Characters of the Final Fantasy VII series
Final Fantasy VII, a role-playing video game developed by Square, now Square Enix, and originally released in 1997, features many characters in both major and minor roles. VII has been followed by multiple sequels and prequels, grouped into the multimedia series Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. These include the 2004 mobile game prequel Before Crisis, the 2005 film sequel Advent Children, the 2006 shooter spin-off sequel Dirge of Cerberus, and the 2007 action game prequel Crisis Core. Other media include spin-off books and the original video animation Last Order. The setting of Final Fantasy VII has been described as industrial or post-industrial science fiction. It is referred to as "the Planet" in most games, and was retroactively named "Gaia" in some Square Enix promotional material.
VII follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary with a troubled past who joins eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to stop Shinra from draining the life of the Planet and using it as an energy source. As the story progresses, conflicts escalate and the group fights for the world's safety as new forces emerge. Cloud and his team eventually face off against the game's antagonist, Sephiroth, to stop him from destroying the Planet. Other important characters include Aerith Gainsborough, a flower seller who becomes a good friend to Cloud; Zack Fair, Cloud's friend, a former soldier of Shinra and the protagonist of Crisis Core; and Vincent Valentine, a man made immortal as a result of Shinra's experiments and the protagonist of Dirge of Cerberus. The conflict between Cloud and Sephiroth forms the core narrative around which many of the series' stories are built. Other characters include the Turks, a covert group which originally worked for Shinra.
The original characters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura, who had done monster designs for Final Fantasy VI and was chosen for the role after his designs impressed producer Hironobu Sakaguchi. Nomura was responsible for many of the characters and their stories. The scenario for the original game was written by Sakaguchi, Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima. Nomura, Kitase and Nojima have been involved in other titles in the Compilation. The characters of VII have met with positive reception in contemporary and modern reviews, while their portrayal in the Compilation titles has been mixed: while Crisis Core was generally praised, the focus on secondary characters in Dirge of Cerberus drew mixed opinions from some, while their appearance in Advent Children was generally cited as confusing or poor for newcomers to the series. The cast, along with side characters and villains, have remained popular among critics and series fans, with many lists and opinion polls citing them as some of the best characters in the Final Fantasy series.
Concept and creation
The original concept for Final Fantasy VIIs world was for a modern setting, but after the project was moved from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the PlayStation console, the setting was altered. Elements from the original concept were later used in Final Fantasy VIII and Parasite Eve. The game's producer, Hironobu Sakaguchi, chose character designer Tetsuya Nomura, who had previously worked on monster designs for Final Fantasy VI, to design the main cast. Sakaguchi chose Nomura after being amused by the way Nomura did the storyboarding for the cutscenes. Talking of his role as character designer, Nomura stated that when he was brought on, the main scenario was incomplete, but he "went along like, 'I guess first off you need a hero and a heroine', and from there drew the designs while thinking up details about the characters. After done the hero and heroine, carried on drawing by thinking what kind of characters would be interesting to have. When handed over the designs tell people the character details thought up, or write them down on a separate sheet of paper". Nomura also created Zack Fair, who was a late addition to the cast meant to add depth to Cloud and Aerith's relationship, and came up with the name for Red XIII, wanting an "interesting" name that combined a color and a number. Although the game was Nomura's favorite Final Fantasy project, he felt that it was hindered by graphical limitations, and that as a result his designs were plain in comparison to his "true" style. Final Fantasy VII was the first game where Nomura was really involved in the character design, including the personalities, so the player side ended up being edgy as well. He wanted to include a unique character, resulting in a diverse party.The game's plot was created by Sakaguchi, although most scenario writing was done by Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima, who conceived Shinra, Cloud and Sephiroth's relationship, and Cloud's backstory. The Lifestream, the source of life for the Planet, was one of the earliest concepts created for VII, but its depiction and purpose changed drastically during development. The concepts behind the Lifestream and Aerith's iconic death scene were sparked in Sakaguchi by the death of his mother, which inspired him to create a realistic death for Aerith rather than a "Hollywood" sacrificial death.
The "dark" theme described by Nomura is continued throughout the Compilation, with characters such as Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and the Tsviets in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Kitase stated that voice acting was one of the topics which the Compilation team paid close attention to. As Cloud and Vincent have similar personalities, care was taken to differentiate between them and their dialogue. The compilation was originally conceived as only one title, which focused on Tifa and Cloud, but they eventually expanded it into a collection which included games focusing on other characters, such as Zack and Vincent. Nomura requested Hajime Tabata, the director of Before Crisis, to create a game focusing on the Turks.
With Advent Children following works, the cast was redesigned. While designing the characters, the staff discovered that it was impossible to translate the Final Fantasy VII designs into the film. Therefore, some identifying characteristics had to be discarded. Cloud's redesign was a combination of eight different designs, from his super deformed appearance in the game to his more realistic appearance in the film. The difficulties in making Sephiroth led the staff to reduce his appearances in the film; it took them two years to develop and refine his look. Nozue also struggled to develop a framework for Tifa's body that was "balanced, yet showed off her feminine qualities". For Dirge of Cerberus, the Tsviets were designed with the idea of creating a sense of balance for the warriors with which players would already be familiar, primarily Vincent, Cloud and Sephiroth. Meanwhile, the prequel Crisis Core operated on the principle of dealing with these characters' "younger days", so that new elements could be added without changing them too much. One of the primary reasons Zack was chosen as the protagonist was because his fate was predetermined. The addition of Genesis to the story came about after discussions between producer Hideki Imaizumi and the character's Japanese voice actor, Gackt. Imaizumi had been impressed with the characters' brief appearance in the secret ending to Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, and felt there was potential to expand on the character. Sephiroth's role was specifically written to give him a more human side. Rather than using the character models and graphical style of Advent Children, which by that point had been developed using ten-year-old technology, the team decided to create new designs and models: Nomura wished to balance the realism of Advent Children with cartoon stylization. Nomura was in charge of the revamped main character designs, while designer Roberto Ferrari was in charge of designs for secondary characters. Character modeling was supervised by Visual Works, Square Enix's CGI development branch. Cloud's initial redesign for Final Fantasy VII Remake departed more dramatically from the original, but was later altered to more closely resemble Nomura's original concept. Tifa's original appearance was changed to make her look more realistic, as members from the staff realized her design would not fit fight scenes. Sephiroth appears during the Midgar scenario, despite not being properly introduced until a flashback Cloud experiences. Vice noted that Cloud sees the future of Aerith in the original 1997 game, leaving her fate unknown to returning fans. The main characters were adjusted in various ways for Remake. Rather than the "cool and collected" portrayal of Cloud seen in other games, Remake depicts his apathetic attitude as a façade to mask his insecurities. Nojima wanted to convey that his standoffishness could be seen as lame, and worked hard to make the interactions between the three natural. In addition to returning characters, the team decided to expand the role of minor characters and write new characters.
Voice actors
Teruaki Sugawara, the voice director behind Kingdom Hearts, recommended Takahiro Sakurai, Cloud's Japanese voice actor, to Nomura for the role. Nomura had originally asked Sakurai to play the protagonist of The Bouncer, Sion Barzahd, but found that his voice best suited Cloud after hearing him speak. Sakurai received the script without any accompanying visuals, and first arrived for recording under the impression that he would be voicing a character other than Cloud. As a sequel to the highly popular Final Fantasy VII, Sakurai felt greater pressure performing the role than he did when he voiced Cloud for Kingdom Hearts. The Japanese voice actors remained the same, with Sakurai being surprised by this younger take on Cloud, having not voiced in the original PlayStation video game. Sakurai performed alongside Ayumi Ito, who voiced Tifa, for a few scenes. These recordings left him feeling "deflated", as the "exchanges he has with Tifa can be pretty painful", Sakurai commenting that Cloud—whom he empathized with as his voice actor—has a hard time dealing with straight talk. Nomura wanted Cloud and Vincent's voices to contrast with each other due to their similar personalities. He felt Vincent was older and more mature than Cloud, and as a result, he cast Shōgo Suzuki, who has a very low voice. Nomura had wanted Zack to have a "nice, upbeat voice", which influenced his decision to cast Kenichi Suzumura.In English adaptations, Cloud is voiced by Steve Burton. Burton was first hired to voice Cloud once a man behind Square saw his work in the 2001 film The Last Castle. Rachael Leigh Cook stated in an interview for Kingdom Hearts II that she enjoys playing Tifa and described her as "very strong physical and emotionally, but also very sensitive" and as "very multi-dimensional". In voicing the character, Cook listened to Ito's recording as a guide to how the character sounds. Following Advent Children, Cook thanked Nomura for the film he created, as she enjoyed it. Mena Suvari explained that Aerith was given a mothering feel with an ephemeral presence.
For the English dub of Remake, Cody Christian commented on him being Burton's replacement, stating, "Steve, you paved the way. You made this character what it is and have contributed in shaping a legacy" and that he did not want to let Burton down with his take on the character. For the next installment, Christian said that the character differed from Remake as he aimed to explore more his sensitive side like his past or intimate relationships he is often involved. John Eric Bentley voiced Barret and did research in order to properly voice him. He was aided by the translators for the Japanese version, who gave him the context of the scenes he had to record. For him, one of the biggest challenges in his work was "representation", claiming that Barret was more than a one-dimensional character.