#dissidia stuff

So... the lines that I find interesting.

“Don’t let it get to you.” (When a member of the team Sephiroth is on is defeated)

Okay, so - I don’t know much, anywhere near enough, about the rest of the Dissidia games, but in FF7 canon at least we never ever get to see Jenova!Sephiroth (accurate, because even from mid-late OG he starts acting more like the legends speak of Jenova and carrying out her plans than anything specifically Sephiroth) in a team. We see pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth work with people, specifically him getting on with Genesis and Angeal, and then later on working with Zack, but afterwards? Humanity is simply a plague to be wiped out. Something insignificant in his quest to find somewhere new, and reign as god.

So him saying this to a team he’s on, is... well, you can see why it caught me. It means he’s not only seeing them as worthy of his attention, but also that it’s bringing out more of the old Sephiroth who knew how to work with others, and had the ability to empathise. 

Don’t let it get to you is the kind of thing you say when you know that something would make that person (or you, if you don’t know them) frustrated or upset, and you want to bolster them up, or tell them that getting upset isn’t worth it. They’re better than that.

“I will not let this tragedy be repeated…” (When the entire team has been defeated)

This one made my eyebrows go way up. Because, see - this is something specifically not, uh... it’s not really all that villainous to say. 

And by ‘not villainous’ I mean ‘you would expect him to say something more threatening’. And, thing is, in his own canon? He HAS said more threatening things when he’s been defeated. And if he himself is defeated, he says “A wasted effort.” or, “This is far from over.” in whichever circumstance calls for it. Which are a bit less at odds with the “I will never be a memory!” that he basically flips Cloud off with in Advent Children.

You know what it does remind me of, though...? It kinda reminds me of how he’s had a ‘team’ get taken away from him before, in the past. Of how whenever he’s let someone in close to him, they’ve been taken away. First Genesis, then Angeal leaving. And even though he’s the one who willingly attacks Zack, to him that’s another betrayal against him, not that he’s turned on everything he stood for (which is, uh, what happened). 

Again, it’s more reminiscent of the Sephiroth who existed before Jenova, who had access to teams and friends who he saw as peers if not on his level - and also references what I see as his superiority guilt complex. He sees himself as better than everyone else, on the level of a god, so if the people he’s teamed up with have all died and he’s the last to go, then clearly it is his fault.

“I almost enjoyed myself.” (During the cut-scene just after the battle)

I’m only adding this one in my list because anyone who doesn’t see how Jenova!Sephiroth is a messed up list of complexes and has an awful mental state... that is, yes he’s furious, but he’s also sad in the way that makes you empty, and even though he’ll smile, it’s because something has provoked a reaction out of him. Usually Cloud being in pain. Or his (Jenova’s?) plans coming to fruition. Well, it’s just sad.

Hey, I know what that sounds like - am I saying that the almighty Sephiroth is depressed? Am I? Well, if the shoe fits...

“Is someone going to help?” (During the battle briefing)

This one kinda makes me laugh, just because from reading it, he just seems so damn full of sass and annoyance. Like, ‘Am I the only one doing anything around here? I know I can do it, but c’mon, guys.’

Again, a little more personable than the commanding tone that could have been present.

“Stop being brave.”  (Stated when he gives team members HP)

A line that makes me go “UH?” because like - honestly if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that this was him talking to a group of Thirds and Seconds and troopers pitting themselves against things they haven’t trained for. Literally makes me think ‘If you didn’t keep getting yourselves into these messes, I wouldn’t have to keep bailing you out.’

Also, I now have the mental image of pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth dragging some poor kid away from a fight he knows they wouldn’t have won by the scruff of their neck/scarf/whatever.

“Death is too kind for them.” and “Rest in peace.” 

These... kinda remind me of that idea that goes, how Sephiroth sees death is different from how most people see death. Death to Jenova!Sephiroth is just another step, not the end. Possibly for people who aren’t a part of Jenova or her plans not so much the ascension that he gets, but it’s still a step up from this lowly existence.

So.... what I’m gathering from this, is here he is, in this situation that - even assuming he’s from after Advent Children - he’s never had before, in this state. He has to be able to work with these people who he’s being teamed up with. And so in order to do this, he’s drawing on old memories of how he’d act with his friends, back when they were still around. Habits formed from when he was sent out on missions with other people, either as part of a squad or the leader of said team.

It wouldn’t be entirely what he’d have said back then, because he’s a different person, and these people - despite, to Sephiroth, not being on his level - are at least the level of a SOLDIER First Class, possibly higher than that in some cases, so although he won’t submit to them he is more able to respect them, as opposed to the Seconds, Thirds, and troopers he’d have been sent off with in his past (Turks are only human, after all, and even at their most theoretically advanced, are easily beaten by Sephiroth’s Remnants).