I don't think the "tall and intense bishonen" voice type really has an equivalent in the English Language. *We just don't talk that way.*
Tough guys who are really really intelligent are not... uhm, really a thing in Western Storytelling. Generally, characters will range on a sliding scale between Toughness and Intelligence. The smarter someone is, the less tough they are, and the tougher they are, the less smart they are.
Sephiroth is both, and that's a line that Western character actors seldom have to walk.
Brains vs. Brawn?
I knew a guy who was built like an ox in high school, and he's a teacher now at that high school, I believe.
I think that best equivalent to Sephiroth is actually a librarian- that's basically who he is- he reads books and is well-informed, and gathers knowledge from the lifestream. And to be honest, you need some muscle for lifting and circulating a lot of those books- so who says that you can't be strong as well?
"To exercise your mind, you must exercise your body"- The frog from the Reader Rabbit Reading ages 6-9 computer game, circa 1998.
Well technically it isn't arrogance if the person actually has the ability, is the thing. An arrogant person *thinks* they are better, but is only showing arrogance because deep down, they aren't *sure* they are better.
Remember that Sephiroth showed bits of vulnerability during the Nibelheim scene. If Sephiroth was sure of himself, I don't think that he would have snapped-
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“No…”( ma , masaka ......)「ま、まさか……」
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“…Was I?”(...... ore mo ?)「……オレも？」
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“…Was I created this way, too?”(...... ore hakoushite umidasa retanoka ?)「……オレはこうして生み出されたのか？」CLOUDCLOUD“…Sephiroth.”(...... sefirosu )「……セフィロス」
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“Am I the same as all these monsters?”( ore ha monsuta^ to「オレはモンスターとonaji datoiunoka ......) 同じだというのか……」
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“You saw it!( o mae mo mita darou !「お前も見ただろう！All of them…were humans…”koitsurano nakani irunoha ...... こいつらの中にいるのは……
He has a reasonable amount of ellipsis here (an aloof attitude? or thoughtfulness and doubt?), but he gets to the point- a bit emotionally. There is plenty of ellipsis afterwards, but Sephiroth will get emotionally to the point.
Other moments:
CLOUDCLOUD“We returned to Nibelheim.( ore tachiha niburuheimu hemodotta .「俺たちはニブルヘイムへもどった。
Sephiroth confined himself to the inn. sefirosu ha yadoya nikomori セフィロスは宿屋にこもり
He didn't even try to talk to me.”dare tomo kotoba wokawasoutoshinai ) 誰とも言葉をかわそうとしない」
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“Professor Gast…( gasuto hakase ......「ガスト博士……
Why didn't you tell me anything? doushite nanimo oshie tekurenakatta ? どうして何も教えてくれなかった？
…Why did you die?”...... doushite shin da ?) ……どうして死んだ？」
Sephirothsefirosuセフィロス“Let me be alone.”(1 nin nishitekure )「１人にしてくれ」
(deleted/international part)
“Ha, ha, ha, ha!”( hahahaha !)「ハハハハ！」
I think the deleted/international version's laughter highlights Sephiroth's trauma- he's extremely conflicted and pushed to insanity, especially since he's denied getting straight answers, which coincidently is similar to no one really supporting or believing in Oersted in Live A Live. And the one person who does try to support Sephiroth/Oersted (Zack/little kid) is ignored as being insignificant or a belief that the situation is too awful. It's also Sephiroth/Oersted giving up hope.
Sephiroth is absolutely sure he is the most perfect being in existence.
I think that one could argue after he retaliated, I think. We know that A. He seems to have a Messiah/God complex and B. A superiority complex, which is likely mixed in with his inferiority complex, which Sephiroth has inherited from Hojo (The Ultimania states that Hojo has this inferiority complex, which is at least part of what drives him to conducting unethical experiments. Also, as a comparison, Dr. Cid in Final Fantasy VI was said to be a genius by at least one character- the parallel is to Professor Gast in FFVII, but expanded on with Professor Hojo, who is also a partial stand-in for Kefka and his experiments/exploitation of Espers, plus Kefka is said (I believe) to be "pushing" or "forcing" Dr. Cid to do his work in FFVI- there is a similar scene/ or may be implied when Hojo offers to call Gast back into work at the Icicle Inn from one of the tapes, since Gast refuses to come back.).
Nevertheless, it's a forced retaliation- a full-on self-deception, conclusions reached from limited information from a book and a belief in the book's content, and/or a firm belief out of insanity. So, is Sephiroth sure? Yes, but under pressure and under denial that he's not wrong. He's justifying himself to be superior.
Also, while I am on the subject- Zemus in FFIV also emphasized superiority over the inferiority of residents of the party's planet. Kefka was a narcissist and (immaturely) stressed his superiority over his soldiers simply from cleaning his boots. It's likely that some of this is in Sephiroth's character, especially if we are talking about 1-year development cycle for FFVII, in which an emergency was called during the last three months, according to Takashi Tokita (
). If Square wanted to honor FF's legacy with the emergence of the Playstation and 3-D platforming and graphics and with a limited time span, then it's likely that there was a limited amount of time to develop Sephiroth; there's a fair degree of borrowing with his character from characters of previous titles.
From a production/legacy standpoint, Sephiroth has Kefka's narcissism, but it's more nuanced and opulent- Sephiroth's "you stupid fools" or "worthless creatures" vs. Kefka's "idiot" or "moron"- I'd argue that Hojo's inherited more of the bluntness from Kefka, as he uses Kefka's more direct terms, anyways.
What the English VA work is missing, in my opinion, is that sense of absolute self-assuredness.
Fair enough, but Sephiroth I don't think is self-assured as much as many believe him to be. It's a forced retaliation- it's flat-out denial of being a monster or at least retaliation from a moment of doubt, since it hurts Sephiroth's idea of his identity and his existence- the superiority/inferiority complex kicking up. Not only is everyone supporting him, seeing him as special, and Sephiroth feeling that he's special or different on inside (which is later/alluded/parallel compared to Cloud feeling that since he can't socially connect with or feel that the other kids in Nibelheim are stupid, that Cloud's different from them), he's driven to not be inferior or by default believes himself to be superior- the best of the best- cream of the crop.
Finding the monsters in the Nibelheim reactor shatters that perception for a moment from Sephiroth- he is a monster- this other, and also mass-produced, meaning that he has no purpose- he is a faceless sort of special, I assume. As another YouTuber put it, he looses his dignity for a moment.
It's a bit too coy, while also at times coming off a bit too singsongy. From the game's characterization of him, Sephiroth is cold. Like, emotionlessly sure that he is completely superior to everyone.
Hmm.
Sephiroth: "Ha, ha. Think {Cloud}!" “…{Cloud}? Ha, ha, ha…Oh, excuse me. You never had a name…”
「クックックッ…… 考えろ、CLOUD」<New>「……CLOUD？ クックックッ……これは失礼。 おまえには名前などなかったな」<End>
Lots of Japanese snickering here- クッ. The delivery is still cold, aloof, while intelligent. But the snickering or English "Ha's" seem more on the coy side, imo. He is almost teasing here- and if we are to compare "coy" with being "arch" for instance- "deliberately or affectedly playful and teasing", it fits the bill. I think Sephiroth is kid-like and blunt like Japanese Kefka in this scene. I think people need to remember that Sephiroth laughs around 15 times, verbally or nonverbally (especially if we count the deleted scenes in FFVII) in the original game. He barely laughs outside of it, let alone snicker or even put on a smug look.
Also,
Sephiroth: “Ha, ha, ha !; セフィロス「ハハハハハ！」
He gives a nice, open belly laugh here in the Nibelheim flashback. Can't say if that's cold and emotionally sure- it's more unstable, at least.
Sometimes, Sephiroth yielded to the flippant Kefka side of him in the games (The direct parallel here is to the Kefka/Locke scene at the Magitek factory in FFVI; it's very similar to the Northern Crater Nibelheim illusion scene, with both Sephiroth/Kefka lying about something to Cloud/Locke- the main difference being Sephiroth is smarter about it and Tifa/Celes actually being guilty/knowing something that Cloud didn't know at the time, whereas Kefka tries to lie (gives poor reasons- like Celes betraying others is in her nature- but why would she betray the group and rejoin the empire after betraying the empire first and the fact that Locke witnessed Celes being tortured for defying the Empire?) more blatantly and the plot (tries to back him up); I can't say if he was cold around the clock, really. Cold to the sheer point of patronizing Cloud and emphasizing the worthlessness of the group/Cloud.
True. Sephiroth is cold and believes that he's superior to everyone else, but it's not all the time in the original games. The general characterization of Sephiroth is cold (cruel, too) and aloof. With a sense of arrogance- and I don't care- do this and that professionalism. Which is later amped up to an extent. And then, there's the Kefka-esque or even Oersted-esque snapping that happens during the Nibelheim flashback. He literally goes Kylo Ren for a moment in the chamber with all the monsters.
I also think that Hoechlin's performance was about spot-on with his description of the planet crying.
Idk if that's the vibe I get when I hear his voice in English. Western culture has a bit more liberal of an attitude when it comes to expressing emotions. It also doesn't sound easy to do, in terms of acting.
Possibly.
He is not emotionless, either- he alternates between aloofness, adoration of himself, to sinister laughing, even sadness and despair during part of the Nibelheim flashback. Very Oersted-esque at points, if that is coincidental.
I'm willing to contribute to the iceberg of FFVII by referencing Live A Live- I think Sephiroth possibly has more of Oersted than fans have even considered- or at least there are potential references to Live A Live.
Meanwhile- back on subject. The Topic Creator can put in what I posted about Sephiroth being associated with Oersted/Live A Live. I believe due to Square's track record of homaging/taking plot points, characters, and themes from other games, even games that are outside of their numbered ones, it's still highly probable that they took stuff from the Knight chapter from Live A Live, especially since the name of the kingdom- Lucretia ルクレツィア is almost the same as Sephiroth's mother's name- ルクレッツィア, except for the smaller ッ. What's strange about this is that later additions to the compilation actually list Lucretia's name as ルクレツィア. So, the question is whether it's deliberately trying to be exactly the same name as the kingdom or the figure from history/legend. Anyways, it's an interesting connection, as Oersted, in a sense was abused by his kingdom, and ended up doing a lot of horrible things to it.
Sephiroth has a lot of tie-ins with Kefka, but his snapping and emotional battle is potentially similar to Oersted's in Live A Live, and no, I don't think it's because I like the two characters.
There's this allegorical reference to Sephiroth in the OG that many, MANY people have overlooked (due to the translation and a lack of perceiving the story in an ominous, theatrical manner as well), which is also foreshadowing to later parts of the game. It's a scene at the theater play at the Honey Bee Inn:
…The wind's calm now…...... kaze ga yanda ......……風がやんだ……
It's the curse of the resurrected Satan…yomigaerishi maou no noroi ka ... よみがえりし魔王の呪いか…
Our beloved Queen does not awaken…waga saiai no joou ha mezame nu ...... 我が最愛の女王は目覚めぬ……
The time is ripe…toki ha michi ta ...... 時は満ちた……
A legend has been passed on through generations……(... kodai yorikano chi ni tsutawa ru densetsu ...)『…古代よりかの地に伝わる伝説…』
[Deleted/international]
Legend…...... densetsu ...... ……伝説……
[in-game English]
…they sought the Promised Land…...... motome ruha , yakusoku no chi ...... ……求めるは、約束の地……
…one with blue eyes…...... aoki hitomimotsumono ...... ……青きひとみもつもの……
…and a great white sword on his back…...... hakujin no dai tsurugi wo se ni ...... ……白刃の大剣を背に……
…will not lead us to the Promised Land…...... yakusoku no chi he michibika n ...... ……約束の地へ導かん……
[Deleted/international]
…annihilation…...... hametsu ...... ……破滅……
…destruction…...... houkai ...... ……崩壊……
…a dark being…...... kuroki mono ...... ……黒き者……
…will guide you…...... omaewo michibiku ...... ……おまえを導く……
[in-game]
“Ohhh…I'm sorry.( uwa ~, suimashie ~ n .「うわ～、すいましぇ～ん。
Please remove the ancient curse!”kodai no noroi hayurushitee ~) 古代の呪いはゆるしてぇ～
Google Translate:
…… The wind stopped ……
Is it the curse of the resurrected Demon King ...
My beloved queen never wakes up ……
Time was full ...
"... a legend that has been passed down from ancient times ..."
…… Legend ……
‥ …… The promised land ……
…… A blue Hitomi also has ……
…… With a white-edged sword on the back ……
…… Do not lead to the promised land ……
…… Ruin ……
…… Collapse ……
…… Black person ……
…… Guide you ……
Wow, I'm sorry.
Forgive the ancient curse ~
Every bit of this is foreshadowing the end of disc 1- Aeris's death, Cloud losing control of himself to Sephiroth (the curse), and the fact that Sephiroth- the dark being, actually guides the party to literal destruction (Cloud giving Sephiroth the black materia to summon Meteor). The one with blue eyes and the white-edged sword on his back is Cloud (Cloud typically carries his sword on his back, and the Ultima version of his sword exhibits white edges).
What is also very interesting is the use of the term: 魔王- demon king, which can also be translated into Satan. However, 魔王, has shown up in both Live A Live as a key part of the story, as well as Chrono Trigger (Magus is actually called, "Mao"- 魔王). The phrase, resurrected demon king is incredibly fascinating, as Live A Live presented the idea of anyone, at any place and time, becoming the next demon king. It's possible that it's tying back to Tokita's (or FFIV's) idea of hatred will still continue to exist in men's hearts, even though (Zeromus) has been defeated. It's the idea that "hate" can continue to arise- a harsh reminder that evil can spring from anywhere. I think Sephiroth is tied into this idea of legacy in a similar sense to Oersted from Live A Live, anyways.
(Along with a few other errors)
