Brotherhood

hate: (hate, n.) 1. Intense animosity or dislike; hatred. 2. An object of detestation or hatred.
rivalry: (ri·val·ry, n.) 1. The act of competing or emulating. 2. The state or condition of being a rival.
One of the most pronounced relationships in the game, probably only second to that of the one between Squall and Rinoa, is the relationship (or rivalry) between Seifer and Squall. I believe that one misinterpretation in playing Final Fantasy VIII is that Seifer and Squall hate each other so badly that all they want to do is kill each other. Yes - it is seen in the opening sequence that they eventually carve their faces out and that a rivalry implies hate or some degree of it, but I don't believe that at all.

One point that a lot of fans use in trying to justify the hate between Seifer and Squall is that they were the only two gunblade masters in Garden. So what? If they were both the only gunblade students in Garden and the entire game, it would only make sense that they would have to compete against one another. They have no other adversaries to fight with - a person can only learn so much without training with another who wields the same type of weapon. Training with Squall provided Seifer with a type of mirror or reflection of his movements so he could improve and vice versa. But does this mean they hate each other? I think not.

People also use the fact that they both have or have had a love interest in Rinoa Heartilly, giving birth to the whole love triangle deal. We all know that Seifer and Rinoa had a thing a summer prior to the game, but Seifer never even once mentioned loving Rinoa plus Rinoa herself, and it seems that he's gotten over her (Rinoa on the other hand probably still has confused feelings, evident when at Galbadia Garden). You'd think someone as arrogant as Seifer would brag about having a beautiful girlfriend, right? Squall on the other hand, has caught her eye - but Seifer never really disrupts their relationship at all during the game. He doesn't come out of nowhere to sic Galbadian soldiers on Squall as he could have for taking his "girlfriend" out of jealously. There was no reason for Seifer and Squall to hate each other over Rinoa because Seifer is seemingly over her and all of Rinoa's attention is on Squall for his love and to get him to open up.

Seifer and Squall were both SeeD cadets, but Squall made it and Seifer did not. This wasn't a reason for Seifer to hate Squall - it wasn't Squall's fault that he hadn't made SeeD - his inability to take and follow orders was. In fact, Seifer doesn't hate Squall for not making SeeD; who would clap for his rival for attaining the coveted position? As soon as Squall's name was called on the list of the people who passed, Seifer was the first one to openly applaud him. Why would someone who hates someone do that for him?

Squall's lines in the game further disprove this fan theory:
Squall: (I liked him... wasn't really a bad guy... He was one of us...)
If you had hated a person just by a little bit, you would never admit to liking him or saying that he wasn't all that bad, let alone considering him one of your friends, comrades, or peers. And later when he's being tortured by Seifer at the D-District Prison by electrical shocks, Seifer says "This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me!", but Squall never says anything. It was probably because he didn't hate him, because he had chances to say it inbetween the pauses between the shocks.

My conclusion is that they don't hate each other - sure, they might not be buddy-buddy, but their 'hate' for each other is merely a rivalry.

Return: Seifer