Laguna Loire

Laguna Loire is a temporarily playable character in Final Fantasy VIII. For most of the game the player experiences Laguna through playable flashbacks that are explained to the player as dreams of the main characters. Laguna’s weapon of choice is the machine gun.

Appearance and Personality
Laguna is described throughout the story as a man with many faces and even more talents. He has shoulder-length dark black hair, green eyes, he is cheerful, generous, kind-hearted, and though he hates fighting, he becomes a Galbadian soldier. He is well respected among his comrades, Kiros Seagill and Ward Zabac who scorn him sometimes for his impulsive attitude but ultimately rely on him for guidance and direction when push comes to shove. He is courageous in the face of danger and most especially when his friends are in trouble, but when given time to think about the danger he is truly in, he usually becomes a little more hesitant. However, he is always willing to put his life on the line for the sake of justice.

Laguna is known for making up his own answers on the fly whenever he does not know the real answer to something, or occasionally he just gets it wrong altogether. For example: he tells Kiros and Ward that "the unfamiliar always happens" when in actuality they have to correct him and say that it is the "unexpected" that always happens. They playfully laugh at him for his mistakes to which he usually becomes embarrassed and abruptly ends the conversation. He is also well known for his inability to talk to women, though he exclaims that it is only "beautiful women" that he gets nervous around and when he does, his left leg cramps up. He eventually overcomes this however, when one night he has a full conversation with Julia Heartilly, a piano singer he used to have a crush on when he lived in Deling City. Laguna's dream is to become a traveling journalist so that he can write all about his adventures with his friends and give others the inspiration the world has given him.

When the player first meets Laguna, he is constantly wearing his Galbadian soldier uniform, albeit without the helmet. However, Laguna's normal attire consists of a medium blue jacket with white studs and grooves, white undershirt, brown pants, black boots, and his dog tags from his time in the war against Timber's rebellion. As he ages though, he adopts an even more casual appearance, wearing simply a baby blue button-up shirt with khaki slacks and sandals with his hair tied back behind him. However, he still sports his dog tags even in his older age.

Story
Laguna is said to have been born in Deling City, though most to all of his childhood and early adulthood remains a mystery. During his twenties, Laguna joins the Galbadian Army, and participates in the effort to invade Timber. His real purpose for doing this is not so much to aid Galbadia to victory, but more to ascertain his dream of becoming a traveling journalist, acquiring information about the world and writing about his experiences. In the army however, Laguna meets Kiros Seagill and Ward Zabac. The three are thrown into a platoon together where they make quick friends and share each other's dreams and ambitions, Laguna's being the only one mentioned in the game.

Throughout their time and adventures together, the three frequently fall victim to Laguna's clumsy nature, though somehow always managing to complete their mission. In this time, Laguna falls in love with Deling City's most famous lounge pianist, Julia Heartilly. She feels the same way about him, but all of their interactions together end awkwardly thanks to Laguna's nervousness. One night, however, at the behest of Kiros and Ward, Laguna manages the nerve to walk up to her piano while she is playing and though his leg cramps up and he is forced to retreat, Julia decides to invite him up to her room to talk. He follows and the two share their life dreams with each other before confessing that they have always watched each other from afar. She will eventually begin to write the song, "Eyes on Me", as dedication to their love. Their romance is cut short however, when Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are called away, and after losing their way, ending upon Centra and fighting for their lives against Esthar soldiers.

Laguna and his friends are severely injured while fighting off hordes of enemy forces. With no other options left, Laguna tosses the tired Kiros and Ward off the side of a cliff into the ocean before following after them himself. Laguna does not make the jump gracefully, plummeting to the ocean waters, unconscious. The three are separated by the sea and Laguna drifts until he washes up shore in a little village called Winhill where a woman named Raine finds him and together with her adopted daughter, Ellone, look after him. For the next six months, Laguna is bed-ridden due to his injuries. Raine nurses him back to health and he forms a close bond with her and Ellone, who refers to him as "Uncle Laguna". All the working men in Winhill have been sent off to the war and so Laguna eventually becomes the self-appointed "Monster Hunter of Winhill" since monsters have taken a liking to the defenseless village. He declares Raine to be his commander and Ellone to be the assistant-commander, but never lets either of them go out with him on his hunting. After another six months roll by; Kiros, who has been searching for Laguna ever since he recovered eleven months ago, finally finds him and tells him what has been going on with Ward and Julia. Ward has permanently lost his voice and become a janitor at the D-District Prison (which Laguna has trouble believing) while Julia's become a famous singer/songwriter and married a General Caraway from the Galbadian army after her "true love" never returned from war.

Laguna takes Kiros out on a monster hunting mission where he declares him his Assistant, and the two talk about Laguna's plans of still becoming a journalist. Upon arriving back at the house, the two eavesdrop on a conversation between Raine and Ellone about Raine marrying Laguna, to which Raine responds that they are two entirely different people, and that there are things about Laguna that are just too tentative. Afterward, Laguna gives Raine the report of how many monsters were killed and decides to rest. He hopes and prays that when he wakes up, he is not anywhere but where he is right now, so that he can see Ellone and Raine again. Kiros responds that Laguna's changed a lot since they last met.

Over the next couple of months, Laguna and Raine eventually fall in love with one another. Laguna proposes to her in the middle of a field not far from Winhill and the two marry shortly after. One day however, Sorceress Adel's forces come and kidnap Ellone to Esthar, while Laguna is away with Kiros getting his first article published in the Timber Maniacs magazine. Laguna promises Raine that he will bring Ellone back to Winhill, and an unknowingly pregnant Raine promises that she will be waiting for him. Laguna and Kiros recruit their old friend Ward and the search for Ellone begins. Along the way, the three encounter many difficulties in finding Ellone and actually getting into Esthar. They participate in a movie deal to raise money for their travels where Laguna is forced to fight a Ruby Dragon with a Gunblade, a weapon he hadn’t used since his training at the military academy. With the help of Kiros and Ward, they were able to escape from the dragons' nest hidden on the mountainside. At one point, Laguna meets with Edea Kramer in her orphanage and asks her to keep an eye out for Ellone, as well as Sorceress Adel, as she’s looking for a successor for her Sorceress Power, and with Edea being a Sorceress herself, she might be a target. Laguna eventually becomes separated from Kiros and Ward and once again becomes injured, this time winding up in Shumi Village where he repays the Shumis kindness and befriends the Moombas, attempting to teach them to speak.

Eventually, Laguna reunites with Kiros and Ward and they finally find a way into Esthar. In the process of freeing her they get captured and become imprisoned inside the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory, where they join the Resistance against Sorceress Adel. Laguna is appointed their leader after displaying his kindness to one of the Moombas, and immediately afterwards stages a jailbreak. After escaping, Laguna and the others finally find Ellone, who has been kept safe the entire time by Dr. Odine, who's been trying to come up with a way of defeating Adel before she could pass on her abilities to the young girl. To come up with a plan for capturing Sorceress Adel; the four of them end up at the Sorceress Memorial and as part of their plan to seal away the evil Sorceress; they construct an armored cryo-capsule, placing it inside the Memorial, and crafting a simulacrum image of Ellone, whom Adel was desperately searching to continue her reign of terror through her successor. Once Adel is informed that Ellone was being held inside the newly constructed building, the Sorceress transports herself there at once. Inside the Memorial, Adel sees the fake Ellone and moves inside to seize her. However, when she enters the cryo-tomb (later known as Adel's Tomb), she is trapped and immediately flash-frozen before she can use her Sorceress abilities. Because of his bravery and wisdom, the people of Esthar appoint Laguna the new President, replacing Adel’s former reign. Laguna sends Ellone back to Winhill where she stays with Raine as she gives birth to Laguna's child; she names him Squall in Laguna's absence. The new mother then dies due to complications during childbirth. Ellone and Squall are sent to Edea's Orphanage on Centra where later Ellone leaves and causes the start of Squall's emotional detachment.

Laguna remains the President of Esthar for the next seventeen years and because of his duties to uphold a policy of seclusion and neutrality for his nation, he cannot get away to see Ellone. He is mortified of having heard of Raine's death, but never knows of Squall, until Ellone returns years later and tells him. Towards the end of the game, Laguna finally meets his son as well his comrades, aiding them to infiltrate the Lunatic Pandora as well as to destroy of the Sorceress from the future, Ultimecia. In the end, Laguna finally returns and visits Raine's grave in Winhill. He is joined by Ellone, Kiros, and Ward while Balamb Garden soars overhead.

Though it is never directly stated, it is heavily implied that Laguna is Squall's father. When Laguna left Winhill Raine was pregnant, and her baby and Ellone were taken to Edea's orphanage, which is where Squall grew up. As well, it is stated that Moombas can recognize people by licking their blood - Squall being Laguna's son would explain why the Moombas in the prison chant "Laguna" upon tasting his blood. Laguna also always shares Squall's stats during the flashback sequences, and carries Squall's Triple Triad card. Ward and Kiros seem to be aware of their relationship: if they are spoken to aboard the Ragnarok at the end of the game, Ward tells Squall he should be glad he does not resemble his father, and Kiros states he resembles his mother, indicating the two of them know Squall's parents.

Weapons
Machine Gun – Laguna’s premier weapon of choice is a standard Galbadian assault rifle machine gun that he wields with devastating accuracy. While not a sharpshooter by nature, he can still outshoot most opponents with ease.

Limit Break
Desperado gkO2sjmC0jw Desperado – Laguna Loire's Limit Break damages all enemies at once. He first pulls out a hand-grenade, arms and tosses it into the middle of his opponents. Afterward, he shoots a grappling hook above him and, as he swings from side to side on his grapple, he fires multiple rounds with his machine gun down upon his enemies. He then jumps off the rope and lands with his back towards the foes as the grenade explodes, dealing massive damage to all enemies. Its attack power is 140.

Creation and Development
Kazushige Nojima planned for the two playable parties featured in the game — Squall Leonhart's present day group and Laguna Loire's group of twenty years in the past — to highly contrast with one another. On one hand, Laguna's group consisted of characters in their late twenties who had a lot of combat experience. They were also close friends who had fought together for a long time and trusted one another. On the other hand, Squall's party was young and inexperienced, and Squall himself did not initially understand the value of friendship.

The concept of two main characters was planned since the beginning of the game's development. Nomura tried to create a contrast between Laguna's and Squall's occupations; thus, Laguna became a soldier and Squall became a mercenary student. The designers intended Laguna to be more similar to the previous protagonists in the Final Fantasy series to complement Squall, who was different from previous main characters.

Interestingly, various examples of unused backgrounds and gifs hint that Laguna may have possessed a lime-green convertible truck during his time in Winhill and used it during Ellone's second abduction. Laguna's black-and-white intro picture also depicts him of driving the said car. Also, the artisan in Shumi Village has a miniature model of the car. The car, however, was never used as Laguna's car in the final game.

Musical Themes
Laguna's unofficial theme is called "Fragments of Memories." "The Man with the Machine Gun" is the battle theme for the scenes in which the player controls Laguna's party.

Pocket Station Memorycard Icons
An icon sprite of Laguna appears in the Pocket Station memorycard file manager.

Etymology
Laguna is the Romanian, Czech, Italian, Polish, and Spanish word for "lagoon", a shallow body of salt water separated from larger seas by small sandbanks or coral reefs. This is fitting as both his wife and son share a name linking to water. Unfittingly, laguna is a feminine noun in each language. His surname, Loire, may come from a French river.

Trivia

 * The film Laguna and his friends were in while raising money, would directly inspire the dream of Squall's rival, Seifer Almasy. After seeing the film, Seifer became inspired to become a Sorceress Knight like the character Laguna played, who according to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, was named "Zefer", similar to "Seifer". This is why, if one looks closely, Seifer has the same battle stance as Laguna did when playing in the film - Seifer copied his stance from Laguna's portrayal.
 * When approaching his office within the Presidential Palace in Esthar, a detailed portrait of Downtown Winhill is placed just above the doors.
 * In the Debug Menu, amongst the FMVs listed for disc 2 are ones called Laguna/Squall watching the moon. When played, they show scenes from the Clash of the Gardens - indicating these FMVs were dummied out for some reason, most likely lack of disc space. The Laguna scene sounds like it could have been a movie of him proposing to Raine, like in the ending. Squall's moon scene may have been him watching the moon during the concert at Fisherman's Horizon. However, there is also promotional CG artwork that depicts Squall and Laguna looking at the night sky, which may have been part of this FMV at one point.
 * Laguna's Limit Break, Desperado, was the Japanese name of Sazh Katzroy's ATB-full skill in Final Fantasy XIII. The name was changed in the English releases.
 * In Dissidia Final Fantasy, a Ghost Card bearing Laguna's name can be fought. The Laguna ghost is a Level 24 Squall, equipped with Mythril equipment and the Machine Gun weapon, a reference to Laguna's signature artillery. The accessories White Gem and Occult Fan can be won from the ghost via Battlegen. The quote on the card "Just for that, you're gettin' the Cuchi-cuchi treatment" is what Laguna said to Ward during their escape from Esthar soldiers.
 * In Final Fantasy VIII, if ever there is a need to place an appropriate disc, the background shows a laptop with Laguna, Kiros, and Ward (possibly during their mission during disc 2) as a wallpaper with words requesting to enter the appropriate disc.

Laguna Loire