Was FF7’s (Original) Plot Really Changed In Translation And If So, How?
Title. I’ve heard it mentioned a few times that FF7’s plot was changed in translation, with people sometimes citing that it was considered “too dark” in the West. I’ve never actually heard anyone explain exactly how it was changed, the most I’ve heard anyone elaborate is that the fact that >!the Sephiroth your party was chasing for the first half of the game was actually Jenova cells being controlled by Sephiroth!< was supposedly much more clear in the original Japanese (this doesn’t even sound like a change to the plot.) Other than that, I’ve never seen anyone go into detail about what was changed, a quick Google search doesn’t show anything, and I don’t speak Japanese, so I obviously can’t check it myself.
So, was FF7’s plot really changed in the English translation, or is it just weebs talking out of their asses?
Posted Jul 3, 2021, 5:08 AM UTC
Tmk it wasn't changed for being "too dark". It might just have been easier to infer that in the JP release much like >!Vivi at the end of IX!< but even then you can piece it together a bit later on in the game especially because of >!Cloud losing control of himself multiples and the scene where a party member brings the Black Materia to Cloud in North Crater to hand to Sephiroth.!< I'd also find that a bit hard to believe that's too dark since considering the earlier entries in the series and events like >!Kefka poisoning a town's water supply and killing the residents in VI!<
I think it's also worth noting that many people even now didn't catch onto who you're chasing at the start of VII and have only realized it in recent years so that could be why there rumors of the original plot changing.
TIL it was only Jenova and not Sephiroth and I started playing the game twenty years ago!
The ‘debate’ is whether Sepiroth is in complete control of Jenova from his cocoon in the northern crater or not.
I think he’s the driving force for sure. To me, after it’s defeat at the hands of the Cetra, Jenova is essentially a brain dead alien organism whose body and cells have inate powers and properties. Sephiroth uses those powers and abilities for his own ends.
His “own” ends are the same as Jenova’s ends. Its cells have been a part of him since he was a fetus. He doesn’t manipulate Jenova and Jenova doesn’t manipulate him. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Him calling it “Mother” isn’t a show.
But yeah Jenova is basically a husk. Its legacy lives on through Sephiroth through its cells, which are a part of Sephiroth’s overall makeup.
Again, I believe he is the driving force. Jenova is more or less a brain dead lifeform.
In FF7 he believes she is a cetra and he was created in a Petri dish using her cells. He is completely unaware that he had human parents. After falling in the lifestream and gaining all the knowledge and extra powers his plan changed from going the promised land to becoming a god. I believe it’s him in control for sure.
It’s Sephiroth using the remains of Jenova and Jenova clones to carry out Jenova’s will. Symbiotic relationship essentially.
Something I really want to know is what about genesis and weiss? They are still alive by the end of dirge of cerberus and are the last carriers of jenova's cells. Will they be manipulated by sephiroth or jenova?
Will they? No I don’t think so. Could they? I….don’t think we really know that for sure. Either way I assume Sephiroth would rather control weak minds like Cloud that he can easily manipulate.
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You never see Jenova actually escape though. You just see the carnage left behind and you see Jenova is also missing. This lines up with Sephiroth's obession with his "mother" and when you see the Nibelheim incident so realistically it's not at all surprising that many people just assumed that was the case.
So how exactly was president Shira dead with Sephiroth's sword through him?
Because jenova took the form of sephiroth. The whole time you follow jenova and the boss fights are pieces she left behind.
That was Jenova taking on the form of Sephiroth. The Jenova continuously kept taking the form of Sephiroth throughout the game to manipulate Cloud and the party into handing over the Black Materia. Sephiroth's actual body was in Northern Crater(after the Nibelheim incident where he was stabbed and fell into the lifestream) sealed along with the weapons but after Cloud was forced to hand over the Black Materia both the Weapons and Sephiroth were awakened from their slumber.
But there are times when the characters outright say that it is Sephiroth. When they find President Shinra dead, Cloud says "Sephiroth is the only one who can use that sword", which obviously isn't true if it was Jenova. When you face Sephiroth on the ship, Sephiroth flies off before you fight Jenova and it's strongly implied that he just left Jenova's arm behind. The party members say "Sephiroth's been carrying this thing around?" and Cloud outright says, "So it WAS Sephiroth" ... even though it wasn't.
There's confusion about it because the characters give you information that isn't true. There's only one short exchange in the North Crater that tells you that it wasn't really Sephiroth and even then, they don't say outright "we've been following Jenova". Up until a couple of years ago, I was under the impression that they were illusions that Sephiroth conjured up, just like he does a little later by showing the party Nibelheim.
Even though the characters give out incorrect information on the matter it's "correct" from their point of view. Cloud is right that only Sephiroth uses that sword so from what he knows Sephiroth was behind the slaughter that occurred in Shinra HQ. The party doesn't know(Aerith might since she can communicate with the planet but I can't say for sure) that they've been following Jenova who can shapeshift into Sephiroth.
While they don't out right say it's been Jenova the you can fit the pieces together after the events of Icicle Inn and Northern Crater since you learn that Jenova can shapeshift and that Sephiroth's body was stored there along with the Weapons. It would have been better for clarity purposes to outright say it but I think the intention was to let the players figure it out on their own so you get that moment of everything coming together and figuring it out yourself.
You’re definitely not wrong... I dunno, just the fact that you always fought Jenova after a sephiroth encounter I just kinda assumed he was an illusion.