Some Final Fantasy fans tend to look at Final Fantasy VIII with either incomprehensible hatred or insulting dismissiveness. The game released after the widely-lauded Final Fantasy VII, and it was only a given that people would inevitably be disappointed by the fact that Final Fantasy VIII wasn't a world-beater.
However, that doesn't mean that Final Fantasy VIII is a bad game by any stretch of the imagination — in fact, it's actually a great title that any JRPG fan would be more than fond of. It's got a unique combat system, a great story, and a wide cast of loveable characters whose personalities are way deeper than what initially meets the eye.
Quistis is one such character who ends up making a strong impression from the get-go and ends up being all the more memorable as a character due to this. Here are ten things about this instructor-turned-SeeD that most people have no idea about.
10 Nomura Had No Idea Quistis Was Meant To Be Squall's Teacher
It's ironic that Tetsuya Nomura managed to design an excellent character who could pass as both an instructor and a student...without even realizing that he was meant to do that.
It was only after designing Quistis that he found out that she was meant to be Squall's teacher, which is definitely a hilarious realization to picture. If nothing else, Quistis has a versatile design.
9 Quistis Was Initially Supposed To Wear A Skirt
Nomura wanted someone in Final Fantasy VIII to wear a skirt, and that role had initially been delegated to Quistis.
However, as he started designing his characters, Nomura realized that Quistis looked superior in pants and a long skirt. So, Selphie ended up being the character who wore a skirt instead. Considering Quistis ended up as Squall's teacher, a shorter skirt would have probably not been a great fit for the character.
8 She's The Eldest Party Member
While the entire Final Fantasy VIII cast might be fairly young, Quistis still ends up being the oldest of the bunch. When it comes to the orphanage, she manages to beat out the second-oldest child — Seifer — by three months.
Given the fact that she was ultimately Squall's instructor, perhaps this point isn't really all that surprising at the end of the day.
7 She Doesn't Man The Turret At The End Of The Dollet Mission In The Demo
One of the most iconic FMV sequences that Quistis is featured in sees her using the turret mounted on the SeeD ship to blast away the X-ATM092 at the end of the Dollet mission.
However, in the Playstation demo, Quistis doesn't even make an appearance. Instead, her position is taken over by a random Dollet soldier. For a second, Quistis was going to miss out on one of her most memorable moments.
6 Her Name Holds A Special Meaning In Latin
The names of characters in Final Fantasy games always end up holding some special meaning, and the same goes for Quistis Trepe.
In Latin, "Quistis" is the 2nd person plural perfect form of the verb "quire" (to be able). So, that would mean that Quistis roughly translates to "you were able" in Latin, which is indicative of her character arc. While initially lacking self-belief and conviction, Quistis slowly comes into her own as a character and successfully stands up for the right thing.
5 She's The Third Person Assigned To Piloting The Ragnarok
While this is a rather minor detail, it's still an interesting one regardless. Generally, Selphie is the de facto pilot of the Ragnarok whenever the party sets out. However, if Selphie is a part of the main party, then the responsibility falls on the shoulders of Zell instead.
However, if the main party comprises Squall, Zell, and Selphie, then the person who takes over the reins of the Ragnarok is none other than Quistis.
4 Her Character Portrait Is The Only One Facing To The Right
There's another small oddity about Quistis that most people can go through the entire game without realizing, and it pertains to her portrait on the menu screen.
While every other main character's portrait faces to the left-hand side of the screen in the menu, Quistis is the only odd one out — her portrait faces the right-hand side instead.
It's a minor detail but an interesting one nevertheless.
3 She's One Of The Four Rare Main Characters To Wear Glasses
It's rather surprising that, in a series with fifteen mainline games and numerous spinoffs, there are only four characters out of hundreds who wear glasses.
Quistis is a part of this elite group, along with Seven from Final Fantasy Type-0, Ignis Scientia from Final Fantasy XV, and Tellah from Final Fantasy IV.
2 Her Height Has Been A (Fairly Minor) Point Of Contention
When Quistis was initially introduced in North America, her height was labeled as 5'6". However, this turned out to be a numerical error due to issues with the conversion from the metric system to the imperial one.
When the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania was released — around eight years after the original game — this mistake was corrected, and Quistis' height was mentioned as 5'8" instead.
1 A Specific Party Combination Nets Her A Potion In Timber
In Timber, if the player decides to talk to a particular man on the railway bridge with Quistis and without Rinoa in the group, then he'll comment about how he recognizes Quistis from the president's announcement broadcast on the TV.
As a reward for being famous (probably), he ends up giving a potion to her. This is easily one of the weirder gifts that the player gets in the series.