Squall is the anti-social, aloof, reluctant protaganist of FFVIII, but he's got one of those personalites that we all just can't help but love. What many of his colleagues don't know is that maybe that whole uncaring, selfish, and insensitive routine is only skin deep.

So now the question is why?. Why would Squall waste his time and energy to put on an act that just drives others away? The answer to that lies within (..cheesy, I know).

First and foremost, Squall is only human. He has feelings and reasons for why he does what he does. He also, as farfetched as it sounds, worries a lot about what people think of him. That's actually not that huge of a surprise. We all do it, to some extent anyway. We all worry about what our teachers, bosses, and people in general think about us. Not to an insane degree, but a small amount nonetheless, or else why do you bother changing out of your PJs when you leave the house? Why do you try to look your best at a job interview? Squall is just the same. He cares about what people say and think about him. He doesn't want to get close to anyone because he's afraid that if he does, they'll get to know the real him.

But why would somebody as cool as Squall want to hide something like that? Why would anybody want to hide something like that? It's because he doesn't like that side of him. As a matter of fact, he hates it*. He wants to be the unfriendly, anti-social loner. Nobody is allowed to know him, nobody is allowed to understand him. He figures that if he stays away from people and tries to blend in with the crowd, nobody will notice him. Contrary to this, however, he actually has quite the reputation around Balamb Garden. He is well-known and admired for his combat skills and anti-social behaviour by nearly everybody there. Funny how things work out.

Squall hates the thought of depending on other people; he doesn't understand it. He figures that if he doesn't talk to anybody, they won't talk to him. It just makes life that much easier for him. When somebody actually does try to confide in him, he tells them to go talk to a wall. Basicly he believes that if he doesn't depend on anyone but himself, he won't ever have to suffer another loss. It doesn't matter to him if he's missing out, just as long as he doesn't have to feel anymore pain.

Pain, something Squall struggles with everyday. It is also part of the reason why he's so distant towards people. His painful past causes him to feel hurt and alone, two things he would rather not experience, so he tries to suppress those feelings by occupying himself with school and work. This is the reason for why he joined SeeD; if he keeps himself busy then he won't have time to contemplate the past, but if he allows himself to get bored, his mind will drift back to those painful memories.

Squall is scared. He's scared of what people think, and he's scared of losing the things that are important to him. This is one of the main reasons why he keeps himself away from people. He's afraid that if he allows himself to become close to anybody, he'll lose them. He doesn't want to end up back where he started, so if he forces himself not to care, he'll never have to worry about suffering a loss.

As you can see, when Squall told Quistus that he was more complex than she thought, he meant it. Underneath that shell of anti-social, loner-ness, he really is just one big softy. Who knew?

* Squall confides to Rinoa during disc 3, unfortunately for her, she's unconcious at the time; "To tell you the truth... I worry too much about what others think of me. I hate that side of me... That's why I didn't want anyone to get to know me. I wanted to hide that side of myself. I hate it. Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy. It made it easy for me when people perceived me that way."