Was Cait Sith afraid to die?

[Lex]

Is anyone familiar enough with the scene where Cait Sith "sacrifices himself" at Temple of the Ancients able to confirm that he's actually saying in the original Japanese version? Is he really talking like he's about to die?

Looking forward to the remake maybe clearing up exactly what Cait Sith is. Considering you play an entire chapter as him in DoC I still think it's pretty unclear.

 

[Flare]

I don't know about the Japanese dialogue, but this part always puzzled me in the game (and it could definitely be just a mistranslation). But, why would Cait Sith be afraid to die? He's not his own' soul' so to say, he's just a robot being controlled by Reeve. I don't really get why the scene plays out like he's dying for good.

It takes away from any sadness as soon as you see the next version of him bounce on screen and realize it's Reeve controlling these robots from afar.
Though at the time, does Cloud and the rest know that Cait Sith is a robot being controlled by Reeve?

 

[Lex]

Yes, that part is revealed to the party at the Gold Saucer before going to Temple of the Ancients. I believe the false-sadness and replacement of his character in that particular scene was deliberate to lull people into a false sense of "OK the sad thing just happened" prior to the actual sad thing waiting right around the corner.

He's definitely a robot, but he seems to have some form of his own sense of self like an AI. DoC tells us that Reeve controls him remotely through some form of mind-link. Beyond this we have no real explanation as to how much of a personality he/it has.

 

[Jason Tandro]

My headcanon was that Cait Sith was an AI of sorts under Reeve's control, but I gather that's not the original intent. I would love to see what the japanese dialogue states.

 

[Claymore]

I'm also looking forward to the Remake clarifying and expanding on Reeves / Cait Sith.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Yes, I always understood the "faux-sacrifice" of Cait Sith was a spoof on the trope, with a resurrected Cait Sith popping up immediately after. It's designed, I think, to underscore the

Spoiler: finality

of Aerith's death, and the fact that she didn't choose to die and was not a "willing sacrifice". For me this is one of the more profound points made by the game, which is why it really irks me when Aerith is represented as a kind of Jesus figure.

PS Also, when Aerith died, she seemed to have been cut short in her prayer and it looked as if she had achieved nothing, just as in real life people are cut down in the middle of what they're doing and their death seems pointless. Of course in a sense Aerith's death was pointless, since she didn't need to die to summon holy - but what nobody, including Aerith herself, knew, was that she had succeeded in the summons, or succeeded enough to get the Planet to do the rest. The significance of her actions only became fully apparent after her death; the effects of her actions survived her death, and were finally understood by the people who loved her only some time after her death - which is also the case in real life.

Spoilers just to be on the safe side.

 

[Wolf_]

Is it actual physical control like a remote or is he giving the A.I instructions. There's evidence to suggest both.

 

[RedFFWolf]

From what I recall, Reeve has this "Inspire" ability, bringing inorganic/inanimate objects to life - and as I check the Ultimania here, it appears in the "Early Material Files" and the "Characer Profile", so I assume it stuck in the minds of the developers, just not as a reveal in the game. That DoC reveals he controls him mentally makes sense to me - breathing life into something [though by no means to have to be taken literally, of course] suggests there's already a connection (but it's speculation here and there, seeing that there's not a lot said about it).

Perhaps having a sophisticated AI is enough to gather these thoughts of his. The fact Cait Sith says "Owww!" as he falls over in the TotA suggests it can run this deep. But in this direction, the question might end up about the depth of AI.

Though at the time, does Cloud and the rest know that Cait Sith is a robot being controlled by Reeve?

They do. When Cloud and his date chase Cait Sith through the Gold Saucer, Cait reveals his real body is in Shinra HQ. (EDIT: They discover by then he is a robot controlled in Shinra, just not Reeve himself)
Here ya go!

 

[Wolf_]

That's correct. They discover that it's Reeve on the highwind when Cait Sith goes a bit loopy when it gets what I assume to be electromagnetic interference from weapon if I remember rightly.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Yes, I always understood the "faux-sacrifice" of Cait Sith was a spoof on the trope, with a resurrected Cait Sith popping up immediately after. It's designed, I think, to underscore the

Spoiler: finality

of Aerith's death, and the fact that she didn't choose to die and was not a "willing sacrifice". For me this is one of the more profound points made by the game, which is why it really irks me when Aerith is represented as a kind of Jesus figure.

PS Also, when Aerith died, she seemed to have been cut short in her prayer and it looked as if she had achieved nothing, just as in real life people are cut down in the middle of what they're doing and their death seems pointless. Of course in a sense Aerith's death was pointless, since she didn't need to die to summon holy - but what nobody, including Aerith herself, knew, was that she had succeeded in the summons, or succeeded enough to get the Planet to do the rest. The significance of her actions only became fully apparent after her death; the effects of her actions survived her death, and were finally understood by the people who loved her only some time after her death - which is also the case in real life.

Spoilers just to be on the safe side.

Actually came to a similar conclusion in an article I wrote (but have yet to publish anywhere *grumble grumble) about characterization in video games:

Spoiler: Longish spoilery excerpt

Multiple times my characters would “die” throughout the game. But with the magical healing power of Phoenix Down or inns that inexplicable are outfitted with an Intensive Care Unit, my allies would be back to fighting shape in no time. The game even throws a misdirection at us towards the end of the first disk, when we are led to believe that the robotic character Cait Sith is about to perish for good. This illusion lasts for around fifteen minutes of gameplay until it is revealed that he has been replaced by “Cait Sith 2.0”. Apparently the good thing about robots is that they are, in fact, replaceable. Cait Sith himself even sets this up in the scene where he perishes.


Cait Sith: There's plenty of stuffed toys like my body around, but there's only one me! Don't forget me, even if another Cait Sith comes along. Goodbye, then! (Final Fantasy VII, Disk 1)


While it might seem a touch silly to have this fake death scene so close to another (and unfortunately more legitimate) death scene, this was an artistic decision to impact the player. About an hour of gameplay after this touching scene the player will find themselves in the Forgotten Capitol. After a bit of exploration they will find their missing comrade Aerith, and in a cutscene that will live in infamy we will witness her get cut down by the game's antagonist Sephiroth. This scene did not make me sad. Many other gamers confessed to having cried at this moment when they realized that, as Cloud put it:


Cloud: Aerith is gone. Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry or get angry! (Final
Fantasy VII, Disk 1)


But I wasn't sad. Because I was an observant player, and noticed even then that there had been another tragic death scene that turned out to be resolved immediately. Through the magic of Deus Ex Machina, Aerith would come back. My first Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy VI. This game also has a mid-game catastrophe that leaves you believing that all of your comrades are dead. However after a message of hope you set off to find them all again and, of course, all of your allies are still alive; albeit suffering various forms of emotional scarring. After that I played Final Fantasy VIII, going paradoxically out of order which would normally bother me, but as each game is stand alone I bore it. That game also has a mid-game tragedy where a long term female party member, Rinoa, is stuck in a coma. There is a long process to revive her and then to save her from peril, but it is accomplished in the same way.


So I continued to play the game, fully waiting for her dramatic rebirth. After going through many of the events of Disk 2, I finally uncovered the Ancients Key and the game prompted me to return to the Forgotten Capitol. I was certain that this was it. I was about to revive my friend. But instead I found only a last message from the character I'd parted with nearly ten hours prior. This was when it began to sink in. Aerith really was dead.


I wasn't sad when Aerith died. I was sad when I realized she wasn't coming back.

 

[AvecAloes]

I know you’re asking for translations to help clear this up and everything, and I’ve got nothing in that regard, but I’m happy to take part in the discussion!
I’m not sure what to think. I’ve read a lot of takes on it, and one of them is that each Cait Sith is somewhat sentient, therefor making that particular Cait’s sacrifice in the Temple an actual sacrifice. Doesn’t he say something along the lines of asking the party not to forget him, even if another Cait Sith comes along? That makes it sound like he’s sad that his particular time is up, although he knows that the total mission of the Cait Sith….program? would continue to be carried out. As far as the timing of the event goes, it does seem a little trolly on SE’s part. I mean, we’d just been betrayed, so we weren’t even really liking him at this point, and then to follow all of that up with…well, you know.

 

[trash panda]

it's Reeve controlling these robots from afar

This makes me wonder...obviously there are other Sithbots out there...how many? Does Reeve have little stuffed robots all over the world gathering intelligence? If so, in the remake will we have the chance to run into another Sithbot?

 

[ForceStealer]

Before all of this "Inspire" stuff from the Ultimania, I had gotten the impression that Cait Sith was a robot that had an AI and could operate on his own, but Reeve could also control it directly when the situation called for it - such when he lets the team listen in on Heidegger and Scarlet.
And I suppose the Inspire thing still allows for that, it's just a lot more...out there.

 

[Flare]

It would make more sense of Cait had his own AI that he could automatically run off of in case Reeve couldn't control him... I mean, Reeve has to sleep sometimes, unless Cait just 'slept' as the party did and Reeve was woken up whenever the party alerted Cait they were leaving?
I'm really looking forward to seeing how they'll clear this up, hopefully.

 

[Jason Tandro]

It would make more sense of Cait had his own AI that he could automatically run off of in case Reeve couldn't control him... I mean, Reeve has to sleep sometimes, unless Cait just 'slept' as the party did and Reeve was woken up whenever the party alerted Cait they were leaving?
I'm really looking forward to seeing how they'll clear this up, hopefully.

So that's why Cait Sith would just randomly fall asleep in battle. I should remember that excuse for the bedroom...

 

[Clement Rage]

"You're... controlling a fortune telling robot cat that's spying on terrorists on the other side of the world?" Let us know how it goes.

 

[Starling]

Since it's unlikely Reeve would've been able to take a controller and monitor to boardroom meetings and any equipment that would be required for Cai Sith would've been confiscated when he was imprisoned, I wasn't surprised Reeve had some sort of ability allowing him to control Cait with his mind or whatever. Makes about as much sense as what I concluded from the bits of the game that appear to be leftover from the original concept of Jenova as a gene that grants psychic powers. I wonder what they'll be doing about those moments in the remake.

 

[Novus]

I agree with Liquorice and Lex that it is more of a narrative trick rather than a hint into cybernetics (ghost in the machine) stuff.
Tres wrote an article on this scene a long time ago, I think it was in the Advent Children faq.

 

[Nanaki Skywalker]

Someone refresh my memory of how many Cait Siths there were again? I'll have to play DoC again (which I haven't done since 2008) to confirm it for myself, but didn't Cait Sith mention something about him being "Number 7" or something to that effect at one point in the game?