I dunno. Sephiroth always struck me as a bookworm. Being the disciplined introvert type, he’s on a constant quest to know things and pick it apart. In CC, he actually visits Lazard’s office quite a lot to read/research, at one point locking himself away to be left alone. in FF7, he locks himself away again to do research, going through countless of journals/books.
Sephiroth has unknowingly taken after his mother’s (and father’s) desire to consume information - whether it’s investigating Project G or Jenova.
Even after his initial death, Sephiroth takes up his old hobby. He absorbs as much information as he can from the Lifestream itself, consequently learning about the Black Materia and Meteor.
When I picture Sephiroth, I picture Beauty & the Beast’s Belle - I see introvert Sephiroth turning down invitations to dinner parties, but totally spinning and basking in delight at the presence of countless books. XD
Reading is the ultimate wet-dream for any introvert who wants to escape the real world and its people - which Sephiroth does whenever he locks himself away to be left alone. In his particular case, however, those books mean more than an escape from his reality. They potentially offer him answers to burning questions (why is he different, where was he born, what was his mother like, etc).
If anything, I think Sephiroth has a subconscious fear of nature. Specifically, the wilderness. In Nibelheim, he stares non-stop at a picturesque scene of Mt Nibel, never budging from his spot until it’s time to sleep. I suspect he feels dread from looking at it since it holds the great unknown and tugs at a painful memory he cannot yet defined. Because Nibelheim is located by the mountains, this would subconsciously pull him back to that dark place he’s tried to avoid growing up.
Psychologists have mentioned the innate fear of the woods or any natural setting. It goes back to our primal days of trying to survive its deadly elements. In nature, it’s full of the unknown and unpredictable. It’s why many classic horror stories take place deep in the woods. On a slightly different but related note, Japan’s Aokigahara is a popular spot for suicides because people believe the location connects them closer to nature.
Not only does Sephiroth revisit a painful memory and discover Jenova in a nature-based environment, but his mental descent happens there as well. It’s because of this that I believe Sephrioth took comfort in Midgar and its modern-day electrical devices. He wanted nothing to do with nature-related activities or settings.
Keep in mind, Midgar is a man-made city where humans rule over nature. Not a tree is in sight. It’s only when Sephiroth arrives at a place where nature dominates the scenery that he begins to lose his composure. First he talks about hometowns then he stares nonstop at the window view. It’s out of character for him. That’s because he no longer can hide behind the protection of man-made steel walls - he’s completely vulnerable to Nibel’s wilderness and its influence.
Note also that the library itself is located at the manor’s basement, far deep into the earth. Author Joseph Campbell mentioned in his ‘Hero with a Thousand Faces’ book that nearly every epic tale will feature a pivotal ‘cave’ scene (whether a literal cave or metaphorical one). The cave itself represents nature (or the womb for those of you into gender study). In this cave, the character is tested. Either that character survives the trial and comes out of that cave feeling enlightened (Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back) or he fails and stays trapped in that cave, unable to find his way out (Sephiroth).
It’s no surprise that Sephiroth burns the village, tries to destroy the planet, and defies the Lifestream’s laws by not becoming a part of it. In all of these acts, he’s declared war on nature. It’s a fear that will continue to haunt him and drive his actions for the rest of his life (or lives).
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