Renzokuken


 * For videos of the various Renzokuken, please go to Renzokuken/Videos.

Renzokuken is Squall Leonhart's Limit Break in Final Fantasy VIII. It was called C. Sword in the PlayStation Final Fantasy VIII Demo.

Renzokuken's first stage is a series of slashes from his gunblade. To increase the amount of damage, the player must hit the shoulder button (the "trigger") as the bar of light sweeps through the gauge at the bottom of the screen and into a small box at the left. After the sequence Squall may attack with one of his four finishing moves.

Execution
When Squall begins the Renzokuken, he rushes forward, and a gauge appears on the screen. Four to eight bars of light sweep through the gauge, and pressing the R1 button when the bars of light move into the trigger box on the left results in a critical hit. It is possible to set the trigger on automatic from the config menu, but it will sometimes miss triggers.

The Crisis Level affects the number of hits in Squall's Renzokuken and the chance to perform a finishing blow.

In addition, there is a 50% chance to perform an additional Renzokuken hit at the end, making the maximum possible amount of hits eight.

Certain enemies have special Renzokuken sequences that are unaffected by Crisis Level. During a special Renzokuken sequence the triggers' timing is different from the regular Renzokuken sequence.

The following Bosses have unique Renzokuken sequences:
 * Elvoret/Elnoyle - 6 Hits
 * X-ATM092 - 4 Hits
 * NORG - 6 Hits
 * Jumbo Cactuar - 7 Hits
 * Bahamut - 6 Hits
 * Adel - 6 Hits
 * Sorceress - 7 Hits
 * Ultima Weapon - 7 Hits
 * Griever - 5 Hits
 * Ultimecia (Junctioned to Griever) - 8 Hits
 * Ultimecia (Final Battle) - 7 Hits

At the end of the Renzokuken sequence Squall may use one of his finishing moves.

Finishing Moves
After the Renzokuken sequence there's a chance to perform a finishing blow.
 * $$Chance \% = (CL * 60 + 1) / 256 * 100$$

Meaning, there's a (Crisis Level * ~23.6%) chance to perform a finishing blow. Which finishing blow is used is not affected by Crisis Level, but rather has a fixed chance of occurring depending on which weapon Squall has equipped. All finishing blows are physical attacks and can do critical damage.

Rough Divide
Rough Divide is Squall's initial finishing move, as well as the weakest. He charges forward and slices an enemy with a diagonal upwards cut, causing an explosion that damages them. Squall uses a backhanded slash similar to this in the game's opening when he scars Seifer.

Fated Circle
Fated Circle is Squall's second finishing move. Squall jumps up into the air while charging energy into his gunblade. At the peak of his jump he spins in a circle, releasing a shockwave that damages all enemies.

Blasting Zone
Blasting Zone is Squall's third finishing move. Squall raises his gunblade overhead, charges up and extends a pillar of energy to the outer atmosphere, then slams the gunblade into the ground to hit all enemies with the pillar.

Lion Heart
Lion Heart is Squall's ultimate finishing move, and can only be used after acquiring his ultimate weapon (also called the Lionheart). It strikes a single opponent 17 times, causing massive damage.

After Zell's Duel, it is the strongest Limit Break in the game, accounting for the plus damage of the Renzokuken's four to eight hits. During optimal conditions, a total of 249,975 points of damage is possible in one attack round. Lion Heart can easily do 9999 damage per hit even with average strength and no Vit 0, making it ideal for low level runs where its damage will not be hindered by the damage cap.

Final Fantasy VIII Demo
In the PlayStation demo version, Squall would only get four hits, the execution would be without the indicator, and he would have only one finisher, Fated Circle. In the demo Squall can also use his Limit Break even when he is not in critical health, although the chance for this appears rarely.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Squall's EX Burst in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series is the Renzokuken, requiring him to successfully time presses of the R button to land a potential eight hits. He finishes the EX Burst with a variation of Lion Heart; rather than attack enemies with several rapid attacks, it is downplayed to a single attack reminiscent of the final blow seen in the original, where Squall charges energy into the Lion Heart and dashes past the opponent to strike them once, releasing a shockwave on impact.

Rough Divide, Fated Circle, and Blasting Zone also appear as Squall's HP attacks. However, they function somewhat differently compared to the original attacks: Rough Divide is a charge attack, and Fated Circle and Blasting Zone have much smaller ranges of impact from what is shown in Final Fantasy VIII. Squall also has an alternate version of Fated Circle called Aerial Circle, which has a vertical area of effect as opposed to the horizontal area Fated Circle has.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Squall retains all his HP attacks from the original Dissidia, and Renzokuken is still his EX Burst. Renzokuken is normally the weakest EX Burst in the game; Cloud and Tidus may have a weaker EX Burst depending on their HP due to their EX Mode abilities, while Tifa may have a weaker EX Burst depending on her remaining EX Force.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Lion Heart is Squall's exclusive skill, learned at Level 40 and costing 18 CP to equip. During BMS, whenever a boss-type enemy enters Lion Heart activates automatically to inflict damage based on Squall's Strength, Agility and Luck.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Squall appears as a Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade where he can use his Renzokuken techniques.

Kingdom Hearts series
Squall is able to charge his gunblade with energy with a technique similar to Blasting Zone, where he raises his gunblade into the air and it takes on a glowing blue and gold aura. At this point Squall's attacks increase in power and range. Squall is also able to use an attack similar to Rough Divide, where he charges forward and leaps into the air while slashing diagonally, then descends and slams his gunblade into the ground. Additionally, Squall uses a spinning attack reminiscent of Fated Circle, but to a smaller scale and without explosions.

In Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, Sora has an attack called "Zone of Ruin" as a finish command, where he summons a large glowing gold aura over his Keyblade and swings to hit enemies over a wide area. The Japanese name of the attack is "Blasting Zone".

Trivia

 * Ultimecia's EX Burst in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series is a variation of the Renzokuken called Time Compression. It operates similarly to Renzokuken, requiring the player to press repeatedly to time up to twelve potential strikes. She ends the EX Burst with Sorceress Heart, where she consumes the opponent in a large explosion. The name parallels the name of Squall's finishing blow, Lion Heart.
 * If Renzokuken is executed on the enemy Blitz while it's in charged mode, Squall will also get damaged with Thunder-elemental damage. But with the correct junctions, he can absorb the damage instead and heals Squall while executing Renzokuken on the said monster. Same applies with his Finishing Blows.