Laguna Loire

Laguna Loire (ラグナ・レウァール, Raguna Rewāru) is a main character of the Square video game Final Fantasy VIII. He is the playable protagonist of certain dream/flashback sequences in the game. 
==Background==
Celebrated as the most developed character in all of Final Fantasy VIII, Laguna here is the dopey, scatterbrained, warm-hearted idiot that everyone wants for a best friend.
Laguna's story is packed with laughter, friendship, and heartbreaking sadness, which is symbolic of his happy go lucky attitude to life. If you don't roll with the punches, they'll start to hurt.
Despite fighting an army to save his 'daughter' Ellone, not knowing his son Squall for seventeen years, and losing his wife Raine to illness, Laguna continued struggling to make the world a better place, somehow rising to the rank of president after overthrowing the sorceress Adel.
He might lack a few brain cells, and often makes rash decisions that backfire more often than help, but few can deny that Laguna's heart is definitely in the right place. And according to him, a Lion Heart is all that matters.
==Fandom==
===Reception and popularity===
Many find Laguna's friendly, goofy personality to be endearing, some going so far as to prefer him as a protagonist to the more standoffish, angsty Squall.
In a 2012 poll of the official Final Fantasy forums, Laguna was voted the fifteenth most popular male character in the entire Final Fantasy franchise, tying with Balthier.Van Duine, Erren. published to Nova Crystallis on 17 December 2012. In a 2020 NHK poll, Laguna was voted the 26th most popular character in the entire Final Fantasy franchise, out of 200 major and minor characters., NHK, Q1 2020. (Accessed October 2020.)TheMomAbides. I translated the NHK Final Fantasy poll character rankings., posted to r/FinalFantasy in Q1 2020. (Accessed October 2020.) 
===Fanon and Tropes=== 
Laguna is often a side character in fan works.
In canon, it is never explicitly explained why Laguna never returned to Windhill before Raine's death or the years following, nor why he did not retrieve Ellone and Squall from the orphanage. According to common fanon, Laguna was not aware of Raine's pregnancy; was unable to use long-distance communication due to radio-jamming; could not return to Windhill due to wartime travel restrictions and his duties as President; and either was kept in the dark as to Ellone's whereabouts for security reasons, or consented to her confinement aboard the White SeeD ship for her safety. A smaller portion of fans speculate that Laguna knowingly and deliberately abandoned his children, unwilling to accept the responsibilities of fatherhood on top of the stresses of his wife's death and his new role as president. 
While it is heavily implied that Laguna learned of his relation to Squall at some point during the events of the game, the two are not shown openly acknowledging each other as father and son in canon. Many fan works set post-canon focus on this unexplored father-son relationship, as the two characters react to this newfound development and forge a bond. Laguna is commonly depicted as a very enthusiastic, affectionate, and doting parent, often to the embarrassment of his far more reserved son.
===Shipping===
Being a canon pairing, Laguna is commonly shipped with his wife Raine. As far as het pairings go, this is the only common one. Slash pairings, however, can pair Laguna with Kiros and/or Ward, or even his son Squall. While the latter is unconventional, being incestuous, it still exists as a ship.
====Notable ships====
*Laguna Loire & Squall Leonhart
==Fan works==
===Fan fiction===
*"Meow Mix"Archived Version by astrangerenters
===Fan art===
===Cosplay===
===Meta===
==External links==
===Fan communities and archives===
*FanFiction.Net (FFN): Final Fantasy VIII stories and crossovers featuring Laguna L.
*DeviantArt (DA): Laguna-FC
*Archive of Our Own (AO3): Laguna Loire works
*Tumblr: Laguna Loire tag
*Pixiv: #ラグナ・レウァール
===Fan pages and tribute sites===
*DraftedArchived Version by Larissa
*VeracityArchived Version by Alex
===Resources===
*Wikipedia
==References==
Category: Final Fantasy VIII Characters