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Deepground is a top-secret military organization created by Shinra Electric Power Company headed from the secretive Mako Reactor 0 beneath the Shinra Headquarters in Dirge of Cerberus.
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Weiss
Weiss the Immaculate
"The pure will be "spared" for the cause, while the tainted will be hunted down and exterminated. They shall be slashed, strangled, and slaughtered. Beaten, stabbed, and crushed. Garroted and impaled. Shot and executed without mercy. The time has come to cleanse this world."
Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Dave Boat (English)
The main antagonist of Dirge of Cerberus. He's the leader of the Deepground, the secret special forces of the Shinra Company. He plans to summon Omega, the ultimate weapon, to cleanse the planet.
- Ambiguously Bi: He flirts a bit with Rosso in their battle yet there is some Incest Subtext between he and Nero.
- Ambiguously Evil: When it comes to the real Weiss. There is definitely something off about him, judging by the online scenes, yet how evil he is remains unknown.
- Anime Hair: He outdoes even Cloud with his massive sea of silver spikes.
- Bad Boss: Downplayed when it comes tothe real Weiss. During his rebellion in Online mode, he fights in order to get the other Tsviets free, but he clearly does it to rule over them all and has no problem to simply let them die if they are of no use or to kill them if they are too weak. It is shown that everyone in Deepground is scared of him due to his power. In Opera Omnia, he values his Tsviets' strenght as well as their unity but Shelke thinks he has no real feelings for them.
- Bait the Dog: Weiss was supportive of the player during the online mode. It doesn't prevent him to let it die.
- BFS: He wields a pair of nodachi when confronting Vincent for the last time.
- Big Bad: In Dirge of Cerberus. Except not really. It's revealed that he was just a host to Hojo, the true Big Bad.
- Big Brother Instinct: He's very close to his little brother Nero.
- Blood Knight: He just lives for the sake of fighting strong people and killing. Opera Omnia shows he would not follow anyone who is weaker than he.
- Computer Virus: It's how Hojo infected him and killed him.
- Dead to Begin With: He's dead at the beginning of the game; the goal of the other Tsviets is to revive him as the vessel for Omega.
- Disney Death: He may not be dead at the end of the game. The secret ending has us Left Hanging.
- Dual Wielding: He wields two gunblades, Heaven and Earth. After losing them, he takes up a pair of nodachi.
- The Emperor: He is the supreme commander of the Deepground forces, and his title in the original Japanese is Emperor.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Dirge of Cerberus as well as Opera Omnia confirms he loves Nero as much as Nero loves him. He did not really care about the plan. He fused with Omega to get rid of Hojo and also to fly away with Nero in order to be together. In Opera Omnia, he told his personal story to Sephiroth and said that without Nero he would not have made it and also feels incomplete without him. When he recovers his memories he is extremely upset about having forgotten about him out of all people and misses him terribly.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Azul is clearly his biggest fanboy to the point he dies while screaming "Hail Weiss" before laughing. Incest Subtext also implies Nero loves him a bit too much for a brother.
- Evil Counterpart: To Vincent. Both are hosts of powerful ancient beings with Vincent as the host of Chaos, while Weiss is the host of Omega, but that is where the similarities end. Vincent was a once a normal Turk who became a host of Chaos by being experimented on, While Weiss was a former member of SOLDIER who became the leader of Deepground and the host of Omega.
- Evil Laugh: He does it a lot. Being possessed by Hojo had little impact on it, the online mode shows it's just him.
- Evil Versus Evil: His conflict against Restrictor during his revolt at Deepground. Both are violent and atrocious people.
- Final Boss: He's this for Dirge of Cerebus, and by extension of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII as a whole (or the original continuity at least).
- Grand Theft Me: He seizes control of Omega's body to fight Vincent. Also a victim of it himself, losing his body to Hojo.
- Hidden Depths: Nero describes Weiss as being the only being who'd ever loved him. While their relationship is mostly viewed from Nero's point of view, the fact that Nero is willing to sacrifice himself for him displays another side from the Evil Overlord in Deepground.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: The first one. Vincent, however, gets the help of Shelke/Lucrecia to match him.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Believe it or not, but Weiss is more or less this when compared to Restrictor. While Weiss is as tyrannical and violent as Restrictor and is not above manipulating people as his pawns to make his revolt successful, the online mode portrays him as a slightly better option as at the very least, he doesn't slaughter people as easily as Restrictor (who basically kills anyone on sight under a whim). Weiss also seems to value the other Tsviets well enough to work with them. Weiss also seems to care enough about freeing the others in Deepground to one extent, while Restrictor just cares about himself.
- He and Nero are also considered as this again during the final battle against Weiss/Hojo. While Nero and Weiss still summon Omega and almost destroy the Planet at the result, they are portrayed as a more sympathetic light as they help Vincent defeating Hojo for once and all.
- Lightning Bruiser: Both muscular and very fast.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Implied to be one to Nero. Though Opera Omnia also implies that Nero is one for him as he feels incomplete without him and is not even sure to carry out the plan without his help.
- Meaningful Name: "Weiss" means "white" in German, and his subtitle, Immaculate, refers to the Roman Catholic belief of the Immaculate Conception where someone is born completely without the stain of original sin. This both reflects his outfit and that Hojo needs a "pure" body to serve as Omega's vessel.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: In the past, Hojo had to mutate himself with Jenova cells to fight the party with sheer power. After possessing Weiss, he fights using the swordsmanship and skills of the latter, to the point where it'd be hard to tell that his mind isn't truly Weiss's.
- Mix-and-Match Weapon: Heaven and Earth are a pair of katanas fused to long revolvers.
- Morality Pet: Downplayed since his existence drives most of Nero's villainy. But let's say that without him, Nero wouldn't be far from being a complete monster on his own.
- Omnicidal Maniac: His plan is to take control of Omega and use it to gather all the Lifestream to him. Making sure the Lifestream is as potent and pure as possible demands the death of the planet's citizens. At least it is Hojo's plan. Once freed of his influence, Weiss still carries out the plan but doesn't care about the purity of Omega. He just wants to be free with Nero and fly away together even if it causes the end of the Planet.
- One-Handed Zweihänder: After losing his trademark gunblades in the second-to-last chapter, Weiss fights Vincent with a nodachi in each hand.
- One-Winged Angel: Merges with Omega to become Omega Weiss for the final boss battle.
- Orcus on His Throne: Despite all of Deepground constantly screaming his name and dying for his cause, in the main game you don't even get a glimpse of him until about two chapters from the end. Even then you spend more time interacting with Weiss while he is possessed by Hojo and not himself. Additional points in that he is literally on a throne when you finally encounter him.
- Pet the Dog: Has some. Even though he tried to recruit Genesis to help him in his rebellion, Genesis is shown having left Deepground. In any case, Weiss probably let him go.
- He is apparently the only being who never treated Nero like a monster. When the two fuse together, Weiss, being himself again after Hojo's defeat, shows nothing but kindness and affection toward him and is okay to die along with Nero if it means both of them would be together.
- Pragmatic Villainy: In the online mode, Weiss and the others Tsviets were quick to interfere whenever Restrictor wished to kill the character's player.Until the end where he let the character die to search the next one. Opera Omnia pushes it further and he doesn't mind about 'helping' heroes to push his own agenda.
- Pure Is Not Good: He was originally created to not be made of tainted Lifestream, which is why Hojo possessed him and planned to use him to fuse with Omega. Even when he regained control of himself, he was still not a nice guy.
- Slasher Smile: Pulls these off with gusto.
- Slouch of Villainy: Vincent finds him slumped over on his throne.
- The Sociopath: Arrogant, brash, reckless, sadistic, and using people as pawns are the words to describe him as this. It is however subverted because he carries out a genuine and deep love for his younger brother. However the rest can burn.
- Super-Soldier: As a member of Deepground, he's even stronger than your rank and file SOLDIER members.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: He has no problem walking around in only pants.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Though he's no relation to Sephiroth, he's another silver-haired antagonist.
- Wild Hair: It's even bigger and spikier than Cloud's!
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He does this a lot to people.
- Does it to Nero after he’s revived and Hojo takes control of him.
- Orders Azul to invoke it on Shelke once the plan needing her is done. It is probably due to Hojo again as Shelke herself is shocked he would order her own execution.
- Played straight in the online mode, he decides to let the player's character die since they will not survive and they're of no use to his plans to find the next one.
Nero
Nero the Sable
"Dear Weiss, powerful Weiss. The only person who ever loved me, and the only person I will ever love."
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese), Mike Rock (English)
Second-in-command of the Tsviets, and Weiss's biological half-brother. Commands power over darkness.
- Alas, Poor Villain: His death, courtesy of Weiss controlled by Hojo. The camera displays Vincent looking at his corpse and it's clear that it doesn't make him happy.
- Ambiguously Gay: Thanks to Incest Subtext. Nero is very passionate about his love for Weiss, something that may be beyond simply brotherly love.
- Anti-Villain: While he wishes to destroy the world, the most important thing to him is being with his brother.
- Bad Boss: As much as his older brother, he is quite apathetic about the other Tsviets' eventual deaths, to the point he let Azul get killed without doing anything.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: According to Nero, that's the only one reason why he is so loyal to Weiss.
- Berserk Button: Threaten Weiss and nothing will save you from Nero's darkness.
- Can't Live Without You: It's clear that a world without Weiss is something that Nero plainly refuses.
- Casting a Shadow: He was made with Mako tainted with Chaos, giving him power over darkness.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Nero is Italian for black. Sable is an archaic English word for black (commonly used in heraldry). Therefore, his name means "Black the Black." QED.
- Dragon-in-Chief: He's the active leader of Deepground while Weiss is incapacitated.
- Dual Wielding: Has four functioning hands (one per wing) and uses all four to shoot at you.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: He has black hair, pale skin, and is plain freaky.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His love for Weiss is completely genuine.
- Hidden Depths: Beneath his calm and collected attitude as a second-in-command, his emotions easily can take over him like anger, anguish and love.
- Incest Subtext: The whole objective of Nero is causing the end of the world to revive his brother. Nero is shown to have an obsessive love for Weiss, mentioning he is his only light and fuses with him at the ending to eradicate Hojo and in order not to be separated ever again. For this, he hugs him in a not-so-brotherly way.. Not to mention his weapons in the Arachnero fight are named Phalanxpheres. According to Greek Mythology, Arachne and Phalanx were a pair of siblings punished for incest. His Seiyuu even named Nero as a "yandere brocon".
- Kick the Dog: His first appearance is killing Cait Sith with his darkness. He also tortures Shelke whenever he can.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: How would call someone who is willing to destroy the world to revive his brother?
- Love Makes You Evil: He almost caused the end of the world out of love for his brother. Intergrade implied he was already crazy and evil to begin with, but Weiss's death pushed him off the edge.
- Matricide: According to records, he sent his own mother into another dimension when she was giving birth to him.
- Meaningful Name: Nero is the Italian word for "Black," which in itself is a derivation of a rather infamous Roman Emperor. This reflects his outfit and his powers.
- Morality Pet: To Weiss. It's a bit downplayed because both of them are crazy mass-murderers. But let's say that without Nero, Weiss wouldn't be any better than Hojo or Restrictor.
- One-Winged Angel: Transforms into the spider-like Arachnero for an end-game fight.
- Pet the Dog: At one point, there is a flashback involving he and Shelke when he orders her to use her abilities in order to find the Protomateria. It was to manipulate her indeed but in this moment, Nero talks to Shelke in a gentle, respectful way which is a stark contrast from the way he usually behaves to others that are not Weiss.
- The Sociopath: he displays traits of sociopathy. Though it may be averted due to his love for Weiss and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his sake.
- Villainous Friendship: Nero really, really cares about his brother. He's willing to go through hell and back to revive him.
- Winged Humanoid: Granted, they are artificial wings, but still.
- Yandere: To Weiss whether it is in a brotherly or a romantic way. His Seiyuu even named him as such.
Azul
Azul the Cerulean
- Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (Japanese), Brad Abrell (English)
- Anime Hair: Take a look at it.
- BFG: He carries a massive cannon big enough to blow up Cid's airship.
- Blood Knight: Literally the only reason he willingly joined the group; he wanted to join SOLDIER to fight, and got a better offer in Deepground,
- The Brute: He's the muscle of the group.
- Character Catchphrase: "Hail Weiss" in a way. All of Deepground says this, but Azul says it the most, even acting as his final words.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Azul is Portuguese and Spanish for "blue." Cerulean is a specific shade of blue. Therefore, his name means "Blue the blue." QED.
- Disney Villain Death: After he was impaled.
- Genius Bruiser: He ain't just all muscles, he's also a competent field officer.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: When he tries to kill Shelke, he reveals that he has always hated her for being weaker than the other Tsviets.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Vincent impales him with his own twin-minigun cannon when Chaos takes over his body.
- Laughing Mad: He does that, a memorable one right before he died.
- One-Winged Angel: Transforms into the bestial Arch Azul.
- Playing Possum: After he was "beaten" by Vincent, he pretended to have died in order to destroy the WRO's headquarters from inside before the second Deepground force attacked.
- See You in Hell: He tells Vincent that before he died.
- The Stoic: He usually speaks some few words, and acts rather "stonely". It's only when he fights Vincent that he shows how much Hot-Blooded he is for fighting.
- Super-Soldier: As with all of Deepground.
- Undying Loyalty: To Weiss.
Rosso
Rosso the Crimson
"I shall not grant you the pleasure of killing Rosso the Crimson."
Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)
Another Tsviet. Due to experimentation done on her when she was a child, she's quite mentally unbalanced. The only pleasure she gets out of life is killing her enemies.
- Ax-Crazy: She doesn't care about Weiss' plan to summon Omega; she just goes along with it because she loves the idea of killing all life in the world.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: She committed suicide when she was defeated by Vincent, by throwing herself out from the Shinra tower.
- Curtains Match the Window: Has both red hair and red eyes.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Rosso is Italian for "red." Crimson is a specific shade of red. Therefore, her name means "Red the Red."
- Double Weapon: She wields a large dual-bladed sword.
- Evil Redhead: Her red hair ties into the red of her color scheme.
- Freudian Excuse: It is heavily implied that the very reason why she even takes enjoyment in doing her assignments in similar ways to a psychopath is because she was raised that way by Shinra.
- Happy Rain: In a twisted way. Rosso, while standing in the rain in Edge, muses that it was the first time she had ever felt rain on her skin. She seemed happy, but she's a Tsviet, so happy could just as easily mean "on the brink of murder."
- Laughing Mad: Rivals the trope namer for how insane and cackling she is.
- Meaningful Name: Her eyes, hair, and outfit are red, and she's very bloodthirsty. She lampshades it in-game.
- Mix-and-Match Weapon: Her sword has a gun built into the handle.
- Mundane Luxury: In the online mode, Rosso desperately wanted to see the sky and would embark on mass murders of her fellow soldiers in response.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: When the player characters of Final Fantasy VII show up to lend Vincent a hand, Rosso is seen going head-to-head with none other than Cloud Strife, three-time defeater of Sephiroth himself. We don't see much of the fight, but she seems none the worse for wear when she faces Vincent a short time later.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Not powerful enough to pull this off single-handedly, but it's on her Dreamboard.
- Pet the Dog: As odd as it is, she appears almost human in the multiplayer mode and talks with Shelke in a polite way, asking her how it was outside before she came in Deepground.
- Psycho for Hire: She has no interest in Deepground's plans or goals, she just wants to kill things.
- Terms of Endangerment: Constantly refers to Vincent as "darling".
Shelke
Shelke the Transparent / Shelke Rui
"I have no acquaintances in the W.R.O."
Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)
Another Tsviet, with the power to enter the World Wide Network mentally. Captured by Shinra as a child, the experiments she was subjected to stalled her physical aging.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Shinra heavily conditioned her to win her loyalty, resulting in her forgetting her sister.
- Breakout Character: Shelke is usually the token Dirge of Cerberus character transplanted into the greater Final Fantasy crossover metaverse.
- Shelke is one of four Final Fantasy VII characters who appears in World of Final Fantasy besides Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth (as DLC) — like Cloud and Tifa, she has a plot-relevant appearance helping the protagonists. Vincent is conspicuously absent.
- Shelke joins the cast of Final Fantasy Record Keeper as part of a wave of sequel characters joining, but she notably joins earlier than several party members featured in their main game (Alma and Meliadoul from Final Fantasy Tactics, Gogo and Umaro from Final Fantasy VI among others).
- She additionally joins Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia as a playable character as well, the first character from Dirge to do so.
- Dual Wielding: She fights with two Laser Blades.
- Emotionless Girl: Very much. Borderline Sugar-and-Ice Personality towards the end.Shelke: "It's not what you think... I'm simply providing this service for my own benefit."
Vincent: "I didn't say anything."
Shelke: "I... Anyway... *goes on to other topics*" - Evil Genius: She was Deepground's computer expert and a major tactician alongside Azul. When she becomes a ally of W.R.O., she becomes The Smart Guy of the bunch.
- Fragile Speedster: What she lacks in endurance, she makes it up with extremely fast speed and agility.
- Full-Name Basis: Early on she almost always uses Vincent's full name. She grows out of it over her Character Development.
- Heel–Face Turn: She joins the W.R.O after she was betrayed by Deepground.
- Karma Houdini: With what we learn about her from the Japanese-exclusive online mode, her happy ending can make her come off as this.
- Manipulative Bastard: In the
Japan-only online mode, it's revealed that the Tsviets were manipulating the player character all along. Shelke was in charge of using her hacking skills to Mind Rape the protagonist into believing s/he had a sister that was killed by someone the Tsviets wanted dead, and also created a fake mentor to push them along. When the protagonist is struck down at the end, Shelke stops to tell them all of this and then mocks them as s/he lays dying. - Meaningful Name: "Shelke" is urdu for "orange", while her title refers to her power to turn invisible. Her title in Japanese in a pun; it can be read as both "Expressionless", referring to her stoic nature, or "Colorless", foreshadowing her leaving the Tsviets.
- Medium Awareness: In the game's online mode, she tells the player character that her special attack uses "a lot of MP".
- Morality Pet: To Vincent. Vincent himself could be her morality pet as well, as being around him sparks her Character Development.
- Older Than They Look: She's 19 but looks half that thanks to her aging being halted.
- Power Degeneration: The experiments performed on her force her to have daily baths in Mako to sustain her life.
- The Stoic: For the most of the time. Only at the near ending does she begin to show off her more emotional sides.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: After she had spent ten years with Deepground, it ain't no wonder that she hasn't learnt what love is. When Shalua sacrifices herself for her and Vincent tries to be her friend, she first reacts with coldness and surprise, and then with curiosity. She eventually learns what love is by the end.
Argento
Argento
"The ones who are strong disguise themselves as the weakest, and in effect we are too weak for you to battle with."
A character found only in the online mode. Acts as a mentor in Deepground.
- The Blacksmith: Argent made all of the Tsviets' Named Weapons.
- Cool Sword: She wields an ornate sword, seemingly a reinforced version of the standard-issue SOLDIER blade.
- Eyepatch of Power: She wears an eyepatch and part of her dialogue indicates that she is exceedingly strong.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Argent or Argento? It's pronounced the same either way.
- Meaningful Name: Her name means "Silver" in Italian, for her outfit. However, she's not given a matching colored title like the other Tsviets.
- The Philosopher: Her speech, full of idioms, indicates this.
- Sequel Non-Entity: She shows up in the online Mode for all of five minutes, then we never see her again. Presumably she was killed in the fight with the Restrictors.
- Zen Survivor: Easily the most chill of all the Tsviets.
Restrictor
Restrictor
A character found only in the online mode. The leader of Deepground before Weiss rules it.
- Asshole Victim: His death was well-deserved.
- Bad Boss: Even worse than Weiss. Restrictor often belittles and abuses recruits just because it is fun, while using the chips preventing them from biting back. No one cares much when he dies.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He does not remember much about victims he'd caused, less so the Player's younger sister he'd (supposedly) killed. The fact he does not remember is a first sign that the Player's memories are false.
- Dirty Coward: Restrictor is skilled in fighting, but most of time, he uses restraining chips to make others obey. When Weiss kills him, he begs for his life.
- Evil Versus Evil: His conflict against Weiss and their rivalry for being the strongest ruler in Deepground. Both are violent and atrocious people.
