Lightning may look terrifying, but trust me when I say she's an adorable lap dog who loves nothing more than a good belly rub. Lightning was raised by a lovely femme Cybertronian and is the reason for her so-called "domestication". The only time she does bare her terrifying teeth is when her friends are in danger delivering a nasty poisonous bite making anyone viewing or bitten think twice about messing with her. Before the war, Lightning was a capture of Lockdown but after escaping and growing to adulthood by her adopted mother's guidance as hatching, she went on to become a very successful racing champion completing in some of the most deadly and horrifying races in Cybertronian history. She wears her victory received as a Lightning bolt necklace to provide to others who discriminated against her that anyone can be who they want.  When the war broke out and loved ones got killed, she lost a part of her passion for racing and was forced to join the Decepticons by Megatron Who pressed the idea that "She was a dangerous creature and No one would ever see her as anything else" Believing her words she joined the Decepticons but never felt comfortable with Megatron's motives. During a battle that was between her and Optimus, Megatron commanded her to attack but found herself struggling to attack anyone due to her empathetic nature. Angry with her, Megatron brutally injured her and left her to offline. Seeing goodness in her spark, Optimus took her back to the Autobot base where the medic Ratchet fixed her up. During her recovery, Optimus Prime taught her the value being the person you want to be not who anyone says you are. After seeing the Dinobots she was at peace with the fact she couldn't change herself, but she could change the way people saw her. She then joined the Autobots and to this day is Good friends with many of the Autobots both past and present doing her best to show others that you are who you choose to be.