Squall Leonhart:  

Squall Leonheart is more or less a loner, and doesn't take anything from anybody. He carries the Gunblade, and the handle of the weapon is like a revolver, and has a blade instead of a barrel, hence the name, the Gunblade. The blade of it starts right where the revolver bullet chamber ends, and tapers down to a sharp point. At the hilt of the blade, there is an insignia of a lion, which is there beacuse of his family name. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura wanted the character's name to have the meaning of a passing shower, which is how he came up with the name Squall. The last name, Leonheart, was the name of one of the main characters from an earlier 8-bit fantasy which never made it to the U.S.

Rinoa Heartilly:

Rinoa is a very kind and loving person. She gives with no thought of reward, and that is what draws people to her, like Squall. You meet Rinoa in the first disc, and is an important plot-element throughout the rest of the game. One interesting fact, is that prior to the release of Final Fantasy 8, there were plans to call Rinoa by the name "Lenore".

Zell Dincht:

Zell is a friend of Squall's, and he is a member of the SeeD team with Squall, Irvine, Selphie and Quistis. He is a very tempermental person, and tends to have mood swings. He uses fighting skills to attack, has combos just like Sabin from FF6 for his Limit Breaks. He has a tattoo on his face, this tattoo has some kind of symbolisim in his family lineage, but I couldn't tell you what it means. I have no idea where his name came from, but I'm guessing it's German.

Irvine Kinneas:

Another favourte of mine, Irvine is a real ladies man, and he never gives up (on the ladies). He is a sniper, and apparently a very good one. He is a student of the Galbadian Garden, and you meet him near the end of the first disc. He tries to be very smooth and "sensitive," but they all just take him as a big joke.

Seifer Almasy:

Seifer is the leader of Squall's SeeD team. He has close ties to Sorceress Edea, and his intents in life don't seem to be all that pure either. He wears a white cape with an insignia on the right shoulder of a red cross. He calls his gunblade the cross sword. He has some kind of personal problem with Squall. Squall and Seifer fought in the opening CG, and they exchanged scars during this battle, and Seifer cheated in this battle too. Isn't he nice?

Selphie Tilmitt:

Selphie is a very cheery and outgoing person, and you meet her very early in the game. She helps you in the raid on Dollet Dukedom during your SeeD Exam. She does use nunchaku, and I hear there have been problems porting FF8 over to Europe because of this. You could say that Selphie is there to make the rest of the characters feel better about themselves.

Quistis Trepe:

Although Quistis is only 18 years old, she is an instructor at Balamb Garden. She tutors Squall and the rest of his squad, and she taught Seifer too. She is a prodigy at fighting skills. She entered Garden at the age of 10, by the time she was 15 she was in SeeD, and now she is an instuctor.

Laguna Loire :

In points throughout the game, Squall gets a buzzing in his head and passes out. It is these times that you meet Laguna, a former soldier and now a journalist. You first meet Laguna in Disc #1, while he is still a soldier. Laguna uses the Machine Gun to attack.

Cid Kramer

Cid is the headmaster of Balamb Garden whom you meet in Disc I, just before the Dollet mission. Although not a playable character, Cid is a crucial part to the history of Garden, and SeeD.

Rajin and Fujin (biography submitted by Krelian)

Seifer, the all time arch-rival of Squall Lionheart has, throughout the game, two loyal friends who never left his side. Although loyal to him when serving in Balamb, and when under the "control" of Edea, they later asked Squall for help in order to bring back the Seifer they once were extremelly loyal to.

Fujin, the 17 year old girl is a tomboyish, gray haired quiet girl. She is very tough and doesn't feel any pity for anyone, especially in battles. She always speaks in caps-locked monosilables, which suggest she yells a lot. Her weapon of preference is the Pin Wheel, like Rinoa's.

Raijin, Fujins brother, is not as his sister: His weapon of choice are staffs, speaks in complete sentences and is more unrefined and wildlish. He is constantly being scolded by his sister for stupid questions and comments.

Both Fujin and Raijin work alongsinde Seifer in Balamb's disciplinary commmitee. Since they are 100 % loyal to Seifer they too don't feel any sympathy for Squall.