Squall Leonhart - Final Fantasy
Squall Leonhart is the primary protagonist of the role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII, developed by Square and released on the Sony PlayStation in the year 1999. The game centers on Squall Leonhart and his team of mercenaries who are pitted against antagonist Ultimecia, an evil sorceress from the future hoping to compress time. Squall was designed by Tetsuya Nomura and created by Kazushige Nojima. Since his appearance in Final Fantasy VIII, Squall has inspired fan art, showed up in spinoff games, has promoted as merchandise and has been recreated as a number of different figures. He also made an appearance in the popular game Kingdom Hearts, where he was voiced by Hideo Ishikawa in Japanese and by David Boreanaz in English. Reception to the character was mixed, with some loving his development and personality while others disliking the character’s impersonal, antisocial behaviour.
Appearance and Personality
Squall Leonhart is a teenager with disheveled brown hair and blue eyes. He usually wears a black leather bomber jacket that has a fur trimmed collar over a white V neck shirt. He has black pants and three red belts with black boots and gloves. He wears a lot of jewelry, possessing a silver stud in his left ear and wears a silver chain necklace with a Griever pendant and a matching ring. In flashbacks he appears wearing an orange striped shirt, jeans, and grey shoes. He is also sometimes seen wearing his attire in SeeD uniform. Squall wields an unusual iconic choice of armament called the gunblade, of which he owns a customized revolver version with Griever engraved on both sides.
Squall’s personality in the story starts introverted and cold. He is prone to pushing away those who would be otherwise considered as his friends. His catchphrase in the English version is "whatever," which he usually uses when he wants a current conversation topic to be dropped and distance himself. This is another trait of his stand-offish stance and personality. Despite this introverted personality and withdrawn, Squall is assertive when it comes to fulfilling his duty. His pragmatism and sense of responsibility are reasons why the people around him trust and follow him. Even though he resents the position of being a leader he eventually is appointed Commander of Balamb Garden
Creation
Squall Leonhart was the first character designed for Final Fantasy VIII and was inspired by the actor River Phoenix, an American actor, musician, and animal activist. Many people were puzzled as to why he was inspired by this actor, according to Nomura, who stated that "nobody understood it." He originally had a more feminine appearance but Kitase thought it would be better for him to have more masculine features. A scar was added across his eyebrows for this reason, and it was left up to the writer to explain its origin. The logo of the game, Squall embracing Rinoa, was designed to catch the attention of an audience that is not familiar with Final Fantasy.
Backstory
Through flashbacks presented in the game, the player learns that Squall was raised in an orphanage along with all of the other playable characters besides Rinoa. Edea raised the orphans, and, though Squall remembers only a little of his past he sets out to be a self dependent, introverted person and live an emotionally detached life. It is later made clear that these personality traits come from his separation with his older sister early on in life.
At the outset of Final Fantasy VIII, Squall is known as a lone wolf because he never displays his emotions, and has a blaze, uninterested attitude with his peers and associates. His teachers and higher ups consider him a hassle to deal with but they appreciate and acknowledge his skills and talents. He takes on an important role when, about halfway through the game he is appointed to the leader of the academy by Cid, headmaster of Balamb Garden. Initially he is reluctant about being a leader because of his isolated, lone wolf personality, but he eventually comes out of his shell to accept friendship and love, and embraces his role as a leader when he fights Ultimecia, the main antagonist of the game. He has a romance with Rinoa Heatilly, who spends a lot of energy trying to court him. Squall has a rivalry with Seifer Almasy. The two often quarrel and are enemies throughout the game. With Ultemecia defeated, Squall travels back to the orphanage and meets a younger Edea. Squall then plants the ideas for Garden and SeeD into her brain, making an origin paradox.
Reception
Squall had a mixed reception among players and critics. His impersonal, cold character made him difficult to relate to for some people. Others admired the development of his personality as the game progressed. Gamesradar selected him as the fifth best Final Fantasy character ever, citing his evolving personality as evidence. Gamezone rated him as the 4th best character of the franchise, but noted that fans either loved or despised him.