Sephiroth
Short Intro
Sephiroth (Japanese: セフィロス Hepburn: Sefirosu) is a fictional character and main antagonist in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII developed by Square (now Square Enix). Character designer Tetsuya Nomura conceived and designed Sephiroth as an antagonist to - and direct physical opposite of - the game's main character, Cloud Strife. The character was voiced in Japanese by voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa and in English by both Lance Bass in Kingdom Hearts and George Newbern in all his subsequent appearances.
Sephiroth is later revealed to be the result of an experiment by the megacorporation Shinra, in which they injected him with cells from the extraterrestrial lifeform Jenova when he was still a fetus. Upon discovering this, Sephiroth decides to follow what he believes to be his destiny and take control of the Planet, while Cloud and the game's other protagonists attempt to stop him. Sephiroth's background and role in the story are expanded in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Additionally, he appears as a boss character in the Kingdom Hearts series and other video games developed by Square. Sephiroth has been well-received within the video game community and is highly ranked on many lists of the best video game villains and Final Fantasy characters.
Concept and Creation
Sephiroth was designed by Final Fantasy VII's character designer Tetsuya Nomura. His name came from the Kabbalah, in which the ten sephirot on the Tree of life represent the ten attributes through which God reveal himself.[36] His character existed from the earliest stages of development, as originally, Nomura thought that the game's plot would deal exclusively with Cloud Strife pursuing Sephiroth, who was always the game's main antagonist.[37] Nomura wanted Sephiroth to appear early in the game, and then have the plot dealing with the protagonists following him, so that gamers would not meet the final boss until extremely late in the game.[38] Sephiroth was initially going to be Aerith Gainsborough's sibling, as indicated by their similar hairstyles.[39] Later, however, he was changed to Aeris's past love, whom she would remember upon meeting Cloud. This character was then changed to Zack Fair, however, and Sephiroth’s prior relationship with Aerith was dropped. In early drafts of the game, Sephiroth's personality was already brutal and cruel, with a strong willed and calm ego. He was to suffer from Mako addiction, resulting in a semi-conscious state as a result of high level exposure to Mako energy.[40] Sephiroth was also intended to manipulate Cloud into believing that he was a creation of Sephiroth's will, but this aspect of the story was later abandoned. In another excised scene, when Sephiroth's physical body is first seen in the Northern Crater, it was to be female.[41]
Sephiroth has long platinum hair and bright cyan eyes with cat-like pupils, and is depicted in a black coat decorated with metallic pauldrons. Since appearing as Safer Sephiroth in the final battle of the game, Sephiroth has had a single black wing on his back, referencing his theme music "One Winged Angel".[6] When Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was released, the staff stated that the reason the wing was black was to suggest evil.[42] Nomura has stated that Sephiroth was made to be a complete contrast to the game's main protagonist, Cloud, who was originally designed to have slicked-back, black hair with no spikes.[43] His weapon, the "Masamune", which has been featured in numerous Final Fantasy titles, is an elongated nodachi that he learned to use during his days in SOLDIER.[44] The Masamune is named after the famous Japanese swordsmith Goro Nyudo Masamune, whose blades are considered national treasures in Japan today.[45] When designing Cloud and Sephiroth, Nomura was influenced by his view of their rivalry mirroring the legendary animosity between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō, with Cloud and Sephiroth being Musashi and Kojirō respectively. Sephiroth's look was defined as "kakkoii", a Japanese term combining good looks with coolness.[46]
Director Yoshinori Kitase believes Sephiroth's role in Final Fantasy VII to be one of the main reasons why the game became so popular.[38] Nomura has called Sephiroth "the ultimate antagonist in the Final Fantasy VII saga. There can't be anyone else," and regards him as an enemy from a previous generation, in contrast to his "Remnants" who appear in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.[47]
For Advent Children, the film sequel to Final Fantasy VII, script writer Kazushige Nojima thought that the film's plot would be less entertaining without Sephiroth. His revival in the film was introduced in the early stages of development, but the official decision as to how to bring him back was not reached until later. Nomura originally planned to have him appear from the start, but as it took the staff two years to develop his design, the idea of his presence throughout the film was scrapped, and it was decided instead to have him only appear on screen for a short time. Sephiroth was designed for the film in such a way so as to emphasize his other-worldliness, such as the fact that he never blinks or is seen breathing, and his voice remains always monotone and calm. In the film, the staff stated that his strength had considerably increased, to the point that he had "ascended to a new level of existence." Despite initially encountering problems as to who would voice him, Nomura said that once Toshiyuki Morikawa auditioned for the role, they knew they had their actor. Morikawa was instructed by the staff to speak all of Sephiroth's dialogue as if he felt superior to every other character in the film. The voice director and Morikawa agreed to make Sephiroth's voice sound calm to the point that he believes he cannot lose to Cloud, suggesting to Morikawa that he may reappear at some point in the future.[48]
Story Ahead. Contains Spoilers.
Story
Sephiroth was born to Professor Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent approximately twenty-seven years before Final Fantasy VII (exact date of birth unknown[2]). Hojo and Lucrecia were working as assistants to Professor Gast, Shinra Electric Power Company's top scientist, on the Jenova Project that studied the remains of an extra-terrestrial entity. Jenova was mistaken as one of the Cetra, an ancient people who had the power to "talk to the Planet." Hojo injected cell samples from Jenova into the pregnant Lucrecia and her unborn baby. She carried Sephiroth to term, his fetal form merging with the Jenova cells as he developed. After the baby was born, he was taken by Shinra scientists and Lucrecia never had a chance to hold him.
Sephiroth never gained the ability to talk to the Planet, as he is not a Cetra descendant, but Shinra found another use for him and raised him to be a super soldier. They told him nothing of his true parentage, instead saying his mother's name was "Jenova" and telling him nothing of his father. Sephiroth felt different from other children but didn't know of the experiments that had created him. Sephiroth came to respect Professor Gast until he left Shinra, and considers Professor Hojo a hack scientist in comparison.
Sephiroth joined SOLDIER, and during the Wutai War was instrumental in ensuring Shinra's dominance. He rose to the rank of SOLDIER First Class and was admired and respected as a great war hero, while those in Shinra considered his strength unequaled even by other First Class SOLDIER members. Many young men, including Cloud Strife and Genesis Rhapsodos, idolized Sephiroth, and sought to join SOLDIER to become heroes like him, making Sephiroth useful for Shinra as a propaganda tool.
Near the end of the Wutai War Sephiroth had only two close friends within SOLDIER, Angeal and Genesis. The three would go to the training room when the Second Class SOLDIERS were off to access the virtual reality Junon to train. Genesis challenged Sephiroth one-on-one and used magic to empower himself and his weapon. Sephiroth remained stronger but the fight ended inconclusively when Angeal intervened before either hurt the other too badly. The small wound Genesis took did not heal and Sephiroth offered his blood for a transfusion, but was told it was not compatible. Shortly before the Wutai War ended, Genesis vanished and is declared missing in action.
In the months after the war the anti-Shinra group AVALANCHE intensifies its actions, raiding Junon. Sephiroth engages the AVALANCHE leader, Elfé, who asks if he fights for a reason, which has a profound effect on Sephiroth; the results of Sephiroth choosing to fight for a reason would one day threaten the Planet's existence. It is discovered Genesis has defected with a Shinra scientist Hollander, creating an army using copy technology to graft Genesis's cells onto other traitor SOLDIER members with which to rebel against Shinra. Angeal goes rogue torn between his loyalties, and the two are declared killed in action.
As Sephiroth participates in the AVALANCHE Insurgency and Genesis War, his loyalties and emotions continue to be thrown into turmoil leading to him refusing missions concerning Genesis and Angeal, and on a later assignment he allows them to escape. Zack Fair, one of Sephiroth's SOLDIER First Class comrades, kills Angeal and apparently Genesis, but the latter resurfaces several months later. Sephiroth participates in a mission to "rescue" Professor Hojo who had almost defected with the AVALANCHE forces attacking the Shinra Headquarters. In September of 0002, Sephiroth tells Zack he is considering retiring from Shinra, and their next mission together will likely be his last.
On September 22nd 0002, Sephiroth arrives at Nibelheim to investigate a monster outbreak believed to be connected to Genesis near the town's Mako Reactor. He arrives with a small entourage, including Zack and two Shinra infantrymen, one of whom is the sixteen-year-old Cloud Strife. Sephiroth asks Cloud how it feels to be back in his hometown, as he lacks one. When questioned by Zack about family, Sephiroth explains his mother, Jenova, died during childbirth, but stops short of mentioning his father before proceeding with the mission. In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Zack is suspicious upon learning that Jenova was Sephiroth's mother, due to having learned about Jenova and her role in the creation of Genesis and Angeal.
At the Mako Reactor Sephiroth, suspicious at the discovery of the purification valves being broken (the cause of the malfunctioning reactor), finds several pod-like chambers containing monstrous creatures who used to be human, mutated by exposure to Mako. He finds a chamber labeled "JENOVA" containing a feminine-looking creature. When Zack suggests a connection between SOLDIER and the creatures in the tanks, Sephiroth flies into a rage, horrified the reason he is "different" may be because he was created similarly to the monsters in the pods.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- shows an expanded version of events at the Nibelheim Incident. Genesis plays a part in inciting Sephiroth's madness by revealing Sephiroth was born from the Jenova Project, its goal to produce the "perfect monster." Sephiroth rejects Genesis's request for Jenova cells from him, and claims the latter will "rot" due to horror at the discovery of his own conception.
Disturbed by the creature in the reactor having the same name as his "mother," along with the once human monsters in the pods and Genesis's words, Sephiroth makes his way to the manor that had been occupied by Shinra researchers. For several sleepless days he pores over the research notes in the basement library wondering why he was never told the truth of his origins. He comes to believe Jenova is a Cetra, and therefore he, as Jenova's "son", is the last Cetra survivor. He comes to believe the human race had betrayed the Cetra 2,000 years ago leaving them alone to defend the Planet from a calamity (eventually revealed to have been Jenova itself), and resolves to take vengeance for his "ancestors."
On October 1st Sephiroth destroys Nibelheim, setting the town on fire and killing many of the townspeople, before returning to the reactor to claim Jenova's remains. He is pursued by Tifa's father, Tifa, Zack, and Cloud. Tifa, a girl living in the town who had been Sephiroth's group's guide up the mountain, takes up Sephiroth's Masamune from her father's corpse and attacks him, but he disarms her and cuts her down.
Shortly after Sephiroth enters Jenova's chamber, Zack arrives to confront him, but Sephiroth only keeps talking to his "mother", saying they will reclaim the planet and head to the Promised Land. He tears off the effigy blocking Jenova's remains. Zack fights him, but is defeated and tossed out while Sephiroth declares himself "chosen" to rule the planet. Cloud enters, picks up Zack's Buster Sword, and catches Sephiroth off-guard, impaling him from behind through the abdomen. As Cloud leaves to tend to Tifa, a weakened Sephiroth decapitates Jenova and stumbles from the room. Cloud attacks him again, but Sephiroth impales him with the Masamune.
Out of sheer force of will, Cloud pulls the sword out of his chest and uses it as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into a pool of Mako below the reactor. Sephiroth vanishes with Jenova's head still in his grasp, apparently falling to his death. In Last Order -Final Fantasy VII- Sephiroth jumps into the pool of Mako willingly, having noted he is unable to defeat Cloud. Shinra seals the records on Sephiroth, declaring him killed in action, and rebuilds Nibelheim to cover up the incident, populating it with Shinra employees paid to act as the villagers.
Sephiroth fell into the Lifestream, his willpower too great to allow himself to be consumed. Over the next several years Sephiroth traveled the Lifestream, the Planet's life energy and the afterlife for its spirits that contains the summation of the cognition its inhabitant have accumulated. Growing in power and knowledge, the fragments of his body congregate at the Northern Cave inside the North Crater, joining to recreate Sephiroth's physical form in a cocoon of Mako. Sephiroth's new goal is to merge with the Lifestream and seize control of it to become a god.
Though his physical body is encased in Mako, Sephiroth can control Jenova's cells as an extension of his body and thus act out his plans through the remains of Jenova's body. Hojo has injected Zack, Cloud and the survivors of Nibelheim (save for Tifa who was rescued by her mentor Zangan before Shinra found her) with Sephiroth's cells, turning them into Sephiroth Clones: people whose wills have been over-ridden with Sephiroth's will. Hojo believes the Jenova cells within Sephiroth would call for a "reunion" of those who share its cells, and wishes to see his theory put to test.
Approximately five years after his supposed death, in December 0007, Sephiroth enacts his plan and puts out the call for the reunion to summon the Sephiroth Clones to the North Cave. Jenova's remains, which had been moved to the Shinra Headquarters in Midgar, shapeshift into Sephiroth's form and break out of containment. Jenova/Sephiroth releases Cloud (who had escaped Shinra Manor with Zack but has forgotten many details about it) and the members of the second reincarnation of AVALANCHE, who were being held prisoner. Sephiroth kills President Shinra after declaring Shinra should never acquire the Cetra's fabled Promised Land. Cloud, seeing Sephiroth's Masamune left at President Shinra's murder site, suspects Sephiroth is alive, and sets out with AVALANCHE to find him and settle the score for what happened to Nibelheim. However, what Cloud doesn't know is that his drive for going after Sephiroth is actually the Jenova cells forcing him to go to Sephiroth to reunite with the main body as per Hojo's "Reunion Theory".
The party finds Sephiroth on the cargo ship headed to Costa del Sol, where he alludes to the reunion and leaves Jenova's arm behind that transforms into Jenova∙BIRTH. He appears some time later in Nibelheim Shinra Manor basement, where he mentions the reunion and calls for Cloud to follow him. At the Temple of the Ancients Sephiroth reveals the full extent of his plans—the Planet relies on the Lifestream to heal itself when wounded, and the North Crater, where the Lifestream is abundant, is where Jenova fell two thousand years ago.
Using the Black Materia, Sephiroth plans to call the Ultimate Destructive Magic—Meteor—to injure the Planet and place himself at the center of its impact zone as the Lifestream emerges to heal the Planet's wound. Sephiroth plans to merge with the Lifestream, becoming a god.
Cloud acquires the Black Materia first, but Sephiroth exerts his influence over the Jenova's cells within Cloud's body and takes control of him, forcing Cloud to hand the Materia over. Aeris Gainsborough, the true last survivor of the Cetra and a member of Cloud's party, uses the White Materia to summon Holy, the only power able to counter Meteor. During her prayer Sephiroth (or rather, Jenova transformed into his image) impales her with his sword, killing her. Though Aeris had successfully called Holy, Sephiroth holds it back within the Planet. Cloud and his allies continue tracking Jenova's remains in Sephiroth's form to the North Crater.
Cloud and his party kill Jenova in Sephiroth's form and reclaim the Black Materia. Cloud entrusts it to a party member for safekeeping while he and Tifa continue deeper into the crater and find themselves in an illusion of Nibelheim's destruction that Sephiroth conjured. Sephiroth wants to break Cloud by making him believe he is but a simulacrum created by Professor Hojo with false memories. Sephiroth deceives Cloud into thinking he is a mere cluster of Jenova cells that assumed the identity of a boy named "Cloud" from Tifa's childhood. Tifa tries to tell Cloud Sephiroth is lying, but cannot deny that she never saw Cloud at Nibelheim during its destruction.
Tifa's words along with Sephiroth's manipulations take their toll and shatter Cloud's fragile mind. Sephiroth projects an illusion of Tifa before the party members left behind to bring the Black Materia to Cloud. Once Cloud takes back the Black Materia he hands it to Sephiroth's true body residing within a Mako cocoon. Sephiroth summons the Meteor, which awakens the Planet's defense mechanism, the Weapons. The walls of the area crumble as the Weapons, colossal monsters, arise from their slumber, and Sephiroth's Mako cocoon falls into the crater. Cloud's allies flee with Rufus Shinra, the new president of the Shinra Company, on the airship Highwind while Sephiroth erects an energy barrier over the crater to keep the Weapons from detecting him.
Sephiroth is mentioned frequently in Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, as the deceased Aerith's spirit observes the effects Sephiroth's actions are having on the Lifestream and the Planet.
Sephiroth begins shapeshifting his body into a form befitting a god, awaiting Meteor's arrival. Cloud recovers upon discovering the truth about his past. In late January 0008, Shinra fires the Mako Cannon, known as the Sister Ray, at the North Crater, piercing Sephiroth's barrier and allowing Cloud and his allies to enter the crater and reach Sephiroth.
They find Sephiroth at the Planet's core, blocking Holy. Emerging from his larval Bizarro∙Sephiroth form upon defeat, Sephiroth becomes the angelic Safer∙Sephiroth, a being with seven wings. Cloud and his allies destroy him, but his mind endures. Pulling Cloud into a metaphysical final battle, Sephiroth attempts to take control of him, but Cloud's mental defenses have grown, and he defeats Sephiroth who dissolves into the Lifestream, seemingly destroyed. With Sephiroth gone, Holy is released from the Planet's core and Aeris helps the Lifestream emerge and keep the Meteor at bay for Holy to destroy it.
Sephiroth is the focus of the On the Way to a Smile novella "Case of the Lifestream - Black" where he uses the Lifestream's emergence to fight Meteor to infect the Planet with Geostigma, dispersing his memories among the Lifestream to spread the disease. Sephiroth avoids dissolution into the Lifestream by focusing on his hatred of Cloud, which allows him to maintain a core sense of being and remain separate from the other spirits. With his peripheral memories, including those of his personal appearance, stripped away over time, he uses memories of how others in the Lifestream see him to craft his avatars and sends them to find Jenova's remains to reform a true body for himself.
During the events of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in 0009, Sephiroth remains an active force terrorizing the Planet. Geostigma has spread throughout the world, afflicting many with extreme fatigue and skin sores. The plague is caused by Jenova's remaining consciousness in the Lifestream, and primarily affects children due to their weaker immune systems. Cloud has also contracted the disease and experiences visions of Sephiroth.
The now-reclusive Cloud finds himself confronted by a trio of silver-haired men who are physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will. The three, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, believe they are guided by their "mother" Jenova, but rather, it is Sephiroth himself who forces their actions. The three seek Jenova's cells to be reunited with her, unaware of Sephiroth's ultimate plan to recreate a new body for himself using Jenova's last remnants.
When Kadaj absorbs Jenova's cells Sephiroth exerts his power over Jenova to shapeshift Kadaj's body into his own visage, restoring him to life. Sephiroth faces Cloud and, disappointed his adversary was cured of Geostigma, reveals his plan to taint the Lifestream with those dead of the disease to the point he can control it. Sephiroth plans to use the Planet as a vessel to travel space and find a new planet to rule.
Sephiroth and Cloud fight in the ruins of Midgar that was never rebuilt after being ravaged by the Meteor. Sephiroth gains the upper hand before Cloud is reinvigorated by memories of his friends and family and destroys Sephiroth with Omnislash Version 5, using his Fusion Swords to assault him from all directions. When Cloud demands he stay in his memories, Sephiroth only replies "I will... never be a memory."
His black wing folds around him and he fades away leaving a weakened Kadaj to die and fade into the Lifestream as Aerith's spirit calls healing rain to cure the Planet of Geostigma.
Chronologically, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is Sephiroth's final appearance in the Final Fantasy VII timeline, and his current status is unknown, though it is likely, given his past tenacity, that he continues to exist within the Lifestream.
Although Sephiroth himself does not appear during the events of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, he is mentioned in a flashback with Lucrecia, who, while pregnant, experienced a vision as to what her child would become. The second mention is from Weiss the Immaculate, when explaining he is actually Hojo possessing his body. In another flashback when Lucrecia is trying to save Vincent Valentine, she demands that Hojo give back her baby (Sephiroth).