1997’s Final Fantasy VII has one of the most iconic parties in gaming. Cloud is one of the genre’s most compelling protagonists, Aerith’s death has solidified her legendary status within the medium, and characters the rest of the cast are all generally beloved by fans (with the exception of one Cait Sith.) 

Although he wasn’t playable in Part 1 of the Remake, Red XIII’s personality and mysterious background have placed him in the limelight. There’s plenty to be excited about in regards to Red XIII moving forward– in particular his emotional character arc. Final Fantasy VII has one of the best RPG parties in gaming, and Red XIII might be the most interesting of the bunch. 

10 Red XIII Agonizes Between Being Man & Beast

Advent Children treats the entire Final Fantasy VII party poorly as far as screen time goes (Tifa and Cloud included for their lackluster arcs,) but Red XIII arguably has it worse than anyone else in the case– relegated to a single line of dialogue that’ll have fans wondering if he was retconned into being a silent beast up until he speaks.

Of note, the Advent Children prequel novel, On the Way to a Smile, features a chapter centered on Red XIII and the agony he feels being a beast with the emotional intelligence and maturity of a human. Mankind sees him as animal, but animals see him as man– something which results in Red XIII feeling alone in the world.

9 Red XIII, The Coward

It should be pointed out that although the character will continued to be referred to as Red XIII, his name in canon– and as referenced in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII– is Nanaki. A resident of Cosmo Canyon, Nanaki was abducted by Shinra during a rite of passage ceremony that happens every 50 years.

Deemed a coward by a fellow tribe member, Deneh, Nanaki carries the same shame he pinned on his father. It’s exactly this acknowledgement of cowardice, however, that gets Nanaki taken in by Shinra. Protecting Deneh from imprisonment, Nanaki fights back only to be ultimately taken in and branded Red XIII.

8 Red XIII And Deneh

Deneh herself is a rather interesting character in the context of Red XIII’s arc, and a very important one in ensuring that Final Fantasy VII’s 500 year flash forward can sensibly happen. Although the original FFVII makes zero mention of any potential mates for Red XIII– with the implication he’s the last of his tribe– Before Crisis clarifies that Deneh was a member of the same tribe.

Although the two only reunite after the fact, Deneh ends up becoming Red XIII’s mate and the two have the cubs seen the epilogue together. Deneh’s role in Before Crisis is minimal (as the game center on the Turks) and she doesn’t really appear anywhere else in the Compilation, so she’s less a character and more a plot device for Red XIII.

7 Hojo Was Going To Make Red XIII And Aerith Mate

Final Fantasy VII has a pretty vile cast of villains between Shinra, Sephiroth, and Jenova, but Hojo by far takes the cake as the worst of them all. Introduced as a basic mad scientist, it quickly becomes clear just how utterly mad Hojo is, manipulating the world around him for his experiments. One of the most disgusting bits of his research, however, comes in his plans for Aerith and Red XIII.

While Final Fantasy VII Remake changes things so Hojo wants Aerith to mate with a G-Type or S-Type SOLDIER, the original game has Hojo wanting Red XIII to mate with Aerith instead as they’re both “endangered species.”

6 Red XIII And The Seraph Comb

Red XIII has one of the earliest character arcs in Final Fantasy VII, but that’s partially why it’s so impactful. Upon leaving Midgar, it only takes a few hours for the party to arrive as Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII’s home. Here, the party learns the Red XIII holds little respect for his father, believing him to have abandoned the tribe when in truth he died protecting them.

Learning the truth of his father’s death, Red XIII no longer mourns a coward, but a Great Warrior. His adoptive grandfather, Bugenhagen, gives Red XIII his father’s headpiece, the Seraph Comb– which is a weapon so good, it basically makes Red XIII the de facto best party member until Disc 2.

5 Red XIII’s Tattoo

Final Fantasy VII originally intended to make a bigger deal out of Red XIII’s tattoo, strongly suggesting there were other experiments (which ties into a particular piece of cut content regarding Red XIII’s story.) As this doesn’t make it into the final game, Red XIII’s tattoo really ends up being little more than a tattoo, but it still has some meaning.

Notably, it serves as very important misdirection. As the party starts noticing men with tattoos in black cloaks, they begin to ponder the nature of Sephiroth and Hojo’s experiments, with Red XIII wondering if he’ll go mad like the men in black too. Considering how early this happens in the game, players don’t even have a chance to suspect Cloud’s actually the one in danger here, keeping the twist as pristine as possible.

4 Red XIII’s Cut Clones

On the subject of Red XIII’s tattoo courtesy of Hojo, one of the original plans for Final Fantasy VII was for Hojo to have developed clones of Red XIII through his experiments, resulting in mini-bosses who the party would periodically fight over the course of the game. Not only would this keep Hojo a more looming presence, it would ensure Red XIII had more to do in the story.

All the same, it’s not at all to see why this never made it into the game. Keep in mind FFVII is juggling the following major villains: the Shinra executives, Rufus, the Turks, Sephiroth, Jenova, and Hojo. A few of these fall under the Shinra branch, but Rufus, Hojo, and the Turks really are their own beasts. Another set of baddies would’ve been distracting.

3 Red XIII And Vincent

The sad truth about Red XIII is that he will inevitably outlive everyone in the party. As the post-credits scene in Final Fantasy VII shows, this is actually exactly what happens, with the implication that Red XIII has outlived humanity outright. That said, just as Advent Children softens the blow of the epilogue, as does On the Way to a Smile.

Of note, Red XIII spends the novel depressed not only about his nature, but the fact he won’t be dying anytime soon. Eventually, he comes to learn that Vincent is in a similar predicament and the two agree to meet each other once every year at Midgar, as a means of reconnecting and staying in touch.

2 Red XIII Has A Cellphone

For whatever reason, Advent Children was really excited about flip phones. It actually doesn’t date the film as bad as one might think, almost giving the movie the kind of charm only Final Fantasy VII could have, but it’s still a very weird addition.

The movie even makes it a plot point that Vincent doesn’t have a cellphone and therefore can’t be reliably called upon. Interestingly, On the Way to a Smile very humorously reveals that Red XIII did get himself a cellphone following the events of Meteor, but as he lacks opposable thumbs, he struggles to actually use it.

1 Red XIII And Cait Sith

Cait Sith is a very strange character whose depiction across the Final Fantasy VII metaseries has changed radically over the years. In the original FFVII, Cait Sith gets around riding an artificial Moogle– a detail Advent Children carries over in its opening– but the Complete re-release of the film has since retconned Cait Sith to have fought on Red XIII’s back all along.

Not only does Cait sith ride Red XIII during the fight with Bahamut Sin, the Complete opening shows them working in tandem during the final battle with the artificial Moogle nowhere in sight. Don’t be surprised if Cait Sith rides Red XIII in Part 2 of the Remake.

NEXT: Final Fantasy 7: 10 Things Cut From The PS1 Classic