One of the most popular theories to come out of the Final Fantasy VII fandom is that its notorious villain, Sephiroth, was a pawn of his alien forebear Jenova. The theory claims that, because Jenova has the ability to manipulate life-forms infected with her cells, Sephiroth must have been following her will throughout the plot. It's an idea that casts the antagonist as a victim of fate, forced to carry out the will of a parasite, and reframes the story as more of a cosmic horror.

Unfortunately for theorists, it's also incorrect. The supplementary Ultimania Omega lore book confirms Sephiroth became powerful enough to dominate Jenova, not the other way around. As such, every act Sephiroth commits is entirely of his own volition. Nevertheless, the question of how the game would have changed had their roles been reversed makes for a compelling "what if?" scenario. How might Final Fantasy VII have gone had Jenova been its primary antagonist, and could such a story have been as good as what Square Enix delivered back in 1997?

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FFVII Remake Jenova Feature

In the original story of Final Fantasy VII, Jenova is the fabled "Calamity from the Skies" that descended on the Planet and subsequently drove the ruling Cetra race to near-extinction. Though she was eventually sealed away, the ShinRa Electric Power Company would discover her remains years later. Confusing her for one of the ancient people she destroyed, ShinRa used her cells to create SOLDIER; a private army of super-humans. Of those empowered warriors, Sephiroth was the strongest.

After discovering ShinRa's research, Sephiroth effectively declared himself Jenova's successor and began his gradual descent into villainy. Throughout the canon story, he would eventually discover the truth of Jenova and change his objective. Instead of trying to retake the world in the name of the Cetra, Sephiroth began scheming to steal its life-force to become a god. As the sequel film Advent Children later revealed, this would be the first step in continuing Jenova's legacy of invading worlds and draining them of their energy.

With this in mind, a hypothetical version of Final Fantasy VII where Sephiroth had been Jenova's pawn wouldn't be that different in the broad strokes. The story would still be about trying to thwart an inhuman menace threatening the world, and would likely still involve Aerith using Holy to protect the Planet from this enemy. What would change, however, would be its tone. Whereas the original game uses the antagonism between the hero Cloud and Sephiroth to tell a personal tale about rejecting toxic idols, a more Jenova-centric story would probably have more in-common with cosmic horror.

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Unlike Sephiroth, Jenova has no personal vendetta against any of the game's heroes. As an alien entity beyond human comprehension, her motives and thought-process are mostly shrouded in mystery. She doesn't care about revenge or reclamation, only consuming worlds to further her own power. In this regard, Jenova would arguably have been a more-appropriate step-up from the ShinRa Company. After all, both express the desire to effectively subsume the Planet for personal gain.

FFVII Trademarks Sephiroth

Making Jenova the villain would probably made the game less problematic, too. While Sephiroth is iconic for good reason, there is a general perception among fans that his turn to evil was as a result of "going mad from the revelation." He couldn't fully process the truth behind his origins, and it broke him into insanity. This wouldn't be the first or last time that Square would indulge this trope, but it nevertheless remains a hurtful cliché that demonizes the mentally ill as violent serial killers.

By contrast, Jenova, being in full control of her faculties, wouldn't invite this issue. If anything, her being the antagonist would cast Sephiroth in a more tragic light. Cosmic horror stories are full of characters who, as a result of their exposure to the eldritch, lose their connection to humanity and become pawns of greater powers. While Sephiroth's actions would still be villainous, he would be remembered as more of a pitiable character than a truly evil one, a perpetual pawn of the powerful without any true will power.

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This desire to absolve one of the game's most-popular characters of wrongdoing may be partially why the theory exists at all. It's also, however, why it could never work. Like many JRPGs, FFVII posits that people can make their own choices and rise above their worst natures. Casting Sephiroth as the tool instead of a tyrant would undermine this theme, making Cloud eventually surpassing him less meaningful. Without their personal animosity, the game would have told a drastically different story, and perhaps a less-iconic one.

Jenova is a fascinating character, but it's surprisingly difficult to make her the villainous star of FFVII without sacrificing some of its narrative depth. That being said, there's no reason why a future Final Fantasy shouldn't develop a game with a villain like her. The series has plenty of tyrants and mad killers, but few of its iconic adversaries get as close to being Lovecraftian terrors as Jenova does. She may never be her home game's biggest threat, but that's no reason why she can't inspire something just as frightening.

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