Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth Gets Added To The Smash Bros. Ultimate Mural

Still think that was one of the best Smash character announcements in a while.

There's nothing anyone can say that convinces me why he doesn't belong in Smash Ultimate.

Honestly just cannot believe he is in it. Blows my mind every time I read the title of any article

Seeing Sephiroth right next to Pichu is completely wild.

Super jazzed for him being DLC though! I finally did my first playthrough of FF7 just a couple months ago and absolutely adored it, so this is the perfect timing for maximum hype on my end.

perfect spot for him

All of the DLC characters fit PERFECTLY on the mural.

Only one man in the world can PERFECTLY put TOTALLY different Characters form video game history into one mural without it looking strange, YOU ALL KNOW HIS NAME. (I can not stop geeking out about this it just totally blew my mind) Also fun fact sephiroth is the first dlc villain in smash history. edit: unless you want to count the plant and mewtwo even tho piranha plant is a bones fighter and not real and is not apart of the fighters past, and mewtwo is not really a villain, ether way Sephiroth is the first villain in the fighters past or history if you don't count piranha plant and mewtwo.

While Byleth is still my personal favorite because I love Three Houses, FF7 is the game responsible for getting games like Fire Emblem and Xenoblade known in the West. I don't even play FF but I can acknowledge just how much impact the game has had. Having only two songs and no spirits was horrible for such an iconic game, so I'm glad it's getting the representation it deserves.

Can I just say that I love how Cloud can't get away from good ole Sephy even in Smash?

Can’t wait to see Sonic Fox decimate people with Sephiroth, I hope he mains him fairly soon!

I like how he's right next to pichu

still crossing fingers for doomslayer and mythra for the next open spots.

@JuiceMan_V I think it's one of the most irrational. You already have a character that appeals to FF fans. Another one feels like a huge waste of money.

@backup368

Huge waste of money, it's not.

Tell me, who writes the rules on what character belongs in Smash now?

There's multiple reps from franchises in this game, and this is just another one.

@RiasGremory hoping for Doomslayer as well!

@JuiceMan_V Pretty much all fighting game developers follow the same rules when choosing guest characters. When they brainstorm guest characters, usually one of their main questions are "Will this character draw money?". Name a modern fighting game today with guest characters and you can clearly guess the main purpose of them being there in the first place is so that they help sell more copies of the game.

And with Cloud already being a part of Smash Bros, Sephiroth can not do this, since Cloud is the reason some FF fans are already interested in Smash Bros. People can argue that Sephiroth hypes up Smash fanboys and they'll happily chip in their $6, but you know who also could do that? Scorpion, Ryu Hayabusa, Lara Croft, Dante, Crash, Heihachi, Altaïr, and so on. All those characters whom could bring in more game sales, let alone DLC sales. So all you're pretty much doing with Sephy is making sure the loyal Smash players are still spending on DLC, that's it. Hardly anyone is going to buy the Smash product just for Sephiroth.

As for the comparisons to other first party series with multiple characters, none of them require any monetary investment to my knowledge.

@Arkay @RiasGremory Yessssss, Doomslayer. Doom Eternal alone has me wildly thinking up moves for him. Like how his shotgun meathook could be used as a tether grab and an up special recovery. It could also be his side special where it would pull him toward another fighter and allow him several options out of it like firing the shotgun or a different gun or just hitting them with a punch!

Also all his specials could revolve around his different guns which each have their own ammo pools. When you run out, you use his neutral special, the chainsaw, to get back more ammo!

Holding down B for different lengths of time on each of his specials could also use different mods!

His throws could use some of his glory kill animations (including his wrist mounted blade)

His smash attacks could use the crucible blade...

They could even do stuff with his grenades, freeze bombs, and flame belch. It's a treasure trove of potential!

@backup368
You are forgetting the fact that character reveals are just spectacles nowadays and that a large portion of people who get excited over a character trailer do not even play Smash Bros.

@SolarisPolaris
Let alone the games they come from. I highly doubt even half the Joker fans have even played Persona 5.

I need a long poster of this when it is finished. I hope Nintendo makes it cos if not some Etsy dude or dudette is going to rake in the money

@SolarisPolaris Not sure what you're trying to say.

@Snatcher
All we need now is Albert Wesker from Resident Evil. Not Leon, not Chris. Wesker. He's the most important character to the whole franchise and would have a sick moveset.

@backup368 Not every FF fan played seven some might have played others before it or after it.

@backup368 What I'm saying is, a majority of people who care about Smash reveals are either ones who would've never bought the game let alone the dlc anyway, or ones who already paid for the fighters pass. From all the people I have talked/read about, only a small percentage actually wait to buy characters individually, since even if they do not care for the character in question, the gameplay usually makes up for it. Like, for instance, Steve. He might not be everyone's top pick, but he definitely is fun to play

As always, hoping Nintendo makes a poster once this is done.

Kinda hoping they go to cook and becker for this.

@JuiceMan_V Only if Cloud wasn't already in would it not make sense at all

@SolarisPolaris Being "fun to play" hardly matters. Who is fun to play or who isn't in not factual; but rather subjective. Sakurai telling consumers popularity isn't as important as "fun characters" is just his way of saying "I'm choosing whoever I want." Because it's ultimately up to the developer to decide how the character works.

He could go to extreme lengths to make Sephiroth as OP of a character as he possibly can, just like his other choices, but Tomb Raider fans still won't care. Resident Evil fans still won't care. And those are fans that could have cared if that were some other character.

Just hope this means we’re getting a certain FF fighting game. cough Dissidia psp cough

@backup368 okay then, so you would play a game with terrible level design, clunky controls, and scratchy music if any character you wanted was in the game?

I would rather have a good game with characters I know nothing about, than a bad game with characters I love

@SolarisPolaris Sure, if it's still fun. I can name a number of characters in Smash Bros who starred in or were in the same series of games like you described.

@backup368
That's not my point, but whatever, you do you.

Also, you clearly contradicted yourself.

Does 'fun' matter or not? Make up your mind

@JuiceMan_V he shouldn’t be in, cause he has white hair, and mainly old people have white hair, an old man shouldn’t be stabbing people with a sword, I am gonna have to file a complaint to Nintendo now.

@RiasGremory on the side of doom coming to smash, when galeem was cut in half I thought it was doomsayer at first lol. Hopefully he is the next, or one of the remaining characters!

@SolarisPolaris Yes, because fun is subjective. Consumers have their own ideas of what's fun to them, and it shows when consumers keep buying these games. Sure, we all know what Sakurai thinks is fun, but he has no say in what is fun for other consumers. Resident Evil fans might not care about Sephiroth, simply because it's not Leon or another character from that game.

@backup368

You are underestimating the fanbase of each particular franchise. Not every FF VII fanboy jumped on board with Smash at the sight of Cloud, if that had been the case, Smash for Wii U/3DS would have sold far more than it did.
And yes, not every FF VII fanboy will jump with Sephiroth, but the fact is MANY more will do. I for one know one early PS5 adopter that is salivating at this announcement more than with any upcoming next gen game...except perhaps the still too far remaining parts of FF VII remake.

It is like with Byleth, Fire Emblem is overrepresented, but Byleth was still a hit with many of the people who played Three Houses and they were all onboard getting the character.

In the end, as you say, is all business. As they see it, a bigger more sizeable chunk of the loyal FF VII/Three Houses fanbase is worth more money to them than the entire Crash, Tomb Raider or Waluigi fanbase.

@Yomerodes With Cloud being the main character in the best-selling game from the best-selling series, that was arguably the most valuable character Square Enix had on offer. If Cloud couldn't convert FF fans into Smash fans then who could? How can it be proven that Sephiroth fans are isolated from Cloud fans, whom would only buy Smash Bros if it had Sephiroth? That would be like if consumers are constantly disinterested in Smash Bros. because Tails isn't a character, even though they are aware of Sonic being in the product.

Hands down, the best SE character for the Smash Bros. product would have been Lara. Tomb Raider only had 35 million copies sold when SE bought Eidos out. Now that number is 81 million and it's about to become their #2 franchise by next year or so. So now you have 3 SE characters and they all basically cater to the same demographic while none cater to the demographic Square has been trying to build up that's completely different from that. And that's all cuz of the RPG fanatic in charge of Smash who proclaims that his definition of fun trumps all.

Okay I take back what I said about progress in the last thread. This thread is more in line with what I was expecting.

Meh, not my cup of tea but he looks a little interesting so might pick him up. Still hoping for Doomslayer with a classic Doomguy alt or either Crash Bandicoot or Rayman at the very least...

@weisske
Yeah as a Byleth fan, I'm immune to these sorts of debates. At this point it's so petty to complain about a roster of 100 characters. Why can't we just play as the characters we like and simply not play as the ones we do like? It's just a game...

@SeantheDon29 nah mate, Ehrgeiz from the PS1!!

Honestly, not sure which one was more cringy and boring to watch. Sephiroth and his fated one-on-one emo fight with Cloud, or Byleth's "anime sword fighter" crack.

@backup368

Bruh, the how does that explain Banjo being DLC when he hasn't had a game in years?

How about Terry, who's only relevant to hardcore fighting game fans and/or people 30+

Smash already has it's fair share of character inclusions to draw money, but it also has characters there simply to be hype (which is what Sephiroth is).

Also, Smash puts a spotlight on each character when they get revealed and that generates interest which can lead into sales.

Who's to say that there won't be an uptick in sales of anything related to FF7 and who's to say that FF7 fans wouldn't be interested in buying Smash and a Switch now that the two characters are in Smash?

Like I said, there's nothing anyone can say that would make me think Sephiroth was a bad pick.

You misspelled Pichu in the subtitle.

Don't put him there... They're just gonna fight the whole time.

@JuiceMan_V

"Bruh, the how does that explain Banjo being DLC when he hasn't had a game in years?"

And lackluster sales at that, in addition to being owned by a company that has their own line of hardware. Again, Sakurai is not in this to make the best of marketing decisions.

"How about Terry, who's only relevant to hardcore fighting game fans and/or people 30+"

He still appears in video games. KOF All Star is the most recent, a free to play mobile game where they have a slew of guest characters of their own. Not only did he have a history in video games, he also had a history in the arcades, so gamers didn't have to buy his games to know who he is.

"Smash already has it's fair share of character inclusions to draw money, but it also has characters there simply to be hype (which is what Sephiroth is)."

What's the purpose of hype if you're not intending to make money with it? Nintendo fanboys would cheer for any big character, and they would want to own all the characters no matter who they are.

"Also, Smash puts a spotlight on each character when they get revealed and that generates interest which can lead into sales."

The prime example of this manufactured success is Fire Emblem, where to took the series almost 25 years to sell 10 million copies. Splatoon reached that milestone after just 2 games.

"Who's to say that there won't be an uptick in sales of anything related to FF7 and who's to say that FF7 fans wouldn't be interested in buying Smash and a Switch now that the two characters are in Smash?"

The behavior of consumers. All the FF fans that Smash Bros. could get have already been won over after 6 years of Cloud being in the product. The group of gamers that would happen to buy products associated with Sephiroth but not the main protagonist of his games has to be a very unique one.

@Paraka sees Mario skewered... yawns

@Snatcher Pirahna Plant wants a word with you...

And arguably Mewtwo too.

@WaveWitch - Honestly, the whole "sword fighter" argument is played out. Man, don't tell them about how many unarmed fighters there are!

Seriously though, it'll be common cause swords are just so damn common.

At least Seph's sword is longer than the music playlist for FF.

But real talk; I am lukewarm to the addition, it was one of those "Of course he would," and feels like I deserve a physical beatdown over not guessing how obvious that would been. I am honestly surprised I didn't didn't even muse the idea of him at all to be honest (though I absolutely hate FF7, no one can argue it's popularity).

@backup368
A question.
Do you play the game regularly? Because every person I know that does it, actually uses a lot of characters they didn't even know before playing Smash, or didn't even care about, simply because their moveset is fun and cool.

Most of the people who thinks the way you do are those that play the game a bit and then move on. But I assure you that most of the people hooked to Smash, with hundreds of hours on it, care about the moveset just as much as who is the character.

@gaga64 can you really count him tho? he was a bonus fighter not apart of the fighters past, and mewtwo is not really a bad guy he just hates humans, and he has helped people many times, plus he was in melee before becoming dlc. but if you want to I gusse you could.

It’s such a great pick, the DLC roster was missing villains and he’s the most villainous and iconic of them all. The fact he’s transcended multiple series speaks to his popularity and you really can’t have Cloud without Sephiroth, they’re two sides of the same coin after all.

@nessisonett And I was hoping we would get a villain this time around and my dreams came true. its kinda why i'm hoping we get dr Eggman bc how the heck can I live in a world without sonic and eggman or eggman fighting bowsers, its like mario without bowser.

@WaveWitch - Little Mac's redesign is actually from Next Level's design team, not Sakurai's. Originated from the Wii game. Which, honestly, I do like. Much more charismatic than his AT designs of old.

Honestly, I am just waiting for Ray Mk, at least that's my reasonable want.

Unreasonable is Earthworm Jim, but I know that's impossible.

@backup368

"And lackluster sales at that, in addition to being owned by a company that has their own line of hardware. Again, Sakurai is not in this to make the best of marketing decisions."

Just proved my point with this sentence being that Banjo is just there to be hype as a fan requested character.

"He still appears in video games. KOF All Star is the most recent, a free to play mobile game where they have a slew of guest characters of their own. Not only did he have a history in video games, he also had a history in the arcades, so gamers didn't have to buy his games to know who he is."

Bruh, most kids kids 25 and under had no clue who Terry was and this KOF Mobile you're trying to reference means nothing lol! Everyone in my age bracket and/or hardcore fighting game fans knew who he was.

"What's the purpose of hype if you're not intending to make money with it? Nintendo fanboys would cheer for any big character, and they would want to own all the characters no matter who they are."

What??? I don't even understand what you're saying here. I will say this, Nintendo fanboys ain't clamoring for your horrible Lara Croft suggestion lol!

"The prime example of this manufactured success is Fire Emblem, where to took the series almost 25 years to sell 10 million copies. Splatoon reached that milestone after just 2 games."

So? Fire Emblem now a known series of games in the West because of Smash Bros.

"The behavior of consumers. All the FF fans that Smash Bros. could get have already been won over after 6 years of Cloud being in the product. The group of gamers that would happen to buy products associated with Sephiroth but not the main protagonist of his games has to be a very unique one"

Anecdotally, I already know 3 people that want to play the OG FF7 after the Smash reveal.

Mission accomplished to me

I don't think you follow Smash like you're trying to lead on here.

Its a great addition, The Ganondorf to Link's Cloud. Absolute no brainer for a fighting game.

@backup368 for you maybe, for me its amazing. Launch day must buy for sure.

I'm actually surprised at how many people I've seen reacting negatively to Sephiroth, it might be more an indictment of where I am hanging out online, but I have seen more negative reactions to this than Steve.

I'll be honest, I love JRPG's but I have never been able to get into FF but despite this I still love the fact that we're getting another iconic villain and it gives me hope for Dr. Eggman. Hardly the biggest Sonic fan either but he would be such a great addition.

@WaveWitch - Again, Sakurai wasn't responsible for Punch Out.

@JuiceMan_V I would’ve preferred Lara.

@Snatcher he may not be in the Fighters Pass, but PP is still unarguably DLC.

But I admit Mewtwo was a bit of a stretch.

@gaga64 I would have preferred Sephiroth

@JuiceMan_V “ Fire Emblem now a known series of games in the West because of Smash Bros.”

I think that was his point, wasn’t it? That Smash drove interest and sales in FE. Smash leads to sales.

I do find it interesting that you’ve seen people who want to play FF7 now though. Why for Sephiroth and not for Cloud?

What a great newcomer (and I'm not even a FF fan, I've finished only FFX)!
... But I still hope for Bub and Bob.

@fafonio and that’s cool, I respect that opinion. I can totally understand people being excited by this, he’s a cool, iconic villain.

Personally I think Lara is more iconic, more recognised outside of gaming, has been in more games, would’ve added another universe and another female hero to Smash, and wouldn’t have faced the (unjustified) “oh noes! Anime swordfighter!” moans.

Even with all that, I would still rather have Crash or Rayman than Lara. But I just prefer the more cartoony brawler characters. That feels more like Smash to me. And we’ve not had anyone from Activision or Ubisoft yet.

But that’s just my opinion. No disrespect to anyone else’s.

@GoldenSunRM I have 345 hours invested in the game. You're mistaken if you believe the drive behind the sales of this game are its "fun, cool movesets". It's usually because of the characters that people buy it for. Mortal Kombat fans likely won't get it if it doesn't have Scorpion. They wont care if Sephiroth was the one doing the spears and uppercuts.

@JuiceMan_V
"Just proved my point with this sentence being that Banjo is just there to be hype as a fan requested character."

That likely wasn't even the reason why Sakurai agreed to put him in the game, but rather Xbox was also heavily pushing for it. They don't want to do such thing without reason.

"Bruh, most kids kids 25 and under had no clue who Terry was and this KOF Mobile you're trying to reference means nothing lol! Everyone in my age bracket and/or hardcore fighting game fans knew who he was."

Banjo had had far less exposure, and the fans he's had left even admitted they refused to buy his previous game on Xbox 360. I don't even get the obsession Nintendo fanboys have over the character. There were some better character choices that would have been better than Terry but his importance to the market is far greater than Banjo.

"What??? I don't even understand what you're saying here. I will say this, Nintendo fanboys ain't clamoring for your horrible Lara Croft suggestion lol!"

This is precisely the kind of self-entitlement I was talking about. You paid no attention to anything I wrote did you?

"So? Fire Emblem now a known series of games in the West because of Smash Bros."

And did Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and Animal Crossing need Smash to be successful? No. You can try to shove Fire Emblem down people's throats like Sakurai tried doing for the past 20 years, but it won't MAKE fans care, like a switch in somebody's brain. They'll only like it if they're intrigued with Fire Emblem's own product.

"Anecdotally, I already know 3 people that want to play the OG FF7 after the Smash reveal.

Mission accomplished to me"

Great, I guess the marketing and hype the game had for decades prior had no significance then?

@gaga64

Simply because of the renewed hype cycle. That's how it works with Smash reveals.

Bittersweet for me. I wanted Geno (Mario RPG was so good that I abandoned Nintendo when I learned that square wasnt gonna make games for the N64). But Final Fantasy will forever be the best videogame saga ever, at least to me. And I know I was obsessed with FFVII from 1997 to the end of the compilation of FFVII by mid 2000s. And that trailer, damn! If Geno is the price to pay to have more representation for this saga of games, then, well... it's fine to let go of childish dreams sometimes T-T

@WaveWitch -Yes, cause it's recognizable as a series design since the release.

It would be weird for him to redesign him entirely because some don't like his new design. It'd be like making Mario more anime.

But yes, your statement stands for Pit about him redesigning the character before he had a revival. However, based on previous iterations within Smash, he still remains one of the better options. Lord knows the Melee trophy Pit wouldn't fly as a whole game now.

I'd prefer to see how his Amiibo fits on my shelf.

Is this really the last fighter pass? Anyone really believe that?

Man there is a lot of anger on this article. I am not going to pretend what factors go into getting characters in smash, I assume none here in the comment section are privy to the inner workings of Bandai Namco/Nintendo. We can make guesses at what goes on but only the people there really know.

I for one loved this announcement, it's up there with the Megaman and Snake reveals, and though I had set aside smash after 250 hours, I think I need to now get character pack 2.

@GrailUK Realistically, I think the most we can expect is a bonus "Challenger Pack 12" as a freebie and a thank you to the millions of people who bought and played Ultimate

@mr_somewhere people still reacted negatively to Minecraft being added. People just love to say who would have been a better choice. I wanted another SE character, but Sephiroth was an impossible second best scenario. I guess I got all the characters I wanted in Smash during the last 5-6 years except for one, so... this is fine

OMG!! I can't believe Sephiroth is coming to smash! I thought he would be forever a non playable villain character in the game world(As the Director of FF7 seemed very finicky on keeping him that way, a everlasting big villain). I bought smash bros for byleth, if byleth never came but instead sephiroth I would buy the game just to play as sephiroth! I'm soooooo pumped! Kyyyyaaaaaaaaa! (♡Q♡)/

@Snatcher what about Ridley?! Wario?!

EDIT:... ah... maybe if I could learn to read.. you said first DLC villain. I didn’t notice the “DLC” at first.

@ChromaticDracula
Not to nitpick, but I'd hardly call Wario a "villain" anymore. At best he's an anti-hero that occasionally helps Mario for personal gain. Wolf O' Donnel is more villainous than he is.

@ChromaticDracula LMAO Its ok LOL.

@Kittybri I share your happy feeling my guy.

@JuiceMan_V i think its cool hes in, but I was kind of hoping for a different franchise to get a rep.

@JR150 you know, I cannot argue with that; you’re 100% right. In fact, I even forgot about Wolf and it’s probably because my friend destroyed me so many times with him in the past I chose to erase it from memory haha.
But yeah, Wario is more of an anti-hero, agreed.
Can’t wait to test out Sephiroth! I use Cloud as my main for the most part (or Samus) so that’s fun to me.

@HotGoomba___Rebrand

Yeah. They move the characters that are already there.

This time, for example, Zelda was moved to the left/back of Cloud, when she was exactly in the place Sephiroth was put.

I hope sakurai does a new intro sequence for when you open the game when all fighters are here