INDEX
PLOT
Squall Leonhart
Laguna Loire
Rinoa Heartilly
Zell Dincht
Seifer Almasy
Quistis Trepe
Irvine Kinneas
Selphie Tilmitt
Ward Zabak
Kieroth Siegel
Fujin
Raijin
Idea, the witch
FFVIII's Flying Ship, Ragnarok
The Plot
Squall Leonhart is a student of Garden, a private school that trains
mercenaries. After completing training, he is inducted to SeeD, an elite
mercenary force. At a swingin' party for new SeeD recruits, Squall meets
Rinoa Heartilly. The pair go their separate ways without ever revealing their
identities. The two later meet each other unexpectedly. Squall discovers that
Rinoa is the leader of Forest Owls, a rebel group (with a wimp name) fighting
against the powerful nation of Galbaldia. Squall is slowly but surely drawn to
Rinoa.
After meeting Rinoa, Squall starts having a bizarre series of dreams. He
dreams he is Laguna Loire, the soldier who wants to be a journalist (foolishly
not realizing that being in journalism is more hellish than being shot at day after
day). Laguna appears to be on a military mission with his two buddies, Ward
and Kieroth.
While Squall leads a double life, the winds of war build. Powerful Galbaldia,
having annexed the neighboring Dole (for its luscious canned pineapples),
declares war on all other countries. The president is assisted in his global
domination goals by the witch, Idea. Squall is given an order to join a team to
assassinate the witch.
Will Squall succeed? Who is his dreamy alter ego, Laguna Loire? This is
where you come in and the story begins.
Back to top
Squall Leonhart
Age: 17
Height: 177cm
Weapon: Gunblade
Squall is the apparent "hero" of the new Final Fantasy
series. He has a scar across his face from a recent
practice with Seifert Almasay. Squall has a tendency to
be slightly rash and quick to judge, but these
judgements are usually on-the-money and he has no
trouble making very wise decisions, even in the most
difficult of situations. However, dreams of "love"
constantly invade his sense of service. He has had
many confrontations with Seifert in the past, and is somewhat irritated with his
arrogance. Withdrawn and quiet, Squall also is part of the SeeD batallion, but
to what extent is unknown.
Attack name: Sword combo
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. Back to top
Laguna Loire
Age: 27
Height: 181cm
Laguna is the hot-looking, sweet-talking lady killer of
the group. At the age of 27, Laguna is much the
opposite of Squall. Very outgoing, with a confidence
that is tempered by a vision of righteousness, Laguna
is one guy that will stand up for what he believes in and
fight to the death for it. Not much else is known about
Laguna, as he did not appear in the demo. Back to top
Rinoa Heartilly
Age: 17
Height: 163 cm
Rinoa did appear in the demo, but did not do much (sort
of like Aeris in the Final Fantasy VII demo). Due to the
fact that she never spoke (for whatever reason), it is very
hard to give an early synopsis on the character. Beautiful
and in control of powerful magic, she is definitely an
interesting character who will probably keep budding
psychologists talking for months, even years, after the
game is released. Back to top
Zell Dincht
Age: 17
Height: 168cm
Zell is another member of SeeD. However, he seems to
be a character who is more interested in following his
orders and going home, instead of trying to show up the
others, as Squall and Seifer are constantly trying. For
the most part Zell seems much more occupied with
trying to make his day go by the right way, and he just
can't wait to go home. Definitely not as zealous as
Squall and Seifer, Zell seems very unhappy with his
position in life. Back to top
Seifer Almasy
Age: 18
Height: 188cm
If you notice, Seifer also has a scar similar to Squall's. And
in some recently released pictures of the intro, it appears
that Seifer and Squall have trained extensively, and have
something of a rivalry (kind of like Tom Cruise and Iceman
in Top Gun). Many have speculated that the scar on
Squall's face, which appears to be slightly newer, was due
to an initiation process by Seifer. Seifer is Squall's superior,
and he agitates Squall with constant reminders. Back to top
Quistis Trepe
Age: 18
Height: 172 cm
Weapon: Chain whip
An exemplary Garden graduate who entered the
mercenary school at the age of 10 and was accepted
by SeeD at 15. She is presently an instructor at Ballam
Garden, Squall's school.
Attack name: Blue magic
FF fans should be familiar with the concept of blue
magic -- spells and special attacks learned from
enemies. Once learned, blue magic spells may be
chosen and used without any chance of failure. In
addition to inflicting damage, some spells have
after-effects such as poisoning, causing confusion and
turning to stone. Back to top
Irvine Kinneas
Age: 17
Height: 185 cm
Weapon: Gun
The self-acclaimed "best sniper in Garden" attends,
Galbaldia Garden, a different school than the one
attended by Squall and other key characters.
Attack name: Shoot
Irvine can blast away repeatedly with his rifle until he
runs out of bullets or time. The bullets used in this
attack are special ones with added effects such as fire,
ice, poison and shotgun. These can be bought at
shops. Back to top
Selphie Tilmitt
Age: 17
Height: 157 cm
Weapon: Nunchuks
A prospective SeeD member who attends Ballam
Garden. Despite her supposedly elite status, she is
spontaneous, naive and vacant.
Attack name: Slot
Selphie's special technique involves a slot machine --
whatever turns up, she gets to use. (It's similar to Cait
Sith's dice from VII and Setzer's slot machine from VI.)
The spell she could use and the frequency are
displayed. If you don't like it, you can cancel it and roll
again, but there is a time limit. Back to top
Ward Zabak
A towering Galbaldia soldier who accompanies Laguna.
Befitting his bulk, his weapon of choice is a harpoon.
Appearances aside, he is 25, two years younger than
Laguna. A man of few words, he appears to be the
strong, silent type. Back to top
Kieroth Siegel
The third member of Laguna's trio. He is the youngest
of the three at 23. The dark-skinned soldier is slim and
sinuously strong. He uses a small dagger-like weapon
for fighting in close. Although he appears to have a
coolly confident look, he is exposed as a fun-loving
soul by his sniping at Laguna's sillier statements. Back to top
Seifer's Sidekicks, Fujin and Raijin
Among Seifer's sycophants, Fujin and Raijin stand out as his lieutenants. Both
are extremely loyal and have sworn total subservience. Together with Seifer,
they serve as the high-handed Morals Officers of Garden.
Fujin
Curt and caustic, her speech is
limited to short and sharp
outbursts. In contrast to her
subservience to Seifer, her attitude
to Raijin is poisonous.
Back to top
Raijin
In spite of his imposing stature, he
is no match for Fujin's sharp
intelligence.
Back to top
Idea, the Witch
The re-emergence of Idea, a legendary witch, sets the wheels of history in
motion. Endowed with enormous powers of magic, the witch appears to be at
the center of a coming war. It's not known if Idea is the ultimate evil in the plot,
but judging by the presence of Seifer at her side, it looks like a sure bet that
Squall will be facing his nemesis. Idea, the Witch
The re-emergence of Idea, a legendary witch, sets the wheels of history in
motion. Endowed with enormous powers of magic, the witch appears to be at
the center of a coming war. It's not known if Idea is the ultimate evil in the plot,
but judging by the presence of Seifer at her side, it looks like a sure bet that
Squall will be facing his nemesis. Back to top
FFVIII's Flying Ship, Ragnarok
Flying ships have been the staple of Final
Fantasy series titles. In FFVIII, the crew
gets to fly Ragnarok, a futuristic vessel
that is designed for maximum mobility. It
is fitted with two high output engines that
give it maneuverability on a par with
conventional aircrafts, armed with a
609mm charged particle beam cannon
and two 152mm multi-barrel laser cannons. Ragnarok is said to be developed
secretly by an unnamed country. Count on seeing an impressive event or two
involving this craft.
Ragnarok lifts off. Are we going to get space travel for the first time since FFIV?
"BACK TO TOP"
"Click here for part 2 (Guardian Forces)"
"Click here to Return"
A Special thanks to ReTokyo: Games for this info
