Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Plot Analysis Written by: Squall of SeeD/Glenn Morrow Version: Omega First Compiled: September 16, 2005; Last Updated: January 24, 2006 ***UPDATE***: For personal reasons, I'm going to be retiring from Final Fantasy theorizing and speculation as well as pretty much anything related to it. Take care everyone. ****NOTE****: As of January 24, 2006 no future updates for this document are planned or intended. I will not be adding analyses of Before Crisis or Dirge of Cerberus to this document. As such, in the next few days when Dirge of Cerberus is released in Japan, this document will no longer serve as a completely comprehensive guide to the various plots in Final Fantasy VII's corner of the universe. To anyone who wishes to take that task upon themselves, I wish you the best of luck, and you may feel free to reference anything from this guide that is necessary to the completion of your work, provided, of course, that proper citation and reference -- including a link -- are given to this document. All that said, I would like to say that -- in all the time I've spent writing these things -- I haven't enjoyed these games and their related works as I should have. It can be fun to do, analyzing stories, but some people -- myself being the greatest example -- can take these things grotesquely out of proportion, and -- in so doing -- fail to just ENJOY a game, book, or movie for the entertaining materials that they're intended to be. If you become too wrapped up in picking something apart, you're not going to be able to appreciate it for the work of art it is intended to be when viewed as a whole. I say this from a -- sadly -- great deal of personal experience. This message is addressed to everyone who reads this, but most of all, to whoever it is out there who might be considering carrying the plot analysis torch into Before Crisis or Dirge of Cerberus -- or any other work of entertainment for that matter. Remember to enjoy these works for what they are. Discussing them with friends or even strangers on forums can be fun, sure, and that's all part of the experience, and, yeah, sure, I even encourage you to get into a debate here and there -- hell, maybe even a knock-down-drag-'em-out fight once or twice -- but remember to enjoy these things. Life's too short and there's just far too much to experience and to partake of to spend all of it picking apart works of fiction. On that note, also -- and I can't stress this enough -- remember to enjoy LIFE ITSELF and try to experience as much of it as you can. Don't become too bogged down in so much of this STUFF period, even if you are taking these works of fiction for the purely entertaining value for which they're intended. Don't take so much of it to heart. And, hey, if you have been doing that? So what, okay? It's not the end of the world. You're still alive and kicking. You can do something different tomorrow if that's what you want to do. And, if you have been doing that, also don't be ashamed of it. Don't be ashamed of any work that you have done and don't beat yourself up for things you feel like you could have done better. Don't focus on the past. Think about how you can make tomorrow better. If you take anything from any of this stuff to heart, take the one ideal of Final Fantasy that its creator sought to illustrate: Life's about experiences, about making memories. The more you do and experience, the more you grow, and the more the world around you grows. We're all part of a big interrelated environment that's about that: Growth. Call it a web, or a ship, or a zoo if you want to, but just do it. The most important thing in life is showing up for it. -Glenn "Squall of SeeD" Morrow January 24, 2006 NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE FILM AND THE ORIGINAL GAME IN THIS DOCUMENT. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU HAVE EITHER A) PLAYED FINAL FANTASY VII AND SEEN THIS FILM, OR B) DO NOT CARE FOR INTEGRAL ASPECTS OF THE PLOT OF EITHER BEING REVEALED TO YOU PRIOR TO PLAYING AND VIEWING THESE TITLES. NOTE THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS WRITTEN WITH THE ASSUMPTION IN MIND THAT ONE HAS PLAYED FINAL FANTASY VII AND WATCHED FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN TO COMPLETION. THERE WILL ALSO BE MINOR SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY VI, VIII, IX, X, X-2, X-2: International+Last Mission, Tactics, Tactics Advance, Unlimited, and The Spirits Within WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT. :Contents: -1) Purpose -2) Frequently Asked Questions -3) Theories and In-Depth Analysis -Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children 1) The Origin of the Silver-Haired Men 2) How Sephiroth was Able to Return in Advent Children 3) The Origin of the Shadow Creepers 4) Sephiroth: Gone Forever? 5) The Final Battle Between Cloud and Sephiroth was not a Hallucination 6) Sephiroth Formed His Masamune Out of Thin Air 7) Symbolism in Advent Children -Final Fantasy VII 1) The JENOVA Thesis -Explanation of JENOVA and its Goal -Explanation of the Powers of JENOVA -Explanation of Sephiroth's Identity -The Roles of JENOVA and Sephiroth: The Puppet Master Theorem -Explanation of Just Who Cloud Really Was -Cloud Was Not a Failed Clone -The Sephiroth Clones are not Genetic Duplicates of Sephiroth -The Purpose of the Sephiroth Clone Experiment -The Sephiroth Clone With a "1" Tattoo Did Not Take on Sephiroth's Form, Nor Did Sephiroth Have Such a Tattoo Himself -The Sephiroth Forms Encountered Throughout the Game are Pieces of JENOVA 2) The Identity of the Voice in Cloud's Head 3) It Had Been Five Years Since Cloud Was Last in Nibelheim with Tifa 4) Explanation of the Lost Identities of the Black-Cloaked Sephiroth Clones, And Why Cloud Didn't Lose His Own 5) Zack Is Not The Man In The Pipe In The Slums of Midgar 6) Vincent Is Not Sephiroth's Father 7) Aerith's Death Wasn't Necessary in Order to Summon Holy 8) Aerith Did Not Sacrifice Herself 9) Explanation of the Behaviour of the WEAPONs 10) The Battle During the Game's Ending was a Real Conflict 11) Why Holy Failed and the Truth About the Lifestream's Role in Saving the World 12) The Cetra are not from Another Planet 13) The Promised Land Revealed 14) The Cetra Were Really Nomads 15) Bizarro Sephiroth and Safer Sephiroth: What they are 16) What Did Hojo Do to Red XIII? 17) Explanation of the Sphere Cloud Sees During The Ending of Final Fantasy VII 18) Contrasting Cait Sith No. 1's "Death" With Aerith's 19) All that Remained of Sephiroth's Body After His Fall Into The Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor Was its Torso 20) Vincent Does Not Have a Prosthetic Arm 21) Are Spira and Gaia Connected? 22) Analyzing the Storyline of Final Fantasy VII Based on Its Symbolism -Bonus Essay- Spirit Energy and Memories: The Magic of Final Fantasy -4) Acknowledgements (1) --Purpose-- The purpose of this document is to shed light upon and -- offer analysis of -- the storyline of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the CGI sequel to Final Fantasy VII, the Square-Enix RPG released in January of 1997 for the Sony PlayStation game console, as well as its predecessor, the original Final Fantasy VII. (2) -Frequently Asked Questions- The first part of this document is a list of frequently asked questions concerning the film (hey, this IS an FAQ after all) and their answers. They're seperate from the main body of the article as they are questions with definite answers that also happen to be very short. No theorizing required for these. The questions that require theorizing will be further down. Note that much of the information in this FAQ comes from the Director's Commentary included with the Advent Children DVD. Those that are of my own devising will have "-SoS-" placed beneath them. *Question (hereafter abbreviated "Q"): What was the name of the form of Bahamut that Kadaj summoned? *Answer (hereafter abbreviated "A"): Bahamut SIN (also romanized as "Bahamut SHIN"), or "Bahamut TREMOR." The prefix and suffixes in the names of the alternate Bahamuts come from old Japanese fighter planes. For instance, Bahamut ZERO is "Bahamut REKISHI" in Japanese, and NEO Bahamut is "KAI Bahamut." *Q: Why wasn't Cait Sith's Moogle Toysaurus in the film? It doesn't show up in the present or in the flashback to Final Fantasy VII's last battle. *A: The Toysaurus was left out due to the amount of extra time and work that would have been required to render it into the film. *Q: What does the wolf that appears at Zack's place of death, Aerith's church, and the City of the Ancients symbolize? *A: It's a symbol of Cloud's guilt and regret. As a result of being unable to do anything to save Aerith and Zack, he blamed himself for their deaths. The symbolism of the wolf also works in regard to the expression "lone wolf," as Cloud has chosen to live away from others while he awaits death from Geostigma. Continuing this line of symbolism, Cloud wears symbols of a wolf's head and his motorcycle is named "Fenrir," the name bore by Loki's wolf child in Norse Mythology. *Q: What is the name of Cloud's new sword? *A: "First Tsurugi," or "First Sword." *Q: What is the name of the Limit Break that Cloud used to finish off Sephiroth? *A: "Choukyuu Bushin Hakazan Version 5" is its name. One of the more accurate translations of the term is "Super Ultimate War God Champion Slash." "Choukyuu Bushin Hakazan" was the name used for Cloud's original ultimate Limit Break, and this was localized as "Omnislash" in English. Therefore, one can call this new Limit Break "Omnislash Version 5." The suffix "Version 5" was added, by the way, because the form of the attack seen in the film was the fifth version of the attack that they developed to use in that scene. *Q: What were those dark clouds that Sephiroth called forth before his battle with Cloud began? Some of them even had tendrils. *A: It was something of a negative Lifestream, composed of the Spirit Energy of those who had died with Geostigma. Their Spirit Energy became corrupted by the influence of JENOVA's Cells and was, thus, under Sephiroth's control. *Q: What is Geostigma? *A: "Geostigma" is the name given to the side-effects of an internal struggle between JENOVA's Cells and one's own Spirit Energy, gifted to them at conception by the Lifestream. These side-effects result from the Spirit Energy causing one's body to basically over-tax itself in trying to expel JENOVA's Cells from within. These side-effects consist of extreme fatigue, open sores on the surface of the skin, and discolouration of the skin. It is actually these negative side-effects that contribute to an individual's death rather than the presence of JENOVA Cells alone. -SoS- *Q: How did people the world over become infected with JENOVA's Cells? *A: When the Lifestream spread over the world at the end of Final Fantasy VII, it unintentionally carried JENOVA's remains to the population. JENOVA's body had been blown apart inside the Planet and its pieces fell into the Lifestream. -SoS- *Q: Didn't Tseng die in Final Fantasy VII? I recall Elena saying to Cloud "...you really got guts doin' my boss in like that!". *A: Obviously Tseng didn't die since he is present in the film sequel. While the PlayStation version of Final Fantasy VII released in North America certainly made it seem that Tseng had died due to Elena's statement, this was, in fact, a major mistranslation, and was corrected with the PC version in which Elena says "...you really got guts messin' my boss up like that!". Also notable is that if one speaks to the wounded Tseng in the Temple of the Ancients after he has given Cloud and company the Keystone, he will say "I'm... still alive...." Apparently, while Cloud and the others were inside the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng was discovered badly wounded and rescued. Despite his massive wound, he survived. That Tseng was discovered before the Temple of the Ancients became the Black Materia would actually explain how it is that the other Turks would have known about Tseng being injured in the first place. -SoS- *Q: Didn't Rufus die in Final Fantasy VII when Diamond WEAPON blasted his office? *A: As with Tseng, no, Rufus obviously didn't since he is present in the film sequel. Rufus is never explicitly identified as dead, though Heidegger, Scarlet, and Reeve all assume it to be the case. Though injured when he was engulfed in the explosion that enveloped his office, he certainly did not die. -SoS- *Q: What were the names of the Silver-Haired Men's weapons and what kind of weapons were they? *A: -Kadaj's weapons- The Souba (a double-bladed katana) -Yazoo's weapons- A Velvet Nightmare (a double-barreled gun designed to look like two swords set side-by-side) -Loz's weapons- A Velvet Nightmare (a double-barreled gun designed to look like two swords set side-by-side) The Dual Hound (a pile bunker designed to function as a stun gun) -SoS- *Q: Do the Velvet Nightmare weapons function as swords as well or only as guns? *A: They function only as guns. While Yazoo does use his Velvet Nightmare to block Cloud's sword during a fight, the weapons lack an actual blade. Both the official North American and Japanese Advent Children websites state that the Velvet Nightmares lack any sword function: (Yazoo's profile on the official North American Advent Children website) "A youth who is unbound by worldly matters and thus a bit of an enigma. Yazoo carries the 'Velvet Nightmare,' a firearm designed after two parallel swords, but with gun functionality only." -SoS- *Q: Could the title of "Gunblades" be given to the Velvet Nightmares as it was to Squall and Seifer's weapons in Final Fantasy VIII? *A: No. The Gunblades of Final Fantasy VIII only function as swords. The Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania Guide states that the gun mechanism on those weapons merely is used to rupture shells in the "firing" chamber, producing a vibration along the length of the weapons' blades. Here follows a translation of the Gunblade section of the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania Guide: (Translated by DarkAngel) "GUNBLADE Combining the sword with a standard shotgun’s mechanisms, the Gunblade is a unique weapon. If you pull the trigger while the bullet is "set," a strong wave of power will travel down to the edge of the blade, raising the attack power of the Gunblade. By pulling the trigger at the right time, one can release a powerful attack; however, achieving competency in usage of the Gunblade is very difficult and therefore requires a high degree of aptitude." Apparently, the first Final Fantasy character to carry sword-gun hybrids that are fully functional as boths swords and guns will be Vice, the leader of the Deep Ground SOLDIERs in Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus. -SoS- *Q: What did the pink ribbons worn by Marlene and the members of AVALANCHE represent? Also, where did each person wear their ribbon? *A: They wore the ribbons to represent remembrance of Aerith and their bond with one another. -Where the Characters Wore their Ribbons- Cloud: Left bicep Tifa: Left bicep Yuffie: Left bicep; also had one on her Shuriken Cid: Left bicep Barret: Left wrist Red XIII/Nanaki: Just above the bangle on his left forepaw Vincent: Right forearm Cait Sith: Middle of his left arm Marlene: In her hair -SoS- *Q: Is the city Cloud and Tifa live in Midgar? *A: No. The city is called "Edge," named as such because it was built adjacent to Midgar from random scrap and ruins of the original city. -SoS- *Q: What was that rain that Aerith brought which cleansed people of JENOVA's Cells and disintegrated Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz? *A: It was a representation of Aerith's Great Gospel Limit Break which would completely heal party members in Final Fantasy VII. As far as what it was in plain terms, the rain was Lifestream mixed with water. When looking at the hole that Kadaj blasted into the floor of Aerith's old church, one can clearly see the Lifestream mixing with water: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/LifestreamWater.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/LifestreamWater2.jpg While this answers what the rain was, it still leaves this question: "Why didn't Aerith use it sooner?". -SoS- *Q: Why was Rufus in that wheelchair and wearing that white sheet? *A: Basically, he was putting on an act. He enjoyed the attention for one thing, had fun with it for another, and the sheet also served to keep JENOVA's remains concealed. -SoS- *Q: Which Limit Breaks are used in the film? *A: -Cloud- (Note that the following Limit Breaks are used in this order of appearance) 1) Blade Beam (against Loz's earth-moving attack in the Sleeping Forest and against Sephiroth) 2) Braver (against Bahamut SIN; this was the attack Cloud used when he knocked Bahamut SIN down the first time) 3) Climhazzard (against Bahamut SIN; it was this attack which Cloud used to defeat the Dragon) 4) Finishing Touch (against Kadaj; used when knocking him off the building they fought upon, at which time Kadaj loses his Souba) 5) Omnislash Version 5 (against Sephiroth; this was the attack that he used to defeat him) (Note: Each time Cloud uses one of his Limit Breaks, Spirit Energy can be seen surrounding his blade or being channeled through it immediately beforehand.) -Barret- Big Shot (against Bahamut SIN) -Tifa- (Note that the following Limit Breaks are used in this order of appearance) 1) Beat Rush (against Loz) 2) Somersault (against Loz) 3) Meteodrive (against Loz) 4) Meteor Strike (against Loz) -Aerith- Great Gospel (against JENOVA's Cells, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz) -SoS- *Q: What Limit Break is it that Cloud uses during his fight with Sephiroth that leaves three diverging slashes on the roof of a building? *A: It was Blade Beam. As was the case in the original game, Cloud can focus several small beams in different directions instead of channeling a single large beam if he so wishes. This can be seen in the original game by using Blade Beam in a fight against multiple enemies. After the target of the main beam has been struck, the remaining enemies will then be targeted by several smaller beams that the main beam will divide into. -SoS- *Q: Does Sephiroth's Masamune not draw blood, as is said to be true of the legendary Masamune in the real world? Would this explain why Aerith didn't bleed when Sephiroth skewered her in Final Fantasy VII? *A: Sephiroth's Masamune definitely draws blood. The sword's blade can be seen soaked in the blood of various Nibelheim villagers, including Tifa's father, in Final Fantasy VII: Last Order, and in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, there is blood on the blade after Cloud pulls it out of his shoulder. The lack of blood flow from Aerith's wound in Final Fantasy VII was possibly due to the developers wishing to avoid the game receiving a more mature rating, or, perhaps, simply for artistic purposes. -SoS- *Q: Who is Zack? *A: Zack was a First Class member of SOLDIER, Shin-Ra's elite miltary force. He left his hometown of Gongaga nine years before the main events of Final Fantasy VII at the age of 15 in the hopes of joining SOLDIER, and succeeded, becoming among the best of the best, second only to Sephiroth. He also had a relationship with Aerith Gainsborough, though this was cut short at the age of 18 when he was assigned to journey to Nibelheim with Sephiroth to investigate problems with the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor. That ill-fated\ journey, would, of course, end with Nibelheim in ruins, most of its villagers dead, Sephiroth and JENOVA's head vanished from Shin-Ra's eyes, and Cloud and Zack -- along with the other survivors of Sephiroth's massacre -- Hojo's captives for experimentation. Zack and Cloud would spend the next four years as Hojo's captives, eventually, Zack breaking free of his confinement and freeing his friend Cloud, as well. He and Cloud journeyed back to Midgar, though Zack would be gunned down and killed on a bluff that overlooked the city, while Cloud was left for dead, as well, expected to expire due to his deteriorating state brought on by Hojo's experiments. However, it was Zack's psyche -- unshattered by Hojo's experiments due to his acceptance of himself -- that kept Cloud from losing his sanity, as it gave him an anchor to reality, a point upon which to focus. As a result, Cloud adopted much of Zack's habitual traits and would later strongly remind Aerith of Zack, clueing her in to the fact that not all was right with Cloud. -SoS- *Q: Who is Aerith? *A: Aerith Gainsborough, the last Cetra, is the daughter of Shin-Ra's Professor Gast, and Ifalna, a Cetra that Gast met sometime between his discovery of JENOVA, and the eight years that followed. She was born in Icicle Inn, where her mother and father had gone into hiding from the Shin-Ra after Gast realized his mistake in identifiying JENOVA as an Ancient and conducting experiments using its cellular material. Gast left the organization, though whether or not this was before or after meeting Ifalna is unknown. Unbeknowest to Gast and Ifalna, Hojo had discovered their whereabouts on the northern continent, though he let them go unbothered for quite some time. This was because he wanted to give them time enough to conceive a child together, giving him not just Ifalna, but another specimen to study. The child, of course, was Aerith, and when she 20 days old, Hojo stormed into Ifalna and Gast's home with Shin-Ra soldiers flanking him. Hojo intended to take the family -- Gast included -- back to Midgar for study. However, Gast fought back and was shot and killed. Ifalna and Aerith then became Hojo's captives for study. For the next seven years, they were in his custody until they managed to escape from Shin-Ra. Badly wounded during the escape, Ifalna entrusted Aerith's care to Elmyra Gainsborough with her dying breath, her last words being "Please take Aerith somewhere safe." Aerith then spent the next fifteen years being raised by Elmyra. During this time, Aerith's Cetra abilities often manifested themselves, allowing her to not only sense that the spirit of Elmyra's dead husband had attempted to come visit her before it was returned to the Planet (at the time, Elmyra wasn't even yet aware that her husband was dead), but also to discern the cries of the Planet, hear her mother's voice speaking to her from the Lifestream, and to manipulate the flow of the Planet's Spirit Energy and grow flowers in the church in the Slums of Sector 5, despite Shin-Ra's use of Mako Reactors rendering the entire area within -- and much of the area surrounding -- Midgar inhospitable for growing plants. At 22 years of age, Aerith met Cloud Strife, a mercenary hired by AVALANCHE to aid in the destruction of Shin-Ra's Mako Reactors. They would meet once in the aftermath of Mako Reactor No. 1's destruction, and a second time after Reactor No. 5 was destroyed, Cloud being lost in the explosion and falling from the Upper Plate of Midgar to the Slums below. Rather than landing randomly in the street or into a pile of scrap, Cloud's fall deposited him through the roof of Aerith's church and onto the flower bed below. Aerith would soon after ask Cloud to be her bodyguard and protect her from Shin-Ra (in exchange for one date), and Cloud agreed. In a strange twist of fate, Aerith would find that the habitual traits and cocky attitude that Cloud exhibited were essentially identical to those of her former boyfriend, Zack, a member of SOLDIER that she had not seen in five years. Aerith knew that something was wrong with the situation, and that the person Cloud believed himself to be was not the person he actually was. She was unable to fully explore this matter, however, nor the matter of the ever-deepening love triangle that formed between herself, Cloud, and Tifa. Tragedy would strike Aerith's life and those of all who knew her. After Sephiroth revealed his plan in the Temple of the Ancients, Aerith could feel herself being guided to the Cetra's Ancient City on the northern continent. She knew not what awaited her there, only that she was being led to a secret that could possibly combat Meteor. Once Aerith arrived there, she learned that the White Materia she had inherited from her mother, a relic she had formerly believed to have no function, was actually the Materia that would allow one to connect to the Planet to bring forth Holy, the ultimate White Magic Spell, the only Spell which may stand against Meteor, the ultimate Black Magic Spell. While praying to the Planet on an altar in the Ancient City, Aerith was unexpectedly impaled on Sephiroth's sword as a shapeshifted piece of JENOVA descended from above. Aerith's life ended and her spirit quickly departed, leaving sorrow and anguish to those who had known her. However, there was some cause for joy, though her grief-stricken companions were unaware of it for some time. Before Aerith's life was taken from her, she had successfully connected to the Planet and activated Holy. It was being held back by Sephiroth's will from within the Planet, but the Spell was, nonetheless, active and ready to stand against Meteor if it could only be released. This task fell to her friends once they discovered that Aerith had left them with hope to save their Planet. The surviving eight members of AVALANCHE journeyed to the centre of the Planet, confronted Sephiroth and the extraterrestrial "Crisis from the Sky" named "JENOVA," and managed to defeat them. With these foes overcome, Holy was free to make its stand against Meteor, which was now directly over Midgar and bearing down upon it. Despite Holy being released, it had been held back for too long, and as it struggled against the ultimate destructive Spell in the skies over Midgar, their clash was damaging the surrounding area. Holy was no longer able to realize its full potency after being held back for several weeks, and Meteor was stronger. Not only was Holy's furious clash with Meteor damaging Midgar and the surrounding area of the Planet, but Meteor was actually winning, seemingly rendering Aerith's final act, AVALANCHE's desperate attempts to carry out Aerith's plan, and Holy's own efforts futile. This was not to be so, however, as Aerith's spirit was able to guide the Lifestream to arise from within the bowels of the Planet and converge on Midgar, its many emerald-coloured strands colliding beneath Holy and rising up into it, adding enough strength to the Spell for it to stand equal with Meteor. With the strength of the two Spells equal, and recognizing the concept that the equal but opposite positive force applied to a negative force will negate both, the White and Black Magic Spells were rendered sterile, canceling one another out and saving the Planet. Even in death, Aerith's heart was ever with her friends and the people of Gaia, and it was her that delivered them salvation in their darkest hour. -SoS- *Q: Who is Denzel? *A: Denzel is one of the orphans afflicted with Geostigma taken care of by Cloud and Tifa. He had previously been the son of a Shin-Ra employee living on the Upper Plate. When Shin-Ra destroyed the Sector 7 Support Pillar, Denzel's mother and father were inside Sector 7 at the time and were killed in the subsequent disaster. He was taken in by a kind woman and the two looked after one another until Meteor's descent, when the Lifestream flooded across Midgar. Acting as an accidental catalyst, the Lifestream had carried the remains of JENOVA's destroyed body to the population of the world, and as it's tendrils passed through them, the JENOVA Cells within took hold. Many -- including the woman who taken in Denzel -- died shortly thereafter, while others, like Denzel, would only become infected later. This infection of JENOVA Cells would result in the widespread maladay known as "Geostigma." Over a year later, after living with other orphaned children and fending for himself, Denzel would be discovered by Cloud and Tifa, who would then take him into their care. For more on Denzel, refer to the novella entitled "On the Way to a Smile." -SoS- *Q: What is the Planet's name? *A: While it's often believed that Final Fantasy VII's Planet doesn't have a name, it, in fact, is named "Gaia." This became evident at the 2004 Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), when the Square-Enix booth gave away pamphlets concerning Advent Children that refer to the Planet as "Gaia." Here is a scan of one of those pamphlets: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/AdventChildrenE3Handout. jpg With this in mind, recall that in Final Fantasy VII, the frozen area that must be scaled to reach the Northern Crater is called "Gaea's Cliffs." Depending on the phoenetic values one is recognizing, "ae" and "ai" can have the same pronunciation, and such spellings as this are often interchangable as far as accuracy goes when translating. In other words, an alternate spelling for the name of that location on Final Fantasy VII's Planet is "Gaia's Cliffs." The name of the Planet is most certainly "Gaia." -SoS- *Q: Is Vincent immortal? *A: Yes. After being killed by Hojo approximately 23 years before the original game began and then being brought back to life through his experimentation, Vincent's aging stopped. He's now immortal, retaining the youth he had at 27 years of age even two decades later. -SoS- *Q: Is Vincent undead? *A: For all intents and purposes, yes. He was murdered by Hojo when he was shot approximately 23 years before the original game began. However, Hojo's experimentation brought him back to life as an immortal with extraordinary strength and powers. -SoS- *Q: How old was Sephiroth? *A: While no official materials have offered an exact age for Sephiroth, it can be roughly determined -- very roughly, I'm afraid -- due to information in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega Guide. It's stated that Lucrecia gave birth to Sephiroth 25 to 30 years before the original game began. Thus, Sephiroth was 20 to 25 years old during the Nibelheim incident, and 25 to 30 years old during the main events of the original game. Due to Sephiroth having died at the end of Final Fantasy VII and due to him technically not being alive again until Advent Children, two years later, his age should technically still be considered as 25 to 30 years during Advent Children. -SoS- *Q: How old is Vincent? *A: As with Sephiroth age, no exact age has been offered for Vincent. However, unlike with Sephiroth's age, Vincent's age can be almost exactly determined due to the time of Lucrecia's disappearance. According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega Guide, this event occurred approximately 23 years before the main events of the original game, as did Vincent's murder at Hojo's hands and the subsequent experimentation that Hojo conducted on Vincent which revived him but left him ageless. We know that Vincent was 27 at the time of his death and subsequent revival, placing him at approximately 50 years old in the original game (48 to 52 years old using a 2 year margin of error), and approximately 52 years old in Advent Children (50 to 54 years old, again, using our margin of error). -SoS- *Q: How old was Zack? *A: Zack was 18 years old during the Nibelheim incident, 22 years old at the time of escaping from the Shinra Mansion with Cloud, and 23 years old at the time of his death shortly before the main events of the original game began. This information has been confirmed by Final Fantasy VII: Last Order which shows a case file on the Nibelheim incident with Zack's profile including the information that he was 18 years of age during the incident. -SoS- *Q: How old is Denzel? *A: Denzel's age as of the present day in Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile -- Case of Denzel is 10 years old. It is said that the Meteor incident occurred four years before this, placing Denzel at 8 years old in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. -SoS- *Q: Can Vincent fly? *A: Apparently he can fly short distances, yes. Considering how reserved and focused all of his movements are, however, it may be that he doesn't employ this ability for extended periods of time to prevent bringing on his transformations. -SoS- *Q: Can Cloud fly? *A: Not anytime he wants to like Vincent, but he does fly briefly when performing Omnislash Version 5 on Sephiroth at the end of the film. This is theoretically something that anyone could do via a surge in their Spirit Energy (what we know as a "Limit Break"), and we do witness Aerith's staff levitating a few times in the original game while she performed some of her Limit Breaks or casted Spells. While he can't fly anytime he wishes, he can jump VERY high. When jumping during earlier scenes, notice that his momentum putters out shortly before his landings. He isn't flying at those points, but his jumps are impressive to say the least. -SoS- *Q: Who is Cloud truly in love with? Aerith or Tifa? *A: This is a matter deeply mired in personal opinion, and that is exactly how Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, and Kazushige Nojima intend to leave it. There is no answer to this question due partly to the fact that the player's choices influence who Cloud's affection is greatest for in the original game, and due to the film intentionally offering no indication of who his affection is greatest for. The only truly assured statement is "He cares about them both very much." -SoS- *Q: Why does Vincent ask Tifa where he can acquire a phone when he shows up to battle Bahamut SIN? *A: After he rescued Cloud in the Sleeping Forest, Marlene asked Vincent if he had a mobile phone so that she could call Tifa, due to Cloud having lost his own during his fight with the Silver-Haired Men. Vincent didn't have one, however, and was embarassed by Marlene's reaction of near-disbelief to Vincent's lack of a phone. Further, Cloud informed Vincent that he would let him know how his attempt to find forgiveness of his "sins" went -- a matter that would likely be of personal interest to Vincent considering his own history of accusing himself of committing sins -- gesturing with his hand that he would call him. Vincent would be unable to keep in touch with Cloud and his other comrades easily if he continued to conduct himself without a phone. Therefore, he intended to buy one and "catch up with the times" so to speak. As for whether or not he ever got around to doing this, as can be seen -- or, more accurately, heard -- in Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII (a video included with Advent Children), Vincent does, indeed, acquire a mobile after the events of Advent Children. (Note: Thanks to my wife, Carys, for pointing out the multiple reasons why Vincent would likely have an interest in having a phone, beyond simply feeling embarassed at Marlene's reaction.) -SoS- *Q: Is Rufus truly reformed? He didn't even tell Cloud that he had the remains of JENOVA or that he was planning to rebuild the Shin-Ra Corporation. That seems to suggest that he had a hidden agenda. *A: Rufus' hidden agenda was merely keeping the box containing the remains of JENOVA hidden. He didn't want to in any way risk the Silver-Haired Men finding it and using its contents. He didn't even tell his Turks that he had the box with him, despite their loyalty to him. He didn't tell Cloud that the Turks found it because Cloud was being uncooperative at the time and it was obvious that Cloud wasn't going to join them. Thus, why Rufus said "Nothing... we found nothing. You don't have to worry about it." Rufus wasn't going to give Cloud that kind of information without knowing that he could count on him. It becomes obvious toward the end of the film that Rufus was truly reformed, as he makes a speech to Kadaj in which he says that he will submit to the authority of the Planet and the order of life, also adding that he and the others will be victorious over Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz in doing so. -SoS- *Q: Do Aerith and Zack's ghosts appear in the photograph of the entire team that appears after the credits of the film have rolled? *A: No, they do not. Refer to this close-up image of the photograph: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FamilyPhotographs.jpg As can be plainly seen here, they are not present. While the smudge near Cloud coupled with the support joint of the structure behind him is often mistaken to form Zack's right shoulder and face, they are not at all parts of Zack. When seeing this occur, one's mind is merely attempting to ascertain an identity to the image based on recognizable patterns. In other words, it's an optical illusion formed by one's own mind. While one may argue that this was done intentionally by Square-Enix, it should be kept in mind that this illusion really only takes form when one is looking at a smaller version of this photo rather than a close-up. For an example of a smaller version of the image, look to this: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FamilyPhotographsSmaller .png While one may still yet argue that since the image was rendered by people, whatever is there is there intentionally, and, thus, it was Square-Enix's intention that this illusion be formed, it should be kept in mind also that there are other points of light on the photgraph aside from the smudge near Cloud, and that they distort as the camera angle rotates; further still, there is a light source pointing down at the photograph diagonally from above (refer to this shot of Cloud's desk that comes before the close-up on the photograph: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/LightSource.jpg), meaning that the smudge is intended to be glare. Further yet, it hardly makes sense for Square-Enix to attempt to have an illusion of Zack present without having one of Aerith. Aerith was actually a member of AVALANCHE, whereas Zack was not. Finally, it should also be noted that both Zack and Aerith's spirits had said their goodbyes and left together before the photograph was taken. There's nothing logical about concluding that Square-Enix attempted to form such an illusion intentionally. -SoS- *Q: The box that held JENOVA's "head" was a bit small for holding an entire head. Was that what was actually in it? *A: According to Takeshi Nozue, Co-Director of the film (as stated in an interview in the Advent Children Prologue book), the contents of the box are referred to as "the head," but what the box actually contains is just the random remains of JENOVA's Cells. Of course, this might mean that some material from its head was within the box, but Nozue doesn't indicate it to necessarily be the case. They simply refer to the box's contents as "the head" for simplicity's sake. -SoS- *Q: Why does Kadaj scream out in anguish when he looks into the box holding JENOVA's remains? *A: According to the script of the film packaged with the Ultimate Edition of the film -- the one that includes the Advent Pieces collection -- Cloud's sword shattered the box further after Rufus' earlier shot and damaged some of the contents. It also goes on to say that Kadaj assumed Rufus was solely responsible for the damage rather than Cloud. Why it bothers to say this, I personally don't understand, as it wouldn't make a whole lot of difference who Kadaj believed was responsible. -SoS- *Q: What is it that Reno often adds to the end of his sentences? What does it mean? *A: He's adding "to" to the ends of his sentences. It's basically used for the same purpose that "yo" has colloquially in English: To add emphasis (example: "What's up, yo?"). That said, he phrases it differently and with different levels of relevance depending on how he does so. For example, he places "yo" before it on two occasions, both times early in the movie when speaking to Tseng. This indicates that Reno has respect for Tseng. While one should still never use something like this when speaking to a superior, as it's considered rude, the fact that Reno uses the more polite "yo" instead of its harsher, more masculine form "zo" -- which he usually uses -- when speaking to Tseng displays that he respects the leader of the Turks. (Note: Thanks to my wife, Carys, for all this information.) -SoS- *Q: What is the black substance that permeates the water at the City of the Ancients when Kadaj steps into it? *A: It was his will. -SoS- *Q: Why do Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz have the children drink the water that Kadaj's will permeated throughout? *A: This was to activate the JENOVA Cells within them, causing their Reunion instinct to take over. The idea was that the children would then be drawn to the location of JENOVA's remains, allowing the Silver-Haired Men to locate their "Mother." -SoS- *Q: "Aerith" or "Aeris"?: Which Should it be? What's the origin of this name? *A: In Japanese there are the Katakana and Hiragana alphabets, as well as the Romaji alphabet (there's also Kanji, but that's irrelevant in regard to this matter; Romaji, by the way, is basically "Englishized Japanese," an alphabet in which English characters are used to represent Japanese sounds). "Aerith" -- and, consequently, "Aeris -- is a Japanese transliteration of the English word "Earth, as confirmed by the Final Fantasy VII: Kaitai Shinsho guide: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Aerith.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Aerith2.jpg Hiragana is used for Japanese names, however, as Aerith's name isn't of Japanese origin, Katakana (the Japanese alphabet used for words that are not of Japanese origin) is used. The writing of "Earth" in Katakana is "Earisu." This is because it's standard for vowels to follow consonants in Japanese ("n" being the only exception; thus, the "i" after "r") and the Japanese language has no "th" characters, instead using "su." It will become "Aeris" as a result of writing it in romaji (again, the alphabet in which English characters represent Japanese sounds) to represent how it sounds when spoken in Japanese ("Air-reese"; the Japanese "ea" sounds akin to the English "air"). "Aerith," the official romanization of the name, should technically never occur. As it's written, it's essentially a combination of the romaji form of the Japanese transliteration of "Earth" and the original form of the word in English. It's technically impossible for this to occur in romaji because there is no "th" sound in Japanese to be represented by romaji characters. Nonetheless, it's the official romanization chosen by the creators of Final Fantasy VII as a matter of preference, and has been the cause of a senseless amount of debate among the fandom. In conclusion, "Aeris" and "Aerith" are pronounced the same way ("Air-reese") -- as both are romanizations of a Japanese transliteration -- a concept that renders the spelling "Aerith" impossible as far as the rules -- and purpose -- of romaji are concerned. In any event, "Aerith" IS the official spelling of the character's name, though the spelling SHOULD technically be "Aeris" in romaji so as to properly represent the name's pronunciation. In any event, the pronunciation should always be "Air-reese" regardless of the use of "Aeris" or "Aerith" as its spelling. All that said, there are two alternate -- and technically accurate -- names by which one could choose to refer to Aerith: 1) "Earisu," the Katakana spelling of "Earth" & 2) "Earth," the original word itself, which the Katakana spelling was intended to represent. (Note: A huge thanks goes to my wife, Carys, for this explanation of Japanese reading and writing; I made quite a few errors in my "understanding" of Japanese prior to your instruction.) -SoS- *Q: "Lockhart" or "Lockheart"? Which is actually Tifa's last name? *A: "Lockhart" (without the "e") is Tifa's last name. Though it has been published as "Lockheart" in official materials over the years, it was always in the English versions of such materials that this misprint saw the light of day. In Japanese materials, including the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega Guide -- which was compiled by Studio BentStuff and published by Square-Enix themselves, the creators and owners of Final Fantasy VII -- it is spelled as "Lockhart," indicating it to be the actual intended spelling. Just as with Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII, there is no "e" in the "hart" part of the name. -SoS- *Q: Cid's new Airship, the Sierra, bears a name reminiscent of his assistant Shera. Is there any connection there? *A: Yes. The Airship is actually named after Shera. "Shera" was a mistranslation in the original Final Fantasy VII. "Sierra" is her actual name. -SoS- *Q: Does Reeve have an official last name? *A: Yes. It's been officially confirmed to be "Tuesti" by Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus promotional materials. -SoS- *Q: Does Lucrecia have an official last name? *A: Yes. It's been officially confirmed to be "Crescent" by Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus promotional materials. -SoS- *Q: Was Aerith ever intended to be revived? *A: Perhaps the most enduring matter of speculation concerning Final Fantasy VII is whether or not Aerith was intended to die, whether her death could be prevented, and whether or not she could be revived after her death. In the case all of these metters, I will touch upon them one at a time and reveal the truth. First, to the matter of Aerith's death being preventable. It should be kept in mind that there is no alternate FMV in the scene where Aerith's death takes place. This can be ascertained easily through the use of the PC Version of the game and reading all the FMV data aon the disc, or through any computer program that can read FMV data straight off of the PlayStation game discs. Granted, perhaps there would be no FMV if she didn't die. However, in this eventuality, consider how much of the storyline would be altered if Aerith did not die: Aside from all the dialogue that speaks of Aerith in the past tense, there's the fact that if she were to live, going to speak with Bugenhagen during Disk 2 would be rendered unnecessary, going to the City of the Ancients after, as well, as would the search for what became of the White Materia, in which Bugenhagen sends the party off to find the Key of the Ancients in order to activate the Ancient Machine in the City of the Ancients. It was only after activating that machine that the party learned that the White Materia was glowing a pale green, meaning that Aerith's prayer had went through and the White Materia had already been activated. It was also the above incident that allowed them to learn that Holy was activated, but wasn't moving because JENOVA/Sephiroth was holding it back. Further, the party learns that the Junon Canon had been moved and that Diamond WEAPON was approaching Midgar while still at the City of the Ancients, which immediately preceded the battle with Diamond WEAPON, the apparent death of Rufus Shinra, and the final showdown with the Shin-Ra. This being the case, essentially the entire manner in which things play out for the rest of the game beyond Aerith's death would be altered in one form or another, with the majority of these being major changes. Also, in regard to both this matter, and the matter of Aerith being revived, consider that the ending itself would have needed to be altered, as she is not with the main party in the Northern Crater, nor on the Highwind, and only a ghostly image of her appears in the wake of the Lifestream during the ending. Considering how much of the game would have needed to be altered, it's not at all possible for Aerith to be revived -- or intended to be so in regard to the final version of the script -- while preserving the integrity of the storyline itself. Granted, it may yet be argued that in earlier versions of the script, such a revival was intended but later removed -- and it's also true that in the first draft of the script, Aerith was not intended to die at all -- that simply isn't the case and is a matter which shall be touched upon later; as far as the original draft of the script goes, this examination is focusing solely on the developers' intentions at the time of conceiving of Aerith's death. To those who may argue that GameSharks allow for Aerith to be revived, and that there are even different lines that she will say from the generic lines random other characters will say when in her place at that point (such as the "I'm sick of this" line -- which can be seen farther down -- after the snowboarding crash incident), keep in mind that GameSharks only alter existing memory that is on the discs, and that her lines are still -- nonetheless -- pretty generic, and nothing significant in regard to the storyline, nor anything necessarily Aerith-specific based on what is said. It's basically a rearranging of what is already there, not something that can unlock new aspects of the game, or be a key to unlocking the hidden parts of its storyline. Characters such as Cid and Yuffie have lines as early in the game as the Mithril Mines beyond the Chocobo Ranch, yet they're also generic lines. With this in mind, any generic lines from Aerith beyond the point in the game where she should be dead should not be regarded as significant, nor indicative of a possible -- or intended -- resurrection. It should also be pointed out that the GameSharks don't provide access to any scene involving a revival of Aerith. They simply allow Aerith's battle and envrionment map renderings to be present when they shouldn't be, just as Sephiroth can be placed into the player's battle formation, as is shown in the pictures below: (Note: The first of these screenshots ("Aerith in the snow") comes from Final Fantasy VII Citadel: http://www.ff7citadel.com/index.shtml) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/secsnow1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/sephchaos.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/BraveSephiroth_979415243 .jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/UltimaSephiroth_97941524 4.jpg This function of Game Sharks and other gamecode-hacking programs is simply to rearrange the existing code within the game. That's why one can be at the Northern Crater on Disc 1. The entire game, in terms of environment and battle maps, was placed on the first disc, but the seperate discs were needed due to the FMV sequences taking up so much space. Being that the ending FMVs on Disc 3 are longer than most all the rest of the FMVs put together, it should be obvious that there's no extra space for FMVs depicting altered versions of the ending, featuring Aerith in the Northern Crater with the party, or on the Highwind with them. In fact, Aerith being alive and being there would completely screw-up what IS in the ending, such as Cloud seeing Aerith's hand after the mental battle that occurs against Sephiroth's form, Cloud saying "An answer from the Planet... the Promised Land...I think I can meet her... there," and then Aerith appearing in the wake of the Lifestream just as Meteor was being destroyed. Further, being that there wasn't even enough space to take into account in the FMVs that the player might do something as simple as recruit Vincent or Yuffie -- due to them not being viewable in any FMVs -- it should be very obvious that no such thing would be done with Aerith in the event of a revival. For that matter, all of the FMV coding on the discs can be read and copied straight from the discs themselves with programs designed for just that purpose, and with the PC Versions of the game, all the FMV sequences on the discs could be saved straight off the discs. No alternate ending FMVs are present on the third disc of the game in either the PlayStation or PC format of any version of the game. More to the concept of whether or not such a revival was ever intended, all the game's FMV sequences, including the one in which Aerith died and the ending FMV, were all made during 1995. They were the first things that were made aside from the script that the game would follow, made even before environment maps. The game wasn't released in Japan until January 31, 1997. The FMVs were completed more than a year before the game was released, and the final version of the script was completed even before the FMVs. While it has long been claimed by many that Final Fantasy VII was incomplete, an intended resurrection of Aerith being left out due to time constraints -- and true that the original Japanese release suffered from time constraints, and despite pushing back the release date a full month to work on the game longer, they still failed to add in a pivotal scene of backstory (Cloud's flashback in the Shinra Mansion basement on Disc 3 in which remembers his and Zack's escape from Nibelheim) -- the game was completed in the half year of time between the game's Japanese release and its North American release. The additions made were on the order of the flashback sequence in the Shinra Mansion's basement on Disc 3, the boss fight against Diamond WEAPON, the two optional mega bosses (Ruby and Emerald WEAPONs), and a few other small things in regard to Materia, equipment, and items that were added into the North American release. With the exception of the first addition mentioned in the previous sentence, none of these were of absolutely pivotal importance to the main plot, yet those who have argued that the game remained incomplete even after its North American release expect for one to assume that such comparitively insignificant matters were thrust to the forefront of the developers' priorities, rather than an Aerith resurrection, which would have been a massive plot element. Common consideration of the order of priority, as well as consideration of the fact that the pivotal plot addition of the flashback sequence in the Shinra Mansion's basement render such an argument ridiculus. At this point, I wish to present the most important bit of information that argues against the notion of an Aerith resurrection having ever been intended: The proof. During an interview in the May 2003 issue of EDGE magazine, Tetsuya Nomura (Character Designer of Final Fantasy VII) and Yoshinori Kitase (Director and Co-Scenario Writer of Final Fantasy VII) speak on their respective intentions and hopes for Aerith's death, and touch upon the matter of a resurrection. Nomura, concerning Aerith's death: "Back at the time we were designing the game, I was frustrated with the perennial cliche where the protagonist loves someone very much and so has to sacrifice himself and die in a dramatic fashion to express that love. We found this was the case in both games and movies, both eastern and western. But I wanted to say something different, something realistic. I mean, is it right to set such an example to people?" Kitase's follow up to Nomura's comments about Aerith's death: "In the real world, things are very different. You just need to look around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad attached to it. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling, but a feeling of emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think 'If I had known this was coming I would have done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood." Kitase, concerning the fans' responses to Aerith's death, and the possibility of her being revived: "The world was expecting us to bring her back to life, as this is the classic convention. But we did not. We had decided this from the beginning. There was a lot of reaction from Japanese users. Some of them were very sad about it, while others were angry. We even received a lengthy petition addressed to our scenario writer asking for Aerith's revival. But there are many meanings in Aerith's death and that could never happen." Here, we have proof from one of the core creators of Final Fantasy VII that no such resurrection was ever intended, even from the inception of the concept of Aerith's death. Finally, I wish to emphasise once more that -- contrary to popular belief -- neither the Japanese nor the International Version of FFVII included an Aerith revival. As has been previously stated, the Japanese Version didn't feature as much as the North American Version. As for the International Version (re-release in Japan), it is identical to the version that North America received, with the only exceptions being a few novelty items that are available within the game (such as Johnny's Jacket), and a bonus disc that came with the game in which vehicle schematics, an item list featuring pictures of the items, and concept designs could be seen. While North America has been shafted in regard to International Releases ever since, with FFVII it did receive it in every capacity that relates to the storyline itself. It was the first and only version released in North America. In conclusion, with all the evidence born of logical reasoning, as well as the proof from the very lips of the Director/Co-Scenario Writer of Final Fantasy VII -- who also happens to be the Producer of Advent Children -- its is unquestionably fact that Aerith was never intended to be revived. Points often brought forward to argue that a revival of Aerith was intended and why they don't actually support the notion: (Note: These are taken from RTSmith005's contribution in falsehead's Final Fantasy VII Plot Analysis FAQ at GameFAQs. I've reworded the points that were made, but they still convey the same intention. Here is the URL to that FAQ: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/file/final_fantasy_vii_plot.txt) *Point: At the bottom of the Northern Crater, before going down to fight JENOVA, there's a spot for everyone to stand, but there's also a ledge that's empty where Aerith could have been intended to stand. *Response: Technically, there's more than just one spot where Aerith could have conceivably been placed. This, in and of itself, does nothing to suggest that the notion was intended by the developers. *Point: For the battle against Bizarro Sephiroth, if the player has acquired all the game's characters (this meaning including Vincent and Yuffie), they will have only 8 party members, not enough to form three full parties if prompted to do so when battling the boss. *Response: As with the matter of there being an "empty ledge" above the area of the final battles, this alone does nothing to support the notion. *Point: Throughout the game, Cloud has to make decisions that extend favoritism to either Tifa or Aerith (or Barret or Yuffie, as well), yet after Aerith's death, the matter is dropped and no longer affects anything. Surely it was intended to affect more than just who Cloud dates at the Gold Saucer. *Response: It does affect more than that. It affects the dialogue and dynamic between Cloud and Tifa when they spend the night together beneath the Highwind after Hojo's defeat and before the descent into the Northern Crater. If Cloud's affection value for Tifa is high to moderate, their dialogue will be much more indicative of a close relationship and strong feelings for one another. If Cloud's affection value for Tifa is low, however, the dialogue will be rather one-sided in regard to affection, with Tifa being openly affectionate toward Cloud, while he seems to have little in the way of strong attachment to her. Screenshots, as well as a script comparison of the matter, can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/ffviilovetriangle/LastNight.htm (Note: This webpage is part of the website known as "Destiny Fulfilled" (http: //www.geocities.com/ffviidestiny/) and is in no way the product of my own labors.) *Point: Aerith's ultimate weapon, the Princess Guard, has only seven single slots for Materia and gains AP, whereas every other character's ultimate weapon has eight slots consisting of four linked segments, and with none of them gaining AP. This would suggest that this wasn't really intended to be her ultimate weapon. *Response: If the player were to suddenly acquire a weapon for Aerith that was far superior to the other weapons for her in terms of its flexibility, specifically if it gained no AP, that could possibly convey that this was intended to be her ultimate and final weapon, thereby prematurely conveying her imminent permanent departure from the party. *Point: Aerith's Umbrella weapon has a higher attack power than her ultimate weapon, the Princess Guard, yet every other character's best weapons have a higher attack power than any of their other weapons. This could also suggest that this wasn't really intended to be her ultimate weapon. *Response: Again, if Aerith were to suddenly acquire a weapon far superior to her other weapons in every regard, that could possibly convey that this was intended to be her ultimate -- and, thus, her final -- weapon, prematurely conveying that Aerith's permanent farewell would be soon. *Point: When the player acquires Aerith's final Limit Break, in all likelihood, she is already dead, as one essentially must know what they have to do to acquire and make use of it before her death, and must go out of their way a great deal to do so, spending a large amount of time in order to actually make use of it. This would somewhat suggest that the player has it before they should. *Response: But the fact remains that the player can have it before Aerith's death by making use of the Buggy supplied by Dio, riding it into Costa del Sol and returning to the Midgar continent, then fulfilling the requirements for obtaining a piece of Mithril, and later giving it to the Weapon Seller east of Gongaga in exchange for the Great Gospel. Further, the player can make use of it before Aerith's death provided that they raise her Limit Break levels to the point that the Great Gospel item can be used to teach her this final Limit Break. The fact that she can get it before her death and use it completely undermines this point in regard to reviving her. Further, consider that if Aerith were meant to be revived, or were meant to remain alive, that -- with her final Limit Break -- the latter Boss battles of the game would be made ridiculously simple. While true that it takes a great deal of time to actually acquire and make use of it before Aerith's death, it's simply an extra challenge for players to take on during the course of the game. *Point: In front of the steps up to the altar where Aerith dies in the City of the Ancients, there is a doorway in the background that cannot be reached. Programmers usually don't waste the time and effort to put stuff like that in a game if there's not supposed to be a way of reaching it or going through it. *Response: Final Fantasy's programmers pretty much always have done that. For that matter, they do it in VII on more than one occasion. In the first few minutes of the game even, there's a doorway right behind the first Save Point in the Mako Reactor that AVALANCHE blows up, yet one cannot pass through this doorway. The programmers even bothered to render doors that can be opened into small rooms that contain absolutely no items and where no cutscenes take place, such as what appears to be a storage room in the inn of Sector 6's Wall Market. One can merely open the door and take about one step forward before they can't go any further. Things like this are just there to give the player the feeling of actually being in a real world. The same is true of that doorway in the City of the Ancients. If all we ever see or interact with/in is all there ever was shown to be, it would be somewhat more difficult to immerse oneself into the fictional world of the game, as this would remind them that they are playing a game. *Point: If one looks at the floor of the altar when Cloud is almost forced to kill Aerith, there is a spiral staircase. While it's possibly intended to be the reflection of the spiral staircase above, the glass dome around the altar Aerith is kneeling on should already be reflecting it. There must be another staircase beneath the altar. *Response: There obviously isn't. Compare this picture of the support column of the altar to the reflection on the floor when Cloud stands before Aerith: http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/AerithFacingtheStairs.jpg http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/AerithandCloudintheCityofthe Ancients2.jpg Most obviously, the spiral staircase is too wide to go down through that column, and when considering what its depth would be in regard to that reflection, it would be far enough down that it would already be below the point of the column where it became narrow. For that matter, Aerith's death scene and that environment map are riddled with mistakes as it is. Depending on the version one is playing, when approaching the altar, she either has her back to the stairs or is facing them. In any event, when Cloud gets up there and holds his sword above her, she's facing the stairs. As the FMV of her death begins, she is still facing the stairs. When the Sephiroth form descends, it isn't wearing gloves, nor is there a glass dome around the altar any longer. When Aerith is skewered, not only is the Sephiroth form now wearing gloves, but the stairs are behind both Aerith and the Sephiroth form. When the FMV ends, the Sephiroth form is now facing the stairs and there a glass dome around the altar once again. One more mistake added to that list is hardly a surprise. *Point: There are solo FMV shots of each character in the game manual or on its cover. All of these actually do occur in-game or realistically could have (Tifa sitting on the well in Nibelheim, Vincent sitting atop the Shinra Mansion and looking across Nibelheim, Yuffie overlooking Wutai from atop Mt. Dachao, etc.), yet the shot of Aerith depicts her looking at the Highwind at a close distance. When Cloud first saw the Highwind at such a distance, Aerith was not with him. Further, Aerith is dead before Tifa, Barret, and the others steal the Highwind later in the game. Also notable is that she's wearing a white skirt here instead of her pink one. This is a heavy indication that the developers intended to revive Aerith. *Response: Aerith isn't wearing white in that FMV shot. She's wearing her standard outfit. The manner in which the light shines on her makes it appear as though she is wearing a white skirt, however, the pink hue of her skirt can still be easily observed: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/Ae rithandtheHighwind.jpg As far as it having never occurred in-game goes, that's hardly to be taken as an indication of the developers' intentions. For that matter, the FMV shot of Barret Wallace involves him holding Marlene while standing in Aerith's church. That hardly could have taken place during the course of the game, as Barret doesn't see Marlene during the game after leaving her in Elmyra's care, nor would the church have looked the same if the scene had taken place after the game due to the damage rendered to Midgar and the church during Meteor's descent (as can be seen by comparing shots of the church during the game to shots of the church in Advent Children): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/Ba rretandMarleneinAerithsChurch.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/Ae rithsChurchinAdventChildren.jpg Supposing that Barret saw Marlene the day after Shin-Ra was defeated, he would have gone to Kalm to see her and not to Midgar anyway. While one may argue that Barret and Marlene had visited the church before the game unfolds, that's rather going out on a limb, as it's never suggested and needs to be kept in mind that Midgar is vast in size and the odds of Barret having taken Marlene for a stroll through the dangerous city to Aerith's church before they even knew Aerith is unlikely. For that matter, just because Aerith wasn't with Cloud when he saw the Highwind doesn't mean she couldn't have gotten as close to it as he did. The other members of AVALANCHE had to find a way up to the upper level of Junon somehow, after all, and we're not told much of what they did or saw on the way, with the only exception being that we're told that Aerith DID see the Highwind: (On the Shin-Ra Cargo Ship) A soldier "Umm.... It's me, Aerith." Aerith "Hey, Cloud. Did you see the Airship at Junon?" Cloud "...I heard it was big, but I didn't expect it to be THAT big." Aerith "That was REALLY something." *Point: From a conversation between Cloud and Tifa rather late in the game, there's foreshadowing of a possible resurrection of Aerith, as Tifa speaks of Aerith having always been one to speak of the future: Tifa "I wonder what Aerith felt... when she was on that altar...?" Cloud "I'm sure she wanted to give her life for the planet..." Tifa "Really? I wonder? I don't think that's it at all." "I think she didn't think she would die at all, but that she planned on coming back all along." "She always used to talk about the 'Next time'." "She talked about the future more than any of us..." *Response: The point here was not that Aerith had intended to die and return, or that the developers intended her to do so. She, indeed, had no idea that she was going to die, which is why she spoke of the future and of coming back when things were finished with Sephiroth. Based on the aforementioned interview in the May 2003 issue of EDGE magazine, we can determine that the point of this scene was to emphasise the realistic nature of death: It's unexpected and there's no time to prepare for it: Yoshinori Kitase on the Subject of Aerith's Death: "In the real world, things are very different. You just need to look around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad attached to it. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling, but a feeling of emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think 'If I had known this was coming I would have done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood." *Point: Probably the strongest piece of evidence toward the truth of this matter is that when you go back to Aerith's church on Disc 3 of the game after getting the Key to Sector 5 in the Bone Village, you'll see her ghost appear briefly. This is obviously part of a side quest that wasn't fully completed. *Response: That "ghost" will actually appear even on Disc 1 while Aerith is STILL ALIVE, appearing in the same manner as it will on Disc 3 and disappearing just as quickly. One can return there after Aerith has been kidnapped by Tseng on Disc 1 and see the image the same as they can later in the game. For that matter, the children in the church say nothing which would suggest the presence of Aerith in any form. At best, it's simply Cloud's memories. (Note: Much more information concerning the "ghost" phenomenon can be found at Final Fantasy VII Citadel (http://www.ff7citadel.com/secrets/sa_church.shtml), the first site to list the discovery of Aerith's "ghost" being visible in the church on Disc 1, and also the only known site with documentation of discoveries of the "ghost" made by hacking the game's code. My thanks to Canadian Ninja for bringing the presence of the "ghost" on Disc 1 to my attention.) -SoS- *Q: Did the Death of Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mother Inspire Aerith's Death? *A: No. One of the most common misconceptions concerning Final Fantasy VII is that the death of the mother of Hironobu Sakaguchi (Executive Producer and story conceptualist of Final Fantasy VII) inspired the death of Aerith, or that she was originally intended to be resurrected, yet his mother's death inspired the development team not to bring her back to life. In either case, this is wrong. This belief most often arises from a misunderstanding -- or misinterpretation -- of an interview Sakaguchi had with PlayStation Underground in 1997. In the second issue of the quarterly CD publication, an interview with Sakaguchi was included in which he touched upon various poins concerning the production of Final Fantasy VII. While answering the question "Are there any new themes in Final Fantasy VII?" he answered with the following: "When we were creating Final Fantasy III, my mother passed away, and ever since I have been thinking about the theme 'life.' Life exists in many things, and I was curious about what would happen if I attempted to analyze life in a mathematical and logical way. Maybe this was my approach in overcoming the grief I was experiencing. This is the first time in the series that this particular theme actually appears in the game itself. See if you can spot it!" Where a misunderstanding arises from this is that -- either intentionally or accidentally -- someone at some point in time replaced "Final Fantasy III" with "Final Fantasy VII" in Sakaguchi's response, thus resulting in him having been misquoted many times over the years. Sakaguchi's mother most certainly did not die during the production of Final Fantasy VII. She died in 1988, during the production of Final Fantasy III, as Sakaguchi suggested in the actual transcript of the interview. Of this we can be certain, as Sakaguchi wrote the foreword to The Making of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (published in 2001), and stated that it had been 13 years since he lost his mother. Here follows proof concerning the book: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TSWBookTitlePage.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/BookCopyrightPage.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/13Years.jpg One conceivable explanation concerning the misquoting of Sakaguchi over the years is that some people may have confused the Final Fantasy III that Sakaguchi was talking about with the game that was released in North America as "Final Fantasy III" (Final Fantasy VI). Thus, the rumour may have taken off from there, with people thinking that Final Fantasy VII was the next Final Fantasy made after his mother's death. Finally, it was not Sakaguchi at all who came up with the concept of Aerith's death. It was Character Designer Tetsuya Nomura, tiring of the cliched dramatic deaths that were so commonplace in Eastern and Western game in film, usually involving self-sacrifice. With Final Fantasy VII, both Nomura and Yoshinori Kitase (the game's Director) -- whom Nomura passed the idea on to -- wanted to say something about death that was realistic and final, empty rather than dramatic, depressing instead of awe-inspiring. Thus, it was, that the idea was not even Sakaguchi's. He merely approved it. -SoS- *Q: What is written on the plaque on the helmet JENOVA wears in the Nibelheim flashback? *A: It varies from one version of that scene to another. Thus far, there have been three different versions of the writing on the plaque: 1) In the original game FMV showing the plaque, it said the following: "JENOVA MADE IN HONG KONG ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1996 SQUER COMPANY LIMITED" 2) In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the plaque said this: "JENOVA |µ|-Era 19591010 ?? |µ|-Era 19670702 ??" or "JENOVA Discovered Middle-Era October 10, 1959 Sealed Middle-Era July 2, 1967" Notes on this: -1-The plaque bears two dates. The first is "19591010," or "October 10, 1959." The second is "19670702," or "July 2, 1967." -2-In the inscription, the two Japanese Kanji characters at the end of the first line form "Hakken," Japanese for "Discovery," and the two Kanji at the end of the second line form "Fuuin," Japanese for "Sealed." In other words, the plaque bears the dates of JENOVA being discovered and of it being sealed in the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor. -3-In the inscription, the character between the two vertical bars at the front of both lines is the lowercase of "Mu," the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet. This character was often used to denote "Middle" as it is the twelfth of twenty-four characters in the Greek alphabet. For an instance of its use in this manner, were one to see the following arrangement of Greek letters, "Mu" would denote "Middle": "Alpha-Mu-Omega" In other words, the dates are from the "Middle-Era." Also worth nothing is that the Greek letter before "-Era" on the monument in the city of Edge in Advent Children is "Nu," the thirteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. 3) In Final Fantasy VII: Last Order, the plaque bore this inscription: "JENOVA STRICT SECRECY SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY SECTION SHIN-RA COMPANY LIMITED" -SoS- *Q: Did the Blue WEAPON that Attacked Junon Have a Name? *A: Yes. The official name of the WEAPON that attacked Junon is "Sapphire WEAPON." This is known due to the official toyline featuring a small toy of the WEAPON, it including a character card clearly entitled "Sapphire WEAPON": http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/Sa pphireWEAPONToy.jpg Likewise, the official Japanese Square-Enix site's toy section refers to the WEAPON's toy as "Sapphire WEAPON" (check the toy on the top-right): http://www.square-enix.co.jp/shop/goods/ff_s_creatures_4.html Finally, various official materials released over the years have referred to the WEAPON as "Sapphire," these materials ranging from the Final Fantasy VII Kaitai Shinsho game guide released by Famitsu/Aspect, to Final Fantasy VII trading cards. -SoS- *Q: Are the WEAPONs alive or are they robots? *A: While Ultimate WEAPON at the least is most certainly made of metal and bears a distinctly cybernetic-looking core in its chest, it should be noted that the WEAPONs are referred to as monsters in-game, and that they were created by the Planet rather than constructed by Homo Sapiens. It should further be kept in mind that if such creatures in the game as the Hell House monster or the Dorky Face are to be taken as living creatures, then simply because one or more of the WEAPONs might be made from materials that one typically doesn't associate with living creatures -- especially when those creatures were created by the Planet (the Lifestream), the source of life -- doesn't mean that those creatures are necessarily non-living. The Planet likely used the raw materials (natural resources) that composed the physical material surrounding the Lifestream to make its automated defense system of monsters that came to be known as "WEAPON," and then imbued Spirit Energy (the energy of life) into these physical materials. -SoS- *Q: Did JENOVA come to the Planet on Meteor, on a regular meteorite, or did it simply smack into the Planet with its own body? *A: According to Chapter 5 of "Maiden Who Travels the Planet," a short novella starring Aerith (featured in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega Guide), JENOVA came to the Planet on a normal meteor, and it was this impact which produced the Planet's great scar that is known as "the Northern Crater." -SoS- *Q: Just what DID that "Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!" line early in the game mean? *A: Translated literally from Japanese, the line would be "Eye increase as for this there is no simply a power plant!" Obviously, "Eye increase" became "Watch out!" and "...as for this there is no simply a power plant!" became "This isn't just a reactor!" As far as the context of the situation goes, "Open your eyes!" or "Take notice!" would work better in English than "Watch out!", as this was the first of many attempts by Cloud's subconscious to get him to remember the truth of his past (for more on that, refer to the "The Identity of the Voice in Cloud's Head" article in the "Theories and In-Depth Analysis" section of this document). Note that the next time Cloud is in that same area of a Mako Reactor, he has a flashback (the first of several) to Tifa cradling her father's dead body in Nibelheim's Mako Reactor. To clarify, the voice is telling Cloud that as far as the Reactor's personal significance to him goes, it is more than just a place that supplies electricity ("This isn't just a reactor!"). -SoS- (3) --Theories and In-Depth Analysis-- -Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children In this section, we will examine the larger points of speculation and debate concerning Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, as well as address some analytical matters of the work. It is my hope that these articles will bring a greater appreciation of the title to others, as they have to myself. 1) -The Origin of the Silver-Haired Men (Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz)- The most hotly-debated aspect of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the CGI (computer generated imagery) film sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII, concerns the origin and nature of Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, commonly referred to as "the Silver-Haired Men" (or "SHM" for short) by the fandom of Final Fantasy VII. Most often misinterpreted as being part of the Sephiroth Clone project that Hojo conducted five years before the main events of the original game, or as being individuals that were genetically altered with JENOVA's Cells prior to birth the same as Sephiroth was, I will here explain the true nature of these three enigmatic young men. The official translation by Square-Enix used the term "Remnants of Sephiroth" to refer to Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz. While this is an accuarate term, it's somewhat inconclusive. It lacks the complete context of just what the three are. The Japanese term used for the three is "Shinentai," which literally means "Thought" and "Physical body." It is most commonly used to identify spirits that manifest a physical form to remain in the world due to the need or desire to fulfill some unfinished business from their lifetime. The word has this connotation because the thoughts (spirit) of the deceased individual in question manifest into a physical body. When examining the matter of the Shinentai in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, we should keep in mind just how ever-present a force the Lifestream -- and, consequently, Spirit Energy -- happen to be, the point here being that Spirit Energy (spirits/souls) are an authentic aspect of the nature of the story's world, easily leaving open the door for a concept such as Shinentai to be present. As Bugenhagen once said, while the cycle of Spirit Energy theoretically functions in the manner that when a living life form dies, its Spirit Energy/soul/spirit returns to the Lifestream, only for this energy to be placed into a newly conceived life form, "there are exceptions." A Shinentai would be a very obvious exception to this "rule." The point being made here is that what we witness with Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz is an actual illustration of the concept of Shinentai at work. The Silver-Haired Men are -- quite literally -- "Spirits of Sephiroth," or "Shinentai of Sephiroth." They are his thoughts made manifest into physical bodies through Spirit Energy. When Sephiroth was defeated by Cloud at the end of Final Fantasy VII, his consciousness was absorbed into the Lifestream. However, Sephiroth's will is -- as was said by Tetsuya Nomura in The Distance: The Making of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children -- above all and second to none. He refused to allow himself to be absorbed into the Lifestream to simply become a memory. As such, his consciousness -- as it dispersed through the Lifestream's Spirit Energy -- contaminated the surrounding Spirit Energy with his will, and he then made himself manifest once more, though he was now divided into three seperate entities, all with seperate aspects of his consciousness, and, thereby, their own unique personalities. For evidence of this, we can first look to their appearances. Like Sephiroth, they all had silver hair, green cat-like eyes, and wore black leather outfits. Further notable is that they were all left-handed. Sephiroth led with his left arm when fighting, often swinging using just his left arm, but never just his right. Even when holding the hilt of his sword with both hands, he was leading with his left. When not swinging the sword and simply holding it, it was always in his left hand with this hand close to the blade, clearly establishing his left hand as his dominant hand. With Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, their left hands also dominated the use of their weapons. Kadaj fought the same as Sephiroth, using his left arm to swing, even choosing to use just his left arm in the Sleeping Forest and later when holding the box containing JENOVA's remains in his right hand. Yazoo used his left hand for holding and firing his Velvet Nightmare, and also when using the gun to parry Cloud's sword strikes. Loz's Dual Hound was on his left arm, and he also used his left hand to fire his Velvet Nightmare when firing at Cloud alongside Yazoo in the Sleeping Forest. We further find evidence of this concept with the Silver-Haired Men's ability to summon and control the Shadow Creepers, beings that are also made manifest from Spirit Energy that has become tainted by Sephiroth's will. When Cloud and Sephiroth have their final confrontation near the end of the film, Sephiroth summons a large dark cloud in the sky. This "negative Lifestream" as Nomura called it consisted of the Spirit Energy of those who had died due to Geostigma. Their Spirit Energy had become corrupted by the JENOVA Cells present in their bodies, causing it to not only take on this dark appearance, but also to be subservient to Sephiroth's will, as well as that of his Shinentai. The Shadow Creepers take form out of the very same style of dark mist as the negative Lifestream, and likewise disperse back into it when defeated or dismissed. Further still, we find yet four more inferences of this concept. The first is when Kadaj places the Bahamut SIN Materia into his left forearm. Dark mist -- like that of the negative Lifestream -- rises from the spot on his arm as the Materia sinks into it: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/DarkMist.jpg This unnatural composition of the Silver-Haired Men would further explain how it was that these three were able to absorb Materia into their bodies in the first place. For the second of these final inferences concerning the Silver-Haired Men's origin, we will now look to when Kadaj steps into the lake in the City of the Ancients. A dark cloud disperses from him, contaminating the water in the same manner as Sephiroth's will contaminated countless amounts of Spirit Energy: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Contamination.jpg Next, we shall look to the moment when Kadaj takes JENOVA's remains into his own body, absorbing it directly into his torso. At this time, we once again see dark mist rise from Kadaj's body: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Assimilation.jpg Finally, note that when Kadaj dies, his body dissipated by Great Gospel, it disperses into green Spirit Energy, the natural colour of Spirit Energy, no longer black as had been the mist that arose from his form on previous occasions: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Salvation.jpg The Spirit Energy of which his form was composed had been cleansed. We also see this process underway with Yazoo and Loz after Kadaj's death. While it might be also seem possible that the Silver-Haired Men could have been formed of Sephiroth's consciousness as dispersed throughout JENOVA's Cells (due mainly to their instinct for the Reunion, as well as the fact that Aerith's Great Gospel dissipated them just as it did the JENOVA Cells within Cloud and the other victims of Geostigma) and transformed from them, thus making the three be entirely composed of that viral tissue, it should be noted that they didn't feel anything actually drawing them toward JENOVA, unlike the Clones in Final Fantasy VII, and unlike the children in Advent Children. In fact, it was for the purpose of locating JENOVA's remains that the Silver-Haired Men took the children afflicted with Geostigma and activated the JENOVA Cells within them. They were to essentially be used as bloodhounds that would lead the Silver-Haired Men to their "Mother." This is why Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz believed JENOVA's remains to be buried beneath the Midgar memorial statue in Edge, as the children had formed a circle around it. Regarding the matter of their instinct for a Reunion with JENOVA's Cells, due to the three being Sephiroth's divided consciousness -- and with Kadaj making it clear that the three felt an instinctual drive to become whole and could also feel the will of Sephiroth himself -- as well as desiring the affection and approval of a mother, this matter is easily explained in that Sephiroth's will would wish for them to join with JENOVA's remains, thus granting him a means to manifest himself directly once again, and they would personally desire to please JENOVA, believing joining with JENOVA's remains to be the means by which to do that. As for them being survivors of the Sephiroth Copy Project, that is most certainly not the case as none of the individuals involved in that experiment had silver hair or green cat-like eyes; they looked just as they always had, only now with the glow in their eyes that comes as a result of being infused with Mako. For evidence of this, look to Cloud and the Clone branded with the "2" tattoo, who can be seen early in the game in the Slums of Sector 5 resting in a pipe: Cloud's hair was blonde and his eyes were blue, and Clone 2's hair was black and his eyes were brown: http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Clone2.jpg Further notable -- at least as far as the concept of them being JENOVA-Homo Sapien hybrids like Sephiroth -- is that they're never mentioned in Before Crisis or the original Final Fantasy VII. If President Shinra had them lounging around his headquarters when Sephiroth was unavailable during Episode 7 in Before Crisis, he would have called them in instead. However, the individual he requested was Zack, the SOLDIER considered second only to Sephiroth, even taking Zack off the mission he had been sent on with Sephiroth to handle the current situation. Even Shalau Rui and Azul from Dirge of Cerberus have made appearances in Before Crisis, so it would be absurd to conclude that such important characters as the Silver-Haired Men would have gone unmentioned if they existed back then. With all this in mind, recall that Shinentai are not at all a foreign concept to Final Fantasy. In fact, in Final Fantasy X and X-2, there are numerous Shinentai encountered throughout the game, though we were introduced to such individuals as "Unsent." These were individuals who were dissatisfied with their deaths and could not peacefully go to the Farplane where their Spirit Energy (Pyreflies) could "deposit" their memories and then be used once again for granting life to living beings. Powerful emotions coupled with their strong wills kept these individuals' spirits bound to the physical realm, even allowing them to manifest physical bodies for themselves that were fully capable of physical interaction directly from their Pyreflies. For all of the individuals' who became Unsent, there was a case of unfinished business to attend to, just as the concept of a Shinentai would imply. For that matter, the concept isn't foreign even to Final Fantasy VII. Several individuals from Beginner's Hall in Sector 7 who died when the Slums were crushed beneath the Upper Plate can be found in the Respectable Inn in Junon, their curiosity having prevented them from peacefully returning to the Planet. Another example of such a concept can be seen with the vengeful spirits of the Gi Tribe. Their hatred of the people of Cosmo Canyon allowed them to remain present in the living world and to even manifest forms capable of physical interaction. The hatred these spirits bore for the still-living people of Cosmo Canyon and their subsequent manifestation as monsters is reminiscent of the Fiends of Final Fantasy X and X-2, the malevolent spirits of the dead who came to evny and hate the living. Yet another example of Shinentai is found with the spirits of some Cetra within the Temple of the Ancients, their spirits having remained behind to protect the Black Materia. Recall that Aerith said that those were the "spirit bodies" of the Ancients; once again, "Shinentai" translates to "thought" and "body," the mind/consciousness being synonomus with the spirit in the Japanese way of thinking. Therefore, in conclusion, when Sephiroth's body was dismembered, his Spirit Energy unbound from it, and his will (thoughts) absorbed into the Lifestream, his will contaminated that Spirit Energy it came into contact with, allowing him some measure of control over that energy while he resised the Lifestream's attempt to absorb him, resulting in his divided consciousness manifesting into the three Silver-Haired Men known as "Kadaj," "Yazoo," and "Loz." It is for this reason that they are called "Shinentai of Sephiroth," or "Remnants." His thoughts (will) contaminated some Spirit Energy of the Lifestream, and his powerful will allowed him to pull out of it and manifest physical bodies for the personalities his divided consciousness took on (Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz). The context of the term "Shinentai" clearly establishes the three as something\ that remained of Sephiroth's thoughts and manifested from them, and with this kept in mind and then consideration given to the inferences of the Silver-Haired Men's bodies being composed of negative Lifestream, we can conclusively determine that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz were essentially Shinentai of Sephiroth in the traditional sense: They were physical manifestations of his will through contaminated Spirit Energy. Points Often Brought Forward to Suggest that the Silver-Haired Men were Surviving Sephiroth Clones from the Sephiroth Copy Project or Individuals Who Were the Result of Exactly the Same Experimentation as Sephiroth, Along with Responses to these Points: *Point: The Silver-Haired Men are given age-ranges on the official Advent Children website under their profiles. Yazoo and Loz are said to be in their twenties, and Kadaj is said to be a teenager. With this in mind, they certainly can't be only two years old or younger. They must be survivors of the Sephiroth Copy Project or other Homo Sapien/JENOVA hybrids. *Response: The official website is a promotional tool, which is obviously not intended to reveal the finer aspects of the story, and, therefore, only states the age-ranges that the three would appear to fall under. While true that ages aren't even given for Denzel, Marlene, or Zack on the official website, despite us being aware of their ages through other materials part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (Denzel is 8, Marlene is 6, and Zack was 23 at the time of his death), yet age-ranges are given for Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj, it should be kept in mind that in the past, Square-Enix has intentionally published erroneous and even outright false information to prevent leaking spoilers, or to mislead players of their games into thinking one thing up until the point that another was revealed as truth during the game itself. This was done with the Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania Guide regarding certain information about the Temples of Yevon and the nature and origin of Sin. That in mind, the very context of the term "Shinentai" establishes that the Silver-Haired Men are not normal people. This word establishes that they're something that took form from that which remained of Sephiroth's thoughts. Considering the context of the word, plus the contaminated Lifestream that the three are seemingly composed of, plus Sephiroth's assimilation into the Lifestream at the end of Final Fantasy VII, we have the explanation for the Silver-Haired Men's origin right in front of us. The only "inconsistency" this leaves is age-ranges on a promotional website that's obviously not supposed to give away the story to begin with, and would intentionally mislead viewers if necessary in order to maintain the integrity of a plot point's revelation. In this case, the viewers were obviously intentionally misled so as to believe that the Silver-Haired Men were normal people, rather than giving them suggestion -- or lack thereof -- enough to ponder that they may be Shinentai of Sephiroth. *Point: If the Silver-Haired Men underwent the same procedure as Sephiroth prior to birth, then they would also have the attribute that he does of their bodies being completely composed of JENOVA's Cells, and could, thus, still be in the age-ranges reported on the official Advent Children website, and it would make sense that they would dissipate when Aerith's Great Gospel touched them. *Response: While this is true, there is, however, no suggestion to this effect offered in the film's story, nor is it very logical. If the three had been around prior to Sephiroth's defeat by AVALANCHE in Final Fantasy VII, back when AVALANCHE was consistently offering problems for Shin-Ra, it makes little sense for them not to have pitted the three against the rebel group. Further notable, once again, the very context of the term "Shinentai" establishes that the Silver-Haired Men are not normal people. It establishes that they're something that took form from that which remained of Sephiroth himself, and in light of the consistent inferences to them being composed of contaminated Spirit Energy, that is the far more likely possibility. As far as their dissiptation due to Great Gospel goes, the influence of JENOVA and Sephiroth is a blight to the Planet and something to be purged; Great Gospel was used in Final Fantasy VII to the effect of complete recovery for characters in all respects, removing all negative Status Effects and fully restoring their HP and MP. While such things as Status Effects, HP, and MP are aspects of gameplay and have no place in storyline matters, the implication is obviously that the Limit Break completely purges negative influences. Considering that the influence of Sephiroth had contaminated some of the Planet's Spirit Energy, it fully makes sense for Great Gospel to purge the Spirit Energy of that negative influence. *Point: Where would the three newborn adults have suddenly acquired motorcycles mounted with machine guns (Tetsuya Nomura stated in the Director's Commentary on the DVD that the motorcycles have machine guns mounted on their fronts), their clothing, and their weapons were they Shinentai of Sephiroth? Further, where would they have acquired the skills to use their vehicles and weapons? Further still, where would they have acquired knowledge of Cloud, as well as a personal vendetta against him for what he did to "Mother"? Were they individuals that melded with JENOVA's Cells prior to birth and were also part of Shin-Ra, one can explain their battle prowess, their weaponry, and their knowledge of Cloud and his defeat of Sephiroth (or JENOVA, as they viewed it seperately from Sephiroth), and, thus, their enmity for Cloud, as well. This would also explain them having Rufus' phone number. While on the subject of their celular phones, who was footing the bill for their use of such things? *Response: Kadaj and Sephiroth both randomly spawn their clothing and weapons out of thin air. Sephiroth's Masamune simply appears when he fights Cloud because he willed it to, and his clothes replaced Kadaj's when Kadaj united with JENOVA's Cells. When Sephiroth is defeated and reverts into Kadaj, Kadaj's clothes have returned, and Sephiroth's Masamune has become a second Souba katana for Kadaj, replacing the one he lost earlier when Cloud used Finishing Touch against him. That in mind, it's hardly a mystery that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are using custom weapons and have black outfits. These things simiply manifested the same as Sephiroth's clothing and sword manifested. Note that their clothes dissipate along with their bodies when Aerith's Great Gospel hits them. For that matter, the very fact that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz's clothing would be akin to Sephiroth's suggests a subconscious connection to him. On to the matter of the trio's mobile phones, it's hardly a requirement that they were using mobile phones that required a company contract. Not all mobile phones in reality are operated through satellite relays of signals maintained by companies that charge a fee for this service. Many operate through radio waves relayed on the ground through towers connected to the landline telephone infrastructure, with no fee being charged for their use. There are many mobile phones sold that require no company contract and can simply connect to the basic landline telephone infrastructure. Regarding the Silver-Haired Men's skills and battle prowess, being that they would be Shinentai of Sephiroth, it's to be expected that they would retain some of his thoughts and/or memories, even if -- as Kadaj said -- they don't feel like they personally knew him. By Kadaj's own admission, he could feel Sephiroth, despite not actually knowing him on a personal or conscious level. Further, considering that they've inherited Sephiroth's left-handed nature, as well as his taste in clothes, his hair colour, and his eyes, it's not much of a stretch to assume that they would inherit some of his memories pertaining to battle. As for their enmity for Cloud, this would also arise from Sephiroth's thoughts. Finally, on the matter of their motorcycles, if it's plausible to assume that the three were to be individuals that underwent the same experimentation as Sephiroth, yet they've somehow alluded anyone being aware of them, mentioning them, or enlisting them to take out Shin-Ra's problems for over 20 years, then it's equally plausible, if not more so, to assume that they simply stole these motorcycles from somewhere. A brief gander at Cloud's own motorcycle shows that this world features some unique and interesting vehicles. *Point: How did Rufus & Vincent know the SHM were Shinentai of Sephiroth? Who told them? Did Sephiroth's will float down from the sky and manifest right in front of Rufus? *Response: Rufus knew because Kadaj tells him after laying a beating on Reno and Rude in the first half of the film. Vincent knew because he's good at finding things out. Notice that he's the only one to figure out what Geostigma was too (Kadaj doesn't count; he knew what it was by virtue of who and what he was). *Point: Why do the Silver-Haired Men have incomplete knowledge of Sephiroth's life and the circumstances surrounding his acquiring JENOVA's powers? All of the other Shinentai from Final Fantasy VII mentioned above have knowledge of their lifetimes (the guys from Beginner's Hall, the Cetra in the Temple of the Ancients, and presumably the Gi Tribe, as well, to some extent). As Sephiroth's Shinentai, there is little to no reason for the Silver-Haired Men's knowledge to be so selective regarding what they do and do not know. *Response: Sephiroth's consciousness was split into three. That's "A to B" explanation enough regarding the incomplete knowledge of the Silver-Haired Men. For that matter, the Shinentai in the Temple of the Ancients had forgotten how to talk and they weren't split into three. Further still, a certain Shinentai in Final Fantasy X and X-2 who knows lots of things (Maechen) had probably forgotten more about his lifetime (including the fact that he was dead) than he remembered, so Shinentai who are incomplete to start with and who have their own personalities independent of the original singular personality not knowing a few things is a perfectly reasonable occurrence. *Point: Why would the Silver-Haired Men only show loyalty to Jenova, but apparently despise Sephiroth? Manifestations of his own will should like him. In Sephiroth's spirit energy, Sephiroth's self-love and ego were in there. One would think that manifestations of his own Spirit Energy would have acquired a bit of adoration for him on top of their obsession with JENOVA. *Response: Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz know that they are Shinentai of Sephiroth. They also know that they aren't him and have their own personalities. They also believe that he might return in the event that "Mother" favours him over them. That's reason enough to dislike him right there. Children typically don't like to think that their mother favours another of her children more. As for the Silver-Haired Men's obsession with JENOVA, there's likely two reasons for this: 1. Despite the Shinentai having their own individuality, they still feel Sephiroth, something that Kadaj tells Rufus. His desire would be for the Shinentai to find JENOVA's Cells so that Sephiroth's Spirit Energy could be placed back into a body, giving him life once again. 2. The Silver-Haired Men are new life. They're two years old at the most. It's natural for life forms -- especially children -- to want a mother. Rufus says this, and it's been officially said that the theme of this movie is family. It shouldn't really need to go deeper than Sephiroth's influence playing on them and them desiring a mother to explain their obsession with JENOVA, but we also have the theme of family to drive it home even moreso. For more to consider in this regard, let's consider the psychological studies of Harry F. Harlow. In the late 1950s, he worked with infant Rhesus Monkies who -- like Homo Sapien babies -- need to be nursed and display a significant spectrum of thoughts and emotions. Harlow's experiments involved taking infant monkies from their mothers and giving them two artificial mothers, one made of wire and the other made of cloth. The wire mother was given a bottle for the infant to drink from, while the cloth mother was simply a source of warmth and comfort. The infant monkies would stay with the wire mothers no longer than was necessary in order to gain nourishment, and would then return to the cloth mother, which, rather notably, they could only cuddle with, as it was unable to cuddle them back, yet they still preferred contact with this artificial mother over the other, despite it having the means by which they would gain nourishment. Further still, when the cloth mothers were given the infant monkeys' bottles, the infants would ignore the wire mothers altogether. In other words, children desire affection. They want a mother who will give them comfort. It is a natural tendency of living things to seek this affection, and in light of Tetsuya Nomura stating in the October 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (Issue #196) that Kadaj -- and we can, consequently, include Yazoo and Loz into this description, as well -- should be regarded as a child who has not known a mother's love, the obsession of the Shinentai for JENOVA is easily explained. As far as loyalty to Sephiroth goes, were the Shinentai actually Sephiroth Clones/Copies, or even Homo Sapien-JENOVA hybrids like him, rather than Shinentai, they should be displaying such loyalties then, for sure. Considering how obsessed they are to have a mother, their willingness to accept whatever their mother decided (Kadaj concedes to dropping everything at the mere suggestion from Aerith when mistaking her for JENOVA), and their consummate desire for "her" approval, they don't exactly wreak of having a personality like Zack's (that is to say, the personality of an individual comfortable with theirself and who would thereby be strong-willed). That in mind, there's no reason they should have failed to respond to Sephiroth's call to the Reunion in the original Final Fantasy VII, and all individuals who were weak-willed and DID respond to that call were enamored of him, which the Silver-Haired Men obviously aren't (the notable exception to this being Cloud, but his was a unique case on quite a few levels). In conclusion, the three Silver-Haired Men were physical manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness as formed through the Spirit Energy of the Lifestream that his mind contaminated and became enthralled by his will. 2) -How Sephiroth was Able to Return in Advent Children- Quite simply, Sephiroth's divided consciousness (made manifest through contaminated Spirit Energy as Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz) needed to join with JENOVA's remaining Cells in order to grant Sephiroth the means to impose his will and transmogrify the remains of JENOVA into his form once again. These three Shinentai, or "Remnants," of Sephiroth then felt an instinctual urge to acquire the remains of JENOVA and merge with them. This instinct came from Sephiroth's desire to become whole once again and to unleash his vengeance upon the world, and their own desire for a mother. However, Shin-Ra, of course, interfered in this matter, the Turks recovering the remains of JENOVA from the Northern Crater before the Shinentai could. When Kadaj does finally acquire the remains of JENOVA from Rufus Shinra and melds with those remains, his body transforms into Sephiroth and became the vessel for Sephiroth's will. The reason this occurred was because Sephiroth's will was hindered by it having been previously divided and manifested seperately into Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, thus, granting the three individuals their own seperate personalities rather than them being Sephiroth himself. With what remained of JENOVA's Cells being introduced into Kadaj's system, however, and with him completely submitting hiimself to the will attached to them (Kadaj believed that will to be JENOVA's rather than Sephiroth's; he was unaware that the two were no longer seperate entities, and that, rather, Sephiroth's consciously perceiving mind had replaced JENOVA's original purely instinctual one), Sephiroth's will was able to to manifest itself directly once again. While Sephiroth only managed to complete this process with Kadaj alone due to more interference from the Turks, it was enough for him to manifest himself and his will through the bit of his consciousness that took part in the formation of Kadaj and those JENOVA Cells that had been in Rufus' possession. 3) -The Origin of the Shadow Creepers- An often-pondered question concerning the film's plot is how Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz could call forth and dismiss -- at will -- the large beasts that attack Cloud early in the movie, and are later released upon the populace of Edge, seeing as how they do this without Materia. The answer to this question lies with the negative Lifestream that Sephiroth calls forth during his battle with Cloud. This negative Lifestream was composed of the Spirit Energy of those who had died with Geostigma. Their Spirit Energy became corrupted and "JENOVA-fied," thus, it could be controlled by the Silver-Haired Men who had similar origins. Tapping into this negative Spirit Energy, the Silver-Haired Men could manifest it as the beasts called "Shadow Creepers." For evidence of this, look to the fact that the Shadow Creepers disperse into a black cloud when destroyed or dismissed, these black clouds being akin to the large swirling mass of dark clouds that Sephiroth later calls forth, as well as the dark mist that rises from Kadaj's form on two occasions (once when he places Bahamut SIN's Materia into his left forearm, and a second time when he plunges the remains of JENOVA into his chest). 4) -Sephiroth: Gone Forever?- An often-raised question concerning Advent Children is this: "Is Sephiroth forever vanquished?" The answer is... "Most likely." While as long as there are JENOVA Cells in existance, it's possible that Sephiroth's will remains on some level -- as his will once permeated all JENOVA Cells in existance -- and that he may one day return somehow. That said, it's most likely that he's been vanquished to the Lifestream for all time. As of the ending of Advent Children, a great victory has been won for AVALANCHE and for the Planet: Many of JENOVA's Cells have been destroyed. In fact, most have in all likelihood. Those that were within Cloud have been destroyed by Aerith's Great Gospel, as have all those that were spread amongst the populace of Midgar and had inflicted them with Geostigma as a result. Further still, those the world over who may have been afflicted with Geostigma would likely make a journey to Aerith's church in the ruined Slums of Sector 5 to be cured. On top of this, those Cells that composed the remains of JENOVA in the box Rufus had were destroyed along with Kadaj. It's true that Sephiroth's "body" is really all JENOVA Cells that exist, and that it shouldn't be forgotten, nor should the fact that while most have been destroyed, some small few remain in former members of SOLDIER, and the Deep Ground SOLDIERs living in the catacombs beneath Midgar. That said, how many carriers of JENOVA's Cells that there there may still be is unknown, especially in light of the former members of SOLDIER possibly having suffered from Geostigma in the two years since Meteor's destruction, just as Cloud had (recall that the Sephiroth Copy Project that Cloud was part of involved the same experimental procedures used with members of SOLDIER). With that in mind, if the former members of SOLDIER have all died, then the only JENOVA Cells remaining in existance as of the beginning of Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus (which begins one year after Advent Children ends) may be those in the Deep Ground SOLDIERs, who will themselves be Vincent and the World Restoration Organization's (WRO) adversaries in Dirge of Cerberus. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, it should be noted that Sephiroth's consciousness was unable to act through JENOVA's Cells and simply force the remains of JENOVA in Rufus' possession to go to Kadaj, whereas in Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth had been perfectly capable of controlling JENOVA Cells from all the way across the Planet. What's notable here is that throughout most of the film, Sephiroth's consciousness was divided between his three Shinentai, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, the physical embodiments of his Spirit Energy and that Spirit Energy which his consciousness leaked into as the Lifestream attempted to absorb him at the end of Final Fantasy VII. That in mind, his will was unable to impose itself through JENOVA's Cells while his consciousness was divided from them, and, further, at the end of Advent Children, the Spirit Energy of which Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz were composed is purged of Sephiroth's malevolent influence by Aerith's Great Gospel, this made apparent by them dissipating into purified green Spirit Energy rather than the black negative Spirit Energy seen several times throughout the film. For that matter, it wasn't even red Spirit Energy such as Sephiroth's had been at the end of Final Fantasy VII. What this means is that Sephiroth's own already previously divided Spirit Energy has been returned to the Lifestream, freed of his influence, where it will be diluted even further, binding Sephiroth's Spirit Energy to the Lifestream forevermore, his consciousness divided and his own individuality undone. While it's true that Sephiroth has an extremely strong will (indeed, the strongest will of all according to Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura), his consciousness had already been previously diluted by his first death and return to the Lifestream, from which he only managed to escape with his consciousness divided into three and his will not as potent as it otherwise would have been, and Sephiroth now faces his diluted consciousness being vanquished to the Lifestream a second time to be diluted further, only this time sent back seperately (there are nearly three full minutes between Kadaj's passing and the deaths of Yazoo and Loz), making his already massive predicament all the worse in the event that his consciousness was even still present by the time his Spirit Energy was sent back to the Lifestream the second time. With not even so much as tainted Spirit Energy present with Sephiroth's second -- and final -- death, his already diluted consciousness shall be diluted ever further into the Lifestream, leaving, at most, a whisper of hate and malevolence. 5) -The Final Battle Between Cloud and Sephiroth was not a Hallucination- Perhaps the greatest misconception concerning Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, is that the final battle that took place between Cloud and Sephiroth was a battle in Cloud's mind, with the actual physical battle being between Cloud and Kadaj. However, this is simply not so and I will here explain why. First and most notably, throughout the film, the Scenario Writer, Kazushige Nojima, served to offer foreshadowing toward the physical event of Kadaj becoming Sephiroth. This was done first when Kadaj spoke to Rufus in Healin, during which time he kneeled before him. Several flashes of Sephiroth himself kneeling before Rufus instead of Kadaj are shown at this time. Shortly thereafter, in the City of the Ancients, during his speech to the children afflicted with Geostigma, Kadaj's form is yet again replaced by Sephiroth's briefly at the moment he releases a wave of energy from himself. Later still, we find that Kadaj tells Rufus that should the Reunion of the Shinentai/Remnants and JENOVA's remaining Cells take place, Sephiroth will return. Finally, we find Vincent outright stating that the natural development of Kadaj's existance as a Shinentai of Sephiroth will have the end result of him becoming Sephiroth. With all this foreshadowing and these hints offered throughout the film up to the point of Sephiroth's return, one would have to conclude that Nojima-san was simply incompetent in how he wrote this story if it was not his intention that the opponent Cloud battled was really Sephiroth. This would be true, first, because the foreshadowing -- itself a literary device -- offered up to this point would be useless; second, because the manner in which the story unfolded suggested the exact OPPOSITE of this battle being a hallucination, as everyone in Edge witnessed the descent of the negative Lifestream Sephiroth called forth (the black tendril-like clouds that darkened the sky and descended on the ruins of Midgar were identied by Tetsuya Nomura in the Director's Commentary on the film's DVD as something of a negative Lifestream, composed of the Spirit Energy of those who had died because of Geostigma), and the members of AVALANCHE onboard the Sierra witnessed Cloud's victory. While one might argue that Cloud was simply suffering from hallucinations due to him having been known to suffer from mental problems in the past, those mental problems were never on the order of outright schizophrenia, perceiving stimuli that is not at all present. Cloud suffered from an identity crisis and a weak self-esteem, which further led to an inability to accept himself for who he was, not schizophrenia. Even having multiple personalities is not the same as having schizophrenia. Multiple Personality Disorder is the case of an individual having two or more\ disconnected fragments of their psyche. Schizophrenia is the condition of interpreting stimuli that isn't present, or interpreting it in a manner that is not congruent with reality. Though the term comes from the Greek for "Shattered Mind," this is in reference to the inability to properly interpret stimuli, not in reference to a fragmented psyche. Also notable is the very obvious fact that Cloud's identity and self-esteem issues were more or less repaired in Final Fantasy VII, with him even coming to accept himself for who he is, admitting his weaknesses and his true self to those closest to him onboard the Highwind. It had been this inability to accept himself for who he was that had made him weak enough to be Sephiroth's puppet in the first place, and as a result of accepting himself for himself, Cloud was able to fend off Sephiroth's will during the ending of the game. At worst, during Advent Children, Cloud is suffering from guilt and self-loathing, neither of which is exactly on par with schizophrenia. Something else worthy of consideration is the simple fact that there is no line of differentiation between reality and a hallucination produced by Cloud's mind. While one might argue that the presence of the negative Lifestream was said line of differentation, there's the obvious fact tha Sephiroth was present for a full minute before he even conjured up the negative Lifestream, and was further present for another fifteen seconds after the negative Lifestream had begun to clear. Also worthy of noting here is that after Sephiroth's defeat, Kadaj has a Souba once again, despite his having been lost a few minutes before. Kadaj's second Souba is what remained of the Masamune that Sephiroth had conjured during his appearance. The argument has also been made that the flashes of cells (represented as the flashes that occasionally appear during the movie with a blue flash) on-screen marked the line of demarcation for the beginning of Cloud's hallucination, but this argument is flawed in that such flashes occur frequently throughout the film, even when Cloud is not present. To conclude that these were the lines of demarcation between hallucinating and perceiving reality for Cloud is to conclude that many characters throughout the game were suffering similar bouts of disassociation with reality. Also notable is that Sephiroth clearly flies, something that Kadaj and even Cloud cannot do. Further still, Sephiroth is much more powerful than Kadaj. During Cloud's battle with Kadaj, it was Kadaj that was on the defensive; he was clearly outmatched. In fact, Kadaj never so much as lands a single blow on Cloud. Sephiroth, however, had Cloud on the defensive during their entire battle and landed several hits against him and would have actually been able to end the fight by running Cloud through with his sword had he chosen to skewer him in a vital area rather than in his organless shoulder. While one might argue that absorbing JENOVA's extra remaining Cells made Kadaj more powerful, granting him the ability to fly, greater battle prowess than Cloud, and even a Masamune if he so wished it, there's also the very simple fact that Sephiroth does not have Kadaj's personality. Kadaj was a conflicted, unsure boy. Sephiroth was a self-confident, stable man. Kadaj didn't even know if he would retain his own personality should he merge with JENVOA's remains. He didn't know if he would be taken over by Sephiroth or not. Nonetheless, he carried out his instinct to merge with JENOVA's Cells simply out of the hope that it might please a mother he had never known. Sephiroth on the other hand knew exactly what the results of his actions would be, what he wanted, and how he was going to go about achieving it. Sephiroth spoke and acted with confidence, even skewering Cloud through his shoulder rather than his heart, simply because he was confident enough in himself that he didn't believe he was going to lose, no matter how long he dragged the battle out, or how many chances he gave Cloud to get back up. He was intent on breaking Cloud's spirit. As he told him, he wished to give him despair; he wanted to take away what was precious to him. Kadaj, on the other hand, was desperate and would have taken an opportunity to kill Cloud as soon as it arose. On top of all that, there's also the fact that Sephiroth speaks of his goal, taking advantage of the malady known as Geostigma to achieve his plan. The Spirit Energy of those who died with Geostigma would become contaminated, and would, thus, infringe upon the positive Lifestream over time. Basically, the Spirit Energy of those who died due to Geostigma would become "JENOVA-fied," granting Sephiroth dominance over that Spirit Energy. Eventually, he would have enough of this Spirit Energy bent to his will that he could use it to assimilate the rest of the positive Lifestream. With all this in mind, there's absolutely no indication that Cloud was hallucinating. All indication points to what viewers of Advent Children witnessed as the final battle having been the true final battle. The idea that Cloud was experiencing a hallucinogenic battle with Sephiroth while actually fighting Kadaj requires assuming many things, none of which have any support: 1) That the Scenario Writer offered continuous foreshadowing and hints that Kadaj would become Sephiroth -- even going so far as to have Vincent outright state that Kadaj's natural development as a Shinentai of Sephiroth would have him become Sephiroth -- but never went anywhere with the idea in reality. 2) That Kadaj gained the ability to fly. 3) That Kadaj somehow gained a completely different personality, lost his aggressive and desperate drive to take Cloud out at the earliest available time, and suddenly gained a confidence boost as though he had spent a lifetime in therapy, but despite all this, was still himself... and that he then reverted into his old unsure, desperate-to-get-to-talk-to-Mother self after Cloud beat him. 4) That Cloud conjured up a goal for Sephiroth who he wasn't even fighting. 5) That Cloud conceived of a negative Lifestream in the first place, and that the Director would bother to mention this in a manner that suggests it is part of what actually took place in the film, not in a manner that would suggest it to be the line of demarcation between reality and insanity. 6) That Kadaj falls out of the sky, inexplicably losing his ability to fly after being wounded by Cloud. 7) That Cloud and Kadaj had an apocalyptic, epic showdown that we don't get to see. 8) That the Writer was a moron. While one might argue that things in a story can be interpreted any number of ways even despite a lack of support, this applies to themes, symbols, subtext, and other subtleties. This does not, however, apply to events that are explicitly illustrated or stated to have occurred. Interpretations must fall in line with what has otherwise been presented as fact, not distort or alter it to fit the interpretations themselves. 6) -Sephiroth Formed His Masamune Out of Thin Air- A common question concerning Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children pertains to how he acquired his Masamune before his battle with Cloud began. Some have concluded that Kadaj landed in the vicinity of his Souba (his double-bladed katana) that he dropped a moment before, and that Sephiroth then used Kadaj's Souba to block Cloud's strike, and that he then transmutated the Souba into his Masamune. Seemingly, support for this notion would come from the fact that when Sephiroth is defeated and he disperses, his Masamune has been transmutated into Kadaj's Souba. However, this is not accurate and I will here explain why. While Kadaj does fall in the general direction that his Souba had fallen, when he lands, stands up, and then stretches out his arms toward the descending Cloud, there is no indication that there is a sword in his hands: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/KadajsTransformation.jpg Further still, we find that in the very first frame we see when the camera angle switches from looking at Sephiroth blocking Cloud's attack to the close-up of the two, the hilt that Sephiroth is holding doesn't have a blade at all, and that Sephiroth had blocked Cloud's attack with his will: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/KadajsTransformation3.jp g We then find that Sephiroth wills a blade for his sword into existance, the blade taking form out of thin air: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/KadajsTransformation4.jp g Also notable is that there are no tassles attached to either side of the hilt that Sephiroth is holding, whereas there is a tassle attached to both sides of the hilt of Kadaj's Souba: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Tassle.jpg Interestingly enough, when Sephiroth is defeated and his body reverts into Kadaj's, the Masamune becomes a second Souba, tassles and all: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Tassle2.jpg Based on these observations, we can conclusively determine that Sephi