Squall Leonhart Squall Leonhart is the main protagonist of " Final Fantasy VIII " . A young and aloof SeeD mercenary , others view him as cold and focused until he begins to question the way he has chosen to live his life . Squall ' s weapon , the gunblade , is one of the iconic weapons of the " Final Fantasy " series . Squall is later given the title Commander . Squall idolizes the mythical winged lion Griever , holding it as an ideal of courage and strength , traits he wishes to possess himself . The lion has come to be his symbol , the same way Rinoa is associated with angel wings . Profile . Appearance . A teenager with unruly brown hair and light blue eyes , Squall most often wears a black leather bomber jacket with a fur trim collar and a v - neck white shirt , black pants with three interconnecting red belts , and black boots and gloves . He has a silver stud in his left ear , and wears a silver chain necklace with a Griever pendant and a matching ring . The only times he isn ' t wearing this particular outfit is when he ' s wearing his SeeD uniform or SeeD cadet uniform , which he only does if required to , and in flashbacks to his childhood days where he wears an orange shirt with several horizontal stripes and dark pants . Squall ' s gunblade of choice is the Revolver , of which he owns a customized version with Griever engraved on both sides . In a duel with his rival , Seifer Almasy , both end up giving each other mirroring scars across the face . In " Dissidia Final Fantasy " Squall looks much as he did in " Final Fantasy VIII " , but is given additional fur ruffles on his jeans , a sash partially covering his right leg , and a lion ' s head belt buckle , as well as a new shirt with a plunging v - neck collar . Also , his jacket is now slightly more fitted . His Griever necklace has a different design in the ending FMV . Even though Squall ' s eyes are light blue in " Final Fantasy VIII " and " Dissidia Final Fantasy " , in a select few FMVs in " Final Fantasy VIII " Squall ' s eyes appear green , and both his Final Fantasy Mini Arts figure and " Dragon Quest & Itadaki Street " portable artwork have brown eyes . In " Kingdom Hearts " series , Squall changes his name to Leon and his age also changed from being a teenager to an adult as his unruly brown hair is longer . In the first " Kingdom Hearts " , he wears a black short sleeve leather jacket with a red Griever emblem in the sides of his sleeves . He gains a black side belt and wears a black magnum combat shoes . He also gains three red belts to his arms to match up his black gloves . This appearance becomes another one of his alternate costumes in " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . In " Kingdom Hearts II " , Squall regains his hairstyle from " Final Fantasy VIII " and wears a short - sleeve bomber jacket with a white fur trim collar . The color scheme of his outfit is navy blue instead of black , but retains the red griever emblems . In the game ' s North American manual , Squall ' s height was listed as 173 cm ( 5 ' 8 " ) . The " Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania " released seven years later , shows his height as 177 cm ( 5 ' 10 " ) . This difference is due to a misconception of height conversion . 177 cm , Squall ' s original height , is 69 . 68 inches . There are 12 inches in a foot and if 69 . 68 inches is divided by 12 , the result is 5 . 80 , leading to the false conclusion of 5 ' 8 , when in fact there are 12 inches in a foot , not 10 ( so . 8 of a foot would equate 9 . 68 inches ) . The same error occurs with the other characters ' proclaimed height as well . The game ' s official websites for the original and the Steam versions list Squall ' s height as 5 ' 9 " ( 175 cm ) . Personality . Squall starts an introverted , cold and taciturn teenager who pushes away those who would otherwise be considered his friends . Though withdrawn , Squall does not shirk from what he considers his duty . As much as he resents assuming leadership , he is the first to ensure that what is necessary gets done . Squall ' s pragmatism and sense of responsibility lead others to trust and follow him . Even though everyone agrees Squall can be difficult , staff and students alike admire him , and he is eventually appointed Commander of Balamb Garden much to his dismay . Squall becomes the " de facto " leader of the party , though at first he dislikes his comrades looking to him for orders and advice . During the game Squall narrates his thoughts and feelings in silent voice - overs , during which he reveals he acts the way he does for fear of getting close to people . Squall cannot remember his parents , and his sister was taken away when he was young , making him afraid of losing the feelings of comfort loved - ones provide . Squall does not believe in relying on others , as friends and family are inevitably lost and in the end he will be alone . Squall comes to rethink his choices in life when he falls in love with Rinoa Heartilly and comes to accept the support and friendship of his comrades , becoming more social . This more open version of Squall is more or less how he is characterized in the " Kingdom Hearts " series . He retains his value of independence , but learns that being the person who thinks differently from the crowd , and being completely alone , are not one and the same . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " mirrors Squall ' s evolution from a loner to the man he is in the ending of " Final Fantasy VIII " . Squall fights alone , but finds himself worrying about fellow heroes Bartz and Zidane , and accompanies them and helps them on their quests once he has completed his own . Squall ' s " catchphrase " in the English version is " whatever " , which he usually uses for want of the current topic to be dropped , often following with changing the subject . In the Japanese version , Squall ' s trademark phrase can be taken to be 「 … … 悪かったな 」 ( . . . sorry ) , as this is the phrase he repeats most often and is what Rinoa uses when mimicking his mannerisms while on the " Ragnarok " . It is more akin to colloquial use of " my bad " in English , and Squall says it more often than he says " whatever " in the English version . In both versions , Squall is supposed to be stand - offish , and the choice of " whatever " for the English version was likely done due to the cultural differences of what constitutes as being stand - offish , as Japanese Squall ' s use of " sorry " is less apologetic and more a social obligation . Story . Squall was born to Raine Loire in the village of Winhill , but she died shortly after his birth . Her husband , Laguna , never knew Raine was pregnant as he was in Esthar saving his and Raine ' s adopted daughter , Ellone , from Sorceress Adel ' s clutches . Both Squall and Ellone , whom Laguna had sent back to Winhill ahead of him , were sent to Edea ' s Orphanage on the Centra continent . Squall grew up in the orphanage and , despite the presence of other kids his age , Ellone was his closest friend whom he referred to as " Big Sis " although it is unknown whether he knew about their familial bond . Due to Ellone ' s unique ability to send a person ' s consciousness back in time she was in danger from those who would want to exploit her , and was moved away from the orphanage . No one told Squall why Ellone left and he assumed she had abandoned him . Squall developed a defense mechanism that eventually made him an emotionally detached , cynical and introverted boy who wished to go through life without dependencies . One day , during one of Squall ' s attempts to find Ellone , a dying sorceress and a teenage Squall appeared from the future . The sorceress passed on her sorceress power to Edea Kramer , the owner of the orphanage who was a sorceress herself , and passed away . The teenage Squall told Edea he was a SeeD from Garden and that the notions were originally her idea . Edea told the teenage Squall he is in the wrong time and he disappeared back into the time portal . Edea presumed that one day the orphan child Squall would grow up to become a SeeD and kill an evil sorceress . Thus Edea and her husband , Cid Kramer , started the SeeD organization as an anti - sorceress force . As Edea is a sorceress herself , Cid and Edea decided they can no longer stay together , and Edea went into hiding with the orphans who were not admitted to the Garden or adopted . As Squall himself theorizes , he was never adopted due to his already difficult personality , so sometime around the age of six Squall was admitted into the newly constructed Balamb Garden to train as a SeeD . He chose to train with the gunblade , a difficult weapon to master that takes years of training . He found a rival in Seifer who mirrored him in many ways , including the use of a gunblade and a remarkable aptitude for combat . Eleven years later Squall is known as a " lone wolf " among his peers . His superiors , such as his teacher Quistis Trepe , regard him as difficult to deal with , but respect his talents . The rivalry between him and Seifer has become common knowledge among the Balamb students . Due to Squall ' s use of Guardian Force s his memory has weakened , remembering only the feelings of abandonment he felt when Ellone left , but no longer remembering Ellone herself . In the morning of his field exam Squall duels Seifer and they scar each other ' s faces . While recuperating in the infirmary Ellone , who has come to the Garden from the White SeeD Ship to inform Cid of Edea ' s disappearance , happens upon him and recognizes him , but leaves before giving Squall the chance to get a closer look at her . Quistis accompanies him to the Fire Cavern where he obtains a new Guardian Force , Ifrit , and afterward they depart for the field exam in the Siege of Dollet . Squall is assigned to Seifer ' s squad who abandons the team and defies direct orders , leaving Squall to lead his team mates as they evacuate while escaping the X - ATM092 robot . After returning to the Garden Squall graduates along with Selphie , Zell and Nida . During the inauguration ball Squall meets Rinoa Heartilly who forces him to dance with her . Quistis orders Squall to accompany her to the training center where she reveals she has been dismissed from her position as instructor and seeks his emotional support , but Squall rebuffs her . They run into Ellone being attacked by a Granaldo who calls out to them . Squall and Quistis save her , but she is led away by two White SeeD s before she has a chance to explain herself , leaving Squall pondering how she knows him . Squall , Selphie and Zell are assigned a mission in Timber and during the train ride the trio falls asleep and dreams of the adventures of Laguna Loire and his friends from the past . Squall learns Rinoa is his first employer , and they are to assist the Forest Owls , freedom fighters devoted to freeing Timber from Galbadia n control . Squall and his friends ' first mission with the Forest Owls fails when , in an attempt to kidnap the Galbadian President Vinzer Deling , they end up capturing a body double posing as him instead . Displeased with the Owls ' level of professionalism Squall asks to see the terms of employment the SeeD group is under and discovers they are under the Timber Owls ' employment until Timber gains independence . Far from satisfied , the group nonetheless follows with the Forest Owls ' plans to intercept the president ' s Timber - based television broadcast . Rinoa lets slip her views of the way SeeD live , and Squall remarks about her group ' s incompetence in turn . After the two exchange words , Rinoa abandons the plan and leaves . Seifer , with Quistis in hot pursuit , takes the president hostage over the air . Under Quistis ' s request Squall , Zell and Selphie rush to the studio to find Seifer backing away with the president into another room . The president ' s new ally , whom he was meant to announce on live TV , a sorceress , spirits Seifer away . With the Forest Owls ' base destroyed , Squall and the others lie low for a while . Contemplating Seifer ' s fate leads Squall and Rinoa into argument over their views on life before they are given word it is clear to leave town . As returning to Balamb Garden is made impossible due to the train services having halted , they head to the nearest Garden , Galbadia Garden , taking Rinoa with them . On their way Rinoa and Squall argue over his cold attitude towards his team mates when he fails to support Zell who despairs over Balamb Garden ' s safety in lieu of Seifer ' s attack on the president . During the argument Squall passes out , experiencing another mysterious dream with Laguna . When he awakens , Rinoa apologizes . In Galbadia Garden the group learns of Seifer ' s supposed execution and Rinoa reveals he is her ex - boyfriend . The team receives new orders to assassinate the sorceress during her inauguration ceremony as the ambassador of Galbadia . A Galbadian student , Irvine Kinneas , is assigned to help them . With Squall as their leader the group makes their way to Deling City to meet with their contact , General Caraway , and run amid a father - daughter feud between Caraway and Rinoa . As the ceremony begins Sorceress Edea kills the president and claims Galbadia as her own and Squall discovers a renegade Seifer , rather than been executed , has become Edea ' s Sorceress Knight . After Squall and Irvine save Rinoa from a pair of Iguions , Irvine chokes when he is signaled to shoot Edea . Squall reasons with him , and Irvine fires , but she deflects the bullet . Squall faces Seifer and Edea head on but she pierces Squall ' s right shoulder with an ice javelin rendering him unconscious , and the teams are arrested . After another Laguna dream Squall wakes up to find himself imprisoned . He is tortured by Seifer in the D - District Prison and during the interrogation Squall learns Edea has ordered a missile strike against both Balamb and Trabia Garden s . The group escapes and splits in two : The team led by Squall heads to warn Balamb Garden of the missile strike , and the other , led by Selphie , aims to sabotage the Missile Base and stop the launch . As Squall arrives he finds the Garden in chaos as a faction with allegiance to Garden Master NORG , Balamb Garden ' s financier , has staged a revolt against Headmaster Cid . Squall searches for the headmaster to warn him of the missiles , finding him bunkered in his office . Cid reveals the Garden ' s past status as a mobile bunker of Centra make and , upon activating the ancient system , the Garden transforms into a mobile fortress and avoids destruction by moving away from the spot the missiles were programmed to target . Squall ' s team is called to the basement level where they meet NORG himself . NORG wants to give up those associated with the assassination attempt to Edea to quell her wrath and save the Garden , but Squall and his friends defeat him . During the confrontation , NORG reveals Sorceress Edea and Headmaster Cid are married . Squall talks with Cid who admits this is the truth , and explains the SeeD ' s true purpose was always to fight a sorceress . The seaborne Garden is left adrift in the ocean currents and is met by the White SeeD Ship whose crew requests they hand Ellone ( who is still hiding in the Garden ) over into their protection . Squall remembers a young Ellone from one of his dreams , and finds she is the same girl he met in the infirmary and whom he saved from a Granaldo . Ellone reveals she has been sending Squall ' s consciousness back in time to inhabit Laguna , although she doesn ' t tell him why . Ellone departs with the White SeeD , leaving a confused Squall behind . When the Garden crashes into Fishermans Horizon due to a broken steering device , Squall and his group enact a formal apology . Mayor Dobe , the leader of the pacifist city , asks them to leave as their presence can only cause destruction . Galbadia invades the town and Dobe heads off to discuss peacefully with the soldiers . They do not listen and Squall fights the soldiers to save Dobe ' s life , being reunited with the Missile Base team of which they had no word until then . In a rare display Squall is happy they are alive and well , something Rinoa does not fail to notice . Dobe grudgingly accepts the team ' s apology , and orders the city ' s technicians to restore Balamb Garden to full functionality . Cid presents his resignation appointing Squall as the Garden ' s commander , a decision Squall is not at all pleased with . To show him their support Selphie and Irvine organize a concert in Squall ' s honor , and Rinoa has an eventful chat with him , encouraging him to trust in them as they trust in him . After the Garden is fixed Squall sets course to the town of Balamb only to discover it is occupied by the G - Army . Squall and his team free the town after defeating Fujin and Raijin , Seifer ' s friends who now work for him . They head to the destroyed Trabia Garden , Selphie ' s home Garden , where Irvine tells everyone about their past together in the orphanage , which they had all forgotten ( except for Irvine , of course ) due to a side effect attributed to junctioning Guardian Forces : memory loss . Remembering their childhood , the team recognizes Sorceress Edea as their Matron , the woman who used to care for them in the orphanage , and decides to defeat her in spite of the past . The Garden embarks to the old orphanage in search for clues . Balamb Garden is intercepted by the similarly mobile Galbadia Garden and the Battle of the Gardens ensues . Squall leads Balamb ' s defense , at one point giving a heartfelt speech to Balamb ' s SeeDs and cadets , encouraging them to fight on . Squall and his team infiltrate Galbadia Garden and defeat Seifer and Edea , but Rinoa becomes comatose . It turns out Edea had been possessed by a sorceress from the future , Ultimecia , the whole time and did not act of her own free will . Ultimecia ' s goal is time compression to make herself a god - like being , but she needs to find Ellone to perform the spell and thus took over Edea to conquer Galbadia and use their manpower to find her . The SeeD ' s defeat over Edea snapped her out of the possession , and she divulges all she knows of Ultimecia to help them . Realizing he is in love with Rinoa , Squall searches for Ellone to have her send him back in time to prevent Rinoa becoming comatose . After learning from the White SeeD she has gone to Esthar , Squall decides to abandon the Garden and to take Rinoa to Esthar in secret . While crossing the Horizon Bridge Squall opens up to the unresponsive Rinoa on his deepest fears . When reaching the Seaside Station on the other side his party and Edea catch up with him , admonishing him for leaving them behind . The party makes its way into the mysterious nation of Esthar that has had no contact with the outside world for 17 years . After learning Ellone has gone to the Lunar Base Squall and Rinoa are sent to the Estharian space - station . Squall reunites with Ellone who is happy to learn he has recovered his childhood memories . He begs her to send him back in time so he can save Rinoa , but Ellone tells Squall she has learned it ' s impossible to change the past using her ability , as her numerous attempts with Squall and his friends resulted in naught but reliving the past . She still promises to try , but as Squall takes Ellone to the medical room Ultimecia possesses Rinoa and uses her to free Sorceress Adel from her space - bound tomb where she was kept to prevent her from passing on her sorceress power , and leaves Rinoa to die in space . The station is evacuated as the Lunar Cry begins and within the escape pod Squall asks Ellone to try again . Ellone sends Squall to Rinoa ' s consciousness where he tells her to activate the extra oxygen supply in her space suit . Ignoring everyone ' s warnings , Squall jumps into space to catch her . Squall and a cured Rinoa come across a derelict spaceship " Ragnarok " , which they use to return to the planet . Squall learns Rinoa has inherited Edea ' s sorceress power and become a sorceress , and the land base informs them Rinoa is to be seized upon returning to Esthar . Squall lets Esthar take Rinoa into custody , but after being talked into reason by his friends , he breaks into the Sorceress Memorial and frees her . The team heads back to Edea ' s Orphanage . Rinoa is pessimistic about the future , but Squall silently vows to be her knight even if all the world is her enemy . Squall and Rinoa promise to meet at the field behind the orphanage in case they should be parted . They are recalled to Esthar and find Laguna is Esthar ' s president and that Ellone has been taken captive inside the Estharian weapon Lunatic Pandora by the G - Army that now controls it . Laguna and the Estharian scientist Dr . Odine have concocted a plan to stop Ultimecia once and for all . Laguna follows Squall and his friends to the mission and within the " Ragnarok " Laguna ' s friends talk about Squall ' s parents , and Laguna , who has learned the whole story from Ellone — as the reason she had gone to Lunar Base was to meet with him — tells Squall they will have a lot to talk about later . They invade the Lunatic Pandora and save Ellone . After Fujin and Raijin unsuccessfully try to convince Seifer to stop serving Ultimecia , Squall and his friends fight through Seifer and shortly after , Adel , whose tomb had been swept up in the Lunar Cry and fallen to the Lunatic Pandora . With no other body to possess Ultimecia takes over Rinoa , which gives Ellone the opportunity to send Ultimecia ' s mind further back in time . Ultimecia begins the time compression allowing Squall and his friends to travel to the future and confront her . The final battle that traverses time and space , Ultimecia meets her demise . Time compression halts at Ultimecia ' s defeat and time begins to revert to its original form . A dying Ultimecia and Squall go back in time and appear at Edea ' s Orphanage where Squall meets Edea and implants the ideas of SeeD and Garden . After Ultimecia passes on her sorceress power to Edea , Squall falls back into the compressed time and tries to find his way back to the field where he and Rinoa promised to meet , but is trapped in a void . Rinoa uses her sorceress powers to find him and brings him back home . During a party at Balamb Garden to celebrate SeeD ' s victory over Ultimecia , Squall and Rinoa stay outside on a balcony overlooking the ocean . Under a shooting star Squall smiles at Rinoa and kisses her as the Garden flies under the moonlight . Gameplay . Squall is the main playable character and is mandatory in the party throughout most of the story . His weapons are gunblades , which in all forms have 255 % accuracy and can never miss . Using the trigger as the Gunblade hits an enemy can also add 50 % extra damage dealt . Squall ' s Limit Break , Renzokuken , deals damage based on if the player hits at the correct time to match a bar on - screen , slashing the enemy four to eight times before dealing a finishing blow . It is potentially the most powerful Limit Break in the game . Squall ' s ultimate weapon is the Lion Heart . As with other player characters , a Triple Triad card based on Squall can be obtained . Creation and development . Squall was the first character Tetsuya Nomura designed specifically for " Final Fantasy VIII " . Initially , Squall was given longer hair and a more effeminate appearance , but director Yoshinori Kitase felt this design did not work , asking Nomura to shorten his hair and make him more masculine . Aspects of Nomura ' s first design can be seen in Squall ' s " Kingdom Hearts " appearances . Nomura doesn ' t remember why he created the scar across Squall ' s face , saying it was just " a spur of the moment " . Like Cloud Strife ' s distinguishable hair , he wanted something to set Squall apart and make him recognizable . The scar was there before establishing the character ' s history , and Nomura left it to scenario writer Kazushige Nojima to work out how he obtained it , leading to the duel between Squall and Seifer in the game ' s intro . Squall ' s design was completed with a fur ruff along the collar of his jacket , included by Nomura to challenge the game ' s FMV designers . In an interview at the Square Media Tour in 2000 , Nomura admitted to basing a lot of Squall ' s appearance on the late actor . Gackt Camui has claimed in a television program that Squall was modeled after him , and referred to Squall as " Gackt # 2 . " During the period of 1998 Gackt was seen wearing clothes similar to what Squall wears in " Final Fantasy VIII " ; Gackt was first seen wearing this costume in the CD booklet that came with the Merveilles album , which was first released March 18 , 1998 . Gackt also wore this costume in Malice Mizer ' s " Illuminati " music video and during parts of Malice Mizer ' s " merveilles ~ Shuuen to Kisu ~ " 1998 live tour . The first images of Squall were released by Squaresoft in late ( roughly fourth quarter ) 1998 . No one from Square ' s " Final Fantasy VIII " development team has verified Gackt ' s claim , however , and because Squall ' s appearance was based on then - current teen pop - culture the similarities might be a coincidence . " Final Fantasy VIII " is unique in the sense the player is able to " hear " the main character ' s thoughts , displayed in transparent text boxes . This idea came about because the scenario writer Kazushige Nojima wanted to give players insight into what Squall is thinking ; a contrast with his handling of " Final Fantasy VII " , which encouraged the player to speculate . Squall ' s gunblade was also designed by Nomura who was into silver accessories at the time and wanted Squall to have a silver weapon . Nomura wanted some new way for the player to control the weapon in battle , and with both ideas combined , came up with the gunblade . Nomura says it has a rather odd appearance in retrospect . There is a dummied piece of dialogue in the scene where Squall and Rinoa are onboard " Ragnarok " where Rinoa tried to dissuade an assumed jealousy in Squall for her having dated Seifer in the past . When Squall did not catch on Rinoa commented that Squall does not care about other people ' s pasts . Voice . Squall was first voiced in " Kingdom Hearts " . In the Japanese version , he is voiced by . He shares his Japanese voice actor with Auron , Cait Sith , and Qator Bashtar . In the English release , he is voiced by . In the English version of " Kingdom Hearts II " , " Dissidia Final Fantasy " , and " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " , he is voiced by . Musical themes . Officially " Final Fantasy VIII " does not feature character themes the same way " Final Fantasy VI " and " Final Fantasy VII " did , and thus Squall has no official character theme . The musical theme " The Oath " is often associated with him , however , playing at various important stages of the game , such as when Squall addresses the students during the Battle of the Gardens , or during his rescue by the others in the D - District Prison . The boss battle theme , " Maybe I ' m a Lion , " has become associated with Squall based on the title . " Maybe I ' m a Lion " is played in the final battle ' s third phase , when Ultimecia and Griever merge . Other appearances . Squall has appeared in the following games throughout the " Final Fantasy " series : Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . Squall has made key guest appearances in the following non - Final Fantasy games : Other media . Games . A reference to Squall in " Final Fantasy IX " is made when Zidane utters , " No cloud , no squall shall hinder us " while he performs on stage in disguise before revealing his identity to Garnet . This is also a reference to the protagonist of " Final Fantasy VII " , Cloud Strife . In the fighting series , " , one of Hakumen ' s Distortion moves is named " Judgement : Squall " carried in the same manner as Squall ' s Limit Break , Blasting Zone , in the final blow . " has a challenge named " A Squall of Violence " attained by killing enemies using a bladed weapon . This is a reference to Squall and his gunblade . In " " , another game published by Square Enix , the in - game dictionary contains an entry for " squall " which reads : " A sudden torrential rain shower , accompanied by powerful winds , mainly occurring in tropical regions . Speaking of Squalls . . . Oh , never mind . " Additionally , is available as the 3P costume for Cliff Fittir . Fandom . A cosplaying pianist known as " Piano Squall " cosplays as Squall during his charity concerts . Etymology . This may point to the conflicting and turbulent emotions within the character . Coincidentally , the car he uses in pursuit of Sorceress Edea in Deling City is called " The Tempest " . Leonhart is a variation of the English surname " Lionheart " . The lion is a recurrent theme for his character . Squall regards lions as creatures of great strength and pride , and his personal favorite is the Griever , a Guardian Force engraved in his Revolver gunblade as well as his ring and necklace . The Japanese name for Leon from " Final Fantasy II " is Leonhart , the same as Squall ' s last name . Squall would in turn change his name to Leon after failing to save Hollow Bastion from the Heartless in the " Kingdom Hearts " series .