Top 30 Final Fantasy Villains - #5



#5 - Sephiroth
(Final Fantasy VII)

Well, we’re in the home stretch. These last 5 villains are all favorites in my eyes, and while certain criteria may have ranked some over others, these are the epitome of Final Fantasy villains, the absolute best of the worst. And kicking off the top 5 is arguably the most iconic, recognizable villain in the series: Sephiroth. Final Fantasy VII is, for better or for worse, the face of the series, and as a result when people think of villains from the series, Sephiroth is one of the first ones to come to mind.

Sephiroth was the son of Professor Hojo, who injected him with Jenova cells while his wife Lucrecia was still pregnant with him, giving him superhuman abilities and consequently leading to him becoming a super soldier. On a routine mission to the small town of Nibleheim, Sephiroth discovered the experiments that created him, and after going down the rabbit hole trying to untangle the mystery of his origin, and in his deranged state, came to several wrong conclusions. Namely, that Jenova, the alien monstrosity that nearly wiped out the planet, was his mother, and that their kind was to inherit the earth before mankind threw them under the bus. He careened off the deep end, deluded into believing it was his duty to carry out his mother’s work and wipe out mankind and become a god.

So what makes Sephiroth one of the best villains of the series? Well, first things first, the buildup. From the very beginning of the game, we hear his name mentioned a few times without any real context, but you get the impression that he’s a big deal. And when they finally start to explain just who Sephiroth was, the dialogue describes him as being inhumanly and terrifyingly powerful. And you know what? They’re underselling it. We are shown in flashback just how strong Sephiroth was in his prime.

It’s often stated by his detractors that he has no personality. And while he does not show up in the story personally enough to display a rich characterization, saying he has no personality is an oversimplification. Two instances come to mind. First is when the party sees a vision of him going through the Temple of the Ancients, he’s expositing about his ambitions while laughing like an utter lunatic, further selling us on his madness. Second, when Cloud is mourning the death of Aerith, Sephiroth is standing over the two gloating, and his dialogue basically amounts to “Don’t worry. Soon, she will be a part of ME!” establishing that in addition to being completely off his rocker, he’s an utter narcissist.

And yeah, as I mentioned earlier, he is responsible for killing Aerith in one of the series’ most famously tragic moments. As I mentioned before with Exdeath, actually killing one of the heroes is a rarity even among the most competent villains of this series. The way it happens is just chilling, too. There’s no heroic sacrifice she makes. The murder is senseless, sudden, and meaningless. And while you could argue that isn’t very good storytelling, that’s the way death is in real life. As such, it stands out among the other deaths this series had.

The rest of the qualities he exhibit are obvious. He has a ridiculously memorable design, with his long silver hair, black trenchcoat, distinctive and freakishly long katana, and intimidating figure. He’s got scary theme music, radiates menace whenever he is around, and has solid boss battles to his credit. He’s the series’ most iconic villain for a reason, but the best? I would argue that the next four villains have him beat.