Final Fantasy VII

Figure 3. Logo of Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII  (Figure 3) is a role-playing game developed by Squaresoft in 1997. The game takes place in a post-industrial world ruled by the megacorporation, Shinra Electric Company. The company profits from converting lifestream, the lifeblood of the world and its inhabitants, into mako, a major energy source, a process which has been slowly killing all flora and fauna. The game opens with the protagonist, Cloud, working with AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group to shut down one of Shinra’s mako power plants in the city of Midgar. The mission goes awry and Cloud and his allies are eventually discovered and forced to flee the city; however, over the course of this escape they learn that Sephiroth, a former member of SOLDIER (the genetically modified military arm of Shinra), who was presumably killed years ago after going insane from learning the origins of his birth, has returned. Unlike other SOLDIER, who are merely humans infused with mako, he was born from fusing human cells with the cells of JENOVA, a dead extraterrestrial being that landed on the planet centuries ago. Sephiroth feels that the human race betrayed himself and his ‘mother’, JENOVA by killing her and as such plans to have a meteor fall on the planet forcing it to concentrate its lifestream on one location (to recover) allowing him to assimilate with it and literally take over the world. Upon learning this, Cloud and his allies work together to hunt down Sephiroth and stop his plans, culminating with a final battle with the SOLDIER himself.

Sephiroth was a member of SOLDIER, Shinra’s elite military force of mako-infused warriors. However, Sephiroth was no ordinary SOLDIER, he was the SOLDIER, the strongest and smartest of them all, for years he diligently served Shinra, even leading the company to its victory against Wutai (a separate militaristic organization) in a war nearly a decade before Final Fantasy VII begins. These accomplishments led Sephiroth to be viewed as a hero by his comrades, and the world as a whole; however, these laurels never concerned the man, in fact, this fame, alongside his immense strength isolated him from others and helped contribute to his feelings of loneliness and his desire to learn of his heritage, which had been kept secret by Shinra. Over the course of his career at Shinra, Sephiroth was able to make a few close friends and was even planning to retire and enjoy a peaceful life, but this all changed during one mission to the city of Nibelheim. While at the city, Sephiroth came across an abandoned Shinra facility; here he found documents that revealed to him a startling truth, that he was not entirely human, in fact, he was a Shinra experiment to fuse the cells of JENOVA, a long-dead extraterrestrial that had fallen on the plant centuries ago, with a developing human fetus. This truth fractured Sephiroth’s mind and caused him to lash out in anger and revenge; in his madness, he felt he had been abandoned and betrayed by his company, his comrades, and humanity. Although he was defeated by Cloud (who was on the mission with Sephiroth) fairly shortly, Sephiroth’s body was never found. In reality, Sephiroth had managed to reach the frozen wastelands of the north, where JENOVA’s body had crashed so long ago, and slowly heal. By the start of the game he has finished his healing and now seeks to complete his revenge.

Sephiroth as a character is defined by his strength and his immense loneliness. Due to his genetic connection to JENOVA he has always been immensely powerful, both in body and mind, and over the years as a SOLDIER and even through his madness he has only augmented to these skills. As such, even after growing unhinged after the Nibelheim Incident, he retains his abilities to strategize and systematically frustrate and defeat his enemies at every turn, while furthering his own goals. However, his loneliness is what truly makes him a monster, although he was always isolated while working at Shinra, he did still a  few close friends with whom he could relate closely with. However, by the time of the Nibelheim mission, most of them have died and as such his loneliness has only grown. The documents he finds concerning his creation only act as a catalyst to turn that loneliness that has always been with him into rage and despair.