Sephiroth - A Deconstruction of Villainy 

This video will spoil the entire plot line of the original Final Fantasy 7. I have not played Rebirth yet, so I don't know how closely the Remake follows the original, but the video will undoubtedly spoil several key moments of the story for you if you have not finished either game yet.

This man made a 1 hour+ video about Sephiroth and didn’t play One Winged Angel even once. The sheer restraint on display is staggering.

My favorite quote about Sephiroth is "You know how they tell stories about someone and often they don't live up to them? With Sephiroth it's the exact opposite."

20:20 As evil as Sephiroth is Hojo is FF7's real monster.

The secret of Sephiroth's success is the writer's restraint in keeping him offscreen. Allowing the drip feed of information to build up the mystique. But also not making him too irrelevant off in the background where you forget about him. His actions are usually offscreen but CONSIQUENTIAL. You always just miss him after it's too late to stop him.

20:48 If Sephiroth knew Hojo was his dad, he'd have gone insane much sooner. Knowing he's related that walking ball of grease would have broken his mind so hard Jenova could've overtaken his mind from the opposite side of the planet.

The contrast between Sephiroth and Cloud extends to their identity crisises. Cloud loses his identity but, thanks to his friends, he is able to recover. Sephiroth also loses his identity, and embraces a lie, that Jenova is his Mother, that he is entitled to rule the world. He embraces this final fantasy (yep) so completely that eventually it completely overwhelms him, and whatever was left of the original Sephiroth is utterly and completely destroyed, sacrificed for the sake of power.

Sephiroth invented the the gorgeous edgy nemesis trope and yet somehow doesn’t manage to fall into the trappings his contemporaries did. The Remake also added a dash of strange mix of angst and mutual pining between him and Cloud.

I love when the villain has enough of a presence that you shudder just hearing about them. You don’t ever see him until later on in the game, but you hear so much about him that you don’t forget him. Sephiroth is one of the few examples of this that I can think of, and it’s done very well.

Sephiroth is just one of those villains who is so compelling, EVERYONE has a shared respect for, wether it be from a point of inspiration, or outright fear.

The gradual way Sephiroth is introduced to the player is nothing short of brillaint, as well as his backstory is paced. From beginning to end you are dripfed bits of information. He does from a legendary war hero who seemingly died 5 years ago, to an artificially produced Cetra obsessed with taking the planet back from humans, to being part of Jenova itself; and finally the full story was revealed, Sephiroth's parents were both human, his mother being Lucrecia and his father Hojo. While still in the womb, Sephiroth was injected with Jenova cells by Hojo and that was why he was different from other people, why he was so powerful. In the end Hojo is the true villain responsible for most of the suffering in Final Fantasy 7. He made Sephiroth into the monster he became.

The remake made me fall in love with Sephiroth all over again, reminding me why he is so iconic and one of my favorite villains in fiction. He is the Morning Star and Dark Angel of the FF franchise.

I was going to watch this video Then suddenly, Sephiroth intervened

This part in 21:28 is still one of the goofiest scenes to me. Just seeing Sephiroth having to pull himself up to see in the port hole... This being of unfathomable power, having to clamber up to peak into the pod like a curious child makes me chuckle every time I see it.

Have heard people saying they are disappointed how the story begins fighting an evil corp but moves to sephirot but to me sephirot also represents the results of what happens when the greed is left unchecked, a human built for the ambitions of others, same greed that lead them to experiment with jenova, giving raise to the apocalypse

The man himself is covering the man himself… This is going to be legendary

Sephiroth is the perfect definition of the nemesis that always destroys your plans no matter what you do.

"You always admired me. And now you've experienced the pain I felt for so long. Isn't that what you wanted, Cloud? To be just...Like...ME" I never played the original game, but that scene of the abridged left dead cold. Honestly, Sephiroth deserves all the praise and dick riding

1:02:07 after Rebirth we can see this happening again. It's implied that Sephiroth's new reunion can now only be attempted thanks to the group beating the arbiters of fate in Remake. So once again, Sephiroth has manipulated his enemies to get exactly what he wants.

That’s the sad truth of Sephiroth’s character.To quote a certain CEO of a major company “You are not a god. You are simply bad product”

I wonder... And this is just a thought. Perhaps the reason why Sephiroth is silent during the final battle, is because he is still dead. He died at Nibelheim, and his soul entered the life stream, but the jenova cells took what was left of him and regenerated his body. The Sephiroth we see through the game is all Jenova, the mad and insane ramblings come from a Jenova clone of Sephiroth. I might be wrong as I haven't beaten the game in a while, but does the Sephiroth from the crater say anything at all? Maybe... What we fight at the end isn't Sephiroth the man, but the fully realized successor to Jenova, the god among mortals and destroyer of worlds? And... Well, at this point, since we killed Jenova, prior to fighting Sephiroth, there is nothing more to give him direction. Besides, Sephiroth was a chameleon, he adopted the philosophies and identities of those he viewed as family. When he worked for shinra, he was the greatest soldier. When he thought he was an ancient, he adapted to become the Cetra's avenger. When he realized he was the successor of Jenova, he became the calamity of Terra. Sephiroth never had an identity, besides being mentally broken and scarred. So the final true Sephiroth, has no dialogue because he has no identity anymore as he is subject to the life stream. All he knows is calamity, and for someone who relies on others to give him purpose. He was never able to conquer the life stream.

Unlike Cloud, Sephiroth didn't have his close friends with him to pull him back from the brink, those guys were either dead or messed up by related events.

The library scene on onward was masterfully created to help peoples understand what was going on with him in rebirth. I hope you do another video talking about his character in advent, remake and rebirth with how much of a manipulative villain he becomes instead of the typical physical.

I have a pretty good answer to the fantastic Jenova synthesis question poised at the end. Which i feel fits with the eatablished lore and the thematic points brought up in the video. Come with me here. This will take a minute to go through. Its pointed out when Aerith dies. That what makes a person isnt just their life energy, its who they were, their thoughts, feelings, motivations. What have you. The Jenova we see, shes been dead for millennia, biologically alive, sure. But her own life essence was long since exstinguished. But through Shinra tomfoolery. Nicking her cells, pumping her corpse full of Mako, what have you. You could stretch the definition of "alive" pretty far, especially in a setting like this. Her cells are certainly alive. And pumping through Sephiroth, Cloud, and half of SOLDIER among many many other places. Jenova also tricked the ancients initially by mimicing their loved ones, people they cared about, people they had a strong emotional connection to, but its stated it happened when they got close to her. So when the Jenova sample first wakes up in Shinra HQ, its not Sephiroth who woke it up. Its Cloud. By being close to it, Cloud who too, is chock-full of Jenova cells, living Jenova cells. If we make one wild assumption that i believe is kinda backed up in both ff7 and the exstended games and movie and stuff based on it. (Please feel free to fact check me on this if im wrong on this, im going from memory) Jenova cells, even when they enter the lifestream, share a connection. So Cloud, in Shinra HQ, being close to the...soul dead? For lack of a better term. Mindless husk of Jenova. It mimics his mind. And because Jenova has no conscious will left. It doesnt pick a calculated person to mimic. It just goes for the strongest emotional connection. And his mind has the strongest emotional tie to Sephiroth. He idealised the guy since he was a kid, and the dude slaughered everyone he knew, burned his village to the ground and slashed Tifa across the chest. Even with his memories all messed up. Id imagine Cloud would have a hell of an emotional response to Sephiroth. The same guy, lest we forget. Clouds last memory of, before beating him in the reactor was the guy screaming and blinding about getting even with Shinra. So the Jenova mimic, now acting and thinking from the logic of Clouds version of Sephiroth, does just that. Goes and gets even with Shinra. The whole way through the first half of the game. The Jenova Mimic isnt doing things because Jenova would want to, or even because Sephiroth would want to. It acts on the intention of what Cloud thinks the real Sephiroth would do. Once the real Sephiroth is revived. Its not Cloud, but he, who has the strongest collection of Jenova Cells. So the mimic latches onto his mind unconsciously. Aaand the person Sephiroth has the strongest emotional connection with....is Jenova, admittedly a fictionalised Idealised version of her. But still her, in a sense. So now, the Mimic is emulating a fake version of itself, while still technically being itself. The best example i can think to give, would be like an actor, with a very carefully crafted public persona, playing themselves in a movie. The Jenova we fight at the end of FF7. Is just as the name implies. Its a synthesis. Of both the remains of the real Jenova, and Sephiroth's mental version of what Jenova "the mother" should be, mapped onto it. Jenova Synthesis. To quote tropic thunder. "Im the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude"

Sepharoth making Cloud doubt his identity feels like the Clone Saga in Spider-Man comics.

I've always seen Sephiroth as an extremely tragic villain, born of an equally tragic misunderstanding, who kills what in other circumstances would be a sister figure to him, the daughter of professor Gast, Aerith, just because they're on opposite sides. The true, revolting villain of FFVII will always be Hojo for me. So many of the other games misinterpret Sephiroth's character in a fundamental way by making him evil "just because", and because he's popular. I can't wait for you to cover the rest of my favourite game of all time. Edit: to answer your questions about JENOVA, the way I've always felt about the final battle (and most of Sephiroth's appearances ingame) is that it's the other way around. JENOVA is in control, and was always in control ever since the end of the events of NIbelheim. Sephiroth's real body never left the crater, all we've seen of him were bodies created out of JENOVA cells (which we can see everytime Sephiroth attacks us, like in the ship to Costa del Sol and after Aerith's death and we don't fight him, but JENOVA) and while he was partially in control of the objects (most likely JENOVA's tentacles) through which he summoned the aforementioned facsimiles of himself, at the end she simply didn't need him anymore. Sephiroth's mind was already damaged by the revelations he suffered in the library, and even further when he was thrown into the Lifestream directly when "killed" by Cloud. Sephiroth freed JENOVA from the Shinra building because his weak sense of self, his need to attach his identity to SOMETHING, anything, made him the perfect host for JENOVA's will. He did it because he was compelled to. All he ever said he wanted was what JENOVA wanted. When he summoned Meteor, he was equally silent and unresponsive. At the end he says nothing because JENOVA, having reached her SYNTHESIS status, is in full control. He lived and died serving and loving a "mother" who couldn't have possibly cared less about him. I would love to know your newer or revised interpretation if you come back to this topic, however.

49:47 Sephiroth's obsession with Jenova and belief that she's his mother reminds me of Silent Hill 4's Walter Sullivan who was convinced by the Order cult's Dahlia Gillespie that he could be reunited with his mother if he committed the 21 Sacrements ritual murders. She was actually just using him as a backup plan to bring back the Order's god.

One of the best things that came from the prequel Crisis Core was highlighting Sephiroth's humanity. We learn he did care about people and their lives. Even giving Zack time off to see Aerith knowing it how much she meant to him. It pairs so well with the core game to the point it almost felt natural and they planned it out from the beginning. How losing Genesis and Angeal was basically him losing any attachments to his humanity and the only family he ever had.

To be honest the true antagonist of FF7 is Hojo, Sephiroth falls because of him.

Another cool thing about Sephiroth is that he not only is a dark reflection of Cloud, but the other party members as well. Aerith, for example, is pretty much everything that Sephiroth initially believes about himself: a descendant of the Cetra race, chosen by the planet. Barret and Sephiroth both hate Shinra for what they done to the planet and themselves, but Sephiroth wants to kill all of humanity, whereas Barret limits himself to Shinra instead. Red was experimented on by Hojo like Sephiroth was. Cid, Vincent, and Cait Sith were former employees of Shinra that were wronged by them like Sephiroth. Tifa is similar to how Sephiroth is in Crisis Core, in which both are forced to watch as their friends descend to madness as a result of Shinra’s actions. The biggest difference between Sephiroth and the party is how they choose to deal with their traumas and the path they take.

One of the biggest fan misinterpretations on Sephiroth was that he was being controlled by jenova after the nibelheim incident. This is not the case at all. When Sephiroth fell into the lifestream, it was made very clear that his will overcame Jenova's. He took charge of the Reunion for his own twisted goals. It's also very likely that Jenova may not have much of a "will", but rather an instinct. Sephiroth has all of Jenova's destructive and ruinous abilities and powers, but with malicious intent, rather than a simple instinct to survive like most life forms. Sephiroth became in many ways, a far more dangerous, and terrifying monster than jenova ever was.

FatBrett Gang where u at

Cloud and Sephiroth's relationship is probably my favourite Hero vs. Villain bond from all the games I've played. Cloud was essentially a nobody, Sephiroth didn't even know who he was until he confronted the party. This goes past the stereotype where the villain simply acts like the hero is not worth their time and feigns ignorance. Because Sephiroth simply doesn't know who Cloud is. Then by the time the game ends, Sephiroth now has a geunuine interest in Cloud, this supposed nobody who should be under his control has just defeated him in both body and mind. Then AC comes around, Sephiroth lives on inside Cloud's memories, and when they fight again there is a vendetta between the two, a true rivalry born. Now the Remake series depicts Sephiroth with knowledge of future events. Now he knows who Cloud is from the beginning, and his obsession with him has continued throughout this altered iteration of the timeline. Even stating that he will not allow himself nor Cloud to end.

I like your theory that Sephiroth is able to mind control Cloud because of his willpower and Cloud's weak mind. However, I don't think that's mutually exclusive from the Jenova cell explanation. Those two explanations can work together and compliment each other. In fact, I'm not sure the willpower explanation works without the Jenova cells. One can't just control someone's mind through force of will alone. There has to be some sort of fantasy mumbo jumbo to justfiy it too.

This is a thoughtful video. An interesting watch. For the people saying 'But it was all Jenova!', well - I suppose it depends on how much store you set by the ultimanias, but Ultimania Omega states flat out that Sephiroth was in control of Jenova, not the other way round. Not that I think the source material of the original game suggests anything differently though. It's pretty clear in the OG that Jenova is his meat puppet, not the other way round. The 'cosmic horror' bit is spot on. In keeping with that, the evidence for Jenova even being sentient is pretty limited. I mean I think it's pretty obvious that Jenova is based on The Thing, and I don't think The Thing is sentient. It's cunning, but ultimately an organism of instinct. But really the reason I don't like 'Jenova did it' is because it reduces one of the best video game villains of all time to a cipher, supposedly on behalf of an actual cipher who, curiously after more than a quarter of a century, still has absolutely no characterisation. It reduces Sephiroth to Jenova's level - a nullity. He is so much more than that.

Oh wow. This was a treat. 😮 I did not expect duch a long video on such a famous character. Respect. B/

There's an almost throwaway line in Rebirth when you're in Cosmo Canyon where the group is discussing Sephiroth and Barret says something like "If Sephiroth is trying to save the planet then why are we fighting against him?" That's when Cloud quips back, "Its not that Sephiroth wants to save the planet that's the problem, its how he wants to do it." That's the essential ethic that makes every villain great. Its the ethic of that the ends always justify the means that makes a would be hero into the most horribly cruel, spiteful, vindictive, Faustian villain.

Sephiroth is him. Sephiroth is soooo badass, that he has a theme song that CHANTS HIS NAME

What I thought was truly crazy is the first time Sephiroth's name comes up is when Cloud tells Tifa he wants to be a hero like Sephiroth on the water tower. Cloud idolized him.

"This is the first time we see Sephiroth outside of a flashback, the first time we see him in the present day." Looks like SOMEBODY forgot about the ship to Costa Del Sol... In all seriousness though, great video, great analysis!

YOUR DOING FINAL FANTASY VILLAINS 😱😱😱 An amazing day

1:05:07 That scene has made me wonder for years WTF is Cloud? A level 1 Shinra Guard tanks the Masamune stab and then Hulk tosses the highly trained eldritch horror that is Sephiroth. My head canon is Cloud has some degree of telekinetic power, displayed in his ability to use massive swords and from his limit breaks, such as Blade Beam, Climhazzard, Meteor Rain and of course Finishing Touch. These limit breaks display a force projection power far beyond the Ki abilities of Tifa and Yuffie. He doesn't even summon real meteors, it looks more like he gathers together debris in the area, compacts it and launches it at the enemy at high speeds.

I’m almost 34. Didn’t play ffvii til 2024. Everytime I hear a new perspective on the plot, the more fascinating it gets. Truly a classic with so much to examine and analyze!

What I like (or technically, love to hate) about Sephiroth is that his motives are based on inconclusive findings that might not even be based in fact in the first place, yet he's so up himself that he commits to the bit instantly. It takes an unbelievably awful person to think that highly of oneself that just a tiny bit of confirmation bias is enough to make them act on it to such an extreme extent. That's what makes him so frightening in concept. He is the personification of ignorant jingoism.

If I had to take a guess as to why Sephiroth doesn't speak in the final battle it would be because he has, on some level, either been succeeding or realized that it's not going to work and broken again. He's spent the last four years bathed in the collective unconscious of the planet, gathering more and more fragments of the World-Soul into himself to be both healed and empowered, add onto that his continued exposure to Jenova and his cultivation of her form of life within himself, and I'm not entirely certain he's still /in there./ His ambition and goals are still alive, but he has cast off his human form, and in doing so he may have also cast aside his personality and self, all the things he does not value in others, to become something like the will of his new World-Soul, stripped down to little more than a manifested spear of Intent. And it would be done to solve the continued pain he suffers at the repeated breaking of his Identity. Because there is no Identity to break, no capacity to question himself or his purpose in a form like that. He has everything he needs, he will become a God, and if shedding every part of himself that hurts is the price for that, he will pay it gladly. This would contrast and mirror directly with Cloud, who instead of pivoting to center his whole world around each new thing he learned about himself, has instead had to integrate these revelations with the rest of who he is. So Sephiroth is stripped down to a single thing each time he breaks, and Cloud instead grows into being more of himself. It would also make the way their swords are later depicted make some thematic sense, Cloud is many truths coalesced into a single whole, while Sephiroth is a single truth honed to its very edge, which, given their inspiration, would definitely track.

I love the perspective but I always viewed sephiroth as a more tragic villain. I think that jenova did a mind break to sephiroth the same way sephiroth did to cloud. Sephiroth just wasn't as successful as jenova was. I think that at this point there isn't much of a difference between sephiroth and jenova, that jenova has completely subsumed sephiroth. Also, sephiroth/jenova absolutely won at the end of the game. They may have lost the battle, but it doesn't matter at that point because sephiroth has already poisoned the life stream and that's what geostigma is

The thing about Cloud's mind control, is that it IS Jenova's cells doing it. Even without the compilation's additions, In the original 7, Cloud and Zack were both infused with Jenova Cells, and much like the numbers, Cloud was always under Jenova's control. The first time we see this is when the projection of Cloud's thoughts are huddled in the corner, and when you talk to it, it starts muttering incoherent (at the time) things. "You can't change anything by sitting back and looking at it" and "Wake Up." The second line is shared by the "Sephiroth" that takes the Black Materia, and has Cloud beat Aerith. In fact, besides the Nibel flashback, We've not once seen Sephiroth, since he died in the reactor. He was never at the Northern Crater, He wasn't the one we fought at the end. From the second you jump into the point of no return, once Jenova's Theme starts playing to the ending cutscene, We've been fighting the Entirety of the Calamity from the Skies. But when you fight Jenova-SYNTHESIS, it's not her theme, it's not a theme that's a darker reprise of her normal otherworldly theme. It's a Corruption of the Main Battle Theme, "Those who Fight." It's Not even the Boss theme of "Those who Fight On." Jenova Complete isn't even in the Same time signature of Jenova's Theme. You wanna know what is? "Birth of a God" The theme for Bizzaro Sephiroth. But why? That's because the "Sephiroth" we've been dealing with the entire game and even the final boss, wasn't Sephiroth. It was the Calamity From the Sky. Remember, Jenova is the name they gave it. Its entire plan was detailed to us. It will become one with the planet, take up all of the planet's knowledge and life. Why would it ever keep the same form it had when it first arrived, if it's taking all the life, knowledge and power of the world? Thus, the shed corpse that made up Jenova-SYNTHESIS was discarded and nothing more than a husk. The "Sephiroth" Body you see in that doesn't talk and keeps blasting your party is the new form of The Calamity from the Sky. It doesn't talk, because it doesn't need to. It knows all of the Knowledge of the World has ever known, what could talking to you ever accomplish now? Once you destroy Bizzaro Sephiroth, You hear the Cry of the World. It's in pain again, because Bizzaro Sephiroth (A wierd mashup of Sephiroth's form in the structure and shape of Jenova) hatched. From it, drawing on the knowledge and limitless bounds of the Lifestream, is Safer Sephiroth. Once you defeat Safer Sephiroth, Cloud's very mind and soul, and only him because he's the only one infested the virus in the Jenova Cells that were poured into him, is pulled into the Lifestream, as The Calamity tries to take over his body again. This time he's able to win, dispersing The Calamity to the Lifestream, finally "Killing" it. The above was all based on info we get in the original game, alone. With the Compilation, we get even more information, with Crisis Core showing us who the Real Sephiroth was, how he was actually friendly with people, until his best friends both died due to genetic experimentation, and finding out he TOO was one of these experiments. How, Sephiroth was still friendly enough to learn about Cloud, a faceless mook security force member and not even a faceless SOLDIER mook, just to ask him some questions about Nibel and tell him to go out and see his friends in town. Or, how in the Advent Children, the Memetic legacy of Sephiroth caused the next time the Calamity tried its hand at resurgence, It took his form, the current 'perfect form' it created from the knowledge it had access to (Kadaj's thoughts and memories). The Advent Children Sephiroth even flatly says that he'll turn the world into a barren husk, and ride it like Jenova did to a new world. It is flatly saying that is its goal. Even Dirge of Cerberus gets in on this, with the Calamity's Memetic legacy (Kill the planet and move on to a new world) having been completely implanted into the World itself, as after the Calamity was first defeated, it had created the WEAPONs, including the Omega WEAPON, which was designed to suck up the purest of lifestream to create its body and take what pure lifestream was left and fly off to a seed a new world, leaving the corrupted dying Lifestream to crumble away, And the main villain of Dirge of Cerberus, HOJO, plans on doing just that, so he can complete his "Son's" goal of eating the world and moving on to the next. TL;DR: The very reason it seems like Sephiroth has a complete shift in character three times in the Original FF7, is because after he died in the reactor, Sephiroth was replaced by The Calamity, using him as its new face as the pinnacle of humanity, which everyone thought he was, thus knowledge was in the Lifestream as him being the best, so it used his Form. Hell, if that TL;DR is true, the Final Villain of the RE:FF7 Trilogy may take Clouds form, because eventually it'll be common knowledge that Cloud is stronger than Sephiroth, and thus the final battle is the original Team, With added alt reality Zack and Aerith, with an alt reality Sephiroth who played FFXVI, and learned to push L3 and R3 together and overcome his mind break.

I think in general the most tragic part of Sephiroth's character is had he not found out about the jenova project and snapped he would have been a good guy

This was one of the best most accurate analysis of Sephiroths character I've seen, very well made. Well done!

I still remember walking through K-Mart with my mom... I got $60 in birthday money and I saw this game for 49.99 on the shelf I picked it, and that was it... Still hooked to this day

Honestly I hope it is revealed to be this and from my opinion it would fit well enough. But it turning out that it’s been jenova running the show this entire time would be just fine a reveal. She made her move at sephiroths most vulnerable. She’s manipulated him into seeing her as his mother. She took the earths greatest champion and made it her destroyer. I would like to see sephiroth come to his senses before he loses more than he already has.

One very minor correction: A few times you refer to the planet as "Earth," when it's actually not called that in-game or out of game. In game, it's exclusively "the planet," but it has been referred to as "Gaia" in some outside material.

My Interpretation is always connected to what to me are the key messages on Shinra (Capitalist Critique/ Environmentalism) and Cloud (Identiy). Cloud, in pretending something he isn't represents a pretty common feeling that many feel (Especially men in regards to identity and what "men should be like") Having to pretend, fake it til you make it, feelings of inadequateness and being a failure. Sephiroth on the other hand, quite literally crafted by the status quo and the systemic oppressiion (Represented by Shinra) What I found really intriguing in Rebirth (Only tiny spoiler) is that little line Hojo gives about what a Hero should be and how he has to look, it really fits in amazingly with what Sephiroth is, a blank slate of a person, in fact, not even really human, but told, raised and bred to be what he turned into, a War hero, someone everyone looked up to, who was gorgeous and fit right into the narrative Shinra (The dominant power in that society) wanted. This obviously fostered the feelings of being Special into Sephiroth, but he wasn't really, everything that he was told is that he was special, a war hero, but he knew something was rotten and wrong about that, only to delude himself deeper into the false promise of actually being special, a cetra, and not the perverse creation of unfettered desire to control and expand by a totalitarian Company. This is really the counter opposite of Cloud believing he is not special at all, deluding himself into being someone he thought better,, while deep down his empathetic, caring, anxious and shy self was always present and in turn is why everyone grows to like Cloud, while Sephiroth entirely gave in this false narrative that was spun to him, and in this delusion of being special wanting more and more. I am ranting a bit, I never really ordered these thoughts and its more of my personal interpretation of this very interesting dynamic between Sephiroth and Cloud, that while always antagonistic, had this air aboout it that we should see these two characters as two sides of the same coin in terms of how they struggled with their very identity.

Another point about the info sephiroth finds is that hojo seems to have very intentionally made sure sephiroth would find it. Not hard to believe hojo would also edit documents, remove certain texts, and leave extra red herrings to ensure there’s no way he won’t snap

It's interesting to see that in FF7 Remake and Rebirth, Sephiroth has actually succeeded in merging/overwriting the lifestream with his own soul. He takes over a faction of the whispers, which are a fundamental protector of the lifestream and it's course through time.

This was literally everything I wanted! Sephiroth has been my favorite antagonist since I was 8 and a full on breakdown of his character from a narrative perspective FOR A FULL HOUR was everything I wanted and more. Literally when I go on dates with people, I talk about Sephiroth (bitches have autism). This was an incredible breakdown of his character. An additional reminder of why I fell in love with your content!

Talking online with so many recent fans who think they understand this story but have such a literal reading this is a breath of fresh air. So much of it is ambiguous, open to interpretation, operates on multiple layers, and yes is intentionally unknowable

An hour plus of a calm voice telling me Sephiroth's story is just a win.

Jenova’s influence over people really reminds me of hive mind entity where instead of being each person she can influence those with weak wills or jump into them and use them as an avatar for her monstrous forms.

Your video essays are so intriguing and you transition so smoothly between each topic! This gave me a lot to think about how the Remake series is writing Sephiroth. I'm hoping you'll do another one of these when the Remake series is over!

Everyone always blames Nomura for the wackier final fantasy stories but that's not true, he gets his jollies off with Kingdom Hearts. No, it's Nojima who we need to look to for the real storyteller. I'm glad he is writing the remake trilogy so there is consistency with all the characterizations, when you include all the compilation you see Sephiroth constantly trying to reinvent himself, his ego never accepting being less than the best.

I think your great bret the way you offer content that is different and makes gamers appreciate their favourite protagonists and antagonists while expertly dissecting characters and plots by using literary principles as an english major i really enjoy your content and wait for every video keep it up and love from egypt❤

This was truly fascinating. Thank you for the upload

Fantastic video! Very much looking forward to the one covering Cloud!

Fantastic Video! I'm really looking forward to your Cloud character analysis as well. The Identity crisis element is the real key to understanding what made the Cloud vs Sephiroth rivalry so compelling beyond just the classic Hero vs Villain tropes. It's what really makes Sephiroth the hero's shadow in this story. (Something that I think the Compilation and Remake titles have lost along the way.) You don't see this aspect of Sephiroth discussed as much, but I feel that it's absolutely CRITICAL to understanding him as a villain. Pre-Nibelheim he is led to believe that he's just "special". That he earned his status through his superior battle prowess. He was just so much better than the rest. He was practically untouchable, and he and everyone else knew it. But at this point, we can still see this as primarily Shinra's fault. That by treating him with such importance and high status that they massively inflated his ego. However... During the Nibelheim incident he's confronted with the possibility that he actually might just be an experiment. That he might not have earned his status as the greatest SOLDIER ever purely through superior talent and skill. That he may have been genetically engineered to be that way from birth. This moment shattered his identity, but lucky for him, he found professor Gast's (inaccurate) research that allowed him to believe that he and Jenova were Cetra. Something that would allow him to claim that he was not just superior to all of his peers, but to all of humanity. Basically, when confronted with the idea that he might not be "the best of the best" based on his own efforts, he latched on to the first piece of evidence he could find that would still allow him to believe he was superior to everyone else... and then he instantly made that his new identity. And then he does the exact same thing, AGAIN, when he drifts through the life stream and sides with Jenova. But this time it's a new justification that allows him to believe he's not just superior to all of humanity, but all living things in the world. As he decides to absorb the very essence of their being into himself. Like a Vampire sucking the life blood of an entire world. It's just very clear to me that even if you see certain aspects of Sephiroth's origin story as sympathetic/tragic, the real purpose of him as a Villain is to be a symbolic representation of completely unchecked ego/Narcissism. In contrast, when Cloud's identity is shattered by Sephiroth at the Northern Crater, the only way he can recover is when Tifa eventually helps him to pick up the pieces. With her encouragement he's able to remember and accept that he never made it into SOLDIER, that he wasn't special or superior compared to his peers. He had to check his ego and accept himself for who he truly was. The sad part is that Sephiroth didn't have someone like Tifa in his life at that critical moment who could relate to him and steer him back on the right path. So he ultimately chose the path of Ego/Selfishness, because that's how he was raised to be. I believe this is what actually gives the Cloud vs Sephiroth rivalry it's thematic depth. (Which imo has been lost in the Sequels/Remakes). When faced with the idea that their sense of superiority was built on lies, one of them kept clinging to the idea that he must still be superior to others somehow, and became the villain. But the other acknowledged that his feeling of superiority was just masking his insecurity, and he accepted his own weaknesses as a part of his identity and became the hero. And in the end, the weaker one who was actually able to check his ego surpassed the stronger one who couldn't accept anyone else as an equal. But I feel like this core thematic point has been lost on like 80% of the fanbase due to the characters' portrayals in the Compilation, Kingdom Hearts, and Remake media. So many fans getting into FF7 now just seem to think: "Sephiroth has always been obsessed with Cloud since he lost to him at Nibelheim 5 years ago. He wants his revenge. So that's why they have to fight all the time." The original story concepts and themes have become obfuscated and confused with all the Compilation/Kingdom Hearts/Remake stuff. Videos like yours are very important analysis of how the story was originally portrayed and intended. Thank you!

Fantastic video. Despite spending a lot of time analyzing this video, this video provided some insights, perspectives, and theories I had never heard before. Looking forward to your video on Cloud!

Damn, I love your analysis videos. Can’t wait for the next one!

Great video! I really enjoyed your breakdown of Sephiroth. I am excited to see you analysis on other characters and your thoughts to how it pertains to each character in Rebirth.

I forgot how absolutely fantastic your style of documentary psychological analysis what have you is. After this I'm going to go back and re-watch that Metroid Prime video

this is a very well made video dude! it's cohesive and from someone who has never gotten into this franchise, you managed to grab my attention and keep it for the entire hour lolol i can't wait to see your video on cloud, but for now i'll check out your stuff on the last of us :] 10/10 video and channel, can't wait to see you grow!

I first subbed for the Last of Us essays. Now your covering my all time fav? Let's freaking go dude!

I was like 1 hour video, crazy. But hell I finished watching without skipping. Incredible detail and thoroughly explained. Thank you so much. I really like Sephiroth because I see him as a victim of Shinra. He was treated as an asset instead of human. He had no life outside Shinra, no family or so isolated. So eventually he would snap with enough pressure.

Absolutely fantastic job, dude!!

I've always loved the irony of Sephiroth believing he has no home town, and then proceeding to burn his home town to the ground.

I personally believe that the theory of Jenova being a Sin Spawn is correct. One that somehow escaped the destruction of Sin itself. In that case it's likely that Sephiroth overpowered Jenova due to being sapient. The Sin Spawn themselves are clearly no more intelligent than most animals. As is depicted in Final Fantasy 10, Sin is on the same level as humans (which is obvious given it's origin) and the Sin Spawn act on instinct alone.

*"I have never seen a villain use identity before"* [against the hero] Ahem, Darth Vader? He reveals his identity as Luke's father to make Luke question himself and his mentors whom he trusted, so that Luke will be susceptible to the Dark Side. In Return of the Jedi, he uses Luke's relationship with his sister to goad Luke into attacking him. Identity is at the core of Darth Vader's character (he's a man who cast off his former life and name and wears a literal mask to hide his true face from the world), and his struggle with Luke, whose entire journey is about trying to atone for the sins of the father. I'm surprised this example didn't occur to you, given the many obvious similarities between Sephiroth and Vader, not to mention the references to Star Wars in Final Fantasy VII itself!

My head canon on why Sephiroth also has his break is his sudden close proximity to Jenova

Great video! Just one thing: @40:00 Nibelheim isn't the first time "Sephiroth" shows himself on the present day. Before that, he appears in the Ship from Junon to Costa Del Sol before taking off.

You've got a great storytelling voice. I enjoy the videos you make.

I cannot remember where I first saw it, but I remebr seeing Cloud and Sephiroth's artwork for the game and I was immediately intrigued. Playing through the first time, seeing that flash back terrified me when I was younger. I can really appreciate the mystique and symbolism he carroes with him. A one-winged angel of death.

What an amazing video! I absolutely loved this. Your long-form analysis is always just *chef’s kiss* and I’ve been on such a Final Fantasy VII fix lately, so this perfectly hits the spot! Out of curiosity, what music plays about 29 min in when you’re describing Sephiroth building his new identity?

I have completed FF7 many times since 1997. And I still love to listen to these hour long synopsis videos 😍❤️ Thank you for your effort

Still a big fan of you outro music, nothing better to end a deep analysis then twilight princess after boss music. Well done

You earned a new sub...keep going!

Very cool video! Looking forward to the cloud one

Should mention in regards to Shinra. They aren't 'more powerful than the government'. They are the government. The security that serve in Midgar is Shinra's private military. In this way, Shinra is basically a Corporatocracy.

Can NOT wait for one of these videos, about KEFKA

One other thing that wasn’t really mentioned as much in this video is Advent children. That film along with “on the way to a smile” novel really set up a lot with Sephiroth, just being a permanent force in the world. Even after his massive defeat, he is still such a huge and dangerous threat if he ever shows up. Which is why I’m loving the story stuff going on in the remake series

I really like listening to your analyses and after covering Final Fantasy, I'm practically praying that you'll cover the Persona series someday as the characters and themes of those games would make for interesting videos.

This is wonderful. It made my day

Thank you for making this video...epic

Your analysis videos are so educational

I've always thought the finer points and information like Sephiroth's gradual loss of sanity were lost on me playing the original; something avout the translation just didnt make it explicit enough for me lol, but this video covers it very well! Thank you!

Well constructed and insightful video, 👏 well done sir

I’m about halfway through Rebirth atm so this was really interesting to reflect on. The new game makes it easy to question my recollection of the original game, this made it clear why certain story beats are hitting in particular ways. It’s impossible to compare them without being extremely vague or ruining it for everyone so I’ll just leave it there but yeah, this was helpful.

How could you not bring up his theme song just to prove the point how powerful he is.

This was brilliant 👏

Brilliant analysis. Thanks!

MewTwo: This path you walk. Vengeance. You will find no peace. I know.

Thanks for your video brother.... amd now I am a subscriber