About. . .

Written and created by Rhea of Wanderlust.nu

Name: Irvine Kinneas DOB: November 24th Age: Seventeen Height: 6'0" Blood type: A Occupation: Sharpshooter

After botching the kidnapping of President Deling in Timber, the group find themselves unable to return to Balamb Garden. Instead of sticking around and facing even more trouble, they end up catching the last train out of town and heading to the closest garden, Galbadia Garden, to ask for help. It is here that they learn that their true target is Sorceress Edea and

it is also here that we're introduced to the self-proclaimed loner and ladies' man, Irvine Kinneas. Irvine is the last playable character acquired and is a student from the aforementioned Garden. He is presented as the mysterious "elite sharpshooter" by Galbadia's headmaster Martine who will offer his services to the other five in their new mission to assassinate Sorceress Edea.

Not the type to remain an enigma for long, Irvine reveals his personality within seconds by makinga gun with his hand, pulling the imaginary trigger and shouting "BANG!" as his headmaster walks off. Then, as Squall is dividing the group in half for their trip to Deling (the capital city), he shows that he possesses skill at being a charmer as well as a sniper -- he picks Rinoa Heartilly and Selphie Tilmitt as his two teammates

and then calls himself "a pretty lucky guy, hand in hand with two beautiful girls". Squall, Quistis, and Zell are baffled by his behavior, especially when it's reciprocated by the two girls. . .

Irvine continues to play Romeo on the train to Deling and ends up cornering the spunky Selphie Tilmitt and exclaiming that they were meant to be in an attempt to find his Juliet. But despite his sweet talking it's obvious he's just a flirt; it becomes even more blatant when he professes his love to Rinoa seconds after.

But is there more to him? Later on the same train ride, he's met with disgust and it's at this point that we get to see a whole other side of Irvine. A side which we're

exposed to again in Deling when he has a nervous breakdown. In response to his critics (namely the whole crew), Kinneas suggests that no one knows what it's like to be a loner, to be a sharpshooter who dedicates his whole life to that one bullet. That one instant. Win or lose. Although it seems insincere and more like a cheap escape than a real explanation, his words do hold some value

especially as you get to see more and more of him. After all, he's an outsider at this point, a disliked one at that, and probably has the most important role next to Squall Leonhart. (At least during disc one.)

Therefore, I'll offer the most generic of conclusions: Irvine Kinneas is relaxed person who copes with things by acting even more relaxed than normal. It takes a lot of pressure to make him lose it and once he does, he'll eventually redeem himself. He's a fairly open and patient person, but unfortunately because of his relaxed nature you can't tell too much about him from just a glance. As the game progresses a more serious side gets mixed in, but up throughout the majority of disc one he appears to be a horny teenager.

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