Denzel



Denzel (デンゼル) is a recurring character in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. A young child, Denzel's life is one of many misfortunes. He fights with a metal rod, similar to the weapons used by Aeris during Final Fantasy VII.

Denzel is voiced by Kyousuke Ikeda and Benjamin Bryan in the Japanese and English versions of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, respectively. He is also voiced by Kazumu Izawa and Aaron Refvem in the Japanese and English versions of Advent Children Complete, respectively.

On the Way to a Smile
According to the novella, On the Way to a Smile: The Case of Denzel, Denzel grew up in a well-to-do family in Midgar's Sector 7. His father, Abel, worked for Shinra Electric Power Company, while his mother, Chloe, worked around the house.

Denzel was six years old during the events of Final Fantasy VII. It is also at this time that Abel had recently received a promotion and they were planning on moving to a new house in the upper-class Sector 5. Before they could move, however, Shinra had made plans to blow up the Sector 7 pillar in order to take out AVALANCHE's headquarters and place the blame on them. Abel had been informed of this, and attempted to get his family to Sector 5 before Sector 7's imminent destruction. Upon telling his family about the circumstances, Chloe panicked and rushed off to warn her friends and neighbors. Abel went to go look for her and had an associate of his named Arkham take Denzel to their new house in Sector 5. Abel promised Denzel that he and his mother would make it back in time, but they were unable to do so, and all Denzel could do was witness the destruction of Sector 7.

The first day after the fall of Sector 7, Denzel lived alone in the house his family had planned on moving into. Arkham had said he would check in on him every once in awhile to make sure he was okay. Alone in his new home, it was not long before Denzel was overcome with emotions of anger and grief over the loss of his parents. He left the house looking for his parents, clinging to a small hope that they might have made it out in time. After walking around Sector 5 aimlessly, Denzel realized he was lost. When Denzel stopped to rest on the side of the road, he noticed a Shinra model airship, which he angrily threw at a nearby house and accidentally broke a window. The old woman who lived in the house, Ruvie Tuesti, came out to scold Denzel, but sympathized with him when she found out he lost both of his parents in Sector 7. Upon learning that Denzel lived alone, Ruvie let him live with her.

For a time, Denzel and Ruvie led a peaceful life together, with the grief of losing his parents now less prominent. Denzel's days would mostly consist of helping Ruvie around the house and yard, doing mostly cleaning. When the Meteor appeared in the sky, he and Ruvie were shaken up, but continued to live out their lives and did not evacuate Midgar, as they considered it meaningless to do so if Meteor was going to destroy the world anyway. As Meteor began to crash down onto Midgar, Denzel and Ruvie awaited the end to come when the Lifestream came to destroy Meteor, and Ruvie's whole house filled with the white light of the Lifestream's presence. Ruvie protected Denzel from the Lifestream by throwing herself in its path. The next morning Denzel found Ruvie barely alive, and not long after that she died, one of the first victims of Geostigma.

In the wake of Meteorfall, Denzel was found by a man named Gaskin who was helping get everyone who did not evacuate the slums. Denzel receives some help burying Ruvie's corpse from Gaskin and some other survivors, and then leaves with them to the railroad tracks, where he and the other survivors use them to descend Midgar's main pillar. On the way down, and after reaching the slums, Denzel witnessed a large amount of other people suffer and die from Geostigma (the earliest cases of it seemed to kill much faster than the later cases). While in the slums, Denzel and a group of orphaned kids his age began to make a living looking for scrap metal that people needed to build the new city of Edge in exchange for food. Denzel and his friends called themselves Triple S, for Sector Seven Scavengers.

But when Geostigma took the life of Gaskin, a man who was viewed as somewhat of a leader to the survivors living in the ruins of Sector 7, the members of Triple S began to gradually leave and set off to live at homeless shelters in Edge. At first many of the kids, Denzel included, were too prideful to stop living independently as they had been. But once heavy machinery was brought into Sector 7 to clear away the ruins, they began to see very little business and food became more and more scarce. It was not long until the only remaining members of Triple S were Denzel and a boy named Rick. After Denzel made an offensive comment about people who lived in the slums, not realizing that Rick was originally a slum-dweller, Denzel found himself alone again.

After an unsuccessful search for food, Denzel began to wander around the ruins of the slums. He eventually made his way to the Sector 5 slums, and there, just outside of Aerith's church, he came upon Cloud's bike, Fenrir. He noticed Cloud's phone hanging off the bike's handlebars and began to examine it. Denzel decided to call one of the numbers on the phone's incoming call list. The number he called was that of 7th Heaven in Edge and he was answered by Tifa, surprised to find the person calling is not Cloud. Denzel felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and, upon realizing there was black liquid dripping from his forehead, he knew he had Geostigma. He collapsed on the ground from the stigma, and was found by Cloud.

Cloud felt that him finding Denzel was no coincidence, and thought Aerith brought Denzel to his bike so he could find him in his most desperate moment of need. So rather than simply dropping off Denzel at some hospital, Cloud brought him back home. Denzel recovered from his initial symptoms and told Tifa and Cloud about all that had happened to him up until that point. Because they felt responsible for what happened to Sector 7, both Tifa and Cloud felt it was their obligation to take care of Denzel, and Marlene was also happy to have a new friend of her age. Now finally having a place to call home, Denzel was able to pull his weight around, trying to be of as much help around the bar as he could. He also looked up to Cloud as his hero, and would wait for him to come home late at night so that they could spend time together. Denzel especially enjoyed hearing stories of the places Cloud went during his travels, as did Marlene, and both would listen to his stories late at night and ask Cloud as much as they could about the places they had been. Denzel still suffered from the effects of Geostigma, but he tried his best not to think about it or how it may soon lead to death.

Advent Children/Advent Children Complete
Denzel's condition is worsening and he begins to lose hope. He hears about men who can cure Geostigma, and is taken with the other children to "be cured". The men are in fact Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo, who take Denzel and the others to the Forgotten Capital, where Kadaj has the children drink water tainted with his will. This water enables Geostigma to run its course, and allow a complete takeover of their bodies and minds by Jenova's will. Kadaj's group uses Denzel and the other kids to track down Jenova's remains, a plan which ultimately proves unsuccessful.

Denzel is eventually freed from control during Bahamut SIN's attack. When he comes to, he finds Tifa, who had been hurt while trying to protect him, lying next to him, unconscious. Feeling angry that she has gotten hurt on his account, Denzel charges at the Bahamut but is stopped short by Barret, who opens fire on the dragon along with the other member of AVALANCHE. Shortly thereafter, after a promise from Cloud to return home, Denzel goes back to 7th Heaven, where he and Marlene await the outcome of the battle. In the end, having missed Aerith's healing rain, Denzel is the first Geostigma victim Cloud cures by using the water infused with Lifestream pooled in the church.

Advent Children Complete gives an expanded role for Denzel. He is seen in the ruins of the slums by Aerith's church holding Cloud's cellphone, depicting a moment from his story from On a Way to a Smile. He is later seen returning the doll of Moogle Girl's dead brother after she is knocked down in front of 7th Heaven carrying him on her back. Denzel is shown with the other children of Edge, riding in the back of a truck driven by Yazoo in reference to the ride Cloud Strife and Zack Fair took while on the run from Shinra. He is present for more of the battle against Bahamut SIN, being saved from Shadow Creepers by Tifa and Cloud, the latter seeing an image of Zack superimposed over Denzel's form just before the rescue. He is also seen doing battle against the monsters created by the Remnants of Sephiroth, using an imitation of Cloud's Limit Break to crack open a fire hydrant. Denzel is also shown running to Aerith's church with Marlene, Moogle Girl, and the other children of Edge to be healed by Cloud.

Aftermath
Denzel and Marlene are not seen during the Deepground/Omega crisis the following year in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, as they were spirited away by Cloud and Tifa to some place where they would be safe from the Deepground.

In the year following the Deepground crisis, Denzel decides he is tired of having everyone helping him and wants a chance to give back for all that had been done for him. Denzel requests an interview for the World Regenesis Organization, which was still accepting kids at the time. Denzel was to meet for the interview at Johnny's Heaven, an outdoor cafe owned by Johnny, Tifa's old friend from Nibelheim and regular customer in Sector 7. But when the interviewer arrives, Denzel is surprised to find that person interviewing him is none other than the head of the WRO, Reeve Tuesti himself. Reeve asks Denzel what his story is and why he wants to join the WRO. Reeve listens intently as Denzel relates his story to him and at the end of the interview, Johnny, who had been listening in the whole time, voices his objection to Denzel joining the WRO, thinking it would damage his image if the word got out that a kid was recruited by the WRO at his cafe, especially when that kid belonged to Tifa.

Reeve tells Denzel that as of right then the WRO would no longer be accepting kids, his heart changed by the boy's story. As Reeve leaves, he thanks Denzel for taking care of his mother. Reeve produces a handkerchief made from the exact same pattern as the one that Ruvie gave Denzel, who realizes that Reeve is, in fact, Ruvie's son, whom she had always talked about. Johnny questions why Denzel wants to join the WRO and Denzel says he wants to be strong like Cloud. Johnny says that instead of a guy who swings a sword, it is a guy who rubs away the pain of getting all the girls, which Denzel declares is not the case, before leaving with encouragement that everyone, including the women and children, can be strong.

Sometime during the year, Denzel and Cloud visit the outskirts of Midgar where yellow flowers grow in the place where Zack died. Denzel asks if this was someone's grave and Cloud replies that the spot is where a hero began his journey.

Etymology
"Denzel" means "Wild One".

Trivia

 * Koki Uchiyama was among those who auditioned for Denzel's role. Although Tetsuya Nomura found his voice too old for Denzel, he did choose to cast him for the voice of Roxas, and later Ventus, in the Kingdom Hearts series.
 * Denzel was found by Cloud on June 29th, in the early afternoon, as can be seen from the phone display shown during an Advent Children Complete trailer.
 * Denzel has been confirmed to appear in Monty Oum's Dead Fantasy, since he has appeared in an unfinished clip alongside Cloud. They also have the same conversation as at the ending of Advent Children Complete. Denzel looks a lot older than his appearance in Advent Children, however it is unknown which episode in the Dead Fantasy series Denzel is going to take action.

Denzel