Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge's Roles in the Remake Thread

[Odysseus]

You know, my 1000th post was in this cursed thread oh so long ago. Might as well put my 4000th one here too lol. It's been a wild year, everyone.

 

[Tetsujin]

My god, this started all the way back in February? 2020 has messed with my perception of time way too hard.
Can't believe this went on for months too.

 

[ForceStealer]

I mean there started to be some genuine discussion about the game for a second there before you all just started agreeing with each other

 

[Odysseus]

I mean there started to be some genuine discussion about the game for a second there before you all just started agreeing with each other

I agree.

okay I guess here's something: Jessie is inevitably going to come up again at the gold saucer, how will they handle it?

 

[KindOfBlue]

okay I guess here's something: Jessie is inevitably going to come up again at the gold saucer, how will they handle it?

Depends on whether or not she’s alive and she totally is because the furniture is clearly arranged to spell out the kanji for—okay, I’ll stop now.
It’s really hard to say since we don’t know exactly how the timeline stuff works in this universe just yet.

There’s the idea from Maximilian Dood I mentioned before about her performing at Gold Saucer and not recognizing Cloud and the gang when they arrive, but presumably something would have had to have changed in the past to keep Jessie from joining Avalanche.

According to FF7R, she played the princess and seeing as how that role is occupied by either Aerith, Tifa, or Yuffie during the date in the OG, I don’t know if she’d still be doing that role by the time Cloud and everybody arrives.

My biggest question is if they’d bring back Jessie AND Biggs, the latter of whom we know is alive now. Maybe they’ll keep Jessie dead but if not, something tells me her along with everybody else who appears to be alive will suffer even worse fates.

 

[Odysseus]

The idea of Jessie being alive but having no memory of Avalanche is one I find interesting, but I feel like having that sort of concept going on along with having Biggs still being alive from the plate fall might overcomplicate things.

One thing you got me thinking of is that Dyne shooting up the GS staff might have more of an emotional impact if some of them are established as former coworkers of Jessie's or something

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

A thought: Jesse's folks lived on top of the plate in Sector 7 didn't they? How awkward if the TAT live and they don't, especially if Jessie never signed up. Sorry Biggs/Wedge, you're the Tragic Avalanche Twosome now and Jessie kinda hates you

 

[LNK]

I linked that subreddit to specifically point to its description:

View attachment 8585

its basically an inceldom offshoot :/

I guess waifu culture doesn't take kindly to polyamory.

(also I really don't know if I want to deep dive into what "kidfu" is).

Huh? Is this actually real? Like really real? Wow!

 

[Tetsujin]

I linked that subreddit to specifically point to its description:

View attachment 8585

its basically an inceldom offshoot :/

I guess waifu culture doesn't take kindly to polyamory.

(also I really don't know if I want to deep dive into what "kidfu" is).

 

[Torrie]

In FF7R Ultimania there was a picture of her in a stage outfit that I'd never seen before. I didn't even recognize her when I saw it. Can this image be found somewhere in her dad's room, or do you think it's a (yet) unused asset?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1309130487416446978

 

[Jimmy XH]

In FF7R Ultimania there was a picture of her in a stage outfit that I'd never seen before. I didn't even recognize her when I saw it. Can this image be found somewhere in her dad's room, or do you think it's a (yet) unused asset?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1309130487416446978

That photo was indeed amongst a couple of others in her dad's room. I believe there's an Ultimania page somewhere with more or less all of the photos from that room with her bio.

 

[Eerie]

I think maybe we could see some sort of hologram with her in her stage outfit? But I don't think we'll see her alive at the GS. For this to happen, she should indeed have her father not have that accident, and it seems unlikely. I thought that by moving the day Cloud arrives in the city, there's some time-changing shenanigans going on there, and it may be not so innocent as it seems. But the rest is probably more for a theory thread

 

[Ite]

Wait, she was the princess who gets kidnapped by Valvados in the play?? So now that the actor’s dead, they just get some broad in the audience to stand in?

Also, insert something about the role being cursed, especially if the Aeris date becomes canon.

 

[Odysseus]

Wait, she was the princess who gets kidnapped by Valvados in the play?? So now that the actor’s dead, they just get some broad in the audience to stand in?

Also, insert something about the role being cursed, especially if the Aeris date becomes canon.

TIL that the role of "Princess" in the play is FFVII's version of defense against the dark arts.

 

[lithiumkatana17]

Maaaaaan, I'm sure glad y'all couldn't hear my obnoxiously howling like a damn hyena while scrolling the latest pages of this thread, it probably would've made yours ears bleed. This rabbit hole truly knows no bounds.

Also that waifu reddit is perturbing on so many levels. I may not be the most well-adjusted person, but

Actually I'll just leave that one alone.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Edit because forgot to mention: Also reminded me how hot X is when he gets all authoritative.

I have a friend who's been playing through Remake the last few days, and I really do have to say that I genuinely dig the way that the game portrays the trio. Also, the way that Jessie is very much the actress putting on a character in everything that she does aside from when she's struggling with personal accountability is a really interesting foil to Cloud's persona starting to get peeled back when they interact, since they're essentially just both offering each other not-quite-honest versions of themselves.

It's especially interesting since at the start of the game, Cloud knows Tifa but she doesn't quite recognize "this" Cloud, whereas Aerith recognizes "this" Cloud but doesn't know him. Jessie serves really well as a foil to both of those interactions to help give some hints earlier on about what's going on with Cloud.

It's why I really like how Biggs & Wedge have other complimentary parts in starting to crack away at pieces of that, especially in the Chapter 3 mission, since helping to set up that gradual shift in his character was done really brilliantly. My friend has never played the original and knows nothing, but is picking up a lot of really interesting "not quite right" things just based off of the characters' interactions and vocal performances, and a lot of that is down to how meticulously they're intentionally set up by things like these comparative interactions.




X

 

[Odysseus]

Tbh Cloud's interactions with the Trio might be some of the most well written in the entire game. Having "new" dynamics with the edgy Cloud of the midgar section rather than just the ones we were familiar with was a huge breath of fresh air, and they go a long way towards establishing Cloud's characterization and future development.

Also shout out to how that shitty mouse doodle I did two pages ago got more likes than most of my high effort art lol.

 

[Eerie]

Yes, I really enjoyed how he started to soften and care about everyone there. It shows that Cloud is not an arsehole, and I quite like that. I think the most interesting thing to think about, is that Cloud arrived at Midgard but was very robot-like, in the way he's like "not interested" and trying to be cool and not caring. But this melts quite quickly, and he starts caring about everybody right away. And this is shown not only through Tifa and Aerith this time around, but also through the trio and Barret. As I see it, the sidequests can look not so interesting, but they force -Cloud- to get interested in what's going on around him, in people who are caring for him, etc. In that way, Remake is really very well-done.

It's like, he's becoming more humane as he deals with humans.

 

[Stiggie]

Yes, I really enjoyed how he started to soften and care about everyone there. It shows that Cloud is not an arsehole, and I quite like that. I think the most interesting thing to think about, is that Cloud arrived at Midgard but was very robot-like, in the way he's like "not interested" and trying to be cool and not caring. But this melts quite quickly, and he starts caring about everybody right away. And this is shown not only through Tifa and Aerith this time around, but also through the trio and Barret. As I see it, the sidequests can look not so interesting, but they force -Cloud- to get interested in what's going on around him, in people who are caring for him, etc. In that way, Remake is really very well-done.

It's like, he's becoming more humane as he deals with humans.

A small difference there is also that while in the OG, Cloud is also clearly seen changing, in the Remake he's shown to actively make an effort to change. We see him reflect on his negative behavior, and try to force himself out of it, it's not just gradual without him noticing, it's the result of him interacting with people, reflecting, and adjusting.

The most obvious examples of this are with the High-five with Aerith, and comforting Tifa. Aerith wants to high-five, he doesn't do it, she's hurt, he looks at his hand, he reflects, and then adjusts, and afterwards he's shown doing it without a struggle.
With Tifa she's in pain, he can't react, he looks at his hands, then adjusts, and forces himself to do the right thing.
Marle Chides him, he listens to Tifa in "alone at last".
He remembers the promise, and actively goes back on his earlier dismissal in order to be better.

But it's also extremely clear with the trio, which I didn't expect. Tifa tells him to play nice, and when going with Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, when given the option not to hear jessies story, he goes "no, I wanna hear it". That's him actively trying to be better. When he goes from ignoring Wedge to telling him he should be proud, that's not Cloud being different, and acting the way he is now, no, that's still him out of his comfort zone, but actively going out of his way to BE out of his comfort zone.

Remake Cloud isn't being changed by other people, he's changing himself FOR other people. And in that drive, I see "real Cloud" wanting to come out.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I think what's super interesting about it is that the interactions and situations is that they show something that we all inherently recognize as being "off" about Cloud. He's not changing who he is, so much as we see little parts of him starting to fight to be someone else.

This is why the little things like with Wedge calling him "bro" being something that he actively stands up against only to experience it even more with Johnny later on. I like Biggs' role in calling out Cloud for being like a kid, because that's what Aerith acts like with all of the other orphans and really why Cloud also being that deep down is what serves as a really effective punch for his to be the first loss that hits Cloud when he's all alone. He's holding back on Jessie being intentionally playful with him, but that's where Aerith starts to peel those cracks away, so that when Cloud sees her again with Tifa, those things manage to hit a bit more deeply – which makes both Tifa's & Aerith's Chapter 14 scene land brilliantly – but same for Barret's on talking about the more minor members of Avalanche.

There are so many really clever foils to show perfect facets of what's going on with Cloud's "self" at this point in the story, even before there's any contextual information to really get a handle on exactly how and why what's happening is happening. They are absolutely perfect in their role as introductory minor characters to the things that the rest of the party goes on to do in the story, and framing that everyone in that world is a human whose life is important.



X

 

[FFShinra]

So recently been on a plat run of the Remake, and I just realized something about the avalanche trio that makes me wonder about the world as a whole.

Jessie's cover with her mom is that she works as an actress at the Gold Saucer. Only comes home every blue moon. Yet her mom is always prepared for her to drop on in.

Makes me wonder what the logistics are for Jessie to travel from GS to Midgar. Clearly not easy enough to commute daily or anything, but it doesn't seem to be quite the to do of the player party either (which makes sense as the player is a fugitive in Shinra-controlled territories). But it does make me wonder the actual hows of normal regular travel. Clearly travel between the two continents is not forbidden. We do not see evidence of a Midgar airport in either the OG or the Remake. Does Kalm have a harbor? Does that random sub harbor in the OG near the desert play an actual part in travel in the lore?

Just putting this out there for discussion.

EDIT- Obviously Jessie is not in Gold Saucer of course, but her cover has to have some sort of basis in the reality of the world.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'm very interested in seeing how they'll expand on all of this in Part II.

 

[Chocobo Eater]

Just read through this for the first time over the last day and I think I've found something worse than the LTD wars. Holy shit.

On-topic, I didn't like Jessie. Kinda wish she was more of her reserved nerdy self like in the OG. Wedge on the other hand had me snickering more than a few times.

 

[KindOfBlue]

Yeah, all memes aside, I thought Jessie was okay at best...I was more sad about Tifa crying over Jessie’s death than Jessie’s death itself

Wedge, however, is best boy and deserves 72 cats teehee “pussies” lmao in the afterlife

 

[Odysseus]

I'm still not really convinced Wedge even died. You don't cut to black when it's supposed to be permanent. "Show the body" and all that.