Installer Steam
connexion
|
langue
简体中文 (chinois simplifié)
繁體中文 (chinois traditionnel)
日本語 (japonais)
한국어 (coréen)
ไทย (thaï)
Български (bulgare)
Čeština (tchèque)
Dansk (danois)
Deutsch (allemand)
English (anglais)
Español - España (espagnol castillan)
Español - Latinoamérica (espagnol d'Amérique latine)
Ελληνικά (grec)
Italiano (italien)
Bahasa Indonesia (indonésien)
Magyar (hongrois)
Nederlands (néerlandais)
Norsk (norvégien)
Polski (polonais)
Português (portugais du Portugal)
Português - Brasil (portugais du Brésil)
Română (roumain)
Русский (russe)
Suomi (finnois)
Svenska (suédois)
Türkçe (turc)
Tiếng Việt (vietnamien)
Українська (ukrainien)
Signaler un problème de traduction
Procédures à suivre et règles des discussions
Signaler ce message
Zack is another boy from a different village, Gongaga, who is older than Cloud and had joined SOLDIER way before Cloud ever does.
Cloud fails to make the cut to become SOLIDER 1st class so he is just a normal grunt who is assigned to the same unit as Sephiroth and Zack. Sephiroth and Zack as well as a handlful of other characters not shown in FFVII are the highest ranked and most powerful SOLDIERS. It is implied that Sephiroth was once a pretty good person and was actually pretty decent friends with Zack as well as his other peers (SOLDIER 1st Class Characters you don't see in FFVII).
Sephiroth was actually infused with Jenova cells while he was still in the womb of his mother, Lucrecia. Who was a scientist working on the Jenova program with Dr. Hojo. Dr. Hojo and Lucrecia were lovers after she broke off a possible relationship with Vincent who was her bodyguard at Shinra at the time. So Dr. Hojo is Sephiroth's father and Lucrecia is his real mother. Of course Sephiroth knew about none of that his whole life. Although it should be noted that it is often referenced that Sephiroth did not like Dr. Hojo and considered him to be a "hack" scientist.
Lucrecia's pregnancy was very painful and difficult as a result of her unborn child (Sephiroth) being infused with Jenova cells inside of her womb. Sephiroth was born and immediately taken from Lucrecia, by Shinra, without her ever holding him. Sephiroth is told that his mother was "Jenova" who died giving birth to him. He knows nothing of who his father was. Lucrecia leaves Shinra shortly after this following a huge fallout with Dr. Hojo and Vincent that ends in Vincent being shot and killed by Dr. Hojo with his body taken by Dr. Hojo for experimentation. (Which leads to Vincent becoming the Chaos monster we know in FFVII and after).
Sephiroth grows up within Shinra as an orphan and is trained into the most powerful SOLIDER the world has ever known due to his body being infused with Jenova cells since before his birth. Although he is never told about the Jenova cells in his body. Other SOLIDER 1st Class members (such as Zack) have been infused with Mako to make them stronger but none of them were infused with Jenova cells like Sephiroth. Thus Sephiroth has always been on a higher level than even his closest peers within SOLDIER. It is implied by the creator of FFVII that Sephiroth had no equal in combat and has only ever been equalled or beaten because something was preventing him from using his full power or he chose to hold back on purpose for various reasons.
Being as Cloud is assigned to the same unit as Sephiroth and Zack, he becomes friends with Zack and even Sephiroth to a degree. Zack later even refers to Cloud as being his closest friend after all the shiz hits the fan. Cloud has always looked up to Sephiroth and Zack as heroes and people Cloud wanted to be as strong as.
Their unit is tasked with checking out a monster outbreak near the Mako reactor in Nibelheim, Cloud's home town. On this mission Cloud is in a standard Shinra Solider uniform and his face hidden behind his mask, so no one knows it's him. This is the flashback scene in the game where Tifa is acting as their guide up the mountain to the Mako reactor. Cloud is actually one of the blue Shinra soldiers walking with them. It is on this mission that Sephiroth discovers the chamber holding what appears to be an alien creature labelled "Jenova" inside the Mako reactor. Remembering through out his whole life that he was told his mother's name was "Jenova" he leaves Nibelheim and buries himself in research in the basement of the Shinra mansion.
It is there at the Shinra mansion that Sephiroth uncovers all of the documents and research about his "creation" from Jenova cells. This spirals Sephiroth into madness, anger and insanity, thirsty for revenge. Believing that he really is the child of the evil calamity known as Jenova, he takes it upon himself to carry on the legacy of Jenova. Which is to absorb the lifestream of planets and use them to travel the galaxy in search of more life and power, conquering and destroying all in it's wake. This is when Sephiroth really turns from a SOLIDER 1st Class hero into the psycho pathic power hungry villain we know in FFVII.
Fueled by his rage and his want to "reunite" with Jenova, his "mother", Sephiroth returns to Nibelheim and destroys it. He kills many of the townspeople and lights the village on fire in the process. He is pursued by Tifa and Tifa's father at first and then later Zack and Cloud. Tifa's father is killed by Sephiroth which causes her to take Sephiroth's sword, Masumune, from her father's corpse and attempts to attack Sephiroth with it. Sephiroth quickly takes the sword from her and cuts her down. Zack (Not Cloud) arrives next and finds Sephiroth in Jenova's chamber and attacks him but is defeated and thrown from the chamber.
Cloud then enters (in the regular blue Shinra uniform) to find Tifa and Zack cut down. Cloud goes into a rage, picks up Zack's buster sword, runs inside Jenova's chamber and catches Sephiroth off guard at Jenova's tank and stabs Sephiroth through his back with Zack's Buster Sword. Cloud then leaves Sephiroth and runs back to tend to Tifa. Sephiroth rips open the Jenova container and cuts off Jenovas head, takes it and hobbles past Cloud. Cloud pursues him and attempts to defeat him again. Sephiroth impales Cloud on his Masamune sword and holds him over the Mako reactor pit. Through a sheer will of force and adrenaline Cloud somehow overpowers Sephiroth and uses the Masumune blade impaling him to toss Sephiroth into the Mako Reactor pit. It is also surmised that Sephiroth, wanting to fuse with Jenova and the Mako pool, allowed Cloud to throw him into the pit or even just allowed himself to fall in on purpose. Cloud passes out from his wounds. Tifa's martial arts mentor arrives at the reactor and rescues her unconscious body before Shinra arrives.
What you don't see after this is that Sephiroth infuses Jenova's head and cells into his body becoming one with Jenova while in the Mako Reactor pool. His body as one with Jenova then assimilates into the lifestream through the Mako reactor and travels the lifestream for a while. Shinra arrives and finds the bodies of all of the slain people and Cloud and Zack unconscious and close to death. Sephiroth is no where to be found and declared dead by Shinra. Shinra takes both Zack and Cloud as well as other survivors of the town and brings them back to Shinra where they are infused with Jenova cells and further Mako testing in an attempt to create a new SOLDIER equal to Sephiroth in power. Zack and Cloud then at this point become the only other 2 SOLDIERS infused with Jenova cells.
The rest of the Nibelheim survivors that were taken by Shinra are also infused with Jenova cell testing but for different reasons. Dr. Hojo wanted to see if these people infused with Jenova cells would be controlled by Jenova and led to "reunite" with Jenova later. This is also referenced more in the movie sequel Advent Children when you meet the orphan children of those people. These Jenova infused survivors are seen through out the game as the weird cloaked people following and worshipping Sephiroth that have numbers tattoo'd on them. Some of them are also in search of the Black Materia which would seem to indicate that Sephiroth/Jenova does in fact have some control over those Jenova infused people. They are also often referred to as "Sephiroth Clones" although they are not actually clones at all, just people carrying the Jenova cells within them.
During this process Shinra rebuilds Nibelheim back to normal and hires actors to live in the village to make it appear as a normal village and cover up the entire incident as if it never happened. Which is how you find Nibelheim to be when visiting it during the game. This incident is the key to everything in FFVII. It is when Cloud and Tifa lose everything as their homes and families are destroyed and it is when Cloud's memories first become distorted and lost due to trauma, self hatred (failing to protect his loved ones) and later the Mako poisoning and Jenova cell infusions done by Shinra. It is also when Sephiroth becomes one with Jeonva. Thus pretty much changing everything that led up to that point into what we know and see through out the game. This incident is known as the "Nibelheim Incident".
Sometime after this Zack awakens within Shinra and mounts an escape, freeing Cloud and taking him with him. These are the flashback scenes you see with Cloud and Zack in the yellow pickup truck trying to escape to Midgar. Only seen in Crisis Core you learn that on their way to Midgar, Zack and Cloud are pursued by Shinra and found. In a huge showdown fight just outside of Midgar they are forced to fight for their lives. Cloud can barely even walk or maintain consciousness due to the extreme Mako poisioning his body has endured during the testing. Since Cloud was never SOLDIER 1st Class his body has never experinced Mako infusion before and it took him a long time to recover from the poisoning. This is why his memories of all of these events are very cloudy and messed up.
Zack at full strength fights insurmountable odds of Shinra soldiers trying to recapture him and Cloud. Cloud did nothing during the whole fight as he physically couldn't. Zack somehow wins and defeats all of the Shinra soldiers, being mortally wounded in the process. Cloud crawls over to his dying body and Zack tells him to "Live for the both of us" and gives him the Buster Sword as he dies. Cloud then barely escapes before more Shinra soldiers arrive and makes it to Midgar where he reunites with Tifa who has joined AVALANCHE. That is where you, the player, joins the story at the beginning of FFVII.
At this point Cloud's memory and head is completely messed up from the Mako poisioning, trauma, his own self hatred, etc. and he can't remember things straight and also blocks out huge chunks of what has happened to him. I believe Cloud takes on the memories of Zack because they allow him to somehow carry on, hating himself just a little less, at least believing he was a great 1st Class SOLDIER hero that tried his best to save everyone. That combined with all of the extreme trauma and Mako posioning, he believes his memories of Zack to be his own rather than his real past.
Zack was actually Aerith's boyfriend and when she meets Cloud, he reminds her of Zack which is a huge reason she has feelings toward him. All Cloud knows is that he must find Sephiroth and stop him and put a stop to everything so he joins AVALANCHE. As a result of his trauma and Mako poisoning, Cloud's memories take on the shape of Zack's real past. Cloud thinks he was actually Zack through all of what I described above. It is not until much later in the game during another Mako posioning incident and with Tifa's help, that Cloud is able to re-organize his memories and split what were memories of Zack and his own and remember who really is.
Through out most of the game Sephiroth controls Cloud through the Jenova cells that are in his body. The real Sephiroth eventually reunites his cells through the lifestream and settles into a coma state inside a Mako crystal in the Northern Crater after the Nibelheim Incident. The Sephiroth you see through most of the game (until the very end) is really Jenova being controlled and used by Sephiroth as Jeonva and Sephiroth have merged into a single being. Most of Cloud's thoughts and ambitions on what he wants to do are actually Sephiroth implanting those ideas and motives into his head to meet his own needs by manipulating the Jenova cells in Cloud's body. That is what compels Cloud (as well as the other "Sephiroth Clones") to find Sephiroth and is referred to as the "Reunion". The Reunion is Sephiroth/Jenova controlling the other people in the world with Jenova Cells within them to reunite so he can use them to crack open the planet, revealing the lifestream, so Jenova/Sephiroth can absorb the lifestream and take over the planet to use as a vessel to travel the cosmos.
So there you have it. Super long winded run through and I'm sure I missed a lot of tiny fact facts and messed up quite a few things along the way as I haven't played through the whole game in years. But that's who Cloud and Zack are and how they really fit into the story. It's such a great game. One of my all time favorite games. I hope you're enjoying it. I purposely left off what happens after all of this so you can see it for yourself through out the game.
oh man, so much thanks for that summary! yes, i do enjoy the game greatly and although didn't completed it yet i do think about playing it again from the beginning : )
to be honest I was playing it first when I was around 15 year old but didn't knew english so good at that time and didn't finished. now I'm 32 and wanted to go back to play it again for a long time already : ) announcement of the remake made me do it at last
It didn't work out.
He became a regular foot soldier and formed a close relationship with Zack, who was in SOLDIER.
Sephiroth destroys Clouds home town, kills all the people including his mother, Zack and Tifa. (Tifia to his knowledge at the time)
Clouds loses it and takes on the personality of Zack, his dead bestfriend.
The whole game is basically him trying to figure that out. It's a great story because it's shadowed by the bigger, more in your face plot line. Meaning you can finish the game and have not figured it out.
In regards to Sephiroth telling Cloud "You are a puppet" he is referring to Cloud's entire life and using it as a way to beat down Cloud and keep him defeated, weak and easily manipulated via the Jenova cells inside of his body. Sephiroth is implying that Cloud was a puppet for Shinra when he was a solider in their military. In Sephiroth's eyes, anyone involved with Shinra is a puppet for Shinra. Then he is also referring to Cloud being a puppet in terms of him being infused with Jenova cells by Shinra, making him both Shinra's and Sephiroth/Jenova's puppet and tool for their greater purposes.
Sephiroth knows Cloud is mentally weak and unstable and preys on it through out the entire game. It is a major way that he manipulates Cloud and he knows by keeping Cloud in that defeated, frail state of mind, it is even easier to take over and control his body through the Jenova cells within Cloud. Sephiroth is well aware of the Jenova cells within Cloud (As he is Jenova and can sense his cells inside any living being) and that is how he constantly takes over Cloud's will and makes him do things. That is made much easier by keeping Cloud defated and weak minded, hence ridiculing him about being a puppet.
It can also be viewed as a direct deragatory insult to Cloud as Sephiroth views himself as "The Chosen One" who has united with and technically become Jenova. Where as Cloud is just a "weak human" with some Jenova cells infused into his body. Thus making Cloud "lesser than" Sephiroth/Jenova and nothing but a pawn/peasant/puppet for Sephiroth to use or ignore as he pleases.
Cloud always looked up to Zack and wanted to be him. Cloud also hated himself and viewed himself as a failure, especially after the Nibelheim Incident. So in order to cope with himself and his failures, all of the trauma and loss of his home and family and friends, then toss in extreme Mako poisioning and Cloud takes on the memories of Zack as his own. Which somehow made it possible for Cloud to live with himself. At least he thought he was a big shot 1st Class SOLDIER who tried his best to save everyone. I imagine that would take the edge off some of his depression at least so he could start to function as a person again.
Then later in the story Cloud is finally able to separate his memories from Zack's, and remember who he and Zack both really were. This allows him to accept the fact he was weak and defeated and failed. Which allows him to begin to forgive himself and find his real strength within himself. It also allowed him to fully remember who Zack was, what Zack had sacrificed for him and what he had promised Zack he would do, Live for the both of them. Which further leads to Cloud unlocking his true power and potential. The entire story is really about redemption and self worth.
This also ties in with Tifa as her memories and recollection of the Nibelheim Incident aren't the best either. There is the scene in Kalm fairly early in the game where Cloud explains the Nibelheim Incident to the team and he tells it as if he was Zack the entire time. This should be wrong or confusing to Tifa since she was at the Nibelheim Incident and knows it was actually Zack doing those things, not Cloud. Tifa never actually saw Cloud at the Nibelheim Incident because he didn't show up until she had already been cut down by Sephiroth and gone unconscious.
However, since Cloud knows exactly what happened during the incident and Tifa experienced extreme trauma in which she almost died, plus she trusts and loves Cloud, she accepts his recount of the story as what must have happened. One could also argue Tifa knows Cloud is wrong about the events of his story at the Nibelheim Incident but is just too afraid to speak up or say anything as she doesn't want to hurt or push Cloud any further away at that point. Tifa does remember Zack and even makes a comment about him when you visit his hometown, Gongaga.
I'm excited about the remake too but also a little worried. I really hope Square doesn't mess it up. They have a lot to live up to when comapred with this original, hehe.
Thanks for kind words! And for the effort to explain the story a bit more! : )
I am also a bit worried about the remake but hopes are still high! I've been a gamer for around 22 years now and even worked in game industry (mobile games for java and android). I was involved in production of around 20 titles. Summing my work knowledge and my experience as a gamer... I have no idea how will they come up with such set of unique features that FF7 presents, expecially when it comes to storytelling and enormous amount of arcade elements this game poses. Uniqe humour, weird comic characters (like Cait Sith), monster design (!!!), the intense storytelling and many more... To be honest I can't really imagine the pressure and hard work which have to be put into this remake so it could work! I believe it has to be a different game but with a same story, because it's just impossible to REMAKE (haha) this game in all it's glory and at the same time abandoning its classic (retro?) style.
I really admire their courage and wish them the best. I hope they will handle classic FF7 fans paranoia and just make a game that is great, but on it's own terms. I am not going to compare these 2 games a lot : )
Not even for a single moment, it does not have the depth, intensity, drama of FF7 writings.