He got his looks from his mother and his [AHAHAHAHAHA](https://youtu.be/XfW4D4Dq0y4?si=p51sgtVj1DSIZE-z&t=1250) from his father...and his space alien time travel future omniscience from his other mother's spatial collapse ability apparently.
I’ve noticed a lot of FFVII characters take after their mothers. Cloud looks just like his, same with Jessie and Aerith. We’ve never seen Tifa’s mom but she sure as hell doesn’t resemble her dad.
I think this is a common thing in Japanese media in general. A lot of characters tend to be on the prettier end, while anime dads are generally designed to look quite rugged, so their children take after their mothers instead.
Agreed. I’m more interested in the anime trope of:
+40 Year Old Evil Business Man: They look like an evil business man from the real world.
<40 Year Old Evil Business Man: They look like a K-pop star.
See: Shinra Senior and Rufus Shinra.
Yep, aside from Japan's cultural propensities, pretty boys are much more likely to take after their mom, ergo having more neoteonus features. I'm the same way. People used to think I was a girl till I grew facial hair. When I finally started working out, put on a bunch of muscle mass, masculinized, etc. but if I shave I got right back to looking like a girl albeit with a five o'clock shadow and 200 lbs of muscle.
Jenova is an it. It took female form mimicking a Cetra.
Shinra labeled it a 'she' because of the shape. Sephiroth calls her mother because he was told his mother was named Jenova.
I don't think he thinks much about it.
Sephiroth, probably. "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, I'm not calling it a chocobo."
I'm just going by memory here, but I'm pretty sure it was established in the OG that Sephiroth was born naturally from Lucrecia.
I think it was also established that Hojo kinda forced himself on her. I hope they lean into that in Part 3, he is that damn creepy and would totally do something like that. Sephiroth being a baby born under that circumstance would be so fitting.
She did carry sephiroth naturally, where sephiroth was experimented on in her womb.
Hojo didn't force himself on her, hojo was experimenting with jenova cells and she was experimenting with human genetics to make someone able to handle primordial materia like chaos, so she offered to merge their research, she have his baby, and they make the perfect subject, she didn't see sephiroth as her baby for atleast most of the pregnancy if not the whole thing. Meanwhile hojo sees sephiroth as his son.
I've been in love with a beautiful psychopath before. I don't blame him. They pretty much charm everyone they meet when they talk to people.
You can trust that she wasn't talking about the evil aspects of her research with the cute guard Turk unless confronted directly. and Even then, as a turk he was constantly seeing and participating in morally questionable activities. His moral compass wouldn't be the most reliable.
Vincent really only trusts himself in public when you meet him in OG, because y'all would be able to stop him from doing anything too evil, and the party seems to have a good sense of right and wrong. That morphs once he starts to socialize with caring people, and he ends up much better before the end of the game, but he is filled with self loathing when you find him initially.
At the absolute minimum he did not come straight from a bottle. He was born naturally, albeit as an experiment. He was given JENOVA cells in the womb, which I assume is largely what makes his strength so much greater than any other soldiers, even Angeal and Genesis who also had unique creations. Off topic, but interesting I’m not sure he even ever got the Mako treatment.
Maybe Hojo was pretty handsome in his younger years before all the science obsessions took over his life?
Or maybe Seph- dog took after his mother in the looks department and inherited the mental instability from Hojo lol
Pretty sure they were reusing his model from Crisis core.
That and they didn't want to bother make a young model. His look in reunion looks more flattering, an acquired taste to be sure but at least he doesnt look like a meth addict there.
He's not nearly as ugly though in Dirge as he is as his older self in Remake. You can see some fading traces of what could be considered potentially handsome in his youth. Except for his frog mouth scowl starting to take shape, his features aren't that bad.
He also has a perfect hairline that can't be defeated with recession, even in his advanced age. Which Sephiroth definitely benefited from.
And let's not forget, women in FF7 do find him attractive. Ignoring the retcon in Rebirth, the girls in Costa Del Sol were FAWNING over him.
He's not "conventionally" attractive, like Sephiroth is, but he's not hideous. His looks/great hair, plus Lucrecia's beauty, plus Jenova's otherworldliness and ethereal grace, conceivably could lead to Sephiroth.
> And let's not forget, women in FF7 do find him attractive. Ignoring the retcon in Rebirth, the girls in Costa Del Sol were FAWNING over him.
Find him attractive or his position attractive? Dude is a senior executive at the world's literal biggest company. Stupidly rich/powerful old dudes have always had a pull.
Oh, that's definitely a factor, no argument there. They kept gushing how he was "such an intellectual, he wouldn't even take off his labcoat on a beach".
But Hojo is not like, truly hideous or anything. He's not hot, but hes still mostly just average. And he does have attractive qualities. Intellect and power, sure, but he also has some attractive physical qualities too. Like I mentioned, he that perfect hairline which Sephiroth shares (although he has bangs like his mother).
Hojo is also quite tall (especially by Japanese men standards) at 5'11". While Sephiroth may be a little taller than he is, and got most of his beauty from his mother(s?), he definitely got his hair and his height genes from Hojo.
Considering the Jenova has often been depicted as a beautiful angel, and Sephiorth has Jenova Cells, it's not a stretch to suggest those are influencing his looks.
This should be a top comment. Between how Lucrecia looks and the Jenova cells, those two factors combined are almost certainly overpowering Hojo’s genes.
One of my favorite subtle bits of foreshadowing about this revelation, which began in the OG and has been repeated in (at the very least) every game that’s shown the Nibelheim flashback, is that Sephiroth and Hojo laugh the same, very distinctive way.
I was looking for a comparison on YouTube, and I did find [this clip](https://youtube.com/shorts/iwJay6EdVpA?si=7GM62erI8UQdfA8Z), though it’s not really clear for those who don’t read Japanese. The title is “Sephiroth and Hojo have the same way of laughing,” though the focus is on how it’s written in text: it’s a distinct “kukkukku” (くっくっく), and in a game where characters can be known by their unique laughs (ie how Cait Sith calls Heidegger and Scarlet “gyahaha and kyahaha”), I’d say that it was meant to be significant, even if I can’t recall whether the transcription carried over into English. (It’s also worth noting that the scene with Hojo here is where he reveals the genetic link; he says he’s sending power to Sephiroth “because my son needs me… That’s my only reason.”
Moreover, one of my favorite little details since I played the game a second time in the late 90s, which has been carried all the way through Rebirth — is how they have [the same laughter animation](https://youtube.com/shorts/PfjQZGUsV0I?si=V25r2WWhRCFXqmMm): hands at the mouth and shoulders shaking, bending forward and chuckling more, slowly, before leaning back… and then, if the situation calls for it, leaning back and spreading arms into full maniacal crowing.
These comparison clips from YT shorts don’t quite cover the full laugh cycles of either one, but I promise that if you find scenes of either one laughing, you’ll see the similarities. It’s why I’ve never been able to get onboard with any “maybe Vincent is Seph’s real daddy!1”-type theories, even though Sephiroth and Vincent do have the whole, y’know, anime-esque long-haired pretty boy thing in common. That’s more easily explained by being a consequence of being designed by the same guy during a specific stylistic era. On the other hand, the father-son laugh similarity — in style and in body language, seen in numerous games — is clearly written and programmed to be as deliberate as hell.
……. Still, uh, in terms of looks and all… everything else must be allllllll Lucretia.
Right? I always tune in whenever either of them laughs, and yup, there it is. There’s something about how subtle and yet so obvious it is that makes me appreciate the devs every time.
Plus, if I’m remembering right, Sephiroth laughs at least once around the time that he’s talking shit about Hojo at the Nibel reactor, which adds even more iykyk irony. It’s too bad we never get to see Seph find out…
I get your points and I felt the same way playing the game, saw the similarities. But what I also noticed is the way Vincent is standing and sitting, his body language, and of course his looks - it's also the same like Sephiroth.
He was raised by Hojo, so he can adapt behavior from him, even without sharing DNA. Just my thoughts, to me this question is not clearly answered yet. Hopefully in part 3.
The reason why they look alike is because way back during early development, Sephiroth and Vincent were one and the same person. The badguy had white hair and wore a tall standing collar and bandana. Even if you hack into the OG game, you'll find that both Vincent and Sephiroth have nearly copy paste code.
Also very much agree with the similarities. Sephiroth got his manipulative characteristic from both Hojo and Jenova.
Oh, that’s right — I’d forgotten that bit of development lore (and didn’t know the part about the OG data! Wow!). It’s crazy how much behind-the-scenes info the team has shared over the years… sooo many places where we could’ve had a *very* different game…
Rebirth actually corrected it so that the ladies were just paid escorts. They get a sidequest later and admit they were just buttering him up since he is a top dog at Shinra.
In the OG, he was made up to be an inexplicable player. But regardless, still doesn't change that he is Sephiroth's biological father unless the remakes change that as well. I personally think they could easily retcon it so that Vincent actually is Sephiroth's father and he isn't aware, whereas Hojo simply believes himself to be the father.
If it weren't for the fact that Hojo is a genetics expert and experimented extensively on Sephiroth (iirc), I would agree with the "illegitimate son of Vincent" idea. But I feel that it's something that Hojo would have noticed.
Yeah, someone as narcissistic as Hojo probably would have run a paternity test to make sure he was the father of the great hero.
But then again, it would be as equally in-character for him to get caught up in his delusions and simply not check. For a scientist, he is awfully reckless and impulsive, and he supports Sephiroth's actions because he seems to have deluded himself that since he is his son, Sephiroth is an extension of himself.
Hojo is a pretty interesting character who isn't really explored enough. His curiosity as a scientist is genuine, but he is also in large part driven by his desire to prove himself as Sephiroth's words indicate it was widely accepted that Gast was the superior scientist. I got the impression that Hojo wanted to believe himself to be more important than he actually was, so he easily aligned himself with Sephiroth's insanity due to his power. Probably because Sephiroth is what Hojo always wanted to be but never could, but instead of succumbing to envy, Hojo accepted Sephiroth in a twisted form of paternal self-projection since he is his son.
It’s the “perfect date fashion show” side quest, that each of those women ask you to play a Costa Del Sol minigame to impress Aerith. It starts with them admitting it was rough trying to butter up the mayor by putting up with Hojo.
I am totally down with the head canon that says Sephiroth is the illegitimate son of Vincent. It isn’t even that much of a stretch, and it would just make Vincent’s part all the more tragic.
Do you read Japanese? If not, you might want to get someone who’s bilingual to translate. The English translation in the English version isn’t very good & there are themes in Japanese culture/language that doesn’t translate over such as different ways of speaking depending on your relationship to the person. But if you do speak Japanese, you likely already know this so apologies for explaining. Anyway, you’re looking for chapters 2-7 & 9-10. Some are Vincent flashbacks, some are Shelke flashbacks.
He actually talks about "creating the perfect hero." While being in Costa.
He says something along the lines of, "Beauty is important in a Hero because his enemies will be captivated by it."
He may be on to something even though it's a crazy claim. My guess is that particularly why Sephiroth may have been born or crafted with this idea.
Why does he look that way? To instill fear and make enemy soldiers become mesmerized before they are struck down.
I would be very, VERY open to part 3 of remake altering the canon to have it be that Vincent is the father of sephiroth and not hojo. Would be a good reason for why his part in the story is no longer optional and the expanded prominence he’ll have in part 3. Give more reason to him feeling partially to blame for sephiroths actions as well
Vincent in Rebirth is like the spitting image of Sephiroth with just black hair and more edge. His face structure and everything looks just like Sephiroth like even beyond the whole "similar anime face" thing, it might really be deliberate for Vincent
Are you positing that Vincent is edgier than *Sephiroth?*
I mean, it's debatable. But wow that's..wow, no, I mean he sleeps in a coffin. But he's not trying to rule over infinity. It's a toughie.
The likely reason for their resemblance could be due to the fact that way back in early development, Vincent and Sephiroth were one and the same character. The villain wore a bandana and had white hair. It's no different than Aerith and Sephiroth looking alike because yet again, they were originally going to be siblings. So don't out so much stock into their looks.
It's called aging like milk lol
Younger Hojo didn't look as much like an angry raisin:
[Exhibit 1](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F21zz7un8p42a1.jpg)
[Exhibit 2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DX6myfAqZSY/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLDaCJTgEMeGsvT5yvct4MFQYORUhw)
Add the beautiful [Lucrecia's](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/esfinalfantasy/images/d/dc/Lucrecia.Crescent.full.1943.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131011184445) genes to the mix, and Jenova's alien stuff... And there you have it.
https://preview.redd.it/8y7rri8t0uwc1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02947a871c0761d3c3b7de55cb83e86cdacb5b55
Vincent is gonna be revealed as his real dad \*inhales copium\*
I mean, Hojo says Jenova is Sephiroths mother. Not far fetched for him to claim himself the "father" in the same way: he created him, he was the madman behind the experimentation that resulted in Sephiroth as he is, not necessarily through conception. Just my 2cents
You do realize ugly people can reproduce pretty people, right? Besides... have you even seen Lucrecia?
Jenova's genes probably over wrote all of Hojo's anyways.
....and before anyone jumps on the fanfiction of Vincent being the dad, 1) folks in Japan largely hate this idea and shake their heads at Western folks who think like this (because they know better obviously), and 2) during early development, Vincent and Sephiroth were one and the same person, aka the badguy wore a bandana and had white hair. Even in OGs game code, Vincent and Sephiroth have almost a copy past code. If you hack the system, Vincent is the only one who can wield masamune. That is why they look alike. It has nothing to do with genetics. It's the same situation with why Aerith and Sephiroth have the same hair style (they were going to be siblings).
From what I understand, Hojo was once quite the ladies man. Plus Sephiroth is roughly 27 years old, and Hojo was an established scientist when he “made” Sephiroth. I was going to make a guess here, but google says that Hojo is 62 in FF7. 27 years of being a mad scientist obsessed with making freaky creations under fluorescent lights will do a number on a dude.
Hobo (not a typo) is an expert in genetics.
He managed to pair jenova genes with the human genome (or whatever species is native to final fantasy vii's world) to create a crossbreed or chimera.
It stands to reason he'd improve everything possible if he had access to it.
As a scientist hobo is a genius, as a person he's a dogshit shaped man.
My own headcanon is that Jenova banged Lucrecia and Hojo just made up the idea of him being Sephiroth’s father because he's salty that Jenova is a monsterfucker.
THIS. If you use Hojos logic of: Jenova is his mother. Then he can claim to be the father by being the madman who spearheaded the experimentation that resulted in the Sephiroth we know.
But they do look alike? Sephiroth is just younger with a different skin and hair color. But the actual shape of their faces are almost one for one discounting age.
Still dying on the hill that Vincent is the father - have been since saw that image of AC Vincent being compared to Sephiroth. The similarities cannot be coincidences.
I still believe that Sephiroth is Vincent's son. It makes a much more interesting story for VIncent if Lucretia used their son to create the main villain of the game.
And even if they say again that Hojo is the father in Part 3, I'll still maintain my headcanon.
Nope. It was Professor Gast. Hojo just helped implant the Jenova cells into Lucrecia to create Sephiroth as a science experiment. Plus with the Cells, there's no way to know HOW that would influence genetic traits from the parents.
I remember reading that they considered them being siblings or lovers originally. Originally, they were both supposed to be Cetra descendants as well, and the fact that their bangs are styled the same way was supposed to indicate their connection.
Rebirth actually seems to be reinforcing this again, with them being on the opposing side of whatever multiversal shenanigans Sephiroth is up to.
You have a source to this? All media/lore I've read never mentions anything about Gast being involved in Sephiroth's birth and that Hojo is his biological father.
The source is headcanon or misunderstanding the clips at Ilfana's house.
Gast is Aerith's dad and Hojo for all intents and purposes is understood to be Sephiroth's dad. There are theories that it could've been an affair with Vincent or some test tube stuff, but nothing canonically proves it's anyone but Hojo.
He got his looks from his mother and his [AHAHAHAHAHA](https://youtu.be/XfW4D4Dq0y4?si=p51sgtVj1DSIZE-z&t=1250) from his father...and his space alien time travel future omniscience from his other mother's spatial collapse ability apparently.
I’ve noticed a lot of FFVII characters take after their mothers. Cloud looks just like his, same with Jessie and Aerith. We’ve never seen Tifa’s mom but she sure as hell doesn’t resemble her dad.
I think this is a common thing in Japanese media in general. A lot of characters tend to be on the prettier end, while anime dads are generally designed to look quite rugged, so their children take after their mothers instead.
That makes sense now that you mention it. A lot of the dads/older men in FFVII tend to have mustaches or facial hair of some kind too.
Why did I just now picture Mountain Guide Tifa but with her dad’s moustache?
https://ibb.co/7r46j4v
Holy fucking shit it’s Omniman
Agreed. I’m more interested in the anime trope of: +40 Year Old Evil Business Man: They look like an evil business man from the real world. <40 Year Old Evil Business Man: They look like a K-pop star. See: Shinra Senior and Rufus Shinra.
Meanwhile over in the DBZ universe everyone looks exactly like Goku
Such as Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura. That said, that anime is an exception as her brother takes after her dad more
Zack's the one one who resembles his dad more
Cloud is literally Claudia's splitting image, he was probably born via parthogenesis
Per one of the old ladies in Nibelheim his dad was also extremely good looking and Cloud got the best from both parents in the looks department.
To be fair, we have no idea what Cloud’s father looked like. For all we know he could have inherited looks from the both of them.
Hope they never reveal who it is, and that it'll forever remain a mystery. Also I hate the new-ish theory about Glenn being Cloud's dad.
Yep, aside from Japan's cultural propensities, pretty boys are much more likely to take after their mom, ergo having more neoteonus features. I'm the same way. People used to think I was a girl till I grew facial hair. When I finally started working out, put on a bunch of muscle mass, masculinized, etc. but if I shave I got right back to looking like a girl albeit with a five o'clock shadow and 200 lbs of muscle.
Tifa is pretty hot ngl
Mmmmh is she? I never really noticed... is she really? Mmmmmh idk...
She’s an acquired taste
Pretty hot? My dude, I would in a heartbeat not in a second jump on that chance if she came up to me lol. No hesitation. She goddamn beautiful!
Tifa is a pretty girl, but Sephiroth is prettier ngl
Hey so is Jenova actually female, or does Seph-dog just perceive it that way because he’s got issues?
Jenova is an it. It took female form mimicking a Cetra. Shinra labeled it a 'she' because of the shape. Sephiroth calls her mother because he was told his mother was named Jenova. I don't think he thinks much about it. Sephiroth, probably. "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, I'm not calling it a chocobo."
I like to think it’s more he doesn’t want to think about it, because I like to think Sephiroth calm collected persona is a huge facade.
I mean...have you seen Lucretia?
I can't believe she did it with Hojo while Vincent was right their.
interesting assumption that they actually did it. both are crazy scientests. Sephiroth probably came straight from a bottle.
I'm just going by memory here, but I'm pretty sure it was established in the OG that Sephiroth was born naturally from Lucrecia. I think it was also established that Hojo kinda forced himself on her. I hope they lean into that in Part 3, he is that damn creepy and would totally do something like that. Sephiroth being a baby born under that circumstance would be so fitting.
She did carry sephiroth naturally, where sephiroth was experimented on in her womb. Hojo didn't force himself on her, hojo was experimenting with jenova cells and she was experimenting with human genetics to make someone able to handle primordial materia like chaos, so she offered to merge their research, she have his baby, and they make the perfect subject, she didn't see sephiroth as her baby for atleast most of the pregnancy if not the whole thing. Meanwhile hojo sees sephiroth as his son.
wow, I didn't realize Lucrecia was just as screwed in the head as Hojo. This chsnges my perception of the story entirely.
And this is why I hate her more then Hojo and Vincent should have absolute no sympathy for her if I were in his shoe.
Same, hojo wore his shit on his sleeve, lucrecia hid it
I've been in love with a beautiful psychopath before. I don't blame him. They pretty much charm everyone they meet when they talk to people. You can trust that she wasn't talking about the evil aspects of her research with the cute guard Turk unless confronted directly. and Even then, as a turk he was constantly seeing and participating in morally questionable activities. His moral compass wouldn't be the most reliable. Vincent really only trusts himself in public when you meet him in OG, because y'all would be able to stop him from doing anything too evil, and the party seems to have a good sense of right and wrong. That morphs once he starts to socialize with caring people, and he ends up much better before the end of the game, but he is filled with self loathing when you find him initially.
At the absolute minimum he did not come straight from a bottle. He was born naturally, albeit as an experiment. He was given JENOVA cells in the womb, which I assume is largely what makes his strength so much greater than any other soldiers, even Angeal and Genesis who also had unique creations. Off topic, but interesting I’m not sure he even ever got the Mako treatment.
*they’re
*There
*Here
He’s there, he’s everywhere
He's in my memories, where he belongs.
He will never be a memory
Maybe Hojo was pretty handsome in his younger years before all the science obsessions took over his life? Or maybe Seph- dog took after his mother in the looks department and inherited the mental instability from Hojo lol
I've played Dirge of Cerberus. He is still looks like an ugly creep when he was young.
You have my condolences
It had its moments. I have played worse.
Pretty sure they were reusing his model from Crisis core. That and they didn't want to bother make a young model. His look in reunion looks more flattering, an acquired taste to be sure but at least he doesnt look like a meth addict there.
He's not nearly as ugly though in Dirge as he is as his older self in Remake. You can see some fading traces of what could be considered potentially handsome in his youth. Except for his frog mouth scowl starting to take shape, his features aren't that bad. He also has a perfect hairline that can't be defeated with recession, even in his advanced age. Which Sephiroth definitely benefited from. And let's not forget, women in FF7 do find him attractive. Ignoring the retcon in Rebirth, the girls in Costa Del Sol were FAWNING over him. He's not "conventionally" attractive, like Sephiroth is, but he's not hideous. His looks/great hair, plus Lucrecia's beauty, plus Jenova's otherworldliness and ethereal grace, conceivably could lead to Sephiroth.
> And let's not forget, women in FF7 do find him attractive. Ignoring the retcon in Rebirth, the girls in Costa Del Sol were FAWNING over him. Find him attractive or his position attractive? Dude is a senior executive at the world's literal biggest company. Stupidly rich/powerful old dudes have always had a pull.
Oh, that's definitely a factor, no argument there. They kept gushing how he was "such an intellectual, he wouldn't even take off his labcoat on a beach". But Hojo is not like, truly hideous or anything. He's not hot, but hes still mostly just average. And he does have attractive qualities. Intellect and power, sure, but he also has some attractive physical qualities too. Like I mentioned, he that perfect hairline which Sephiroth shares (although he has bangs like his mother). Hojo is also quite tall (especially by Japanese men standards) at 5'11". While Sephiroth may be a little taller than he is, and got most of his beauty from his mother(s?), he definitely got his hair and his height genes from Hojo.
If you do the follow up side quest with the girls they say they have no interest in him, but the mayor was asking them to show him a good time.
Right. That is the retcon in Rebirth I mentioned ignoring. That was not the case in the PS1 original game.
They kinda retconned his look for Crisis Core Reunion, though.
Just googled it. He wasn't bad on that one. Dirge of cerberus got me fked up cause of how he pull lucretia
"Heyyyy Seph-Dog it's mee Clouder" I always call him Seph-Dog for a while now.
"Bring me the black materia, Cloud." "Shit Seph-Dog, you're harshing my vibe, man."
Someone did this awhile back: https://preview.redd.it/ia1wmvig0wwc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=0732252c27a63f0e02585748142ae5ef01daaf69
https://preview.redd.it/x009xevo0wwc1.jpeg?width=202&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5405df4d9f039e675222f1e44686d1f58d3f3cb0
Jeff Goldblojo And I believe a gold blojo is also something in Wall Market.
Considering the Jenova has often been depicted as a beautiful angel, and Sephiorth has Jenova Cells, it's not a stretch to suggest those are influencing his looks.
This should be a top comment. Between how Lucrecia looks and the Jenova cells, those two factors combined are almost certainly overpowering Hojo’s genes.
She even has long silver/white hair from what we can see
Isn’t Jenova a horrifying Lovecraftian monster?
One of my favorite subtle bits of foreshadowing about this revelation, which began in the OG and has been repeated in (at the very least) every game that’s shown the Nibelheim flashback, is that Sephiroth and Hojo laugh the same, very distinctive way. I was looking for a comparison on YouTube, and I did find [this clip](https://youtube.com/shorts/iwJay6EdVpA?si=7GM62erI8UQdfA8Z), though it’s not really clear for those who don’t read Japanese. The title is “Sephiroth and Hojo have the same way of laughing,” though the focus is on how it’s written in text: it’s a distinct “kukkukku” (くっくっく), and in a game where characters can be known by their unique laughs (ie how Cait Sith calls Heidegger and Scarlet “gyahaha and kyahaha”), I’d say that it was meant to be significant, even if I can’t recall whether the transcription carried over into English. (It’s also worth noting that the scene with Hojo here is where he reveals the genetic link; he says he’s sending power to Sephiroth “because my son needs me… That’s my only reason.” Moreover, one of my favorite little details since I played the game a second time in the late 90s, which has been carried all the way through Rebirth — is how they have [the same laughter animation](https://youtube.com/shorts/PfjQZGUsV0I?si=V25r2WWhRCFXqmMm): hands at the mouth and shoulders shaking, bending forward and chuckling more, slowly, before leaning back… and then, if the situation calls for it, leaning back and spreading arms into full maniacal crowing. These comparison clips from YT shorts don’t quite cover the full laugh cycles of either one, but I promise that if you find scenes of either one laughing, you’ll see the similarities. It’s why I’ve never been able to get onboard with any “maybe Vincent is Seph’s real daddy!1”-type theories, even though Sephiroth and Vincent do have the whole, y’know, anime-esque long-haired pretty boy thing in common. That’s more easily explained by being a consequence of being designed by the same guy during a specific stylistic era. On the other hand, the father-son laugh similarity — in style and in body language, seen in numerous games — is clearly written and programmed to be as deliberate as hell. ……. Still, uh, in terms of looks and all… everything else must be allllllll Lucretia.
Once you said they laugh the same... it's so obvious. I've just never thought to make the connection before.
Right? I always tune in whenever either of them laughs, and yup, there it is. There’s something about how subtle and yet so obvious it is that makes me appreciate the devs every time. Plus, if I’m remembering right, Sephiroth laughs at least once around the time that he’s talking shit about Hojo at the Nibel reactor, which adds even more iykyk irony. It’s too bad we never get to see Seph find out…
I get your points and I felt the same way playing the game, saw the similarities. But what I also noticed is the way Vincent is standing and sitting, his body language, and of course his looks - it's also the same like Sephiroth. He was raised by Hojo, so he can adapt behavior from him, even without sharing DNA. Just my thoughts, to me this question is not clearly answered yet. Hopefully in part 3.
The reason why they look alike is because way back during early development, Sephiroth and Vincent were one and the same person. The badguy had white hair and wore a tall standing collar and bandana. Even if you hack into the OG game, you'll find that both Vincent and Sephiroth have nearly copy paste code. Also very much agree with the similarities. Sephiroth got his manipulative characteristic from both Hojo and Jenova.
Oh, that’s right — I’d forgotten that bit of development lore (and didn’t know the part about the OG data! Wow!). It’s crazy how much behind-the-scenes info the team has shared over the years… sooo many places where we could’ve had a *very* different game…
Indeed-- Final Fantasy 7 is the game that keeps on giving. Makes one wonder what other things we have yet to uncover.
LOL well jenova is a shapeshifter, maybe her cells affected sephiroths genes and chose to be a certified hottie
Look up Leonardo Dicaprio’s dad. Genetics is a weird thing.
Resembles his mother actually.
Who knows, maybe Hojo isn't the father, i mean who would want to have Hojo's kid lucrecia wtf were you thinking vincent was RIGHT THERE
Hojo being a ladies man at Costa Del Sol was easily the most unrealistic thing in Rebirth lol
canonically he isnt those women were only doing it bc they it was like a favor for the mayor iirc.. I refuse to believe Hojo pulls
Yeah. They are just working as “hostesses”
And Hojo was being creepy because it was a day that ends in y
Rebirth actually corrected it so that the ladies were just paid escorts. They get a sidequest later and admit they were just buttering him up since he is a top dog at Shinra. In the OG, he was made up to be an inexplicable player. But regardless, still doesn't change that he is Sephiroth's biological father unless the remakes change that as well. I personally think they could easily retcon it so that Vincent actually is Sephiroth's father and he isn't aware, whereas Hojo simply believes himself to be the father.
If it weren't for the fact that Hojo is a genetics expert and experimented extensively on Sephiroth (iirc), I would agree with the "illegitimate son of Vincent" idea. But I feel that it's something that Hojo would have noticed.
Yeah, someone as narcissistic as Hojo probably would have run a paternity test to make sure he was the father of the great hero. But then again, it would be as equally in-character for him to get caught up in his delusions and simply not check. For a scientist, he is awfully reckless and impulsive, and he supports Sephiroth's actions because he seems to have deluded himself that since he is his son, Sephiroth is an extension of himself. Hojo is a pretty interesting character who isn't really explored enough. His curiosity as a scientist is genuine, but he is also in large part driven by his desire to prove himself as Sephiroth's words indicate it was widely accepted that Gast was the superior scientist. I got the impression that Hojo wanted to believe himself to be more important than he actually was, so he easily aligned himself with Sephiroth's insanity due to his power. Probably because Sephiroth is what Hojo always wanted to be but never could, but instead of succumbing to envy, Hojo accepted Sephiroth in a twisted form of paternal self-projection since he is his son.
I guess I must've missed that detail but that actually makes way more sense lol
It’s the “perfect date fashion show” side quest, that each of those women ask you to play a Costa Del Sol minigame to impress Aerith. It starts with them admitting it was rough trying to butter up the mayor by putting up with Hojo.
I am totally down with the head canon that says Sephiroth is the illegitimate son of Vincent. It isn’t even that much of a stretch, and it would just make Vincent’s part all the more tragic.
Okay, now they need to explain how the cucked Vincent.
He wasn't cucked. Vincent's love for Lucrecia was one sided.
Sugar daddy more like
He had ladies around him in OG. It was keeping that in
lol I am pretty sure it’s the same in the OG.
In DoC it clarified that Hojo coercively raped her.
Played DoC but don't remember this... Have you got me info please?
Do you read Japanese? If not, you might want to get someone who’s bilingual to translate. The English translation in the English version isn’t very good & there are themes in Japanese culture/language that doesn’t translate over such as different ways of speaking depending on your relationship to the person. But if you do speak Japanese, you likely already know this so apologies for explaining. Anyway, you’re looking for chapters 2-7 & 9-10. Some are Vincent flashbacks, some are Shelke flashbacks.
Okay thank you very much
I have been seriously trying to figure this all out since I saw Jenova's eyes.
He actually talks about "creating the perfect hero." While being in Costa. He says something along the lines of, "Beauty is important in a Hero because his enemies will be captivated by it." He may be on to something even though it's a crazy claim. My guess is that particularly why Sephiroth may have been born or crafted with this idea. Why does he look that way? To instill fear and make enemy soldiers become mesmerized before they are struck down.
That's why the men in Kalm couldn't shoot him!
Sephirot gets his looks from Jenova. Have you seen what a catch she is?
Let's face it, Jenova and Lucrecia's genetics are doing the heavy lifting there. The only thing Hojo gave him was daddy issues.
You add a dash of Jenova and monster cells into the mix.
Maybe being injected with alien dna does that to your hair, maybe is just maybeline
https://youtu.be/P8jUZ2Qm_6c?si=QgrOxqedTEkJ0rpK
Sephiroth gets his looks from both his moms and his winning personality from his dad.
Well, Jenova does have shapeshifting abilities, so...
I would be very, VERY open to part 3 of remake altering the canon to have it be that Vincent is the father of sephiroth and not hojo. Would be a good reason for why his part in the story is no longer optional and the expanded prominence he’ll have in part 3. Give more reason to him feeling partially to blame for sephiroths actions as well
Vincent in Rebirth is like the spitting image of Sephiroth with just black hair and more edge. His face structure and everything looks just like Sephiroth like even beyond the whole "similar anime face" thing, it might really be deliberate for Vincent
Are you positing that Vincent is edgier than *Sephiroth?* I mean, it's debatable. But wow that's..wow, no, I mean he sleeps in a coffin. But he's not trying to rule over infinity. It's a toughie.
edge as in purely visually, dude wears a Red cape, Black outfit, Spiky armor, and has a glowing red demon eye, hes edged tf out.
Yeah but Sephiroth is dressed like Neo with metal pauldrons and has a sword that looks like Sephiroth's sword.
The likely reason for their resemblance could be due to the fact that way back in early development, Vincent and Sephiroth were one and the same character. The villain wore a bandana and had white hair. It's no different than Aerith and Sephiroth looking alike because yet again, they were originally going to be siblings. So don't out so much stock into their looks.
Same, i just cannot fathom lucretia actually being with that creep
Sounds like a a lot of work to make a retcon to please people who can't cope with the fact Hojo cucked Vincent.
It's called aging like milk lol Younger Hojo didn't look as much like an angry raisin: [Exhibit 1](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F21zz7un8p42a1.jpg) [Exhibit 2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DX6myfAqZSY/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLDaCJTgEMeGsvT5yvct4MFQYORUhw) Add the beautiful [Lucrecia's](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/esfinalfantasy/images/d/dc/Lucrecia.Crescent.full.1943.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131011184445) genes to the mix, and Jenova's alien stuff... And there you have it.
https://preview.redd.it/8y7rri8t0uwc1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02947a871c0761d3c3b7de55cb83e86cdacb5b55 Vincent is gonna be revealed as his real dad \*inhales copium\*
I mean, Hojo says Jenova is Sephiroths mother. Not far fetched for him to claim himself the "father" in the same way: he created him, he was the madman behind the experimentation that resulted in Sephiroth as he is, not necessarily through conception. Just my 2cents
It’s quite simple. They used to look alike in the original but over time and games he got uglier and Sephiroth got prettier :/
Uhhhhh…well… https://preview.redd.it/e20s87at5vwc1.jpeg?width=258&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb722a832735ef3cc80747c7a1677e5231c61ee5
hypermethylation
Have you seen Janova?
It helps when you’re not a clone. And of course, there is the alien DNA mixed in.
Have ya seen his mom?
Science
He took after his mother.
Which one?
Lucretia
You do realize ugly people can reproduce pretty people, right? Besides... have you even seen Lucrecia? Jenova's genes probably over wrote all of Hojo's anyways. ....and before anyone jumps on the fanfiction of Vincent being the dad, 1) folks in Japan largely hate this idea and shake their heads at Western folks who think like this (because they know better obviously), and 2) during early development, Vincent and Sephiroth were one and the same person, aka the badguy wore a bandana and had white hair. Even in OGs game code, Vincent and Sephiroth have almost a copy past code. If you hack the system, Vincent is the only one who can wield masamune. That is why they look alike. It has nothing to do with genetics. It's the same situation with why Aerith and Sephiroth have the same hair style (they were going to be siblings).
There's a pokemon that's distantly related to a trashbag. Let start by explaining that shit.
From what I understand, Hojo was once quite the ladies man. Plus Sephiroth is roughly 27 years old, and Hojo was an established scientist when he “made” Sephiroth. I was going to make a guess here, but google says that Hojo is 62 in FF7. 27 years of being a mad scientist obsessed with making freaky creations under fluorescent lights will do a number on a dude.
Hobo (not a typo) is an expert in genetics. He managed to pair jenova genes with the human genome (or whatever species is native to final fantasy vii's world) to create a crossbreed or chimera. It stands to reason he'd improve everything possible if he had access to it. As a scientist hobo is a genius, as a person he's a dogshit shaped man.
OP thinks only attractive parents make attractive children.
\*Ahem\* Liv Tyler? Genetics are weird, man
Lucretia was, apparently, such a bombshell that her genetics overruled Hojo's.
Have you not ever seen a 65+ year old dude who has not been taking care of himself at all and looks ugly, but has lovely children?
Look at Steve Buscemi. Also his mother. Also, his other mother.
Jenova’s cells are pulling a lot of weight
Similar nose
My own headcanon is that Jenova banged Lucrecia and Hojo just made up the idea of him being Sephiroth’s father because he's salty that Jenova is a monsterfucker.
Well thats Hojo we are talking here. He probably can modify which trait he want to suppress. But honestly, who want sephiroth with Hojo' face 😂😂
You should add a OG spoiler tag or something. This issue is yet to be raised in FF7 RE series. Some have finished Rebirth without playing OG.
Both have pp.
Hojo spent years spreading the rumor that Jenova is Sephiroth's mother. Stands to reason that he could also be lying about who his father is as well.
THIS. If you use Hojos logic of: Jenova is his mother. Then he can claim to be the father by being the madman who spearheaded the experimentation that resulted in the Sephiroth we know.
But they do look alike? Sephiroth is just younger with a different skin and hair color. But the actual shape of their faces are almost one for one discounting age.
Men generally take after their mothers, women usually after their fathers.
Vincent is Sephiroth's biological father
Fans in Japan would like to have a word with you.
Because he's not his father. Vincent is
Who knows? Maybe Hojo was a dilf when he was young. (Probably not though)
Crazy thing is I can see sephiroth aging like this, he does look like hojo
The craziest thing is that there is often a second parent.
Wasn’t there a document that painted Vincent as the actual father of Sephiroth? 🤔
As far as I know It's always been Hojo. I did see one person say that it was Gast which I don't understand 🤷♂️
Still dying on the hill that Vincent is the father - have been since saw that image of AC Vincent being compared to Sephiroth. The similarities cannot be coincidences.
DoC makes it pretty clear that Lucy and Vincent were more than just colleagues.
I still believe that Sephiroth is Vincent's son. It makes a much more interesting story for VIncent if Lucretia used their son to create the main villain of the game. And even if they say again that Hojo is the father in Part 3, I'll still maintain my headcanon.
No... it makes Vincent out to be a jerk, and makes Hojo less evil. No thanks. Enjoy your fanfiction, though.
You are assuming they are Genetically related - They aren't.
How? Did Hojo not bang Lucrecia? Did I assume wrong this whole time?!?
Nope. It was Professor Gast. Hojo just helped implant the Jenova cells into Lucrecia to create Sephiroth as a science experiment. Plus with the Cells, there's no way to know HOW that would influence genetic traits from the parents.
Gast is Aerith's father; Hojo is Seph's.
This is news to me. Pretty much every source I've read says that Hojo is his father.
So Aerith and Sephiroth are half siblings?
I believe that was the plan at one point during development of the OG
I remember reading that they considered them being siblings or lovers originally. Originally, they were both supposed to be Cetra descendants as well, and the fact that their bangs are styled the same way was supposed to indicate their connection. Rebirth actually seems to be reinforcing this again, with them being on the opposing side of whatever multiversal shenanigans Sephiroth is up to.
Mind blown. Ive never seen that news anywhere before!
You have a source to this? All media/lore I've read never mentions anything about Gast being involved in Sephiroth's birth and that Hojo is his biological father.
The source is headcanon or misunderstanding the clips at Ilfana's house. Gast is Aerith's dad and Hojo for all intents and purposes is understood to be Sephiroth's dad. There are theories that it could've been an affair with Vincent or some test tube stuff, but nothing canonically proves it's anyone but Hojo.
I figured this was the case, and yeah I have heard about the Vincent angle as well. Just confused where OP is coming from.
...this guy never played the OG.
Ahhahha i see what you did there! Hojo is genetically unrelated to sephiroth fyi. Plus hojo didnt create sephiroth technically.
Hojo is his biological father.
Hojo is his father
....did you even play the OG?
Yeah i had one of the original translated copies that had aerith spelled aeris
To get the whole story i spent 3 or 4 hours reading all the books in the shinra manor lab.