Sephiroth/Dissidia (PSP)

Sephiroth is one of the villains fighting for the side of Chaos, opposing Cloud, in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. He is a legendary SOLDIER operative who wields an impossibly long blade with great ease. One day, he discovered the secrets of his past and went insane. In battle, he combines long reach with incredibly swift swordplay that crushes opponents in the blink of an eye. Standing apart from the other villains, Sephiroth has little interest in either destroying the world or ruling it, working towards a separate goal. His immediate desire is to face his archrival, Cloud, and he manipulates Cloud's emotions to force him into battle, sometimes for no reason other than to fight him.

Attire
Sephiroth's default appearance is virtually identical to his original Final Fantasy VII appearance, with some changes to resemble Yoshitaka Amano's artwork of him; His belt is ornate and decorated with beads, he wears a bracelet with similar beads on his right wrist, and both of his pauldrons have a different design. Underneath his coat are white and lavender sashes, both a reference to Amano's design and to his wings as Safer∙Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's first alternate outfit "Executioner" is based on his appearance in the final scripted battle in Final Fantasy VII, leaving him shirtless with black pants being colored lighter than the original.

Sephiroth's second alternate outfit "Custom Coat" is based on his Tetsuya Nomura artwork for Final Fantasy VII. He wears a less elaborate coat with no sashes or beads, a different belt with the original SOLDIER logo, differently styled bangs and different pauldrons.

Like Cloud and Squall, his DLC outfit, "Kingdom Hearts Gear", is his appearance from the first Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth's coat flares out behind him and has a tattered appearance. The linings of his coat are red, and he has red wing-like protrusions from his wrists. His hair and pauldrons are styled in the same manner as his Final Fantasy VII alt outfit, and he has a higher collar. Sephiroth's wing, which is always present in Kingdom Hearts, is only present in his EX Mode, and is dark blue and black with a stylized design. This outfit is available for download on the Playstation Store in all regions.

His manikin version, Imaginary Champion, is light blue.

Twelfth cycle
In Prologus, Sephiroth is the third Warrior of Chaos that Lightning and the Warrior of Light face. He asks the Cloud of Darkness to lend some of her powers in the battle, stating that he has some interest in her abilities. After the battle, he comments to the two Warriors of Cosmos that they did not give it their all. He advises them to put up a good fight next time, otherwise there is no meaning for them to exist in the world they are in.

During the war, Kefka comes across Sephiroth and tells him that as the warriors fight, their lost memories return to them, and they return faster when fighting someone from their own world. As Sephiroth is forbidden to fight Cloud since he is a Warrior of Chaos as well, Kefka suggests he will attack Tifa instead. Because Cloud remembers her, he may intervene, and Sephiroth will have reason to dispatch both of them and recover his memories.

Also remembering Tifa, Sephiroth confronts her and defeats her, recovering many of his memories, but realizes there are still more to obtain. He also expresses a very brief pity on Tifa when he deduces that she does not even remember him. Cloud arrives, having been alerted to the battle by Kefka, and attacks Sephiroth as he prepares to kill Tifa. Though Sephiroth is defeated, he escapes, telling Cloud he will return to take his life in return for his betrayal later.

Thirteenth cycle
Before the events of the game, during the last cycle of war, Sephiroth took his own life in front of the Emperor. Though the other servants of Chaos do not understand why, Sephiroth did this to regain his full memories with total success, as well as to find out if he was just a manikin with his memories or the real deal, later finding out he was indeed the real Sephiroth. As a result, Sephiroth remembers his true ties to Cloud and proceeds to goad him into taking the path he chooses for him to take. To that end, Sephiroth attacks his allies Tidus, Cecil, and Firion, and steals Firion's rose.

Firion pursues Sephiroth to the Planet's Core, losing to him before the Warrior of Light arrives and sends him back to Cecil and Tidus while he battles Sephiroth. Although the Warrior defeats Sephiroth, he is unable to subdue him, making the latter realize that Cloud is the one meant to defeat him. Sephiroth questions the Warrior's reason for fighting - to end the war - and accuses him of finding pleasure in the fighting as he does. Sensing Cloud is near, Sephiroth leaves to meet with him.

Sephiroth approaches Cloud and prepares to battle him, but Cloud refuses to fight, claiming a battle would be pointless. Sephiroth asks if Cloud would fight him if he had a reason, and produces Firion's rose. Worried about what Sephiroth has done to them, Cloud follows Sephiroth to the Planet's Core. There, Sephiroth tells Cloud he acts like he wants a reason for fighting, but makes no effort to find such a reason, which is why he eagerly accepts the motivations and reasons of others as his own. Accusing Cloud of being a puppet that cannot act on his own, Sephiroth offers to continue to give Cloud reasons to fight, which Cloud refuses. The two battle, and Cloud defeats Sephiroth and finds his Crystal. Sephiroth warns Cloud that taking the Crystal will mean Cloud will continue to be drawn into a battle, a fate Cloud accepts. Sephiroth departs, telling Cloud he will always pull his strings, and to remember Cloud only obtained his Crystal with Sephiroth's guidance.

Later, the Emperor and Ultimecia approach Sephiroth, offering him a role in their plan to rule existence. Sephiroth refuses, and leaves when the two turn their attention to the spying Bartz nearby.

After Cosmos is destroyed, and with Chaos's power growing, Sephiroth comes across an idea: to merge soul with the core of the world as Chaos begins to destroy them, and become a god. Cloud and Sephiroth confront each other again, Sephiroth telling Cloud he is infected by a disease - hope. Cloud says it is something he must endure to keep going on, and the two battle again. Cloud prevails and insists he is not longer tied to Sephiroth. Sephiroth vanishes in a flash of light, telling Cloud that his shadow is burned into his heart, and he will continue to come back as long as Cloud is who he is.

Official Quests
Sephiroth is the focus of two official quests. "Sephiroth's Quest 012: The Hero's Memory" focuses on Sephiroth's actions in the 12th cycle after his battles with Cloud and Tifa. Now remembering Jenova as his "mother" and the concept of the Lifestream, Sephiroth thinks the cycle of war is similar, as the slain warriors in each cycle are purified and reborn in the next cycle without memories. However, Sephiroth suspects that there could potentially be numerous other warriors in past cycles who were not revived, and when he learns of the origins of the manikins wonders if this is the fate of such warriors. Sephiroth kills himself, represented by him fighting another Sephiroth, and fades away wondering what fate awaits him in the next cycle, if he will be reborn again or cast aside as useless.

In "Sephiroth's Quest 013: Shape of the World", Sephiroth awakens in the 13th cycle. Despite being purified of his memories like the other defeated warriors, he still has some weak grasp of the events of the previous cycle, remembering Cloud as a Warrior of Chaos who was reluctant to fight. Informed his archrival has switched sides to fight for Cosmos, Sephiroth attacks Firion, Cecil and Tidus to steal Firion's wild rose, planning to use Firion's rose to goad Cloud into pursuing and fighting him again.

Battle
In battle, Sephiroth uses a "Focused Blade" style, bombarding his enemies with swift sword attacks. Sephiroth's Bravery attacks hit multiple times with only a single button press, and while pressing again will continue the combo, pressing it too soon will prevent Sephiroth from finishing the first strike before moving on to the second, minimizing overall damage and therefore timing is crucial to maximizing Sephiroth's power. When properly timed his melee strikes are powerful, but he has very few ranged capabilities. Sephiroth's ground speed is fairly fast, but he is not as fast as other characters. His HP attacks are versatile and hit over a wide area around him, but are weaker at long range.

Boss
In Dissidia, Sephiroth is fought in Destiny Odyssey I and VII, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory, and Inward Chaos.

In Dissidia 012, he is fought in Report #5, Beyond Doubt, Champions of her Will, and Conclusion of the Cycle chapters of Story Mode.

EX Mode
Sephiroth's EX Mode is Reunion, in which he gains a single black wing over his right shoulder as seen in Advent Children and the Kingdom Hearts series. In EX Mode Sephiroth gains the abilities "Glide" and "Heartless Angel". Glide lets Sephiroth fly through the air by holding, while Heartless Angel is a special attack usable by holding and. The attack has a long charge time, but if successful it instantly saps the opponent's Bravery to one. The attack will not work if Sephiroth is inflicted with Break status while using it, but ignores protective summon effects like Demon Wall or Alexander. In which, with the latter summon, Heartless Angel will force the opponent to have a Bravery freeze of 1.

Sephiroth's EX Burst is Super Nova, where the player repeatedly taps to fill up a limit meter. If the limit meter is not filled, Sephiroth merely executes a normal sword slash. If the player executes the burst perfectly, Sephiroth slashes the opponent towards the sun, and they are hit by a wave of fire as the sun explodes. As the opponent is consumed, Sephiroth stands in front of the fire in a mirror view of his pose during the Nibelheim Incident.

Equipment
Sephiroth can equip Katanas, Spears, Shields, Gauntlets, Helms, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor. In Dissidia 012, Sephiroth can no longer equip Spears, but he can equip Greatswords and Chestplates.

Allusions

 * Most of Sephiroth's moves are allusions from the games and other media in which he appeared on:
 * Hell's Gate is an aerial downward stab based on the attack he used to kill Aerith Gainsborough.
 * Octaslash is Sephiroth's special attack and Zack Fair's DMW in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-.
 * Shadow Flare, Heartless Angel, and Super Nova are three of Safer∙Sephiroth's attacks in Final Fantasy VII, though the Dissidia version of Shadow Flare is based on the Kingdom Hearts version.
 * Oblivion is based on one of Sephiroth's attacks in the Kingdom Hearts series, where he dashes past Sora and strikes him multiple times.
 * Black Materia, when fully charged, represents Meteor, which Sephiroth cast using the Black Materia in order to severely damage the planet to draw out the Lifestream. The uncharged versions resemble the Comet spell.
 * His aerial block stance in the two Dissidia games is based on the manner he blocked Cloud's charge at his first scene in Advent Children, after Kadaj initiated the Reunion, but the only difference is that Sephiroth is on the ground in the said movie, while he is airborne in the game.
 * The "disease" Sephiroth mentions in Shade Impulse references Geostigma, which Cloud was infected with in Advent Children.
 * In a conversation with Garland, Sephiroth reveals that he killed himself in the previous war against Cosmos in order to ascertain the true nature of life and free his spirit from flesh to become more powerful. This is a reference to the Nibelheim Incident, where Sephiroth was "killed" and traveled the Lifestream, emerging years later as a more powerful being.
 * Some of Sephiroth's victory quotes came from Advent Children:
 * "I will never be a memory", is what he says in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children when Cloud defeats him.
 * His line in Shade Impulse "On your knees! I want you to beg for forgiveness", and his defeat quote "Where did you find this strength?" are lines he says to Cloud during their battle.
 * His greeting to Cloud in Destiny Odyssey VII, "Good to see you, Cloud", is his greeting to Cloud in Advent Children.
 * His line before their battle at the end of Destiny Odyssey VII, "If it's despair you want, then I shall provide", is a paraphrase of another line during his battle with Cloud in Advent Children, "I've thought of wonderful present for you. Shall I give you despair?" The line is also referenced at the beginning of his EX Burst, when he says, "I bring you despair".
 * His EX Mode, Reunion, is a reference to the Reunion; the process in which Jenova reassembles itself, after being destroyed or its cells scattered.
 * When defeated by a character other than Cloud in Shade Impulse, Sephiroth says he will go on a journey as "his Mother did", and create a shining future in the Promised Land, paralleling his conversation with Cloud in Advent Children.
 * Several of Sephiroth's victory and defeat quotes reference lines that he uses in Final Fantasy VII. "Stop pretending you're sad", references his line to Cloud after murdering Aerith. "Open a new door" and "You will live again as part of me" reference his lines to Tseng and Elena in the Temple of the Ancients. "So how does it feel?" and "What should I be sad about?" are both lines to Cloud during the initial Nibelheim flashback sequence. His intro to Cloud, "You ignorant traitor", is taken from Cloud's flashback of the Nibelheim Incident.
 * In the cutscene of Cloud's battle with Sephiroth in Destiny Odyssey VII, several scenes allude to other titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The scene where Cloud crosses the Buster Sword over the Masamune is identical to part of Sephiroth's battle with Cloud in the Nibelheim reactor in Crisis Core. After being knocked back, Cloud descends after Sephiroth, who rights himself and knocks Cloud through the air, a reference to Sephiroth's first scene in Advent Children. When Cloud lands, the camera pans along the Masamune up to Sephiroth's face, similar to the climax of their Advent Children battle. Finally, as the two face off at the end of the scene, the camera angles and poses are identical to their scripted battle at the end of Final Fantasy VII.
 * One of Sephiroth's weapons, Masamune Blade, is the item that can acquired from the Gold Saucer on Final Fantasy VII but has no use whatsoever. The Masamune is of course, Sephiroth's signature weapon. The One-Winged Angel is named after Sephiroth's iconic theme, a naming convention shared with Kefka's strongest weapon, Dancing Mad.
 * During his defeat in Shade Impulse, Sephiroth vanishes in a flash of golden light rather than dark light as most of the Warriors of Chaos, similar to how he vanishes at the end of the Final Fantasy VII.
 * The Trade Accessory needed for Sephiroth's One-Winged Angel, "Life of the Planet", is given the following description: "You chose to believe, even if it wasn't true... That's all". This refers to Sephiroth's mistaken impression of being an Ancient and subsequent refusal to abandon his delusions of superiority after learning that he is not one.
 * Sephiroth's statement to the Warrior of Light, regarding how only Cloud can defeat him, mirrors a statement he made to Sora in Kingdom Hearts II. His statement to Cloud regarding how Sephiroth will always be a part of him is also from Kingdom Hearts II. One of his defeated quotes, "The Planet has forsaken me," is similar to Sephiroth's defeated quote when Sora defeats him in the Platinum Match in Kingdom Hearts. One of his victory quotes in Dissidia 012, "Know your place," is what he says in his boss battle in Kingdom Hearts II when he shifts into the second phase of his attack pattern.
 * Sephiroth's response to Cloud's statement of "What I want most, I'll find myself!" being "You are nothing... but a puppet" refers to what Sephiroth tells Cloud immediately before transforming into Jenova LIFE, and what Jenova herself tells Cloud in the aftermath of the battle.
 * Before Cloud joins the fight between Sephiroth and Tifa in Dissidia 012, Sephiroth points his sword directly at Tifa, similarly to when Tifa intervened in Sephiroth and Cloud's battle in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * In the same scene, when Cloud places his Buster Sword on Sephiroth's neck, it resembles a scene where Zack Fair did the same thing to Sephiroth during the Nibelheim Incident.
 * When fighting the Emperor in Dissidia and Dissidia 012, Sephiroth states "I am the chosen one" and "I will rule the planet!" respectively. These phrases are what Sephiroth stated to Zack Fair during their fight in the Nibelheim reactor.
 * The manner he strikes Squall in the opening FMV of Dissidia resembles the ending cutscene of Sephiroth's battle with Zack at the Nibelheim Reactor in which Sephiroth performs a slashing cut at the opponent while in mid-air, hitting the opponent's sword, this attack bears a resemblance to the scene.

Trivia

 * Sephiroth is the only Warrior of Chaos who summons his weapon in a cutscene, and does so in a flash of light like the Warriors of Cosmos. The other Warriors of Chaos are never shown summoning their weapons and are usually shown carrying them around.
 * Of all of the villains, Sephiroth's original alternate costume in Dissidia is the only one that is not just a palette swap.
 * Like Cloud and Squall, Sephiroth's ultimate weapon in Dissidia shares its name with a Keyblade. In this case, the Keyblade Sora gets after the Coliseum Battle versus Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix.
 * Sephiroth's Heartless Angel EX attack, which reduces the opponent's BRV to 1, will still work on opponents who have used the Alexander summon, forcing them to have a Bravery freeze of 1 BRV point.
 * Sephiroth is one of three Warriors of Chaos who, upon their final defeat in the 13th cycle, does not fade into darkness. The other two are Kuja, who fades into a blue light, and Jecht, who faded away into pyreflies.
 * Because he is known by the cast as a "fallen hero" many introduction quotes directed at him question his motives and morality.
 * Sephiroth's introduction quote "A cloud with no will bores me", is a dual reference/insult to the Cloud of Darkness and Cloud Strife.
 * Sephiroth's "death" is extremely ambiguous, as he fades away showing no sign of injury or pain, besides briefly being hunched over, and even then he appeared completely recovered from any harm afterwards. This is following a common trend with Sephiroth's non-Final Fantasy VII appearances, where each of his exits bear a sense of him being "not done yet".
 * Unlike Cloud, Sephiroth's outfit in which he wears his original outfit does not bear the updated SOLDIER logo. Instead, it bears the tree-like logo that was on Cloud's original artwork, that was reused for the SOLDIER-based experimental program Deepground.
 * Based on his introduction lines to the other characters in Dissidia, the only opponent for whom Sephiroth seems to have any respect is Terra Branford, as he tells her, "Don't fear the power to destroy," when she engages him in battle.

Sefirot/Dissidia Sephiroth (Dissidia)