Reno



Reno (レノ Reno) is a prominent member of the Turks who appears in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. He has a lanky physique, unkempt red hair terminating in a long ponytail, and two symmetrical red marks on his cheek bones (apparently tattoos). He wears goggles, pushed up onto his forehead, an unbuttoned suit jacket, and an untucked dress shirt. He is cocky, cynical and somewhat lazy. While he is very competent on the job, Reno treats his job as a Turk as nothing more than a job and shows little interest in pursuing Shin-Ra's goals when off-duty. In battle, he wields an Electro-Mag Rod, a nightstick with a taser on one end. Reno also has a penchant for gossiping and is a competent helicopter pilot. In recent projects, Reno is voiced by Keiji Fujiwara in the Japanese version, with Quinton Flynn providing the voice in the English version.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Reno appears as an unplayable character in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, he retains his nightstick taser, and his talent in piloting helicopters.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
When Genesis Rhapsodos' clones begin to launch an attack on Midgar, Zack Fair makes his way to Sector 8. Upon arriving at LOVELESS Avenue, he finds Cissnei taking on a Genesis Clone. Zack is then stopped by Reno who tells him that Sector 8 is the Turks' turf. Rude also backs up Reno and states that there will be no need to worry about her. Tseng, arriving around the same time as Zack, asks for a status report on Midgar from the two. Reno claims that monsters are crawling all over Midgar, and Rude states that even SOLDIER has been called out. Soon after, they make their way to the other areas of Midgar.

Aside from a DMW flashback scene occuring randomly during the "Lucky Stars" Limit, Reno is not seen again until the end chapter before the final battle. Flying in Reno's helicopter in the musty desert skies of the outskirts of Midgar, they both attempt to find both Zack Fair and Cloud Strife. Reno tells Rude that he thinks that in this wasteland, it would be impossible to locate the targets. Rude on the other hand has a different opinion, and states to his partner that they always get their job done. Before he is able to complete his sentence, Reno says it before him, because they are Turks. Rude begins to speculate that Tseng has something to give to Zack, and so Reno tells him that it was because of a failed postman's job that took a year to deliver the letters Aerith had been sending. Cissnei's voice is heard on the helicopter's radio, and asks if there had been anything. Both of them tell her that there is nothing, and she, too, tells them the same. Telling them their next set of co-ordinates, they all report out, and head for their designated locations.

Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-
Reno made a cameo appearance in Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, he is seen communicating with the Turks, presumably also searching for Cloud and Zack.

Final Fantasy VII
Reno is first encountered when he comes to the slums church with soldiers in an attempt to capture Aeris. Not long after, he sets the bombs that blows up the Sector 7 pillar, but not without fighting Cloud, Barret, and Tifa, which leaves him temporarily incapacitated. He later confronts them outside of Gongaga Village with his long-time partner, Rude, to settle the score, but once again has to back down. Despite this rivalry, he is not beyond teaming up with Cloud and the others in Wutai, where both parties had a bone to pick with Don Corneo. When the Turks are last encountered in the subway tunnels of Midgar, Reno says that he is "not really up for" fighting, even though he and the others were ordered to terminate the protagonists; the player has the option of not fighting them.

Battle
Reno can be fought 4 times during the course of Final Fantasy VII. However, only one of these fights is set, the others are the player's choice as they can choose to fight Reno or not.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Along with Rude, Reno has a prominent role in Advent Children. Reno makes his entrance by attacking Cloud when he first arrives at the Healin Lodge, although this seems a bit half-hearted; consistent with his attitude at the end of the game, Reno possesses no true hostility towards his former enemies. He and Rude are on the same side as the protagonists and join the fight against Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. He is then seen near the opening of a tunnel with Rude, explosives in hand with Rude, having a light-hearted conversation, despite the fact they may be caught in the explosion. As soon as Cloud rushes by on his motorcycle, Reno drops the bomb he was holding smiling. Loz, Yazoo, Rude, and himself are all caught in the explosion and implied to have died. However, this is shown to not be the case as both Loz and Yazoo shot Cloud near the end of the film, albeit mortally wounded. Reno and Rude are also shown to have survived as they are seen with the surviving members of Shin-Ra, taking witness to Rufus’ Geostigma disappearing. Reno is shown to be a fearsome fighter by attacking Yazoo without warning. However, they primarily serve as the comic relief, exemplified by the cartoon violence during the same fight in Edge. Interestingly, Reno's design overhaul for the film transforms him into a bishounen and eliminates the somewhat sly and shady air he had in the original game. He still acts in a somewhat sly manner, however he is far more lighthearted and playful in the movie than he was in the game.

Trivia

 * Reno shares a lot of similarities with Axel from the Kingdom Hearts series. They both have spiky red hair, facial markings, and similar personalities. Both have the same voice actors in the English, Spanish, German and Japanese versions (Quinton Flynn in English, Víctor Martínez in Spanish, Philipp Brammer in German and Keiji Fujiwara in Japanese). It is also speculated by fans that with these similarities, Axel is the "Nobody" of Reno. Tetsuya Nomura has commented on this, saying that he wanted to experiment by placing a familiar character in a new environment and role.
 * Reno possesses a distinct speech pattern in Japanese, speaking in a drawling, slangy manner and, most notoriously, ending most of his sentences with zo, to (ぞ, と), yo, to (よ, と), or simply to (と). Tifa receives a phone call near the beginning of Advent Children, and, although the caller's voice is not heard, the audience understands that it is from Reno, as Tifa jokingly replies, "Oboeteru, zo to" ("I remember you, yo"; "Yeah, I remember you" in the English dub). The official page for the film also makes a nod to this. Speech patterns such as Reno's are impossible to translate directly into English and can only be approximated by attempting to capture the same "feeling" as the original, which the English translation of the game and the movie did not attempt to do.