Vincent Valentine

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Vincent Valentine
Vincent Valentine artwork by Tetsuya Nomura
Game series	Final Fantasy and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
First game	Final Fantasy VII
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voiced by (English)	Steve Blum
Voiced by (Japanese)	Kazuhiro Nakata (Ehrgeiz) Shōgo Suzuki (all other appearances)
Information
Class/Job	Ex-Turk
Weapon	Handgun (named "Cerberus" in Dirge of Cerberus), "Griffon" (Machine Gun, Dirge of Cerberus), "Hydra" (Rifle, Dirge of Cerberus)
Race	Human/caucasian (Genetically enhanced)
Home	Unknown
Blood type	A

Vincent Valentine (ヴィンセント・ヴァレンタイン, Vinsento Varentain^?) is a fictional character in the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and the protagonist in the third-person shooters Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII. He makes several appearances in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, while also being present in the fighting game Ehrgeiz. Vincent possesses many abilities, including immortality, shapeshifting, high stamina, and high healing abilities.

The English voice actor of Vincent is Steven Blum, while the Japanese voice actor was Kazuhiro Nakata in Ehrgeiz and Shōgo Suzuki in all other appearances.

Contents 1 Creation and influence 2 Fictional biography 3 Appearances 3.1 Final Fantasy VII 3.2 Related Final Fantasy VII appearances 3.3 Other appearances 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Creation and influence

In the video game, Vincent appears as a tall, lean, brooding man with long, unkempt black hair wearing a ragged red cloak and mantle over black clothes. His left arm below the elbow is covered by a metallic, golden gauntlet. Although previously suggested to be a prosthetic, the refined character design used in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus shows that it is merely a gauntlet with long claws covering an ordinary, albeit gloved, hand ( he wears the glove and gauntlet to hind his hand which is a "demon" hand after the countless experiments to him which caused his hand to take on a "demon" looking form). It is also interesting to note that brass claws are an ancient Greek characteristic typical to monsters (such as a gorgon, with brass claws and wings), which would be in line with Vincent's monstrous associations. His cloak covers the lower half of his face and is held closed by a series of buckles increasing his brooding mysterious nature (a similar method was used for Auron in Final Fantasy X). His eyes are distinctly colored red. This is natural, not caused by experimentation on him, as his father Grimoire Valentine has identical eyes (Lucrecia notes this in a Dirge of Cerberus flashback). As of Advent Children, his weapon of choice changed to a triple-barrel revolver named "Cerberus". The name derives from the dog's heads that adorn each of the 3 barrels as well as the silver charm that hangs from the hilt.^[1]

Character designer Tetsuya Nomura has explained that Vincent Valentine's character shifted from that of Horror researcher, to detective, to chemist, finally arriving at the figure of a former member of the Shinra Company's Turks with a tragic past, only part of which involves being used as a human test subject. It has been further explained that his crimson mantle was added to symbolize the idea of Vincent carrying a heavy weight—related to death—on his shoulders.^[2]

Vincent is a playable character in the PlayStation version of Ehrgeiz along with Tifa, Cloud, Sephiroth, Yuffie and Zack, though — like the other Final Fantasy VII characters featured in the game — he has no storyline in the game. His alternate costume is his Turk uniform seen in flashbacks in the original game. In this state he also had considerably shorter and different styled hair.

Tetsuya Nomura commented in an interview that he wanted Vincent to appear in the Kingdom Hearts series. ^[3] Instead, he opted to model Cloud's look in the series after Vincent due to Cloud sharing many of the dark traits that Vincent shows in Final Fantasy VII. Vincent bears a red cape that covers the lower half of his face, and has golden claws on the fingers of his left hand.

[edit] Fictional biography

Vincent Valentine was a Turk, noticeably having shorter hair than his current appearance, and assigned to guard the scientist Lucrecia Crescent, who previously worked with Vincent's father, Grimoire Valentine. Over time, the two fell in love, but Lucrecia decided instead to carry the child of Hojo, head of the Science Department, for an experiment relating to Jenova's cells. Eventually, she began seeing visions of what her son, Sephiroth, would become and became sick. In anger, Vincent confronted Hojo on the matter, only to be shot in the stomach. Hojo then experimented on Vincent, which resulted in him gaining the abilities of immortality, strength, stamina, healing, and the ability to transform into powerful beasts. However Vincent still remained a lifeless corpse, and was then disposed of by Hojo.In an effort to save him, Lucrecia infused stagnant Lifestream, which carried a being called Chaos, into Vincent. To keep Chaos under control, Lucrecia implanted Protomateria into him. Regaining consciousness to find the place deserted and horrified at what he became, Vincent believed that this was payment for his sin, not being able to save Lucrecia. To further his punishment, he locked himself in one of the coffins in the Shinra manor basement. Though briefly waking up to converse with the leader of the Turks, Verdot, he doesn't leave the basement and join the outside world until 30 years later.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Final Fantasy VII

After sleeping for 30 years, Vincent is found by Cloud, who had managed to retrieve the key from the safe. Vincent was surprised by Cloud's knowledge of Sephiroth, recognizing him as Lucrecia's son, and demands an explanation. Cloud tells him about everything that had happened and the atrocities Sephiroth has committed, but this only served to make Vincent feel even more guilty for his failure and he shuts himself back in the coffin. After some further coaxing from Cloud, he emerges from the coffin again and tells who he was and about Lucrecia, before sealing himself again. But when Cloud leaves the room and begins to head back upstairs, Vincent catches up to him and joins Cloud after learning that his group may eventually meet up with Hojo with whom he had an understandable vendetta.

For the remainder of Final Fantasy VII, Vincent plays a very minor role and very little story is centered around him. The only other time that there is any focus on Vincent is when they use the submarine to travel through an underwater cave and surface in a small lake surrounded by mountains. They find a cave in one of the surrounding mountains, and inside the cave Vincent finds Lucrecia, who in her pain and regret had sealed herself away in mako crystals. Reviving briefly, Lucrecia asks Vincent if Sephiroth is still alive, but he lies to her, telling her that he is dead in order to spare her the pain of learning about the atrocities that Sephiroth had committed. He later gets his wish to battle Hojo when the group discover him in Midgar, and joins the battle against him.

[edit] Related Final Fantasy VII appearances

In Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Vincent is seen in his normal attire having a conversation with Verdot, leader of the Turks at that time, in the Shinra basement.

In Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Vincent first appears rescuing Cloud from Kadaj and his gang, transforming into an intangible monster evocative of his cloak. He reveals to Cloud the cause of Geostigma, of Kadaj's intentions to merge with the remaining Jenova cells to bring about Sephiroth's rebirth, and that he rescued two of the Turks, Tseng and Elena, from them. He later showed up to help his friends defeat the Bahamut SIN summoned by Kadaj. It was Vincent who told his friends not to help Cloud and let him face his own personal battle against Sephiroth, confident in Clouds ability to win. He was seen in the end with the rest of the characters and appears in a picture all of them took together.

In Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Vincent acts as the central character, working with Reeve and the World Regenesis Organization to eliminate an organization called Deepground. Deepground targets Vincent for he unknowingly carries the Protomateria inside his body. It eventually is forcefully ripped from his body by the Deepground Tsviet Rosso the Crimson. Though he survives, he becomes plagued with flashbacks and feels the stress of Chaos's desire to kill. Eventually he confronts the Deepground leader, Weiss, who he discovers has been possessed by the digitalized mind of Hojo. Hojo reveals information on Vincent and his plans to awaken Omega, whose original purpose was to absorb the Lifestream and leave the planet when it was destroyed. With gathered information, Hojo created the plan to awaken Omega early. However, the renegade Deepground member, Shelke, urges Vincent to take control of Chaos power, and Vincent battles Weiss, succeeding due to Weiss's pure Lifestream force being contaminated by his brother, Nero. When Weiss enters the Lifestream, Hojo's mind dispersed, but Omega was awakened. The full power of Chaos was also drawn out, but with the effort of Shelke, Vincent reaquires the Protomateria and takes control of Chaos's true form, succeeding in destroying Omega's mortal shell, freeing the Lifestream. He survives this attack, with Chaos joining Omega in returning to the planet until they are truly needed. Vincent thanks Lucrecia in her cave, now understanding she was the reason he survived and leaves her resting place, able to begin his life anew.

The mobile game Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII also uses Vincent as the main player, and takes place during Dirge of Cerberus. It recounts what happened when Vincent was traveling by helicopter to Shinra Mansion and was attacked by Deepground. He fights his way to Shinra Mansion, destroying many Deepground soldiers and a battle bot. Lastly, he makes a brief appearance in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII when he is found sleeping a coffin by the protagonist of the game, Zack Fair. Due to the camera angle and darkness, he himself is not seen.

[edit] Other appearances

Vincent appears in the fighting game Ehrgeiz as an unlockable fighting character. His Turk uniform serves as his alternative costume.

[edit] Reception

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

Vincent is often seen as one of the more popular characters in the Final Fantasy VII conglomerate, even rivaling the main character, Cloud Strife, and the main antagonist, Sephiroth, who is often voted to be one of the most popular villains ever. Vincent's popularity has also lead to merchandise being created related to Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII^[4], games where he was the central character, as well as action figures being released.^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Vincent Valentine character profile at the official Square Enix Final Fantasy VII site

v • d • e Final Fantasy VII and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Before Crisis • Advent Children • Dirge of Cerberus • Crisis Core Characters • Gaia • Music Cloud • Sephiroth • Vincent • Aerith • Tifa • Zack