The Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy is set to receive one more game, and the changes made to the story so far mean that the narrative could go in any number of directions. In order to stick the landing, the third entry in the remake trilogy will need to steer clear of one character, lest their presence devalue everything that came before.

The story of Final Fantasy VII Remake has veered off course since the end of the first game, but there’s one big question that fans still have: what caused this new timeline to occur? It’s obvious that Sephiroth has knowledge of other timelines, but what gave him the power to do something about it?

The Lingering Questions from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

There Are Other One-Winged Angels Out There

Final Fantasy VII ended on a cliffhanger, where Red XIII and his children were still alive, but the fate of humanity after Meteor struck Holy. Thankfully, the story continued in Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and the two Final Fantasy VII novels, confirming that humans survived, even though there were more troubles to come.

The story of Cloud Strife reaches its conclusion in the Final Fantasy VII spin-offs, as he is able to come to terms with Aerith’s death, defeat the revived Sephiroth, and finally move on to a new life with Tifa. Okay, he had one lame fight with Rosso the Crimson and her terrible outfit in Dirge of Cerberus, but that’s easy to ignore.

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Dirge of Cerberus, and by extension, Crisis Core, introduced a new plot element at the last moment, one that was never followed up on in any form of Final Fantasy media. This is despite the immense popularity of Final Fantasy VII, which would have allowed for more content if Square Enix had wanted it.

In the secret ending of Dirge of Cerberus, the final foe of the game, Weiss the Immaculate, who was also a secret boss in Final Fantasy VII Remake’s updated release, is left broken and defeated. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a new character appears and drops a cryptic hint about things to come.

The Mystery of Genesis’ Role In Final Fantasy VII

Crisis Core Revealed the Question After the Answer

The mysterious figure is revealed to be Genesis Rhapsodos, who tells Weiss that “it is not yet time for slumber,” before growing wings and flying off with him. The fate of the two characters is never revealed, and it’s unclear if they ever did anything of relevance again in the story.

The question of who exactly Genesis is was answered a year later in Crisis Core, which was a prequel following Zack Fair, showing the incarnation of SOLDIER that existed before Sephiroth went rogue. Like Sephiroth, Genesis was a 1st Class SOLDIER and had been bred using Jenova cells, giving him power far beyond that of other mortals.

Genesis plays a huge role in Crisis Core and is retroactively given a part to play in Sephiroth’s downfall during the Nibelheim Reactor mission. He is later defeated by Zack and seemingly left to die, thanks to his body rapidly deteriorating, but he’s saved at the last moment by members of Deepground, the secret Shinra organization that acts as villains in Dirge of Cerberus.

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Despite his prominence in Crisis Core, Genesis is barely mentioned in Dirge of Cerberus, yet there was clearly a promise of more to his story. The Crisis Core Complete Guide states that Genesis returned to protect the planet, without explaining why, seeing as all of the major threats (Sephiroth, the Tsviets, the Weapon monsters, the Geostigma virus) had all been defeated at this point.

Another important part of Genesis’ story is his discovery of Minerva, a seemingly godlike being who exists within the Lifestream. Her true nature is never revealed, though it’s hinted that she might represent the will of the planet, appearing in a recognizable form to both Genesis and Zack. Minerva has only ever been seen in Crisis Core, so it’s possible this concept was scrapped, but if it wasn’t, then she also could have a role in explaining the cause of the remake continuity.

Genesis’s Absence from the Remake Is Conspicuous

Is Square Enix Saving Genesis for AaBig Reveal?

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project is that it allows characters created after the game to appear as part of the new storyline. These include Kyrie and Leslie from the novels and Cissnei from Before Crisis/Crisis Core.

It’s surprising, then, that Genesis hasn’t appeared and has only been mentioned briefly in passing. Assuming there are no major divergences since Crisis Core, Genesis should still be alive, and it’s surprising that more wasn’t made of his presence when Deepground was encountered in Yuffie’s DLC.

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It’s possible that Genesis still has a role to play in Final Fantasy VII Remake, or rather, the version from the original timeline will. This is because we still don’t know why he returned in Dirge of Cerberus and why he saved Weiss. It’s possible that Genesis’ actions led to the creation of the split timeline, or allowed Sephiroth to return and escape from the Lifestream to do his multiverse thing.

The fact that Crisis Core received a remake on modern platforms adds credence to this idea, as it means current fans can be introduced to the character, much like they were with Cissnei. Meanwhile, other spin-offs, like Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus, have yet to receive any kind of remaster or remake, being locked to their old system.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Needs to Leave Genesis As a Memory

Genesis Can’t Be Responsible for Anything That Happens

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth explained that the Lifestream has multiple worlds within it, but the cause of the schism that led to the new continuity has yet to be explained. In On the Way to a Smile, Sephiroth hints that he cannot die while Cloud still lives, so it’s possible that he revived at some point after Advent Children and was able to escape into the Lifestream. It’s also possible that this is an entirely different Sephiroth from the one in the original game.

The developers have a chance to introduce Genesis in the third game, either as the cause of the schism in the original timeline (perhaps his final mission involved disposing of Sephiroth by sending him into another world, unaware of the damage it could potentially do), or having a Final Fantasy VII Remake equivalent showing up to challenge Sephiroth.

The lingering plot thread at the end of Dirge of Cerberus could be revived as a way of explaining the events of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, but this would be a terrible idea, especially as Genesis has been practically non-existent in the new timeline.

It also doesn’t help that Genesis has always been a polarizing figure among the fanbase, being seen as something of a Mary Sue and a favorite of creator Tetsuya Nemura. Genesis being Sephiroth’s equal in combat, being retroactively made relevant to the events of the first game, meeting god herself, and eventually being painted as a hero figure in one of the last moments of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII doesn’t help him in this regard.

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There are plenty of characters from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII that are oddly absent from the remake trilogy, such as Evan Townshend from The Kids are Alright and the other Turks from Before Crisis. The final game in the trilogy has the chance to bring these people in for cameos. In fact, it might be the last chance to do so.

There will be a temptation to bring Genesis into the story, either as being responsible for the events in some way, returning to challenge the multiverse version of Sephiroth, or simply being a bonus boss alongside Ruby and Emerald Weapon. Maybe the reason he returned at the end of Dirge of Cerberus was to stop the original timeline from being wiped out?

Whatever the case, Genesis needs to stay in the old continuity where he belongs. The story of Final Fantasy VII Remake has moved on without him. The ghosts of the past don’t need to be dredged up just to please the Crisis Core fans. Let his final mission with Weiss be a mystery, one that fans can speculate about for years to come, rather than giving an unsatisfying explanation at the end of the remake series.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Released

February 29, 2024

ESRB

T for Teen