Revolver (Final Fantasy VIII)


 * For the weapon from Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, see: List of Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- Weapons



The Revolver (リボルバー), is the gunblade of choice for Squall Leonhart in most of his appearances in the Final Fantasy series. An iconic symbol from Final Fantasy VIII, it has since appeared in several other games in the series. It is a sword with a revolver chamber, which serves as the hilt for the blade. Despite its name it cannot be used as an actual gun, meaning it does not fire projectiles, and can therefore only be used in melee combat.

The Revolver is famous not only for being Squall Leonhart's weapon, but also for its unique and exotic appearance. It is possibly one of the best known swords in the Final Fantasy series, along with the Buster Sword, the Masamune, the Excalibur, the Ultima Weapon, the Brotherhood, and others.

Final Fantasy VIII
Squall carries the Revolver model gunblade as his personal weapon, adding memorabilia of Griever on the weapon such as an etching across the blade and a Griever keychain attached to the base of the hilt.

In the game, triggering a round in the gun chamber sends a shock wave through the blade, increasing its damage potential, but the timing required is hard to learn, which is why it takes years to master wielding a gunblade. The player can effectively utilize this ability during gameplay by pressing the trigger button (R1 in the PlayStation version) just as Squall is about to hit an enemy, causing an automatic critical hit.

The Revolver appears as Squall's first model and as such is quickly outclassed by newer models. However, it remains in certain FMV sequences no matter what other model Squall possesses at the time. Such sequences include when Squall frees Rinoa from being flash frozen in the Sorceress Memorial.

During one of the flashback sequences, Laguna Loire wields a gunblade that resembles the Revolver. In the Game Over menu for Final Fantasy VIII, the Revolver appears broken in two with the blade sticking out of the ground with a black background and a white feather.

Final Fantasy XII
In Final Fantasy XII, Gilgamesh has the Revolver gunblade amongst his collection of Legendary Weapons. However, like all his swords, it is slightly different, having an image of a Chocobo printed on the blade, no trigger, and lacks the chain and Griever symbol.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
The Revolver appears again as Squall's weapon of choice, although it is used single-handedly in Dissidia. When he enters EX Mode, the Revolver is replaced by the Lion Heart. As a Mime, Bartz also uses the Revolver in his EX Burst, and when using the "Climbarrel" and "Solid Ascension" attacks. The Revolver is also an equippable weapon exclusive to Squall found in Destiny Odyssey VIII, and is a Level 1 weapon that boosts Attack by 4. It can be traded with other materials for a more powerful weapon.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The Revolver is still used by Squall as his primary weapon. As in Dissidia, it is also an exclusive weapon for Squall, and can found in his chapter of the 013 story. However, its Attack rating is increased to +22.

Non-specific appearances
Since the Revolver is Squall's icon weapon, the non-specific appearance of this blade is directly related with the appearance of Squall in other games, like Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special, the Final Fantasy Anthology and Chocobo Racing.

Parasite Eve II
A gunblade makes an appearance in  as a weapon the gorilla-like Number 9 uses. Upon his defeat Aya can use the weapon as one of her secret weapons if certain objectives are met. Although it is named "Gunblade", it shares the appearance of Revolver in particular. This gunblade uses shotgun shells (Buckshot, Firefly, R. Slug), and uses R2 to fire and R1 to slash.

Kingdom Hearts Series
Squall wields his gunblade throughout the series as he leads the majority of the Final Fantasy cast into battle against the Heartless and Nobodies. It is never shown if the trigger function of the gunblade actually works in the game, but some sound effects during battle seem to indicate that it does.

The keyblades Lionheart and Sleeping Lion vaguely resemble Squall's gunblade, as both possess silver color schemes and Griever accessories. The Sleeping Lion even has a double-edged blade along its length and a gun barrel built into the handle, though it is merely decorative.

8-Bit Theater
In the Epilogue, when Fighter and Black Mage realize they are lost, the Revolver is seen along with the Buster Sword in "Akbar's Not Useless Tools" shop.

Creation and Development
The weapons were, in their original appearance of Final Fantasy VIII, designed by Tetsuya Nomura. At the time he was planning Squall's weapon, he was into silver accessories and Nomura felt he wanted Squall to have a silver weapon as well. Another key factor in creating Squall's weapon was how he wanted some new way for the player to control the weapon in battle. With both of these ideas combined, Nomura came up with a gunblade. Nomura has stated that upon reflection, it has a rather odd appearance.

Merchandise/Replicas

 * Squall's Play Arts Action Figure comes with a Revolver gunblade.
 * Final Fantasy Master Arms include miniaturized replicas of both Squall's gunblade and Seifer's Hyperion.
 * The "Sleeping Lion Heart" Zippo lighter comes with a stand that features the Revolver.