There are two scenes in Final Fantasy 7 that are truly iconic. The first, Aeris' death, was already discussed on this countdown. The second scene is the one we'll be discussing today. This is a scene that has been redone and retold no less than three times; once on an OVA, once on a PSP game, and of course, once in the upcoming remake. The fifth best moment in Final Fantasy 7 is "Sephiroth destroys Nibelheim."
To start, some back story. Ignoring anything revealed by TheComplication Compilation, these are the absolute basics: Sephiroth is in charge of a routine mission to a Mako reactor, which Cloud participates in. While there, Sephiroth finds out the truth about his parentage; that he is an experiment, and that he's born from an evil alien that arrived on the Planet thousands of years ago. After going mad from the revelation, Sephiroth torches the town of Nibelheim, formally beginning Cloud's grudge against the man, and arguably helping to set up the game.
TV Tropes calls this trope the "Doomed Hometown", where the villain torches the hero's home, starting their Hero's Journey, where the hero grows up and becomes a legend in his own right. The hometown typically represents safety. comfort. familiarity to the hero; thus, when the villain destroys it, the hero no longer has anywhere he can call "safe." This trope is fairly common in RPG's, and usually kicks off the plot. Examples are Breath of Fire 1, Legend of Dragoon, among many others.
In Final Fantasy 7, this trope is played straight. Before Nibelheim's destruction, Cloud was typically much more hyperactive, friendlier, more outgoing, and happy-go-lucky. After Nibelheim was destroyed, Cloud became more morose, quieter. It was the first in a long line of traumas that would screw him up, causing him to mix his identity with Zack's.
But just what makes the destruction of Nibelheim so outstanding? As I've said before, the Doomed Hometown is a well used, familiar trope that gets played out quite often in gaming. In fact, while Final Fantasy plays with tropes (a Corrupt Corporate Executive who acts like The Emperor, for example) or subverts them (Aerith is designed like the typical Shounen love interest and Tifa is designed as the typical seductress, but Tifa is the more feminine of the two AND the main love interest), THIS is the one trope that is played perfectly straight. No subversions, no aversion, nothing. Sephiroth destroys Cloud's hometown, and this starts their enmity.
Well, actually, there IS a bit of a subversion. First off, Cloud doesn't immediately go off on a world hopping quest where he'll meet new friends, gain a love interest, and save the world. Instead, he heads off after Sephiroth directly, stabs him in the back with his sword, and tries to help Tifa, who was bleeding and dying. As if that were not enough, Cloud and Zack are soon captured by Shinra, who experiment on them for years until they manage to escape, just a bit before the game begins proper. Afterwards, Cloud adopts an arrogant persona, based on a mix of his friend Zack's personality, as well as how he thinks an elite warrior SHOULD behave like.
Cloud's journey wouldn't become a Hero's Journey until half way through Disc 2, when he drops this persona and accepts himself for who he is. Before then, I could make the argument that he was motivated more by revenge than anything. Cloud never really explains why Sephiroth is a danger to the Planet, only that he is. The player never really finds out what Sephiroth intends to do exactly until after the visit to the Temple of the Ancients. But, the player is fully aware that Sephiroth must be stopped. Why?
Because the player saw Sephiroth destroy Nibelheim with their very own eyes. They saw the destruction, the death that Sephiroth brought to a town that had never done anyone any wrong. And they saw Sephiroth himself walk among the flames, like the Devil himself, smiling. It's one of the most powerful images in video game history, redone so many times in fan art, fan fics, fan animations, and even in official works. It's an iconic moment in gaming, both from a cinematic, as well as from a narrative point of view.
And therein lays the subversive nature of Final Fantasy 7, peeking its head again. The Destruction of Nibelheim isn't the start of Cloud's heroic journey, it's the start of Sephiroth's descent into villainy. This villain, one of the most famous in all gaming, started off as a cold, but otherwise OK guy. He was friendly, he was civil to his co workers, and he was willing to indulge a local photographer for a photo op. He could start and carry a conversation with lower ranking soldiers, even if he didn't know them by name. THAT is how the player first meets Sephiroth.
So when Sephiroth burns down Nibelheim, when he kills all those people, it comes as a shock to the player. The guy who seemed so nice not ten minutes ago had become a murdering psychopath, the main villain of the game. And to cement the idea, to show that Sephiroth is beyond redemption, he almost kills Tifa, who tried to avenge her father.
From a hero for the people, to the Planet's nightmare, it all started with the razing of one insignificant little town. A fallen angel, walking amongst the flames of the hell he created. The fifth best moment in Final Fantasy 7.
To start, some back story. Ignoring anything revealed by The
TV Tropes calls this trope the "Doomed Hometown", where the villain torches the hero's home, starting their Hero's Journey, where the hero grows up and becomes a legend in his own right. The hometown typically represents safety. comfort. familiarity to the hero; thus, when the villain destroys it, the hero no longer has anywhere he can call "safe." This trope is fairly common in RPG's, and usually kicks off the plot. Examples are Breath of Fire 1, Legend of Dragoon, among many others.
In Final Fantasy 7, this trope is played straight. Before Nibelheim's destruction, Cloud was typically much more hyperactive, friendlier, more outgoing, and happy-go-lucky. After Nibelheim was destroyed, Cloud became more morose, quieter. It was the first in a long line of traumas that would screw him up, causing him to mix his identity with Zack's.
But just what makes the destruction of Nibelheim so outstanding? As I've said before, the Doomed Hometown is a well used, familiar trope that gets played out quite often in gaming. In fact, while Final Fantasy plays with tropes (a Corrupt Corporate Executive who acts like The Emperor, for example) or subverts them (Aerith is designed like the typical Shounen love interest and Tifa is designed as the typical seductress, but Tifa is the more feminine of the two AND the main love interest), THIS is the one trope that is played perfectly straight. No subversions, no aversion, nothing. Sephiroth destroys Cloud's hometown, and this starts their enmity.
Well, actually, there IS a bit of a subversion. First off, Cloud doesn't immediately go off on a world hopping quest where he'll meet new friends, gain a love interest, and save the world. Instead, he heads off after Sephiroth directly, stabs him in the back with his sword, and tries to help Tifa, who was bleeding and dying. As if that were not enough, Cloud and Zack are soon captured by Shinra, who experiment on them for years until they manage to escape, just a bit before the game begins proper. Afterwards, Cloud adopts an arrogant persona, based on a mix of his friend Zack's personality, as well as how he thinks an elite warrior SHOULD behave like.
Cloud's journey wouldn't become a Hero's Journey until half way through Disc 2, when he drops this persona and accepts himself for who he is. Before then, I could make the argument that he was motivated more by revenge than anything. Cloud never really explains why Sephiroth is a danger to the Planet, only that he is. The player never really finds out what Sephiroth intends to do exactly until after the visit to the Temple of the Ancients. But, the player is fully aware that Sephiroth must be stopped. Why?
Because the player saw Sephiroth destroy Nibelheim with their very own eyes. They saw the destruction, the death that Sephiroth brought to a town that had never done anyone any wrong. And they saw Sephiroth himself walk among the flames, like the Devil himself, smiling. It's one of the most powerful images in video game history, redone so many times in fan art, fan fics, fan animations, and even in official works. It's an iconic moment in gaming, both from a cinematic, as well as from a narrative point of view.
And therein lays the subversive nature of Final Fantasy 7, peeking its head again. The Destruction of Nibelheim isn't the start of Cloud's heroic journey, it's the start of Sephiroth's descent into villainy. This villain, one of the most famous in all gaming, started off as a cold, but otherwise OK guy. He was friendly, he was civil to his co workers, and he was willing to indulge a local photographer for a photo op. He could start and carry a conversation with lower ranking soldiers, even if he didn't know them by name. THAT is how the player first meets Sephiroth.
So when Sephiroth burns down Nibelheim, when he kills all those people, it comes as a shock to the player. The guy who seemed so nice not ten minutes ago had become a murdering psychopath, the main villain of the game. And to cement the idea, to show that Sephiroth is beyond redemption, he almost kills Tifa, who tried to avenge her father.
From a hero for the people, to the Planet's nightmare, it all started with the razing of one insignificant little town. A fallen angel, walking amongst the flames of the hell he created. The fifth best moment in Final Fantasy 7.
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