Gast Faremis

Gast Faremis is a minor, yet important character in Final Fantasy VII. A biologist, he used to be the head of Shinra's Science Research Department. Unlike his colleagues, the later successor Professor Hojo and Dr. Hollander, Gast pursued wisdom for its own sake, rather than using it to gain power. Gast is one of the few people Sephiroth respects in Final Fantasy VII.
In the original Final Fantasy VII his name is given as simply Professor Gast. His character profiles in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega and Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania guides give his full name as ガスト・ファレミス, "Gast Faremis", although his surname has not seen an official romanization. In the Japanese version Gast's full name is mentioned in one of the books in the Shinra Building library.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Gast wears the typical white coat of a scientist, over a brown shirt, blue tie and brown trousers. His hair is short and meets his forehead in a widow's peak, and he sports a drooping mustache and dark glasses.
===Personality===
An intelligent man, Gast never saw gain in abusing his knowledge and used it for what he assumed to be good. He had a kind heart and was a keen listener, eager to learn more about the subjects he studied. He was reserved and insightful, sensing he had made a calamitous mistake when labeling his scientific discovery for one of the ancient Cetra.
==Story==
Jenova is an ancient organism Shinra excavated from a 2,000-year-old structure, and Gast drew the wrong conclusion that he/she/it was a member of the Cetra, a species of humans said to have been able to commune with the planet itself, long thought extinct. Shinra sent Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent to assist him in his research to create the Jenova Project, its goal to create a human with the powers of the Cetra to lead Shinra to the Cetra's fabled promised land. Gast's research led Hojo to inject Lucrecia with Jenova cells to make a new race of Cetra through Hojo and Lucrecia's unborn child. This child was called Sephiroth.
Gast left the project upon discovering Jenova is not a Cetra, and continued his research on the Cetra in his laboratory at Icicle Inn. As revealed in Crisis Core Complete Guide, Gast was tormented by guilt about his misguided research, deserted his post at Shinra, and eloped with Ifalna, the last true Cetra who was kept by Shinra in captivity. The two lived happily together in Icicle Inn, where their union begat Aerith.Crisis Core Complete Guide: 神羅で知りあったガストと一緒に同社から逃走し、アイシクルロッジで結婚。Translation: "[Ifalna] and Gast, whom she met at Shinra, escaped the company and got married in Icicle Inn." Gast recorded the interviews he conducted on Ifalna, where he learned the truth about Jenova and the promised land. Shinra tracked them down, and Hojo killed Gast while capturing Ifalna and Aerith. Hojo concealed Gast's true fate from Shinra, and what happened to Gast's body is unknown.
==Behind the scenes==
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, at the start of Chapter 17, inside Aerith's room in the Shinra Research Facility, there's a blue book on the floor next to the treasure chest that contains the . The book is a compilation of research done by Professor Gast, with the title being "What Is Mako?"https://twitter.com/aitaikimochi/status/1255448005076975617
==Etymology==
Gusto (, the same katakana as Gast's first name) is the name of a Japanese family restaurant chain. The katakana of Gast's surname is similar to the common Japanese abbreviated term for a family restaurant . This may be relevant, as in the Japanese version Gast's full name is discovered in the Shinra HQ library where Mayor Domino and his assistant Hart also are, whose names are puns for Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut.
The word gast can also be Swedish for "ghost".
The katakana spelling of Gast's first name is closer to the Nordic name "Gusto".
Gast is the German word for "Guest".
In Latin the word farimus, similar to Gast's surname Faremis, means "lighthouse".
==Citations==
de:Professor Gast
fr:Gast Faremis
ru:Гаст Фаремис
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII