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Sephiroth biography:
Sephiroth was born 25 to 30 years before the start of the game to
Professor Hojo and Lucrecia of Shin-Ra. (Though some fans previously
believed that Sephiroth was the son of Vincent Valentine—who was in
love with Lucrecia—the FFVII Ultimania Guide confirms that he is the
son of Hojo, as does Hojo himself during the game). Raised by Shinra
with knowledge of Jenova as his mother, but without knowing what Jenova
was, Sephiroth became a top-member in SOLDIER, with the highlight of
his career in the Midgar/Wutai war.
A year after the war, during a mission to check on a Mako reactor at
Nibelheim, Sephiroth discovered his horrifying origins as an experiment
and integral role in the Jenova Project. This information corrupts him
and drives him insane, after which he lays waste to the town and
proceeds to the reactor to release his "mother." Zack, a fellow 1st
class SOLDIER, arrives at the reactor to stop Sephiroth, but is sent
reeling from Jenova's chamber after confronting him. While finally
liberating Jenova, Sephiroth is caught off-guard and stabbed by Cloud,
armed with Zack's Buster Sword. Sephiroth limps from the chamber
carrying the severed head of Jenova, when Cloud attempts to finish him
off. Sephiroth impales Cloud with the Masamune, but Cloud manages to
throw him off the edge of the reactor into the Lifestream.
Presumably thought dead, Sephiroth traveled the Lifestream, learning
the truth of Jenova's nature, before ending up in the Northern Cave
sealed in Mako while absorbing Jenova's head. But though physically
unable, Sephiroth hatched a plot to absorb the planet's energy, turning
himself into a "god."
Notions of Sephiroth's apparent death are put to question when Cloud
and company are detained in Shin-Ra's headquarters. On the eve before a
public execution, they escape, aided by a mysterious third party who
has devastated the facility. Cloud finds the Shin-Ra president
assassinated, impaled by a sword for which he confirms its belonging to
Sephiroth. However, "Sephiroth" was actually Jenova's body taken over
by Sephiroth's will and remolded in his image as his puppet in order to
get the "Sephiroth Copies", members of SOLDIER injected with Jenova's
cells to make them as powerful as him, to have the Reunion in the
Northern Cave.
Sephiroth, seconds after fatally impaling Aerith. Screenshot from Final Fantasy VII.
Sephiroth, seconds after fatally impaling Aerith. Screenshot from Final Fantasy VII.
Sephiroth's goal, as revealed later by Bugenhagen, is to sap the planet
of its Lifestream with the aid of the Black Materia and its cataclysmic
power referred to as Meteor. Aerith attempted to stop him with the
White Materia and its defensive power, Holy. Though she suceeded,
Aerith was murdered by Sephiroth, leaving the White Materia active but
unused. Cloud procures the Black Materia but is emotionally manipulated
against his will into relieving ownership. Sephiroth called forth
Meteor and awaited its arrival within a sealed Northern Crater.
In the story's climax, the barrier is penetrated by Shin-Ra, thus
allowing Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE to descend into the Northern
Crater and fight Bizzaro Sephiroth, before he molted out of his cocoon
as Safer Sephiroth. With the destruction of his physical body,
Sephiroth's spirit made a final mental assault upon Cloud within the
Lifestream, attempting to overcome his will yet again and claim Cloud's
body as his own. However, Cloud overcomes Sephiroth in the mental duel
and banishes his spirit back to the Planet's collective of life energy