History YMMV / FinalFantasyVII

** Sephiroth is the BigBad of the game, so it's fitting that he gets his slice of this. This pleasant fellow went AxCrazy when he found out he was the product of genetic experiments and thought he was actually the artificialy created last member of the Cetra, an ancient people, and proceeded to burn down Cloud's home town because he just happened to be there when he found that out, killing many people including your Tifa's father (and presumably Cloud's mother, though Cloud never brings that up). He later finds out he's actually the artificially created son of the CosmicHorror alien monster that nearly wiped the Cetra, and the planet, out, and so decideds to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]] and steal it's life force to become a [[AGodAmI god]]. He also messes with Cloud's memories and uses him to set his apoocalyptic plan in motion as revenge for Cloud nearly killing him for the aforementioned town burning thing. Along the way he finds time to psychically possess his abomination mother and use her/it to perform a massacre or two disguised as him, which also means he turned his own mother into his slave. Oh, and he [[InnocentFlowerGirl kills Aerith]]. Permanently. Sorry for [[ItWasHisSled the spoiler]]. On the other hand, his rather solid FreudianExcuse (the whole JENOVA thing, as well as basically Genesis revealing that information to him in the first place) would make trying to label him as such somewhat debatable.

* AlasPoorVillain - Kadaj

* BaseBreaker: The middle ground is slowly but surely being won back now that most of [[FanDom the]] [[HateDom 'Doms]] have grown up, but there are still a ''lot'' of people who fanatically praise it for being the best game of all time and just as many who think it's unoriginal, overrated, and hate the fact that the former group refuses to shut up about it. Goes double for Sephiroth in particular.

** Sephiroth is the poster boy for this. No, really, he's the page image for the trope. See [[DracoInLeatherPants/VideoGames the relevant page]] for the relevant rant. Although once most people realized/were [[WordOfGod informed]] that he was in control of Jenova and not vice versa, accusations and complaints of DracoInLeatherPants began to outweigh actual instances of it.

** A lot of fans are pretty irritated that Vincent was an optional character and therefore not important to the storyline, this has been somewhat rectified in the spin-offs, though in hindsight [[YourMileageMayVary this may have not been for the best]].
** Zack, who was pretty much a OneSceneWonder in the original game.
** The Turks, but primarily Reno. Interestingly enough, ''all'' spin-off games revolve around these Ensemble Darkhorse characters: ''Before Crisis'' for the Turks, ''Crisis Core'' for Zack'', and ''Dirge of Cerberus'' for Vincent. So they all also count as [[BreakoutCharacter Breakout Characters]].

** Although he was a main character, Cid is insanely popular, due to his gruff attitude, [[ClusterFBomb constant swearing, even during pivotal plot moments]], and his views on tea.
** Red XIII. Half wolf, half lion, incredibly intelligent for his (equivalent) age, ''astounding'' longevity, and the tuft on his tail is a ''flame''. Friggin' {{Badass}}.

** Here's another combo: Master Summon-MP Absorb, Master Summon-HP Absorb, W-Summon. Be prepared for the fun of raising KOR to level 5 six times.

* [=~It's Popular, Now It Sucks~=]: It actually got this treatment twice.

* PortingDisaster - Not as bad as some games, but the PC version has a true MissingMomentOfAwesome because it made the jump to a 100%-{{MIDI}} soundtrack. The single non-MIDI that had to be left behind? ''The OminousLatinChanting on [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome One Winged Angel]].'' [[hottip:Okay, that's not entirely true...:As the "Ominous Latin Chanting" page mentions, it ''did'' include the choral track, but in a format that not every sound card could play.]]

** RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
*** After Cait Sith's heroic sacrifice and [[spoiler:because he's [[{{Badass}} Reeve Tuesti]], guys]]. His portrayal on ''DirgeOfCerberus'' was very well received, too.
*** Yuffie was originally a hated character by some in the original game due to being the WutaiTheft TropeNamer. Characterization in ''KingdomHearts'', ''AdventChildren'' and ''{{Dirge of Cerberus}}'' helped to appease those fans, but [[BrokenBase those who liked her beforehand were dissapointed that she'd lost her edge]].

*** Thankfully he knocks one of your characters out before he uses it, which only ends the battle, and doesn't give you a game over.

** YMMV because Final Fantasy VII didn't really create or popularize any RPG tropes that were not already well known. The few things that were original, like the materia linking system, were only present in Final Fantasy VII. This comes from a skewed perception by some fans that want to define each and every JRPG in reference to FF7. Other than being the first Final Fantasy game to be popular outside of Japan, there really isn't any actual tropes that were not already heavily in use prior to it coming out.

* CharacterAlignment:
** Cloud: TrueNeutral -> ChaoticGood: He's fighting because [[ArchEnemy he has a grudge against Sephiroth]], and because, y'know, Sephiroth's AxCrazy and likely to blow up the whole Planet, including him. Doesn't mean he actually cares about anyone except [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Tifa]], Aerith, [[BigBrotherMentor Zack]], and himself. But thanks to CharacterDevelopment, he becomes more involved later on.
** Barret: ChaoticNeutral -> ChaoticGood.
** Tifa: NeutralGood.
** Aerith: NeutralGood.
** Red XIII: LawfulGood
** Cait Sith: TrueNeutral [[CharacterDevelopment ->]] NeutralGood
** Cid: ChaoticGood. Emphasis on "Chaotic".
** Vincent: ChaoticGood
** Yuffie: ChaoticNeutral -> ChaoticGood
** Zack: LawfulGood or NeutralGood: He's either one.
** Sephiroth: LawfulGood -> LawfulNeutral -> ChaoticEvil -> NeutralEvil
*** TrueNeutral in pretty much everything he guest stars in, either due to [[SomebodyElsesProblem not caring about what happens]] or [[KingdomHearts being Cloud's "darkness"]] and spending his appearance {{Troll}}ing him.
** Rufus Shinra: LawfulEvil [[spoiler:-> LawfulGood, although GoodIsNotNice was in effect]].
** The Turks: LawfulNeutral. They're just doing their jobs as dictated by their bosses. Arguably shift towards LawfulGood in ''Advent Children''.
** President Shinra: NeutralEvil
** Heidegger: NeutralEvil; he doesn't show enough loyalty to the company to be Lawful.
** Hojo: NeutralEvil: While his colleagues are loyal to Shinra, he only serves himself and has actively worked against them on many occasions.
** He more or less snaps into full-blown ChaoticEvil by the end of the game, though.
** Scarlet: LawfulEvil

** And Aerith ''still'' gets hate sites and death fics dedicated to killing her off, even when That Scene was already in the game.

* ThatOneAttack - As with the other games in the series, the Marlboro's Bad Breath Attack.
** Midgar Zolom's "Beta" attack. (At least until [[{{Megamanning}} you learn it]].)
*** Thankfully he knocks one of your characters out before he uses it, which only ends the battle, and doesn't give you a game over.
** Ruby Weapon's Whirlsand attack, which it uses as its first two attacks in every battle. It removes two of your players forcing you to fight it with just one.
** Sephiroth's Supernova attack. (Though it looks WAY more powerful than it actually is.)
** Emerald WEAPON's Aire Tam Storm ([[MeaningfulName "Aire Tam" being]] [[SdrawkcabName "Materia" spelled backwards]]), which inflicts damage equal to (number of materia equipped) * 1,111 to each character.

* ThatOneBoss - Most people will be sent into shiverfits just by ''mentioning'' the [[NintendoHard Ruby Weapon]] and [[BonusBoss Emerald]] [[HarderThanHard Weapon]].

** Sephiroth is the poster boy for this. No, really, he's the page image for the trope. See [[DracoInLeatherPants/VideoGames the relevant page]] for the relevant rant. Although once most people realized that he was in control of Jenova and not vice versa, accusations and complaints of DracoInLeatherPants began to outweigh actual instances of it.

** See also Hypebacklash; many older fans of the series as a whole don't think the game is ''bad'' by any stretch of the imagination, but think its so incredibly overrated due to the popularity, and often get so exasperated that they end up using hyperbole to make "I thought it was okay, no real problems but nothing spectacular, and dislike how the great amount of advertising and mainstream nature make people prefer it over games that I personally enjoyed more and found to be better made" sound like "I hated it and wish it would die in fire".

** See also Hypebacklash; many older fans of the series as a whole don't think the game is ''bad'' by any stretch of the imagination, but think its so incredibly overrated due to the popularity, and often get so exasperated that they end up using hyperbole to make "I thought it was okay, no real problems but nothing spectacular, and dislike how the great amount of advertising and mainstream nature make people prefer it over games that I personally enjoyed more and found to be better made" sound like "I hated it and wish it would die

* {{Narm}}: "Yazoo" is a kind of milkshake in Great Britain. Three guesses as to what jokes were made when the film was released there.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
** After Cait Sith's heroic sacrifice and [[spoiler:because he's [[{{Badass}} Reeve Tuesti]], guys]]. His portrayal on ''DirgeOfCerberus'' was very well received, too.
** Yuffie was originally a hated character by some in the original game due to being the WutaiTheft TropeNamer. Characterization in ''KingdomHearts'', ''AdventChildren'' and ''{{Dirge of Cerberus}}'' helped to appease those fans, but [[BrokenBase those who liked her beforehand were dissapointed that she'd lost her edge]].
* ThatOneBoss - Most people will be sent into shiverfits just by ''mentioning'' the [[NintendoHard Ruby Weapon]] and [[BonusBoss Emerald]] [[HarderThanHard Weapon]].
* ThatOneSidequest - Chocobo Ranching. Just...Chocobo Ranching.

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: Zack]].
* UnfortunateImplications: So, a bunch of LawfulEvil EliteMooks are called "The Turks". Oh dear...
* VillainDecay: Sephiroth, along with some MotiveDecay in most subsequent appearances like ''Advent Children'', ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''Dissidia'', though he never [[BadAssDecay stops being]] BadAss.
** In the original game Hojo is presented as a calm and calculating individual, but as time goes on his insanity seeps through and he goes off the deep end at the end of the game. [[spoiler:In ''{{Dirge of Cerberus}}'' he's reduced to a nasally nutcase who loves ranting about his evil plans While justified in that it's a computer version of him made after going off the deep end at the end of the original game, one wonders why Hojo was needed in the game at all if he wasn't going to be as considerable a threat]].

* [=~It's Popular, Now It Sucks~=]: Many fans of the series felt this way after VII brought the series into the "mainstream".

** Ruby Weapon's Whirlsand attack

* WallBanger - Red XIII (or Barret, depending on who's in your party at the time) giving the Black Materia to Cloud at the Northern Crater, thus allowing him to immediately hand it over to Sephiroth and summon Meteor. Especially since both were specifically instructed not to give it to ''anyone,'' and Cloud had already thrown things into chaos once already by giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth at the temple.

* SequelDisplacement - While obviously nobody thinks that the ''seventh'' game in the series is the first, since the wider distribution and promotion of the title compared to previous entries (as well as its status as the first high profile JRPG on the Playstation) means that many, many fans of the series played this game first and define the series by this game. It didn't help in Europe, where it ''was'' the first mainline Final Fantasy to be released there. Mildly hypocritical ItsPopularNowItSucks and apathetic HypeBacklash followed among a minority of fans.

** Rufus Shinra: LawfulEvil [[spoiler:-> LawfulGood, although GoodIsNotNice was in effect.]]

* DracoInLeatherPants - Rufus Shinra; [[spoiler:pre-''AdventChildren'' at least.]]

** A lot of fans are pretty irritated that Vincent was an optional character and therefore not important to the storyline, this has been somewhat rectified in the spin-offs, though in hindsight [[YourMileageMayVary this may have not been for the best.]]

** The Turks, but primarily Reno. Interestingly enough, ''all'' spin-off games revolve around these Ensemble Darkhorse characters: ''Before Crisis'' for the Turks, ''Crisis Core'' for Zack'', and ''Dirge of Cerberus'' for Vincent. So they all also count as [[BreakoutCharacter Breakout Characters.]]

* FoeYay/HoYay: Depending on how tight the ShippingGoggles are on whoever you ask, it's either not there at all or so blaring even Stevie Wonder could see it.

* MemeticBadass: Tifa power bombs [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a monster.]] '''UNDERWATER! ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN FLOOR!'''

** Yuffie was originally a hated character by some in the original game due to being the WutaiTheft TropeNamer. Characterization in ''KingdomHearts'', ''AdventChildren'' and ''{{Dirge of Cerberus}}'' helped to appease those fans, but [[BrokenBase those who liked her beforehand were dissapointed that she'd lost her edge.]]

* TheScrappy - Cait Sith is an intentional one, as he joins your team against your will, has [[SoOKItsAverage unimpressive]] stats, LimitBreaks that are unpredictable at best (granted, one possibility is instant victory, but that occurrence is freakishly rare, and ''another'' possibility is instant death for your own party), and players' dislike of him only increases when you find out [[spoiler: he is actually a robot made by Reeve, who is holding Marlene hostage.]]

* TheWoobie - Cloud, [[http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/f-f-f-u/singles/cloudcc.jpg oh Cloud.]]

** Sephiroth is the poster boy for this. No, really, he's the page image for the trope. See [[DracoInLeatherPants/VideoGames the relevant page]] for the relevant rant.

* FetishFuelStationAttendant: Tifa, Sephiroth.

* AlienScrappy - Cait Sith

* FoeYay - Infamously with Cloud and Sephiroth
--> [[KneelBeforeZod "On your knees.]] I want you to ''beg'' for forgiveness."

** What Scarlet did to [[spoiler:[[DoomedHometoown Coral]] and all of its residents, including Barret and Dyne]].

* WallBanger: After specifically being told not to give it to ''anyone'', Red XIII hands the Black Materia over to Cloud in the Northern Crater, just so he can immediately hand it over to Sephiroth and summon the meteor. And this is the ''second time'' that Cloud gives the Black Materia to Sephiroth during the game, meaning the entire party should've known at that point that if Cloud tells you not to give the object whose only purpose is to cause the world's destruction to ''anyone'', you '''''especially''''' don't give it back to Cloud.

* WallBanger: After specifically being told not to give it to ''anyone'', Red XIII hands the Black Materia over to Cloud in the Northern Crater, just so he can immediately hand it over to Sephiroth and summon the meteor. And this is the ''second time'' that Cloud gives the Black Materia to Sephiroth during the game, meaning the entire party should've known at that point that if Cloud tells you not to give the object whose only purpose is to cause the world's destruction to ''anyone'', you '''''especially''''' don't give it back to Cloud.