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Squall Isn't Emo! (And Other FF8 Characterization Issues)
Squaresoft created a game that presented so many often overlooked opportunities with Final Fantasy VIII. Major plot holes that beg to be filled aside, we have characters with just enough definition to be unique and more than enough room to be expanded on that are often lumped into horrifying generalizations of what fan fiction authors think they ought to be.
Let's take a look at them individually.
Squall is not emo, but he does have more than enough traumatic experience under his belt to be the way he is. Without assuming that Raine and Laguna are his parents and Ellone is his half sister, we have the solid fact that he was an orphan. That alone is enough to scar a child. Considering that the familial assumptions are correct, it gets even worse. Presume for a moment that Raine died in childbirth, leaving him motherless, and that Laguna left for any number of reasons, leaving him fatherless. The only family he had left was Ellone, who was later torn away from him while he was still at a fairly impressionable age. He has every right to have a sense of abandonment. It's logical for him to distance himself from people. In his teenage years, he was thrust into a position of power and leadership that he didn't want and wasn't ready for. It's understandable for him to be insecure and to have a lot on his mind. However, he is very strong willed and takes on the responsibility. He's far from the whiny, suicidal angst-bot that authors tend to portray him as.
Quistis is not a perfectionist, an obsessive scorned lover, or an "Ice Queen." She, too, was an orphan, but like the other characters, we aren't given much reason as to why. When she entered Garden, she was a bit of an over achiever. She was a SeeD by 15 and an Instructor by 17. No one is quite ready for what she undertook at these ages, and while it may be admirable, it's quite logical that she kind of cracked under pressure. She strives for a personal level of excellence, but she is far from perfect and shows a tendency to behave like many typical teenage girls. In the first bit of the game, she loses her composure as an Instructor by mocking Squall's behavior. When she finds that her license is being taken away, she makes a personal request under the guise of an order from a superior for Squall to listen to her problems. Obviously, she's like most humans who just need someone to talk to. She defies orders as a SeeD on a very important job to personally apologize to Rinoa, who she felt she mistreated. When she later confesses her past feelings for Squall, she is able to rationalize it with her sister-like mentality towards him. She is not the stoic and internally obsessive girl that authors make her out to be.
Selphie is not a hyperactive girl that needs to put down the coffee. She is a naturally perky girl who shows a lot of enthusiasm for the tasks she is presented. While she's mission oriented most of the time, traits of a teenage girl show through for her very strongly. She hasn't quite reached the level of maturity as some of the other characters, but in the same breath, her training at Trabia was pretty low key compared to what the others have gone through at Balamb. Contrary to popular fandom belief, she does not snort pixie sticks.
Zell is not the hyperactive boy who needs to lay off the energy drinks. Like Selphie, he too tends to be energetic and is very enthusiastic about the jobs he is given. His personality is boisterous and over the top, much like a typical teenage boy. It's understandable why he doesn't share the same bleak outlook on things like some of the characters do - he was the only child from the orphanage who was adopted, and also the only known character to commute from the town of Balamb to the Garden. He's passionate and tends to make rash decisions, but really, fandom, he does have emotions, too.
Rinoa is not a clingy, spoiled brat who jumps to conclusions and makes decisions on a whim. Her mother died when she was young, leaving her with her father and presumably not much else in the way of a parental figure. Her father, General Caraway, held a position of power in the Galbadian army, and it can be inferred that she spent much of her life sheltered in their mansion. As her way of declaring her independence, she leaves and joins a resistance faction in the town of Timber, which has long been occupied by Galbadian forces. When you encounter her in the game, it's obvious she has quite a passion for what she's doing, no matter how small it may be. However, I find it hard to believe she's always been as emotionally invested in her faction. It may have developed over time, but I believe it was the only way she could rebel against her father and establish that she is capable of making her own decisions. When she teams up with Squall, she takes up a common female mentality of, "I can fix him!" and "I just want to fit in." She tries her hardest to stay on par with those who've had far more tactical and combat training than she has, and she does spend most of the game trying to get Squall to be open and to trust the people he's working with. Later she does genuinely fall for him, but she is far from obsessive.
Irvine is not a complete womanizing pervert or a coward. He does have quite the interest in the girl types, but then again, what adolescent male doesn't? Eventually, his emotions are focused on Selphie. He is the only one who really remembers being in the orphanage, and he remembers having very fond feelings for her. He also remembers Matron before she became the Sorceress Edea, and still carries an attachment to the closest thing he ever had to a mother, and really, who wants to shoot their mom? Being a human with feelings and a teenage boy with hormones does not make him a chicken or a rapist.
Seifer is not a sadistic bastard with no feelings. He was a misguided youth who never quite had the support he really needed. He made up for this like some boys do by putting up an egotistical front and an "I don't need anyone" attitude. A part of him was probably still a little boy who just needed a hug, but he took the next best thing as a brainwashed servant of a Sorceress. He can't really be blamed for the things he did, especially not since he was more or less a puppet for someone much stronger than he was. While he may have a desire to be different, his pride will always stand in the way of him being the fan fiction portrayed boy with a broken ego and complete willingness to return to Garden under all of their conditions.
Instead of taking their time to get to know these characters and look at what makes them who they are, authors are slapping stereotypes on them left and right. They have so much opportunity to add depth to these characters and give them some incredible stories, but instead the choose to overlook it all in favor of convenient cliches to make mediocre stories.
Please, fandom, do some research.
(I know this community hasn't seen some action in over a year, but it's such a neat idea and I'd like to see it come back! Also, I apologize for any run on sentences or other such mistakes. I'm running on no sleep, nicotine, and tons of caffeine.)
Squaresoft created a game that presented so many often overlooked opportunities with Final Fantasy VIII. Major plot holes that beg to be filled aside, we have characters with just enough definition to be unique and more than enough room to be expanded on that are often lumped into horrifying generalizations of what fan fiction authors think they ought to be.
Let's take a look at them individually.
Squall is not emo, but he does have more than enough traumatic experience under his belt to be the way he is. Without assuming that Raine and Laguna are his parents and Ellone is his half sister, we have the solid fact that he was an orphan. That alone is enough to scar a child. Considering that the familial assumptions are correct, it gets even worse. Presume for a moment that Raine died in childbirth, leaving him motherless, and that Laguna left for any number of reasons, leaving him fatherless. The only family he had left was Ellone, who was later torn away from him while he was still at a fairly impressionable age. He has every right to have a sense of abandonment. It's logical for him to distance himself from people. In his teenage years, he was thrust into a position of power and leadership that he didn't want and wasn't ready for. It's understandable for him to be insecure and to have a lot on his mind. However, he is very strong willed and takes on the responsibility. He's far from the whiny, suicidal angst-bot that authors tend to portray him as.
Quistis is not a perfectionist, an obsessive scorned lover, or an "Ice Queen." She, too, was an orphan, but like the other characters, we aren't given much reason as to why. When she entered Garden, she was a bit of an over achiever. She was a SeeD by 15 and an Instructor by 17. No one is quite ready for what she undertook at these ages, and while it may be admirable, it's quite logical that she kind of cracked under pressure. She strives for a personal level of excellence, but she is far from perfect and shows a tendency to behave like many typical teenage girls. In the first bit of the game, she loses her composure as an Instructor by mocking Squall's behavior. When she finds that her license is being taken away, she makes a personal request under the guise of an order from a superior for Squall to listen to her problems. Obviously, she's like most humans who just need someone to talk to. She defies orders as a SeeD on a very important job to personally apologize to Rinoa, who she felt she mistreated. When she later confesses her past feelings for Squall, she is able to rationalize it with her sister-like mentality towards him. She is not the stoic and internally obsessive girl that authors make her out to be.
Selphie is not a hyperactive girl that needs to put down the coffee. She is a naturally perky girl who shows a lot of enthusiasm for the tasks she is presented. While she's mission oriented most of the time, traits of a teenage girl show through for her very strongly. She hasn't quite reached the level of maturity as some of the other characters, but in the same breath, her training at Trabia was pretty low key compared to what the others have gone through at Balamb. Contrary to popular fandom belief, she does not snort pixie sticks.
Zell is not the hyperactive boy who needs to lay off the energy drinks. Like Selphie, he too tends to be energetic and is very enthusiastic about the jobs he is given. His personality is boisterous and over the top, much like a typical teenage boy. It's understandable why he doesn't share the same bleak outlook on things like some of the characters do - he was the only child from the orphanage who was adopted, and also the only known character to commute from the town of Balamb to the Garden. He's passionate and tends to make rash decisions, but really, fandom, he does have emotions, too.
Rinoa is not a clingy, spoiled brat who jumps to conclusions and makes decisions on a whim. Her mother died when she was young, leaving her with her father and presumably not much else in the way of a parental figure. Her father, General Caraway, held a position of power in the Galbadian army, and it can be inferred that she spent much of her life sheltered in their mansion. As her way of declaring her independence, she leaves and joins a resistance faction in the town of Timber, which has long been occupied by Galbadian forces. When you encounter her in the game, it's obvious she has quite a passion for what she's doing, no matter how small it may be. However, I find it hard to believe she's always been as emotionally invested in her faction. It may have developed over time, but I believe it was the only way she could rebel against her father and establish that she is capable of making her own decisions. When she teams up with Squall, she takes up a common female mentality of, "I can fix him!" and "I just want to fit in." She tries her hardest to stay on par with those who've had far more tactical and combat training than she has, and she does spend most of the game trying to get Squall to be open and to trust the people he's working with. Later she does genuinely fall for him, but she is far from obsessive.
Irvine is not a complete womanizing pervert or a coward. He does have quite the interest in the girl types, but then again, what adolescent male doesn't? Eventually, his emotions are focused on Selphie. He is the only one who really remembers being in the orphanage, and he remembers having very fond feelings for her. He also remembers Matron before she became the Sorceress Edea, and still carries an attachment to the closest thing he ever had to a mother, and really, who wants to shoot their mom? Being a human with feelings and a teenage boy with hormones does not make him a chicken or a rapist.
Seifer is not a sadistic bastard with no feelings. He was a misguided youth who never quite had the support he really needed. He made up for this like some boys do by putting up an egotistical front and an "I don't need anyone" attitude. A part of him was probably still a little boy who just needed a hug, but he took the next best thing as a brainwashed servant of a Sorceress. He can't really be blamed for the things he did, especially not since he was more or less a puppet for someone much stronger than he was. While he may have a desire to be different, his pride will always stand in the way of him being the fan fiction portrayed boy with a broken ego and complete willingness to return to Garden under all of their conditions.
Instead of taking their time to get to know these characters and look at what makes them who they are, authors are slapping stereotypes on them left and right. They have so much opportunity to add depth to these characters and give them some incredible stories, but instead the choose to overlook it all in favor of convenient cliches to make mediocre stories.
Please, fandom, do some research.
(I know this community hasn't seen some action in over a year, but it's such a neat idea and I'd like to see it come back! Also, I apologize for any run on sentences or other such mistakes. I'm running on no sleep, nicotine, and tons of caffeine.)