Michael Hernandez

No, seriously, I just randomly thought of this as I've been revisiting Final Fantasy VIII, for the first time in 20 years, over the last few weeks. Don't get me wrong, Squall and Rinoa have vastly different personalities (he's an introvert, she's an extrovert), but, outside of that, they share a lot of similarities:

Both are originally from the Galbadia region — Squall was born in Winhill; Rinoa was born and raised in Deling City.

Both lost their mothers at a very young age — Raine died after she gave birth to Squall; Julia died right before Rinoa turned 5.

Both have non-existent relationships with their fathers in the present time — in the game, Squall never directly finds out that Laguna is his long-lost father; Rinoa has been estranged from Caraway for who knows how long.

Both look more like their mothers than their fathers, in terms of physical appearance — while aboard the Ragnarok at the end of Disc 3, Kiros and Ward both comment that Squall looks very much like Raine, and that it's a good thing he doesn't look like Laguna; Rinoa is almost a carbon-copy of Julia.

Both wear a ring on a necklace — Squall wears a pendant of Griever above a cross that's reminiscent of the Cross of Saint James, as well as a ring featuring a profile of Griever, around a chain; Rinoa wears what appears to be Julia's wedding ring around a chain. In Disc 3, Squall tells Rinoa to keep the Griever ring when she willingly goes to Esthar to be self-restrained and they think they'll be separated forever (which is touched upon in bullet #7 below).

Both are strategists and leaders of their respective groups, SeeD (Squall) and the Forest Owls (Rinoa).

Both are driven, impulsive, and persistent — Squall is determined to complete the assassination mission after Irvine fails to kill the Ultimecia-possessed Edea in Deling City; he hastily saves Zell when the latter is about to be shot in the head at the D-District Prison; and there's everything he does and perseveres through to save Rinoa in Disc 3 (which I've already covered in my previous post). Rinoa is determined to liberate Timber with the Forest Owls; she hastily tries to suppress the Ultimecia-possessed Edea by herself in Deling City; and, despite being scared and knowing that she may be cryogenically frozen forever, she perseveres in her decision to seal away her Sorceress powers, prevent Ultimecia from possessing her again, and keep the world safe from her.

Both prefer to not talk or think about the future — this is made explicitly clear during the good date at the Garden Festival in Fishermans Horizon (Irish Jig/Let's Dance = Guitar, Violin, Flute, and Tap) in Disc 2, and during the romance scene in the Ragnarok in Disc 3.

Both have had a fear of isolation since they were 4 years old — Squall has suffered from loneliness ever since Ellone had to leave Edea's orphanage; dummied out dialogue (during the aforementioned romance scene in the Ragnarok in Disc 3) indicates that Rinoa has suffered from loneliness ever since Julia died and Caraway became too busy.

Welp, that's 9 similarities. I think I covered everything. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk!