What D&D Alignment is Sephiroth? (Life story, beginning to end)

Today we take a look at Final Fantasy 7's main antagonist Sephiroth and determine what alignment he is in Dungeons and Dragons. Be sure to pick up the final fantasy 7 remake later this week.
Special thank you to all these people
Crisis Core Footage ► / @glp
Final Fantasy 7 Footage ► / @zashtheman
Before Crisis Footage ► / @ffviiexcavation
Final Fantasy 7 Abridged ► / teamfourstar
Sephiroth VA ► / capitainjoe
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#dnd #ff7remake #finalfantasy

[@DutchDread]

I like the idea that Sephiroth went crazy because he didn't sleep for 3 days, and after burning nibelheim and dying he was basically like "well shit, gone too far to back out now, guessing I am committing to it."

[@Veladus]

Seriously. Going without sleep for as long as he did (more than 3 days, it was weeks... humans can do about 10 days) would literally kill a human. Obviously it didn't kill him, but long term lack of sleep is known to effect sanity. He went beyond what's anyone capable of enduring. No wonder he snapped.

[@DutchDread]

@@Veladus Was it that long? For a reason I always thought it was specifically three days, but then I was watching the scene yesterday and didn't notice it being stated. Edit: ok, I checked, it was three days.

[@thepriorstone4064]

Omfg just imaging him finally getting some sleep in the lifestream just to wake up and think “welp already pulled the pin, might as well toss the grenade”

[@DutchDread]

@@thepriorstone4064 Maybe if you die you spend eternity in the mental state you were in at the moment of death, that sure makes death by erotic asphyxiation sound a whole lot more appealing.

[@zachbahamutson5477]

@@Veladus well you also have to remember he was a literal labrat for Hojo. In fact he was hojo's favorite lab rat that Hojo had kept trying to recreate suffer off. And remember this is the man who supposed to be Sephiroth's father. I doubt sephiroth ever had a happy memory in his childhood.

[@МолчаливыйКлинок]

So he literally fell from the peak of the diagram (Neutral good) to the bottom (Neutral evil), like some sort of a fallen angel? Neat.

[@tennesseeponderer3146]

It’s spelled peak

[@xblackxabyssx1983]

Well given his moniker as the one winged angle and it at one time being white then later black makes sense honestly

[@austinwallace7478]

I never understood how in DnD anti-paladins could exist. How can someone go from Lawful Good, fall, then become Chaotic Evil? This comment and this video open my eyes to how it can work. Thank you

[@Aomegeus]

From where you think the title One Winged Angel comes? It's.not just because he has one wing.

[@reloadpsi]

What makes it so horrifying is that the thing that motivates him to fall - his belief that he's the last of the Ancients and that the Promised Land is his birthright - isn't even true, and the snap twists him so much that he caves in to an even darker desire to straight up succeed Jenova instead. By the end of Advent Children he makes it clear he knows he's not an Ancient, being the son of a malevolent alien (and a recklessly curious scientist with no moral boundaries.) There's nothing quite like a tragic fall from grace, but for his to be so misinformed is even better.

[@AlexFalkor]

I personally think he went Crazy the moment *HIS* will weakened, allowing Jenova to mess with him. His friends leaving him Betraying him Dying on him His sudden realization that he might be a monster. The close proximity to JENOVA I think that was what made him break.

[@TheLoadingCrew]

oh! that's actually a pretty good theory :)

[@AlexFalkor]

@@TheLoadingCrew Thanks. Cause like you said, it really is weird that he was "all of a sudden" having a mental-breakdown just at the slight notion from Zack. That and he stayed in said close proximity for Three Days. We already saw what Sephiroth could do towards his Clones and Cloud. Make them act in "his will". So what could JENOVA, some Alien-God, do too Sephiroth? Honestly I wouldn't even be upset if in the FF7 Remake, if this was a sudden twist, that Sephiroth was used as a puppet and was unable to tell what was "his will" and what was "JENOVA".

[@ninjabros6282]

​@@AlexFalkorHey I know this be three years old But what if the Final Fantasy:RE Series Antagonist isn't Sephiroth but it's Jenova themselves and that this story is basically just the Puppets of Jenova Finally Rebellion against their own Master earning their Freedom and well making FATE their own at that point honestly this might be Huge in the Theory Department

[@WilliamTheWatchful]

Maybe Jenova's presence was influencing Sephiroth will he was passing his days in the library. You can be the best SOLDIER, but even three days without eating and sleeping will affect your Will Save Roll.

[@zachbahamutson5477]

It was more than 3 days it was a week if not more. Though I doubt he didn't eat then sleep I think he took micro naps and ate small snacks in between getting the books.

[@DarkMirria1]

He was up for a week, not three days…

[@AschaVovina]

Calling it now - Sephy starts off as Lawful Good with a tinge of Chaotic Good in _Crisis Core_ and then devolves into Neutral Evil. He _is_ the character shown in the Neutral Evil slot of the wheel, after all.

[@jacobweatherford4696]

To be honest I think if he had known way sooner in his life what he really was and had better friends he probably wouldnt have become evil and soo vengeful there are also people that theorize he was being controlled by jenovas spirit.

[@charliethekobold516]

Wow I never realized how nice he was at first

[@TheLoadingCrew]

he's definitely a sephibro

[@gamester512]

Which makes his fall into the role of villain that much more tragic. He used to be a good guy, but then he basically became the definition of the line "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." As the Joker himself has said, "Sometimes, all it takes is one bad day."

[@AndyManX1226]

"Depending on what happens, I may abandon Shinra." There's a timeline where Sephiroth never goes to Nibelheim and instead turns on Shinra and joins Avalanche. He was so close.

[@alexmalik6204]

Not gonna lie, I think you’re interpretation of Sephiroth’s degradation from hero to villain in the last 5 minutes of this video is probably the most human I have ever seen Sephiroth. And yes, I know that’s a messed up jumble of a sentence. I’m not sorry, cause holy shit, this video actually gave me goosebumps 😅😂

[@edalmirneto4246]

Make the work better than Nomura

[@Oxaphosphetane]

Yeah man I'm so stoked to see they noticed that snippet of dialogue from Before Crisis and found it significant, since that moment of self-doubt develops into *the* driving force behind Sephiroth's face-heel turn. Also, the fact that he gets so thrown off when asked 'what do you fight for?' is important, as it nicely illustrates the aspect of his personality that will later determine the trajectory of said turn. Not many people talk about that. Good work, TheLoadingCrew!

[@reloadpsi]

It's so weird, knowing how malicious he is throughout FF7 proper and yet seeing him smiling in the company of friends in Crisis Core. The most frightening thing about his motivation for his turn? It's not even true, and he genuinely isn't aware of that at the time. Tulok had the right idea dumping his WIS :P

[@Oxaphosphetane]

@@reloadpsi Yeah, he's absolutely a max INT, min WIS guy

[@harryguidotti3815]

Cloud: YOU KILLED EVERYONE IN NIBELHIEM! Sephiroth: I think I'd remember doing something like that...

[@JayFamTWH]

The abridged series is *so* fucking good, you have to go check it out, it's honestly worth it... ...and I'm three months late so you've probably done that already.

[@chaselanglands6757]

Sephiroth: " Sounds like an ordinary Tuesday to me."

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Great work with this video! Agreed that it's a bit far-fetched to believe that Sephiroth had absolutely no clue about his past until Zack pointed it out to him... but you did a really good job of detailing his descent as a person!

[@TheLoadingCrew]

oh wow! thank you so much!! a lot of work went into this one ^^ very much appreciated

[@shadowsnake5133]

He probably just never questioned it, as there was more important things, like the literal war.

[@alvinnarciso6130]

I honestly feel so bad for Sephiroth. He seems to be the most human in my opinion.

[@AlterMesh]

At 11:36 with sephiroth telling zack they can hang out again- It's worth noting that he had detoured specifically to see Zack and let him know (and give him permission?) to see Aerith since he knew Zack would be worried about her.

[@theprophet333]

I absolutely agree that Sephiroth starts as LG, and his progression makes sense in your analysis: Moving away from his beliefs and adherence to strict structures and progressing more into NG. As his goals shift, the flip from Good to Evil is interesting to track. As one of my favorite villains in video games, your analysis does him much respect. Thanks for the great content!

[@sammythekidd1090]

14:00 possibly something along the lines of PTSD. He probably repressed the memory. And Zach forcing the concept back into his mind may have gave him a panic attack. Just a concept.

[@kaimagnus5760]

propably closer to a nervous breakdown. He was likely already having an internal identity and Zack accidentally said the one thing that snapped it all togeather in the worst way possible. So he goes to the Shinra mansion looking for the truth, possibly hopping to find ANYTHING that proves he's more than just a monster on a leash...... and finds the exact opposite. Thus after a sleepless week of finding nothing but proof that he is JUST a trained monster crested by Shinra to serve them, he finally has a psycotic break and destroys everything. Kinda sad when you look at it from his perspective.

[@MarkATorres1989]

I get the feeling Seph starts in Lawful Neutral and then makes his fall into Neutral Evil... Edited: What a twist on where he started at! I didn't see that coming. Though the outcome became the same.

[@Schwazoom]

Regarding Sephiroth's insanity: I don't think it's fair to say he flips a switch. The Nibelheim flashback isn't something that happens instantly, but over weeks or months as he's reading about his story. Also I think it's confirmed in FF7 that it was Cloud who was ordered to guard Tifa outside the reactor.

[@zachbahamutson5477]

No I think cloud was out cold from a fight earlier that day having saw off a bunch of monsters trying to invade Nibelheim.

[@BlackKnightOfTheWind]

I see people keep saying that the different renditions of the Nibelheim Incident are retcons but I always took them as viewing the same event from different perspectives. After all, the player character is different each time so how can any single one of them know the full story, especially when mind control and amnesia are involved?

[@Veladus]

Plus, memories aren't nearly as reliable as we think they are. Crisis Core would be the most accurate, IMO, because we're playing through it in current time. Now through the foggy memories of some twat who doesn't even know who he is.

[@gamester512]

@@Veladus That's true, except in the case of particularly traumatic memories. Those memories tend to stick with us no matter how much we may *want* to forget them. I know in my case I have some bad memories that I'd rather forget. And one of them I can still remember like it was yesterday, despite it having happened more than 20 years ago....I doubt that I'll ever forget that day for as long as I live.

[@flarenova6286]

@@gamester512 one, there is no way that it isnt a traumatic memory, two, its actually proven that the act of remembering something has the ability to modify some of what you are remembering

[@Durahan82]

If only he had met His REAL mother and Vincent before slipping into madness

[@edalmirneto4246]

Dirge show many Lucrecia things in shinra mansion. Seph is a jerk or a crazy guy.

[@littlekitsune1]

The irony is that Vincent was RIGHT THERE, too, lol... If only he hadn't been too busy punishing himself, he might've saved the planet preemptively.

[@edalmirneto4246]

@@littlekitsune1 dude, Seph is mad a f÷=% in this moment. Vincent talk to him only make him more crazy ( and jealousy, Vince have a WEAPON inside him lol) about all.

[@littlekitsune1]

@@edalmirneto4246 Why is he crazy though? Logic leaps from theoretical studies that Shinra never even got to finish is not a realistic or good reason to change one's entire personality and morality. Going insane is not that simple or quick.

[@edalmirneto4246]

@@littlekitsune1 exactly. But Seph wanna braking bad after Angeal death. This is the chance for him

[@darkroninmarvel]

"characters with white hair are sexy" Me: *sees enterprise, Belfast, Heles, Cecilia Schariac, Felicia Hardy, A2, KSVK, Taarna, Sekko, Gekko, FGO Nagao Kagetora and FGO Tomoe Gozen* Can't argue that

[@spinoirrex2433]

Weiss is there as well

[@SonGojit456]

Inuyasha

[@keyn5732]

you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain

[@edalmirneto4246]

For AVALANCHE he was a villain all time

[@camendiv]

Crisis Core to FF7 kind of reminds me of watching the Golden age arc of Berserk. It's that feeling of knowing what's going to happen, but loving the character before the inevitable fall. The biggest difference here though, would be that Griffith's ambitions and relationship with Guts was always just slightly twisted, just a little bit wrong. Sephiroth was a generally good person who was set up to eventually develop a God complex, which was what he clung to as his life fell apart.

[@mys6886]

I always thought it was mental conditioning that stopped him from realising and that he is what he is and then proceeded to have a mental break down (anxiety/panic) when zack forced him to realise, that's why he lashed out and it was made worse the more he learned, leading to an un reconcilable existential crisis (hence the name of the dame) that caused his insanity (from our perspective anyway from his it was the only logical thing he could do based on his new awareness and outlook)

[@cricketcritter8532]

I also think that the range with jenova is important here. He whent crazy when next to jenova, problably jenova influencing his mind. FF7 only start with sephiroth's saga after Cloud gets near Jenova's body in shinra building as well, ive aways thought that Cloud was the jump start on sephiroth's will.

[@mys6886]

ah yes this is a point too, jenova constantly yanking at his subconscious and sephy boi actually fucking with his mind and perception of reality, or just flat up pupating him. yes forgot to mention that.

[@dragoon4530]

Honestly I'm pretty sure when sephiroth has that breakdown in the reactor, it's implying that's the exact point Jenova was awakened and started taking influence over him. Considering the running theme of Sephiroth asserting his will over Jenova copies and him asserting his will over Kadaj's gang, I assume Jenova has at least that much sway over him if not outright domination. After all the medium for mind control is Jenova's cells and they always make it a point to mention that she's still alive in there.

[@bishop6881]

Yeah but given how many times Sephiroth specifically gets remade / re-bodied after Neibleheim he and Jenova are likely the same person if there is anything left of Jenova at all

[@kainhighwind2]

That was the theory for a long while, but it's pretty clear that by the end of FF7, that's all him. He's in charge and controlling Jenova.

[@jobhunter5090]

@@bishop6881 Actually him leaving behind the jenova pieces to get destroyed isn't purely a chaotic evil act. He is purposefully getting jenova killed in order to break her influence over him. It is noted somewhere that should jenova become whole she would superceed him. It is also why right before his ascension he throws the rest of jenova at the party in ff7 as the semifinal boss.

[@cricketcritter8532]

I aways thinked it so too, that he whent crazy when next to jenova, problably jenova influencing his mind. FF7 only start with sephiroth's saga after Cloud gets near Jenova's body in shinra building as well, ive aways thought that Cloud was the jump start on sephiroth's will.

[@chaosstorm8307]

Actually if you read the ff7 compendium ultimania (whatever) it states that Jenova is dead (her soul), but her cells are very much alive (like the movie the thing, that's essentially Jenova) and Sephiroth is able to control her corpse by exerting his will over the cells (same with the clones and Cloud). The part of Jenova that is alive as a single entity was "destroyed" by the Cetra thousands of years prior. We know this because of evidence. If Jenova was really in control humans wouldn't stand a chance, she killed off the Cetra, turned them into monsters and destroyed there civilizations, easily. But these same tactics won't work on human's so instead Sephiroth needs to go god mode on them and drop a meteor on the planet? That leads to two questions, either Jenova's weak, obvious answer, no. Or Sephiroth doesn't have a way to access those abilities of Jenova and has to make his own plans. That's the Canon so far, unless they change it in the remake in the near future.

[@conanedogawa4798]

My evaluation of Sephiroth's transformation during Crisis Core, as someone who's played the game, the writers just plain did a bad job of connecting the writing to the end point. There is a VERY obvious difference in the way the lines are delivered during the rest of the game, which feels more natural, and then during Nibelheim where his dialogue is word for word exactly the same as it was in FF7's text only medium which sounds REALLY bad in a voice acted game. The least they could do is take a few more creative liberties during this portion and play it off as the gaps in cloud's memory during the reciting of the memory. It was just bad. With that, it does not surprise me at all that the writers also did a poor job with connecting the early points in the game to the end. There was just no good connection in their mind. All that said, an alternate possible explanation for Sephiroth's sudden transformation, or possible a concurrent one that overlaps with yours given in the video, is that Nibelheim's reactor also happened to be the one where Jenova was stored, and Sephiroth had more Jenova cells than anyone and they were given to him while he was in the womb. This entire video assumes everything is Sephiroth's will, but it completely ignores the factor of Jenova's will here beings she obviously moves about on her own and fights during FF7. This would imply Jenova is also quite sentient. I've always viewed Jenova as a lifeform similar to Lavos from Chrono Trigger (another game made by Squaresoft) Lavos had an ability to drive people like Queen Zeal mad the closer they got to him and the more of his power they absorbed. Couldn't Jenova have potentially done the same thing? In fact, Jenova seems more like a realization of what wasn't dived into so deeply with Lavos in Chrono Trigger. With Lavos, it is just that he drives people to fanatical madness. With Jenova, it's flat out stated that she grants mind control powers to Sephiroth. That being the case, wouldn't Jenova be exerting some of her will on Sephiroth? Him being so close to her in Nibelheim might have been the actual trigger, and then all he would need is just the smallest stressor for her to break through his mental defenses. Rather than the mention of Sephiroth being no different from monsters being what drove him insane, maybe that realization just shocked him long enough to allow Jenova into his mind, and then the rest of it was him going insane because he was fighting a mental war against her and he wasn't even consciously aware of the fact he was being mentally encroached. That's the fan-theory explanation that helps me make sense of it anyway. Overall, I think the real explanation is just what I said at the start, bad writing.

[@a.z.pantera5577]

The AC Complete Sephiroth fight is the best of any animated movie. Change my mind!! Its like they looked at Devil May Cry and went "but what if Cloud vs Sephiroth?" In all seriousness, you know you've made a timeless villain when even someone who's never played or even heard of that series knows who this character is.

[@philipearakaki]

Jenova was actually controlling Sephiroth the same way he can control stuff with Jenova cells, she's almost like space mommy chtulhu

[@RelativelyBest]

Back in school, I had a dream where Sephiroth was flying around the campus looking for me so he could challenge me to a fight. For some reason I was carrying a katana around, but even though it was a dream I was like: "Screw _that!"_ and decided to run away instead. Luckily, Tsuruko Aoyama from Love Hina showed up to challenge Sephiroth which distracted him enough that I could get away. Even as dreams go, that was an odd one.

[@TheLoadingCrew]

sure is my dude! hahah! thanks for sharing

[@RelativelyBest]

@@TheLoadingCrew It's been years but I keep randomly remembering it whenever Sephiroth comes up.

[@Drkorth]

I mostly agree with you that Crisis Core is kind of a mess with it's story. However its got some great character moments and the music is so good that the emotional stuff really hits you hard. I can only imagine you agree since you used Crisis Core music while talking about the emotional turmoil of the character near the end. Also great stuff, I'm also interested in some of your other alignment wheel characters, specifically Lina Inverse as Chaotic Neutral. My guess is that she would end up Chaotic Good if you gave her an episode.

[@TheLoadingCrew]

I enjoyed literally ever sephiroth was on screen except for the few small exceptions

[@TheLoadingCrew]

amazing music too

[@chriwehl7173]

As far as I understand it, Angeal was so all over the place because he knew from the start what they were and what danger they posed to the world. He continued staying with shinra to find a human able to rid the world of their danger. But during that time he bonded with the Genesis and Sephiroth. As the time came that Genesis left, he needed to increase his influence to stop genesis from get his or sephiroths cells and become far more dangerous then before. But since that entailed needing resources and help, he had to attack everyone they told him with his clones. Later he had no other choice but to join them to stop what was going on and revealing his intentions. He died in a way that made his cells useless to anybody trying to obtain his body and just use his cells for their effect., which is trading genetic traits from him to others and others traits to him. Thus his heads on monsters. It allowed him to control them. All he wanted was to save humanity, constantly struggeling between his human and monster side.

[@aprilbennett4161]

Medically, just going without sleep for a week is enough to push someone off the deep end. Add in everything that you said, and we have a recipe for disaster. I've seen first-hand that sleep deprivation can render someone half-crazy real fast. Last August, my sister went from pretty normal to a hallucinating, paranoid train wreck who couldn't even solve simple crossword puzzles, and all within days (she's back to normal now). Since it was originally only three days, but retconned to a week in Crisis Core and thereafter, I wonder if someone on the writing team later learned about the effects of sleep deprivation.

[@da_hitmanhart6650]

Sephiroth making the drastic change actually does work and was BRILLIANT!!

[@timalice-2833]

I remember reading a long time ago that either Nomura Tetsuya or Kitase Yoshinori said that Sephiroth is the most powerful being in the FFVII universe. Their words were that “nothing is above him”. The reason he keeps losing to Cloud is his arrogance. He toys with Cloud and, especially in advent children, wants to humiliate him. Sephiroth feels that Cloud is so beneath himself that he doesn’t need his full power. That arrogance causes his downfall

[@shmee123ful]

When Seph comes out in advent children: happy loading crew noises

[@JustCozItsMe]

Wow, got a lil choked up in that last minute. I like your take, truly tragic character development.

[@Random_Chiroptera]

White hair + big sword + rockstar fashion sense + cocky badass attitude = hotness. Just ask Dante, a demon hunter all of whose friends are hot ass-kicking women.

[@jay_wolf-476]

Bro love the perceptive of understanding our guy Sephiroth

[@autobotskyflame6287]

I really like this interpretation. Great video!

[@nightdrivenen7909]

I always found the AC fight to be interesting. And can't help but link just the absolute SMALLEST hint from Kingdom Hearts 2 that Sephiroth lost that fight on purpose to permanently scare Cloud and isolate Sephiroth's entirety into Cloud's memory. Meaning so long as Cloud remembers Sephiroth- sephiroth lives. Living to do nothing but hate and torture Cloud so that he can never truly fade away. When you watch Sephiroth fight, how many times would he logically have won if he truly intended to kill Cloud [baring cinema story boarding and scripts] I tend to count at least five solid times had he just done what he would normally do - Cloud would be dead. Instead he instigates and provokes Cloud, tortures him, and does extends the fight each time. With his last words being haunting, and Kingdom Hearts 2 in a way helps reveal this just ever so slightly as Sephiroth claims only Cloud can defeat him. Cause Cloud is his anker to the world. With his Will and Power in the life stream never to fully fade away as long as Cloud continues to hate him in return. Immortality even if frail to come back and win.

[@jobhunter5090]

Researching into Jenova i remember some details saying it was her influence that caused him to snap. That the shinra scientists just considered her a corpse on life support, but her will actually still existed her cells and when sephiroth being one of the largest collection of her cells gathered near her host body she began to exert her influence, which was only truly broken when he got thrown into the lifa stream. It is also the explanation for why he left the boss fights behind. Each boss fight is actually a piece of genova and the more that die the less influence they have in total, so in order to avoid genova completely coming together and over taking him like we see attempted as the semifinal boss fight of the game, he got as many pieces destroyed as possible in the hopes of becoming the dominant consciousness. Meaning most of the chaotic neutral and a few of the chaotic evil actions are most likely mind control, although this change would just more firmly cement his existence as neutral evil, if not a slight lawful evil tinge. Edit: sorry typo I accidentally put chaotic evil in the final sentence when i meant neutral evil. fixed

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

This was an amazing video, Stuart. Well worth all the research you poured yourself into for it. I look forward to your future alignment videos.

[@323starlight]

Sephiroth: Can you even begin to imagine what 72+ hours of uninterrupted consciousness feels like? Compounded by research that misunderstood what Mother really was? Forget Cetra, about halfway through, I swore I saw the face of God, but it was just the manor's keeper, Tetsuya.

[@Oxaphosphetane]

Very well researched and delivered overall, but I am LIVING for the dice roll 'commentary' on the FFAC fight scenes. Thanks for livening up my quarantine guys, keep up the stellar work!

[@TheLoadingCrew]

no worries my dude :) feel free to check out our other alignment videos ^^

[@Oxaphosphetane]

@@TheLoadingCrew Absolutely! Love the series.

[@JoshtheOverlander]

I never could've fathomed that Sephiroth was good at one point, it's honestly a surprise.

[@reloadpsi]

Honestly, anything aside that people didn't like about Crisis Core, to see Sephiroth when he was still himself is a surreal experience, and was worth getting a look at.

[@DarkKnight6six6]

I always had the theory that his madness was furthered by JENOVA's influence, as it seem like he does have a connection to her, in a similar way to how he is connected to Cloud and the others with JENOVA cells. the control doesn't seem as direct, maybe because JENOVA is an alien and thus doesn't understand the human mind, but she can still nudge him toward goals that benefit her. That's just my headcanon and may be completely wrong, but I think it's interesting to consider.

[@jeremiahlayne8793]

can't wait till the remake forces you to do this all again.

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

I get the feeling that FFVIIR will just cement the aspects of Sephiroth we already have rather than drastically shift his alignment. Unless they completely misrepresent his character, he shouldn't sway far enough out of Neutral Evil to justify Stuart pouring even more of his time into covering it. I'd think a small addendum is the most he'd need if FFVIIR stays true.

[@trapscancreate5760]

You're probably the only person I've seen cover the series in it's full (books and Before Crisis) and came to a decent understand of the characters. I personally think Sepherioths fall and his mental crisis in Niphilheim is up to great interpretation. His alignment shift is drastic but it seems almost as if he is witnessing something he's repressed. His actions are similar to how Cloud acts when his persona is in doubt. It's almost as if Sepherioth knew but he really, really wanted to be wrong. He mentions he knew he was different. Knowing him he probably saught answers before. He probably saw some grim things but whether it be his friends or the war breaking out he probably shifted his sights on what he deemed more important. Through out the war he is able to build up a great friendship and a lot of respect from those around him. He gains the persona of a legend. Then his friend gets injured and deserts. Through out crisis core and before crisis small things start to crack his mental image of himself. He starts to think about who he really is and who he wants himself to be. Then the Niphilheim incident forces him to confront what he's been trying to ignore. Of course his conclusions are wrong but understandable. Being faced with the possibility he isn't human is hard to swallow. Moreso the idea that he was being used by those who created him, something like a dog bred to guard and protect. But he still has some of his built up ego. He thinks as he studies his origins that he can be better than those lowly humans. Those who betrayed and shy'd away from their duties as anchients. As the last one it's his duty to rule the world and the lesser humans. Atleast that's my interpretation. I feel all his alignment shifts were internal, which is why he seems to become a different person within a short time (more so because the game skips 7 whole days). Personally I like CC story (even the weird Angeal/Genesis cell degredation are we monsters substory) I feel that they are used to reflect how honor and passion doesn't always lead to a responsible use of power. It is honestly the weakest part of CC but I feel they needed a side story to help pace Zack's rise in SOLDIER.

[@jeom3808]

25:05 I mean- Sephiroth’s whole thing IS an existential crisis, Kadaj kinda inherited that from him, he’s basically Sephiroth in spirit, while the other two are more so the Strength/cockiness and pretty-looks/stoicism(or indifference), but i see what you mean, it doesn’t change much anyway(except parallel/show the trend of a “young” Sephiroth always going through a crisis before reaching a “neutral evil” state of identifying with his “inheritance” of becoming synonymous with the planet by hurting it really bad)

[@lamcb.9476]

I once saw a theory that the real Sephiroth did die at the Mako reactor, and then Jenova just took over the form and abilities of him so she could mess everything up from the outside in. That the Sephiroth clones we fight in the main game, is actually Jenova playing the puppeteer with a set of handsome puppets

[@Straff_Dis]

That was beautifully well done. Honestly, with how being betrayed over and over again. Totally explains everything with how Sephiroth gave Zack that "look". God, that gives me chills.

[@ryanredd4552]

In my opinion Sephiroth is a perfect example of Joker's "all it takes is one bad day" mentality

[@ericcontreras3966]

(HUGE GASP) I cant believe you dissed crisis core😲

[@TheLoadingCrew]

dude....the story is so bad....like...everything except sephiroth is so bad...hell. even some sephiroth parts were bad

[@ChampionAnalysis]

Really enjoyed this! Also super helpful for when I make my own video on Final Fantasy 7

[@TheLoadingCrew]

if you wanna collab, let me know! I'm always down for stuff :) this was a fun video to do

[@Sgt-Wolf]

Yes let's get into the alignment of, over compensating for something with that sword, 80s glam rock, the edge is sharper then the sword, Japanese animation inspired, castlevina looking, love interest stabbing, not even good enough to be a spirit in smash bros, but was a costume in little big planet, should have fought Darth Vader in Kingdom hearts 3, one winged angle himself, sephiroth.

[@TheLoadingCrew]

hell yeah

[@lucaschiarenza5648]

"should have fought Darth Vader in Kingdom hearts 3". AMEN!

[@elitebelt]

This didn't age well considering the Smash Bros remark.

[@Sgt-Wolf]

@@elitebelt SAKURAIIIIIII! *shakes fist*

[@lunarshadow5584]

That last part was a truly stunning finish to tell of his steady downfall into insanity. No longer able to trust the place he worked for, he looked to his friends, after their betrayal, he was asked 'are you human?' by his newest and closest friend since the beginning of consecutive betrayals only to go a sleepless week of trying to find 'what he should be fighting for' before turning to the one thing he kept reading over and over, 'Jenova' his 'mother' and the lingering will that comes from those cells to take over the world which he would fulfill.

[@racekitty]

Recommendation: how about Arthas Menethil another hero to villain story I would recommend just what we see in Warcraft 3 and frozen throne because he doesn't change that much in WoW.

[@jordanwoosley1861]

The Frozen Throne intro cinematic is one of my all time favorites.

[@KingBobXVI]

@@jordanwoosley1861 - "The Frozen Throne intro cinematic is one of my all time favorites" Do you mean the _Wrath of the Lich King_ intro cinematic? Becasue _The Frozen Throne_ intro was just Illidan being angsty about how nobody loves him or takes him seriously so he woke the Naga because reasons.

[@jordanwoosley1861]

@@KingBobXVI yes, thank you.

[@Veladus]

There's no alignment confusion there though. He went from textbook lawful good to textbook chaotic evil. I can't fathom anyone trying to argue either end of his fall.

[@edalmirneto4246]

Arthas have a nice sword and white hair!

[@Hadaron]

At 19:39, my phone did a thing and dropped the internet connection... so during that soundless buzz, the words “no connection” popped up from the bottom of the screen, about the same color and size as your subtitles. I thought you made a dumb joke about that scene for a second and was almost upset; now I’m laughing at the timing.

[@0_Body]

Why does it feel like I am about to go down a rabbit hole to see how much of a badass Sephiroth is?

[@aaa1e2r3]

Gotta say, props for being thorough on this one

[@UltimateXorn]

I CALLED IT! I knew my White-Haired Sephy-Sama was gonna be the next alignment!

[@reloadpsi]

"My reunion... that you're dying to watch!" is such a well-translated line! It's more akin to "now to witness my reunion" in Japanese but the way they came up with something that kinda fit the lip movement, still conveyed the same meaning, and made Kadaj come across like a smug piece of shit is just 😙👌 The film's translation and voice acting are very hit and miss, so even with disadvantage that line rolled a double nat 20.

[@zeehero7280]

Sephiroth's greatest accomplishment is his fabulous hair.

[@TheLoadingCrew]

truth

[@jefthereaper]

On the topic of why Sephiroth fell into his "insanity". It was mostly due to the vast amount of knowledge he was gathering. The more he learned about the Jenova project, the more he learned that not only most of his life was a lie, but all the strange events, missions, tests and so on, started to make sense. And he realized that (when reading the known history about the Cetra) that Humanity appeared on the world, and made war/genocide against the Cetra. Believing he was actually descendant from the Cetra, and the only living Cetra, his mother Jenova was being kept in a tube as a test subject, he freaked out as "his enemy" (humanity) was using his mother and himself as test subjects and tools to obtain the promised land, something that belonged to his people the Cetra, whom were slaughtered by Humanity's ancestors. At this point he was fighting for what he believed was a right cause, freeing himself and his mother from the slavery imposed on his people, as well as taking back what was stolen from his people. Only for later on in the lifestream on the verge of death to gain the knowledge that Jenova is in fact not a Cetra, but an alien that came to Earth to eat all of its lifeforce. He abandoned his humanity for his Cetra heritage, only to find out he is no offspring of the Cetra at all, but from a alien parasite. Having betrayed the human's that once accepted him, the only thing left to him was the path of his parasitic forbearer. However, the more knowledge he started getting form the lifestream, the less he started to care. His endgoal has always been to take all of the lifeforce from the planet, so he can (just like Omega) travel the universe to create a planet all of himself, with life forms all of his creation. essentially he is the outcast that is trying to create a world all of his own, ironically he made himself into a villain when he rejected humanity. And of course there is also the whole Jenova cell thing, where it apparently functions as some kind of hive mind, so its impossible to assume Sephiroth's sudden personality change is also to blame due to being directly manipulated by Jenova. It would not surprise me one bit if the original story would have had some reveal later on that Jenova was actually controlling Sephiroth all along instead of vice versa.

[@Generic_guy_with_glasses]

Please do one for Captain Jack Sparrow I think it would be good because he constantly plays both sides in order to survive and thrive.

[@kaimagnus5760]

imo Jack Sparrow is the paragon of True Nutral.

[@Taygon45]

But seriously, I don't think you overthought it. I think it's what they were going for. Beautiful video.

[@Taygon45]

SPOILER FOR THE REMAKE After Sephiroth asked Cloud to join him in defying fate I think it edged him more towards what you detailed at the end.

[@nidnoms3622]

I just realized Sephiroth is voiced by same dude that did injustice Superman

[@SpecterOfSide2]

god i cannot say how much i love this video i keep coming back to it

[@TheLoadingCrew]

i'm glad you like it my dude

[@That80sGuy1972]

In many ways, I heard this blessing said: "May you live just long enough to die a hero or at the very least before you become the villain." Apparently, Sepiroth lived a little too long.

[@mastermold10]

he has a few alignment shifts throught his charicter arc, not just 2, from lawfull good early on to neutral good as the war drew to its close, then breifly after his fall he went chaotic evil as he hit rock bottom and got lost in his madness, then neutral evil once he regained some semblence of sanity during his time in the lifestream and began to plan his conquest/ascension to godhoood

[@aaa1e2r3]

29:02 Honestly, I'd love to see one on Luffy

[@rasenganknight]

Bruh, Luffy is the embodiment of chaotic good, he goes around helping people, but he keeps sticking it to the government facilities of the world.

[@aaa1e2r3]

@@rasenganknight Can't say that I agree, I'd argue he's more Chaotic Neutral, primarily because the prime motivation for a lot of these decisions is because people who are friends of his or people he cared about are being hurt. He didn't declare war on the world government because it's corrupt, he declared war because they were going after Robin, he didn't start a fight with Hody Jones in the name of Fishman rights, he fought him because Luffy was protecting Shirahoshi, and so on so forth. I'd argue a better example of Chaotic Good in One Piece would be some of the Revolutionaries like Dragon or Ivankov

[@quazarKiragon]

its like the saying goes that you live long enough to see yourself become the villain, he was truly the product of unfortunate circumstances as what he thought what he was fighting for was good but in turn he was being used, the more he learned the truth about his existence and being betrayed by those who who could of helped him ended up causing him to fall into the abyss of madness that he was going to recover from like the saying goes, "monsters arnt born...they are made" and unfortunately, those around him made him into a monster

[@fable23]

Last Order has been explicitly de-canonized as of the 20th Anniversary Edition, described as "a work outside the compilation" and an "interpretation" of the events of Nibelheim. It has the dubious distinction of being the only piece of FF7 media that actually prompted a "yeah... no" from the creators.

[@Veladus]

Shame FFX doesn't have creators who give a shit like that. Literally the entire point of the party's struggle in X: Sin is not a integral part of Spira! We can stop it! As all teenage jRPG heroes have stopped God, with the power of friendship! X's modern additions: SiN iS aN iNtEgRaL pArT oF sPiRa So He's BaCk To LiFe BeCaUsE rEaSoNs, AlSo TiDuS gEtS bLoWn Up By An UnDeRwAtEr FoOtBaLl BoMb DID YOU COCKSUCKERS EVEN READ THE GAME YOU FUCKING WROTE?!

[@angrytheclown801]

Before watching: Obviously chaotic evil. After watching: Hmph, interesting.

[@lupvirga]

If zack stayed with Sephiroth and gave him some companionship, he might not have fallen.

[@Archon3960]

And now we have FIVE interpretations! xD

[@demi-fiendoftime3825]

You realize Crissis core is extreamly popular and a fan favorite game right? It makes alot more sense playing then reading or watching it

[@TheLoadingCrew]

doesn't mean the story isn't nonsense

[@demi-fiendoftime3825]

@@TheLoadingCrew and FF7 isnt at times?l Aso Derge of Cerberus is much worse. CC is mainly about Zack and is the reason he's so popular with the fanbase.

[@minerturtle45]

That giant katana makes me think he's compensating for something.

[@Veladus]

*nodachi

[@Random_Chiroptera]

Many villains are the hero of their own life story, according to their perspective.

[@goldenfox8701]

From my point of view the jedi are evil

[@Random_Chiroptera]

@@goldenfox8701 There's certainly some merit in that. In many ways the teachings of the Jedi, that of denying and suppressing emotion, even natural, healthy emotions that support their ideals, are responsible for the fracturing of their order, and the adoption of Sith culture into an opposing order that embraces all emotions, but unfortunately is mostly fueled by hate, anger, and other destructive passions. Only the so-called Grey Jedi, rare though they are, have achieved the enlightenment and balance that Light and Dark are severely lacking.

[@goldenfox8701]

@@Random_Chiroptera I Was not expecting that 0_0

[@Victini415]

1:13 - Can only imagine the pure confusion to those who haven't watched this scene and I'm loving what I'm seeing.

[@spartanhawk7637]

Advent Children is mixed at best but MY GOD THAT FINAL BATTLE.

[@DollanFerinal]

Damaging the planet with meteor would've sapped the life force from everyone on the planet and they all would've died. Sephiroth was very aware of this >_>

[@DaenaMichelle]

"Characters with white hair are unbelievable sexy* *laughs in white hair*

[@TheLoadingCrew]

babee u no it

[@Veladus]

I don't know how it is now, but I remember when 7 was new, Sephiroth fans would vehemently argue that his hair is silver, not white.

[@Oxaphosphetane]

@@Veladus Oh that is a vintage fandom experience. Thanks for the nostalgia trip.

[@TheFearsomeRat]

25:21 Yes, also Advent Children was my introduction to Final Fantasy, this one scene... in the context of D&D I'd LOVE to recreate as a DM.

[@Scream_Lord]

I feel sorry for Sephiroth. When he was starting out he was a really cool guy. But then his world gets torn inside out and he goes nuts. He is Shinra's most tragic victim. Maybe if Zack was there to help him cope things would have turned out differently?

[@whyarealltaken]

When you ask the your biggest threat what he fights for and he decides its so he can become a all powerful asshole

[@TheLoadingCrew]

hahahah! big oof on elfe's part

[@BlindDevilNeko]

You die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

[@insanity9329]

A sad story of a hero turned villain.

[@ghostkaiser1716]

Will you do a 'What Alignment' video for Ken Ichijoji from Digimon 02 or Impmon from Digimon Tamers?

[@atomicq3603]

Who are the lawful neutral and Chaotic neural characters in his alignment wheel. I know the rest of them, but those two elude me

[@d20minotaur59]

I liked just because of how much work was put into it. Then I watched the video and wished that I could have liked a second time.

[@alexanderzhmurov9624]

...maybe Sephiroth's point of realization wasn't so much the beginning of his personal descent into madness so much so as (alll that, yes, but also a metaphysical turmoil brought on by and further fueled by)virtual opening of the mental gates for Jenova to begin influencing him...accessing him...becoming him...maybe in a way trying to resurrect...the way he was being resurrected...basically same thing all the time...just with extra steps as they say... And I too believe that from that point after encounter with Elf that he begins to reconsider his life, or rather truly consider it as a life for the very first time, rather than simply following the plan, and most literally generic and mental programming he received since before his conception...

[@LinaSan]

I love these videos, and I'm puzzled by the choice of having Lina Inverse as Chaotic Neutral, and would certainly LOVE a video exploring her, like you did for other characters on the chart (Joker, Sephiroth) because I want to see where she starts and where she ends, on your opinion.

[@tillybender9696]

I do love the fact that your "Live Action" version of him is Matt Mercer in cosplay. To be fair though, he was known as "Hot Sephiorth" before he became a voice actor and D&D Master on Critical Role

[@TheLoadingCrew]

I mean...this is a dnd channel

[@pvdude17]

loved the shorts of the abridged versions

[@bryanguzman8611]

you give sephy a shift into chaotic good a few times cause he puts his friendships first even though that also means he knows that they pose a real threat to civilians. Putting your own personal feeling over the greater or common good is selfish and should be marked as Chaotic Neutral shifts not chaotic good.

[@_Cursed_Queen_]

Stuart: “..Live action? Awesome.” Me: “..is... is that Matt Mercer?”

[@TheLoadingCrew]

yup

[@Ryukikon]

Sephiroths goal that is stated at the end was stated in FF7

[@musicalfoxes3021]

HOW DARE YOU. Crisis Core was the bomb! The graphics! The weird-ass gameplay! The squat style training! I loved that game and you are a villain. TT.TT

[@TheLoadingCrew]

fair :) story bad tho

[@SiegahertzCarmin]

If i'm not mistaken, the director of FFVII said that at the Nibelheim insident, by bying so close to Jenova, Sephi was influence by the alien monster and fell into the same mindstate as... well Kadaj and co. He try to retrieve his mother at any occasion, and then, Jenova is the one doing the talking most of the time for the first half of the game. then there is a shift between the two. Sephi become more and more in control over Jenova. That's why, his shift seems so brutal.

[@darknight94ful]

Before the video i'm gonna try and guess, Neutral evil. He killed cloud's mother...

[@GyariSan-kj8lr]

Just wondering, that Stained Glass Alignment chart are the characters as follows? Lawful Good: Captain America Neutral Good: Sora Chaotic Good: Ash Ketchum Lawful Neutral: Judge Dredd True Neutral: Haku Chaotic Neutral: Lina Inverse Lawful Evil: Darth Vader Neutral Evil: Sephiroth Chaotic Evil: The Joker

[@blackchibisan8116]

Sephiroth’s “insanity” to me seemed to be more of what I call grief madness as his understanding of the world and perception of himself was completely destroyed. Embracing his new identity, with gusto. When he finished embracing his new identity and understanding of his true heritage he was no longer insane but the same brilliant man he once was enacting his own form of justice on behalf of his mother.

[@SanguineRoku]

The real question is are you going to do *every version* of Sephiroth, both the various clones in FFVII and the various forms in other media, or are you going to stick to just the 'prime' version from FFVII and consider any of the clones puppeted along the way to be the same person for the purposes of overall alignment

[@SanguineRoku]

Also wondering how FFVII:R will change this overall chart once that saga's done and we know more about Sephiroth, since his appearance and actions are more common in the remake, apparently

[@TheLoadingCrew]

I address it

[@TheLoadingCrew]

this video is 31 minutes long for a reason

[@SanguineRoku]

@@TheLoadingCrew My condolences for the amount of time it must've taken to go through all that, then.