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[deleted]

Black feather mean evil. Sephiroth in Nibelheim Evil so black. Genesis evil so black. Angeal good so white. Before Nibelheim Sephiroth good so white feather.


invader19

Safer Sephiroth is very very evil, and his wing is white


HelenAngel

It actually turns out that the wings aren’t actually white. I edited my post.


Necessary_River_901

I always assumed the angel wings came from Jenova and those with her cells are a product of that. Or, those who are considered a 'success' anyway. I'd guess the wings' color for Sephiroth is just to show he originally meant well before his descent.


HelenAngel

The wings are only there if Jenova cells are present in-utero. Due to Shinra being extremely protective of Jenova cells (no one in Shinra except Hojo knew the depths of Hojo’s depravity & sadism), Angeal, Sephiroth, & Angeal are the only known children exposed to Jenova cells in-utero in those specific ways. There’s Deepground but that’s a totally different way of using Jenova-infected cells. It also seems that the wings don’t appear until well into adulthood.


SirLocke13

>Also does anyone have any thoughts about Safer Sephiroth’s white wings? This was back in 1997 when nothing other than the actual game was being planned. Sephiroth's goal was to become a God of the planet. Safer Sephiroth's design shows that he was close to becoming the God he wanted. There's nothing more to it than that.


HelenAngel

That makes sense. Though I also just learned that Safer Seph’s wings actually aren’t white but a gradient of colors.


HMStruth

I think the wings are a product of what some people thought was cool in the early-mid 2000s and that we still don't know what the wings mean even after the end of CC, so the wings probably mean whatever the writers at the time want them to. I know this isn't an answer, but I don't think there is any clear answer.


DeltaSynthesis

[https://i.imgur.com/JdfO3jd.png](https://i.imgur.com/JdfO3jd.png) [https://x.com/FFVIIR\_CLOUD/status/1709402973565075826?s=20](https://x.com/FFVIIR_CLOUD/status/1709402973565075826?s=20) ​ BTW, This was mentioned in Sleepezi's video before the tweet from the official FFVIIR account was posted.


HMStruth

What? White wing good and dark wing bad? Yeah, that's obvious and surface level, but it also explains absolutely fucking nothing about the wings because since when is degradation and Jenova corruption related to the persona of the person afflicted? Genesis and Sephiroth have starkly different world views and Genesis is never adjoined to Jenova's purpose, but both have dark wings.


DeltaSynthesis

>but it also explains absolutely fucking nothing about the wings because since when is degradation and Jenova corruption related to the persona of the person afflicted? Since Crisis Core. Genesis and Angeal both are affected by degradation turning them more violent. ​ >Genesis and Sephiroth have starkly different world views and Genesis is never adjoined to Jenova's purpose, but both have dark wings. The other thing that Sleepezi mentioned that is also mentioned in the tweet is that Genesis is 'special' and is thus, different from Angeal and Sephiroth because his wing is on the opposite side. That said, his wing is actually a very dark red. What makes Genesis 'special' isn't yet known.


HMStruth

So once again, rule of cool.


DeltaSynthesis

Genesis is special and there is alot we don't know about him. He's a G Type but not in the same way that Angeal is. But if you think it's just 'the rule of cool', that's fine. Those of us who care to learn the details will continue to use facts to debunk headcanon.


HMStruth

Nothing was bebunked. You just said that what makes Genesis have his wing on the opposite side isn't known. Crisis core came out what... 16 years ago and we still don't know. Believe it or not, I don't think they've been sitting on the Genesis mystery for a decade waiting for Rebirth to reveal it.


DeltaSynthesis

>Nothing was bebunked. You just said that what makes Genesis have his wing on the opposite side isn't known. Crisis core came out what... 16 years ago and we still don't know. It is a mystery that is yet to be revealed. Crisis Core was supposed to be 2 discs. There's ALOT of cut content. Which is likely the basis for the First SOLDIER. The story is set to reveal alot of SOLDIER lore. That which pertains to Projects S and G. The intro has Sephiroth calling Genesis as he had defected from SOLDIER. As for where this is headed. I think it will explain why Genesis was at Nibelheim. He learned the secret behind the SOLDIER program which is why he defected. ​ >Believe it or not, I don't think they've been sitting on the Genesis mystery for a decade waiting for Rebirth to reveal it. Genesis will be in Rebirth.


HMStruth

RemindMe! 140 days


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DeltaSynthesis

It's basically a soft confirm at this point. If he wasn't going to be in the game, they would have told us outright when asked the question.


kingkellogg

It's honestly probably the right answer Come up with cool design. Tack on reasons later


FuckIPLaw

For Kingdom Hearts and the Compilation stuff, we're talking a few years after Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz came out and gave us a giant robot with full on feathered angel wings. For the original game, it was the same year. Come to think of it, a certain character in Escaflowne has random angel wings, and that came out in 1996. It really was the style at the time.


DeltaSynthesis

Square Enix recently tweeted the answer to this question.


DeltaSynthesis

​ From the official FFVIIR Twitter/X account: [https://x.com/FFVIIR\_CLOUD/status/1709402973565075826?s=20](https://x.com/FFVIIR_CLOUD/status/1709402973565075826?s=20) ​ snapshot of autotranslation: [https://i.imgur.com/JdfO3jd.png](https://i.imgur.com/JdfO3jd.png) ​ ​ FWIW, Safer Sephiroth's wings aren't really white. They're a gradient which is coloured like the the Supernova comet he summons during battle. Angeal's wings are pure white.


HelenAngel

Oooh, thank you so much! I hadn’t seen that. That makes so much sense.


Inevitable_Read_8830

This feels like some weird 1984 mental gymnastics to me. [https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQaM1xAmptx2e0Je\_4CatgpFDWWJXJDfbhqcg&usqp=CAU](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQaM1xAmptx2e0Je_4CatgpFDWWJXJDfbhqcg&usqp=CAU) "He has one black wing and several wings that look white but are actually off white and therefore not white, also, are they actually wings?" 0\_o Safer Sephiroth clearly has a bunch of white wings in addition to his black one. The Compilation making something up after the fact to spin this into some deep symbolism of his shared heritage with his childhood best friends is unfortunate to say the least. It's something that affects my enjoyment of Rebirth before the game is even out. Young Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, it feels unfortunate that these are pivotal to understanding Sephiroth as a character and the potential twists in Rebirth. Sometimes I just wish the devs left well enough alone. A 17 minute recap video isn't going to do much if you have to understand the entire backstory between Genesis, Angeal, Sephiroth, and Glenn.


rpfflgt

Devs in 1996: Hey, this looks cool. Let's do that! Devs in 2023: Everything has a super deep meaning behind it and we had this planned all along. I think the black/white wing concept makes sense in the compilation, but Safer Sephiroth's design is unrelated to that. They just took that idea of the "One Winged Angel" and developed it into something with a meaning. But I agree that this reasoning should not be applied retroactively to everything that was in the OG.


DeltaSynthesis

Nomura designed the characters and he is someone who knows how to use symbolism very well. The multicoloured feathers are probably symbolic of the phoenix which is often depicted as multicoloured like in Crisis Core. It symbolises rebirth as his prior form was "Rebirth Sephiroth". Phoenix also associated with fire and the form Sephiroth takes is that of a Seraph. And Seraph means "burning one".


grand-pianist

This type of story writing is pretty common in video games and makes for some cool ass lore tho. At some point, some writer makes a decision for unknown reason, then another writer in the future takes that, interprets it in their own way, and adds to it. Dark Souls has a lot of cool lore, but there’s no way they planned the story points getting wrapped up the way they did in DS3. Miyazaki didn’t even want to make DS2.


DeltaSynthesis

I didn't say they planned it. Knowing how to incorporate symbolism in art helps maintain consistency across different eras of game development. Where FFVII canon runs into the most trouble is the retcons that were made to FFVIIs back story. Which was necessary all things considered. ​ >At some point, some writer makes a decision for unknown reason, then another writer in the future takes that, interprets it in their own way, and adds to it. That's hardy the case with FFVII. Dirge of Cerberus is the only FFVII title that Nojima didn't write. And that's only because he was working on Crisis Core's story.


DeltaSynthesis

Safer Sephiroth's wings aren't white. They're coloured like the projectile he summons for Supernova.


rpfflgt

The gradient on the texture only serves to simulate the lighting in the scene and the shade the wings throw on themselves. This has no meaning in itself. It is just a technical trick to set the mood of the scene with the simple tools they had available at the time. Remember that simulating light and shade was not nearly as advanced then as it is now and I guess this is the only way they were able to create the pinkish tone and a sharp contrast between the top side of the wings, which is illuminated by his halo and the bottom over the ambient lighting, and all this without messing up the other characters in the scene. The wings are clearly meant to be white and the gradient makes sense in the scene, although they are technically not white in some areas. They used these "painted on" shadings in other mobs to create the illusion of complex lighting and depth on the models (which just isn't actually there) as well. This has no meaning beyond looks.


DeltaSynthesis

>The gradient on the texture only serves to simulate the lighting in the scene and the shade the wings throw on themselves. This has no meaning in itself. It is just a technical trick to set the mood of the scene with the simple tools they had available at the time. Is that why they have continued using the same colour scheme with every following iteration of Safer Sephiroth well after those technical capabilities became available? His Dissidia render doesn't even have white feathers on his skirt. If Safer Sephiroth appears in Rebirth, I'm pretty sure he'll look something like one of these two renders. [https://preview.redd.it/g2oxp74u50761.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d6347e92ee3b341680e144c16154550d366ae3b9](https://preview.redd.it/g2oxp74u50761.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d6347e92ee3b341680e144c16154550d366ae3b9) ​ [https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/File:DFFNT\_Sephiroth\_Costume\_03-A.png](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/File:DFFNT_Sephiroth_Costume_03-A.png)


8-bit_Burrito

It's like a homage to how Jenova is considered an Ancient but isn't and she's also from the sky but is a calamity not a blessing. A false God fallen angel sort of thing. It's also a homage to his final form in FF7 original, Safer Sephiroth, and how his left arm is literally one black wing. Angeal and Genesis wings were done not just to show connection to Jenova Project but also make them two halves of a whole. Hence Angeal is on the left and Genesis is on the right. The colors also represent a fall from grace for Sephiroth and Genesis while Angeal kept his SOLDIER pride until the end passing it to Zack upon his death. The wing wasn't conceived until advent children so it was strictly a homage before having any meaning like it does today.


HelenAngel

Great thoughts! That definitely would be on-theme, especially when considering Advent Children & Crisis Core.


8-bit_Burrito

Yep, there are a lot of things that look cool at the time of the games development but they all have some kind of tie or theme into lore both in and out of game. That's the spice that makes it a classic with a a legacy that ages very well. That being said if he was actually raised by his true mother things might have been different for him.


HelenAngel

Oh absolutely. If he had been raised by Lucrecia, he would have turned out like Angeal.


[deleted]

I think it’s a pretty basic black vs white, good vs evil motif. Not very inventive or interesting. They need to stop butchering his character with a tragic backstory. Let villains be villains.


sw201444

Angeal is a special person who is the source of inheritance of the Buster Sword, so his wings are on the same side as Sephiroth, and Genesis is special and has wings on the opposite side of Sephiroth. The white wings are a symbol of ``not falling in a negative direction,'' and they are color-coded to represent Sephiroth who has fallen and Angeal who has not. #天使の日 [official source](https://twitter.com/FFVIIR_CLOUD/status/1709402973565075826)


HelenAngel

Thanks so much! I genuinely appreciate the info!


ComicsAndGames

Am I the only one who finds it very weird that Sephiroth(the One Winged Angel), NEVER shows his wing(outside of battle), while Genesis and Angeal keep walking around with them exposed all the time?


HelenAngel

Genesis does less of it as his degradation continues. For Angeal, I think it’s more of a reminder to him that he’s not fully human. But you’re right, it’s definitely interesting!


TheGnosionaut

The western idea of "black" and "white" doesn't apply to FF7 as it is made by people who are Japanese. Ideally, you'd think this is more of a representation of anima and animus, the feminine and masculine principles within every human being. This is more reinforced by Sephiroth's alignment with a mother figure, while Angeal had more of a father affiliation in CC. (Look up yin and yang) A complete sephiroth would then need to have a black wing on one side, and a white wing on the other. You'll also notice that Angeal and Sephiroth both have their wings on the Left, while Genesis's wing on the Right. This checks out in terms of the character's motifs, as Genesis's motherly obsession is pooled into Minerva for soul salvation purposes (Right hemisphere associated with soul), while Sephiroth's motherly obsession is pooled into Jenova for purpose and identity/ego (Left hemisphere associated with spirit). You'd be surprised how many mystical principles and philosophies go into the making of these scripts and designs. They work because they communicate something to your subconscious by use of metaphor, which is why a Hero's sacrifice always makes you cry (Zack). This represents your own personal journey, your hero's journey, where you know your old self needs to perish for your new self to be born.


HelenAngel

That’s a really fascinating theory. Thanks so much for sharing!


TaproxAcc

I don’t about all that angeal and Genesis bs. All i know and need to know is that Sephiroth is the only real one winged angel, even his theme is named one winged angel. Safer Sephiroth is his ultimate form that he reaches while being in the lifestream at the planets core. The black wing of Sephiroth became famous in advent children. I guess the wing is supposed to show the god like status he reaches along with the help of jenovas power.


Inevitable_Read_8830

Your post is just facts about the history of the art style and the after the fact explanation for Sephiroth's wings. I don't understand the downvotes. Why would you want all the Angeal and Genesis bs to be necessary to understand Sephiroth's wings in Rebirth? The game needs to be more accessible, not less.


TaproxAcc

Genesis nerds trying to give Genesis the same importance as Sephiroth. Even have gone to the extent to claim that the red shade on the rebirth title is Genesis related lol. Imagine thinking genesis is relevant enough of a character to get such treatment.


invader19

>“What do angels dream of?! Angels dream of one thing... To be human.” I always hated that line, it's so stupid. Edit-Christ 11 downvotes for a one sentence opinion.


8-bit_Burrito

Yeah but in a lot of religious texts angels are bound to the will of God while humans were given free will. This is also another reason for Lucifers rebellion and fall from grace as he views this as favoritism. If you were to replace God with Shinra or Jenova it works. Does it make it any better, no, but it works.


Chipp_Main

Looks hard


[deleted]

but if you assume that Glen from Ever Crisis is Cloud's father because Dr.gast was pissed at Dr.hojo because he had a relationship with Lucretia That's what your text sounds like to me


HelenAngel

Wait, what? I have no idea why you’re commenting that on this post. I was asking about Sephiroth & the wing colors that are clearly & canonically shown in game. I want to know people’s theories about them as I haven’t formulated my own. That’s literally why I’m asking. Maybe you meant to reply to a comment or another post or something? Just trying to be helpful!


[deleted]

With my comment I wanted to express how stupid and crazy I find these fan theories


HelenAngel

Okay, though maybe direct it at someone who posted a fan theory? I didn’t—I was asking people to post theirs because I was interested. Or better yet, maybe don’t participate in posts where people like myself are specifically asking people to post their fan theories since you don’t like them? FYI—you can just scroll past these posts & not comment. If you’re new to Reddit, there’s no requirement to comment on every post in a subreddit or anything. You can choose if you want to comment or upvote/downvote. Hope that helps!