Laguna Loire/Dissidia

Laguna Loire is the third representative of Final Fantasy VIII in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Laguna was once a soldier of the Galbadian Army alongside Kiros and Ward, whose backstories were explained through flashbacks and playable dream sequences. The brotherly soldier quit the army, became a journalist, starred in a movie, and eventually became the new president of Esthar, where he crossed paths with the recipients of his experiences while assisting him in his battle against the sorceress Ultimecia.

In the game's story mode, his rival is the Cloud of Darkness.

Profile
Laguna's outfit is identical to his original Final Fantasy VIII appearance. He appears as an adult who wears a blue jacket with rolled sleeves over a white T-shirt with brown cargo-pants, black boots, fingerless gloves and a large black belt. He has long black hair, which is combed over to the right side. His eyes are green and he wears dog-tags and a silver earring for all three costumes.

Laguna's first alternate costume, "Galbadian Soldier", is his. He wears a dark blue bodysuit with armor covering his chest and hips.

His second alternate costume, "President", is in Squall's time in Final Fantasy VIII when he is the president of Esthar. He wears a light blue button-up shirt with brown pants and sandals. He also has his hair tied back.

His DLC outfit, "Sorceress's Knight", is his appearance as Zefer, at a, donning a suit of armor with a purple skirt over the thighs. This outfit was released for download in Japan on April 7th.

Laguna's manikin, Transient Gunner, is purple.

Story
Laguna is a Warrior of Cosmos, acting like a big brother to the other Warriors and mediating them thanks to his cheerful and carefree nature. Prior to the conflict's beginning, Laguna accompanied Squall and Firion on patrol, giving the latter the 'wild' rose they found. After Firion runs off to find the others, Laguna proceeds to talk to Squall about their new friends; like Zidane, whose tail he pulled during their meeting. He also tries to talk him out of being a loner. When Squall questions the point of making friends, Laguna explains that even if they were both from the same world, they would be separated eventually.

Later, as the conflict begins, Laguna gets his group of Cosmos's warriors lost when trying to find the sanctuary. He talks to Kain and Lightning, playfully teasing her about her somewhat harsh personality.

After arriving at the sanctuary and receiving his dormant crystal from Cosmos, Laguna travels with Lightning, Vaan, and Tifa, but they end up getting separated when they are attacked by Kuja and Kefka and the manikins. While on his own, Laguna encounters and fights the Cloud of Darkness.

When their fight is over, Laguna starts having leg cramps after staring at the Cloud of Darkness in an awkward way. After telling her he is helping Cosmos rather than serving her, Laguna's words pique the Cloud of Darkness's interest and she reveals where the manikins are coming from. Cloud of Darkness reveals this information as a potential suicide mission, and is curious about the manner of death that Laguna would choose for himself.

Later on, Laguna and Vaan find Yuna with an unconscious Tidus after the Emperor has kidnapped Jecht. They manage to cheer her up, and the three return to Cosmos and talk to Lightning and the Warrior of Light. Here, Laguna informs everyone that he knows where the manikins are coming from and volunteers to help Lightning in destroying the manikins.

Laguna then travels with Lightning, Vaan and Yuna to the portal, reuniting with Kain and Tifa along the way. Eventually reaching the Empyreal Paradox, Laguna fights alongside Lightning, Vaan, Yuna, and Tifa against Garland, the Emperor, the Cloud of Darkness, Kefka, and Ultimecia with Laguna fighting the Cloud of Darkness a second time. Afterwards, they, along with Kain, fight a multitude of manikins. They managed to close the portal the manikins are emerging from, but fall in battle. As Shinryu takes Cosmos and her other warriors to the next cycle of conflict, Laguna and his friends fade away in front of the Warrior of Light.

Official Quests
In "Bartz's Quest 012: Mimicry And a Promise", Bartz, Laguna and Jecht are searching for treasure together. Bartz challenges Laguna to a battle, wishing to learn how to mimic Laguna's attacks. Laguna accepts, only using his Ragnarok Blade attack during the battle, and Bartz learns to copy him successfully. In "Squall's Quest 012: The Shadow I Know I Saw", Squall goes to look for Laguna when he gets left behind, and after a battle with Cloud sees Laguna and calls to him. Laguna appears behind Squall however, and Squall thinks the Laguna he thought he saw was just a shadow, unaware it was the first sighting of a manikin.

Gameplay
Laguna is a Tactical Gunner, using a variety of firearms to fight from a range, including his trademark machine gun, rocket launchers, and grenades. His HP attacks use a laser cannon that is a miniature version of the Ragnarok airship. Laguna can alter the effects of his attacks depending on the player tapping or holding when attacking. For example, tapping the button when throwing a grenade adjusts its range, while holding it when using his rocket launcher and sniper rifle lets Laguna aim freely using the analog stick, before firing to hit the opponent from a different angle. A downside is that many of Laguna's Bravery attacks have noticeable lag when used and are easy to dodge or block.

EX Mode


Laguna's EX Mode is Look, the faeries are here, where his weapons turn gold, a reference to the Aura status in Final Fantasy VIII. In his EX Mode Laguna gains the ability "A Faeries' Miracle" that lets him cancel out the lag from his Bravery attacks by attacking again right after, letting him assault opponents much faster.

Laguna's EX Burst is Desperado, where he blasts his opponent with a rocket launcher, then throws a grenade and swings on a rope before attacking with the machine gun. A cross-hair target appears and the player has to press to fire at the opponent, using the analog stick to keep it centered on them as they move around the screen, filling a damage meter. If the player is successful, Laguna ends the EX Burst with Ultimate Ragnarok Cannon where he calls all of his weapons together to concentrate energy and fires an enormous laser beam at the opponent with the detonating grenade dealing HP damage. Failure to fill the meter will result in the grenade exploding while Laguna poses.

Equipment
Laguna can equip Swords, Daggers, Greatswords, Guns, Shields, Bangles, Hats, Helms, Clothing, Light Armor, and Chestplates.

Allusions

 * All of Laguna's weapons in Dissidia 012 are in some way present in Final Fantasy VIII:
 * The Machine Gun is the one he uses as his primary weapon. He also uses the grenades as part of his Limit Break.
 * His Ragnarok Cannon is a reference to the one on the Ragnarok itself.
 * Shotguns are used by Irvine. He also uses a sniper rifle while attempting to assassinate Edea in Galbadia.
 * Selphie proposed using a bazooka to blow up the train Vinzer Deling was on.
 * The six-pack missile launcher resembles the launchers at the Missile Base in Galbadia.
 * Laguna's use of the Ragnarok in his attacks is a reference to Esthar's use of the airship Ragnarok during the Sorceress War. Laguna became the leader of Esthar after the war.
 * It is also a pun on his name; Laguna's name in Japanese, is spelled the same as the first three characters in the name of the "Ragnarok".
 * The name of Laguna's EX Mode is 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.
 * In addition, the damage gauge in his EX Burst is identical to the gauge when summoning a Guardian Force, although it depleted rather than filled up.
 * Laguna's imperfect EX Burst is identical to his Final Fantasy VIII limit break, Desperado.
 * Laguna has a leg cramp when confronting the Cloud of Darkness, a reference to Final Fantasy VIII when he had a leg cramp and backed down when attempting to speak to Julia.
 * In his encounter quote against Onion Knight, Laguna refers to himself as "Uncle Laguna", the nickname Ellone would call him by.
 * Laguna's Grenade Bomb and Satellite Laser appeared as Barret Wallace's Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII.
 * Many quotes are taken from Laguna's episode at the Centra Excavation Site.
 * When he tries to convince his fellow soldiers setting up traps against Esthar Soldiers is a good idea, Laguna proclaims, "I have to admit... I really am a genius."
 * When his friends scoff his efforts for setting up such a simple trap, Laguna insists that, "We won't know until we try! And those who never try will never know!"
 * In his encounter quote against the Emperor, Laguna warns his opponent to not fall for his own traps, an echo of when he told his companions that, "It'd be idiotic to fall for our own trap..."
 * Laguna's encounter quote against Garland is a reference to when he was an aspiring journalist for Timber Maniacs.
 * Laguna's encounter quote against Firion is a reference to when his fellow soldiers teased him for his crush on the pianist Julia Heartilly. This also ties into the Firion's "rose theme", as the song "Roses and Wine" played during his time with Julia.
 * In another encounter quote, he says, "Well, time for me to start my run," referring to the time he spent in Winhill going out on daily patrols to protect the civilians from monsters.
 * In the beginning of the twelfth cycle of war, Laguna takes the lead, but gets the group lost much to everyone's frustration. This is similar to his role in Final Fantasy VIII where Laguna took the lead to help his comrades, Kiros and Ward, get back to Deling City only to get them lost in the jungle. He also brought the wrong map when they were exploring the Centra Excavation Site.
 * If Laguna fights Squall, Squall's encounter quote is, "This guy's like a bad dream," a reference to the dreams Squall and his friends had of Laguna and his friends in Final Fantasy VIII.
 * Upon reaching level 100, a secret voice clip is unlocked in the PP Catalog of Laguna saying, "You're getting the Cuchi-cuchi treatment!" This is the line he said to Ward while treating his wounded throat.
 * Sometimes, Laguna might say out, "You're getting the Cuchi-cuchi treatment!" instead of, "The greatest attack ever!" in the HP portion of his EX Burst once unlocked.
 * Laguna's ability to use swords and greatswords may be a reference to the time when he, while playing the role of Zefer at a movie filming, was forced to fend off a Ruby Dragon with a gunblade.
 * Laguna's special trade item, Toe Jam Tragedy, which is used to trade for the Ragnarok Pistol, is a reference to when Laguna recounts a story of how Ellone once got mad at him and put jam in his boots. Its quote, "Sometimes kindness is to just sit back and watch", further functions as a double reference to the time his leg cramps acted up upon wanting to talk to Julia during a performance.

Trivia

 * Laguna's declaration when he enters EX Mode, "you've awakened the genius," serves as a pun on the ancient Roman mythological meaning of "genius", which referred to a guardian spirit of a person. As Laguna's EX Mode name refers to when he was imbued with Squall's power, "genius" can thus be taken to refer to Squall's Guardian Forces that Laguna was able to use as well when he tapped into Squall's power.
 * Originally, Laguna was intended to be in , as the secret head of the . It was decided however that he only ought to appear in one of the games, and thus he was left out of Birth By Sleep in favor of Dissidia 012.
 * Laguna shares the same Japanese voice actor as Balthier from Final Fantasy XII, Hiroaki Hirata.
 * Laguna's EX Burst deals the most hits of any attack in the game—it hits four times at the start, fires forty shots from the machine gun, then deals fourteen hits with Ultimate Ragnarok Cannon, for a total of fifty-eight hits. Also, if the opponent has 0 base bravery, each of the fourteen hits of the Ultimate Ragnarok Cannon will inflict break.
 * Laguna is tied with Prishe and Vaan for the fewest HP attacks (counting ground and midair variants), having only four total.

Laguna Loire (Dissidia 012)