Lucrecia Crescent

Lucrecia Crescent is a non-playable character from the Final Fantasy VII series. She is Sephiroth's birth mother.
Lucrecia initially appeared briefly in Final Fantasy VII in optional scenes, but her role was expanded in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, giving her a larger role within the Shinra Electric Power Company Science Department and crediting her with research into Chaos. More details of her became available in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, such as her surname, her birthday (July 22), and her bloodtype (B).
In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy VII, she is referred to as in Lucrecia's Cave and its associated flashbacks, however, when Vincent speaks of her in Nibelheim and in all instances outside of the game, she is referred to with the kana given at the beginning of this article.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
In Final Fantasy VII, Lucrecia wears a white lab coat buttoned over a red shirt and yellow tie. She wears black shoes and dress slacks, red earrings, and has her long brown hair pulled into a high ponytail with a full, straight fringe.
In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII, Lucrecia's appearance changes. She still wears a ponytail, but with bangs that resemble Sephiroth's falling over her left eye. The top of her ponytail is wrapped in a yellow ribbon. Her eyes are brown. She wears her lab coat unbuttoned over a light blue blouse with a ruffle, an asymmetrical dark blue skirt, and red heels. She also wears a silver pendant necklace, silver earrings, and a silver anklet on her left ankle. When encased in crystal she is dressed in a white sleeveless top cropped diagonally and a full length asymmetrical skirt with another draped over her left hip, tied like a sarong. She has a long white shawl draped around her arms, a long, three-tiered string of pearls, and white flats.
If one looks closely in some of the Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- cutscenes, one can spot Lucrecia wearing a pair of silver earrings in an ornate filigree design that somewhat resembles the shape of a dagger, similar to those of musician Gackt who contributed "Longing" and "Redemption' to the soundtrack and served as a model for Genesis Rhapsodos.
=== Personality ===
Lucrecia suffers from an extreme guilt complex due to her actions that have directly and indirectly caused harm to many. Though she has a kind and caring soul, she tends to ignore the realities of life and convince herself to believe only what she wants to believe, leading her to making brash and detrimental choices. Being a scientist, she is prepared to take risks for her research and engage in unethical pursuits for her studies, something she, albeit to a lesser extent, shares with her colleague Professor Hojo. She can be emotionally volatile and stubborn, lashing out angrily at Vincent when he voiced doubts and fears over what harm her research could cause.
== Story ==
Lucrecia, once a Class A Biotechnologist for the Shinra company, worked as an assistant to Vincent's father, Grimoire Valentine. They discovered two Weapons developed by the Planet used as part of the Lifestream's emergency function. Together, Grimoire and Lucrecia discovered the cave where it was thought Chaos would awaken at the appointed time. The newly-discovered Chaos killed Grimoire and Lucrecia's research was discarded as nonsense by Shinra's scientific authorities.
Lucrecia was appointed to work on the Jenova Project along with Gast Faremis and Professor Hojo. Vincent Valentine, a member of the Department of Administrative Research (which would later be known as the Turks) was assigned to protect the scientists as their bodyguard. Lucrecia recognized Vincent as Grimoire's son and was shocked Shinra would assign the son of her deceased mentor as her bodyguard. As time wore on she began spending time with him when the two were off work, although she concealed having known his father, and the two grew close.
When Vincent spotted a document left on Lucrecia's work monitor telling of her time working with Grimoire, he confronted her and she revealed her culpability for his death. Vincent attempted to console her, but Lucrecia was overcome by guilt and sought Hojo for comfort. Vincent let her go, only wanting for her to be happy, but after that day, she became downcast at her rejection. Lucrecia and Hojo entered into a relationship and Lucrecia became pregnant. They agreed to use their unborn child as a test subject for the Jenova Project by implanting him with Jenova cells in the embryonic stage. This had an unexpected side effect: Lucrecia was frequently in pain and experienced visions of her son and the future atrocities he would commit.
When Vincent confronted Hojo about what was going on, Hojo shot him and experimented upon his corpse, but soon labeled this side experiment a failure and discarded him. Lucrecia, devastated by Vincent's death, used her knowledge about Chaos to resurrect him by introducing Chaos energy to his body. Vincent's body was strong enough to become a Chaos vessel due to what Hojo's experiments had already done to him, but Chaos was out of control and only stopped when the Protomateria reacted to it.
The Protomateria, which she and Grimoire had discovered and which Lucrecia theorized to have been created by the Planet "out of necessity as a means to control Chaos and prolong its own inevitable fate", had been in Lucrecia's laboratory presumably since Grimoire's death. She put it inside Vincent's chest and thus Vincent was able to control Chaos to a degree, but while it halted Vincent's decay, it did not immediately resuscitate him.
Sephiroth was taken away without Lucrecia even being allowed to hold him. While dealing with the emotional turmoil surrounding the loss of her infant son and the death of Vincent, Lucrecia was overcome with self-loathing and sorrow. She gave up on attempting to save Vincent and attempted to kill herself, but not before leaving her thesis about Chaos and Omega for the still unconscious Vincent. Due to the Jenova cells in her body, Lucrecia was unable to die and fled, ending up in the Crystal Cave where she and Grimoire had discovered Chaos.
Many years later, when the Planet is faced with destruction at the hands of her son, Lucrecia is found by Vincent while he is traveling with Cloud's party. When Vincent attempts to approach her, Lucrecia tells him to stay back. Vincent flashes back to his time spent with Lucrecia on the Jenova Project, and Lucrecia explains she felt such guilt she wanted to disappear or die. Lucrecia has been dreaming about Sephiroth and asks if her son is still alive, as she has heard about his supposed death but doubts the veracity of the news. Vincent, who does not have the heart to tell her of the horrible things Sephiroth has done and is planning to do, tells Lucrecia that Sephiroth is dead.
Lucrecia remains in the cave and becomes encased in a crystallized fountain of natural Materia that was there when she and Grimoire first discovered the cave. Vincent has several visions of her attempting to communicate with him through the crystal concerning Chaos, but the only words he is clearly able to make out are "I'm so sorry." These were the last words she spoke to Vincent before running from him and starting a relationship with Hojo.
Following Omega's destruction, Vincent returns to the Crystal Cave and informs Lucrecia that Chaos and Omega have returned to the Planet. He tells her that "everything is all right now," thanks her, and tells her she is the reason he survived. As Vincent departs, a tear rolls down Lucrecia's cheek.
It is stated in the Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- Official Complete Guide by Scenario Coordinator Hiroki Chiba and Producer Yoshinori Kitase that Lucrecia is still alive, that the crystal she resides in is a product of Lucrecia herself, and that her imprisonment within it is self-imposed.
== Gameplay ==
Lucrecia is briefly mentioned in a sidequest in Final Fantasy VII where the player can recruit the optional character Vincent to the party. The player can later find Lucrecia at her cave behind a waterfall near Nibelheim after Cloud returns to the party following the Mideel events. To meet Lucrecia, Vincent must be present in the active party.
Following the event scenes the player must leave the cave and fight at least ten random encounters. Returning with Vincent his Limit Break manual and his ultimate weapon, Chaos and Death Penalty, respectively, can be found at the back of the cave.
== Musical themes ==
In Final Fantasy VII, "The Nightmare Begins" plays in scenes featuring Lucrecia. It is often considered Vincent's theme.
In Dirge of Cerberus, she has her own theme called "Lucrecia Crescent". Its leitmotif appears in multiple tracks, like "Memories with Lucrecia" and "Lifestream".
== Behind the scenes ==
Lucrecia was designed by Tetsuya Nomura and initially had a minor role in the backstory of Vincent, an optional character in Final Fantasy VII. Her role was expanded upon when Vincent became the main protagonist of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-. Her character model was redesigned to more strongly resemble Sephiroth's appearance, and her backstory was expanded upon to connect her with Vincent's father and with Chaos, a form Vincent can assume as a Limit Break after he encounters her in Final Fantasy VII.
Though Vincent states in Final Fantasy VII that Lucrecia was the person whom he "loved and respected most," it was unknown whether or not Lucrecia returned his feelings. In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, such a reciprocation is implied when her thoughts flash across the screen late in the game containing, among other sentence fragments, "Vincent..." and "I loved..." Upon entering Lucrecia's Cave in Final Fantasy VII, Lucrecia will either say "Vincent..." or "Sephiroth..." before she notices she has visitors. The name she says is randomly chosen between the two, with a much higher chance of her saying Vincent's name.
The Early Material Files included with the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega guide (scenes and ideas cut or changed in the final game), paint a different picture of the dynamics between Lucrecia, Vincent, and Hojo in the early character designs. Vincent's section mentions Lucrecia was originally "on Vincent's side," drugged by Hojo, and forced into experimentation against her will (in the game's final version, and Compilation canon, she was a willing, albeit conflicted, participant). The Early Material Files also mention she was considered an "idol" in the lab, and was the only woman on Hojo's team.
Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- contains some concept artwork for the picnic basket she carries to Vincent in a flashback, and the concept artwork shows it has a bottle of red wine. The opening FMV sequence shows a wine glass in Vincent's room containing a red liquid some decades later.
=== Voice ===
Lucrecia shares her Japanese voice actress, Rio Natsuki, with Lulu from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. She shares her English voice actress, April Stewart, with Mjrn from Final Fantasy XII.
== Gallery ==
Lucrecia from FFVII Ever Crisis.jpg|Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis.
DC Picnic 1.jpg|Concept art of the basket for a picnic with Vincent.
DoC Lucrecia Cave Artwork.png|Artwork of the crystal she is encased within.
Lucrecia dirge of cerberus.jpg|Lucrecia in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
Lucrecia dirge of cerberus2.jpg|Lucrecia in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
Lucrecia-inside_crystal.jpg|Lucrecia inside the crystal.
DOC Lucrecia.png|A tear rolls down Lucrecia's cheek as Vincent leaves the cave in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
Lucrecia's-Earring.jpg|Close up of Lucrecia's earrings in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
Lucrecia-Crystallized-DoCFFVII.png|Lucrecia crystallized in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
Lucrecia-profile.png|Lucrecia's profile on Shalua's monitor in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.
DC_CG_Model_Lucrecia_1.jpg|Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- character model.
DC_CG_Model_Lucrecia_2.jpg|Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- character model.
== Etymology ==
 This may have been meant to hint to the nature of Lucrecia's forced participation in the Jenova Project in early game designs (when she was named), or it could be meant to emphasize the perverse nature of Sephiroth's conception.
The katakana for Lucrecia's name is read as Rukuretsia, suggesting her name may have been intended to be either Italian or Ecclesiastical Latin.
 One of her key roles in the story is that she gave birth to Sephiroth, who grew in her womb.
==Citations==
de:Lucrecia Crescent
fr:Lucrécia Crescent
pt-br:Lucrecia Crescent
ru:Лукреция Кресцент
vi:Lucrecia Crescent
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Characters in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
Category:Characters in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis