CB Online
No Users Online
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Friday, 21 December 2007 |
Characters
Main article: Characters of Final Fantasy VII
Tetsuya Nomura's designs of the main playable characters in Final Fantasy VII
The nine main playable characters in Final Fantasy VII are Cloud Strife, an unsociable mercenary who serves as the game's protagonist and claims to be a former 1st Class member of Shinra's SOLDIER unit;[22] Aeris Gainsborough (named "Aerith" in the Japanese promotional materials, later Final Fantasy VII titles and the Kingdom Hearts series), a flower merchant living in the slums of Midgar who has been pursued by Shinra operatives since she was a child;[23][24] Tifa Lockhart, a martial artist and childhood friend of Cloud's with romantic feelings toward him; Barret Wallace, the impatient leader of the second incarnation of the anti-Shinra eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, who bears a grudge against the corporation for razing his hometown, and causing the deaths of his friends and family;[25] Red XIII, also known as Nanaki, a wise lion/dog-like creature capable of speech who was experimented on by Shinra scientists; Yuffie Kisaragi, an experienced thief, and the young, bitter princess of Wutai, a nation descended from ninjas which was defeated by Shinra in a war several years before the events of Final Fantasy VII began;[26][27] Cid Highwind, a pilot whose dreams of being the first man in outer space were crushed when he canceled his rocket's launch to save the life of one of his assistants, leading to the withdrawing of the Shinra Company's funding of a space program;[28][29] Cait Sith, a fortune-telling cat who rides a magically animated stuffed moogle doll;[30] and Vincent Valentine, a former member of Shinra's Turks unit who was killed and brought back to life as an immortal through experimental anatomic reconstruction.[31][32][33]
All of the game's main characters have had significant ties to the Shinra Company in their past, and all harbor disapproval or outright hatred for the corporation and its activities. Although the antagonists for the first portion of the game are the Shinra executives, a mysterious man named "Sephiroth" — once hailed as the greatest SOLDIER — reappears several years after disappearing in a battle in which he was concluded to have died.[34][35] He is soon revealed to be the most immediate threat to the planet, prompting both AVALANCHE and the Shinra Company to take up the position of defending it, though their methods differ significantly.[36]
The game's character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, has expressed feeling that Final Fantasy VII was hindered by graphical limitations, and that his designs were, consequently, very plain in comparison to his "true" style.[16] However, he was able to find other means of expressing some of his ideas. Cloud's original character design called for slicked back black hair with no spikes, intended to serve as a contrast to Sephiroth's long, flowing silver hair. To give Cloud a unique feature that would emphasize his role in the game as the main character, Nomura changed the design to feature Cloud's now trademark shock of spiky, bright blond hair.[16] For Tifa's design, Nomura has admitted to facing a difficult decision in choosing to give her a miniskirt or pants. With input from other members of the game's development staff, he eventually selected a dark miniskirt, contrasted by Aeris' long, pink dress.[16]
Vincent's character developed from horror researcher to detective, then to chemist, and finally to the figure of a former Turk with a tragic past. It has been explained that his crimson mantle was added to symbolize the idea of carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders associated with death. Nomura has indicated that Cid Highwind's fighting style resembles that of a Dragon Knight, a character class so chosen because his last name is the same as that of two previous Dragon Knights featured in the Final Fantasy series, Ricard Highwind of Final Fantasy II and Kain Highwind of Final Fantasy IV.[16]
Due to their popularity, several characters from the game have made cameo appearances in other Square Enix titles, most notably the fighting game Ehrgeiz and the popular Final Fantasy-Disney crossover series Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth remains one of the most popular villains in video game history, unanimously voted #1 by the staff of gaming publication Electronic Gaming Monthly in their "Top 10 Video Game Bosses" list in October 2005.[37] During spring of the same year, the character won GameFAQs' best villain contest.[38]
|
|
