Lion Heart (weapon)

The Lion Heart (also written as Lionheart) is a recurring weapon in the Final Fantasy series. It first appeared in Final Fantasy VIII and is widely known for being Squall Leonhart's strongest gunblade.

In its most iconic appearance as Squall's weapon, the Lion Heart is a gunblade whose blade is in a translucent gradient from dark blue at the edge to white near the middle of the blade. The frame of the gun portion is modeled with features incorporating the Revolver, Squall's starting weapon. These include a black gripped handle base, a breach, barrel, and magazine port similar to the M16 assault rifle, various grips to accentuate various positions of wielding—including an extended handle-like stock to a rifle-saber hybrid handguard near the magazine—and a design finish to incorporate the Griever emblem, a lion carved on the side and a wing protrusion emerging from the top. Squall's version of the Lion Heart appears to be able to switch between different fire settings. This can be seen most apparently in the Play Arts toy version of the weapon.

In Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII, the Lionheart is gold colored.

Final Fantasy VIII
The Lion Heart is Squall's ultimate weapon, refined from rare materials around the world. It allows access to all of Squall's finishing moves during his Renzokuken Limit Break.

Items required to remodel a gunblade to Lion Heart are an Adamantine, Dragon Fang x4 and Pulse Ammo rounds x12. The cost of the upgrade is 2000 gil.

Though time-consuming, the necessary ingredients and GF Abilities can be amassed before the end of disc 1. Once obtained, the Lion Heart can be made in any Junk Shop regardless of whether one has read Weapons Monthly, 1st Issue.

Final Fantasy X
A customized version of the Variable Steel is available for Tidus; the Lionheart is a level 10 weapon that has the Double Overdrive ability.

Final Fantasy XI
Lionheart is a great sword in the class of powerful armaments known as aeonic weapons.

Final Fantasy XIII


The Lionheart is a model of gunblade obtainable by Lightning at the beginning of Chapter 12. It can also be bought at Plautus's Workshop for 28,000 gil. At max level it dismantles into Ceramic Armor (x7) and an Uraninite.

It has the trait Quick Stagger, which allows Lightning to immediately stagger an enemy with any strike when the Stagger Gauge is at 90% full. Though it does not have the highest Strength and Magic stats among her weapons, Quick Stagger makes it a valuable weapon. Its upgraded version is the Ultima Weapon.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance


The Lionheart appears as a knight sword for Paladins, Templars and Defenders. It has 34 Attack, 2 Defense, 1 Magic Resistance, and teaches Defense to Paladins and Defenders. It can be bought at the shop.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift


Lion Heart is a weapon usable by Paladins, Templar and Defenders. It has 38 Attack and increases Defense by 2 and Resistance by 1. It is the Rank E item of the "Battle-tested Swords" section of the Bazaar, and requires a Tarkov Crystal, a Zirconium and a Dragon Bone to unlock, and is then bought for 1220 Gil in the shop. It teaches Defend to Paladins and Defenders.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Squall wields the Lion Heart in his EX Mode. Wielding the Lion Heart gives Squall the "Lion Heart (RANGE)" and "Lion Heart (HIT)" abilities. The range boost increases the range of all Squall's melee attacks, while the second ability increases the power of the trigger function when Squall lands a melee attack, doubling the power of each blast.

The Lionheart is also Squall's level 100 exclusive weapon. To obtain it, the player must trade in the Punishment weapon, Unshelled Bullet x5 and Bless Orb x5. The Lion Heart increases the player's Attack by 68, increases EX Force Absorption by 30%, and gives Squall the Sneak Attack ability.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Squall again wields the Lion Heart as his EX Mode weapon, with its effects unchanged. The Lion Heart is also retained as his Level 100 weapon.

Kingdom Hearts series
A called the  can be obtained by defeating Cloud and Leon (Squall) in the. It has high attack power, increases max MP, and increases his magic and  powers. In Chain of Memories, the Lionheart Attack Card can be found in bonus boxes in Traverse Town during Sora's Story, which has high attack but performs poorly in combos. A similar weapon called the can be acquired in Kingdom Hearts II from Leon in  before the second visit to. It has decent attack strength and magical abilities, and increases the amount of strikes Sora can deliver in a combo.

Both Keyblades, despite their names, look more like the Revolver, Squall's starting weapon in Final Fantasy VIII, and not the Lion Heart, and use Squall's leonine Griever emblem as the basis for their designs. The Sleeping Lion in particular has a bladed edge along its length unlike the majority of Keyblades, and a gun barrel set into the handle, making it appear similar to the Revolver. The Sleeping Lion also bears some resemblance to the Twin Lance weapon Squall can receive in Final Fantasy VIII, as it has a hollow gap running through the center of the blade.

When fought in the Colosseum cups, Leon will occasionally power up his gunblade, surrounding the blade with bright blue and gold aura, which makes it appear similar to the Lion Heart.

Merchandise
The Lion Heart is included in the Play Arts Arms set along with four other ultimate weapons. However, its blade is not blue like in its other appearances, but metallic-gray like the Revolver.

Etymology
The name in the Final Fantasy series comes from Squall, who has a lion theme to his character represented also in his ultimate weapon, the Lion Heart.

Trivia

 * The Ras Algethi gun in Final Fantasy XII appears to be based on the Final Fantasy VIII Lion Heart with aspects of the Revolver's design. Though classified as a gun and thus only being used in ranged combat, it bears a large blue blade running along the length of the barrel, a wing design on the hammer, and a handle similar to the Revolver with a chain and wing emblem attached to the end.

Lion Heart