47 Fun Facts About Final Fantasy VII

On which console was Final Fantasy VII originally released?

PlayStation's CD-ROMs won out after Square found the game simply would not fit onto the cartridge-based Nintendo 64.

What is the name of Cloud's signature oversized blade in Final Fantasy VII?

Buster Sword had been Zack Fair's, and Zack passed it on to Cloud as he died.

Cloud claims to be a former 1st Class member of which elite Shinra fighting force?

SOLDIER never accepted Cloud: he was really an infantryman who had modelled himself on his friend Zack.

In Final Fantasy VII, which eco-terrorist group does Cloud work with at the start?

AVALANCHE opens the game by blowing up a Shinra Mako reactor in Midgar, hoping to stop the Planet being drained.

Which Final Fantasy VII settlement is home to Cid Highwind?

Rocket Town is where Shinra scrapped its space program after Cid's launch was aborted over his assistant Shera, whom he long blamed.

What is the name of the flow of spiritual energy that gives life to the Planet?

Sakaguchi chose life as a theme after his mother died during development of Final Fantasy III.

Which optional Final Fantasy VII party member is found beneath the Shinra Mansion?

Vincent Valentine became a test subject after a scientist shot him in an argument over experiments on the woman he loved.

Who leads Final Fantasy VII's eco-terrorist group, fighting Shinra to save the Planet?

Barret Wallace blames himself for his hometown, Corel, which Shinra razed after an accident at its Mako reactor.

In Final Fantasy VII, which martial artist is Cloud's childhood friend?

Tifa Lockhart was absent from early versions of the game, which planned only three playable characters, and joined when the cast grew.

Which Final Fantasy VII party member is a talking feline beast from Cosmo Canyon?

Red XIII long thought his father Seto was a coward, until he learned Seto had been turned to stone defending their home from invaders.

Which Shinra staff member secretly controls the robotic cat Cait Sith?

Reeve Tuesti first used Cait Sith to spy on the party for Shinra, then came to sympathise with their cause and joined them.

Which optional Final Fantasy VII party member is a skilled Materia thief?

Yuffie Kisaragi steals Materia hoping to restore her homeland, Wutai, to the glory it lost in a war with Shinra.

What is the name of the covert branch of Shinra's security forces?

The Turks do Shinra's covert work, from spying to kidnapping, and they are the ones who finally capture Aerith.

What is the name of the hostile alien life-form from which Sephiroth was created?

Jenova was falsely recorded as one of the ancient Cetra, which is why Sephiroth came to believe he was their heir.

What is the name of Shinra's giant Mako cannon in Final Fantasy VII?

Sister Ray's blast brought down a giant WEAPON and broke the barrier shielding Sephiroth's base.

Which spell does Sephiroth intend to cast with the Black Materia?

Meteor would wound the Planet so gravely that Sephiroth could absorb the energy rushing to heal it and become a god.

Which mad Shinra scientist is revealed to be Sephiroth's biological father?

Hojo infused his own son with an alien life-form's cells, creating the superhuman Sephiroth.

In which town did Sephiroth learn of his origins and go insane five years before Final Fantasy VII?

Nibelheim was burned to the ground by Sephiroth after he spent days locked in the Shinra Mansion basement reading about his origins.

After Sephiroth kills President Shinra, who takes over the megacorporation?

Rufus, the president's son, took charge of the company until a blast from Diamond WEAPON hit his office dead-on.

In Final Fantasy VII, what are the special attacks each character charges by taking damage called?

Limit Breaks replaced Final Fantasy VI's underused Desperation Attacks, turning a last-gasp move into part of everyday battle strategy.

Final Fantasy VII's epilogue shows the ruins of Midgar covered in what?

Plant life covers Midgar 500 years on, showing the Planet has healed.

For which console was Final Fantasy VII first planned as a 2D game?

Super Nintendo development began in 1994, before the move to 3D pushed the project onto more powerful hardware.

What giant creature does Cait Sith ride in Final Fantasy VII?

A moogle carries Cait Sith, which is really a mechanical puppet worked remotely by a Shinra employee.

What is the name of the Midgar slum bar where Cloud's rebel allies meet?

7th Heaven was destroyed when Shinra dropped the city plate above onto the slums to wipe out the rebels hiding there.

Final Fantasy VII's team paused development to help finish which 1995 Square game?

Chrono Trigger's writer, Masato Kato, was later called in to write several of Final Fantasy VII's late-game scenes.

Who produced Final Fantasy VII and created the Final Fantasy series?

Hironobu Sakaguchi wrote the first draft, in which the heroes were chased by a hot-blooded detective named Joe.

Who directed Final Fantasy VII?

Yoshinori Kitase reworked the early plot when he took charge, dropping its mystery angle and sharpening the Cloud and Sephiroth rivalry.

Who composed the score for Final Fantasy VII?

Nobuo Uematsu wrote the score like a film soundtrack, with music meant to match the mood of each scene.

Who was Final Fantasy VII's main character designer?

Tetsuya Nomura, until then a minor monster designer, got his first lead role and first drew Cloud with slick black hair.

Which artist drew Final Fantasy VII's logo artwork?

Yoshitaka Amano took only a small role on Final Fantasy VII because he was busy with exhibitions overseas.

Which writer shaped Final Fantasy VII's scenario, including Cloud's hidden past?

Kazushige Nojima created Zack late in development to add mystery to Cloud's background.

Which 2005 anime short, released with a special edition of Advent Children, retells events from five years before Final Fantasy VII?

Last Order retells those events, but its version contradicts how the original game had shown them.

Cloud and Sephiroth's rivalry was modelled on which two legendary Japanese swordsmen?

Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō shaped the designs of both characters, right down to their swords.

Which Final Fantasy VII final-battle track was the series' first with high-quality digitised vocals?

One-Winged Angel grew from random phrases its composer recorded over two weeks and then pieced together, a method he never used again.

Where does Sephiroth kill Aerith in Final Fantasy VII?

The Forgotten City is where Aerith went alone to pray to the Planet for help, and her prayer succeeded despite her death.

Which soft drink brand teamed up with Final Fantasy VII in its launch marketing?

Pepsi's tie-in was part of a North American campaign that also ran prime-time TV commercials alongside shows such as Saturday Night Live.

Which Square subsidiary produced Final Fantasy VII's CG cutscenes?

Visual Works later began Advent Children as a short presentation, which grew into a feature-length film.

At which 1996 event were visitors handed a playable Final Fantasy VII demo disc?

Tokyo Game Show visitors could play an early Midgar mission with Aerith in the party, which the finished game doesn't allow at that point.

What name was Aerith mistakenly given in the original English release?

The slip came from poor communication between the localisation staff and the QA team.

Which Final Fantasy VII scene did Sony publicly consider cutting before its North American release?

The Honey Bee Inn scene drew fan letters and online petitions once Sony said it might cut it, and Square answered that Sony would never localize the game.

In which 1997 Square game does Aerith make a cameo as a flower girl?

Final Fantasy Tactics also brings Cloud himself into its world through an ancient machine, and he can be recruited.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, set two years after the game, centres on which mysterious plague?

Geostigma afflicts even Cloud, who has pulled away from his friends since Sephiroth's defeat.

Which 2007 Compilation action RPG centres on Zack's past?

Crisis Core ends with Zack's death defending Cloud from Shinra's army, just before Final Fantasy VII begins.

What is the title of the third part of the remake trilogy, following Remake and Rebirth?

Final Fantasy VII Revelation, announced in June 2026, is set to launch on every major platform at once, unlike Remake, which began as a one-console exclusive.

Cloud arrived as downloadable content in which Nintendo game in December 2015?

Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai added Cloud because he was the Final Fantasy character fans requested most.

A company in China made an unofficial 2D version of Final Fantasy VII for which console?

NES bootleg makers Shenzhen Nanjing Technology squeezed the story onto a cartridge, dropping only a few optional side stories.

In Advent Children, which trio embodies Sephiroth's surviving spirit?

Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are the Remnants of Sephiroth, and they set out to bring him back to life.