Why is Sephiroth praised as one of the best villians?

[sef24]

I love FFVII.... It is what brought me into the FF games. I have beaten it multiple times over the past 8-10 years. On many top villian polls/rankings, I find Sephiroth very often. But I do not get why....

HUGE Spoilers!
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You first see Sephiroth very early in the game, but in the past. He is looked to be a "good guy" but as the story continues he learns what his true origins were. He becomes mad and filled with rage, killing innocents and burning a town to the ground, only to have the truth of what happened to be hidden by Shinra.
Yea, that is pretty big, and a great part in the game, but look at present time..... You see what looks to be Sephiroth multiple times in the game, but you later find out that it really isnt him, but Jenova disguised as Sephiroth. You really don't see the real Sephiroth till your very deep in the game. He doesnt move, he doesnt say anything during the present time at all if I remember right.

Even when you fight him at the end of the game, he doesnt say 1 word. The only time a "Sephiroth" talks, is when it is really Jenova!

So shouldn't Jenova take Sephiroths place as one of the best villians on gaming history?

[Arrashi]

He had cool hair. Yes, good look > anything else.

[Deleted]

I guess I'm the only person who had to google who the hell was e talking about :S.

[ShayDay]

Kafka > Sephiroth..

People can say what they want but Kafka changed and ruined an entire world, Sephiroth did not

[Caiada]

It's about Sephiroth as an image and a character. Him and Jenova in the story are basically interchangeable. Final Fantasy villains in general never really go anywhere interesting (with maybe 10 as an exception). Sephiroth at least had a unique premise and some genuine fear about him.

In comparison with 1, 2, 3, and 5's villains, which were all carbon copies of each other. 4 didn't really have a villain aside from Golbez who is not the final boss. The real final boss is basically another carbon copy of 'evil force'. 6 had a diabolical clown who, even though he did actually succeed, and the story surrounding him was interesting, and his design was phenomenal, wasn't that interesting of a character. 'Sociopath clown' is pretty one-dimensional.

8 had political intrigue, at least, and so did 12, but neither of their villains were particularly notable. 10 had the most interesting. 10-2 had a villain as an excuse for the rest of the story to happen.

Really, if there's any part of the Final Fantasy series' stories that is consistently the worst part, it's the villain. Half the time they're an excuse to go adventuring, and the other half their the same character copied and pasted between games. 10's the only exception.

[Pud'n]

I guess I'm the only person who had to google who the hell was e talking about :S.

You're not the only one. I started out with FFX instead FF7. So for me, FFX > FF7, and thus Seymour > Sephiroth.

[Wargon]

Sephiroth ain't shit compared to Kefka.

[Pancho]

is the way the story is built and the character is depicted, that's also why the scene when he kills Aerith/Aeris is considered one of the most emotional cinematic moments in the history of video games.

and that's also FFVII is one of the best games ever :P

[gogito]

He killed Aeris.

thread

He did? Nope. If you paid attention, that was just another part of JENOVA, the TRUE Vilain of FFVII. Seph didn't do shit but be the final boss. To even put him in the same level as say, Kefka or Kuja, even Vayne which I am not a big fan off, is just mindboggling.

[Vladinator]

Tbh I find many others to be fitting the title "best villain" than Sephiroth. Maybe it's more fanboism than character, I didn't find him to be so evil and all.

[Deleted]

He killed Aerith, and half the gaming population spent the next 3 years playing the game with every conceivable choice factor on the off chance the rumor she could be saved was true.

that and cool hair + massive sword.

[Lysah]

Sephiroth is a bad guy?! omg way to ruin it for me1!

It's about Sephiroth as an image and a character. Him and Jenova in the story are basically interchangeable. Final Fantasy villains in general never really go anywhere interesting (with maybe 10 as an exception). Sephiroth at least had a unique premise and some genuine fear about him.

I thought Kuja from IX was pretty good, he was the bad guy throughout 90% of the game. You spend three discs of content chasing him around two different worlds only to find out that he's just a loser in the end like everybody else. My second favorite story to tactics, although tactics changed bad guys like 68 times.

Kuja also destroyed all of existence, Sephiroth can't even come close to claiming that.

[barnaby]

Sephiroth ain't shit compared to Kefka.

truth

#10charmanders

[Deleted]

It came at a time when for me and many others in my age range and peer group were getting into gaming properly. And Final fantasy 7 was literally like nothing else i had ever played in my life.

Everything about that game left a huge impression on me including its arch villain. And i remember shitting myself when he would appear incase i had to fight him and might not be good enough to kill him!!

His anime staple look ie : long white hair massive katana thingy, silent menacing demeanour. Things like that are common as muck now but for me at least it was all new and impressive.

And asking my buddies. they say similar things. It was our first really huge japanese RPG, and likewise other games we were getting into at that time left huge imprints on our gaming lives. Baldurs gate, System shock, etc

[Klutzhoof]

Honestly, because Cloud fixated on him as a Nemesis. Peoples' infatuation with Cloud Strife is just as legendary, even to the point where many wanted to BE him. And since their hero was so emotionally invested, they decided they should be too.

Square did just a liiiittle bit too good of a job selling us on these guys. I truly wish they could replicate this success so they could finally bury this game. 10+ FF games later people are STILL fondling themselves over this game, and Sephiroth the Not-Character is a big reason why. He's been elevated to such a high level in so many peoples' eyes though, I think we'll all have to be old, dead, and gone before Sephiroth is forgotten. >.<

[Deleted]

Jenova is dead, Sephiroth is controlling Jenova, not the other way round.

readuponyourff7lorekthx.

He did? Nope. If you paid attention, that was just another part of JENOVA, the TRUE Vilain of FFVII. Seph didn't do shit but be the final boss. To even put him in the same level as say, Kefka or Kuja, even Vayne which I am not a big fan off, is just mindboggling.

lol /sigh Jenova was dead when she was found, she had only been preserved. Sephiroth was controlling Jenova. Please, go pay attention now. Thank you.

Jenova was awesome in her own right, with what she was able to do even when dead. Jenova had no part in what Sephiroth did, only the fact of what he had spent months reading and stories he had made him do all this crazy shit. In truth, everything was Sephiroth trying to please Jenova.

Who was manipulating cloud? Sephiroth. How? Because of being able to manipulate Jenova cells.

Who was manipulating the 3 brothers in Advent children? Jenova? Nope, it was Sephiroth wanting to be reborn.

Btw the person who said Seymour (the FF10 Villain)was an exception didn't realise he was a Sephiroth clone (or Kefka clone, depending on your views), so unless your talking about Sin who was just another cloud of darkness, I don't really see your point ^_^;

Unless you mean Yu Yevon, then yeah..I still dont really see your point.

[Anjerith]

If you take a RPG series that had good PR and then make it a flagship title for a system that ISN'T a Nintendo system back when your options were Nintendo or pretty much nothing, you have a recipe for exaggerated longevity.

In other words, nothing about Final Fantasy 7 is amazing, it simply came out at the right time to achieve something it wouldn't have been able to, had it arrived a few years later or even a few years earlier.

[Jaojin]

"I found out my real mom was some kind of failed experiment and she told me to destroy the world. So I am." -Sephiroth
Only reason anyone liked Sephiroth was cause he had stark white hair, a black trenchcoat, a nice soundtrack, and (most importantly) a No-Dachi taller than he was (and he stood pretty tall.)

Kefka was a clown, which physically detracted from his appeal, but his mind was much more diabolical.

So: People who like Sephiroth want a sharp looking villain, where people who like Kefka prefer an intellectual villain.

[Deleted]

If you take a RPG series that had good PR and then make it a flagship title for a system that ISN'T a Nintendo system back when your options were Nintendo or pretty much nothing, you have a recipe for exaggerated longevity.

In other words, nothing about Final Fantasy 7 is amazing, it simply came out at the right time to achieve something it wouldn't have been able to, had it arrived a few years later or even a few years earlier.

Or maybe other people have different opinions, I know, shocking.

[-Zait-]

His 100000 mile long sword.