History Characters / FinalFantasyVIISephiroth

* DramaticIrony: He never finds out who his birth parents are even after the heroes do. He still believes his mother is Jenova and that he's a descendent of the ancients, unaware that his parents are two normal human beings.

* CanonImmigrant: Not Sephiroth himself, but his one wing. Sephiroth only had wings in his Safer form in ''VII'', but in his ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' appearance he was given a single black wing. The black wing became a feature in ''Advent Children'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' after that.

!!!'''Appears in''': ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' | ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' | ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'' | ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis'' | ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIEverCrisis''

!!!'''Appears in''': ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' | ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' | ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'' | ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis''

* SuperPersistentPredator: Ever since Cloud first killed him in Nibelheim, Sephiroth's sheer hatred of his ArchNemesis allowed him to preserve his mind in the Lifestream and reconstruct himself using Jenova cells, and he does it again and again each time he's re-killed. So long as Cloud stays TheHero that slew him, Sephiroth will '''never''' stop hunting him. This even applies to ''crossovers with other games'' - whenever Cloud shows up, you can bet that Sephiroth won't be far behind.

[[TropeNamer The]] '''[[TheDreaded Dreaded]]''' OneWingedAngel.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Despite being one of the most famous examples, Sephiroth was actually a subversion when he first appeared. He was not effeminate in his original appearance (one of his defining traits being his [[RatedMForManly incredibly badass combat prowess]]) and, before going mad, his [[TheStoic stoicism]] outweighed any SugarAndIcePersonality traits. The later games tend to play the trope straighter, with his white hair emphasizing his villainous nature and connection to Jenova.

%%* RatedMForManly: Back in the day, his proficiency with the sword, stamina and strength were the defining traits of Sephiroth.

** ''Final Fantasy VII'' depicted him as obsessed with his mother and wanting to become a god in her name; ''Advent Children'' has invoked {{Flanderization}} as described below, with him focusing on his rivalry and hatred for Cloud; ''Crisis Core'' explores his pre-madness SugarAndIce personality where he's a nice guy who is just tough to get to know; ''Kingdom Hearts'' retools him as Cloud's EnemyWithout existing to {{Troll}} him and goad him into fighting; ''Dissidia'' sees him as a PunchClockVillain interested only in recovering his memories with no loyalty to Chaos or Cosmos otherwise. Depending on the game you pick up, Sephiroth can be a mass-murdering sociopath, a respectful WorthyOpponent, a delusional with a God Complex, or some combination of them all.

* {{Cameo}}: A rather odd case: [[spoiler:during the duel between Cloud and Sephiroth at the Edge of Creation in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake the remake]], a familiar-looking celestial body can be seen in the distance. [[WordOfGod According to the guidebook]] ''Material Ultimania'', it is indeed Safer∙Sephiroth, or at least some kind of image of him. How he can appear in this timeline despite the deaths of the Arbiters of Fate changing the future is unknown, but Sephiroth's dialogue during the scene imply that, from the Edge of Creation, one can see the other timeline, though Cloud never mentions anything of the sort himself.]]

** The first time around was when Cloud hurled him into the Lifestream on Nibelheim's Mako Reactor. At that time, Sephiroth was already on a mental breakdown and he was also worn out from his intense and all-out duel with Zack, who was an extremely powerful SOLDIER 1ST Class in his own right. This left him susceptible to being impaled on the midsection by Cloud badly and when Cloud actually attacked him directly, Sephiroth did easily overpower his initial assault but he severely underestimated Cloud's determination to avenge his home and defeat him, which prevented him from instantly finishing Cloud off and gave Cloud the time to summon the strength to overpower him with sheer willpower.

* ShutUpHannibal: Sephiroth delivers one hell of one to [[spoiler:Genesis]]:

** In ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', the newly resurrected Sephiroth forms the Masamune out of tainted Lifestream just in time to effortlessly block Cloud's attack.

* BadassBaritone: Both Creator/ToshiyukiMorikawa and Creator/GeorgeNewbern make him sound smooth, yet downright menacing at the same time, further cementing his status as an unstoppable force of nature. His voice alone conveys power with superiority all in one, further backing up his immense skill with a sword and immense magical power.

!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/ToshiyukiMorikawa (Japanese), Creator/LanceBass (''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', English), Creator/GeorgeNewbern (all other appearances, English)
!!!'''Appears in''': ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'', ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis''
!!!'''Spinoff appearances/other series appearances''': ''VideoGame/{{Ehrgeiz}}'', ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''

* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** Despite the above, it doesn't explain how a level 1 Cloud was able to beat him, let alone survive being stabbed by the Masamune.
** The international release's version of Supernova, an attack that obliterates ''the entire solar system'', is not only incapable of actually killing your party or doing any actual damage to the Planet itself for some reason, but is also significantly more dangerous than his actual EvilPlan to destroy the world with Meteor (it's possible that the attack actually ''is'' another Meteor, just directed at the Sun rather than the world, but that doesn't explain how Meteor takes 7 days to hit the Planet but Supernova takes about a minute total). In the Japanese version, he just conjures an exploding star that deals a significant amount of damage and only destroys a few planets.

!![[center:'''Navigation''' [[Characters/FinalFantasyVII Main]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIPlayableCharacters Playable Characters]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyVIICloudStrife Cloud Strife]]) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIShinraInc Shinra Inc]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIISOLDIER SOLDIER]] (Sephiroth) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIDeepground Deepground]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIOtherAntagonists Other Antagonists]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIBosses Bosses]] ]]

!![[center:'''Navigation''' [[Characters/FinalFantasyVII Main]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIPlayableCharacters Playable Characters]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIShinraInc Shinra Inc]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIISOLDIER SOLDIER]] (Sephiroth) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIDeepground Deepground]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIOtherAntagonists Other Antagonists]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIIBosses Bosses]] ]]

! [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Sephiroth}} Sephiroth]]

** He gets it again in ''Crisis Core'' when he kills [[spoiler:Genesis]], who asks him for help right before the Nibelheim Incident. Is condemning someone to a slow CruelAndUnusualDeath evil? Yes. But considering this is the same person who spends the entire game spouting MeaninglessMeaningfulWords and started his request for help by calling Sephiroth the perfect monster and pushing him further towards his [[GoMadFromTheRevelation breakdown]]...

%%* RatedMForManly: Back in the day, his proficence with the sword, stamina and strength were the defining traits of Sephiroth.

* ShutUpHannibal: Sephiroth's delivers one hell of one to [[spoiler:Genesis]]:

* AFatherToHisMen: Part of the great tragedy of his descent into darkness is that he really cared for those under his command (like giving Zack permission to return to Midgar when there's an increase in monster sightings in the slums or telling Cloud he can visit his mom when they reach Nibelheim).

[[TropeNamer THE]] Dreaded OneWingedAngel.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]]. Both are villains who started out as loyal soldiers in their respective EvilEmpire's armies and want to achieve godhood, yes, but they're as different as night and day. Kefka is an extremely colorful LargeHam who is initially outmatched when he stops to fight the party, but gradually becomes more dangerous as the game progresses and eventually becomes an unstoppable force thanks to his cunning rather than brute force. Sephiroth, on the other hand, wears mostly black, is TheStoic or only mildly smug even when cutting a bloody swatch through his foes, and is a OneManArmy from the get-go. Whereas Kefka was an irredeemably evil psychopath who was pretty much a bastard from the start, Sephiroth is a [[TragicVillain rather sympathetic character]] whose descent into darkness was the result of being used as a pawn his entire life. To top it off, the final battle against Kefka takes place in the upper atmosphere, while Sephiroth is fought at the core of the earth.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]]. Both are villains who started out as loyal soldiers in their respective EvilEmpire's armies and want to achieve godhood, yes, but they're as different as night and day. Kefka is an extremely colorful LargeHam who is initially outmatched when he stops to fight the party, but gradually becomes more dangerous as the game progresses and eventually becomes an unstoppable force thanks to his cunning rather than brute force. Sephiroth, on the other hand, wears mostly black, is TheStoic or only mildly smug even when cutting a bloody swatch through his foes, and is a OneManArmy from the get-go. Whereas Kefka was an [[CompleteMonster irredeemably evil psychopath]] who was pretty much a bastard from the start, Sephiroth is a [[TragicVillain rather sympathetic character]] whose descent into darkness was the result of being used as a pawn his entire life. To top it off, the final battle against Kefka takes place in the upper atmosphere, while Sephiroth is fought at the core of the earth.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]]. Both are villains who started out as loyal soldiers in their respective EvilEmpire's armies and want to achieve godhood, yes, but they're as different as night and day. Kefka is an extremely colorful LargeHam who is initially outmatched when he stops to fight the party but becomes an unstoppable force through calculating opportunism rather than by force. Sephiroth, on the other hand, wears mostly black, is TheStoic or only mildly smug even when cutting a bloody swatch through his foes, and is a OneManArmy from the get-go. Whereas Kefka was an [[CompleteMonster irredeemably evil psychopath]] who was pretty much a bastard from the start, Sephiroth is a [[TragicVillain rather sympathetic character]] whose descent into darkness was the result of being used as a pawn his entire life. To top it off, the final battle against Kefka takes place in the upper atmosphere, while Sephiroth is fought at the core of the earth.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]]. Both are villains who started out as loyal soldiers in their respective EvilEmpire's armies and want to achieve godhood, yes, but they're as different as night and day. Kefka is an extremely colorful LargeHam who's both a DirtyCoward who flees from battle and largely outmatched when he stops to fight the party, only becoming an unstoppable force through calculating opportunism rather than by force. Sephiroth, on the other hand, wears mostly black, is TheStoic or only mildly smug even when cutting a bloody swatch through his foes, and is a OneManArmy from the get-go. To top it off, the final battle against Kefka takes place in the upper atmosphere, while Sephiroth is fought at the core of the earth.

[[TropeNamer THE]] dreaded OneWingedAngel.

* {{Retirony}}: Acording to ''Crisis Core'', he was considering retiring from Shinra and SOLDIER after the Nibelheim mission due to growing distrust of the organization and guilt from his friends' deaths. Instead he gets his StartOfDarkness while there and goes totally off the deep end.

[[TropeNamer THE]] OneWingedAngel.

* OmnicidalManiac: Though it isn't his main goal, his plan to seize control of the Lifestream would kill mostly everything else on the planet.

* ItsPersonal: Inverted at first, in that during the original ''Final Fantasy VII'', Sephiroth doesn't really care about Cloud personally despite the young man's vengeful spite for him. It's only around [[spoiler:Tifa's trip into the Lifestream that he bothers to realize that Cloud had taken Zack's place,]] and he mostly just manipulates Cloud thanks to the JENOVA cells in the latter keeping him a very useful pawn over the course of the story. Then Cloud kills him, both physically ''again'' and as the remnant in his psyche, and that's when the MotiveDecay sets in as Sephiroth enacts this trope against him.