Bugenhagen



Bugenhagen (ブーゲンハーゲン, Būgenhāgen) is a character in Final Fantasy VII, and the elder of the village of Cosmo Canyon, the hometown of Red XIII. He is very knowledgeable and helps Cloud and his party in their quest to save The Planet. Red XIII refers Bugenhagen as "grandfather," although obviously not in a literal sense. Bugenhagen has a tendency to say "Ho Ho Hooo!" whenever he hears something that catches his interest. Bugenhagen appears to be capable of some form of levitation, though how this levitation is achieved is never explained in the game. Aged 129 in Final Fantasy VII, he is also a super-centenarian.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Bugenhagen makes an appearance in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, speaking with Fuhito. They appear to be having a conversation about the Lifestream. Bugenhagen's appearance in Before Crisis differs from his appearance in the original Final Fantasy VII, in that he seems to be sitting on a large green sphere. Though this green spherical area is visible on Bugenhagen in the original Final Fantasy VII, it is smaller and lacks detail, and thus could easily be misinterpreted as part of his apparel. The sphere's increased size in Before Crisis seems to give the impression that it is rather significant to his character, and it may be one possible explanation for Bugenhagen's unexplained ability to levitate.

Final Fantasy VII
Cait Sith informs the party Bugenhagen was once a skilled Shinra employee, although he never bought weapons or Materia. Vincent also mentions the machinery found in Cosmo Canyon was a gift from Professor Gast. Through Bugenhagen, the players learn of Red XIII's past. The most prominent memory which Bugenhagen reveals, is that Red XIII's father, Seto, was not a coward at all, but a hero in the fight against the Gi Tribe. Seto was petrified, though he still stands watching over Cosmo Canyon, and, despite being stone, is able to shed tears at seeing his son again.

In disc 2 of Final Fantasy VII, the party seeks Bugenhagen's advice to help prevent Meteor's fall. Bugenhagen and the party ascend into his Solar System model generator and place their Huge Materia within, and then head to the Forgotten Capital to find answers in the works of the Ancients. They arrive at the Forgotten Capital and use the Ancient Key to access a machine created by the Ancients. The machine displays the moment of Aeris's death. Bugenhagen examines the machine's image and notices that Aeris's White Materia is glowing green, a sign her prayer to Holy was a success. He reveals to the party Aeris was ultimately able to summon Holy, which would destroy Meteor. The party then leaves to fight Diamond Weapon.

After Diamond Weapon's defeat, if the player returns to Cosmo Canyon, a resident informs Red XIII that Bugenhagen is ill from his trip to the Forgotten Capital. The party visits the observatory and learns he is dying. Before his death, Bugenhagen gives Red XIII his ultimate weapon, the Limited Moon, that once belonged to Seto. Bugenhagen also does not have his green floating orb under him during his death. If the party returns to Cosmo Canyon without Red XIII Bugenhagen will be alive and well, laughing that he was only faked his death so that his grandson would fight Sephiroth with his best.

Bugenhagen allows Cloud and the others to utilize his Solar System model generator to hide the four Huge Materia they find and steal from Shinra. He tells Cloud he is welcome to use the machine and visit the Materia crystals at any time. If the player has the Bahamut and the Neo Bahamut Materia, they can examine one of the Huge Materia to get the Bahamut ZERO. If the other Huge Materias are observed with a full stock of mastered Materia of its type, the Materia will condense into a Master Materia.

Etymology
Bugenhagen is named for a character of the same name in The Omen. In the film, Bugenhagen is an archeologist who relates a great deal of the lore of the Antichrist to the protagonists so they may stop him.

Bugenhagen may also be named after German Lutheran Reformer Johannes Bugenhagen. This would fit in with the recurring theme of important German thinkers being used as names in the game, as seen in the case of Heidegger. Bugenhagen was the so-called "Apostle to the North" and was responsible for spreading the Reformation to the city-states of northern Germany, as well as the Scandinavian kingdoms.

Bugenhagen