Seifer Almasy

Seifer Almasy (or Cifer in the German version) is a temporary playable character and one of the main antagonists in Final Fantasy VIII. He is the rival of the main character Squall Leonhart and he is the mirror image of him in many ways.

He wields a gunblade, a weapon unique to the Final Fantasy franchise.

Appearance & Personality
Seifer has short blond hair, blue-green eyes, and a scar across his forehead and nose received from Squall Leonhart, the protagonist of the game, as retaliation during a duel. Seifer wears a blue vest, with a cross-like design lined in white, a gray coat with an emblem resembling the symbol of the Cross of Saint James on the sleeves, as well as black gloves and boots. The cross is Seifer's symbol as much as the angel wings are Rinoa's and the lion is Squall's. He also wears a silver chain with a tag around his neck.

Seifer is quite famous around Garden, and he is known for having great skills in battle, but his stubborn, arrogant, reckless, and unpredictable nature has kept him from completing the SeeD exam multiple times. Along with Squall, Seifer is the only Gunblade specialist in Balamb Garden, although their styles are fairly different, as Seifer wields his Gunblade with one hand, displaying more speed and agility, while Squall wields his Revolver two-handed. At the beginning of the game, he once again fails the SeeD field exam after his impatient behavior makes him disobey direct orders during the attack on Dollet. The other members in his Squad, Squall Leonhart and Zell Dincht, pass. When they are announced as the only ones who passed the field exam, Seifer is the first amongst the other students to applaud them. There are many parallels between Seifer and Squall. Even though they are rivals, always battling to prove each other's superiority, they have an unspoken mutual respect for each other's prowess in battle. As aforementioned, both Seifer and Squall have a scar in their faces inflicted during their duel in the opening sequence. The scars are mirror images of each other, with Seifer's pointing upright while Squall's points up left. Seifer is stubborn, arrogant, loud and outspoken rebel, while Squall is a silent, strict follower of duty. Both men are nigh-equally skilled in using the Gunblade; however, his temper and impatience often leaves him losing to Squall. Seifer's Triple Triad card is also a mirror of Squall's, both having the same numbers, only mirrored.

Ironically, despite his reckless and arrogant nature, Seifer is the head of Balamb Garden's Disciplinary Committee. The other committee members are Fujin and Raijin both of whom are extremely loyal to Seifer, and consider themselves a "posse". Other members of Balamb Garden consider them a "gang" more interested in exercising their "disciplinary" powers than actually keeping students in line.

It should be noted that, in spite of Seifer's actions throughout the game, he is not really evil, and is shown to actually care for the party. The most obvious example of this is when he storms out of the detention room at Balamb Garden upon hearing that Squall and company were sent on a mission in which they could end up fighting the whole Galbadian Force, possibly with intentions of aiding them. Seifer is then twisted by the Sorceress' power, and pursues a warped version of his dream: to be a Sorceress Knight. It could also be argued that he remembers who Edea actually is, as he refers to her as "Matron" right before the second fight against him at the end of Disc 2. In the end, Seifer watches the Balamb Garden fly by with a proud smile on his face, hinting that he repented his evil actions.

Story
Seifer was born 18 years prior to the events of Final Fantasy VIII. He was orphaned after his parents were killed in the Sorceress War and sent to Edea's Orphanage. From a young age he bullied the other children in the orphanage, especially Zell. As he grew up, he became a student at Balamb Garden, where he studied to become a SeeD. Seifer would later forget his past in the orphanage due to the memory loss that usage of Guardian Forces cause. When Seifer was a child, a popular movie was released about a Sorceress who stood to defend her country, and her knight who protected her. The film was Seifer's favorite, and inspired his dream to become a Sorceress Knight himself. He even copied the battle pose of the actor who played the Knight in the film. At Balamb Garden, Seifer found friendship in Fujin and Raijin, and their posse was rarely seen apart. The friends later became the Balamb Garden Disciplinary Committee, abusing their power to give fellow students punishment and detention. Even though he forgot his past, he became a rival to another student at Balamb Garden called Squall Leonhart who had coincidentally grown up in Edea's Orphanage as well. Of all the students at the Garden, only Seifer and Squall chose a Gunblade as their specialized weapon, and they would often duel to hone their skills.

Even though Seifer had great potential to become a SeeD, his behavior made him fail the exams needed to become one and he was labeled a "problem child". Seifer also develops a "romantic dream" about becoming a Sorceress Knight, whose job it was to protect the current Sorceress, and borrows several books from the Balamb Garden related to the subject. About a year before the events of Final Fantasy VIII, Seifer started a romantic relationship with Rinoa Heartilly, a girl working in a resistance group to free the occupied nation of Timber.

At the beginning of Final Fantasy VIII, Seifer and Squall are shown having a fierce duel in a rocky field near Balamb Garden. Neither one seems to be giving an inch, but Seifer casts a Fire spell during the duel, sending Squall to the ground. Seifer strikes at Squall's face, giving him a bloody scar; however, as Seifer lets his guard down after this, Squall strikes back, leaving a mirrored scar in Seifer's face. Afterward, for the SeeD field examination, Squall and Zell Dincht another coincidental orphan, with Seifer as their leader, are put into one group to form a squadron of SeeD for a military operation against the Galbadian Army. While Selphie Tilmitt, yet another orphan, later joins the group because of his disobedience during the engagement Seifer fails his SeeD exam once more. He grudgingly applauds Squall, Zell, and Selphie, all of whom passed. While Seifer is sent to be disciplined for his actions during the exam, Squall, Zell, and Selphie are assigned a new mission, their first as SeeD mercenaries: to aid a resistance faction known as the Forest Owls in their mission to free the occupied nation Timber. In this resistance faction, Rinoa, Seifer's former love interest, is a member. Having heard of this Seifer breaks out of the discipline room, injuring many people in the process, and embarks to assist them by holding the President of Galbadia hostage during a broadcast worldwide from the Timber TV Station. Backed into a corner and watched on by Squall, Zell, Selphie and Quistis Trepe; who had been sent to retrieve him, he attempts to retreat and is saved by Ultimecia who appears in the body of Edea Kramer. Appealing to Seifer's darker side, Ultimecia successfully convinces him to follow her. Seifer is officially announced executed by the Galbadian government and a saddened Rinoa reveals her past with Seifer to Squall.

Seifer is believed dead until he suddenly shows up in Deling City, standing at the side of Ultimecia. He has become the Sorceress' protective Knight. Squall and their new ally Irvine Kinneas had been assigned to assassinate the Sorceress by shooting her but Irvine, remembering his past at the orphanage (he had not forgotten his memories due to the fact that he had never used Guardian Forces, though at the time he was unaware of Ultimecia's possession of Edea), refuses to shoot Edea and disguises it as merely nerves getting to him.

Irvine is convinced by Squall to shoot, but Ultimecia blocks the shot with a protection spell. Squall is then forced to break into the Sorceress' parade and fight her one-on-one; however, Seifer stops him, claiming his new status as hero and Knight of the Sorceress, fights Squall. After Seifer's defeat, Squall fights Ultimecia, but he is defeated when Ultimecia casts Edea's Limit Break,"Ice Strike," which pierces Squall's chest nearly killing him. When Squall comes to in Galbadia's D-District Prison he is quickly transported to the torture room by none other than Seifer who tortures Squall for the truth about SeeD. Squall, who does not understand the question, only further enrages Seifer who then turns on the electrical torture instrument to full, which leaves Squall unconscious and incapacitated. While Squall later escapes with his friends, Seifer, now head of the Galbadian Army, invades and takes over control of Galbadia Garden under Ultimecia's orders. Enabling the Garden to be airborne he then embarks on the search for a girl named Ellone whom his Sorceress wished to be found. Eventually, whether the encounter was accidental during the search or intentional is unknown, he manages to intercept a similarly airborne Balamb Garden over the Cetra continent near the ruins of Edea's Orphanage.

With Seifer as commanding officer the Galbadia Garden launches a full assault on Balamb Garden. Eventually however the Balamb students and SeeDs turn the battle and make their way inside Galbadia Garden, where Squall and his party encounter Seifer. He is defeated once again, and is left unconscious and disgraced on the floor. Despite Seifer's determined efforts Squall's party eventually defeats Ultimecia inside Edea's body, which results in her leaving Edea's body for Rinoa's body and ordering Seifer to raise the Lunatic Pandora from the sea.

Under the orders of Ultimecia, Seifer embarks on a new quest to resurrect the Esthar weapon Lunatic Pandora from the depths of the ocean. Restoring the device to active status he then directs the pillar to be placed upon Tears' Point, starting the Lunar Cry and bringing into motion Ultimecia's plan for Time Compression. However, Squall and his party once again move to prevent this, invading the construct with an Estharian airship and battling their way deeper into the Lunatic Pandora. However, the many toils had begun to take their toll on Seifer, as his hair is unkempt and his coat is blackened and falling apart. Fujin and Raijin, who up until now had followed Seifer loyally, beg him to stop following this path and go back to being their friend. Seifer claims that it is too late to go back, and wishes them a good life, before he fights Squall one last time. During this fight, if the player has obtained Odin, Seifer manages to bisect him when he is summoned in battle, and Gilgamesh takes his place, and knocks Seifer down. Despite his defeat, Seifer manages to capture Rinoa and offer her to Ultimecia in the body of her new host, Sorceress Adel, whom she had just resurrected. After Ultimecia is bested inside Adel's body by Squall's group, she casts Time Compression allowing Squall to reach her era. After Squall and his party reach the future era and defeat Ultimecia, Seifer is seen in the ending as an entirely different person. He is fishing together with Fujin and Raijin, and smiles toward Balamb Garden as it flies by through the sky.

In Battle
Originating as a temporary player character Seifer is later fought against four times in the game primarily as a mini-boss as he seeks to defend Sorceress Ultimecia as her Knight.

Weapons
Aside from Squall, Seifer is the only other student at Balamb Garden to wield a Gunblade. His particular model bears the name Hyperion, features a pistol handle based on the Walther P-38, rather than the revolver handles favored by Squall. The Hyperion might be decidedly lighter than Squall's Revolver, as Seifer holds it with one hand as opposed to Squall holding his primarily with two.

While Seifer is a playable character, as his weapon is a Gunblade, pressing the trigger button when he strikes will boost his damage.

Limit Breaks
Seifer's set of Limit Breaks is called Fire Cross. While there are four Limits that Seifer can use only the first Limit, No Mercy, can be used by the player. The other three (Demon Slice, Bloodfest, and Zantetsuken Reverse) are used by him during battles against the player. Every Fire Cross Limit starts with him casting a Fire spell at his target in similar fashion as seen in the opening FMV of the game.

Unlike the rest of the player characters, Seifer can use his limit break quite often, because the chance it becomes available is at 84% or lower from his max HP.

 Limits 
 * Level 1: No Mercy - The only Limit Break the player can use.
 * Level 2: Demon Slice - Galbadia Garden Boss Battle.
 * Level 3: Bloodfest - Lunatic Pandora Boss Battle.
 * Level 4: Zantetsuken Reverse - Used Against Odin 

Chocobo World
An 8-bit sprite of Seifer appears in Chocobo World.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Seifer is mentioned in the Museum under Odin's entry, where it is mentioned that Seifer was able to counter the Zantetsuken and bisect Odin instead.

Kingdom Hearts II


A younger version of Seifer makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. He is the leader of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, together with Fuu and Rai, and is idolized by Vivi for his strength. Seifer is known for being a top Struggle fighter, but also likes street brawls. In DiZ's simulated Twilight Town, he is a rival of Roxas and his friends, while in the real Twilight Town, Hayner is his main rival since Roxas does not exist. He is also antagonistic against Sora, but after he saves Seifer's gang from the Nobodies, Seifer gives him the Struggle Trophy, an unspoken sign of respect. Although his rival Squall appears in the series as well, the two never meet, though they retain their trademark scars.

In the Japanese version Seifer is voiced by Takehito Koyasu and is voiced by Will Friedle in the English version.

Etymology
Seifer's last name Almasy is from the common family name Almásy (pronounced ). It means "related to or from [the land] of apples." His first name could be based on Arabic "sayyaf" or "seif", meaning "sword". Even the word "Almasy" possibly based on the Arabic word (which has the same pronounciation) ألماسي which means "Made from Diamond". "Seifer" is also a variant of the name Siegfried (meaning victor); a common German first name.

Trivia

 * Seifer uses a power similar to magic, though in-game information confirms that he doesn't use real magic but chi based attacks.
 * The red cross that is usually worn by Seifer, is a variant of the Cruz de Santiago (Cross of Saint James), the emblem of an ancient Spanish order designated to protect the European pilgrims from the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.
 * Although Seifer forms a mighty posse with Fujin and Raijin, the player never gets to actually fight all three of them in the same battle.
 * In the German version, he is known as Cifer. The spelling was most likely changed because Seife is the German word for "soap", thus Seifer can be understood as an agent noun "soaper".
 * Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Seifer was considered as a candidate to appear in Dissidia Final Fantasy, but was scrapped in favor of Ultimecia as they thought he would be too similar to Squall. Still, his influence can be felt, as in Dissidia Squall fights with a faster, one-handed style similar to Seifer. As for another reference of him, when Squall begins his EX Burst, the way he strikes his opponent is a upside down cross, similar to Seifer's Blood Fest Limit Break.