Sephiroth Clone

The Sephiroth Clones are a group of test subjects used in the Project S portion of the Jenova Project in Final Fantasy VII. The test subjects were injected with Jenova's cells by Professor Hojo to test Jenova's ability to recall her scattered cells into a "Reunion," in what he called the "Jenova Reunion Theory." There are at least fourteen known test subjects, but Hojo rejected many as "failures," leading the exact number of unfortunate people who were mutilated by this experiment to be unknown.

In the original Japanese script, the clones are simply known as Sephiroth Copies. "Clone" is in fact a misnomer; subjects were infected with Jenova cells in an effort to reproduce a similar effect to that of Sephiroth — who eventually exerts control of the subjects as his puppets — rather than being genetic copies.

Development
In an early version of the game script, the Sephiroth Clones were not people, but, rather, parts of Jenova floating in the air covered by their cloaks. During important plot points, they would reveal themselves to be pieces of Jenova's body: her right arm, heart, etc. They also replaced Sephiroth in several scenes, such as the pivotal one in the Forgotten Capital.

Story
After the events of the Nibelheim Incident, Professor Hojo rounded up the survivors of Sephiroth's rampage. He injected them with Jenova cells and exposed them to Mako energy, similar, if not identical, to the creation of a SOLDIER. However, these people were not the finest in physical and mental fitness, thus they could not keep their own egos and became shades of Jenova. Since Jenova was a puppet of Sephiroth, the Clones, too, became fanatics who would do anything for their master Sephiroth. Those who turned into mindless slaves were engraved with a number someplace on their body, but those who failed and kept some shred of their ego were left to die. Cloud Strife's status, had Zack Fair not intervened and rescued him from the Shinra Mansion, is debatable. Zack, also a Sephiroth Clone, was a complete failure: he seems to not have been mentally affected by the experiment at all due to previously being unaffected by the identical SOLDIER procedure.

The twelve successful Sephiroth Clones become the group of fanatics that follow Sephiroth around in Final Fantasy VII. The Sephiroth Clones do not migrate to Jenova as Hojo has predicted, rather, the twelve began to head into North Crater to the Northern Cave and hunt for the Black Materia for Sephiroth. Jenova herself broke out of the Shinra Headquarters and moved towards Sephiroth in his form and under his complete control. Cloud was influenced by both the unconscious need for the Reunion, and his drive to avenge Nibelheim. After arriving at the Northern Cave, Sephiroth, using Jenova's body to shapeshift into him, kills several of them before fighting Cloud and AVALANCHE.

In the end, only Cloud survives the journey to the Northern Cave. Because Cloud was somewhat of a "semi-failure," he had his own mind and ego, but Sephiroth could take control of him at will. This power seems to be in part limited, as Cloud refuses Sephiroth's command to kill Aeris Gainsborough. At the Northern Cave, when Sephiroth reveals Cloud is a slave and claims his past is an illusion, Cloud breaks down and hands Sephiroth the Black Materia before falling into the Lifestream.

Later, with the help of Tifa Lockhart inside his subconscious, Cloud rebuilds his psyche and is restored to normal humanity. With that, the Sephiroth Clones are finished.

In the novel Final Fantasy VII Lateral Biography Turks -The Kids Are Alright-, it's revealed that Annette Townshend had been assigned to recover the missing test subjects. Her dead body, along with those of the copies, are discovered by her son, Evan Townshend, in a mako cavern beneath the Great Glacier to the north of Icicle Inn. Amongst the possessions found on her body is a small piece of Jenova's still-living flesh wrapped in a handkerchief, which was being pursued by Kadaj; Evan kicks it into the Lifestream and Kadaj leaps in after it, dissolving.

In the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the children infected with Geostigma each carry a small portion of Jenova's cells. Kadaj tells Rufus Shinra that "[his] brothers and sisters who share Mother's cells will all assemble" as part of the Reunion he and the other Remnants of Sephiroth are planning. Thus, while those infected with Geostigma are different from, and are never referred to as, Sephiroth Clones, their role in the film is roughly the same.

List of Known Sephiroth Clones
Below is a list of every Sephiroth Clone revealed in Final Fantasy VII. This list is missing several Clones, for the fate of many numbered Clones is never revealed.
 * I: A young man around Cloud's age. Went from North Corel to Gold Saucer. Had a tattoo on the palm of his hand. Asked Dio if he had the Black Materia, as Dio later tells Cloud in the Speed Square.
 * II: The man suffering from Mako poisoning in Sector 5. Upon returning to Sector 5 after receiving the Sector 5 Key from Bone Village, residents report seeing him leave "mumbling something about a "reunion."
 * IV: One of the incoherent people found in Nibelheim. Gives an item to the party like all the Clones in Nibelheim.
 * V: One of the people found in Nibelheim.
 * VI: One of the people found in Nibelheim's inn.
 * IX: Exited from the Temple of the Ancients before dying. Had a tattoo on the back of his neck.
 * XI: One of the people found in Nibelheim.
 * XII: One of the people found in Nibelheim.
 * Unknown Clones: These Clones appear in the game, but are never given numbers. They include: two tiny Clones (very likely the children seen in Cloud's flashback, given the younger one's propensity to repeat his sister's words), found in an attic in Nibelheim, and two Clones found outside the Shinra Mansion. These more than likely are the "missing numbers" from the list above (III, VII, VIII, and X).
 * Cloud Strife: The main character of Final Fantasy VII. Went into a vegetative state after being injected with Jenova cells and exposed to Mako, and was labeled a failure. This assumption proved false, as he was able to regain consciousness and was able to be controlled by Sephiroth to an extent. One of the only Clones to make it to the Northern Cave, but later threw off Sephiroth's control. Does not have a number, because Zack Fair had managed to break him out upon escaping while Cloud was in a vegetative state.
 * Zack Fair: The main character of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. Was not affected by the Jenova cells, and was therefore labeled a failure. Died fighting the Shinra Peacekeeping Troops outside of Midgar. Does not have a number.

The Ex-SOLDIER who runs a weapon shop in Junon begins to wear a cape the other Sephiroth Clones wear when visited after disc 1. In game, he states that a while ago, he suddenly felt the urge to dress like this, indicating that the procedure that produced the Sephiroth Clones, is essentially the same treatment that was given to the members of SOLDIER.

Trivia

 * At one point, Red XIII fears he might be a Sephiroth Clone due to being given a number by Professor Hojo. However, this is untrue as the number was given in to him an unrelated experiment. In actuality, he was captured by Hojo more than three years after the Sephiroth Clones were created, confirmed by the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega.