Sephiroth

Sephiroth
Sephiroth's artwork from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
Chronological information
First game	Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Latest game	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
Game appearances	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Personal information
Gender	Male
Homeland	Nibelheim
Race	Human
Connections
Rivals	Cloud
Behind the scenes
Creator	Tetsuya Nomura
Current Japanese voice actor	Toshiyuki Morikawa

Sephiroth is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, its high-definition remake, and its related media, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series.

Biography

Sephiroth was created as part of a series of experiments led by Shin-Ra known as the Jenova Project. The project made use of the cells of the extraterestrial being known as Jenova, mistaking her for a member of the humanoid race known as the Cetra. Jenova's cell samples were injected into the fetuses of partipating women working alongside the scientists, Gillian Hewley and Lucrecia Crescent. The project birthed three powerful swordsmen, with Gillian's contribution being that of Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos, while Lucrecia was forced to participate thanks to Professor Hojo, giving birth to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth became an exceptional member of Shin-Ra's military branch SOLDIER, taking part in a war with the nation of Wutai and being hailed as a hero. Sephiroth also took up missions alongside Angeal's pupil, Zack Fair, most notably in a campaign to hunt down a now renegade Genesis and his "father" Professor Hollander. During the campaign, Angeal was killed by Zack out of mercy for his friend and mentor.

A year later, Sephiroth and Zack were sent to check up on one of the Mako Reactors in Nibelheim, with a young Cloud working alongside them. However, the mission to Nibelheim forever changed Sephiroth from a heroic warrior into a living nightmare upon the people of the Planet. Zack attempted to get answers as to what Sephiroth was doing, to which the man in the black coat responded: "I'm going to see my mother..." In his wake to the reactor, Sephiroth set the entire town on fire, with Zack catching him standing in the flames with his back turned. Upon entry into the reactor's innermost chambers, Sephiroth finally made contact with Jenova. However, he was stabbed in the back by Cloud with Zack's Buster Sword, impaling him from behind through the abdomen. The severely wounded Sephiroth decapitated Jenova and stumbled across the room, and is again attacked by Cloud. Sephiroth stabbed him with his Masamune, but Cloud used it as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into a pool of mako below the reactor. Sephiroth vanished with Jenova's head still in his grasp, apparently falling to his death. This Nibelheim Incident would later be covered up by Shin-Ra, rebuilding the town and planting actors to behave as if nothing had happened.

Five years later, Sephiroth's consciousness resurfaced after he had merged with the Planet's Lifestream, allowing him to control beings made of Jenova cells, including one sent in his form to murder the President of Shin-Ra while Cloud and his party made an attempt to rescue their friend Aerith. During their adventure, Cloud's group learns of Sephiroth having sealed himself in a crystaline coccoon in the Northern Crater, initiating a reunion of all of Jenova's cells. The last component he needed was that of the Black Materia, which had been transformed into the Temple of the Ancients in order to keep it safe. While Cloud and his group went after Aerith who went to the Forgotten City to activate the White Materia, Sephiroth appeared and descended upon her while she prayed, killing her by impalement. But her prayers were enough to activate the White Materia, a catalyst to the ultimate White Magic Holy, a counter to the Black Materia's Meteor. The Black Materia ends up in Sephiroth's hands when he broke Cloud's mind by saying that he was a clone of the real Cloud.

Thanks to Tifa, Cloud was able to overcome his shattered mind and proceed to fight Sephiroth in a final battle. After two transformations, Sephiroth's consciousness attacked Cloud's mind where he was finally defeated.

One year later in the Advent Children timeline, Sephiroth's remnants appeared upon the Planet's surface as three aspects of his personality; Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz.

Being both the penultimate and final boss of Final Fantasy VII, he is often seen in spin-offs as Cloud's arch-enemy, a symbol of Cloud's past.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Sephiroth is part of the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 as Challenger Pack 8. He was revealed on December 10, 2020, during the Game Awards. Sephiroth will make his Super Smash Bros. debut in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character via downloadable content in December 22, 2020, but became available to those who completed the limited-time Sephiroth Challenge on 17 December 2020. His P7 and P8 alternate costumes are based on his coatless appearance during his boss fight at the end of Final Fantasy VII. Like Cloud, Sephiroth remained in Japanese audio in all regions.

Trivia

• Sephiroth is the first fully playable third party antagonist in a Smash title.
  • Sephiroth is also the first DLC fighter to be a villain.
• Sephiroth is the third Square Enix character in Smash, after Cloud Strife and Hero.
• Sephiroth is the second playable third-party fighter to be mentioned in a game prior to their debut as a playable character, after Ken Masters. Unlike Ken, however, Sephiroth is only ever mentioned by name.