Full Name: Ellone Loire. "Loire" is the surname of Laguna and became Raine's name after the two married. Given that Laguna adopted Ellone at that time and became her foster father, Ellone's last name also would have become Loire.

Loire is the name of a river in Europe, which seems to suit the family: everyone except Ellone is named after something aquatic (Raine... well, Rain; Laguna is Spanish [and probably other Romantic languages as well] for "lagoon"; and Squall is a word meaning storm). I wonder if Ellone was supposed to be named something else? Or is there some water reference I'm not seeing?

Age: Somewhere around twenty years old in the present.

Childhood: As a child, Ellone's home-life was spent in two different locations: an orphanage at the Cape of Good Hope where she was raised by Edea, and in Winhill, Galbadia under the care of Raine after her parents died. In both of these places, she met with people she came to love deeply and to whom she grew attached.

The first tragedy of Ellone's past occured when she was a mere two years old--at this age, her parents were murdered when they refused to give Ellone up to the Esthar government, whose officials were hunting down girls in an attempt to stop the succession of sorceresses. When her parents refused, they were shot and killed.

After this, Ellone was raised by an adoptive mother, her next-door-neighbor Raine and her "uncle Laguna" in Winhill, a small town located on the Galbadian continent. Here, her life was fairly normal. Instead of being the dependable older sister, who she would later become, Ellone was an only child (although Laguna was pretty childish... gotta love that man ^_^) with a lenient mother. She was coddled and treated her age--and acted accordingly. Instead of putting her worries aside, or putting on a brave front, she wore her heart on her sleeve. She openly expressed her emotions--most of which involved pestering Raine about marrying Laguna.

However, the peaceful times of her life did not last permanently... or even for very long. Before even hitting the big double digits, Ellone was kidnapped. Luckily for her, she had an extremely devoted "uncle" Laguna and his friends hot on the trail. Laguna, Kiros, and Ward travelled all over the world to find her; breaking laws, sneaking and spying, and ultimately kidnapping Ellone back, just to make sure she was safe and sound. But even then, her luck was not renewed: Ellone was sent back to Winhill without Laguna, and Raine died shortly after. At that point, Squall (who is believed to be Raine and Laguna's child) and Ellone were sent to the orphanage.

During her time at the orphanage, Ellone was looked up to as an older sister by the younger children. A loving and headstrong girl, she was reliable to the small group of children who had otherwise lost the most dependable figures in their life to war. With little parental support, the kids needed an older figure to trust and in whom to find comfort. Ellone was that figure. More than any one else in the orphanage, Squall came to rely upon Ellone the most deeply--so deeply, in fact, that his whole life changed drastically when she left his life (more on that can be read here).

Adulthood: Ellone's adulthood has barely started around the time during which the game takes place. Since her magical troubles as a child, she has sought protection from those who wish to exploit her powers, and has thus done quite a bit of moving around. Eventually, she finds her way to Balamb Garden where she meets Squall, and she begins sending him back in the past as Laguna--hoping to cause Laguna to stay in Winhill with Raine instead of coming after her. Although she could not change this fate, she did learn from it--

Squall: .... It's alright. I understand. I understand what you were trying to do. Were we of any help?

Ellone: Of course! You were my eyes. Thanks to you guys, I was able to see how much I was loved. I couldn't change the past but just seeing it was more than enough. Thank you so much.

Squall: It's ok. I came here because I need your help. You said you can't change the past, right?

Ellone: You can find out things about the past you never knew. And from what you've learned, you may see some things differently in the present. You're the one that changes. Not the past.

This part of the game, I believe, is when Ellone really grows up and lets go of the troubled past, and comes to terms with the somewhat bittersweet ending of her childhood.

Time Control: Ellone's special power--which makes her a constant target of people who wish to use her--is the ability to manipulate time, to an extent. With this power, she is able to send the consciousness of someone she knows in the present to someone she knew in the past; IE, she is able to send modern day Squall into the past as Laguna. This power, however, is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, she is able to use this to grow up: to learn how much she was loved by Laguna and Raine as a child and to let go of the past. She also uses this ability to help Squall, on some level. Despite, it is for this ability that Ellone has been in constant pursual by those who wish to understand and use her ability for their own means. Even as an adult, she is still fleeing from Sorceress Ultimecia (possessing Edea), who wants to use her ability to compress time.

[ hand in hand ]