User Profile

LEON ››

GIVEN NAME Squall Leonhart.
AGE 27.
SEX Male.
BIRTH August 23.
HOMEWORLD Hollow Bastion.
HEIGHT 6'4.
WEIGHT 170lbs.

PERSONALITY Asshole. That's what he definitely first comes off as, anyway; he's very short on words and maybe it's just his face—but he always looks severely pissed for whatever reason. Answering even the simplest of questions seems to be a great source of annoyance for him, and it's really questionable to a lot of people why he even bothers to associate with other life forms at all.

As it is with most, this is nothing but a façade. Deep down, Leon (previously known as Squall, though he'll slaughter anything that calls him that) just wants to be able to confide in someone he KNOWS he can trust. He's been let down so many times in his life, however, that he's become a bit overly-guarded in every aspect imaginable. He's a very insecure person, and his greatest fear is being left alone.

Those who are able to penetrate his heart of ice are very lucky (and extremely patient). Underneath the surface is a loyal comrade, an intelligent man, as well as a hidden romantic (gag). Any outside talk of that though, and he'd have you at your throat.

HISTORY He never knew where he really came from, but his earliest memories are those of an orphanage in Hollow Bastion. Ansem, at the time, saw brilliance in several of the children there—including Squall—and immediately opted to have them join Hollow Bastion Garden, a prestigious school that trained the world's army of the future.

Squall was always at the top of his class; he was most well-written, the best fighter, etc. But the fact he knew no true home to call his own, nor any parents, was deeply disturbing to him, especially when he came to an age old enough to understand the concept of being alone. This knowledge sparked him to slowly become the extremely withdrawn person that he is to this day. However, his brilliance was something that most found they could not ignore—and perhaps, in an attempt to give the boy a sense of belonging, he was bestowed with an elite weapon few had the privilege of possessing—the Gunblade, and to match it, his lionheart pendant: Griever, which he always wears and takes off at no costs. He was also promoted to First Class SOLDIER, becoming part of the largest military Hollow Bastion commanded by Ansem.

In spite of Squall's emotional shortcomings, his life was relatively smooth—that is, until Ansem began his experiments with Darkness and the Heartless overthrew the world. When Maleficent, an evil witch, stepped into power, the residents of Hollow Bastion were unable to hold their own, and thus most fled the world, deserting it; of course, the world crumbled. Several SOLDIERs went mysterious missing around that time, including one of his closest friends, Cloud Strife.

Squall left the world, however, though not without a heavy heart. His disgrace for himself and the fact he could do nothing to save his home and friends (even if he had felt he never truly belonged there in the first place) was so great, he attempted to run away from a past that seemed to him to be weaved of nothing but lies—he created a new "truth" for himself, a new identity which he instated upon his arrival to a quaint town called Traverse. He became Leon.

He was, surprisingly, not alone in his journey to the foreign world. A pair of females named Yuffie and Aerith, also residents of Hollow Bastion, escaped to the same world as well. Though he is hesitant to admit it, he felt rather attatched to both of them, and he seems to enjoy claiming he has only stuck by their side because they were the last sliver of familiarity he knew. Leon has also "befriended" several other former residents who did not leave with him—including Cid, a gummi ship engineer who runs a shop in Traverse, whom housed the three of them temporarily until they were on their feet again.

The group formed a party whose goal was to gather all the reports written by Ansem in order to figure out a way to stop the Heartless—which had become like a black hand, stretching across the universe, swallowing up all the worlds one by one. They gained the information that they needed to find the Keyblade Master—who, consequently, passed through Traverse Town. Leon found him, and after a bit of a spat returned him to his and Yuffie's current station, a hotel room in the Second District. There, they explained to him his face. He was the only one who could save them.

This knowledge secretly disgusted Leon more than he liked to admit. It meant that he was ultimately unable to save his world himself; it would be up to some stupid little boy to bring back the things he missed dearly. Though when Sora closed the Door, not all was regained. Hollow Bastion was hardly livable and held far too many memories for him to return to—though he did happen upon his old friend Cloud again near the end, whom he kept close by his side for fear of losing again.

That left Leon at his current state—and now that things seem to be in better order, he wishes to further his education once again. Hollow Bastion holds far too many memories for him to return to, so he's taken up to journeying to the school of Squenix University to finish his education.

ORIGIN OF THE SCAR During the fall of Hollow Bastion, Leon's friend Cloud had accidentally overheard suspicious wind of Maleficent, the evil witch from a different world whom wished to take her place as the new ruler of their world and further Ansem's questionable endeavors involving the Heartless. In an attempt to investigate the rumors, he and Leon began a journey to the center of the world where the king's castle resided. Unfortunately, to counter their new-found knowledge, Maleficent in turn discovered the secrets had begun to leak. Having no interest in having her reign being potentially destroyed, she sent other SOLDIERs to meet the pair at a rendezvous point they were not aware of.

They were attacked and, Cloud, being the main target because he had heard the suspicions first hand, was severely wounded. Having nothing else to escape by, Leon carried him on his back as they attempted to escape various assaults which lasted for several weeks. They took to hiding for several days in order to allow Cloud to heal.

After they were sure things were clear, they traveled by truck under the guise of simple travelers, wishing to remain as inconspicuous as possible. However, Maleficent had been watching them the entire time, waiting like a snake for the chance to strike. Several SOLDIER snipers settled high above a cliff near the road where the truck was to pass. Their target: Cloud.

Keeping slight casual conversation during the trip, Cloud, extremely drained from the entire trip, was not very alert. However, in a stroke of luck Leon noticed the men above them just a second before it was too late—moved in the path of the bullet and took it for him, resulting in it grazing quite a bit of the bridge of his nose and knocking him unconscious.

When he awoke, his body was covered in a thin blanket of snow, his face covered in dried blood, and he was still in the back of the truck—which had apparently crashed into a tree. There was no one to be found, not even the driver, but what most alarmed him was the fact Cloud had gone missing. Unable to do much else, Leon journeyed to the nearest town in order to tend to his wounds and fatigue.

Shortly after, he left Hollow Bastion with two women named Aerith and Yuffie, taking flight to a humble place called Traverse Town. A scar formed from the wound on his forehead, dark and obvious, serving as a constant reminder of his inability to save his friend and his world.