Stamp Ffvii - Blog Posts
Talk about a coincidence!
A possible connection between Aerith and Stamp (as a reference of Zack)
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BEFORE READING: This post is based on theories more than actual facts, since the true nature of Stamp hasn’t been revealed yet. I’ll provide some elements that could hint its connection with Zack but all this has to be considered as a personal opinion. If this will turn out to be all wrong, I apologize in advance.
(Link for the previous post here)
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Stamp is a new character introduced in FFVIIR. It is:
“A sweet little canine character beloved by the citizens of Midgar. A regular fixture in cartoons and movies, his face is on every corner of the city either in toy or poster form. Originally used as propaganda material during wartime.”
Most of the fans assume that this dog is a metaphor to represent Zack. The main proof for this theory is the fact that, in Crisis Core, Angeal used to compare Zack to a puppy:
“Are you Zack, the puppy? My son wrote to me once about you, zero attention span, restless as a little puppy.” - [Angeal’s mother to Zack].
This description links up very well with Stamp’s song lyrics (here).
The biggest mistery around this character is its double design: it is shown to be a beagle during the whole game, but in the end we can see it as a terrier.
My personal opinion is that this is a metaphor about Cloud’s fake persona. We, players, mostly play as Cloud, so we see the elements of the game through his eyes (and we never see Stamp when we are not Cloud).Cloud thinks to be a former SOLDIER because he’s overlapped his image on Zack’s.
“Real-Stamp” (Zack) is the terrier, but we see it as a beagle (Cloud) because we see the world through his alter ego.
At the end of the game, when Zack defeats his destiny, we can see terrier-Stamp because Cloud has no altered personality (or, at least, not yet).
So, my take is that Stamp represents Zack in both forms.
Of course, I could be totally wrong.
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I’ll provide some comparisons to support this theory. Around Midgar we can find some posters with Stamp, and most of them can be related to actions that Zack did:
Zack encourages Cloud to work hard to become a SOLDIER.
Zack saves Mako poisoned Cloud, carrying him from Nibelheim -represented by the flames- to Midgar.
Zack took part to a mission in Icicle Inn with the Turks against Avalanche. During the mission they had to go through a cave with falling icicles. There he lost two SOLDIER friends (mabe this will have something to do with the Intergrade?).
There’s a Stamp magazine on Tseng’s desk. The only other times we’ve ever seen his desk was to show Aerith’s letters (Crisis Core) and the dossier about Nibelheim incident, (Last Order) when the Turks were trying to save Zack from the army.
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That said, assuming I got this subject at least partly right, let’s talk about the elements that link Aerith to Stamp-Zack.
In Aerith’s childhood room, in Shinra HQ, there’s a book with Stamp and a letter in the background. I tried to translate what’s written on the cover but the picture is very blurred, so there could be mistakes, especially because I don’t speak Japanese (in bold the parts I’m rather sure to be right):
スタンプからの招待状
さえスタンプファンクラブ 「スタンププリーダー」
Invitation from Stamp
Only Stamp fan club “Stamp breeder”
Definitely a strange translation.
Anyway, the odd fact is that this book appears in Aerith’s room, of all the places of the game, and nowhere else, so I’m wondering if it is maybe meant to metaphorically hint the 89 letters Aerith wrote to Zack.
(Picture taken from Reddit)
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There’s another detail that could link Stamp-Zack with Aerith: the stars.
In both designs Stamp wears a hat/helmet decorated with stars. Stars have been often used as a military symbol around the world, and so seems to do Shinra.
All characters’ outfits have been redesigned for the Remake. On the shoulders of Aerith’s jacket we can see some decorative stars. And not common stars but military stars, normally used in army uniforms or medals. Quite an uncommon choice for the clothes of a girl strictly related with life, peace and nature (a link to an older design of her jacket without stars, meaning they were introduced purposely for the Remake).
As a side note, her gray bracelet has the same design of the guard of the Buster sword.
Talking about stars, also in her canon outfit to see Don Corneo she wears some accessories with star pendants (earrings, necklace, bracelets and sandals). At first it seemed to me a strange choice, as stars in FFVII are commonly related to the promise (and there were no stars in her OG red dress), but in the light of a possible connection with Stamp-Zack it really makes more sense.
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In short, I’m convinced the devs are hinting once more Aerith’s bond with Zack, even in these subtile details. I was unsure if I had to created this post, given the uncertainaties around the subject. Anyway..
..even if I’m wrong, I have to admit it is a good number of coincidences!
EDIT:
All this recalls me something...
"Aerith’s star and Cloud’s star! They show a great future!” [Cait Sith, Temple of Ancients]
...and now it turns out the stars could be related to Zack? And consequently related to Cloud because of his alter ego? What a coincidence...