Jenova Experiments asside from Project G/S

[Obsidian Fire]

One of the things gone into in "The Kids Are Alright" is one result of a Jenova experiment that appears to predate Projects G and S. The way it is described is really weird and the thing that is produced is... down right odd given other things that we know.

Here's the text from our translated version of TKAA that explains it in more detail...

The doctor went back to the sofa, opened a book, and began to read. Well, I say book, but it was more like some documents that had been filed. I casually looked while listening to the call tone, and saw a photograph, which took up a whole page. It was a picture of some sort of grotesque thing. When I looked closer, it was an arm, which had been cut off above the elbow. It was slim, maybe a woman’s arm. It seemed to be dried up, but also fresh in certain places. I couldn’t imagine what kind of process it would take to keep a human body in such a state.

“Are you looking at this?” The Doctor seemed to notice that I was looking over his shoulder “I guess this is what they call a mummy.”

“A mummy?”

“If the correct environmental variables are present after death, the body doesn’t decay or become a skeleton, but instead stays like this.”

-----------------------

“It was called Jenova. The apple of my eye”

Saying that, Dr. Drake pointed at the pictures and grinned.

“That’s an arm, right? The arm of a woman.”

“You could say that, and you could say that it isn’t. It’s said that Jenova would read the human consciousness, and control it. Also, a number of experiments were conducted using it’s cells. This arm is a product of those experiments. The mummy is a human woman, and also Jenova.”

I looked at my mother again, thinking that this was it. Then, I noticed that below the chest area of my mother’s jacket there was an odd bulge. I crouched down, and lowered the zipper of the jacket. She was wearing a yellow sweater underneath. At her stomach, I found a package wrapped in a checkered handkerchief. The handkerchief looked familiar. It was one that my mother used often. I reached out to pick it up.

“It’s warm.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

I didn’t really know why, but I wondered if it kept my mother warm until the end.

“Mom, I’m borrowing this.”

So that the one most important to me wouldn’t freeze. I took the wrapped parcel from the jacket, and handed it to Kyrie.

“Are you sure?” Kyrie hesitated.

“It’s kinda creepy since you don’t know what it is, I guess.”

-----------------------

“Ah!” Kyrie was about to fall. She flailed her hands and feet around like she was doing a dance. As Kyrie fell, the checked handkerchief came loose, and the contents flew out and fell to the ground.

Just as I rushed to Kyrie to help her…

“Evan, look.” Kyrie pointed at the contents of the package that slid slowly onto the ground.

I looked and saw what appeared to be a weird piece of dried up flesh… It had to be the mummy that I had seen in the the photograph.

“There’s no use trying to esca—” The voice coming from behind us stopped part way.

When I turned around, I saw he was looking at the mummy. The mummified remains of Jenova.

“Mother… MOTHER!?” The boy stumbled towards the lifestream.

I rushed to the piece of the monster lying there, and kicked it toward the hole in the ground. It rolled, as intended, and fell into the hole.

“What have you done!?” The boy slipped through us – literally slipped through us – and chased after Jenova.

Jenova floated on the surface of the water for a moment, but soon sank.

The first thing to point out is that this arm was probably not detached from Jenova's "main form" in the Nibelehim Reactor during the OG. We see that form with two arms in artwork all the way back in the OG and up to Remake. So... whatever this arm is... if it is from the "main form" of Jenova, it was probably detached very early into the Jenova Project... and then Jenova's "main form" regrew an arm? Maybe. Or the arm was... kinda grown from Jenova Cells from scratch. Like they're some weird kind of stem cells? Either way, the origin of this arm is really crazy and messed up. At bare minimum, we now have three arms for Jenova all existing at the same point in time... and one of them isn't attached to her... (not that that means much given how Reunion Theory works...)

The second thing to point out is that this arms seems to be linked to the Reunion Project that was operating out of the Nibelehiem Manor. How it got there, I don't know, but it was almost assuridly in Hojo's possession while this was going on. Annette Townsend somehow got a hold of the arm while keeping an eye on the Nibelehim Clones and then... tried to take it with her to the Northern Crater... for Reunion.

The third thing is that... this arm isn't dead. It's alive. At least in part. Which means... it's probably linked up to both Jenova's and/or Sephrioth's will depending on when in FFVII you're talking about. This does match up to AC and CC when it comes to depictions of Jenova's "main body" where she's got a glowing red eye that is doing creepy things like tracking the camera... wonder what else Jenova could do with her partially alive body...

All this to say... At some point in time... Shinra was doing experiments on Jenova herself. One of those experiments resulted in a third arm of Jenova's at some point in time and that arm isn't all the way dead yet. And this arm was connected to the Reunion project at the very least.

My question is... what other experiments on Jenova did Shinra do... and what other... "body parts" were produced as a result. How can we know that Jenova's "main body" up at the Nibelheim Reactor is the only major source of Jenova Cells/Tissue now? This really opens a can of worms for more viable "parts" of Jenova to turn up in other places than just the Nibelheim Reactor... And that... kinda terrifies me...

 

[Makoeyes987]

I honestly think that's simply one of its arms it had that ended up regenerated during it's confinement.

Remember, Jenova may be inactive but it's still very much alive. Whatever the Cetra did to it put it out of commission while still capable of maintaining its life functions.

It may be capable of remaining so biologically active thanks to a combination of its regenerative abilities and Shinra actively "feeding" it mako energy. I believe that's the reason Shinra has it in the Drum and hooked up to mako energy pipes. So it stays "fresh" and no longer dessicated like a mummy.

 

[JBedford]

Surely they chose to write about Jenova's arm because Jenova doesn't have arms and therefore if there is a piece of Jenova left on the planet, that would be it?

Jenova lacks forearms or elbows. Exactly where it says it's been cut off from.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Jenova is a shapeshifter who's been dissected, vivisected and experimented on for over 30 years. I would find it very hard to believe how it looks in FFVII and its flashbacks would be the same appearance it had when first excavated and dragged to Shinra many years ago. It could go either way, honestly.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Jenova actually doesn't *lack* arms. They're just tied behind her torso in all the art. There's a few early concept arts from the OG that show the side and back views of her *with* arms. And we see them in the Remake even while the Copies are lugging her body around.

 

[JBedford]

The artwork shows that her arms connect straight into her wing things. In Crisis Core you can see her without arms (and I'm sure someone with a model viewer can confirm). I can't comment about Remake though, have not seen.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Actually, I thought the Crisis Core Jenova featured arms behind her back

 

[JBedford]

If that's what's going on i want to see. I don't have the files on my computer anymore. @Shademp

 

[Shademp]

Spoiler: Dumps from Noesis model viewer

Because there isn't enough model data on the backside we can't tell for sure if Jenova has human-like forearms that are hidden inside the orange-red organic "wings" or if Jenova's forearms ARE her gooey-fleshy wings.


EDITED TO ADD:
The feet are also not drawn so we don't know if Jenova actually has human-like feet.

Spoiler

 

[Makoeyes987]

I always took it as Jenova having its arms behind its back. Which matches its OG FFVII and FFVII Remake artwork.

 

[Shademp]

The only thing we ever see are Jenova's upper arm sections, never her forearms.

Spoiler: Jenova OG concept art

^The way that her forearms aren't rendered even here makes me lean more towards the idea that this form of Jenova doesn't have forearms, just the upper parts which then transition to the organic wings.

Spoiler: Remake screenshot and artwork

^I have not confirmed myself with FFVII Remake art books if this art is official.

 

[Cae Lumis]

The only thing we ever see are Jenova's upper arm sections, never her forearms.

Spoiler: Jenova OG concept art

View attachment 9625

^The way that her forearms aren't rendered even here makes me lean more towards the idea that this form of Jenova doesn't have forearms, just the upper parts which then transition to the organic wings.


View attachment 9626

Spoiler: Remake screenshot and artwork

View attachment 9627


View attachment 9628

^I have not confirmed myself with FFVII Remake art books if this art is official.

I have the Materials Ultmania, I can confirm this concept artwork for Jenova is in there and is thus official:

Spoiler: Warning, Large Images

 

[Clement Rage]

After you defeat Jenova in the cargo ship, Cloud refers to that monster as 'the right arm' of Jenova. Leaving pieces of herself lying around is kinda her thing.

 

[JBedford]

After you defeat Jenova in the cargo ship, Cloud refers to that monster as 'the right arm' of Jenova. Leaving pieces of herself lying around is kinda her thing.

I was thinking about that but couldn't remember if it was actually called an "arm" in the game. It more resembles a tentacle of some kind. But yep, Cloud says "The arm of Jenova" ジェノバの腕だ.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

Official translations for reference.

He plopped back down on the sofa and returned to his reading. As I waited for Strife Delivery Service to pick up, I peered at the open file with idle curiosity. The doc was looking at a large photograph of something medical and gross – upon closer inspection, I could see it was an arm that had been amputated above the elbow. Slim, probably a woman's. The dry, shriveled skin had patches of healthy-looking spots; I couldn't imagine how any part of anyone could end up like that.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Dr. Drake said, noticing that I was staring over his shoulder. "It's mummified flesh."
"Mummified?"
"If the environmental conditions are right, a body won't rot after death. The flesh is preserved, like this."

-----------------------------------

"Jenova, they named it. How I longed to meet her." Dr. Drake pointed to the photo with a winsome smile.
"So it did belong to a woman?"
"Yes and no. They said Jenova could read human minds and even control them. The cells were used in many experiments. The mummified arm in this picture is from one of those. It belonged to a human female but also to Jenova."

One more time, I thought, giving my mother a last look. And I noticed an odd bulge beneath her jacket.
I hunched down and unfastened it. She was wearing a yellow sweater, and tucked under it I found something wrapped in a big checkered handkerchief. I knew that handkerchief; she'd used it a lot. I reached out to take the bundle.
"What the –? It's warm."
"How can that be?" said Kyrie.
"I don't know." Whatever it was, maybe it had helped keep her warm at the end. "I'll just borrow this Mom." So I can give it to someone else who's important to me. I passed it over to Kyrie.
She hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"I guess it is kind of creepy when we don't know what it is..."

----------------------------------

"Argh!" Kyrie slipped then, her arms and legs flailing in a clumsy imitation of a dance. She hit the ground, and as she did so, the checkered handkerchief came undone, and the thing inside flew out.
I rushed up to her and–
"Evan, look." She pointed at the thing that had fallen out of the handkerchief, now slowly sliding across the ice.
It was unsettling – some kind of shriveled piece of flesh. And I recognized it. That was, beyond question, the mummified arm from the photo.
"I said you won't get–" The voice behind us broke off mid-sentence.
I turned to see the boy staring at the preserved limb. The piece of Jenova.
"Mother? Mother?!"
He staggered haltingly toward it. I dashed in first and kicked the monstrous fragment at the hole in the icy floor. It went spinning and, just as I'd intended, fell in.
"What have you done?!" The boy sprinted past us in pursuit. The Jenova piece bobbed on the water for a brief few seconds before it sank.

Only major difference is that there's no mention of Kadaj literally passing through them.
It just says he ran past.

 

[Sephiroth Crescent]

Wasn't there an early scenario which involved Jenova's mummified arm?

Edit: Found it. Here. It involved other body parts too.
Oh Remake... what you gonna do when they come for you?