Sephiroth (Final Fantasy)

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Sephiroth

Sephiroth artwork by Tetsuya Nomura
Series	Final Fantasy Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Kingdom Hearts
First game	Final Fantasy VII
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voiced by (English)	Lance Bass (Kingdom Hearts) George Newbern (all other appearances)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Shin-ichiro Miki (Ehrgeiz) Toshiyuki Morikawa (all other appearances)
Fictional information
Class/Job	SOLDIER 1st Class
Weapon	Masamune

Sephiroth (セフィロス, Sefirosu^?) is a fictional character and main antagonist in Square's (now Square Enix) role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. He was designed by character designer Tetsuya Nomura and is characterized as a tall man with long silver hair. His appearance was intended to contrast directly with that of the main character, Cloud Strife. Sephiroth's English-language voice actor is Lance Bass in Kingdom Hearts and George Newbern in all other appearances. His Japanese-language voice actor (seiyū) is Toshiyuki Morikawa, although Shin-ichiro Miki voiced the character in Ehrgeiz.

In Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth serves as the primary antagonist who attempts to become a god by absorbing the planet's energy. He has also made appearances in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts series, and Dissidia: Final Fantasy.

Sephiroth has been well-received within the video game community due to his complex motivations and his iconic appearance, particularly his extremely long sword, Masamune. As a result, he is regularly featured in top positions on many "best villain" lists and character polls assembled by game publications and fans.

Contents 1 Concept and creation 2 Appearances 2.1 Final Fantasy VII 2.2 Related Final Fantasy VII appearances 2.3 Other appearances 3 Musical themes 4 Cultural impact 4.1 Critical reception 4.2 Merchandise 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Concept and creation

This section requires expansion.

Sephiroth was designed by Final Fantasy VII's character designer Tetsuya Nomura. Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano and Nomura drew the artwork of Sephiroth. He has long platinum hair and bright cyan eyes with cat-like pupils, and is portrayed in a black coat decorated with metallic pauldrons. In the Kingdom Hearts series and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie he has a black angel wing on his back. Nomura has stated that Sephiroth was made to be a complete contrast to the game's main protagonist, Cloud Strife's original designs of slicked-back, black hair with no spikes.^[1] His weapon, the Masamune, which has been featured in numerous Final Fantasy titles, is a long sword, and it is said that it can only be wielded by Sephiroth.^[2] He usually uses his left hand predominantly when wielding his weapon with one arm, although in the first installment of the Kingdom Hearts series he holds it with his right hand. The Masamune is named after the famous Japanese swordsmith Goro Nyudo Masamune, whose blades are considered national treasures in Japan today.^[3] His name comes from Kabbalah, in which the ten sephirot on the Tree of Life represent the ten attributes that God created through which he can manifest.^[4]

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Final Fantasy VII

Approximately five years after his supposed death, in December 0007, Sephiroth enacted his plan to find the Black Materia. Jenova's remains, which had been moved to Shinra Headquarters, took on Sephiroth's form and broke out of containment. Jenova/Sephiroth then released Cloud and the members of AVALANCHE, who were being held prisoner, and killed President Shinra. Sephiroth subsequently began searching for clues to the location of the Black Materia. Cloud, seeing Sephiroth's Masamune left at the scene of President Shinra's death, suspects he may be alive and sets out with AVALANCHE to find him and settle the score for what happened to Nibelheim.

The party first sees Sephiroth on the Cargo Ship, where he alludes to the Jenova Reunion. He also appears some time later in Nibelheim, where he again mentions the Reunion. When Cloud and his allies discover that Sephiroth is tracking down the Black Materia, they go to the Temple of the Ancients to acquire it first. There they again find Sephiroth, who tells them the full extent of his plans - the Planet relies on the Lifestream to heal itself when wounded. Using the Black Materia, Sephiroth plans to use it to call Meteor to strike the Planet, causing another large wound. Sephiroth would then place himself at the center of this wound, merging with the Lifestream and taking control of it, becoming a God ruling over the Planet.

Cloud succeeds in acquiring the Black Materia, but Sephiroth exerts his influence over Jenova's cells and takes control of Cloud, who hands the Materia over to Jenova. At this time Aeris Gainsborough, the true last survivor of the Cetra, tried to use the White Materia given to her by her mother to summon the force called Holy, the only power able to counter Meteor. During her attempt to call forth this Ultimate White Magic, Sephiroth fell from above and impaled her with his sword, killing the flower girl. Though Aeris had successfully called Holy, it was now being held back within the Planet by Sephiroth, preventing it from moving with his will as augmented by Jenova's power. Cloud and his allies continued tracking Sephiroth to the Northern Crater.

At the crater, Cloud kills Jenova in Sephiroth's form and reclaims the Black Materia. Shortly after, Sephiroth's true body is seen in its Mako cocoon, and Sephiroth's mental manipulations of Cloud's weakened mind take their toll. Believing himself nothing more than a cluster of Jenova cells who had taken on the memories of a boy named "Cloud" and the deceased Zack, Cloud delivers the Black Materia to Sephiroth, who uses it. The crater collapses, and Cloud's allies are forced to flee with Rufus Shinra to escape. The Planet unleashes the Weapons from their sleep, and Sephiroth erects an energy barrier over the crater to keep them from detecting him.

With the Weapons causing chaos and keeping his enemies from rallying against him, Sephiroth began shapeshifting his body into a form befitting a God, awaiting the arrival of Meteor. Cloud was eventually recovered by his allies, and they received unlikely assistance from Shinra. In later January 0008, they fired the massive Mako cannon known as the Sister Ray at the Northern Crater, piercing Sephiroth's barrier and allowing Cloud and his allies to enter the crater and find Sephiroth.

Descending into the crater, they eventually find Sephiroth at the Planet's core, blocking Holy from stopping Meteor as it began its impact. After they dispatched Sephiroth's larva-like "Bizarro Sephiroth" form, Sephiroth emerged from it, almost entirely transformed into his ultimate form, an angelic being with seven wings. Cloud and his allies destroyed Sephiroth, but his mind endured. Pulling Cloud into the Lifestream for a final mental battle, Sephiroth attempted to take control of his mind again, but Cloud's mental defenses had grown, and he defeated Sephiroth. Battered and bloody, Sephiroth dissolved into the Lifestream, seemingly destroyed.

[edit] Related Final Fantasy VII appearances

In the CGI film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, taking place two years after the original game, a disease known as "geostigma" has spread throughout the planet, affecting many with its symptoms. A Remnant of Sephiroth, physical manifestation of his will and spiritual energy, Kadaj, transforms into Sephiroth after absorbing Jenova's head. After his resurrection, Sephiroth reveals that he has been using geostigma in a plan to corrupt the Lifestream and grant him control of the entire planet. He and Cloud then engage in a duel, in which Sephiroth receives several injures to the point he changes back into Kadaj.^[5]

In the original video animation Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth and Zack are sent on a mission to investigate a Shinra research manor and Mako reactor at Nibelheim.^[6] When Sephiroth goes insane after discovering his origins^[7], Zack pursues him in an attempt to stop him, but is defeated. While liberating Jenova, Sephiroth is caught off-guard and impaled from behind by Cloud, who is armed with Zack's Buster Sword. Sephiroth exits the chamber with Jenova's severed head while Cloud attacks. However, Cloud is impaled by Sephiroth, and after being thrown against a wall by an impaled Cloud, Sephiroth proceeds to jump into the reactor core, as he does in Before Crisis.

Sephiroth appears in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, in flashbacks when Lucrecia Crescent would have premonitions of what her unborn son would become.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII reveals Sephiroth's character before the events in the first game. It is explained that Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos, two of Sephiroth's friends, along with Sephiroth himself, were experimented on at the fetal stages with Jenova cells that gave them great power. The three became 1st Class SOLDIERs, with Sephiroth being portrayed as the hero. Eventually Genesis, annoyed with the public view of Sephiroth, challenges him during training. Sephiroth easily wards off his attacks, and Genesis, during his final attack, gets a shoulder injury when Angeal tries to stop him. After Genesis left SOLDIER, Sephiroth ended up working with Zack Fair several times and began to develop a friendship with him, which continued after Angeal left SOLDIER as well. Sephiroth goes insane soon after an encounter with Genesis while on a mission in Nibelheim with Zack and two infantrymen, one of which is Cloud Strife. Sephiroth severs Jenova's head at the Mako reactor, heavily injures Tifa, and defeats Zack but is stopped by Cloud, who stabs him with Zack's sword. Sephiroth impales Cloud with the Masamune, but is thrown into the reactor core by Cloud, as in the original game.

[edit] Other appearances

His first outside appearance was as a selectable character in the fighting game Ehrgeiz, which also features appearances by other characters from Final Fantasy VII. Sephiroth also appears in the English and Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts. Like all the Final Fantasy characters in the Kingdom Hearts universe, he is developed as an entirely different character. He appears as an optional boss in the game's arena setting using his various techniques from Final Fantasy VII. Sephiroth's third outside appearance is in another optional boss fight in Kingdom Hearts II. In this title, his role is expanded beyond its sub-quest status in the original game as he makes an appearance during the main story of the game, as well as being part of a sub-plot involving Cloud Strife. Sephiroth's history is not revealed, though he is said to be the manifestation of the darkness in Cloud's heart and states that he has fallen many times to Cloud, but always came back to fight again. After confronting Sora he instructs him to tell Cloud to come before him to settle things. Both engage in battle, Tifa eventually appears and fights briefly, before Sephiroth and Cloud resume their fight and disappear in a flash of light. Sephiroth's fourth outside appearance is in the Itadaki Street games Special and Portable, where he appears as an unlockable playable character along with Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII.

Sephiroth is the villain representing Final Fantasy VII in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, where, as in all his recent appearances, he is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa in the Japanese version and George Newbern in the English version.^[8] During Cloud's travels, Sephiroth appears to him to play on his insecurities and demonstrate his ability to manipulate Cloud's emotions. Cloud defeats Sephiroth in battle, claiming his Crystal from him. In the game's final stage, Sephiroth separates himself from the other villains with the intent to survive the destruction of the world and become a god to reach the "Promised Land". However, he is defeated again and fades away, vowing to always return as long as Cloud remains as he is.

[edit] Musical themes

	"Advent: One-Winged Angel" The revised "One-Winged Angel" theme in Advent Children.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth is the focus of three pieces of music written by series composer Nobuo Uematsu. His primary theme is "Those Chosen by the Planet", a piece utilizing bells, low drums, and a deep chorus, which accompanies Sephiroth's appearances throughout the game. In the final battle, "Birth of a God" plays while the player combats Sephiroth's first form, "Bizarro Sephiroth" (also known as "Reverse Sephiroth"). The most well-known piece is "One-Winged Angel" which is played during the final confrontation with Sephiroth. In an interview featured on G4's Game Makers (formerly Icons), Uematsu revealed that this piece was designed to be a fusion of the musical styles of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and rock musician Jimi Hendrix. Two official covers have been done of this song, the first one being a different orchestration present in Kingdom Hearts. In Advent Children, a revised "One-Winged Angel" theme is played throughout the battle between Cloud and Sephiroth, this time with the progressive metal stylings of Nobuo Uematsu's band The Black Mages as well as orchestral elements and new lyrics. There is also a fourth version titled "The World's Enemy" that plays in Crisis Core.^[9]

[edit] Cultural impact

[edit] Critical reception

Due to his iconic appearance, Sephiroth has become one of the most recognized and famous villains in video game history, according to IGN.^[10] As such, he appears regularly in character polls and compiled lists. In an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Sephiroth was listed number one in a top 10 "Video Game Bosses" list.^[11] UGO placed him 25th on their list of "Top 25 Japanese RPG Characters".^[12] He is also a regular runner-up in character battles featured on GameFAQs, while he was the winner in a GameFAQs character battle of villains.^[13] Sephiroth has also been named the number one villain in an episode of G4's Filter.^[14] Some game editors have criticized Sephiroth's unclear motivations as a character flaw. David Smith of IGN stated that "Sephiroth was certainly a good-looking fellow, but his motivations were about as clear as mud..."^[15] In late 2007, Sephiroth was named 14th best character of all time in Dengeki PlayStation's retrospective awards feature about the original PlayStation.^[16] 1UP.com took a humorous approach to Sephiroth's several appearances after apparent deaths and in other games, ranking him third in their "They Is Risen" feature, which covered the ten most notorious video game resurrections. The publication noted that if the character continued to be used Square Enix would eventually "run out of ways to remix One-Winged Angel."^[17] The nature of Sephiroth's boss fights have received a similar reception. Game Informer listed his original appearance in the third place of the publication's "Top Ten Boss Fights", saying that the "battle against Sephiroth is top-notch."^[18] A reader's choice poll organized by GameSpot placed Sephiroth at the top spot of the list. In this contest the character got five times more votes than Bowser who finished in second place, most of the comments noted the difficulty of the fight as well as distinctive elements between it and those found in other games.^[19] A feature published by GamerHelp included Sephiroth's Kingdom Heart's fight in a feature titled "The Hardest Bosses of All Time", noting that regardless of the player's skill "walking away from this match unscathed" is not possible, to the point of saying that the fight was more difficult than the entirety of Final Fantasy VII.^[20] Gamespy editor Ryan Scott called Sephiroth the "King of Overrated Characters" during Gamespy's villain feature for Dissidia: Final Fantasy.^[21]

[edit] Merchandise

Sephiroth's appearance has served as basis for several types of merchandise. These include being part of the "Extra Knights" action figures first published by Bandai in Japan and released in 1997. A different model was released as part of the Play Arts collection following the release of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. With the release of the movie he was also included in a series of promotional material, primarily consisting of posters. Kotobukiya has included the character in numerous merchandise including a series of cold casts based on his appearace in both the original game and the movie sequel. As a result of promotional campaigns organized in Japan by Square Enix and Coca-Cola, a version of Sephiroth drawn in a super deformed style was featured in the first two volumes of a promotional collection. Products not connected to the release of the games or movies have also been produced. These include a figure as part of the Final Fantasy Trading Arts Vol. 1 series, a set as part of the Square Minimum Collection along Cloud, and a rare figure of "Safer Sephiroth" as part of the Final Fantasy Creatures series (Chromium). "Reverse Sephiroth" was also released as a normal figure in volume 2. A figure based on his appearances in the Kingdom Hearts games was released in the second series of the Play Arts Kingdom HEarts sub-line, along with a figure of his nemesis, Cloud. Some replica weapon companies have produced replicas of Sephiroth's sword, the Masamune, as a 6-foot long katana with a stainless steel unsharpened blade. Other types of merchandise includes collectible cards, keychains, lighters, phonecards and plush toys.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sephiroth

• Sephiroth on the Final Fantasy Wiki

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