The Design Evolution of Squall Leonhart

[@AlleywayJack]

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[@nixonszombie]

My favorite Squall will always be old school fmv with the seed field exam outfit. However classic is the reason I opted for a coat with a faux fur hood. Thanks for the video AJ, you're videos are consistently well crafted.

[@AlleywayJack]

Cheers. Yeah I love the Garden cadet uniform, I always wished you could change into it permanently in the dorm room but oh well 😅

[@MrRemmington]

As always, I love your takes on anything FF, but more so FF VIII. A game I obsessed over as a kid and enjoy till this day in my 30s. You always bring a point of view I hadn't yet considered which is certainly odd yet welcome as I have given this game more of my mental time than anyone should. Also side note, when they designed Lightning for FF XIII they supposedly designed her to be a "female version" of Cloud or at least partly inspired by which you can certainly see, but I always thought Paine from FF X-2 was the female version of Squall in a way, whether they did it consciously or not. Their hair is remarkably similar as far as colour goes, that ashy brown, their outfits are black outright with the hint of red from their belts, belts which look rather similar too, but also their personalities are similar, the aloof loner type., both are ones of few words. Apologies for my ramble Edit: I agree that David Boreanaz was the best Squall voice for sure

[@fattiger6957]

I agree. Paine is definitely Squall's female doppelganger. I felt that way ever since I played FFX2 at launch.

[@MrRemmington]

@@fattiger6957 I'm glad someone else sees it, I have brought it up in conversation before in other forums and people either sort of see it or dismiss it.

[@AlleywayJack]

Thanks 🙂 That's a great observation re. Paine and Squall I hadn't considered it before but can see it!

[@fattiger6957]

I feel like Squall's design is the first time FF really based a character off of current fashion trends. He perfectly fits in the late 90s. He looks like Gavin Rosdale, lead singer of Bush, and he's wearing clothes that wouldn't look out of place at the time. FF has had a relationship with the fashion industry (as weird as that may sound) ever since.

[@MrRemmington]

I agree, FF VIII did feel like it was grounded in its era. The first FF to have a sort of "reality" to it.

[@AlleywayJack]

Yeah I think FF8 is definitely of its time, whether its the fashion or Cid looking like Robin Williams etc, which maybe why the nostalgia hits so hard. I distinctly remember Lightning being used to market Louis Vuitton around the time of FFXIII, and that's when the penny-dropped for me Final Fantasy had a thing for fashion, or vice-versa

[@tyranmcgrath6871]

River Phoenix was the inspiration, apparently.

[@lioaizpurua]

I really like the sketch of Squall with long hair, he looks kinda more mature

[@second_second_]

Thank you for this. He's indeed the most good-looking person in the ballroom, as mentioned by Rinoa XD

[@ash_yt0]

Couldn't agree more about the remaster redesign.

[@aurronius1243]

Thx for this video! I just got it recommended in my timeline :) For me, as a long time Squall fan since 1999 (when i played my first Final Fantasy Game ever which happened to be FF8) i fell in love with this character and his design! I never liked the version from the remastering, because as you said, it took away this kind of humanly/stoic look and gave him a more anime looking style. For me this old portrait you showed in the video and the Squall we see in the cutscenes in game is the real Squall ! :)

[@whitleylevi]

Would like to see more of this from ff8! Maybe not full videos, but at least one more talking about the rest of the character designs.

[@second_second_]

FF8 indeed feels like a revolution at that time. Historical moment

[@L0wallyn]

I love hearing your thoughts! Thank you for the fantastic content! Your channel helps make my days easier, and the fight for a better world more manageable. Stay safe, comrade!!

[@AlleywayJack]

Thank you friend 💙

[@extra4542]

I really wish that hey didn't anime-fy the character design so much especially because the original already had semi-realistic character designs. I hope that if they ever remake 8, that they make the characters look faithful to the original vs what we get in the remaster and dissidia games. his hair isn't even the same style in the remaster model vs what's in the CGI movies

[@billybatts8283]

He's more complex than you think...

[@zbaksh101]

Squall's my favorite design in FF so far. Ironically I think the realistic style they were going for in FF8 felt handicapped in 1998. It would be more fitting for today's CG. It was ahead of its time. Boreanaz was my favorite Squall VA. He did a good job back in KH1. I wished they kept him for KH2 etc. I thought Robert Pattinson would be a good choice if they ever do an FF8 remake or adaptation.

[@DeadPoolLilCuzin1567]

River Phoenix is who he was designed after so if they did it should be after the actual person they modeled Squall from imo.

[@jeremyhall2727]

I like his kingdom hearts style the most. But his ff8 og one always had a place in my heart. Final fantasy d & d12 was the first to give him a more anime style. I like that one too 😂 i just love the dude. That's the look i think about when i hear his name nowadays

[@Beastlango]

Kingdom hearts was my first introduction to FF characters. I always loved Squall’s longer hair. Something about it gives him more maturity, which is bizarre given they all seem younger in those games.

[@MrJCMasterman]

I think there could be a much larger discussion on the FF characters whom are subtly associated with totemic animals; Squall as a lion or Cloud as a wolf in his AC design, and of course Zidane as a monkey. It’s definitely deliberate as a way of highlighting the characters’ personalities without any dialogue or just emphasizing certain qualities. Squall definitely has leonine traits in terms of his solitary nature but also his capacity to lead others like a pride. His sword blade also reminds me of a lion’s fang as well, but that’s just how I see it. Great work as usual, dude! :3

[@AlleywayJack]

You just reminded me his surname includes 'Leon/Leo' in it too which is a pretty clear sign too. I do wonder how much overt or subtle thought goes into those traits by the designers... I think the totemic idea definitely applies to Squall, everything leans into that symbolism of the lion, and I can see how the monkey ties with Zidane being a crafty thief (we see it elsewhere like Disney's Aladdin who has a monkey accomplice), I do wonder how conscious these design decisions are because they come together really well.

[@SeFu2006]

Dissidia totally massacred his original look, Squall was originally a very masculine looking dude with badass hair, and despite looking so masculine he’s actually the best looking dude in the series, prettier than Cloud and Noctis. Then they ruined his look with puffy things at his waist, guy liner, streamlined hair cut, clothes fit perfectly. He looks so flamboyant now. Squall never cared about how he looked, he just put on a jacket because he thinks it’s cool and walks outside, and he looked like he never did his hair either, the best hairstyles are the ones that look messy and rugged and natural. I hope the dudes responsible for his redesign never touch the remake if that ever gets made

[@lastructchure389]

"very masculine" humm, not sure about this part tho

[@leolightfellow]

Love this video and the previous one "The evolution of character design in Final Fantasy." :) You mentioned something interesting in the previous video about how the Final Fantasy 9 characters look like they fit together because they're all wearing hunting boots and they all have some VIctorian era clothing design element on their clothes. After that, I went searching to find more advice/ideas on how to make characters look cohesive instead of disjointed, and I actually only found one other video even talking about it. It seems relevant in this day and age when a common criticism of games like Forspoken and Starfield are that all the various pieces of the game (townspeople, monsters, cutscenes, etc.) feel disjointed from each other. Anyway, that might make for a good topic for a future video. Just specifically advice/ideas on how to make a bunch of characters look like they fit together in a cohesive world without having the characters look too monotonous. Just a suggestion. Regardless, love the content and everything. Cheers. :)

[@AlleywayJack]

Thanks for the feedback I'm glad you enjoyed that point, I can think of a couple examples so yeah maybe I'll get enough to put together a video about it during this series :)

[@Dzzy123]

I'm not big on Squall as a character, but his design is excellent. The fur collared jacket, and the odd but cool gunblade make him unique. He is the only party member in VIII whose design I like. I'd love an analysis of Edea since I think she's one of Nomura's best designs. I believe he was emulating Amano when creating her.

[@cheffdonty]

KH1 design is the best. Shows off his defined arms and trades the white fur around his shoulders for longer hair

[@fireon3339]

I have Griever necklace in real life, my ex girlfriend ordered it somewhere and gifted it to me. FF 8 was my first, so its precious to me) And i prefer original Squall design more than new versions.

[@pichaelthompson]

When squall corrects aerith (? I can’t remember who) in kingdom hearts 2, it gives off meg griffin vibes when she got a sex change in the future and corrects people in calling her “Ron”

[@buddhablue21]

Great analysis and delivery as always. The original KH was especially engaging as it offered a glimpse of FF characters outside of their respective games, however non canonical. There were revisions to designs but I think it would have made for some cool visual storytelling to have made more considered changes to the FF characters' presentations to suggest personal growth since their original stories.

[@AlleywayJack]

Yeah I think so. Like, I loved Cloud's design in KH, but as you say it wasn't character progression, it was more symbolism of an earlier Cloud in turmoil and his relationship to Sephiroth. It was also strange they presented some FF characters (Wakka, Seifer, Selphie) as children and others as adults. Overall I liked it but thinking about it, was a pretty weird game lol.

[@second_second_]

I love pen and paper too

[@ruebari799]

From lone wolf to lion. I always thought his fur collar was a bit like a lion mane too. Squall being a lone wolf/lone cowboy makes a part of his aesthetic click in ways that "edgy teenager" just don't. He's the Clint Eastwood of FF.

[@Alexisdc11]

Very interesting video, thank you! I agree about the importance of the character design in a game. I don't understand why Square-enix changed the design for the spin off games and for the remaster. The new designs look like shit to me. They had the perfect one with this picture that Nomura did that you showed and that lead to these awesome cutscenes un the game. I'm a huge fan of the game so it pisses me off to see these bad changes...

[@thisWinglessAngel]

I've always loved his design, some people hate the newer outfits from KH and Dissidia but I think they fit what he'd actually wear. It's also nice to see such a varied wardrobe for him.

[@dominickwilkins2492]

The remaster face sculpted seems like it was based off of the Dissidia NT design.

[@chrislewis3780]

Much like a number of other things in the game, Star Wars is a heavy influence. Squalls design including his belts or harness, take from Han Solo's design.

[@Era_Itchys]

i hate what they did to squall in the remaster. or kh or dissidia. just gimem that dude from the og .

[@giovanniprovost]

Wasn't he based off River Phoenix at least partially?