Professor Hojo



Professor Hojo (宝条, Hōjō) is a major antagonist in Final Fantasy VII, and also makes several appearances in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, most notably as the primary villain of the sequel Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-. Hojo is the head of Shinra Electric Power Company's Science Research Division at the time of Final Fantasy VII, and an archetypal mad scientist. His research is directly or indirectly responsible for most of the major disasters during the whole of Final Fantasy VII and its sequels. Perhaps the most direct example of this is his son, Sephiroth, the game's main antagonist, whom he used as a test subject. Hojo, not surprisingly, regards the subjects of his experiments as mere specimens. This is often done in spite of the fact they are almost always human or otherwise sentient. This amoral attitude extends to all of his research, as Hojo will often undertake radical experiments without any regard for ethics or the potential consequences.

Hojo's full name is never disclosed, although, since "Hojo" is an actual Japanese surname, it is likely "Hojo" is his family name rather than given name. However, Gast Faremis is referred to as "Professor Gast", so Hojo may be his first name. Either way, the individual kanji used mean "a treasure" and "logic," respectively.

Appearance
Hojo is a slender middle-aged man with long black hair he wears pulled back in a ponytail. He is always seen wearing small round glasses and a white lab coat, white blouse, blue tie, grey trousers with a brown belt, and grey shoes. He has a distinctive hunched, shuffling walk. His voice actor in English is Paul Eiding, who gives Hojo a character-fitting high-pitched, nasal voice. Hojo was played by the late Nachi Nozawa in Japanese.

Jenova Project S
Approximately thirty years prior to the game's start the top Shinra researcher, Professor Gast, discovered Jenova, a destructive extraterrestrial being, buried in the Northern Crater. He mistakenly believed Jenova to be a Cetra, a member of a mystical ancient race that inhabited The Planet before present day humanity. Dr. Hollander, Hojo, and another Shinra scientist named Lucrecia Crescent, were assigned to work on the Jenova Project under Professor Gast. The project's ultimate goal was to "create humans with the powers of the Ancients." It was believed this goal could have been realized by testing the effects of Jenova cells on an unborn child. The project's ultimate goal was to produce a child who could lead Shinra to the Ancients' Promised Land.

Around the same time Lucrecia became the romantic interest of Vincent Valentine, then a member of the Turks assigned as the scientists' bodyguard. Due to her guilt over causing Vincent's father's death, Lucrecia rejected him and instead entered into a relationship with Hojo. Lucrecia became pregnant, and she and Hojo chose to offer up their unborn child to the Jenova Project and Hojo injected Lucrecia with Jenova cells during the pregnancy. Vincent objected to these experiments and Vincent and Hojo quarreled over the situation, which ended with Hojo shooting Vincent. Hojo performed experiments on Vincent's body before leaving him sealed in a coffin in the Shinra Mansion basement in Nibelheim.

The child that would come as a result of the Jenova Project was Sephiroth. At an undisclosed point in time, Gast abandoned his research due to a guilty conscience, and Hojo was placed in charge of Shinra's Science Research Division and all experiments involving Jenova. His increasingly immoral experiments, first in Nibelheim, and, later, at the Shinra Headquarters, involved the use of more unwilling test subjects than just Vincent, including Cloud Strife, Zack Fair and Red XIII. Much of this later research involved the effects of Jenova's cells, leading to the development of Sephiroth "Copies" (not to be confused with genetic duplicates; the term merely indicates that experiments were conducted on them similar to those conducted on Sephiroth).

Although Sephiroth did not gain the powers of the Ancients as originally envisioned, his physical strength was exceptional, and so Shinra raised Sephiroth to be the ultimate soldier, Lucrecia never getting the chance to so much as hold him. Sephiroth grew extremely powerful, both physically and magically, and became a hero in the war against Wutai. Sephiroth was told only his mother was named "Jenova", and although he knew both Hojo and Gast, he was never told Hojo was his father. Ironically, Sephiroth had a low opinion of Hojo; he described Hojo as "inexperienced" and a "walking mass of complexes," whereas he referred to Gast as "a great scientist."

Around the same time as Lucrecia's pregnancy, Shinra managed to find an actual Cetra, a woman named Ifalna. Although Shinra intended to use her for research and experimentation, hoping to use her to find the fabled Promised Land, Professor Gast fell in love with her and learned Jenova was not truly a Cetra. This is believed to be related to Gast's departure from the Jenova Project, and together with Ifalna, he deserted Shinra and fled to Icicle Inn on the northern continent. Here, Gast would, indeed, research Ifalna, but in a manner that was to her comfort and took consideration of her feelings as a human being. The two eventually had a daughter named "Aeris."

This was exactly what Hojo had been waiting for. Twenty days after Aeris's birth he led a small team of Shinra operatives to their home. Hojo's entourage shot and killed Gast when he resisted, and Ifalna and Aeris were captured. The mother and daughter, the last two Cetra, would spend seven years in captivity in the Shinra HQ in Midgar before escaping to the slums, where Ifalna died from wounds sustained in their escape, entrusting Aerith's care to Elmyra Gainsborough before her death.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Hojo also plays a role in the events of Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- by indirectly fueling Fuhito's ambition. Hojo had implanted the mysterious Zirconiade Materia within Elfé, the leader of AVALANCHE. Her traitorous subordinate, Fuhito, planned to use Zirconiade to summon the Jade Weapon.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Hojo first appears in the Shinra Building Training Room prior to first the attack by the Genesis Army. He tests some programs he created himself aiming to prove his genius by having Zack defeated (and perhaps killed). When Zack survives, Hojo tells him they will in the future have a special relationship. During his visit, the scientists normally stationed there show their fear and disgust of Hojo.

When Genesis Rhapsodos rebels against Shinra he attempts to kill Hojo on behalf of Dr. Hollander, but Zack Fair and Angeal Hewley intervene. Hojo mocks Genesis, and tells him Hollander would not be able to halt his Degradation, referring to him as a "second-rate hack, who couldn't even cure a cold," and even implies Hollander doesn't even know about the Jenova Project. During the encounter, Hojo demonstrates an understanding, if also a dislike, of LOVELESS - which he calls "pure drivel" - remarking that the story's end had never been found.

Five years prior to the start of Final Fantasy VII Sephiroth leads a Shinra team on a mission to investigate a malfunction of the Nibelheim Mako Reactor. The mission is a disaster, resulting in Sephiroth learning of the inhumane experiments tied to his birth, but not the full details of said experiments. The misleading research notes he discovers in the Shinra Mansion lead him to believe he was produced from Jenova's cellular material and that Jenova is an Ancient. Sephiroth goes insane with rage, believing himself to be the last Cetra, and that the ancestors of the common people had abandoned his own to die in the defense of the Planet. He slaughters the village of Nibelheim and attempts to steal Jenova's body from its enclosure in the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor. Battles with SOLDIER 1st Class Zack and a regular Shinra private, Cloud Strife — both of whom had been dispatched to serve as Sephiroth's escort — ensue, and Sephiroth is presumed to have been killed by Cloud, a feat considered unimaginable for a regular human being. This highly caught Hojo's interest.

In continuation of his research into Jenova, Hojo begins a project to create what he calls "Sephiroth Clones", so named because of the similarities between the experiments he conducted on his new subjects and those conducted on Sephiroth. The "specimens" for this experiment were the survivors of Sephiroth's massacre in Nibelheim, and Cloud and Zack were among the new subjects. Despite the title he gave to his newest subjects, Hojo did not intend to create a new breed of super soldiers; his intention was, rather, to test the validity of his Jenova Reunion Theory, which stated that if Jenova's cells were divided, they would instinctively seek to become whole again. To test this, he injected Jenova cells into his Sephiroth clones and infused them with Mako. The mako was intended to lower the subjects' self-awareness to the point the Jenova cells' instinctual drive to reunite would take over their minds and cause them to gather in one place, an event that would be called "the Reunion."

Hojo placed numbered tattoos on the hands of each of his successful Sephiroth Copies, though Zack - later revealed to be a failure of the experiment, due to his strong will preventing the mako from causing him to lose his self-identity, which in turn prevented the Jenova cells from taking effect - would break himself and Cloud out of the Shinra Mansion some four years after their captivity began. Cloud, to the opposite extreme, was considered a failure because his self-awareness was lowered to the point where he could no longer function, so he could not confirm Hojo's Jenova Reunion Theory. Thus, neither Zack nor Cloud would have a mark on them branding them per se as Sephiroth Clones. This event would change the course of Hojo's future research, and that of the world at large.

Final Fantasy VII
Hojo first appears when the protagonists infiltrate the Shinra Headquarters in Midgar in an attempt to rescue Aeris, who had been kidnapped by the Turks. They find her in Hojo's laboratory where Hojo had placed her in an enclosure with Red XIII, intending to breed them, but the party manage to free both Aeris and Red XIII from Hojo's lab.

This scene is considered puzzling by many. Aeris and Red XIII are of completely different species, and it would seem unlikely they would be genetically compatible enough to produce offspring. But, Hojo even tells his fellow Shinra officials of his plans to breed Aeris; presumably, they knew with what, and did not find this odd by their lack of response. The most likely meaning was not "breeding" in the sense of sex, but taking the genetic material of each and combining it artificially, as is seen in Crisis Core with Hojo creating specimens for Zack to battle in a tank similar to where Aeris and Red XIII were kept.

The party encounters Hojo again at Costa del Sol during his brief period of retirement from Shinra. Here they find him relaxing on the beach, surrounded by beautiful women. He taunts and insults the heroes, as well as hinting at Cloud's status as a Sephiroth Clone and the Jenova Reunion theory, before their departure, and later appears at the Northern Crater having returned to Shinra at an undisclosed point in time. There he incorrectly calls Cloud a "failed experiment," misled by Cloud's lack of a tattoo and by Cloud's own claim of being a failure, him having been mislead by Sephiroth. This insult is the last in a series of traumas that finally prompts Cloud to have a severe mental breakdown, during which time he willingly hands over the Black Materia to Sephiroth.

Finally, near the end of the game, the party finds Hojo in Midgar once again. He reveals himself as Sephiroth's father and that he is planning to use Shinra's Mako Cannon to give his son the energy of the Planet. Hojo brags Sephiroth never knew he was his father. This was due to Hojo's obsessive desire to see his research develop to its ultimate end. Hojo further reveals he has injected himself with Jenova cells (obviously far more than used to create a SOLDIER), and then attacks the party. As the Jenova cells take effect, he transforms into a deformed monstrosity, but the protagonists manage to kill him.

The Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega Guide features a novella Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, written by Studio BentStuff's Benny Matsuyama. In the novella, it is revealed Hojo's soul was unable to properly diffuse through the Lifestream as in accordance with the natural order, and he allowed himself to be assimilated into Sephiroth's body to grant his son more power and allow himself the opportunity to witness the ultimate results of his experimentation as a part of it.

Battle
Hojo is fought as a boss at the end of the second disc in Final Fantasy VII. Though he has many forms in this fight, only one resembles him as a human as the others look like mutated monsters.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
In the prologue to Dirge of Cerberus, when Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi are evacuating Midgar, Vincent detects a faint life sign coming from the tower console where the party previously defeated Hojo. Rushing over to the area, he discovers Hojo's corpse sitting at the console, which is still operational, showing "Start Fragment Program".

Three years later, Hojo makes something of a return during the Deepground Crisis, though it is a computer-simulated copy of his personality that possesses Deepground Soldier commander Weiss the Immaculate, and not Hojo himself.

It is revealed Hojo had imprinted a copy of himself into the Worldwide Network just prior to his death. Afterward, the network, and, consequently, Hojo, were fragmented during Meteorfall. Three years later, when the network went back online, Hojo had his own reunion (which he termed a "neo-Reunion") when Weiss was performing a Synaptic Net Dive, implanting his consciousness into the Tsviets leader. This was because he needed a durable body to successfully fuse with Omega, as his earlier attempt at injecting himself with Jenova's cells to make his own body durable enough to fuse with Omega backfired due to not taking into account of the Jenova's cells capability of making the host lose his/her mind. Hojo attempted to use Weiss, Deepground, and the Protomateria, to activate Omega, the final Weapon that would transplant the Lifestream into space. This scheme was thwarted, not only by Vincent, but by the Tsviet Nero, Weiss's younger brother. Nero, never wanting to be separated from his brother, merged with Weiss, seemingly destroying all traces of Hojo.

Development
According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, in the early story drafts of Final Fantasy VII, Hojo's death happened earlier in the game, and under completely different circumstances. In the game's original story ideas Sephiroth was not the one who was "cloned", but rather, Red XIII. Red XIII would have been a beast-type SOLDIER, and Hojo would have produced clones of him, all following the same naming pattern of color and number. Originally, the party was planned on having to face the Red XIII clones, and after having defeated them, the party would have been forced to fight Hojo, and kill him.

Trivia

 * The highly grotesque and distorted appearance of his Helletic Hojo form, as well as its nature (his fusion with cells of an infectious, alien doppelganger) are similar to the creature in John Carpenter's film The Thing.