Final Fantasy fans have often lauded Final Fantasy VIII as an underrated franchise title. Its engaging story includes military operations, romance, and, most compelling of all, a time paradox. Final Fantasy VIII puts players in the shoes of SeeD members. SeeD is a mercenary organization hired to conduct monster elimination missions, offer offensive/undercover support, and, ultimately, eliminate the Sorceress.
As a majority of the party are SeeDs, the organization's relevance to the plot is apparent on several occasions, starting from the player conducting Squall's field exam at the start and into the unravelling of secrets behind the organization's creation. While players learn bits and pieces about SeeD lore, there are some facts long-time fans may not have come across regarding this mercenary force.
10 How SeeDs Are Evaluated
The game opens with Squall still on his way to becoming a SeeD. While first-time players may mindlessly play through the game with very little thought, in truth every decision matters towards evaluation. The game separates SeeD evaluations into 5 different qualities, and uses the player choices to generate a SeeD rank.
These qualities include: conduct, which measures how a candidate behaves on missions (evaluated by how quickly the player escapes Dollet); judgement, which measures decision-making skills (evaluated by how long it takes to defeat Ifrit); attack, which measures combat skill (evaluated by the amount of enemies killed in Dollet); spirit, which measures bravery during missions (evaluated by times fleed during combat); and attitude, which measures moral and professional behavior (evaluated by character interactions during the Dollet mission).
9 The SeeD Uniform's Inspiration
While Balamb Garden students have their own cadet uniform for formal occasions and when representing the Garden, SeeDs acquire their own unique uniform post-graduation. Uniforms are not mandatory during missions and can be worn at a SeeD's discretion.
Since Balamb Garden was meant to replicate a typical Japanese school, the uniform designs drew major Japanese influence. Male uniforms were modeled after the Japanese gakuran, which is a combination of the Japanese words for "study"/"student" and "the West". This roughly translates to "Western-style clothing for students," AKA uniforms. Female uniforms, on the other hand, drew inspiration from the Japanese seifuku, which resembles classic sailor-style female attire.
8 SeeD Was Created By... Squall?
SeeD's creation is quite confusing, since the player is told that it was formed by Cid Kramer and Sorceress Edea. The latter claimed to have had a "premonition" that they would need to establish SeeD to combat a future sorceress. In truth, Squall himself gave this idea to Edea, when he appeared before her with a dying Ultimecia following the final battle's conclusion.
What results from this is a time-travel paradox. Squall tells Edea to establish SeeD, but he wouldn't have become a SeeD had it not been for Edea and Cid creating SeeD. He needed Cid and Edea to create SeeD in order to tell them to create SeeD. This is defined as a causal loop, where a sequence of events eventually triggers the sequence's first event.
7 How To Do The SeeD Salute
SeeDs conduct this salute as a formal greeting when SeeDs meet after prolonged absence, when reporting for duty, or upon introduction. White SeeDs and SeeDs appear to share the same salute, despite the major difference in their operations.
In order to do the SeeD salute, a person must stand in formation and bring their right hand in front of their face with their arm stiffened and vertically oriented. During the salute, the saluter's right eye should be covered by their hand.
6 SeeDs Have Age Restrictions
SeeD applicants must be between 15 and 19 years old. While Balamb Garden admits residents starting at 5, they may only participate in the written and field exams once reaching 15. Moreover, graduation can only occur between 15 and 19, and residents at 20 are no longer eligible. In fact, once residents turn 20, they are released from the Garden. The only exception is if they are SeeDs already, looking to station permanently at Balamb Garden.
Squall himself is 17 at the start of the game. This means it took him two years to graduate after becoming eligible. Quistis, however, became a SeeD immediately at 15, and went on to become the youngest instructor at 18.
5 The Player's SeeD Rank Matters
SeeDs have a 1–30 ranking system, with 30 being the highest. Players can earn up to 30,000 gil when at the highest rank, being paid out at step-intervals (which include driving and chocobo-riding). Despite not being SeeDs, Rinoa and Irvine can contribute to step counts and can earn salary, even when no SeeDs are present in the party.
If the player wishes to increase their SeeD rank, they can complete written tests (with 30 tests available), defeat enemies, and take advantage of in-game events.
4 Only Balamb Garden Can Train SeeDs
Although there are three Gardens in the game, Balamb Garden is the only institution where students can become SeeDs. As Balamb Garden was the first Garden created, it makes sense that it would be the original location where SeeD training takes place.
There are, however, transfer programs between the Gardens. For example, Selphie transferred from Trabia Garden in order to become a SeeD. All SeeDs are stationed at Balamb Garden, and can choose to remain there so long as they have acquired SeeDship.
3 What Does SeeD Mean?
The name "SeeD" is always written out with a capital D at the end, but the reasons why have never been specified. One conclusion fans can make is that the name SeeD refers to their training taking place at institutions called "Gardens".
According to one guide (though not one that Square produced), SeeD is an acronym that stands for: Specialist Lesson, Elegant Man, Elite, Danger Zone. While this acronym comes from an "official" guide, Square's missing influence leaves the legitimacy of this acronym up in the air.
2 The SeeD Logo Error
The SeeD logo is a crest featuring a four-pronged blue cross around a silver circle. Inside is an emblem featuring two contrasting shapes (black on the left, white on the right), with silver embellishments around the prong edges. This logo appears in the halo-like fixture radiating above Balamb Garden. It also resembles Yoyogi National Stadium in Shibuya, Japan from an aerial view.
During Zell's introduction, however, the logo is incorrect. In the background is the SeeD logo, except the emblem's coloration is flipped: the white is on the left, while the black is incorrectly on the right.
1 The Difference Between SeeDs and White SeeDs
Although Cid and Edea created both groups, the main difference between SeeDs and White SeeDs are their distinct objectives and quests. Edea formed and trained the White SeeDs in order to protect sought-after children like Ellone, and to protect Edea from threats. Seeing as SeeD's overarching mission is to defeat the Sorceress, Edea's presence in Balamb Garden would have caused friction due to being a Sorceress herself, despite her collaborative work with Cid. Thus, she stationed herself separately on the White SeeD's ship.
SeeDs, however, seem to not be privy to White SeeDs. Squall and the others appeared to have no knowledge of White SeeDs until they board the White SeeD's ship, suggesting that White SeeDs are kept secret even from SeeDs themselves.