Sephiroth - Final Fantasy
Sephiroth is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, an RPG game developed by Square and released on the Song Playstation 1 in 1997. Sephiroth was designed by Tetsu Nomura. Since his introduction in Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth has made an appearance in the feature film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and many other spin off titles, remakes, and derivative titles such as Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts. On March 3rd, 2020, Sephiroth will return in better than ever graphics in the much anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake movie. Sephiroth is a common choice for those interested in cosplay and there have been many figures made in his image.
Sephiroth is often cited as one of the most iconic video game villains in various publications, and game Director Yoshinori Kitase cited his role in Final Fantasy VII as one of the main reasons why the game was so successful. Nomura stated that Sephiroth is “The ultimate antagonist in the Final Fantasy saga. There can't be anyone else."
Description
Sephiroth is a tall lean imposing figure wearing black overcoat and leather trousers. Fitting long charcoal black boots and accessorised metal shoulder pads over his attire. He has very long silver hair with bangs parted down the center, wielding his signature Masamune, an exceptionally long Katana. Sephiroth’s name is religiously influenced deriving from the Kabbalah and the ten Sephirot inscribed on the tree of life, all of which is a part of Jewish mysticism and religious history. Part of the inspiration for the rivalry between Final Fantasy VII protagonist Cloud Strife and Sephiroth was derived from the struggle between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro, two legendary swordsman and figures in Japanese history.
Backstory
Sephiroth first appears in the Final Fantasy VII story after he assassinates the president of Shinra. Sephiroth was once the strongest member of SOLDIER, an elite branch of Shinra's military and he was renowned as a heroic veteran of the Shinra-Wutai war in the history of the games. After the war, however, Sephiroth went to the village of Nibelheim, where he discovers that he was actually created as a biological experiment. He was conceived by combining a human fetus with tissue of an alien lifeform called Jenova. Sephiroth eventually learns that the being Jenova, which he considers as a kind of mother, attempted to take over the planet 2,000 years ago. After learning of this crazed mission, Sephiroth decides to take it upon himself and fulfill the wish of Jenova.
Sephiroth plans to become a god in order to take control of the planet's Lifeforce and ultimately control the planet itself. To achieve this he must summon Meteor, a meteorite capable of inflicting a catastrophic amount of damage to the planet. This will cause the Lifestream to flow towards the injury, allowing Sephiroth to join and eventually merge with it. Though we see Sephiroth’s body many times in the game, these forms are actually only manifestations, people imbued with Jenova cells that mimic his form. They are really controlled by the wounded Sephiroth in the Planet core. In the final battle of the game, Sephiroth takes two forms; Bizarro Sephiroth and Sepher Sephiroth. After losing, Sephiroth appears in Cloud’s mind to once again be finally vanquished.
Development
Sephiroth was one of the first characters to be developed for the series, and since underwent a number of changes. For instance, it was originally planned that he would be Aerith Gainsborough's sibling, as indicated by the similarity of their hairstyles. Before his descent into madness, Sephiroth had a personality that was professional, and though he was cold, was not entirely anti social as he is perceived. However, as time progresses in the games, Sephiroth descends into a constant state of rage and hatred, developing a sort of “Messiah Complex”. Composer Nobuo Uematsu composed three pieces about Sephiroth, including "Those Chosen by the Planet", "Birth of a God", and "One-Winged Angel''.
Reception
Fans of Final Fantasy VII and the Final Fantasy franchise series as a whole have speculated that Sephiroth is the one of the most popular villains of the Final Fantasy series. In the gaming world, critics, magazines and popular gaming events have also shared this by awarding Sephiroth high rankings in the ‘Best Villain’ categories of polls and competitions. This was due to not only the difficulty of defeating Sephiroth in the game, but his overall actions, motive and ruthless nature.
For example:
- In 2014, GameSpy placed Sephiroth eighth in their list of top villains in games
- In 2006, IGN ranked Sephiroth in the list of most memorable villains. In addition fourth place in the top video game villain category.
- In 2008, PC World listed Sephiroth, second in their list of most diabolical video game villains of all time.