Story - Mythology

Since Final Fantasy VII came out, many people wondered why Square decided to name " Sephiroth " the major evil character, completely ignoring its meaning. Well, according to Kabbalistic mythology, Sephiroth are the ten spheres which compose the Tree of Life, the basis of that philosophical conception. It must be noticed that having chosen such a name wasn' t a sudden choice, for in that mythology many elements can be found strictly bounded to the role Sephiroth plays in Final Fantasy VII: therefore, I'm going to explain shortly the scheme of the Tree and the links between it and Lucrecia' s son.

As you can see from the picture, the Tree is composed by ten cirlces, or spheres, the so-called " Sephiroth " plus 22 life paths that link the spheres themselves. There is also another sphere, not a Sephiroth properly, which represents the final " KNOWLEDGE " ( Daath ) as an ultimate target of living beings. But let' s examine the Sephiroth a little closer:

Sephiroth 1 - " Supreme Crown " ( Kether ): It represents human reason, or consciousness, our only part that has the power to understand and reach metaphysical and trascendental dimensions ( i.e. Plato' s Hyperuranus ) . It is also the closest element to " God " and the major difference between human and animal condition. In the Kabbal its element is the Root of Air and the corresponding part of the body is, of course, the cranium. - Sephiroth, in his desperate struggle in order to ascent to godhood, has turned his reason to the evil: but he was unaware that through a path of darkness is impossible the reaching of heaven, that instead needs a purifying journey allowing mortals to overtake material boundaries and rise towards unseen heights.

Sephiroth 2 - " Wisdom " ( Chokmah ): A human quality that can only be acquired during an existence turned to the improvement of experience, from the sensible to the metaphysical world. It allows the ones who possess it to teach the others, be masters for them and lead a happier life. Its element is the Root of Fire and the part of the body is the left face. In the world of Final Fantasy VII, the wisdom has always corresponded to the Ancients, the Cetra, as the original inhabitants of the Planet, superior beings whom Sephiroth has thought to belong to. So he became a traveller of the Lifestream and this way he gained Cetra' s wisdom, but he used it to fulfil a diabolical plan harming the very life of the Planet itself.

Sephiroth 3 - " Understanding " ( Binah ): The ability to comprehend all natural processes and appreciate life in all of its aspects. It' s not very common among humans, for only the most optimistic and open-minded men and women succeed in gaining this kind of feeling: nevertheless, it can give a better vision of life itself and of other living beings, but also the possibility to integrate ourselves with our similars and to be aware of our individual personality. Its element is the Root of Water and the part of the body is the right face. The Final Fantasy VII character that fully corresponds to this description is surely Aeris, while Sephiroth was at her complete opposite, hating his and others' life and daring to become " a new existence " .

Sephiroth 4 - " Mercy " ( Chesed ): The feeling of compassion for other beings, in general poorer or weaker than the one who declares his mercy. That' s one of the value admired and taught by the Christian religion but, unfortunately, even less accepted by the common people as landmarks for their lives, in a world that someway is getting crueler and crueler. The element of the " Mercy " is the Water and the corresponding part of the body is the left arm. Sephiroth totally refused this feeling, plunging into the darkness of a road where only " heartless angels " can walk by their feet. So, he considered all the other creatures occupying this Planet as annoying guests that must be annihilated with the same world that allows them to be.

Sephiroth 5 - " Strength " ( Geburah ): Physical or moral inner power of humans which confers the skill to oppose contrasting forces, making stronger the body and the spirit. Since the dawn of time this quality has been exalted by the ancient societies, that saw in mind and body strength a perfect specimen of virtue and merit. The element of the " Strength " is the Fire and the body part is the right arm. Quoting from Sephiroth Dixit, " Sephiroth' s strength is unreal " , and this expression perfectly symbolizes the nature of such a cold and strong man who dared become a god. He was supposed to be the greatest warrior, to have the most astonishing fighting and magic abilities, and the faith in his self guided him to his terrifying struggle against the Planet and the people living in it.

Sephiroth 6 - " Beauty " ( Tiphereth ): Eternally admired in man but especially in woman, it is one of the most subjective and ephemeral quality that we can find at the exterior side of a human being. However, the female beauty has always been an attractive factor for a male, who was often foolished by it making him weak towards vicious cheats. The element is the Air and the body part is the breast. About Sephiroth, we can be witnesses of a male and diabolical beauty, shown by his scaring icy glance spread from his cold, aquamarine eyes. Sephiroth is an angel for his beauty, but a devil for his actions and plans turned to the ill.

Sephiroth 7 - " Victory " ( Netzach ): A target in first line for all the humans, a goal that mortal pride and satisfation pull one man to achieve at any cost, trying every skills he has got and doing every sacrifices he needs. Commonly, victory must presuppose a sort of competition where the aim is taking over in some " arts " the opponents and becoming this way the winner. The Kabbal element associated is the Fire and the hips or legs are the corresponding body parts. Sephiroth won most of his battles and became victorious in his fighting matches, and longed for an ultimate victory over the souls populating the universe. Even so, he couldn' t win two great battles which marked his destiny, the two against Cloud at the reactor in Nibelheim and at the center of the Planet, defeats that led him to an unavoidable end.

Sephiroth 8 - " Glory " ( Hod ): The extreme longing of the great men throughout history, their hope to be remembered during the years and to gain an eternal glory that will never perish. For those kinds of men, glory was all, and still nowadays we' re able to find people with the same wishes of a fame continuing even after death. Its element is the Water and the body parts are the lons or legs. Being the most powerful in SOLDIER First Class, Sephiroth gained a glory that made him a landmark for those like Cloud who wanted to emulate his deeds and become as strong and famous as him. But Sephiroth' s glory turned to a mere hate and disdain, because the horrific actions he did changed him from a hero to a monster, despised by the humans, especially the ones, like Cloud and Tifa, who suffered the consequences of his foolishness.

Sephiroth 9 - " Foundation " ( Yesod ): The belief in natural life and in all the sensible things populating our world. Having Foundation means relying on the resources and the energies coming from nature and living beings, and being assured by own optimistic assertion about the planet and its creatures. The corresponding element is the Air and the body parts are the reproductive organs. Refusing Foundation, Sephiroth relied only on himself, pursuing his schemes of destruction against his similars and the natural elements. He wanted to injury the Planet in order to merge with all its spirit energy, not to enter in communion with it but just to morph into a new life-form that would have the power to rule the entire universe.

Sephiroth 10 - " Kingdom " ( Malkuth ): The realm, the territory as own homeland and place to live peacefully, that could be both material and trascendental. We will spend our existence in the earth kingdom and then we will lift on a cool wind which will guide us the realm of heaven. However, even if we can be king here, we shall submit to a supreme king there in order to rest quietly forever. Its element is the Earth and the body parts are the feet. In Final Fantasy VII, the kingdom was the Planet itself, scrambled by Sephiroth' s violence that wanted to take it to an end, opening the way to his rebirth as a divine being. So Sephiroth tried to destroy the material kingdom and to conquer the metaphysical one, the universe intended as the dimension of all existing souls.

The sword Sephiroth carries with him and uses throughout all the story is the legendary katana ( japanese sword ) called " Masamune " . Although somebody thinks about it as a mere legend that has no relation with reality, the chronicle of this katana could be really interesting if we can distinguish the mythical from the realistic elements. Here' s the most common story told about it, it' s up to you believe it or not.

Long time ago, in a Japan deranged by feudal wars among samurai and their lords, the job of a blacksmith, a swordmaker was really appreciated and rewarded, if he could create a weapon strong enough to compare with the enemies' and take them over. So, in that age, the swordmakers competed each other in order to hand their rich customers even finest weapons, working hard in producing them. It happened that one of those blacksmiths one day succeeded in creating an incredibly strong katana by using a revolutionary technique, which allowed the sword neither to break nor to be broken. In fact, it was composed by a blade made up of little scales of iron braided together: this way, even if some scales would have been broken, the others under them would have resisted, unlike a standard mono-block blade. Moreover, the hilt wasn' t applied like a normal katana, simply bounded to the blade: its hilt was created by covering with silk the inferior part of the edge and applying the characteristique iron oval to separate the " blade " properly called and the part that you could grab. The result was a full-bladed sword, with no big difference from edge and hilt ( except the exterior ) and with an uncomparable strength to substain hits and attacks. That katana was called " Masamune " , which in Japanese means about " The Essence of Justice ". Since its creation, all the warriors who wielded it never lost a battle or died while fighting, for the Masamune could cut into pieces the strongest armors and destroy the most powerful weapons. All the samurai who gained its possession, generation after generation, were considered " protected by the gods " , and therefore the Masamune was called " The Divine Katana " . When the wars ended and the social class which the samurai belonged to began to decline, the Masamune was held as a precious treasure by the descendants of the original creator. However, during the years later, the Masamune was claimed as lost and people never knew where they could find it. Nonetheless, nowadays rumors tell that somewhere, in Japan, the last members of the swordmaker' s family still possess the Masamune and hide that divine sword from the eyes of humanity, worthless to gain such a powerful weapon which has the strength to break even a wall made up of ferroconcrete.

For those of you who absolutely don' t know a thing about the Divine Comedy ( shame on you!!! ) , it can be perhaps considered the greatest masterpiece of Italian as well as international literature. Dante Alighieri, its well-known author, is also the main character of the Comedy, that is in fact a didactic-allegorical composition in which Dante imagines to engage a journey through the three after-life realms ( according to Christian religion ) , i. e. Inferno ( Hell ) , Purgatory and Paradise. Now I' m sure you could ask: What does that have to do with Final Fantasy VII? All right, I' ll focus to the point: Dante' s representation of Inferno and of Satan has many resemblances with the Shinra Mansion but, best of all, with the Northern Cave and Sephiroth himself. Moreover, the woman figure Dante describes as his only possible guide to the Divine Grace ( that' s to say Beatrix, Beatrice ) is some way similar to Aeris Gainsborough and to the role she plays throughout the adventure. So, let' s start examining a little closer the common elements between the literary ( the Comedy ) and the virtual ( FFVII ) masterpiece.

What you see above is the structure of the first part of Dante' s journey, starting from the sacred city of Jerusalem: from there, he descends into the depths of Hell which, according to his own conception influenced by Christian theology, is an inverted cone expanding beneath the boreal hemisphere of the world and reaching earth' s center. So, the poet crosses the first after-life realm by going through the nine " Cerchi " ( Circles - see the picture below ) which it is composed with, where the damned souls are punished for their sins. The deeper they are located, the worse is their blame and sin: every Circle corresponds to a particular one, from Luxury, Gluttony etc. to Fraud and Trecherous Fraud, this way 'till the center of the earth, where Lucifer lies chained to the eternal glaciers. In fact, the Hell itself was originated by the infamous fall of the angel ( Lucifer ) who had dared to stand against God, and because of that was banished from Paradise and fell down into the earth.

Parallelism N° 1: If you consider the Shinra Mansion along with the Northern Cave, you will surely notice that are very similar to Dante' s Inferno. Inside the Mansion, Cloud had to descend through a sort of a well ( an INVERTED CONE ) using some spiral stairs in order to reach the basement, where Satan ( Sephiroth ) was waiting for him. Same thing in the Northern Cave, another INVERTED CONE that you can access from a sacred place ( The Promised Land ) : and, just at the CENTER of the Planet, there is Sephiroth that, like Lucifer the fallen angel, is trapped in a Mako womb ( it could remind a glacier... ) and is, in the end, another evil angel, but with only a single wing. Another important characteristic, appearing in the Comedy and in the two place mentioned above, is the fact that both Dante and Cloud descend ANTICLOCKWISE: if you can call it a coincidence...

But, as I' ve early said, there is another interrelationship between the Divine Comedy and Final Fantasy VII, as we can see expressed by the figures of Beatrice and Aeris. When Dante reaches the Earthly Paradise, at the top of the Mount Purgatory, his guide that led him so far ( i. e. Vergilius - Virgil ) leaves him for he cannot go any further: the sublime guide destined to open towards Dante the gates of Paradise is Beatrice ( Dante' s angelic woman of Stil Novo ) . She summarizes the highest female and Christian virtues, and she represents the necessary " illumination " that man needs to be shown God and His Divine Grace. Her name itself has an important meaning in this optic: Beatrice means " The woman who confers beatitude " , and we know that the beatitude Dante is searching for is nothing but the Supreme Bliss to be purified and to be able to be with God, to be in His Grace. Therefore, Beatrice will be by Dante' s side during his last journey, that is obviously through Paradise.

Parallelism N° 2: Aeris Gainsborough, together with Beatrice, died ante diem ( i. e. too early ) : as Dante cried for the loss of the woman he adored most, so Cloud resented Sephiroth for having killed his loved one. And, after Beatrice' s death, the poet idealized her and made her one of the landmarks in his Comedy, the spirit who can save every man from soul' s death, the spirit who can grant him salvation. From this point of view, Aeris is no different from Dante' s angelic woman: Aeris is the one that, by sacrificing herself for the sake of the Planet, can spare every lifeform from the disaster ( Meteor, corresponding to damnation, is defeated by Holy, corresponding to salvation ) and guide Cloud and the others to the final showdown against Sephiroth, lighting their paths and resolutions.

So, the parallelisms I just spoke about can be summarized in the following table:

Divine Comedy

Dante

Beatrice

Lucifer

Hell

Jerusalem

Salvation

Damnation

Final Fantasy VII

Cloud

Aeris

Sephiroth

Northern Cave, Shinra Mansion

The Promised Land

Holy

Meteor

Does the name " Yggdrasil " remind you anything? Perhaps, and I say perhaps, those of you who haven' t studied at all any Northern mythology nevertheless have found this particular name somewhere else, for example in the videogame Xenogears made by Square ( Yggdrasil was the name of the vehicle piloted by Bart and his crew ) , or in the manga Ah! Megamisama ( Oh, my Goddess! ) as the central computer system that regolates the flow of time. However, here is a very brief presentation of the Mighty Tree and its roots that, as you' ll be able to realize soon, resemble some " names " appearing in Final Fantasy VII.

According to the Northern mythology I just spoke about, the Yggdrasil is in fact a divine tree which can be considered as the basis of the Known and Un-Known universe. The interesting part is the following: the Tree has three enormous roots that extend in three regions of the universe. These regions where the roots springing from the bottom of the Tree lie in are respectively called MidgardR ( the place where human beings - mortals - live ) , Jøtunheim ( the land of the giants ) and Niflheim ( the region of death and decay ) . Well, I think you have now realized the point that I wanted to reach: it can' t be called a coincidence that places like Midgar and Nibelheim possess such similar names. There' s obviously a reason for that, and if you try and think for a second you' ll find it immediately. Midgar is just the location of human beings, the humans that rely on the power of science, that suck the Planet' s energy and at last have to face the disaster brought by Meteor - they are " mortals " more than anyone else in the story. And Nibelheim is the place that more than any other location reminds death, sorrow and suffering, being the start-point of the story, " the beginning of your nightmare " as Vincent himself told Cloud about it. It is the saddest place with the worst, most melancholic and heaviest atmosphere in the world of Final Fantasy VII, and Nibelheim, considering the Yggdrasil mythology, is surely a proper name for such a desolated city.

Thanks to one of the visitors of this site whose nickname is Jakob, I' ve come to know where the names Tifa and Cait Sith could have come from: in fact, the Latin term " Typha " - which has the same spelling as Tifa - is the scientific name belonging to a certain plant ( as Jakob suggested me, it should be a " cat' s-tail " or a " reed mace " ) and Cait Sith is just the name of a giant, magical cat appearing in some sort of English mythology who - as Jakob stated - had metamorphic abilities. Moreover, Vera ( another visitor of this site ) suggested me what the origin of the name Rufus could be: it should derive from Latin too, for such a term means " blonde-haired " , just as Rufus is.

There is also another interesting thing, this time related to the Golden Saucer, that senpai Adry suggested me: the Chocobo Square' s entrance is very similar to that of Las Vegas City, and to both of them ( Las Vegas and the Golden Saucer ) can suit the adjective " Cathedral in the desert " , which is a way of saying that both of them are places built amidst the nothing. And such an adjective fits even better to the Gold Saucer and not only in a metaphorical sense, for it has been constructed in the desert for real.

Another, most important thing to know: Cloud and Aeris are names given surely not by randomness ( in fact, EVERY name in Final Fantasy is not given by randomness ) . The meaning of Cloud is obvious ( the english term for " cloud " - nuvola in Italian ) ; Aeris, moreover, comes from the Latin language and means " of the sky " or " celestial " . I have no doubt for such a choice: what' s the only place where a " cloud " could be? Of course in the sky! Being a cloud proper of the sky, it can be easily understood how the interrelationship between the ex-SOLDIER and the flower girl should inevitably be very tight, and IT IS for real during the entire adventure.