Today we’ll be looking at some of the scenarios that were left on the design room floor in the production of FFVII. Hitsohura has translated some of the scenarios and scripts from the Early Material File section of the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega and most of these scenarios in today’s post involve Jenova and her role within the story of FFVII. Also some bits regarding Tifa and Johnny are contained as well. Enjoy, and know that there are more deleted scenarios to come. Enjoy the “deleted scenes” of the original FFVII!

The ideas of many staff members went into creating the story for FFVII, and there were a lot of scenario ideas and scripts that ultimately got rejected. Here is a sample from that massive document.

-=Opening=-

“Mako Energy… Energy residing within this planet… In a short span of time, its existence has changed the lives of people. Just as people once drew water from wells to quench their thirst, the mako energy drawn out of the earth by mako reactors has illuminated this world. Street lights, locomotives, factories, guns, towns, the world… everything ran by the power of mako energy.

But wellsprings will one day run dry. Those who called themselves cultured left behind the fractured earth, and took up residence in a misshapen city built in the sky, covered in iron plates and the stench of sewage. Towering high at the center of this city was the building of the ‘Shinra Company’, the corporation who planned to gain control of the world through its monopoly of mako energy.

And on this day as well, somewhere, another battle wages against ‘AVALANCHE’, a terrorist organization who directly oppose Shinra’s energy policies.”

[movie starts]

The pitch black void of space. Countless stars scattered throughout. The camera slowly drifts amongst it. A deep red star enters the frame at the center of the screen. Suddenly the star in the void sparks and bursts into flames. Just like a match being lit…

As the camera pulls back, we find that it really was a match. What looked like space was a dim back alley. And what looked like stars were sparks from a bonfire. As the camera pulls back further…

A girl, Aerith, takes the match she just lit over to a lamp. She picks up a basket containing bouquets of flowers and stands up, then leaves the alley. As she exits the alley, we see the hustle and bustle of Midgar. The camera gradually rises up into the sky. Finally, the full view of Midgar’s contorted form comes into vision. The girl is no longer in the view of the camera.

The camera once again begins to near the ground. Its view is directed towards a train speeding along the surface. The camera closes in just above the train. All of this has been one single shot. The train arrives at its final stop, at the center of Midgar. An everyday scene of the commuters getting off the train.

-=Battling Jenova=-

[ Cargo Ship ]

The stomach area of Sephiroth’s cape seems to flutter, then something comes shooting out from inside it. The object just misses the team and smashes into the wall behind them, and the team is knocked down by the impact. When they get up and look toward Sephiroth, he is no longer there. The wall where he was has been destroyed, and he has escaped through there. Cloud looks at the object Sephiroth threw. It’s a mummified right hand.

Tifa: “That’s disgusting, what is it?”

Red XIII: “This was in the lab at the Shinra building. A specimen of the Jenova mummy.”

Aerith: “Sephiroth’s mother’s…”

Barret: “Yeah, the beaker there was all smashed up, wasn’t it? That means Sephiroth took that mummy from there?”

Aerith: “But why?”

Cloud: “Because it’s his mother?”

Tifa: “Look at the hand! It’s moving!”

Jenova’s right hand transforms into a monster (Jenova 1 – Jenova: Right Arm).

[ On the Road from Cosmo Canyon to Nibelheim ]

Man in Black Cape: “Cease following me… Cloud! If you persist any further, you will end up losing sight of yourself. Of who you really are…”

An object flies from his cape. The main body of the man in the black cape runs off ahead. The object transforms (Jenova 2 – Jenova: Thumb). When you defeat it, the dead body shrinks into a thumb.

Red XIII: “First an arm, and now a thumb.”

Cloud: “Lose sight of myself…?”

Red XIII: “I wouldn’t give much notice to the ramblings of a monster.”

[ Temple of the Ancients ]

Suddenly, the man in the black cape appears. He steals the Black Materia and disappears. As if to block the party in chase, the man in the black cape throws something at them. It is a part of Jenova’s body. It transforms into a monster (Jenova 3 – Jenova: Knee).

[ Forgotten City ]

Cloud is in a rage at the death of Aerith. The man in the black cape quickly flies off into the air and escapes, leaving behind a glowing object… The object transforms into a monster (Jenova 4 – Jenova: Leg). A 1-on-1 battle between Jenova and Cloud.

Jenova: “Cloud…. You think you have won, but are you so sure? Sephiroth heads for the Great Northern Glacier. However, the closer you get to Sephiroth, the closer you walk towards destruction. But will you still go on?”

[ The Promised Land ]

Man in Black Cloak: “My mission was to lead you this far. To lead the one who had visited the ruins of the Ancients, and gained knowledge of Meteor…”

Cloud: “Knowledge of Meteor…?”

Man in Black Cloak: “…This is the end… my mission… is over… my… Jenova’s mission. Jenova…”

The man turns to face Cloud. He slowly takes off his hood and… he has no face! He takes of the whole cloak, revealing he has no body… Save for a single part. A heart floating in midair.

Cloud: “Jenova’s… heart!? Then where’s Sephiroth?”

Tifa: “Then who have we been chasing so far? It wasn’t Sephiroth?”

Cid: “Oi! What’re you two standing around for! It’s coming right for us!”

The heart transforms (Jenova 5 – Jenova: Heart). After the party defeats it, they find the Black Materia left behind. The party successes in retrieving the Black Materia.

* Originally, it seems the reason that the different parts of Jenova kept the name of that part of the body was to make it easy to realize that the Jenova from Shinra Building was detaching parts of its own body as it heads towards Sephiroth.

(Editor Note: Sephiroth’s followers in Black Coats were originally parts of Jenova concealed by their cloaks, capable of thought. It was from them that pieces of Jenova would be cut off and fought by Cloud and the group. They were to be around the same size as Sephiroth while also not being Sephiroth himself. EDIT: Hitoshura has suggested that rather than there being more than one, there was just one man in black, Jenova, who was cutting off bits of her body as she went towards Sephiroth until finally she’s just a heart. That’s…even creepier.)

-=Sector 7 Slums=-

[ In Seventh Heaven: A Suspicious Drunk ]

Behind the counter is a staircase leading underground. Down there is the hideout for AVALANCHE. A suspicious customer (one of the Turks) comes in pretending to be drunk.

Tifa: “Oh, I’m sorry, sir. We’re closed for today.”

Customer (stumbling around): “I haven’t had enough to drink. Just one more. Ooh, aren’t you a pretty one!”

Tifa: “Please stop teasing me, sir!”

Customer: “Now, don’t get mad, don’t get mad! I am a customer, you know.”

Tifa: “Well, we’re closed for today!”

Customer: “… Alright, ma’am. (Just before leaving) Lady, you’re one fine looking woman. … So this is my last look…. what a shame. Well, if you’ll excuse me.”

Cloud: “That guy… he wasn’t drunk, was he..?”

Tifa: “No…”

You can follow him if you want, but you lose sight of him. Tifa stays behind.

[ Conversation with Johnny ]

Johnny: “You didn’t look like just another average guy, but bloody hell, her childhood friend… My Tifa’s… Just what are to my Tifa now, then!”

“We’re just childhood friends.” >Choice 01
“That’s really none of your business, is it?” >Choice 02

Choice 01 Response> Johnny: “But Tifa don’t feel like that. Aaah, why did she ask you! Why not me? I’d save her if she were in trouble! But that’s not gonna happen. I ain’t got nothin’. No memories under starry skies or talks of childhood dreams. The most I’ve got is coming to the bar everyday and havin’ her pour me drinks. Oh, the pain! You! Childhood friend! Don’t think I’m gonna let you just up and leave now! Grr~!! You made a promise, didn’t ya!! You better not make my Tifa cry now!”

Choice 02 Response> Johnny: “Oh, I get it!! But don’t think I’m gonna let you just up and leave now! Nngh~! You made a promise, didn’t ya!! Tifa’s an angel in these slums, you better not forget that!”

Johnny: “I’m gonna go out into the world and become a proper man! Sayonara, baby! Hey, childhood friend! You better look after Tifa!”

** It looks like the reason Johnny left the Slums was because he was heartbroken at having Tifa stolen (?) from him by Cloud.