Fainaru fantajî VII

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting and characters ===
Final Fantasy VII takes place on a world referred to in-game as the "Planet", though it has been retroactively named "Gaia". The planet's lifeforce, called the Lifestream, is a flow of spiritual energy that gives life to everything on the Planet. Its processed form is known as "Mako". On a societal and technological level, the game has been defined as an industrial or post-industrial science fiction milieu. During Final Fantasy VII, the Planet's Lifestream is being drained for energy by the Shinra Electric Power Company, a world-dominating megacorporation headquartered in the city of Midgar. Shinra's actions are weakening the Planet, threatening its existence and all life. Significant factions within the game include AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group seeking Shinra's downfall so the Planet can recover; the Turks, a covert branch of Shinra's security forces; SOLDIER, an elite Shinra fighting force created by enhancing humans with Mako; and the Cetra, a near-extinct human tribe which maintains a strong connection to the Planet and the Lifestream.
The central protagonist is Cloud Strife, an unsociable mercenary who claims to be a former 1st Class SOLDIER. Early on, he works with two members of AVALANCHE: Barret Wallace, its brazen but fatherly leader; and Tifa Lockhart, a shy yet nurturing martial artist and childhood friend of Cloud. On their journey, they meet Aerith Gainsborough, a carefree flower merchant and one of the last surviving Cetra; Red XIII, an intelligent quadruped from a tribe that protects the planet; Cait Sith, a fortune-telling robotic cat controlled by repentant Shinra staff member Reeve; and Cid Highwind, a pilot whose dream of being the first human in outer space was not realized. The group can also recruit Yuffie Kisaragi, a young ninja and skilled Materia thief; and Vincent Valentine, a former Turk and victim of Shinra experiments. The game's main antagonists are Rufus Shinra, son of President Shinra; Sephiroth, a former SOLDIER who reappears several years after he was thought dead; Jenova, a hostile extraterrestrial life-form imprisoned by the Cetra 2000 years before; and the Shinra Corporation. A key character in Cloud's backstory is Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER and Aerith's first love.
=== Plot ===
AVALANCHE performs a successful bombing operation at a Shinra Mako reactor in Midgar. A second run on another reactor goes wrong, and Cloud falls into the slums of the city. There, he meets Aerith and defends her from an attack by the Turks. Meanwhile, Shinra finds AVALANCHE's location and collapses part of the upper city, killing most of AVALANCHE along with the slum population below. Aerith is also captured; as a Cetra, she can potentially reveal the "Promised Land", which Shinra believes is overflowing with exploitable Lifestream energy. Cloud, Barret and Tifa rescue Aerith but are captured after encountering a specimen dubbed "Jenova". They awaken to find their prison cells opened, and escape to find President Shinra killed. A katana in the President's body indicates that the attacker was Sephiroth, who was presumed dead seven years earlier. The party escape Midgar and pursue Sephiroth across the Planet; along the way, they are joined by Cait Sith and Cid, and can recruit Yuffie and Vincent.
The party meet Sephiroth at a Cetra temple, where he reveals his intent to use the Black Materia to summon "Meteor", a spell that will fatally injure the Planet with a meteorite strike. At the point of impact, Sephiroth will absorb the Lifestream as it attempts to heal the wound, becoming a god-like being. The party drives Sephiroth back, retrieving the Black Materia, but Sephiroth manipulates Cloud into surrendering it. Aerith sets off alone to stop Sephiroth, following him to an abandoned Cetra City. During her attempt to pray for help from the Planet, Sephiroth tries to force Cloud to kill her, then kills her himself before fleeing, leaving the Black Materia for the party to reclaim. The party then learns more of Jenova, whose remains were unearthed by Shinra scientists several decades earlier and mistaken for a Cetra. In an experiment at Nibelheim, Jenova's cells were used to create Sephiroth. Five years prior to the present, Sephiroth and Cloud were sent to Nibelheim on a mission, where Sephiroth discovered the truth about his origins. Driven insane by the revelation, he murdered the townspeople, then vanished when confronted by Cloud.
The party heads to the Northern Crater, where Sephiroth will use the Black Materia. Confronting him, they learn that the "Sephiroths" they have encountered are Jenova clones created by the insane Shinra scientist Hojo. Confronting the real Sephiroth as he is killing his clones to reunite Jenova's cells, Cloud is again manipulated into delivering the Black Materia to him, summoning Meteor. Sephiroth then taunts Cloud by showing another SOLDIER in Cloud's place in his memories of Nibelheim, suggesting that Cloud is also a Sephiroth clone. Sephiroth summons Meteor; Cloud falls into the Lifestream and the party evacuates with Rufus and the Turks, who arrest them. Shinra focuses its efforts on protecting humanity from the Planet's defensive force ("Weapon") and attempting to destroy Meteor directly, which eventually costs the lives of the majority of Shinra's personnel, including Rufus. Escaping Shinra, the party discover Cloud at an island hospital in a catatonic state from Mako poisoning. Tifa stays with him, and when the island is attacked by a Weapon, the two fall into the Lifestream.
Within the Lifestream, Tifa helps Cloud reconstruct his memories. Cloud was never accepted into SOLDIER, instead becoming a low-ranking infantryman. The SOLDIER in his memories was his friend Zack Fair. At Nibelheim, Cloud was injured, but fatally wounded Sephiroth, who only survived due to Jenova. Cloud and Zack were then taken for experiments by Hojo, with Zack escaping four years later with a catatonic Cloud. The two were eventually cornered by Shinra soldiers, and Zack was killed; the combined trauma of his experience, the experiments and Zack's death triggered an identity crisis, with Cloud constructing a false persona around Zack's stories and his own fantasies. Realizing and accepting his past, Cloud recovers and together with Tifa reunites with the party. It is revealed that Aerith's prayer to the Planet was successful: the Planet had attempted to summon Holy to prevent Meteor's impact, but Sephiroth blocked Holy. After killing Hojo when he tries to aid Sephiroth, who is revealed to be Hojo's biological son, the party descends into the Planet's core and defeats both Jenova and Sephiroth. The party escapes and Holy is summoned, attempting to block Meteor as it descends on Midgar. As Meteor is too close, Holy cannot block it, but the Lifestream rises from the planet and aids Holy in destroying Meteor. Five hundred years later, Red XIII is seen with two cubs looking out over the ruins of Midgar, which are now covered in greenery, showing the planet has healed.

Tags: good versus evil, insanity, murder

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