D-District Prison

"Located in the desert south of Deling City, all people deemed dangerous by the government are sent to this facility. It has become a symbol of President Deling's fascist policies."

- FFVIII Info Corner (about the D-District Prison).

The D-District Prison (D-地区収容所, D-Chiku Shuuyoujo) is a maximum security prison located in the center of the Dingo Desert south of Deling City, Galbadia, and an unrevisitable location in Final Fantasy VIII.

This facility was used to hold political prisoners of the nation of Galbadia for speaking out against and/or not being involved with the greedy President Vinzer Deling and his fascist regime. The D-District Prison may be lowered into, or raised out of, the surrounding desert sands by controls located inside it. There are several Triple Triad card players imprisoned here. The player can find an issue of the Combat King magazine in the prison's first floor.

Squall Leonhart and his friends were incarcerated within the D-District Prison after their assassination attempt on the evil Sorceress Ultimecia (while possessing the body of the innocent orphanage headmistress Edea Kramer) in Deling City fails. Squall is being tortured by Seifer Almasy, who questions him about the true purpose of SeeD, under orders from Ultimecia herself. Squall is unable to answer the questions and passes out due to the pain. A while later, Squall regains consciousness and is rescued by Moombas.

The rest of the party is thrown in a cell, their weapons confiscated. As Zell has no weapons to have confiscated, he is able to briefly escape their cell and succeeds in bringing back the confiscated weapons to Quistis, Selphie, and eventually Squall later on.

Irvine Kinneas, on orders from General Caraway, comes to the prison to take Rinoa away, but she forces him to turn around and come back for the others. Irvine eventually complies and arrives to find a full jail-break going on. He helps the party to escape by telling them the way out and holding back the guards, and they barely escape before the prison sinks back into the sand.

Top-side Catwalks
This area is the only known means of access between the three 'spires' of the prison. During the drilling phase where the three spires will drill into the ground the catwalks will withdraw into the spires.

Interrogation Room
As the name implies, this room is used for interrogating prisoners. Situated a level or two above the Cell levels one of this room's most notable possessions is a wall rack that, when a prisoner is tied to it, sends currents of electricity through the prisoner as a form of torture.

Cell Levels
The Cell Levels make up the majority of at least one of the three drilling spires that make up the prison. Some levels are devoted to General Population Cells are are accessible by numerous catwalks that spiral down through the spire. Other levels are devoted solely to Solitary Cells which are hung together in the lower levels of the spire where the only way to access them is to use a crane to move the box-like cells to a readily accessible level.

General Population Cells
General population cells are for the general criminal of Galbadia that are not regarded as a high security risk if they were to mingle with the other prisoners. As such they are designed to accommodate more then one prisoner. There are up to twelve levels devoted entirely to general population cells. Each easily accessible by guards and janitors.

Solitary Cells
These cells are reserved for the more dangerous criminals who cannot be risked mingling with the general population. Each cell is an isolated box which is hung amongst others in a grid within the spire. These cells can only be accessed by moving them with a crane to one of the higher levels.

Dingo Desert Train Station
A train station found in the Dingo Desert, possibly used for cargo transfers, is within driving distance from the prison facility and is linked with the main rail system. Squall Leonhart and two other members of his group use the station to hijack a train to get to Balamb Garden.

Floors
The layout of the floors is always the same and every floor has 2 cells, although not both of them are visitable in every floor. A barricade may block the path meaning the player must circumvent the floor to get to the next one.

If Squall chooses "Let me die" during his interrogation, Zell's Moomba will be hailed by another Moomba and led upstairs, there will be a group of Moombas outside the interrogation room, and three floor shortcuts will be allowed to the party. Otherwise, if he chooses to lie, there will be no hint to go upstairs, no crowd outside the room, and only one floor shortcut will be allowed to the party.

There are 3 Triple Triad players found in the prison. The one in floor 10 upgrades the Battle Report with Character Report letting the player view stats on characters' individual kills and KO's. If the player missed the Battle Meter, this player cannot be challenged. The other two give prizes if the player wins.

Musical Themes
The music in D-District Prison is called "Jailed", the 7th track of the OST's disc 2. "Rivals", the 18th track of the OST's disc 2, is played during Squall's interrogation in the Interrogation Room. "The Oath" plays when Zell, Selphie, and Quistis rescue Squall at the interrogation room.

Appearances in other media
The D-District Prison appears in the background of the "Blue Fields" Field Music Sequence of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Trivia

 * The exit of the arm-control room is a dummied background in the game.
 * One of the dummied backgrounds in the game is that of the back of the arm control room in the D-District prison.
 * During the prison escape, it is explicitly mentioned (and shown) that magic does not work due to an anti-magic field. However, not long after, the party fights Biggs and Wedge, and the battle participants can cast magic without difficulty. Furthermore, directly after the battle, it is announced throughout the prison the anti-magic field is being deactivated, dispelling the possibility it had been turned off prior to the fight.
 * Various signs in the D-District Prison spell "Galbadia" as "Garbadia".
 * As the Galbadian soldier runs after the player party as they hijack a train from the Dingo Desert station, the player characters make different comments on his attempt depending on who is in the party.