Sorceress (Final Fantasy VIII)

In the world of Final Fantasy VIII, Sorceresses (or Witches in the Japanese/ German Version) are human beings who have received the Sorceress Power, given to humanity by the Great Hyne long ago. A Sorceress differs from normal humans as s/ he can live longer and can use magic naturally (without the use of Guardian Forces) until s/ he must eventually pass his/ her powers to another human being at the time of his/ her death. The recipient has no say in the matter of who the powers go to, and thus people could well be given powers against their will. In the event that a human were to resist receiving the powers of a dying Sorceress, it is likely that the Sorceress would overcome the recipient with sheer force of will and could thus inadvertently cause them great pain if they attempt to fight the "gift." During the game, we know of four Sorceresses: Edea Kramer, Rinoa Heartilly, Adel, and Ultimecia. Some Sorceresses aren't even aware of their powers, and others just hide them from the world.

Calling a Sorceress a Descendant of Hyne is a sign of great respect. Also, Sorceresses are not always female (Adel is sometimes thought of as male, and Hyne is considered to be male).

Sorceress Knight
The term Sorceress Knight is applied to a male companion to a sorceress. It is later explained by Edea that the knight provides a sense of moral and emotional stability for the sorceress he protects and that most evil sorceresses (such as Adel) had no knights, making it easier for them to lose sight of their original personalities.

When Edea explains this, Rinoa jokes that she thinks she's found an "apprentice knight" (implicitly, Squall,) indicating that she knows he will support her, but he isn't quite ready for the challenge yet.

It has been speculated that while Cid (Edea's husband and knight) was with her at the orphanage, she could keep herself under control. However, when he left to become headmaster of Balamb Garden, Edea became susceptible to corruption.

Battle
At the start of Time Compression, Squall and the party will fight eleven incarnations of Sorceresses from different time periods. Though there are eleven, they only have three different appearances. This might be due to Time Compression; all eleven Sorceresses have apparently only appeared because time has run together, and since their Sorceress power is presumably the reason they were thrown into Time Compression anyways, it might have modified their appearance along with their state of being. The backstories for these eleven Sorceresses are unknown, as are their real names, their place of origin, and for that matter, even the real reason why they attack Squall at the Commencement Room. It is possible that, not knowing why they have suddenly been dragged out of their own times, they are simply attacking the people who seem like they might be responsible for it; it is equally possible that Ultimecia is controlling them, as she did Edea, Adel, and Rinoa. It is also not known whether defeating these Sorceresses sent them back out of Time Compression, or genuinely killed them--if it is the latter, eleven genuinely innocent Sorceresses might die in these battles.