Laguna Loire

Laguna Loire is a temporarily playable character in Final Fantasy VIII. For most of the game the player experiences Laguna through playable flashbacks that are explained to the player as dreams of the main characters. Laguna’s weapon of choice is the machine gun.

Appearance & Personality
Laguna is described throughout the story as a man with many faces and even more talents. He has shoulder-length dark black hair, green eyes, he is cheerful, generous, kind-hearted, and though he hates fighting, he becomes a Galbadian soldier and does it for the sake of the greater purpose. He is well respected among his comrades, Kiros Seagill and Ward Zabac who scorn him sometimes for his impulsive attitude but ultimately rely on him for guidance and direction when push comes to shove. He’s courageous in the face of danger and most especially when his friends are in trouble, but when given time to think about the danger he’s truly in, he usually becomes a little more hesitant. However, he’s always willing to put his life on the line for the sake of justice.

Laguna is known for making up his own answers on the fly whenever he doesn’t know the real answer to something, or occasionally he just gets it wrong altogether. For example: he tells Kiros and Ward that “the unfamiliar always happens” when in actuality they have to correct him and say that it’s the “unexpected” that always happens. They playfully laugh at him for his mistakes to which he usually becomes embarrassed and abruptly ends the conversation. He is also well known for his inability to talk to women, though he exclaims that it’s only “beautiful women” that he gets nervous around and when he does his left leg cramps up. He eventually overcomes this however, when one night he has a full conversation with Julia Heartilly, a piano singer he used to have a crush on when he lived in Deling City. Laguna’s dream is to become a traveling journalist so that he can write all about his adventures with his friends and give others the inspiration the world has given him.

When the player first meets Laguna, he is constantly wearing his Galbadian soldier uniform, albeit without the helmet. However, Laguna’s normal attire consists of a medium blue jacket with white studs and grooves, white undershirt, brown pants, black boots, and his dog tags from his time in the war against Timber's rebellion. As he ages though, he adopts an even more casual appearance, wearing simply a baby blue button-up shirt with khaki slacks and sandals with his hair tied back behind him. However, he still sports his dog tags even in his older age.

Story
Laguna is said to have been born in Deling City, though most to all of his childhood and early adulthood remains a mystery. During his twenties, Laguna joins the Galbadian Army, and participates in the effort to fight against Timber's uprising. His real purpose for doing this is not so much to aid Galbadia to victory but more to ascertain his dream of becoming a traveling journalist, acquiring information about the world around him and writing about his experiences in a magazine. In the army however, Laguna meets Kiros Seagill and Ward Zabac. The three are thrown into a platoon together where they make quick friends and share each other’s dreams and ambitions, Laguna’s being the only one mentioned in the game.

Throughout their time and adventures together, the three frequently fall victim to Laguna’s clumsy nature, though somehow always managing to complete their mission. In this time, Laguna falls in love with Deling City’s most famous lounge pianist, Julia Heartilly. She feels the same way about him but all of their interactions together end awkwardly thanks to Laguna’s nervousness. One night however, at the behest of Kiros and Ward, Laguna manages the nerve to walk up to her piano while she is playing and though his leg cramps up and he is forced to retreat, Julia decides to invite him up to her room to talk. He follows and the two share their life dreams with each other before confessing that they’ve always watched each other from afar. She will eventually begin to write the song, “Eyes on Me” as dedication to their love. Their romance is cut short however, when Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are called away, and after losing their way, ending in Centra and fighting for their lives against Esthar soldiers.

Laguna and his friends are severely injured while fighting off hordes of enemy forces. With no other options left to them, Laguna tosses the tired Kiros and Ward off the side of a cliff into the ocean below before following after them himself. Laguna doesn’t make the jump gracefully however, plummeting to the ocean waters unconscious. The three are separated by the sea and Laguna drifts until he washes up shore in a little village called Winhill where he is found by a woman named Raine and her adopted daughter, Ellone.

For the next six months, Laguna is bed-ridden due to injuries from the fall. Raine nurses him back to health however and he forms a close bond with her and Ellone, who refers to him as “Uncle Laguna”. All the working men in Winhill have been sent off to the war and so Laguna eventually becomes the self-appointed "Monster Hunter of Winhill" since monsters have taken a liking to the defenseless village. He declares Raine to be his commander and Ellone to be the assistant-commander but never lets either of them go out with him on his hunting. After another six months roll by; Kiros, who’s been searching for Laguna ever since he recovered eleven months ago, finally finds him and tells him what’s been going on with Ward and Julia. Ward’s permanently lost his voice thanks to their previous battle and become a janitor at the D-District Prison (which Laguna has trouble believing) while Julia’s now become a famous singer/songwriter and married a General Caraway from the Galbadian army after her “true love” never returned from war. Laguna takes Kiros out on a monster hunting mission where he declares him his Assistant and the two talk about Laguna’s plans of still becoming a journalist. Upon arriving back at the house, the two eavesdrop on a conversation between Raine and Ellone about Raine marrying Laguna to which Raine responds that they’re two entirely different people and that there are things about Laguna that are just too tentative. Afterwards, Laguna gives Raine the report of how many monsters were killed and decides to rest. He hopes and prays that when he wakes up, he’s not anywhere but where he is right now so that he can see Ellone and Raine again. Kiros responds that Laguna’s changed a lot since they last met.

Over the next couple of months, Laguna and Raine eventually fall in love with one another. Laguna proposes to her in the middle of a field not far from Winhill and the two marry shortly after. One day however, Sorceress Adel’s forces come and kidnap Ellone to Esthar while Laguna is away with Kiros getting his first article published in the Timber Maniacs magazine. Laguna promises Raine that he’ll bring Ellone back to Winhill and an unknowingly pregnant Raine promises that she’ll be waiting for him. Laguna and Kiros recruit their old friend Ward and the search for Ellone begins.

Along the way, the three encounter many difficulties in finding Ellone and actually getting into Esthar. They participate in a movie deal to raise money for their travels where Laguna is forced to fight a real Ruby Dragon with a Gunblade, a weapon he hadn’t used since his training at the military academy. With the help of Kiros and Ward, they were able to escape from the nest of dragons hidden on the mountainside. At one point, Laguna meets with Edea Kramer in her orphanage and asks her to keep an eye out for Ellone as well as Sorceress Adel as she’s looking for her successor for the Sorceress power and with Edea being a Sorceress herself, she might be a target. Laguna eventually becomes separated from Kiros and Ward and once again becomes injured, this time winding up in Shumi Village where he repays the Shumi’s kindness and befriends the Moombas, attempting to teach them how to speak.

Eventually, Laguna reunites with Kiros and Ward and they finally find a way into Esthar. In the process of freeing her however they are captured and become imprisoned inside the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory where they join the Adel Resistance against Sorceress Adel. Laguna is appointed their leader after displaying his kindness to one of the Moombas and immediately afterwards stages a jailbreak. After escaping, Laguna and the others finally find Ellone, who’s been kept safe this entire time under the protection of Dr. Odine whose been trying to come up with a way of defeating Adel before she could pass on her abilities to the young girl. To come up with a plan for capturing Sorceress Adel; the four of them end up at the Sorceress Memorial and as part of their plan to seal away the evil Sorceress; they construct an armored cryo-capsule, placing it inside the Memorial, and crafting a simulacrum image of Ellone, whom Adel was desperately searching for to pass her powers onto and continue her reign of terror through her successor. Once Adel is informed that Ellone was being held inside this newly constructed building, the Sorceress transports herself there at once. Inside the Memorial, Adel sees the fake Ellone and moves inside to seize her. However, when she enters the cryo-tomb (later known as the Sorceress Tomb), she is trapped by Laguna and immediately flash-frozen before she can use her Sorceress abilities.

Because of his bravery and wisdom, the people of Esthar appoint Laguna the new President of Esthar, replacing Adel’s former reign. Ellone is sent back to Winhill by Laguna where she stays with Raine as she gives birth to her and Laguna's child; she names him Squall in Laguna’s absence. The new mother then dies due to complications during childbirth. Ellone and Squall are sent to an Edea's Orphanage on Centra where later Ellone leaves and causes the start of Squall's emotional detachment.

Laguna remains the President of Esthar for the next seventeen years and because of his duties to uphold a policy of seclusion and neutrality for his nation, he can’t get away to see Ellone or Raine, who he doesn't know has died. Nor does he know of Squall until Ellone returns years later and fills him in. Towards the end of the game, Laguna finally meets his son as well his comrades, aiding them in the infiltration of the Lunatic Pandora as well as the demise of the Sorceress from the future, Ultimecia. In the end Laguna finally returns and visits Raine's grave in Winhill, fondly he remembers the night he proposed to her. He is joined by Ellone, Kiros, and Ward while Balamb Garden soars overhead.

Weapons
Machine Gun – Laguna’s premier weapon of choice is a standard Galbadian assault rifle machine gun that he wields with devastating accuracy. While not a sharpshooter by nature, he can still outshoot most opponents with ease.

Limit Break
Desperado gkO2sjmC0jw Desperado – Laguna Loire’s limit break damages all enemies at once. He first pulls out a hand-grenade, arms and tosses it into the middle of his opponents. Afterwards, he shoots a grappling hook above him and, as he swings from side to side on his grapple, he fires multiple rounds with his machine gun down upon his enemies. He then jumps off the rope and lands with his back towards the foes as the grenade explodes, dealing massive damage to all enemies.

Creation and Development
Kazushige Nojima planned for the two playable parties featured in the game — Squall Leonhart's present day group and Laguna Loire's group of twenty years in the past — to highly contrast with one another. On one hand, Laguna's group consisted of characters in their late twenties who had a lot of combat experience. They were also close friends who had fought together for a long time and trusted one another. On the other hand, Squall's party was young and inexperienced, and Squall himself did not initially understand the value of friendship.

The concept of two main characters was planned since the beginning of the game's development. Nomura tried to create a contrast between Laguna's and Squall's occupations; thus, Laguna became a soldier and Squall became a mercenary student. The designers intended Laguna to be more similar to the previous protagonists in the Final Fantasy series to complement Squall, who was different from previous main characters.

Musical Themes
Laguna's unofficial theme is called "Fragments of Memories." "The Man with the Machine Gun" is the battle theme for the scenes in which the player controls Laguna's party.

Chocobo World
An 8-bit sprite of Laguna appears in Chocobo World.

Trivia

 * Squall's appearance in Kingdom Hearts bears a resemblance to Laguna with the long hair and short sleeved jacket, whether it was intentional or not remains unclear although it is most likely more based on Squall's design himself in earlier stages.
 * It is never stated explicitly, though it is hinted heavily that Laguna is Squall's father. In every flashback, Laguna always shares Squall's level and junctioning stats whereas Kiros and Ward can share different characters *though this could be explained under Creation and Development and the creators wanting them to be the main characters*. Also the Moombas, and who Laguna bonded with in Shumi Village, mistake Squall for Laguna while held captive in a Galbadian prison. And since Moombas remember people by licking their blood and remembering their genetic code, this is hard evidence backing Laguna being Squall’s father *though another explanation could be from the fact that when Laguna tried to teach the Moombas to talk during his stay at the Shumi Village, the only thing they learned to say was "Laguna"*. Laguna also carries Squall's Triple Triad card and towards the end of the game, while aboard the Ragnarok; Kiros, Ward, and Laguna all hint strongly at the fact that Squall is definitely Laguna’s son, such as Ward telling Squall he should be glad he does not resemble his father, and Kiros stating he resembles his mother.
 * When approaching his office within the Presedential Palace in Esthar, a detailed portrait of Downtown Winhill is placed just above the doors.
 * In the Debug Menu, amongst the FMVs listed for Disc 2 are ones called Laguna/Squall watching the moon. When played, they show scenes from the Clash of the Gardens - indicating these FMVs were dummied out for some reason, most likely lack of disc space. The Laguna scene sounds like it could have been a movie of him proposing to Raine, like in the ending. Squall's moon scene may have been him watching the moon during the concert at Fisherman's Horizon. However, there is also promotional CG artwork that depicts Squall and Laguna looking at the night sky, which may have been part of this FMV at one point.
 * Various examples of unused backgrounds and gifs hint that Laguna may have possessed a lime-green convertible truck during his time in Winhill and used it during Ellone's second abduction.

Etymology
Laguna is the Czech, Italian, Polish, and Spanish word for “lagoon”, a shallow body of salt water separated from larger seas by small sandbanks or coral reefs. This is fitting as both his wife and son share a name linking to water. Unfittingly, laguna is a feminine noun in each language. His surname, Loire, may come from a french river.

Laguna Loire