Rinoa: Great Heroine, or annoying, stupid damsel?

[Red Mage Coffman]

Hey, my opinion differs from yours, I love Lightning and hate Rinoa!

Many people think this way though, it's not uncommon.

Yeah she is a damsel, I know and yeah.. She is the heroine, though not great by any means. Annoying waste of space? Well.. To tell the truth, yes. SHE IS SUCH A TASTELESS, POOR WRITTEN, BLAND PIECE OF- Pie.. Yes.. A piece of pie.. And pies don't make good characters.

I very disagree with this because it was Rinoa that helped Squall overcome his trust issues and Hedgehog Dilemma; She was kind, supportive and always welcome to be the sunshine within the group of friends. Her emotional intelligence is pretty high. She sees through Squall's wall pretty fast and because of that she's able to help him understand and overcome his issues and problems with life.

It wasn't even any of these things that bothered me greatly.. What got to me the most, and was the main problem of the game for me, was the orrid writing for her character and how downright STUPID she is.

So her being able to work out Squall's personal wall was unintelligent of her ? Her helping Squall makes her dumb and her wanting to fight despite being scared and afraid makes her dumb ? I think that it makes her rather brave and tougher than most people think; people seem to forget that she wasn't a SeeD or army trained like the rest of the teens.

Not to mention the disc launcher.. I mean.. Could we not have given her a gun? Or a staff? Hell, anything would have worked besides the stupid disc launcher. Hope's boomerang is more forgiving then that!

You are taking a game called Final FANTASY too seriously. Plus it was the Rocket version of a Australasian Boomerang.

AND RINOA LAUNCHES ANGELO AT ENEMIES, LETS NOT FORGET SHE IS A CLEAR ADVOCATE OF ANIMAL ABUSE.

Again you are taking a game called Final FANTASY too seriously. Plus Shadow from Final Fantasy VI uses his Dog for battles as well.

OBJECTION! Sort of.

I guess I'll start with the things I can counter best! Starting with the Disc Launcher or Australasian Boomerang or whatever it is. One, I flat out don't like it and it is one of the worst designs in this whole series. Who goes into battle with one of those? I mean.. Come on. I'm not even poking at Rinoa for that, that issue belongs to whoever decided to stick one of those on her and not something more practical and realistic. And yeah, I know. There are dumb weapons in the series, but that doesn't mean that I can't make fun of them with all I've got. Oh, and come on man! Shadow uses a dog, I know, but he doesn't launch it at the enemies with a Disc Launcher! I'd be willing to bet Shadow's dog is more trained than Angelo as well. One more important point, I know that it's Final Fantasy, but I think everyone can agree that VIII took a far more realistic turn than the rest of the series (At least during the first disc, anyways..), so expect me to look for realistic things! If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way about a dozen other weapons, but at least they're cool to an extent. Key word. Extent. Rinoa and her Dog Launcher just.. I mean.. Need I say more? Onward!

Next point to make is that I blame the writers for how terribly bad Rinoa is. Really, some of the dumbest, most childish moments occurred with her. And ya know, she was probably meant to be written that way. And that is the exact problem. She was written to be stupid and childish. I realize she was sheltered her whole life, I realize she doesn't have military training or anything, and that does not bother me at all. Plenty of characters are like that. Hope, Tidus, etc, I understand it. But when these guys have flat out terrible writing and flat out stupid moments in the game that just blow common sense out of the water? It isn't the most appealing thing. My biggest example is when she tried to take down the sorcerer herself. That one man solo mission she pulls off? Yeah, STUPID. Its like how Irvine didn't shoot at all or mention about how everyone grew up together until it was convenient for the plot. I mean. It isn't necessarily the characters fault as much as it is the writers, but still. Writers make characters/story and the characters leave impacts on me. Rinoa left me feeling like I was baby sitting a childish nincompoop. Makes me feel glad that Quistis told her off. Amen Quistis, respect for that.

Rinoa was just slapped in to fall in love with Squall and to further carry on the theme of Fate and Destiny and all that stuff. I mean.. Quistis attempts knowing Squall, Zell attempts it, Selphie, in a way, everyone attempts it. Rinoa succeeds for the sole reason of "I'M THE LOVE INTEREST" and when that happened, Squall warmed up to everyone and blah, blah. What Squall and Rinoa had? That wasn't love. It wasn't love at all, there was little to NO developing of this. It just sort of developed out of thin air after Disc 2. Which is why I am a proud supporter of the Squall is Dead theory, even if it IS just a theory, its much better than the actual game. I prefer to call the whole romance between the two.. "Plot Device." Plot Device ALL the way.

In the end, I blame the writers for making me hate this annoying waste of space.