Gast Faremis

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Gast Faremis
(ガスト・ファレミス, Gasuto Faremisu?)
Biographical information
Home	Shinra Headquarters
Affiliation	Shinra Electric Power Company
Occupation	Head of Science Research Development
Physical description
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Gameplay details
Type	Non-player character
Behind the scenes information
Designer	Tetsuya Nomura

Gast Faremis is a minor, yet important character in Final Fantasy VII. A biologist, he used to be the head of Shinra's Science Research Department. Unlike his colleagues, the later successor Professor Hojo and Dr. Hollander, Gast pursued wisdom for its own sake, rather than using it to gain power. Gast is one of the few people Sephiroth respects in Final Fantasy VII.

In the original Final Fantasy VII his name is given as simply Professor Gast. His character profiles in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega and Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania guides give his full name as ガスト・ファレミス, "Gast Faremis", although his surname hasn't seen an official romanization. In the Japanese version Gast's full name is mentioned in one of the books in the Shinra Headquarters library.

Profile

Appearance

Gast wears the typical white coat of a scientist, over a brown shirt, blue tie and white trousers. His hair is short and meets his forehead in a widow's peak, and he sports a drooping mustache and dark glasses.

Personality

An intelligent man, Gast never saw gain in abusing his knowledge and used it for what he assumed to be good. He has a kind heart and is a keen listener, eager to learn more about the subjects he studies.

Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Gast and Ifalna in Icicle Inn.

Jenova is an ancient organism Shinra excavated from a 2,000-year-old structure, and Gast drew the wrongful conclusion that Jenova was a member of the Cetra, a species of humans said to have been able to commune with the Planet itself, long thought extinct. Shinra sent Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent to assist him in his research to create the Jenova Project, its goal to create a human with the powers of the Cetra to lead Shinra to the Cetra's fabled Promised Land. Gast's research led Hojo to inject Lucrecia with Jenova cells to make a new race of Cetra through Hojo and Lucrecia's unborn child. This child was called Sephiroth.

Gast left the project upon discovering Jenova is not a Cetra, and continued his research on the Cetra in his laboratory at Icicle Inn. When departing Shinra, he helped a captive Ifalna, the true last remaining Cetra, escape. This detail is revealed in Crisis Core Complete Guide. After leaving Shinra, the two migrated to Icicle Inn and went into hiding.

Gast records the interviews he conducts on Ifalna, where he learns the truth about Jenova and the Promised Land. He falls in love with Ifalna, and they have a daughter: Aerith. They are tracked down by Shinra, and Hojo kills Gast while capturing Ifalna and Aerith. Hojo keeps Gast's true fate a secret from Shinra, and what happened to Gast's body is unknown.

Spoilers end here.

Behind the scenes

In Final Fantasy VII Remake, at the start of Chapter 17, inside Aerith's room in the Shinra Research Facility, there's a blue book on the floor next to the treasure chest that contains the Reinforced Staff. The book is a compilation of research done by Professor Gast, with the title being "What Is Mako?"

Etymology

Gusto (ガスト?, the same katakana as Gast's first name) is the name of a Japanese family restaurant chain. The katakana of Gast's surname (ファレミス, Faremisu?) is similar to the common Japanese abbreviated term for a family restaurant (ファミレス, famiresu?). This may be relevant, as in the Japanese version Gast's full name is discovered in the Shinra HQ library where Mayor Domino and his assistant Hart (ハット, Hatto?, lit. Hut) also are, whose names are puns for Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut.

The katakana spelling of Gast's first name is closer to the Nordic name "Gusto".

In Latin the word farimus, similar to Gast's surname Faremis, means "lighthouse".