Thanks to Scott Baird of ScreentRants.com for the inspiration!

10. SQUALL IS DEAD (IN THE REMAKE)

One of the most interesting responses that Kitase gave during the interview was that they might include the infamous “Squall is Dead” theory into the Final Fantasy VIII remake. For those who are unaware — the Squall is Dead theory suggests that Squall was killed when Edea shot him with the ice shard during the assassination mission.

The rest of the game is just his dying dream, which explains why the story of Final Fantasy VIII becomes so bizarre. Squall finds out that his real father is the President and he ends up getting the girl in the end because his mind is finding solace before it passes on.

This would be a huge mistake, as the notion of the protagonist being dead/in a coma all along has been done to death in fiction. It wouldn’t add anything to the story of Final Fantasy VIII, other than explaining some of the weird and out of place stuff that shows up later in the game.

When I first read the title, I thought that Scott Baird was trying to make a case for this theory. But you can’t remove what isn’t there.

Yoshinori Kitase answered several questions relating to fan theories during an interview with Kotaku. He officially debunked most of them. This concept isn’t canon to the game.

And Scott generally agrees developers shouldn’t do this. It wouldn’t add to the story in any way.

So then, I guess Scott actually wants Final Fantasy VIII to make clear that Squall isn’t dead? But then, wouldn’t isn’t this apparent once the player regains control of Squall? He does happen to be the only party member who can’t leave your team for most of the game.

Final Fantasy VIII doesn’t get any more bizarre than it already is, either with enemies or in the plot. Final Fantasy games do tend to take wild shifts in the story. Remember going to the moon in Final Fantasy VI? Necron come literally from out of nowhere in Final Fantasy IX? How about the entirety of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. Final Fantasy VIII is no different.

But I don’t think Scott has anything to worry about here. That theory is officially dead.