Final Fantasy 7 Remake brings the franchise's most iconic villain of all time back to life in a grand, new way. Though the original game kept Sephiroth and his motives much more mysterious for quite some time, the remake brings his existence and his plans to the attention of the protagonists much sooner. Despite only adapting up through the Midgar portion of the original game, the remake includes several scenes with Sephiroth in them, and even concludes with a climactic fight against the villain. Of course, long time fans of the game know that this won't be the last they see of Sephiroth.
For the uninitiated, Final Fantasy 7 Remake makes several narrative changes to the story of Final Fantasy 7 in order to help it fit better with a more modern audience. Because of the audience's familiarity with the characters and story of the game, a different approach was taken, with some big reveals being made much earlier and a greater focus on the drama of the moment rather than what is to come. Sephiroth's treatment in the remake is no exception to this, as he has a much more prevalent role by the end of the Midgar section of the game than he did previously.
Sephiroth in the original Final Fantasy 7
The original Final Fantasy 7 spends a lot more time building up the mystery of who Sephiroth is and what his intentions are. Though Cloud theoretically already knows a lot about him due to his past experiences with the rogue SOLDIER, the player has to wait quite some time before learning anything substantial. Instead, Shinra is painted as the main antagonist for much of the beginning of the game. Sephiroth isn't introduced as a villain until the end of the Midgar section when he mercilessly kills President Shinra, thereby clueing the party in on his motivations.
This approach made sense at the time, as during their first playthrough, most players wouldn't have known about Sephiroth's existence aside from the few mentions made of him. That's not so true anymore, as there's a good chance that even those who've never played a Final Fantasy game in their life might recognize Sephiroth by both appearance and name. Given his popularity, it would make little sense for the first episode of Final Fantasy 7 Remake to not include him at all, and his new role paints him in a much more powerful and dark way.
Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Throughout the beginning of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Sephiroth appears in Midgar to antagonize Cloud. It seems that these aren't actual appearances, though, as none of the other characters ever see him in these moments, often asking Cloud if he is alright or reacting to his outbursts with confusion. This drives home the connection that Cloud and Sephiroth share, as the two have some kind of bond that brings them together metaphysically. Frequently Sephiroth will take the place of other characters or simply appear to taunt Cloud when he is not actually there.
Furthermore, many of the flashback scenes involving Cloud and Tifa's hometown, Nibelheim, are broken up into fragments and scattered throughout the Midgar portion of the story in order to contextualize Cloud's relationship with Sephiroth in a more modern way. These are yet more instances of Sephiroth appearing in the game indirectly, further manipulating Cloud and providing depth to the characters of both Cloud and Tifa. That said, there are two times in particular in which Sephiroth appears before the protagonists in the flesh, a fact which can be verified by the others' ability to see him as well.
Sephiroth Stealing Jenova
In the original Final Fantasy 7, the protagonists do not see Sephiroth stealing Jenova's remains, but in the remake, this is the first time the whole party comes face to face with Sephiroth in reality. The encounter results in Cloud getting separated from the rest of his team and introduces the villain properly. Naturally, Sephiroth gets away as at this point there is little that the main characters could do to stop him given how far above them he is in terms of power. He continues to show up in various ways until his next and final actual appearance.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Shinra Commercial
At one point, Cloud, Barrett, and Tifa step into what appears to be some kind of virtual reality commercial for Shinra. This scene explains the concept of the ancient ones and how they used Mako in a similar way as what Shinra is doing, but the simulation quickly goes awry. It seems that Sephiroth has tainted it somehow, and instead drops the first hint to Cloud and his friends of his ultimate goal, the summoning of meteor and the utter annihilation of Gaia. This also differs greatly from the original, as Cloud's motivation for hunting Sephiroth originally was to avenge the villain's acts in Nibelheim.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Sephiroth Boss Fight
In an admittedly somewhat confusing final scene, Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith come face to face with Sephiroth once more. The group challenges him and they are taken into some kind of alternate dimension where they do battle. This is one of the most challenging boss fights in FF7 Remake. Given that Sephiroth didn't even physically appear before much later into the story, much less appear as a combat encounter, this is a drastic change. Still, the fight is compelling and at the very end Sephiroth takes Cloud to the edge of existence and explains to him his plans. This marks the end of the first episode and the start of the group's epic quest to save it.
The changes made to Sephiroth's role in the remake seem fitting, although there are those that would have preferred everything stay the same. Introducing him as an antagonist earlier on only affords him more screen time and doesn't really change much about the rest of the game or undermine the antagonistic roles of other characters. Moving forward, Sephiroth is sure to be a driving force behind the party's actions in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Episode 2, but only time will tell if his role changes further.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now exclusively for PS4.
