Squall Leonhart
Encyclopedia
is the main protagonist
of Final Fantasy VIII
, a role-playing game by Square
(now Square Enix
). He was designed by Tetsuya Nomura
, with heavy influences coming from game director Yoshinori Kitase
. Squall has appeared in several other games, such as the Kingdom Hearts
series, where he appears under the name ; Chocobo Racing
; and Itadaki Street Special. His weapon, the gunblade, also appears in other works.
In Final Fantasy VIII, Squall is a 17-year old student at Balamb Garden, a prestigious military academy for elite mercenaries known as "SeeDs". As the story progresses, Squall befriends Quistis Trepe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt and Irvine Kinneas, and falls in love with Rinoa Heartilly. These relationships, combined with developments in the game's plot, gradually turn him from a loner to an open and caring person. Squall's Limit Break (special move) is Renzokuken, consisting of a series of gunblade slashes preceding a powerful finishing attack.
, though Nomura noted "nobody understood it". Squall stands roughly 5 feet 10 inches (177 cm) tall, and was initially given longer hair and a more feminine appearance. Due to game director Yoshinori Kitase's objections, Nomura modified the design to be more masculine. Nomura added the scar across Squall's brow and bridge of his nose in a spur of the moment manner, intended to make the character more recognizable and left it up to scenario writer Kazushige Nojima to describe its origin. Squall's design was complemented by a fur lining along the collar of his jacket, which Nomura included as a challenge for the game's full motion video
designers. With Final Fantasy VIII, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima worked to give players actual insight into what Squall was thinking; a direct contrast with his handling of Final Fantasy VII
, which encouraged the player to speculate.
While developing Squall's weapon, the "gunblade", Nomura wanted to include silver accessories, and created it with this in mind. The gunblade is a sword
that uses components of a revolver
, sending vibrations through the blade when triggered. This manifests in additional damage being dealt if the player presses the R1 trigger on the controller as Squall strikes an enemy. This weapon was intended to offer a new way for players to control weapons in battle. When looking back at the game, Nomura noted he feels that the weapon has an odd appearance.
" by his peers because he never shows his feelings and even comes off as cold to his allies. His superiors, such as his teacher, Quistis Trepe, consider him difficult to deal with but greatly respect his natural talents. He is also known to be stoic in many situations. His taciturn attitude is also used for comic relief
. In the cutscene where he first meets Rinoa, she coerces him into dancing with her at the SeeD graduation ball. He awkwardly bumps into other party-goers while staring constantly at his feet with a look of confusion. Rinoa, however, perseveres in partnering him, and Squall eventually reveals that he's quite capable of dancing, as it is a mandatory aspect of his training.
Squall is unwillingly dragged into the role of the hero when Cid, headmaster of Balamb Garden, appoints him as leader of the academy midway through the game. He is often thrown into a leadership role, as is evident in the Timber and Galbadia missions. During a late battle against Galbadia Garden, Squall demonstrates some leadership difficulties, which are tied to his lingering isolationism. Likewise, other characters make efforts to pull him out of his isolation and Rinoa expends a lot of energy to pursue a relationship with him. It takes considerable time for him to accept the others' offered friendship and fall in love with Rinoa and care for her. As time progresses, he grows more comfortable with the leadership role, especially when it comes time to defeat Ultimecia, the antagonist.
Throughout the game, he has a distinct rivalry with Seifer Almasy. The opening sequence depicts the duel in which Squall obtains his characteristic facial scar (and subsequently gives a mirrored one to Seifer) and scenes in which Squall and Seifer are supposed to be cooperating are characterized by squabbles between the two cadets. Later, Seifer allies himself with the Sorceress, requiring Squall to battle him several times. Nevertheless, despite their conflict, Squall still feels an underlying camaraderie for Seifer, and mourns him in his own way when he believes Seifer to have been executed after an attempted kidnapping of Galbadian President Vinzer Deling.
According to flashbacks in the game, Squall grew up in an orphanage
, along with the other playable characters with the exception of Rinoa. They were looked after by Edea. Though he remembers little of this past, it causes him to develop into an emotionally detached, highly cynical and introverted boy; his original goal is to go through life without any emotional links or dependencies. However, Squall gradually warms as the game progresses, and it is later revealed that his deliberate detachment from his companions is a defensive mechanism to protect himself from emotional pain, like he experienced when his older sister figure at the orphanage, one of the sole emotional supports in his early life, was forcibly separated from him.
Upon defeating Ultimecia, as his comrades are pulled back from time compression into their own respective places in the timeline, Squall takes a detour back to the orphanage, where he encounters a younger Edea. Since she does not want to involve any of the children, Edea absorbs the dying Ultimecia's powers as part of the cycle of sorceresses (a sorceress must pass on her powers to a successor before she is allowed to die peacefully). Squall plants the ideas for Garden and SeeD in her mind, creating an origin paradox in which he must become the leader of Balamb Garden so that he can make it to this point again.
There are strong indications in the game that Laguna Loire is Squall's father. Toward the end of the game, aboard the Ragnarok, Kiros and Ward comment on Squall's resemblance to his mother and his dissimilarity to his father; Nomura designed Squall to intentionally contrast with Laguna.
in Kingdom Hearts. He wears a short leather jacket with red wings on the back, resembling the decorations on Rinoa's duster, but he still wears his Griever necklace and has the scar on his forehead. He assumes the name Leon because "Squall" was shamed for being unable to protect those he cared about from the Heartless when his home world, the Radiant Garden, was consumed by darkness. Leon is voiced by David Boreanaz
in the English language
version of the game and Hideo Ishikawa
in the Japanese version. Squall's role in Kingdom Hearts is to help guide the protagonist Sora
in his battle with the Heartless, alongside various other Final Fantasy characters. While his appearance and age change (in Kingdom Hearts, he is 25, whereas in Final Fantasy VIII, he is 17), his personality remains the same. A memory-based version of Leon appears in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
, tutoring the player about the gameplay. He returns in Kingdom Hearts II and is voiced by Doug Erholtz
for the English version from this game onwards. Leon's outfit gains the fur lining along the collar of his jacket that did not appear in the first Kingdom Hearts game. During the game, Leon works alongside his friends to restore their world. He also appears as an opponent in various tournaments in Olympus Coliseum, often paired with other Final Fantasy characters, including Cloud
, Tifa
, and Yuffie.
Squall is the hero representing Final Fantasy VIII in Dissidia: Final Fantasy
. His personality in the game was designed to reflect his one from Final Fantasy VIII. Along with the entire cast, Squall appears in the sequel Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
. He also appears as a secret character in Chocobo Racing
and Itadaki Street Special, and a sprite version of Squall occasionally makes an appearance on the loading screen of the PlayStation
version of Final Fantasy VI
(part of Final Fantasy Anthology).
argued that Squall's cynicism and frustration with those around him made him a strong character, though also "coldly inhuman". GamesRadar
listed Squall as the fifth best Final Fantasy hero of all the time with praise on his personality's development and his interactions with the other characters. The site listed him and Rinoa as the best couple created by Square Enix, commenting on the differences between both characters and the fact their relationship was the first one in the series to drive the plot of a game. Similarly, the two were in The Inquirer
s list of the most memorable video game love teams with comments focused on the differences between the two characters' personalities. GameSpot
said that while the character could be regarded as simply a "jerk", he could alternatively be viewed as "standoffish because of some repressed Wagnerian broodiness, in which case he was kind of interesting". Allgame
stated that while initially hating his character for coming across as "cold and uncaring", the character's romance caused him to change in a positive manner. RPGamer
labelled him as "everyone's favorite orphan" and joked that although he tries to distance himself from others, "he can't help but draw people to him, be it sorceresses or gun-slinging ladies men." GameDaily
ranked him sixth on their list of the "Top 25 Gaming Hunks", stating that while critics described the character as a "jerk", his character design, notably his scar, made him visually appealing. Arnold Katayev from PSXextreme praised Squall's redesign from Kingdom Hearts as the best one from the game. In an Oricon
poll from 2008, Squall was voted as the tenth most popular video game character. During February 2010, Squall was voted by Famitsu
readers as the 29th best video game character.
IGN
, on the other hand, stated that "the problem [with Final Fantasy VIII] is that the character at the heart of everything, Squall, is basically a pouty jerk", adding "when your story is character centered, you'd better center it on a character the audience can care about. Squall... just doesn't fit the bill". 1UP.com
ranked Squall second on their list of the "Top 5 Most Irritating RPG Protagonists", stating that while Squall was an attempt to "cater to the fedora-wearing, trench-coat clad folks", his lack of social skills tends to alienate players towards the character. Edge
compared his character with the Final Fantasy VII
protagonist Cloud Strife
, criticizing that Squall's anger "didn't seem to have any context" unlike Cloud's angst which was developed by one of the central events from Final Fantasy VII. His relation with Rinoa also received negative comments, as Edge states "he [Squall] suddenly falls in "love" with [Rinoa] at the end [of Final Fantasy VIII]." A more comical comparison was made by GamesRadar in their "RPG Emo
-Off", in which Squall was defeated by Cloud due to their reasons for their angst. Squall was also featured in 1UP's article "Top 5 Final Fantasy Character Types" in which he was in the second category, "The Sullen Asshole", alongside with Cloud and Cecil from Final Fantasy IV
. GameSpy
featured him in their comical feature "Videogame Characters Who Would Suck in Real Life" in which they stated Squall would be a terrible soldier in real life.
Squall's appearance is homaged by pianist and composer Michael Gluck, who performs video game and anime music under the stage name "Piano Squall
" while cosplay
ing as the character. In an interview, Gluck noted the name and costume were homages to his love of the Final Fantasy series, and also a lack of craftsmanship skills, stating "Squall is the only costume I could make!"
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
, a role-playing game by Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
(now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
). He was designed by Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura
is a Japanese video game director and character designer working for Square Enix , best known for his work on both the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.-Time before Square:Nomura was born in Kōchi, Japan...
, with heavy influences coming from game director Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game producer and former game director that has been working for Square Enix since April 1, 1990. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and is currently the manager of 1st Production Department....
. Squall has appeared in several other games, such as the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
series, where he appears under the name ; Chocobo Racing
Chocobo Racing
Chocobo Racing, known in Japan as is a racing game for the PlayStation game console. The game was developed by Square Co., creators of the Final Fantasy series of video games. The game was first released in Japan in March 1999...
; and Itadaki Street Special. His weapon, the gunblade, also appears in other works.
In Final Fantasy VIII, Squall is a 17-year old student at Balamb Garden, a prestigious military academy for elite mercenaries known as "SeeDs". As the story progresses, Squall befriends Quistis Trepe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt and Irvine Kinneas, and falls in love with Rinoa Heartilly. These relationships, combined with developments in the game's plot, gradually turn him from a loner to an open and caring person. Squall's Limit Break (special move) is Renzokuken, consisting of a series of gunblade slashes preceding a powerful finishing attack.
Development and appearance
The first character Nomura designed for Final Fantasy VIII, Squall was inspired by actor River PhoenixRiver Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
, though Nomura noted "nobody understood it". Squall stands roughly 5 feet 10 inches (177 cm) tall, and was initially given longer hair and a more feminine appearance. Due to game director Yoshinori Kitase's objections, Nomura modified the design to be more masculine. Nomura added the scar across Squall's brow and bridge of his nose in a spur of the moment manner, intended to make the character more recognizable and left it up to scenario writer Kazushige Nojima to describe its origin. Squall's design was complemented by a fur lining along the collar of his jacket, which Nomura included as a challenge for the game's full motion video
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
designers. With Final Fantasy VIII, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima worked to give players actual insight into what Squall was thinking; a direct contrast with his handling of Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
, which encouraged the player to speculate.
While developing Squall's weapon, the "gunblade", Nomura wanted to include silver accessories, and created it with this in mind. The gunblade is a sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
that uses components of a revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
, sending vibrations through the blade when triggered. This manifests in additional damage being dealt if the player presses the R1 trigger on the controller as Squall strikes an enemy. This weapon was intended to offer a new way for players to control weapons in battle. When looking back at the game, Nomura noted he feels that the weapon has an odd appearance.
Final Fantasy VIII
At the beginning of Final Fantasy VIII, Squall is known as a "lone wolfLone wolf (trait)
-Animal:A lone wolf is a wolf that lives independently rather than with others as a member of a pack. The term is also used in reference to people who exhibit characteristics of introversion or a strong preference for independence....
" by his peers because he never shows his feelings and even comes off as cold to his allies. His superiors, such as his teacher, Quistis Trepe, consider him difficult to deal with but greatly respect his natural talents. He is also known to be stoic in many situations. His taciturn attitude is also used for comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
. In the cutscene where he first meets Rinoa, she coerces him into dancing with her at the SeeD graduation ball. He awkwardly bumps into other party-goers while staring constantly at his feet with a look of confusion. Rinoa, however, perseveres in partnering him, and Squall eventually reveals that he's quite capable of dancing, as it is a mandatory aspect of his training.
Squall is unwillingly dragged into the role of the hero when Cid, headmaster of Balamb Garden, appoints him as leader of the academy midway through the game. He is often thrown into a leadership role, as is evident in the Timber and Galbadia missions. During a late battle against Galbadia Garden, Squall demonstrates some leadership difficulties, which are tied to his lingering isolationism. Likewise, other characters make efforts to pull him out of his isolation and Rinoa expends a lot of energy to pursue a relationship with him. It takes considerable time for him to accept the others' offered friendship and fall in love with Rinoa and care for her. As time progresses, he grows more comfortable with the leadership role, especially when it comes time to defeat Ultimecia, the antagonist.
Throughout the game, he has a distinct rivalry with Seifer Almasy. The opening sequence depicts the duel in which Squall obtains his characteristic facial scar (and subsequently gives a mirrored one to Seifer) and scenes in which Squall and Seifer are supposed to be cooperating are characterized by squabbles between the two cadets. Later, Seifer allies himself with the Sorceress, requiring Squall to battle him several times. Nevertheless, despite their conflict, Squall still feels an underlying camaraderie for Seifer, and mourns him in his own way when he believes Seifer to have been executed after an attempted kidnapping of Galbadian President Vinzer Deling.
According to flashbacks in the game, Squall grew up in an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
, along with the other playable characters with the exception of Rinoa. They were looked after by Edea. Though he remembers little of this past, it causes him to develop into an emotionally detached, highly cynical and introverted boy; his original goal is to go through life without any emotional links or dependencies. However, Squall gradually warms as the game progresses, and it is later revealed that his deliberate detachment from his companions is a defensive mechanism to protect himself from emotional pain, like he experienced when his older sister figure at the orphanage, one of the sole emotional supports in his early life, was forcibly separated from him.
Upon defeating Ultimecia, as his comrades are pulled back from time compression into their own respective places in the timeline, Squall takes a detour back to the orphanage, where he encounters a younger Edea. Since she does not want to involve any of the children, Edea absorbs the dying Ultimecia's powers as part of the cycle of sorceresses (a sorceress must pass on her powers to a successor before she is allowed to die peacefully). Squall plants the ideas for Garden and SeeD in her mind, creating an origin paradox in which he must become the leader of Balamb Garden so that he can make it to this point again.
There are strong indications in the game that Laguna Loire is Squall's father. Toward the end of the game, aboard the Ragnarok, Kiros and Ward comment on Squall's resemblance to his mother and his dissimilarity to his father; Nomura designed Squall to intentionally contrast with Laguna.
Other appearances
Squall appears as a non-playable characterNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
in Kingdom Hearts. He wears a short leather jacket with red wings on the back, resembling the decorations on Rinoa's duster, but he still wears his Griever necklace and has the scar on his forehead. He assumes the name Leon because "Squall" was shamed for being unable to protect those he cared about from the Heartless when his home world, the Radiant Garden, was consumed by darkness. Leon is voiced by David Boreanaz
David Boreanaz
David Boreanaz is an American actor, television producer, and director, known for his role as Angel on the supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and as Special Agent Seeley Booth on the television crime drama Bones....
in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version of the game and Hideo Ishikawa
Hideo Ishikawa
is a male Japanese voice actor born in Hyōgo, Japan. His nicknames are "Hide" and "Hide-chan" and he works for Aoni Production. He is married and has two children....
in the Japanese version. Squall's role in Kingdom Hearts is to help guide the protagonist Sora
Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Square Enix's best-selling Kingdom Hearts series. Introduced in the series' first game in 2002, Sora is a cheerful teenager who originates from Destiny Islands and has been best friends with Riku and Kairi since early childhood. When they plan to...
in his battle with the Heartless, alongside various other Final Fantasy characters. While his appearance and age change (in Kingdom Hearts, he is 25, whereas in Final Fantasy VIII, he is 17), his personality remains the same. A memory-based version of Leon appears in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Japanese studio Jupiter and published by Square Enix in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. The game serves as an intermediary between the two larger-scale PlayStation 2 games in the Kingdom Hearts series. It was one of the first GBA games to...
, tutoring the player about the gameplay. He returns in Kingdom Hearts II and is voiced by Doug Erholtz
Doug Erholtz
Douglas J. Erholtz is an American voice actor. He is well known for voicing Asuma Sarutobi from Naruto and Ichimaru from Bleach.- Anime roles :* Battle B-Daman - Joe, Biarce* Bounty Dog - Additional Voices...
for the English version from this game onwards. Leon's outfit gains the fur lining along the collar of his jacket that did not appear in the first Kingdom Hearts game. During the game, Leon works alongside his friends to restore their world. He also appears as an opponent in various tournaments in Olympus Coliseum, often paired with other Final Fantasy characters, including Cloud
Cloud Strife
is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura...
, Tifa
Tifa Lockhart
is a player character in Square Enix's role playing game Final Fantasy VII. Created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, she has since appeared in the fighting game Ehrgeiz and cameo appearances in other titles, as well as the CGI film sequel to Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children and related games...
, and Yuffie.
Squall is the hero representing Final Fantasy VIII in Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Dissidia: Final Fantasy
is an action RPG/fighting game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign of the Final Fantasy series 20th anniversary. Information on the game was first released during the "Square Enix Party" event of May 2008...
. His personality in the game was designed to reflect his one from Final Fantasy VIII. Along with the entire cast, Squall appears in the sequel Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
is a 2011 fighting game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was developed by the company's 1st Production Department...
. He also appears as a secret character in Chocobo Racing
Chocobo Racing
Chocobo Racing, known in Japan as is a racing game for the PlayStation game console. The game was developed by Square Co., creators of the Final Fantasy series of video games. The game was first released in Japan in March 1999...
and Itadaki Street Special, and a sprite version of Squall occasionally makes an appearance on the loading screen of the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
version of Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square , released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Final Fantasy series. Set in a fantasy world with a technology level equivalent to that of the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story focuses on a...
(part of Final Fantasy Anthology).
Critical reception
Reception to Squall as a character has been mixed. Journalist Jack Patrick Rodgers of PopMattersPopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
argued that Squall's cynicism and frustration with those around him made him a strong character, though also "coldly inhuman". GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
listed Squall as the fifth best Final Fantasy hero of all the time with praise on his personality's development and his interactions with the other characters. The site listed him and Rinoa as the best couple created by Square Enix, commenting on the differences between both characters and the fact their relationship was the first one in the series to drive the plot of a game. Similarly, the two were in The Inquirer
The Inquirer
The Inquirer is a British technology tabloid website founded by Mike Magee after his departure from The Register in 2001. In 2006 the site was acquired by Dutch publisher Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen...
s list of the most memorable video game love teams with comments focused on the differences between the two characters' personalities. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
said that while the character could be regarded as simply a "jerk", he could alternatively be viewed as "standoffish because of some repressed Wagnerian broodiness, in which case he was kind of interesting". Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
stated that while initially hating his character for coming across as "cold and uncaring", the character's romance caused him to change in a positive manner. RPGamer
RPGamer
RPGamer is a media and news website dedicated to covering computer and video game RPGs. Its coverage includes North American game news, European game news, Asian game news, gaming industry news, game reviews, game previews, hands-on game impressions, gaming conventions, game merchandise, release...
labelled him as "everyone's favorite orphan" and joked that although he tries to distance himself from others, "he can't help but draw people to him, be it sorceresses or gun-slinging ladies men." GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
ranked him sixth on their list of the "Top 25 Gaming Hunks", stating that while critics described the character as a "jerk", his character design, notably his scar, made him visually appealing. Arnold Katayev from PSXextreme praised Squall's redesign from Kingdom Hearts as the best one from the game. In an Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
poll from 2008, Squall was voted as the tenth most popular video game character. During February 2010, Squall was voted by Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
readers as the 29th best video game character.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, on the other hand, stated that "the problem [with Final Fantasy VIII] is that the character at the heart of everything, Squall, is basically a pouty jerk", adding "when your story is character centered, you'd better center it on a character the audience can care about. Squall... just doesn't fit the bill". 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
ranked Squall second on their list of the "Top 5 Most Irritating RPG Protagonists", stating that while Squall was an attempt to "cater to the fedora-wearing, trench-coat clad folks", his lack of social skills tends to alienate players towards the character. Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
compared his character with the Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
protagonist Cloud Strife
Cloud Strife
is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura...
, criticizing that Squall's anger "didn't seem to have any context" unlike Cloud's angst which was developed by one of the central events from Final Fantasy VII. His relation with Rinoa also received negative comments, as Edge states "he [Squall] suddenly falls in "love" with [Rinoa] at the end [of Final Fantasy VIII]." A more comical comparison was made by GamesRadar in their "RPG Emo
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
-Off", in which Squall was defeated by Cloud due to their reasons for their angst. Squall was also featured in 1UP's article "Top 5 Final Fantasy Character Types" in which he was in the second category, "The Sullen Asshole", alongside with Cloud and Cecil from Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan and has since then been rereleased for many other platforms with varying modifications. An enhanced remake with 3D graphics...
. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
featured him in their comical feature "Videogame Characters Who Would Suck in Real Life" in which they stated Squall would be a terrible soldier in real life.
Squall's appearance is homaged by pianist and composer Michael Gluck, who performs video game and anime music under the stage name "Piano Squall
Piano Squall
Piano Squall is the stage name of Michael Gluck, a concert pianist who performs music from video games and anime to fundraise for charity.- Background :...
" while cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
ing as the character. In an interview, Gluck noted the name and costume were homages to his love of the Final Fantasy series, and also a lack of craftsmanship skills, stating "Squall is the only costume I could make!"