Reno

Reno (レノ) is a prominent member of the Turks and a favorite character among many fans. 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.

Reno is first encountered when he comes to the slums church with soldiers in an attempt to capture Aerith. 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 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.

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. However, they primarily serve as the comic relief, exemplified by the cartoon violence during their fight with the three antagonists 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 it was in the game. He is voiced by Keiji Fujiwara.

A bit of trivia for English-speaking fans: 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) 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"). 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 did not attempt to do.