Laguna Loire

Laguna Loire (Japanese: ラグナ・レウァール, Hepburn: Raguna Rewāru) is a fictional character from Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII. He is a man whose past and relation to the main characters are revealed throughout the game. Most sequences involving Laguna appear in the form of "dreams" experienced by the primary protagonists. Squall Leonhart always experiences these dreams from Laguna's point of view which shows his life as a Galbadian soldier teaming up with his two best friends, Kiros and Ward. He also appears in the crossover fighting game Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as playable character as a soldier chosen by Cosmos alongside other Final Fantasy characters.

Kazushige Nojima created his character based on negative feedback from Final Fantasy VII involving several dark flashbacks. The concept of two main characters, Squall and Laguna, was planned since the beginning of the game's development. Artist Tetsuya Nomura tried to create a contrast between Laguna's and Squall's occupations; thus, Laguna became a soldier with light-hearted charisma, and Squall became a reserved mercenary student. The designers intended Laguna to be more similar to the previous protagonists in the series to complement Squall, who is different from the previous main characters.

Critical response to Laguna's character has been positive with several writers praising his upbeat and cheerful personality which contrasts the moody Squall. The connection these two characters have has also been the subject of discussion in regards to theories involving how the two appear to be father and son but the narrative never confirms it leading it to lack of potential in developing Squall while seeing his father's days.