Laguna Loire

Laguna Loire is one of the main characters of Final Fantasy VIII. For much of the game the player experiences Laguna through playable flashbacks, explained as dreams of the main characters. In these flashbacks Laguna is a Galbadian soldier, although later on he becomes a journalist. Laguna is a lovable, passionate, yet notoriously clumbsy man who has played a significant role in the development of the Final Fantasy VIII world.

The Flashbacks
Laguna is 27 in the first of the flashbacks the viewers sees. It is revealed later in the game that Laguna's "neice," Ellone has the ability to make people relive the past. She makes Squall and his companions relive Laguna's exploits in an attempt to change the past but learns this is futile. Laguna and his two companions, Kiros and Ward, are Galbadian soldiers who frequently fall victim to Laguna's clumbsy nature but always seem to complete their mission. He falls in love with a lounge singer in Deling City named Julia Heartilly. She feels the same way but all of their interactions end awkwardly. She confesses her love for him, writing the song "Eyes on Me" for him. Their romance was cut short, however, when after their first night together he was called to fight in Centra. After that he left the military and split up from Kiros and Ward. He spent some time in Shumi Villiage befriending the Moombas and tries to teach them to speak.

He eventually becomes seriously injured and ends up in the town of Winhill. Here, a woman named Raine nurses him back to health. The two of them fall in love, marry, and adopt a young girl named Ellone who Laguna refers to as his "niece." After pursuing an ill-fated acting career, he leaves Winhill when Ellone is mysteriously kidnapped. He finds that she has been brought to Esthar and in the process of freeing her also becomes imprisoned in the Lunatic Pandora and joins the Esthar resistance against the sorceress Adel. He becomes instrumental in freeing the nation from her grips. Because of this the people of Esthar elect him their leader.

While gone Raine gives birth to their child. She supposedly cried out Laguna's name during child birth but later died, making this child an orphan. Ellone and Raine's child are sent to an orphanage together, although Laguna cannot get away from his duties to see them.

In the Present
Towards the very end of the game Laguna meets up with Squall's party. Laguna is still the leader of Esthar and has been upholding a seclutionist policy for the nation. He gets into contact with the party in order to save Ellone...