Rinoa from Final Fantasy 8 was another character in the Final Fantasy series that you either loved or hated. Regardless, underneath her cheery and extraverted character design lie some pretty complex ideas. Herein, the symbolism and character relations of Rinoa Heartily will be explored.

Rinoa’s General Characteristics:

Rinoa is upbeat and a people person who basically follows what she believes and expects others to as well. Subsequently, she gets into arguments with those around her concerning their treatment of other people as well as their views concerning various situations. All this leads Rinoa into arguments as well as to act emotionally to situations rather than logically. This is both a weakness and strength as it allows her to be brave in the face of adversity, but also foolish when facing impossible odds.

Rinoa’s Rebellion:

Rinoa’s rebellion seems to be intended to place her worldviews upon the world as well as a rebellion against her father, General Caroway. Given that Caroway is a General in the Galbadian army it would make sense that she would oppose Galbadia. Her worldviews appear to be strongly left wing, most likely some form of Anarchism as suggested by her writings that are displayed in various extras to be found in Final Fantasy 8.

Rinoa and Squall As Yin/Yang:

The central theme of the relationship between Rinoa and Squall is balance between Yin/Yang. While the two have very different personalities, they have both come to alike conclusions about the world and what they dislike about it, which results in their various behaviours. Squall is associated with the dark aspect of the Yin/Yang in that his dislike of the world leads him to detach himself from it and become extremely introverted. Rinoa is the opposite of this, she is the light aspect of the yin/yang as she seeks to assert herself on the world and change it.

At the end of Final Fantasy 8 the yin/yang difference and need for each other are revealed most strongly, with the ending sequences of the two characters being akin to time-lapse video. Squall’s world without Rinoa in it becomes a desert due to his introversion. Rinoa’s world goes from being a field of flowers to a vicious storm, in other words she becomes a tyrant in the form of Ultimecia.

Ultimecia Is Rinoa:

As a result of her attempts to create a better world for herself, Rinoa ultimately becomes Ultimecia without Squall to calm her visions with his logic. The ending examines this by detailing all the different ways in which they might not have ended up together. Thus, all the flashbacks that are seen accompanied by Rinoa’s blurred out face are in actuality situations in which they would have failed to get together. One example is if Rinoa had stayed with Seifer, another is Rinoa dying in space because Squall did not jump out to save her. As a result, the only way time can exist is if Rinoa and Squall remain together in some way, such is the ending of Final Fantasy 8 and it could be argued that Ultimecia is a protagonist of some kind as without her attempt at time compression that brought the two lovers together, Rinoa would have turned out like her in a strange time paradox.

Rinoa’s Father Figure and Squall’s Mother Figure:

An interesting Freudian revelation is that Rinoa resembles Squall’s mother figure (Edea) and Squall resembles Rinoa’s father figure (General Caroway). Rinoa’s father is basically introverted and also a realistic military type, whereas Squall’s mother figure is somewhat emotional and also a sorceress as Rinoa is.

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