Angeal Hewley

Angeal Hewley is a character in the Final Fantasy VII series, with a major supporting role in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. He is the son of Gillian Hewley, the original owner of the Buster Sword, and a childhood friend of Genesis Rhapsodos. He joined SOLDIER with Genesis in hopes of becoming heroes, both eventually attaining the rank of 1st Class and befriending their inspiration, Sephiroth. He later becomes Zack Fair's mentor and eventually passes the Buster Sword down to him.
Angeal is an admirable man with dreams and honor. He maintains a stoic and serious demeanor, but also acts playful and cares deeply for his close friends, Genesis and Sephiroth, as well as Zack.
==History==
===Early life===
Angeal was born to Gillian Hewley and doctor Hollander, but considered his unnamed stepfather to be his real father after Gillian and the young Angeal moved to Banora. Since Gillian worked with Hollander on "Project G", the experiment of her namesake, he naturally gained her Jenova cells while still a fetus.
He spent his childhood living in Banora, but his parents were poor. Despite their different financial upbringings, Angeal and Genesis became best friends, though both were unaware they were "Project G" test subjects. They eventually joined SOLDIER together, inspired by Sephiroth's heroics. After passing the SOLDIER exam, Angeal's hard-working stepfather forged the Buster Sword for him as a symbol of his family's honor and pride prior to dying of fatigue, and thus he hardly used it for fighting, though he always carried it on his person, opting to use a generic SOLDIER-issued sword instead or fight hand-to-hand.
Angeal eventually achieved the rank of SOLDIER: 2nd Class and was deployed on a mission to Wutai, during which he first met Sephiroth. Angeal was chosen to be squad leader over him despite being his junior, and the two initially had difficulty relating to one another due to the differences in their upbringing. Their investigation would ultimately result in Sephiroth acquiring the Masamune.
During their time as 2nd Class SOLDIER members, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth frequently snuck into the training room to spar. One day, as 1st Class SOLDIERs, the three were dueling each other. An overconfident Genesis wished to battle Sephiroth one-on-one and knocked a dissuading Angeal away. Genesis was badly wounded by a broken piece of Angeal's SOLDIER sword, unknowingly triggering his degradation, but Angeal donated his blood for a transfusion at Hollander's suggestion.
At some point, Angeal began mentoring other SOLDIER rookies and eventually Zack Fair.
===The Genesis War===
Angeal oversaw Zack's VR training mission during the prologue, advising discretion as he hijacked a Shinra train, and later aborting the mission when Zack was defeated by a virtual Sephiroth. In chapter 1, he told Zack the next mission would be his "show", directing him to Director Lazard Deusericus who filled them in on Genesis's disappearance and incompletion of his Wutai mission, sending Zack instead. Angeal recommended an elated Zack be promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class should he excel at their next assignment at Fort Tamblin, but warned him not to make him regret it.
At Fort Tamblin, Angeal talked about dumbapples, reminisced on his childhood in Banora, how he stole apples from local farms who had plenty to spare, but refused to steal from a wealthy landlord's tree because his son was his friend. He lightheartedly added that honor could be a burden at times, and that every story was worth hearing. He informed an eager Zack that his cue would be the explosives B Unit would set off, that he would set the bombs in the fortress, and encouraged him to "indulge himself". Before leaving for his objective, Zack asked why Angeal never used his Buster Sword, to which he laughingly responded that use brought about wear, tear, and rust, and that he was cheap.
Angeal periodically phoned Zack, who asked if he would be promoted to 1st Class should he take out the target. Angeal said it depended on his quality of work and that he would be favorably evaluated by Lazard should he draw out the Wutai troops by running amok. He later praised Zack's performance, told him he had 5 minutes before the bomb detonated, and saved him when another monster appeared. Angeal reprimanded an apologetic Zack for losing focus, said he owed him for having to use his Buster Sword, and joked that Zack was "a little more important" than his sword. The two regrouped with a sorry Lazard on the animal trail outside, but Angeal said he did not have to come and suggested they hurry to Sephiroth. Mysterious enemies attacked them, prompting Angeal to stay behind and cover Zack as he escorted Lazard to safety. Upon Zack's return to help, Angeal had vanished and was soon after deemed a traitor by Sephiroth. In actuality, Angeal unexpectedly encountered Genesis and accompanied him to Banora to gauge his true intentions and persuade him to rejoin SOLDIER.
A month later during chapter 2, Angeal did not contact his parents and Lazard speculated he sided with Genesis, sending Zack and Tseng to investigate his hometown. Zack met Angeal's mother, Gillian, at his home, who reminisced and regaled about her son's life, speaking highly of him. Angeal appeared in the nearby apple processing plant, defended Zack from Genesis's attack, received a welcome from his old friend who understood his decision to help Zack, but questioned his decision to side with Shinra. Zack wanted answers, but Angeal stopped him and followed Genesis to his mother's house. Zack followed them and found Angeal standing over his mother's corpse, which prompted him to angrily assault Angeal and question his actions. A discontented Angeal ominously responded his mother nor himself could continue living. When Zack tried to chase after him, Genesis tripped him, and Angeal walked off.
In chapter 4, Angeal halted Zack as he cornered a fleeing Hollander. Zack asked if he was working with Hollander and what his endgame was. A stone-faced Angeal answered "world domination" and "revenge" to an unamused Zack, unfurled his white wings, calling himself a "monster". Zack corrected him and said they were "angel wings". He pondered what angels fought and dreamed for, threw down his Buster Sword, and answered they dreamed of "becoming human" before punching Zack. He demanded Zack defend himself, but he refused, prompting Angeal to cast a powerful spell that broke the floor beneath Zack and sent him plummeting to the Sector 5 slums.
As Zack returned to the upper plate, Angeal descended to the highway, tried to persuade a questioning Zack to join him, and answered he had to protect his honor and that their common foe was all that "creates suffering". Zack agreed to help. Angeal carried him up to the Shinra Building and expressed that he enjoyed flying. They encountered Sephiroth, Angeal made a sarcastic remark at an unamused Sephiroth about being skinny, and affirmed that Genesis, under Hollander's orders, was attacking the building to kill Hojo since he had lost his "rightful" position to him. Angeal instructed Zack head for the lower levels while he would go outside. He later joined Zack as he protected Hojo from Genesis, encouragingly flew him to the roof, and witnessed Genesis summon Bahamut Fury.
At some point after Genesis's attacks were repelled, Angeal visited the Sector 5 slums, met Aerith Gainsborough, knew she would support Zack, and realized he needed to protect her. When Zack returned to the slums in chapter 5, Angeal informed him and Lazard beforehand that Genesis and Hollander were at Modeoheim, and assured he was still a SOLDIER before flying off.
Angeal followed Genesis and Hollander to Modeoheim in chapter 6, injuring Tseng and Cloud in the chase. He attacked a recently-arrived Zack, intended to prepare him for the battle to come, but Hollander stated it was time to exact their "family's revenge", irking Angeal, who said his father was dead. Hollander divulged the truth about "Project G", how it related to his misguided mother, and an infuriated Angeal declared his mother committed suicide out of shame for being involved. He referred to himself as a "perfect monster", spoke of his abilities, and Hollander claimed that Jenova's power had been fully passed on to him. A dismayed and humiliated Angeal reminded Zack their enemies were everything that created suffering. Zack attempted to reassure him, but he insisted he created his own suffering and wanted to show Zack. Hollander tried to intervene but was knocked away and Angeal summoned a group of copies that he fused with to become Angeal Penance. An indebted and mortally wounded Angeal reverted to his human form once defeated by Zack and passed on the Buster Sword—the symbolic embodiment of his dreams and honor—to him before fading into the lifestream.
===Legacy===
Though Angeal and most of his copies perished, his legacy and influence would still live on, especially in Zack. He was reportedly sighted in the Sector 5 slums church by members of his fan club, but nothing was concrete. Zack wielded the Buster Sword, and attacked with the blunt side to avoid damaging it, and encouragingly quoted Angeal's words about dreams and honor to new SOLDIER recruits. A single Angeal copy survived and took the form of a winged canine. A symbol of Angeal's will, the hound watched over and protected Zack and his allies. Lazard also became an Angeal copy and vowed to help Zack and the world. However, the winged hound and Lazard eventually died in Banora while defending Cloud Strife from a Shinra attack. After Zack pacified Genesis, he realized the hound was Angeal's surviving will and shed tears for his fallen mentor.
Following Zack's final stand, Angeal descended from the sky and guided him into the lifestream.
During "Deliverance from Chaos" in Final Fantasy VII Remake, Hojo made a proposal during a meeting with Shinra executives, suggesting G type SOLDIER members as possible candidates for "breeding" with Aerith Gainsborough as a solution to "mitigate the risks" and ensure further studies on the Ancients to reach the promised land, indicating that "Project Gillian" still had some legacy within the company.
==Characteristics==
===Appearance===
Angeal is a roughly 25-year-old man with a tall, broad, and muscular stature. He has lightly tan skin, blue eyes, medium-length slicked back black hair with bangs hanging on either side, and a small goatee. He wears the standard SOLDIER 1st Class uniform. He can manifest two white wings on his right side. He is sometimes seen using a standard SOLDIER sword and keeps his iconic Buster Sword sheathed, only using it when absolutely necessary.
===Personality===
Angeal is a man of pride, honor, and sincerity. He maintains a serious demeanor, acting calm, rational, and stoic. He is trusted by his superiors and idolized by young recruits in SOLDIER, some even considering him the "spiritual leader". His morals and ideals are based around having dreams and honor, working hard to attain those, and believing in wielding a sword for the weak and opposing anything that torments the planet. Despite his solemnity, Angeal has a playful side and often teases his friends.
Angeal greatly values and treats his Buster Sword with care, not wanting to damage it. It is a symbol of his dreams and honor that affirms his family ties, specifically the pride of his mother and stepfather who lived a poor but modest life. Upon learning the truth about "Project G" and the secret of his birth, he despairs at being a "monster" and loses his SOLDIER honor, refusing to cooperate with Genesis and Hollander, realizing he is unable to return to Shinra, and even antagonizing Zack. Angeal feels agony and is unsure how to move forward, but eventually regains his SOLDIER honor and vows to protect the world according to his will. He recognizes that Zack possesses similar traits as him and passes down the Buster Sword to him. Whether suffering the early stages of degradation also degraded his mental state is unknown, but degradation is known to make the afflicted more unstable.
Angeal is close with Genesis, Sephiroth, Zack, and recognizes Aerith as Zack's emotional support. He is a childhood friend of Genesis. Genesis was the one who suggested they join SOLDIER and Angeal agreed. They trained together, attained the rank of SOLDIER 1st Class, and befriended their inspiration Sephiroth. Angeal and Genesis became adversaries after the rebellion, but still valued their friendship, with Angeal trying to dissuade Genesis's villainous actions, who wanted his friend's aid. Angeal and Genesis befriend Sephiroth sometime after joining SOLDIER, training and teasing each other. Angeal later becomes a friend and mentor to Zack, caring for him, looking out for his welfare, and sharing wisdom. He enjoys Zack's company and appreciates his genuineness despite his rash and troublesome behavior. He affectionately calls Zack a "puppy", sees his own traits in Zack, and even guides him to the lifestream. Angeal decides to protect Aerith because she emotionally supports Zack and believes she will help him overcome many difficulties. The winged canine copy seems motivated by Angeal's will to continue keeping her safe.
Angeal can be quirky and has hobbies. He is a nature enthusiast and loves to read "Famous Gardens Monthly", a magazine on various flora, as well as photographing scenery from missions with a camera gifted to him by his mother. He is thrifty, jokingly calling himself "cheap", and specializes in cooking with leftovers. Angeal dotes on dogs, which is why he refers to Zack as a "puppy"; his last surviving copy also has the form of a winged hound.
===Abilities===
Angeal is a SOLDIER 1st Class with superhuman qualities, but is not as strong as Sephiroth. He is an accomplished martial artist and swordsman, wielding large swords with ease and executing rapid barrages of hand-to-hand blows. He rarely uses magic, but is still capable of casting powerful spells as seen when releasing an energy blast that breaks the floor beneath Zack.
As a product of "Project G", Angeal's powers surpass Genesis's as noted by Hollander, having fully inherited Jenova's abilities in his ability to use his genetic material to create copies of himself, and also to absorb other beings' genetic material. He uses his cells as a conduit to imbue other beings with his abilities, affecting both humans and monsters, and also allowing him to take on their abilities in return. He can command his copies and fuse with them to become Angeal Penance. In this form, Angeal wields a trident and can cast potent lightning and healing spells. Despite supposedly possessing Jenova's abilities, he will still degrade, though his degradation appears slower than Genesis's. He possesses wings that allow flight. After death, his will influences Lazard's change of heart and continues on in a winged canine form that protects Aerith and later Cloud.
Outside of combat and being a subject of "Project G", Angeal is resourceful and thrifty. He also has knowledge on nature due to the magazine he reads.
==Gameplay==
===Boss===
Angeal is fought as a boss in the form of Angeal Penance.
===Digital Mind Wave===
Zack has Angeal in his Digital Mind Wave since the beginning and can use Angeal's Limit Break, Rush Assault, if three of Angeal's icons line up during a modulating phase. Rush Assault has two sequences of seven physical attacks and a final diving attack. Each of the three sequences has different power and can hit a different enemy. It ignores Vitality, the final hit inflicts Stun, and it may grant Endure. Emotion Gauge increases by 1 for Level 5 attack.
Angeal Hewley from Crisis Core Reunion battle render.png|Crisis Core Reunion in-game model.
Angeal-ccvii.png|Crisis Core in-game model.
Angeal-ccvii-winged.png|Angeal with wings.
Angeal-ccvii-penance.png|Angeal Penance.
Lazard-ccvii-angeal.png|Lazard as an Angeal copy.
==Musical themes==
Angeal's theme can be considered to be "CRISIS CORE Theme - Dreams and Honor", which plays when he tells Zack about dumbapples in Wutai, and when Zack remembers Angeal in the Nibelheim Inn. It is a variation of the game's main theme, "CRISIS CORE Theme".
==Other appearances==
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
PFF Angeal Illust.png|Portrait.
PFF Angeal.png|Sprite.
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
;Ability Cards
FFAB Charge of Greed - Angeal SSR.png|Charge of Greed (SSR).
FFAB Wings of Pride - Angeal SSR.png|Wings of Pride (SSR).
FFAB Charge of Greed - Angeal SSR+.png|Charge of Greed (SSR+).
FFAB Wings of Pride - Angeal SSR+.png|Wings of Pride (SSR+).
FFAB Wings of Pride - Angeal UUR.png|Wings of Pride (UUR).
;Legend Cards
FFAB Charge of Greed - Angeal Legend SSR.png|Charge of Greed (SSR).
FFAB Wings of Pride - Angeal Legend SSR.png|Wings of Pride (SSR).
FFAB Charge of Greed - Angeal Legend SSR+.png|Charge of Greed (SSR+).
FFAB Wings of Pride - Angeal Legend SSR+.png|Wings of Pride (SSR+).
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Angeal is a playable character who could be initially recruited during the Challenge Event In the Footsteps of Greatness as a First Time Reward for completing the event's Mt. Tamblin - Animal Trail on Classic difficulty.
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
Angeal appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Lightning-elemental Forward cards.
3-069R Angeal.jpg|Angeal [3-069R] Chapter series card.
Angeal 3-098R from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Angeal [3-098R] Opus series card.
==Behind the scenes==
Angeal was designed by Tetsuya Nomura.
During his last moments in Modeoheim, Angeal is told by Hollander to avenge "[their] family", prompting Angeal to angrily shout that his father is dead: this exchange implies Hollander is Angeal's biological father, and in the Japanese version Hollander outright calls himself Angeal's father. The Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania officially confirms their relationship.
The Crisis Core Complete Guide includes a developer interview where the interviewer calls Hollander as Angeal's father, and asks if the relationship between Hollander and Gillian is comparable to the relationship between Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent in Final Fantasy VII. The developers say the idea of a marital relationship between Hollander and Gillian is a secret, but also state that the only person Gillian sees as Angeal's father is her late husband, whom she married after being sent to Banora with Angeal.
Many believe that the last Angeal copy was born out of Angeal's will and that he controls it from within the lifestream to continue helping Zack. This is foreshadowed when, after Genesis copies attack Costa del Sol, Tseng speculates that Genesis is controlling his copies from beyond the grave. It is also similar to how Sephiroth controls those with Jenova cells in Final Fantasy VII.
The scenes of Angeal and Zack grabbing hands in Wutai and the ending FMV are reminiscent of Aerith and Cloud grabbing hands after Cloud's final confrontation with Sephiroth at the end of Final Fantasy VII, and during the fight against Bahamut SIN in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.
In the remastered Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, Angeal's official CG render features a less adorned Buster Sword, being more consistent with its depiction in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, rather than its more ornate Compilation of Final Fantasy VII version.
===Voice===
Angeal is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue in Japanese, Josh Gilman in the original PSP version and Bill Millsap in Reunion in English.
==Etymology and symbolism==
Angeal's name is most likely derived from the English word "angel", tying into his white wings. 
Out of those born from the Jenova Project, Angeal was the first and only one to have more than one wing and have them be a color other than black. Angeal is the only product of the Jenova Project who does not wish harm to others, and thus the white wings may symbolize retaining his honor. This may also be done in contrast to Genesis and Sephiroth who both have a single black wing, symbolizing fallen angels/Satan, while Angeal has two white wings, making him more akin to a Heaven's angel.
Also tying into the Judeo-Christian traditions are Angeal Penance's special attacks, named after the Seven Deadly Sins: Unleashed Wrath, End of Gluttony, Wings of Pride, Charge of Greed, Thunder of Envy, Defense of Lust, and Rage of Sloth. 
Hewley derives from hyle. 
==Notes==
===Citations===
===References===
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de:Angeal Hewley
es:Angeal Hewley
it:Angeal Hewley
pt-br:Angeal Hewley
ru:Ангил Хьюли
Category:Characters in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier