Wutai

Wutai is a nation in Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. It is also mentioned in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Wutai occupies the western-most continent on the planet, although the name is also primarily used to refer to the nation's major settlement, Wutai Village.
Once a proud, powerful and independent nation state known for its people's warrior traditions as well as its honor and mystique, after the Wutai War against the Shinra Electric Power Company it fell to serving as a tourist resort. Some individual pockets of rebellion still seek to regain the country's old glory, and rebel factions use Wutai as a base of operations.
The nation is protected by many guardian deities, most notably Leviathan, the Water God. Leviathan's likeness appears throughout the nation's architecture through banners, flags, and statues, as do its other deities. Wutai soldiers wear samurai-like uniforms of green and orange, the color of which dictate rank, and wield varieties of halberds with gun attachments. Wutai's ninjas, a unit of infiltrators, wield a variety of weapons, most notably the oversized shuriken.
Wutai is currently ruled by Godo Kisaragi.
==History==
=== Before Final Fantasy VII ===
Around 1992 the Shinra Electric Power Company sought to control the Wutai area as an ideal area for a mako reactor. Wutai defended its independence but although initially putting up a good fight, could not stand against the might of SOLDIER and was forced into submission. The Wutai War ended with the capture of Fort Tamblin by Shinra forces. Many Wutai forces continued to rebel and joined other rebellion groups in making repeated attempts against Shinra, but time and again they were thwarted by SOLDIER and Turk operatives until their suppression around 0001.
Some time after the capture of Fort Tamblin the first Avalanche resistance group set up their headquarters in a Wutai Village Pagoda. During Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- the Turks discovered the base and attack, but Avalanche was warned by their financier and protector in Shinra, Rufus Shinra, and the group's lieutenants escape. Shinra defeated the Avalanche forces at the base and destroyed the Pagoda, thinking they have defeated Avalanche. The surviving leaders regrouped on the Da-chao Statue and prepared for more attacks on the corporation.
After the Wutai War ended in a public ceasefire, Wutai Village was turned into a tourist destination, at the advice of its leader, the village elder Godo, believing it to be the best thing for peace. Tourism helped keep the village afloat. However, some like Godo's daughter Yuffie Kisaragi opposed this and an interim government under Viceroy Sarruff and deserters from SOLDIER was established to restore Wutai to its former glory while sabotaging Shinra.
=== Original continuity ===
During Final Fantasy VII, Cloud Strife's party met up with Yuffie in a forest earlier, who joined their cause. After obtaining the Tiny Bronco, in "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter" they ran into Shinra soldiers and Yuffie stole their materia during the battle. Cloud and his team set out to reclaim their materia and ran into Reno, Rude, and Elena of the Turks who were on vacation in Wutai.
Don Corneo, who was in Wutai to avoid capture by Shinra, kidnapped both Yuffie and Elena, and took them up to the Da-chao Statue. Don Corneo summoned his pet Rapps to battle the party but is defeated. Don Corneo threatened to kill Yuffie and Elena in a last-ditch escape attempt. Reno appeared as Rude shot Corneo with a silencer, causing the Don to hang on the edge. Reno asked him a multiple-choice question that the Don could answer before stepping on his fingers so Corneo lost his grip and he falls off the cliff. The company contacted Reno, telling him to capture the party, but Reno ignored the order because he is still on his day off. Yuffie thanked the party for rescuing her and returned the party's materia. Afterward, Yuffie challenged her father and his four guards in the Pagoda.
After the near collision course of Meteor, in the novella On the Way to a Smile, the lifestream ravaged Wutai during Meteorfall, and many had contracted Geostigma. At the end of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the epidemic was cured.
During Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, when talking to Yuffie while aboard the Shera, she briefly mentioned that Deepground had attacked Wutai, though the attack was halted by her father and the Wusheng. Wutai plays no further role in the Deepground War.
=== Remake continuity ===
In Final Fantasy VII remake project, President Shinra exploits Avalanche by using the actions of shunned cell under Barret Wallace to release propaganda of the eco-terrorist organization working with Wutai, using the populace's fear of a new war for personal gain. Barret did not care for Wutai and shunned the idea of aligning with any political group or nation.
Meanwhile, prior to the collapse of Midgar, two Wutaian Ninjas—Yuffie Kisaragi and Sonon Kusakabe—actively did collaborate with the Avalanche cell led by Zhijie and ran by Nayo. They were sent to infiltrate the Shinra Building to steal the "ultimate materia". Though the collaboration was amicable, the two felt that Avalanche's methods were ineffective, and were keen to join Barret's cell prior to Sonon's passing. Yuffie eventually encounters Cloud's group while in Junon and joins them in Costa del Sol.
As Cloud's group travels in search of Sephiroth, the cease-fire between Shinra and Wutai gradually starts falling apart.
==Geography==
=== Overview ===
The nation of Wutai occupies the western-most continent on the planet. While comparable in size to the other continents the majority of Wutai's landmass is occupied by mountainous terrain and forests. The only way to access the continent via the ocean is via a beach head along the southern tip. The rest of the landmass is skirted by cliffs. The town of Wutai is located to the north of the continent at a forest and river junction at the foot of the Da-chao Statue.
Depicted in the world map of Final Fantasy VII, Wutai's main island is a mountainous landmass spanning the length of the planet's western continent. Most of the southern portion comprises rocky landmasses around large mountains whose mountaintops are connected by long, wooden bridges providing a path across to the northern tip of the island. The northern tip, where Wutai Village is located is a green landmass, though a few mountains still exist around the village, including the Da-chao Statue mountain. Beaches are also present around the island, but especially prevalent in the northern tip. As seen both in Mount Tamblin and around the village itself, the island is also quite forested.
In addition to Wutai's main island, there are small landmasses at its southeastern end, only one of them large enough to access, that are included in Wutai's border.
===Wutai Village===
Wutai Village is an optional location in Final Fantasy VII visited during "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter", and can also be visited in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. It is visited during "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter".
The village is situated by a river in a vast forest near the Da-chao Mountain at the north end of the continent. Its architecture resembles Japanese architecture, namely that of the island Itsukushima. The main points of interest are the bar named The Happy Turtle, the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods, and the Da-chao Mountain.
===Da-chao Statue===
The Da-chao Statue is located on a mountain visited in Final Fantasy VII and Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. 
It is a monolithic statue sculpted into the mountain overlooking Wutai Village. Nearby is a cave on the mountain covered in flames, which can be quelled with Leviathan Scales. Da-chao is said to be one of the protectors of Wutai.
===Materia Cave===
A Materia Cave is located on the world map accessed in Final Fantasy VII. It can be reached only via a green, black or gold chocobo. Materia Caves are places where natural Materia sometimes coalesce from the lifestream, making for unique materia that cannot be purchased from shops.
===Fort Tamblin and Mount Tamblin===
Fort Tamblin is a location in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. It served as Wutai's last stronghold against the Shinra Army, and was located atop Mount Tamblin.
== Society ==
In Wutai religion, Wutai Village is protected by Da-chao, the Water God also known as Leviathan, and the Five Mighty Gods. The Five Mighty Gods are the gods of Power, Speed, Magic, War, and Omni (who has the best characteristics of each). Leviathan's scales are also said to be protective. Though the religion carried on, the loss of the Wutai War against Shinra shook their faith.
Before the Wutai War, Wutai was a nation of proud warriors, home to the ninja tradition. Afterward, the nation turned to tourism which helped the village stay afloat, and largely abandoned its warrior traditions. Some Wutaians exported its cuisine, including the Old Snapper advertising The Happy Turtle in Midgar.
Despite the nation turning toward tourism at the end of the war, some Wutaians carried on the warrior tradition and sought to restore Wutai's glory. This included the Crescent Unit, a group of Wutai spies in Midgar, and the ninjas, of which Yuffie was a member, that infiltrated Midgar collaborating with Avalanche.
== Gameplay ==
=== Final Fantasy VII ===
The continent itself is known as "Wutai Area", while the village atop the continent is known simply as "Wutai". Both the continent and the village become available when the player has the Tiny Bronco from Rocket Town at the end of "A Sleeping Village Dreaming of Outer Space". If the player recruited Yuffie, arriving on the continent of Wutai triggers "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter".
With the Tiny Bronco the player can only enter Wutai from the beach, and will have to travel from the south entrance of the Wutai Area to the north with their top 48 Materia missing. If the player has the Highwind, this can be avoided. Nonetheless, the sidequest can be rewarding to do early as the area houses the enemy skill Magic Hammer.
After completing the first portion of the quest, the player can later return with Yuffie to battle the Four Pagoda, the second half of the "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter" quest, to obtain powerful items for Yuffie. Because she is one of the strongest party members, doing so is highly worthwhile.
Nearby, the Wutai Area also has several points of interest, including finding Chocobos, finding Enemy Skill Materia abilities, and the Materia Cave nearby with the Mime Materia.
=== Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- ===
During Chapter 1, Wutai's Fort Tamblin, located within Mt. Tamblin, serves as the main area of the chapter itself. In it, Zack is tasked with infiltrating the fort single-handedly and defeating its garrison. During the chapter, as well as battling Wutai forces, Zack also briefly meets Yuffie. The chapter ends with a battle outside the fort in Mt. Tamblin against Ifrit.
Wutai remains relevant in the optional missions, namely the series "M4: To End the War with Wutai". During these missions, more powerful Wutai forces are fought in various locations, including the forces of the Crescent Unit introduced in chapter 1. The Wutai forces also appear throughout other missions in the game. In the latter half of "M8: Zack, the Materia Hunter", each mission involves Yuffie.
The following enemies are fought throughout these missions:
;Wutai Soldiers
*Crescent Unit
*Wutai Captain
*Wutai Colonel
*Wutai Corporal
*Wutai Imperial Guard
*Wutai Private
*Wutai Sergeant
*Wutai Sergeant Major
*Wutai Soldier Bing
*Wutai Soldier Ding
*Wutai Soldier Geng
*Wutai Soldier Ji
*Wutai Soldier Jia
*Wutai Soldier Wu
*Wutai Soldier Xin
*Wutai Soldier Yi
*Wutai Staff Sergeant
*Wutai War Chief
;Beasts
*Vajradhara Asura
*Vajradhara Wu
*Vajradhara Tai
*Vajradhara Yaksha
*Vajradhara Cala
*Vajradhara Rakshasa
*Vajradhara Indra
*Vajradhara Karura
*Vajradhara Kumbhira
*Vajradhara Kinnara
Wutai also has two shops:
;Happy Turtle Shop
Happy Turtle Shop found in a treasure in Mission 4-3-6.
Name 	Cost
Fira 	3,000 gil
Blizzara 	3,000 gil
Thundara 	3,000 gil
Cura 	3,000 gil
Regen 	5,000 gil
Barrier 	4,000 gil
Magic Barrier	4,000 gil
Dispel 	5,000 gil
Dash 	5,000 gil
;Wutai Secret Shop
Wutai Secret Shop opens after completing Mission 4-2-6.
Name 	Cost
Quake 	18,000 gil
Hell Firaga 	15,000 gil
Hell Blizzaga 	15,000 gil
Hell Thundaga 	15,000 gil
Drain Blade 	10,000 gil
Power Drain 	14,000 gil
Aerial Drain 	18,000 gil
Status Strike 	40,000 gil
Status Ward 	40,000 gil
Elemental Strike	40,000 gil
Elemental Ward 	40,000 gil
Firaga Blade 	10,000 gil
Blizzaga Blade 	10,000 gil
Thundaga Blade 	10,000 gil
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy XIV===
One of the original servers was named Wutai. It was merged with the Gysahl server into the Masamune server.
===Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy===
Wutai is mentioned in a letter sent DJ Mog in a promotional offer in a form of quiz. According to him, Wutai would be the trip prize for the winner who answered the question right. Mail content:
:Win! Win! Win!
:"The Mognet program is brought to you by the Shinra Company! And today is Celebrate Your Sponsor Day, KUPO! Answer the quiz and you might win a trip to Wutai, KUPO! Woot!Fill in the blank S_____ C_____"
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
==Behind the scenes==
===Development===
According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, during early plans for Final Fantasy VII, Wutai was much different from how it appears in the final product: Wutai was to be a town built around the temple for the "Wutaia faith", a religion dominated by female hierarchy that worshiped a female deity. The current hierarch was to be the young Sasame-no-Himemiko, the 89th in line. Due to Sasame being only 15 years old, the real leader would be the high priestess, Izayoi. Godo would not have been the leader, but rather the head of the Kisaragi family, the servants to the Wutaia leader.
Shinra's goal in the town would have been to build a Reactor to harvest the rich Mako below "Ten Faced Mountain", as Da-chao was originally called. Presumably the Wutai War would not have occurred, but the leaders of the Wutaia faith and the townspeople would have opposed to Shinra's plans of building the Reactor, and in turn, Shinra would have imposed high custom charges on goods entering Wutai, to make the people of Wutai suffer.
Sera, a spy for Shinra, would have tried to lure the leaders of Wutaia faith to Shinra's side and corrupt Sasame against Yuffie, who was trying to help out the town by stealing the party's money. However, with Izayoi's assistance, Sera is found out and defeated. She runs off to Ten Faced Mountain to try to blow it up, thus freeing room for the mako reactor. The party would then rush off and presumably stop her.
Concept art for the World Map showed labeled Wutai's middle area as being a "volcanic area" .
The bridges on the world map have no battles, and the player can't open the menu when standing on a bridge. It appears this was not originally intended; the game has a set of formations assigned to that area with the bridge background. The likely reason is because the bridges swing when walked on, and the variable for their position isn't saved when the game changes from one module to another, so opening the menu or entering a battle and then returning to the world map, there's no way for the bridge to know what position it was in previously, and the player character thus might no longer be standing on the bridge.
===Allusions===
The Wutai people, much like the culture and settlement, are based primarily on China and Japan. However, some of Wutaian people have Russian names: Gorkii (who is named after Maxim Gorky), Chekhov (Anton Chekhov), Staniv (possibly short for Constantin Stanislavski) and Yuri (a common Russian name). The Pagoda bosses may be named after famous dramatists: Shake may be a reference to William Shakespeare, and Godo may be an allusion to the play Waiting for Godot.
Some aspects of the Wutai storyline may allude to wars fought by the United States in Asia throughout the 20th Century. Shinra can be seen as a metaphor for the United States (and in particular, its military-industrial complex). The reduction of relevance, demilitarization, and occupation points to the unconditional surrender, occupation, and subsequent restructuring of Japan under General MacArthur and the American military in the days of World War II. How the Wutai War is mainly centered around maintaining Shinra's influence throughout the globe, and is also fought in an era most similar to the end years of the 20th century, may refer to the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
==Gallery==
Fort Tamblin Flag.png|Possible flag of Wutai (seen at Fort Tamblin).
WutaiSoldier.jpg|Wutai soldier.
WutaiBoy.jpg|Wutai civilian.
==Etymology==
 This is similar to the five-terraced pagoda where the party fights Godo and his four warriors as well as the "five sacred gods" mentioned by Godo.
==Notes==
===Annotations===
===Citations===
==References==
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Category:Locations in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Locations in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Category:Organizations in Final Fantasy VII