Rinoa Heartilly
Template:FFVIII character Rinoa Heartilly is the main female character in Final Fantasy VIII. Rinoa is the seventeen year old daughter of General Caraway, a high-ranking officer in the Galbadian army, and Julia Heartilly, a famous singer and former lover of Laguna Loire.
Rinoa, along with Squall, is also featured in the electronic board game, Itadaki Street Special.
Biography
Rinoa is a member of the Forest Owls, a small resistance faction seeking to liberate the small nation of Timber from Galbadian occupation. Rinoa first meets Squall Leonhart, the male protagonist of the game, at a ball at Balamb Garden, where she manages to charm--albeit somewhat aggressively--the usually taciturn and unfriendly Squall into dancing with her. Her purpose for visiting the Garden is revealed when the Forest Owls hire Squall, Zell Dincht, and Selphie Tilmitt as mercenaries. She stays with them as they are forced to flee Timber, and ends up travelling along with them.
Outspoken, spirited, emotional and compassionate, Rinoa is in many ways the polar opposite of the cold and antisocial Squall; in fact, she was at one time romantically involved with his long-standing rival Seifer Almasy. Although their personalities do clash at first, Squall and Rinoa gradually fall in love, and their relationship is a major focus of the game's storyline.
Rinoa's weapon of a choice is a curious projectile device called the Blaster Edge. It appears to be a chakram like bladed ring, mounted to her wrist, that acts much like a boomerang. She is frequently accompanied by her faithful dog, Angelo, who figures prominently in her Limit Breaks. Due to events later in the game, she also acquires a secondary limit break called Angelwing, in which she goes berserk and begins randomly casting any spell she has on the enemy with greatly increased power.
Fan Reaction
Rinoa is a relatively controversial character among Final Fantasy fans. Many considered her an example of the stereotypical "princess" character - kindhearted, but also immature, weak in battle, overly dependent on others, and prone to being kidnapped- indeed, the other Timber Owls refer to her as 'princess', and being the daughter of a powerful general means she's used to getting what she wants. However, other gamers found that Rinoa's character flaws made her a more realistic and interesting character, and enjoyed the game's portrayal of her growing relationship with Squall, who required someone as intense as Rinoa to bring him out of his shell. Some fans liken Squall and Rinoa's relationship to Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough.
A further criticism (and highly controversial one) comes along racial lines. Rinoa's features are considered more obviously Asian than previous character designs, something which has become more obvious in later installments.
In a more controversial criticism, the features of Squall, her love interest, are considered Caucasian. Because of this, some fans (especially Japanese ones) have claimed that their relationship is a stereotypical interracial pairing of an Asian female with the (again stereotypical) larger, taller, and more virile white male (see also Ethnic issues in Japan).
However, there has also been evidence that the Final Fantasy VIII character designer Testuya Nomura stated that he has always wanted to model Rinoa Heartily off a black-haired European woman, or a young, ideal-driven European girl, and his intention was always to portray Rinoa as European, not Asian. This has been compiled in collected interviews with the Final Fantasy VIII character designer, Testuya Nomura.