Sephiroth was designed by Final Fantasy VII's character designer Tetsuya Nomura. His character existed since Nomura thought that the game's plot would be about Cloud Strife pursuing Sephiroth with him already being the main antagonist.[1] Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano and Nomura drew the artwork of Sephiroth. He has long platinum hair and bright cyan eyes with cat-like pupils, and is portrayed in a black coat decorated with metallic pauldrons. Since appearing as Safer Sephiroth, Sephiroth has had a black angel wing on his back which references the theme music "One Winged Angel".[2] Nomura has stated that Sephiroth was made to be a complete contrast to the game's main protagonist, Cloud's original designs of slicked-back, black hair with no spikes.[3] His weapon, the Masamune, which has been featured in numerous Final Fantasy titles, is a long sword, and it is said that it can only be wielded by Sephiroth.[4] He usually uses his left hand predominantly when wielding his weapon with one arm, although in the first installment of the Kingdom Hearts series he holds it with his right hand. The Masamune is named after the famous Japanese swordsmith Goro Nyudo Masamune, whose blades are considered national treasures in Japan today.[5] His name comes from Kabbalah, in which the ten sephirot on the Tree of Life represent the ten attributes that God created through which he can manifest.[6] In the making of the plot, Nomura wanted Sephiroth to appear early in the game and then follow his way so that gamers would not meet the game's final boss late in the game. During development from Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth was meant to be Aerith Gainsborough's first love interest who she remembers when seeing Cloud. Before finishing the game, Sephiroth was replaced by Zack Fair whom Nomura considered to be sudden. Director Yoshinori Kitase has regarded Sephiroth's role in the game as one of the reasons why the game has become very popular.[7]
Sephiroth was added to Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, the film sequel of the series, as script writer Kazushige Nojima thought that the film's plot would become less entertaining without him. Nomura originally planned to make him appear since the start, but the staff spent two years to develop his design which caused them difficulties. Toshiyuki Morikawa, Sephiroth's Japanese voice actor, was aided by the staff to make Sephiroth's lines so that his words would mean how superior the character feels. The voice director and Morikawa agreed to make Sephiroth's voice to sound calm to the point he would not have been defeated by Cloud, giving a feeling to Morikawa that he may reappear to continue their fight.[8]
