Seifer Almasy

Template:FFVIII character Seifer Almasy is both a playable character and an antagonist in Squaresoft's (now Square Enix) role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII. He has short blond hair, blue-green eyes, and a scar across his forehead mirroring Squall Leonhart's. Aside from the game's main protagonist, Squall Leonhart, Seifer is the only other student at Balamb Garden to wield a gunblade; Seifer's particular model is the Hyperion. He and Squall have an intense rivalry, although both respect each other's abilities. Seifer and Squall are virtually mirror images of each other. Squall is a strict follower of orders, duty, and rules in order to complete his missions. Seifer, on the other hand, disregards authority and takes a reckless approach in order to reach his goals. Each of them bears an unprecendented skill with the gunblade and, in battle, they are very much equally matched, though Seifer is slightly better in power and speed. In the end, it is his inability to control his emotions that gives Squall the upper hand, as Seifer's lack of emotional control is the root of most of his problems throughout the game. Both of them being the mirror image of the other is also suggested numerically through the card game Triple Triad: The numbers on Squall's card are positioned to form the mirror image of the numbers on Seifer's.

Although Seifer is a gifted warrior, he has a stubborn, arrogant, reckless and unpredictable nature. He has taken the SeeD exam multiple times, and he has failed on every attempt. At the beginning of the game, he once again fails the SeeD field exam in the city of Dollet after he refuses to follow orders to withdraw, although Squall and Zell Dincht, who are both assigned to his squad, both pass on account of being loyal to their immediate chain of command (Seifer).

Seifer is the head of Balamb Garden's Discipline Committee, despite his disobedient ways. The other committee members are Fujin and Raijin, who are named after a Japanese wind god and thunder god, respectively. Fujin is a woman who has very pale skin and wears an eyepatch. Although never explicetly stated, it is likely that Fujin is an albino, as evidenced by her pale skin, red eyes and white hair. In the Western language localizations, she almost always speaks in terse one- or two-word sentences expressed in all caps - for example: "DECISION. HELP SEIFER?", "RAGE!" In the original Japanese version, her dialogue is written in kanji throughout most of the game. Raijin is a large dark skinned man who ends most of his sentences with the phrase, "ya know?" In the Japanese version, his sentences end in "ne?"

Both Fujin and Raijin are extremely loyal to Seifer and consider themselves a "posse." Other members of Balamb Garden consider them a "gang" more interested in exercising their "disciplinary" powers than actually keeping students in line.

Background and character development

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Seifer taunting Squall Leonhart during a training duel

Seifer enrolled in Balamb Garden at a very young age (while the exact age is unknown, it was most likely as young as five or six). Seifer had previously been living at an orphanage on the southern continent of Centra along with many other player characters.

Although the characters have lost most of their memories, subsequent flashbacks reveal that many present-day attitudes were caused by their time together in the orphanage. For example, his rivalry with Squall and tendency to bully Zell Dincht all started when they were children.

Seifer also has what he terms a "romantic dream", that of serving as a knight to a sorceress (this concept appears to derive from the medieval tradition of a knight protecting a lady). As early as childhood, he wore a symbol that resembles the emblem of the Knights Templar, and he continues to wear it into adulthood; which seems to justify or signify his 'romantic' dream of becoming a Sorceress' Knight.

Squall and Seifer's rivalry is intensified when it is revealed that he was Rinoa Heartilly's first boyfriend (the game centers on the relationship between Rinoa and Squall). In order to impress Rinoa, he attacks Galbadian president Vinzer Deling and is almost executed before being recruited by Sorceress Edea (though his loyalities were to Ultimecia). But when Edea was freed, Ultimecia used Rinoa to order Seifer to bring the Lunatic Pandora from the sea as part of her plan to free Sorceress Adel as her new vessel. However, after being continually defeated by Squall in battle, and with the help of his friends Fujin and Raijin, Seifer eventually comes back to his senses. It's mentioned in the game that the Sorceress (Ultimecia) has the ablity to brainwash people's minds. Why Seifer might have been the most easily controlled over anyone else she could have taken control of is never explained, and has become a subject of many a fanfiction. Some have suggested that because Edea, or "matron" was essentially Seifer's mother when Seifer was a child, she was easily able to manipulate Seifer's emotions.This point can be further re-inforced by the fact that Headmaster Cid, Edea's Husband, carries Seifer's Card, suggesting that Edea and Cid both looked after Seifer as their own when he moved to Balamb garden. Even more speculative is the idea that Ultimecia specifically chose to possess Edea in order to manipulate Seifer.

Throughout Final Fantasy VIII, he is portrayed simply as an arrogant, overbearing bully, with a lust for power. In the last FMV, however, we see a great smile on his face (almost an expression of pride) towards Balamb Garden. With the evil essence removed from his heart, the game ending suggests that Seifer might return to Balamb Garden and become the SeeD he was once determined to be. This sudden and ambiguous change in character is the subject of many fanfictions.

Odin

At the end of disc three, if the player has acquired the Guardian Force Odin, it will appear at the beginning of the battle with Seifer despite normally being unable to attack boss enemies. Odin attempts to use his Zantetsuken sword for an instant kill attack, but Seifer somehow reverses the attack and bisects Odin with his gunblade, seemingly without shifting his position at all. This is the only time that one of the player's GFs can be lost. However, Odin is replaced by Gilgamesh, who, unnoticed by both Seifer and the player's party, reaches through a dimensional portal to catch Odin's Zantensuken. From this point onwards, the player could either deplete Seifer's HP or wait around and keep Squall's party alive; either option will result in Gilgamesh arriving on the scene and defeating Seifer with one move.

Cameo appearance

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Seifer, as he appears in Kingdom Hearts II

Seifer makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II, accompanied by Fujin, Raijin and Vivi Ornitier as his "disciplinary committee". Fujin and Raijin are called "Fuu" and "Rai", respectively, in the game. Like some of the Final Fantasy characters already present in the Kingdom Hearts series, the trio appear a bit younger. Seifer himself is 15. He is the leader of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee with a dislike for outsiders. He and Donald Duck seem to hate each other at first, but all's well when Seifer offered the trophey to Sora and Company. In DiZ's Twlight Town, Seifer appeared to be a rival of Roxas, as he is always bad-mouthing him and picking fights with the boy's friends. He speaks using slang such as, "That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers." He is voiced by Will Friedle in the English version and by Takehito Koyasu in the Japanese version. Template:FFVIII