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alt title(s): Advent Children 
"...What a crew."
The seventh entry in the unspeakably popular Final Fantasy series.
Easily one of the most famous games of all time, Final Fantasy VII helped extend console RPGs into the mainstream gamer community in the west (for better or worse, depending on which fandom you ask) during the PlayStation's reign.
It proved successful enough to spawn a raft of Spin Offs, collectively known as the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII": There was Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a full-length CG animated movie, and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, an OAV version of two flashbacks from the game. There were several spin-off games, including Dirge Of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII for PS2, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on the PSP, and Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII on cell-phones. And there were, of course, scads of merchandise, including novellas told from various characters' perspective.
Considering how lucrative it has proven, one prevalent rumor is Square Enix is going to do a remake of the game for a next generation console or PSP. Final Fantasy VII director Yoshinori Kitase stated in an interview that such a project could be undertaken, but it would be unlikely until the original team has been freed up from their current duties. Still, announcing the release of the Final Fantasy VII remake is a very popular (to the point of being overdone) April Fool. It has, however, been released in all three regions (finally) on the Playstion Network DLC service, for US$10 instead of the normal US$6 of PS One Classics. Though, given the size, and the fact that Amazon was charging $45 for a used copy, it's hard to begrudge that.
Characters:
As for the villains there's Dr Hojo, Sephiroth, Jenova, the Turks and Rufus Shinra.
Few people completely grasp the plot at the first playthrough - even for a RPG, this game can get extremely complicated. Also, this game is probably the world's biggest victim of Hype Aversion.
Squaresoft (now Square Enix) published Final Fantasy VII on Sony's Play Station console after a falling-out with Nintendo over the latter's extreme censorship policies, as well as a reported refusal to move away from the industry-standard ROM cartridge, which severely limited the scope of a game. Sony was more than willing to permit more 'mature' content on its systems — that, coupled with the impressive storage capacity of the CD-ROM format, proved to be much more accommodating to Square's design philosophy.
Squaresoft had already attempted to release a game on CD — Secret of Mana was slated for release on a Nintendo-proprietary CD-ROM peripheral for the Super Nintendo console. Negotiations between Sony, Nintendo and Square soured, however; while Secret of Mana was eventually released on a cartridge in a stripped-down form, the anticipated Nintendo CD device was never released, and Squaresoft would only release a few more titles under the Nintendo brand before jumping ship for Sony's new Play Station console, where they would remain (and flourish) for several more years.
Oh, and this is the game that can be blamed for forever shattering the Final Fantasy fanbase. Because this is the one that got popular.
The Final Fantasy VII characters got their first cameo shots in the oft-forgotten Fighting Game Ehrgeiz.
This game contains examples of:
- The Ace - Zack
- A God Am I - Ostensibly Sephiroth's motive. He probably didn't put too much thought into it.
- Alas Poor Villain - Kadaj
- Alien Scrappy - Cait Sith
- Anticlimax Boss - Final final duel with Sephiroth
- I'd argue this was more or less an interactive cutscene.
- Apathetic Citizens - To the point where one NPC muses that the destruction of an entire sector of Midgar is annoying because the kickup of dust ruined the soup he was cooking outside. I am not freaking kidding you.
- Note that said citizen is not one of the rich people living on the upper plates, but one of the destitute people living in the slums. Meaning he has not reason to complain, so shut up!
- Arm Cannon - Barrett
- Artificial Limbs - Barrett
- Ax Crazy - Barrett's old buddy Dyne, who racks up quite the body count before you battle him.
- Badass Longcoat - Vincent and Sephiroth, although the latter is a villain.
- Beyond The Impossible - Advent Children breaks the laws of physics so many times and in such spectacular fashions each time it probably managed to punch out reality.
- BFS - Cloud and Sephiroth each have one.
- And Sephiroth's is a katana. It's not just any Katana, it has got to be the longest Katana this troper has ever seen.
- Sephiroth's katana is six feet long in the game. In other words, longer than he is tall. In Crisis Core and Advent Children, the katana gets a downgrade to a much more manageable four feet long.
- Big Brother Mentor - Angeal to Zack, Zack to Cloud, and Cloud reluctantly at first to Denzel.
- Blade On A Stick - Cid
- Blind Idiot Translation - "This guy are sick", among other mistakes.
- Boisterous Bruiser - Barrett and Cid embody the trope.
- Bonus Boss - The Weapons
- Bosom Buddies
- Boobs Of Steel - Tifa.
- Much like Sephiroth's katana, Tifa's massive, er, assets are considerably toned down in the Compilation.
- Chekhovs Gunman - One of the Shinra grunts in Cloud's flashbacks.
- The Chessmaster - Rufus Shinra manages to pull the wool over Kadaj's eyes for the entire movie.
- Chivalrous Pervert - Zack. He gets better.
- Cluster F Bomb - Barret and Cid have a tendency to launch into these. The harsher curse words are censored, since this game has a "T" rating.
- Complete Monster - This title belongs to not Shinra, not even Sephiroth, but to sociopathic Mad Scientist Hojo, whose experimental atrocities arguably led to the main conflict.
- And the conflict before. And the conflict after. And the conflict after that. Let's face it, Hojo could almost be the poster child for Complete Monster-ism.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive - The entire senior management of the Shinra company... Cranked Up To Eleven.
- Cosmic Keystone - The Lifestream
- Cry Cute - Kadaj
- CPR Clean Pretty Reliable
- Defeat Means Friendship - Beating up that Mysterious Ninja allows you to recruit her into your party.
- But only if you give the right (apathetic) answers to her questions. Failure just means she steals cash from you, but it's a lot of cash!
- Derelict Graveyard - Of trains.
- Die For Our Ship - Loads of it - some people even took the game's most infamous scene as a literal example of this trope.
- Disc One Final Dungeon (Northern Continent)
- Even earlier then that, the assault on Shinra HQ.
- Doesnt Like Guns - Sephiroth
- Domed Hometown - Midgar
- Doomed Hometown - Nibelheim for Cloud and Tifa, Midgar's sector 7 slums and Corel for Barret)
- Draco In Leather Pants - Sephiroth appears to have surpassed many of the other characters in popularity across the Final Fantasy fandom because he's so damn "bish". Never mind that he, you know, almost destroyed an entire planet and has numerous innocent deaths and pointless bloody rampages in his past.
- In Crisis Core, he is presented as far more likable and understandable, though that was a prequel set before Sephiroth snapped in Nibelheim and became a homocidal maniac. This makes sense, as there had to be some reason that Cloud and Zack idolized Sephiroth before he went psycho. Advent Children, made by the same creative staff as Crisis Core, still portrayed him as an unrepentant psychopath manipulating clones and spreading terminal disease from beyond the grave.
- Dressing As The Enemy - The Junon infiltration sequence.
- Drunk On The Dark Side: - Sephiroth, Hojo
- Dude Looks Like A Lady - Cloud can be quite the looker...
- Duel Boss - Barret and Dyne, Yuffie and the Pagoda, and of course, Cloud and Sephiroth.
- Ensemble Darkhorse: - Vincent. So much that he even got his own spinoff game.
- Excuse Me Coming Through: In the Advent Children movie this trope occurs during the chase through the streets of Midgar.
- Eviler Than Thou - Sephiroth and Shinra
- Fantastic Aesop - If we ever find a way to tap into the energy of the Earth, we'll heed the lessons of this game and not suck it out. We'll stick to coal instead.
- Fate Worse Than Death Instead of being left for dead after Sephiroth completely devastated them, Zack and Cloud are experimented on for four years by Hojo before Zack manages to break them out. Cloud is left a vegetable from being used as a test subject, and while he got better, his already weak mental state was completely shattered and he had self-induced Amnesia to cope with the events.
- Meanwhile, Sephiroth spent five years frozen in mako, conscious but unable to move.
- Final Exam Boss - During the final battle with Sephiroth you can switch your party members.
- Friendship Moment The flashback in disc 3
- Foe Yay - Infamously Cloud and Sephiroth
- Foil - More in the Compilation than the original game, itself. In Crisis Core, Genesis is cultured and well-versed in literature, and Zack makes it clear that he doesn't have the patience to try to understand him. In Dirge of Cerberus, all of the Tsviets have something in common with Vincent, but the most notable is Azul, with his giant cannon (contrasting Vincent's typical choice of a handgun) and ability to transform into an enormous monster.
- Gaiden Game - Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, and Before Crisis.
- Gainax Ending - Up until the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII came out and clarified it, this game had an extremely confusing ending sequence that left many people wondering whether the world was destroyed at the end of the game or not. The length of time between the Compilation and the original game's release led to many decrying Square for "retconning" this.
- Gainaxing - Tifa, in cutscenes.
- Gameplay And Story Segregation - Aerith's death is the most prominent, though hardly the first like this in the series.
- Goldfish Poop Gang - The Turks, who get their own game in Before Crisis, as well as their own theme tune.
- Guest Star Party Member - Sephiroth, during the "Young Cloud" flashback sequence. Practically invincible, and can chop anything in two with his BFS.
- The Gwen Stacy - If it weren't for Gwen Stacy coming some 20-ish years before, Aerith would probably have named this trope.
- Heroic BSOD - Cloud has issues.
- Heroic Sacrifice - Horrifically subverted by Aerith's death, but played straight by Cait Sith, who sacrifices himself to let the heroes escape the Temple of the Ancients - But because he's a remotely controlled robot, he comes right back not ten minutes later.
- Perhaps the biggest twist of the knife is that Cait Sith's sacrifice comes right before Aerith's death. Since Cait Sith's is treated as no big deal, the real death of Aerith is that much more shocking.
- Hollywood Nerd - Every female scientist in the franchise.
- Improbable Weapon User - Cait Sith's megaphones and Red XIII's headpieces
- Inevitable Tournament
- Infinity Plus One Sword - Every character save Aerith has an ultimate weapon that has eight linked Materia slots and provides additional combat benefits. For instance, Cloud's Ultima Weapon and Cait Sith's HP Shout gain strength when their HP is high.
- Aerith gets hers much earlier (for obvious reasons), but it has only seven linked Materia Slots.
- The downside is that these weapons have zero materia growth, but by the time you get most of them, your Materia won't have much growing left to do anyway.
- In addition to the obvious power of the various Infinity Plus One Swords, they all behave in a similar way. Cloud's Ultima Weapon does more damage if his HP is high. Barrett's Missing Score does more damage based on the total number of steps taken in the game. Tifa's Premium Heart does more damage if her MP is high. And so on.
- Informed Ability - Lucretia, a scientist? Yeah. Right.
- Intellectual Animal - Red XIII
- It Was His Sled - Aeris dies.
- I Want My Beloved To Be Happy - Vincent, almost word for word
- Jerk With A Heart Of Gold - Cid. Now sit down and drink your goddamn TEA.
- Kill Sat - Barret's "Satellite Beam" Level 3 Limit Break
- Kill The Cutie - Aerith dies
- Last Of His Kind - Aerith is last of the Ancients.
- Lens Flare - Advent Children. And how.
- Let Them Die Happy - Kadaj's death
- Limit Break - The originals!
- Not quite — Final Fantasy VI had a couple, but they were VERY rarely seen (at least partially because you rarely fought for long at super-low HP). However, they weren't actually called Limit Breaks; in fact, they were never referred to in the manual at all, and were only given a passing mention in the game itself.
- Mac Guffin Delivery Service - Cloud, under Sephiroth's control, does this multiple times during the plot.
- Mad Scientist - Hojo, oh god Hojo.
- Magitek - Mako power
- Matchmaker Crush - Though competing for Aerith's affection for Cloud, Tifa likes Cloud more when he shows concern for Aerith. Go figure.
- Meaningful Name - Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, and Cid Highwind. Then there's the painfully obvious theme naming (Sephiroth, Jenova = Sephirot, Jehovah).
- Mega Corp - Shinra Inc.
- Memetic Mutation - "Advent Children is the BEST CUTSCENE EVER!!"
- Mind Screw - thanks in part to the Blind Idiot Translation.
- More Dakka - Barret's "Ungarmax" Level 3 Limit Break.
- Muscles Are Meaningless
- Mysterious Waif - Aerith
- Nakama - Cloud originally viewed Zack, and Tifa as his closest friends, but that grows to encompass all of AVALANCHE as he begins to open himself up.
- Nightmare Fuel - The various encounters with Jenova, any scenes that include the songs "Trail of Blood" and "Those Chosen by the Planet", Yin-Yang, Who Am I, ect.
- Geostigma is nasty enough in the original release of Advent Children; Advent Children Complete, and the "On The Way To A Smile" OAV, make its terminal stage (and corpses affected with it) absolutely terrifying.
- No Biochemical Barriers - Jenova, an alien lifeform from who-knows-where, can infect humanoids without a problem. Hojo also seems to think that he can breed Aerith and Red XIII, though his concept of "breeding" seems to be "let the big hairy monster claw her to death" if the scene in the game is any indication.
- No Export For You - Before Crisis, particularly annoying because it's almost universally agreed by reviewers to be the highest quality cell phone game of all time.
- Then again, it's plotline is really boring...
- Not Compensating For Anything
- The Obi Wrong: Though Barret is the leader of AVALANCHE and is giving Cloud orders, circumstances force him under Cloud's leadership instead.
- Older Than They Look: Vincent and Lucrecia are around sixty, but thanks to Body Horror experiments and hibernation, they look as though they're still late-twenties, with Lucrecia looking about the same age as her own son. Shelke is the same age as Yuffie, but her body is locked at nine years old after her Super Soldier treatment.
- Ominous Latin Chanting "Estuans interius, ira vehementi, Sephiroth! Noli manere, manere in memoria, nole manere, manere in memoria, Sephiroth!"
- Omnicidal Maniac - Sephiroth's plan involves leveling the planet with a massive meteorite.
- One Nation Under Copyright - Shinra
- Optional Party Member - Yuffie, Vincent
- Overly Long Fighting Animation - All of the summons. One Winged Angel!Sephiroth's ultimate attack, "Supernova", takes this beyond ridiculous levels.
- Party In My Pocket - Lampshaded when Cloud tries to stop Cait Sith from joining the party.
- Pieta Plagiarism
- Player Punch - Walk with the Planet, Aerith.
- Plotline Death - Aerith.
- Powers As Programs - Materia.
- Precision Guided Boomerang - Yuffie's entire contribution to Advent Children is having a flashy shuriken to throw around.
- In one of Advent Children Complete's altered scenes Cloud throws two of his swords as boomerangs. One comes back quite soon. The other one he catches about 10 seconds later, still in mid-flight, using the sword he was already holding. The laws of physics wept, before getting kicked to the curb.
- Psychopathic Manchild - Kadaj, though he is rather young. And Loz, who fits the description a little better.
- Redemption In The Rain
- Relationship Values
- Role Playing Game
- Rule Of Cool - Advent Children. Every. Single. Fight scene. The production team even admitted that this was the only rule they followed in making the movie.
- Scary Black Man - Barrett.
- Scenery Gorn
- The Scrappy - Cait Sith and Yuffie.
- Sequential Boss - Sephiroth and Hojo.
- Shipper On Deck - One of the major ironies in the Ship To Ship Combat is that Aerith actually was a bit of a Cloud/Tifa fangirl in game.
- Shout Out - Biggs and Wedge.
- Single Stroke Battle - Odin.
- Slap On The Wrist Nuke - Many a summon, and Sephiroth's solar system shattering attack.
- Spell My Name With An S - You could probably power several continents with the sheer energy spent on debating whether to use "Aerith" or "Aeris".
- Sphere Of Power
- Spirit Advisor - Aerith in Advent Children and Zack as well in Advent Children Complete.
- Sprite Polygon Mix
- Squick - Hojo trying to breed Aerith and Red XIII.
- Staff Chick - Aerith
- Starfish Character - Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo each represent different aspects of Sephiroth. Don't ask how Kadaj alone managed to turn back into Sephiroth...
- Sticks To The Back - Cloud's BFS.
- Almost certainly due to graphical limitations at the time; Advent Children shows quite clearly that he uses a sheath/holster.
- Storming The Castle
- Swiss Army Appendage - Barrett.
- Swiss Army Weapon - Barrett and Yuffie, during a couple of their Limit Breaks with certain weapons...
- Tear Jerker - You know the scene.
- That One Sidequest - Most people will be sent into shiverfits just by mentioning the Emerald Weapon.
- There Are No Therapists - Emotionally disturbed mercenary? Petty thief? Serial bomber? Body Horror victim? Multiple victims of kidnapping and Parental Abandonment? Nope, no problems here!
- Thirty Second Blackout - Midgar cannon firing.
- Together In Death - Possibly Aerith and Zack.
- Those Two Guys - Biggs and Wedge of AVALANCHE. Throw Jessie in, and they become Those Two Guys And A Girl. Reno and Rude are a good example in The Movie.
- Trauma Conga Line - Holy crap, Denzel. The "On The Way To A Smile" novella and OAV spares him no suffering.
- Tykebomb - Sephiroth and Kadaj.
- Unexpected Genre Change - The bike, snowboarding and submarine battle sequences. These are eventually unlocked as minigames in the Golden Saucer.) Also Fort Condor.
- Unusable Enemy Equipment - Sephiroth's sword Masamune is explicitly stated to be a weapon only he can use. At one point, the team sees the sword sticking out of the corpse of President Shinra, but they don't take it, presumably for this reason. In the Last Order anime's recreation of the Nibelheim scene, Tifa attempts to use this weapon to slash Sephiroth and fails for this reason, though this was not present in Crisis Core's version of the same scene.
- To be more accurate, we don't see the scene in Crisis Core. Whether this is due to Retcon (putting it after Zack gets his ass kicked but before Cloud shows up), or just because the developers weren't paying attention is up for debate.
- Urban Legend Of Zelda - An ever-rumored quest to bring back Aerith. Discussed in more detail on the Heroic Sacrifice entry.
- Welcome Back Traitor - Yuffie, Cait Sith. The latter is practically the poster child and could have been the Trope Namer were it not for all the other strange characteristics making it impossible to determine just which one we'd be talking about by name drop alone, despite the time span between betrayal and redemption being so short that it might be less "welcome back" and more "actually never even left."
- What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic - Jehovah is the Hebrew God and Sephirot is the attributes God can manifest through. It is no coincidence the antagonists are Jenova and Sephiroth respectively.
- What The Hell Hero - Cloud gets called out on his morally dubious actions more than once during the game.
- The first occurrence is even 30 minutes into the game.
- And later, Cait Sith calls out the rest of our heroes for their eco-terrorist bombings at the beginning of the game, which caused a couple hundred deaths according to him.
- White Haired Pretty Boy - Lots of 'em.
- You Are Number Six - Red XIII
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