Even amongst the elite troops of SOLDIER, Sephiroth is known to be the best.
His past is locked away in a confidential file held by ShinRa Inc. His giant sword, which only
he can handle has extremely destructive power. Said to have disappeared in a battle years ago.
Sephiroth's Past:
Sephiroth's real parents were Professor Hojo and Lucrecia. At the time that the Jenova experiment was taking place, Lucrecia was pregnant with Hojo's child. She donated herself and her unborn child to the Jenova experiment. Lucrecia was injected with Jenova cells throughout the pregnancy and these gave power to her unborn child.
The final result of the Jenova project was a child born from Mako and Jenova cells the child was named Sephiroth.
Sephiroth grew up in a laboratory, and was daily injected with Jenova cells and Mako till he reached a certain age.
Then he was trained to become the best soldier ever.
Sephiroth was never told his true identity and Lucrecia was sent away without ever getting to hold her child even once. Sephiroth was raised by ShinRa, and was always told that his mother was Jenova. He grew up believing the story that Jenova had died while giving birth to him. This horrible string of lies was what made Sephiroth the twisted man that tried to take over the world.
The Real Sephiroth and the Mount Nibel incident:
Sephiroth's fighting skills were better than all of the other Jenova Project subjects. He was so strong, it was rumoured that nobody had ever seen him bleed or cry. About the age of 23, Sephiroth became a great hero and a general. Before long, Sephiroth had become the Soldier's top-ranking officer.
Reports were received of monsters appearing around the Mako Reactor in Nibelheim. ShinRa, wanting to eliminate any bad evidence of the Jenova Project, dispatched a small team of soldiers to destroy the monsters. The party comprised Sephiroth (as leader), Zack and 2 ShinRa soldiers, one being Cloud Strife. When they got to Nibelheim, Sephiroth reveals that he never had a proper family, his mother, whose name was Jenova, died after giving birth to him, Sephiroth doesn't ever mention anything about a father, but he does say he has no home town.
Tifa became their tour guide and led them up Mount Nibel. While crossing a bridge there, one of the ShinRa Soldiers fell down a ravine. Sephiroth said there was no time to go look for him and they carried on. At the Mako Reactor, Cloud and Tifa waited outside while Zack and Sephiroth went inside to see what the problem was.
Inside, Sephiroth noticed that one of the Mako chambers was faulty. While Zack went to fix the problem, Sephiroth looked inside the Mako chambers. He saw horrible humanoid monsters and asked Zack to take a look. He said that they were once human, but have been exposed to a large amount of Mako energy, so they mutated. He also says that Soldiers are given small doses of Mako energy to give them more power. While Zack was taking a look, one of the chambers flew open and a monster came out. It was immensely powerful but Sephiroth quickly immobilised it. As well as the capsules there was a chamber at the top with 'Jenova' written above it, Sephiroth realises that it is the same name as his mother's, he starts to think. He wasn't a standard Soldier, he was the most powerful and the strongest Soldier, this made him wonder if he was 'created' in the same way as the monsters in the capsules (since Jenova was kept in a chamber next to them), was he an experiment? Sephiroth's files were secret, kept locked away somewhere.
Sephiroth went back to Nibelheim and spent weeks alone in the ShinRa Mansion. He spent days in the ShinRa Mansion library, reading everything he could find that might be connected with who he really is. He found out two major things, about the Ancients and the Jenova Project. He learnt that he was created through the Jenova Project, and that Jenova was his mother.
Sephiorth found out that the Project began when scientists found an organism, 2000 years old, which they identified as being one of the Ancients (Cetra). It was named, Jenova. The Cetra were an Ancient race of people who lived on the planet before humans did. They had special powers and could communicate with the planet. When they died they would go to the Promised Land, a place which ShinRa decided would be full of Mako energy, so of course they wanted to find it. They appointed three scientists to work on the Jenova project, where they would recreate the Cetra using the cells of Jenova. ShinRa wanted the recreated Cetra to lead them to the Promised Land. And it was through this project that Sephiroth was created.
Sephiroth also read about the Ancients, he learned that the planet once belonged to the Cetra. A Crisis struck the planet, it put the lives of everyone and ultimately the entire planet in danger. Some of the Cetra fled from the danger, leaving the rest to die whilst saving the planet. The cowardly Cetra were the ancestors of humanity. Since Sephiroth was the son of Jenova, who was a Cetra, he believed that he was the rightful heir to the planet. As the humans were traitors (since their ancestors were the Cetra who ran away from the crisis) they should be punished for what they did and he must return the planet to it's rightful owners, him and his mother, Jenova.
Upon discovering what he believed to be his true identity, Sephiroth, in a fit of rage, anger, and hatred towards humanity, burned down Nibelheim and slaughtered most of the people there. He then proceeded to the Mako reactor to be reunited with his mother.
Tifa's father tried to stop him, but was killed. Tifa ran after them and when she found her Father lying dead with the Masamune Blade next to him, she rushed after Sephiroth with it. Sephiroth turned to meet her and easily took the Blade from her and sliced her across the chest.
Zack then came after him and Sephiroth stabbed him as well. In the Mako Reactor control room, Sephiroth went up to the power source and pulled off the cover. It was revealed that Jenova was there and that her cells were going to all the Mako chambers. Sephiroth wrenched Jenova out and told his 'Mother' that he would take her to the Promised Land where they would rule together. He believed that he was an Ancient and this made him want to take over the Promised Land.
Cloud came bursting in and told Sephiroth to stop. Sephiroth laughs at him and walks out of the Reactor. Cloud stabs him in the back and naturally Sephiroth skewers Cloud with his Masamune. Cloud somehow manages to throw Sephiroth off of the bridge and into the Mako pit at the bottom of the reactor. After this event, it was reported that Sephiroth had died. ShinRa decided to move Jenova to their headquarters to carry on their experiments.
This was the end of the true Sephiroth, whose body was carried to the Northern Crater by the Lifestream and so the Jenova Reunion began.
Sephiroth's plan to become a God:
Five years later, someone attacked the ShinRa headquarters and stole Jenova from her chamber, this person killed everyone there including President ShinRa, who was found with a long sword sticking out of his back. Cloud and the others weren't killed as they had been locked in prison cells and had obviously been overlooked. Cloud realises Sephiroth must be behind this, as Sephiroth is the only one in the world who can use a Masamune Blade. But, Sephiroth was meant to be dead?!
Sephiroth wasn't actually dead. Mako energy is really the Lifestream of the Planet, the force which keeps it alive and after Sephiroth was thrown into the Mako pit, he was carried by the Lifestream and ended up in a crystal Mako formation in the Northern Crater. Here he continued his plans, with the power of Jenova. He controlled various Sephiroth clones to search for the Promised Land, the place where the Cetra went to, to become one with the planet. He also searched for a way to become a God, so that he could punish humanity for being 'traitors' and for his creation.
In Kalm, Cloud reveals his past with Sephiroth but changes his story to make everyone believe that he was the Soldier with Sephiroth. And so the chase begins. The ShinRa are also after Sephiroth as they believe he can lead them to the Promised Land. However, the Sephiroth that they are all following is not the real Sephiroth. This Sephiroth, is the most powerful of the clones and is the main "Puppet" of the true Sephiroth.
Sephiroth travels around the world in search of the Black Materia. He takes Jenova with him and uses her/his power to battle with.
He travels to the Western Continent, in search of the holder of the key to the Temple of the Ancients. In Nibelheim, there are many Sephiroth Clones, probably the people who Sephiroth murdered in the incident 5 years ago.
There are more Clones in the Temple of the Ancients. Sephiroth is trying to use them to get the Black Materia. Sephiroth absorbs the knowledge of the Ancients in the Pool of Knowledge and then goes on to the room of Wall Paintings. Here he learns of the Black Materia. It has the power to draw small planets towards Earth and has been summoned only once before. When Meteor hits the earth, it will injure the planet so badly that an immense amount of Lifestream (Mako energy) would be sent to the wound by the planet to try and heal itself. Sephiroth would wait in the wound and merge with the Lifestream and become one with the planet. This would make him and Jenova rulers of the planet and also destroy everything, thus punishing the humans.
Unfortunately, the Tseng goes to investigate on behalf of ShinRa and the Turks. He finds the Key Stone and goes down to the Chamber of Wall Paintings and disturbs Sephiroth. Subsequently, he gets stabbed by Sephiroth and is mortally wounded. He manages to drag himself to the Entrance of the Temple and collapses on the Key Stone altar. Cloud and the gang find him, but it is most likely that he dies.
When Cloud gets to the room of the Wall Paintings, he finds that Sephiroth is about to leave and send one of his Clones to retrieve the Black Materia, but Cait Sith gets it instead.
However, outside Cloud is given the Black Materia and goes into one of his fits. Sephiroth controls the Jenova cells within Cloud, and forces Cloud to give the Black Materia to him.
The only thing that can stop Meteor is Holy. It can be summoned using the White Materia, which is an equally powerful force that would save the planet from destruction. Aeris is the only one who knows this (since she is a true Cetra) and goes to pray for Holy. Aeris realises that the "useless" Materia, which her real Mother gave her, is actually the White Materia. However, Sephiroth kills Aeris while she is in the middle of praying and continues with his plans.
The Jenova Reunion:
Sephiroth sets off for the Northern Crater where the true Sephiroth is. He plans to Reunite Jenova and the True Sephiroth, giving him enough power to summon Meteor. He goes to the site of the original disaster where Jenova first fell.
Here is where the Reunion takes place. Hojo first thought up the Jenova Reunion theory while he was working on the Jenova project. He thought that if Jenova's cells were scattered they would find each other again and become one, the place where they would meet would be the Promised Land. It was called the reunion for the obvious reason that the cells would reunite with each other. Hojo injected test subjects with Jenova cells to see if his theory would work. These test subjects are the black-cloaked figures you see at certain places (temple of the ancients, Nibelheim, and the northern crater). Some are clones of the original Sephiroth, like the Sephiroth that Cloud and the gang are following.
However, Hojo's calculations weren't entirely correct. The Jenova cells were being drawn to th9e true Sephiroth, who contained the most Jenova cells.
The Sephiroth Clone made his way to the top of the mountain in the middle of the Northern Crater and started to destroy the black-cloaked clones. When Cloud and the gang get to him, he attacks them with Jenova.
After the battle, the Black Materia is left on the ground. Cloud takes Tifa with him in search of Sephiroth and gives the Black Materia to one of the others. Sephiroth sends cloud and Tifa into an illusion, where they are shown what really happened in Nibelheim 3 years ago. Cloud thinks that Sephiroth is trying to trick them but Tifa knows that the Vision is the truth. He tells them that he made Cloud into a clone, using Tifa's memories. Cloud is confused and this leaves him vulnerable so that Sephiroth can take over his mind.
Meanwhile, back with the others, Sephiroth sends a black mist, which knocks everyone unconscious. He then disguises himself and gets the Black Materia from whoever is holding it.
Cloud and Tifa are then shown the inside of the Northern Crater. The ShinRa are staring at a large crystal Mako formation and Weapon. The true Sephiroth who is in the Mako formation is controlling Cloud. Tifa tries to stop Cloud but he believes that he is a Sephiroth Clone and gives the Black Materia to Sephiroth. Sephiroth summons Meteor, which awakens the Weapons and the whole of the Northern Crater falls into the centre of the Earth.
If you visit Lucrecia behind the waterfall, you can hear her version of Sephiroth's birth. Then in Midgar, it is revealed that Hojo is his father and Hojo sends him Mako energy from a giant ray-gun/canon to help him.
The Final Battle:
In the first battles are against the Sephiroth Clone and Jenova. Sephiroth uses his powers to split Cloud and the gang into 2 groups. They then have to battle to get to Holy, which is behind Sephiroth. After defeating them, Holy began to glow and they fell towards the Lifestream. As the others clamber onto a ledge, Cloud continues down to meet the true Sephiroth. As long as there are still Jenova cells alive, Holy can't stop Meteor, so Cloud uses Omnislash against Sephiroth and cuts him to pieces. Aeris' prayer reaches Holy and Meteor is destroyed foiling Sephiroth's plan.
Summary:
Sephiroth is a bitter and twisted person, but I guess it's to be expected.
Before he finds about the Jenova experiment he is an ok kind of guy. He may be a bit cold towards people but is generally all right. He is quite sympathetic to Cloud when he is travel-sick and seems fine with Zack. He is not really very concerned with Tifa but respects her as their tour guide.
His main concern is Aeris. He is genuinely scared of her as she is the only person who can stop him. He became bitter and twisted with his dream to become a God that it is hard to believe that he thought he was a Cetra. In the end it is Aeris that destroys Meteor and saves Earth and Sephiroth sadly dies.
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