More Information On Sephiroth's childhood and showing Sephiroth as a child

[OneThousandCuts]

"I knew I wasn't like the other children."

To me, this one line speaks to how long Sephiroth's been considering his origins. Maybe the curiosity was only casual for the longest time, and not worth the trouble as Licorice kind of indicated, but the events of CC certainly brought it to a head.

And what a lonely thing to have to say...

He was probably trained a lot and not given much, if any, care that he should've had as a child.

I agree, but we also need to bear in mind that it doesn't take a beating or lab torture to leave a deep, maddening scar. Imagine learning from a very early age that for the most part, your person-hood doesn't really matter to anyone; only that which you can accomplish for your handlers. Maybe there's an exception here or there, but it's not enough to put a crack in the overwhelming truth, and the utter alienation that it can create.

We know that Sephiroth did try to let a select few in--Genesis, Angeal, Gast, and to a lesser extent, Zack. But from what I could see, there was always that sense of separation; that careful arm's length. Children sometimes convince themselves that they don't need what they aren't allowed to have, especially if it is something they truly do need. That kind of thing can really eat at a person as they get older, and the poignancy of what they lack begins to sink in and torment.

I wonder, was it the sudden realization that he may have been created that drove Sephiroth down into the manor's basement, or was it because he absolutely could no longer stand to be without an answer to his life-long feeling of being 'something else'? The disgust or even fear with which he spoke when saying, "...but not like this/....but this is not what I meant" makes me think it's more of the latter.

 

[Starling]

Here's the Kalm flashback version of the reactor scene:

*Sephiroth looks inside the mako pod*

Sephiroth: …now I see, Hojo. But, even doing this, will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast. This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy… that is, when it’s working correctly. Now… what does mako energy become when it’s further condensed?

Cloud: Uh, umm… Oh yeah! It becomes Materia.

Sephiroth: Right, normally. But Hojo put something else in there. …Take a look.

Cloud: Wh… what is this!?

Sephiroth: Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You’re different from the others, but still human. But, what are they? They’ve been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you.

Cloud: …is this some kind of monster?

Sephiroth: Exactly. And it’s Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That’s what these monster’s really are.

Cloud: Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you’re different? H… Hey, Sephiroth!

Sephiroth: N… no… was I? Was I created this way too? Am I the same as these monsters…

Cloud: …Sephiroth.

Sephiroth: You saw it! All of them… were humans…

Cloud: Human!? No way!

Sephiroth: I’ve always felt since I was small… That I was different than the others. Special, in some way. But… not like this… Am I… human?

From that, I get the impression Sephiroth didn't know for sure about Hojo's human experiments suspected it. That would explain why it took until Zack (presumably having said roughly what Cloud said in the flashback) pointed out that he'd excluded himself when explaining about how mako affect humans. At that point, he realized that this could be what made him different from others, causing him to doubt his humanity.

 

[jazzflower92]

For some reason, I do see that since he was trained from a young age to be a prodigal warrior that he was taught to kill as well. When you consider the kind of man Hojo is he would make his son get used to the idea of taking another life by making him actually kill people.

I do think there was some testing done on him because some supplementary stuff says that they learned all they knew about the effects of mako on the human boy by experimenting on Sephiroth.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Forgive me if this point was mentioned earlier in the thread; I'm sleepy and I haven't read the whole thing. Anyway.... The fact that all three of the Jenova Project babies became super-soldiers begs the question of what exactly Gast and his underlings thought the Cetra were. Did Gast think the Cetra had been super-powered warriors? Were Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth trained in the martial arts from their earliest childhood? What little evidence we have suggests that they weren't. Genesis seems to have spent his childhood deeply involved in whatever Banora's equivalent of the 4H Club was. He was heavily into apple farming and was a young entrepreneur.

So if it wasn't the purpose of the Jenova Project to breed super-soldiers, one wonders exactly when it became apparent that super-solders were what they had - accidentally - produced?

 

[Starling]

From what I found, president Shinra wanted the to make a human/cetra hybrid to lead him to the promised land. When their abilities ended p different than expected, they repurposed it for military application, reworking the process for use on people who were already born, whihc is how SOLDIER came to be. This of course came from Project S, since project G was considered a failure. I'm still looking into the relation between project G and Deepground. The Ultimanias say that Gast left Shinra around when he realized what Jenova was.

 

[Flare]

I still wondered why Gast didn't tell more people about his revelation. He must've felt extremely guilty, but still... when you just find out that an ancient being you thought was a kind of holy being called a Cetra, is nothing like a Cetra, wouldn't you want to let everyone else know? So that they wouldn't be using such dangerous cells to make more SOLDIERS? I know Shinra wouldn't care, but some of the employees might've.

 

[Starling]

He probably also realized his colleagues and the president didn't care. He may have even tried to take Sephiroth with him but ended up having to leave him behind. Besides, it's not like they had a living Cetra to compare to from the start, even if you assume Ifalna was with Gast during the escape rather than meeting him later.

 

[OneThousandCuts]

I do think there was some testing done on him because some supplementary stuff says that they learned all they knew about the effects of mako on the human boy by experimenting on Sephiroth.

Can you point to exactly what the supplementary stuff was? I'm inclined to agree, because that sounds familiar, but when it comes to canon it all depends on how authoritative the supplemental source was.

At least some mild experimental procedures, even if only in the form of more frequent than usual medical check-ups and blood tests, would provide an explanation for how/ when Shinra realized they had created super soldiers.

The Ultimanias say that Gast left Shinra around when he realized what Jenova was.

It was not terribly long after Aerith's birth. He decided to cut "all ties" with Shinra after Ifalna fully explained the situation with Jenova to him.

I still wondered why Gast didn't tell more people about his revelation. He must've felt extremely guilty, but still... when you just find out that an ancient being you thought was a kind of holy being called a Cetra, is nothing like a Cetra, wouldn't you want to let everyone else know?

I have to wonder if maybe the recordings with Ifalna, the only person who could truly speak to what a real Cetra was, weren't for the exact purpose of blowing the whistle on the Jenova Project. Aside from adding to a library of research, what other purpose could they have served?

 

[Starling]

It was not terribly long after Aerith's birth. He decided to cut "all ties" with Shinra after Ifalna fully explained the situation with Jenova to him.

He left 5 years before she was born. The recordings were made while he and Ifalna were already in hiding. I recall contradiction about whether Ifalna escaped with Gast or met him after he left.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

It was not terribly long after Aerith's birth. He decided to cut "all ties" with Shinra after Ifalna fully explained the situation with Jenova to him.

He left 5 years before she was born. The recordings were made while he and Ifalna were already in hiding. I recall contradiction about whether Ifalna escaped with Gast or met him after he left.

Yes, this is the kind of thing I hope they don't clear up. Gast's willingness to wash his hands of the project when he discovered he'd been barking up the wrong DNA reflects badly on him irrespective of when he met Ifalna. However, on the balance of the evidence I'd vote for him having met Ifalna first, and the two of them then deciding to flee together, for the following reasons:

1. Why would he suddenly decide to flee Shinra and go into hiding? Even if he'd realized that Jenova wasn't a Cetra, he had no way of knowing what she was. Only Ifalna knew Jenova was a virus. Did he flee because he was afraid of being punished for getting it wrong? That seems more likely. But despite his error, the project had some very positive results, so I wonder if President Shinra would have cared.

2. How did Shinra come to know about Ifalna in the first place?

By the way, I wonder why Project G was deemed a failure? Sephiroth might have been the strongest of the three but Angeal and Genesis could hardly be described as failed super-soldiers, and nobody knew about the degradation problem until shortly before the end of the Wutai war.

 

[Starling]

I think Angeal and Genesis didn't exhibit the traits they were looking for, so maybe they were too normal as kids and only showed notable differences once they got into SOLDIER. A possible explanation for Gast's departure besides learning what Jenova really was would be that Hojo was getting out of hand and gunning for Gast. It wouldn't be surprising, as he ma not have been happy with the way Gast was influencing Sephiroth, taking away some of his control over the situation. From what we see and hear of Gast, he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't have left Sephiroth as he was if he could do anything about it.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

From what we see and hear of Gast, he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't have left Sephiroth as he was if he could do anything about it.

What makes you think that?

 

[Starling]

Well, I think it's telling that Sephiroth seems to respect him so much. Even if nostalgia's in play, Sephiroth would have good reason to hold on to that respect for all those years. From the recordings with Ifalna, he also seems like a good husband/father, not wanting to push Ifalna when he noticed her unease.

 

[Stryfe]

2. How did Shinra come to know about Ifalna in the first place?

I'm sure that since Gast was such a high profile Shinra Scientist, they had eyes on him at all times. If he ever met anyone outside Shinra, they would probably know about it and make sure he wasn't leaking any company secrets or anything, so it makes sense that they would know about Ifalna as well.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

2. How did Shinra come to know about Ifalna in the first place?

I'm sure that since Gast was such a high profile Shinra Scientist, they had eyes on him at all times. If he ever met anyone outside Shinra, they would probably know about it and make sure he wasn't leaking any company secrets or anything, so it makes sense that they would know about Ifalna as well.

Yes - if he met her before going on the run from Shinra. But if he only met her after escaping from Shinra - when they didn't know where he was - they wouldn't have known whom he was having contact with. In the latter case, they would have had to have discovered her identity independently.

 

[Stryfe]

Yes - if he met her before going on the run from Shinra. But if he only met her after escaping from Shinra - when they didn't know where he was - they wouldn't have known whom he was having contact with. In the latter case, they would have had to have discovered her identity independently.

Oh I see what you're saying now. Yeah, in that case it does seem very strange that they would know about Ifalna at all, especially since they presumably couldn't have known she was a Cetra without doing some kind of research/testing on her. Both Aerith and Ifalna seem like normal humans when they're not communicating with the Lifestream or using their naturally strong magical abilities. Perhaps a Shinra spy or just a regular employee witnessed Ifalna doing one of these things and alerted his/her superiors, prompting further research?

 

[CryptCreeperX]

It would be nice to have some more Sephiroth love. But considering how big of a project this will be? I dunno if it's possible. Still, much like every character got the chance to show a significant event from their past through those Easter egg scenes, maybe they'll add something for Sephiroth. Honestly, I feel like he needs his own prequel game. Kinda like a Darth-Vader story arc where we play him as the hero before we see him succumb to the dark side. @_@

 

[Flare]

^I would buy that game before SE finished announcing it was out for sale.

 

[CryptCreeperX]

^I would buy that game before SE finished announcing it was out for sale.

Totally! I'd preorder the damn preorder, LOL.

But seriously, it would be nice if we got Sephiroth's story as either a prequel or a sequel (there's just too much going on in the FF7 remake, that Sephiroth's backstory wouldn't make the cut). If it was a sequel we might see Sephiroth walk a reconciliation story arc. I'm of the mindset that no one but him can stop him. Cloud can send him back to the Lifestream all he wants, but Sephiroth's will is too great, as proven in AC. The only way Sephiroth will ever be defeated is if he makes peace with himself. Darth Vader achieved this through Luke Skywalker. It would make sense that Cloud would act the same way.

I've been writing my own fanfics based on this premise. Again and again, I keep coming to the same conclusions about Sephiroth. As a former McNair Scholar who did a character study of Darth Vader (published and all, woot!), I can definitely see the same themes and paths between Vader and Sephiroth. Sephiroth, like Vader, is more of the fallen hero archetype than true villain (ex: Kefka, the Emperor). Sephiroth's destined path is one of redemption. Genesis, himself, reinforces that theme with his LOVELESS rants. Despite being a villain in CC, he ultimately saves himself. But whether SquareEnix will allow their prized, infamous character to walk this path and put it out there in a FF7 sequel? Well. That'll depend on how much they can milk Sephiroth's character.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'd rather read fanfics than have SE come out with a single canon version that kills all alternative possibilities. However, I do realize that not everyone feels the same as me. I think one of the reasons I fell in love with this game was because it provided the perfect combination of rich, complex canon and unanswered questions. Having everything offered to me on a plate gets quite boring.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I think Angeal and Genesis didn't exhibit the traits they were looking for, so maybe they were too normal as kids and only showed notable differences once they got into SOLDIER. A possible explanation for Gast's departure besides learning what Jenova really was would be that Hojo was getting out of hand and gunning for Gast. It wouldn't be surprising, as he ma not have been happy with the way Gast was influencing Sephiroth, taking away some of his control over the situation. From what we see and hear of Gast, he seems like the kind of person who wouldn't have left Sephiroth as he was if he could do anything about it.

Double post, sorry.

I was re-reading this and thinking how plausible it was that Hojo decided to destroy Gast when he realized Gast had won Sephiroth's affection and was gaining influence over his, Hojo's, "specimen".

Still puzzled about Genesis and Angeal being described as failures. What traits might the science department, i.e., Gast, have been looking for that A and G, as children, did not demonstrate but that Sephiroth did? If A and G were deemed failures, why didn't Shinra just "put down" the flawed specimens? It seems really odd that a company so fanatical about secrecy would have tolerated such a huge security risk when they were getting nothing out of it and when a few Turk bullets could have removed the risk for good.

I always rather assumed that A and G's physical prowess was evident from babyhood, and that they were raised with the specific intention of seeing what use Shinra could make of their powers. Maybe the notion that they were "failures" was never mooted until Gast fled and Hojo replaced him - at which points it was in Hojo's interests to belittle the achievements of his rival Hollander.

Just speculatin'.

 

[Starling]

^I would buy that game before SE finished announcing it was out for sale.

Totally! I'd preorder the damn preorder, LOL.

But seriously, it would be nice if we got Sephiroth's story as either a prequel or a sequel (there's just too much going on in the FF7 remake, that Sephiroth's backstory wouldn't make the cut). If it was a sequel we might see Sephiroth walk a reconciliation story arc. I'm of the mindset that no one but him can stop him. Cloud can send him back to the Lifestream all he wants, but Sephiroth's will is too great, as proven in AC. The only way Sephiroth will ever be defeated is if he makes peace with himself. Darth Vader achieved this through Luke Skywalker. It would make sense that Cloud would act the same way.

I've been writing my own fanfics based on this premise. Again and again, I keep coming to the same conclusions about Sephiroth. As a former McNair Scholar who did a character study of Darth Vader (published and all, woot!), I can definitely see the same themes and paths between Vader and Sephiroth. Sephiroth, like Vader, is more of the fallen hero archetype than true villain (ex: Kefka, the Emperor). Sephiroth's destined path is one of redemption. Genesis, himself, reinforces that theme with his LOVELESS rants. Despite being a villain in CC, he ultimately saves himself. But whether SquareEnix will allow their prized, infamous character to walk this path and put it out there in a FF7 sequel? Well. That'll depend on how much they can milk Sephiroth's character.

I'm gonna have to disagree about some of this. As powerful as Sephiroth may be, I'm pretty sure ACC was the end of it, considering what he had to do to last that long to begin with. It'd also get tedious to have Sephiroth come back again in canon,so it's not something I think would turn out well in a new game, especially if redemption is going to have a part in it.

Another issue I find is that revealing any more info than they already have regarding Sephiroth would risk revealing too much, since lack of information regarding him serves a role in the narrative. However, I'm of the opinion that fanfiction is a great way to toy around with whatever can't or won't be used by canon, as well as putting new spins on what is.

I was re-reading this and thinking how plausible it was that Hojo decided to destroy Gast when he realized Gast had won Sephiroth's affection and was gaining influence over his, Hojo's, "specimen".

Still puzzled about Genesis and Angeal being described as failures. What traits might the science department, i.e., Gast, have been looking for that A and G, as children, did not demonstrate but that Sephiroth did? If A and G were deemed failures, why didn't Shinra just "put down" the flawed specimens? It seems really odd that a company so fanatical about secrecy would have tolerated such a huge security risk when they were getting nothing out of it and when a few Turk bullets could have removed the risk for good.

I always rather assumed that A and G's physical prowess was evident from babyhood, and that they were raised with the specific intention of seeing what use Shinra could make of their powers. Maybe the notion that they were "failures" was never mooted until Gast fled and Hojo replaced him - at which points it was in Hojo's interests to belittle the achievements of his rival Hollander.

Just speculatin'.

Perhaps Angeal and Genesis lacks obviously unusual traits until they joined SOLDIER, which would be why they weren't deemed successful. The president wanted more immediate results but didn't want to waste a potential asset, since their joining SOLDIER may have been either expected or deliberate. Chances are while not being from the successful project, Angeal and Genesis were still considered to have the potential to be useful in some other way, or maybe Hollander insisted to keep the around, not wanting his work to go to waste. They did keep Angeal and Genesis where they could keep an eye on them as they grew up, after all.

While Sephiroth may not have exhibited the traits they were hoping for, he definitely wasn't normal. While they couldn't use him to find the Promised Land like was probably the original intention, they ended up refining the process that made Sephiroth to use in SOLDIER, seeing the military applications of it.

It may not have been that project G was a failure so much as redundant when project S seemed to yield better results.

 

[CryptCreeperX]

I'm gonna have to disagree about some of this. As powerful as Sephiroth may be, I'm pretty sure ACC was the end of it, considering what he had to do to last that long to begin with. It'd also get tedious to have Sephiroth come back again in canon,so it's not something I think would turn out well in a new game, especially if redemption is going to have a part in it.

Another issue I find is that revealing any more info than they already have regarding Sephiroth would risk revealing too much, since lack of information regarding him serves a role in the narrative. However, I'm of the opinion that fanfiction is a great way to toy around with whatever can't or won't be used by canon, as well as putting new spins on what is.

I guess we'll agree to disagree here. OAO Advent Children established that Sephiroth's will still exists within the Lifestream. With it, he conjured up the Remnants as avatars. Even the final line of Sephiroth 'I will never be a memory' implies a future return (which game creators acknowledged). What's to stop him from simply creating more avatars down the road? Cloud only defeated his puppets (remnants). He cut the tail off; not the head. Sephiroth's essence still resides in the Lifestream.

If anything, FF7's narrative repeatedly reinforces this journey toward self-actualization. Genesis found his when obtained the answers in LOVELESS. Kadaj came to full circle when he willingly gave himself up to the Lifestream (after hearing Aerith's voice post-Cloud battle). Even Hojo found closure by giving up his body to become one with science (making both his son and himself worthwhile living experiments). And of course, there's Cloud who found his forgiveness.

While I'm content with Sephiroth existing as a villain for all eternity, he isn't a Kekfa or a Joker (the pure evil character archetype who finds self-actualization through chaos). Sephiroth's story is more in line with Darth Vader's path. And much like Darth Vader, his path is 'incomplete' until he either gives up Jenova and goes batshit for the giggles (ie, transforms into pure evil)... or he finds reconciliation within himself. Heck, Sephiroth's own name implies a path toward actualization (the Tree of Life).

We don't get too many FF games that follow the villain returning to hero, so I don't think it would be boring at all, especially since this gives us an opportunity to introduce a new (possible bigger) villain. In the Star Wars series, Yoda warns that there are always two. No more, no less. Similarly, in FF7, we see the theme of 'legacy' pop up a lot. We see the legacy between Angeal with Zack. We see the legacy between Zack with Cloud. And we even start to see the legacy between Cloud with Denzel. What we DON'T see, though, are the legacies held for shady characters like Sephrioth. For Sephiroth, he was obviously trained by an excellent swordsman. No way did Hojo train Sephiroth. And no way would Hojo allow just any mediocre guy to train the perfect experiment. He would've wanted the best. We also know through implied dialogue and scenes, Hojo and Sephiroth didn't get along and weren't close. So Sephiroth's upbringing was tied to someone else; someone who likely reinforced Sephiroth's indifferent attitudes towards humanity. Sociopaths aren't born; they're raised. *Someone* had trained this child as a weapon of destruction. *Someone* gave Sephiroth the idea that it's okay to take what you want. That *someone* was likely his own mentor.

Of course, I'm just tossing ideas here. But it does show that you can still expand on the FF7 universe while not starting with your typical 'and then Sephiroth rose and tried to rule the world again and blah blah blah' type of plot. I agree, that gets boring (it's why I'm still on the fence with AC). That's why we have to look at the story from another angle. We could take the theme of legacies to a new and darker level by focusing on characters like Sephiroth or even Genesis (who many fangirls like to forget killed his step-parents and was an ass to Zack).

 

[Starling]

I'm gonna have to disagree about some of this. As powerful as Sephiroth may be, I'm pretty sure ACC was the end of it, considering what he had to do to last that long to begin with. It'd also get tedious to have Sephiroth come back again in canon,so it's not something I think would turn out well in a new game, especially if redemption is going to have a part in it.

Another issue I find is that revealing any more info than they already have regarding Sephiroth would risk revealing too much, since lack of information regarding him serves a role in the narrative. However, I'm of the opinion that fanfiction is a great way to toy around with whatever can't or won't be used by canon, as well as putting new spins on what is.

I guess we'll agree to disagree here. OAO Advent Children established that Sephiroth's will still exists within the Lifestream. With it, he conjured up the Remnants as avatars. Even the final line of Sephiroth 'I will never be a memory' implies a future return (which game creators acknowledged). What's to stop him from simply creating more avatars down the road? Cloud only defeated his puppets (remnants). He cut the tail off; not the head. Sephiroth's essence still resides in the Lifestream.

If anything, FF7's narrative repeatedly reinforces this journey toward self-actualization. Genesis found his when obtained the answers in LOVELESS. Kadaj came to full circle when he willingly gave himself up to the Lifestream (after hearing Aerith's voice post-Cloud battle). Even Hojo found closure by giving up his body to become one with science (making both his son and himself worthwhile living experiments). And of course, there's Cloud who found his forgiveness.

While I'm content with Sephiroth existing as a villain for all eternity, he isn't a Kekfa or a Joker (the pure evil character archetype who finds self-actualization through chaos). Sephiroth's story is more in line with Darth Vader's path. And much like Darth Vader, his path is 'incomplete' until he either gives up Jenova and goes batshit for the giggles (ie, transforms into pure evil)... or he finds reconciliation within himself. Heck, Sephiroth's own name implies a path toward actualization (the Tree of Life).

We don't get too many FF games that follow the villain returning to hero, so I don't think it would be boring at all, especially since this gives us an opportunity to introduce a new (possible bigger) villain. In the Star Wars series, Yoda warns that there are always two. No more, no less. Similarly, in FF7, we see the theme of 'legacy' pop up a lot. We see the legacy between Angeal with Zack. We see the legacy between Zack with Cloud. And we even start to see the legacy between Cloud with Denzel. What we DON'T see, though, are the legacies held for shady characters like Sephrioth. For Sephiroth, he was obviously trained by an excellent swordsman. No way did Hojo train Sephiroth. And no way would Hojo allow just any mediocre guy to train the perfect experiment. He would've wanted the best. We also know through implied dialogue and scenes, Hojo and Sephiroth didn't get along and weren't close. So Sephiroth's upbringing was tied to someone else; someone who likely reinforced Sephiroth's indifferent attitudes towards humanity. Sociopaths aren't born; they're raised. *Someone* had trained this child as a weapon of destruction. *Someone* gave Sephiroth the idea that it's okay to take what you want. That *someone* was likely his own mentor.

Of course, I'm just tossing ideas here. But it does show that you can still expand on the FF7 universe while not starting with your typical 'and then Sephiroth rose and tried to rule the world again and blah blah blah' type of plot. I agree, that gets boring (it's why I'm still on the fence with AC). That's why we have to look at the story from another angle. We could take the theme of legacies to a new and darker level by focusing on characters like Sephiroth or even Genesis (who many fangirls like to forget killed his step-parents and was an ass to Zack).

After Sephiroth was defeated in FF7, he had to give up most of who he was just to continue to exist, so remaining in the lifestream in any capacity is far from effortless for him. Among the things he gave up were pretty much all that made him human, so one could say he's now a force of evil incapable and unwilling to seek redemption. Without Geostigma and the Remnants to give him the presence he needed to manifest, he's just going to fade away like all other non-cetra, particularly if the planet specifically puts in the effort to erase him.

I'm not saying redeeming a villain would be boring, but rather that redeeming Sephiroth isn't something I'd find advisable to do canonically. Considering Sephiroth was a decent guy before he snapped, I don't think his hypothetical mentor would've been particularly evil, so to speak. Considering Cloud's basically self-taught, it' reasonable to think that Sephiroth didn't have a specific mentor to teach him either, but rather learned from various sources and pursued his own style from there.

I feel like it'd be an interesting project to take CC and rewrite it to better convey what was supposed to be conveyed, such as executing Genesis' story arc in a way that makes his actions more understandable and puts more focus on stuff that was missing from the game, such as showing how he, Angeal and Sephiroth really are/were close friends and makes that believable. Build on Zack and Cloud's relationship and better flesh out the inner workings of Shinra as relevant to the story.

If you want an evil legacy thing, there's Jenova and everyone/everything tied to it, particularly Sephiroth.

 

[Theozilla]

I agree that a redemption storyline for Sephiroth probably wouldn't work well for his character (or is even possible due to his state of existence in the Lifestream like Starling previously mentioned), but I'm not sure if Sephiroth is just destined to just fade away in the Lifestream after ACC.

This is just discussing hypotheticals but X-SOLDIER wrote an interesting article
a few years ago discussing how potential remaining dangling Compilation plot lines could be addressed/resolved in any hypothetical future sequels/Compilation entires: http://thelifestream.net/lifestream...lysis/6418/planet_jenova_genesis_fananalysis/