Red XIII - Final Fantasy
Red XIII is a playable character first introduced in Final Fantasy VII, an RPG game developed by Square and released on the Sony Playstation 1 in 1997. Red XIII was designed by Tetsu Nomura and is designed to be a member of an unnamed feline species. Since his introduction in Final Fantasy VII, Red XIII appeared briefly in the feature film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and many other spinoff titles, remakes, and other games such as Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. On March 3rd, 2020, Final Fantasy VII Remake introduced an updated rendition of the character to fit the growing audience.
Appearance and Personality
Red XIII is a four-legged wolf-life beast animal with dark red and orange fur. He has a scar over his right eye and wears beads, feathers, earrings and has black colored tattoos on his legs similar to a tribal nature. He is stated to be approximately 48 years old, which is the equivalent to a 15 to 16 year old in human aging standards. Red XIII is a polite and observant character, with a very strong sense of honor and courage. He has a disliking for humans as he was taken into captivity and experimented on by Shinra, and also has a distaste for his own father. The story never explicitly explains what species of animal Red XIII is. However judging from Red XIII’s physique and actions he is somewhat similar to a lion, therefore of feline descent. However in the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Red XIII can be seen howling at the moon which would insinuate that he was of canine descent.
Creation
Character designer Tetsu Nomura conceived his idea of having a quadrupedal party member, but in practice was a struggle to implement because the model was not able to be shown easily climbing ladders, and while turning, his tail and body would cut inside walls as well as other objects in the game.
Red XIII was first designed as an animal SOLDIER capable of using magic and comprehending human language. He would have been a guardian of a tribe called the Buga, the same tribe which Bugenhagen was a member. In the end, however, Red XIII's tribe is not named, but he is otherwise roughly the same as the original conception. In preliminary drawings, Nomura chose the name "Red XIII" because he wanted a name that did not actually sound like a name, deciding on colors and numbers to achieve this effect. Other staff members later gave Red XIII the true name of "Nanaki”. During early planning for the game, Red XIII was designed to use a unique "Beast" job class of Final Fantasy 7.
Red XIII was originally meant to be the star focus of a subplot in the game. After he was captured by the Shinra corp, Hojo was supposed to have produced a number of clones of Red XIII, which would have been various colors and named Cobalt XIV and Indigo XV, respectively. After defeating the two clones, the idea was for the party to be attacked by two more clones, and a battle would take place where the party would fight both the clones and the actual Red XIII. This would force them to determine who was the real one and avoid killing him. Though the clones would be defeated, Red XIII would ask the party to spare their lives, since they were the last of his race. Cobalt XIV and Indigo XV would appear in the final dungeon partially mechanized, determined to prove themselves stronger than the original Red XIII.
Backstory
In Final Fantasy VII, he joins Cloud's team for a while after they save him from Hojo’s experiments in the Shinra building. Hojo was trying to breed him and Aerith together in order to preserve what he believes to be rare and almost extinct races. Red XIII believed that his father, Seto, abandoned their home, Cosmo Canyon, during a battle with the Gi Tribe out of fear. When he returns to Cosmo Canyon, he meets his adoptive grandfather, Bugenhagen, who takes Red XIII to the petrified body of Seto. It is then revealed that Seto had sacrificed himself in order to save the village and moreover, fought the entire invading army all by himself. After learning the truth, Red XIII is inspired and works up the courage to join Cloud's group as a permanent member.
Red XIII makes additional appearances in the FF7 Compilation franchise. In Before Crisis, he protects a female member of his species named Deneh, but is then captured by the Turks. In the novella On the Way to a Smile: "Case of Nanaki", Red XIII confronts the knowledge that he will outlive his companions and struggles with the thought of it. In Advent Children, he helps in the fight against a rogue that summoned a monster Bahamut SIN. In Dirge of Cerberus Red XIII is briefly resting with Shelke in the final scenes. Red XIII was the 4th character conceived by Nomura, who wanted an animal-like, playable character in the story despite the graphical difficulties that would entail. He was originally thought to be a member of SOLDIER. The final name came from his hair color with the superstitious number an unlucky number, 13.