I’m siiiick. Every dream Sephiroth has about his mother is her protecting him and caring for him and shielding from a cruel reality. Standing between him and his abusers, taking him away from them and their world while he falls for the delusion over and over.
And years later, after Sephiroth has hit rock bottom the second time, he runs straight back to her and that delusion again because this time the world was too cruel. The abuse ran too deep. He found out that it had begun with his BIRTH.
He cloaks himself in Jenova’s power and moves to become one with her, transcending the world until he’s a god above everything and standing by “mother” as she protects him once again from his painful, despair-filled reality and the humans that hurt him.
But this time, he enacts vengeance on humanity too. That’s where he became the villain in his mother’s name instead of a kid pretending he was safe in her arms. THAT’S WHERE IT ALL GOES HORRIBLY WRONG-
I can imagine that Sephiroth projected a lot of his trauma onto Jenova as well once he found out the “truth” - just like him, his “mother” was caged for decades, kept away from her only family, sliced into and experienced on and used without her consent over and over again.
due to a combination of the sheer immenseness of his trauma, his emotional fragility, and complete lack of support network by the time Nibelheim happens, he was never able to process any of that trauma. instead, his mind shattered under the strain, and only the delusions hold him together. his unprocessed trauma is then projected onto his mother, and later onto Cloud. and with that projection may have also come guilt - didn’t his mother comfort him again and again in the past? and yet Sephiroth listened to those who said it was just an illusion. he should have put his faith in her, but he believed everyone else’s lies instead. that must have hurt her so much! and wasn’t his mother put in a cage and tortured for years? he should never have stopped looking for her, but he did, and she suffered for it!
but no more - from now on, he will comfort and protect her. he will free her and fulfill her every wish and make sure she never gets hurt again and he will never ever leave her. he will give back the love given to him by her. his mother, the only one who has ever truly loved him
I loved this little exchange because I’ve been “Seph needs/wants to feel safe” truthing for YEARS now and this validated a lot of my feelings. At the crux of Sephiroth’s inner conflict are his feelings of insecurity and vulnerability, likely stemming from the second he was stolen from his mother. Lots of his behavior against Shinra/the planet represents his desire for control. When you’re the GOD of everything, you don’t NEED to worry about self-preservation. You don’t need to worry about Shinra tugging at your leash, shoving you into tanks and onto operating tables. Mother is with him and he has complete control over the world. He’s achieved what he’s always wanted, a sense of complete control and security where he gets to be mommy’s special boy forever at the cost of humanity’s survival.
But back to this exchange.
What I especially love here is that he’s so completely taken aback by this statement. He’s genuinely tongue-tied. He’s never experienced this before. And it only further associates Jenova with that comfort and security he’s been looking for all his life.
SHE understands him. SHE protects him. And he can do the same for her. Even if it means destroying the whole world in the process. His descent into madness and villainy isn’t just about vengeance or ego-rebirth, it’s also based very much on Sephiroth’s twisted perspective on survival. He emotionally regresses to the point where he views his actions as the preservation of his bond with his mother, a divine conquest that they have EARNED through suffering under Shinra.
You cannot remove Sephiroth’s mommy issues from his motives or characterization. There’s so many intricate layers in his relationship with Jenova/Lucrecia that shape what ultimately makes him into a compelling villain.
you know those posts that talk about young boy protagonists that wont kill and try to work things out through other methods like mob or aang… i feel like everyone completely ignored the fact that edward elric is also 100% one of those characters, we just dont see it because he just doesnt act like it since hes so edgy and goth all the time, but (at least in mangahood) he upholds a really strict “no killing” code because he believes that a life is worth more than anything. alphonse elric is also a more conventional example of this since he’s all soft, but he’s technically the deuteragonist so he also gets left out a lot. also they both fight a LOT and arent afraid to hurt people, but they dont WANT to and they still would never kill because its so against their morals, they wouldnt even use a philosophers stone to get their bodies back. i think we owe the elric brothers an apology for excluding them when making posts about characters like that, they totally deserve to be included to imho
By the way, that book saying Sephiroth’s manner is somewhat mild really rings true when you listen to the CC voice-lines back-to-back like I did earlier lmao. Especially for Reunion.
I can’t even explain how glaringly so many of the characters speak in loud or intense voices. Even Mr. Suave Genesis yells or raises his voice passionately, but then you get to Sephiroth and he speaks in such a soft, subdued voice. Like he’s almost whispering or purposely holding back the force he could potentially exert. Morikawa plays him the same way. It makes my heart melt okay.
“Mild” is the best way I could describe Sane!Sephiroth. Sure he’s in his edgy teen years right now in First Soldier Episode 2. But by the time he’s an adult, he grows into a man who is far more human than the masters who control him.
Sephiroth wanted to be compassionate. He was empathetic. He was protective of his friends and his men. He could get frustrated and annoyed, but never lost his temper, even when being directly challenged or insulted. He didn’t like taking charge unless it was for personal reasons. He gave his enemies the chance to retreat. He respected opponents who were able to go toe to toe with him. He forgave failure and was attentive to the needs of his colleagues. He mourned the loss of his comrades. He hated Hojo on an ethical level and was privately disgusted with Shinra’s cruelty.
