Final Fantasy 7 Remake has kept what fans loved about the original game intact while also managing to create something new and fresh for players. One major change to the original is having the ultimate bad guy Sephiroth make an appearance much earlier in the story than before. Originally, Sephiroth makes his first appearance during a flashback after Cloud and the gang leave Midgar, and once again later during a boating trip from Junon to Costa Del Sol. In Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Sephiroth appears very early on, taunting Cloud and making it apparent that he will take on a much more notable role.
Sephiroth is one of the bosses from the Final Fantasy series who is easily a fan favorite, appearing in multiple games and even off-shoot games such as the Kingdom Hearts series. As such, it's quite obvious why Sephiroth would be more prominent in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's story, given that he also has a large influence over Cloud. As Final Fantasy 7 Remake only takes place during Midgar, a sliver of the original game's story, not having Sephiroth included in some fashion in such a large game might make it feel less impactful for fans. Despite some fans thinking Sephiroth was shoehorned into this first segment of the larger story, it is clear that Sephiroth will be a bigger part of the narrative now than before.
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The original Final Fantasy 7 featured quite a long story spanning over the course of 3 discs. Though the disc number was really due to the size of the Full Motion Videos at the time, it doesn't change the fact that Final Fantasy 7 was a lengthy journey from Midgar to Northern Crater. As such, it made sense that fans would only see snippets of Sephiroth and his terror before actually facing him later in the game.
In the original Final Fantasy 7 and its side games, it is learned that Sephiroth was born to Professor Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent, two assistants to Professor Gast who was working on the Jenova Project. The Jenova Project was the study of extra-terrestrial remains of a being mistakenly believed to have been a Cetra, the same race as Aerith. During Lucrecia's pregnancy, Professor Hojo injected Jenova's cells into their unborn baby causing Lucrecia to experience pain and premonitions about her son. After Sephiroth was born, Shinra scientists took him away to be studied, never giving Lucrecia the opportunity to hold him.
Before the events of Final Fantasy 7, Sephiroth had become a famous member of SOLDIER due to his exceptional physical capabilities and his success during the Wutai War. The success of infusing Jenova's cells into Sephiroth influenced the creation of the SOLDIER program, giving room to other super-soldiers to undergo a similar operation. At this point, Sephiroth was told nothing about his true parentage, and that his mother's name was Jenova. It was after the Wutai War that Sephiroth became popular among young men including Cloud, who wanted to become a First-Class SOLDER just like Sephiroth.
In the original Final Fantasy 7'sKalm flashback, Cloud retells the story of his mission to Nibelheim to investigate an outbreak of monsters at the nearby Mako reactor along with Sephiroth. Though Cloud misremembers a few details, Sephiroth discovers tanks of creatures that were once human but transformed due to Mako exposure. Among the tanks is one titled Jenova which begins Sephiroth's quest to find out about his past. Sephiroth anchors himself inside the Shinra Manor to study as much research as he can find on the Jenova Project. Eventually, Sephiroth comes to believe Jenova was a Cetra and that he is the last of the Cetra, swearing vengeance for his assumed ancestors who were betrayed by humankind.
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It was after Sephiroth decided to swear vengeance that he would burn Nibelheim to the ground and reclaim the planet in the name of the Cetra. It is 5 years after these events when Final Fantasy 7 begins, and though Final Fantasy 7 Remake is retelling the same story, it seems there will be many differences. After the first bombing sequence in the remake, Cloud's surroundings are made to look like the burning Nibelheim, confirming that event indeed still happened in this new iteration. Sephiroth taunts Cloud alluding to the fact Cloud defeated Sephiroth all those years ago, and when Cloud attempts to attack, the illusion of Sephiroth disappears.
Later on, when Cloud first encounters Aerith, Sephiroth taunts him once more. This time, he claims that Cloud is too weak and unable to protect anything, even himself. The original Final Fantasy 7 has a sickly character with a black robe and a numbered tattoo which is later learned to be a failed Sephiroth Clone, first encountered when Cloud arrives in Sector 7. During the remake, this same Sephiroth Clone makes an appearance as Marco, and takes on the form of Sephiroth to attack Cloud before Tifa intervenes and it is revealed only Cloud could see Sephiroth in that instance. After the Sector 7 plate falls, Sephiroth appears once again to mock Cloud, telling him to use this failure to grow stronger.
One of the visual spectacles featuring Sephiroth is seen later during the Shinra VR presentation where Sephiroth Clones attack the gang as a meteor falls onto Midgar. During the confrontation with the president of Shinra, Sephiroth takes control of Marco yet again to throw the president out the window and stab Barret through the chest. It's at this point that the Sephiroth Clone transforms into Jenova Dreamweaver, a being that creates illusions. Towards the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Sephiroth challenges Cloud and his friends to defy their destiny by defeating the Whispers, beings that go out of their way to make sure that predetermined destiny is not altered.
It is only after Cloud and the party defeat the Whispers that Sephiroth returns and defeats Cloud, giving him a mysterious warning that he only has "seven seconds before the end". The defeat of the Whispers solidifies that the original story of Final Fantasy 7 will indeed be altered, as the Whispers were seen throughout the remake trying to keep the original events on track. Now that they are defeated, there is no telling what will happen. It is uncertain as to whether the backstory of Sephiroth from the original Final Fantasy 7 maintains the same backstory or not, but fans are almost guaranteed to learn more when Final Fantasy 7 Part 2 is released.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now on PS4 and PS5.
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