Barret Wallace:
Barret is the 35-year old leader of the rebel team known as AVALANCHE. He leads the team in the quest to stop Shinra's Mako Reactors and save the life of the planet. Altough he is truly devoted to the team, Barret often regrets having to leave his daughter, Marlene, alone or in the care of others. Barrets movtives are unclear, but most belive that Shinra was somehow responsible for the death os his wife
Although he may not look it, Barret is one of the most versatile characters in the game. Unlike most, he has weapons for close and long range combat, wicth enables him to perfrom well in either rank, You'll want to keep Barret in the back rank most the time. This enables him to cause heavy damage without taking an equal amount in return. Aviod loading Barret up with lots of materia so it doesnt take up his Strength and hit points

Tifa Lockheart:
Tifa & Cloud were childhood friends, but parted ways when Cloud left his hometown of Nibelheim to join SOLDIER. When her parents died, Tifa also left Nibelheim and headed for Midgar. Soon after opening her bar. 'Tifa's Seventh Heaven', she met Barret and joined his ragtag group AVALANCHE. Its her goal to make sure Cloud remains with AVALANCHE after his first mission witht he team
When fighting, Tifa lets her fists do the talking. Her attacks are generally weaker than Cloud's & Barret's, but from early on her chain of Limit Breaks is by far the best thing going. Insted of slecting a single Limit Break, each new attack adds to the chain for a total of seven devastating hits. If she can score a "yeah" on the chain, She causes more damage, but if she gets a "miss" it misses-skips that hit.

Aeris Gainsborough:
The 22-year old Aeris is a bright spot in the middle od the dark and deary town. While selling flowers near AVALANCHE's first target, Aeris's life was forever altered after a chance meeting with Cloud. Because her mysterious background, Shinra has pursued her for most of her life. Now she must fight against those who enslave her and destroy what she holds most dear
Aeris is the closest character in Final Fantasy VII has to dedicared to magic user. Her physical attacks are fairly weak, But she possess great skill with materia and its various forms. Use her to carry all the healing materia and use her Limit Breaks to heal your party.

Red XIII:
Although his fiery red fur may make him look like a wild animal, Red XIII's intellect is well above that most of humans. Not much is known about Red XIII's origin. He's currently being held captive in Shinra;s headquaters where he's forced to participate in their twisted experiments
Red XIII is strong both physical and magical combat. His sharp teeth and claws work well with close-range fighting style, however, this limits combat options and forces him to take a spot in the front line. There is a long range weapon for him, but it lacks materia slots and forces him to act like a fighter

Yuffie Kisaragi:
This 16-year old ninja spent most her time preying on helpess travelers until she met up with Cloud's party. Although she is reluctant to join AVALANCHE, her ulterior movtives give her reason to tag along, if only temporarily. Her celver wit and ninja skills coupled with her selfish ways will either make her a powerful ally or a seroius pain in the ass.
Yuffie isn't one of the strongest members, but her limit breaks are strong. her weapons enable her to attack from a distance without plenty. keep her in the back rank and pack her with planty of materia.

Cait Sith:
Although Cait Sith's fortune telling ability may not impress you, his fighting skills are a sight to be witnessed. The party firsts bumps into this joker while wondering around the "Gold Saucer". Cait Sith eagerly joins the group to see id his predictions prove to be true.
Cait Sith isn't much a fighter, but his mog relies on close-range physical attacks. His true strength lies in his various Limit Breaks. You'll notice he only has two: Dice & Slots. Dice grows with power over time and can even prove useful late in the game. Slots is actually seen seperate Limit Breaks. The outcome depends on the combination created when all three slots are stoped. Although these limits may seem unpredictable, they can cause serous damage even at the lowest levels.

Vincent Valentine:
Talk about a dark prensence, Vincent sends chills down the toughest persons spine, Although he may look evil at first, theres a good soul trapped beneath his dark exterior. Vincents plight is yet another example of Shinra's warped experimentation; theres more to this story than just bungled scientific research
Vincent is a strong fighter, much like Barret. He's also quite competent with materia and makes good use of it in the back row. His limit attacks are poweful, but sometimes unpredictable. Once he transforms he, you'll no longer controll him. Make sure he has a ribion so he can get confused and hit your own party. Vincent will not join you part on his own. He is a hidden character, same as Yuffie

Cid Highwind:
Cid is an expert pilot & mechanic who dreams of someday becoming the first man in space. his dream would have been fulfilled, but he aborted a launch in order to save his wife that was on the ship in the engine room at lift off. Now he spends his time repairing the broken Shinra no.26 Rocket Ship and hopes one day that Shinra may reinstate its space program, giving him another chance to fulfill his dream.
With his lance in hand, Cid is always prepared for battle. His fighting Skills are top nocth and come in handy throughout most the game. His limit breaks are very helpful when fighting the evil hordes that threaten to consume the land. Cid's statistics are pretty average all around, wicth can help or hinder his performance depending on how he is equiped.

Sephiroth:
Standing strong, cool, and resolute, Sephiroth was the epitome of SOLDIER. Possessing exceptional skills of swordsman ship with his deadly Musamune companion blade, Sephiroth walked the world on behalf of Shinra Inc. But his unnatural prowess turned out to be just that, "unnatural" as he found out 5 years ago in an expedition to investigate a malfunctioning Mako reactor in the mountains of Nibelheim.
Along with Zack, a promising member of SOLDIER, and Cloud, a bright Shinra escort guard, Sephiroth enters the Mako reactor containing a large number of pods occupied by living organisms being subjected to an entity known as Jenova. Dumbstruck by the realization that the name coincided with his mother's, Sephiroth for the first time begins to wonder who he really is. Driven by this troubling revelation, he decides to make an investigation of his own into his past history by entering Shinra Mansion and pouring over the volumes of notes and diaries left behind by Professor Gast in the genius scientist's secret library and laboratory down in the basement depths.
From Gast's notes, a project was set up to research the powers of a legendary race known as the Cetra, or Ancients. This superior race was known to be associated with the Promised Land, a place where one can find supreme happiness and where it is believed that it is brimming with raw Mako energy that can be tapped for immediate use. Shinra, the maker of infamous Mako reactors, was frothing at the mouth to get its hands on this pure source of energy. 2000 years ago, a life form was found that was believed to be of Cetra descent and was named Jenova, and thus Shinra's Jones Project took life. Professor Gas was appointed chief scientist to head the project.
Shiner, seeking to replicate the powers of the Cert., commissioned Gas to produce an elite fighting crop exhibiting powers of the Cert.. Thus specimens were placed in the pods and infused and subjected to intense levels of Mao radiation energy provided by Jones's biological cells. These specimens, once matured would later become the basic units of Shiner's much revered SOLDIER regime. Sephiroth was Gas's prize creation and ultimate success story from the Jones Project. Sickened by the discovery that he himself was an artificial production resulting from a demented scientific project, Sephiroth went into isolation within Gas's library and would later become insane and engulf Nibelheim in flames. Entering the Mao reactor, he would confront his mother, Jenova, that was placed inside the reactor to provide sustenance to her incubating children in the pods. Zack, trying to halt Sephiroth's path of destruction, was injured during combat against his former leader. But it was Cloud who struck the fatal blow and fell the mighty Sephiroth. Shinra, flexing its political prowess, managed to underscore the Nibelheim incident and initiated a cover up, dismissing the possibility that anything untoward occurred. Seeking to improve on security measures, Jenova was shipped back to Shinra headquarters where Hojo, Gast's protégé continued monitoring the Cetra's status.
While his physical body was damaged, Sephiroth's being was not to be so easily destroyed. Armed with the power of Jenova, he would bide his time and later manifest himself. Reclaiming his mother's body, Sephiroth would thus begin his rage against the world. Standing in his way was Aeris Gainsborough, the daughter of Professor Gast and Ifalna, a true descendent of the Cetra. Aeris, able to communicate with the Planet, discovered a way to thwart Sephiroth's true plans. Entering the Ancient City, Aeris would meet her death at the hands of Sephiroth, but in her death was a way to save the world, for Sephiroth's motive had nothing to do with the Promised Land, but rather to obtain the Black Materia and summon Meteor to destory the land. If Meteor struck, Planet would gather all its Lifestream energy to heal the wound that would have been caused by the collision. Sephiroth would draw on the entire Planet's energy by appearing at the source of impact, where a vortex of intense Lifestream energy would gather.
Cloud and company, after retrieving the Black materia back for the second time, approach the Mako crater located in the northern hemisphere, where Sephiroth's physical body is stationed. Cloud, unbeknownst to himself, was himself a creation of Hojo's, injected with Jenvoa cells. His inner being was wrought with turmoil between his true self and the incessant urge to obey Jenova's calling. Cloud loses the mental battle and thus hands the Black materia over to Sephiroth, who then summons Meteor. But in the end, it was Cloud who would vanquish Sephiroth once and for all after discovering his own true identity with the help of Tifa Lockheart.
Although Sephiroth's actions and manipulations were vile acts, he himself was propelled by a devastating truth. He was living an ultimate lie and never did discover his true past. Even when he discovered Gast's notes, Sephiroth was living a falsified truth. Jenova was not a Cetra, but an alien being that the Cetra referred to as the original "crisis from the sky". It was Jenova who infected the Cetra race with a deadly virus which virtually wiped out the entire race, but not before the Cetra were able to band together and confine Jenova in the stratum. But Jenova was later found trapped within the ground, excavated, and mistakenly identified as a Cetra. Jenova was not Sephiroth's mother, nor did Gast "produce" him. Rather, Sephiroth was the bloodchild of Hojo and Lucrecia, Vincent's secret love. Hojo, in his demented quest to find scientific proof to his Reunion Theory, gave up his own son while he was still in his mother's womb to Gast's Jenova project.
One could say that both Cloud and Sephiroth were, in a sense, children of Jenova, brothers bound by a common thread to serve their parent's bidding. While Cloud managed to find himself, Sephiroth lost his way and sought vengeance upon the world. To a certain degree, one can't help but feel sorrow for this character. Sephiroth was a normal child, but was forced to live another man's dream. Living a life not of his own choosing and given the powers of an unnatural evil that would later drive him insane, Sephiroth or either Aeris is the ultimate tragic character.