Spoilers For Final Fantasy VII Remake Ahead!
When Final Fantasy VII Remake was first announced, the fans wondered if it would reference the Final Fantasy VII prequels, sequels, and spin-offs that had been released after the original game. By far the most referenced piece of Final Fantasy VII media in the remake is a 2011 novel called Final Fantasy VII The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story, which is set between Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children.
One of the main characters in The Kids Are Alright is a girl named Kyrie Canaan, who is a con-artist and thief who operates in the Midgar slums. The player can encounter Kyrie at several points in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but she plays a much bigger role in the future of the setting.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
The player will catch a glimpse of Kyrie on the Midgar train, where she will think Cloud is a creep if he keeps interacting with her.
After the Sector 7 Plate is dropped, Kyrie is spotted talking to a crowd about how Avalanche is to blame for all of the recent strife and how their activities are being funded by Wutai. She then asks for the crowd for 5 Gil, as she is passing on news from the top of the plate.
Kyrie steals Johnny’s wallet and the party is tasked with reclaiming it. If the party visits the Sector 5 Church after Aerith’s kidnapping, they will encounter Kyrie standing amongst the flowers. She asks for Avalanche’s help, as the Shinra Corporation is after her for stealing a key. The party has to defeat a team at the Corneo Colosseum. Once they return to Kyrie, they will receive the key to Corneo’s vault and Johnny’s wallet. Kyrie’s grandmother shows up and chastises her for her behavior. It’s revealed that Kyrie’s grandmother is the Guardian Angel of the Midgar slums, but they belong to a family of thieves.
The party leaves Midgar at the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake, so it’s unclear if Kyrie has a role to play in later entries in the series.
The Kids Are Alright
Kyrie has a much bigger role in The Kids Are Alright. The main character of The Kids Are Alright is Evan Townshend, whose mother worked for the Shinra Corporation. Evan lived on the Midgar plate with his mother, before she disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Evan was present when Meteor almost struck the city and he had to abandon his home when the Lifestream damaged it. When attempting to get to the slums, Evan ran into Kyrie, who was pretending to be injured in order to rob him. The two see each other in the slums and Evan is taken in by Kyrie’s family.
Evan, Kyrie, and Leslie Kyle (who also shows up in Final Fantasy VII Remake) start a detective agency, as many people are looking for missing loved ones following the Meteor incident. They pretend that Kyrie can communicate with the Lifestream in order to find people. The group quickly run afoul of the Turks and it’s revealed that Evan is the illegitimate son of President Shinra.
Evan learns that there is more to his mother’s disappearance than meets the eye, so he decides to go on a trip to Nibelheim in order to try and track her down. Evan and Kyrie go on a road trip, but they almost drown in a lake and are saved by Red XIII. The two are taken to Icicle Inn by the Turks and they just barely survive a pitched battle against Kadaj from Advent Children. Evan learns the fate of his mother and the two return to Midgar.
At the end of the novel, it’s revealed that Evan and Kyrie are now living together. They visit the Sector 5 church at the end of the events of Advent Children in order to heal their friend Vits, who is suffering from Geostigma.
