דקסמול

* ציור
* מופע

כשיהיה לי כוח אשכרה יהיה כאן ערך מושקע ונכון, אבל עד אז:

***הדף הלא מושקע בעליל של ספירות'*** ''There was one SOLDIER named **Sephiroth, who was better than the rest, but when he found out about the terrible experiments that made him, he began to hate Shinra. And then, over time, he began to hate everything.**

[https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Sephiroth

**Sephiroth** is the main antagonist of *Final Fantasy VII* and *Final Fantasy VII Remake* and one of the primary antagonists in its extended universe. In spin-off appearances, Sephiroth is depicted as Cloud Strife's archenemy and is seen as a symbol of Cloud's troubled past.]

Before his fall from grace, Sephiroth was one of the most lauded success stories of the Shinra Electric Power Company's SOLDIER program. His successes in the field of battle during the conflicts surrounding Shinra's bid for global domination led to his status as a celebrity war hero and the poster boy for both SOLDIER and the Shinra military as a whole. Later driven insane after discovering the unnatural circumstances of his creation, Sephiroth developed delusions of godhood and a misanthropic ambition to destroy the planet.

Sephiroth is briefly a party member during a flashback in the original *Final Fantasy VII* and is both the penultimate and final boss.

## Biographical data

As Shinra sealed Sephiroth's records, most guides do not give any personal details. The European and North American manuals give his details as "unknown" except for his job as a top-ranking SOLDIER officer, that he fights with Long Swords, and his height. Japanese manuals omit even these details. The *Final Fantasy Art Museum* cards from 2001, and the *Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega* released in 2005, also give these details as "unknown" and do not list a height. His birthplace is listed as unknown. The *Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania* gives his birthplace as a "?", but later in his section states he was born in Nibelheim. Volume 2 of the *Final Fantasy 25th Memorial Ultimania/Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive* released in 2012 lists his birthplace as Nibelheim.

It is unknown where the height from the localized manuals originated. This is the same for Red XIII whose measurement is absent in all the aforementioned Japanese publications but present in the English manuals. In *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, he is much taller than what was listed in the localized manuals for the original version. He is taller than Barret, who is listed as being 197 cm tall.

Although Sephiroth's exact age has never been stated, it can be approximated with evidence from the timelines.

## Profile

### Appearance

Sephiroth is a tall man with a muscular build. His long silver hair has bangs parted to either side of his face. In *Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-* and *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*, the bangs are shorter, but by the time of *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children*, they have grown past his shoulders and cover slightly more of his face. In *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, they reach past his upper chest. Sephiroth has bright cyan irises and slit cat-like pupils. . His signature wardrobe is a long black coat with silver pauldrons, black boots, and black trousers. The top of his coat is open to reveal his chest, with his leather SOLDIER suspenders crossed over it. In *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, he has a different belt buckle with a wing motif in the center and small black feathers hanging from it; yellow and green lights reflect from the slots, which may be materia .

He wields the Masamune (usually two-handed), a seven-foot-long *ōdachi* he is rarely seen without. His battle stance with the sword is to hold it over his left shoulder with the blade curving downward, known in the Japanese sword stance as *Te Ura Gasumi No Kamae*, which is primarily used in Ninjitsu and *Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū*, the latter of which is one of the oldest extant martial arts.

In the *Compilation of Final Fantasy VII*, Sephiroth's uniform remains the same as in *Final Fantasy VII*, but his coat has several buckles instead of just one. The original SOLDIER logo in his belt is replaced with the redesigned version for the *Compilation*. According to a *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-* fan letter mailed to Zack, Sephiroth uses an entire bottle of both shampoo and conditioner to wash his hair. Both are provided by the Shinra Company and are scented with thirteen kinds of perfumes.

Sephiroth's youngest appearance is shown in *The First Soldier* portion of *Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis*. His hair is drastically shorter and styled differently. His outfit resembles his adult appearance, but his coat is more jacket-like with a black shirt underneath, and he wears vambraces and pointed boots. He also wields a different katana called Nameless, a military saber with a black, eight-pointed handguard resembling the Shinra logo and three Materia placed at the base of the blade. Unlike the Masamune, this blade has a sheath, placed on his back.

### Personality

As a young soldier, Sephiroth is single-minded in pursuit of any goal given to him. He is conscious about every decision he makes, so approaches situations calmly and methodically. He has a strong sense of responsibility and will humbly admit when he doesn't know something or makes a mistake. Despite the expectations placed on him, Sephiroth does not want to be a hero, instead dreaming of a normal life. Sephiroth maintains a pragmatic and slightly pessimistic outlook, but with the help of his comrades Glenn Lodbrok, Matt Winsord, and Lucia Lin he learns not to push himself to his breaking point constantly and allow himself to have fun.

Before his madness, as shown in *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*, Sephiroth maintains an outwardly aloof and professional demeanor during his time at Shinra. He is known for hardly mingling with anyone besides his only friends, Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos and being indifferent toward his fans. He can act humane and caring in contrast to his reputation, befriending Zack over their shared reluctance to hunt down their friends and desire to bring them back, and asking Cloud how he felt to be back in his hometown, having no similar experience himself. Sephiroth is intelligent and respects those he deems worthy—he considers Professor Gast a great scientist but scorns Professor Hojo. Well-spoken and graceful, Sephiroth is calm, collected, and in control. He has a dry sense of humor. Sometimes, he can be frustrated and caught off-guard. As the strongest SOLDIER, Sephiroth is confident to the point of arrogance, yet has no interest in personal glory, as he tells Genesis, who envies Sephiroth's reputation, that he can have it.

After learning of the experiments that led to his birth, Sephiroth descends into madness, becoming murderous, ruthless, and vengeful, yet retaining his calm and cold demeanor. He develops a messiah complex, proclaiming to be "the chosen one" destined to lead the planet. He becomes sadistic and enjoys mentally torturing Cloud. Sephiroth is devoted to Jenova and her cause, even though her body serves as little more than his avatar. He has become an agent carrying out Jenova's will.

In the Japanese releases, Sephiroth uses the pronoun *ore* prior to his insanity, a typical masculine pronoun used by confident males. Following the Nibelheim Incident, he begins to use *watashi*, a more formal pronoun that is genderless in formal context, likely because he now sees himself as superior to everyone else. This post-madness mannerism carries into his spin-off appearances, such as *Dissidia Final Fantasy*. In the *Remake*, Sephiroth uses *ore* at the ending, as he states he will not let himself end. All other interactions have him use *watashi*.

In the *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, Sephiroth still torments Cloud, gloating over his painful memories and failures. However, at the same time he encourages him to get stronger and survive his ordeals. He even beckons Cloud to join him and his cause to "save the planet" and implies he wants to alter his destiny. Rather than killing Cloud when he refuses, Sephiroth spares him and gives him a hint, letting him continue his journey.

### Abilities

> Sephiroth's strength is unreal. He is far stronger in reality than any story you might have heard about him.
>
>

Sephiroth is regarded as the greatest SOLDIER 1st Class of all time, whose legendary accomplishments in the field of battle inspired many to join SOLDIER. His greatest strength is his swordsmanship and inhuman physical prowess stemming from his success as a byproduct of the Jenova Project, his power having inspired Shinra to create SOLDIER in the first place. Hailed as the strongest swordsman, he is the only one capable of effectively wielding his Masamune, an ōdachi that is longer than he is tall, which he uses effortlessly with a single hand, ambidextrously able to shift from his left to right hand with no loss of efficiency. He can slash faster than the human eye can see and with enough force to cut through steel and concrete. Sephiroth's combat capabilities outmatch virtually every opponent he encounters in terms of both power and skill. He is also highly resilient, able to endure grievous physical damage and continue to fight. His physical strength was also such that he could rip bolted down metal structures via his own bare hands with minimal effort.

Collapse

**Spoiler warning: *Plot and/or ending details follow.*** *(Skip section)*

Sephiroth can empower the Masamune to cast powerful blades and energy waves and even release omnidirectional bursts by slamming the ground with his sword. Sephiroth is well-versed in using magic both with materia before his immersion in the lifestream, and after absorbing the knowledge of the Ancients to where he no longer needs materia to use magic. His signature spells being Heartless Angel to summon angels to sap enemies of their strength, and Shadow Flare to create gravitational exploding orbs of darkness. He can manifest materia to fight alongside him, as well as create a magical protective barrier.

After gaining the Black Materia, he can use the most devastating destructive magic of all: Meteor. In the *Remake*, Sephiroth summons a huge ball of fire resembling the Meteor even without the Black Materia and can perform elemental infusion to access unique elemental spells and resist elemental magic, conjure a homing crest of dark energy that paralyzes any close opponent, perform what seems to be a dark-elemental slash, and create black force-fields that stun and damage his foes. His special attack is Supernova, which has been described as his Limit Break. His use of Supernova is powered by despair, and it can even affect multiple dimensions. Sephiroth even has the power to seal Holy, preventing it from launching and destroying his Meteor.

Having been injected with Jenova cells while still a fetus, and thus exposed to pure Jenova cells undiluted by human DNA, the abilities Sephiroth gained from such a direct method of exposure make him the superior specimen of the Jenova Project. Surpassing the capabilities of Genesis and Angeal, Sephiroth cannot degrade, and also cannot be copied as his genome cannot be broken down. Genesis believes Sephiroth can pass on his immunity to degradation as a cure for others. Similar to Genesis and Angeal, Sephiroth can manifest a single black wing in his right shoulder. In the *Remake*, he can use its feathers to attack his enemies.

Even after Sephiroth's physical body is destroyed, his will persists. After overpowering Jenova's will, Sephiroth gained the ability to exert his influence through her cells, able to construct avatars in his likeness, as well as other eldritch entities, enabling him a physical presence in the world of the living and attaining a sort of immortality. He can remotely control Jenova cells inside living organisms, affect the thoughts and actions of those injected with her cells, and in severe cases can outright puppeteer their bodies. In *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, he can shapeshift into others with Jenova cells into his visage and transforms them into monsters. In the remake, when he interacts with Cloud "in person", a black feather drops after he vanishes. When Sephiroth appears through the robed men, no black feather falls. His ability to project his will through these avatars is limited but is compounded by the subject's willpower (or lack thereof), and intensifies over shorter distances, being strongest at the North Crater (the site of his physical body).

Being immersed in the lifestream has granted Sephiroth psychic powers, allowing him to read others' minds, making him adept at emotional manipulation, preying on his opponents' dark emotions. He can communicate with others telepathically and project illusions. He can telekinetically control objects and even people and manipulate matter in *Final Fantasy VII Remake* by breaking down debris and fusing it. He can summon the Masamune at will, teleport to cover the distance between him and his enemies swiftly, and even teleport others as well as pass-through solid matter. He can fly even without his wing, an ability he already displayed in *Crisis Core*.

In *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, he can warp reality, as he slices a dark tornado caused by the Whispers to create an entrance to the "singularity". He takes himself and Cloud to the Edge of Creation in a flash of light. How much the surreal experiences Cloud goes through in his battle against Sephiroth are illusions projected by the latter is ambiguous.

His younger self in *Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis* swung his sword multiple times at a fast enough rate to not even be seen doing so, as evidenced by how he rushed at the Rhadoran soldiers and simultaneously cut several soldiers down and cleaved a heavy equipment truck in half, and simultaneously protected the player SOLDIER character's unit by cleaving incoming bazooka shells before they could impact them, even leaving slight fissures in the ground afterward. He generated a fire spell (presumably via Materia) that was potent enough to both incinerate incoming reinforcements and leave the resulting forest ablaze.

## Story

### Original continuity

#### Birth and early life

> I knew ever since I was a child, I was not like the others. I knew mine was a special existence. But this is not what I meant!
>
>

Sephiroth was born to Professor Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent approximately twenty-seven years before *Final Fantasy VII* (exact date of birth unknown). Hojo and Lucrecia were working as assistants to Professor Gast, Shinra Electric Power Company's top scientist, on the Jenova Project that studied the remains of an extra-terrestrial entity. Jenova was mistaken as one of the Cetra, an ancient people who had the power to "talk to the planet". Hojo injected cell samples from Jenova into the pregnant Lucrecia and her unborn baby. She carried Sephiroth to term, his fetal form merging with the Jenova cells as he developed. During her pregnancy, she would have frequent pains, fainting spells, and recurring nightmares of her son committing atrocities. After the baby was born, he was taken by Shinra scientists, and Lucrecia never had a chance to hold him, despite later begging to see him.

Shinra told Sephiroth nothing of his true parentage, but at one point in his youth, Hojo provided Sephiroth with a picture of Lucrecia, telling him the woman's name was "Jenova" yet giving him no other information about her. Sephiroth went on to ask everyone he met if they had seen the woman in the picture but was unable to find answers. Sephiroth came to respect Professor Gast, deeming him a great scientist, but despised Professor Hojo, considering him a hack scientist compared to Gast and a "walking mess of complexes".

Sephiroth felt different from other children but did not know of the experiments that had created him. He never gained the ability to talk to the planet, as he was not a Cetra descendant, but Shinra noticed his exceptional physical prowess and raised him to be a super-soldier. Hojo trained Sephiroth to be strong in mind, body, and heart by forcing him to endure physical pain and suppress his emotions. He was taught that a heart "ruthless and unwavering and devoid of hesitation" was ideal, and soldiers led by emotions were second-rate and dated.

Despite this strict training, Sephiroth in his youth was still emotionally vulnerable around certain people, such as Team Glenn in Rhadore. He was insecure, sensitive to being insulted or rejected, but responsive to positive experiences. He laughed and marveled when experiencing "having fun" for the first time and enjoyed pleasant interactions with others. He learned how to modify certain social behaviors that he did not previously understand to be rude, as he had never had much contact with people. Sephiroth's youth was a time of confusion and new development as he learned to balance the responsibilities of his soldier-hood with his social experiences.

Sephiroth's eventual success as an experimental warrior spurred the transition on the battlefield to enhanced SOLDIERs produced through the Jenova Project. As told in *Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis*, teenage Sephiroth was selected to be the poster child for a Shinra recruitment drive intended to find candidates for the SOLDIER program. A number of achievements and accolades were fabricated to portray him as a hero before he ever actually stepped foot on the battlefield.

#### Rhadore Mission

> People make assumptions about me too, and I strive every day to prove them wrong.
>
>

Sephiroth's first field assignment was to the archipelago of Rhadore, a land once allied with Shinra, with orders to assume command of a SOLDIER team led by Glenn Lodbrok and help them suppress an insurrection. Glenn and his teammates, Matt Winsord and Lucia Lin, were veterans of Project: 0, an earlier iteration of SOLDIER that predated Hojo's human experiments that selected its candidates from the best of the best within the Shinra Security Forces. When Sephiroth descended to the battlefield, he effortlessly saved Team Glenn from Rhadoran soldiers, shocking the team. Glenn initially resented Sephiroth, yelling at him, and believing him to be a cyborg who did not earn his strength or status, but Sephiroth's emotional vulnerability and naïveté softened the team's opinion of him. Glenn later apologized to Sephiroth, hugging and reassuring the upset boy that he was not a cyborg, Sephiroth never having wanted to be modified to begin with.

During the mission Sephiroth struggled to fit the heroic image that Shinra prepared for him, wishing only to find his mother and live a normal life. He reasoned through the horrors of having to fight other child soldiers by way of reminding his team that he was a child himself. He believed that the elderly in war could be combat veterans, adopting a "kill or be killed" mindset. This was seemingly confirmed in the young SOLDIER operative's mind when he was wounded by a Rhadoran child soldier.

The realities of war weighed heavily on Sephiroth's heart, but his newfound comrades encouraged him to wield his significant power with compassion and resolved to help him become a true hero. Sephiroth's relationship with Glenn and his team, as well as the Rhadoran Rosen, would prove formative in shaping him into the man he would become.

#### Wutai War

> They've made me the face of the program and manufactured "achievements" to sell me as this hero that I'm not.
>
>

In the early years of the Wutai War, Sephiroth became instrumental in ensuring Shinra's dominance, and became admired and respected as a great war hero. Those in Shinra considered his strength unequaled even by other First Class SOLDIER members. Many young men, including Cloud Strife and Genesis Rhapsodos, idolized Sephiroth and sought to join SOLDIER to become heroes just like him, making Sephiroth useful for Shinra as a propaganda tool.

#### Genesis war

> Whether your words... are lies created to deceive﻿ me... Or the truth... that I have sought all my life... it makes no difference. You will rot.
>
>

Near the end of the Wutai War, Sephiroth had two close friends within SOLDIER, Angeal and Genesis, the three most famous SOLDIERs in First Class. They would visit the training room when the Second Class SOLDIERS were off to access the virtual reality Junon for training purposes. Their training sessions involved one of them having an apple on their head while the others would throw their swords to pierce the fruit, with Sephiroth always winning. In one particular training session, Genesis challenged Sephiroth one-on-one, using powerful magic to enhance his weapon, but Sephiroth remained stronger. The fight ended inconclusively when Angeal intervened before either hurt the other too badly. The small wound Genesis took did not heal. Sephiroth offered his blood for a transfusion but was told it was not compatible.

In the months after the war, the anti-Shinra group Avalanche intensifies its actions, raiding Junon. Sephiroth engages the Avalanche leader, Elfe, who asks if he fights for a reason, which has a profound effect on Sephiroth; the results of Sephiroth choosing to fight for a cause would one day threaten the planet's existence. During the assault on Fort Tamblin, Sephiroth saves Zack Fair, Angeal's student, from Ifrit, dispatching it with one blow, and discovers Genesis has defected with a Shinra scientist Hollander, creating an army using copy technology to graft Genesis's cells onto other traitor SOLDIER members with which to rebel against Shinra. Angeal goes rogue torn between his loyalties, and Angeal and Genesis are both declared killed in action.

As Sephiroth participates in the AVALANCHE Insurgency and Genesis War, his loyalties and emotions continue to be thrown into turmoil, leading to him refusing missions concerning Genesis and Angeal. When Genesis and Angeal attack the Shinra Building, Sephiroth and Zack allow them to escape. Sephiroth searches the Shinra archives for information on "Project G", having learned of it when he and Zack confronted Hollander and Genesis. Before his search amounts to anything, Zack is forced to kill Angeal and apparently Genesis as well. However, the latter resurfaces several months later. Sephiroth participates to "rescue" Professor Hojo, who had almost defected with the Avalanche forces attacking the Shinra Building. In September of 0002, Sephiroth tells Zack he is considering retiring from Shinra; their next mission together will likely be his last.

#### Nibelheim Incident

See also: Nibelheim Incident

On September 22nd 0002, Sephiroth arrives at Nibelheim to investigate a monster outbreak near the town's mako reactor. He arrives with a small entourage, including Zack and two Shinra infantrymen, one of whom is the sixteen-year-old Cloud Strife. Sephiroth asks Cloud how it feels to be back in his hometown, as he lacks one. When questioned by Zack about family, Sephiroth explains his mother, Jenova, died during childbirth, but stops short of mentioning his father before proceeding with the mission. In *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*, Zack is suspicious upon hearing that Jenova is Sephiroth's mother, having learned about the Jenova Project in the creation of Genesis and Angeal.

At the mako reactor, Sephiroth makes two disturbing discoveries: several pod-like chambers containing monstrous creatures who used to be human, mutated by exposure to mako and a section labeled "JENOVA" containing a feminine-looking creature. When Zack suggests a connection between SOLDIER and the creatures in the tanks, Sephiroth flies into a rage, horrified that he is "different", perhaps because he was created similarly to the monsters in the pods. In *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-* Genesis plays a part in inciting Sephiroth's madness by revealing Sephiroth was born from the Jenova Project, its goal to produce the "perfect monster". Sephiroth rejects Genesis's request for Jenova cells from him.

Disturbed by the creature in the reactor having the same name as his "mother", along with the once-human monsters in the pods and Genesis's words, Sephiroth makes his way to the manor that had been occupied by Shinra researchers. He pores over the research notes in the basement library, wondering why he was never told the truth of his origins. He comes to believe Jenova is a Cetra, and therefore he, as Jenova's "son", is the last Cetra survivor. He maintains the human race had betrayed the Cetra 2,000 years ago, leaving them alone to defend the planet from a calamity (eventually revealed to have been Jenova itself), and resolves to take vengeance for his "ancestors".

On October 1st Sephiroth destroys Nibelheim, setting the town on fire and killing many townspeople before returning to the reactor to claim Jenova's remains. He is pursued by Tifa's father, Tifa herself, Zack, and Cloud. Tifa, a girl living in the town who had been Sephiroth's group's guide up the mountain, takes up Sephiroth's Masamune from beside her father's corpse and attacks him, but he disarms her and cuts her down.

> Mother, let's take back the planet together. I... I had an epiphany... Let's go to the promised land, mother. […] Mother, they're here again. You should have ruled this planet. You were stronger, smarter. But then they came. Those inferior dullards. They came and took this planet away from you. But don't be sad, mother. I am with you now.
>
>

Shortly after Sephiroth enters Jenova's chamber, Zack arrives to confront him. Sephiroth only keeps talking to his "mother", saying they will reclaim the planet and head to the promised land. He tears off the effigy blocking Jenova's remains and ejects Zack from the chamber, continuing to declare himself "chosen" to rule the planet. Cloud enters with Zack's Buster Sword and impales Sephiroth from behind through the abdomen. The severely wounded Sephiroth decapitates Jenova and stumbles across the room, and is again attacked by Cloud. Sephiroth stabs him with his Masamune, but Cloud uses it as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into a pool of mako below the reactor. Sephiroth vanishes with Jenova's head still in his grasp, apparently falling to his death. In *Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-*, Sephiroth jumps into the pool of mako willingly, having noted he is unable to defeat Cloud.

Shinra seals the records on Sephiroth, declaring him killed in action, and rebuilds Nibelheim to cover up the incident, populating it with Shinra employees paid to act as the villagers.

Sephiroth fell into the lifestream, his willpower too great to allow himself to be consumed. Over the next several years, Sephiroth traveled the lifestream, the planet's life energy, and the afterlife for its spirits that contains the summation of the cognition its inhabitant have accumulated. Growing in power and knowledge, the fragments of his body congregate at the Northern Cave inside the North Crater, joining to recreate Sephiroth's physical form in a cocoon of mako. Sephiroth's new goal is to merge with the lifestream and seize control of it to become a god.

Though his physical body is encased in mako, Sephiroth can control Jenova's cells as an extension of his body and thus act out his plans through the remains of Jenova's body. Hojo has injected Zack, Cloud and the other survivors of Nibelheim (save for Tifa who was rescued by her mentor Zangan before Shinra found her) with Jenova's cells, turning them into Sephiroth-clones: people whose wills have been over-ridden with Sephiroth's will. Hojo believes the Jenova cells within Sephiroth would call for a "reunion" of those who share its cells and wishes to see his theory put to the test.

#### The reunion

Approximately five years after his supposed death, in December 0007, Sephiroth enacts his plan and puts out the call for the reunion to summon the Sephiroth-clones to the North Cave. Jenova's remains, which had been moved to the Shinra HQ in Midgar, shapeshift into Sephiroth's form and break out of containment. Jenova/Sephiroth releases Cloud (who had escaped Shinra Manor with Zack but has forgotten many details about it) and the members of the second reincarnation of Avalanche, who were being held prisoner. Sephiroth kills President Shinra after declaring Shinra should never acquire the Cetra's fabled promised land. Cloud, seeing Sephiroth's Masamune left at President Shinra's murder site, surmises Sephiroth is alive, and sets out with Avalanche to find him and settle the score for what happened to Nibelheim. However, what Cloud doesn't know is that his drive for pursuing Sephiroth is compounded by the Jenova cells calling him toward Sephiroth to reunite with the main body as per Hojo's "Reunion Theory".

The party finds Sephiroth on the cargo ship headed to Costa del Sol, where he alludes to the reunion and leaves Jenova's arm behind that transforms into Jenova∙BIRTH. He appears some time later in the Nibelheim Shinra Manor basement, where he mentions the reunion and calls for Cloud to follow him. At the Temple of the Ancients, Sephiroth reveals the full extent of his plans—the planet relies on the lifestream to heal itself when wounded, and the North Crater, where the lifestream is abundant, is where Jenova fell two thousand years ago.

#### Meteorfall

Using the Black Materia, Sephiroth plans to call the Ultimate Destructive Magic—Meteor—to injure the planet and place himself at the center of its impact zone as the lifestream emerges to heal the planet's wound. Sephiroth plans to merge with the lifestream, becoming a god.

Cloud acquires the Black Materia first, but Sephiroth exerts his influence over the Jenova cells within Cloud's body and takes control of him, forcing Cloud to hand the Materia over. Aerith Gainsborough, the true last survivor of the Cetra and a member of Cloud's party, uses the White Materia to summon Holy, the only power able to counter Meteor. During her prayer, Sephiroth (or rather, Jenova transformed into his image) impales her with his sword, killing her. Though Aerith had successfully called Holy, Sephiroth holds it back within the planet. Cloud and his allies continue tracking Jenova's remains in Sephiroth's form to the North Crater.

Cloud and his party kill Jenova in Sephiroth's form and reclaim the Black Materia. Cloud entrusts it to a party member for safekeeping while he and Tifa continue deeper into the crater and find themselves in an illusion of Nibelheim's destruction that Sephiroth conjured. Sephiroth wants to break Cloud by making him believe he is but a simulacrum created by Professor Hojo with false memories. Sephiroth deceives Cloud into thinking he is a mere cluster of Jenova cells that assumed the identity of a boy named "Cloud" from Tifa's childhood. Tifa tries to tell Cloud that Sephiroth is lying but cannot deny that she never saw Cloud at Nibelheim during its destruction.

Tifa's words, along with Sephiroth's manipulations, take their toll and shatter Cloud's fragile mind. Sephiroth projects an illusion of Tifa before the party members left behind to bring the Black Materia to Cloud. Once Cloud takes back the Black Materia, he hands it over to Sephiroth's true body residing within a mako cocoon. Sephiroth summons the Meteor, which awakens the planet's defense mechanism, the Weapons. The area's walls crumble as the Weapons, colossal monsters, arise from their slumber, and Sephiroth's mako cocoon falls into the crater. Cloud's allies flee with Rufus Shinra, the new president of the Shinra Company, on the airship *Highwind*. Sephiroth erects an energy barrier over the crater to keep the Weapons from detecting him.

Sephiroth is mentioned frequently in *Hoshi o Meguru Otome*, as the deceased Aerith's spirit observes the effects Sephiroth's actions are having on the lifestream and the planet.

Sephiroth begins shapeshifting his body into a form befitting a god, awaiting Meteor's arrival. Cloud recovers upon discovering the truth about his past. In late January 0008, Shinra fires the Mako Cannon, known as the Sister Ray, at the North Crater, piercing Sephiroth's barrier and allowing Cloud and his allies to enter the crater and reach Sephiroth.

They find Sephiroth at the planet's core, blocking Holy. Sephiroth, emerging from his Bizarro∙Sephiroth form upon defeat, becomes the angelic Safer∙Sephiroth, a being with seven wings. Cloud and his allies destroy him. However, his mind persists; pulling Cloud into a final metaphysical battle in an attempt to control him. Cloud's mind has grown, and he defeats Sephiroth, who dissolves into the lifestream, seemingly destroyed. With Sephiroth gone, Holy is released from the planet's core. Aerith's spirit helps the lifestream emerge and keep the Meteor at bay for the Holy to destroy it.

#### Post-crisis

Sephiroth is the focus of the *On the Way to a Smile* "Lifestream: Black" chapters where he uses the lifestream's emergence to fight Meteor to infect the planet with Geostigma, dispersing his memories among the lifestream to spread the disease. Sephiroth avoids dissolution into the lifestream by focusing on his hatred of Cloud, which allows him to maintain a core sense of being and remain separate from the other spirits. With his peripheral memories, including those of his appearance, stripped away over time, he uses memories of how others in the lifestream see him craft his avatars and sends them to find Jenova's remains to create a new body for himself.

#### Geostigma crisis

> Good to see you, Cloud.
>
>

During the events of *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children* in 0009, Sephiroth remains an active force terrorizing the planet. Geostigma has spread throughout the world, afflicting many with extreme fatigue and skin sores. Sephiroth's remaining consciousness corrupts a part of the lifestream. It primarily affects children due to their weaker immune systems. Cloud has also contracted the disease and experiences visions of Sephiroth.

The now-reclusive Cloud finds himself confronted by a trio of silver-haired men who are physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will. The three, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, believe they are guided by their "mother" Jenova, but rather, it is Sephiroth himself who forces their actions. The three seek Jenova's cells to be reunited with her, unaware of Sephiroth's plan to resurrect himself using Jenova's last remnants.

When Kadaj absorbs Jenova's cells, Sephiroth exerts his power over Jenova to shapeshift Kadaj's body into his own visage, restoring him to life. Sephiroth faces Cloud and, disappointed his adversary was cured of Geostigma, reveals his plan to gather the souls of Geostigma's deceased victims to corrupt the lifestream and gain control over the world. He plans to use the planet as a vessel to travel space and find a new planet to rule.

Sephiroth and Cloud fight in the ruins of Midgar that was never rebuilt after being ravaged by the Meteor, with Sephiroth dominating and severely injuring Cloud by impaling him in the same manner in Nibelheim. Cloud is reinvigorated by memories of his friends and family and destroys Sephiroth. When Cloud demands he stay in his memories, Sephiroth only replies, "I will... never be a memory". His black wing folds around him and he fades away, leaving a weakened Kadaj to die and fade into the lifestream as Aerith's spirit calls healing rain to cure the planet of Geostigma.

#### Sephiroth's legacy

Chronologically, *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children* is Sephiroth's final appearance in the *Final Fantasy VII* timeline, and his current status is unknown, though it is likely, given his past tenacity, that he continues to exist within the lifestream.

Although Sephiroth himself does not appear during the events of *Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-*, he is mentioned in a flashback with the pregnant Lucrecia, who experienced a vision as to what her child would become. The second mention is from Weiss the Immaculate when explaining he is actually Hojo possessing his body. In another flashback, when Lucrecia is trying to save Vincent Valentine, she demands that Hojo give back her baby (Sephiroth).

### Remake continuity

When Cloud and Avalanche blow up Mako Reactor 1, Cloud sees a black feather and experiences a psychic disturbance. After Cloud escapes to the streets of Midgar in the wake of the bombing, Sephiroth appears to him and warps Cloud's surroundings to resemble the burning Nibelheim. Sephiroth taunts Cloud over the razing of Nibelheim and Sephiroth's murder of Cloud's mother. He does not deny Cloud's claims of having killed him, even calling it the crowning moment of their time together. He asks Cloud to leave Avalanche and live to fight for the planet. When Cloud attacks him, clearing the illusion, Sephiroth telepathically tells Cloud to hold on to his hatred. When Cloud meets Aerith on the streets of Midgar, Sephiroth returns and mocks Cloud for being too weak to protect anything, even himself.

Later on, Marco—a Sephiroth-clone—is taken over to attack Cloud, with Cloud seeing Marco as Sephiroth. Cloud nearly kills Marco, but Tifa stops him. When Cloud later falls to the slums, Sephiroth appears in his dream and says that he is Cloud's everything, but Aerith wakes Cloud up before he can do anything. She takes Cloud around the Sector 5 slums where they run into another Sephiroth-clone who collapses and attracts Cloud and Aerith's attention. Cloud sees the man as Sephiroth, who tells him not to fear the reunion before the clone walks away. After the destruction of Sector 7, Sephiroth appears to Cloud to mock him for failing again but encourages him to gain strength from the loss.

Later, Sephiroth traps Cloud, Tifa, and Barret in an illusion in the Shinra VR theater, where several Sephiroth-clones attack them while a meteorite falls onto Midgar. However, Barret is left believing it was an intended part of the presentation. Sephiroth later shapeshifts Marco into himself to attack President Shinra: he walks past a horrified Palmer and then appears before Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII at the Jenova container. Smirking at Cloud, who struggles to walk forward, Sephiroth tells him to stop fighting and embrace him before cutting the bridge down, sending everyone plummeting down.

Sephiroth seemingly hurls President Shinra through a window leaving him hanging from the scaffolding for dear life. After Avalanche rescues and corners the President, he turns the tables by pulling a gun on them. Marco—controlled by Sephiroth—kills him and stabs Barret before transforming into Jenova Dreamweaver, a being that induces hallucinations. After Marco is defeated, another clone appears masquerading as Sephiroth, the same one Cloud and Aerith encountered earlier in the slums. The clone carries Jenova's wrapped up body that had been released from the tank, and leaves as Avalanche backup arrives. Pursued by Cloud, the clone jumps off the Shinra Building as the Whispers distract Cloud.

After Avalanche escapes from Shinra, Sephiroth approaches them on the Midgar Expressway and explains he plans to "protect" the planet and all of its creatures. When Aerith says Sephiroth is wrong, he countered by saying she is looking at him with clouded eyes and sees nothing but shadows. As the Whispers create a massive cloud of darkness, Sephiroth cuts it with his sword to make an entrance and challenges Cloud to enter. Aerith denotes it as a doorway to breaking free of the fixed destiny that the Whispers are enforcing upon them. After Cloud and his friends defeat the Whispers, the space shifts into a surreal terrain where Sephiroth challenges Cloud and his friends.

Sephiroth persists and flies off as the Whispers attack Avalanche. When Cloud catches up with him, Sephiroth takes himself and Cloud into a metaphysical dimension/illusion that he describes as "the edge of creation". He claims that the planet will become a part of it and not let himself or Cloud end. Sephiroth asks Cloud to lend his strength so together they can defy destiny, and when Cloud refuses, Sephiroth defeats him. However, he spares Cloud and leaves with a cryptic warning that he has "seven seconds before the end" as Cloud appears back outside Midgar. With Sephiroth is still on the loose, Cloud and Avalanche embark on a journey to defeat him. Aerith believes that the future ahead of them is now uncertain.

## Gameplay

### *Final Fantasy VII*

#### Boss

Main articles: Bizarro∙Sephiroth, Safer∙Sephiroth, or Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII boss)

Sephiroth is fought three times as parts of the final battle. He is first encountered in a "pupa" form as Bizarro∙Sephiroth, where the player can command as many as three parties to bring all of his parts down. He is then fought in his "god" form as Safer∙Sephiroth. The battle is known for its battle music and cinematic attack. A final cinematic confrontation is fought against Sephiroth in the lifestream where he duels a one-on-one with Cloud. It is impossible to lose this battle.

#### Party member

Main article: Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII party member)

Sephiroth also appears as an AI-controlled guest character during Cloud's flashback. His Materia are mastered, and neither his Materia nor equipment can be removed. While he cannot level up, he has set stats with stat growth. Sephiroth is invincible, and his attacks always critical.

### *Final Fantasy VII Remake*

Main article: Sephiroth (VII Remake boss)

Sephiroth is fought as the final boss in Destiny's Crossroads. He has over 65,157 HP and uses powerful melee attacks, many of which resemble his *Dissidia* techniques. He uses Aeroga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Firaga, Boundless Void, Shadow Flare, and Heartless Angel, and can infuse himself with the elements of fire, lightning, air, and ice for powerful elemental attacks.

### *Final Fantasy VII Rebirth*

Sephiroth is a playable character in the Nibelheim flashback. He shares many of his attacks from his boss encounter from *Remake* with considerably increased speed and has the ability to warp to dodge and close gaps between his enemies. His combination skills with Cloud are Voidshatter and Counterfire with their combined attack being Double Helix.

### *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*

#### Boss

Main article: Sephiroth (Crisis Core boss)

Sephiroth is fought as a boss twice in the Nibel Reactor, and can be rechallenged in missions. Experiment No. 124 is a facsimile of Sephiroth that serves as the final opponent in the "Hojo's Laboratory" series of missions.

#### Digital Mind Wave

Sephiroth is part of Zack's Digital Mind Wave since the start of the game, allowing Zack to use Sephiroth's Limit Break, Octaslash, if his picture comes up in the slot reels mechanism during modulating phase. Octaslash delivers eight physical attacks against one enemy''