Laguna (Final Fantasy VIII party member)

Laguna is a temporarily playable character in Final Fantasy VIII, available during dream sequences. Battles fought as Laguna have unique battle music. He wields a machine gun in battle. As with other playable characters, a Triple Triad card based on Laguna can be obtained.
As the playable dreams are based upon past events, the game's present and past timelines can affect one another in subtle ways, and the things the player does as Laguna can affect things for when playing as Squall.
==Party member==
Playable only in dream sequences, Laguna always takes over Squall's junctions, magic stock, and level. Laguna's gil pool is independent from Squall's party's, but the only time the player can spend money as Laguna is at the shop in Winhill. The player does not accumulate steps when playing as Laguna, as thus they can't get SeeD salary during the dreams.
His intro pose is to aim his machine gun at his enemy before holding it upwards. His victory pose is to clench his fists, punch the air and raise his machine gun.
===Weapon===
The Machine Gun is Laguna's weapon of choice, and it cannot be upgraded. It has an attack power of 14 and hit rate of 103.
===Limit Break===
thumb|right|335 px
Desperado—Laguna's Limit Break—damages all enemies at once. He pulls out a hand-grenade, arms and tosses it into the middle of his opponents, then shoots a grappling hook above him and, as he swings from side to side on the grapple, fires rounds with his machine gun upon his enemies. Laguna jumps off the rope and lands with his back towards the foes as the grenade detonates, dealing damage to all enemies. It has a base attack power of 140 and is unaffected by Crisis Level.
===Stats===
==Triple Triad==
It is not possible to play Triple Triad as Laguna.
===Card===
Laguna is a Level 10 Player Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 100 Heroes with Quezacotl's Card Mod. The card is held by Ellone. There is only a brief window of opportunity to play her in the Lunar Base, and the region's ruleset is notoriously challenging. Laguna's card has one of the best Card Mod outcomes in the game.
===Challenger===
Laguna can be challenged for a game of Triple Triad in Esthar City Presidential Palace after an event with Rinoa at Edea's House on Disc 3, or on-board the Ragnarok after the events at the palace. He plays with Esthar's rules and has the rare Squall card.
==Quests==
===Timber Maniacs magazines===
The player can find out more about Laguna's exploits by collecting Timber Maniacs magazines and then checking Selphie's Sir Laguna's Page from the Balamb Garden Study Panel.
If the player reads the Timber Maniacs #1 from the Balamb Town hotel before the first Laguna dream, the scene in Julia's room will change and Laguna will fall asleep, because he's had too much wine. If the player reads the magazine from train station, or no magazine at all, he will only talk too much. Kiros's line about visiting the hotel pub will also be affected as he will give him grief about his lightweightedness beforehand. As a nod to this event, Selphie will note on her website that Laguna had written an article called "Alcohol and How it Affects You".
If the player reads Timber Maniacs #9 at the Artisan's house in Shumi Village before the Laguna dream in the Vienne Mountains, Ward will not appear alongside Laguna and Kiros. If the player doesn't read the magazine before the event, Ward will appear in the dream. Not having Ward may makes the battle against the Ruby Dragon easier, as it won't use its Breath, Firaga or Meteor attacks if there are only two active members in a party.
In the dream taking place in the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory, the worker Moomba will either fall off the walkway or not (even if the Moomba falls, it has a safety harness). Which version of the event happens depends on whether Squall lies about SeeD or stays silent when he's being interrogated in D-District Prison.
===Centra Excavation Site dream===
Some of the actions played out in the dream taking place on the Centra Excavation Site have a direct consequence when the present day party invades Lunatic Pandora later. For example, opening up the floor compartment to halt the Esthar soldiers allows the player to find a draw point, and old keys open up new rooms to explore later on. Some of the items made available by Laguna's tinkering in the past are very good, such as the rare Power Generator.
===Optional Laguna scene in Shumi Village===
The last event in Shumi Village yields no item rewards, but the player can witness an extra scene of the time Laguna spent in the village. The party must return to Shumi Village after they have the Ragnarok, after Laguna's statue has been completed, and enter the workshop and the scene will play automatically. If the player completed the Master Fisherman sidequest earlier, he will also make an appearance. This flashback will only occur if the player completes the Shumi Village quests before the Battle of the Gardens.
Category:Character gameplay in Final Fantasy VIII