Sephiroth
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Sephiroth |
| Occupation: | Soldier (formerly), Self-appointed God |
| Relationships: | Tifa Lockhart (enemy), Barrett Wallace (enemy), Aerith Gainsborough (enemy), Red XIII (enemy), Cait Sith (enemy), Yuffie Kisaragi (enemy), Cid Highwind (enemy), Vincent Valentine (enemy), Lucrecia Crescent (biological mother), Jenova ('mother'), Zack Fair (previous ally, enemy, attempted clone), Cloud Strife (enemy, incomplete clone) |
| Fandom: | Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Sephiroth is the primary antagonist in the Square Enix video game Final Fantasy VII, and a minor character in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts.
Canon
Cold and callous, yet damaged, Sephiroth is seen as exemplary among the leading archetypes of villains. His motives are established, he is clearly evil, he wasn't just born as a villain, and he is seen acting normally. This makes him both memorable and relatable.
Sephiroth lost his mind when, on a visit to his hometown of Nibelheim, he stumbled across a genetic experiment that just 'happened' to share its name with the woman he believed was his mother; Jenova.
Outraged, he burned the town to ashes, refusing to believe what he had found. Not satisfied with just one town, he subsequently hatched a plan to destroy the entire world with the Black Materia.
Sephiroth is eventually stopped by Cloud Strife - a failed clone of him - and his group of friends, which at one point included Aerith, supposedly the last surviving cetra (aside from himself).
Sephiroth had killed Aerith, however it was her Holy magic, summoned by the White Materia, that ultimately vanquished his meteor and saved the planet. All Cloud and friends did was actually defeat Sephiroth himself.
Fandom
Shipping
Despite being the villain, Sephiroth is often shipped with the hero Cloud, and sometimes his 'other' clone Zack Fair too. Arguably these ships can be described as Clonecest or Selfcest.
Sephiroth's complex relationship with his mother sees them shipped too, making for even more controversy due to the fact that Jenova does not even appear human.
Sephiroth/Tifa is about the only 'normal' ship featuring Sephiroth, and even that is comparatively rare.
Fanworks
Meta
ship_manifesto essays:
- Those Chosen By The Planet by paperclipchains, Aeris Gainsborough/Sephiroth (Jun 2008)
- Puppet Show by powercorrupts, Sephiroth/Cloud (Nov 2004)
- Similar Opposites by evocates, Sephiroth/Vincent Valentine (Jan 2006)
Fanfic
- Hojo-Crescent, Sephiroth. "Mako-Humans: Electricity and the Posthuman Condition". 1997. Midgar University Press, (Midgar)., Archived version by Cymbidia -- SI OC as Sephiroth
- not one before another, Archived version by Kieron_ODuibhir -- "(Five times in five worlds where Sephiroth was somebody's brother, and one where he wasn't anymore.)" -- A 5+1 Things fic of AUs in which Sephiroth is related to various other characters
- haunted cloud strife doll that drinks all your pepsi, Archived version by digitalcactus -- crackfic in which a time traveling Cloud (as a doll) attempts to assassinate Sephiroth before Crisis Core, and Sephiroth find the attempts to amusing to get rid of him.
Fanart
- Sephiroth (Wayback copy) by [email protected], 2000
- FF7 - Sephiroth, Archived version by Ninjatic, 2009
- SEPHIROTH - Imagine the Possibilities, Archived version by Washu-M, 2013
- a Nobody Dies au where crisis core sephiroth just gives gives himself a terrible breakdown haircut in the bathroom like a normal person instead of trying to kill everyone, Archived version by adigitalsky, 2020
- Sephiroth / Final Fantasy VII, Archived version by aleksiremesart, 2022
Zines
- Zine of Despair, Archived version, 2022