Sephiroth (video game character)

Sephiroth is the chief antagonist of the video game Final Fantasy VII, produced by Square Enix. He is considered one of the most popular villains of the series, and has appeared in two other games (Ehrgeiz and Kingdom Hearts).

The Final Fantasy VII story line is extremely diverse and still leaves many questions, this, however, is a collection of ideas about Sephiroth, one of the most interesting "villians" of the Final Fantasy series, no matter how assumptious they may be.

Sephiroth appears as a tall, handsome bishounen character with long silver hair, bright blue-green eyes, a long black coat, and metallic shoulder guards. He carries the sword Masamune, which has appeared in each installment of the Final Fantasy game series. He was the most famous member of SOLDIER, the paramilitary branch of the Shin-Ra Power Corporation, until he mysteriously disappeared five years before the start of the game. He then returns to enact a sinister plot which threatens the game’s world, and which the game’s heroes must stop.

His name comes from the Kabbalah, in which the ten sephiroth on the Tree of Life represent different aspects of God.

His appearance was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, who also designed the other characters in the game along with other characters in the later installments of the series. Sephiroth also has two pieces of theme music written by series composer Nobuo Uematsu: “Those Chosen by The Planet,” a piece marked with bells, low drums, and a deep chorus, which plays whenever Sephiroth appears; and “One Winged Angel,” an symphonic piece with a chorus singing verses from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana (the first work of music in the series with actual recorded lyrics). This plays during the final confrontation with Sephiroth at the end of the game.

Sephiroth has made two separate appearances outside of FFVII. The first was as a selectable character in the fighting game Ehrgeiz, which also featured appearances of other characters from FFVII. The second was in the North American version of Kingdom Hearts, where he appeared as an extremely powerful optional opponent in the game’s arena setting.

In Japan, Sephiroth’s voice is provided by voice actor Shinichiro Miki. In the English version of Kingdom Hearts, his voice was provided by Lance Bass of N'SYNC fame, a decision that was received negatively by a large number of fans.

Images of a slightly redesigned Sephiroth have appeared in previews and teasers of the upcoming video sequel to FFVII: . It is not known if he appears in the production beyond that of flashbacks.

Warning: Plot details follow.

Backstory

Sephiroth was born at least 30 years before the start of the game to Prof. Hojo and his wife Lucretia of the Shinra Corporation (although some fans suspect that the character Vincent Valentine was his actual biological father). Before Sephiroth’s birth, Hojo was working on the JENOVA project. The project studied the remains of an extra-terrestrial entity known as JENOVA, which was mistakenly thought to be one of the Cetra, an ancient people of the world that the game takes place in. Curious about the effects of JENOVA’s biology on a human subject, Hojo injected cell samples from JENOVA into the unborn Sephiroth, attempting to create a superhuman subject.

After his birth, Shinra raised Sephiroth into a supersoldier, and told him nothing of his actual parents except that his mother’s name was “Jenova.” He proved to be an incredibly strong and effective member of SOLDIER, gaining worldwide fame for his exploits.

Five years before the start of the game, he was ordered to inspect the mako reactor outside the town of Nibelheim with a contingent of SOLDIER members and troops, including a member named Zack and a 16-year-old Shinra trooper named Cloud Strife. Nibelheim was Cloud's childhood home, but he avoided showing his face and revealing himself to his childhood sweetheart Tifa Lockheart out of shame of not becoming a full-fledged member of SOLDIER as he had sworn to do several years earlier.

At the reactor, Sephiroth found several pod-like chambers with monsterous creatures that had been transformed by the mako energy from the reactor. Deeper inside, he found a larger chamber labled “JENOVA,” which contained a strange, feminine creature. Disturbed that the creature had the same name as his "mother," and by his uncertainly about his origins, Sephiroth made his way to the mansion that had been occupied by Shinra researchers and began reading the research notes that were located in the basement library.

Once he learned of the JENOVA Project, the Cetra, and his existence as a living weapon, Sephiroth went mad. He burned Nibelheim to the ground and then went to the chamber that held JENOVA, which he now believed to be his mother, and took her head, intending to use her power to wipe out humanity. Having read the Shinra reports, he believed that JENOVA was a Cetra, and hence he was as well. Also, he believed that the human race had wiped out the Cetra, and now he intended to take vengeance for his "ancestors" (most likely under the destructive influence of JENOVA).

However, before he was able to leave the reactor, Cloud was able to confront Sephiroth and managed to cast him into the exposed mako lifestream at the bottom of the reactor. This was the last time he would be seen for five years.

Following this, Shinra sealed the records on Sephiroth and rebuilt Nibelheim in order to cover-up the incident. Prof. Hojo meanwhile attempted to repeat the experiments that created Sephiroth with other living subjects. Cloud was one such subject, but Hojo considered him a failure, though this is open to speculation: Hojo could have been lying to Cloud to further Sephiroth's mind control over him, he may not have been a clone (note that some fans take issue with the improper use of the word clone in this instance, rather than simply called a repeated experiment). The successful “Sephiroth Clones” were numbered, and became scattered throughout the world, until the time when the game takes place and they become drawn to a great “Reunion.”

Then, Shinra’s president was murdered by Sephiroth at his desk, impaled by the Masamune, as discovered by Cloud and the other members of AVALANCHE, an anti-Shinra rebel group. Having decided to investigate the matter, the members of AVALANCHE discovered that Sephiroth was attempting to use the Black Materia - an item that would summon down a Meteor to wound the planet. The planet would then send large amounts of "spirit energy" or the Lifestream in order to heal that wound. Sephiroth planned to intercept this massive collection of Lifestream, absorbing it and the knowledge/power it carries, which he believed would make him a god.

Sephiroth obtained and used the Black Materia, summoning the Meteor. Before it could strike, Aerith Gainsborough, the last of the Cetra, used the Black Materia's counterpart, the White Materia, which was to summon the force called "Holy". After Aerith used the Materia, Sephiroth killed her with a single blow of his sword. Sephiroth then manipulated the self-deluded Cloud into performing the necessary tasks to complete his goals, and concealed himself in the Northern Crater. The barrier protecting him was penetrated by Shin-Ra, and Cloud and his allies entered the Crater and defeated a mutated Sephiroth. Cloud subsequently had a dream or vision in which he and Sephiroth battled one another, with Cloud emerging victorious. Meteor was stopped by Holy, although the exact nature of Holy's actions in unknown; it is known that, several centuries later, Midgar would be returned to a pristine natural state. Whether this means that Holy destroyed the city is unknown; some fans speculate that Holy destroyed not only Midgar but all of humanity.

Advent Children

Two years following the defeat of Sephiroth, a plague begins to spread throughout the world. The now reclusive Cloud Strife finds himself confronted by a strange group of people who each bear a resemblance to Sephiroth. The exact details of these events are to be revealed in the direct to DVD , the CGI sequel to the game.