Squall

[m4tt]

Where's the "He sucks" option? I agree with Mr Mimic.

[PhoenixAsh]

I agree with SeedRankLou. Squall was well thought out, and his actions could be justifed by his story. Square may have done well to have given the other characters a backstory aswell, but that's not the point.

[Flying Mullet]

I think that we're all forgetting the point here:

SQUALL SUCKS

[Kirobaito]

I think that we're all forgetting the point here:

SQUALL SUCKS

[TheAbominatrix]

I really dont agree with you there, Lou. It was a poor plot line and poor character development. He had no reason to change, and it was pathetic that he did so. Most especially since I found him to be a cool character that didnt have to play into all this nonsense that a lot of FF characters did. And then he's just like "What's that? Girl?" and he became obsessed and whiney. It was disgusting.

[Rusty]

Excuse me you also forgetting one major point...he's awesome i love him...

[TheAbominatrix]

Excuse me you also forgetting one major point...he's awesome i love him...

um... should that go in my 'reasons to hate' post?

[Peegee]

I didn't really buy his character change as well. If he was just guarding himself, it would still take a while for him to feel comfortable enough to be 'normal' or 'happy'. It just felt like he was dying to be a joyous person, and the entire time he was training at the Garden he had plenty of opportunities.

So I would have to say his attitude needs a fixing, but only because it changed. He was fine with his 'whatever'.

[aeris2001x2]

Squall didn't do a 180, Squall was always like the character that you see him become. Throughout the first half of the game, he is giving people a facade, due to several psychological issues that he hadn't worked through. When he is alone with an unconscious Rinoa (so basically alone, for the first time since the very beginning of the game), you see who he really is because there is no one for him to put his facade up for. So in that scene, he is speaking to Rinoa, but it's more an apostrophe than dialogue. Squall suffers from basical childhood trauma that he didn't correctly process which gives him an unconcious anti-socialness that he puts on without even thinking about it (which I saw through after the first 30 minutes of gameplay). The scene where he "does a 180" is perfectly timed, and perfectly performed. And toward the end of the game, you see him struggle with this want to put up his facade and his eventual comfortness with his companions, not to mention his love for Rinoa. All in all, I'd say Squall is one of the top three most thought out and well developed characters that Square has ever created. Not to mention they made him rather attractive.

So what's wrong with Squall? He was an introverted child who, through several traumatic childhood experiences, grew up to be an anti-social teenager who would rather vomit than let people know him.

sos the abmonimatrix but this makes perfect sense. he was always a nice guy, just very forked up. its only when rinoa hits her coma does he realise he actually gives a poop about her which leads on to other ppl and he allows himself to escape his box. i think that was a major triumuph.

it was not sudden! from first meeting rinoa he started to change. he got more and more talkative, less annoying and surly etc and cuminated in rinoas coma.

i personally believe he one of the best developed characters cause he is very introspective, more then any other ff protaginist. the reason i think the other ff8 characters suffer is cause they spend so much on squall , the others r an after thought!

ff6 had the oppisite scenario, ALMOST EVERYONE, was well developed, but none to a cosmic standard.

i mean only cloud compares to squall in protaginist ff development (aint played ff4 so dont know cecil yet). ff9 and ffx are better gamedx imho, but zidane and tidus dont hold a candle to squall!

believe me, without squall ff8 would have been nothing. ff8 is only 5th fav ff, but a lead character of sheer quality. i can see others opinions but imho he rocks.

[TheAbominatrix]

sos the abmonimatrix but this makes perfect sense. he was always a nice guy, just very forked up. its only when rinoa hits her coma does he realise he actually gives a poop about her which leads on to other ppl and he allows himself to escape his box. i think that was a major triumuph.

If he had REASON. He had no reason to change. He had always had people being nice to him, and he had had so much time to come out of his shell. It was stupid and trite and sudden. With no real reason.

it was not sudden! from first meeting rinoa he started to change. he got more and more talkative, less annoying and surly etc and cuminated in rinoas coma.

He started changing the second he met Rinoa? Why? Because he danced with some hot chick he decided to be a more open person? That makes it worse. Him freaking out when Rinoa slipped into a coma was even stupider. He suddenly ceased to be able to function like a normal human being and became a total moron. It was ridiculous.

i personally believe he one of the best developed characters cause he is very introspective, more then any other ff protaginist. the reason i think the other ff8 characters suffer is cause they spend so much on squall , the others r an after thought!

ff6 had the oppisite scenario, ALMOST EVERYONE, was well developed, but none to a cosmic standard.

i mean only cloud compares to squall in protaginist ff development (aint played ff4 so dont know cecil yet). ff9 and ffx are better gamedx imho, but zidane and tidus dont hold a candle to squall!

believe me, without squall ff8 would have been nothing. ff8 is only 5th fav ff, but a lead character of sheer quality.

In a game with such a little party, no other characters should be an 'after thought'. That's another reason this game was horrid. There should be no 'cosmic standard' of development. Character development is pointless when it's forced and sped through. People dont do 180s like that (most particulary for no reason) and it makes it very bad.

FFVIII WAS nothing. It's a horrific game. The lead character makes it moreso.

[Del Murder]

He started changing the second he met Rinoa? Why? Because he danced with some hot chick he decided to be a more open person?

You underestimate the powers of cute girls on lonely guys.

[DocFrance]

You underestimate the powers of cute girls on lonely guys.

Squall wasn't lonely, he just pushed everyone away from him. So you'd expect him to push a girl away, no matter how cute.

And it didn't help that Rinoa immediately started trying to jump his bones the moment she heard the bad news about Seifer.

[TheAbominatrix]

Well Squall was mighty attractive in his little digital world. I'm sure Rinoa was not the first gal to hit on him, even Quistis wanted him and she knew fully how anti-social he was.

Rinoa's a whole nother ballgame, but she can be summed up thusly "My boyfriend is dead? I am so sad." two minutes later "Squall, I love you!"

[Rusty]

Weren't Seifer and Rinoa kinda an on and off couple? And it wasnt a minute later :P Would could right a heap of what ifs..but in the end Squall and Rinoa got together...no matter what Seifer and Rinoa did...thats FF8 for ya so ya gotta live with it

And they might of not even been a couple at the time..just really like each other...ya know?

Gosh I sweat I am sounding more like ragin (dont know how to spell his name) everyday

EDIT: Use the edit button to add more to your post next time. -Murder

[PhoenixAsh]

TheAbominatrix:

If he had REASON. He had no reason to change. He had always had people being nice to him, and he had had so much time to come out of his shell. It was stupid and trite and sudden. With no real reason.

Not really, he had minimal contact with people through his own choice. The only people he spent time with to any extent were Seifer and Quistis. He didn't hide his emotions about Seifer, and Quistis was immature and pushy.
He gets forced during the game to interact with other people because he's finished school, most people change fairly dramatically around this time from my knowledge.

He started changing the second he met Rinoa? Why? Because he danced with some hot chick he decided to be a more open person? That makes it worse. Him freaking out when Rinoa slipped into a coma was even stupider. He suddenly ceased to be able to function like a normal human being and became a total moron. It was ridiculous.

Hardly, he was thrown into a fight to save the world. He'd always been able to shut off from the world and be spoon fed, now he'd been forced to spend time with people and care about them. He let Ellone go when he was a child and had decided not to care about anyone so not to get hurt, now he didn't have a choice and refused to lose someone a second time.
As for making stupid decisions, well given it was his first love this is hardly a surprise.

In a game with such a little party, no other characters should be an 'after thought'. That's another reason this game was horrid. There should be no 'cosmic standard' of development. Character development is pointless when it's forced and sped through. People dont do 180s like that (most particulary for no reason) and it makes it very bad.

The other characters were poorly developed yes, and Squall's development was predictable, but it was definately not for no reason. As for people not changing, well I don't think that's true at all. Even if it were, how many people do you know that went through what Squall did?