Minerva (Final Fantasy VII)

Minerva (ミネルヴァ, Mineruva) is a character from Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. Although her exact nature is not known in detail, she is related to the planet's consciousness and may either be its personification or its goddess. Described as "The existence that transcends all matter", she is interpreted to be the goddess mentioned in the LOVELESS poem, however, in terms of substance, she seems to be more similar to a Summon as it appears that her purpose is to follow, or to represent, the intentions of the Lifestream.

Story
An avid fan and studier of LOVELESS, Genesis Rhapsodos believed that the object that the three heroes were searching for in the text, the Gift of the Goddess, could cure his degradation and as such attempted to recreate the conditions of LOVELESS in order to come to the Gift by the conclusion of his plan. However, after fighting with Zack Fair, Genesis came to the realization in his sleep that the "Pride of a SOLDIER" was the Gift of the Goddess. When Genesis is defeated by Zack in the Banora Underground, Minerva shows herself to Genesis in his dream in the Lifestream. Looking into his soul and seeing his unselfish desire and will to "complete his duty as a SOLDIER" she revives him as a reflection of the will of the Lifestream.

Battle
When a new set of caverns, known as the Great Cavern of Wonders, is uncovered near the Northern Cave by the Shinra Electric Power Company, expedition teams from Shinra, Wutai and Genesis all race to investigate. Zack Fair, who had been dispatched numerous times to the caverns to quell problems in the interest of the Shinra Electric Power Company, eventually discovered a way to go deeper into the caverns. Eventually the cave depths became too dangerous for anyone other than Zack, who was ordered to investigate further due to the presence of a strange energy that caused monsters to become stronger and more vicious as well as to cause machines to take on biological properties and attack their users. Awaiting near the end of the caverns was Minerva in full battle armour, appearing as the strongest superboss in the game.

Etymology
Minerva is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess and acted as the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic and the inventor of music.

Trivia

 * Trying to reproduce the world of LOVELESS, Genesis installs a statue depiction of Minerva in the Banora Underground where the light breaks through the cave ceiling. This statue shatters after her meeting with him.
 * As the "lifestream" given form and the will of the planet, Minerva acts as the planet's counter to Jenova, and by extension later on, Sephiroth.
 * As quoted by Crisis Core's development team "Minerva’s facial expressions are meant to be hints to the Lifestream’s judgment, such as ‘Genesis has not yet completed his duty as a SOLDIER’ and ‘Genesis still has much left to learn’."

Minerva