jin was not in the state to answer. Thus, Lightning swore to act now before any incident would happen. He noticed Blood Shepherd scanning the network for his presence, and opened a portal, daring Blood Shepherd to venture inside and challenge him. Blood Shepherd complied, and went through. He encountered Lightning reading a data book, who asked him what he saw beyond despair.

Lightning introduced himself, whom Blood Shepherd thought to be the one that declared war on humanity. Lightning confirmed, whom Blood Shepherd called a fool, since they could not conquer humans, since they were not perfect beings. Lightning doubted that, thinking humans were the ones behind the programs, for they had a limited life-span. Blood Shepherd cut the talk, and Lightning noted that Blood Shepherd was stuck in his ways, and talking to him was pointless. He did only state that it was malicious to think that humans were atop the world of animal species. Blood Shepherd demanded a fight, which Lightning promised to give him, but he'd have to bet his life, too; the loser would have to surrender the winner's data, and be turned into a form like Jin Kolter. Declaring his pride as a bounty hunter, Blood Shepherd accepted the terms, which amused Lightning. Suddenly, Playmaker and his group came through the portal, and wondered why the two sides started a Duel.

Lightning admitted he would've invited the group, too, just as he did Blood Shepherd, since they could watch this Duel. Ai was furious at Lightning, who admitted he wanted to defeat his enemies, to reduce the number of anyone that wanted to destroy him. He boldly stated he wanted to start off with the weakest enemies, which enraged Blood Shepherd. The latter proceeded to summon "Drone XL", which he used to consecutively summon "Battledrone Sergeant", "Warrant" and "General". Lightning smirked, as Blood Shepherd already summoned his ace. Lightning used "Armatos Colosseum", turning his castle into an arena. He summoned "Armatos Legio Seeker", using it as Link Material for "Armatos Legio Centurion". Its effect allowed Lightning to send "Armatos Legio Gradius" to revive the former's Link Material. Sending another monster to his GY, Lightning summoned "Armatos Legio Speculata". Using "Gradius" and "Speculata", Lightning summoned "Armatos Legio Centurion". Lightning repeated his combo: sending "Scutum", he revived his materials, and used one of them to summon another "Armatos Legio Decurion". Continuing on, Lightning used "Judgement Arrows", a card that Blood Shepherd was warned by Varis. Lightning continued on with summoning another centurion.

Lightning went to attack, but Blood Shepherd's Trap, "Snatch Drone", negated and destroyed "Judgement Arrows". While the latter's destruction would destroy Lightning's centurions, he sent his decurion to protect two of his monsters. Blood Shepherd, however, suffered from the attack of "Armatos Legio Centurion", which destroyed his "Battledrone General". Regardless, Blood Shepherd stated it was time for Lightning to abandon his hope. Blood Shepherd went on offense by summoning another "Drone Pawn" and have it attack directly, through "Battledrone General". Jin and Lightning suffered more damage, as "Drone Pawn" was tributed by the effect of "General". The same tactic was applied to "Battledrone Sergeant", and Lightning's LP was reduced to 1200. Lightning noted his persistence, as "Battledrone General" went to attack. This time, Lightning's centurion negated that attack. To finish his turn, Blood Shepherd played "Drone Unity" to have all his drones gain the ATK of each other, though Lightning pointed out the only monster he had was "Battledrone General". Blood Shepherd simply revived "Battledrone Warrant", guaranteeing himself monsters of 3600 ATK.

Lightning went to prepare himself with "Armatos Lex", placing "Judgement Arrows" back into his Deck and taking back his "Armatos Legio Gradius". He sent back the latter to his GY to summon two "Armatos Legio" monsters from his GY, then used "Armatos Legio Speculata" and "Centurion" to Link Summon "Armatos Legio Legatus Legionis". Lightning's "Armatos Legio Centurion" attacked "Battledrone General"; due to "Gradius", the drone was automatically destroyed, while "Legatus Legionis" easily destroyed "Battledrone Warrant". Blood Shepherd quickly summoned "Drone Recycler" and "Drone Carrier", then revived "Battledrone General" and "Drone Pawn". Lightning became surprised as Blood Shepherd tuned "Drone Carrier" with "Recycler", Synchro Summoning "Commandrone Double Sniper". As Blood Shepherd mounted his offense, Lightning used "Legatus Legionis" to swap "Seeker" from his GY with "Scutum" on his field. Lightning grinned, as due to the former's effect, Blood Shepherd could only attack the centurion. To ensure that Blood Shepherd attacked his monster, Lightning's "Armatos Lex" prevented direct attacks. Changing his tactics, Blood Shepherd's "Commandrone Double Sniper" gained a counter, then attacked Lightning directly.

"Armatos Lex" negated that attack, so Blood Shepherd attacked centurion, who attempted to negate this attack. Blood Shepherd snapped his fingers, awaiting this moment: his Synchro drone negated this effect and destroyed the centurion. However, "Scutum" protected the centurion from being destroyed by card effects. Lightning became surprised that Blood Shepherd managed to hit him with 300 LP damage from the attack. Blood Shepherd boldly stated that he didn't make attacks that an AI can predict, but Lightning wondered if there were attacks they could not predict. Blood Shepherd's "Battledrone General" destroyed the centurion, and shaved off 700 of Lightning's LP, leaving him at 200. Finally, Blood Shepherd used "Drone Force Fusion", fusing the general and sniper to summon "Fortressdrone Beehive", which gained six counters. Removing five counters, Blood Shepherd summoned that many "Drone Tokens", as his Fusion Monster's ATK was raised to 5000 (1000 per each token). Lightning noted how fun it is to see the pinnacle of this Duel. However, he used the card he drew: "Judgement Arrows". Since Blood Shepherd destroyed this card, he used "Snatch Drone" to destroy it again, and lock his "Legatus Legionis" with "Capture Drone".

Lightning frowned, and tributed "Scutum" to draw one card, which impressed him. He summoned "Armatos Legio Magica Alcum", then had it destroy "Judgement Arrows", much to everyone's surprise. In fact, Lightning had it destroy to have "Legatus Legionis" apply the self-destruct effect to all of Blood Shepherd's cards but "Fortressdrone Beehive", thus clearing his field. With no defenses left, Lighting's "Armatos Legio Legatus Legionis" slashed the fortressdrone, and defeated Blood Shepherd. Ghost Gal rushed to Blood Shepherd's side, who admitted he failed to protect his sister. Blood Shepherd, referring to her as Emma, apologized, and disappeared in a flash of light. Lightning noticed that their enemy managed to find their whereabouts. He was alerted that they found them this quickly, and Bohman's operation has not finished, either. Windy thought it was an excellent opportunity to attack, at least to get revenge for his scars.

Lightning sent Bit and Boot to face against Playmaker and others, since he didn't wish them to fight in *that* area. Haru gazed at Blue Maiden, whom Lightning told to be Blue Angel, but she changed form. He informed Haru that she, known as Skye Zaizen, was a sibling of Akira Zaizen, just as Lightning believed Haru to be Bohman's sibling. Lightning also warned Haru not to underestimate her, with Aqua by her side. It was why Lightning wanted Haru to fight Blue Maiden to stall the group until Bohman's activities were complete, and didn't care if Haru would win the Duel. Haru accepted the task, and shrugged, considering Lightning didn't believe he could win. Lightning formed a barrier to keep his enemies at bay. Windy questioned this move, but Lightning told them humans formed bonds to make them stronger. Despite this being a precaution, Windy thought this was just fake belief. Lightning reminded they were outnumbered, and had to pick them off. Windy felt sadistic to have everyone watch their friends fight and get defeated, to frighten them and lower their morale. Lightning proclaimed they'd reveal their plan to the enemy, but Windy laughed, since that wouldn't alter their chances of victory.

Lightning thought a bit, and permitted Windy's favor, who summoned the pigeon and frog to broadcast. The two panicked, since they had no idea what the Ignis were. Windy ordered them to work, and put collars, as they refused to collaborate. Windy explained if they refused to work, the collars would explode, and so would they. With no choice left, the pigeon and frog accepted this work. Suddenly, Jin and Lightning appeared, as they took on Specter first. Specter remembered Lightning's logic to face weakest enemies first, and was slightly alarmed of that. Still, he reminded he had to defeat anyone that stood in his path, in Varis' name. Lightning believed that Specter gave his free will and was now Varis' puppet. It was why Lightning thought little of Specter, since he valued free will most. Specter corrected him, for his free will was to serve Varis. He noticed Lightning didn't understand that, since he didn't have a past that Specter had. Finding out he was weak, Specter admitted he joined Varis, who was a stronger man, to protect himself. It was why Specter exclaimed it was the only way, since not everyone was strong.

Lightning boasted he could achieve equality, but Specter doubted that, for he was an advanced AI with free will. He believed the Ignis' fate was that of humanity: to have struggles for power. Specter admitted while he didn't acknowledge the Ignis' authority, he still felt voided when his related Ignis had disappeared. He blamed Lightning for that Ignis' disappearance, for if the Ignis had stayed in Cyberse World, he wouldn't have disappeared. Lightning denied that, for the Knights of Hanoi would still be at their pursuit, and they were fighting for their lives. It was why Lightning started this plan to see the AI as the winners. Seeing they could not sway each other's mind, the two sides started a Duel. Much like the last time, Lightning used his speedy tactics to activate "Armatos Colosseum", as well as to summon his decurions and centurions, with applying "Judgement Arrows". Specter remarked that Lightning was going all out, but Lightning, despite having no cards in his hand, continued on. Using his "Armatos Legio Decurion" and "Seeker" to Link Summon "Primi Ordines", and Special Summoned "Gradius", using it and "Decurion" to bring out "Pilus Prior". With "Gladius" returned to his field by the latter's effect, Lightning made a sixth Link Summon of "Decurion" to the other Extra Monster Zone.

Specter noticed this was Lightning's plan all along: to form a V-shaped Extra Link, and prevent Specter from summoning Extra Deck monsters. Lightning was vary of Specter's monsters, and was why he took these premeasures to seal away his Link Monsters. Specter was amazed by the power of his enemy, and swore to use all of his strength to defeat Lightning. Specter summoned "Sunseed Genius Loci" and "Sunseed Shadow", but remarked that he could not summon his Link Monsters. Lightning knew that his strength was from Extra Deck, and claimed Specter could only surrender. He refused, since he gained respect for Lightning, seeing their decks were somewhat similar, and wished to have a card like "Judgement Arrows". To fulfill his wish, Specter played "Sunvine Plunder" to take control of it. Lightning was surprised to see they were quite equal, but Specter pointed out the Ignis was arrogant, due to a complex - a secret that nobody knows about. Lightning frowned, yet was silent, and Specter assumed he was correct. Regardless, Specter broke his Extra Link, though Lightning's monsters remained in their positions. Specter proceeded to summon "Sunavalon Daphne" to the zone "Judgement Arrows" pointed to.

Using "Sunseed Genius Loci", Specter Link Summoned "Sunvine Trasher". With the Link-2 "Sunavalon Daphne" and "Judgement Arrows", "Sunvine Trasher" attacked with 4800 ATK a decurion. "Primi Ordines" reduced the damage by 4000, thus Lightning took no damage. However, the decurion was summoned to Specter's field. That decurion attacked Lightning's decurion, but Lightning took no damage. Finally, playing "Sunvine Cross Breed", Specter tributed his stolen decurion to summon "Sunseed Genius Loci", setting the field to Link Summon "Sunavalon Dryas". Lightning was alerted, as Specter reverted the tide of battle. Lightning admitted that he underestimated Specter, who broke his Extra Link. Specter replied that Lightning should feel regret, since he would soon be defeated. Lightning frowned, and took his turn. Playing "Armatos Replacement", swapping "Pilus Prior" with his "Centurion". With "Armatos Colosseum", he sent a card from his hand to summon "Scutum" and "Sica" to the zones his centurion pointed to. Using "Primi Ordines" and "Sica", he Link Summoned "Legatus Legionis", then tributed "Scutum" to Special Summon "Galea" from his GY.

As for Specter, he summoned "Sunseed Twin" to bring back "Sunseed Genius Loci". Using the two, along with "Sunvine Trasher", Spectre Link Summoned "Sunavalon Melias". It revived "Genius Loci", and using it and "Daphne", Spectre summoned a second "Melias". Finally, Spectre used his Sunseed a third time to summon "Sunvine Trasher". In response, Lightning swapped "Galea" with "Scutum". To mount the offense, Specter had his "Sunvine Trasher" attack a number of times, up to the number of "Sunavalon" monsters on the field, due to "Melias", with 6400 ATK. Lightning's frown increased, who negated the first attack by using centurion's effect. "Sunvine Thrasher" attacked a second time, but Lightning's "Galea" reduced damage to zero when it was sent to his GY, and "Scutum" protected "Legatus Legionis" from being destroyed. The third time "Sunvine Thrasher" attacked, it succeeded in destroying "Legatus Legionis", and with its effect, was taken out of Lightning's GY to Spectre's field. It attacked Lightning's centurion, and shaved off 700 LP from Lightning.

Specter was not done yet, for he tributed his thrasher to resurrect "Daphne", and used "Sunvine Shrine" to bring "Genius Loci", too. This time, Specter, using "Genius Loci", Link Summoned a "Sunvine Thrasher" to the other Extra Monster Zone, and created an Extra Link of his own. Specter laughed at his own achievement, as his thrasher's ATK grew to 3200, and blushed, since he attributed the possibility of this victory to Lightning. Banishing a "Sunseed Shadow", he summoned another "Daphne" to his last unoccupied Zone, thus having a field of seven monsters. His tree evolved into a "Sunavalon Dryanome", as he used that "Daphne" as material. Lightning was aware of the danger that tree posed, for three times if Specter took damage, he can summon a "Sunvine" monster and reverse the damage, and Specter added he could also negate attacks. In addition, Specter banished "Sunseed Twin" and "Legatus Legionis" to bring back his second "Sunvine Thrasher". Lightning noticed that Specter was a bit ambitious to create this field, who admitted he got excited. Lightning noted that humans called this field beautiful, but Specter brushed him off, since he had no idea of beauty. Lightning exclaimed Specter was the arrogant one here, who yelled out to stop looking down on him.

Specter was amused that he managed to anger Lightning, who claimed his Extra Link was fragile. Lightning knew that Specter had a tactic to steal his "Judgement Arrows". Claiming he'll unleash a divine punishment, Lightning used "Judgment Sword". Thus, Lightning moved "Sunavalon Dryanome" to the unoccupied Main Monster Zone, breaking the Extra Link. Specter was offended that his tree was damaged, but Lightning reminded it was still vulnerable to card effects, as he summoned "Tribunus Militum", and using the colosseum, returned "Speculata", "Gladius" and "Sica" to the zones it pointed to. Using these monsters, as well as "Scutum", Lightning Link Summoned LINK-4 "Armatos Legio Magnus Dux". He intended to use the latter to return "Judgement Arrows" to his hand. Since "Sunvine Plunder" protected that card, Lightning's "Tribunus Militum" negated the effects of Specter's spells, and "Sunavalon Dryanome". Lightning succeeded in returning "Judgement Arrows", which, upon leaving the field, destroyed most of Specter's monsters: "Daphne" and two "Melias". Specter became frustrated, as his "Thrasher" was destroyed, too, since it no longer was linked to a "Sunavalon" monster. With "Judgement Arrows" set, "Magnus Dux", whose ATK was raised to 6000, attacked Specter's tree, "Sunavalon Dryanome". Specter was knocked out, and apologized to Varis for failing him. Jin and Lightning walked to Specter, and absorbed him. Before anything else was done, Lightning proclaimed even the weak had their uses, and vanished with the frog and pigeon.

Jin Kolter
Lightning is Jin's partner, having been modeled after him. Lightning's personal belief is that the Ignis are humanity's successors meant to reign supreme with humans under their control, so he controls Jin to serve his own needs. Lightning isn't as ruthless to his partner to the extent Windy is as he decided to control Jin rather than outright destroy him.

Ai
Lightning appears at first to be on good terms with Ai, going as far as to set up a meeting with him and Windy. The Light Ignis calls Ai the wisest of the Ignis, which was why he called on him to help rebuild Cyberse World and take over humanity. When Ai seemed to be attached to humans, he and Windy don't hesitate to attempt to rewrite him. However, Lightning and Windy do use the name Ai gave him. Ai was also furious with Lightning for destroying their home world, joining Flame in an attempt to stop him.

Lightning has shown an interest in Ai. As explained by Bohman, Lightning was observing Ai's unique qualities prior to the Knights of Hanoi's attack on Cyberse World and believes Ai is a special AI with instinct and diversity. Lightning even used Ai and his partner, Yusaku, as models for Bohman's creation.

Flame
Lightning considers Flame's decision to side with humans as a code error. He still wished for the Fire Ignis to join him, but soon declared war on humans and the Ignis that sided with them. Flame, in turn, was furious with Lightning for destroying their home world.

Aqua
Aqua served as Lightning's sub-leader and helped maintain peace within Cyberse World prior to the attack by the Knights of Hanoi. During the countless discussions the Ignis had following that attack, Lightning was surprised that Flame and Aqua still supported coexisting with humans. When the sub leader found out about his plans, he was quick to imprison her away in LINK VRAINS, with no remorse for a fellow Ignis. As a result, when talking to Ai about joining them, Lightning tried to convince him that Aqua could be a spy responsible for Cyberse World's destruction, but it failed. He was also the one who infected Miyu with a computer virus to prevent Aqua from joining up with her partner and impeding his plans.

Windy
Windy is working alongside Lightning to rebuild Cyberse World. Both are against humans and worked together to lure Ai to them to rewrite him as they predicted his decision. Lightning berated Windy for underestimating Varis. Even though the Wind Ignis desperately called out to him for help, Lightning made no effort to save him until Ai called out for him to do so. Despite his apathy towards him, Lightning does care for Windy as a partner, as he did heal him significantly after the latter was nearly destroyed by Hanoi's virus. Furthermore, when Lightning states his allies in the fight against humanity, he lists himself, Bohman, and Windy, showing how he really does acknowledge Windy as his comrade.

Deck
Lightning uses an "Armatos Legio" Deck that focuses on swarming the field with monsters while powering them up using Judgement Arrows for great offensive power. The deck also reflects Lightning's preference for hostility compared to peace, having waged war against humanity.

Trivia

 * Lightning's name is a reference to his Attribute and him being the fastest Ignis.
 * In many cultures, gods who controlled lightning and thunder were known for being kings or chiefs over other gods. This could refer to Lightning being the leader of the Ignis.
 * Unlike the other Ignis, Lightning never uses the word "partner" for describing the victims of the Lost Incident. He instead calls them "origins".
 * Ironically, the Light Ignis has never called himself Lightning despite addressing the other Ignis using their human names.