Which minor character should be given the ascended extra treatment?

[jazzflower92]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AscendedExtra

I was thinking which characters in the original game should have more of an expanded role in the new game. I say of course we should look more Dr.Gast, because I want to see more of his relationship with Sephiroth and how it effected them both as people.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

The Sector 7 Railway guard and the Shinra manager in the red suit.

 

[jazzflower92]

Maybe give more focus to Shera, Cid's girlfriend.

 

[RedFFWolf]

The Sector 7 Railway guard

I really took note of this guy on my more recent playthroughs, and he left a surprisingly strong impression on me.
This is one of those rare NPCs (a proper "background extra" styled NPC) that have a fascinating story - though he has no technical plot relevance, he is a silent witness to history. I assume he is the same guy who was there when Elmyra would visit the station and later find Aerith and Iflana.

"When you've been a train man as long as I have, you see a lot of people and a lot of lives. People meeting, parting, joy, sadness... After a while, it doesn't even get to you anymore.
I wonder how long it's been... There's an invisible rail between me and the passengers. I could never live their lives. I'm just a train man plain and simple. It's easier that way.
That's not to say that the crossing gate of my heart doesn't hurt now and again. Back during the war, I remember there was a lot of painful scenes then. But, that's a story for another day..."

And later when the Sector 7 Plate is going to fall:
"I heard a rumor that the plate was going to fall, crushing this station, I've worked at so many years. But I just can't bear to leave here."
Even the way the first line is executed gives him real character.

The way I see it, there is always room for special touches like this character and his potential. Gives more life and realism to places and times like that; and with the pillar falling, a genuine air of melancholy I have not yet seen rivaled in other games.

Shinra manager in the red suit.

An unsung hero!


I think in terms of "full on" Ascended Extra treatment, I feel there will be more Shinra focus, like Lucrecia, for example.
Personally, hints of Dyne before Corel would be interesting, and a little more on Dio even, as there is a lot that can be asked about him.

Besides extra mentions and screen time at certain parts for particular characters, I wouldn't give much major/new prominence beyond what all characters have had already in the OG.

Though, if there is to be less ambiguity about Tseng's incident at the Temple of the Ancients, I wouldn't mind seeing him a bit later in the game.

 

[Octo]

Oh god, no more Lucrecia. Moral questions aside, I find her really uninteresting. And as part of Vincents backstory - when I was 14/15 and first played the game I thought it was romantic/tragic/cool but in retrospect it's like Vincent, get a fucking grip dude. I mean he's not a bad looking guy but his self esteem must have been in the fucking toilet to get obsessed with someone who didn't seem interested in him and then
thought Hojo was a better bet.

Anyway, it'd be nice if they could give little character bio stuff for all the NPC's. Like I dunno, it could be some sort of unlockable achievment thingy. So even if in game they can't spend too much time on every character at least that info would be there for those who are interested. And I'd stress that everything would have to be cross referenced so we don't end up with plotholes - probably too much to ask

 

[RedFFWolf]

^Oh yeah, I couldn't care less about Lucrecia either. I just imagine she alongside less than colourful characters will get more treatment But we'll see, eh?

EDIT: Sorry, Channy

 

[Channy]

D'aww, but I loves Lucrecia

 

[Kionae]

Elmyra Gainsborough, might be interesting. We don't see much of her beyond her flashback and her telling Barret he's a terrible father for leaving his kid behind.

And Mayor Domino. Poor guy hardly got any screen time.

 

[Starling]

Lucrecia deserves more love. If anything, most of the issues people have with her are probably a matter of execution. It shouldn't be too hard to make her more likable in the remake if they put some effort into doing that.

 

[jazzflower92]

Yeah, I think how they could depict Lucrecia is based on the information that was given in the Ultimanias that said that she chose Hojo out of sympathy for him due his rivalry with Gast. And I want more focus on Lucrecia's relationship with Gast, and they should delete that Grimoire backstory that really does nothing at all for any of the characters. Also make her less of a whiny crybaby and more of a logical woman who had a bit of a competitive streak. Also don't make her role defined as her being a love interest to Vincent, because she is also is Sephiroth's mother and Gast's colleague as well.

 

[Clement Rage]

Never had a problem with Lucrecia. 'Whiny crybaby' is a little strong, normally what she's upset about is watching people get murdered in front of her, or her son being kidnapped. They're pretty legitimate things to be upset about.

My perception is coloured a bit by Dirge, I felt that having her imbue Vince with Chaos to save his life was a legitimately brilliant touch, she's a lot less active in the OG if I remember right. I'm not sure that any expansion should necessarily make her more likeable, though.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Lucrecia deserves more love. If anything, most of the issues people have with her are probably a matter of execution. It shouldn't be too hard to make her more likable in the remake if they put some effort into doing that.

Why does she have to be likeable? Hojo and Lucretia decided to do scientific experiments on their own baby. They were scientists, which means they knew what they were doing, and they decided to implant non-human genetic material into their baby, who was defenceless and couldn't consent. Nobody has ever tried to defend Hojo for this. Why should Lucretia be made more likeable? The only way she could be made more likeable would be by depriving her of agency and making her into Hojo's victim, and I don't think that would be an improvement.

 

[Umatbru]

President Shinra. Here's a twist: have Sephiroth say that he will reveal a higher power that he answers to and that higher power is President Shinra.

"IT WAS ME AVALANCHE, IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!"

 

[Jason Tandro]

Maybe not Ascended Extra but since Cloud appeared in Smash, maybe some other FF7 characters can appear in other nintendo titles.

I for one would fucking love Dio to be a downloadable Wii-Fit Trainer.

EDIT: OR BIG BRO, OMFG COULD YOU IMAGINE? It'd be like Rue Paul's Draggin' To The Oldies.

 

[Tashasaurous]

Including characters who appear more than actual very minor characters? I think Elena, despite her being a Turk and a, as I like to call it, a side-antagonist along with the other Turks.

Maybe actually give a flash-back on Tifa's teacher explaining how he just disappeared.

 

[Wolf_]

Godo. Maybe have him explain the war with some flashbacks. Maybe even him meeting Sephiroth on the battlefield.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Godo. Maybe have him explain the war with some flashbacks. Maybe even him meeting Sephiroth on the battlefield.

I didn't know I wanted this until you just suggested it...

 

[Wolf_]

I hope they do it, because you don't really get a true sense of his power in the game. Be good to have Godo, (an impressive warrior himself) basically tell Cloud that he's walking to his death.

 

[Odysseus]

Zangan is just begging for more development. Maybe the party could meet him in Nibleheim like was originally intended, and there could be a flash back of him dropping Tifa off at Midgar.

 

[anothercid]

Dio. Dude built a giant amusement park over a ruined town and used that town as a prison. Hired a guy to look after the prisoners and scout for chocobo jockeys amongst them. Collects...things. Wears only underpants. And yet, do we ever really get to know him? No. The answer is no. And we definitely should.

 

[Channy]

Lucrecia deserves more love. If anything, most of the issues people have with her are probably a matter of execution. It shouldn't be too hard to make her more likable in the remake if they put some effort into doing that.

Why does she have to be likeable? Hojo and Lucretia decided to do scientific experiments on their own baby. They were scientists, which means they knew what they were doing, and they decided to implant non-human genetic material into their baby, who was defenceless and couldn't consent. Nobody has ever tried to defend Hojo for this. Why should Lucretia be made more likeable? The only way she could be made more likeable would be by depriving her of agency and making her into Hojo's victim, and I don't think that would be an improvement.

I actually like this the more you say it. I think really we're only told to like Lucrecia because she's Vincent's unrequited love but there's nothing saying that love, unrequited to begin with (until DoC) had to be good. She was kinda standoffish in the OG and only wanted to know what happened to Sephiroth, understandably so. I think if they stuck closer to that it'd be better.

In DoC she starts to lose her agency through some of the cutscenes with Hojo and although it makes her more tragic and starting to be likeable because you want to hate him more, it's retconning her.

 

[Octo]

I could feel sorry for Lucrecia in the OG. The impression given there is that she was exploited by Hojo. She laments not being able to hold Sephiroth after he was born.

And then in the compilation it's like...nope, why should I feel sorry for you?

 

[hian]

Chocobo Sage.
Preferably, he should be made into a playable character with a 20+ hour story arc revolving around how he sealed Jenova all those years ago. You all know it's true.

 

[jazzflower92]

Also maybe more focus on what the Cetra physically looked like in the past. Also have more focus on Iflana's backstory, and how she came to be the last pure Cetra. Was she the last surviving member of a colony or something?

Also agreed about Lucrecia, because they tried too hard to make us feel sorry for her in Dirge, that it had the opposite effect. With the addition of the Grimoire backstory, it really makes one question why Vincent is till holding a torch for her since she seems to be the source behind a lot of his problems.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Here's what I deduce about the Cetra from the information in the game: they looked exactly like ordinary humans because they were the ancestors of ordinary humans. Ordinary humans are descended from the Cetra who decided to settle down, and who, in given up their wandering ways, lost their connection with the planet. Ifalna is 100% Cetra and she looked exactly like a human being, because the Cetra weren't actually another species, they were just human beings who could commune with the Planet.

All those crazy, special powers Shinra thought the Cetra had were entirely in Shinra's imagination. The Cetra didn't have any special powers, except for the power to talk to the planet. And I think it's implied in the game that, in fact, any human being can communicate with the planet, if they dedicate themselves to this task. The cry of the planet is not inaudible to Cloud, Tifa and the others when they're at Bugenhagen's lab. They recognise it as the sound of a creature in pain.

The struggle for dominance between nomadic societies (Cetra) and settled agricultural societies (humans) is a recurring theme in human history. It is commemorated in the Bible by the story of Cain and Abel - Cain is the settled farmer and Abel is the nomadic shepherd, and God prefers Abel. So the idea of nomads being more "in touch with divinity" than settled farmers is a very old one. The Mongols were another nomadic society who came into conflict with all the settled societies around them. So to be, this ancient conflict is what the Cetra/human divide represents, and just as in our world, the humans have triumphed and driven the nomads almost to the point of extinction.