Nibelheim

Nibelheim is a small mountain village at the foot of Mt. Nibel, and near Cosmo Canyon in Final Fantasy VII. It is the hometown of both Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart. Years ago, something terrible happened there, although it was covered up and never revealed to the public. Afterward, Shinra claimed their hero, Sephiroth, to be dead. Most of the Sephiroth Clones, waiting for the Reunion, can be found all around the town. There is a Mako Reactor located on nearby Mt. Nibel. The Shinra Mansion is the most prominent structure in the town.

Shinra Mansion
The Shinra Mansion on the outskirts of Nibelheim holds many secrets of Professor Hojo's experiments. The mansion, having been in the Shinra Electric Power Company's possession for ages, was the setting for the horrible experiments that would become the Jenova Project. It is seen as a somewhat derelict house of grandeur with a long walk leading from the outskirts to the entrance.

Many years before the events of the main storyline of Final Fantasy VII, the basement was used for experiments by the head of Shinra's Science Division, Hojo. In competition with his scientific rival Hollander, he tried to create the perfect soldier. He decided to use Jenova cells on his colleague and lover Lucrecia Crescent while she was in early stages of pregnancy, which ultimately led to the birth of Sephiroth, a child born with Jenova cells. This special child would be sent to Shinra, and specially raised to be the ultimate SOLDIER before Lucrecia could even hold him.

The Turk Vincent Valentine, whose mission was to protect the scientists during their experiments, fell in love with Lucrecia. When he heard of the ghastly things being done to her and her child, Vincent confronted Hojo. The argument grew heated, and Hojo shot Vincent. Lucrecia, realizing that Vincent had been shot trying to protect her, instantly went into action to try to save his life. Many experiments were performed on him in order to save him from death. Finally, she discovered a way to use Chaos, the servant of the Omega Weapon, to save Vincent's life, also giving him the ability to transfigure himself. Hojo, then seeing the use of this ability, began implanting more and more monsters within him, resulting in Vincent's Limit Breaks seen in Final Fantasy VII. Vincent then saw himself as a monster, and a failure for not saving Lucrecia. He decided to repent for his sins by resigning himself to a coffin in the mansion's basement, where he slept almost undisturbed for 30 years.

Cloud and Tifa's Childhood
Despite the nightmare that occurred within the mansion, Nibelheim remained a peaceful town for its residents. Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart both grew up here in relative normality. While Tifa played with her three friends, Cloud isolated himself from their group. All Cloud had was his mother, with his father dying while he was young. Being alone, he began to consider the other children to be childish and himself better than the others.

One day, Tifa's peaceful life was shattered when her mother died. Emotionally distraught, she believed that she could find her mother again by climbing Mt. Nibel. Though her friends followed, each one slowly broke away as Tifa continued to climb further up the mountain, leaving only Cloud to follow. She ended up injuring herself on the mountain, and Cloud, being the only one there to blame, was faulted for the incident and forbidden from getting close to Tifa by her father.

During this time, Cloud began to idolize Sephiroth, the hero SOLDIER of the war with Wutai. He felt that if he could become great like Sephiroth, the people of Nibelheim would have no choice but to accept him, and also that he could win the attention of Tifa. The night before he left for Midgar, he met up with Tifa and told her he planned to become a SOLDIER. Under the moonlight, Cloud also promised that he would come to her rescue whenever she needed protection.

Cloud left his hometown for the metropolis of Midgar the next morning. Tifa later began training with Zangan, the martial arts expert, and worked as a guide on Mt. Nibel for tourists and visitors.

The Nibelheim Incident


Years later, Cloud met his idol Sephiroth, however he had not attained his goal of becoming SOLDIER First Class. Rather he was a lowly Shinra guard, following Zack Fair on many missions. The two SOLDIERS and their guards headed to Nibelheim to investigate a broken section of the Mt. Nibel Reactor. Cloud was too ashamed to show his failure to his hometown, and so kept his mask on when they met with Tifa, who would be their guide. When a picture was taken of the party before heading out, Cloud stayed out of it. He talked to his new-found friend Zack about being embarrassed about going back to his home and his family, but did not say much about a reason.

The group made its way to the Reactor, and Sephiroth managed to fix it easily. However, while inside, he found the hideous by-products of Hojo's experiments: Freakish monsters inside pods that once were human. To further draw the attention of Sephiroth, behind these abominations was a large sealed door inscribed with the name of his mother: JENOVA. Sephiroth began to wonder if he was no different than these monsters, and his one-time friend Genesis Rhapsodos, who had earlier deserted Shinra, arrived promptly to confirm his suspicions. Sephiroth then locked himself away in the basement of the Mansion and read everything he could about the Jenova Project. The answers drove him to the very brink of insanity.

Believing himself to be the heir to the Cetra legacy, due to a misconception that Jenova was an Ancient, Sephiroth slaughtered most of the population of Nibelheim and burned the town to the ground. Zack, Tifa, Zangan, and Cloud all tried to help, but their efforts were in vain. Cloud's mother and Tifa's father were both killed. His anger spent, Sephiroth climbed Mt. Nibel to find his mother, Jenova inside the Reactor. He broke into the sealed room and spoke with the "Jenova Doll" that masked JENOVA from view about his plans for finding the promised land. Stating that everything would be all right now that they were together, Sephiroth removed the Jenova Doll to look, for the first time, at his mother.

Both Tifa and Zack confronted Sephiroth in the reactor. Enraged, Tifa picked up the Masamune and rushed at Sephiroth, but was quickly disarmed and incapacitated. Zack managed to fight Sephiroth competenly for a short time, but eventually, he too was defeated and cast aside. Cloud entered last, and charged at Sephiroth, impaling him with the Buster Sword. Thinking Sephiroth dead, Cloud leaves to check on Tifa and Zack. However, Sephiroth was still alive, and he staggered out of Jenova's chamber, holding her head. Cloud attempted to attack Sephiroth again, but was disarmed and impaled through the chest. Somehow, using the sword as a lever, Cloud picks up Sephiroth, and throws him into the Lifestream, where he supposedly dies.

Tifa was rescued by Zangan, but both Cloud and Zack were both captured by the player Turks of Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. In Episodes 12 and 13, the player, along with the Turk leader, Verdot, help Hojo start his new experiment and hide the events of the incident. They were both be used as test subjects in Hojo's Jenova Reunion Theory. They, and the survors of Sephiroth's rampage, were injected with pure Jenova cells and kept in tanks of Mako. Zack escaped from the tube he was being held in, possibly with the help of his old mentor, Angeal Hewley, from the Lifestream. He then freed Cloud, who was struck with a bad case of Mako Addiction, and the two slowly made their way out of the city and back to Midgar. Zack was unaffected by the Mako, possibly due to his already being exposed to it by way of becoming a SOLDIER. The town was rebuilt and repopulated with actors hired by Shinra to make sure word of the incident never got out. As for Tifa, once she recovered, she headed to Midgar to get revenge on Shinra, joining the resistance group AVALANCHE and running its headquarters, the 7th Heaven bar in the slums of Sector 7.

Hunting for Sephiroth
Five years later, Cloud and Tifa have reunited and together search for Sephiroth across the Planet. Their search leads them to their hometown of Nibelheim, now rebuilt and infested with Sephiroth Clones. Nobody in the town recognizes either one of them, since they are all fakes put in place by Shinra. Since there is nothing here for them now, Cloud and Tifa leave to Mt. Nibel to continue their search. They do go through the basement of Shinra Mansion and find Vincent Valentine locked in a coffin. He can be coaxed out of it and added to the party, though little is said of his story.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
During the events Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, Vincent Valentine returns to the manor via the underground tunnels and sewers, to search for information about Deepground and Dr. Crescent's research on OMEGA and Chaos. He revisits the experimentation room where he was turned to his current state and the coffin in which he had slept. In the mansion, he finds a holographic recording of Lucrecia who gives him a little information. He meets Deepground troops who had arrived in the mansion earlier, and is fought by a large spider mech in the entrance hall. It is here that Rosso the Crimson extracts the Protomateria from Vincent and he is only saved from the hands of Rosso by Yuffie. By this time, the mansion is in ruins.

Dirge of Cerberus also explains the full story of what happened with Vincent and Lucrecia in Nibelheim, and the horrid things that happened in the basement, and the truth behind Sephiroth's birth is fully revealed.

Town
Nibelheim is comprised of five accessible buildings and the mansion at the end. There is also a route next to the mansion which exits Nibelheim and leads up to Mt. Nibel.

The inn is found in the bottom-left of the town. The innkeeper charges 100 gil for a room. There is also a second selectable option, "What's your story?". Selecting this option prompts Cloud to question what's going on with the town not being burnt; to which he replies saying he grew up in in Nibelheim and that it never burned down. To which prompts Tifa if she's present, or Cloud if she is not, to say he's lying. The innkeeper refutes this.
 * Inn

There is a man in a black cape in the back room. From him the player can receive a Luck Source.

The man in the black cape standing next to the fire gives an Elixir. The woman at the desk sells items.
 * Item shop

The house in the bottom-right of the town has an empty first floor. The second floor of the house features men in black capes. From these the player can get a Luck Source.
 * House

In the back room on the first floor a man in a black cape will relinquish a Turbo Ether if the action button is pressed when facing him. Upstairs, another black caped man gives a Turbo Ether.
 * Tifa's House

On the table in Tifa's bedroom a note is found.

If the piano is repeatedly played on, the player can discover 1 gil. When Tifa is the party-leader in Disk 2, playing the game's main theme gives the player the an Elemental materia. Doing this again when Cloud returns as party-leader with Tifa in the party will get her Limit Break manual, Final Heaven.

Cloud's house has only a lady that refutes the fact that Cloud grew up there.
 * Cloud's House

Mansion, 1f.
The entrance hall is attached to two rooms in the bottom-left and bottom-right of the screen. The bottom-right room has nothing in it. The room in the bottom-left has some notes lying on the floor.
 * Entrance hall

Upon entering the room on the right as seen from the entrance hall, the player can pick up the Silver M-phone from a chest in the small room.
 * Room on the right

The easiest way to enter the room in the top-right of the first floor is through the room straight ahead of the entrance. This leads onto a corridor, and from here entering the room in the top-right on this screen is a chest with the Twin Viper.
 * Room in the top-right

This room can be entered by accessed from the corridor entered straight ahead in the entrance and then turning left, or entering the door on the left in the entrance, and following the corridor.
 * Room in the top-left

This room holds a piano in it. The piano functions the same as Tifa's piano. Pressing the action button to the right of the piano, in the bottom-right corner of the room reveals a message.

Mansion, 2f.
Moving the character straight ahead once entering this set of rooms takes them to a chest containing the Enemy Launcher. If the player presses the action button once more a message is revealed.
 * Rooms on the left

In the room on the right, at the top of the screen, is a safe. Opening the safe initiates a fight between the player's party and Lost Number. Defeating Lost Number wins the player Cosmo Memory. A red materia on the floor is the Odin materia, and the key in the safe is the Key to the Basement.

In the room at the top of the screen is a Magic Source. A third of the way down the adjacent corridor a creak sound will play when the character moves over it. Pressing the action button at this point will reveal a message.
 * Rooms on the right

In the other room there is a visible outline of a rectangle on the stone wall. Running through this takes the player to the spiral staircase.

Spiral staircase
The spiral staircase is closed off and can only be accessed from the rooms on the right of the second floor. The only thing that the player can do in the staircase is battle against random encounters.

Basement
Beyond the hallway screen is a second screen giving two routes. On the character's left is a room with coffins that can only be accessed with the Key to the Basement. Straight in-front of the player is a library and laboratory.

In this room the player can have conversations with Vincent, a fallen Turk. If done right, Vincent can be recruited to the player party.
 * Room with coffins

The laboratory links the Library to the basement caves.
 * Laboratory

Returning here on Disk 2 with Cloud as party leader will initiate a flashback to Zack and Cloud's escape from Shinra Mansion and their journey to Midgar.

The first time the player comes here with the party, Sephiroth will be in the library. He drops the Destruct materia after exiting.
 * Library

Enemies
The Bahba Velamyu is the only enemy in the forest area that can inflict negative statuses, Silence and Slow which both cannot be avoided through the use of accessories except the Ribbon which is not available at this stage of the game. The Crown Lance is the only enemy fought on the beaches in the Nibel Area. They can inflict the Sleep and Petrify statuses but these cannot be avoided through the use of accessories in this stage of the game.
 * Nibel Area

The Dazers item can be stolen from Battery Caps in their first slot with an average steal rate. The item inflicts Paralyze and can serve multiple purposes in the game including stopping enemies with high evasion, and stopping certain enemies from using their strong attacks.

The Nibel Wolf enemy fought on the grass areas can use the Howling ability to revive all fallen Nibel Wolf enemies defeated in the battle. Each one can use the ability three times. Allowing the Howling ability to be used allows for more EXP and Gil to be won from the battle.

The Valron enemy can be fought in grass areas, and can be manipulated to use the Dive Kick command which is a Gravity-elemental ability. This means it can't kill the player, and can be exploited to help increase the player's Limit gauge to help learn additional Limit Breaks.

The Dorky Face enemy, fought in all areas of the mansion, only excluding the basement caves, can use Curses to inflict Silence on the party, and Funny Breath to inflict Confusion. Silence isn't a problem as the enemies and the Black Bat enemies that may accompany it can be dispatched in a few physicals, and the Mirage enemy has an Auto-Reflect status up removing any need to use magic. Confusion can be avoided by equipping the Peace Ring. At the point in the game the party can first enter the Shinra Mansion, they can only possibly have one of these from the second Fort Condor battle. After gaining access to Rocket Town, they can be bought in the accessory shop there.
 * Shinra Mansion

The Jersey enemy has a chance of using the ???? ability only when it's right arm is raised. The player can learn the ???? ability as an enemy skill if they have the appropriate materia equipped on the target. Jersey cannot be manipulated to learn this enemy skill.

The Mirage enemy fought on the second floor and on the spiral staircase can drop the Mirror item at an average drop-rate and is the only way the item can be obtained in the game. The Black Bat enemy fought in the spiral staircase and the basement caves can relinquish a Vampire Fang when the Morph command is successful and is the only enemy in the game that can get the player a Vampire Fang in this way. The Black Bat is also is also the first of two enemies in the game the Vampire Fang can be won from, dropped on a regular drop-rate.

The Ghirofelgo enemy can be defeated instantly by using the Laser enemy skill if the player obtained it from the Death Claw earlier in the game. This enemy can be fought on both floors of the mansion and on the spiral staircase.

Yuffie
The Mystery Ninja can be fought in the forests in the Nibel Area.

Piano
The piano in Tifa's house can be used to acquire a number of items.

On the first visit to Nibelheim with the party, playing anything on the piano repeatedly will eventually earn the player Tifa's secret savings, 1 gil.

Returning to Nibelheim on Disk 2 with Tifa as the party leader can earn the player an Elemental materia. To attain this, the Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII must be played on the piano. The tune is as follows: ,, , L1 and , L1 and , , , , L1 and , , , ,

On Disk 2, after Cloud rejoins the party as party-leader, with Tifa in the party, and regardless of if the player played the piano on the previous Disk, playing the Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII tune again will reveal a letter to Tifa from Zangan, containing her ultimate Limit Break, Final Heaven.

Safe
The safe sidequest can be done anytime after Cloud and the party first enter Nibelheim.

After entering the Shinra Mansion, the player can enter the bottom-left room and read the notes of the floor to discover clues to the safe combination.

After reading this, the game says there is another letter and gives the option to read or leave it.

This prompts an option screen giving four options. "dial (1)", "dial (2)", "dial (3)", and a fourth invisible one.

The first clue is found on the lid of the chest found in the left section of the second floor. This reveals (Right 36).

The second clue is found next to the piano found in the top-left room of the first floor. This reveals (Left 10).

The third clue is found two-thirds of the way down the corridor on the right-portion of the second floor where a creak in the floor is. This reveals (Right 59).

The fourth clue is the one in invisible ink, (Right 97).

With this, the player can go onto the left portion of the second floor to find the safe in the top room. Twenty seconds is given to enter the four codes. The player has to turn right, and left to the numbers without overshooting it, pressing the action button on each number. Failing to do so means the player will have to try again. The code to enter is:

(Right 36), (Left 10), (Right 59), (Right 97)

Doing this right will open the safe and initiate the battle against Lost Number. This is a tough battle to take on the first visit, but possible with sufficient Levels and Limit Breaks. Lost Number has 7,000 health, and when it has 3,498 health or below. If the attack that takes the boss below 3,498 health magical attack, it turns into its Type B form. If the last attack landed was a physical attack, it turns into its Type C form. Since Type C's physical attacks are too strong for most characters at this stage, it is advised the player tries to face Type B. If the player has obtained the Beta or Aqualung enemy skills, these can do considerable damage for a cheap MP cost. When it changes into it's Type B form, the player should attack with physical attacks and Limit Breaks that should have built up during the battle. From Lost Number the player receives one of the earliest available final Limit Break manuals in the game, Cosmo Memory for Red XIII.

The red summon materia that jumped from the safe is the Odin materia, a summon that can use either an instant death attack, or to those that are immune, a non-elemental attack. The player also obtains the Key to the Basement from the safe that allows access to the coffin room of the basement containing Vincent.

Vincent
Obtaining Vincent can only be done if the player has already done the Safe sidequest and obtained the Key to the Basement. Once the key is obtained, the player must go through the spiral staircase to the basement and enter the room with the coffins. Pressing the action button on the closed coffin in the center of the room will reveal an alive Vincent.

After a number of discussions, the player can choose from "Good night" and "Who are you?". Asking "Who are you?" will allow the player to call Vincent a name by their choosing. Then when the player leaves and exits, approaching the spiral staircase Vincent stops the party and decides to go with them. The player is then given the option to reconfigure the party.

Ultimate Weapon
After defeating Diamond Weapon, and then after defeating Ultimate Weapon above the waterfall next to Junon, one of the places Ultimate Weapon stops above and can be fought at is Nibelheim.

Final Fantasy VII
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="10" align="left" width="50%"
 * valign="top" width="50%"|

Item Shop

 * }

Shinra Mansion

 * 1f.
 * Dorky Face x3
 * Dorky Face x4
 * Ghirofelgo


 * 2f.
 * Dorky Face x4
 * Ghirofelgo
 * Jersey, Mirage x2 (Back attack)
 * Jersey x3
 * Mirage x2, Dorky Face
 * Lost Number (Boss)


 * Spiral Staircase
 * Black Bat x3 (Back attack)
 * Dorky Face x2, Black Bat
 * Dorky Face x2, Mirage
 * Ghirofelgo
 * Jersey, Mirage x2 (Back attack)


 * Caves
 * Black Bat x2
 * Black Bat x3
 * Black Bat x4
 * Ying, Yang

Nibel Area

 * Grassland
 * Nibel Wolf x2
 * Nibel Wolf x2 (Back attack)
 * Valron
 * Valron, Nibel Wolf x2


 * Forest
 * Bahba Velamyu x2
 * Bahba Velamyu x2 (Ambush)
 * Battery Cap x4, Valron
 * Battery Cap x6
 * Mystery Ninja


 * Beach
 * Crown Lance
 * Crown Lance x2
 * Crown Lance x2 (Ambush)
 * Crown Lance x3


 * Skies
 * Ultimate Weapon (Boss)

Musical Themes
When Nibelheim is first visited in Cloud's flashback, the song "On That Day, 5 Years Ago" (5年前のあの日 Gonen Mae no ano Hi) plays. When the party later visits the town, the background music changes to "Heart of Anxiety". Inside the Shinra Mansion, the background music switches to "Those Chosen by the Planet" (星に選ばれし者 Hoshi ni Erabareshi Mono). Inside the basement the music turns to "The Nightmare Begins" (悪夢の始まり Akumu no Hajimari).

In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, the track the plays is called "A Closed Off Village". This is a rendition of "Heart of Anxiety".

Etymology
The name Nibelheim is based on , also called Niflheimr, a location in Norse Mythology meaning "Mist World." In the story of Gylfaginning, Odin explains that creation began when the ice of Niflheimr met the flames of Muspelheim. Nibelheim is literally translated as "Fog-home" in German. "Nibel" is a very old-fashioned way to pronounce "Nebel", the German word for "fog".

Nibelheim