Final Fantasy VIII/Characters

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Main Characters

Squall Leonhart

"Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us."

A skilled soldier who acts as the main character. Though he is one of SeeD's most accomplished students, his cold and professional demeanor ostracizes him from everyone else. He has a friendly rivalry with Seifer, and specialises in the notoriously awkward gunblade.

• Above Good and Evil: See his quote. Much more of the Nietzschean variety than the watered-down and definitely villainous version that currently constitutes the actual trope (though to be fair, he says it while still a Jerkass Gun-For-Hire in training).
• The Aloner: In the end sequence.
• Always Accurate Attack: He has maximum accuracy with every model of the gunblade, to the point that he's functionally immune to Blind.
• Always Save the Girl: "Rinoa... Even if you become the world's enemy, I'll be your knight."
• Animal Motifs: Squall's is a lion, discussed in-game.
• Anti-Hero: Type III, the "Good Is Not Nice" variety.
  • At endgame, he's somewhere in between Type II and III, leaning towards the former.
• Asskicking Equals Authority: Serves as a bookend of sorts with Laguna's becoming president.
• Badass: Pretty much every SeeD qualifies, but Squall stands out among SeeDs even as a trainee.
• Beneath the Mask: His "cold, unfriendly loner" persona is a mask he developed as a child in order to deal with the pain of losing his "sister" Ellone. If you look at his entire persona, it's very much like how a child would think a "tough adult" would act; beneath it, he is insecure and emotionally immature, and more caring than he likes to let on.
• Bishonen: Just look at the picture.
• Blue Eyes
• Blue Oni: To Seifer's Red Oni.
  • Squall's reserved nature contrasts with many other characters; he can easily be seen as the Blue Oni to Zell, Laguna, and Rinoa in addition to Seifer.
• Broken Ace: Much of the student body of Balamb looks up to and admires Squall due to his incredible fighting skills and calm professionalism despite his lone wolf attitude. This tends to confound the emotionally stunted Squall who created his cold-hearted and powerful persona to be strong enough to not have to deal with other people.
• Cannot Spit It Out: His feelings towards Rinoa. This is because for the majority of the game, he's simply not emotionally mature enough to understand his feelings towards her, or how to reciprocate.
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Squall spends the first two discs of the game grimly resisting Rinoa's efforts to get him to open up to her, but gradually giving way. When she falls into a coma at the end of disc two, however, he realizes how much he doesn't want to lose her, and she becomes his main priority.
• Celebrity Resemblance: Intentionally modeled after actor River Phoenix.
• Chekhov's Gun: Griever.
• The Chains of Commanding: It's the reason Squall gets ticked over Cid forcing him to lead Balamb Garden.
• Child Soldier
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: Black to contrast Seifer's white.
• Commanding Coolness: He becomes the SeeDs Commander.
  • Ensign Newbie
• Cool Sword: His gunblade, be it Revolver or the upgrades of it.
  • Big Freaking Sword: Revolver doesn't quite cut it, but the later models, specially Lionheart, sure does. Blasting Zone, his third Finishing Move, puts it into a whole new level.
  • Blade Spam (standard-type): Renzokuken, especially when ended with Lion Heart.
  • Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age
  • Exotic Weapon Supremacy: Gunblade users are talked up as being super-fighters.
  • Improbable Weapon User: It is said in-game that it is a hard weapon to master.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon
  • Revolvers Are Just Better: His version, as the name indicates, has a revolver handle, contrasting Seifer's, which resembles a semi-automatic.
  • Vibroweapon: How gunblades work according to the Ultimania guide.
  • Shout-Out: If you haven't figured it out by now, to Star Wars. The Lionheart even looks explicitly like a lightsaber.
  • Spin Attack: His Fated Circle Limit Break.
  • Sword Beam: His Blasting Zone and Fated Circle Limit Breaks.
  • Sword Lines: During his Limit Break "Renzokuken", whatever gunblade Squall happens to be wielding gets the second type.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Played very, very straight. See Color Coded for Your Convenience.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Defrosting Ice King
• Determinator: Pretty much the entire third disc involves Squall turning into one of these to heal Rinoa. And then there's that time he jumps down several stories in order to save Zell.
• Dueling Scar: He receives a scar over his face from dueling with his nemesis (who receives a matching but flipped scar, making their scars a literal case of "Dueling Scars").
• Dynamic Entry: Squall makes a couple of impressive gunblade-first leaping entrances, the most notable of which is the Determinator moment mentioned above.
• Everyone Can See It: Interestingly even Squall can see that everyone can see it, but he doesn't realize how much he loves Rinoa until she becomes a Sorceress and goes comatose.
• Face Palm: Often.
• Freudian Excuse: Multiple.
• Good Is Not Nice
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He acquires his Hero Scar during the opening FMV.
• Grey and Gray Morality: In his own words, there are no true Good or Evil, just people with opposing viewpoints.
• The Hero: A rather antiheroic one.
• Heroic BSOD: An epic one in the end FMV. One could argue that he also has one during the D-District Prison sequence or during Rinoa's coma on Disc 3, but really, with Squall, how can you tell? He really is basically a walking Heroic BSOD in progress that just happens to come to a head in the final FMV.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He proves to be massively insecure, one of the main reasons for his Jerkass Facade.
• Hidden Depths: It's pretty easy at first glance to write Squall off as an annoying emo whiner, but as some of the other tropes listed here will demonstrate, it isn't quite that simple.
• Hidden Heart of Gold
• I Can't Dance: In the ballroom scene. Turns out to be a lie, at least once Rinoa gets him to loosen up a little; he later confirms that SeeD trainees are taught formal ballroom dancing as a potential cover skill.
• I Hate Past Me: Witnessing a Pensieve Flashback of himself as a child crying over Ellone's disappearance, he describes it as a "disgraceful sight."
• Ineffectual Loner: A protagonist version. He didn't want to be the hero anyway. He grows out of it.
• Inner Monologue: Squall does more of this than he does actual talking. A source of humor with pretty much anyone who gets to know him.
• Ironic Echo: Near the beginning of the game, he tells Quistis that he's not interested in listening to her and tells her to go talk to a wall. Half a game later, after Rinoa falls into a coma, Squall realises he loves her and begs her to talk to him. Frustrated by her silence, he notes it's like talking to a wall.
• Jerkass Facade: Squall is perfectly aware he comes off as cold, unfriendly and professional. He acts this way on purpose to keep from getting close to people because he doesn't want to have to experience the pain of losing them as he did with Ellone. In his (initial) opinion, being alone makes life easier for him as opposed to relying on others.
• Knight in Sour Armor
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids
• Lady and Knight: vows to become Rinoa's knight in Disc 3. Whether he's the Bright or Dark variety is irrelevant to him. All that matters is Rinoa's safety.
• Loners Are Freaks: He catches this kind of attitude from many other characters in the game.
• Love Epiphany: Disc 3.
• Magic Knight: While all of the PCs can use both weapons and magic, most of them favor one or the other; Squall is strong with both.
• Meaningful Name
• Named Weapons
• Never Be Hurt Again: The reason for his cold, detached demeanor is because his fellow orphan and sister, Ellone, left him alone as a child and he developed abandonment issues. He feels that, eventually, all friends and family die or go away, and the only way to avoid the pain from that is to never let anyone in again.
• New Child Left Behind: And his mother died at birth, then his father never learned about him until much later.
• No Social Skills: See "Child Soldiers" and "Jerkass Facade." Enrolling at Garden at approximately the age of five did a hell of a number on Squall's social aptitude.
• Official Couple: Him and Rinoa.
• Opposites Attract: Him and Rinoa again.
• Pretty in Mink: Well, handsome in mink, maybe. His bomber jacket has a fur collar, just to show off in the FMVs.
• The Proud Elite: He is a tall, dark, handsome, proud, stoic, quietly dismissive Jerkass (although he has a compelling Freudian Excuse). When it comes to Rinoa, however, he gets all squishy and emotional. And when he finds out his True Companions are Not Quite Dead, he's visibly pleased.
• The Quiet One: Even after most of is Character Development takes place, he's still not the stereotypical loud teenage JRPG hero, avoiding any sort of Unnecessary Makeover.
• Resigned to the Call: Until Disk 3 anyway.
• Stepford Snarker
• The Stoic: It's interesting to note that the exact qualities that make him a good soldier (quiet, emotionless, obedient) make him a poor human being because he forced himself to become an adult as a child to cope with the loss of Ellone. Contrast this with Laguna, who is both a competent soldier and a complete dork because he matured at a natural pace.
  • Stoic Woobie: A great deal of the tension between Squall and his teammates throughout the game is he refuses to open up to them about and problems he may be suffering. It does lead to a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when he finally does open up to Rinoa, of course she was unconscious at time.
  • Not So Stoic: His stoicism increasingly breaks down as his coping mechanisms are tested and proved wanting. Disc 3 provides the best example, but instances occur as early as disc 1, starting with the mini-meltdown he has over the way people talk about Seifer after Seifer's supposed death.
• Sugar and Ice Personality: Ice mostly, until Character Development sets in. Even then, he could still easily be seen as a bit distant since he's The Quiet One.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Squall behaves this way through the first disc or so. How much of it is justified is subject to debate.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome: Well, average height at about 5'9".
  • Which is 4" taller than average in Japan, so tall enough to be added to dark and handsome.
• Tall, Dark and Snarky
• Team Dad: Much to his own annoyance. He tends to become a Papa Wolf with his friends, not that he cares to admit it.
• Troubled but Cute
• Tyke Bomb:
• Visible Silence
• Whatever: His Catch Phrase.
• You Are in Command Now: But he doesn't want it, and doesn't enjoy it. Even though he does well in it.

Rinoa Heartilly

"Look into my eyes... You're-going-to-like-me... You're-going-to-like-me... Did it work?"

A member of the Timber resistance group "Forest Owls". Her outgoing and happy-go-lucky attitude contrasts sharply with Squall, as does her lack of actual battlefield experience. She strikes up a relationship with Squall and becomes determined to crack his shell. She wields a boomerang-esque weapon called a Blaster Edge.

• Action Girl
• Badass Adorable
• The Beast Master: Quite funny when you consider she also tames a certain lion throughout the game.
  • Attack Animal: Angelo.
• Big Friendly Dog: Her dog Angelo.
• Black Eyes: Averts all of the associated traits, though.
• Burn the Witch
• Canine Companion: Angelo.
• Celebrity Resemblance: Very similar in appearance to Camilla Belle or Anne Hathaway.
• Coy Girlish Flirt Pose
• The Cutie: Designed by Tetsuya Nomura to be cute rather then gorgeous.
• Damsel in Distress: Justified as she lived a comfortable middle-class life, unlike the others. Rinoa requires rescuing four times over the course of the game (once per disc!) and is unplayable for a good amount of the third disc thanks to being variously comatose, possessed by Ultimecia, or imprisoned by Esthar. This makes her a Damsel Scrappy to many players, at least until she becomes a sorceress.
• Everything's Better with Princesses: Rinoa is not a princess, but the resistance calls her that as a nickname, most likely because she's the daughter of the occupying state's military commander.
• Feather Motif: Beginning with her turning a flower petal into a feather in the opening sequence. Her limit break Angel Wing and her Infinity Plus One Blaster Edge also share an angel wing/feather theme.
• Gender Blender Name: Not Rinoa herself, but Angelo is actually a female dog.
• Heroes Love Dogs: And so do heroines!
• Human Shield: To Adel.
• Improbable Weapon User: The "blaster edge," a chakram-like weapon she fires from a wrist-mounted launcher, which returns like a Precision-Guided Boomerang. She launches her dog from it in one of her Limit Breaks.
• The Lancer: To Squall.
• La Résistance: And she's the leader.
• Last Girl Wins: Rinoa is the last female to join the team.
• Literal Cliff Hanger: Off the side of Balamb Garden during the Battle of the Gardens.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Subverted. She acts like it around Squall in Disc 1 - and gets told off for it. She shapes up in Disc 2 after nearly getting killed by Edea. Played more straight in the emotional aspects when her persistence to getting to know Squall and for him to open up and rely on her that initiates his Character Development.
• The McCoy
• Military Brat
• Missing Mom: Her mother died in a car accident.
• Motif: She is often associated with angels and shooting stars. She has a pair of stylized angelic wings printed on her clothes.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: At level 100, the playable character with the highest unmodified strength stat in the game isn't Squall, Seifer, or Ward. It's Rinoa.
• Nom De Mom: Her father's family name is Caraway. Rinoa goes by her mother Julia's surname, either as a form of protest against her father or just because being obviously related to a Galbadian general would hurt her credibility with the various factions of the Timber resistance.
• Not What It Looks Like: Rinoa claims she doesn't want to ask Squall to see his ring (so Zell can make a replica of it) because people would get the wrong idea.
• Official Couple: Her and Squall.
• Opposites Attract: Her and Squall again.
• Plucky Girl
• Power Gives You Wings: The Angel Wing Limit Break.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Fired from a wrist mounted launcher. Often overlaps with Rings of Death or Deadly Disc.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: The heroine with the palest skin and darkest hair of the three women.
• Rebel Leader: She leads the Forest Owls, the only active resistance group in Timber.
• Rebellious Princess: At least stylistically. She's not an actual princess, but the Forest Owls call her that.
• Security Cling: Rinoa does this three times to Squall. First, after being rescued from the Iguions, she grabs onto him and doesn't want to let go. Later, while on the Ragnarok, after the intense sequence of events that's just occurred, she takes advantage of the gravity being turned off to float down into Squall's lap and puts her arms around him, telling him that it makes her feel safe. The third time is when she hugs him after he rescues her from the sorceress memorial.
• Three Amigos: With Zone and Watts, albeit mostly in backstory.
• True-Blue Femininity: Her coat
• Witch Species
• Woman in White: When she wears her white (or ivory) dress during the SeeD ceremony and during the FH event.

Zell Dincht

"Why don't you try to show a little more passion...? You know, like me!"

A fellow SeeD who works alongside Squall and Selphie. Though he appears to be a comic-relief goof at first, he is actually a highly competent soldier with a deep knowledge of world history and a lot of integrity. He uses no weapon in battle, preferring instead to use martial arts.

• Anime Hair
• Bare-Fisted Monk: He's no monk, but he fits the part where he fights with nothing but hands and feet. He'd also fit the Monk class in the franchise.
• The Big Guy: Physical powerhouse edition, in spite of being the smallest male party member.
• Blue Eyes
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Butt Monkey: He is the closest to one you'll get out of the playable characters.
• Child Soldier
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Zell's Different Beat and My Final Heaven final Limit Breaks causes the enemy to spin.
• Facial Marking
• Genius Bruiser: As his status as Mr. Exposition and Mr. Fixit can attest to. He's definitely not Book Dumb.
• Happily Adopted
• Hair of Gold
• Hot-Blooded
• Idiot Hero: He's said to be designed to resemble a shonen manga hero.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: Learns his limit breaks from fighting magazines, which can easily be mistaken for a fan list of attacks from shonen manga and anime.
• It's All My Fault: He has a moment of this, after he inadvertently said that Seifer belongs to the Garden right in front of the Galbadian President (who was being threatened by Seifer on live TV at the time). Fortunately, Quistis later reassures him that his recklessness didn't cause repercussions at all for their Garden.
• Lightning Bruiser: His stat growth lends him naturally to becoming absurdly fast and strong.
• Mr. Exposition: "Thank you very much, Mr. Know-It-All Zell."
• Mr. Fixit: Subtly implied in the game that he has a love of machinery, and bringing him to the Bonus Dungeon makes it easier to complete it.
  • Depends on your interpretation of easy. If you completed the puzzle as it was supposed to be done, the player can move through the next section with Enc-None. If you use Zell for it, you can bypass the guessing game, but you have to fight some tough battles on your way down there. Battles which Enc-None doesn't work in.
• Oblivious to Love: Pigtailed Librarian
• Percussive Maintenance: How he ends up fixing the machine in the Bonus Dungeon.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Official sources state that Zell is only 5'6", he is also physically one of the strongest party members.
• Power Fist
• Ramming Always Works: His strongest limit break has him dash with a punch towards, and then beyond the enemy to run one lap around the world before finally punching. The enemies will be damaged by the sonic boom, or something...
• Roundhouse Kick: Part of his limit break moves.
• Shoryuken: Dolphin Blow.
• Shout-Out: Possibly to Marty McFly. He's dressed in a red jacket, is very Hot-Blooded compared to the rest of the cast, and for no particular reason two easy-to-ignore/miss cutscenes involve him riding a hoverboard. Then there's the whole thing involving his relations with Dr. Odine and the timed mission in Esthar...
  • Say what you will about Zell, but he's certainly no Chicken-Wuss.
  • His facial tattoo is apparently based off of something the developers saw on MTV.
• Trademark Favorite Food: A kind of bread in the original Japanese; hot dogs in the English translation. Unfortunately for him it seems that they're everybody's Trademark Favorite Food and the cafeteria is always sold out whenever he tries to get one. (This makes for a minor Dub-Induced Plot Hole in the ending FMV, where Zell is seen stuffing his face with said flavored bread.)
• Tyke Bomb
• Wall of Weapons: In his room in Balamb.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Two of his Limit Break moves, Heel Drop and Meteor Barret.

Selphie Tilmitt

"Destroy everything!"

A transfer student to Balamb Garden who ends up working alongside Squall and Zell. She is surprisingly perky and upbeat for a soldier, but behind her smiling face lies a psychotic, destructive streak that surfaces during times of stress. She is one of the more observant and practical members of the party. Also, she likes trains.

• Action Girl
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Badass Adorable
• Beta Couple: Her and Irvine.
• The Big Guy: Magical powerhouse edition, though she's physically the smallest adult character in the game.
• Catch Phrase: Selphie tries to get "Booyaka!" to catch on among the students. It doesn't work.
• Child Soldier
• Cloudcuckoolander
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Just dare mess with her friends! See how it went for Galbadia!
• Confusion Fu: The basis of her Limit Break. You either get lucky and roll a Triple Meteor or The End within three turns, or you end up getting yourself killed because nothing but Pain and Esuna pop up. (Unless, of course, you exploit the PS1 cheat.)
• Cute and Psycho: For all that she's a sweet little Genki Girl, she's also far and away the most violently pragmatic of Squall's True Companions. Whenever she's involved in the planning phase of a mission, she always seems to suggest using explosives.
• Cute Bruiser: Well, she does have The End.
• Fighting with Chucks
• Genius Ditz
• Genki Girl
• Green Eyes
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: At 5'2" she's the shortest female character, and her Victorious Childhood Friend is 6'0" tall Irvine.
• Little Miss Badass
• Love Freak
• Magic Skirt
• Mini-Dress of Power
• New Transfer Student: Her introduction even involves giving the player an option to have Squall guide her about Balamb Garden.
• The Pollyanna
• Rail Enthusiast: I like trains!
• Squishy Wizard
• Tyke Bomb

Quistis Trepe

"You know, the boys often choke on this test when I come with them."

Squall's instructor at Balamb Garden. Beautiful and intelligent, she is adored by the student base to the point where she has a fan club. However, behind her perfect appearance lies an insecure human who struggles to control her own emotions, and who has unrequited feelings for Squall.

• Action Girl
• Badass Bookworm
• Badass Teacher
• Blue Eyes
• Child Soldier
• Cool Big Sis: Subverted. She's initially set up and subconsciously acts as one of these, but as the game progresses, we see her making several irrational and immature decisions, the same as the rest of the cast.
• Cool Teacher
• Even the Girls Want Her: Her fanclub seems to be composed mostly by girls.
• Everyone Looks Sexier If French: Her name implies this.
• Eye Beams: Her initial Limit Break is "Laser Eye". She can eventually pick up Ray-Bomb!
• Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
• Fired Teacher
• Hair of Gold
• Hello, Nurse!
• Hopeless Suitor: To Squall.
• Hot Teacher
• Instant Fanclub
• Like Brother and Sister: She initially thought her feelings for Squall were love but later came to realize they were this.
• Mega Manning: Her Limit Break revolves around Blue Magic. Unlike in the other games in the series, she learns new enemy skills from using special items, rather than getting hit by the attack.
• Meganekko
• Nerds Are Sexy
• The Obi Wrong
• Sensei-chan
• Ship Sinking: Has an interest in Squall, but gives up as the story continues. Justified as she lost interest after remembering that she grew up with him, which is a product of the Westermarck effect.
• The Smart Girl
• Tall Blond And Bishoujo
• Teacher-Student Romance --> Loving a Shadow: Quistis realizes that her "feelings" for Squall were actually sisterly affection rather than romantic affection.
• Teen Genius: She's only a year older than Squall, but she's an instructor at the school at the start of the game.
• Tyke Bomb
• Whip It Good

Irvine Kinneas

"Thanks for the support, but I never miss my target."

An expert SeeD sniper who joins the Balamb Garden party on an assignment. He likes to style himself as a cool, unflappable gunman and complete ladies' man. However, this is just a façade so he can cope with the suffocating pressures of his job. His true personality is much more shy and dorky.

• Abnormal Ammo: Uses plenty of these in his Limit Break.
• Badass Longcoat
• Badass Long Hair
• Beta Couple: Him and Selphie.
• BFG
• Blue Eyes
• Bottomless Magazines: Unless you're using his Limit Break.
• Cannot Spit It Out
• Casanova
• Character Development: While Zell and Selphie are rather unchanging, Irvine changes as a person (for the better) during the course of the story.
• The Charmer
• Child Soldier
• Chivalrous Pervert
• Cold Sniper: Subverted. He makes much of "the loneliness of the sharpshooter," but completely fails to live up to the image. Instead...
  • Friendly Sniper: Particularly once he gets past his initial flakiness.
• Cool Gun: His Weapon of Choice
  • Shotguns Are Just Better
• Fingerless Gloves
• The Gunslinger
• Gentle Giant: Despite what he would like others to believe, he's the kind of guy who wouldn't hurt a butterfly that landed on him.
• The Heart: He has a bit of a rocky start, but from the visit to Fisherman's Horizon onward Irvine makes the most active and consistent efforts to keep the party pulled together and emotionally centered.
• Handsome Lech
• Improbable Aiming Skills
• Jerkass Facade
• Miles Gloriosus: This seems to be the case at the Deling City Parade, but there's more to it than that.
• More Dakka: His limit break consists of him just firing round after round of Abnormal Ammo. One of those is the Rapid Shell, which allows you to shoot as quickly as you can press the button at reduced damage.
• Named Weapons: His guns are named after famous warships.
• Nice Hat: He was designed to look like a cowboy.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He feigns nervousness when he has the opportunity to assassinate Edea because he's the only party member to remember that she raised them.
• Sixth Ranger
• Tall, Dark and Snarky: Attempts this, but only succeeds at the tall part.
• Tyke Bomb
• Victorious Childhood Friend

Seifer Almasy

"I've always gotta be doing somethin' big! I don't wanna stop. I'm gonna keep running! I've come this far... I'm gonna make it to the end, to the goal!"

One of Balamb Garden's top students, and Squall's rival. Though he is just as competent as Squall, he lacks the detachment necessary for a soldier and frequently disobeys orders when his temperament flares up. Though he is outgoing and honest, his single-minded pursuit of his dreams leads to him failing the SeeD examination, and further disaster.

• Ascended Fanboy: The Ultimania guide reveals that he was influenced by seeing the movie in which Laguna played a knight, and that he based his gunblade stance on the one Laguna used during the film.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
• Asskicking Equals Authority: Becomes the head of Galbadia from Disc 3 onwards.
• Badass Longcoat
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Brainwashed and Crazy: There is extensive fan debate as to how willingly Seifer served Edea as her Knight but certainly in the final battle with him he falls into this trope and is being used by Ultimecia. He even admits that he doesn't care, just wanting to impress Squall and prove he was right.
• The Bully
• Child Soldier
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: White to Squall's black.
• Cool Sword: His gunblade, Hyperion.
  • Improbable Weapon User
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon
  • Named Weapons: And coming from Greek Mythology.
  • Vibroweapon
• Creepy Cool Crosses
• Cutscene Power to the Max: Unless you send your characters into battle with him without junctions, Seifer as a boss is unlikely to give you a lot of trouble. But during an automated sequence just before the final battle with him, he goes Odin on Odin by reversing his Zantetsuken to vertically bisect him...with no effort at all (In fairness, when Odin appears as a boss in the series, he generally lacks Contractual Boss Immunity to make up for his time limit). Even Squall is shocked. Of course, this sets up the stage for the appearance of Gilgamesh a few turns later, who proceeds to utterly defeat him in your place.
• Delinquent: Ironically, he's the head of the disciplinary committee.
• Determinator: Seifer simply does not back down.
• The Dragon
• Evil Counterpart: To Squall. Their designs also make this very obvious—Squall is brunette, Seifer is blond; Squall wears black, Seifer wears white; Squall has more feminine features, Seifer has a very strong jaw; and they have opposite scars.
• Face Heel Turn: Until the ending.

"One of these days, I'm gonna tell ya 'bout my ROMANTIC dream!"

• • Of course, in that context, Seifer is referring to the concept of Romanticism rather than actual romance.
  • Notice how in the second fight with Seifer, when he's about to whip out Demon Slice, he quips, "Ready to die, Squall?". He's only targeting Squall.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: A subtle variation; the scar that Seifer acquires in the opening FMV would be a hero scar on its own, but it's a mirror-image inverse of Squall's, making it more of a villain scar in context.
• Guest Star Party Member: He's briefly playable during the Dollet mission.
• Hot-Blooded
• Jerkass: Though initially one that does think he's doing the right thing.
• Jumped At the Call: Unfortunately for him, it was the wrong call.
• Karma Houdini: He never pulls any sort of act of redemption, and yet he never has to face any real consequences for his actions. In the ending cinematic, he is seen fishing with Raijin and Fujin, while Balamb Garden flies by. To be fair, he didn't actually do anything particularly evil, he just acted as Edea's and later Ultimecia's bodyguard. Still avoids any consequences for throwing in with an Obviously Evil sorceress, though.
• Ki Attacks: The manual says that the fire magic used in Seifer's Limit Break is produced by chi and not Para-Magic.
• Kick the Dog: Literally and figuratively.
• Light Is Not Good: Wears a long white trench coat. Also serves as one of the antagonists.
• Magic Knight
• More Than Mind Control: Seifer is somewhere between Brainwashed and Crazy and this trope.
• Mythology Gag: His name is an explicit reference to Safer Sephiroth, because "Safer" was originally supposed to be "Seifer".
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: When the party thinks he is dead, they remember him in a fonder light—much to the frustration of Squall who isn't willing to sugarcoat that Seifer was a bully and a Jerkass.
• Pet the Dog: He has a few Pet the Dog moments when it comes to Rinoa... but his many Kick the Dog moments tend to overshadow it... and we never see those moments since they occur before the game.
• Playing with Fire: Loves fire magic almost as much as his gunblade, and even uses it as part of his Limit Break.
• Psychopathic Manchild: A type C case, In contrast to Squall, who is more emotionally withdrawn, Seifer is more emotionally stunted; incredibly impulsive, violent and bully that jumps at the chance to serve by Edea to fulfill his childhood dream and ending up getting Brainwashed and Crazy as a result.
• Red Oni: To Squall's Blue Oni.
• The Rival Turned Evil
• Ryu and Ken: He has the same progression of Limit Breaks as Squall does, and the same "trigger" attack, but it requires different timing.
• Shadow Archetype: To Squall.
• Three Amigos: With Raijin and Fujin.
• Tyke Bomb
• The Unfettered: Slips into this after his decent into villainy.
• Wrong Guy First

Laguna Loire

"I speak with passion, from the heart! That's what matters most."

A Galbadian soldier who dreams of becoming a world-renowned journalist. His dorky and excitable demeanour obscures his extensive combat experience and natural courage. He uses a machine gun in battle and is the main character in the flashback sequences that Squall's party experiences throughout the game.

• Adorkable
• Adult Child: Not really that immature, but he still counts.
• Alliterative Name
• Asskicking Equals Authority: Became President of Esthar on the strength of defeating and sealing Adel.
• Badass Long Hair
• Badass Normal: Notice how Laguna doesn't use superhuman powers or rely on cool weapons to get by. A hand-grenade and a few machinegun rounds are all he needs.
  • Badass Abnormal: He's the most powerful fighter of his generation...when Squall is inhabiting him.
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Bottomless Magazines
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Cloudcuckoolander
• Crazy Enough to Work: His plans, especially the one with Adel.
• Curse Cut Short: While falling off a cliff.
• Determinator: His Limit Break is even called Desperado!
• Disappeared Dad: To Squall.
• The Ditz
• Fingerless Gloves
• Florence Nightingale Effect: How he fell for Raine.
• The Fool
• Freudian Trio: Id.
• Friend to All Living Things
• Friendly Tickle Torture: The "Cuchi-Cuchi Treatment" he threatens Kiros and Ward with.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Kiros and Ward.
• Honor Before Reason
• Hot Dad
• Idiot Hero
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Ellone.
• The Ishmael
• Klingon Promotion: Not that he intended for it to happen.
• Location Theme Naming: He is named from either a province from the Philippines or a place in California. Both are known for their beautiful beaches.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy
• Luke, I Am Your Father: The Reveal regarding Laguna being Squall's father never actually happens. The closest you get to a confirmation are a few vague comments from Laguna and Kiros.
• Magnetic Hero
• More Dakka: He's not called "The Man With The Machine Gun" for no reason.
• Nice Guy
• Our Presidents Are Different: The subverted President Buffoon and also President Action type.
• The Pollyanna: A very rare male version.
• Reasonable Authority Figure
• Retired Badass: He, Kiros, and Ward can still kick ass even after leaving the Galbadian army.
• Screw the War, We're Partying: This seems to be Laguna's attitude in the first flashback sequence when he leaves Timber and goes to Deling City to see Julia peform.
• Second Love: Raine. Ironically, their son will end up with the daughter of Laguna's first love.
• Stuff Blowing Up: His Desperado Limit Break is this plus More Dakka.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome: Again, two out of three; Laguna is average height at about 5'9". Although the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania has amended his height to 181 cm (5'11"), so he fits all three now.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal
• Walking the Earth: When he's looking for Esthar in search for Ellone.

Kiros Seagill

"You cut a pretty pitiful figure up there. I'd say you're about a -3 on the manliness scale."

One of Laguna's best friends and fellow Galbadian soldier. He has a sharp wit and often pokes fun at Laguna, but also trusts him with his life.

• Ambiguously Brown
• Ambiguously Gay
• Badass Long Hair
• Black Best Friend
• Black Eyes
• Blade Below the Shoulder: His katal.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Dual-Wielding
• Freudian Trio: Superego.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Laguna and Ward.
• Humans Are White: One of the few who is not.
• Knife Nut: Has a pair of Katar (misspelled as Katal), but he's a good guy through and through.
• The Lancer: To Laguna.
• Latex Space Suit
• Lightning Bruiser
• Retired Badass: He, Laguna, and Ward can still kick ass even after leaving the Galbadian army.
• Spam Attack: Blood Pain.
• Walking the Earth: Accompanying Laguna.

Ward Zabac

"......"

A Galbadian soldier and the third member of Laguna's unit. His intimidating appearance on the battlefield contrasts sharply with his caring demeanour outside of it. He is rendered mute after suffering a serious injury to his throat during battle.

• Acrofatic: See his Massive Anchor Limit Break.
• Anchors Away
• Bald of Awesome: Apparently.
• The Big Guy
• Blue Eyes
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the French localization, he isn't mute: he just swore he would never say a single word again in the entire game.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Death From Above: See below.
• Freudian Trio: Ego.
• Gentle Giant
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Laguna and Kiros.
• Improbable Weapon User
• Perma-Stubble
• Retired Badass: He, Laguna, and Kiros can still kick ass even after leaving the Galbadian army.
• Scars Are Forever
• The Speechless: Not always.
• Visible Silence: He becomes mute later in the game.
• Walking the Earth: Accompanying Laguna.

Edea Kramer

"You must fight to the end! Even though it may bring tragedy to others!"

A vain and power-hungry Sorceress who uses her brainwashing magic to seize control of Galbadia. SeeD is assigned the task of assassinating her. She is the wife of Cid Kramer, and has become possessed by the malevolent Sorceress Ultimecia.

• An Ice Person
• Brainwashed and Crazy: More like Possessed and Crazy actually.
• Creepy Long Fingers
• Dark Is Not Evil: She loves dressing in black even before she's possessed.
• Disc One Final Boss: Literally.
• The Dragon: Briefly to President Deling but after killing him she becomes...
• Dragon-in-Chief
• Evil Sorceress
• Eyes of Gold
• Femme Fatalons
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers: The neckline on her dress.
• Force Field/Deflector Shield: She uses one to protect herself from Irvine shooting her.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe
• Grand Theft Me
• Guest Star Party Member
• Heel Face Turn
• Hot Mom
• Hot Witch
• Klingon Promotion: After she kills President Deling.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
• Parental Substitute: To Squall and the others except Rinoa.
• Pimped-Out Dress: With the neckline and the decoration that sprouts up from the back.
• Witch Species
• Woman in Black

Cid Kramer

"I don't want you all to become machines. I want you all to be able to think and act for yourselves."

The headmaster of Balamb Garden, and one of the original founders of SeeD.

• A Father to His Men
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Celebrity Resemblance: Looks an awful lot like Robin Williams.
• Cool Old Guy
• Kill the Ones You Love: He's fully prepared to send his and Edea's kids to kill her, because he knows he's not capable of it himself, but it all works out in the end. And, depending on your perception of the Timey-Wimey Ball, he might have known it would anyway.
• Megane
• Non-Action Guy
• Reasonable Authority Figure
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife

Ellone

"You cannot change the past, but seeing it once more is enough."

A mysterious girl who shares a connection with Squall, Laguna and SeeD. She is hunted by various factions during the game, most notably by Sorceress Edea. She possesses a supernatural ability that allows her to send a person's consciousness into the past, and is the source of the mysterious flashbacks that Squall's party has been experiencing.

• Break the Cutie
• Chekhov's Gunman: First appearance is her visiting Squall in the infirmary after his duel with Seifer in the FMV. She also later appears in the Training Center where she's rescued by Squall and Quistis, and she calls Quistis by her childhood nickname.
• Cheerful Child
• Curtains Match the Window
• Damsel in Distress: Even as a child.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With her Uncle Laguna.
• Mental Time Travel
• Mysterious Waif
• Onee-Sama: To Squall.
• Parental Abandonment
• She's All Grown Up
• Time Master: Her powers can send one's consciousness to the past.
• Witch Species: It is revealed in the Dissidia Final Fantasy Character Files that she too is a Sorceress.
• The Woobie: In-Universe, Laguna describes her this way.

Raijin & Fujin

"Hey, jus' like Fujin said, ya know!? We're with Seifer. Always have, always will."

Seifer's partners-in-crime. Raijin often slurs his speech and ends his sentences with "y'know", while Fujin speaks in monotone. Along with Seifer, they make up the self-proclaimed Balamb Garden Disciplinary Committee.

• Ambiguously Brown: Raijin.
• Antivillains
• Black Best Friend: Raijin.
• Blow You Away: Fujin.
• The Brute: Raijin.
• Dark Chick: Fujin.
• Dual Boss: For the second and third time you fight them. The first time, Raijin is alone with two Galbadian soldiers.
• Eyepatch of Power: Fujin.
• Hulk Speak: Fujin. Her (failed) What the Hell, Hero?/Get a Hold of Yourself, Man! speech to Seifer is notably the only time Fujin uses coherent sentences and speaks in a soft tone.
  • Zig zagged in the French localization, where she speaks sentences more often. Most of them are still very short, but they're sentences nonetheless.
• Ice Queen: Fujin.
• No Indoor Voice: Fujin ALWAYS SPEAKS IN ALL CAPS.
• One Head Taller
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Fujin. Overlapping with Fuma Shuriken.
• Punch Clock Villains
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming
• Shock and Awe: Raijin.
• Simple Staff: Raijin.
• That Guy And Girl
• Three Amigos: With Seifer.
• True Companions
• Verbal Tic: Raijin has one, ya'know. FUJIN TOO.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Fujin.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Raijin, even for his boss battle.

Biggs & Wedge

"I was demoted because of you! I'm only a lieutenant now! I'll get my revenge!"

Two Galbadian soldiers who encounter Squall again and again, each time leaving with both their pride and career prospects severely damaged.

• Goldfish Poop Gang
• Heterosexual Life Partners
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains: Source of some of the game's funniest moments.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni
• Screw This, We're Outta Here
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Named after Luke Skywalker's Red Squadron wingmen in Star Wars, like other characters in the Final Fantasy series.
• Starter Villains
• Those Two Bad Guys

Adel

An evil Sorceress who once used her powers to rule Esthar with an iron fist. She was overthrown by a resistance movement led by Laguna, and sealed into a technological tomb which was then launched into space.

• Brawn Hilda: Some people may not even realize she's a she.
• Evil Redhead
• Evil Sorceress
• Facial Markings
• Femme Fatalons
• Fusion Dance: With Rinoa.
  • Energy Absorption
• God Save Us From the Queen: Ladies and gentlemen, your malevolent ruler of Esthar!
• Grand Theft Me: Possibly, by Ultimecia.
• Human Shield: She uses Rinoa as one.
• Large and In Charge: She's the (former) ruler of a nation, and happens to be about four times the size of an average human.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant
• Rapunzel Hair
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
  • Curtains Match the Window
• Sealed Evil in a Can
  • Covered in Gunge
• Slasher Smile
• Summon Magic
• Too Dumb to Live
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Don't be confused. That is indeed a Sorceress. She just happens to be a 15 ft tall, masculine-looking, purple woman with an overtly muscular frame. Yet nobody ever comments on her appearance. This, combined with the appearance of other sorceresses such as Ultimecia, has led to the Fanon theory that the Sorceress Power causes unknown physical side-effects on each woman which varies from subject to subject.
• Winged Humanoid

Ultimecia

"This is reality. No-one can help you."

Ultimecia is an evil, all-powerful Sorceress from the future. She seeks to cast the almighty Time Compression magic, which would combine the worlds of the past, present and future into a single point and enable her to rule over all of time itself.

• Absolute Cleavage
• All There in the Manual: The aptly-named Ultimania guidebook greatly elaborates on her character and explains her history and motivations, such as her Start of Darkness.
• The Archmage
• Big Bad
• Evil Sorceress
• Eyes of Gold
• Facial Markings
• Femme Fatalons
• Funetik Aksent
• Fusion Dance: With Griever in the final battle.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Has a pair of black feathered wings
• Grand Theft Me: Her specialty.
• Horned Hairdo
• Hot Witch
• Jossed: The popular fan theory that Ultimecia is Rinoa from a Bad Future was shot down by the official strategy guide. Her powers might be Rinoa's, since sorceresses have to pass down their powers to others, but she herself clearly isn't Rinoa.
• Lady in Red: Her default form.
• Manipulative Bitch
• Naked in Mink
• New Era Speech: In Deling City while possessing Edea.
• One-Winged Angel
• Rapunzel Hair
• Red and Black and Evil All Over
• Screw Destiny: Her motivation.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Word of God states that there are two tiers of this. First, Ultimecia's Start of Darkness was brought about when she was persecuted for the crimes she was going to commit, which became common knowledge thanks to the Time Travel antics of her future self (as depicted in the game). Second, Ultimecia's motivation was to use Time Compression to control time and thwart her destined defeat at the hands of the "legendary SeeD". But not only do her efforts to cast Time Compression paint a big bullseye on her chest for SeeD, but her use of the Time Compression spell allows Squall's party to travel to the future and defeat her directly.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Some localizations call her Artemisia, which is pronounced the same way than Ultimecia in Japanese and also creates an interesting link with the moon, one of the recurring motives of the game.
• Stripperific
• Summon Magic
• Time Master
• The Vamp
• Vapor Wear
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Her Technicolor Death.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl
• Wicked Cultured: Ulty's castle has an art gallery and a cathedral, among other hints as to her favoured pastimes.
• Winged Humanoid
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: She murders Vinzer Deling once she's gotten what she wants out of him.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: In the final battle, she Draws Apocalypse, what she believes to be the ultimate spell, from herself.

Guardian Forces

Ifrit

The first Guardian Force you have to fight. Squall and Quistis must fight him in the Fire Cavern as part of a SeeD exercise.

• Big Red Devil
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Kill It with Fire
• Oh Crap: "They have Shiva?"
• Playing with Fire
• Timed Mission: You have to choose a time limit before you enter the Fire Cavern, and must defeat Ifrit before it runs out.

Diablos

A devil Guardian Force that controls gravity. You can fight him at any time after Cid gives you the Magical Lamp

• Big Red Devil
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Dub Name Change: He is known as Nosferatu in the French version, and Diablo in the Spanish version.
• Lost Forever: If you actually sell the Magical Lamp before using it.
• Magikarp Power
• Sealed Evil in a Can

The Brothers (Sacred and Minotaur)

A pair of minotaurs fought in the Tomb of the Forgotten King.

• Aloof Big Brother: Minotaur.
• Bash Brothers: Literally.
• Big Little Brother: Sacred.
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Dishing Out Dirt
• Dub Name Change : Sacred and Minotaur are respectively known as Tauros and Taurux in the French version, and the G-Force itself is Taurus.
• Fastball Special: poor Sacred.
• Greek Mythology: since they're found in The Maze, the reference is quite obvious.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni
• Shout-Out: They're based on two bosses from Final Fantasy V, Minotaur and Sekhmet.
• Sibling Team

Cerberus

A cerberus G-Force you can fight in Galbadia Garden when you invade it at the end of Disc 2.

• Defeat Means Friendship
• Hulk Speak
• Lost Forever: If you miss him, you can still draw him from Gargantua on the final disc. Miss him there, though, and you lose him for good.
• Multiple Head Case

Bahamut

A powerful G-Force encountered in the Deep Sea Research Center.

• Breath Weapon
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Non-Elemental
• Our Dragons Are Different

Odin

An optional, unjunctionable G-Force encountered in the Centra Ruins. After you obtain him, he can sometimes show up right at the beginning of a fight to One-Hit Kill your enemies before anybody has a chance to do anything. If you obtained him before completing Disc 3, he will show up at the start of the fight with Seifer, and get cut clean in half. Fortunately, Gilgamesh replaces him.

• Cool Horse: Sleipner.
• Cool Sword: Zantetsuken.
  • One-Hit Kill
• The Day the Music Lied
• Defeat Means Friendship
• Deus Ex Machina
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?
• Half The Guardian Force He Used To Be: During the fight with Seifer at the end of Disc 3.
• Killed Off for Real
• Master Swordsman

Gilgamesh

An optional G-Force you automatically obtain if Seifer kills Odin. He's obviously a reference to the Final Fantasy V character, if not the same guy.

• Badass Cape
• Call Back: His entire appearance is one huge one to Final Fantasy V: Gilgamesh refers to the Dimensional Interval (i.e. the Interdimensional Rift that houses the Void he was banished to) and in the Japanese version, he nearly name drops Bartz, The Hero of V and his Worthy Opponent.
• Cool Sword: He has four, namely; the Excalibur, Excalipoor, Masamune, and Zantetsuken.
• Deus Ex Machina
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Did you just Stealth Hi Bye Seifer after he killed Odin? Yeah, that happened.
• Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Arrives at the very end of disc three.
• Facial Markings
• Four Is Death: He has four swords in his arsenal.
• Joke Item: It's the very weapon he's associated with, Excalipoor.
• Lost Forever: He is an entirely optional GF, and can only be obtained if Seifer kills Odin at the end of Disc 3.
• Master Swordsman
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: If you look closely though, the arms on his cape are cardboard cutouts, with his real arms on his right side under it and holding his cape.
• Prophet Eyes
• Took a Level in Badass: And holy hell how!^[context?]

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