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Squall Leonheart
Name: Squall Leonheart
Age: 17
Height: 5'8"
Birthday: August 23rd
Occupation: SeeD
Weapon: Gunblade
Limit Break: Renzokuken
The taciturn and reluctant hero, he dislikes others being involved in his affairs; a Lone Wolf...
The main character of Final Fantasy VIII, Squall is a cadet of the special combat unit SeeD from the Balamb Garden Military Academy.
Squall is a relatively short man (but tall in comparison to previous Final Fantasy characters), and a grumpy teenager only 17 years of age. Stone-faced and aloof as he may be, he only talks enthusiastically about matters of interest to him. At other times he is quite short spoken, keeping his thoughts to himself (as you'll see..). He possesses an expert ability to learn and improve his fighting skills with his Gunblade.
He is a loner and has almost no comradeship for the people around him, lacking a sense of team unity and has a tendancy to be very anti-social. Around his neck, Squall wears a necklace which bears a strange griffin-like symbol which can also be seen near the barrel of the Gunblade.
For his inordinate fighting talent he has earned the enmity of Seifer Almasy, an older student who regards him with jealousy. The scar on his forehead resulted from Seifer's Gunblade during an intense training session that got out of hand (shown in the intro).
Final Fantasy 8's character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, wanted the character's name to have the meaning of a passing shower, which is how he came up with the name Squall. His last name, Leonhart, was the name of one of the main characters from an earlier 8-bit fantasy which never made it to western shores.
A gloomy and tempramental teenager he may be, but as the story unfolds, and his relationship with Rinoa grows ever stronger, we will see the inside to his cold outer shell...
Story Aspects (No Real Spoilers)
He graduates from a cadet in Balamb Garden to a member of the elite SeeD organization early on in the game after proving his worth in the Dollet mission and passing his exams. He is clearly regarded by Cid, the principal of Balamb Garden, to be one of his best.
Squall meets up with a mysterious girl called Rinoa Heartily at a ball in the Garden, arranged to celebrate the recent exam passes. Rinoa is friendly to the ever cold Squall, and she eventually brides him to dance with her.
The day after the ball, Squall's ordered on his first mission as a member of SeeD. He and his new collegue, Zell Dincht, head over to a place called Timber. Here, he find the dancing partner from the previous night is the leader of the resistance there, whom he is to help as part of SeeD.
As the game progresses, Squall's love for Rinoa becomes ever stronger....
Limit Break: Renzokuken
This special attack can be performed if a triangle appears beside the "Fight" command. More damage can be inflicted by pressing the R1 button in sync with the triangular gauge at the bottom left.
Rinoa Heartilly
Age: 17
Height: 5'3 1/2"
Birthday: March 3rd
Occupation: Resistance
Weapon: Blaster Edge
Limit Break: Combine
A lively young women with the ability to touch people's hearts...
A beautiful and intelligent girl, Rinoa is cheerful with an overwhelming amount of tenderness and an unyielding spirit. She is very honest and has no problems speaking her mind and being very straight forward with others, something that Squall is very attracted to. On the other hand though, she sometimes has mixed or confused feelings. Driven by her ambition, she is known to be stubborn at times.
This bright and cheerful lady is quite an effective fighter who uses a projectile weapon, called the Blaster Edge, to inflict damage on multiple targets. However, Rinoa's best abilities lie with the use of magic.
Rinoa lives on the main continent of Galbadia in a small country town called Timber. Timber has come under the influence of Galbadian rule, and as a reminder, troops are always patrolling the previously tranquil streets. Rinoa is the leader of the resistance movement to Galbadian rule called the 'Forest Owls'.
Story Aspects (No Real Spoilers)
After seizing a TV tower in Dollet, the president of Galbadia, Derring, declared war on the whole world. A witch called Edea is behind the Galbadia plots. So, Rinoa goes to Balamb Garden to ask them to help track down and assasinate the witch. SeeD (Squall, Zell and Selphie), with Irvine as a sniper from Garbadia Garden, then hit the road to help her in her quest; freedom for Timber.
But things get more complicated... what is Rinoa's link to Witch Edea...?
Limit Break: Combine
One of Rinoa's special attacks is with her pet dog Angelo (A rare, tail-less female at only 2 years of age). In the attack, called "Combine", Angelo comes dashing to her assistance when Rinoa's low on HP and likewise when Rinoa hits her Special Attack; he jumps on top of her weapon and rushes into the enemy and smashes into them. Angelo then returns and gets rewarded by Rinoa with a dog biscuit. As time, and therefore experience, grows, Angelo can learn new attacks.
Quistis Trepe
Age: 18
Height: 5'6"
Birthday: October 4th
Occupation: SeeD
Weapon: Chain Whip
Limit Break: Blue Magic
Serving as Squall's instructor, Ms.Trepe is regarded as a valuble member of the team...
In most schools, a teacher with a name like Ms.Trepe's would be inviting trouble, but at Balamb Garden she is treated with the upmost respect by her students.
With her amazing fighting skills, Quistis entered Garden at the tender age of 10 and graduated to the elite SeeD at 15. Quistis had a harsh early life, living in an orphanage for the first five years of her life, and in the years that followed she has had a hard struggle. With her past behind her, she is a superbly skilled teacher at Balamb Garden - sharing her many talents with Squall and his companions
Despite Quistis' cool and bold exterior, she is known to have a difficult time coping with frustration, which sometimes results in her becoming depressed over trivial matters.
Quistis learns enemy moves using Blue Magic as her special ability, but she does not gain it while she fights. Instead, she learns moves by using items which can sometimes be obtained from defeated foe.
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Irvine Kinneas
Age: 17
Height: 6'0"
Birthday: November 24th
Occupation: Galbadia Cadet
Weapon: Rifle
Limit Break: Shot
An expert gunman and consummate ladies man.
Known as the 'Best shooter in Garden', Irvine is an expert marksman from Galbadia Garden. With his cowboy appearance, he can prove a worthy addition to the team as he proves his loyalty and effectiveness in combat.
Irvine's reputation for cherishing the company of women is almost as well known as his accuracy with a rifle.
Irvine is not a student at Balamb Garden like Squall, instead he attends the Galbadia Garden on the continent of Galbadia. It's a comparatively small outfit compared to Balamb, but it is just as effective.
He is very confident of his abilities (proclaiming himself to be the best shooter in the land), and although he can appear insensitive and frivolous at first glance, deep down he is delicate, sedate and serious.
Seifer Almasy
Age: 18
Height: 6'2"
Birthday: December 22nd
Occupation: SeeD Candidate
Weapon: Gunblade
Limit Break: Fire Cross
Squall's rival likes nothing better than to cause havoc within Garden...
Although Seifer is a talented fighter and leader, he's regarded as problematic because of his short tempered attitude and inability to properly follow orders. However, there's something dignified in his bearing that nobody else has.
Seifer realises Squall is gifted, so being a very jealous person he is very envious and even paranoid of him. He is a very competitive fighter, only settling on victory at everything he does. Although he has a tense rivalry with Squall, they do hold a certain respect for each other.
Seifer has strong ties with Edea the Witch, but it is unknown what the relationship is. He is flanked by his two bodyguards and assistants, Fuujin and Raijin.
Limit Break: Fire Cross
While Seifer uses a Gunblade just as Squall does, his limit break is quite different. Called 'Fire Cross', he starts off with a Fire magic (the same as he used in the fight with Squall in the intro) and powers up his sword with a green aura and shoots out a galewind slash. Seifer's finishing blow on this move seems to power up as he gets stronger.
Selphie Tilmitt
Age: 17
Height: 5'1 1/2"
Birthday: July 16th
Occupation: SeeD
Weapon: Nunchaku
Limit Break: Slot
Young, energetic and carefree.
Selphie is a bright and optimistic young girl, always in a good mood and cheering up the people who are around her. Don't let these innocent looks deceive, she is also a very talented young fighter with her strength in the use of magic.
Selphie can appear quite out of place in a military academy because of her innocent look and light-hearted personality.
Selphie was recommended for Seed when she was young and has proven to be a valuble asset to a team setup.
Although she is quite optimistic, her good mood and liveliness is sometimes an annoyance for those who are with her...
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