Rufus Shinra

Rufus Shinra is the vice president of the Shinra Electric Power Company through Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- and Final Fantasy VII, and the president through most of Final Fantasy VII. He most likely gained the title for being President Shinra's son. Rufus is stated as being twenty-five years old during the events of Final Fantasy VII in the novella On the Way to a Smile: Case of Shinra.

Appearance
Rufus is a young man with short blond hair and blue eyes. Unlike many of the characters in the Compilation, Rufus wears the same outfit in all his appearances: a white business suit with a matching jacket over a black shirt.

Personality
Rufus seems to have no love for his father, and schemes to overthrow him on the seat of power. He is initially portrayed as an enigma. Like his father, Rufus's main goals are to control the world through the Shinra Company, and increase the company's power. Unlike his father, however, Rufus uses fear to control people, playing on their suspicions of AVALANCHE and Sephiroth to manipulate them.

In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, Rufus appears to atone for his crimes, and is hinted to be the one funding the World Regenesis Organization. However, he still wishes for Shinra to have a dominant hand in the world's affairs. When the city of Edge is being built, it is done using Shinra resources, and Rufus has a monument to Meteor placed in the city center to claim the city as Shinra's and secure their ownership of it in the minds of the citizens.

Pre-Presidency
In Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- Rufus is the main financier for the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, and feeds them information to allow for their success. Along with the other Shinra executives, Rufus takes part in meetings and strategy, and has special access to his father, personally discussing key issues as the second-in-command. Rufus has no interest in the the Planet or its fate while funding AVALANCHE, rather, he is using the organization to take power from his father. It becomes clear Shinra has a traitor, but initially the informant's identity is not known.

The Turks capture Rufus during the attack on the Old Corel and use him as leverage with President Shinra so that they can save their commander, Veld, and his daughter, Elfé, the AVALANCHE's commander. President Shinra saves him while the Turks are out searching for the support Materia and attempting to rescue Veld. Before the Turks are ordered executed for insubordination, Rufus has the Turks spared since Tseng "assassinated" Veld and Elfé.

Afterward Rufus is neither killed nor stripped of his title for being a traitor; President Shinra merely orders him placed under house arrest in Junon. His absence is explained by claiming he is on an "extended assignment overseas."

Though Rufus is not seen in person in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, an email from Kunsel to Zack mentions that Rufus has been promoted to Vice President and Corporate Officer, and had departed on a "long-term business trip," the emailing claiming the details cannot be disclosed for security reasons.

As Shinra President


During Sephiroth's attack on Shinra Headquarters in Midgar, the Shinra executive, Palmer, calls Junon for help. Rufus responds by taking a B1-Alpha Helicopter to Midgar to take command of the company. By the time he arrives mostly everyone in the building is dead, including President Shinra.

Rufus confronts the second incarnation of AVALANCHE led by Barret Wallace from the Midgar Slums atop the Shinra Headquarters, declaring himself the new president of the company and how he will rule the Planet by inciting fear in the hearts of the populace. Cloud, a mercenary hired by AVALANCHE, remains to hold back Rufus while the others escape. Rufus battles him using a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun and is accompanied by his guard hound, Dark Nation. After seeing he cannot win against Cloud, Rufus flees the building on the helicopter.

Rufus decides to pursue Sephiroth who is said to have returned and is blamed for having murdered his father, President Shinra, as witnessed by the Shinra executive Palmer. Shinra forces follow Sephiroth's trail across the Planet, Rufus traveling with an entourage of Shinra executives. A parade is held on his honor in Junon celebrating him as the new Shinra president. Unbeknownst to Shinra Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE, who had escaped the Shinra Building in Midgar, partake in the festivities with Cloud disguising himself as a Shinra foot soldier, and is among the soldiers who perform a routine for Rufus's send-off on a cargo ship.

The cargo ship travels from Junon to Costa del Sol, and while Rufus stays in the cabin discussing matters with Heidegger, a Shinra executive, AVALANCHE stows away on the ship disguised as crew. Mysterious events transpire when many crew members are slaughtered, and after docking in Costa del Sol it is determined Sephiroth was onboard alongside AVALANCHE. Rufus admonishes Heidegger for his failure to catch on to the stowaways before flying off on another helicopter.

Shinra's main airship the Highwind is not ready for flight, and after receiving intel Sephiroth is heading for the Temple of the Ancients, Rufus decides to seize Cid Highwind's Tiny Bronco airplane for faster travel. Cid eagerly expects Rufus's arrival as he mistakes his visit for an announcement of re-launching Shinra's space program, but when he hears Rufus wants his plane he becomes outraged and refuses. Cloud's crew helps Cid escape in the Tiny Bronco, but Rufus has his men shoot it down.

When the Highwind is ready to take off Rufus, Scarlet and Professor Hojo fly to the Planet's north pole to investigate the North Crater. They run into AVALANCHE at the Northern Cave inside in a place covered in Materia, Shinra deeming it to be the fabled Promised Land, a land told in Cetra legend to be a land full of Spirit Energy. Rufus and the other Shinra executives are forced to flee when the Weapons emerge from the crater when Sephiroth summons the Meteor, but in the chaos they capture two AVALANCHE members: Tifa and Barret.

Rufus wants to have the two publicly executed to help calm the panic from the looming Meteor. His plans are foiled when Sapphire Weapon attacks Junon and blasts a hole in the gas chamber, Tifa and Barret escaping on the Highwind that has been stolen by AVALANCHE.

Determined to not give up, Rufus plans to destroy Meteor with the Shinra No. 26 rocket and send in the Shinra Army to the North Crater to kill Sephiroth in the Great Sephiroth Plan. The plan to blow up the Meteor fails, but Rufus has the Sister Ray Mako cannon moved from Junon to Midgar to destroy the barrier surrounding North Crater that protects Sephiroth. As he launches the cannon, Diamond Weapon approaches Midgar and fires at the metropolis. The salvo of attacks hits on-level with the president's office from which Rufus was overseeing the operation. Due to the damage no one can reach the office to find a body, so he is presumed dead and Shinra descends into chaos. Scarlet and Heidegger go rogue but are killed by AVALANCHE and the Turks abandon their objectives. The opening of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- reveals Rufus survived, and was loaded into a helicopter during Meteorfall.

Post-crisis
Rufus and the Turks are the central characters in On the Way to a Smile: Case of Shinra. Rufus escapes death in Diamond Weapon's attack by using a hidden escape tunnel his father built for when Rufus would need it. Taking refuge in Kalm, Rufus is taken prisoner by Mutten Kylegate while the Turks are absent, and is interrogated, where he reveals his plan to construct the city of Edge in the east of Midgar, using the remains of the fallen buildings and the corrupted roads.

After escaping with the help of Kilmister, Rufus helps him recover Professor Hojo's research from Midgar to discover the origins of Geostigma, a new disease that now plagues the populace, which Kilmister knows is connected to Jenova. Though Kilmister is eventually killed, Rufus still orders the Turks to locate Jenova's remains and keep them safe from being used by others.

Geostigma crisis


In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Rufus invites Cloud to see him. Rufus has been under the Turks' protection for the previous two years, living with them in the Healen Lodge. He appears wheelchair-bound, and is covered by a white sheet to supposedly hide his Geostigma, as he appears to be in the disease's final stages. Renouncing his past cruelty, Rufus explains the near-death experience opened his eyes to the truth and he now desires to undo the chaos his company brought onto the world. However, Cloud is unwilling to help Rufus.

Both Cloud and his friends and Rufus and the Turks fight against the Remnants of Sephiroth, Sephiroth's avatars born from the Lifestream who want to reunite with Jenova's remains so Sephiroth could be reborn. Rufus meets the remnants' leader Kadaj several times as he is looking for Jenova, but feigns ignorance of the being's whereabouts. As Kadaj brings his possessed horde of Geostigma-infected children to Edge to show him the way to Jenova and summons Bahamut SIN to tear down the Meteor monument Shinra had erected presuming Jenova's remains being hidden there, Rufus and Kadaj watch the showdown from a tall building. Rufus removes the sheet and stands from the wheelchair, revealing the progression of his Geostigma is not nearly as advanced as he had pretended, the sheet having concealed Jenova's remains from Kadaj of which Rufus had been holding onto the whole time.

Rufus throws Jenova's container off the building's ledge, and when Kadaj plunges after them to retrieve the box, Rufus follows and pulls out his shotgun. He shoots at the box and is caught in a net thrown by Tseng and Elena, but Kadaj collects Jenova's remains although he is upset the container was damaged. Kadaj escapes to the ruins of Midgar where he absorbs Jenova's remains to become Sephiroth, but he is defeated by Cloud and dissolves back into the Lifestream.

Rufus is cured of Geostigma when Aerith Gainsborough calls down healing rain, prolonging the life of the Shinra family and his chance for further redemption.

In Advent Children Complete, in a new opening scene, after Kadaj asks Rufus why mankind bothers to constantly rebuild after destroying everything they make, Rufus tells him that people rebuild to "gild the past" and rid themselves of a recent problem. Kadaj assumes Rufus means Geostigma, something he says Shinra brought upon the Planet. Kadaj says Rufus fears the past. Rufus objects and says simply because he is forgetful. In the scene he is revealed, Rufus explains to Cloud that Sephiroth's will in the Lifestream is the cause of Geostigma rather than the Mako energy, as the populace believes.

Deepground conflict
It is hinted in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- that Rufus is secretly funding the World Regenesis Organization headed by Reeve Tuesti, who had a feeling his mysterious benefactor was someone who owed "a debt to the planet" (nearly quoting Rufus Shinra's words to Cloud from Advent Children word for word). His signature white jacket is seen in the opening of Dirge of Cerberus as Rufus is being loaded into an emergency transport while Yuffie is evacuating a sector of Midgar during Meteorfall.

Gameplay
Rufus fights Cloud one-on-one alongside Dark Nation atop the Shinra Building early in Final Fantasy VII.

Creation and development
In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Rufus was covered with a sheet so as to hide his face, and his voice was made soft and deceptive to give him a sense of mystery. Toru Okawa, who voices Rufus in the film's Japanese version, stated he got the impression Rufus was the type of person always hiding something, and states that the scene where he rises from his wheelchair and casts off his cloak is one of his favorites, where Rufus reveals his secrets at last.

Okawa noted that Rufus's line "a good son would have known" has become a fan favorite, and Tetsuya Nomura has joked the irony is that such a line comes from Rufus. Nomura said that Okawa's voice had an undertone of mystery and elegance, and was perfect for Rufus's part: "Only someone like Rufus, a big shot president, would be able to jump off a building without hesitation and expect his Turks to take care of everything."

Musical themes
Rufus has one theme that plays during his initiation ceremony titled "Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony." The theme is also heard in Final Fantasy IX being played by a band on the Prima Vista after it is shot down by Queen Brahne. This version, called "Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony (Millennium Version)," is found on the Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS album. A piano arrangement of the theme is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VII album. The theme is also included on the compilation album Final Fantasy VII Vinyl Limited Edition.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Rufus Shinra is an ally and a summonable Legend in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. He is depicted in his Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children outfit.


 * Ability Cards

Final Fantasy Record Keeper


Rufus Shinra appears as a boss in select FF VII dungeons and as a playable character who could be initially recruited during the Challenge Event Vow Upon a Star as a First Time Reward for completing the event's Junon stage on Classic difficulty.

Rufus is a President of Shinra, whose combat role is Physical Attack.
 * Assessment


 * Stats


 * Record Spheres

Rufus can use White Magic abilities up to rarity rank 4, Combat abilities up to rarity rank 4, Support abilities up to rarity rank 4, Darkness abilities up to rarity rank 5, and Sharpshooter abilities up to rarity rank 5.
 * Abilities

His default Soul Break is President's Predilection, which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment grants Protect and Shell to the user.

Rufus can equip the following weapon types: daggers and guns.
 * Equipment

He can equip the following armor types: hats, light armor, robes, and bracers.

He can equip accessories.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Rufus appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. His card depicts him from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.

Trivia

 * As revealed in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, President Shinra had an illegitimate son named Lazard Deusericus with a woman from the slums, making him Rufus's older half-brother. An infantryman in the director's office tells Zack that he found Lazard to resemble "the V.P."
 * In On the Way to a Smile: Case of Shinra, Rufus discovers that his father's passkey, used to unlock anything in the building, was the date Rufus was born. Yet, the actual code was not presented, therefore, the exact date of his birth is unknown.
 * Also in Case of Shinra, Rufus gave the idea of an escape route in the executive office in the Shinra Building when he was five years old when President Shinra showed him the blueprints. Much to the President's hesitation, it was built, and Rufus used it after Diamond Weapon attacked Midgar.
 * In Case of Shinra, it was mentioned Rufus had a habit of choosing the farthest part of the room for a bed.
 * In the novel Final Fantasy VII Lateral Biography Turks -The Kids Are Alright-, it is revealed that President Shinra had another illegitimate son, Evan Townshend, younger half-brother of Rufus and Lazard, with his secretary Annette.