FF7 Headcanons and Discussion

JBedford

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JBed
From what I've seen, even the Japanese are unsure whether "President" is meant to be his name or not. Because it's not an uncommon word to Japanese people, and they know it's a title in English. He'd also be the only character in the game to have his textbox name include his surname--you'd expect Rufus's dialogue to also be "Rufus Shinra" if "President" was a first name. Then again, the pres's surname is special because besides his, I think a surname only appears two other times in the Japanese version of the game, and just once in the English.

Every other character seems to be known by their first name, so the Shinra exec's first names are likely the names you know. Unless we believe "Reeve" is an exception. Hojo's a little more questionable (his name is a Japanese surname, and I think the only other kanji name is "Shinra"), but Gast is known by his first name.
 
But are they? Because of course you know that in Japanese surnames come before given names. It just seems very odd that all the executives would have known surnames as given names. I thought Gast's name was Faremis Gast, not Gast Faremis.
 

JBedford

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JBed
FFVII puts given name first in all instances of writing names. Gast appears alongside every other surnamed character in the Ultimania Omega and 10th Anniversary Ultimania as ガスト・ファレミス (just as he's named in the game, along with ル~ファウス神羅).

Reeve is also a surname, but at some point they decided that was his first name. At this point they're not locked into anything with the execs' names, but they're probably not renaming Reeve, and I don't think they'll be calling him Tuesti.
 

Rydeen

In-KWEH-dible
Clearly the President's name is Shinra Shinra.



OT:
Shinra family headcanon: The original impetus behind Rufus' distaste for his father's "bread and circuses" style of leadership was a childhood irritation at having to project an image to the public that they had a loving relationship. President Shinra strikes me as the type to have acted proud of child Rufus on camera while constantly cutting him down behind closed doors, the latter of which we see in Case of Shinra.

As Rufus grew up, his pragmatism created a political dimension to that irritation. Curiously, we never really get to see the differences in leadership styles (other than Rufus exhibiting a more results-driven style and bluntness on the board) between the two, so maybe we'll get more of this in the remake. There was also the whole parade thing, which appeared to contradict those philosophies (idk, maybe there were other reasons for it, but it just seemed like him jacking himself off lol) - I think the difference there was that that was more of an egotistical celebration of himself rather than the company. In his mind, the company was something that his father built. Hypocritically discrediting ostentatious displays of Shinra's glory would have been easy, because Shinra's glory wasn't his glory. If he hated his father, it would have made sense for him to also hate seeing his father show off, while touting solely political reasons.
 
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It's too bad Rufus doesn't get more of a chance to expand on his political philosophy, especially since post-Meteor he seems to be a changed man (unsurprisingly). I like your headcanon; however, I always undertood his position differently. I thought he was referring to the fact that his father spent a fortune on covering up disasters like Nibelheim because he was afraid the public would lose faith in Shinra's ability to keep them safe. Rufus didn't see the need for these cover-ups, because fear was just as effective at controlling people as - belief? - and a lot more reliable. Despite all this, he's astute enough to understand just how much the public loves a good show, whether it's a parade to inaugurate a handsome young president, or a state execution. He knows Tifa and Barret aren't responsible for Meteor, but he calculates that sacrificing two terrorists for the sake of avoiding mass panic is worth it. President Shinra squandered money left right and centre, while Rufus is all about the cost:benefit analysis.
 

Rydeen

In-KWEH-dible
It's too bad Rufus doesn't get more of a chance to expand on his political philosophy, especially since post-Meteor he seems to be a changed man (unsurprisingly). I like your headcanon; however, I always undertood his position differently. I thought he was referring to the fact that his father spent a fortune on covering up disasters like Nibelheim because he was afraid the public would lose faith in Shinra's ability to keep them safe. Rufus didn't see the need for these cover-ups, because fear was just as effective at controlling people as - belief? - and a lot more reliable. Despite all this, he's astute enough to understand just how much the public loves a good show, whether it's a parade to inaugurate a handsome young president, or a state execution. He knows Tifa and Barret aren't responsible for Meteor, but he calculates that sacrificing two terrorists for the sake of avoiding mass panic is worth it. President Shinra squandered money left right and centre, while Rufus is all about the cost:benefit analysis.

The space program disagreement is something that stuck out in my mind, so my thinking is influenced by that, and I have always tended to think of it in the sense of President Shinra wanting to entertain the people as a contrast to Rufus who thinks that the more expensive PR projects could be easily replaced by fostering a fear of Shinra's might rather than fostering a sense of benevolence. Actually, were there any instances in BC of Rufus expressing disapproval at any of the cover ups? Either way, I haven't thought about it, but since you mention it, I'm sure he probably would have, because they were undoubtedly extremely expensive. According to his apparent philosophy, utilizing fear of the enemy is equally effective and more cost effective than creating a false sense of security. I think I was focusing more on fear of Shinra whereas you are focusing more on the fear of the enemy. Though the more I think about it, compounded with the short length of his scenes in the OG, the more I realize it's actually kind of hard to gauge exactly what his political philosophies were supposed to be (both in theory and in practice).
 
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I don't think there's any evidence that he objected to the cover-ups, but since they're objectively stupid, pointless, and expensive, my headcanon is that he would have done. I'm not sure Prez Snr was interested in entertaining the people; the rocket launch had a real purpose in that Shinra père believed they might find the promised land in space. My feeling was always that Prez Snr wanted to keep the people lulled into a false sense of security: just pay your rates and Shinra will make sure nothing bad ever happens to you. Thus, all the bad things that happened had to be concealed or, if that wasn't possible, blamed on others. It goes without saying that Prez Snr didn't actually care whether bad things happened to people or not, since he was happy to crush an entire slum sector in order to kill five terrorists.
 

jazzflower92

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The Girl With A Strong Opinion
I don't think there's any evidence that he objected to the cover-ups, but since they're objectively stupid, pointless, and expensive, my headcanon is that he would have done. I'm not sure Prez Snr was interested in entertaining the people; the rocket launch had a real purpose in that Shinra père believed they might find the promised land in space. My feeling was always that Prez Snr wanted to keep the people lulled into a false sense of security: just pay your rates and Shinra will make sure nothing bad ever happens to you. Thus, all the bad things that happened had to be concealed or, if that wasn't possible, blamed on others. It goes without saying that Prez Snr didn't actually care whether bad things happened to people or not, since he was happy to crush an entire slum sector in order to kill five terrorists.

Well, he did believe that throwing money at people would keep them complacent.
 

jazzflower92

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The Girl With A Strong Opinion

When hearing "Remember Me" from Coco. It made me think that maybe before he left Gast sung a similar song to Sephiroth before he departed. I guess an assurance to always remember each other even if they have to depart from one another.
 

Agrippa

Pro Adventurer
Aerith has the memorization- and arithmetical skills of a genius.

This is barely even a headcanon since it's right there in our faces in Crisis Core. See Aerith's reaction after Zack builds a flower wagon.



In the span of 2-3 seconds Aerith is able to come up with- and count 23 wishes. Let's think about that for a second. How many wishes, critiques, comments etc can you come up with even for the most thought-provoking of subjects in less than thirty seconds? For that matter, can you easily count them all in just a few seconds? Chances are the answer to the latter question is "no".

The difference in intellect between Zack and Aerith is also further emphasized given what happens immediately afterwards. Aerith spends 10 seconds writing the note for Zack, then hands it over and Zack never questions how Aerith supposedly was able to write down 23 WISHES IN A SPAN OF 10 SECONDS. The scene is quite fluid with no indication of pauses that the audience wasn't allowed to see.

Going back to the counting, it's not like Aerith was pulling Zack's leg. She really did come up with 23 tiny wishes, as further evidenced by the note she wrote to Zack.


It is thusly my headcanon that, for example, Aerith always kept a close count in her head of just how many flowers there were in the church. She may even have kept it in memory how many flower petals were present. If a single flower or a single flower petal was missing, Aerith would know it.

In parallel to growing up and feeling different due to her Cetran heritage, Aerith may have felt an uncomfortable disconnect early on when she noticed that others just didn't naturally keep numbers in their head like she did. So beyond a few out-in-the-open Rain Man moments in her early youth, she kept her counting- and memorization talents to herself just so to not freak people out. With Zack however she knew that he was such an oblivious airhead that she didn't have to hide anything. This may be part of why she liked his company so much: She could be herself around him.
Maybe it wasn't that Zack was oblivious, but rather that he was impressed by her brains and quick-wittedness. While others may have witnessed Aerith's lightning fast mental arithmetic and thought her a freak, Zack just thought of it as one more reason to love and admire her as the woman of his dreams. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm getting shades of Cuchulainn and Emer here.
 

Suzaku

Pro Adventurer
Well, since this thread has been resurrected and I've had FFVII on the mind a lot lately for obvious reasons, I thought I'd share this. I don't know if I'd call this headcanon, pure fanfiction, or a pitch for a new game, but it's been bouncing around in my head since Dirge of Cerberus came out:

During the height of the Wutai conflict, SOLDIER was a comprised of fourteen units, the first twelve of which each served a particular role in battle and would be nicknamed accordingly, after traditional FF jobs, and each would be lead by a highly decorated commander that epitomizes that job.

The thirteenth unit would be a twelve-man special operations unit comprised solely of the commanders of each unit, only rarely convened under orders from President Shinra. The fourteenth would be a small, confidential black ops unit under President Shinra's direct command that was created following the Mass Desertion Incident, after which he lost faith in SOLDIER's upper command.

Following the cessation of hostilities with Wutai, SOLDIER's already diminished forces are dramatically reduced into a single unified force, to be broken up into ad-hoc units as necessary, and placed under control of the Public Safety Department, with the Security Department taking over as Shinra's preeminent military force.


Some example unit ideas:

1st Vanguard Infantry Unit "Paladin" – Commanded by the resolute Argento, this unit's motto is "first in, last out." As Angeal Hewley's mentor, Argento instilled in him the sentiment that weapons should only sustain wear when used to protect one's comrades, a notion that he in turn tried to ingrain in his own men after taking command of the unit when she mysteriously disappeared.

3rd Adverse Terrain Unit "Geomancer" – A combat unit whose specialty is traversing and fighting in difficult terrain. Due to the recent rampant flooding in Wutai, they often act as combat divers, outfitted with special gear designed for aquatic operations. Their commander was slain during the final months of the Wutai war.

4th Experimental Weapons Unit "Dark Knight" – A combat unit specializing in the application of newly developed arms, commanded by the brash Genesis Rhapsodos. The unit's members wield a wide array of unconventional weapons ranging from scythes to gunblades, and Genesis in particular has pioneered the use spellblades: experimental swords designed to draw out and maximize the power of a permanently integrated materia orb.

5th Guerilla Combat Unit "Assassin" – A combat unit specializing in guerilla tactics and other covert operations, such as sabotage, kidnapping, and assassination. Its members are adept at acrobatics, stealth, and evasion, and typically dual wield small bladed weapons such as daggers and sickles. Their commander was slain during the final months of the Wutai war.

7th Tactical Assimilation Unit "Samurai" – A special tactical unit created to study, assimilate, and undermine the tactics and martial arts employed by Wutai's elite swordsmen. Its commander, the taciturn Sephiroth, would rise to fame after surpassing the legendary warrior Gilgamesh and besting him in single combat, a morale-crushing defeat that Wutai never recovered from.

13th Special Operations Unit "Ragnarok"

14th Covert Operations Unit "Lost Force"

There would of course be others, such as an Aerial Combat Unit "Dragoon," Materia Support Unit "Sage," Materia Offense Unit "Magus," and so forth.


If incorporated into a game, the functionality would be similar to the Turks in Before Crisis or Class Zero in Type-0. Twelve commanders, each with a unique design and playstyle, participating in a variety of missions together and independently, before and during the conflict with Wutai. The story would depict their victories, defeats, rebellions, and the ultimate betrayal, when the surviving members of Ragnarok are killed by Lost Force after uncovering Deep Ground while investigating the disappearances of their comrades.
 
The marshes, where the Midgar Zolom dwells, are the dumping grounds for waste generated from all the mining done in the mountains. A hundred years ago there were natural marshes here, but they only amounted to 1/4th of the size of what is now currently a literal, nigh-dead wasteland.

In conjunction with the building of Midgar thirty-something years prior, the mining of mythril and other metals skyrocketed (or should we say, earth-rocketed) and more waste was generated than ever before. The entrance from the marshes (where we find the impaled Midgar Zolom) used to be a way from which workers entered the mountain but this function stopped when the waste material covered all potential roads and the native monster fauna became too hostile. The sole purpose of this former entrance is now to be the anus of the Mythril Mines. :wacky:

The Castanets (crabs) and Crawlers (snakes) encountered inside the mines used to live only in the marshes but with their old habitat gone they aggressively occupy the mines. The only thing now living in the marshes are the Midgar Zolom (plural), whose immense size and ability to survive in the chemical hazard of the marshes is because of the genetic experiments performed on their forebears 10-20 years ago.


I reckon I'm just regurgitating stuff written by hundreds of FF7 fanfics, but I only just the last few days developed this headcanon as a result of trying to imagine how FFVIIR Part 2 might add to FF7's world building.
 

Torrie

astray ay-ay-ay
I try to picture what Zack and Cloud were doing in Nibelheim for around a week while waiting for Sephiroth to come out of the mansion. I imagine they were doing some merc stuff around the town (hence Zack's desire to become a merc later in the story). They killed all monsters in the area. Probably had a sort of competition like Legolas and Gimli. They went fishing together. Zack visited Cloud's house and met his mother. All in all, they had a lot of heart-to-heart talks and bonding moments and maybe even kissed for the first time. And I'm fairly sure there's plenty of fanfiction about all of that, but I haven't looked (yet).

Nanaki had a romance with the female of his species ala Lion King "Caaaaaaaan you feeeeel the looooove toniiiiiight?"
This is adorable :D Thanks for a new tiny little bit of head canon.

Yes, but some Wutaians have names like Chekov and Staniv, so his name could be Vladimir Hojo.
I wouldn't mind that. Especially when pronounced with the true rolling R with as many trills as possible, to make him appear even more intimidating. VladimiRRRRRRRR. As for Chekov and Gorky, they are original surnames, and Staniv is a contraction also based on a surname, so I have a hard time seeing them as first names.
 
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