Sephiroth (VII Remake boss)

Sephiroth is the final boss of Final Fantasy VII Remake fought at the end of "The Turning Point" in Chapter 18, "Destiny's Crossroads". Cloud is always in the party, but the other party members depend on actions taken during the battle against Whisper Harbinger, right before this battle.
==Stats==
==Attacks==
Sephiroth's attacks depend on the battle phase. 
*Phase 1: Cloud alone
*Phase 2: Two party members
*Phase 3: Three party members
*Phase 4: When close to death, Sephiroth begins counting down to Divine Proclamation
: = Physical damage
: = Magical damage
Attack 	Phase	Description 	Block	
Slash 	1–2 	Sephiroth slashes his Masamune down to his right. 	 	
Aeolian Onslaught (Side)	1–3 	Spins while slashing at a target. 	 	
Aeolian Onslaught (Down)	1–3 	Uppercuts a target and slams down with his Masamune. 	 	
Telluric Fury 	1–3 	Slashes a target thrice with his Masamune. 	 	
Scintilla 	1–3 	Crouches down; if attacked, will counter. 	 	
Firaga 	1–3 	Casts , dealing damage to a target. 	 	
Blizzaga 	1–3 	Casts , dealing damage to a target. 	 	
Thundaga 	2–3 	Casts , dealing damage to a target. 	 	
Aeroga 	2–3 	Casts , dealing damage to a target. 	 	
Block 	2 	Raises his Masamune, blocking damage. After blocking 4-5 hits, will counter. 	- 	-
Moon Slash 	2–3 	Sweeps Masamune to the left. 	 	
Boundless Void 	2–3 	Sticks Masamune to the ground, pulling a target in before uppercutting them. 	 	
Zanshin 	2–3 	Sephiroth sends out waves of energy at a target. 	 	
Hell's Gate 	2–3 	Jumps and lands atop a target, waves of energy coming up from the ground. 	 	
Elemental Infusion 	3 	Changes elemental affinity and weakness between , , and . 	- 	-
Octaslash 	3 	Deals 8 blows. 	 	
Flamewall 	3 	Sephiroth sends fire across the floor. Soon after, the ground erupts into that persist for 10 seconds. Used when Sephiroth is infused with fire. 	 	
Frostspike 	3 	Four crystals will explode in 8 seconds if not destroyed. Used when Sephiroth is infused with ice. 	 	
Thunderstorm 	3 	hits the battlefield 6 times over 8 seconds, each bolt striking twice. Used when Sephiroth is infused with lightning. 	 	
Windwail 	3 	Sephiroth's Telluric Fury and Aeolian Onslaught gain a element and extra hits. Casting Aeroga leaves a damaging gust on the battlefield for 5 seconds. Used when Sephiroth is infused with wind.	 	
Shadowflare 	3–4 	During phase 3 an orb appears under a target. During phase 4, orbs appear on the battlefield. 	 	
Blade of Ruin 	4 	Brings Masamune up and slashes down. 	 	
Shadow Slice 	4 	While on the ground releases homing orbs on a target; if hit, the target cannot move for 7 seconds. While airborne will release fewer but stronger orbs that do not stun. 	 	
Wave of Nihility 	4 	After emitting a dark aura, releases a shockwave. 	 	
Heartless Angel 	4 	Jumps and dives, creating a large explosion that reduces those affected to 1 HP. 	 	
Divine Proclamation 	4 	Counts down from 9. Counting down to 1 defeats the player party. 	- 	-
==Party setup==
During the prior boss encounter with Whisper Harbinger, actions taken by party members besides Cloud earn hidden points that are used to determine which two Avalanche members will join in the battle against Sephiroth. If Tifa and Aerith win, they will appear in the order of their ranking. If Barret gets second or first place, he will be the third party member regardless of rank.
Point values are as such:
Barret
* Ability, Spell, or Item: 24
* Limit Break: 120
* Reducing a Whisper to 0 and staggering them: 120
Tifa
* Ability, Spell, or Item: 20
* Limit Break: 100
* Reducing a Whisper to 0 and staggering them: 100
* Dealing the final blow to Whisper Bahamut or Harbinger: 250
Aerith
* Ability, Spell, or Item: 44
* Limit Break: 220
* Reducing a Whisper to 0 and staggering them: 220
* Dealing the final blow to Whisper Bahamut or Harbinger: 550
==Battle==
Sephiroth begins the fight by casting Firaga. Afterwards, he will perform powerful combos and uses Telluric Fury, Aeolian Onslaught, and Scintilla as his special sword moves. All can deal considerable damage. His combos and Telluric Fury can be countered by Cloud using Punisher Mode's guard while his Aeolian Onslaught cannot. In the first phase, Cloud's counter will interrupt his Telluric Fury and flinch Sephiroth. A well-timed attack during Telluric Fury will cause both Cloud and Sephiroth to stumble, leaving Cloud vulnerable but interrupting Sephiroth's attack. Sephiroth can deflect attacks with the Masamune, either nullifying or reducing the damage. He continues to cast Firaga and sometimes uses Blizzaga. Cloud can either stagger him and then fling him to another floating piece of a building, or he will be sent flying. This continues until Sephiroth has taken enough damage, after which he will fling Cloud away and either Tifa or Aerith will join him, beginning the second phase, which Sephiroth starts by casting Aeroga.
Sephiroth begins using Thundaga and Boundless Void, which paralyzes Cloud for Sephiroth to deal a powerful 2-hit combo. His most dangerous attack is Hell's Gate, which can reach vast distances and hit both Cloud and the other party member. The shockwaves created by Hell's Gate will break through the characters' guards, and need to be dodged. The places the shockwaves will be produced are indicated by the glowing lines that appear on the ground after Sephiroth plunges his sword in the floor. There are moments when Sephiroth will appear to be vulnerable, strolling calmly around. This is a false sense of security—Sephiroth will block any incoming damage if the player tries to attack him, and after 4–5 blocked attacks, he will counter. Cloud and another party member can either stagger and then send Sephiroth crashing down, or Sephiroth will collapse the building they are fighting on with Hell's Gate and simultaneously deal damage. After Sephiroth takes enough damage, he will manifest his wing and use gravity on Cloud and the other party member, only to be saved by a third party member.
At the third phase, Sephiroth infuses elements, augmenting his elemental spells and absorbing of the element he infuses with. The abilities he gains vary for each element, and his fighting style changes with each infusion:
*Fire Infusion grants him Flamewall, creating a long-lasting wall of fire that damages any nearby party member. As Sephiroth can teleport, he is unbothered by the flame wall, and will attack aggressively.
*Lightning Infusion grants him Thunderstorm, calling down powerful bolts of lightning. Sephiroth prefers his ranged energy slashes, chaining thunder strikes soon after.
*Ice Infusion grants Sephiroth Frostpike, summoning chunks of ice on the battlefield called Frostbite that eventually explode. He prefers ranged beam attacks, Blizzaga, and Hell's Gate. The ice crystals can be assessed, but are not needed for Enemy Intel completion.
*Wind Infusion grants Sephiroth Windwail, which causes his sword strikes to be accompanied by numerous secondary strikes that, while dealing small damage, can prove devastating combined with its original unhindered attack power. His Aeroga gains homing capabilities and lasts longer than his regular Aeroga.
Before each infusion Sephiroth will use Octaslash, his most devastating physical attack. The only way to prevent this is to stagger him, which can only be done by using the opposite magical element to the element he infused himself with. In time, he will infuse himself with darkness, and in addition to being able to cast all the ga-level spells without preparation, gains Shadow Flare, which creates a globe of dark energy that pulls the party in before exploding.
When close to death, Sephiroth summons a ball of fire from the sky. He remains suspended and no longer attacks with the Masamune, but uses Shadow Flare and Heartless Angel: Shadow Flare now summons multiple gravitational orbs of darkness that pull the player in and explode, while Heartless Angel manifests a red field of energy and black feathers that reduce the player's health. Sephiroth also uses two different forms of Shadow Slice: when high in the air, he fires dark feathers, and while ground-borne, he fires dark energy projectiles capable of paralyzing and dealing constant damage. If the player remains in close proximity, Sephiroth will use Wave of Nihility, which creates an aura that deals constant damage before releasing a powerful shockwave that damages and repels any nearby party member. When using Blade of Ruin, Sephiroth will coat his sword in darkness before sending a linear shockwave towards the player. Sephiroth must be defeated before the count reaches zero, or else he will use Divine Proclamation and kill the party.
===Strategy===
When the battle begins, only Cloud is available. As it progresses, two more party members will join him. It is best to keep all characters battle ready in the event they are the ones who join Cloud.
Combining with an elemental in an armor makes Cloud resist it. In hard mode, the player likely has at least one mastered elemental materia, allowing for the equipped character to be healed by one of the elements Sephiroth uses. Sephiroth will resist all elements later, and thus using elemental magic will not deal significant damage on him. can be good on Cloud, as well as any healing and buffing materia, as Cloud is present in any party formation during the final battles. , , and are all good buffs to cast on Cloud.
To make staggering easier, the player should block Telluric Fury with Punisher Mode active to considerably reduce damage and also pressure Sephiroth, making him open to attack with Strong Attack. The player can also use Counterstance. Unlike Punisher Mode's counter, Counterstance counters offensive magic. Aeolian Onslaught is hard to counter with Punisher. When Sephiroth uses Aeolian Onslaught, the player should dodge to the side, then turn around and attack Sephiroth from the back while Sephiroth is vulnerable. If the player manages to stagger Sephiroth, he will start using Scintilla. It is best to not damage him when Scintilla is active, as Sephiroth will counter it with heavy damage. The player can keep blocking with Operator Mode against the element Cloud is not immune against, or use Counterstance. In his first phase, Sephiroth will cast Firaga and Blizzaga. He can be attacked while preparing the spells, but generally it is best to keep some distance, since both spells can be dodged entirely if there is enough space between the player and Sephiroth. 
After enough damage is inflicted, another party member will join, and Sephiroth adds more attacks to his repertoire. Unlike Firaga and Blizzaga, Thundaga and Aeroga cannot be dodged as they spawn in the player's location, and must be blocked. When Sephiroth casts Boundless Void, a small orb of energy will appear close to the player and will draw them closer to the center. Sephiroth will not perform any other attacks during this point. Like when casting magic, Sephiroth is vulnerable to attacks, but the player should be aware of the location of Boundless Void while doing so. The player can avoid damage if they stay out of range of the orb long enough. The player should keep attacking and blocking Sephiroth's attacks, and stagger him to advance. When enough damage is dealt, he summons his dark angelic wing (a nod to "One-Winged Angel", which starts playing in the background). A third party member joins.
In the next phase, Sephiroth becomes much more dangerous. The idea is to pressure him quickly. He attacks relentlessly with elements, depending which infusion is active, becoming vulnerable to the opposing element. Aerith is usually the most powerful magic user, and she can use a spell twice in succession with Arcane Ward. Sephiroth's attack pattern is fixed. If the player cannot pressure him before the pattern ends, he will unleash Octaslash, his most dangerous ability in this phase. Octaslash targets the active character, deals massive damage, and cannot be blocked, countered, or dodged. After Octaslash, he uses a different infusion, and restarts the pattern.
Once enough damage is inflicted, the final phase begins. Sephiroth must be defeated before his countdown expires. At first, he uses Shadow Flare. The player should evade the orbs, then attack while remaining mindful about their positioning, especially when Sephiroth launches his signature ability, Heartless Angel, which affects a wide area, and anyone inside will have their HP reduced to 1. Sephiroth will often use Wave of Nihility and Shadow Flare when the player is closer to Sephiroth, and Shadow Slice and Blade of Ruin when the player keeps their distance. Sephiroth tends to favor his ranged attacks, often teleporting a long distance away before attacking. Ground-based Shadow Slice can be particularly dangerous, as Sephiroth will commonly use Heartless Angel immediately afterwards.
Sephiroth relentlessly targets the controlled character, encouraging the player to switch as soon as they input an ATB command. Sephiroth's attacks can interrupt the player's actions, which can make it difficult to get any attacks in. He cannot block summons, however, so when the summon prompt appears, the player can call forth any of the party's summon creatures and then solely/mainly use the party's accumulated ATB to execute summon commands.
==Musical themes==
"One-Winged Angel" was Sephiroth's main final boss theme in the original Final Fantasy VII. It returns as his final boss theme for the remake in a new version called "One-Winged Angel - Rebirth", which uses the original lyrics. This version of "One-Winged Angel" has four arrangements, with the third most resembling the original. The song was released as the 10th track on Disc 7 of the Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundtrack and was arranged by Yasunori Nishiki.
==Behind the scenes==
Co-director Naoki Hamaguchi had asked scenario writer Kazushige Nojima if they can have a fight against Sephiroth in Midgar. Because Sephiroth's first true appearance in the original game is in a different location, Nojima thought players might not be too happy. Though Hamaguchi had prepared things to convince Nojima, he agreed on the spot.
Cloud's final confrontation against Sephiroth is on a barren field against the background of a starry sky. This is intended to represent the theme(s) of the entirety of Final Fantasy VII. The final cinematic confrontation plays like the final cinematic boss of Final Fantasy VII, using the same angles and posing.
==Gallery==
Sephiroth final boss from FFVII Remake.png|Enemy Intel.
File:Aeolian Onslaught FFVII Remake.jpg|Aeolian Onslaught
File:Telluric Fury FFVII Remake.jpg|Telluric Fury
File:Zanshin FFVII Remake.jpg|Zanshin
File:Boundless Void FFVII Remake.jpg|Boundless Void
File:Octaslash FFVII Remake.jpg|Octaslash
File:Shadow Flare FFVII Remake.jpg|Shadow Flare
File:Wave of Nihility FFVII Remake.jpg|Wave of Nihility
File:Shadow Slice FFVII Remake.jpg|Shadow Slice
File:Hell's Gate FFVII Remake.jpg|Hell's Gate
File:Heartless Angel FFVII Remake.jpg|Heartless Angel
File:Blade of Ruin FFVII Remake.jpg|Blade of Ruin
==References==
Category:Final bosses
Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy VII Remake