Nibelheim Incident

The Nibelheim Incident refers to the destruction of the village of Nibelheim at the hands of Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII. The hometown of two of the game's central protagonists, Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart, its destruction is frequently depicted in other media in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and the incident has been subject to numerous retcons and retellings, although the basic chain of events has largely remained the same.

Final Fantasy VII
The incident is first told by Cloud as he experienced it. However, Sephiroth and Tifa later revealed that Cloud's recollection of the events is faulty, and the true sequence of the events is told, involving Zack Fair. Sometime after the incident, Zack died, and Cloud impressed his memories into his own, including those of the incident, leading to a memory of the incident in which Cloud took Zack's place and Zack isn't there.

As Told By Cloud
Cloud relays the happenings of the incident to the other party members in Kalm after leaving Midgar. In Cloud's version of the events, he and Sephiroth are two SOLDIERs dispatched to Nibelheim with two Shin-Ra grunts to investigate a faulty Mako reactor at Mt. Nibel. He and Sephiroth arrive and stay the night before hiring Tifa as a guide up the mountain. Before leaving, a fan of Sephiroth's snaps a picture of the three of them. During the expedition, a bridge snaps and the group falls into the gorge - only one of the Shin-Ra grunts survives.

At the reactor, Cloud and Sephiroth enter it to find a series of tanks containing vaguely-human creatures submersed in Mako, with a chamber at the top of the reactor labeled "Jenova" - the name Sephiroth was told belonged to his mother. Sephiroth begins to ponder what procedures were surely used to create them, and when Cloud suggests that the procedure for making SOLDIERs may be similar, Sephiroth flies into a rage. Storming back into Nibelheim, Sephiroth finds a hidden library in the basement and begins to read the old research notes there by Professor Gast and Professor Hojo, identifying the creature Jenova as a Cetra. Sephiroth spends three days in the basement alone, reading their faulty research on the Jenova Project.

On the third day, Cloud returns to the library to find Sephiroth has gone mad. His reading about the Jenova Project led him to believe he was produced from Jenova's cells, in turn making him the last of the Cetra. He also came to believe that humans betrayed the Cetra and abandoned them to a mysterious disaster (which was ironically, the coming of Jenova). Sephiroth leaves the mansion and has set the town ablaze by the time Cloud follows. Cloud and Zangan attempt to find survivors, but find none. Cloud turns to see Sephiroth attack a few villagers, then stare at him coldly before turning and walking towards Mt. Nibel.

Cloud follows Sephiroth to the Mako reactor and finds Tifa there weeping over her father's body, Sephiroth's Masamune still sticking out of his corpse. Grabbing the katana, Tifa rushes into the reactor and attacks Sephiroth, but he disarms her and stabs her before entering the chamber where Jenova's remains are being held. Cloud picks up Tifa and carries her to safety before entering the chamber where Sephiroth is. Sephiroth rips a mechanical likeness of Jenova away from the capsule holding her, revealing Jenova, before turning to confront Cloud. Cloud raises his sword to attack, and it is at this time that Cloud ends his story, his memory of the events afterwards hazy.

The True Events
After the party arrives at the Northern Crater, Sephiroth projects an illusion of the Nibelheim incident, showing Zack there in Cloud's place. Cloud, still believing his false memories, refuses to accept these visions, until Sephiroth notes Tifa's hesitation. Eventually, Tifa admits that Sephiroth's words are true, and that Cloud was never at the reactor. To prove it, Sephiroth shows Cloud the picture they took in the town, showing a brunette man in his place. This revelation, combined with Sephiroth's own mental influences, breaks Cloud's mind, and he hands the Black Materia to Sephiroth moments later. Cloud eventually resufaces at Mideel, and through the intervention of Ultimate Weapon, he and Tifa are sent into the Lifestream.

In the Lifestream, Tifa attempts to repair the damage caused by Sephiroth's manipulations, leading into a retelling of the event. The incident as remembered by Tifa involves Zack Fair in Cloud's place, but otherwise proceeds as Cloud tells it until Tifa is attacked by Sephiroth and knocked unconscious. At this time, Cloud reveals he was at the town when it was destroyed - he was one of the two Shin-Ra grunts who accompanied Zack and Sephiroth up the mountain. He was the same grunt who survived the fall, who kept Tifa out of the reactor, and who told Zack where to find Sephiroth within the mansion. However, because he pledged to join SOLDIER upon leaving years ago, he was embarassed over his failure and so kept his identity secret during the time. Cloud's true memories surface, and a full account of the true events is finally given.

In the actual incident, Zack and Sephiroth, accompanied by Cloud and another grunt, arrived at the town and went to the reactor, and Sephiroth returned to read the research notes in the library just as Cloud originally told. After Sephiroth razes the town, Cloud is unconscious outside but regains consciousness to see Zack chase Sephiroth, and follows them. At the reactor, Zack confronts Sephiroth in Jenova's chamber, but is defeated and tossed out. Cloud arrives and takes up Zack's Buster Sword, attacking Sephiroth off his guard and stabbing him in the stomach. Sephiroth greatly weakened, and Cloud takes the opprotunity to return to Tifa and carry her to safety. Sephiroth stumbles from Jenova's chamber moments later, clutching her head. After walking to the reactor entrance, a catwalk over a pool of Mako, Cloud attacks him, but this time Sephiroth is ready and stabs him. Cloud summons unknown strength, and uses the Masamune as a lever to throw Sephiroth off the catwalk and into the Lifestream.

Aftermath
Tifa's instructor Zangan, who was searching for survivors in the town, finds the three in the reactor and carries Tifa to safety, but when he attempts to return he finds Shin-Ra is already there. Professor Hojo learns of what Sephiroth has done and puts his Jenova Reunion Theory into action, injecting the survivors, including Zack and Cloud, with Sephiroth's cells, turning them into Sephiroth Clones. The town is rebuilt to cover up the incident, with actors hired to play the part of the townspeople.

Other Appearances
Due to its significance to the story, the Nibelheim incident has been references frequently in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. In particular, the scene of Sephiroth walking through the flames of the village has become one of his iconic moments, and has been reproduced many times with enhanced visuals. Other times the event has been retold, with details retconned and altered with varying degrees of deviation.

Last Order
The OVA Last Order -Final Fantasy VII- retells the Nibelheim incident in flashbacks as Zack and Cloud flee the Shin-Ra militia during their escape from Hojo. The OVA was released as a bonus feature with the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, although it was not dubbed in English for its Western release, only subtitled. The depiction of the incident in Last Order takes many liberties with the story, likely due to only Kazushige Nojima being involved in its production and not the rest of the Final Fantasy VII staff.

In the flashbacks of last order, the Nibelheim incident is only told after Sephiroth razes the village. Sephiroth finishes his attack and proceeds to the reactor. Tifa arrives at the town and finds Zangan, who tells her it was Sephiroth who burned the town and went to the Mako reactor on Mt. Nibel. A wounded villager warns her that is where Sephiroth has gone, but Tifa rushes to the mountain regardless. Zack and Cloud arrive shortly after, and Zangan tells them Tifa has gone to find her father and Sephiroth. Cloud (helmeted at this time) stays to help Zangan rescue the townspeople while Zack finds Tifa.

On the mountain outside the reactor, Tifa finds her father, and he dies in her arms pleading for her to flee. Taking Sephiroth's Masamune from the ground, Tifa declares her hatred of Shin-Ra and SOLDIER before charging into the reactor. Inside, Sephiroth approaches the door of Jenova's chamber as Tifa attacks him; he easily takes back his weapon and slices her, sending her falling back down the stairs. Tifa weakly murmurs Cloud's name as Sephiroth enters Jenova's chamber, and falls unconscious. She comes to to see Zack leaning over her, and the two speak for a short moment before Zack enters Jenova's chamber. He confronts Sephiroth as he destroys the mechanical likeness of Jenova, and the two briefly battle, with Sephiroth winning.

Moments after, Cloud arrives and attacks Sephiroth using Zack's Buster Sword, stabbing him through the stomach. Wounded, Sephiroth slumps to the ground and Cloud runs to see Tifa. The two share a brief, tendor moment, before Sephiroth shatters Jenova's tank and seizes her head. Zack urges Cloud to finish him off, and Cloud charges, only to be impaled and thrown into Jenova's chamber. Stabbing him again and lifting him into the air, Sephiroth holds Cloud aloft as Cloud takes ahold of the blade and throws Sephiroth into the wall. Stunned by Cloud's strength, Sephiroth leaves into the pool of Mako below Jenova's chamber. Zangan is seen carrying Tifa to safety, and Hojo arrives as Zack and Cloud are carried away on stretchers; he orders Tseng to have them taken as test subjects for his new experiment.

Of the many tellings of the Nibelheim incident, Last Order's deviates the most from the events originally told, including new dialogue not originally present in the game and the various interactions between characters occuring in different places. Many of these changes were restored to their original depictions in the game, or retconned into something else entirely, in Crisis Core.

Crisis Core
The PSP game Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, again retells the Nibelheim incident through the eyes of Zack. The journey to the reactor with Tifa, Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth is the same as told in Final Fantasy VII, until Zack and Sephiroth arrive at the door to Jenova's chamber. At this time, Genesis Rhapsodos attacks Zack and knocks him away, and tells Sephiroth what Jenova is and about the Jenova Project's two branches, Project S and Project G. Genesis tells Sephiroth he is the ultimate monster created by Project S, as Angeal Hewley is the ultimate monster of Project G. Sephiroth leaves the reactor, and when Zack returns to Nibelheim he stays at the Inn with Cloud, pondering what Genesis told them. In the morning, Tifa tells them Sephiroth has gone to the Shin-Ra mansion.

A week later, during which time Sephiroth continued to read in the mansion library, Zack finds Cloud wounded in the Inn and the village on fire. He pursues Sephiroth to the Mako reactor, and after a brief confrontation with Tifa, enters Jenova's chamber. Sephiroth knocks him to a lower floor of the reactor, and this initiates two boss battles with Sephiroth, after which Zack is knocked out of the chamber. Cloud arrives and attacks Sephiroth, then tends to Tifa. Sephiroth emerges from Jenova's chamber with her head. Cloud attacks again but is stabbed by Sephiroth. Cloud grabs the blade and hurls Sephiroth into the pool of Mako underneath Jenova's chamber. Weakened, Cloud passes out, and Hojo arrives shortly after and decides to use him and Zack as test subjects.

Advent Children
The Nibelheim incident is briefly alluded to in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Sephiroth's scene of standing among the fires of Nibelheim, and the destruction of the Jenova likeness and her containment inside the reactor are just a few of the many scenes from the game that are recreated. In Advent Children Complete, Sephiroth stabs Cloud with the Masamune and lifts him into the air, paralleling their battle at the reactor.