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139-462: Jenova may refer to: Jenova ( Final Fantasy ) , a character in the video game Final Fantasy VII Jenova Chen (born Xinghan Chen), video game developer and the founder of thatgamecompany Jenova (film) , a 1953 film See also [ edit ] Genoa Genova (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

278-430: A Famitsu reader poll for Japan's favorite video game character. In a list of the best Final Fantasy characters made by Complex , characters from Final Fantasy VII occupied seven out of the twenty places, with Sephiroth and Cloud coming third and first respectively. The character of Cloud has also influenced character design in the series, having had a profound influence on the design and portrayal of Lightning ,

417-539: A Nintendo product with the tennis and ping-pong variant of the Color TV-Game console and later borrowed a Family Computer in high school. Around that time, Dragon Quest became Nomura's favorite because it surprised him and introduced him to video games with story elements. His art teacher in high school pointed him towards the works of Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano . Nomura also created his own manga during class and intended to do this as

556-404: A role-playing video game developed by Square , now Square Enix , and originally released in 1997, features many fictional 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 movie sequel Advent Children ,

695-720: A Smile novella "Case of Denzel" and its OVA adaptation On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel . He is voiced in English by Jamieson Price in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus and by Jon Root in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series and in Japanese by Banjō Ginga . Marlene ( マリン , Marin ) is the young daughter of Barret's friends, Dyne and Eleanor, and the adopted daughter of Barret. Eleanor

834-665: A change of heart, he decides to help the group, even risking his life by destroying a version of himself to extract the Black Materia Sephiroth needs to summon the Meteor spell. He appears briefly in Advent Children and Final Fantasy VII Remake and as a supporting character throughout Dirge of Cerberus . Cait Sith is voiced in English by Greg Ellis in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus and by Paul Tinto in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth . He

973-417: 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

1112-402: 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

1251-455: A final duel between Cloud and Sephiroth, Kadaj dies in his arms, while Loz and Yazoo die in a final attack on Cloud. The Remnants were created to represent different aspects of Sephiroth's personality: Kadaj represented his cruelty, Loz represented his strength , and Yazoo represented his allure . To fit in with the film's theme of the "next generation", they were made younger than Cloud and Sephiroth. Kadaj's original moniker during production

1390-413: 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

1529-440: A general Native American motif; his tail having a flame at its the tip was to add more color. Red XIII's limited appearance in Advent Children was due to difficulties with accurately animating his hair realistically. For his action scenes, four separate CGI layers had to be created and overlapped. Red XIII is voiced in English by Liam O'Brien in Advent Children and Max Mittelman in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. He

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1668-400: A godly figure" during his early days at Square. At that time, Nomura was also taught the basics of game design by Ito. He told Nomura never to stick to existing concepts but rather to reuse just specific ideas and explained concepts such as ease of control and effortless accessibility of magic spells. Ito's work as a battle system designer inspires Nomura when thinking of the gameplay system for

1807-554: A group of covert operatives who work for Shinra throughout VII and later become an independent force. While part of Shinra, they were officially known as the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department. In Final Fantasy VII , several Turks serve as recurring antagonists, although they are not above forming temporary alliances with the game's group of central characters. They are also

1946-502: 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 ,

2085-410: A minor character, Hideki Imaizumi, the producer of Crisis Core , found such a passing use of a character to be a waste and asked Gackt whether he was interested in further involvement. Gackt was eager to continue with the character, and ended up being one of the key creative minds behind Genesis' manners and personality. Genesis' outfit became one of Gackt's commonly worn outfits during concerts. Genesis

2224-704: A minor role in Before Crisis , as the architect responsible for designing Mako reactors and aiding the Turks through Cait Sith. He is not seen in Advent Children , but is heard leaving a message on Cloud's cell phone. He plays a significant role in Dirge of Cerberus , where he establishes the World Regenesis Organization, which is dedicated to restoring the Planet. He also appears in the On the Way to

2363-459: A mobile platform and wanted it to play slightly differently from other titles in the series. The result was Kingdom Hearts Coded , a game set after the events of Kingdom Hearts II , which was later remade for the Nintendo DS in 2010. In the meantime, Nomura was also responsible for the main character designs and orchestration of The World Ends with You for the Nintendo DS. In 2009, he

2502-438: A profession although he ultimately abandoned the idea. Nomura went to vocational school to learn magazine and advertising artwork. Nomura then looked for an advertising job at a publishing company. However, he eventually applied to Square after he had seen a job advertisement with a drawing by Yoshitaka Amano . In 1991, Nomura was hired by Square and at first worked as a debugger for Final Fantasy IV . Some time later,

2641-459: A reaction to a shocking event on the first disc. Final Fantasy VII evokes that kind of emotional response". Steve Bauman of Computer Games Magazine called the characters "funky", saying that the characters "worked wonders" on some of the poorer dialogue. Simon Parkin of Eurogamer praised the characters' "clear motivations, desires and flaws". RPGFan generally praised the characters, especially Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth, and said that "while on

2780-553: A recurring character through the Compilation . In Final Fantasy VII , he is a mercenary employed by the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE. He claims to be a former member of SOLDIER, but over the course of the plot he rediscovers lost memories of his true self. Cloud is voiced in English by Steve Burton in most media and Cody Christian in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. He is voiced in Japanese by Takahiro Sakurai . Barret Wallace ( バレット・ウォーレス , Baretto Wōresu )

2919-577: 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

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3058-476: 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

3197-450: A stylized and chibi way and came up with the idea for the " Limit Break " attacks. He also took part in the making of the story and had a hand in plot elements such as Aerith 's death. In 1998, Nomura worked on both Parasite Eve and Brave Fencer Musashi . He then designed characters and monsters for Final Fantasy VIII in what he described as his "actual style of drawing", working alongside art director Yusuke Naora to realize

3336-477: A time. As he begins suffering from the same degradation as Genesis, he begins seeing himself as a monster and leaves Genesis, temporarily allying with Zack. Zack is eventually forced to fight and kill him, but Angeal lives on for some time through Lazard Deusericus, the former director of SOLDIER who is made a copy of him, and an animal-like copy; both die after protecting Cloud from a Shinra attack in Banora. Angeal

3475-452: Is a robotic talking cat . In Final Fantasy VII , he rides atop an unnamed robotic Moogle ; in later installments in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII , he either walks by himself or rides Red XIII. As a robot, he can be rebuilt and replaced and is controlled by Reeve Tuesti, whose original intent during Final Fantasy VII was to infiltrate Cloud's group and sabotage their resistance efforts on behalf of his Shinra employers. After having

3614-536: Is a young boy who resides with Cloud, Tifa, and Marlene in the city of Edge. He first appears in Advent Children as one of many people who contracted Geostigma. He and many other sick children are lured to the Ancient City of the Cetra, where they are brought under Kadaj's control. Denzel regains his senses after Tifa protects him from Bahamut SIN during the final conflict. He is later healed of his Geostigma through

3753-625: 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

3892-535: Is defeated by Cloud and his allies while trying to aid Sephiroth's plans. In Dirge of Cerberus he survived long enough to store a digital copy of himself in the worldwide network; he subsequently takes control of Weiss' body and attempts to summon Omega WEAPON to drain the Lifestream from the Planet and launch into space in search of a new world. He is stopped by Vincent with the help of Nero, who merges with Weiss and frees him from Hojo's control, destroying Hojo in

4031-570: Is destroyed, with her fate being unknown. Shalua is voiced in English by Kim Mai Guest and in Japanese by Yuu Asakawa. Angeal Hewley ( アンジール・ヒューレー , Anjīru Hyūrē ) is a SOLDIER 1st Class who is Zack Fair's friend and mentor and a close friend of Genesis and Sephiroth; he is also the original owner of the Buster Sword, and passed down the sword to him. He was produced by the same project that birthed Genesis, and after learning of his origins, he turns against Shinra and works with Genesis for

4170-467: Is explored in Dirge of Cerberus and other Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles. Vincent is voiced in English by Steve Blum in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus and Matthew Mercer in Rebirth , and in Japanese by Shōgo Suzuki . Cid Highwind ( シド・ハイウインド , Shido Haiuindo ) is an airship pilot. He is first encountered trying to restart a rocket program which Shinra cancelled due to

4309-427: Is one of the lead members of AVALANCHE, and initially convinces Cloud to join them in their rebellion against Shinra. She helps to unlock Cloud's missing memories when they fall into the Lifestream together, and she is the only one who knows of Cloud's past. Tifa appears in all the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles alongside Cloud. Tifa is voiced in English by Rachael Leigh Cook in most media and Britt Baron in

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4448-506: Is portrayed in multiple titles in the Compilation as a female humanoid. When Jenova originally crashed, she began infecting the Cetra with a virus, causing them to almost be wiped out. However, a small group managed to seal Jenova in a tomb, which was later excavated by Shinra. Jenova was mistaken for a Cetra, and samples from her remains were used in the experiments that created SOLDIER and Sephiroth. In both Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children , Sephiroth and Jenova aim to take control of

4587-542: Is searching for a new power source for the Planet. She is instrumental in helping Cloud return to his friends and fight against Sephiroth's Remnants. Marlene is voiced in English by Grace Rolek in Advent Children , Ariel Winter in Advent Children Complete , and Brielle Milla in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. In Japanese, she is voiced by Miyū Tsuzurahara in Advent Children , Sumire Morohoshi in Advent Children Complete , and Otoha Umezaki in

4726-435: Is seen resting with Shelke during the ending. In Final Fantasy VII Lateral Biography Turks -The Kids Are Alright- , he saves a young girl from drowning and briefly encounters Tseng. Red XIII was the fourth character to be created by Nomura, who wanted a four-legged playable character in the cast despite the graphical difficulties it would pose. He was originally conceived as a member of SOLDIER. His standard name, "Red XIII",

4865-465: Is the former leader of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, who is opposed to Shinra's use of Mako technology since he believes it to be killing Gaia. He is also the adoptive father of Marlene, the daughter of his deceased friend, Dyne. Initially, he distrusts and dislikes Cloud, believing him to be nothing more than a heartless mercenary-for-hire, but eventually changes his opinion of him. After AVALANCHE disbands, Barret chooses to continue his mission to save

5004-788: Is the last of the Cetra, also known as the Ancients, and Shinra believes she is the key to finding the fabled Promised Land. She meets Cloud during the first reactor mission, and later on he became her bodyguard. Despite Sephiroth killing her during the events of VII , Aerith's spirit retains her cognitive powers and individuality within the Lifestream. Aerith is voiced in English by Mandy Moore in Kingdom Hearts , Mena Suvari in Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts II , Andrea Bowen in Crisis Core , Dissida 012 , Mobius Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind , and Briana White in

5143-504: Is the protagonist of its prequel, Crisis Core . He also appears in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles Before Crisis , Last Order and Advent Children . He is the romantic hero to Aerith's heroine, and part of the mystery of Cloud's true identity. Zack is voiced in English by Rick Gomez in most appearances and by Caleb Pierce in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. The Turks ( タークス , Tākusu ) are

5282-474: Is voiced in English by Lance Bass in the first Kingdom Hearts , George Newbern in most media, and Tyler Hoechlin in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. He is voiced in Japanese by Toshiyuki Morikawa in most appearances and Shin-ichiro Miki in Ehrgeiz . Jenova ( ジェノバ , Jenoba ) is an extraterrestrial lifeform who crash-landed on the planet two thousand years prior to the events of VII , and

5421-574: Is voiced in English by Robin Atkin Downes in Dirge of Cerberus , Oliver Quinn in Crisis Core , and Shaun Conde in Crisis Core Reunion . AVALANCHE ( アバランチ , Abaranchi ) is an eco-terrorist organization in the world of Final Fantasy VII . It is introduced as the main rebel force against Shinra, being openly opposed to the company's Mako-based energy production, which is draining the planet of its Lifestream. Two versions of

5560-514: Is voiced in English by Josh Gilman in Crisis Core and Bill Millsap in Crisis Core Reunion , and in Japanese by Kazuhiko Inoue . Lucrecia Crescent ( ルクレツィア・クレシェント , Rukuretsia Kureshento ) is a Shinra scientist introduced in VII and an important character in Dirge of Cerberus . She worked in Nibelheim under Hojo and worked on the research into Chaos, which she injected into Vincent while he

5699-599: Is voiced in Japanese by Hideo Ishikawa . Vincent Valentine ( ヴィンセント・ヴァレンタイン , Vinsento Varentain ) is an optional party member in Final Fantasy VII , and the protagonist of Dirge of Cerberus and its mobile spin-off . Cloud and the others discover him sleeping inside a coffin in the basement of the Shinra Mansion, where he joins them in their quest to hunt down Sephiroth. Vincent reveals little about himself after his introduction, and his backstory

Jenova - Misplaced Pages Continue

5838-514: Is voiced in Japanese by Masachika Ichimura in Advent Children and Kappei Yamaguchi in Remake . Yuffie Kisaragi ( ユフィ・キサラギ , Yufi Kisaragi ) is the daughter of the leader of Wutai, who feels her country has lost its former glory in the aftermath of a war with Shinra and has become a resort town. Yuffie is introduced when she ambushes Cloud and his allies in either the Gongaga jungle or

5977-569: The Final Fantasy series in the same capacity with 2001's Final Fantasy X . He worked with the staff so that the characters' clothes would be identical in full motion videos and in-game scenes, unlike in Final Fantasy VIII . In February 2000, he started working as the director of Kingdom Hearts with the production team consisting of over one hundred members from both Square and Disney Interactive . Nomura first heard of

6116-529: The Final Fantasy VII Remake series, and by Tōru Ōkawa in Japanese. Professor Hojo ( 宝条 , Hōjō ) is the biological father of Sephiroth and was the head of Shinra's "Department of Science and Research" until he resigned after being attacked by Red XIII at Shinra headquarters. While studying Jenova, he infused his unborn child with its cells; the result of this was Sephiroth, who grew up to have some control over Jenova. His experiments were responsible for making Vincent immortal. In Final Fantasy VII , Hojo

6255-630: The Kingdom Hearts series since its inception in 2002 and has been creative producer in The World Ends with You series. He has also directed the 2005 film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children , and directed Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), while coming back as creative director for the sequel Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024). Nomura's father influenced his interest in art and games early on, creating little drawings and unique Sugoroku board games for him. Nomura started drawing at

6394-406: The Compilation . In Before Crisis , he defends a female of his species named Deneh and is subsequently captured by the Turks. In the On the Way to a Smile novella "Case of Nanaki", Red XIII struggles with the knowledge that he will outlive his friends. He also appears briefly in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus ; in the former, he aids in the fight against Bahamut SIN, and in the latter he

6533-410: 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

6672-540: The Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy X-2 . For the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII metaseries which featured new titles based on Final Fantasy VII , Nomura was once again the character designer. A sequel to Kingdom Hearts started development around the completion of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix , an international version which added more foreshadowing elements regarding

6811-412: The Final Fantasy VII Remake series. Shalua Rui ( シャルア・ルーイ , Sharua Rūi ) is a minor character in Before Crisis and a supporting character in Dirge of Cerberus . When her sister Shelke was taken by Shinra for their Deepground unit, she went in search of Shelke and joined AVALANCHE in hopes that they would lead her to her sister. During her time there, she received grave injuries, resulting in

6950-433: The Final Fantasy VII Remake series. She is voiced in Japanese by Ayumi Ito in most appearances, Yōko Asada in Ehrgeiz (arcade), and Yūko Minaguchi in Ehrgeiz (PlayStation). Aerith Gainsborough ( エアリス・ゲインズブール , Earisu Geinzubūru , originally romanized as "Aeris Gainsborough") is a resident of Midgar who works as a flower peddler on its streets. She is sought after by Shinra's research department because she

7089-493: The Final Fantasy VII Remake series. She is voiced in Japanese by Maaya Sakamoto . Red XIII ( レッドXIII , Reddo Sātīn , pronounced "Red Thirteen") , birth name Nanaki ( ナナキ ) , is a powerful and intelligent member of an unnamed feline species with the ability to speak. In Final Fantasy VII , he temporarily joins Cloud's team after they rescue him from Hojo at the Shinra building. Red XIII believed that his father, Seto,

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7228-404: The Kingdom Hearts games. When designing characters, Nomura wants their names and outfits to be related with their personalities. An example occurs in Final Fantasy X where the protagonist Tidus was given a colorful uniform in order to reflect his cheerful personality and to contrast with the previous moody Final Fantasy characters. His name as well as Yuna 's, another character appearing in

7367-424: 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. Teruaki Sugawara,

7506-461: 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 ,

7645-508: The Lifestream. Genesis was taken in by Deepground, who gave him the codename "G" and used him to create the Tsviets. Refusing to follow along with the Tsviets' plans after their rebellion, he seals himself in a cave until he is needed. In the secret ending of Dirge of Cerberus , Genesis awakes, determined to defend the planet. Genesis was modeled on the character's Japanese voice actor, singer Gackt , who composed and performed " Redemption " for Dirge of Cerberus . While originally intended as

7784-410: The Planet by trying to find a new energy source to replace Mako. Barret is voiced in English by Beau Billingslea in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus and John Eric Bentley in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. He is voiced in Japanese by Masahiro Kobayashi . Tifa Lockhart ( ティファ・ロックハート , Tifa Rokkuhāto , originally romanized as "Tifa Lockheart") is a childhood friend of Cloud. She

7923-702: The Promised Land, as well as Shinra's military in battling the WEAPONs. Rufus was thought to have died when his office in Shinra Headquarters was hit by an energy blast from Diamond WEAPON, but Advent Children reveals that he survived but was greatly injured. The On the Way to a Smile novella "Case of Shinra" depicts his survival, as well as his plans for the future and how he contracts Geostigma. He appears in Advent Children in possession of Jenova's remains and claiming that he intends to repair

8062-506: The Shinra Company should be run causes his father to attempt to bar him from controlling the company. As shown in Before Crisis , Rufus was anonymously supplying information to AVALANCHE with the intent of having them kill his father, but this plan failed and he is placed under house arrest. However, following his father's death, he claims control over the company and begins running it his way. He later leads Shinra's efforts to find

8201-470: The Tsviets, an elite who were infused with genetic material from Genesis Rhapsodos. The Tsviets' original leaders, the Restrictors, were overthrown when the Tsviets used one of their own who had yet to be fully indoctrinated to kill their leader. During the events of Dirge of Cerberus , Hojo possesses their leader and manipulates them into attempting to awaken OMEGA, a means for the Lifestream to escape

8340-500: 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

8479-539: The actions his assistant Shera took out of concern for the safety of the rocket. He blames Shera for the incident as he does not believe her concerns were justified, and verbally abuses her. However, her concerns regarding the oxygen tanks are proven to be correct when an explosion temporarily traps Cid during a later successful attempt to launch the rocket against Meteor. As a result, Cid comes to forgive her. Cid also appears in Before Crisis , Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus . In Advent Children , he briefly rejoins

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8618-472: The actual Sephiroth died five years before the game, manipulates and tortures Cloud over the course of Final Fantasy VII , and kills Aerith at the Forgotten City. Cloud ultimately destroys him at the end of the game, but he returns in Advent Children after being reborn, only to be defeated again by Cloud. Sephiroth also appears in almost every title in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII . Sephiroth

8757-464: The age of three years and developed his own Sugoroku games during his elementary school years. As a child, he spent much of his free time playing baseball, swimming, fishing and building fortresses. When he was in middle school, his father told him that an era of computers would come and bought him his own computer. Nomura played Legends of Star Arthur: Planet Mephius on it and started creating his own video games by learning programming . He first tried

8896-434: The antagonists of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children . Known as "Remnants", they are manifestations of Sephiroth's will, driven to find samples of their "mother" Jenova to trigger Sephiroth's resurrection and enact vengeance upon the world. The three frequently come into conflict with the remains of Shinra as well as Cloud. Eventually, Kadaj is successful in merging with Jenova's cells, triggering Sephiroth's resurrection. After

9035-418: The best characters in both the Final Fantasy series and video games in general by both critics and fans. Reader and critic lists on gaming site IGN have all placed them high, with one reader poll in 2014 having multiple VII characters dominating a list of the top ten characters in the series as a whole. Sephiroth remains one of the most popular villains in video game history, unanimously voted number one by

9174-517: The central protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels. Tetsuya Nomura Tetsuya Nomura ( 野村 哲也 , Nomura Tetsuya , born October 8, 1970) is a Japanese video game artist , designer, producer, and director working for Square Enix . He was hired by Square initially as a monster designer for Final Fantasy V (1992), before being shifted towards secondary character designer alongside Yoshitaka Amano for Final Fantasy VI (1994). Final Fantasy VII (1997) had him working in

9313-403: 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 (Cloud) commented on him being Burton's replacement, stating, "Steve, you paved

9452-457: 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

9591-423: 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

9730-588: The company's staff was divided and he was placed in the team in charge of Final Fantasy . After he had received some training by artist Tetsuya Takahashi , Nomura designed the monsters for Final Fantasy V . At that time, each Final Fantasy developer had their own plan book as a compilation of ideas to present to the director of a game. While the others typed their plan books at the computer and then printed them out, Nomura wrote his by hand and attached many drawings which impressed director Hironobu Sakaguchi and event planner Yoshinori Kitase . Nomura then became

9869-491: The controller of the robotic cat Cait Sith. In Final Fantasy VII , Reeve originally worked against AVALANCHE until deciding to aid them in their quest against Sephiroth: feeling repentant about his role, he aids the group through Cait Sith. He is temporarily arrested after Rufus' apparent death, but is released in time to organize an evacuation of Midgar's population before the arrival of Meteor. He also informs Elmyra Gainsborough, Aerith's adoptive mother, of her death. Reeve plays

10008-486: The creation of the non-playable characters . In 2008, he was the character designer of Dissidia Final Fantasy . The game was originally envisioned by Nomura as a Kingdom Hearts spin-off featuring a cast of Disney characters. He later felt uncomfortable with the Disney characters fighting each other and instead opted to use Final Fantasy characters. Nomura was responsible for the character designs, which changed much of

10147-416: The critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII Remake . He worked as the director of the project, character designer, and concept designer. After a successful launch, Nomura would go on to work on downloadable content for the game called "intermission", which released in 2021. During this, he was also working on the next installation, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth . Work for that project began in 2019, however, it

10286-483: The damage Shinra had caused to Gaia. In Advent Children , Rufus uses a wheelchair and covers himself with a white sheet, but these are later shown to be a façade while he was holding Jenova's remains. While not seen in Dirge of Cerberus except in a flashback, it is hinted that he is secretly funding the WRO (World Regenesis Organization). Rufus is voiced in English by Wally Wingert in Advent Children and Josh Bowman in

10425-408: The end of the narrative has Cloud appreciating the victory thanks to his "pillars". While Cloud is never addressed as a God, he instead has to protect God's peace as Sephiroth instead plays the role of Satan as well as his own Shadow with Cloud having to surpass him in the narrative. The characters of Final Fantasy VII and the Compilation have remained highly popular, often being cited as some of

10564-492: The film's pace and context, viewers were not given enough time to get to know the characters. These sentiments were echoed by John Eriani of Mania Entertainment, who particularly faulted the lack of character names or explanations of the villains' motives. Chris Carle of IGN was critical of the lack of motivation for those who were not familiar with the series, but praised both the English and Japanese voice acting. Michael Beckett of RPGamer, while generally less than impressed by

10703-595: The film. The same occurs within the Kingdom Hearts series where the scenes that show unknown characters are left to the player's imagination until the following scene reveals it. Nomura received the "Excellence in Visual Arts" award by the International Game Developers Association for his work on the first Kingdom Hearts game , alongside Shinji Hashimoto . In IGN 's "The Top 100 Video Game Creators of all Time" Nomura

10842-433: The film; it took them two years to develop and refine his look. Nozue also strugled 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

10981-451: The finest role-playing experience available on the PSP, but also one of the best Japanese RPGs in years". Ryan Clements, writing for IGN, was pleased by the story's focus on Zack and his interactions with other characters rather than a grand narrative. Gerard Villorria of GameSpy was also positive, saying that exploring the relationships between old characters was "a key element", while finding

11120-462: The forests south of Junon, where she is known as "Mystery Ninja". If the player defeats her in combat and then chooses the correct series of dialogue choices, she introduces herself and joins the player's party. However, once in Wutai Village, Yuffie steals the party's Materia and hides, but is kidnapped by the lecherous Don Corneo, a Midgar crime lord. When the group rescues Yuffie, she returns

11259-516: The game during a discussion between Shinji Hashimoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi regarding the use of the character of Mickey Mouse in a video game. He was inspired to work on Kingdom Hearts by Nintendo 's platforming game Super Mario 64 . After discussing with the Disney staff, Nomura convinced them to use original characters with him as the character designer. The game's protagonist, Sora , became his favorite character he had designed so far. Following Kingdom Hearts , Nomura worked once again on

11398-529: The game, also have a common theme, the former being Okinawan for "Sun" and the latter Okinawan for "night". Various characters such as Squall Leonheart and Lulu are given multiple accessories, making the games more challenging for the programmers. When directing Advent Children , Nomura explained how the film was different from Western films due to the lack of direct answers from the plot. He added that he wants viewers to interpret certain scenes themselves and then discuss them with friends as another way to enjoy

11537-421: The graphic director of Final Fantasy VI . For this game, he conceived the characters Shadow and Setzer as well as their background stories. Their designs were reused from some of Nomura's abandoned concepts for Final Fantasy V . Following several smaller projects, Nomura was asked to be the principal character designer of Final Fantasy VII in replacement for Amano. Nomura drew the game's characters in

11676-421: The inclusion of new characters and new gameplay mechanics. For 2011's Final Fantasy XIII-2 , Nomura only created the new characters' faces as other staff members designed their clothes. Once the Kingdom Hearts coded remake was released, Nomura and his companions had already thought about creating Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance , a game that would set up the events of Kingdom Hearts III . The game

11815-497: The large number of new characters a little confusing. Crisis Core ' s characters were generally praised. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd said that, despite new and familiar characters appearing, it was the further-explored characters of Zack and Sephiroth that he found himself sympathising with: "The way their personal stories weave in and out of each other—and set the stage for the events in Final Fantasy VII —makes Crisis Core not just

11954-468: The look and style of Amano's illustrations. In 2010, Square released Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep , a prequel of the first Kingdom Hearts that explained scenes shown in Kingdom Hearts II and its updated version. In early 2011, Square released a follow-up to Dissidia titled Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy . The game carried several ideas Nomura had ever since early development, such as

12093-409: The loss of her right eye and arm and massive internal damage. This incident prompted her to leave AVALANCHE for good. In Dirge of Cerberus , she is part of the World Regenesis Organization, and is responsible for saving Vincent after he is overcome by the power of Chaos. She is eventually sent into a coma while she is helping Vincent and Shelke escape and her life support mechanism, her artificial arm,

12232-480: The more realistic approach to the game's graphics. Additionally, he wrote the character's background stories and was the battle visual director in charge of designing fight sequences. Afterwards, Nomura worked on several different projects for Square, for example as a character designer of the 1998 fighting game Ehrgeiz which also used characters from Final Fantasy VII . Nomura was the character designer for 2000s beat 'em up The Bouncer before he returned to

12371-433: The new characters and their backstories "equally interesting". In regards to remake, IGN called its "emotional arcs". Despite noting his antisocial attitudes in the remake, IGN and GameSpot commented that Cloud is the character who has the most notable arc in Remake , with Cody Christian 's performance helping to improve his appeal. The idea that there are four characters with Sephiroth's name led VG247 to note

12510-429: The old ones have a chance to shine". He was also pleased with Vincent's portrayal and development in the title. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer felt that the focus on characters that were secondary or optional in the original was a weak point of the game, and that those not familiar with the original game would possibly feel lost. GameSpot's Greg Mueller praised the game's focus on Vincent's origins and development, despite finding

12649-462: The organization existed: the first acted as the antagonists of Before Crisis , while the second featured many of the protagonists of VII . While the first version was indirectly destroyed by the actions of their leader, Shinra eventually crushed the movement completely and destroyed Sector 7 of Midgar. Among its notable members were: Reeve Tuesti ( リーブ・トゥエスティ , Rību Tuesuti ) is the former head of Shinra's "Department of Urban Development", and

12788-435: The original Jenova was a hostile region of the brain that would awaken in people possessing certain genes. The name "Jenova" was to have been inherited by a book written by the Cetra on the subject. While Jenova's remains in Advent Children are called a "head", this is not technically accurate, as the term was used because developers couldn't think of a more suitable name. One of the ideas discussed for Sephiroth's resurrection

12927-423: The original story alongside Hironobu Sakaguchi , and marked his debut as the lead character designer, a capacity he would retain for several future installments of the series, as well as other Square Enix titles such as The Bouncer and The World Ends with You . He also created well-known Cactuar , Gilgamesh and Tonberry characters. Additionally, Nomura created and has led the development as director of

13066-420: The overall story, said that it "[provides] some interesting insights into a few of the less-developed characters of the game, though Cloud receives most of the attention and development as the story unfolds". Opinions on the characters of Dirge of Cerberus were again mixed to positive. IGN's Jeremy Dunham was fairly positive, saying that the new characters "go through quite a bit of development and even some of

13205-446: The party to fight against Bahamut SIN. In Dirge of Cerberus , he aids the World Regenesis Organization in launching an attack on Deepground headquarters, and later in fighting Omega WEAPON. Cid is voiced in English by Chris Edgerly in most media and J. Michael Tatum in Rebirth , and in Japanese by Kazuhiro Yamaji . Zack Fair ( ザックス・フェア , Zakkusu Fea ) is a minor character in Final Fantasy VII who appears in flashbacks ; he

13344-520: The planet and use it to roam through space until they find another world to build on. In Advent Children , Jenova's remains are acquired by Rufus, which the Remnants hope to use to resurrect Sephiroth. Jenova is also responsible for the disease Geostigma, which infects those who came into contact with the tainted Lifestream after Sephiroth was defeated. Jenova's original forms during VII ' s development were very different from her final incarnation;

13483-434: The planet during times of catastrophe. Although one of the members, Shelke, is rescued from the group, the others are killed, although Weiss' body is rescued by Genesis and transported somewhere. The Tsviets are: Genesis Rhapsodos ( ジェネシス ・ラプソードス , Jeneshisu Rapusōdosu ) is first seen in Dirge of Cerberus and acts as the main antagonist of Crisis Core . He was a product of the same program that created Sephiroth, but

13622-405: The playable characters and protagonists of the Final Fantasy VII prequel, Before Crisis , which focuses on their actions in the years leading up to the events of the original game. The player chooses from eleven unnamed Turks, each with his or her own backstory, personality, strengths and weaknesses. With one exception, each Turk is identified based on their weapon and sex. Among important Turks in

13761-425: The point where we can say that." Wishing to stop using the character of Sora temporarily, Nomura instead wanted to continue the series with games that explained different subplots. This resulted in the creation of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS in 2008 which explored events that set up the story of Kingdom Hearts II . In mid-2007, Nomura mentioned a desire to create a spin-off Kingdom Hearts game on

13900-407: The premise not being unique, it was "Cloud's interactions with other characters, especially between him and [Sephiroth] which make the story so special". Thierry Nguyen of Computer Gaming World found that both the story and character development were strong, saying that as the players progressed through the game, "these characters intrigue you, and you get so attached to them that you might jump as

14039-418: 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

14178-461: The process. Hojo also briefly appears in Before Crisis , Last Order , and Crisis Core . He is voiced in English by Paul Eiding in Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core and James Sie in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. He is voiced in Japanese by Nachi Nozawa in Dirge of Cerberus , Last Order and Crisis Core , and Shigeru Chiba in Remake . Kadaj ( カダージュ , Kadāju ) , Loz ( ロッズ , Rozzu ) and Yazoo ( ヤズー , Yazū ) are

14317-641: The project and other key members of the original Final Fantasy VII development team, Kitase and Kazushige Nojima returning as producer and scenario writer. At E3 2015 , Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced with Nomura confirmed to be the director of the game. Nomura designed the charications in the "Torna" organization for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 . Nomura also designed bosses for the Eden raid in Final Fantasy XIV 's expansion, Shadowbringers . In April 2020, Nomura and Square Enix launched

14456-496: 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

14595-539: The recently announced Kingdom Hearts IV . Like the previous games, he will be in charge of the character design, the story, and the concept design. As for this project’s release date, and when more news would be shared, no release date was given, and any more visual showcases for the game will come at a later date, and not during the summer. Nomura also created art pieces for his characters on post cards which could be purchased in October 2022. He also created artwork which

14734-535: The remake still had its own mysteries that original players would not understand while the title. Siliconera described this incarnation of the antagonist as haunting, due to how he often appears within Cloud's hallucinations across the plot. Still, the site noticed that despite being a remake, the game explored different situations of the narrative similar to the films known as Rebuild of Evangelion that also retold an anime but with multiple changes. The portrayal of

14873-412: The series are: Sephiroth ( セフィロス , Sefirosu ) is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children . He was originally a member of Shinra's SOLDIER elite, but he went insane after learning his true origins. This prompts him to abandon his humanity and attempt to attain godhood by absorbing the Lifestream, the source of life on the planet. He, or rather JENOVA using his likeness since

15012-575: The series' plot. Nomura continued his work on the series with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. He had originally planned to work directly on the PlayStation 2 sequel Kingdom Hearts II . However, desire from fans to play the original game on a portable console resulted in the creation of Chain of Memories which would bridge the gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II . Afterwards, Nomura

15151-571: 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. The original concept for Final Fantasy VII ' s world was for a modern setting, but after the project was moved from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the PlayStation console,

15290-545: 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

15429-478: 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

15568-446: The staff of Electronic Gaming Monthly in their "Top 10 Video Game Bosses" list in October 2005. In late 2007, Dengeki PlayStation named Cloud Strife the best character of all time in their retrospective awards feature about the original PlayStation . Aerith placed fifth, Tifa placed eighth and three other characters placed in the top 50; Sephiroth at fourteenth, Reno at fifteenth, and Yuffie at forty-second. Cloud placed second in

15707-443: The stolen Materia and continues working with the party. Yuffie is voiced in English by Christy Carlson Romano in Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children , Mae Whitman in Kingdom Hearts II , Dirge of Cerberus and Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind , Suzie Yeung in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, and Brandilyn Cheah as a child in Crisis Core Reunion . She is voiced in Japanese by Yumi Kakazu . Cait Sith ( ケット・シー , Ketto Shī )

15846-451: The supporting characters also earned positive response such as the potential Barret was given to develop him in the sequel or Aerith's traits and some ambiguous scenes involving her. In the book The World of Final Fantasy VII: Essays on the Game and Its Legacy , Cloud is also seen as a Messiah with Tifa and Aerith being one of his main supporters to help progress and defeat Sephiroth, though

15985-539: The surface they certainly do appear to fit certain stereotypes, a second look will reveal that they transcend these qualities and are compelling and complex personalities underneath". While the mobile game Before Crisis , the first Compilation game title to be released, has received limited western commentary, writers at AnimeFringe felt that "the chance to reverse the good and bad guy roles should be welcomed by many". Advent Children received mixed views from critics. Carlo Santos of Anime News Network felt that, due to

16124-476: The title Jenova . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jenova&oldid=1132063632 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Jenova (Final Fantasy) Final Fantasy VII ,

16263-435: 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

16402-523: The water in Aerith's church. Denzel is voiced in English by Benjamin Bryan in Advent Children and Aaron Refvem in Advent Children Complete . He is voiced in Japanese by Kyosuke Ikeda in Advent Children and Kazumu Izawa in Advent Children Complete . The characters of VII received near-unanimous praise from critics for their original appearance. In an article on GameSpot , it was stated that, despite

16541-444: 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 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

16680-442: Was "Lost Name". Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are respectively voiced by Shotaro Morikubo , Kenji Nomura and Yuji Kishi in Japanese and Steven Staley , Fred Tatasciore and Dave Wittenberg in English. Deepground ( ディープ グラウンド ソルジャー , Dīpu Guraundo Sorujā , Deepground Soldier) is a military force created by Shinra using genetic engineering to be a covert force, which acts as the antagonist of Dirge of Cerberus . They are led by

16819-431: Was a Turk assigned to protect her, and provided the maternal DNA for Sephiroth. Ridden with guilt over her actions, she seals herself inside a crystal, essentially becoming immortal and cut off from the outside world. Her memories are uploaded into Shelke, and through them and recordings left behind for him, she is able to communicate with Vincent, eventually leaving a final message that she is glad he survived. Lucrecia

16958-496: Was a coward who abandoned their home, Cosmo Canyon, during a war with the Gi Tribe. However, upon returning to Cosmo Canyon, his adoptive grandfather, Bugenhagen, brings Red XIII to Seto's petrified body and reveals that he sacrificed himself to save the village and fought against the invading army. After learning the truth, Red XIII gains the courage to permanently join Cloud's group. Red XIII makes additional appearances throughout

17097-429: 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. Cloud Strife ( クラウド・ストライフ , Kuraudo Sutoraifu ) is the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII , Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children , the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, and

17236-443: Was also the main character designer of Final Fantasy XIII . The graphics capabilities of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 compared to previous consoles allowed Nomura to use more complex elements in the character designs than before, such as Lightning's cape and detailed facial features. This in turn meant that the art team had to do much more work for each character or area than in previous games. Nomura did not take an involved role in

17375-451: 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 [he'd] done the hero and heroine, [he] carried on drawing by thinking what kind of characters would be interesting to have. When [he] handed over the designs [he'd] tell people the character details [he'd] thought up, or write them down on

17514-489: 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

17653-448: Was for the remnant to eat Jenova's remains. The disease caused by Jenova's presence in the Lifestream, Geostigma, was based on a discarded concept for Final Fantasy X . Rufus Shinra ( ルーファウス神羅 , Rūfausu Shinra ) is the former Vice President of Shinra, who is promoted to President after his father is killed by Sephiroth. He is depicted as callous, cunning and ruthless during much of Final Fantasy VII , and his attitude towards how

17792-473: Was killed by an attack from Shinra prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII , and Dyne assumes Marlene to be dead as well. Barret adopts her thinking Dyne is dead, but later encounters Dyne, who has gone insane. After fighting Barret, Dyne entrusts Marlene to Barret's care and commits suicide. For most of Final Fantasy VII , Marlene is left in the care of Elmyra, Aerith's adoptive mother. During Advent Children , she lives with Cloud, Tifa, and Denzel, while Barret

17931-409: Was not as stable as Sephiroth and began suffering from a degenerative process called "degradation" after being wounded during a sparring match with Sephiroth and Angeal. Allying with a rogue Shinra scientist named Hollander, Genesis fights against the company while seeking a way to stop his degradation using Sephiroth's stable cells. Eventually, Genesis is defeated by Zack, then cured of degradation by

18070-469: Was originally a minor character in VII . It was hard for the staff to recreate her for Dirge of Cerberus, as they needed to rely on low-detail concept art and in-game models. To create a new model for Lucrecia, the concept team used Sephiroth's appearance as a base, deciding that the latter would have a maternal rather than paternal resemblance. Lucrecia is voiced in English by April Stewart and in Japanese by Rio Natsuki . Denzel ( デンゼル , Denzeru )

18209-415: Was originally conceived as only one title ( Advent Children ), 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

18348-473: Was released for the Nintendo 3DS owing to the team's positive reaction to the console's quality. Nomura confirmed that he would be considering what he called an "HD Technical Test" in order to commemorate the series' tenth anniversary and to entice players new to the series. This occurred on March 3, 2012 in the form of a premiere event where footage from the game, including its full CGI introduction sequence,

18487-425: Was released in 2005, resolving the elements foreshadowed in the first game's secret ending. As a result of being set a year after previous titles, Nomura was careful to make the plot accessible to newcomers. After Square Enix had finished development of the updated version Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix , Nomura was approached by Disney which expressed interest in a sequel. He said "We have various ideas, but we're not at

18626-401: Was revealed in an interview with him that progress for the game would be shown in the year 2022. As for a specific date on when it would be shown, or a release date for the project, one was not announced. He would begin working on it as the creative director (the person in charge of the creative vision for the game), as well as the concept designer and the character designer. He is also working on

18765-698: Was showcased to celebrate the game's release. In May 2012, Nomura revealed he was working as the director of a new Kingdom Hearts game that had yet to be announced by Square Enix. He was directing Final Fantasy XV which originally entered production as Final Fantasy Versus XIII shortly before its announcement in May 2006. Nomura left his position of director on Final Fantasy XV following "changes in development structure" by Square Enix in December 2013. After his departure from Final Fantasy XV , development of Final Fantasy VII Remake began, with Nomura directing

18904-547: Was the director and lyricist for the CGI animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which was released in 2005 in Japan. This marked his film debut, and he redesigned the characters as well. Nomura joined the film's crew after producer Yoshinori Kitase called him and eventually became the director because of his attachment to the character of Cloud Strife . He split the role of directing with Takeshi Nozue. Kingdom Hearts II

19043-452: 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,

19182-423: Was thought up by Nomura during the concept stage because he wanted something that did not sound like a normal name. The final name came from combining the character's hair color with the number 13, an unlucky number . His real name, Nanaki, was chosen by other staff members. The name Nanaki was chosen due to its Native American sound, which linked with Red XIII's theme and backstory. Nomura gave Red XIII tattoos and

19321-408: Was used to introduce Kingdom Hearts IV , which displayed many of the characters he has created through the games long timespan. Nomura considers Yoshitaka Amano one of his biggest inspirations when doing artwork. His four "seniors" Hironobu Sakaguchi , Yoshinori Kitase , Hiroyuki Ito and Tetsuya Takahashi were also described as major influences. He even compared Sakaguchi to something "like

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