Loner. Emo. Cold. Unlikeable. Whatever.
These are some of the nicer words you’d find on the internet that refer to Squall Leonhart, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VIII. Meanwhile, I personally find Squall to be one of the most complex and interesting protagonists in a Final Fantasy game. 1 So what is it about Squall that is so fascinating decades after the release of Final Fantasy VIII?
First, let’s talk about his background. Squall originally lived at an orphanage with his Matron and some other kids 2, but he isolates himself and misses someone who he refers to as “Sis.” Squall’s loss of “Sis” leads to severe trauma, abandonment issues, and his new mantra that he can’t rely on others. Relying on others opens him up to the pain he felt with the disappearance of “Sis”, and Squall chooses to shut himself off from people entirely.
Eventually, he moves into Balamb Garden, which teaches him how to essentially be a child mercenary. By the time the game begins, Squall is 17 and taking his qualification exams to be a full-fledged mercenary called SeeD. After getting a facial scar from a rival, passing an exam, dancing with a pretty girl at his graduation ceremony, and having an awkward exchange with his teacher who is a year older than him, 3Squall is eventually given his first mission as a SeeD–he is to help with the liberation of Timber with the Timber Owls. This is where things get messier for Squall as a character, and it’s the beginning of his journey toward being a different Squall.
Turns out, that pretty girl that he danced with is his new client. Oh, and also the ex-love interest of his rival, Seifer. This should be fine! 4 I’m not gonna sugar coat it here–the relationship between Squall and Rinoa at first is not great. Rinoa’s idealism and impulsiveness doesn’t vibe well with Squall, and he eventually blows up at her at the Timber TV station. Squall’s priorities are to do the job and have his folks live, and Rinoa’s impromptu strategy meetings don’t mesh well with that mission.
It’s important to mention here that it isn’t just Rinoa who rubs Squall the wrong way. When you first learn that Zell will be on your team for the exam, Squall says he is loud and asks to switch members. He also refuses to shake his hand. I’ve mentioned his reactions to Quistis earlier. He also is cold toward Selphie at times. One thing to keep in mind is this: a lot of his negative thoughts towards people are that. They’re thoughts. A lot of the personality that people argue makes him so unlikable are known to us as the players because we know what he is thinking. He doesn’t verbalize very much at all in the game. Squall is introverted with a possibility of some social anxiety. He says what he has to, then he moves on. This isn’t to say that Squall doesn’t have his moments of rudeness–see above–but his self-isolation and reasons for it aren’t as well known to the other party members initially.
Throughout the game, there are tiny moments of Squall’s mental walls being broken down little by little so he can open up and trust people. 5 In his internal monologues, we get insight into who he is as a person, and why he acts like he does.
This scene is a perfect example. Squall struggles after Ellone tells him that she is his only hope. At first he tries to say that it’s not a good thing to depend on others, and he says that he’s made it this far on his own. Then he curls up in the fetal position on his bed and realizes that he’s lying to himself–he just doesn’t want to depend on others because of his loss of “Sis.”6 Squall feels that he has ultimately always been alone since then. In the date scene with Rinoa at Fisherman’s Horizon, he confirms that part of why he self-isolates is because he is scared of getting close to people and losing them.
Squall does have moments where he shows leadership ability and understanding. One example of this is during the Edea assassination mission. Irvine chokes about assassinating the Sorceress, and Squall realizes that he has to help Irvine. He takes the pressure off of Irvine by reframing the shot, and this allows Irvine to make his shot. If it had not been blocked, he would’ve hit his target and succeeded through Squall’s encouragement. One of his strongest moments of leadership is during the Garden Battle. While he is clearly uncomfortable with it, Squall offers encouragement and praise as the commander of Balamb Garden to the teenagers and children who are giving it their all to protect their home. This shows some level of caring for the people he is in command of, and he wants them to succeed even if it feels hopeless.
He also shows that he is starting to care toward others. For example, after the Missile Base infiltration and the fight with BGH251F2, Selphie and her team crawl out of the shell of the vehicle. Squall has two responses–one which is not verbalized–but they’re both important regardless.
Little by little, he is beginning to care more about those around him, and he is happy when they are okay. This is quite different than the cold Squall that says to talk to a wall.
The beginning of Disc 3 is where we really see Squall’s walls breaking down. Rinoa is unconscious, and he has no idea what happened to her. While he is receiving a debriefing from Edea on Ultimecia’s goals, Squall is having his own internal struggle. We see the briefing and his thoughts occurring at the exact same time, showing that his mind is elsewhere despite the fact that he is learning from Edea what the goals of the big bad are. This is the first indication we really have that Squall is starting to feel something deeper for Rinoa. He even states, “You were looking at me…you smiled when our eyes met. It made me feel calm, tranquil.” This is also the first time we have Squall admitting to feeling comfort through a person since the loss of “Sis.”
Eventually, Squall takes it into his own hands to fix the situation. This leads to one of the most important moments of growth, reflection, and honesty. 7
It’s also important to remember that all of this is actually spoken. It’s not just his thoughts, which makes this feel even more open and vulnerable. He worries what others think, and he purposefully wanted people to think he was unfriendly to keep them away from him so they wouldn’t judge him on this part of himself he hates nor let him get attached. This scene is particularly heartbreaking when you realize that he tried to keep people at arms length to avoid being hurt, but when he did start caring for someone, she falls unconscious and inadvertently leaves him too. He’s allowed himself to care, and it also leads to determination to protect and save the one he cares most for even though he is hurting.
Fast forward a bit, and Squall goes to literal space to try and fix Rinoa’s situation. SPACE. If that isn’t love and dedication, I don’t know what is. Squall stops with the facade of being an uncaring guy during this section. He ends up jumping into space to retrieve Rinoa on what could have been a suicide mission except that they conveniently find the Ragnarok, a space ship that’s been lost in space for almost two decades. Rinoa almost gave up and died in space, but Squall was able to mentally and physically reach her. Squall momentarily gives up on worrying what people will think to find Rinoa, who he now knows he cares for. He leaves against the judgment of everyone and jumped into space with no plan other than the fact that he had to get to Rinoa.
When Squall and Rinoa first get on the Ragnarok, she asks him for a hug since they survived, and he is like, “yeah nah”–even after this huge heroic rescue, near death experience, and finally REALIZING how he feels. He is worried about their survival, but I also don’t think Squall is quite ready to fully accept that he is letting someone get close to him. He has priorities at the moment, and despite knowing that he has feelings for Rinoa, he closes in on himself again by deciding to focus solely on the mission at hand.
Then we get to this scene, and he is brushing her off in the same way he did when they first got onto the ship. She wants Squall to feel happiness and what it’s like to be close to another person. While he definitely isn’t as cold as he would’ve been two discs ago, he still isn’t fully opening up. 8 When she finally gets to her seat and starts to panic about returning back to Esthar, he willingly gets up and goes to hug and comfort her. This is definitely not a Squall that would have existed two discs ago. This is one that understands that the girl he has fallen for is hurting and scared, and while he isn’t the best with words, he offers her physical closeness–being held so that she feels safe because he knows that it matters to her from the conversation they just had. He is actively thinking of Rinoa and her feelings rather than keeping his walls up to protect only himself.
It’s super realistic in the sense that somebody like Squall is going to be hesitant to open up, and he clearly throughout the game is uncomfortable with social situations or getting close to someone. He doesn’t want to be the one that is vulnerable. That’s part of why during the scene when he is taking her across the bridge to Esthar, he was able talk about his feelings because he know she can’t respond at that moment, and he even jokes that that stays between them. It makes sense that he would refuse this kind of physicality at first. For him to actually realize and initiate it because of his feelings for her, it is not only really cute and romantic, but it’s a great sense of growth for him in that it’s a step toward him healing from his trauma. It also eventually leads to two of the most important moments that Squall initiates in terms of intimacy and openness.
These moments are, of course, the Sorceress Memorial hug scene and the flower field promise. He is once again the comforting force here, especially in the flower field. He promises that he will save her no matter what, as her knight. 9 He also admits that he would continue to go after her if she had stayed in the Sorceress Memorial. This is an honest Squall. This is an open Squall. This is a different Squall–one who has matured but also understands that it isn’t a bad thing to care about people and have them care about you. Squall stopped caring what people think. He stopping wondering if he will be judged. He stopped keeping people away from him. Instead, he listens to what he actually wants, which in this case is to protect and be with Rinoa, no matter who is against them.
But that doesn’t mean that that insecure Squall who is scared goes away entirely. This is most evident in the ending, when the crew is trying to return home after time compression. They’re supposed to think about their bonds and where they want to go to return back to their time. Squall struggles with this, and he ends up lost in time with some seriously weird imagery. 10 He does call out for Rinoa, but he is unable to locate her and passes out. Eventually, Rinoa finds our lost hero, and he appears to be dead. Through love, magic, or both, Rinoa is able to save him and bring him back to Edea’s flower field where they promised to meet.
This leads us into a lovely scene that truly represents the nature of Squall and his growth he went through in Final Fantasy VIII. There is a celebratory party inside Balamb Garden, where Irvine gets in trouble for hitting on girls when Selphie is filming/cutely wearing his hat, Zell chokes on hot dogs/bread next to the Pigtail Girl who has a giant crush on him. 11 Eventually, after Selphie’s camera dies, we are taken to the balcony of Balamb Garden. Rinoa points at a shooting star, reminiscent of their first meeting, and we see Squall. It makes perfect sense that an introvert who would definitely be uncomfortable with a lot of people or attention would be outside of the party. That part of him hasn’t changed, and I suspect it probably never would change. 12 He’ll probably never be the friendliest guy you ever meet. What has changed is something significant. Squall is now okay with being open with how he feels and letting others in. He openly cares, and he understands that he doesn’t have to be alone. We also see something from him that we haven’t seen the entire game.
Squall is finally able to smile.
Final Fantasy VIII is a story of growth–of a character who has gone through trauma, pain, and erected what initially feel like impenetrable walls complete with an unfriendly and cold facade. It’s also a story of those walls coming down, and that same character realizes what matters to him and that he doesn’t have to be alone for the rest of his life to protect himself like he thought. It’s one that has stuck with me since it came out. Squall is one of my favorite Final Fantasy protagonists due to the complexity of who he is and who he becomes. He’s a misunderstood and maligned character, and he is one that I wish more people could appreciate. Squall grows throughout the game, and he fights with himself to finally allow his own happiness. It led to that smile at the end of the game, and that alone makes it all worth it.
- Yuna would be up there too.
- who I am sure will never be relevant again plot-wise. No way. /s
- which, boy, this entire part is extremely uncomfortable as an adult. It’s a small age difference, but she is still his teacher!!
- It’s not…at first.
- This is not to say that he ever completely changes. I personally would not want him to. This is who he is. He just needs to be himself but also let others in. He doesn’t have to be alone.
- which, yeah, “Sis” is Ellone, if you don’t know the story.
- Even if she can’t actually hear him say it.
- Squall, buddy. Cute girl who you have feelings for is literally on your lap. C’mon. Get it together.
- Some of this is internal monologue, but not all of it.
- Legit, faceless Squall and distorted Rinoa are terrifying.
- I’m sure that’ll impress her, stunner.
- Which, again, I think is fine!