Even amongst the elite troops of SOLDIER, Sephiroth is known to be the best. His past is locked away in a confidential file held by ShinRa Inc. His giant sword, which only he can handle, has extremely destructive powers. Said to have disappeared in a battle years ago, his current whereabouts are unknown.

-----Final Fantasy VII Game Manual (PC Version)

In Depth (History)

Nobody is really sure how Sephiroth came about (who his true father is, if he's a test tube baby or not, etcetera) but the sure thing is that he's made out of ShinRa's research and stuff. Supposedly, his parents are Professor Hojo and Lucrecia and he was made for an experiment concerning JENOVA cells (and he's a darn success). The guy grew up as a mercenary named General Sephiroth and Hojo's guinea pig. This is probably a factor that drove him to insanity. Hell, Lucrecia wasn't even able to hold her beloved son even for a little.

Anyhow, in SOLDIER, when he was sane, he was somewhat of a mentor to Zack (but Cloud thought that Sephiroth was his mentor. Baaah...). Then he began to have an identity crisis, so he did research about his origins. And found out that his mommy was an ugly alien thing. So he burnt down Nibelheim and started on his journey to make everyone's life miserable. This he did by searching for the Black Materia (a special materia made for summoning Meteor, the ultimate destructive magic).

In the end, after causing many destructions and deaths (Cloud: Baaah! Aerith! *breaks down*), he got to fight Cloud in the Northern Crater. And was defeated. And so was the "death" of the One-Winged Angel.

... But of course, there's always room for a sequel. I guess we'll find out more about Sephiroth in the upcoming Advent Children.

Anyway, this guy also appears in Kingdom Hearts and in Ehrgeiz.

No really; on the serious side... (Character Analysis)

He wasn't really insane to begin with. Before, he was just a mercenary satisfied with his job... and then something happens along the way.

It starts there.

While playing the game, a player might notice immediately that there is something wrong with this villain-guy. I mean, if you notice the way he speaks, you'd say that "man, this guy's really insane... I wonder what caused it..." And you will also find out that you'd sympathize with him.
You might blame it all again on ShinRa because they're the ones who started the JENOVA Project... specifically on Hojo, who got credit for the project, or Pres. ShinRa, who funded it. Well, guess you blamed it on the right person... he was born with a predestination of some sort. Poor guy.

You could definitely point out that he's the most evil and the ultimately best villain among all the Final Fantasy games... The insane look in his glowing green eyes, the silver hair, the sword... everything about him must've made him won the title of "best villain".

Who wouldn't go insane if someone made you believe you're human and then you find out that you're not? What happened to Sephiroth was like a violation of what he must have believed in and thought of for almost all of his life.

His character would've been really nice if and only if he did not go insane. Who knows, you could even imagine him as a member of AVALANCHE or something else... like Rufus's friend or something. =_='

The way his character was presented in Final Fantasy VII was probably the reason why this character is more interesting than Cloud or any of the other characters in the game.

Love stories, anyone? (On Love)

Nobody knows if this guy even had a significant other in his past or not... definitely, there was no girl in his life. And definitely no man. (goodness, he's not gay, okay?)

But maybe we could consider JENOVA, his "mother" as someone whom he "loved". The way he refers to JENOVA and the way he treats her might never fail to remind some of us of Norman Bates from the movie Psycho. Heheheh. And if you listen to Sephiroth's theme "One Winged Angel", it might also remind you of the movie too.

But for amusement, let us take a look at some of the people who get paired up with Sephiroth in several fics and doujinshi... and even fan-art:
Girls:
1. Aerith
2. Tifa
Boys:
1. Cloud
2. Vincent
3. Zack
4. Rufus (very seldom and almost always in the elevator. O_o)

Opinion

Webmistress Tifa says: He's not insane, he's just misunderstood. He's got some funny points too, despite the fact that he kills people. Heck, if someone's gonna kill me, let it be Sephiroth. =_=' No, just kidding. But anyway, comparing him to the others, it's his insanity and the way he is portrayed in the game that made me like him. There's just something about him that isn't in Rufus, Cloud or Vincent. It's the insanity that seems to still have a significance and importance all throughout the entire game itself. I sympathize with this guy for what happened to him for what he had to go through to be like that, but I am not blaming anyone for the way he is at present. He's just himself. For me at least. ;-)

Webmistress Aerith says: He's not crazy, he's just a little unwell.... -___- So much for that. Personally, I think he decided to be evil just for the sake of being evil. Well, that's all right.  

If ever the Hunks would go on concert, he'd probably be the first to dirty dance on stage. Hehehe! (Just kidding... Can't say anything else 'bout him...)

Why is this guy a Hunk?

Because of his muscular bodeh (translation: Body). *smirks*

Oh yeah, and look at this picture... he looks so valiant. ^^ It's the way he stands up and moves around... (and fangirls of the world drool)

If the Hunks were a real boyband, he'd be... Buff Hunk. (naks.) :P

Enough about the bodeh; like the rest of them, he also has enough experiences to write good songs, right? (I lie awake, I drive myself crazy... really really crazy... 0_o) Heheheh.

/tifa&aerith//2003/