Final Fantasy VII

Lore & Background

The world of Final Fantasy VII is built upon the Lifestream, a flow of spiritual energy that sustains all life. Shinra, the global superpower, extracts this energy via Mako reactors, causing environmental decay. The protagonist, Cloud Strife, begins as a hired mercenary for AVALANCHE, a small resistance cell. As the story unfolds, Cloud's fragmented memories reveal his true past as a failed SOLDIER and his connection to Sephiroth, a former war hero turned apocalyptic threat.

In Their Own Story

The reactor exploded, and the plate fell. In the Sector 7 slums, a child's toy lay crushed under steel—a plastic Chocobo with one wing snapped off. Cloud watched from a distance, his Buster Sword resting on his shoulder, the weight of a thousand gil pressing heavier than the blade. He had taken the money, sure, but the faces of the dead—Tifa's empty barstools, the wilted flowers in Aerith's church—now clung to his conscience like rust. Somewhere beyond the city, Sephiroth laughed, a sound like grinding gears, and the planet wept in currents of green light.

Reader's Guide

The story begins with Cloud and AVALANCHE bombing Mako Reactor 1 in Midgar, a job that pays 3,000 gil but costs more than anyone can count. After a series of missions, Shinra collapses the Sector 7 plate, pancaking homes and dreams in seconds. The party escapes Midgar through a train graveyard and pursues Sephiroth across the planet. Key events include the death of Aerith Gainsborough at the Temple of the Ancients—a sword through the heart, a prayer unfinished—the revelation of Cloud's false memories (he never made SOLDIER; he was just a grunt), and the party's journey to the Northern Crater. There, Sephiroth summons Meteor, a fireball the size of a continent, threatening the planet. The party gathers the Huge Materia to stop it, ultimately confronting Sephiroth in a final battle within the Lifestream. The ending shows Red XIII and two cubs at the ruins of Midgar, the city's bones overgrown with flowers, implying life continues—but at what cost?

Did You Know?

• Aerith's death scene was intentionally kept secret from most of the development team to preserve its emotional impact.
• The game's opening cinematic of Aerith selling flowers in Midgar was one of the first uses of pre-rendered CGI in a major RPG.
• Cloud's iconic Buster Sword was originally designed to be a much smaller weapon but was scaled up for visual impact.