Sephiroth

Sephiroth
Series	Final Fantasy
First Appearance	Final Fantasy VII
Species	Human
Age	27
Year Created	1997
Voiced by (English)	George Newbern (2005-2020) Tyler Hoechlin (2020-present)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Toshiyuki Morikawa

Sephiroth is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII and the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie. Sephiroth is depicted as Cloud Strife's archenemy, and is seen as a symbol of Cloud's troubled past that haunts him. Sephiroth is a former renowned SOLDIER, who became twisted.

Before his fall from grace, Sephiroth was one of the most lauded success stories of the Shinra Electric Power Company's SOLDIER program. His successes in the field of battle during the conflicts surrounding Shinra's bid for global domination led to his status as a celebrity war hero and the poster boy for both the Shinra Military and the company's SOLDIER program. Learning of his true origins drove him insane, causing him to be driven by a desire to destroy the world.

Sephiroth is briefly a party member during a flashback and is both the penultimate and the final boss.

In 2020, Sephiroth was announced as a DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is the second fighter from the Final Fantasy universe to be playable in the game, following Cloud. His announcement occurred at The Game Awards 2020 and he was released on December 17, 2020, during the Sephiroth Challenge event, before being released on December 22, 2020. However, George Newbern and Tyler Hoechlin were not allowed to reprise his role for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate due to conflicts regarding his contract with Square Enix, so Toshiyuki Morikawa's voice is used in all international versions, just like Takahiro Sakurai's voice of Cloud Strife in Super Smash Bros. games.

Trivia

• Sephiroth is the first third party antagonist to be playable in Super Smash Bros.
• Sephiroth is the first character from an already-represented third-party universe to not be any type of clone of another character, as Ken Masters and Richter Belmont are Echo Fighters of Ryu and Simon Belmont.