All the best and wildest Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth theories

theory about final fantasy 7 remake and its sequel, ff7 rebirthPlayers have been reeling since the last moments that shook the world ff7 remake, When the words came up on the screen that read, “The journey into the unknown continues,” the minds of FF7 fans everywhere were filled with wild speculation as to what that journey might be. and thanks ff7 rebirth From the debut trailer, and the longer trailer shown at Summer Game Fest 2023, FF7 fans have developed some pretty solid theories. Let’s join in.

[Ed. note: This article contains full spoilers for the original Final Fantasy 7 as well as Final Fantasy 7 Remake.]

ShinraCorp used fake footage in news broadcast

Let’s start with the first and most obvious “theory” — a reveal so obvious we feel confident saying it’s going to be an early plot point. ff7 rebirth, at the beginning of ff7 reborn In the trailer for SGF 2023, there is an in-fiction news broadcast in which several of the game’s main characters – members of the ecological terrorist group Avalanche – lie unconscious, loaded onto medical gurneys. Barrett, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII not only look faint in this broadcast; They look like they might die. but we all know ff7 reborn isn’t going to kill off its entire cast (except for Claude, who is mysteriously absent). What’s going on here?

The answer lies in the news broadcast itself. Note the logos on the screen: “Shinra Broadcasting Service” in the top left and “SNNET News” in the bottom right. That’s right, Shinra News Network is a thing, and it’s the propaganda arm of ShinraCorp. It is quite logical to assume that this footage of Avalanche members appearing dead has been faked to mislead the public. It’s remotely possible that this footage shows an alternate timeline where somehow all the main characters were hurt or even died, but that’s more likely – given who’s airing it This footage is fake news.

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Image: Square Enix

Sephiroth kills Tifa, and the Tifa we know is not the Tifa

The ending of the SGF ’23 trailer is a little confusing — but a little less so in the Japanese version, here translated by Audrey Lamsum, Twitch streamer and CEO of Aitai Japan. Watch the last few seconds of the trailer, and hear Sephiroth’s words as he appears to mortally wound Tifa Lockhart.

For those who haven’t played the original ff7, or just don’t remember exactly what happens, this last scene in the trailer is a re-creation of a scene that happened in that first game. five years before the main plot of ff7, Sephiroth kills Tifa’s towns and Claude’s hometown of Nibelheim, then burns the village to the ground. Tifa learns of this and confronts Sephiroth, shouting that he killed her father and attempting to attack him in retaliation. Sephiroth easily overpowers Tifa and injures her, but basically ff7Tifa recovers from that wound and is rescued by a man named Zangan who takes her in and teaches her martial arts (so that she can become the Wombo-Combo Queen we know in the present day).

version of events depicted in ff7 rebirth The trailers may be exactly as they were in the original game – Sephiroth attacks Tifa, as shown here, but she survives (not shown yet). But it’s Sephiroth’s dialogue that has fans spinning wild theories. In the translation of the Japanese trailer by Audrey Lamsum, Sephiroth says in voice-over: “I was the one who killed Tifa. If so, who is it?”

Fans Have Taken “Who She Is” To Reveal The Tifa We’ve Seen While Exploring The Main Story ff7 remake Tifa who grew up with Cloud in Nibelheim is not. Instead, Tifa was actually murdered by Sephiroth five years earlier. This other woman who looks like Tifa is, instead, a product of something related to Sephiroth’s alien “mother” figure Jenova, who has the ability to mimic human forms. This is emphasized by Sephiroth’s monologue leading up to the final scene with Tifa, in which he says (according to Lamsam’s translation): “Once upon a time there lived a demon who could see into your soul and shape. It can transform and shape the people you fear, the people you love, and be able to control.

Alternatively, Tifa could have been injected with Genova cells as part of the Genova Project, which is what happened to Claude and Zack (at the hands of mad scientist Professor Hojo). according to the original ff7 timeline, Jack was strong enough to fight off the effects of these cells, while the weakened Cloud was more vulnerable to them. What if, in a new timeline from ff7 remake, Tifa was not saved by Zangan and instead sent to the Genova Project with Cloud and Jack? Is this why Sephiroth is stating that she is not the same girl – because she has been changed by Hojo’s experiments?

sephiroth just playing mind games

When it comes to living up to the motto “Gaslight, Gatekeeper, Girlboss” there’s no one quite like Sephiroth. He just loves to fuck with people, especially Claude. Sowing mistrust between Cloud and his friends seems entirely plausible for Sephiroth. The implication that some mysterious “demon” is controlling Tifa would certainly shake Cloud’s grip on reality – especially since it’s already a shaky thing – and that’s not even true.

there have always been multiple timelines

ff7 remake has already suggested that Zack Fair survived, somehow, which would be a major change in the course of events compared to the original ff7, fans have been assuming ever since reconstruction And Rebirth Occurs in another timeline where Zack survived. But what if there are more than just two timelines? like, Way More?

It was understood as a principle even before ff7 remake came out. For example, the depiction of the Nibelheim incident in the original ff7 It is somewhat different from its depiction elsewhere. In crisis CoreThe event, for example, is relayed from Zack Fair’s point of view, so you would expect it to be different in an emotional sense – but there’s no reason why some of the real events should be slightly altered. The rest of the FF7 compilation, including many more ff7 The spin-off features even more minor differences and contradictions to the story of the original game.

Image: Square Enix

So, what really happened five years ago in Nibelheim? Is it the characters’ memories that are wrong here, or is it the story itself that keeps changing – perhaps because it was never set in stone? Personally, I don’t see a need to explain these inconsistencies by claiming that there is a multiverse, although it certainly works as a theory. Instead, I like to believe that the FF7 series is all about how slippery the truth is, especially when human memories and trauma are involved, and even more specifically when it comes to the nature of life. includes the ancient myths themselves. It’s a series of events that have no easy explanation, but that could certainly make a good story.

the same goes for all our theories about final fantasy 7 reborn, Who knows what will happen, or whether any of our attempts to explain it will actually fail? All we can hope is that we get a good story out of the experience, and so far, it certainly seems like it.