Okay I have to be REALLY mean here to those who like Rinoa, but I just have to express my feelings that I don't like Rinoa at all. I mean sure shes attractive, but who calls her as a heroine? Sure, she was main character throughout and helped Squall 'open up' a bit more, but would u call her heroine? tell me ur opinions! I wont bite! ^^; Well SOME of u would probably because of what i said about her...so...what do u guys think? let me know!

She was just another playable charcater who got captured a few millions times and such :) What is it now that makes her not a heroine.... :O
She showed emotions, good heros dun have emotions... just look at Squall. ;)

I don�t believe you need special qualification to be a hero. Rinoa was member of a rebel group, participated in many situations where she risked her life. That�s brave, and that�s what counts.
Sure she got herself in a lot of problems, but it really was not her fault that she inherited Edea�s power and got controlled by Ultemecia...
Surely she did not always find her way out of her problems by herself, but that does not make her less of a hero. Squall, too, had to be saved a few times, like when he was being tortured in prison or when he was lost at the very end of the game. Remember that it was Rinoa who saved him back then.

The only qualification a hero needs is that he or she just tries his/her best. And as far as I remember Rinoa did that.
Rinoa did her best, and it was enough for a Happy End! HEROINE!

Yeah, I think she is a sort of heroine... Heck isn't Quistis and Selphie too cause they all beat Ultimecia in the end? She did get herself in these situations whereas I'd think Quistis and Selphie would have easily avoided and/or gotten out of... It seems that Rinoa was a victim to alot of stuff... But she pulled through with it... She is a heroine but probably not as good of a hero/heroine as Squall was... But it was her that made Squall the better hero...

Hey, I'm with you Athena! I don't really like Rinoa that much either, especially in battle. I thought she was just okay as a character, but battlewise, nope, sorry.

yeah am not trying to diss her or anything and true in reality she changes Squall, but with what? her flirty side? i'm sorry i found her really...annoying most of da time. She really was weak and her attacks? please!!!!!!!!

I don't like Rinoa either. She's not a heroine because she doesn't do anything really heroic, and I think all the others are much better in battle.

Aww Rinoa is cool i think

But, Reeni.
She did nothing heroic?
What did Selphie do, what did Zell do, what did Irvine do, what did Quistis do that was more heroic?
Didn�t Rinoa save Squall?
Didn�t Rinoa do her best to fight the sorceresses, save the world and protect her friends?

And... when it comes to mere battle strength... I know someone who never used Rinoa until the very end, when he levelled her up with the right junctioning and everything, and she became his strongest character. So... it mainly depends on how much you use a character / how much you play with him/her if they�re weak or strong.


... I can�t believe I�m defending Rinoa...:rant: ;)

***SPOILERS***

Okay, Rinoa. She was the third member of my party, a constant member once I could have her permanently in there. Her limit breaks were awesome. Sure, the dog annoyed me on occasion. Sure, I named the dog Fido in one playthrough. But let's face it, some of the stuff he did was cool. Like making your party invincible. That was uber smooth for the final battle and for fighting Ultima and Omega Weapon respectively. Then there's the Shooting Star limit break thingy. I used that to pummel Ultimecia to pieces. Most enjoyable.

Storyline wise, Rinoa was the only female character I found interesting. I couldn't use either Selphie or Quistis in my party, and as a whole I couldn't make a connection. Rinoa had a central part in the storyline as the inheritor of the Sorceress powers from Edea, and becoming the last surviving Sorceress after Adel's death. (As far as I followed.) Plus the love between her and Squall is what gives him the strength to go on in disk 3 when she collapses.

Originally posted by Misao
But, Reeni.
She did nothing heroic?
What did Selphie do, what did Zell do, what did Irvine do, what did Quistis do that was more heroic?
Didn�t Rinoa save Squall?
Didn�t Rinoa do her best to fight the sorceresses, save the world and protect her friends?


I didn't say that the others did anything heroic, did I?
She didn't really save Squall though ... I mean, yeah, at the end she kind of cried over him and hugged him. That's it. He saved her far more (in space, from sorceress memorial, from Adel etc.).
And she didn't really do any more than the others. I guess I just don't think of her as the heroine of the story (so there wasn't one).

You can easily argue that Rinoa saved Squall from getting even more depressed by showing him how to trust so he could go on to save the world. But really, she's only an emotional hero because she used her emotions to save someone instead of her physical abilities.

Well said Autumn! Rinoa is really an emotional hero rather than a physical hero. She can't compete in fighting with the others cause, they're all trained fighters. Squall, Zell, and Selphie are new SeeD members, Quistis is an Instructor who had to be a SeeD before, and Irvine was a trained sharpshooter, most likely was/is a SeeD. But Rinoa wasn't a bad fighter for a non-SeeD. Except that she did have to depend on Angelo to do some of the more damaging attacks, but who was it that trained, feeds, and lauches that dog? But Angelo could have been a bit better if we could have chosen what we wanted it to do...

There's a trick I've seen suggested for that. Just choose not to learn certain skills and then you'll be more likely to get what you want from Angelo. I haven't really tried it though because I don't really care about using Angelo.

I don't know I like Rinoa she is one of my favorites. She's not exactly the heroine though. Sure she helps Squall a few times but sometimes she could get in the way for him it doesn't mean she is a bad character and all but, she wasn't the heroine let's put it that way.

Rinoa is the heorine in FF8 IMO.
Why?
Well, she's the lead lady, the way she's introduced to the game and the role she plays in the story. There's more than 1 way to be a hero/heorine.

Rinoa isn't the best with a sword. Give her a gunblade and I'd be suprised if she could lift it, but as far as magic goes, she has no equal(only Quistis with her Blue Magic comes close IMO). Have you guys tried this:
Make sure she has plenty of high level spells(Ultima, Holy etc)
Meltdown on enemies
Aura on Rinoa(or critical health)
Angel wing limit break
Enjoy the show... ^_^

Story wise, she does the hardest part of all, TWICE! First she is about to be locked away, which is like so against her nature. She's outwards with her feelings, she loves having ppl around her etc. So being locked up in a tomb in outer space is like... the ultimate DOOM for her.

After Squall comes to the rescue(again...), Rinoa has to take over another doze of sorceress power. Being a sorceress is no walk in the park. Ppl are scared of you and try to either kill you, take advantage of you or just get the hell outta your reach(so you can't zapp 'em with thunder bolts or whatever...). So, what will it be like being a SUPER SORCERESS? Even worse I'd recon.

Rinoa is weak battle wise, YES! But that's why you got Squall by her side, right? He kicks a Hexa Dragon all on his own with the right stats. But while Rinoa is weak in battle, she's great with ppl(c'mon! She makes Squall fall in love, that's GOTTA be something).

How dull would it be like if the heorine was a she version of Squall? Oh how lovely the dialogs would be:
Squall: ".................."
Squalline: "So..."
Squall: "Whatever..."
Squalline: "...."

Rinoa is the heorine, simply 'cause she managed to drag Squall outta his cold and rather lonely state of mind, at least that's how I see it.