Laguna Loire/Dissidia

Unreleased

Laguna Loire has been confirmed as the third representative for Final Fantasy VIII in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. The heavily implied father of Squall Leonhart, Laguna, a bumbling soldier who wished to become a journalist, acted as a secondary protagonist during dream sequences in the original game, fighting alongside his comrades Ward Zabac and Kiros Seagill, and later appeared as the president of Esthar to aid Squall and his friends in their battle against Ultimecia.

Appearance
His costume in Dissidia 012 is identical to his original Final Fantasy VIII appearance. He wears a blue jacket with rolled sleeves over a white t-shirt with brown cargo-pants. He also wears black boots, fingerless gloves and a large, black belt. He has long, black hair, combed over to the right side of his face, and his eyes are a green color. His first alternate costume is his Galbadian soldier uniform, as seen in earlier dream sequences in Final Fantasy VIII. In this outfit he wears a dark blue uniform with silver armor on his arms and torso.

Story
Not much is currently known about his role. In one screenshot from the story mode, he is seen alongside Vaan and Tifa. According to the Famitsu scan, he will act like a big brother to the Warriors of Cosmos, mediating them thanks to his cheerful and carefree nature.

Battle
Laguna's fighting style is Tactical Gunner. He uses a variety of weapons to fight, including his trademark machine gun, a rocket launcher, shotgun, grenades and a sniper rifle. He can attack while moving and, like Ultimecia, can alter the effects of his attacks by holding the button. For example, holding the button when using his machine gun fires more shots, while holding it when using his shotgun concentrates the shot to break guards over a smaller range. When using his rocket launcher and sniper rifle, Laguna can aim freely using the analog stick, and fires when the player lets go of the button.

EX Mode
Laguna's EX Mode is The Faeries Have Come, a reference to the flashbacks of Final Fantasy VIII where he and his comrades believed the presence of Squall and his friends to be faeries giving them strength. His EX Mode bonuses are currently unknown, but his weapons turn gold, a reference to the Aura spell which had such a visual effect in Final Fantasy VIII.

Laguna's EX Burst is Ultimate Ragnarok Cannon, where he leaps onto a battle platform based on the Ragnarok and assaults enemies with the combined force of all his weapons, including a large laser blast from the platform.