Rinoa: Sobriquet

A little information first. Wingheart is Rinoa's title given by Square. It's what it says on her action figure package, and on some of the official Rinoa promo art. Seifer and Squall both have titles themselves (which I will be rambling on about in a moment, considering I can't resist the urge ;)), Squall's being Sleeping Lionheart and Seifer's being.. umm.. Well, I think it's Cross Sword, if I can remember correctly. :/ Cross something. Anyways, their titles also match their symbols, which is why you see Rinoa on that blue promo art with a huge angel wing and Squall with Griever and Seifer with the cross sword. It's why Rinoa has a pair of white wings on her duster, why Squall wears Griever on everything he owns, and why there's two red crosses on Seifer's trenchcoat. Yeah. I think it's great how it's even coordinated with their outfits. But enough with that, back to Rinoa.

There are a couple reasons I can think of why Square would give her the title and symbol of 'wingheart.' Because you know since it's Square, there's gotta be a reason behind it, they don't just give out stupid random names for no reason. ;) The first I can think of would be because she's got the little angel motif* and of course "wing" seals the deal, perhaps simply meaning Rinoa has an "angel heart" and that she's very sweet and loving. The second reason would be because when you think of wings, you think of flying, so maybe the name symbolizes how Rinoa is very impulsive? Because when you think of wings and flying, doesn't it make you think of feeling free and not holding back anything? I don't know. Also applies to the fact that she's compassionate, i.e. her heart flys out to people; or that she's fickle, because her heart's always flying away? I'm thinking out loud here. Any suggestions appreciated. I'm most willing to go with the fact that wingheart represents her free spirited personality though.

Let's have some more fun. (Don't mind my commentary. ;)) The Dictionary of Symbolism states that wings "may accompany images of Christian angels, fairies, spirits, and demons.
It you wanna stretch this really could tie in with the Ulty theory. Her wing symbol can represent angels AND demons.. Both good and evil. Is Rinoa both good and evil? Your decision, I'm getting off track.
They not only represent the ability to fly, but also suggest the improvement of the subject.
Hmm. Light bulb! I'm gonna get into this in a second. :3
Winged creatures are often messengers of the gods,
I can't really connect this to anything, at least not directly. I'm throwing it out for now. :P
and they are a symbol of freedom
What'd I tell ya? We have our verdict, this seems to be the most reasonable of all my craziness. Free-spirited personality. Amd ooh! Because she's trying to free Timber!
and spirituality. In dreams, wings represent the release of creative energy."
So, what do you think? Am I psycho? ^_-

Hmm. But back to my lightbulb.
It mentions the improvement of the subject.. As in wings are the improvements in Rinoa? (Could be freedom improves Rinoa?) Or rather they are improvements in others. Lemme explain. I got to thinking about this. Notice how there are feathers on that same promo art of Seifer and Squall? Seifer's are black. Squall's are white. Feathers come from wings, and Rinoa has the ability to change people - we saw it in action with Squall, more than likely she could have done it or could do it to Seifer. Therefore you can draw a couple conclusions. The white feathers of Squall's - they could represent the good put in him by Rinoa. Of course, with Seifer it doesn't fit as much. Seifer didn't really turn all bad because of Rinoa.. at least there's nothing pointing directly to her. So perhaps it's vice versa: Squall brings out the good in Rinoa's personality, while Seifer brings out.. Well, the not so good. Or something. But I digress.

It's also noted how both Rinoa and Squall have the word "heart" in their symbols. Hmmmm. That's clever. Could it be love, union, destiny? ^_~ Or does it tie in with the two sides of the same coin, one-in-the-same bit?

I really could go on, but I'll stop. Basically, wingheart seems to be Rinoa's epithet mainly because she seems so freespirited, thus the wing to the heart, ya know? ;) It's also in contrast to Squall, who's heart is "sleeping." .. I'm done. I really am. *twitch* Hurry p and leave before I start getting into Squall's name. :P

* Angel motif: I.e. her dog, her limit break.
But why the angel motif in the first place? Could it simply symbolize her personality? Her ability to heal? Her sorceressism (.. is that a word?) or even immortality of sorts? (If you swing the Ulty way that is.) Hmm, I guess this is another rant for another day. The angel thing has been blown a tad out of proportion by everyone who likes Rinoa, though. Myself completely and totally included. ^_~

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