Since he was not considered to be scum of the slums, Vincent was sentenced to military school, much to his parents' chagrin. They did not argue, however. You don't argue with the ShinRa corporation, unless you wish to be quietly removed. And so, Vincent was plucked out of his relatively comfortable surroundings and dropped unceremoniously into the military academy at the age of thirteen. Such times molded him into what he eventually became. Life was not easy, instructors being cold and companions being cruel. He adapted well enough to his training, but suffered in the social aspect of things, hanging on the fringe of activity rather then diving right in with his classmates. His mental maturity seemed far beyond his years, and for that, he never felt as if he were one of them, an outsider looking in. Over time the cruelties of childhood began to fade, and many of the other students began to see him as something of a big brother figure. Though this vexed Vincent, he handled it with relative acceptence. Seen as a leader, a leader he did become, raised in the academy ranks to positions of importance.
Upon graduating from the military academy, he was placed out in the slums, given a position as second in command at one of the Turk outposts. Here his training suddenly began to make sense, learning quickly the ins and outs of the corruptiveness below. These times truely shaped his attitudes, and a ruthless, efficient killer he became. When his commanding officer was felled by a resistence group, the position was then given to Vincent. ShinRa treated the Turk well, and thusly he had no problems giving the corporation his utter and complete loyalty. By the age of twenty-three, his outpost had grown reputed by both ShinRa, as well as the slum dwellers as being the most ruthless, efficient and frightening group of Turks to deal with. People ran in terror at the mention of Vincent Valentine's name, or the rumor that he and his Turks were to descend upon an area or establishment. Even the accomplishments of other Turk outposts began to be accredited to Vincent's.
It was this garnered reputation that eventually landed Vincent into the Jenova Project. Needing to keep the project somewhat hush hush, Vincent and a few of his Turks were assigned as protection instead of ShinRa SOLDIERs. Little did he realize how this would utterly change his life. Meeting Lucrecia, a quiet, intelligent scientist on the team, made him realize just what his life was missing. Someone to truly care about, and this delicate flower of a woman embodied everything he ever wanted. He fell in love with her almost without realizing it, obessively following her, wanting to protect her. Especially from Dr. Hojo, who quickly became his lifelong nemesis. Seeing how he treated Lucrecia, the Turk seethed privately with his inner rage, desperately wishing Lucrecia would somehow free herself from her cold, possessive lover. Though never in his life had he felt such passions and actually spoke them aloud to someone, he held no such compunctions toward speaking his affections to Lucrecia. His men tried to warn him, somehow force him to back off from this strange obsessive love, but Vincent angrily refused, especially as Hojo seemed to tighten his shackles around Lucrecia in his growing jealousies of the Turk who protected her.
It was a single night that truly upped the stakes in this Shakespearean-esque drama. After another argument with Hojo, Vincent caught Lucrecia stalking out of the mansion and quickly caught up with her to walk beside her. After her tearful confessions to him, he brought her back to the Inn where he and his men stayed, and the night that followed would both be an ending and a beginning. He found out that Hojo knew of his night with Lucrecia, and had used it to entrap her into carrying a child he planned on injecting Jenova's cells into. Uncertain if the child she carried was actually his or Hojo's, Vincent confronted the scientist, intent on ending this madness once and for all, even if it meant taking her far from this wretched project. Unfortunately, the Turk had let his guard down. After all, who expects a scientist to be armed? Hojo shot Vincent at point blank range, straight through the heart. This would have killed the Turk, if not for Hojo's cruel madness. Seeing a chance to get revenge on the man who'd stolen his Lucrecia's affections, the scientist sequestered him into a private laboratory, and proceeded to heal him over time. Soon after, Vincent's true torments began.
Hojo began with genetical experiments, testing many of his insane theories on Vincent's body. Things that were not only unethical, but exceptionally dangerous. He had the Turk at his mercy, after all, and no one would ever know the torment Vincent went through, excrutiating pain mixed with his own feelings of helplessness. He kept thinking his men would miss him, or Lucrecia would wonder where he was... but little did he realize that Hojo had already taken care of such matters, leaving him utterly at the scientist's mercies, or lack thereof. Eventually, Hojo replaced the Turk's left arm with a robotic, metal one with claws for fingers. Vincent doesn't really know what the man was up to, or hoping to turn him into, nor would he ever as Hojo grew bored with his experiments. Sephiroth had finally been born, and the scientist had other things to concentrate on, though he thoroughly enjoyed tormenting the Turk with the news of his son's birth. Finding it exceptionally funny, and maddeningly appropriate, he locked Vincent away in a coffin down in the basement of the ShinRa mansion, finally. Then, he promptly forgot about him.
For thirty years now, Vincent has been locked in that coffin in some sort of statis. One would think dehydration or starvation would have set in by now, but alas, the experiments performed on his body seem to have altered him from something... other then human. During this time, his dreams have haunted him. His guilt has haunted him. It's enough to drive a man into sheer madness. To this day, he waits, for someone perhaps to discover him.