Professor Hojo



Professor Hojo (宝条) is a major character in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. He is a secondary antagonist in Final Fantasy VII, and the primary antagonist of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.

Hojo is the main mastermind behind SOLDIER and the Jenova Project, and initially is head of the Shinra Electric Power Company's Science Research Division. However, Hojo's goals stand apart from Shinra's, with a focus on scientific pursuits and monitoring the actions of his greatest creation, Sephiroth. Hojo's actions with SOLDIER and Jenova make him directly or indirectly connected to most of the major antagonists of the Compilation.

Appearance and Personality
Hojo is a slender middle-aged man with long black hair he wears in a ponytail. He is always seen wearing small round glasses and a white lab coat, white oxford-style shirt, blue tie, gray trousers with a brown belt, and gray shoes. He has a distinctive hunched, shuffling walk. His voice actor in English is Paul Eiding, who gives Hojo a high-pitched, nasal voice. Hojo was played by the late Nachi Nozawa in Japanese.

Hojo is the archetypical mad scientist. He is arrogant and condescending, referring to people as "test subjects" and not bothering to learn their names unless, like Sephiroth, they prove exceptionally impressive. Hojo's only desire is the pursuit of science and understanding of the Planet, willing to go to any lengths to further his knowledge. He performs many horrific experiments on unwilling human subjects with no regard for their well-being, and eventually even experiments on himself. Even when his actions put the city of Midgar at risk, Hojo considers it another price to pay for his experiments.

Hojo admits he hates himself for his own ignorance, having foreseen that Sephiroth's power surpasses the science he believes in, and though he labelled Cloud Strife a failure of his Jenova Reunion experiment, Cloud would become the experiment's only success. In Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, Hojo has no regrets over any of his actions and cares about nothing than seeing his greatest experiment be completed.

Hojo's appearances in Dirge of Cerberus focus on his megalomania and enjoyment in seeing others suffer. Several flashbacks focus on Vincent confronting Hojo about the ethics of the Jenova Project. The first time, Hojo dismisses him, saying that he and Lucretia are scientists, they know what they are doing, and it is none of Vincent's concern. Later, he shoots Vincent when he would not "be silent" after Hojo told him to, and laughs maniacally as Vincent lies bleeding on the ground. He would display these traits again when his program possesses Weiss, laughing as he murders Nero, and gloating about how both Vincent and the Tsviets were just pawns in his brilliant plan.

He displays a somewhat conflicting attitude towards his assistant, Lucretia. After he finds her trying to infuse Vincent with Chaos, he praises her on using a "fine specimen," saying, "Once a scientist, always a scientist." These statements seem to display a sort of twisted pride in his colleague. However, he also dismissed her theory as "utter nonsense" until seeing Chaos himself.

Jenova Project S
Approximately thirty years prior to Final Fantasy VII, Shinra's top researcher, Gast Faremis, discovered Jenova, a destructive extraterrestrial being, buried in the North Crater. He mistakenly believed Jenova to be a Cetra, a member of a mystical ancient race that inhabited the Planet before present day humanity. Dr. Hollander, Hojo, and another Shinra scientist named Lucrecia Crescent, were assigned to work on the Jenova Project under Professor Gast.

The project's ultimate goal was to create humans with the powers of the Cetra. It was believed this goal could have been realized by testing the effects of Jenova cells on an unborn child. The project's ultimate goal was to produce a child who could lead Shinra to the Cetra's Promised Land. Hojo worked on what would come to be called "Jenova Project S" while Hollander worked on "Jenova Project G".

During this time Lucrecia became the romantic interest of Vincent Valentine, a member of the Turks assigned as the scientists' bodyguard. Due to her guilt over causing Vincent's father's death, Lucrecia rejected him and instead entered into a relationship with Hojo. Lucrecia became pregnant, and she and Hojo chose to offer up their unborn child to the Jenova Project. Vincent objected and during a heated argument Hojo shot and fatally wounded Vincent. Hojo performed experiments on Vincent's body before leaving him sealed in a coffin in the Shinra Manor basement in Nibelheim.

After an incident where Lucrecia attempted to save Vincent's life by infusing him with Chaos, and his brief transformation into Chaos, Hojo decided to conduct an experiment to summon Omega and see the results of Omega's awakening. Eager to produce a superior specimen to Hollander's methods, where Hollander had injected a woman named Gillian Hewley with Jenova cells and then transferred her cells to a fetus, Hojo simply injected Jenova cells into Lucrecia's unborn child. The child Lucrecia had was Sephiroth. Eventually the superiority of Sephiroth over Hollander's specimen, Genesis Rhapsodos, lead to Hojo taking control of Shinra's Science Research Division and all experiments involving Jenova.

Although Sephiroth did not gain the powers of the Cetra as originally envisioned, his physical strength was exceptional, and so Shinra raised Sephiroth to be the ultimate soldier, becoming a hero in the Wutai War. Sephiroth was unaware of his parentage, being told his mother was named Jenova, and never knowing Hojo was his father.

Sephiroth came to detest Hojo, referring to him as "a walking mass of complexes" and seeing him as an inferior scientist to Gast. Gast left the Jenova Project prior to Sephiroth's birth, Shinra finding a true Cetra named Ifalna. Although Shinra intended to use her for research and experimentation, Gast fell in love with her and abandoned Shinra. The two fled to Icicle Inn where Gast conducted willing experiments on Ifalna while recording logs of her knowledge of Jenova and the Planet. The two had a daughter named Aerith.

Twenty days after Aerith's birth Hojo led a team of Shinra operatives to their home. Hojo shot and killed Gast when he resisted, and Ifalna and Aerith were captured. The last two Cetra would spend seven years in captivity in the Shinra Building in Midgar before escaping to the slums, where Ifalna died from wounds sustained in their escape, entrusting Aerith's care to Elmyra Gainsborough before her death.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Hojo indirectly fuels Fuhito's ambition to create the Ravens, Fuhito's twisted counterpart SOLDIERs. Hojo had implanted the Zirconiade Materia within Elfé, the leader of the first AVALANCHE. Hojo is also mentioned by the Turks when they are dispatched to Cosmo Canyon to capture Red XIII to be used as a test subject.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Hojo is first seen working in the Shinra Building Training Room prior to the first attack by the Genesis Army. He tests some programs he created himself aiming to prove his genius by having Zack defeated. When Zack survives, Hojo tells him they will have a special relationship. During his visit, the scientists normally stationed there show their fear and disgust of Hojo. Hojo continues to challenge Zack in the Hojo's Lab series of Missions, pitting him against genetically enhanced monsters and virtual reality simulations.

When Genesis Rhapsodos rebels against Shinra he attempts to kill Hojo on behalf of Dr. Hollander, but Zack and Angeal Hewley intervene. Hojo mocks Genesis, and tells him Hollander would not be able to halt his degradation, referring to him as a "second-rate hack, who couldn't even cure a cold," and implies Hollander doesn't even know about the Jenova Project. During the encounter, Hojo demonstrates knowledge and dislike of the epic LOVELESS - he claims to have read it in the belief it might further his research, but denounces it as "pure drivel".

Five years prior to the start of Final Fantasy VII Sephiroth leads a Shinra team on a mission to investigate a malfunction of the Nibelheim Mako Reactor. The mission is a disaster, resulting in Sephiroth learning of the experiments tied to his birth, and destroys the village in a rage and attempts to reclaim Jenova stored in the reactor. SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair and a Shinra guardsman Cloud Strife combat Sephiroth, and though Cloud succeeds in throwing Sephiroth into the pool of mako within the reactor, both Zack and Cloud are mortally wounded.

Arriving at Nibelheim during Shinra's clean-up, Hojo decides to further his research of Jenova and test his "Jenova Reunion Theory" - that if Jenova's cells are divided they would seek to reunite. Hojo injected the survivors of the village, as well as Zack and Cloud, with samples of Sephiroth's genetic material and infused them with mako, turning them into Sephiroth Clones.

Hojo believed the minds of the subjects would break down and they would be driven by the desire to reunite with Jenova. Hojo placed numbered tattoos on the hands of each of his successful Sephiroth Copies. Zack and Cloud were deemed failures and not given a number: Zack because his SOLDIER training and strong will made him resistant to Jenova cells and prevented his mind from collapsing, and Cloud because his mind was too weak and he was barely able to function. The two would be kept captive beneath the Shinra Manor in Nibelheim until they broke out several years later and escaped.

Final Fantasy VII
Hojo first appears when Cloud's group infiltrates the Shinra Headquarters in Midgar in an attempt to rescue Aeris, who had been kidnapped by the Turks. They witness a Shinra executives' meeting where Hojo also takes part, and then follow him to his lab were they find Aeris in an enclosure with Red XIII, and Hojo intending to breed the two. The party saves them and Hojo flees the scene.

The party encounters Hojo again at Costa del Sol during his brief period of retirement from Shinra. Hojo spends his time relaxing on the beach, surrounded by beautiful women. He taunts and insults the heroes, as well as hinting at Cloud's status as a Sephiroth Clone and the Jenova Reunion theory. Much later, at the Northern Cave inside the North Crater, Hojo has returned to Shinra and accompanies them into the cave, where Cloud's group and the Shinra executives also congregate.

With Cloud's mind reeling from Sephiroth's manipulations and revelations about his false memories, Hojo reveals his Jenova Reunion Theory. When he finds Cloud never received a number, he brushes him aside as a "failed experiment". This insult is the last in a series of traumas that causes Cloud to have a severe mental breakdown, during which time he willingly hands over the Black Materia to Sephiroth. As the Weapons are awoken Hojo and the others escape the scene on the Shinra airship Highwind.

Having summoned Meteor, Sephiroth remains in the North Crater and erects a barrier over it preventing any of his enemies from disturbing him.

Later, the Sister Ray is fired at the barrier, passing through Diamond Weapon along the way and destroying it. The Weapon attacks simultaneously, destroying Shinra Headquarters, and president Rufus Shinra is presumed dead. With the city in chaos and Shinra's leadership fractured, Hojo commandeers the Sister Ray's controls, intending to fire the cannon at the North Crater to grant Sephiroth further mako energy, which Hojo states he does in order to see the results of his research blossom.

Hojo's actions risk the city's destruction by overloading the Mako Reactors, so Cloud's group parachutes into Midgar to confront him. Hojo then reveals that he is Sephiroth's father, and that he has injected himself with Jenova's cells. The party attacks Hojo as he mutates into grotesque forms, and is eventually killed.

Novella
In Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, written by Studio BentStuff's Benny Matsuyama, it is revealed Hojo's soul was unable to diffuse through the Lifestream as in accordance with the natural order due to his experimentations and his utter lack of regret for his sins in life. As Sephiroth absorbs the Lifestream, Hojo allows himself to be assimilated into Sephiroth's body to grant his son more power and allow himself the opportunity to witness the ultimate results of his experimentation as a part of it.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
In the prologue to Dirge of Cerberus, when Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi are evacuating Midgar, Vincent detects a faint life sign coming from the tower console where the party previously defeated Hojo. Rushing over to the area, he discovers Hojo's corpse sitting at the console, which is still operational, showing "Start Fragment Program".

Three years later, power is restored and the Worldwide Network with it. A computer-simulated copy of Hojo's personality and memory that he implanted in the network before his death reassembles and possesses Deepground commander Weiss the Immaculate. Through Weiss, Hojo commands Deepground to enact a war on the world, with the intent of mass killings of the people, triggering the summoning of Omega, the ultimate Weapon that appears to gather the Lifestream and deliver it to another planet when it senses the planet is in dire danger.

At the game's climax, Hojo within Weiss reveals himself to Vincent. His plan three years ago was to inject himself with Jenova cells to perfect his body to merge with Omega. As a back-up Hojo implanted a copy of his personality and memories on the Worldwide Network, allowing a "neo-Reunion" when it came back on-line and the fragments of the program reunited. Vincent defeats Weiss/Hojo in battle, and Weiss's brother Nero the Sable appears before them, merging with Weiss. Hojo, outraged and protesting that Nero will "corrupt" his pure vessel for Omega, fades away as the two brothers become one.

Battle
Hojo is fought as a boss at the end of the second disc in Final Fantasy VII. Though he has many forms only one resembles him as a human, as the others are mutated monsters. In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, Hojo is fought as Weiss Empowered.

Development
According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, in the early story drafts of Final Fantasy VII, Hojo's death happened earlier in the game, and under completely different circumstances. In the game's original story ideas Sephiroth was not the one who was "cloned," but rather Red XIII. Red XIII would have been a beast-type SOLDIER and Hojo would have produced clones of him, all following the same naming pattern of color and number. Originally, the party was planned on having to face the Red XIII clones, and after having defeated them, the party would have been forced to fight Hojo and kill him.

Etymology
The individual kanji of "hojo" mean "treasure" and "logic", respectively.

Trivia

 * The grotesque and distorted appearance of his Helletic Hojo form, as well as its nature (his fusion with cells of an infectious, alien doppelganger) are similar to the creature in John Carpenter's film The Thing.
 * Hojo's full name is unknown, as in if "Hojo" is his first or last name. Hojo is a common Japanese family name, but Professor Gast is referred to by his first name with his title, so the same may be possible for Professor Hojo.
 * Whether or not Hojo was in love with Lucrecia is unknown. Though they married and had a child, it is implied he admired her solely for her appearance and intelligence. Given his penchant for experimentation, it is likely he married her in order to create a being with superior intelligence and abilities. It would seem he succeeded.