Sephiroth is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake. He is also the primary antagonist in many spin-off titles in the Final Fantasy VII extended universe. In the original game, Sephiroth joins the party for a brief moment during a flashback sequence and is both the penultimate and final boss.
Cloud Strife’s archenemy, Sephiroth also represents the protagonist’s troubled past. Once the poster child for Shinra’s SOLDIER program, he was known by many as a skilled war hero and military success story. Upon learning more about his creation, however, Sephiroth was driven insane, quickly surrendering to his own warped delusions of godhood. In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud and the party aim to stop Sephiroth from destroying the planet.
Table Of Contents
Approximately 20-23 (Crisis Core)
*6’7” (200cm) in Final Fantasy VII Remake
Shinichiro Miki (Japanese / Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring)
Lance Bass (English / Kingdom Hearts)
Tyler Hoechlin (Final Fantasy VII Remake)
Birth of a God
One-Winged Angel
Appearance and Personality
Much about Sephiroth is unknown due to Shinra sealing his records. His exact age, for example, is unknown, though it can be speculated using many of the game’s timelines.
In both the North American and European manuals, his details are listed as “unknown” with the exception of his job as a former top-ranking SOLDIER officer. They also list his height and that his weapon of choice is a Long Sword, though the Japanese manuals omit all of these details. His birthplace is also listed as unknown, though in the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, it states that he was born in Nibelheim.
Sephiroth is extremely tall and muscular. Although initially listed as being 6’1’’, he is stated to be 6’7’’ in Final Fantasy VII Remake, making him taller than Barret. With long silver hair and parted bangs, Sephiroth has bright cyan eyes and cat-like pupils. Typically, he wears a long black coat with silver pauldrons, black trousers, and black boots. His coat is open to reveal his chest, though it is partially obscured by leather suspenders. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, his belt buckle has been altered, adding a wing motif in the center with small black features suspended from it.
Sephiroth wields the Masamune, a two-handed seven-foot-long sword. In battle, he typically holds it over his left shoulder with the blade curving downward.
In other games in the Final Fantasy VII universe, Sephiroth’s outfit is largely the same, though his coat has several buckles instead of only one. According to a fan letter mailed to Zack in Crisis Core, Sephiroth uses an entire bottle of scented shampoo and conditioner to wash his hair, both being provided by Shinra.
Prior to learning of his creation, Sephiroth is shown as being aloof and professional. This is best seen in Crisis Core, where he is noted as hardly spending time with anyone besides Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos, his only friends. He is also indifferent toward his legion of fans. In stark contrast to this reputation, he’s also seen as being caring when situations call for it, becoming friends with Zack when the two are reluctant to hunt down their own friends. Sephiroth is extremely intelligent and only respects those who he deems worthy. He’s also well-spoken, graceful, and always outwardly calm regardless of the situation.
Although extremely confident and arrogant when it comes to his abilities as a SOLDIER, Sephiroth tells Genesis that he has no interest in personal glory. He also considers Professor Gast a brilliant scientist but greatly dislikes Professor Hojo.
Upon learning the details of the experiments that led to his birth, Sephiroth quickly descends into madness, becoming much more ruthless and vengeful. Cold and calculated, he proclaims himself to be the “chosen one” destined to rule over the planet. Devoted to Jenova and her cause, he enjoys mentally torturing Cloud.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Sephiroth can be seen taunting and tormenting Cloud more often, gloating over his failures and painful memories. However, he can also be heard encouraging Cloud to become stronger and beckoning the protagonist to join him in his cause to “save the planet,” implying that he wants to alter Cloud’s destiny.
Weapons and Abilities
Inspiring many soldiers to aspire to greater things, Sephiroth is regarded by many as the greatest SOLDIER 1st Class of all time. His swordsmanship and otherworldly physical power are the result of his creation via the Jenova Project, with his strength inspiring Shinra to create the SOLDIER program in the first place.
His abilities allow him to wield the Masamune, a sword longer than he is tall. Although a double-handed weapon, Sephiroth can wield it effortlessly with either his left or right hand. A single slash of his blade can break through concrete and steel and he can swing his sword faster than the human eye can see. Although few are able to bring him harm, he is also incredibly resilient, able to withstand incredible physical damage while still keeping up his offense.
Sephiroth’s sword is capable of casting powerful energy waves and bursts, and he is also well-versed in magic. Prior to being immersed in the lifestream, Sephiroth relies on materia to cast spells, though after absorbing the knowledge of the Ancients he no longer needs it. Heartless Angel allows him to summon angels to sap enemies of their power, while Shadow Flare creates exploding orbs of darkness. Sephiroth is also capable of forming a magical barrier for protection.
Upon retrieving the Black Materia, Sephiroth gains the ability to use Meteor. In Remake, however, he summons a huge ball of fire even without the Black Materia while also wielding unique spells, resisting elemental magic, and creating black force fields that stun his foes.
Sephiroth’s special attack is Supernova, which has also been described as his Limit Break. Powered by despair, it’s strong enough to affect multiple dimensions.
Injected by Jenova cells while still a fetus, Sephiroth’s abilities are completely unmatched, surpassing those of Genesis and Angeal. Sephiroth can’t degrade and also cannot be successfully copied. He can manifest a single black wing from his right shoulder, and in Remake, he can use his features to attack his foes.
Although Sephiroth’s body is eventually destroyed, his will continues to persist via Jenova’s cells, giving him a sort of immortality. He uses this ability to construct avatars in his likeness along with other frightening monsters. Sephiroth has the ability to remotely control Jenova cells inside living things, affecting the thoughts and actions of those injected with her cells. In Remake, he can cause those with Jenova cells to shapeshift.
After being immersed in the lifestream, Sephiroth is granted the ability to read people’s minds, making it easier for him to manipulate people. He can also telepathically communicate with people, project illusions, telekinetically control objects, summon the Masamune at will, and pass through solid matter.
In Remake, Sephiroth is shown to warp reality, bringing Cloud and himself to the Edge of Creation. However, it’s unclear how much of this is simply an illusion.
Character Design
Tetsuya Nomura, Sephiroth’s character designer, planned for Final Fantasy VII to be a game in which players would need to chase the antagonist. This had not yet been done in the Final Fantasy series, and Nomura thought that it would help to keep the game’s story moving. In the years following the title’s release, director Yoshinori Kitase named Sephiroth as his favorite Final Fantasy villain.
Cloud and Sephiroth’s signature weapons and rivalry were partially inspired by the legendary Japanese swordsmen Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro. Sephiroth’s long hair was difficult to make using the available polygons at the time, but Nomura wanted a stark contrast between Cloud and Sephiroth’s design. At some point, Sephiroth greatly resembled Vincent Valentine.
Sephiroth’s relationship with Aerith went through a number of iterations during development–they were planned to be lovers, then siblings. Their similar hairstyles were designed to imply their unique connection to one another.
In early drafts of Final Fantasy VII’s story, Cloud was much more susceptible to Sephiroth’s control. However, this was altered after the introduction of Jenova and the completion of Zack’s full story. Additionally, Sephiroth’s initial character would have been more cruel and destructive, with these aspects being suppressed by the Jenova element hidden in his genes. After succumbing to mako addition, his madness would steadily grow throughout the game.
Pre-Final Fantasy VII
Sephiroth’s exact date of birth is unknown, but he was born approximately twenty-seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII to Lucrecia Crescent and Professor Hojo. Both were working as assistants to Professor Gast, the top scientist at the Shinra Electric Power Company, on the Jenova Project, studying the remains of an extra-terrestrial lifeform. Mistakenly, Jenova was first thought to be one of the Cetra, a group of ancient people able to converse with the planet.
Over the course of her pregnancy, Hojo injected Jenova cells into Lucrecia. Though she managed to carry her child to term, the fetus steadily merged with the Jenova cells, causing Lucrecia to have frequent pain, fainting spells, and vivid nightmares of her son committing horrible acts. After the birth, Sephiroth was taken by Shinra scientists, with Lucrecia never having the chance to hold him.
As he is not a descendant of the Cetra, Sephiroth was never able to talk to the planet. Despite this, Shinra quickly took note of his physical power, raising him to be a super-soldier. While the results weren’t expected, Sephiroth still advanced the Jenova Project and led to the creation of SOLDIER.
Shinra hid the truth of his birth from Sephiroth, who grew up believing his mother’s name to be Jenova. While he felt different than other children, he never knew why, and over time he began to greatly respect Professor Gast as a genius scientist while viewing Professor Hojo as a hack.
Sephiroth ensured Shinra’s dominance during the Wutai War, rising to the rank of SOLDIER First Class and quickly honored as a war hero. Cloud Strife, Genesis Rhapsodos, and many other young men looked up to him, making him useful as a propaganda tool.
Towards the end of the Wutai War, Sephiroth has two close friends within SOLDIER, Genesis and Angeal. The three represented the most famous SOLDIERs in First Class and would often train together–although skilled in powerful magic and physically strong, the two were still no match for Sephiroth. Following the war, Avalanche began taking more action against Shinra, eventually raiding Junon. Sephiroth chooses to fight Elfe, the leader of Avalanche, who asks him why he fights. This question has a lasting impact on Sephiroth.
Sephiroth saves Zack Fair from Ifrit during the assault on Fort Tamblin. Killing the monster with one blow, he discovers that Genesis had defected with Hollander, a Shinra scientist. The two created an army using copy technology to graft Genesis’s cells onto other defecting SOLDIERs to rebel against Shinra.
During his time participating in the Genesis War, Sephiroth continues to find his loyalties and emotions in turmoil. Over time, he begins refusing to join any missions concerning Angeal or Genesis, and when the pair attack the Shinra Building, Zack and Sephiroth allow them to escape. Having learned of a so-called “Project G” after speaking to Hollander and Genesis, Sephiroth begins searching the Shinra archives for more information, but before he can find anything useful, Zack is forced to kill Angeal. Genesis reappears several months later. After helping to retrieve Professor Hojo from Avalanche, Sephiroth shares his intention to retire from Shinra with Zack, claiming that their next mission would also be their last.
A few weeks later, Zack, Sephiroth, and two Shinra infantrymen–one of whom is a sixteen-year-old Cloud Strife–arrive in Nibelheim to combat a monster outbreak. Sephiroth mentions that he has no hometown, asking Cloud how it feels to return to his own. When Zack inquires about the SOLDIER First Class’s family, Sephiroth explains that his mother, Jenova, died during childbirth, though he doesn’t mention his father. Zack, having already learned about the Jenova Project, is shown as being suspicious in Crisis Core.
When infiltrating the mako reactor, Sephiroth makes a number of disturbing discoveries, including a feminine-looking creature locked in a chamber labeled “JENOVA” and a number of pods containing monstrous and mutated humans. Zack implies that members of SOLDIER may share a link with the creatures in the tanks, causing Sephiroth to fly a rage at the implication that he may have been created in a pod in the same way. In Crisis Core, Genesis reveals that Sephiroth was born from the Jenova Project with its goal being to create the perfect monster. This only serves to fuel Sephiroth’s madness.
Disturbed by everything he had witnessed, Sephiroth travels to the nearby manor that had been occupied by Shinra researchers. Spending hours pouring over the research notes in the basement library, he finds that his creation had been kept from him. Believing that Jenova was a Cetra, he also believes that he is therefore the last Cetra alive, convinced that the human race had betrayed the Cetra two millennia prior, leaving them alone to defend the planet from destruction. This destructive force is later revealed to be Jenova herself.
Deciding to take vengeance for his believed ancestors, Sephiroth first destroys Nibelheim, setting fire to the town and killing most of its residents before returning to the reactor to steal Jenova’s body. Although he is pursued by Zack, Cloud, Tifa, and Tifa’s father, they are no match for him.
After entering Jenova’s chamber, Sephiroth is confronted by Zack. However, Sephiroth ignores his former friend, focusing instead on his “mother” and promising to take back the promised land, all the whole proclaiming himself to be the chosen one.
Cloud rushes in with Zack’s Buster Sword and impales Sephiroth from behind, Although severely wounded, Sephiroth manages to decapitate Jenova before stumbling across the room where he is once again attacked by Cloud. Sephiroth stabs Cloud with his Masamune, but Cloud is able to use the long blade as a lever, throwing Sephiroth into the pool of mako below with Jenova’s head still in his hands. In Last Order, Sephiroth jumps into the mako willingly.
Shinra seals all of Sephiroth’s records, declaring that the once legendary SOLDIER First Class had been killed in action. The company also rebuilds Nibelheim and populates it with Shinra employees paid to act as the townspeople. As Sephiroth fell into the lifestream, his willpower and hatred proved to be too much to allow him to be consumed, and over the next few years, he bides his time. His power and knowledge continue to grow, and eventually, the fragments of his body began to come together at the Northern Cave inside the North Crater. With his physical form remade, Sephiroth aims to merge with the lifestream to become a god.
Although fully encased in a cocoon of mako, Sephiroth is able to control Jenova’s cells as an extension of his own body. As Zack, Cloud, and the other survivors of Nibelheim had been injected with Sephiroth cells by Hojo, they were effectively turned into Sephiroth clones. Professor Hojo believed that the Jenova cells would call for a reunion, and he hoped to prove this theory over time.
In Final Fantasy VII
Sephiroth puts out a call summoning all Sephiroth clones to the North Cave nearly five years after he is presumed dead. Jenova’s remains break out of containment at Shinra Headquarters after shapeshifting into Sephiroth’s form, releasing Cloud and other members of Avalanche who were being held prisoner by President Shinra.
After declaring that Shinra should never acquire the Cetra’s promised land, Sephiroth kills President Shinra. Although the party didn’t see this happen, Cloud quickly notices Sephiroth’s Masamune at the murder site and comes to the conclusion that the legendary SOLDIER First Class is still alive. Along with his friends, he sets out on a quest to find him and get revenge for what happened in Nibelheim. However, Cloud doesn’t realize that his burning desire to find Sephiroth is compounded by the Jenova cells calling him back for the reunion.
The party finds Sephiroth on the cargo ship heading towards Costa del Sol. Here, he abstractly mentions the reunion, leaving behind Jenova’s arm which quickly transforms into Jenova BIRTH. Sephiroth appears later in the Shinra Manor basement in Nibelheim, once again mentioning the reunion and asking Cloud to follow him.
Sephiroth reveals his entire plan inside the Temple of the Ancients, stating that the planet relies on the lifestream for healing when it is wounded. He then explains that the lifestream-abundant North Crater is where Jenova fell two millennia ago.
Using the Black Materia, Sephiroth plans to summon Meteor, the Ultimate Destructive Magic. This would gravely injure the planet while Sephiroth would place himself at the center of the impact site as the lifestream emerged. Upon merging with the lifestream, he would become a god. Although Cloud manages to snag the Black Materia first, Sephiroth influences the Jenova cells inside of him to take control, forcing Cloud to hand it over.
Aerith, the true last Cetra, uses her White Materia to summon Holy, the only magic strong enough to counteract Meteor. During her heartfelt prayer, Sephiroth descends, impaling her through the chest with his blade. Aerith did manage to summon Holy, but Sephiroth is able to hold it back. Cloud at the party continues tracking Sephiroth to the North Crater, where they are able to kill Jenova and reclaim the Black Materia.
Afraid he’ll be controlled again, Cloud gives the materia to a party member for safekeeping prior to descending into the crater with Tifa. The two witness an illusion of Nibelheim’s destruction conjured by Sephiroth, implying that Cloud was only a puppet created by Professor Hojo and implanted with false memories. Aiming to break Cloud, Sephiroth continues to weave a cruel story, telling the party leader that he is only a cluster of Jenova cells that assumed the identity of a young boy named ‘Cloud’ from Tifa’s childhood. Although Tifa tries to convince Cloud that Sephiroth is lying, she isn’t able to remember Cloud at Nibelheim when it was destroyed.
The combination of Sephiroth’s illusion and Tifa’s doubt shatters Cloud’s mind, and Sephiroth manages to fool the party into giving Cloud the Black Materia by using an illusion of Tifa. Cloud then hands it over to Sephiroth’s true body, which still resides in a cocoon of mako. As promised, Sephiroth then summons Meteor, which in turn activates the planet’s defense mechanism known as the Weapons.
The walls begin to crumble as the massive Weapons awaken from their long slumber. Cloud and the party manage to flee with Rufus Shinra aboard the airship Highwind as Sephiroth’s cocoon fallls into the crater. An energy barrier appears over the crater to keep the Weapons from noticing Sephiroth’s continued presence.
While awaiting the arrival of Meteor, Sephiroth morphs his body into a new godlike form. Upon learning the truth about his past, Cloud recovers, and soon after, Shinra fires the Mako Cannon at the North Crater, ripping a hole in Sephiroth’s barrier. This allows the party to begin the final confrontation.
Cloud and the party find Sephiroth at the planet’s core, and as his Bizarro Sephiroth form is defeated, he transforms into the seven-winged Safer Sephiroth. Though his body is defeated, his mind refuses to die, forcing Cloud into a metaphysical battle for the planet. Eventually, Cloud is victorious, and Sephiroth dissolves into the lifestream. Holy is then released from the planet’s core, and Aerith’s spirit helps the lifestream to emerge. As it keeps Meteor from striking the planet, Holy deals the final blow, destroying the Ultimate Destructive Magic once and for all.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake
Early in the game as Avalanche bombs Mako Reactor 1, Cloud sees a black feature as he struggles with a bizarre psychic episode. Following his escape to the streets of Midgar, Sephiroth continuously appears to him, warping Cloud’s surroundings to resemble that of a burning Nibelheim. In the midst of this disturbing illusion, Sephiroth continuously taunts Cloud about his mother’s murder. Asking Cloud to leave Avalanche to help him fight for the planet, Cloud quickly refuses, attacking the illusion and causing it to clear. Sephiroth then contacts Cloud telepathically, asking him to hold onto his hatred.
When Cloud meets Aerith, Sephiroth returns, mocking him for being too weak to protect anyone, even himself. Later on, a Sephiroth clone named Marco is taken over in order to attack Cloud. Cloud sees the man as Sephiroth and aims to kill him, though Tifa manages to stop him. Upon falling into the Sector 7 slums, Cloud sees Sephiroth in his dream, but Aerith wakes him up before the situation can devolve.
Another Sephiroth clone appears to Cloud and Aerith in the Sector 5 slums. The man collapses, but not before telling Cloud not to fear the upcoming reunion. Following the collapse of the Sector 7 plate, Sephiroth appears to Cloud, both mocking him for his failure and encouraging him to become stronger.
Later in the game, Sephiroth traps Cloud, Barret, and Tifa in a vivid illusion in the Shinra VR theater. Despite his intent to rattle the group, Barret believes the vision to be part of the presentation.
Shapeshifting Marco into his own visage to attack President Shinra, Sephiroth appears before Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, and Red XIII in front of the Jenova container. Telling Cloud to stop fighting and to embrace him, Sephiroth cuts the bridge, causing the party to plummet into the depths below. He then throws President Shinra through the window, leaving him to hang onto the scaffolding for dear life.
Avalanche manages to rescue the President, though they aren’t content to let him go. President Shinra pulls a gun on the group, but Sephiroth stabs him, also stabbing Barret in the process, before transforming into Jenova Dreamweaver. Though the party manages to defeat the hallucination-inducing being, another clone appears carrying Jenova’s body and leaves as backup arrives. Chased by Cloud, the clone leaps from the Shinra Building.
Sephiroth approaches the group on the Midgar Expressway after they manage to escape from Shinra, explaining that he wants to protect the planet. The Whispers converge to create a massive dark cloud, though Sephiroth cuts through it easily, inviting Cloud to enter into a strange other dimension. Aerith explains that the gate leads to a place where destiny and fate don’t exist.
As Cloud and the party enter, they fight Sephiroth in what seems to be the ‘edge of creation.’ It’s unclear whether this is a real locale or simply an illusion. Sephiroth asks Cloud to help him defy destiny, and when Cloud refuses, he is defeated. Strangely, he spares Cloud, who soon appears outside Midgar. Sephiroth leaves a single cryptic message, telling Cloud that he only has “seven seconds before the end.”
The party embarks on a quest to find and defeat Sephiroth, as Aerith warns that the future is now uncertain.
In the original game, Sephiroth doesn’t appear until later, with his goals largely obscured. As the Remake assumed that many players would already be familiar with his aims, Sephiroth plays a role much earlier in the story, with the developers wanting to solidify his ties to Cloud. While the initial goal was only to hint at his existence more often, alterations were made halfway through development, having Sephiroth appear more often and adding more scenes and dialogue.
Naoki Hamaguchi, the game’s co-director, asked the scenario director Kazushige Nojima if players could be able to fight Sephiroth in Midgar. Despite the fact that many fans may have been angered by this as it isn’t true to the original title, Nojima agreed to it instantly.
Post-Final Fantasy VII
In Lifestream: Black found in the short story collection Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile, Sephiroth utilizes the emergence of the lifestream during the Meteor threat to infect the planet with Geostigma by infecting the once-pure source with his memories to spread the sickness.
Although presumed dead at the end of Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth focuses on his hatred of Cloud to avoid being completely dissolved into the lifestream. This allows him to keep his sense of self and to remain separate from other souls. Over time, he begins to forget details about his appearance. Using others’ memories of him in the lifestream, he manages to craft suitable avatars, which he sends to track down Jenova’s remains in an attempt to create a new body for himself.
While Sephiroth doesn’t appear in Dirge of Cerberus, he is mentioned in a flashback with the pregnant Lucrecia, who recounts a vision in which she sees what destruction her child would cause in the future. While Lucrecia attempts to save Vincent, she demands that Hojo give back her baby, while later in the game, Weiss the Immaculate also mentions Sephiroth.
In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
As Geostigma has infected many around the world, Sephiroth remains a terrifying force despite his once-presumed demise. The illness causes fatigue, black sores, and eventually death. Caused by Sephiroth’s consciousness infecting the lifestream, Geostigma is especially dangerous to children.
Cloud, having become more reclusive since the events of the game, becomes infected with Geostigma, and eventually finds himself confronted by three silver-haired men. Physical manifestations of Sephiroth’s powerful will, these men–Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo–believe themselves to be led by their “mother” Jenova. They are unaware that Sephiroth is the one orchestrating their actions.
The three seek Jenova’s cells in order to be reunited with her, though they are also unaware that this is part of Sephiroth’s plan to resurrect himself using the last pieces of Jenova’s body.
Kadaj, absorbing Jenova’s cells, finds himself overcome by Sephiroth, who shapeshifts the man’s body into his own visage. Sephiroth, disappointed that Cloud had been somehow cured of the illness, reveals that he intends to gather the souls of Geostigma victims to corrupt the lifestream, gaining complete control over the world and using the planet as a vessel to travel into space.
Although Sephiroth manages to stab Cloud during the ensuing battle in the Midgar ruins, it isn’t enough to defeat him. Energized by his many happy memories of family and friends, Cloud manages to break free, destroying Sephiroth. Demanding that Sephiroth remain only in his memories, Sephiroth responds by claiming that he would “never be a memory.” As his black wing envelops him, he fades away, leaving behind a weakened Kadaj. The clone quickly succumbs to his injuries, fading into the lifestream.
At the end of the film, Aerith’s spirit calls down healing rain to cure the planet of Geostigma.
Early in the project, Sephiroth’s revival had been cemented, though it was initially unclear how or why he would be brought back. Though many ideas were brought to the table, one popular addition was making Cloud the only one who would be able to see Sephiroth following his return.
Sephiroth’s hair and eyes were difficult to animate at the time–his hair was animated by hand. His dialogue was made to be incredibly profound, implying that he is much more intelligent than regular humans. Co-director Takeshi Nozoe has gone on record to state that Sephiroth was designed to have an otherworldly charm, and to have a face “you’d never see in real life.” He doesn’t blink, rarely breathes, and keeps his voice calm even in the midst of battle.
Chronologically, Advent Children marks Sephiroth’s final appearance in the Final Fantasy VII timeline. His current status is unknown.
Appearances in Other Final Fantasy Titles
Sephiroth also appears in the following Final Fantasy games as a playable character unless otherwise noted:
- Dissidia Final Fantasy
- Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
- Dissidia Final Fantasy NT
- Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia
- Final Fantasy V (as a loading screen cameo in the Final Fantasy Anthology port)
- Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
- Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
- Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival
- Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade (as a summonable Legend)
- Final Fantasy Artniks (as a series of cards)
- Final Fantasy Record Keeper
- Final Fantasy Brave Exvius (as a summonable vision)
- Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
- Mobius Final Fantasy (on cards, as an Ultimate Hero, and as a boss)
- Pictlogica Final Fantasy
- World of Final Fantasy (as a summonable Champion)
Appearances in Other Media
Sephiroth appears in the following non-Final Fantasy titles:
- Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring
- Itadaki Street
- Kingdom Hearts (as a boss)
- Monster Strike
- Puzzle & Dragons
- Super Smash Bros Ultimate
- Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble
Although Sephiroth doesn’t appear in Final Fantasy Tactics, Cloud mentions him upon being transported to Ivalice. A black-capped swordsman is also mentioned during one of the errands. He is also mentioned in passing in Final Fantasy Dimensions.
Nael van Darnus, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy XIV 1.0, refers to Sephiroth during the quest United We Stand. After wounding the player character, Nael takes his leave in a similar fashion to Sephiroth during the Nibelheim Incident. Nael also sought to destroy Eorzea and purify it by summoning the moon Dalamud, similar to how Sephiroth summoned Meteor in his attempt to destroy Gaia.
Sephiroth’s costume was released for use in the PlayStation 3 game LittleBigPlanet 2 in 2011. His costume was also released for Gunslinger Stratos 2 and Mobius Final Fantasy.
Tetsuya Nomura was asked to design new armor types for player characters and their feline companions in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. This resulted in a Sephiroth-inspired collaboration set called the Wing of Judgement, with the character’s face appearing on the weapon’s shaft. The blade itself resembles a single bloody wing.
Sephiroth was announced as a DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros Ultimate during The Game Awards 2020. His reveal trailer marked the first CGI appearance of Cloud in the Super Smash Bros series.
Miscellaneous Trivia
- In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth are described as the manifestations of God that allow Him to manifest in both the physical and metaphysical realms. In Hebrew, the word also means “counting,” which could allude to the many Sephiroth clones.
- In Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth’s plan to hit the planet with a meteor and use the lifestream to become a God refers to a concept in Zohar regarding the Tree of Life. It’s claimed that if someone attempts to fit all of humanity into a vessel, the vessel will shatter alongside the universe, causing life to flow both erratically and in a familiar pattern.
- Although Sephiroth refers to Jenova as his mother, he also implies that he hopes to become one with her. This may be in reference to the Christian belief of Jesus Christ being the Son of God, yet also being one with God and the Holly Spirit as part of the holy trinity.
