Final Fantasy VII/Characters

A list of characters from Final Fantasy VII and associated works.

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Cloud Strife
""I pity you. You just don't get it at all... there's not a thing I don't cherish!""

"Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Steve Burton (English)"

A former top-ranking member of Shinra's elite paramilitary unit, SOLDIER. Now working as a mercenary-for-hire, Cloud takes a job with the anti-Shinra organization AVALANCHE to bring down his old employers. .

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis. Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Final Fantasy Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, Ehrgeiz, Final Fantasy Tactics"

"Cloud: At least remember my name!"
 * Adorkable: At times. He says things like "let's mosey" and has never been on a date before.
 * Always Save the Girl
 * Angst: Boatloads of it. Most of it's justified too.
 * Animal Motifs: Wolves, specifically Fenrir, the name of the wolf that follows him in Advent Children and of his Cool Bike, which debuted in the same movie. However, this only applies to that movie.
 * Anime Hair
 * Anti-Hero: Type I who pretends to be Type III. He arguably evolved into an actual hero (or at least a Type II antihero) by the end of the first game.
 * Classical Antihero
 * Badass: See Determinator.
 * Badass Biker
 * Badass Normal
 * Badass Abnormal
 * Becoming the Mask
 * BFS: His Buster Sword is emblematic of this trope.
 * Bifurcated Weapon: His First Tsurugi in Advent Children is six BFSs in one.
 * Bishonen
 * Blue Eyes: They also glow because of his Mako infusion; this is a mark of all members of SOLDIER.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy
 * Break the Haughty: As a child, Cloud avoided the other village children because he thought of himself as superior to them and like most boys his age, tried to become a hero like his idol Sephiroth by joining SOLDIER and was promptly rejected.
 * However, it seemed like his claims of superiority was more a case of him trying to justify his own loneliness.
 * Broken Hero: He's one of the poster boys for this trope.
 * Chick Magnet: Tifa, Aerith, and Jessie have feelings for him. If you choose Yuffie as the Golden Saucer date, she kisses Cloud on the cheek on the gondola ride.
 * Courier: His career after the events of the main game.
 * Crash Into Hello: Granted it was a roof, not a person, but it's how Cloud and Aerith got formally acquainted.
 * Deadpan Snarker: "You look like a bear wearing a marshmallow."
 * Dead Person Conversation: With  in Advent Children.
 * Dead Person Impersonation:
 * Determinator: Holy shit, HOW! Badass indeed.
 * Disappeared Dad: Was raised by his mother instead.
 * Disguised in Drag: The infamous crossdressing quest in Wall Market.
 * Doomed Hometown:
 * Fake Memories:
 * Flanderization: If you haven't played the original game, you'll be surprised at how non angsty Cloud was. He did angst and express hesitation and insecurities, but only at key points and for good reasons, and at the end of the game seemed perfectly fine. In his appearances since, he has been an angsty brooding loner. Square Enix states outright in The Reunion Files (basically the Ultimania for Advent Children) that they regressed his personality back to a mindset they thought fans would be more familiar with, making this a case of Pandering to the Base.
 * In all fairness, it'd be downright absurd to think he'd just be emotionally fixed by the end of the game. Anyone who might go through what Cloud went through might need a few years to fully reconcile. Like 30 of them.
 * The Hero of the Five-Man Band.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: BFS's are preferred, although he does have a few katanas. As an infantryman, however, he favored an assault rifle and police baton.
 * His Heart Will Go On
 * Guest Fighter: In Ehrgeiz, an obscure fighting game made by Square in late 1990s.
 * I Let Aerith Gainsborough Die: More in Advent Children than in the game.
 * Ill Guy: In Advent Children, Cloud is suffering from Geostigma which also causes some ugly seizures. Let's not forget when he was afflicted with Mako Poisoning in the game.
 * I Will Protect Her: He promises such to Tifa, and later becomes Aerith's bodyguard.
 * In Advent Children, he feels this way towards his entire family, which causes problems as his track record of success isn't very impressive.
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Jerkass Facade
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Subverted. Cloud isn't actually a jerk,
 * Lightning Bruiser: Most definitely in Advent Children. Can arguably become this in the original game as it goes on.
 * Limit Break:
 * Colony Drop: Meteorain
 * Blade Spam: Omnislash
 * Blow You Away: Finishing Touch
 * Sword Beam: Blade Beam
 * Loners Are Freaks: As a child.
 * Meaningful Name
 * : In his  past.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Only I Can Kill Him: Spin-offs seem to give him this role regarding Sephiroth, who shrugs off beatings from the Warrior of Light or Sora.
 * Promotion to Parent: Raises Marlene and Denzel with Tifa after the events of original game.
 * Replacement Goldfish: Initially, what draws Aerith to Cloud is his resemblance to Zack.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: So.... pretty....
 * Super Soldier: SOLDIER was comprised of humans who were exposed to large amounts of raw Mako (giving them their distinctive Glowing Eyes) and, in some cases, injected with Jenova cells, granting them superhuman strength, speed, and agility.
 * Take Up Zack's Sword
 * This Loser Is You:
 * Tomato in the Mirror:
 * Too Many Belts: In Advent Children. The retconned SOLDIER 1st Class costumes from Crisis Core that he wears has two.
 * Troubled but Cute
 * Parental Substitute: To Denzel. In Advent Children, he even becomes a Disappeared Dad.
 * The Quiet One: On his own Cloud is a fairly shy and silent figure.
 * Unknown Rival: Hojo doesn't remember who he is when they have their last battle.


 * Victorious Childhood Friend: With Tifa.
 * Weapon Twirling: As part of his victory animation.
 * What the Hell, Hero?
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: A certain, ahem, "noble incident".
 * Would Hit a Girl:
 * Your Days Are Numbered: In Advent Children where he has contracted the fatal Geostigma.

Barret Wallace
""You gotta understand somethin'... I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene... but I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't... the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'!""

"Voiced by: Masahiro Kobayashi (Japanese), Beau Billingslea (English)"

The boisterous leader of AVALANCHE, a group of eco-terrorists trying to prevent Shinra from draining the planet's life energy in the name of profit. .

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus."


 * Angry Black Man: Pretty obvious, don't you think? It's Justified later on in the game when Barret explains just why he's so angry to begin with.
 * Anti-Hero: Type IV -> Type II.
 * Arm Cannon: Although some of his weapons turn it into a Power Fist instead.
 * Artificial Limbs: His gun arm is able to transform into a robotic hand in Advent Children.
 * Badass
 * Badass Stubble
 * Handicapped Badass
 * Big Good: From his perspective in the beginning of the game, given that he's leading AVALANCHE and giving orders to Cloud & co. He gradually comes to realize that maybe he wasn't quite as noble as he thought.
 * The Big Guy of the Five-Man Band.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Character Development turns Barret into one of these later on. He's still emotional and outgoing, but no longer quite as trigger-happy.
 * Brown Eyes
 * Captain Ersatz: He looks, and even acts, very similar to Mr. T. So much in fact that it's a Running Gag among the fandom to compare the two. As of Advent Children, he even talks like him.
 * The audiobooks for On the Way to a Smile has him sound more like Chi McBride.
 * Cluster F-Bomb
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
 * Limit Break:
 * Energy Ball: Big Shot and Mindblow.
 * Kill Sat: Satellite Beam.
 * More Dakka: Angermax.
 * One Hit KO: Hammer Blow.
 * Throw Down the Bomblet: Grenade Bomb.
 * Wave Motion Gun: Catastrophe.
 * Mighty Glacier: He's slow and not very good with magic, but he can take a tremendous amount of punishment and is very good at blowing things up with his gun weapons.
 * Morality Pet: His daughter, Marlene.
 * Moral Myopia: Initially, he doesn't care about the lives of many people besides Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie (who all die really early on) and Marlene and Tifa. He fights Shinra primarily out of revenge and his self-righteous Saving the World claims are just his self-justification. This would count as Moral Dissonance, if Cait Sith didn't call him out for it later on, and later his acknowledgement that it was wrong.
 * Papa Wolf: To Marlene.
 * Parental Substitute: Again, to Marlene.
 * Progressively Prettier: Advent Children prettied him up somewhat. And gave him a fishnet vest.
 * Scary Black Man
 * Shoot the Television: An NPC mentions that he once did this using his gun arm with a Sector 7 television monitor that was displaying a broadcast by President Shinra. He didn't win any fans that day, as the only other television in Sector 7 was in AVALANCHE headquarters.
 * Sir Swearsalot: But not as much as Cid.
 * The Southpaw: Necessary, his right hand is an assault weapon.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: At first. He later acknowledges that his actions might not have been best.
 * When All You Have Is a Hammer: His solution to most problems seems to involve More Dakka.

Tifa Lockhart
""Uniforms, soldiers, war. I hate 'em all. They take away the things and people you love... I wish they'd all disappear.""

"Voiced by: Ayumi Ito (Japanese), Rachael Leigh Cook (English)"

A member of AVALANCHE and Cloud's childhood friend. She also owns a bar called "7th Heaven" in Sector 7 of Midgar. .

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus. Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim, Kingdom Hearts, Ehrgeiz"


 * Action Girl: Tifa's far better with her fists than with magic.
 * Action Mom: Arguably, depending on how you view her Parental Substitute relationship with Denzel.
 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable: Whenever she goes deredere to Cloud, which is... damn near the whole time.
 * Badass Damsel That's the whole point of the promise she made with Cloud.
 * Badass Long Hair: In-game, Tifa's hair reaches to her knees. In Advent Children, it's reduced to shoulder length for animation purposes. She still keeps the bad ass part though.
 * Badass Normal: Tifa doesn't have an ancient heritage, or Mako in her veins, but she can still keep up with the best of them.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Her combat style is based on this character class.
 * The Bartender: Tifa tends bar at 7th Heaven.
 * Bare Your Midriff: Her in-game outfit bares a lot of midriff. Her Advent Children one only shows a sliver.
 * Boobs of Steel: Big boobs? Check. Strongest female? Check. The Trope picture? Check.
 * Brown Eyes: Or red eyes. It varies on the source.
 * Charles Atlas Superpower: Does as much damage with her fists as others with actual weapons. Then there's her Limit Break which continually gets bigger and bigger until her fist causes an explosion.
 * The Chick: By being The Heart. But boy, does she kick ass! She can suplex tanks, robots, dragons, marlboros, hell, even the One-Winged Angel.
 * Converse with the Unconscious: In Case of Tifa, she asks Cloud if he loves her while he's sleeping. Her voice wakes him up, and she quickly changes the question.
 * Cute Bruiser: Possibly the cutest member of the team, and one of the strongest.
 * Dangerously-Short Skirt: So short, she nearly flashes you while in her battle pose.
 * Damsel in Distress: On occasion, interestingly it is her romantic fantasy to be the damsel in distress that a dashing hero will save.
 * Fragile Speedster: She's very fast, but she can't take a whole lot of damage.
 * Girl Next Door: Lived next door to Cloud pre-series.
 * Glass Cannon: Tifa can deal out a lot of punishment in a fight, but she has a harder time taking it.
 * Guest Fighter: In Ehrgeiz.
 * Hair Color Dissonance: In some depictions her hair is light brown, while other times it's such a dark brown it looks black.
 * Hot Mom: Yet again, could easily qualify because of her Promotion to Parent with Denzel.
 * Limit Break
 * Megaton Punch: Final Heaven.
 * Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Beat Rush.
 * Shoryuken: Dolphin Blow.
 * Mama Bear: To Marlene and Denzel. Threatening either of them will result in a brutal pounding into the floor boards.
 * Meaningful Name: Tifa Lockhart has a habit of keeping secrets locked away inside her heart.
 * Missing Mom: Her mother died when Tifa was eight years old.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Short skirt, big boobs, long legs, Tifa ticks all the boxes.
 * Muscles Are Meaningless: Her arms are thin but her punches are powerful!
 * No Pronunciation Guide: Some fans are unclear on whether to pronounce her name with a short "I" or a long "E". Officially, the latter is correct.
 * Power Fist
 * Promotion to Parent: To Marlene and Denzel, although she could be viewed as more of a Parental Substitute to the former.
 * Rapunzel Hair: It even had to be cut to help the animation along in Advent Children.
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Dark haired and very pale skin.
 * She's Got Legs: Very long legs.
 * Shrinking Violet: Can be very shy in regards to her feelings.
 * Silk Hiding Steel: More like 'Steel Hiding Silk' as she looks like a Biker Babe, runs a bar, and fights with her bare hands, but inside she's more feminine than Aerith with her Damsel in Distress fantasy with Cloud, her domestic skills, and role as Team Mom in the main group and AVALANCHE.
 * Smurfette Principle: If you don't get Yuffie, and after Aerith dies, Tifa is your only girl.
 * Supreme Chef: Although it is an Informed Attribute.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Tifa's the tallest out of the three females on the team.
 * Team Mom: To AVALANCHE. The home base chef who worries about them.
 * Third Person Seductress: Just look at her picture, or any picture with her in it.
 * The Three Faces of Eve: She looks like the Seductress, but she actually acts like the Mother. (With Aerith as The Seductress and Yuffie as The Child).
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Seems to be a Tomboy yet plays the Girly Girl to Aerith's Tomboy. Rare spin of traditional character design.
 * Unwanted Harem: Gender Inverted Trope version. Tifa was very popular with the guys, Cloud included, in Nibelheim.
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: With Cloud.
 * Woman in Black: She's got the outfit in Advent Children, but (as with everything involving Tifa and appearance-based personality cues) subverted to hell and back.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Let's see here, devotion to the man she loves, check. Good domestic skill, check. Team Mom, check. Tall, Dark and Bishoujo, check. Iron heart that is strong enough to snap The Hero out of his Heroic BSOD, check please. She has everything except a connection to Wutai/Japan and the attached cultural trappings.

Aerith (Aeris) Gainsborough


""Just hang in there. Someday we'll look back at these hard times and laugh.""

"Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese), Mandy Moore/Mena Suvari/Andrea Bowen(English)"

A young woman who sells flowers for a living in the slums of Midgar. Her years on the streets have given her a outgoing, street-smart but caring attitude. .

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Crisis Core Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Kingdom Hearts. "Dissidia 012""


 * Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: After Zack has been missing for four years, Aerith has mostly moved on from him; however there are some hints that she was never as over her First Love as she would like.
 * Action Girl: She's pretty hands on for a White Magician Girl.
 * Alice Allusion/Lost in Translation: Her name in either translation is the same katakana used for "Alice" (typically "arisu") except for the "e" katakana at the beginning. Literally speaking, you would pronounce her name "Earisu".
 * Down the Rabbit Hole: Applying the above, this is what happens.
 * Ancient Artifact: The White Materia her mother gave her, which makes her the only person able to cast Holy.
 * Summoning Artifact
 * Big Good: She arguably evolves into this role near the end of the original game, and definitely plays this in Advent Children.
 * Big Damn Heroine: And after
 * Braids of Action: Bouts of being the Damsel in Distress aside, Aerith lives by the Big Damn Heroes trope and is no stranger to combat.
 * Breast Expansion: Justified (puberty). Compare in Crisis Core when she was 15, and when she was 22.
 * The Cameo: In Final Fantasy Tactics.
 * The Chick: Shares this role with Tifa.
 * Cool Big Sis: To Marlene.
 * Death of the Hypotenuse
 * Damsel in Distress: A bit pluckier than the norm, although there's still a whole level dedicated to rescuing her. Not to mention at the beginning of the game, when you have to save her from Shinra soldiers by crushing them with barrels (although you do have the option of making her fight them herself).
 * Badass Damsel
 * Doomed by Canon
 * Doomed Moral Victor
 * Flanderization: In her original game, Aerith was pure hearted, spiritual and caring, but was also stubborn, flirty, independent and witty. However, SE has ramped up the Incorruptible Pure Pureness, emphasizing her connection to the planet and de-emphasizing her more headstrong character traits in favor of generic sweetness and innocence. Her Dissidia 012 Ultimania profile describes her as having "the innocence of a little girl". This is the same woman that threatened to rip off a mafia don's balls.
 * Green Eyes
 * Hair Decorations: Her ribbon.
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Half human, half Ancient.
 * Happily Adopted: By Elmyra, who actually
 * Hartman Hips: Her bust is nowhere near as large as Tifa's, and it's hard to tell if She's Got Legs because she wears full-length dresses. However, Aerith still has her womanly attributes.
 * Her Heart Will Go On: Following Zack's death.
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How she met her demise.
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness
 * Innocent Flower Girl: But not too innocent (especially considering she threatens to rip off a guy's balls at one point, makes a guy parade in drag around his Love Interest, flirts with strangers to sell her flowers, etc.)
 * I Will Wait for You: Subverted, she told this to Zack in their last phone conversation, but not knowing what happened to him after four years with no word, she said she was moving on in her last letter.
 * Kill the Cutie
 * The Lancer: Early on.
 * Last of Her Kind: Aerith is the last known Ancient in the entire world.
 * Limit Break:
 * Healing Hands: Healing Wind, Pulse of Life and Great Gospel
 * The Paralyzer: Seal Evil
 * Status Buff: Fury Brand inflicts Fury status on her allies and and fills their Limit Bars.
 * Little Dead Riding Hood
 * Loving a Shadow: Initially interested in Cloud because of his resemblance to Zack, her first boyfriend. And that they both fell through the church roof while she was tending the flowers and wearing the same uniform. However, getting her on the date scene will have her admit that she would like for Cloud to open up to her so she can know the real him.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: The spin-offs almost turn her into a Cloudcuckoolander, what with her comments that she's afraid of the open sky and she can hear the wind calling her name. And let's not forget that she was the one who suggested Cloud cross-dress to save Tifa...
 * Meaningful Name: Aerith's name was created to resemble and sound like the English word Earth referencing her connection to the planet as well as adding contrast to the sky based name Cloud.
 * The Messiah: Was turned into this for Advent Children.
 * Messianic Archetype
 * My Girl Back Home: She's the only reason Zack decided to return to Midgar.
 * Mystical Waif
 * Parental Abandonment:
 * Pink Means Feminine
 * Plotline Death
 * Plucky Girl
 * The Pollyanna
 * Red Herring: Aerith is presented as a possible love interest on the first disk to make the Player Punch that much harder.
 * Sacrificial Lioness
 * Second Love: Cloud, as her first love was Zack.
 * Simple Staff
 * Silk Hiding Steel: A sweet and lovely lady who recruits Cloud to be her body guard. Her HOLY spell is the only threat to the Big Bad's Evil Plan
 * Sneaky Departure
 * Spell My Name with an "S": The original English translation had her name as "Aeris."
 * Spirit Advisor: To Cloud in Advent Children.
 * Street Smart: "I was raised in the slums. I'm used to danger."
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: A much gentler version of the trope.
 * The Tease
 * The Three Faces of Eve: She looks like the Mother, but she actually acts like the Seductress with some sprinkles of The Child.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Has the definitive attitude of a tomboy, sharply contrasting her appearance, personality, hobbies, weapon, and limits.
 * White Magician Girl: Although with the Materia system, she easily becomes a Red Mage.
 * Squishy Wizard: The most powerful magically but can't take a hit well.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Looks the part well, but is more rebellious and flirty than the standard. Nor does she have the cultural baggage assiociated with Wutai/Japan OTOH, she plays the trope straighter in Advent Children.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Looks the part well, but is more rebellious and flirty than the standard. Nor does she have the cultural baggage assiociated with Wutai/Japan OTOH, she plays the trope straighter in Advent Children.

Red XIII (real name: Nanaki)
""What a fascinating story...""

"Voiced by: Masachika Ichimura (Japanese), Liam O'Brien (English)"

A strange wolflike (or possibly lionlike) creature who joins Cloud's group after being rescued from the Shinra HQ. Red XIII was the name he received as a specimen designation while held captive and experimented upon by Professor Hojo. Even though he is 48 in human years, his age is comparable to around 15 to 16 years old by his own species' standards and is very wise. He fights alongside Cloud and his allies to fulfill his duty to the Planet to defend it as a warrior.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus."


 * Big Badass Wolf or Panthera Awesome, the fandom's not sure.
 * Comic Book Fantasy Casting: Although he obviously wasn't meant to look like him, Tetsuya Nomura imagined that Red XIII would be voiced by Sean Connery. When he had a spoken line in Advent Children, it was done as an imitation of Sean Connery.
 * Demoted to Extra: He appears considerably less in Advent Children, and is only seen at the very last cutscene in Dirge of Cerberus. According to the makers, this is because his fur is a pain to animate well.
 * Happily Adopted: By Bugenhagen.
 * Incendiary Exponent: His tail is constantly alight.
 * Intellectual Animal
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Limit Break
 * Colony Drop: Cosmo Memory
 * Life Drain: Blood Fang absorbs HP and MP
 * Light'Em Up: Stardust Ray
 * Status Buff: Lunatic High and Howling Moon grant status buffs on him and/or his allies.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: In Advent Children, he was meant to sound like Sean Connery.
 * Parental Abandonment: His mother died protecting Cosmo Canyon, and he believed his father left her alone to die because he was afraid of fighting. Turns out he didn't run away but went fighting the monsters that were attacking from behind; he won but was petrified. And he is still alive and conscious.
 * Red Thirteen Is Unlucky: Until he befriends Cloud and the others, anyway.
 * The Smart Guy of the Five-Man Band
 * Talking Animal
 * Teen Genius: Despite being a teenager by his species' standards, he's the wisest and most intelligent member of the party.
 * You Are in Command Now: Of Cosmo Canyon after his grandfather's death.
 * You Are Number XIII

Cait Sith
""There's plenty of stuffed toys like my body around, but there's only one me!""

"Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa (Japanese), Greg Ellis (English)"

A cat riding a giant stuffed toy Moogle, working as a fortune-teller in the Gold Saucer.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core (as a summon)."


 * Cats Are Mean: Double subverted. He has a very cheery personality but is an extreme Jerkass in the beginning. Later, it's completely subverted.
 * Head Pet
 * Heel Face Turn: Goes from being a mouthy Jerkass to a good guy who pulls his weight to save the planet.
 * Jerkass: He eventually gets his heart of gold. And then loses the Jerkass part almost entirely.
 * Limit Break
 * Death From Above: Toy Box drops a random object on enemies to crush them, including meteors.
 * Healing Hands: Mog Dance.
 * Luck-Based Mission: His Slots and Dice both do random things.
 * Make My Monster Grow: Transform
 * One Hit KO: Game Over
 * Status Buff: Lucky Girl makes all the party's attacks critical hits.
 * Total Party Kill: Death Joker
 * The Mole: Cait Sith is actually controlled by, but still decides to remain with you once discovered. The trope is later inverted when , despite starting the other way around.
 * No Pronunciation Guide: His name seems easy to pronounce, but it's actually the name of a Gaellic mythological creature pronounced 'Kett Shee'.
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: This was how
 * Reverse Mole
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter
 * Team Pet: Probably the only one who has their own Team Pet (his giant moogle).
 * Welcome Back, Traitor
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out Barret for his bombing missions from earlier in the game. It comes off as somewhat hypocritical, however, since he's... y'know, with the Shinra, but  was never crazy about the killing of innocents to begin with.

Cid Highwind
""Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn TEA!""

"Voiced by: Kazuyuki Yama (Japanese), Chris Edgerly (English)"

A gruff airship pilot with dreams of going into space. He is the most uncouth of the protagonists; he constantly swears and loses his temper, and chain-smokes cigarettes. Despite this, he has a good heart, and is even voted temporary leader of the party at one point. He fits into the archetype of a father type character.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus. Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Kingdom Hearts, minus the swearing."


 * Ace Pilot
 * Artistic Age: He is really 32 years old. You wouldn't think so considering his appearance in the game. In Advent Children, he looked more his age.
 * Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite the fact that he verbally abuses his girlfriend, Shera, constantly throughout the game, he really does deeply care for her. He even names his new airship after her, and finally marries her throughout Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus.
 * Badass:
 * In Advent Children, he made a freaking flinch by stabbing it on the head!
 * His Big Brawl Limit Break is one of the most powerful in the game. Does he use gigantic blasts of energy, magical powers, summon the very elements to fight his foes? No. He just runs into the middle of the enemies and hits them. A lot.
 * He tries to look it too; his victory pose consists of him going to dance around in joy. But instead he stops himself and just takes a drag of his cigarette.
 * Badass Bookworm: He doesn't show too much of it, but it requires a lot of patience, technical knowledge, and general intelligence to fly and maintain any aircraft. Cid's seen to be competent with light aircraft, a zepellin-like airship, and a jet-type one and was hand picked to be the world's first astronaut and man in space.
 * Plus, he controls an entire fleet and his home is filled with machinery, including a half-built car in what looks to be the sitting room. It's fairly safe to assume that he's the most booksmart playable character in the series.
 * Badass Normal: One of the most prominent examples. He doesn't have innate magical powers, an assault weapon for a hand, combat training, or genetic enhancements. He's got a home made spear and dynamite.
 * Berserk Button: Cid's pretty protective of his toys, such as the Tiny Bronco and the Highwind. He's also extremely upset about Shinra's decision to cancel its space program.
 * Blade on a Stick
 * Boisterous Bruiser: One of his reasons for joining the party is because he likes the idea of "numbskulls" fighting Shinra. Plus, he can back every word of his boasts up.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: He's much worse about this than Barret.
 * Goggles Do Nothing
 * Grumpy Old Man: Well, he's only 32, but that's old by Japanese anime/video game standards.
 * Senior Sleep Cycle: Depicted as having one in-game, apparently as part of his grumpy old man portrayal. When the party is forced to stay at the Ghost Hotel in the Gold Saucer, Cloud's speech apparently puts him to sleep. Later, he is seen napping on the bridge of the Highwind just before Barret declares him to be the new leader. Finally, if the player chooses him to accompany Cloud on a gondola ride at Gold Saucer's Round Square, he will doze throughout the entire ride.
 * Improbable Piloting Skills: He can pilot almost everything.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He swears, smokes, is verbally abusive to pretty much everybody, but he gave up his dream to save Shera, genuinely tries to make amends to her, fights tooth and nail for the planet, joins the WRO, and gives a passionate speech about the need to protect the planet.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: He certainly has this attitude, even if he doesn't actually ruin any plans for the party, as shown by his gung-ho attitude about fighting Shinra.
 * Limit Break
 * Death From Above[/=]Jump Physics: Boost Jump, Hyper Jump and Dragon Dive
 * Life Drain: Dragon
 * Spam Attack: Big Brawl
 * Stuff Blowing Up: Highwind
 * Throw Down the Bomblet: Dynamite
 * Mythology Gag: He is pretty much a meta-reference to Final Fantasy IV, from appearance to moves.
 * Science Hero: Openly puts his faith in science, and his piloting skills are vital to the party.
 * Sir Swearsalot
 * Smoking Is Cool: Except when it's censored out... and yet still clearly visible.
 * Team Dad
 * You Are in Command Now: His brief stint as team leader in Disc 2.

Vincent Valentine
""Cool, huh? I guess that's just the way I am... sorry.""

"Voiced by: Shougo Suzuki (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)"

Main character of Dirge of Cerberus. He is a former member of the Turks with a mysterious past that ties him to Cloud and his group.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus Spinoff/other game appearances: Ehrgeiz"


 * Alliterative Name
 * Always V Sexy
 * Anti-Hero: Type III
 * The Atoner
 * Badass
 * Badass Abnormal: Due to a Death Penalty glitch in the game, he can take out Emerald Weapon... IN ONE SHOT! It's shown here.
 * Badass Cape
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Be My Valentine
 * Bishonen
 * Breakout Character: Despite having some of the lowest stats in the game, he has become one of the most popular characters in the series. He was even popular enough to star in his own spinoff title.
 * Cold Sniper
 * Cool Gun: His "Cerberus", a massive Tri-barelled revolver.
 * Cutscene Power to the Max: In Dirge of Cerberus, Vincent pulls off amazing feats of Gun Fu, Supernatural Martial Arts, and gravity-defying superhuman agility that would make Dante jealous. But only in cutscenes; when you're controlling him, he can't do any of these things, and in fact, he can barely jump.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: To put it mildly.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Guest Fighter: In Ehrgeiz.
 * Gun Fu: The spin-offs have established him utilising this with his handguns. Which is kinda weird considering that he never did it in the original games.
 * Guns Are Worthless: Subverted in the original game. His guns aren't very useful when he uses them to shoot enemies, but when he uses them to focus his magic they're very handy indeed.
 * The Gunslinger
 * Ineffectual Loner
 * Limit Break: Unlike other party members, Vincent's Limit Breaks transform him into monsters with two special attacks, but he becomes The Berserker, acting of his own will.
 * Galian Beast: Berserk Dance and Beast Flare
 * Death Gigas: Livewire and Gigadunk
 * Hell Masker: Splattercombo and Nightmare
 * Chaos: Chaos Saber and Satan Slam
 * Loners Are Freaks
 * Love Hurts
 * Master of None: He had fairly lackluster stats in the original game.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He looks and acts like a ninja vampire, and can shapeshift into Captain Ersatz forms of famous movie monsters, namely Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, and Jason Vorheez.
 * Older Than They Look: Physically, he looks about 27, but he's chronologically in his early to mid 50s after sealing himself in a coffin.
 * Optional Party Member: In FFVII.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Revolvers Are Just Better
 * Sealed Good in a Coffin
 * Secret Character
 * Shape Shifter: Can change into a Big Badass Wolf, a Frankenstein's Monster, a Hockey Mask and Chainsaw style slasher, or the bat-winged and positively demonic Chaos during his Limit Breaks.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: Transforms into the monsters intentionally; its changing back where his control is rather iffy.
 * Sixth Ranger
 * The Stoic
 * Super-Powered Evil Side: Chaos, a demonic entity sealed inside of him.
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky
 * The Undead: Vincent is, to all intents and purposes, a walking corpse animated only by Chaos. The resemblance to a vampire is purely intentional (although he's actually closer to a zombie when you get right down to it).
 * Our Zombies Are Different: He's a Type C (onstruct) with shades of Type R(evenant).

Yuffie Kisaragi
""I am the champion of the earth and the sky. I am the conqueror of evil. The single white rose of Wutai... Yuffie Kisaragi!""

"Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (Japanese), Christy Carlson Romano/Mae Whitman (English)"

An outlandishly-dressed ninja girl from the Japanese-lookalike town of Wutai. As a rebellious and cocky tomboy, Yuffie desires to restore her homeland Wutai to the glorious nation it was before being conquered by Shinra. Despite her sometimes obnoxious personality, she is friendly, helpful, and willingly helps the party in their battles.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Kingdom Hearts, Ehrgeiz"


 * Action Girl: Not quite as much as Tifa, but she can still kick some serious ass.
 * Anti-Hero: Type IV, at least in the original.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Bratty Half-Pint: In the original game.
 * Brown Eyes
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Fragile Speedster: Yuffie's very fast, but when she gets hit, it hurts.
 * Fuuma Shuriken
 * Genki Girl
 * Glass Cannon: Whether throwing her boomerangs or using materia, Yuffie's very good at damaging the enemies. It's when they hit her back that she has problems.
 * Guest Fighter: In Ehrgeiz.
 * Heir to the Dojo
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Limit Break
 * Diagonal Cut: Greased Lightning.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Landscaper.
 * Healing Hands: Clear Tranquil.
 * Light'Em Up: Gauntlet.
 * Spam Attack: Bloodfest and Doom of the Living.
 * Wave Motion Gun: All Creation.
 * Loveable Rogue
 * Ninja
 * Optional Party Member
 * Plucky Girl
 * The Prankster
 * Rebellious Princess: Her dad's the lord of Wutai, and he's not at all happy that she ran away from home.
 * Running Gag: Her motion sickness.
 * Ship Tease:
 * Out of all the characters you can choose to take on a date to the Gold Saucer, she is the only character who kisses Cloud.
 * With Vincent in Dirge of Cerberus, Whether it's because she likes him or is simply concerned because he's a comrade is still open to debate.
 * Sixth Ranger
 * Small Name, Big Ego: She often calls herself "the Great Ninja Yuffie" or "the single white rose of Wutai".
 * So Long and Thanks For All the Gear: "Wutai Theft" is the former Trope Namer.
 * Sticky Fingers
 * The Three Faces of Eve: Unlike Aerith and Tifa, who looks like one but acts the opposite, Yuffie both looks and acts like the Child.
 * Tomboy: Described as such in the FF7 Ultimania.
 * Trickster Archetype
 * Welcome Back, Traitor
 * Who Wears Short Shorts?
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Averted. She's the only one who has a connection to Wutai, yet she is neither polite, domestic, interested in its culture, nor family oriented.

Zack Fair
""Boy oh boy... the price of freedom is steep.""

"Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Rick Gomez (English)"

An energetic SOLDIER 2nd Class with dreams of becoming SOLDIER 1st Class. Popular enough to get his own spinoff, generally the best received of the Compilation.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children, Crisis Core, Before Crisis Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep as the most adorable hero-in-training ever, Ehrgeiz"


 * The Ace: Justified, in that this was intentional to have his personality contrast sharply with Cloud's. Crisis Core makes it work, too.
 * Adorkable
 * All Your Powers Combined/Mega Manning: According to the Ultimania guide, this is how Zack learns his Limit Breaks -- he meets someone, and upon doing so, learns how to copy their Limit Break and modify it to create his own, such as Meteorain->Meteor Shots and Healing Wind->Healing Wave.
 * Anime Hair
 * Anti-Villain Protagonist: He works for Shinra, and helped to end the Wutai War leaving the place in the condition is seen in FF7, but his interests were starting a new life and protecting Cloud. It wasn't until after it became clear that Shinra wasn't going to stop hunting them down that Zack opposed them.
 * Badass: The beginning of Crisis Core firmly establishes him as this, and it only gets better from there... up until, well.
 * BFS
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Cloud.
 * Bishonen: Of course, after all, he's a Square Enix protagonist.
 * Bolivian Army Ending
 * Breakout Character: Arguably bigger than Vincent. Both got their own spinoff, but not only is Zack's better received, but Zack got the honor even though he only appeared in an optional flashback, as opposed to being a former playable character.
 * Chick Magnet: Almost as much as Cloud. Case in point: Aerith and Cissnei in the same game. Way to go Zack.
 * Doomed Moral Victor
 * Foregone Conclusion: Since Crisis Core is a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, and Zack's the hero in the game, it's fairly expected when he dies at the end.
 * Forgotten Fallen Friend:
 * Guest Fighter: In Ehrgeiz.
 * The Gump: Besides his influence on Cloud's past, Zack was the guy who named the 7th Heaven bar, bought Aerith her iconic hair ribbon and suggested she sell flowers, and is partly responsible for sparking Yuffie's obsession with Materia.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords
 * Jumped At the Call
 * Keet
 * Limit Break:
 * Death From Above: Meteor Shots.
 * Gunship Rescue: Air Strike.
 * Healing Hands: Healing Wave
 * Instant Runes: Apocalypse.
 * Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Rush Assault.
 * Spam Attack: Chain Slash and Octaslash.
 * Status Buff: Lucky Stars
 * Love Makes You Dumb / Love Makes You Crazy: Now why would someone who knows that Shinra (which has its headquarters in Midgar) wants him dead or used for experiments, turn back to Midgar?
 * Also even though he knew the likelihood of a trap in Gongaga, he still wanted to see his parents.
 * Manly Tears: After Angeal's death.
 * Meaningful Name: He didn't have a last name until Crisis Core, when he was given the last name "Fair" to invoke the imagery of "fair weather", contrasting Cloud's name.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Nice Guy
 * One-Scene Wonder: In the original game.
 * Posthumous Character
 * Scars Are Forever: The X-shaped scar on the lower part of his cheek.
 * Shirtless Scene: We thank Square kindly.
 * Super Soldier
 * Take Up My Sword: The Retconned ending to Crisis Core, and his inheritance of said sword from his mentor.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * Together in Death: Him and Aerith, but it's more like Together In The Lifestream. Interesting because most people's consciousness will dissolve into the Lifestream after death.

Sephiroth
""Ha, ha, ha…my sadness? What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet.""

"Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Lance Bass/George Newbern (English)"

A famous war hero and SOLDIER 1st Class, Sephiroth is a living legend within Shinra. After going AWOL for several years, Sephiroth suddenly reappears to murder and blaze a trail of death across the world. .

"Appears in: FFVII, Crisis Core, Advent Children, Before Crisis Spinoff appearances/other series appearances: Ehrgeiz, Final Fantasy Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts"


 * A God Am I: His original goal, according to the first game, was to become a god by absorbing the lifestream and conquering "the Promised Land". As for what it is in the Compilation, well... it varies but is generally this but with the twist of finding a new planet to build a utopia in his image.
 * All There in the Manual: You really do need to get into the side materials if you want to fill in the blanks this guy's story has.
 * And Then What?: Until the Compilation, it wasn't explicit as to what Sephiroth was actually going to do with his godlike power after obtaining it, with interpretations ranging from Take Over the World to Omnicidal Maniac.
 * Audience Surrogate: In a comedic way during Crisis Core, for those who don't like LOVELESS. He's not the biggest fan of it, and he's not afraid to mention that he's bored of Genesis "beating it into (his) head".
 * Back From the Dead: Technically speaking, Then he came back in Advent Children.
 * Badass: His appearance isn't for showing off. Remember that gigantic snake that gave the party problems earlier in the game, which you had to get a chocobo to outrun? Sephiroth had to go through the same area, but he didn't bother with the bird. He impaled the snake on a tree.
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Badass Long Hair
 * BFS
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Played straight.
 * Big Bad: Of the original game and Advent Children.
 * Big Damn Heroes: In Crisis Core he arrives out of nowhere and saves Zack from Ifrit.
 * Biseinen
 * Bishonen Line: His Bizzaro to Safer transformation. He resumes his original body for the final confrontation with Cloud.
 * Blade Spam: In more recent iterations of The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII as well as Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia Final Fantasy, Sephiroth seems to be able to strike his opponent several times with only a few tactically-placed slashes of his Masamune. In Kingdom Hearts II, he possesses a move called Flash, where he dashes past Sora; if you don't use the Reaction Command, Sora eats about 7-9 slashes. In Dissidia, his slashes inflict upwards of four blows at a time (his Octoslash, in particular, hits eight times in spite of Sephy only swinging five times).
 * The Chessmaster
 * Cloning Blues
 * Colony Drop: His plan to strike the earth with Meteor.
 * Cosmic Horror: He's a Humanoid Abomination made from the remnants of a genuine Cosmic Horror and a human fetus. Following the events at Nibelheim and his own "death" he fuses with Jenova and corrupts the Lifestream becoming a full-on example.
 * Defector From Decadence: He was considering to leave from Shinra due to growing distrust from the organization. Unfortunately, he ended up doing more than that.
 * Depending on the Artist: The Masamune was originally about as long as Sephiroth was tall, maybe slightly longer (six-seven feet long). In other games, like Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia, it reaches lengths twice that length.
 * It is closer to a retcon than an artist attribute. Every successive iteration will clock the sword at 3 meters long.
 * Depending on the Writer: Let's just say his role in every game after the original tends to vary and leave it at that.
 * Similarly, his exact level of dominance regarding his "mother" Jenova seems to fall victim to this trope as well, with there being conflicting sources between the Ultimania and Dissidia 012 about whether Sephiroth was in control of Jenova or vice-versa.
 * Disney Villain Death: This is how Sephiroth is first defeated: Unfortunately, he hadn't exactly died afterwards.
 * Dissonant Serenity: With the notable exception of the Nibelheim incident.
 * Evil Counterpart:
 * To Cloud, as an ex-member of SOLDIER, but later it turns out that he's actually Aerith's Evil Counterpart, since Cloud never was a member of SOLDIER and Sephiroth and Aerith have more traits in common: both are children of Shinra scientists involved in the Jenovas Project, both use seraphic symbolism, both are capable of avoiding dissolution in the Lifestream, and both are linked to one of the Ultimate Magics. Furthermore, Sephiroth believed that his mother was an Ancient betrayed by humans whereas Aerith's mother actually was one. During development, they were even considered to be revealed to be siblings or lovers, driving their connection deeper.
 * Expanded upon in the novellas. Both Aerith and Sephiroth retain their forms within the Lifestream. Aerith keeps hers due to being a Cetra, Sephiroth keeps his due to his immense power and sheer force of will. The novellas paint them as the supreme forces of light and darkness within the Lifestream, Sephiroth tainting the Lifestream with his Jenova cells and Aerith trying to purify his corruption as best she can. In the Case of the Lifestream - White, Aerith even considered creating her own Remnants to oppose Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo, but decided it was more important to contact Cloud in person and let him handle it.
 * Fallen Hero: He definitely fell, and hard, but given who his employers were, the "hero" part might be shadier than we realise (although it is implied in various scenes that he actually didn't know about some of the dirty secrets of the company).
 * Fallen Angel: Invoked by his Safer Sephiroth and One-Winged Angel appearances.
 * Faux Affably Evil: In the side materials, there's no denying that he's just as evil as in the original game (post-madness), but he seems more Affably Evil as he does everything with a calm demeanour and never insults anyone in the way that, say Exdeath does. In the original game, however, when while he may be calm and collected, it's clear that he's enjoying mocking Cloud's insecurities and his status as a "puppet" and takes the opportunities to do so with gusto.
 * Final Boss: In FFVII
 * Flanderization: Invoked in-universe. After his second death at the end of VII, he survives dissolution in the Lifestream by focusing on his hatred of Cloud and his desire for vengeance, giving him a strong enough emotional core to maintain his sense of self at the cost of letting less-focused traits be stripped away. This is why, come Advent Children, he's completely absorbed in rubbing his revival in Cloud's face.
 * Flash Step: Uses these liberally throughout the Compilation and his spinoff appearances.
 * Freudian Excuse: Let's see, his childhood friends were apparently beginning to defect from Shinra, as well as their dying, he then learns that his "mother" was allegedly a cosmic horror monster found in a stratospheric crater that nearly spelled doom and that his creation was related to research made by Hojo relating to monsters already in the Nibelheim Reactor, which, in Crisis-Core, the former part of this discovery was told to him by his former friend Genesis, and reads the accounts from Professor Gast, all of this causing his mind to completely snap and become vengeful. That qualifies for one, all right.
 * Go Mad From the Revelation: Probably a posterboy for the trope, especially when it comes down to the revelation that he was created from Jenova's cells.
 * Green Eyes with Hellish Pupils
 * Guest Fighter: In Ehrgeiz.
 * Guinea Pig Family: He was conceived and born solely to serve as a test subject for the Jenova Project, which both of his parents worked on.
 * Hell-Bent for Leather
 * Human Mako-sicle: When Cloud and the others discover his body at the Northern Crater, he is seen to be in a mako-cocoon in stasis.
 * Humanoid Abomination: It turns out that being injected with the cells of a dead alien god while you were a fetus will do this to you. His very presence is a threat to the world, he contaminates the Lifestream dead or alive, he refuses to stay buried, and his nickname is The Abomination.
 * In-Series Nickname: The Abomination.
 * In Advent Children, it seems he's earned the title "The Nightmare".
 * Japanese Pronouns: Before Sephiroth went insane, he used the arrogant term of "Ore", but after after the Niebelheim Incident, he always uses the formal and polite term "Watashi," alluding to the fact that he has devoted himself to his "mother's" cause.
 * Lack of Empathy: Averted (pre-madness, at least). Sephiroth has shown himself to possess empathy (though when Tifa met him she thought he was "rather cold"). Notable examples are his encouragement for Zack to not have to obey Shinra's command for him to kill Angeal earlier in the game, as well as giving Zack permission to return to Midgar so he could see Aerith as he knows he's worried about her. Post madness, on the other hand...
 * Laughing Mad: In Cloud's flashback, Cloud/ goes down to the basement of Shinra's mansion at Nibelheim and locates Sephiroth a few days after the incident at the reactor, only to hear Sephiroth chuckling dementedly. This is the first sign that Sephiroth went mad from the revelation that he might have been created as a Jenova clone.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Flash Steps all over the place but he can do major damage with only one hit.
 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: One of the prevailing theories as to
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * My Death Is Only the Beginning: After falling into the mako reactor, he ends up becoming somewhat stronger, or at least more knowledgable. Also, Word of God states that his revival in Advent Children had him becoming much stronger than before, and it is also implied that Sephiroth might return after the second defeat (specifically "I will... never be a memory").
 * No Shirt, Long Jacket: With suspenders.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: Maybe. His goal in the first game was a bit confusing to some. Though it's a given that
 * One-Winged Angel: Trope Namer. He goes through Bizarro Sephiroth and Safer Sephiroth before reverting to his own body. In later appearances, he has become a literal one-winged angel.
 * Our Angels Are Different: His Safer Sephiroth form is clearly intended to resemble one of the Seraphim, with a single black wing in place of one of his arms. Later appearances feature him with that same wing on one of his shoulders, channelling Fallen Angel for all it's worth.
 * Out of the Inferno: Nibelheim, of course.
 * Post-Mortem Comeback: By focusing on his hatred of Cloud, Sephiroth prevented the Life Stream from assimilating him, while using Kadaj and his gang to find what was left of Jenova to bring about Hojo's reunion theory, thereby allowing him to be reborn.
 * The Power of Hate: How he survives between VII and Advent Children, he concentrates on maintaining and building up his hatred of Cloud so he can maintain his own identity in the lifestream and resist being absorbed into the collective.
 * Psychotic Smirk: Gives a very nasty one after he's killed Aerith. And after the Nibelheim incident (although Crisis Core retcons this to a slightly sorrowful/rageful expression).
 * Retirony: Variation (according to Crisis Core): He was considering retiring from Shinra and SOLDIER after the Nibelheim mission (the reasons are implied to be a growing distrust of the organization and guilt from his friends' deaths). Instead he gets his Start of Darkness while there and goes totally off the deep end.
 * A Sinister Clue
 * Start of Darkness: Made very, very clear, as opposed to the other bad guys in the game, who are just kinda evil from the get-go.
 * Sugar and Ice Personality: Crisis Core gives him this personality pre-madness -- he's composed, aloof, and professional, but he's also capable of being loyal and worried about his friends. He can also be pretty considerate, as evidenced by Zack once the two start to become friends. Comes complete with several Pet the Dog moments, such as the end of Chapter 7, when Sephiroth informs Zack that Genesis copies have been sighted in Midgar, particularly noting their presence in the slums, and gives him permission to return to the city because he knows Zack is worried about Aerith and wants to see her. Another example is, when Zack has doubts about trying to kill Angeal after the latter turned traitor, Sephiroth agrees with him and also encourages Zack to not carry out his duty (The fact that Angeal was also Sephiroth's childhood friend helps a lot). Also, it makes sense that in order for him to become as emotionally warped as he eventually did, there had to be something there to warp.
 * Super Soldier
 * Tyke Bomb: He was genetically altered in the womb and raised pretty much from birth to be a Super Soldier.
 * Unwitting Pawn: It is heavily implied in both the original Final Fantasy VII and the novellas that Sephiroth was this to Professor Hojo for the sake of research in the main plot. Although not even Hojo realised what Sephiroth was capable of. In fact, he reluctantly admits that science was meaningless before him.
 * The Virus:
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: The front of his jacket is always open, exposing his chest. During his Final Boss battle with Cloud he sheds the trenchcoat, and attacks him wearing only his pants and boots. Heads straight into Fan Disservice, given that he's covered in blood and sporting a Slasher Smile at the time.
 * Where I Was Born and Razed: Although Sephiroth himself doesn't seem to realize it (he mentions that he "has no hometown"), it is implied in the games (and confirmed via Word of God) that Sephiroth's hometown was actually Nibelheim, the very same place he ended up burning to the ground.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: See Freudian Excuse.
 * Would Hit a Girl: After his descent into insanity, as Tifa learned the hard way when she attempted to avenge her dad.
 * He'd also kill a girl, of course.
 * Zero Effort Boss: The Sephiroth vs. Cloud final boss fight was infamous as impossible to lose. The only reason he's considered better than the other Final Fantasy Zero Effort Boss, Yu Yevon, is because Sephiroth was fought beforehand in his One Winged Angel form where he was indeed a difficult boss, unlike Yu Yevon.
 * Zero Effort Boss: The Sephiroth vs. Cloud final boss fight was infamous as impossible to lose. The only reason he's considered better than the other Final Fantasy Zero Effort Boss, Yu Yevon, is because Sephiroth was fought beforehand in his One Winged Angel form where he was indeed a difficult boss, unlike Yu Yevon.

Rufus Shinra
""I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them.""

"Voiced by: Tohru Ookawa (Japanese), Wally Wingert (English)"

Son of the president of the Shinra Corporation.

"Appears in: FFVII, Advent Children."


 * All in The Manual: He could have explained it in Advent Children, but Cloud cut him off.
 * The Atoner: In Advent Children.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Badass in a Nice Suit
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Bastard Understudy: To his father.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil
 * The Chessmaster: In Advent Children. He manages to spend a great deal of time manipulating Kadaj and his brothers, and possibly Cloud as well.
 * The Trickster: And it becomes quite obvious that in part all his manipulation, especially of Kadaj, are for mere giggles
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Let's put it this way: His dad didn't want him taking over the company because he was even more corrupt than he was!
 * On the other hand, Shinra Sr. seemed a poor judge of character, and Rufus is largely brutal, but not outright corrupt--he's entirely preoccupied with the war effort against Sephiroth, and then Meteor.
 * Heel Face Turn: He toys with it in the first game.
 * Man in White
 * Man of Wealth and Taste
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * No One Could Survive That:
 * Sawed-Off Shotgun
 * Sharp-Dressed Man
 * The Starscream: He attempted to have AVALANCHE attack Midgar as a means to usurp his dad in the business in Before Crisis. Surprisingly, his father takes his son's attempt to backstab him pretty well, relatively speaking.
 * Reassigned to Antarctica: He is put on an "extended assignment overseas" at Junon (in actuality, put under house arrest in Junon) after it became apparent that he aided AVALANCHE in their efforts to eliminate Shinra so as to remove his father from power. Considering the alternatives (ie, being sacked or executed, possibly even both), this punishment was actually very light.
 * The Un-Reveal: When he and Cloud meet in Advent Children, Rufus begins to explain how he escaped his office before Diamond Weapon killed him, but Cloud doesn't care and interrupts him before he finishes. The side novellas later explain it.
 * The Unfettered: Nobody has ever seen him cry, and he is never shown to have much fear for his own safety, much less those of his subordinates or anyone else. Case of Shinra shows his Heel Face Turn as a calculated method of patiently getting back on top of the world and rebuilding the corporation (which he had done, by the time of Advent Children) after Mako ceased to be a viable power source.
 * The Unfettered: Nobody has ever seen him cry, and he is never shown to have much fear for his own safety, much less those of his subordinates or anyone else. Case of Shinra shows his Heel Face Turn as a calculated method of patiently getting back on top of the world and rebuilding the corporation (which he had done, by the time of Advent Children) after Mako ceased to be a viable power source.

The Turks


""A pro isn't someone who sacrifices themselves for a job. That's just a fool.""

- Reno, FFVII

"Voiced by: Tseng: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese), Ryun Yu (English) Reno: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese), Quinton Flynn (English) Rude: Taiten Kusunoki (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English) Elena: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Bettina Bush (English)"

The Department of Administrative Research, unofficially known as the Turks, are Shinra's Black Ops unit. They carry out assassinations, blackmail, and the forced recruiting of potential SOLDIER candidates. Their roster consists of Tseng (leader), Reno, Rude, and Elena. Before Crisis introduces Tseng's predecesor as the leader, Veld, and eleven more Turks, one of which is named Cissnei to take a prominent role in Crisis Core.

"All of them appear in: Before Crisis, FFVII, Advent Children. Tseng, Rude, and Reno appear in: Crisis Core."


 * Ambiguously Brown: Rude, though described by Word of God as somewhat resembling a person of South American descent rather than African American.
 * Ascended Extra: The Before Crisis Turks were interchangeable aside from small background details...until Crisis Core used one of them (the shuriken girl, aka "Cissnei") as a main character.
 * Badass in a Nice Suit: Except for Reno -- well, they all wear the same thing, but Reno wears it like he just woke up after a one night stand.
 * Bald of Evil: Rude.
 * Blondes Are Evil: Elena, even though she's not very evil...at all.
 * Characterization Marches On: Reno was a competent Deadpan Snarker in the original game. In Advent Children, he became the Plucky Comic Relief. (There have been reports, though, that the Deadpan Snarker version of him was an alteration of the translation and that he was supposed to have been comical in the original Japanese.)
 * Even in the US translation he had his comical moments. The first time you see him since him destroying the Sector 7 plate, he's gossiping with Rude about crushes like a teenage girl.
 * Childhood Friend Romance: Tseng for Aerith, sort of. They were never friends, but he was one of the few people Aerith knew when she was a child, and he's had an unrequited thing for her all the time since.
 * Some have the wrong impression that Tseng was a childhood friend of Aerith due to a mistranslation in the original game ("I've known him since we were little", rather than "since I was little"), even though we see a flashback of Tseng, as a teenage member of the Turks first meeting Aerith, who is a preteen girl, thus they never were little together nor were they friends.
 * Cool Shades: Rude.
 * Dark Chick: Elena
 * Deadpan Snarker: Reno.
 * Determinator: In Advent Children, Rude and Reno are clearly out of their league against Kadaj's gang. They don't care. They just keep fighting.
 * Evil Redhead: Reno, but only in the original game.
 * Fiery Redhead: Reno could be considered a male example.
 * Four Is Death: Played straight in the first game, where they're something of a legitimate threat (until Sephiroth shows up, at least). Subverted in the film, given their Heel Face Turn.
 * Goldfish Poop Gang: Reno and Rude quickly devolve into this in the original game. They only become dangerous again in their last battle when accomponied by (previously thought to be incompetant) Elena.
 * Leitmotif
 * Loveable Rogue: Reno.
 * A Million Is a Statistic: The effect of Reno and the Turks following through with the command to has noticeably less impact on the characters in the long-run than.
 * Minion with an F In Evil: Elena. Even if she manages to punch Cloud unconscious in Icicle Inn, her immediate response is feeling regretful about it and just leaving him behind to recover rather than apprehending him.
 * No Pronunciation Guide: Tseng. Lampshaded in Crisis Core when Zack finds a camera with Tseng's name on it, and thanks to the odd spelling doesn't realize who it belongs to; he then wonders how one pronounces the name.
 * Also "Reno" is derived from the romaji "Reno," and should therefore rhyme with Leno, rather than be given the Nevada pronunciation. "Rude" could confuse as well; some refuse at first to pronounce it the obvious way.
 * Punch Clock Villains: To the point that they even agree to help the heroes when they are found off-duty in Wutai. They'll still commit atrocities when ordered to by their boss, but hey.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad
 * Skippable Boss: The only times they have to be fought is the first Reno fight and the fight with Rude at Rocket Town. All others can be skipped or those areas passed over. Even the final confrontation is skippable, if you've completed the Wutai quest.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": The official Romanizations [in Japan] of Elena's and Reno's names were, once upon a time, "Yrena" and "Leno" [specifically in the Official Establishment File artbook].
 * Ship Tease: Between Tseng and Elena, Zack and Cissnei. You could also mention how Tseng likes Aerith and Rude likes Tifa, but in that case it's kind of one-sided.
 * Sibling Rivalry: Before Crisis reveals that Elena's older sister was a Turk, and Elena resented her for outperforming her; she refused to join the Turks while her sister was a member. She joined after her sister retired along with many other Turks from that game, following their defeat of Zirconiade and decision to follow Veld's lead.
 * Stalker with a Crush: Tseng towards Aerith and Rude towards Tifa, so much that Rude will refuse to attack Tifa during boss fights. Subverted by Elena, who has a crush on Tseng but doesn't actively pursue him.
 * The Unfought: At no point does the party ever actually engage Tseng, the leader of the Turks, in combat. He can, however, be fought in the Training Mode in Before Crisis.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Whatever happened to Cissnei?
 * She retired with the other members from Before Crisis, of course.

President Shinra
""These days, all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power.""

Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Previously the president of the Shinra Arms Manufacturing Company. The discovery of Mako energy catapulted him to the position of de-facto world dictator.


 * Asshole Victim: Is murdered by Sephiroth.
 * Bad Boss: Implied in Denzel's segment in the OVA On the Way to a Smile, since Denzel's parents, both of whom worked in Shinra, were killed when he dropped Sector 7 onto the Slums.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Starter Villain: He's the Big Bad up until the real Big Bad puts a sword in his back.
 * Fat Bastard
 * Faux Affably Evil: "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner appointment."
 * Manipulative Bastard: To the citizens of Midgar. Drop part of upper Midgar onto the Sector 7 slums, blame it on AVALANCHE terrorists, and "send the rescue care of Shinra, Inc." He always preferred to take the route that would get him what he wanted and would make Shinra look good to the general public.
 * President Evil
 * Villain with Good Publicity
 * Wicked Cultured: Fiddling while Sector 7 burns.

Heidegger
""Ghaa haah hah hah!""

Heidegger manages the Shinra Public Safety department, and bungles it up nicely too.

"Stop that stupid horse laugh."
 * Annoying Laugh: At least Rufus thinks so.


 * Bad Boss: He takes his anger out on his employees in a very physical manner.
 * Evil Laugh: A rather annoying one, as his colleagues frequently tell him.
 * Fat Bastard

Hojo


""Hojo of Shinra, Inc. ...An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes.""

- Voiced by: Nachi Nozawa (Japanese), Paul Eiding (English)

"Appears in Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis, Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core."

"Cloud: "What are you doing...?" Hojo: "It should be obvious. I'm getting a tan.""
 * Abusive Parents: He injected Jenova Cells into and never even allowed his mother  to hold him.
 * Big Bad:
 * Card-Carrying Villain / Obviously Evil: Look us in the eye and tell us your Evil Radar wasn't going off when he first appeared. He also admitted to being one when Cloud confronts him. See For Science!. This is also one of the few examples in the former trope where it isn't intended to be funny.
 * Deadpan Snarker: He is particularly snarky with Cloud whenever they meet.
 * Drunk on the Dark Side
 * Evil Genius
 * Evil Is Sexy: In-universe. The bikini girls at Costa Del Sol seem to think so.
 * Evil Laugh: He is fairly restrained in the original game, until the final confrontation, during which he was pretty close to a complete break with reality. In Dirge of Cerberus, however, he gives Kefka a run for his money.
 * Evilutionary Biologist: A textbook example.
 * For Science! and the Evulz: He admitted this is the motive behind his treatment of Sephiroth in the first game. When Cloud calls him out on it, he simply responds with "It's my desire as a scientist."
 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul
 * Grand Theft Me:
 * Guinea Pig Family: He's.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: Hojo attempted to defeat the party by injecting himself with Jenova's cells. However, this resulted in him being defeated due to losing his sanity as a result. In Dirge of Cerberus, it is also revealed that the specific reason for him injecting himself with Jenova's cells was to strengthen his body enough for him to possess Omega, but this attempt predictably backfired on him due to losing his mind and then being killed, and thus resulted in him uploading his consciousness into the World Wide Network.
 * Kavorka Man:
 * This is definitely demonstrated on the beach.
 * Lack of Empathy: When Lucrecia asks to hold Sephiroth during an argument that was implied to be Sephiroth being shipped off to Shinra, as well as Lucrecia's attempts to help Vincent in recovering from Hojo's experiment, he mocks her and also pulls a Not So Different on her.
 * Laughing Mad: See Evil Laugh.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father:
 * Mad Scientist: His first appearance in the game involves him attempting to breed Aerith and Red XIII.
 * The Man Behind the Monsters/The Man Behind the Man: Aside from Jenova herself, all of the antagonists of the FF7 universe can be traced back to his experimentations.
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Naked People Are Funny: Inverted; Hojo never takes his labcoat off... even when getting a tan.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: Two of the experiments he was involved in nearly resulted in the end of the world, and it is heavily implied that the planet's destruction was exactly what he was hoping for.
 * One-Winged Angel:
 * The Starscream: It is implied in Before Crisis that Hojo intended to fake a kidnapping so he could "defect" to AVALANCHE (who aren't nearly as good as their successors).
 * Villainous Breakdown: By the time the party faces him, he's completely lost what sanity he ever had. Dirge of Cerberus takes it even further.
 * Villains Out Shopping: The group can run into him chilling on the beach in Costa Del Sol.
 * Villains Out Shopping: The group can run into him chilling on the beach in Costa Del Sol.


 * You Killed My Father: He killed Professor Gast, . He also places Aerith and her mother into seven years' worth of inhumane experiments, which eventually resulted in her mother's death shortly after she gives Aerith to her foster mother after escaping Shinra.

Scarlet
""Kya ha ha!""

Responsible for the Shinra Corporation's Weapons Development department, Scarlet specializes in creating Glass Cannons.


 * Blondes Are Evil
 * Dark Chick
 * Evil Laugh: As Annoying Laugh as Heidegger's.
 * Lady in Red
 * Noblewoman's Laugh

Palmer
""Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!""

The director of the Shinra Space Program. Unlike the other executives, he is almost totally useless.


 * Butt Monkey: He seems to be this for Shinra.
 * Demoted to Extra: He was the least important of the Shinra executives in the original game and is the only one not to appear in the Compilation.
 * Disney Death: Apparently being hit by a truck was not enough to actually kill him.
 * Fat Bastard: The man likes lard in his tea...
 * Fat Idiot: He's so pathetic that he's left alive by the end of the game; not even worth killing. He's the only Shinra executive to survive, other than
 * Harmless Villain
 * Hot-Blooded: He's extremely hyper, to the point where his idle combat pose looks like he's tap dancing.
 * Shout-Out: You know how he narrowly managed to avoid being chopped to bits by the Tiny Bronco after the party's fight against him? Well, aside from the aftermath, that was taken word for word from the demise of that German Mechanic that Indiana Jones was fighting in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
 * Stupid Evil: Played for Laughs.

JENOVA
""Because, you are.... a puppet.""

Jenova descended on Gaia 2,000 years before the events of FFVII. She single-handedly devastated the Cetra, and nearly destroyed the planet, before being sealed in a geological stratum in the Northern Crater. Unearthed by Shinra scientist Gast Faremis, she indirectly played a huge role in Shinra's rise to power.


 * Bigger Bad: Jenova's not completely in charge of Sephiroth or his actions, and due to the nature of her being cannot be directly confronted. In fact, whether she's even alive is up for debate. But the facts remain that if she hadn't come down to earth two thousand years ago, almost none of the events of the game would have happened.
 * Bigger Bad Duumvirate:
 * Body Horror: Among other things.
 * Cool Mask: Is sometimes show wearing a steel mask over her face.
 * Wearing might be too charitable--the Shinra Corporation put a strangely elaborate female bust/doll/death mask directly in front of Jenova's tank in the Nibelheim Reactor, for reasons never explained, which is torn away by Sephiroth. Jenova never wears it, since that form's never shown engaging in any sort of movement.
 * Cosmic Horror: She's an ambiguously living Eldritch Abomination who fell to earth millenia ago and tried to drain it of life. Why she does this, what she wants, and where she came from are a mystery to everyone except maybe her offspring/successor Sephiroth. Talk about alien.
 * Dead All Along: Died well before the events of the game. May have been resurrected by Sephiroth. It's hard to tell.
 * Death From Above: Personified
 * Diabolus Ex Nihilo: Fell from the sky two thousand years before the game began. No one knows where it came from, but it's speculated that it may have landed on & devastated other worlds in the past.
 * Expy: JENOVA is basically Lavos shaped vaguely like a woman, and eating the world from the outside in rather than the other way around. Amusingly, this would make Sephiroth analogous to Queen Zeal. On the other hand, some of his monologues as well as Dissidia 012's museum bio (Final Fantasy VII section) of Sephiroth stating that he returned as an agent to carry out her will would imply that Sephiroth was indeed controlled by JENOVA to a certain extent.
 * Fountain of Expies: Inverted. Story-wise, she's Lavos. Design-wise, she and her reactor reflect H. R. Giger. Her various powers come straight from The Thing.
 * Evil Matriarch: In a way. Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz, and Sephiroth all address her as "Mother" anyway.
 * From a Single Cell: Jenova is consciously aware of all of her cells, enabling her to regenerate into Sephiroth a "Reunion".
 * Fusion Dance: With Sephiroth, to the point that he's taken her originaly instinctive destructive goals Up to Eleven and infused them with his own conscious intelligence.
 * Humanoid Abomination: Resembles a deathly pale woman with eyes and veins in places where they should not be. Sometimes wears a steel mask to hide this.
 * In-Series Nickname: Heaven's Dark Harbinger, The Calamity from the Skies, Mother.
 * Name's the Same: Jenova LIFE's water-based magic is called Aqualung, which is also the name of a song by Jethro Tull.
 * Obliviously Evil: It's been suggested that Jenova, while wicked and cruel, was originally just a creature that instinctively sought to destroy. Her fusion with Sephiroth combined her instincts with his powerful will and intelligence.
 * Planet Eater: Drains them of life anyway.
 * The Plague: The Geostigma of Advent's Children is the result of the Lifestream trying to rid human bodies of her cells and overcompensating.
 * Rule of Symbolism: Her name is a combination of "nova" and "Jehovah", and thus approximately means "New God".
 * Shapeshifting: Jenova takes on the form of her previous victim, in order to approach the next one.
 * Silent Antagonist
 * Tainted Veins
 * The Virus: People and animals who are injected with Jenova's cells become victims of numerous side effects, including mutation and susceptibility to Mind Control. She's The Virus incarnate.

The Remnants of Sephiroth


""So what if I'm a puppet? Once upon a time, you were too!""

- Kadaj

"Voiced by: Kadaj: Showtaro Morikubo (Japanese), Steve Staley (English) Yazoo: Yuji Kishi (Japanese), Dave Wittenberg (English) Loz: Kenji Nomura (Japanese), Fred Tatasciore (English)"

"All three appear in: Advent Children."

Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo are physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will. Each of them represents a different aspect of Sephiroth's personality, but they share a fanatical obsession with Jenova.

Kadaj


 * And Then What?: As Cloud notes,.
 * Cool Sword: Souba, his double-bladed sabre, which can take a hit from the First Tsurugi and not break.
 * Dark Messiah: Kadaj pulls this off in the scene where he brainwashes the kids, channeling "cult leader" for all he's worth, while ranting about how the world has tried to reject all of them (them being victims of Jenova). Even his obsesssion with reuniting with Jenova has vaguely religious overtones.
 * Disc One Final Boss: He's the Big Bad of the Terrible Trio and is behind most of Advent's Children's plot (even facing Cloud in a Sword Fight near the end), but he's still a pawn in Sephiroth and Jenova's endgame, and is replaced by the former during the film's finale.
 * Enfante Terrible: Was made the youngest remnant to invoke this.
 * Evil Counterpart: The staff envisioned him as a reminder of what Cloud was -- Sephiroth's Unwitting Pawn.
 * Fragile Speedster: At least when compared to Lightning Bruisers Cloud and Sephiroth. He's actually quite strong in addition to being freakishly quick, but both of them are much, much stronger.
 * Mommy Issues
 * No Body Left Behind: dissolves into the Lifestream.
 * Not So Different: "So what if I'm a puppet? Once upon a time, you were too!"
 * The Pawn: He's not quite unwitting, since he realizes that he probably won't come out on top, but since it's all for "Mother", he's willing.
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * Redemption in the Rain
 * The Unfavorite: He worries that Mother might love Sephiroth more than him. She does.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Has a minor one when he, then has a larger one when Cloud points out.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy

Yazoo
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Combat Pragmatist: He shoots Cloud in the back without any warning in the finale.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Apparently, Yazoo is meant to represent Sephiroth's "allure". Erm.
 * The Gunslinger
 * Guns Akimbo
 * Gun Fu: A blade fixed to the bottom of each of his pistols enables them to be used for close combat.
 * The Stoic: So long as you don't mention their "Mother."

Loz
 * The Brute: Dumb Muscle bruiser who lets the other two do the thinking and seems to be the lowest on the totem pole.
 * Dumb Muscle
 * Lightning Bruiser: He combines The Brute with Super Speed.
 * Man Child: hilariously/cringe-worthily so.
 * Power Fist: His Dual Hound, which is an elctro-gauntlet thing.
 * Super Speed

All Three
 * Adult Fear: They kidnapped and brainwashed a legion of children. And if that wasn't bad enough, they then put the lot of them in harm's way and clearly didn't see them as anything more than pawns. For any good parent, this is the stuff of nightmares.
 * Artificial Humans: They're just parts of Sephiroth's soul/will.
 * Badass Bikers
 * Beta Test Baddie: They're all pieces of Sephiroth, which leaves them feeling incomplete. Kadaj is the one who most realises it.
 * Bishonen
 * Cain and Abel: With Cloud whom they view as their brother.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: A disturbingly dark take on the trope, given their respective Oedipus Complexes and what their mom really is.
 * Expy: The whole trio to some extent, and Kadaj in particular, really come across as Sephiroth: The Next Generation.
 * Freudian Trio: They're all insane and childish, but they still have this set-up. Loz is the Id, Kadaj the Ego, and Yazoo the Superego.
 * Friend to All Children: Subverted. They tell the kids that they'll help them, but they're only looking to a) drain them of Jenova cells and b) use them as a distraction.
 * Green Eyes with Hellish Pupils
 * Hell-Bent for Leather: They are wearing nothing but leather.
 * Oedipus Complex: All three of them, but Loz especially.
 * Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: The younger villains to Cloud's older hero. Even ignoring the fact that they've been alive for two years at the most, they still come off as considerably younger than Cloud.
 * Only One Name
 * The Pawn: Of Sephiroth and Jenova. They're not unwitting though; Kadaj, at least, knows exactly what's going on.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: All three of them have the emotional maturity of a two year old. Since that's about how old they are, it should be expected.
 * The Remnant: Literally. Rufus even refers to them as such.
 * Siblings in Crime
 * Summon Magic: Yazoo and Kadaj both utilise it at various points in the film.
 * Super Strength: All three but especially Loz.
 * Teens Are Monsters: Physically they're somewhere in their late teens.
 * Tender Tears: Loz whenever he starts thinking about "Mother". Yazoo does it one time as well, and Kadaj's breakdown near the end might count as well.
 * Terrible Trio: Kadaj is the brains, while Yazoo and Loz provide firepower and muscle.
 * Those Two Bad Guys: Yazoo and Loz.
 * White Haired Pretty Boys
 * Younger Than They Look: They're barely two years old.

Elfé


""You found me when I was wandering all alone, without my memories. I was raised by AVALANCHE. You're all like my family. That's why I'm going to fight with everyone and repay my debt.""

The leader of the original incarnation of AVALANCHE, and the main antagonist of Before Crisis.


 * Action Girl: Sephiroth of all people is impressed with her skill when she manages to endure his attacks.
 * Badass Cape
 * Big Bad:.
 * Hot Amazon: Shears thinks so at least.
 * Katanas Are Just Better
 * Known Only By Their Nickname: Her real name is.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: She's daughter, presumed dead.
 * Not Quite Dead: Three times in fact..
 * Stock Super Powers: Super Reflexes, Super Senses, Super Speed, Super Strength.
 * The Stoic
 * Power Degeneration: Has Stock Super Powers due to . It also happens to be draining her life force and will eventually kill her.
 * Unwitting Pawn:.

Shears
Elfé's right-hand man in AVALANCHE


 * Co-Dragons: With Fuhito.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk
 * Defeat Means Friendship: He used to lead his own rebellion on Shinra, until he ran into Elfé. She kicked his ass, and he and his men joined AVALANCHE.
 * Recurring Boss
 * Recurring Boss

Fuhito
A scientist in the employ of AVALANCHE, he's the mastermind of their elite shock troops the Ravens, Evil Counterparts to SOLDIER.


 * Co-Dragons: With Shears.
 * Dragon Ascendant: After Shears leaves the group and Elfé is too weak to do it herself, Fuhito takes over command of AVALANCHE.
 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul
 * The Heavy
 * Mad Scientist: He idolizes Hojo, and orders an AVALANCHE attack on Shinra's headquarters in the hopes of being able to meet him and show off his Ravens.
 * Recurring Boss
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:.
 * Recurring Boss
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:.
 * Recurring Boss
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:.

Genesis Rhapsodos


""My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment to find the end of the journey, in my own salvation and your eternal slumber.""

- Voiced by: Gackt (Japanese), Robin Atkin-Downes/Oliver Quinn (English)

A former SOLDIER 1st Class who deserted from the Shinra Corporation. He had a friendly rivalry with Angeal and Sephiroth, and his main hobby is reciting quotes from LOVELESS. A lot.

"Appears in: Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus."


 * Author Appeal
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Beta Test Baddie: To Sephiroth. Interestingly, they both go mad.
 * Bishonen
 * Cool Sword: And it's flaming.
 * Disney Death: A rare villainous version: Genesis fell into a reactor, yet it becomes apparent later on that he survived.
 * Evil Redhead: Subverted because he isn't so much evil as he is a pretentious Jerkass.
 * Expy: Of Sephiroth. Besides the obvious similarities in appearance as seen in the accompanying image, Genesis is also a 1st Class SOLDIER and a spawn of the Jenova Project, he eventually sprouts a black wing over his shoulder, he was seemingly killed via Disney Villain Death in a Mako Reactor but turned out to be Not Quite Dead... you get the picture.
 * Invoked Trope: Partially. Genesis idolized Sephiroth as a child and wanted to be a hero just like him. Emulating Sephiroth's appearance and giving it his own personal flair was likely a conscious decision.
 * The Heavy: In Crisis Core.
 * Ink Suit Actor: His appearance was based on his voice actor, Gackt. (Yes, the same Gackt who portrayed Lau in Bujingai the Forsaken City.)
 * In Dirge of Cerberus, they didn't even bother with the ink suit.
 * Karma Houdini: He instigated a war, killed his own parents, basically wiped out his hometown's population, subjected an immense amount of innocent people into becoming his clones, and helped make Sephiroth go nuts, and he ended up getting away with it, even getting his degeneration removed.
 * Lampshade Hanging: Sephiroth notes that he enjoys beating LOVELESS into his and Angeal's head.
 * Meaningful Name: "Genesis" of course parallels Sephiroth's name, but it also means "birth" or "origin". Combined with the origin of his last name, he is "the original epic poem", referring both to his obsession with LOVELESS, and the idea that in-universe he was the original rebel SOLDIER and commited acts that Sephiroth would later repeat.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: His appearance is based on Gackt Camui; he's also voiced by Gackt, Gackt had a hand in the design of his outfit, and Gackt portrayed him live action in.
 * One-Winged Angel
 * Playing with Fire: Throws a definite preference for fire spells like Flash and Energy.
 * Power Degeneration
 * Psycho Prototype: To Sephiroth.
 * Red and Black and Evil All Over
 * Remember the New Guy?: I'm sorry, why weren't you mentioned in the original game's flashbacks, again?
 * Self-Made Orphan
 * Sissy Villain: His English voice actor goes down this route, and the Bishoneny appearance, flamboyant hand gestures and constant recital of LOVELESS just add to it.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to Angeal's mother.
 * Wicked Cultured
 * Wicked Cultured

Tsviets
Background: Nero, Rosso, Weiss. Foreground: Shelke, Azul.

Weiss the Immaculate
""The pure will be "spared" for the cause, while the tainted will be hunted down and exterminated. They shall be slashed, strangled, and slaughtered. Beaten, stabbed, and crushed. Garroted and impaled. Shot and executed without mercy. The time has come to cleanse this world.""

- Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Dave Boat (English)

Leader of the Deepground, the secret special forces of the Shinra Company made to replace SOLDIER.


 * Bad Boss: See above.
 * Big Bad: In Dirge of Cerberus.
 * Big Brother Complex: He's very close to his little brother Nero.
 * : It's how
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Evil Laugh: While
 * He does this in the online mode as well. It's just him.
 * A Father to His Men: Averted SO HARD. In the Online Mode,
 * Not to mention having Shelke herself nearly executed later on
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: The first one. Vincent, however, gets the help of Shelke/ to match him.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Both muscular and very fast.
 * Meaningful Name: "Weiss" means "white" in German, and his subtitle, Immaculate, refers to the Roman Catholic belief of the Immaculate Conception where someone is born completely without the stain of original sin.
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Pure Is Not Good: He was originally created to not be made of tainted lifestream, which is why Hojo possessed him and planned to use him to fuse with Omega. Even when he regained control of himself, he was still not a nice guy.
 * Slasher Smile: Pulls these off with gusto.
 * Slouch of Villainy
 * The Social Darwinist
 * Super Soldier
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: Oh yes, please and thank you.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Though he's no relation to Sephiroth.
 * Wild Hair: It's even bigger and spikier than Cloud's!
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Did this to Nero after.
 * Also did this to Shelke, ordering Azul to terminate her.
 * Don't forget how
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Did this to Nero after.
 * Also did this to Shelke, ordering Azul to terminate her.
 * Don't forget how

Nero the Sable
""Dear Weiss, powerful Weiss. The only person who ever loved me, and the only person I will ever love.""

- Voiced by: Ryotaro Okiayu (Japanese), Mike Rock (English)

Second-in-command of the Tsviets. Also Weiss's biological half-brother.


 * Cultured Badass
 * The Dragon
 * Dual-Wielding: Takes this Up to Eleven by having four functioning hands (one per wing) and using all four to shoot at you.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Meaningful Name: Nero is the Italian word for "Black," which in itself is a derivation of a rather infamous Roman Emperor.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Self-Made Orphan: The reason why his hands were bound and presumably why his abilities were toned down: Apparently he sent his own mother into another dimension when she was giving birth to him.
 * Winged Humanoid: Granted, they are artificial wings, but still.

Azul the Cerulean
"Voiced by: Tessho Genda (Japanese), Brad Abrell (English)"

One of the Tsviets, the commanders of Deepground, high-ranking soldiers, and he is its field commander.


 * BFG: Or a BFC, a BIG FUCKING CANNON, big enough to blow up Cid's ship.
 * Blood Knight: Literally the only reason he willingly joined them, and even then only after realizing why they attempted to capture him.
 * The Brute
 * Catch Phrase: "Hail Weiss" in a way. All of Deepground says this, but Azul says it the most, even acting as his final words.
 * Disney Villain Death: After he was impaled.
 * Genius Bruiser: He ain't just all muscles, he's also a competent field officer.
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: With his own cannon when Chaos took over Vincent.
 * Laughing Mad: He does that, an memorable one right before he died.
 * Playing Possum: After he was "beaten" by Vincent, he pretended to have died in order to destroy the WRO's headquarters from inside before the second Deepground force attacked.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: Azul is Spanish for "blue." Cerulean is a specific shade of blue. Therefore, his name means "Blue the blue." QED.
 * See You in Hell: He tells Vincent that before he died.
 * The Stoic: He usually speaks some few words, and acts rather "stonely". It's only when he fights Vincent that he shows how much Hot-Blooded he is for fighting.
 * Super Soldier

Rosso The Crimson
""I shall not give you the pleasure of killing Rosso the Crimson!""

- Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)

Another Tsviet. Due to experimentation done on her when she was a child, she's quite mentally unbalanced. The only pleasure she gets out of life is killing her enemies.


 * Ax Crazy
 * Better to Die Than Be Killed: She committed suicide when she was defeated by Vincent by throwing herself out from the Shinra tower.
 * Dark Chick
 * Evil Redhead
 * Freudian Excuse: It is heavily implied that the very reason why she even takes enjoyment in doing her assignments in similar ways to a psychopath is because she was raised that way by Shinra.
 * Happy Rain: In a twisted way. Rosso, while standing in the rain in Edge, muses that it was the first time she had ever felt rain on her skin. She seemed happy, but she's a Tsviet, so happy could just as easily mean "on the brink of murder."
 * Laughing Mad: Probably a much bigger use of this trope than even the trope namer.
 * Mundane Luxury: In the online mode, Rosso desperately wanted to see the sky and would embark on mass murders of her fellow soldiers in response.
 * Psycho for Hire

Shelke the Transparent / Shelke Rui
""I have no acquaintances in the W.R.O.""

- Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)

Yet another Tsviet. Was ordered to be terminated by Weiss and consequently left the Tsviets.

"Shelke: "It's not what you think... I'm simply providing this service for my own benefit." Vincent: "I didn't say anything." Shelke: "I... Anyway... *goes on to other topics*""
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: It is heavily implied that Shinra kidnapped her and subjected her to experiments that both brainwashed her to the extent that she could no longer remember her sister, and that she was also made effectively incapable of aging beyond a ten year old body.
 * Curtains Match the Window: Sometimes.
 * Dead Little Sister:
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Emotionless Girl: Very much. Borderline Sugar and Ice Personality towards the end.


 * Evil Genius: She was Deepground's computer expert and a major tactician alongside Azul. When she becomes a ally of W.R.O., she becomes The Smart Guy of the bunch.
 * Fragile Speedster: What she lacks in strength and endurence, she makes it up with both extremly fast speed and agility.
 * Full-Name Basis: She does this. Frequently.
 * Heel Face Turn: She joins the W.R.O after she was betrayed by Deepground.
 * Karma Houdini: See her Manipulative Bastard entry. After that, her happy ending seems sort of like this.
 * Manipulative Bastard: In the sadly-Japan-only online mode, it's revealed that
 * Medium Awareness: In the game's online mode, she tells the player character that her special attack uses "a lot of MP".
 * Morality Pet: To Vincent. Vincent himself could be her morality pet as well.
 * The Stoic: For the most of the time. Only at the near ending does she begin to show off her more emotional sides.
 * This Thing You Call Love: After she had spent ten years with Deepground, it ain't no wonder that she hasn't learnt what love is. So when and Vincent tries to be her friend, she first reacts with coldness and surprise, and then with curiosity. She eventually learns what love is by the end.

Argento
"The ones who are strong disguise themselves as the weakest, and in effect we are too weak for you to battle with."

A character found only in the online mode. Acts as a mentor in Deepground.


 * The Blacksmith: Argent made all of the Tsviets' Named Weapons.
 * Eyepatch of Power: She wears an eyepatch and part of her dialogue indicates that she is exceedingly strong.
 * Hot Chick with a Sword: Oh goodness, yes.
 * Mentor Ship: Plenty of people do this with her and Weiss.
 * The Philosopher: Her speech, full of idioms, indicates this.
 * Sequel Non Entity: She shows up in the Online Mode for all of five minutes, then we never see her again.
 * Shiny Midnight Black: Argent's hair color -- due to Colorful Theme Naming -- is somewhere between this and Silver-Haired Pretty Girl.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Argent or Argento? It's pronounced the same either way.
 * Zen Survivor: Easily the most chill of all the Tsviets.

Lucrecia Crescent
"Voiced by: Rio Natsuki (Japanese), April Stewart (English) Appears in: Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus"


 * Abusive Parents: Dirge of Cerberus makes it completely clear that she fully consented to injecting JENOVA cells into her unborn child. To be fair, however, she did at least regret the action afterwards.
 * And I Must Scream
 * Apologises a Lot: In Dirge.
 * Death Seeker
 * Horrible Judge of Character: Why she chose Hojo, of all people, despite the latter making it no secret that he is a Complete Scumbag is beyond logic.
 * Hot Mom
 * Hot Scientist
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?
 * Woman in White

Angeal Hewley
""Embrace your dreams. If you want to be a hero you need to have dreams... and honor.""

- Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese), Josh Gilman (English)

Zack's superior officer in SOLDIER. "Appears in: Crisis Core."


 * Artistic Age: He's 25.
 * BFS
 * Big Brother Mentor
 * I Cannot Self-Terminate: Pretty much the reason why he transformed and fought Zach to the death.
 * Meaningful Name
 * Mentor Occupational Hazard
 * The Obi-Wan: To Zack.
 * One-Winged Angel: By fusing with several monsters.
 * Ornamental Weapon
 * Real Men Wear Pink: An in-game email from his fan club states that he loves dogs and gardening.
 * Team Dad: To Zack, and most of SOLDIER.
 * What Have I Become?

Marlene Wallace
""Sadness was the price to see it end. It's been two years since they told me that.""

- Voiced by: Miyu Tsuzurahara, Sumire Morohoshi (Japanese), Grace Rolek, Ariel Winter (English)

Barret's young daughter. Her biological father was his old friend Dyne, who supposedly died when their hometown Corel was massacred by Shinra. "Appears in: Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children"


 * Adorably Precocious Child
 * Adult Fear: A good dose of this when she is taken by the Silver Haired Men.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Children Are Innocent
 * Daddy's Girl
 * Happily Adopted: By Barret. And in the compilation, Cloud and Tifa.
 * Kid Has a Point: ""How are you supposed to look after your family if you can't even look after yourself?"
 * Plucky Girl
 * Protected by a Child: Marlene does this for Tifa by throwing a Materia at Loz's head.

Denzel
""He'll come back. He said that he would.""

- Voiced by: Kyousuke Ikeda, Kazumu Izawa (Japanese), Benjamin Bryan, Aaron Refvem (English)

A young boy living with Cloud and Tifa. "Appears in: Advent Children"


 * Adorably Precocious Child
 * Adult Fear: He and other children with Geostigma are kidnapped by the Silver Haired Men.
 * Happily Adopted: By Cloud and Tifa.
 * Heartwarming Orphan
 * Littlest Cancer Patient
 * Simple Staff
 * Street Urchin: Before he met Cloud.

Minerva
The goddess of the planet and the embodiment of the Lifestream's will. She's the goddess spoken of in LOVELESS and can be fought in Crisis Core's final mission as the game's Bonus Boss.


 * Action Girl
 * The Archer: Judgement Arrow
 * Badass Cape
 * Big Good
 * Bonus Boss
 * Blade on a Stick/Magic Staff: A bit of both.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Zack will probably do this literally, since Costly Punch is what you're likely going to be spamming against her.
 * Evil Counterpart: Inverted, as a goddess who embodies the will of the Lifestream, she's a Good Counterpart to Jenova and Sephiroth, false gods who try to corrupt the Lifestream.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: Crimson Flare, Krysta and Thor's Hammer.
 * Gold and White Are Divine
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hot Goddess
 * Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
 * Morph Weapon: Her shield, spear/staff, and armor and cape, come apart and combine to form a giant bow and arrow for Judgement Arrow.
 * No Cure for Evil: Unfortunately she isn't evil, hence Blessing Light.
 * Valkyries