President Shinra President Shinra is , as his name implies , President of the Shinra Electric Power Company in " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " , " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " , and " Final Fantasy VII " . President Shinra plays a minor role and is not seen at all in " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " , only mentioned in emails and some dialogue . President Shinra has three known sons ; Lazard Deusericus and Evan Townshend , his illegitimate sons , and the legitimate Rufus Shinra , heir to Shinra ' s fortune . Lazard and Rufus are made high - ranking executives in Shinra . Profile . Appearance . President Shinra is a short stout man with thinning blond hair and mustache , wearing a burgundy suit , white shirt and red tie . He is always seen with a cigar . His age is never disclosed , but is generally thought to be somewhere in the sixties . It is implied he has a wife , but she has not been seen in any installments of the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . President Shinra is callous and ruthless , stopping at nothing to gain more money and power . Personality . His lifelong dream is to build Neo Midgar in the Promised Land , a land he believes is fertile with Mako energy . President Shinra is unfazed at disposing anyone who might oppose him and his company and has effectively become the de facto ruler of the world . His only soft spot appears to be his son , Rufus , shown by the fact President Shinra forgives Rufus ' s traitorous behavior , and that his passkey at the Shinra Building is his son ' s birthday . Story . The traitor within Shinra . President Shinra is first seen in " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " by the player Turk in Junon where he is giving a speech . The eco - terrorist group AVALANCHE attacks and the President escapes , but is shot by the AVALANCHE scientist , Fuhito . Surviving , President Shinra calls in Sephiroth to attack the AVALANCHE commander , Elfé . Later , President Shinra begins to suspect there is a traitor within Shinra . This thought is fueled by his son , Rufus , who is suggesting the same . The President wrongfully accuses the Turk leader , Veld , and replaces him with Shinra ' s incompetent military head , Heidegger , for a mission based in Junon to eradicate AVALANCHE . Heidegger ' s position as the Turk leader proves to be only temporary as the President replaces him with Veld , after Heidegger ' s strategy at Junon almost destroys the city and Veld blackmails President Shinra with classified information , possibly about the Deepground project . President Shinra would later find out the real Shinra traitor is Rufus , who had been funding AVALANCHE to have his father killed so he would take over the company . The Turks capture and use Rufus as leverage with President Shinra so they can save their commander Veld , and his daughter , Elfé , AVALANCHE ' s commander . Afterward , Rufus is neither killed nor stripped of his title despite being a traitor ; President Shinra merely orders him to be placed under house - arrest in Junon . Rufus ' s absence is explained by claiming he is on an " extended assignment overseas " . Oppressor of AVALANCHE . President Shinra is first seen during AVALANCHE ' s attack on the Sector 5 Reactor in " Final Fantasy VII " . Having foreseen the attack , he has prepared an ambush . He engages in a short conversation with Cloud , before he sets Air Buster on them and leaves by helicopter . During the Shinra Headquarters infiltration , the party overhears a conversation between Shinra and some of his top executives , including Heidegger and Professor Hojo . He plans to leave Sector 7 , which the Turks destroyed as a counter - attack to finish off AVALANCHE , as it is . The party meets the President again in person when they are brought before him after being captured while trying to escape with Aeris . After a brief conversation the President sends the party away to be locked up . President Shinra is encountered one more time when the party arrives at his office , where he lies impaled by a large sword . Palmer , who was hidden during the assault , claims it was Sephiroth who killed him . After President Shinra ' s death , Rufus promptly arrives and takes his place as the head of the company . Found in the Lifestream . President Shinra makes a small appearance in the novel , " Hoshi wo Meguru Otome " , which chronicles Aerith Gainsborough ' s travel through the Lifestream after her death at the hands of Sephiroth . Aerith finds a blank place in the Lifestream where it does not flow properly , and finds President Shinra there . The President is joyous to have met her and tells Aerith he would have given her a life of luxury if she had cooperated with Shinra instead of living in the slums . He tells her how he took Shinra to where it was and became a king over Midgar with his control over Mako and the people ' s dependency on it , and asks Aerith if she does not consider her life miserable in comparison to his as they have both ended up to the same place . Aerith realizes the President is clinging to the ambitions and wealth he had in life and this is why the Lifestream cannot take him .