Lessons I Learned from Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)

“I fear not death. I’ve already seen hell.”

This post contains HEAVY spoilers about Sephiroth and his backstory. If you have not played Final Fantasy 7 (1997) or the remake (2020), please skip this post. You have been warned.

I’m sure you know who Sephiroth is. Or maybe you’ve simply heard of him and want to know more? Maybe you’ve never played Final Fantasy 7 and ignored my spoiler warning. In any case, this is him.

Sephiroth was a member of SOLDIER, an elite militarized fighting force of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Why does an electric company need a military? Yeah, it gets weirder. Just stay with me.

During a mission, Sephiroth learned that his mother Lucretia, a Shinra scientist, was impregnated by a mad scientist named Professor Hojo. During Lucretia’s pregnancy, she was injected with Jenova (an alien lifeform that tried to take over the planet 2000 years prior) cells and she eventually gave birth to the planet’s most powerful warrior. Lucretia was one of the last members of an ancient race called “Cetra.” Once Sephiroth learned of this and felt that he was nothing more than a science experiment, he held a vendetta against the human race. This led to him losing his mind, burning a town to the ground, and eventually trying to take over the…