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IC Information;

Character Name; Seifer Almasy
Canon; Final Fantasy 8; http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VIII
Canon Point; After the end credits.
Age; 18
House; Thor, because since Seifer was a child he was raised in a military academy and trained to become the perfect soldier. Sure, it wasn’t exactly successful… but it’s the life he knows.
Power; Strength

Personality;
It’s a little hard to describe Seifer’s personality at the end of the game without a little bit of perspective. First, Seifer is, and has always been a problem child. When he was a kid, he was the one breaking the rules and making Zell cry for fun. While the other kids vied for attention, Seifer was asserting his tiny punk-ass self with disobedience and by picking on Zell who was smaller and weaker than himself.

He wasn’t one of the kids that could be adopted out, which meant he was instead sent to Balamb Garden, a military based academy which trained children to develop the skills needed to become a mercenary. As you can imagine, such a difficult environment fosters individuals with whole sets of complexes. Seifer always had a strong body and a stronger will, so he grew into a bully and a rebel. Seifer is snarky, sarcastic, and takes control without asking for anyone’s approval. He also has a very cruel mean-streak running though him, and he picks no bones about actually torturing, killing, or imprisoning the people he grew up with. If anything, he actually enjoys making people he perceives as an enemy “pay”.

As Seifer grew in Balamb Garden, he lashed out against objects of authority and pressed back against anyone who sought to make him conform. Raijin actually comments that there’s no way Seifer could have been executed by Galbadia because he wouldn’t have put up with either the trial or the execution. Seifer has also been known to over-react, and when he does, it’s with violence. When you combine that with his impatience and recklessness, you have a person who will break himself out of jail and travel halfway across the world because he doesn’t like how a mission was handled.

But Seifer isn’t completely impossible. He developed a modicum of respect for Headmaster Cid. Everyone else he can blow off or snark at, but Cid wanted Seifer to keep his individuality. Seifer will cooperate with people who treat him with respect. He also treats his friends very very well, and the devotion Rai and Fuu show him are a testament that if you do get close to the man, you have an ally that will protect no matter what. Sometimes the way he shows his respect and concern is very subtle, like when he assigned Raijin and Fujin to the safest, closest to home, little town in the entire world, but he takes care of his own first.

Seifer expects that kind of allegiance to be returned. He does not deal well with being betrayed, like when Rinoa chose Squall as her “knight” and changed the fantasy Seifer intended to live out. You see, one of his coping mechanisms with his life was a devotion to an elaborate dream where Seifer would become the knight of a Sorceress. Seifer cast himself as a hero, tending toward self-righteousness and fanatical devotion, even though he was being played by Ultimiceia. He was first Rinoa’s knight in his own mind, then Edea’s, and then Ultimecia’s. Reality no longer matched Seifer’s ideal and his mind frayed and struggled to adapt the illusion. By the end, he wasn’t a knight at all, but his pride kept him from backing down.

One of the things that made Seifer as dangerous as a rival besides his tenacity and fanatical devotion was that he is incredibly capable. He’s intelligent, a legitimately strong leader, and he was very effective as the general of Galbadia in occupying much of the world. He’s groomed himself to be strong, and he always fought with Squall and company three on one. He’s strong enough to get knocked down and get back up, and rejects the idea of “giving up”.

Now, Seifer’s canon point gives him a little more of a unique view seeing as he’s undergone all the personality transformations he endured during the story. He went from high-school-punk, to general of Galbadia, to completely losing his mind in an attempt to rationalize helping Ultimecia destroy the world. In the very end of the game, there’s a scene where Seifer and his posse are back together, fishing on Balamb’s docks, to show Seifer survived these events, and has found peace and some kind of acceptance with his life. He’s still grumpy and kinda mean, throwing a hissy fit when he catches no fish, and laughing at Raijin’s plight when he gets pushed into the water.