Sephiroth - FF7

"I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet." —Sephiroth

Sephiroth is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, and one of the major villains of it's extended universe. A prototype SOLDIER and the strongest alive, Sephiroth is initially feared and respected for his strength, until he learns and misinterprets his origins. Believing himself as the last of the Ancients, Sephiroth enacts a vendetta against mankind, with the ultimate goal of becoming a god and controlling the planet. Sephiroth's goal later turns to defeating Cloud Strife, who has bested him on numerous occassions.

Sephiroth is arguably the most popular villain of the Final Fantasy series - his appearance, name and musical theme are all highly praised among fans and he has appeared in many spin-off titles. He is also consistently voted as one of the top video game villains in polls and lists on video game websites, such as GameSpot and IGN.

In Japan, Sephiroth's voice was provided by seiyuu Shinichiro Miki in Ehrgeiz and Toshiyuki Morikawa in Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts II. In the English version of Kingdom Hearts, his voice was provided by Lance Bass of *NSYNC fame, a decision that was received negatively by some fans. In the English version of Advent Children, Crisis Core and Kingdom Hearts II, he is voiced by George Newbern.

Story
Sephiroth's early designs were done by Yoshitaka Amano and later refined by Tetsuya Nomura. Sephiroth, in all his appearances, wears a long black coat with silver pauldrons, black boots and black clothing underneath. The top of his clothing underneath his uniform is split to reveal his chest, covered by crossing leather straps. Beyond his clothing, Sephiroth is known for his green cat-like eyes, his long silver hair and the Masamune, his six-foot long katana that he is rarely seen without. Sephiroth's typical battle stance with the sword is to hold it over his left shoulder, curving downwards. He wields the Masamune two-handed, presumably to increase the force of his strikes, as he is perfectly capable of using it with one hand.

This appearance has been noted to parallel Satan - some texts describe Satan as a man in a dark cloak, which is also referenced in one of Sephiroth's musical themes, "Chasing the Man in the Black Cape". Sephiroth is left-handed, another attribute that has been associated with evil, the word "sinister" being derived from the Latin word sinistral, meaning "left-handed". Beginning with the Kingdom Hearts series and carrying over to Advent Children, Sephiroth bears a large, black feathered wing over his right shoulder, another allusion to Satan, who was a fallen angel. Although how Sephiroth manifests his wing is not explained, it is shown in Crisis Core that both Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos possess similar wings. Thus, Sephiroth's wing may just be a result of his high exposure to Mako or Jenova cells, although this does not explain why he does not have the wing when first shown in Final Fantasy VII.

In the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII", Sephiroth's uniform basically remains the same as in Final Fantasy VII, but now his coat has several buckles instead of just one and the traditional "SOLDIER" symbol in his belt is replaced by the new one, which was redesigned for the Compilation. In Advent Children, Sephiroth's hair was animated by hand to make sure it looked as real as possible, and he was given an otherworldly appearance with, as Nomura stated, "an attractive nose and thin lips. It's a face you'd never see in real life". In the Kingdom Hearts series, Sephiroth retains his core design of silver hair and a black cloak, but his clothing is now given red linings, his cloak has changed shape slightly, and he bears his black wing over his right shoulder. In Dissidia, Sephiroth's design is identical to his Final Fantasy VII design, but his pauldrons are changed to resemble Amano's artwork and his coat is closed by a belt as in Nomura's design.

In the final battle with Sephiroth at the end of Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth manifests as a bizarre angelic creature called Safer Sephiroth. Although the symbolism behind this is subject to interpretation, it has greatly influenced Sephiroth's appearance in later titles as noted above. Sephiroth in this form has a tanned humanoid torso atop a cloud-like platform with six large, luminescent white wings. Sephiroth's right arm has morphed into a dark violet wing, which he uses to attack, while his left arm remains human. Six golden rings, in the shape of the Celestial Rose, circle behind his head, giving the appearance of a halo. This design may have also been a factor in Sephiroth's iconic black wing due to this appearance as a "One-Winged Angel"(see below).

Battle
Main article: Sephiroth (Boss)
Sephiroth is fought in the original Final Fantasy VII in the Lifestream as a scripted Final Boss of the game. He fights a one on one duel with Cloud. Before those are two non-scripted battles against his "pupua" form, Bizarro Sephiroth and his "God" form Safer Sephiroth. He is fought as in Crisis Core twice and can be challenged again in Missions. Sephiroth's DMW is Octaslash.

Trivia

• Many aspects of the final battle with Sephiroth are reused from Final Fantasy VI for the battle with Kefka. Both bosses use Havoc Wing, Heartless Angel, and take on the appearance of angels with dark wings among a backdrop of clouds.

Cecil Harvey - FF4

"I'm a coward. A coward who cannot even defy orders he knows he ought not follow."—Cecil

Lord Captain Cecil Harvey is the protagonist of Final Fantasy IV. He is one of the few characters in the series that changes his job during the course of the game. He starts out as a Dark Knight, but at a certain point in the game, he transforms into a Paladin.

Story
Cecil was born to a Lunarian named Kluya and Cecilia from Earth. Cecil's father was killed before he was born, and his mother died in labor. His brother Theodor then ran away with him, but abandoned him outside Baron. The King eventually found him and named him Cecil, since he resembled his late mother.

Cecil was raised by the king, which initially caused some friction between him and the young Dragoon called Kain Highwind. Kain thought that Cecil got too much special treatment from the king, and wanted to fight him. However, a young girl called Rosa broke the two of them up. The three of them eventually grew up and became friends.

The story opens with Cecil commanding a raid on the city of Mysidia in order to steal the Crystal of Water for the king. He succeeds, but he and his crew become suspicious of the king. They wonder whether or not robbing national treasures from innocent people is right. However, Cecil reminds his crew that they are the Red Wings, and must represent Baron at all times. When Cecil returns to the castle, Baigan, the captain of the guards of Baron, notices something strange about Cecil, and takes Cecil to meet the king. Cecil hands over the crystal, and is appalled when the king does not even thank him. As a result, Cecil complains to the king that he and his crew do not understand the reasons for robbing crystals from innocent people. As a result, the king discharges him from the captainship of the Red Wings, and orders him to hunt Summoned Monsters in the Misty Valley, and to deliver a ring known as the Carnelian Signet to the village of Mist. Kain comes to Cecil's defense, but to no avail, as the king simply orders him to accompany Cecil. That night, Rosa comes to Cecil's room to show him her sympathy. However, Cecil is upset because he is torn between doing what he believes in and doing what the king orders. He swears that he will never perform another act of evil on behalf of Baron. He also states that despite the fact that he loves Rosa, he knows that they can ever be together because of his profession as a Dark Knight.

Equipment and Stats
As a Dark Knight, Cecil's stats are heavily weighted physically, and he has barely any Magic Defense. He can only equip special swords, shields, and armor designed specifically for Dark Knights. His weapons are ineffective against Zombies, Ghouls, Revenants, and Skullnants. His most powerful Dark Sword, the Deathbringer, inflicts instant death on his opponents.

Once Cecil becomes a Paladin, his stats increase, especially in Magic Defense. It should be noted that a level 1 Paladin Cecil has 600 HP, which is a lot more than a level 20 Dark Knight Cecil. He can now equip most any weapon that isn't a class-specific weapon, including swords, knives and axes. Cecil can also equip most shields, hats, helmets, armor, tunics, rings, and gloves, not to mention, if he proves himself worthy in his Lunar Trial, he can obtain the almighty Lightbringer.

Abilities
As a Dark Knight, Cecil uses the Darkness ability, which damages all opponents. Cecil takes a small amount of damage whenever he uses this attack. In the DS version, the "Darkness" ability is a positive status effect that increases the amount of damage caused by a regular attack.

Once Cecil becomes a Paladin, he can use the Cover ability, which allows him to take physical damage in the place of an ally. Cecil automatically uses this ability to protect any ally whose HP is low. He can also use some basic White Magic. The spells he can use are as follows.

• Cure
• Sight
• Libra
• Cura
• Teleport
• Esuna

In the DS version, Cecil learns the three following spells as well as those above.

• Raise
• Protect
• Shell

In either class Cecil's focus is dealing out physical damage. However, he becomes far more powerful when he becomes a paladin.