Quote Originally Posted by Roogle View Post
Nearly all characters in Final Fantasy VIII act as secondary characters in the narrative due to the commanding presence of Squall, Rinoa, and Ultimecia in the story.

Ellone, too, acts as more of a plot device than a character, unfortunately.
Not really. I get that Squall (Main Character) and Rinoa (Interest) are featured the most because it is a love story so obviously those two types of characters are the most important. Ultimecia is a Villain, so obviously she's important to the plot too, seeing as the Villain is "the main obstacle for the Main Character to overcome" - Seifer (who you haven't mentioned) is probably a step or two below Ultimecia in terms of important character types, because, although he's not a villain hearsay, he is an enemy of the Main Character.

This game is basically FFVII done in a different angle. In VII every character, including the two extras had their own storyline, and background, and all of which can be resolved (and in many cases, the game actually tells you to resolve it - take Barret for example; even though he remains your character his storyline ends when Coral is saved, because that's his personal storyline closed.) In FFVIII the other characters have their pasts, and their history, but unlike VII the game doesn't force you to do it, so you won't always notice it (you can learn things about characters by finding out what places know them, and talking to people - for instance, most people in Balamb have met Zell, and most people in Trabia know Seplphie, so you get pieces of their background from them.) It's not a bad way to develop characters, it's just an alternative.

I suppose Ellone could be seen as a plot device, but she is an important one, she helps us understand Squall better, even though I pretty much got him anyway, because I was going through a Squall-ish phase at the time (even though what was happening to me wasn't as bad as what was happening to Squall, I had lost many friends but Squall had of course lost his family as well. However, I understood Squall's "If everyone just leaves you, why should I even care" type attitude because I felt the same way, but at the same time the game helped me realize how much I actually had, like I said my problems paled into comparison with his.) I do think Ellone makes it as an actual character though, because I get her as an actual person. Most of the characters backgrounds are just optional, you look for them if you want to.
But, hey! If that's the price I have to pay to see my two favorite FF characters (Squall and Rinoa) get center spotlight, then I have to live with it .