Domino (Final Fantasy VII)

Domino is a minor supporting character in Final Fantasy VII, with an expanded supporting role in Final Fantasy VII Remake. He is the mayor of Midgar, but appears to hold no governmental power beyond a title. Despite residing in the Shinra Building and having affection for the city of Midgar, he is unsatisfied with his job and disillusioned with the Shinra Electric Power Company, which holds the actual governmental power over Midgar as well as over most of the planet.
Domino's narrative role in Final Fantasy VII Remake is greatly expanded compared to the original release. In the original, he simply helps Cloud's get to further floors in the Shinra Building. In Remake, he is an Avalanche insider who alters security footage to enable their infiltration.
==History==
===Before Final Fantasy VII===
Domino became the mayor of Midgar, though at some point the Shinra Electric Power Company stripped him of authority and he was relegated to a small office in the Shinra Building's Corporate Archives, where he began sorting documents, records, and reports. This made him aggrieved with President Shinra, and eventually harmed his sanity. 
===Original continuity===
In "Storming the Shinra Building", Deputy Mayor Hart escorted Cloud's party to the library to meet Domino. He inquired who they were, assumed they were Avalanche, and introduced himself. Displeased regarding his position, Domino lamented that his only job was to sort documents, and that he was merely a "librarian". He was willing to help the party get to further floors and offered his keycard if they could give a correct password. Cloud's party inspected books and answered correctly, thus Domino gave them his keycard and an additional reward based on how many attempts it took for Cloud to guess the password.
As the party prepared to leave, Domino explained that he helped them to "mess with" Shinra and apologized for his initially rough attitude, blaming the company. He encouraged them to make Shinra suffer and happy he'd finally be even with President Shinra. Domino's keycard could only get the party to the 65th floor, frustrated that Shinra treats him as a "common employee".
===Remake continuity===
Domino, in conjuncture with President Shinra, issued a state of emergency after the Mako Reactor 1 bombing in "The Destruction of Mako Reactor 1" as reported on the news in "Home Sweet Slum". Some civilians speculated Domino did it to tarnish the president's name.
Domino monitored the Shinra Building's surveillance cameras in "The Belly of the Beast", hijacking the footage to ensure Cloud's party's infiltration didn't alert security. After the party watched the display in the Visual Entertainment Hall, Deputy Mayor Hart guided them to the Corporate Archives where Domino worked. He was glad to see they finally made it, excitedly introduced himself, ridiculed their lack of discretion, and rhetorically wondered who'd been cleaning up all their "messes".
Domino revealed to a confused Cloud that he'd been helping them evade security, and assumed Barret's Avalanche cell was unaware he had been working as their "man on the inside". Disgruntled, he told a surprised Barret about his unfortunate position, insulted Shinra, and exclaimed that he wouldn't just shut up and accept the company's treatment. When Cloud explained they needed to reach Hojo's laboratory to save an imprisoned friend, Domino was disappointed they weren't there to give President Shinra a "comeuppance".
Domino agreed to help the party anyway, not caring what they were here for so long as it hurt Shinra. He could get them access to the 64th floor and updated the party's keycards to access to the 63rd floor's recreational facility; Barret was disappointed, but this was the best Domino could do, angrily venting about his miserable job and daily torment. Domino told them to seek out a collaborator, identify themselves, speak the countersign "the mayor", and hope they respond "is the best". If revisited later, Domino told the party he's done all he can for them and asked them not to make him regret it.
Sometime around "Deliverance from Chaos", Domino came into contact with Wedge. Together, they secured a rooftop escape via helicopter for Cloud's party. Domino video called them and tried to inform them of the Shinra Building's predicament and Avalanche HQ's involvement, but Wedge interrupted him much to Domino's annoyance. Once Wedge finished updating Cloud's party, Domino added that Avalanche HQ's attack had complicated matters and the building was on high alert. Tifa was worried, but was reassured that the party could still maneuver Hojo's laboratory and reach the roof. After the video call ended, Domino was concerned for a still hurting Wedge.
==Characteristics==
===Appearance===
Domino is an older man with an average build. He is a bald man with fair skin, light green eyes, with a gray mustache and beard. He wears a brown dress suit, a dark red vest over a white dress shirt, a black ascot, a dark brown leather belt, brown dress pants, and dark brown dress shoes. He uses a cane.
===Personality===
Domino is an aggrieved, vengeful, and somewhat unhinged gentleman with a dry wit. He considers Midgar the greatest city in the world, proudly wears the title of mayor despite possessing little to no political or governmental power, and works closely with his deputy mayor, Hart. He despises the Shinra Electric Power Company, discontent with his role in the company, lamenting he has been reduced to a "glorified librarian" subjected to daily torment, as he is not even invited to their meetings, and has been made into a "pathetic shell of a man". He disdains President Shinra and believes he is overdue for a "comeuppance". Despite being largely driven by selfish motives, Domino shows concern for an ailing Wedge, suggesting he may be altruistic.
Domino's bitterness leads him to secretly help Cloud's party infiltrate the Shinra Building. In Remake, this extends to him being a covert supporter of Avalanche, acting as their man on the inside. Upon meeting Cloud's party, he helps them gain access to Hojo's laboratory, not caring what they end up doing so long as it hurts Shinra.
==Gameplay==
In Final Fantasy VII, during "Storming the Shinra Building", Domino, and his deputy Hart, are involved in a small puzzle. Domino tells Cloud that if he guesses the right password, he'll give him his keycard and a reward. The puzzle is solved by inspecting books in the library and finding the ones that are filed in the wrong section and using the book's title and number to figure out the letter of the password, which changes every new save file. Rewards vary based on how many attempts it takes to get the correct password. If guessed on the first try, Cloud receives an Elemental Materia and the keycard. If Cloud guesses right on the second attempt, he receives an Ether, on the third attempt he receives an Elixir, on the fourth attempt he receives a Potion, and on the fifth attempt he is only given the keycard. Cloud can also ask Hart for tips.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Domino has no gameplay role, helping the party in a cutscene and assigning the quest "A Helping Hand". However, Hart still has some gameplay dialogue as a reference to the puzzle from the original game.
==Musical themes==
"Mayor Domino" plays during his introduction scene in the "A Helping Hand" quest. The track is composed by Yoshinori Nakamura and Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by Yoshinori Nakamura, and is track 11 of disc 3 in the Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundtrack Plus.
==Behind the scenes==
In Final Fantasy VII, unused dialogue found in game data relates to Mayor Domino's puzzle. The unused script implies it would have been much more difficult, the player needing to construct the entire sentence. This is reminiscent of the Japanese version of the game, where the player constructs a sentence comprised of four kanji characters, rather than a word. The more difficult version would include 256 different possible answers, and Deputy Mayor Hart would give out the password for 70,000 gil. The text also contained multiple different responses to wrong passwords.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, the password segment is still alluded to with the party needing to say a secret phrase to identify a collaborator. Giving Hart money for a "tip" now earns a weapon for Barret. "BEST" was one of the password options in the original, and the code phrase the mayor wants Cloud and party to use to identify the collaborate with is "the mayor is the best".
==Etymology==
Domino and Hart are named after pizza brands, Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut (Hart) as a joke to Barret once calling the upper Midgar a floating pizza, and the slums' theme on the original soundtrack is called "Under the Rotting Pizza".
==Notes==
===Annotations===
===Citations===
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Remake
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth