Fury Caraway



Fury Caraway (フューリー・カーウェイ Fyūrī Kāwei) is a non-playable character in Final Fantasy VIII. The top military official in the Galbadian army (general), he is the husband of the late Julia Heartilly and the father of Rinoa Heartilly.

Appearance and Personality
Fury Caraway is the very image of a military general. Loyal, strong-willed, and stern, Caraway bears the interests of Galbadia as a country in his heart and focuses his efforts of protecting its best interests, even if it meant crossing the country's President. Despite Rinoa's joining a rebel group against Galbadia, Caraway still cares for his daughter. He never admits his feelings to Rinoa, but does attempt to protect her in his own way; such as locking her in the house to prevent her from engaging in a dangerous mission to assassinate the sorceress Edea, and later, when he bails Rinoa out from D-District Prison when she is arrested for engaging in combat against the sorceress.

Story
As a young man, Fury Caraway chose a career of military service to his home nation, Galbadia. By the time of the Sorceress War with Esthar, Caraway had risen to the rank of general, and was stationed in Galbadia's capitol, Deling City, where he worked closely with Galbadian president Vinzer Deling to ensure Galbadia's victory over Esthar's leader, sorceress Adel.

During his frequent visits to the Galbadia Hotel in Deling City, Caraway had befriended the hotel's lounge pianist, 22-year-old Julia Heartilly. During this time Julia went through a difficult time emotionally; she had been in love with Galbadian soldier Laguna Loire, but he disappeared while on a dangerous mission in Centra. Julia was heartbroken, and turned to her friend, Caraway, for comfort. Caraway helped bring her out of her despair, and encouraged her to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer and songwriter. With his support, Julia wrote her first song, "Eyes on Me," a romantic ballad about her lost love, Laguna. The two recorded the song, and it became a hit all over Galbadia.

Julia and Caraway married and built a life together in Deling City. They had a daughter, Rinoa. Caraway advanced his position within the Galbadian military to become the head of military operations, while Julia continued to write and perform songs. Their happiness was shattered a few years later when Julia was killed in an automobile accident, leaving behind a shell-shocked husband and a five-year-old daughter.

After Julia's death, Rinoa and Caraway grew steadily apart. By the time she was seventeen, Rinoa had moved away from home and had adopted her mother's maiden name, Heartilly, as her surname, as a way of symbolically severing herself from her father. To compound their problems, Rinoa joined the Forest Owls, a group of freedom fighters rebelling against the Galbadian government and its military. Engaging in covert operations to liberate territories overrun by Galbadia, Rinoa's chosen lifestyle was an insult to everything Caraway stood for.

Caraway had dedicated his life to serving Galbadia, and had thus always placed his trust in Galbadia's President Deling. However, Caraway begins to doubt the President has the country's best interests in heart as Deling falls increasingly under the influence of the enchanting sorceress Edea, going so far as to appoint her the nation's official ambassador. Although Deling assures Caraway the sorceress would be the perfect tool for intimidating Galbadia's targets to submit to Galbadia's authority without having to fire a shot, Caraway is skeptical. Having lived through the Sorceress War against Adel, Caraway adamantly believes no sorceress would be satisfied with being subordinate to anyone.

Fearing the sorceress would soon take Galbadia for herself, Caraway masterminds a plot to assassinate her in an effort to rid the nation of the menace. Allying himself with Headmaster Martine of Galbadia Garden, Caraway calls upon several SeeD mercenaries to get the job done. The plan involves trapping the sorceress within the Deling City Gate during a parade celebrating her inauguration as Galbadian Ambassador. Once caged within the gate, Irvine Kinneas, a sharpshooter, would fire the killing shot while Edea would be distracted. The plan fails, however, when the sorceress manages to deflect Kinneas's bullet. The SeeD group, accompanied by Rinoa, attempt to destroy the sorceress by engaging in direct combat, but are defeated.

After the assassination mission, Seifer Almasy assumes the control of the Galbadian military and General Caraway is dismissed. He can be found in his mansion for the rest of the game,

Triple Triad
In addition to his military skills, Caraway also plays a mean game of Triple Triad. He carries Rinoa's card, but will only use it in the game if the player loses the Ifrit card to him first. Even if the player immediately challenges Caraway to another game after losing the Ifrit card, he will have already lost it to Martine. To regain the Ifrit card, the player must challenge and defeat the Galbadia Garden headmaster in Fisherman's Horizon.

Trivia

 * Although not mentioned in the game, the General's first name, "Fury," is given in both the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania and the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Character Ultimania.
 * In the English language version, Caraway holds the rank of general, while in the original Japanese version, as well as the German, Spanish and Italian ones, he holds the rank of colonel (two military ranks below General). The reasons for the change in the English version is unknown.

Oberst Carway