Stamp (VII Remake)

Stamp is a mascot used by the Shinra Electric Power Company in Final Fantasy VII remake project. He is a jovial and helpful hound, whose theme can be collected to be played on the jukeboxes in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Stamp is an example of an in-universe mascot character, as opposed to Final Fantasy series's mascot characters like chocobos and moogles. Other such examples from the series are Li'l Malbuddy and Kenny Crow from Final Fantasy XV Universe and the Carbuncle of Nautilus park from Final Fantasy XIII.
In the remake project, different versions of Stamp are being used as an indicator on which "world" or "timeline" the player is viewing. Stamp has appeared as a beagle, terrier, pug, spitz, and shiba inu.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy VII Remake===
Stamp is a cartoon hound who wears a World War II-style green M1 helmet with stars on. He is a mascot whom Shinra has adopted for propaganda purposes, being often shown in recruitment posters for the Shinra Public Security Division. He is also a popular character featured in various types of media, especially among children. The teachers at the Leaf House school in the Sector 5 Slums wear aprons depicting the dog, and one of the children who frequent the school mentions looking forward to seeing the next installment of Stamp's adventures. Signs and billboards in the Wall Market area advertises a film depicting Stamp riding atop a camel, called "Stamp and the Hidden Treasure". Stamp also has his own brand of potato chips, which Wedge is often seen eating.
During Chapter 5, "Dogged Pursuit", Avalanche member Finn has spray-painted pictures of Stamp with his nose pointing the right way to Mako Reactor 5 to help Barret, Tifa, and Cloud find their way during "Plan E" of the bombing mission, presumably because graffiti of a Shinra propaganda symbol is less likely to be removed than other vandalism before the critical hour. Barret resents that Shinra has repurposed a friendly mascot like Stamp for nefarious means. While in the Sector 4 train tunnels, the player can find a vending machine selling Stamp's theme. Other Stamp-related graffiti can also be seen around the slums.
Barret sometimes needles Cloud by referring to him as "Stamp" and suggesting that he is still Shinra's loyal dog.
During the vision to Zack Fair's confrontation with the Shinra Army, a flyer of Stamp whizzes by the area, carried by the wind, but it depicts Stamp as a terrier rather than as a hound.
===Episode INTERmission===
Various graffiti of Stamp can be seen through the Sector 7 slums, and one graffiti in particular, drawn on a wall of Abandoned Talagger Factory, shows the location of a treasure hidden behind destroyable boxes: the Fort Condor's Monodrive (Ranged) unit.
During the Old Snapper's discovery quest, "The Happy Turtle Ad Campaign", a pair of cats play with a magazine entitled "Entertainment In Focus", which depicts Stamp in the cover and the back.
In the Sector 7 slums, a woman can be found telling a story to children that depicts the adventures of Stamp, using paintings on an easel to depict the scenes.
:Stamp, the Loyal Little Helper
: "Bow wow! I am Stamp, the good boy who never stops helping!"
:"Cap'n's given me a very important mission: to buy bread for tonight's dinner!"
:So with his super-duper nose, Stamp went into town to sniff out a bakery.
:He went sniff-sniff here, and a sniff-sniff there!
:Even finding milk, sausage, and cake didn't distract him.
:Using is trusty nose, Stamp was able to find the best, most yummiest bakery in the whole city!
:And from that bakery, he picked out the best, most yummiest-smelling loaf of bread!
: Thinking about how pleased the captain would be, Stamp went trotting back to base, wagging his tail, and singing a happy song.
:But on the road home, he came across a moogle crying all by himself.
:"What's wrong?" Stamp asked the little fellow.
:"I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten in ages, kupo," the moogle sniffled.
: "Never fear, Stamp's here! And I just know how to help."
:So Stamp gave the crying moogle his loaf of bread.
:"Thank you, kupo," the moogle exclaimed, his pom bouncing excitedly.
:Then Stamp waved goodbye and returned to base.
:When he got there, he went straight to the captain and told him what had happened.
:The captain was very proud of Stamp. Helping that moogle was the right thing to do.
:"Who's a good boy," the captain laughed, as he gave Stamp a good scratch behind the ears.
:And Stamp let out a happy bark, for he knew that he was the good boy.
===Final Fantasy VII Rebirth===
Different worlds are differentiated by unique breeds of Stamp. Stamp is depicted as a beagle in the main reality of both Remake and Rebirth, where Cloud and party travel the world in search of Sephiroth.
In the world where Zack survives his final stand, Stamp is a terrier. Midgar was ravaged by a tornado resulting from the events of chapter 18 of Remake. The Shinra Building is toppled and Barret, Tifa, and Aerith are left unconscious from the disaster. Cloud is comatose from mako poisoning, and Biggs survives the attack on the Sector 7 plate and has memories of Cloud from the beagle world.
Zack is given a choice in Rebirth: to render medical aid to Cloud by going to the Shinra Building for help; to stay by Aerith's side as she recovers; or to stop Biggs from destroying another mako reactor. Each choice branches into another world—remain in the terrier world if he helps Cloud, a pug if he stops Biggs, and a shiba inu if he focuses on Aerith. In the shiba world, Sephiroth appears at the church, where he sends Zack into a void of Whispers, presumably in the lifestream. 
In chapter 14 of Rebirth, "Where Angels Fear to Tread", Cloud and Aerith awaken in a world where Stamp is depicted as a spitz. Here, Aerith gives Cloud the white materia before pushing him into a portal. Behind her, Sephiroth opens the doors to the church, though it is unclear whether this is the same Sephiroth who appeared in the shiba world, or one unique to the spitz world.
==Musical theme==
Stamp's theme, called simply "Stamp", is a music disc bought from a vending machine in the Sector 4 train tunnels for 50 gil. It is included on the eighth disc of Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundtrack. It was composed by Mitsuto Suzuki & Nozomi Toki, arranged by Mitsuto Suzuki & Naoyuki Honzawa, and the lyrics are by Motomu Toriyama. The lyrics were translated into English by Ben Sabin and John Crow.
==Behind the scenes==
Stamp was planned from the early development. Co-Director Motomu Toriyama has noted that in the ending, when a "surprising character" makes an appearance, Stamp's dog breed is different. Stamp elsewhere in the game looks like a hound wearing a brodie helmet, but briefly during a scene he looks like a terrier wearing a military cap. The "terrier Stamp" returns in Rebirth indicating Zack Fair's reality where Cloud and Aerith remain unconscious, and many new variants are also introduced. Both hound and terrier initially appeared as background elements in Junon and Gold Saucer (employee area snack packs had terrier Stamp), but the terrier Stamps were patched out in Version1.030, indicating this was a mistake.
Story and scenario writer Kazushige Nojima has clarified that Stamp's different designs show how the number of different worlds but that these are not "parallel worlds". Stamp is not seen in the church Zack is in after the final battle, which was an intentional decision to make it unclear what world he is in.
When finalizing the story for the remake the team decided to use Stamp as a mascot, a popular character everybody knows and Avalanche uses to relay secret messages. Director Tetsuya Nomura was in charge of the design of the Stamp Avalanche uses. Though he normally would not go this far, he felt Stamp would become an important character, and so drew his character sheet himself.
Although generally indicative of the use of mascots for propaganda purposes in real life, Stamp also has similarities with the titular main character from the Japanese manga series Norakuro. This wartime propagandist manga featured a black and white dog in military garb as the protagonist, reputed for his loyalty and obedience.
==Gallery==
FFVIIR Stamp Jukebox.jpg|Stamp's Jukebox cover art.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Join the Fight.jpg|Shinra recruitment billboard featuring Stamp.
Stamp grafitti from Final Fantasy VII Remake 002.jpg|Stamp graffiti in the train tunnels.
Stamp grafitti from Final Fantasy VII Remake 003.jpg|Stamp graffiti in the train tunnels.
Stamp grafitti from Final Fantasy VII Remake 004.jpg|Stamp graffiti in the train tunnels.
Stamp graffiti in the sewers from FFVII Remake.jpg|Stamp graffiti in the sewers.
Stamp on a billboard from FFVII Remake.jpg|Sign on Wall Marketing depicting the film "Stamp and the Hidden Treasure".
Stamp loading screen from FFVII Remake.jpg|Loading screen.
File:Stamp and the Hidden Treasure from FFVII Remake.png|Billboard on Wall Marketing depicting the film "Stamp and the Hidden Treasure".
File:Stamp's Magazine from FFVIIR INTERmission.png|Stamp depicted in the magazine "Entertainment in Focus".
File:Stamp's Storytelling from FFVIIR INTERmission.png|"Stamp, the Loyal Little Helper" story told in the Sector 7 Slums.
==Citations==
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Remake