Final
Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the sequel all Final
Fantasy fans have been praying for. As if Final
Fantasy VII wasn't enough to satisfy us the story now continues 2 years into the
future, but this time as a CG movie rather than a game. With the seventh edition of the Final Fantasy series being single-handedly
responsible for saving Square from bankruptcy, new association SquareEnix have obviously
seen the IP as lucrative enough to make use of those expensive CGI development studios
Square, some would say unwisely, invested in.
Advent Children includes 20
characters - including Cloud and Sephiroth. Some of these characters are new to the story
and some may only be featured in flashbacks. As Sephiroth has been listed in the character
section on the official site by SquareEnix I would assume, and hope that he will feature
as more than just a flashback. Three main new characters that catch my eye more than any
other are Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. These three men are shown in the trailers as Clouds’
main opposition. All sporting silver hair and some dodgy looking weapons they seem to be
hunting Cloud in the ruins of Midgar. All three have a strange resemblance to Sephiroth
and may very well be clones. In my opinion the story in the game was left open, there was
not a lot of definite endings to each section of the game. And as far as I remember, when
it comes to Final Fantasy anything is
possible…
One of the main topics of
discussion is The Wheelchair Person; many rumours have been circulated about who this
person is. Seen in the trailer sitting in a wheelchair and covered in a white sheet and
then in the latest screenshots seen with Rude from the Turks, just as to whom this person
is has become very confusing. My first thought was Sephiroth, it all made complete sense.
Like Cloud he fell into the Lifestream and although Sephiroth is stronger than Cloud he
would still very likely end up in a wheelchair like Cloud. Also in the very first trailer
I saw Kadaj was kneeling in front of the wheelchair. But now new screenshots have been
released I’m not so sure. Rufus is another name that has risen to this part. This
also makes some sense, as anyone who is shot at by the Diamond Weapon and survives isn't
exactly going to be sprinting a marathon.
From watching the trailers I
can see that the main location is Midgar, not sure if the rest of the planet is featured
as well yet but I’m sure that some of the other locations in the game will feature in
some way. A new horror has arisen as well. The Star Scar Syndrome has been born. I’m
still not sure what this is but I’m willing to bet pretty much anything that it has
something to do with Meteor and Sephiroths attack on Planet.
Below is an analysis of what details we know of
19 of the 20 characters that have been said to be in the film. Either the 20th
has not been announced yet… or I’ve missed it somewhere along the line.
Cloud Strife:
Cloud returns again as the main character with a new black outfit and
his Buster Sword. He is unsure whether saving the planet
was really the right course to take. I think that
the real Cloud will be revealed in the film. And to be honest we know very little about
him. His true identity is constantly questioned throughout the game; I could never really
work out what was from Zacks past and what was from Clouds. During the game Sephiroth does
everything he can to confuse us and just like Cloud there is very little known of
Sephiroths past. There has to be some kind of link, and I think that this will be one of
the main focuses in the film.
Barret Wallace:
Barret is now on a quest to find a new energy to
replace Mako, a bit less destructive than blowing up reactors but I'm sure just as equally
effective. He leaves Marlene in Tifas care and the function of his arm is believed to have
changed. I'd say our former explosive friend may have chilled out a bit.
Tifa Lockheart:
Still working in Seventh Heaven Tifa also looks
after Marlene and other orphans. She is seen fighting with Loz in what appears to be
Aerith's old church, and in conversation with Yuffie.
I think that in the film Tifa will go after
Cloud, determined to help with whatever he has to do. Tifa is a very dedicated person and
I’m praying that she won’t get killed off as she’s one of my favourite
characters.
Vincent Valentine:
Vincent appears to know more about the current
situation than most of the other characters. He is seen in the trailer with Marlene in a
strange forest, possibly the one from the game. He refers to Jenova in the trailer. I
think that Vincent is a bit of a mystery. I haven’t played through the whole game in
some time but I don’t recall any kind of real explanation about who he is, where he
comes from and what his intentions are. I think that he will play an important part
regarding information. He always seemed to know more than everyone else, but for some
reason never said anything.
Marlene:
Not a lot is known about her role in the film but
I think that it will be far greater than her role in the game. I think that Marlene could
be somehow connected to the children theme, in what way I’m not sure but I think that
Aerith is also connected to Marlene’s fate (just a hunch…).
Aerith:
Aerith, or Aeris, features in a flash back scene
from the game when she is lowered in the lake by Cloud after Sephiroth kills her (damn
him!). Other screen shots of her show she has a bigger role in the film than just
flashbacks. This particular picture of her is taken from a screen shot of her standing in
a field full of flowers with her back against Clouds. I do not think that this could
possibly be a flashback as it doesn’t happen in the game so I’m assuming that
she guides Cloud or helps him in some way on his quest.
Cid:
Firstly, how cool does he look! He looks a lot
younger than I remember him but still damn cool. Anyway, very little if anything at all is
known what part he plays in the actual story, but he is seen in screen shots to be holding
his spear and doing the usual kill, kill, kill...
I’m not too sure about Cid, I can’t fit
him in anywhere at the moment and I think that like in the game as the story develops more
and more characters will come to the rescue and all that. I think Cid is one of these and
doesn’t have a very complex storyline.
Red XIII:
If there’s one thing I'm sure about
it’s that Red XIII, or Nanaki, defiantly survives as at the end of the game. In the
ending movie sequence '500 years later' we see him and his supposed children...no idea how
he got kids when he was the last surviving member of his tribe...?! Not too sure of his
role in the film but I think that as the same with most of Clouds old buddies he comes to
fight along side Cloud.
Yuffie:
Yuffie is another character that has only just
been released so little is known. All I've seen so far is her in conversation with Tifa
and Denzel, and also some snazzy parachuting action. I think that Yuffies part in the film
will be greater than characters like Cid, and Red XIII. In the game she’s almost as
annoying as the Emerald weapon. And after running round after her for hours was it worth
it? Of course! I really hope she has a big part in the film, very little is known of her
so far and that could mean either that she plays a big part or that she’s not that
important.
Denzel (new):
Denzel is a completely new character and is one
of the orphans that Tifa takes care of. I think that it is possible that he could be
linked somehow to the children theme as well as Marlene; this could explain why we know so
little about their parts in the film.
I’m very interested in Denzel, and why
he’s been made a character and not just a kid in the orphanage.
Reno:
As one of the Turks I've always liked Reno, yeah
he tried to kill us a few times in the game but he has cool hair and I think his role has
switched over slightly in the film. I don't think that he is working for Shinra anymore
but I also don't think that he is working with Cloud. Shots of him talking to Cloud, and
of him fighting Yazoo seem to confirm that he is no longer fighting on the opposite side.
Rude:
Rude is shown fighting against Loz so I think we
can safely say he’s no longer against Cloud as such. And like Reno I don’t think
he’s any part of Shinra anymore, but that I’m not 100% sure about as some recent
screenshots Rude is seen standing next the wheelchair person inside a Shinra building, so
its all a bit confusing. Of course that could mean that Shinra is no more! (Hurray!)
Zack:
The only image of Zack that has been released is
of him in a scene from the game. I don’t think that there will be anything more than
flashbacks of him. I think he’s more a device used to tell the story better, and I
doubt he’ll come back to life or anything.
Sephiroth:
Now then, when it comes to Sephiroth who knows
what’s really going on!? My theory on Sephiroth is that he is the wheelchair person
and was pulled from the Lifestream by either the Silver haired men or by his own
abilities. As he is the main boss in the game he isn’t easily beaten and Sephiroth
coming back is perfectly explainable. Firstly if Cloud can survive being in the Lifestream
then so can he. Secondly at the end of the game when Cloud does his final move, Omnislash,
we never see Sephiroth die. His face bleeds but that’s as much as we get. In Final
Fantasy VIII, IX, X and X-2 each of the final bosses does the whole exploding act once
defeated, but Sephiroth just bleeds... Thirdly, during the game he appears as some kind of
spirit sometimes, like he’s trapped within Cloud. As we only see the story in the
game from Cloud and his friends point of view there are separate parts of the story than
can exist that we don’t get to see. One of these separate stories that I think could
exist and may be used in the film is Sephiroths story. We already know that at the reactor
in Neibleheim after Sephiroth stabs Cloud he is thrown into the bottom of the reactor, the
Mako, the Lifestream. So what’s to say he ever got out? You fight him in the
Lifestream at the end of the game and every time you see him before that he’s doing
his amazing flying trick. I believe that during the whole course of the game Sephiroth was
actually in the lifestream and was doing exactly what Aerith is about to do, using his
spirit to travel back and forth to Clouds world. It’s still not clear what role he
will actually play but I have absolutely no doubt that he has returned. And seeing that he
has been listed as a character on the official SquareEnix site, I think that it’s
clear he’s back.
Kadaj (new):
Not a lot is known about where Kadaj and the
other two silver haired men came from or what their part in the story is, but I think that
the film will mainly revolve around them. Kadaj is the leader of the three and uses and
refined double sword and has exceptional sword skills. I think it is possible that he
could be a Sephiroth clone, and he does look a hell of a lot like Sephiroth but I
don’t know or think that the clones with play any huge part in the film.
Loz (new):
 Loz is another of the silver haired men, and the
oldest out of the three. His weapon is called Duel Hound which is a shield and a gun. As
with Kadaj it’s possible that he could be a clone. I think it’s less likely
though as he pays little resemblance to Sephiroth. I’ve been beginning to wonder
whether Cloud was cloned when in the mansion before Zacks death, it’s a crazy theory
but these guys could be clones of Cloud as they also look a lot like him.
Yazoo (new):
As the same with Kadaj and Loz little is known what role he will
play. His weapon is the Velvet Nightmare, which is a type of gunblade. Yazoo bears more of
a resemblance to Sephiroth than Loz but I don’t want to say they’re clones until
I see the film and find out. In the game the clones are all weird men walking round in
black cloaks and mumbling about reunions. This partly fits with what I know about the film
so far and at the same time it doesn’t. It seems reasonable partly because in one of
the trailers there is a voice over that says. “Geostigma. Jenova. Reunion.”
Wheelchair Person:
No-one really knows who this is. He is seen with
Kadaj and Rude in different locations and Cloud is also present when Rude is. There are a
few characters that are possible candidates. Sephiroth being the most likely, as without
Sephiroth you wouldn’t have Final Fantasy VII.
Rufus is another, not as likely but still possible, and the presence of Rude and the
Shinra building makes it more so.
Hojo is also rumoured to be the wheelchair person
but I see no proof and I remember killing Hojo myself in the game. He was also bent over
and quite small which is not what the wheelchair person looks like. Aerith has also been
suggested but as she seems to appear in other parts of the film then I don’t think it
could be her. And the last one I have heard about is Jenova herself, but I think that to
be as impossible as Hojo.
Also these "Creatures" have been shown
in battle with Cid; although these are not actual characters I'm sure they're just as
important. It is unsure whether they are actually monsters from the game world or is they
are new.
The movie will be between 70 and 80 minutes long and is being
released on DVD and on UMD for the Sony PSP. It has been touted for release in Japan at
the end of 2004, with a US release expected in the first quarter of 2005. No European or
Australian release date has been made or announced as of yet.
Katie Rodwell
11/10/04
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