Sephiroth (Final Fantasy)

Sephiroth
'Final Fantasy VII Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Kingdom Hearts' character
Sephiroth artwork by Tetsuya Nomura
First game	Final Fantasy VII

Sephiroth (セフィロス, Sefirosu) is a fictional character and recurring villain 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. In Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth serves as the primary antagonist who attempts to destroy the world by summoning a meteor to fall on the planet. He has also made appearances in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts series.

Sephiroth has been well-received within the video game community due to his complex motivations and his iconic appearance, particularly his extremely long nodachi, 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. In the English language releases, he was first voiced by former 'N Sync-member Lance Bass in Kingdom Hearts and George Newbern in all other appearances. The Japanese versions featured Shin-ichiro Miki as the voice of Sephiroth in Ehrgeiz and Toshiyuki Morikawa provided his voice in all other appearances.

Concept and creation

Sephiroth was designed by Final Fantasy VII's character designer Tetsuya Nomura. Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano and Nomura did the artwork of Sephiroth. He has long silver hair and bright cyan eyes with cat-like pupils, and is portrayed in a black coat decorated with metallic pauldrons. 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. His name comes from Kabbalah, in which the ten sephirot on the Tree of Life represent different aspects of God. His weapon, the Masamune, which has been featured in numerous Final Fantasy titles, is a seven-foot long Nodachi, and it is said that it can only be wielded by Sephiroth. He usually uses his left hand predominantly when wielding his weapon with one arm, although in the Kingdom Hearts series he holds it with his right hand.

Appearances

Final Fantasy VII

Notions of Sephiroth's apparent death are put into question when Cloud and his company AVALANCHE are detained in Shinra's headquarters. On the eve before a public execution, their cell doors are opened. A trail of blood leads the group to discover that President Shinra has been impaled by a sword confirmed to belong to Sephiroth. Cloud and his friends decide to pursue him.

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Sephiroth kills Aeris in an iconic scene from Final Fantasy VII

Sephiroth's plan, revealed later in the Temple of the Ancients, is to drain the planet of its energy with the aid of the black materia and its cataclysmic power referred to as "Meteor." Aeris Gainsborough, the last Cetra, attempts to stop him with the white materia and its power, Holy. Aeris succeeds in summoning Holy, but Jenova, while in the appearance of Sephiroth, kills her before it can be activated. The white materia remains active, but unused. Later, Cloud procures the black materia, but is manipulated against his will into surrendering it to Sephiroth, who then summons Meteor and barricades himself inside Northern Crater, waiting for its arrival.

In the story's climax, the Northern Cave barrier is penetrated by Shinra's mako cannon, allowing Cloud and his party to descend into the crater for a final confrontation. Sephiroth manifests himself as "Bizzaro Sephiroth" and attacks. Upon being weakened, he transforms again into "Safer Sephiroth", a bizarre angelic figure. After being defeated again, Sephiroth's spirit makes a final mental assault upon Cloud within the Lifestream. However, Cloud has already rediscovered himself and Sephiroth is unable to attack. Cloud easily dispatches Sephiroth and leaves the Lifestream.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

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Sephiroth's famous scene reproduced in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

In the CGI film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, it has been two years following the defeat of Sephiroth, and a disease known as "geostigma" has spread throughout the world, afflicting many with its ill symptoms of extreme fatigue and open sores on the skin. The now reclusive Cloud finds himself confronted by a strange trio of silver-haired brothers who are the Remnants of Sephiroth, physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will and spiritual energy.

Their leader, Kadaj, later 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 displays enormous power. Despite being outmatched, Cloud defeats him, causing Sephiroth to fade away. However, Sephiroth's parting words, "I will never be a memory!" hint that he will somehow return.

Last Order: Final Fantasy VII

In the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy, set five years before the game, after completing the mission to stop Genesis, Sephiroth and Zack receive orders to investigate a Shinra research mansion and a mako reactor near Nibelheim. Upon investigating the mansion, Sephiroth discovers his disturbing origins as an integral experiment in the Jenova Project. Utterly confused and still believing Jenova to be his mother, he soon comes to believe that he is the last of the Cetra. This drives him to emotionally-driven madness, leading him to destroy Nibelheim and embarking to retrieve his "mother."

Zack pursues Sephiroth and arrives at the reactor in an attempt to stop him, only to be soundly defeated. While finally liberating Jenova, Sephiroth is caught off-guard and stabbed from behind by Cloud, who is armed with Zack's Buster Sword. Sephiroth exits the chamber with Jenova's severed head while Cloud follows. However, Cloud is impaled by Sephiroth, who was annoyed with his persistence to apprehend him. Unlike in the game, Sephiroth willingly leaps with Jenova's head into the reactor core, where he travels the Lifestream to the Northern Cave. There, he plots to absorb the planet's energy in attempt to achieve godhood, while the world believes him to be dead, until the events of Final Fantasy VII.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII covers many of the events in Last Order in greater depth. It is explained that Sephiroth and Genesis Rhaspodos were both experimented on at the fetal stages with Alien cells that gave great power (Sephiroth was given Jenova cells while Genesis was given G-Cells). Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal all became good friends in their youth. Eventually, they all became first class Soldiers with Sephiroth being the strongest and most influential of all. Eventually, Genesis challenged Sephiroth to a duel, ignoring Angeal's pleads to stop, on top of a hologram of the Junon Cannon. Sephiroth easily shrugs off Genesis' attacks and slices the cannon to pieces in the process. Angeal succeeded in stoping their fight, however Genesis impulsively tries one final attack with magic resulting in the a shoulder injury with Angeal´s sword. After Genesis left SOLDIER, Sephiroth ended up working with Zack several times and began to develop a friendship with him, which continued after Angeal left SOLDIER as well. Sephiroth goes insane soon after Zack conquers Genesis while on a mission in Nibelheim with Zack and his grunt friend, Cloud Strife. Sephiroth severs Jenova's head and defeats Zack but is stopped by Cloud, who stabs him with the Buster Sword. Sephiroth impales Cloud with the Masamune, but is thrown into the Lifestream by Cloud, as in the original game.

Appearances in other media

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Sephiroth, as he appears in Kingdom Hearts

Sephiroth has thus far made four separate notable appearances outside of the Final Fantasy VII series. His first appearance was as a selectable character in the fighting game Ehrgeiz, which also features appearances by other characters from Final Fantasy VII. In the game, Sephiroth is playable both in his normal appearance and in the shirtless version that Cloud confronts alone at the end of Final Fantasy VII.

His second appearance is 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. Among these techniques are the infamous "Heartless Angel" (also known as "Fallen One" or "Sin Harvest") spell, as well as techniques exclusive to Kingdom Hearts. A new orchestration of "One-Winged Angel" serves as the background music for this battle. In Final Mix, Sephiroth has a verbal conversation with Cloud in speech bubbles in which Sephiroth taunts Cloud about the darkness within him. Another notable deviance from Final Fantasy VII is that Sephiroth's eyes are blue and he wields the Masamune with his right hand instead of his left.

Sephiroth's third 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. He is also involved in a sub-plot involving Cloud Strife, whom Sora met in the first game. Sephiroth's history is not revealed, though he is said to be the manifestation of the darkness in Cloud's heart. Sephiroth states that he has fallen many times to Cloud, but always came back to fight again, suggesting that he has been defeated various times before the main story of Kingdom Hearts. During the game, Sora can choose to fight him alone as an optional boss battle in which Sephiroth displays the ability to control the powers of darkness. When he is defeated, he calls Sora very skilled, and instructs him to tell Cloud to come before him to settle things. He then engages Cloud in battle, continually telling him that he will never let go of the darkness. Tifa eventually appears and, after taking over the fight for a short while, gives Cloud her light to help him fight. He and Sephiroth then fight again and disappear in a flash of white light. Then Tifa gives Sora the "Fenrir Blade" and continues to look for Cloud once more. In Kingdom Hearts II, Sephiroth wields the Masamune with his left hand, and his eye color is more green than in the original game. It is unknown if Sephiroth will be featured in future Kingdom Hearts installments.

Sephiroth's fourth outside appearance is in the Itadaki Street games Special and Portable, where Sephiroth appears as a playable character along with Cloud, Aerith and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. In these games, he is an unlockable character. Within his Final Fantasy VII role, Sephiroth has appeared in Last Order, which details some scenes from Crisis Core and the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. He is also makes a cameo appearance in a flashback scene in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Sephiroth is also set to appear in the Final Fantasy crossover fighting game Dissidia: Final Fantasy.

Musical themes

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end 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 "Rebirth 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. 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. More recently, many of Sephiroth's pieces have been reinterpreted in the OverClocked ReMix tribute album, Voices of the Lifestream.

Reception

Due to his iconic appearance and complex motivations, Sephiroth has become one of the most recognized and famous villains in video game history, according to IGN. 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. 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. Sephiroth has also been named the number one villain in an episode of G4's Filter. 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..." In late 2007, Sephiroth was named 14th best character of all time in Dengeki PlayStation's retrospective awards feature about the original PlayStation.

External links

• Sephiroth on the Final Fantasy Wiki