Story of Sephiroth

Sephiroth was a top notch General in Shinra's elite force, SOLDIER. He rose to fame after the Wutai War, and was the idol of many young aspiring boys. This war hero was known to possess superhuman strength, and wielding the deadly sword Masamune, his combat skills were far unsurpassed by anyone. Just take a look at the picture below...

That trip to Nibelheim

The picture on the left was taken in the game when Sephiroth was dispatched to Nibelheim, on a mission to investigate a malfunctioning Mako reactor. On the way they met a giant dragon, and Sephiroth killed it with just 2 slashes, each about 3000 damage! Sephiroth did not suffer any damage at all when the monster spat huge flames at him. Companion escort guard Cloud had only 140 HP and 10 AP at level 1, while Sephiroth had 3264 HP and 529 AP at level 50! Look at a more detailed statistics of his skills here.

5 years ago Sephiroth went on a mission to Nibelheim. With him was another member of SOLDIER, Zack, and two Shinra officers, one of whom was Cloud Strife, who grew up in Nibelheim. With the help of a girl named Tifa, they made their way through Mt. Nibel to the Mako reactor. Upon arriving at the Mako reactor, Sephiroth noticed a chamber with the name 'Jenova' printed above the door. Surprised that the name coincided with his mother, he looked through the glass panel only to be more dumbstruck. Inside the reactor contained living monsters. The reactor was used to condense Mako energy, and inside were monsters created due to the infusing of Mako energy into humans. After Cloud innocently asked "So you mean you're different..?", Sephiroth suddenly realised something and went into a fiery rage, and he began to question his own humanity. 'Am I made in the same way as ....them?!', he roared as he  hacked his sword violently at the reactor.

After they got back to the inn, Sephiroth kept to himself and refused to talk to anyone. He then disappeared for a few days, down at the basement of the abandoned Shinra mansion. He stuck himself in the library, and began digging out stacks of notes and articles left behind by professor Gast, the genius scientist. He read for several days and went totally without food and drink.

Then one day Cloud went down to the basement and Sephiroth called him a traitor. Here's what he said:

"This Planet originally belong to the Cetra. Cetra was the itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on...
At the end of their harsh, hard, journey they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness."
But, those that disliked the journey appeared. Those who stopped the migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life.
They took that which the Cetra and the Planet had made without giving one in return. Those are your ancestors (human beings). Long ago, disaster struck this planet. Your ancestors escaped and survived because they hid.
The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase.
The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with powers of the Ancients...no the Cetra...I am the one that was produced. Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me."

Knowledge was from Gast's notes (Important: It's what Sephiroth thought!)
Shinra, seeking to replicate the powers of the Cetra, commissioned Gast to produce an elite fighting corp exhibiting powers of the Cetra. Thus specimens were placed in the pods and infused and subjected to intense levels of Mako radiation energy provided by Jenova's biological cells. These specimens, once matured would later become the basic units of Shinra's much revered SOLDIER regime. Sephiroth was Gast's prize creation and ultimate success story from the Jenova Project. Sephiroth was devastated that he was in a way, articially produced.

"Out of my way, I'm going to see my mother."

Sephiroth engulfed Nibelheim in fames and went on a killing massacre. He then went up to the Nibel reactor and Tifa's father was stabbed trying to stop him. Tifa then showed up and tried to avenge her father. She picked up the Masamune blade and tried to killed Sephiroth. Would she stand a chance against him? Nope. Sephiroth snatched the sword from her and deep slashed her, severely wounding her. Zack who witnessed everything behind Tifa tried to kill Sephiroth but was easily handled and greatly wounded by the legendary warrior. Cloud then came along, picked up the sword, and went into the chamber, trying too to avenge family and friends...can he succeed where all the others who challenged Sephiroth had failed?

Another conversation went on in the chamber:

Sephiroth
"With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of the Planet."
"I have orders to take this planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?"

Cloud
"Sephiroth...I trusted you..."
" No, you're not the Sephiroth I used to know!"

When Sephiroth's back was turned, Cloud sneaked up on him and stabbed him through his stomach, injuring him severely. Sephiroth was not too wounded to snatch the sword from Cloud and returned a stab through his chest. Sephiroth lifted Cloud off the ground with his sword and smirked menacingly "...Don't push it..." Cloud summoned all the strengh he could use and hurled Sephiroth and his sword into the lifestream below. Sephiroth was severely injured that it was believed that the human part of him died, but the Jenova part of him did not belong to the Planet and thus couldn't return to it. Sephiroth's body was thus preserved by the planet in the Northern Crater, where Sephiroth would sleep and bide his time...

After this Nibelheim incident, Shinra sent troops to capture all those alive for another biological experiment and Cloud and Zack was captured. Nibelheim was also rebuild to cover up for this incident who was a huge impact on Shinra's reputation. Hojo, the obssessed scientist who seems only interested in his REUNION theory, tried to inject Zack and Cloud and other potential candidates  with Jenova cells in an attempt to clone Sephiroth. This is crucial as later in the story Sephiroth is going to manipulate these clones to do his bidding. 

Sephiroth's vengeance

5 years later, Sephiroth learns about the existence of the Ultimate Destruction Magic, whereby using the Black Materia a huge rock known as METEOR will ram itself onto the planet and kill all life. Thus he planned to summon METEOR, according to him METEOR would cause a huge tear in the planet and all of its Lifestream energy would rush out to repair planet. He would then appear at the source of impact and absorb all the energy to become a god. With that he would rule the planet under his tremendous powers. He thought that being a Cetra and a descendant of the planet he should rule the planet together with Jenova.

Sephiroth obtained the Black Materia at the Temple of the Ancients through Cloud as he manipulated him under his mind control prowess. Just like what Jenova did to the Cetra 2000 years ago, Sephiroth demonstrates he could do the same. This was a crucial turning point in the story as Aeris realised the critical situation the planet was facing and only she was able to do something given her Cetra origins and abilities.

At the Forgotten city, Aeris was killed by Sephiroth after she prayed to the planet and for Holy. Sephiroth used his mind control to manipulate Cloud shrewdly to lead him to the Northern Crater, when eventually he forced Cloud to give him the Black Materia and he summoned Meteor. Throughout the story, Sephiroth used his mind control ability to lead Cloud to fulfilling his commands.

A BIG MISTAKE

HOWEVER, little that he realise that he had got his facts wrong, from Gast's notes. In truth, he was not a Cetra, rather he was the flesh and blood child of Lucrecia and Hojo. To prove his Reunion Theory, Hojo injected himself, Lucrecia, and their unborn child Sephiroth with Jenova cells. Thus Sephiroth was NOT created by Gast, and Jenova was NOT his mother. Sephiroth never did discover this true past, though he thought he did. Lucrecia very much wanted to be a caring mother to Sephiroth, but she was denied the chance by Hojo, who insisted using his own baby as part of the Jenova Project. Lucrecia died soon after she gave birth.

Why did he summon Meteor?

I would say that Sephiroth was evil, no doubt, but he deserved some sympathy from us. He did not had the warmth and love of a family, which was lonely and cold enough, but the terrible thing that upset him most was his identity. He could be said to be just an experimental piece, one that lived his life for 30 years without knowing his true parentage. Even after Final Fantasy VII ends, with Sephiroth dead, he did not know that his parents are Lucrecia and Hojo. How could he live a life like that? His action of summoning Meteor to be a god was perhaps a way of concealing his identity with a new one, one that could hide his past of being an artificial being. Or for pure revenge, to destroy this world and Shinra who have destroyed his life even before he was born.

Sephiroth | Cloud | Aeris | Tifa | Barret | Red XIII | Cid | Vincent| Yuffie | Cait Sith

(now playing Sephiroth's theme: Those Chosen by the Planet)