FFVII Remake Easter Eggs And Compilation Continuity - Part 7: OG FINAL FANTASY VII

An Attempt to Clinically Analyze Sephiroth's Psychosis at Nibelheim

Sephiroth has fascinated me as a villain for a long time, but I’ve also struggled to “figure him out” for just as long. For all the simplicity of his villainous goals (i.e. become a god, destroy the world), it’s really the heart of his breakdown in Nibelheim that confounded me regarding his motives and the causal factors behind how he becomes what he becomes. I think Sephiroth's story can be interpreted in drastically different ways depending on how you see the explanations for his breakdown preceding the Nibelheim Incident. Not to mention, there’s the multiple retellings of the incident within the Compilation and the inconsistencies that come with it.

I’m still in the process of unraveling how to approach Sephiroth’s psychology, so this won’t be a regular analysis. Rather, this is mostly going to be a stream-of-consciousness type of piece, where I just let my thoughts flow. Definitely expect some stuff to sound rough or disjointed, and possibly some inaccurate facts due to my terrible memory (please let me know). Also, for the sake of the most updated canon, we will go with the Crisis Core version of events.

~Major FFVII and Crisis Core spoilers ahead~

Psychosis

Firstly, I want to address the clinical term that can describe what happened to Sephiroth at Nibelheim. I’ve heard people call it a mental breakdown or psychotic break, among other things. If we want to be consistent with the psychiatric language of the DSM-5, we would say that Sephiroth experienced the onset of a psychotic episode.

Psychotic episodes are a state of significant psychological disturbance that involves a loss of touch with shared reality. Historically, what we now know as psychotic episodes were once called madness or insanity. The duration of an episode affects what type of psychotic disorder would apply, but overall, psychosis can be either transient or continuous.

It’s hard to say which is the case for Sephiroth, specifically because of how his prognosis transforms pre- and post-Lifestream dip. Pre-Lifestream, it’s clear that he went into an abrupt and severe state of psychosis. Even though there were already warning signs prior to when he holed himself up in the Shinra mansion basement, Sephiroth’s behavior change still occurred in a short amount of time and marked a drastic change from the anguish and confusion he initially experienced upon first learning what Jenova is. He is experiencing a psychotic episode that marks a clear departure from his prior functioning.

Afterwards though, Sephiroth learns what Jenova truly is and makes a conscious decision to use its power and influence over the Lifestream for his own means. At this point, we can’t say that it’s a temporary condition. Not to mention, the question of how much Jenova is influencing Sephiroth also complicates how we understand Sephiroth’s psychology. At best, I would say that post-Lifestream Sephiroth is experiencing an ongoing psychotic disturbance.

Delusions

At the heart of Sephiroth’s turning point to villainy is a delusion, a fixed and false belief that is resistant to change even in the presence of contradictory evidence. Although I've seen it used a lot in casual contexts, delusions are in fact a clinical term for distorted beliefs. Essentially, delusions exist beyond reason and cannot be logically refuted. Delusions are a hallmark feature of psychosis, involving a resistance to the facts of reality that conflict with one’s beliefs.

There are several reasons that someone might develop a delusion. Obviously these reasons aren't always mutually exclusive, but I think what reason you attribute to Sephiroth's breakdown influences how you understand it.

Certain people are genetically predisposed to delusional thinking. Jenova. Injected in the womb. Supernatural prenatal development. Need I say more?

People come up with distorted ways of explaining the unexplainable. This is the type of thinking that is linked to an inclination for conspiracy theories. Sephiroth was searching for answers about his birth and origins, and with false, piecemeal information, he formed the erroneous conclusion that he was a Cetra. I wouldn't say this is the driving force behind his decision to burn down Nibelheim, but you can see the gateway to vengeance through this avenue.

People have trouble coping with life and preserving their self-esteem, therefore they use delusions to attempt to uphold it. This is the most sympathetic perspective, mainly because it boils Sephiroth down to the misunderstood savant that is mourning the loss of his self-worth. More on this later, since this is the angle I see portrayed most in Crisis Core.

People experience significant life stressors, such as low socioeconomic status, trauma, and drastic life changes that heavily influence how they perceive and understand the world. We could create a whole list of known or presumed "life stressors" in Sephiroth's life, but if we want to highlight a specific one, it would be the discovery of the Jenova Project files. It could be argued that it was deeply traumatizing to him, enough to rock his worldview.

Reasons aside, there are also several different types of delusions classified in the DSM-5. I think Sephiroth shows features of at least two types. You could say Sephiroth experienced a grandiose delusion, or what you might know as a delusion of grandeur. This is defined by the belief that one is extremely powerful or important. Sometimes it even takes on a religious bend, leading to the belief that one is omnipotent or holy. Sephiroth believed he was the last of the Cetra race, one that was more connected to and respectful of the planet compared to humanity. He was "the chosen one to rule this planet," someone exceptional and superior to everyone else.

You could also say that Sephiroth was experiencing a persecutory delusion. This is when someone believes he is "being conspired against, cheated, spied on, followed, poisoned, maliciously maligned, harassed, or obstructed in the pursuit of long-term goals." Sephiroth drew the conclusion that he had a duty to punish humanity for persecuting the ancient Cetra. He believed he had to pursue vengeance for Jenova and for Cetrakind. People with persecutory delusions tend to demonstrate significant anger and violent behavior, which also checks out with Sephiroth's subsequent decision to burn down Nibelheim.

Obviously, both the grandiose and persecutory delusions transform a bit when Sephiroth learns about Jenova's true nature as an extraterrestrial, not a Cetra. But that's a conversation for another time; remember, we're talking about the psychotic episode that became the gateway to Sephiroth's villainy. So, let's backtrack a bit and talk about how Crisis Core chose to lean into a sympathetic portrayal of Sephiroth's psychology.

Self-Concept

We still know very little about Sephiroth’s childhood and upbringing (although it looks like Ever Crisis may change that?), aside from several key facts. We know that he was born an experiment, having been injected with Jenova cells in the womb. We know he was essentially raised by Shinra and did not get to experience a normal childhood. He was known to be a prodigious fighter and was the reason that the SOLDIER program was created. As a teenager, he fought in the Wutai War and gained his status as a war hero.

This is all to say that though Sephiroth knew little of his childhood, he knew one thing for certain. He was a very good fighter, and a hero to Shinra. Sephiroth’s established self-concept revolves around this fact. He was likely praised and lauded for his wartime achievements, and even before then, we can presume that Shinra scientists noted him to be an exceptional fighter. He was the epitome of prestige and strength.

Let’s contrast that with the information he gains right before the Nibelheim Incident. When Sephiroth sees the monsters at the reactor and begins to question his connection to them, he began to mull over his identity and existence. Sephiroth knew he was unusual and exceptional even as a child, and he said so himself that he doesn't know what it was like to have parents or a hometown to speak of. Genesis then reinforces what Sephiroth feared, that he is a monster and a product of experimentation. He was told he was subhuman, repulsive, an abomination.

Sephiroth’s self-concept started as that of a prodigy, someone who is an extremely capable fighter. After the war in Wutai, he was labeled a war hero. Once he was led to believe that he was a monster, this shatters his worldview. He went from seeing himself as a prominent hero to seeing himself as subhuman. This is further driven by the fact that Sephiroth had already lacked answers about his origins and craved a sense of home, of parental warmth and connection. Because of this gap in his history, the premise that he was no more than a monster was eerily plausible. With his self-concept dramatically rocked, he was left starving for answers to what he is. This is what led him down the rabbit hole, seeking an explanation that would either tell him that he was not a monster, or that his initial self-concept can still be upheld somehow.

And thus, Sephiroth was in a vulnerable place where a grandiose or persecutory delusion can uphold his self-esteem and self-concept. If Jenova is truly the last of an ancient race, then Sephiroth is exceptional, not an abomination. If the Cetra had powers that humans didn't have, then Sephiroth was powerful, not just a monster. The delusion takes hold because it is something Sephiroth needed in order to preserve his worldview, his belief that he is special and important.

This is how Crisis Core gets you to sympathize with Sephiroth. He's painted as a lonely savant that lacked a home and a family, and so when he was told he was a monster, his self-concept was shattered and radically warped. In order for him to protect it, he needed to come up with a delusion that would uphold his understanding of the world. Sound familiar? I don't think it's a coincidence that Sephiroth's psychology here sounds parallel to Cloud's, especially since I've considered delusional disorder for them both.

It'll be a while before I gather enough thoughts to move onto how Sephiroth progressed from this state to his post-Lifestream-dip, Meteor-summoning, god-seeking self. But for now, I think this helps paint a picture of how I've been trying to conceptualize him.

“I thought you would never come”

Over the course of the game, OG FFVII plays with the mystery of Cloud and Tifa’s childhood relationship. We’re primed to think that while they may have known each other as children, there was nothing particularly noteworthy or significant about their childhood together. The framing of the Promise is a great example of this.

The first time Cloud mentions the Promise is in Midgar, when he still thinks he’s an Ex-SOLDIER. When they recount the the story together, Ex-SOLDIER Cloud says he thought Tifa would never come.

Ex-SOLDIER Cloud: I thought you would never come, and I was getting a little cold.

We assume Cloud thinks this way because Cloud was like any other boy with an adolescent crush on a girl. Just an average boy being relatably nervous about an average girl. While the story of the Promise is cute, it’s only notable in that it seems to remind Cloud of their seemingly tenuous connection (or if the player is feeling uncharitable, it seems to force an obligation between the two).

Midway through the Lifestream, we discover why Cloud thought Tifa would never come: he thought Tifa hated him.

True Cloud: That night I called Tifa out to the well… I thought to myself Tifa would never come… that she hated me.

This twist changes how we perceive Cloud and Tifa’s relationship. In the first half of this memory, Cloud reveals that he had never been inside Tifa’s room, and we learn that the two “weren’t THAT close.” (There is also the regrettable mistranslation: where the line “I really wanted to play with everyone, but I was never allowed into the group” should have been translated to something like “I really wanted to play with everyone, but I could never bring myself to ask.”) This reveal in conjunction with the line “she hated me” makes us question the true nature of their relationship. Was Tifa a stereotypical popular girl and was Cloud an outcast? Did Cloud think he’d get stood up because Tifa, in a moment of childhood cruelty, arbitrarily considered Cloud to be beneath her?

While this is certainly a dramatic twist, it still paints a relatively mundane relationship. Sure, it might suggest that Tifa might have been unkind as a child, but this isn’t particularly unusual childhood dynamic. (Even if it is a regrettable one.)

But finally, we learn why Cloud thought Tifa hated him and why she might not have met him at the well…

True Cloud:  Tifa was in a coma for seven days. We all thought she wouldn’t make it. If only I could’ve saved her… I was so angry… Angry at myself for my weakness. Ever since then, I felt Tifa blamed me…

We learn that Cloud wasn’t afraid that Tifa hated him for an arbitrary, superficial reason. Cloud’s true fear was that Tifa would want nothing to do with him because she held him responsible for her near-fatal fall at Mt. Nibel. (And of course, we later learn that this is unequivocally false–Tifa never blamed him for this incident.)

With this final reveal, we learn how significant their childhood relationship truly was. 

On Cloud’s part, we learn how deeply he cared for Tifa–so deeply that his failure to save her makes a lasting impression on him. Cloud’s failure to save Tifa weighs so heavily on his mind that even five years later on the night of the Promise, Cloud worries that she might not show up. On top of that, this failure weighs so heavily on his mind that Cloud decides to become a SOLDIER so he can be strong enough to win her notice. Cloud’s failure to save Tifa is the reason why Cloud is the way he is–both his true self and his ex-SOLDIER persona. 

On Tifa’s part, we learn that she wasn’t a superficial girl who was arbitrarily unkind to Cloud. She herself was acting in good faith, and her lateness to the well was not out of cruelty. While they may not have been “THAT close,” Tifa still cared enough to get dressed up and go out to the well to meet Cloud. This speaks to how Tifa held Cloud in her esteem and never held ill will towards him.

And yes, this last part is confirmed:

As a small boy, he didn’t get along with others apart from Tifa. So when Tifa’s mother died and three of her friends decided to take her up the mountains where the dead were believed to go, Cloud wasn’t invited. But even so, Cloud secretly went after them wanting to cheer Tifa up. –Cloud profile AC prologue.

(Source: this excellent post) 

(Yes, poor Cloud really went through the better part of a decade thinking he lost the only person who treated him with kindness because he failed her….)

So through the context of the Promise, we slowly learn how important Tifa has always been to Cloud–and the answer is, she is really, REALLY important. But if you miss that final twist that ties in Mt. Nibel, then you miss this bigger story that the context of the Promise tells us.

What about Remake?

Interestingly, Remake removed the setup for the mystery of Cloud and Tifa’s relationship. Ex-SOLDIER Cloud remembers the Promise on his own, and doesn’t comment on Tifa’s lateness at all! The player is given no reason to doubt Tifa’s good intentions towards Cloud, and thus no reason to doubt their importance to one another as children.

In a game that nails the small callbacks, this is would be a massive oversight… meaning that it’s not an oversight, but an intentional change. This seems to be yet another example of Remake clarifying Cloud and Tifa’s relationship, be it by removing OG’s red herrings or removing the ambiguous moments that generated confusion in the first place.

I don't know if this was intentional but I love it

Sephiroth is like a pet hamster because he's always trying to get killed in incredibly strange and unusual ways, and he has immeasurable hatred in his heart

SOMEONE IS FINALLY SAYING THIS

i see it's that time of the year again where people start hating on the english localization of remake/rebirth despite having next to no understanding of how large scale translation projects work 🙃

Aerith inspired by the works of Mucha

AERITH IN HER RED DRESS

Part 3: Another Bombing [A Complete Analysis of Final Fantasy VII]

Welcome to the third chapter of my FF7 analysis. I am writing these posts as one long rumination under the assumption that you have read the prior chapters. If you are new here (thanks for coming!), please head to the following masterlink before proceeding further: https://hartmonkey.tumblr.com/post/674955243020238848/a-complete-analysis-of-final-fantasy-vii

Last chapter we briefly noted Cloud, Tifa and Barret’s train trip to Mako Reactor 5. This chapter will take a deep look into their individual motivations and personalities as revealed throughout the mission. Before examining this venture, let’s backtrack just a little to an often overlooked moment. I’d left it out last chapter for it feeds into the combat system we are about to embrace – a system that is in every way married to FF7’s lore (the external worldbuilding) and arcs pertaining to individual characters. This moment is where Barret asks Cloud to give the tutorial on using Materia.

Continua a leggere

Tifa’s interrogation: the flashback at Kalm

The flashback at Kalm represents the first time Tifa truly comprehends the depth of Cloud’s delusions. Some fans see Tifa’s behavior during this episode as complete head-in-the-sand avoidance of the issue. 

But… this is a misinterpretation. Tifa isn’t avoiding Cloud’s crisis at Kalm, even if she does opt for subtlety (a necessity, given what transpired at the train station). Tifa tries to use the Kalm flashback to gather evidence to disprove Cloud’s version of events… but she unfortunately discovers that the situation is not so clear-cut.

Tifa’s behavior makes her intentions obvious. As soon as Barret asks Cloud to tell his story, Tifa keeps silent, fidgeting restlessly with her hair. And in contrast with Barret and Aerith, her only dialogue is “…”s:

 As we know, Tifa hasn’t yet had the chance to hear Cloud’s side of the story: at the train station, he reacted violently when Tifa questioned him; at both the bar in OG and Remake’s Alone at Last, Cloud brushes off her questions. Kalm marks Tifa’s very first opportunity to gather information and understand the nature of Cloud’s inconsistencies. The fidgeting is a sign of Tifa’s anticipation/dread; the ellipses represent her listening intently to Cloud’s story, giving him the space he needs to speak without her contradictory recollections setting him off.

Indeed, Tifa’s very first remark is only in response to an interruption:

Barret: Yo wait a minute!! Isn’t that, um…? The name of Sephiroth’s mother… I remember Jenova. That’s that damn headless spook livin’ in the Shinra building.

Cloud: That’s right.

Tifa: Barret, would you please let us hear what Cloud has to say? You can ask questions later.

Barret: Tifa, I was only…

Tifa: OK Cloud, continue.

Aerith: The childhood friends reunite!

Cloud: …I was really surprised with Tifa.

(watch here)

Tifa abruptly cuts Barret off in a way that takes all three characters aback–why is she so uncharacteristically brusque? Cloud, Barret, and Aerith all verbally react to the outburst, as the devs want the player to notice how unusual Tifa’s behavior is. While a first-time player may not understand her motivations, a seasoned player will: at this moment, Tifa doesn’t care about anything but hearing Cloud’s story and figuring out what’s wrong with him.

Tifa continues to listen in silence until Cloud reaches her house. Suddenly, Tifa asks Cloud about everything he did there:

Tifa: Cloud…? Did you go into my house?

Cloud…? Did you go into my room?

Did you play my piano?

(if you check in the drawers to find the underwear…) …Cloud. We’re talking about something really important here.

Did you read it? My letter?

Do you remember what it said…?

Cloud… Do you remember all of it?

(link to the full sequence in Tifa’s room)

These questions may look trivial, like a frivolous Tifa trying to ensure her girlish modesty was maintained five years ago. But it’s the last two questions about the letter which reveal what Tifa is truly doing: she’s subtly interrogating Cloud to determine if he was truly at Nibelheim. If Tifa’s primary motivation is to lessen her embarrassment, then why does she explicitly prompt Cloud to restate the entire letter in front of the entire team five years later?

The full content of the letter is information which Tifa is intimately familiar with, information that only she–or someone who truly was in her room that day–would know. If Cloud doesn’t know about the objects in her room or blatantly bullshits in response her questions, then Tifa has all the more evidence that Cloud wasn’t actually there. But if he does know the answers to these questions, especially regarding something as temporary as a letter, then… what does it mean? That Cloud truly was there, even though Tifa doesn’t remember him being there…? What does that say about Cloud’s memories…? What does that say about Tifa’s…?

The fact that Cloud passes her “test”–that he knows private details of her room, and gives an accurate account of its contents–leads Tifa to recognize that there is more to Nibelheim incident than just her recollections, and there is more to Cloud’s side of the story.  Tifa doesn’t have a full understanding of the situation, and as long as she can’t explain the discrepancies between her memories and Cloud’s, she can’t simply refute Cloud’s version of events. Like it or not, Tifa realizes that the Nibelheim flashback has become a “he said, she said” situation. And who knows… maybe this confident, capable Cloud is correct, and she’s the one who’s wrong?

Now… how do we know that Tifa’s questions about her room are intended to represent her attempts at fact-finding? How do we know that they really aren’t just a trivial cutesy gameplay mechanic to break up the monotony of the flashback?

And the answer is… it’s because Cloud’s answers to these questions are referenced during a critical scene: Sephiroth’s illusion at the Northern Crater.

Cloud: The town hadn’t changed at all. What did I do? Oh yeah…

Cloud’s lines are directly influenced by the actions that Cloud took during the Kalm flashback. After the above line, Cloud can make any number of statements:

“I saw my mom. I saw the people in town.”

“Yeah, I went to Tifa’s room. There, I…”

“I played the piano!”

“I looked in the drawers!”

“I read the letter addressed to Tifa!”

Based on how much or how little you did, Cloud will say more (or fewer) of the above statements.

For example, in this player’s Nibelheim flashback, Cloud met his mom and went in Tifa’s room, where he jammed on the piano and raided her dressers. But he never found the letter. So during the Nibelheim illusion, Cloud only makes statements 1-4.

On the other hand, this player’s Cloud experienced everything during the Nibelheim flashback, so Cloud makes all 5 statements during the Nibelheim illusion.

But in this player’s Nibelheim flashback, Cloud went to Tifa’s room but did the bare minimum. Didn’t say “yes” to anything or even see Cloud’s mom. So Cloud only makes statement 2.

With this easily-missed callback, it proves that Cloud himself recognizes the purpose and utility of Tifa’s questioning back at Kalm, and emphasizes how Tifa interrogated Cloud during the Kalm flashback to try and find incontrovertible proof of his presence on that day.

Final thoughts:

>> Tifa’s final question. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Tifa’s final question at Kalm. After Barret leaves the room, Tifa speaks up one more time:

Tifa: …… Cloud…? How bad was I when Sephiroth cut me? Cloud: I thought you were a goner. …I was really sad. Tifa: ……

There are four ways to interpret this exchange:

The first is how a first-time player would experience it: it’s an exchange which both builds Cloud up as a reliable narrator and suggests that Cloud was relatively indifferent towards Tifa. (Seasoned players will recognize why this moment is played down this way: to build up the shock of the Lifestream reveal, where we learn Cloud isn’t a reliable narrator and that he was deeply affected by Tifa’s injury because he revolves around her.)

The second interpretation is that Tifa’s asking Cloud one more question to confirm if he not only was in her room, but also in the reactor that day–in case you missed visiting Tifa’s house, it’s one last factfinding mission to prove that Cloud was truly there.

The third interpretation is that Cloud’s confidence and accuracy during the flashback leads Tifa to doubt herself; she wonders if the severity of her injuries may be the reason why she misremembers the day’s events. This question alludes to her uncertainty; perhaps she’s performing some factfinding for herself by comparing more of her recollections to his.

The fourth interpretation is that Tifa always knew how badly she was injured, but this is the very first time she learns that Cloud was there when she was injured. Tifa hoped that Cloud would be emotionally impacted by her injury (due to the Promise), which is why she prompts him about it. Unfortunately, his indifferent response is very disappointing. (This could be another reason why her reaction to this moment in the Lifestream is so pronounced and why she brings up the Promise.)

While I think interpretation #1 is definitely what the devs want first-time players to get out of this conversation, I’m not sure if seasoned players are supposed to take #2, #3, #4, or something else away from it. I’ll leave that to you! I hope Remake (or a future Ultimania) gives us some greater clarity here.

>> PS: Undies. Tifa’s not really mad about the underwear–note how her response isn’t something like, “I can’t believe you invaded my privacy like that!” but it’s actually, “Cloud!!! […] …Cloud. We’re talking about something really important here.” Tifa is exasperated that Cloud’s talking about some inane pervy bullshit while she’s TRYING to figure out what’s wrong with him. Come the fuck on, Cloud, a little seriousness here!!

>> PPS: Undies, round 2. Cloud really DID look through her underwear drawer. He wasn’t kidding, because he legitimately uses that fact to prove his existence at Northern Crater. (“I looked in the drawers!”) “I simp for Tifa, therefore I am.” Oh Cloud.