A lot of people complain about FF 8 for the lackluster romance plot. To them, it seems that Rinoa and Squall only become a couple because they’re the attractive protagonists. They say that it doesn’t work because they can’t stand each other at first and when Squall is injured, their affection grows much too quickly. I’m here to talk about why I think the way the story line played out is actually fairly natural. Mind you, this is all just opinion, and I don’t know that this is what was intended when the game was conceived, but it’s part of the reason why I love these two as people as well as a couple. I know they’re not perfect, and honestly, there are things about them I don’t like. But I think they’re well-written if you think about it closely.
Before the end of disk one:
Okay, for this to make sense, I’m going to look at Rinoa and Squall individually before and after the attempted assassination. Here goes!
Squall:
It makes perfect sense that Squall would find Rinoa completely infuriating. She’s very naive, she acts like a brat and she talks too much for our introverted main man. The fact that they get together at all is a head scratcher from the beginning. He finds her annoying when she and the Forest Owls enlist the SeeD’s help in rebellion. To Squall, she’s a kid. Rinoa pokes her nose into other’s business, a sore spot for Squall. She also was in love with his rival, Seifer just a short time before their meeting. Talk about a double pain.
Squall takes no time to think about her feelings when he speaks, and it leads to confrontation between the two. Rinoa acts like she can ‘fix’ Squall, when he doesn’t feel particularly broken. That’s part of the reason he won’t give her the time of day. He wants as little unnecessary connections as possible, and her targeting his isolation rubs him the wrong way.
Rinoa:
Squall is the ULTIMATE stick in the mud to Rinoa when they meet on the train. While at the party, he intrigues her, sure. Upon further learning about his rank and abilities, she quickly decides to use her connections and influence to get what she wants for as long as possible. In this case, it’s an unspecified end contract with Balamb Garden, giving her complete access to Squall’s team. She grew up in a very serious household. Being a teenager, Rinoa decides to rebel.
For her, Squall is a project. Rinoa is a bit like a child in feeling that she can and should manipulate people. She was born of very important and wealthy people, so she has been used to getting what she wants. When Squall only reluctantly gives her what she wants, she sees that as a challenge. She is determined to change his mindset and make him see things through her eyes. Let’s not forget that Rinoa is stubborn to a fault sometimes. She tags along at Squall’s side, attempting to get under his skin. I think she does it because she likes to see his reaction.
Now here’s where everything changes: the end of Disk one.
After fighting the sorceress, Squall is injured in his shoulder area and is sent to recover. When he wakes up, all proof of the attack is gone, but he is faintly able to remember what happened. This is where things get a little fantastic.
There’s a theory that nothing past this point is reality. Thankfully for my OTP, it’s been shut down by the creators. He did like the idea though, so we’ll see what happens.
Rinoa:
From here on out, Rinoa seems to be tied to Squall’s side. She still is playful, but there are also large chunks of time where she is either in a coma or the damsel in distress. When she gains the sorceress’ powers, she is afraid (a very apt emotion to this kind of news, in my opinion.) She responds to the only male who hasn’t let her down for support: Squall. Throughout her life, Rinoa has seen her father as ‘the enemy’ against her rebellion. She has broken up with Seifer, so he can’t be a help, and there really aren’t too many other men that we know about in Rinoa’s life.
Being that she is incredibly childlike, I think part of the sudden attachment comes from seeing a near-death experience. Given her upbringing, she likely hasn’t seen much of the hardships of life. She probably also hasn’t seen much sorrow with the rebellion, as it’s mostly just her little group of friends who are willing to call her ‘princess’ and give her a fairly large room. They enable her life of not knowing what the world looks like for sure. She also is incredibly reliant on her emotions when it comes to decision making, so that’s a huge factor in why she feels that she can trust Squall and even fall in love.
Then cue Squall. He’s extremely rough around the edges and shows her that life isn’t going to hand you everything on a silver platter. Rinoa and Squall have a feedback kind of relationship. (I’ll talk more about his side of the feedback in a minute.) They bounce off each other. Something that one person does (say when Squall decides to open up a little to Rinoa) reverberates with them and sends an echo back. (Because Squall decides to put some trust in the leader of the Timber Owls, she softens her own feelings against him, etc.)
Squall:
Being critically injured during a mission is bad. But do you think it’s bad enough to turn someone’s life upside down? I would assume that it would in this case, because Squall slowly begins to open up. Considering the length left in the game, Squall and Rinoa seem like they get lovey-dovey pretty quickly. However, granted that Squall nearly died from the assassination attempt, it’s not out of the realm of thought. While Rinoa thrives on emotion to make choices, Squall’s mindset is much more logical. She seems to throw herself at him in the relationship, while he is a smidge more hesitant.
We as the players get to see inside Squall’s mind. We understand his train of thought and how he opens up to him. Little did he or we expect that Rinoa’s emotions would come rushing in like water, filling every nook and cranny of Squall’s mind. He can’t help but think about her and how she is adjusting.
Let’s also talk about Squall’s psyche. Being left alone by Ellone when he was very young left him incredibly vulnerable. He closed off himself to protect his inner shell. He’s your typical Byronic hero- rough on the outside, but a big teddy bear on the inside. It takes him meeting Rinoa to draw that out of him. Besides all of the points previously mentioned, Squall would have seen Rinoa to be a sort of version of himself while at the orphanage. She’s vulnerable, a little ditzy and needs someone to hold her hand. (Not to say she can’t do anything for herself. We all know that she is a very capable fighter and quite good at getting what she wants/needs). He just notices the childlike way she acts, and makes that connection in his brain. That’s one of the reasons he starts to fall in love. At first it’s almost a parental or best friend love that turns romantic.
Conclusion:
I know that was an awful lot to think about, and honestly, I’m sure I’ll go back and edit it, since it’s super clear in my head, but probably came out all at once on the page. That’s why I think they could totally work- the near death experience begins the feedback, and each small action where they help one another softens the walls they both have built. They learn to tolerate each other’s weaknesses and want nothing more than to get out of fighting so they can be together like regular people.
Grounded Geek 