Sephiroth is estimated to have be born around 30 years before the start of the game[1] (exact year left unknown) to Professor Hojo and Lucrecia of Shin-Ra (Though some fans previously speculated that Sephiroth was the son of Vincent Valentine—who was in love with Lucrecia— official source materal confirms otherwise. [2], [3] ), two researchers involved in the "Jenova Project," a study of the remains of a being known as Jenova. Wishing to study the effects of Jenova's cells on a human subject, Hojo and Lucrecia volunteered their unborn son for experimentation, who was henceforth injected with Jenova cells while still within the womb. After his birth, Sephiroth was raised by Shin-Ra, having been told that a "Jenova" was his mother, but with no knowledge of who or what Jenova was. With superhuman abilities gained from the Jenova Project experments, Sephiroth became an elite member in SOLDIER, with the highlight of his career in the Midgar-Wutai war.
A year after the war, during a mission to investigate a Mako reactor at Nibelheim, Sephiroth discovered his horrifying origins as an experiment and integral role in the Jenova Project. This information corrupted him and drove him insane, after which he destroyed the town and went to the reactor to release his "mother." Zack, a fellow 1st-Class SOLDIER, pursued Sephiroth and arrived at the reactor in an attempt to stop him, only to be soundly defeated by his former comrade. While finally liberating Jenova, Sephiroth was caught off-guard and stabbed from behind by Cloud, who was armed with Zack's Buster Sword and a thirst for vengeance for what Sephiroth did to his home. Alive, although greatly weakened, Sephiroth exited the chamber carrying the severed head of Jenova. Cloud attempted to finish him off, and the resulting fight ended with Sephiroth falling off the gangway and into the Lifestream below (While Final Fantasy VII has it that Cloud threw Sephiroth over the edge, Last Order had it that Sephiroth jumped off the reactor's edge of his own free will).
Presumably thought dead, Sephiroth traveled the Lifestream, learning the truth of Jenova's nature, before ending up in the Northern Cave sealed in Mako while absorbing Jenova's head and the wisdom of the Cetra. Though physically unable, Sephiroth hatched a plot to absorb the planet's energy, turning himself into a god.
Notions of Sephiroth's apparent death were put to question when Cloud and company were detained in Shin-Ra's headquarters. On the eve before a public execution, they escaped, aided by a mysterious third party who had devastated the facility. Cloud found the President assassinated, impaled by a sword he confirmed belonged to Sephiroth. However, "Sephiroth" was actually Jenova's body taken over by Sephiroth's will and remolded in his image as his puppet in order to find and retrieve the "Sephiroth Clones", normal humans who had undergone the same procedure as him to prove Hojo's Jenova Reunion Theory.
Sephiroth, seconds after fatally impaling Aerith. Screenshot from Final Fantasy VII.Sephiroth's goal, revealed later in the Temple of the Ancients, was to drain the planet of its energy with the aid of the Black Materia and its cataclysmic power referred to as Meteor. Aerith Gainsborough, the last Cetra, attempted to stop him with the White Materia and its defensive power, Holy. Though Aerith succeeded in summoning Holy, Sephiroth appeared and struck her down before she could fully activate it, leaving the White Materia active but unused. Cloud procured the Black Materia, but was emotionally manipulated against his will into relieving ownership of it to Sephiroth, who then cast Meteor and awaited its arrival within a sealed Northern Crater.[4]
In the story's climax, the barrier was penetrated by Shinra's Sister Ray cannon, thus allowing Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE to descend into the Northern Crater to confront him. He first appeared to them as Bizzaro Sephiroth, before he molted out of his cocoon as Safer Sephiroth. With the destruction of his physical body, Sephiroth's spirit made a final mental assault upon Cloud within the Lifestream, attempting to overcome his will yet again and claim Cloud's body as his own. However, Cloud had already rediscovered himself and thus his inner strength had grown to the point where Sephiroth no longer had any influence over him. After an intense battle, Cloud finally overpowered Sephiroth, and banished his spirit back into the depths of the Lifestream.[5]
[edit] Advent Children
Sephiroth's famous scene, redesigned in Advent Children.It has been two years following the defeat of Sephiroth, and a disease called 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, the physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will and spiritual energy. His powerful will allowed him to endure the Lifestream and emerge from it before being fully diluted.[6]
Their leader, the youngest brother Kadaj, would later transform into Sephiroth after absorbing the contents of a case containing Jenova's remains. After his resurrection, Sephiroth Sephiroth is hot!!!reveals that he has been using Geostigma in a plan to corrupt the Lifestream and grant him control of the entire Planet. He would then crash it into another planet, thereby re-enacting Jenova's goal. He and Cloud then engage in their final duel, in which Sephiroth displays various powers surpassing those of other characters featured in the film such as literally flying, slicing off a huge section of a tower, and even calling forth the "tainted lifestream" with a mere wave of his hand to cover the sky. Despite being outmatched, Cloud finally defeats Sephiroth with his new Omnislash Version 5 Limit Break, causing him to fade away and leaving a mortally wounded Kadaj in his place. His final words to Cloud before dissipating, "I will... never, be a memory...", could be taken to mean that, despite his Remnants returning to the Lifestream and his spirit diluted, Sephiroth will never truly be gone and will continue to exist in one form or another.
A revised One-Winged Angel theme—Advent: One-Winged Angel (Sairin: Katayoku no Tenshi) —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.
[edit] Dirge of Cerberus
Sephiroth appears in a flashback sequence depicting Lucrecia collapsing, overcome with visions of her son's future actions. Towards the end of the game the player can collect "G-Files" which tell of the two ultimate fighters that Shinra created. One being "S", who is assumed to be Sephiroth, and one being "G" revealed as Genesis who appears to be a counterpart of Sephiroth who has further intentions with his "brother". He also has the symbolic black wing on the shoulder opposite Sephiroth.
[edit] One-Winged Angel
Safer Sephiroth is the final form of Sephiroth seen in the original game. Though one more battle follows Safer Sephiroth's defeat, it is a scripted battle purely for plot purposes and cannot be lost, so the fight with Safer Sephiroth is essentially the final battle of the game as far as gameplay itself is concerned. It follows the battles with Jenova-SYNTHESIS and Bizarro Sephiroth, and after Safer Sephiroth is defeated, a staged battle, a lengthy final cutscene, and the credits follow.
The Safer Sephiroth battle is unexplained and leaves many questions unanswered, adding to Sephiroth's mystique and prompting much speculation about the battle's significance to the plot of Final Fantasy VII and its symbolic meaning.
[edit] Names
The name "Safer Sephiroth" may have been a mis-romanization of the boss' name when translating from Japanese, as was the case with Helletic Hojo, which should have been translated as "Heretic Hojo," and "Bizzaro Sephiroth," which should have been "Rebirth Sephiroth"[7]. A common rumor is that "Safer" is a mistranslation of "Seraph" due to Safer Sephiroth's angelic appearance. This may be indeed the case, though the original Japanese was "Seefa" (セーファ), rather than "Serafu" (セラフ).
Safer Sephiroth is also known as the "One-Winged Angel," which is also the title of the well-known song which accompanies the battle with Safer Sephiroth. The title is also significant to Sephiroth's character due to its fallen angel connotation, a symbolic form of reference for those who have fallen from grace. To some, the name "One-Winged Angel" seems strange, as Safer Sephiroth has a total of seven wings. However, the original Japanese name is "片翼の天使 (Katayoku no Tenshi)," which means "Angel of one wing ," though even this does not describe his appearance accurately, and would only seem to apply to his unusual right wing. Yet, in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (right after he is defeated by Cloud and his presence fades away from Kadaj) Sephiroth appears in his classic black outfit, albeit with one large black wing protruding through his right shoulder blade.
Sephiroth's name also comes from the Kabbalah, in which the ten Sephiroth on the Tree of Life represents the ten attributes of God.
[edit] Appearance
Cloud, Tifa and Cid facing Safer Sephiroth.Safer Sephiroth appears as a deformed, tanned, angelic being. He is unclothed, and all of his body below his torso has been replaced by a cloud-like formation with six white wings (two normal ones between two larger ones with decorative frills, and two more at the back) emerging upside-down from where Sephiroth's legs would normally be. There are also two large, free-floating rings on his back, forming a symbol simliar to the Empyrean Halo.
His left arm (which is the arm that he would usually be holding his Masamune with) is normal, but his right arm has been replaced with a large purple, green and red wing, the colors of the Jenova-BIRTH, LIFE, and DEATH bosses.
The image is completed by the background for this battle, which — despite the battle taking place in the bowels of the Planet — is a kaleidoscopic ring of clouds in a blue sky, offering the illusion that the battle takes place in a heavenly plane of existence. This may be a result of the battle taking place within the Holy magic that resided in the background of the former battle, and may serve as yet another allusion to the Celestial Rose: the layout of clouds is reminiscent of past conceptualizations[1], in which it appeared as a throng of angels encircling a sun-like God, a formation that symbolizes God's perfection and radiance. This imagery is reinforced during the Super Nova attack, as the sun and its shockwave emerge from behind Safer Sephiroth.
Sephiroth's cameo appearance in Kingdom Hearts bears very little resemblance to Safer Sephiroth, though he does have a single, large, feathered black wing behind his right arm dramatically alluding to the "One-Winged Angel" title. He also briefly takes this form in Advent Children. In Kingdom Hearts II however, he has two additional wings sprouting from his hip areas (more than likely a reference to seraphim, which have six wings, and his Safer Sephiroth form).
[edit] Musical themes
Sephiroth is also the focus of three pieces of theme music written by series composer Nobuo Uematsu. His primary theme song is "Those Chosen by The Planet", a piece utilizing bells, low drums, and a deep chorus, which accompanies Sephiroth's appearances throughout the game, and is one of the most popular themes often associated with Sephiroth. "Birth of a God" accompanies the battle against Bizarro Sephiroth, the first of Sephiroth's final two forms. The most noteworthy piece — and a lingering fan favorite — is one that plays during the final confrontation with Sephiroth, "One-Winged Angel". The lyrics of the original version of "One-Winged Angel" (excerpts from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana) differ from those of its Advent Children rendition, "Advent: One-Winged Angel".
[edit] Other appearances
Sephiroth, as he appears in Kingdom HeartsSephiroth has thus far made four separate notable appearances outside of his Final Fantasy VII role. The first is as a selectable character in the fighting game Ehrgeiz, which also features appearances by other characters from Final Fantasy VII. In this game, Sephiroth is controllable both in his normal appearance and the shirtless version that Cloud confronts alone at the end of Final Fantasy VII. The second is in the English and Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts, where he appears as an optional boss in the game's arena setting using his various techniques from Final Fantasy VII, 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 is taunting Cloud about the darkness within him, terminating in a fight. The third appearance is as another optional boss fight in Kingdom Hearts II. In this title, his role is expanded beyond its status in the original Kingdom Hearts, as he makes an appearance during the main story of the game and is involved in a subplot involving Radiant Garden resident Cloud Strife, whom Sora met in the first game. Sephiroth's background is not revealed though he is said to be the manifestation of the darkness in Cloud's heart. Sephiroth stated that he has fallen many times to Cloud but always came back to fight him, suggesting that he was defeated various times before the main story of Kingdom Hearts.
Sephiroth's fourth outside appearance comes in the game Itadaki Street Special, where Sephiroth appears as a playable character along with Cloud, Aerith and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII.
Within his Final Fantasy VII role, Sephiroth has appeared in Before Crisis and the OVA Last Order, both of which detail events before the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. He also appeared in the cinematic sequel to Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children and Dirge Of Cerberus. He has also been confirmed to be a central character in the upcoming Final Fantasy VII game for the PlayStation Portable, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
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