Red XIII Red XIII , real name Nanaki , is a red lion or wolf - like beast and one of the playable characters in " Final Fantasy VII " , who also appears in other entries to the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . Red XIII is the name he received as a specimen designation while held captive and experimented upon by Professor Hojo , and remains the name he is called by the party and in battle in " Final Fantasy VII " . Although he is 48 years old , he is developmentally equivalent to a 15 - or 16 - year - old human by his long - lived species ' standards . He fights alongside Cloud Strife and his allies to fulfill his duty to the Planet to defend it as a warrior . Profile . Appearance . Red XIII is a quadrupedal animal with dark red and orange fur and a thin brown mane . His right eye is scarred , and the remaining eye is ochre . He is adorned with a variety of beads , earrings and feathers around his head , with golden pastern braces and brands on his legs . One of these brands is the roman numeral " XIII " . He has a flaming tail . Red XIII has black patterns on his legs and what appears to be face paint . As Red XIII ' s father also has a similar tattoo to Red XIII ' s , it can be taken to be the symbol of their tribe . It is never stated exactly " what " Red XIII is . It is known that his species is long - lived , he had two parents who perished , and he is one of the last of his kind . He appears feline , somewhat similar to a lion , and official sources refer to him as a feline . Reno states in " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " that Red XIII " looks like a lion " , and in " " Red XIII can be heard roaring like one . However , his overall movement along with his howling and relation to the moon appear canine , and at another point in " Advent Children " , Red XIII yelps like a canine as he hits the ground after Bahamut SIN shakes him off . At one point in the original " Final Fantasy VII " he is referred to as a dog by a little girl in Costa del Sol the first time the party gets there . Personality . Red XIII is the least featured of the playable cast of " Final Fantasy VII " in other media , and so at times his character can be difficult to discern . He has a strong sense of honor and courage , especially regarding his father , whom he believed a coward who abandoned his tribe . He is polite , curious and observant , with something of a distaste for humans which may stem from Shinra ' s treatment of him . He is intelligent , and knows much about the Planet due to being raised in Cosmo Canyon . Red XIII can still be feral when called upon . Red XIII ' s novella in " On the Way to a Smile " expands on this duality , showing Red XIII torn between living like an animal or a human — his intelligence and conscience make it difficult for him to live as an animal , while his animal appearance and qualities make him seem as such by humans who disregard his humanizing traits . Story . Birth . Red XIII was born in Cosmo Canyon to an unnamed mother and his father Seto . That year , Seto ran off , and Red XIII assumed he had fled in the face of an impending invasion by the Gi Tribe . In reality , Seto sacrificed himself to stop an attack from the Gi through the tunnels under Cosmo Canyon . When his mother died , Red XIII was cared for by the elder of Cosmo Canyon , Bugenhagen , whom he came to affectionately call " Grandfather " . Planet ritual and capture . During the events of " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " on October 10 , 0006 , Red XIII partakes in a ritual to appease the Planet held every 50 years , but is reluctant as he does not consider himself a warrior . Another member of his tribe , Deneh , is to be his companion for the ritual , and she accuses him of being a coward . When the Turks arrive to capture one of them as a specimen for Professor Hojo , Red XIII attacks them to save Deneh and prove himself a guardian of the canyon . He is defeated , but the Turks allow him to finish the ritual to appease the Planet before taking him to Midgar . Joining Cloud . Red XIII joins Cloud ' s group sometime in December 0007 during " Final Fantasy VII " after being rescued from the Shinra Headquarters . Cloud ' s party encounters him during an experiment involving Red XIII and Aeris , in which Hojo is trying to interbreed them to " preserve " their species ( Aeris being a Cetra ) , and provide him with new specimens . At some point during Red XIII ' s captivity , Hojo placed a tattoo of the Roman numeral XIII on his left front leg . Red XIII later speculates the tattoo means Hojo has injected him with Jenova cells to create another Sephiroth Clone . In actuality , the tattoo is from an unrelated experiment , as Red XIII was captured by Hojo more than three years after the other Sephiroth Clones were created ; this is also confirmed in the " Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega " . As Hojo places Aeris and Red XIII in the same containment tank , Cloud ' s party rushes the lab and Red XIII feigns aggression against Aeris prompting Barret , one of Cloud ' s companions , to shoot at the tank , which malfunctions as a result . Hojo opens it and Red XIII lunges at him while the others rush to save Aeris . Red XIII introduces himself and surprises everyone with his ability to talk despite his feral appearance . Red XIII remarks the name is a designation given to him by Hojo , so they can call him what they wish , and helps the party battle another of Hojo ' s experiments . After being captured by the Turks , Red XIII is not returned to Hojo ' s lab , but incarcerated in a prison cell within the building alongside Barret , from which they soon escape . After escaping Midgar , Red XIII intends to stay with the party until they reach Cosmo Canyon . In Kalm , Red XIII listens to Cloud ' s account on the Nibelheim Incident with interest , and in Junon the party has to cross the ocean on the cargo ship where Red XIII disguises as a human as not to arouse suspicion . The ship stops at Costa Del Sol where Red XIII complains the heat makes his nose dry . He lies down in the shade , observing kids playing football on the streets before the party moves on . Return to Cosmo Canyon . Until returning to Cosmo Canyon , Red XIII does not discuss his past . After arriving there and meeting with Bugenhagen , it is revealed Red XIII ' s true name is Nanaki , and despite being 48 years old he is still not considered an adult by his species ' standards . After Bugenhagen hears Red XIII ' s remarks towards his father , whom he believes a coward , Bugenhagen invites him and the party to enter a sealed cavern within Cosmo Canyon . As the party travels through the cavern , Bugenhagen explains it is haunted by the Gi Tribe ghosts , a faction of tribal warriors who laid siege to Cosmo Canyon , and that their anger prevents their souls from assimilating into the Lifestream . At the cavern ' s end a back entrance to Cosmo Canyon is made accessible where Bugenhagen explains the Gi Tribe outnumbered the Cosmo Canyon forces . On a ledge overlooking the cave ' s entrance , Red XIII discovers the petrified body of his father Seto , who alone stood his ground and fought the Gi , but the Gi Tribe ' s poisoned arrows took their toll and turned Seto to stone . Absolved of his shame for his father , Red XIII vows to become a great warrior like him , and howls at the moon while Seto ' s petrified remains shed tears . Bugenhagen asks Red XIII to protect the Planet and senses the best way of doing it is to remain with Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE , who are on a quest to stop Sephiroth and Shinra Electric Power Company from finding and exploiting the fabled Promised Land . As the others are about to leave the village , Red XIII runs after them and claims he wants to protect the Planet , too . Pursuit of Sephiroth . After finding out Sephiroth is seeking the Black Materia in the Temple of the Ancients , the party visits the Gold Saucer to acquire the Keystone to open the temple ' s doors and stay for the night . After Cloud explains Sephiroth ' s objective Red XIII grows concerned over the tattoo he has , wondering if he is also a Sephiroth Clone , but Aeris encourages him to carry on . After Sephiroth has acquired the Black Materia and set out to North Crater , Aeris absconds to pray for Holy in the Forgotten Capital , but is killed by Sephiroth just as the party catches up with her . Red XIII howls at her passing as Cloud rests her body to the lake . The party keeps at Sephiroth ' s trail and defeats the final part of Jenova ' s body , Jenova∙DEATH , at the Whirlwind Maze and retrieves the Black Materia . Cloud has the option of giving the Materia to Red XIII to hold on to , as he has been taken control of by Sephiroth in the past and does not trust himself . Red XIII promises to keep the Materia safe and not to hand it over to anyone . As Cloud goes on ahead Red XIII and some others of their party stay behind to guard the Materia . The place gets windy and Red XIII cannot see his whereabouts . He calls out to the others but no one responds . As the scene settles he finds himself alone . Tifa , Cloud ' s friend who has been traveling with them since the start , runs up to him and urges him to go help Cloud who ' s in trouble . Red XIII is confused , but follows Tifa ' s orders , without realizing Tifa is an illusion conjured by Sephiroth to trick Red XIII to delivering the Black Materia to Cloud . Red XIII rushes to Cloud who , among with the Shinra executives , has found Sephiroth ' s true body inside a Materia crystal . Cloud asks Red XIII to hand over the Black Materia and Red XIII complies , but Sephiroth ' s lies have made Cloud doubt he is real and his psyche has been broken . Cloud hands the Materia to Sephiroth who uses it to summon the Meteor awakening the Weapons sleeping in the crater , and everyone but Cloud escapes the scene . Red XIII later joins the party on the stolen Shinra airship , the " Highwind " , as they set out to look for the missing Cloud . Meteorfall . After Cloud has been saved and has rejoined the party , Bugenhagen joins them to visit the Forgotten Capital and unveils the nature of Holy , which Aeris had summoned to combat Sephiroth ' s Meteor , but in the Planet ' s core Sephiroth is blocking it . Returning to Cosmo Canyon after the Diamond Weapon has been defeated , Bugenhagen falls ill . Red XIII runs to him , and the others stay back to leave them alone . Bugenhagen tells Nanaki there is so much more to life than what is within Cosmo Canyon , and he should survey the world and all its unique facets to gain the true knowledge he mentioned in their last meeting . Bugenhagen passes away and Nanaki takes up a resolve to protect the Planet . Red XIII takes part in the attack on the Northern Cave with the rest of the party , defeating Sephiroth in later January 0008 . He watches alongside the others as Meteor destroys Midgar and is stopped by the power of the Holy and the Lifestream . Post - crisis . In " On the Way to a Smile " , Red XIII was mentioned in " Case of Barret " when Cid said he often got visits from him . Red XIII is the center character in " Case of Red XIII " . Upon returning home , Red XIII ( now called by his real name Nanaki by everyone ) vows to follow Bugenhagen ' s wishes by traveling the Planet to observe all life he can and teach others what he learns . After he leaves , however , a void begins to grow in his heart — he dubs this void " Gilligan " for the sake of helping to remember it . During his travels , Nanaki struggles with being a beast and acting like a human , as well as his longevity which means he will experience a great deal of loss . Vincent tells him " Gilligan " is his fear of loss and the loneliness that will come with living a long life . Vincent encourages Nanaki , saying that one day he may have children of his own to keep him from being lonely . Vincent reveals he is immortal himself , meaning he will be living longer than even Nanaki . The two agree to reconvene in Midgar every year for the remainder of Nanaki ' s life where he will tell Vincent the stories of his travels . Nanaki appears in the latter part of " Case of Yuffie " , assisting Yuffie in rescuing Yuri from a cave after it overflows with Lifestream tainted with Geostigma . He mentions during this time he acquired a cellphone while visiting Midgar to keep in touch with the other party members , though he struggles using it . Nanaki later leaves Wutai , but returns on the " Shera " to help Yuffie continue to search for a cure for Geostigma . Geostigma crisis and Deepground conflict . During the events of " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " , when Edge is under attack by Bahamut SIN in 0009 , Nanaki hastens there with Cait Sith on his back , and uses his claws and teeth to battle the dragon . He appears later aboard the " Shera " and once more in Aerith ' s church . He is only given one line in the entire film , commenting on how some children still have Geostigma , and is revealed to have a slight accent . In " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " , although there is a scene where the whole cast is gathered in Midgar , Nanaki is not present . He is , however , present during the ending , lying next to Shelke as he rests outside of 7th Heaven . 500 years later . 500 years after Meteorfall , Nanaki arrives to a precipice overlooking the overgrown Midgar ruins with two young cubs , implying he has mated with Deneh or another female of his species . The three dash through a canyon and climb up to the crest of a cliff and look down at the remains of Midgar , now covered in moss and trees while a flock of birds flies by . After the scene fades , the sound of distant children ' s laughter is heard . Gameplay . Red XIII is a playable party member in " Final Fantasy VII " who uses a variety of headdresses to enhance his fighting abilities , many of which boost his Magic . Many of his earlier Limits boost his power in combat , while his later Limits are more geared towards damaging multiple enemies . Red XIII ' s stats are well - rounded and he has the highest Speed stat . His ultimate weapon , the Limited Moon , does more damage the fuller his MP gauge is . Nanaki is fought as a boss in " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " , first in Chapter 18 and then in the Training Mode . Creation and development . It was character designer Tetsuya Nomura ' s idea to have a four - legged party member , but it was a struggle to make it work as he wouldn ' t easily be able to climb ladders , and when he turned his tail his body would end up going inside walls . Red XIII was originally designed as a beast - type SOLDIER capable of using magic and understanding human language . He would have been a protector of the Buga tribe , to which Bugenhagen belonged , and his father Seto would have been his predecessor before having fled , making Red XIII contemptuous of him . In the final product , Red XIII ' s tribe is unnamed , but otherwise he is roughly the same as originally conceived . When he was first drawn , Nomura chose the name " Red XIII " as he wanted a name that did not sound like a name , and so combined a color with the number " 13 " , which is believed to be unlucky . Other staff members later assigned Red XIII ' s true name as " Nanaki " . During early plans for the game , Red XIII was to have the " Beast " job class . Red XIII was planned to be the focus on a cut sub - plot . After being captured by Shinra , Hojo would have produced several clones of Red XIII , which would have had blue and purple fur and been named Cobalt XIV and Indigo XV , respectively . After defeating them , the party would be confronted by two more clones , and a battle would ensue where the party would fight both the clones and the real Red XIII , and be forced to figure out which was the real thing and avoid killing him . Though the clones would be defeated , Red XIII would have the party spare them , as they were the last of his kind beyond him . Cobalt XIV and Indigo XV would later reappear in the final dungeon partially mechanized , determined to prove themselves superior to the original Red XIII . In a screenshot published before " Final Fantasy VII " was released , Red XIII ' s name is shown spelled with with arabic numerals rather than roman . In the rest of the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " , Red XIII has little screen - time , appearing only briefly in " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " and " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " . This is because his fur makes him difficult and costly to animate . Voice . Red XIII is voiced by Masachika Ichimura in Japanese , though he has but one line in " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " . He is voiced by Liam O ' Brien in the English version . Red XIII shares his English voice actor with Caius Ballad from the " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , Kain Highwind from the 3D remake version of " Final Fantasy IV " and " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " , and Cu Chaspel from " " . Musical themes . " Red XIII ' s Theme " plays when Red XIII introduces himself after the battle with . Additionally , " Cosmo Canyon " and " The Great Warrior " are similar to " Red XIII ' s Theme " . They play in Cosmo Canyon and when Red XIII sees the petrified Seto , respectively . Other appearances . Red XIII has appeared in the following games in the " Final Fantasy " series : Merchandise . Red XIII has appeared in action figures , key chains and Coca - Cola figurines . He , alongside Cait Sith , has also appeared on a Potion can . Etymology . The name " Nanaki " was chosen because it has a Native American sound to it , fitting with the Native American theme of Red XIII and Cosmo Canyon . Tetsuya Nomura chose the name " Red XIII " by combining a color with a number to have a name that didn ' t sound like a name . ( See Creation and development section )