So, thinking about how often great female characters in video games are dismissed or erased in commentary got me thinking about Rinoa Heartilly! — who is probably the single most underrated character in the entire Final Fantasy series. So, I thought I’d repost some meta I wrote just over a year ago about just why Rinoa Heartilly is awesome and why she’s easily the most heroic character in Final Fantasy VIII.

1. Unlike Squall, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine, who are all mercenaries for hire, Rinoa is the only character who initially chose to fight because she felt that it was the right thing to do — because she believed that Timber needed to be liberated from Galbadia’s tyranny. In fact, when Squall (of all people, a character who repeatedly asserts during the first half of the game that he needn’t know what the reasoning behind a given order is in order to carry it out, and a character who had inner monologues regarding the fact that he would prefer to be in a position of subordination because if he can surrender his agency he needn’t have to choose which is the right course of action — and he is absolved of responsibility if he does the wrong thing) questions her devotion to the cause she tells him it means so much to her that it hurts. This distinction between Squall (and the other characters) and Rinoa is thrown into sharp relief by a flashback Squall has to Rinoa trying to convince Irvine to take her back to the D-District Prison so that they can help the other characters, who’re still trapped there, escape. Irvine tells her that he’s under orders to take her to her father and that the others will be fine — and Rinoa jokes that Squall might not think to escape if nobody orders him to do it. Then she physically forces Irvine to go back.

2. Almost every decision Rinoa takes during the course of the game is because she thinks it is the right thing to do. Despite her former love and her loyalty to Seifer, she is willing to fight him if it means protecting innocent people from Ultimecia’s tyranny. Although she asks whether it’s necessary to fight, when Irvine and the others convince her that there is no other way she agrees to fight alongside them. When she becomes a Sorceress she volunteers to be imprisoned — paralysed and cut off from all forms of communication for the rest of time — to prevent Ultimecia from being able to possess her and wreak havoc in her body. By contrast, Squall bases his decisions not (at least, initially) in the context of a moral framework as such but according to loyalty — Headmaster Cid and Balamb Garden give him a sense of identity and a home, and he carries out their orders unquestioningly, not because he trusts them to make the morally correct choice but (1) because he wants to be absolved of the choice himself, and (2) because he is loyal to them for this; later in the game he strikes out on his own out of loyalty to and love for Rinoa. It’s only deep into the game, if at all, that Squall becomes at all invested in the idea of building a better world — something which motivated Rinoa from her introduction.

3. I think it’s a deeply uncharitable and loaded interpretation of Rinoa to state that her desire to fight for Timber’s independence stems from the animosity in her relationship with her father, General Caraway. Because I can, I draw a parallel here with Smallville’s Lois Lane who, in “Ambush”, clashed with General Lane over superhero politics — Lois didn’t choose to argue that superheroes were a force for good and should be allowed to operate in peace because she didn’t get along with her father, or even because she was in love with a superhero; she genuinely believed it, and one of the reasons she doesn’t get along with General Lane is because they have such radically different worldviews (and, as a corollary, she’s in love with Clark because she believes he’s a good person — she doesn’t believe he’s a good person because she’s in love with him). Likewise, the fact that Rinoa is fighting for Timber’s liberation from the government that Caraway has sworn allegiance to is a source of friction in her relationship with her father, not a manifestation of it.

   I also think it’s worth noting that, while Rinoa always tries to reason things out with people — per her multiple attempts to prompt Squall to reconsider his worldview — Caraway always shuts the discussion down by robbing Rinoa of her agency. While the team are in Deling City, Caraway tries to lock Rinoa up twice rather than allow her to be a part of the discussion on what to do about Edea (and if that’s not characteristic of an abusive relationship, I don’t know what is). I can’t defend Rinoa’s decision to involve herself without informing the others but since Caraway robbed her of the chance to discuss her plan with them, and since she genuinely believed she was helping, I can understand it, and I can understand why she thought she was doing the right thing (and it was an incredibly brave thing of her to attempt). On that note, I just can’t cope with the idea that Rinoa is ‘spoiled’ because she resists authority — because she doesn’t resist authority for the sake of resisting authority but only does it in the instances where she believes the person or entity in authority is in the wrong.

4. Part of the reason why I think it’s untrue that she joined the Forest Owls and decided to confront Edea herself just to spite her father is because it’s clear that Rinoa’s bravery is fueled by her ideals; there’s no way that Rinoa could have tried to trick a Sorceress into suppressing her own power just to prove a point or assert her independence — the only reason she could bring herself to try it was for the sake of a greater good, especially given how frightened she was. I’m a firm believer in the idea that bravery is not about not feeling afraid but about doing the right thing despite your fear — and this is a fundamental seam in Rinoa’s character. At multiple points during the game — when she confronts Edea, when she asks at Trabia Garden if there’s no way of going forward without fighting, when she decides to have herself imprisoned — she states that she is afraid, but she always resolves to do what she believes is right. Because of her nature as a Sorceress, Rinoa has to take more risks to her own safety and her autonomy than any other character and she always rises to the challenge.