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Rinoa: Give me a tour of the Garden.Squall: ...Is this another one of your orders?Rinoa: No. I just want you to show me around. You know, to get acquainted with the place. Please?Rinoa asking Squall to show her around the Garden during its time amid the ocean.
Balamb Garden is a major location in Final Fantasy VIII, situated east of the town of Balamb. Students (usually orphans) attend school in hopes of becoming SeeDs. Balamb Garden is one of the three Gardens in the world.
Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Seifer Almasy and Selphie Tilmitt live and train at Balamb Garden, and Quistis Trepe works as an instructor.
The Garden works both as a location, and as a method of transportation around the world map. Using the Garden is made redundant by the game's end as the player obtains an airship that can be used to move around the map more efficiently.
Profile
Rules
No T-Boards.
Occupants may not use weapons or magic in the Garden, apart from the training center. One may not bring animals into the Garden. Loitering, eating in classes and the library, violence and sexual abuse is prohibited. T-Boards (a floating type of skateboard) and similar forms of transportation are also not allowed. Cadets must respect a curfew.
Students may not leave their dorms post-curfew unless at the training center or with special permission from Garden Faculty. Cadets must abstain from purposefully injuring fellow cadets while training. Cadets who break the rules may be reported to SeeD or Garden Faculty. The student-run Disciplinary Committee oversees cadet behavior. SeeDs who break Garden rules will be referred to their superior officer, and may face demotion or court martial.
Facility rules
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Student rules
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Admission and graduation
- Admission
- -Applicants between ages 5-15 are admitted.
- -All hardworking and confident youths are welcome.
- -Ambitious overachievers are also welcome.
- -Applicants are admitted only after passing a final interview.
- Graduation
- -Must be between 15-19 years of age.
- -One must have all the required skills and knowledge taught through Garden courses.
- -One must have the Headmaster's approval to graduate.
- -At age 20, regardless of graduation, all students are released from the Garden.
- Opportunities for Alumni
- -The Garden supports a program that helps graduates enlist in armies all over the world.
- -Instructors and SeeDs are permitted to remain at the Garden. However, SeeDship must be attained before the age of 20.
Uniform
Gardens require students to wear cadet uniforms for formal occasions or external operations where the Garden is represented. The uniforms of each Garden are in similar design with patterned shoulder pieces and silver linings. The Garden logo appears partway down the right sleeve. The main difference between the uniforms is the color: Balamb Garden's consists of a navy blue base with yellow accent. Upon graduation, SeeD members receive their own formal uniforms.
Story
Founded 12 years ago by Cid and Edea Kramer, and funded by NORG, Balamb Garden was remodeled from an old Centra shelter by Estharian technicians allowing it to transform into a mobile form with the power of limited flight. Cid was instructed to build the Garden to train SeeDs, an anti-sorceress army, as per a premonition of the future his wife, Edea, had foreseen.
Shortly after its construction, Galbadia Garden and Trabia Garden were created on the Galbadian and Trabian continents, respectively. Specializing in Guardian Force training and Para-Magic, Balamb Garden is the only Garden authorized to conduct the SeeD field exam, which cadets must pass to join the ranks of SeeD. Cadets attending other Gardens must transfer to Balamb to complete this final requirement.
Balamb Garden artwork.
After the Siege of Dollet Balamb Garden's most recent class of SeeDs enjoys the graduation ball, while cadets prepare for the annual Garden Festival. When Seifer, a Balamb Garden cadet, threatens the life of the Galbadian president Vinzer Deling, Garden attempts to distance itself from the incident. Galbadia Garden is threatened by both Deling and the rise of his ally, Sorceress Edea. Because the true purpose of Garden as an organization is to fight the sorceress, Cid, along with the Galbadian Garden Master Martine, orders Balamb Garden SeeDs Squall, Quistis, Zell and Selphie and Galbadia Garden student Irvine Kinneas to assassinate her.
When the assassination plot fails the sorceress vows revenge. This creates a rift between NORG, the Garden Master, and Cid, the Balamb Garden Headmaster. NORG believes the Garden is doomed if they don't appease the sorceress, and plans to hand over the SeeDs involved in the assassination attempt to Galbadia. Cid is enraged by NORG's plot, and an all-out riot breaks out with the Garden Faculty, who are loyal to NORG, and the SeeDs, who are loyal to Cid, both trying to recruit as many people as they can on their side. NORG loses and eventually disappears from the Garden, his ultimate fate unknown.
Balamb Garden outrunning the missile attack.
Sorceress Edea takes command of Galbadia Garden and launches a missile strike against Balamb and Trabia Gardens. Trabia Garden is destroyed, but Squall and his friends save Balamb Garden by restarting the ancient Centra machinery, morphing Balamb Garden to its mobile form. Barely evading the missile attack, the Garden speeds out of control past Balamb town and heads out to sea. With its navigation and piloting systems malfunctioning due to lack of maintenance, the Garden crashes stern-first into Fishermans Horizon whose mechanics are familiar with the Centra technology, being the ones who originally built the Garden, and renovate it.
Headmaster Cid appoints Squall as the Garden's commander before going into hiding at Edea's Orphanage. Once the mobile machinery is repaired, the SeeD Xu takes on the role of Garden navigator, while Nida fills the position of pilot. With both NORG and Cid out of the picture, Squall gains sovereign control over Garden, and embarks on a mission to defeat the sorceress.
The Battle of the Gardens ensues.
The newly retrofitted Garden engages the mobile Galbadia Garden now under the sorceress's control near Edea's Orphanage. While Balamb Garden cadets prepare for an assault, the flying Gardens butt heads as their pilots ram the hulls together, tangling the structures. Balamb Garden takes heavy damage, and part of its quad is destroyed.
Galbadian paratroopers and motorcyclists board Balamb Garden, breaking classroom windows and wreaking havoc on the Garden's interior as SeeDs and cadets defend their home. The conflict is resolved when Squall and his friends board Galbadia Garden and defeat Sorceress Edea, who is released from the clutches of the evil sorceress Ultimecia who has been possessing her.
Balamb Garden students can focus on repairing damage to both the Garden and each other. Some time after the incident Squall leaves the Garden to head to Esthar, and the Garden stays docked at Fishermans Horizon. It is never revealed who takes over when Squall and his friends have left.
The party returns to the Garden after defeating Ultimecia to engage in celebration. Balamb Garden flies all around the world and Cid and Edea appear to have returned to the Garden.
Location
Location of the Balamb Garden, indicated by crosshair.
Balamb Garden is located on Balamb continent to the east of the Alcauld Plains, nestled at the foot of the Gaulg Mountains. After becoming mobile, the Garden's location is no longer fixed, although it does dock at Fishermans Horizon frequently for repairs and supplies.
Layout
Balamb Garden's layout is a series of stacked rings surrounding the central elevator. It has three main floors, plus a large basement. The first and second floors are accessible to the entire Garden population, while the third floor and basement level require special permission.
First floor
Balamb Garden Front Gate.
- Front gate
The front gate is the Garden's main entrance. Upon entering the gate's outer part, visitors travel up a set of stairs and through a landscaped area before proceeding to a security checkpoint at the inner gate. SeeDs, students, and visitors must present their IDs for inspection to enter the Garden.
- Draw points - Cure
The First Floor Lobby.
- First floor lobby
The front gate leads to the lobby, the Garden's unofficial center and a gathering point for students. Its main features are a directory and an elevator, which allows access to other floors. The lobby is shaped like a ring and the first-floor sections branch off it like spokes on a wheel. Before the Garden becomes mobile, the directory can be used to fast travel between different sections in the Garden.
Balamb Garden Library.
- Library
Following the lobby to the right, the southeastern corridor branching off from the ring leads to the Balamb Garden library. Open from 9am until curfew, its materials are available to students. Zell can embark on a sidequest to gain the affections of a student employee: Library Girl with a Pigtail. When Rinoa is not in the party she can be found in the library, and Zell can be found just outside it.
- Items - Occult Fan I in the southern edge of the second row of book shelves closest to the exit
- Draw points - Esuna (never refills)
An area of the Training Center.
- Training center
Continuing up the lobby ring counter-clockwise, the eastern corridor leads to the training center. Known by students as the "monsters' lair," it is open 24 hours a day, even after curfew. Monsters inhabit it, mainly Grats and T-Rexaurs, to challenge students' fighting skills. A save point can be found inside. The player can find the CC Joker, part of the Card Club who also works as a merchant, randomly in the center's easternmost screen. Training center has a hidden section called the "secret area" where students go to socialize or otherwise meet in private after curfew to avoid being caught by the Garden Faculty.
If the Joker will not show up regardless of how many times the player re-enters the screen, it may be necessary to re-enter the screen from the left side of the map instead of the bottom.
- Items - Weapons Monthly (July), after returning to the Garden after the Battle of the Gardens in the left hand path
- Draw points - Blizzard
Parking Lot.
- Parking lot
The northeastern corridor leads to the parking lot, an underground complex that houses most of Balamb Garden's road vehicles, including the SeeD Personal Carrier Vehicles for student transportation. The parking lot is accessed via a road that travels past the Balamb Garden front gate.
A typical student bedroom.
- Dormitory
The northern corridor leads to the dormitories. Cadets share dorms with two single bedrooms connected to a shared living space. SeeDs have individual rooms. During curfew students can only leave their dorms for the training center. A save point can be found here.
- Items - Weapons Monthly (April) after the Granaldo boss fight in the training center
Cafeteria.
- Cafeteria
The northwest corridor leads to the cafeteria. The cafeteria is open from 9am till 9pm, and students can order meals for the night and pick them up before curfew. The most popular dish is the Balamb Garden hot dogs. The cafeteria is a popular hang-out spot for cadets to meet and exchange gossip. The Garden's Disciplinary Committee is often found here.
- Draw point - Demi (during Garden Riot only, hidden)
Quad.
- Quad
The western corridor leads to the quad, an open-air garden and a place for students to relax. It has a stage where students can watch performances or films. The annual Garden Festival takes place in the quad.
Infirmary.
- Infirmary
The southwest corridor leads to the infirmary where Dr. Kadowaki takes care of sick or injured students. No items can be taken from the infirmary without the doctor's permission.
Second floor
Classroom.
- Classrooms
The classrooms are located on the second floor, circling around the main elevator in a ring. Students are obliged to be present in classes five minutes before the bell rings. There are 36 shared study panels in every class. Each student has a log-on screen where they store school-related and personal information. Students may also store Guardian Forces in their computers. SeeDs don't attend classes, as they have completed their training.
Balcony.
- Balcony and emergency exit
The balcony at the second floor's end is used to enter Fishermans Horizon while stationed there, and next to it is the emergency exit that, when used, opens a yellow inflatable slide. The emergency exit is used once during the Battle of the Gardens when Squall is trying to evade a G-Soldier riding a jetpack. The Balamb Garden balcony glitch can occur to trap the player on the balcony during the FMV scene on disc 2.
Ballroom.
- Ballroom
The ballroom is only used for special occasions, such as the SeeD graduation ball and other formal events. It is a large, two-story room with a dome ceiling and a stone balcony. The player can never visit this area and such, it isn't clear where in the Garden structure the ballroom is supposed to be located.
Third floor
Headmaster Cid's Office.
- Headmaster's office
The headmaster's office is on the third floor, accessible by the main elevator. Students may only visit the headmaster's office when summoned by Headmaster Cid.
Balamb Garden Bridge.
- Bridge
The bridge replaces the headmaster's office once the Garden transforms to become mobile. Navigation and piloting controls are accessible from the bridge.
Sub levels
MD Level Console.
- MD level
The MD level is only visited once to save the Garden from the oncoming missiles. Headmaster Cid gives Squall a key to use in the elevator which opens a hatch and leads into an oil stratum. The team will find a console to activate the Garden's transformation into its mobile state on this level.
- Draw points - Full Life
Basement.
- Basement
The Balamb Garden basement is accessible by the main elevator with special permission from the headmaster. It is home to NORG and the machinery to transform the Garden from its stationary form to its mobile form. After NORG's defeat a hidden draw point can be found on the pod.
- Draw points - Bio
Shop
A student in Balamb Garden training center appears randomly on the bridge to sell items. He is called CC Joker and is part of the Card Club and holds the rare Leviathan card. The player can win the GF Meter from him to view stats on kills and KO's for the party's Guardian Forces. CC Joker will be met in Ragnarok on disc 4 where he will also let the player model weapons.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Potion | 100 |
| Hi-Potion | 500 |
| Phoenix Down | 500 |
| Antidote | 100 |
| Eye Drops | 100 |
| Soft | 100 |
| Echo Screen | 100 |
| Holy Water | 100 |
| Remedy | 1000 |
| Tent | 1000 |
| Fuel | 3000 |
| Normal Ammo | 20 |
| Shotgun Ammo | 40 |
| G-Potion | 200 |
| G-Hi Potion | 600 |
| G-Returner | 500 |
Quests
Study Panel
The player can access the Balamb Garden intranet from the study panel in the classroom. The player can operate it to get Shiva and Quezacotl at the beginning of the game, but the panel can also be used to view tutorials and learn more about the Garden. In the Garden Square message board the player can view posts left by the students, hinting about the Disciplinary Committee's "nosiness" and the affection the library girl has for Zell. The player can even see which books are late from the library, giving context to the scene where Zell tries to loan out a book that is never available.
Selphie transforms the Garden Festival page and adds a blog she will update throughout the game. She will also start a Sir Laguna's Page, a fanpage for Laguna Loire she adds more entries to the more Timber Maniacs magazines the player finds.
Triple Triad
Template:See Also Balamb Garden uses the Balamb region rules, where Open is the only default rule. The rules get mixed up if the player plays games with mixed rulesets.
Card Club
On disc 2 the player can start the Card Club quest after having won enough Triple Triad games within the Garden to gain fame. Squall must find and win all Card Club members to gain the chance to challenge the secretive Card Club King itself. Even if the player participates in the quest as Irvine during the time the Garden is stationed at Fishermans Horizon, the player will still be referred to as "Squall."
Rare cards
Many rare Triple Triad cards can be won within the Garden:
- Quistis - Quistis's card can be won from Trepie Groupie #1 sat in the cafeteria, or from either Trepie Groupie #2 or #3 in the classroom on the second floor.
- MiniMog - MiniMog's card can be won from the boy in blue shirt who runs around the central area. If the player fails to save him from the T-Rexaur during Garden Riot, he will disappear. The player can still win the MiniMog card by playing cards with the little girl who is holding the boy's cards and mourning him, standing in the hall leading to the training center and the library.
- Seifer - Headmaster Cid has the card and there are several occasions the player can challenge him. The first is by returning to his office on the 3F after being issued with the Timber mission on disc 1. Cid can be challenged later while he is in the infirmary once the Garden is mobile, and on the bridge after asking Squall to apologize to the mayor at Fishermans Horizon, and finally at Edea's Orphanage on disc 3.
- Leviathan - CC Joker in training center as part of Card Club quest.
- Carbuncle - CC Heart on the Garden bridge as part of Card Club quest.
- Gilgamesh - CC King in either in Squall's dorm room or after completing the quest on the Garden bridge, as part of Card Club quest.
- Chubby Chocobo - The student sitting on a bench outside of the library has it as part of the Queen of Cards sidequest.
Library girl with a pigtail
An event in the library.
Zell and the girl with pigtails of the Library Committee have a crush on each other, but are too shy to let their feelings be known. The player can unite the two by frequently visiting the library with Zell in the party to view scenes with the two, which culminates in a romantic encounter in Balamb Hotel on either disc 2 or 3.
"Garden riot" items
NORG attempts to take over the Garden and the player party must locate Cid. Many items are available if the player refuses to join NORG's cause:
- Mega-Potion from the student lying on the ground near the entrance gates.
- Mega Phoenix from the pigtail girl in the library if Zell is in the party.
- Remedy from the pigtail girl in the library if Zell is not in the party; from the female SeeD in the Training Center after saving the kids.
- Tent from the SeeD in the parking lot.
- Gysahl Green from the people in the cafeteria.
- X-Potion from a SeeD on the quad.
- Elixir from Dr. Kadowaki after dispatching the Granaldo.
Galbadian soldier fight
This section about a quest in Final Fantasy VIII is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.SeeD rank demotions
There are couple events in the Garden the player can do, but if the player follows through their SeeD rank will go down. In the beginning of the game, showing off Squall's gunblade to the two students sitting on the floor outside the 2nd floor classroom lowers the player's rank by one; even if the player isn't a SeeD yet, it will later be deducted.
Trying to sneak out of Balamb Garden during the night of the SeeD graduation lowers the rank by one; if the player tries to leave three times, the rank will drop. After defeating NORG there will be a boy outside the 2nd floor classroom asking Squall to show him magic. If the player complies the player's rank decreases by one.
Enemies
- Training Center
Left Path;
Right Path;
Bosses;
- NORG Event
- Bite Bug
- Bomb
- Caterchipillar
- Glacial Eye
- Grat
- Grendel
- Once only, summoned by a faculty member in a scripted fight
- T-Rexaur
- Granaldo (Boss)
- Once only, summoned by a faculty member in a scripted fight
- NORG event, MD level
- Galbadian Occupation Event
People associated with Balamb Garden
- Cid Kramer - Headmaster and co-founder.
- Edea Kramer - Originator and co-founder.
- Squall Leonhart - Commander.
- NORG - Garden Master and proprietor.
- Dr. Kadowaki - Garden physician, psychiatrist, and retired CC Group "King".
- Quistis Trepe - SeeD instructor.
- Xu - SeeD instructor and CC Group "Heart".
- Aki - SeeD instructor and strict conduct observer.
- Nida - SeeD member and the Garden pilot.
- Selphie Tilmitt - SeeD member and head of the Festival Committee.
- Zell Dincht - SeeD member.
- Seifer Almasy, Raijin, and Fujin - Members of the Disciplinary Committee.
- Wimbly Donner - Retired head of the Festival Committee.
- J.I. and M.S. - Anonymous students who type in the Garden Square.
- Cafeteria Lady - School cafeteria lady.
As a vehicle
Balamb Garden as a vehicle.
After the events in Fishermans Horizon the player can use Balamb Garden to traverse the world map. The Garden is slow, and can only ascend on land from beaches, and it cannot cross the Horizon Bridge. The player can move the Garden by talking to Nida on the bridge. On disc 3 the player can still find Balamb Garden on Fishermans Horizon and use it if they wish, but acquiring Ragnarok makes using it obsolete.
Musical themes
Template:Listen
Balamb Garden's musical theme is "Balamb GARDEN" that plays whenever the player walks its corridors. The song "Fear" plays in the Training Center. "Waltz for the Moon" plays during the SeeD graduation ball.
Other appearances
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon Balamb Garden is mentioned in the Mognet letter sent by Mohnny, who describes the 'Garden' as a giant school campus.
- Travels - To Be Young Again
The adventurer moogle, on his ongoing journey! I have arrive at a giant school campus called the garden that apparently trains mercenaries. Do you have any memories of school? It might help me if you share some!
The player may reply either "The disciplinary committee scares me," "There was this one hot teacher..." and "I don't want to remember." The first option describes Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin, while the second option describes Quistis.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon
Balamb Garden.
Balamb Garden appears in the background of the Field Music Sequence for "Blue Fields."
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
Template:Sideicon
The Lobby
Balamb Garden appears as the FMS for "Waltz for the Moon," and can be seen in the background for "Ending Theme", alluding to the ending of the original game.
Pictlogica Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon
Balamb Garden.
This section about a location in Pictlogica Final Fantasy is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Template:Sideicon
_FFVIII.png "FFAB Balamb Garden (Halloween Version) FFVIII.png (4 KB)"){kind=small}
This section about a location in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Template:Sideicon
Balamb Garden 1
Having passed his final exam, Squall becomes an official member of SeeD. At the graduation party, he meets Rinoa, with whom he reluctantly agrees to dance. Quistis takes Squall aside to talk after the party, and as they head back to their quarters, they hear a woman scream.
Balamb Garden 2
Now full members of SeeD, Squall and the others receive their first deployment orders, and with them, a mysterious lamp from Headmaster Cid...
Balamb Garden MD
On orders from Headmaster Cid, Squall's team descends to the MD Level beneath Balamb Garden, where they must activate an emergency console to save the academy.
World of Final Fantasy
Template:Sideicon Balamb Garden appears as a location. Balamb Garden is a large Mirage named "Eden".
This section about a location in World of Final Fantasy is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Gallery
.jpg "Balamb Garden (stationary).jpg (111 KB)")
Trivia
Garden appears to fly over water in the game's ending.
- After Balamb Garden becomes mobile, when the party members are not assigned as player characters they wander the Garden on their own: Rinoa is reading books in the library, Selphie is updating her site in the second floor classroom, Irvine is hanging around the classroom with Selphie and even when she's not there, Quistis is on the Garden's control bridge, Zell stays in the Garden foyer outside the library and Squall himself (during the one time he is not in the party) is asleep in his dorm room. Sometimes Selphie and Zell will wear their cadet uniforms.
- During Zell's intro FMV the SeeD symbol behind him has been flipped.
- Goodbye, Pupurun tells the story of the small sprite Pupurun rendered into the language of humans. Originally it was part of the Balamb Garden library's collection of books, but Raijin borrowed it and never returned it.
- There is an FMV on disc 2 which shows Balamb Garden being destroyed by the missiles which is displayed if Selphie's party runs out of time escaping the Missile Base, or the player doesn't set the missiles' error ratio to the maximum. The Garden is still in its stationary state when destroyed, even though the missiles would still have been launched the same time as if Squall's party had activated the MD level. The player earns a Game Over after the FMV plays.
- Garden appears to fly over water in the game's ending, despite being partially submerged like a sea vessel every other time.
- In the beginning of the game, the different sections of the Garden are attached to the main building via open hallways with bushes and other greenery growing on the sides. These areas disappear after the Garden becomes mobile, save for one scene: in Fishermans Horizon Rinoa comes to ask Squall to attend the concert in the hallway that leads to the dorms.
- On the second floor, when the player heads to the balcony they take a right path from the elevator hallway which faces the main gate, yet when the Garden is seen from the outside, the balcony is to the left of the main entrance.
- "Balamb Garden's Festival" is a quiz answer on an Academia quiz terminal in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
- In the 2000 film version of Charlie's Angels, the character Dylan (played by Drew Barrymore), after escaping an attempt on her life, stumbles up to a house and throws herself against a sliding glass door. Inside, she sees two young boys and asks for help and clothing. At the time, the two boys are playing Final Fantasy VIII and are controlling Squall and Quistis in a battle in the Training Center, likely during their visit leading up to the introduction of Ellone.
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