Regardless of whether someone has played the original game or not, most still recognize Sephiroth as one of the most iconic video game villains of all time. Sephiroth not only aesthetically recognizable, but he’s known for his fantastic character progression from a mysterious and lingering threat to a world-ending calamity. Of course, he makes a fated return in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but this time, it seems Sephiroth’s introduction is being framed very differently in the revamped narrative. Be warned: this article contains SPOILERS for those unfamiliar with the original plot.
Even though he doesn’t physically show up until much later in the original game, Sephiroth’s introduction in Final Fantasy 7 Remake is much earlier and more direct this time around. Of course, there may be pros and cons to this decision, but it’s an interesting change that shows the narrative truly is being re-imagined from the source material.
The Chosen One
Before Cloud even met him, Sephiroth was considered a war hero by Shinra and Midgar’s general public. He essentially became the poster-boy for SOLDIER and was a decorated veteran from the Shinra-Wutai conflict several years before Crisis Core and Final Fantasy 7. Sephiroth was a calm and collected leader from Shinra’s military, vastly different from his descent towards insanity after the Nibelheim incident. All of this information is known to Cloud prior to his introduction, but the player never learns about Sephiroth’s origins until after the Midgar section of the original game.
Sephiroth doesn’t truly become the main antagonist until the end of the Midgar section in the original game, after he murders President Shinra. Before this moment, there’s references to Sephiroth’s existence here and there, but throughout the beginning hours of Final Fantasy 7, he’s nowhere to be found. Besides the flashback in Kalm, Sephiroth doesn’t even physically appear in the game until after Midgar, when the party travels to Costa Del Sol aboard a Shinra freighter.
Choosing to reveal Sephiroth’s identity and purpose after Midgar aided in hinting that there are threats even greater than Shinra in Final Fantasy 7. Sephiroth’s identity and purpose was largely left a mystery in the original game’s beginning to foreshadow dark tones and evoke a sense of foreboding about his character, which would come to a head with President Shinra’s murder. Through this, players would come to learn Sephiroth’s plans are much more apocalyptic than any of Shinra’s totalitarian schemes.
Calamity Reimagined
Now, it seems Sephiroth plays an even larger part in the beginning of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Rather than saving any direct contact between Sephiroth and Cloud until later on in the story, many of Remake’s trailers have confirmed the party encounters Sephiroth several times in Midgar. Sephiroth’s pace is not as quick this time, as the party discovers him taking Jenova from Shinra’s research labs. In the latest trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, there’s also a scene that appears to be a premonition of what’s to come. Sephiroth hovers in front of a gigantic explosion that is very obviously a nod to Meteor, the calamity summoned by the Black Materia that will destroy the planet.
Not only are these scenes entirely new to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but these scenes pertain to clues and information players didn’t usually witness until after the Midgar story. It also matches with some of Aerith’s dialogue from another Remake trailer, in which she states there’s a “bigger threat” than the Shinra Electric Power Company. Granted, she says this upon witnessing a swarm of the dark shrouds called “Whispers,” but these dark entities could be related to Sephiroth or even Jenova in some way.
A Touching Reunion
Rather than crafting uncertain anxiety for Sephiroth’s plans, it seems now Sephiroth will meet with Cloud and the gang in Midgar directly. Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s producer Yoshinori Kitase has stated on the topic that he believes making Sephiroth’s reveal as cryptic as the original game doesn’t make sense in modern context. Since Sephiroth (as well as the rest of Final Fantasy 7’s cast) is so iconic, he believes there’s no point not to let the player meet and learn about these characters early on. But, with this change, it means players may discover Sephiroth’s true intentions much earlier in the narrative compared to the original game.
Part of the reason why Cloud pursued Sephiroth in the beginning was to get revenge for what he believes occurred during the Nibelheim incident. Eventually, the party learns that Sephiroth’s plan is to destroy the planet and vows to stop him, but his explicit plans were never specifically presented to players until way after Midgar. Now Final Fantasy 7 Remake not only shows the use of Meteor in this vision, but alludes to Cloud and Sephiroth working “together” to “defy destiny.”
Granted there are implications throughout the original Final Fantasy 7’s opening hours that Sephiroth plays a larger role in the game’s story, but details of the game’s finale were not foreshadowed as visibly as they are depicted in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. On the one hand, these are perfect references for anyone who’s already played Final Fantasy 7 and are ready to face Sephiroth one more time.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake seems to be hinting at Sephiroth’s messiah complex very clearly, unveiling his true motivations as a villain in places where those motives remained a mystery before. It could be possible that many of the flashbacks in original Final Fantasy 7 are instead being incorporated into Midgar’s story instead, in which case Sephiroth’s heightened presence in Midgar actually makes sense. Players already know about a lot of story changes coming to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, so it’s definitely possible. Players at bare minimum would know about the events of the Nibelheim incident, at least through Cloud’s distorted perspective prior to the Shinra Tower infiltration.
At least until the full game is released to the masses, it’s still a relative mystery how Sephiroth’s new scenes reflect Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s restructured narrative. All that’s known now is that Sephiroth’s importance will be dictated to players immediately, rather than as mysteriously as the original Final Fantasy 7.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is coming to PS4 on April 10, 2020.
