CC’s story is intertwined with complex events from more than 20 years ago, and there are many parts that are difficult to decipher just by playing the main story. The scenario staff gave us detailed answers to these questions.
Table of Contents
1) The SOLDIER Mass Desertion Incident
Question 1-1
What is the full story of this incident?
Answer 1-1
When Genesis learns of his true nature, Hollander offers to save him from degradation on the condition that [Genesis] supports his revenge plan, and he accepts. In order to organize an army to oppose Shinra, the SOLDIERs, who will be the foundation for the copies, were taken to Banora Village……that is the course of events.
Question 1-2
Angeal seems to have received news of the incident during Zack’s training, but did he understand that Genesis had turned traitor at this point in time?
Answer 1-2
During [Zack’s] training, Angeal received only one message: “A mass desertion of SOLDIERs, led by Genesis, has occurred, and the Wutai operation has been suspended”. He expects that the “degradation” is related to the cause of the desertion, but the SOLDIERs are still speculating “What are we planning to do about the desertion?”, and have not reached the definitive conclusion that “Genesis has turned traitor”.
[Angeal] has been friends with Genesis for a long time, so although he expects that “Genesis could turn traitor”, as [Genesis’] close friend, he dismisses his doubts thinking, “I don’t want him to turn traitor, he would never turn traitor”, and is conflicted about wanting to believe Genesis. He also did not expect to find Genesis Copies when he was deployed to Wutai.
Question 1-3
Can you tell us the details of how Angeal disappeared while on a mission in Wutai?
Answer 1-3
As mentioned in [A1-2], Angeal encounters Genesis in circumstances where he is unable to gauge Genesis’ true intentions.
Angeal unexpectedly encounters Genesis again, and hears about the situation from Genesis and tries to persuade him to return to Shinra. However, Genesis does not accept Angeal’s request, but instead asks for his cooperation in the revenge scheme against Shinra, and invites him to Banora, where his base is located.
Angeal is planning to persuade Genesis to solve the problem by himself and wants to avoid involving Zack. Since he decides that it is impossible to persuade Genesis before Zack comes back, he agrees to go to Banora with Genesis. Angeal had no real intention of cooperating with Genesis, so he went with him, thinking that he could take his time in Banora to persuade Genesis.
Later in the apple [processing] plant, Angeal is told by Genesis about the situation and the secret of his birth. When Angeal discovers that he is a monster, he loses his SOLDIER Honor and despairs. This is why he refuses to cooperate with Genesis and Hollander, but is also unable to return to Shinra and begins to agonize over how he should act from now on.
Then, as a result of Hollander and the others collecting Angeal’s cells, copies of Angeal appeared in the Midgar attack. The timing is such that Angeal is in despair and unsure of what to do next, so the cell collection was performed relatively smoothly.
Question 1-4
How long before the SOLDIER Mass Desertion Incident did Genesis’ injury in the training room occur? Also, did Genesis discover his true nature because of this accident?
Answer 1-4
The injury occurred several months before the SOLDIER Mass Desertion Incident. Some time passed between the time Hollander first saw Genesis’ injuries and studied the degradation, and the time he took action.
When Hollander asked for Genesis’ help, he also revealed the secret of Genesis’ birth. So, although the injury started it, Genesis’s actual discovery of his true nature came some time after the injury occurred.
Question 1-5
So Hollander, who had been forced into a background position in the Science Division, moved to carry out his revenge plan when he diagnosed Genesis’ injuries?
Answer 1-5
That’s right. Although Hollander had lost the power struggle, he was unable to leave Shinra, and worked in the Science Division for many years while living in disgrace, so to speak. Because of this, he had been harboring discontent towards Shinra and his evaluation of himself. In the middle of this, the accident caused him to discover the “copy” phenomenon and he came up with the idea of using it to prove himself superior to Shinra and Hojo. However, the strength he had (almost accidentally) acquired was unexpectedly great, so he decided to not only prove himself superior to Shinra, but also to escalate it into a revenge plan.
Question 1-6
When did Hollander disappear?
Answer 1-6
Around the same time Genesis disappeared. After Genesis destroyed Banora, they installed equipment in the village apple [processing] plant and started producing Copies. The Copies that appeared in Wutai were produced in Banora, but their objective was not to attack Wutai, but rather to offer help to Angeal who was arriving in Wutai.
2) The Jenova Project
Question 2-1
How much of a difference is there between the start of Jenova Project S and Genoa Project G? Also, out of Genesis, Sephiroth, and Angeal, is Genesis the oldest?
Answer 2-1
Project S and Project G started almost simultaneously. Hojo and Hollander took the lead in their respective [projects], and Gast, the overall supervisor, took almost no part in either.
The birth order is Angeal & Genesis, then Sephiroth, but they can be considered to be the same age. Angeal and Genesis were made at about the same time and were considered failures when they were infants. Since Project S assimilated the results of Project G and applied further improvements, Sephiroth is born later than Angeal and Genesis.
Question 2-2
At what point was Project G considered a failure?
Answer 2-2
The project’s outcome was already determined when Angeal and Genesis were infants.
Originally, the Jenova Project was intended to make an Ancient. [The scientists] did not get the expected data from Angeal and Genesis and they were considered failures (Hollander describes Angeal as a success in the story, but at the time, all of Project G was considered a failure). At the same time, Project G was suspended and abandoned.
Sephiroth, on the other hand, demonstrated the expected values and was considered a success. As a result, Hojo seized power in the Science Division, and Hollander lost his position in the division.
Question 2-3
What is the deciding difference in the experimental process between those born in Project S and those born in Project G?
Answer 2-3
In simple terms, it is the differences in the timing of the incorporation of the Jenova Cells into the body and the Jenova Cells’ concentration and purity.
Jenova Cells were transplanted into Sephiroth when he was a fetus. Angeal was born from Gillian’s egg cell, which has Jenova Cells, and grew in her womb. Genesis was born from a fertilized egg cell not related to Jenova, and Gillian’s [genetic] factor, which has Jenova Cells, was transplanted into Genesis when he was a fetus.
In other words, since Sephiroth was transplanted with the purest Jenova Cells at an early stage of his life, he ended up inheriting Jenova’s abilities the best.
Question 2-4
Why does Gillian say, “Genesis won’t kill me.”?
Answer 2-4
Genesis, wanting to stop the degradation, returned to Banora and annihilated all the villagers, but kept Gillian alive. This was because Hollander had told him “Jillian’s (cooperation) is necessary in order to stop the degradation”.
Genesis kept asking Gillian to cooperate or treat the degradation, but Gillian stubbornly refused, because she thought that the experiment itself was a mistake. Because of this, Gillian decides that “As someone capable of curing degradation, I can’t kill myself, can I?”
Eventually, Gillian commits suicide, leaving Hollander as effectively the only scientist who can stop the degradation. Gillian is a scientist who was involved in Genesis’ birth, but it is a secret if she would actually be able to stop Genesis’ degradation.
Whatever Hollander assumed about Jillian’s cooperation, it referred to the knowledge and information she had as a scientist and not to her [genetic] factor. As it turned out, Hollander was unable to obtain any information from Gillian, so he had to research how to stop the degradation on his own.
3) Banora
Question 3-1
What is the backstory of Banora?
Answer 3-1
The history of Banora and the Jenova Project G is as follows.
At the current location of Banora, Shinra mines for mako (this is one of the places that is developed after Shinra discovered mako and investigated it in various places).
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For some reason, it became impossible to continue construction. Shinra constructs Banora in order to cover up the possibility of mining mako. The town hall staff is placed under surveillance by Shinra personnel, but all traces of Shinra’s influence are erased and it opens to the public.
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The Jenova Project starts.
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Project G’s failure is established. Gillian flees with Angeal to distance herself from Shinra, but is caught. Later, the mother and child are transferred to Banora, where they are placed under secret surveillance. At the same time, Genesis is offered as a foster child in Banora and placed under secret surveillance.
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When Genesis is a child, he accidentally discovers the mako mining site in the Banora Underground and uses it as a secret base.
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Genesis and Hollander remodel the village as a base for producing copies starting around the time Zack heads to Banora in the main story. Hollander’s research is conducted underground in “Cage of Binding” and “Howling Fang”.
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Genesis uses it as a base after Zack returns from Modeoheim. During this time, he concentrates on producing copies to form his army. Now that Genesis has taken control, more modifications are made to the facility.
After the suspension of Project G, Banora functioned as a house arrest site for Project G personnel.
The reason why Banora was receiving funding was for covering up the mako facility and for monitoring Gillian, Genesis and Angeal. The surveillance was only to conceal the information that they [Shinra] had been conducting inhumane experiments. It was not an observation of Project G’s progress in the hope that [Genesis and Angeal] would develop special abilities.
The fact that Gillian, Angeal, and Genesis are related to Shinra has not been revealed to the villagers, and only a few people, such as the town hall staff and Genesis’ foster parents, know about it.
Even for Angeal and Genesis, the secret of their birth is hidden from them. This was because the Jenova Project was an important confidential matter for Shinra, and the existence of the project needed to be concealed.
In addition, Shinra had approached Gillian about paying her compensation in the form of hush money, but Gillian refused to accept it. She wanted to distance herself from Shinra because the experiment she was involved in was a mistake, and also to hide her past as a Shinra scientist and the secret of Angeal’s birth from her husband, Angeal’s stepfather. Angeal’s stepfather was weak and sickly, so they were forced to live in poverty, but Gillian still refused to be compensated.
Question 3-2
If there is such a thing as a “G-Series SOLDIER”, does that mean that there are other children besides Genesis and Angeal who were created by Project G and became SOLDIERs? If that is the case, were they all born in Banora and raised under surveillance to become Shinra’s SOLDIERs?
Answer 3-2
Only Angeal and Genesis survive among the children created by Project G.
Genesis’ foster parents were in charge of monitoring Genesis, so they were in contact with Shinra. For this reason, Genesis could have been taught by his parents to join Shinra. However, in the end, their feelings for Genesis shifted to the point where they were not afraid to deceive Shinra for the sake of their son. Gillian, on the other hand, was determined to sever her relationship with Shinra, so Angeal was not specifically taught to become a SOLDIER. In any case, no organized professional training to become SOLDIERs was given to either of them, and their relationship with Shinra was kept completely secret.
However, due to Shinra’s clever information management, public opinion is convinced that “Shinra is a company that protects our daily living experience” and “SOLDIERs are allies of the public who fight to protect our peaceful way of life”. Banora, in particular, was founded by Shinra, so there were many Shinra supporters in the village. For this reason, many of the villagers, not only Genesis and Angeal, recognize that having a Shinra-related job is a way to succeed and win in life.
In this atmosphere, Genesis volunteered to be a SOLDIER, and Angeal followed his close friend and also volunteered to be a SOLDIER.
Question 3-3
What is the backstory of the underground caverns in Banora that serves as the final dungeon? There is some evidence of human experimentation, but are these remains of the Project G experiments, or are they the remains of other experiments?
Answer 3-3
As answered in [A3-1], the underground caverns were originally Shinra’s mako mining sites, which were already being concealed when Banora was established.
Genesis discovered these caverns by chance when he was a child and used them as a “secret base”. However, even though he used it, it was no more than a child’s playground, not something Genesis had any ambitions to use since that time. After Genesis became a Shinra SOLDIER, he didn’t use it at all.
Just before the start of the main story, Genesis presents this cave as a base and begins to develop it after joining Hollander to take revenge on Shinra. Ever since the time Zack and the others visited Banora, Hollander has been researching how to make more powerful copies. The evidence of human experimentation is not from Project G, but from research such as modifications to the Copy Army that they organize to take revenge on Shinra. However, after Hollander was captured by Shinra, this research facility was not used.
In Modeoheim, Genesis gets information about a degradation cure degradation method from Hollander just before he attacks him. Up until then, Genesis had been cooperating with Hollander on the condition that he cure the degradation, but now that he has gotten the treatment method, their positions are reversed. Genesis puts Hollander under his control. After that, Genesis began to use the underground cave as a base, and he applied further modifications and expansions to reach its final form.
4) Hollander and Genesis’ Military Movements
Question 4-1
In Modeoheim, Hollander says, “Not even Hojo knows where the Jenova cells are being kept!” Was Hojo deceiving Hollander even though he actually knew where the Jenova was hidden?
Answer 4-1
The “hidden Jenova Cell site” is classified information and therefore strictly controlled. Because of this, even the fact that Hojo knew the cell’s location was concealed. Rather than Hojo being deceitful, Shinra was concealing information from [Hollander].
Question 4-2
Towards the end of the story, when the SOLDIERs were deployed to the various reactors, was the Genesis Army attacking the mako reactors in search of the Jenova Cells to stop the degradation?
Answer 4-2
By the time of the Junon Raid, the Genesis Army is moving in search for the Jenova Cells, and by the time Zack escapes the Shinra Manor, they are moving to distract Shinra and disperse their forces.
After the incident in Modeoheim, Genesis started to take action in search of the Jenova Cells, but since they were preparing themselves by maintaining their bases and producing Copies, they did not take any overt action.
When Zack is on vacation in Costa del Sol, the Genesis Army is ready and begins to search for the Jenova Cells. As part of this operation, they also launch rebellions everywhere to distract Shinra’s attention and disperse their forces.
Question 4-3
Did the Genesis Army that attacked the mako reactors everywhere not think that “taking the cells directly from Sephiroth” was an option?
Answer 4-3
Since Genesis Copies and Angeal Copies cannot compete with Sephiroth, it was decided to be an extremely impractical operation and was not implemented.
No one can directly compete with Sephiroth except Genesis himself. This is why, at the Nibel Mako Reactor, Genesis asked Sephiroth to “Share your cells with me” but Sephiroth rejected him.
After that, Sephiroth fell into the mako reactor at Nibelheim, and since it was no longer possible to “take the cells from Sephiroth”, the Genesis Army from then on would target the specimens from the “Sephiroth Copy Project” that were produced in Nibelheim.
However, since these S Cells were not able to stop the ” degradation”, they are trying to find a different method. Genesis and the others then shifted their target to Zack and Cloud, who were not [given a] number in the Sephiroth Copy Project. This is why Cloud is called “the possessor of the last unadulterated S Cells”.
5) About Angeal
Question 5-1
Angeal is biologically the son of Hollander and Gillian, but were Hollander and Gillian a married couple like Hojo and Lucretia? Or did Gillian simply offer her egg cells and uterus for the experiment, and they were just business colleagues? Also, was the man described as “Angeal’s father” and Gillian actually a married couple?
Answer 5-1
“Angeal’s father” and Gillian are a married couple. They met and got married after Gillian escaped to Banora with Angeal. Gillian concealed the secret of Angeal’s birth and her research from her husband. Angeal was too young to remember anything, and was under the impression that his stepfather was his true father.
As for Hollander and Gillian’s marital relationship, it’s a secret.
Question 5-2
When Genesis is injured, Angeal goes to donate blood along with Sephiroth. Based on this situation, did Angeal already know about his and Genesis’ births at the time of the injury?
Answer 5-2
At the time of the blood donation, Angeal did not know the secret of his birth. The stage direction makes it look like Angeal is holding Sephiroth back and volunteering [himself], but both Sephiroth and Angeal are offering, and they are checking each other, saying, “I will” and “No, I will”.
In the end, Angeal is chosen because Hollander says “Sephiroth can’t do a blood transfusion” and rejects him, but Angeal doesn’t think that “I was chosen because I am a G-series SOLDIER”, he only thinks “I was chosen because Sephiroth can’t do a blood transfusion”.
6) About Genesis
Question 6-1
Who are the “parents who are the landowners of Banora” who raised Genesis?
Answer 6-1
As mentioned in [A3-1], Genesis is offered as a foster child to the “landowner of Banora”, a Shinra affiliate who had lived there from the start.
Although they have been monitoring him, Genesis’ “parents” were living together [with him] as parents and child for many years, and eventually their feelings for Genesis shifted to the point that they were willing to betray Shinra to protect him. However, the true intentions of his foster parents did not get through to Genesis, and in anger and hatred at his parents’ betrayal, Genesis raised his hand against them as well.
Question 6-2
Ultimately, what was Genesis’s objective?
Answer 6-2
His objective is to “cure his degradation”. He is trying to find a method to do this and is causing various actions such as those mentioned in [A4-2] and [A4-3]. However, he is unable to take Cloud’s cells and Hollander dies, leaving him without a way to stop the “degradation,” so he entrusts everything to the Lifestream as his last resort.
Question 6-3
After Genesis is retrieved by Shinra’s helicopter, a piece of paper with the words “To become a drop of hope for the Planet, At the end of the earth, beyond the sky, in a vast expanse of water, I offer thee this silent sacrifice” written on it can be seen. Is this phrase Loveless’ missing Final Act?
Answer 6-3
Loveless’ Final Act is missing, and an official one does not exist in the world of FFVII. Experts are researching and formulating various hypotheses [about it]. The mentioned phrase is Genesis’ expectation of Loveless’ Final Act, and it expresses Genesis’ heart-felt feelings.
By being defeated by Zack, Genesis regains his SOLDIER Honor, and decides that with Sephiroth and Angeal dead, he has to protect the world as the one left behind. In order to prepare for the day when a crisis would threaten the world, Genesis voluntarily sealed himself away in a water prison. This is the true meaning of the phrase in Genesis’ version of Loveless’s Final Act, and at the same time the true meaning of the hidden movie in DC (→[A7-3]).
7) Connection to the Hidden Movie in DC
Question 7-1
In the〈G〉Reports in DC, one of the “two taboos” is the letter “G” that is “unique”. What does this mean?
Answer 7-1
The “two taboos” refer to Sephiroth and Genesis. While Sephiroth was the strongest and worst SOLDIER who tried to take the Planet’s life, Genesis was considered to be a unique SOLDIER who sealed himself away to protect the Planet
Shinra has tried to conceal the relationship between Genesis and Shinra, a relationship that threatened the world, so any information related to Genesis is treated as top secret, and even the use of the name “Genesis” is prohibited. This has led some scientists who know detailed information about Genesis to refer to him as “〈G〉plus the word ‘unique'”. Just like how they assigned similar “color” code names to Weiss, Nero, Rosso, and Azul.
The specific meaning of the word “unique” is currently a secret.
Question 7-2
In DC, it is said that “the goal of Deepground (DG) changed with the entrance of〈G〉”, and “the Soldiers that have a color rank are a product of〈G〉”. Does this mean that Weiss, Nero, and Rosso, the Tsivetes and DG creations that have a color rank, were made by referring to the results of Project G?
Answer 7-2
Yes. Only a DG Soldier injected with Genesis’ [genetic] factor can become a Tsivet that “has a color rank”.
Question 7-3
The two people who appear in the helicopter at the end of CC to collect Genesis are identified by their voices to be Weiss and Nero from DC, but what do they mean when they say, “Apparently the subject will become our [older] brother” and “But, will he… accept his fate willingly?” DC’s hidden movie shows that Genesis was enshrined in a cave underneath Midgar until he woke up, but……?
Answer 7-3
“Older brother” is metaphorical. Once Genesis’ [genetic] factor is injected, a cellular connection and an [emotional] bond will come into existence. This is what is expressed in the term “older brother”.
In CC, Weiss and Nero are on a mission to collect Genesis, so “accept his fate willingly?” means “Will he be one of us or not?” However, as mentioned in [A6-3], Genesis refused to do so, and he is sealed in a water prison underneath Midgar by his own will.
When watching the hidden movie in DC after playing only DC, it seems as if “the ominous existence sealed in the water prison has been released into the world”, but it becomes possible to interpret it 180 degrees in the opposite direction after clearing CC and re-watching the movie.
8) About Lazard
Question 8-1
Based on what people are saying and the content of the emails, is Lazard the illegitimate son of President Shinra and the woman from the slums, and the half-brother of Rufus Shinra?
Answer 8-1
Yes. Lazard’s mother was abandoned by President Shinra, and Lazard harbors a grudge. This is why Lazard joined Shinra and has been waiting for a chance to take revenge on President Shinra. It’s his motivation for joining forces with Hollander.
Question 8-2
Did Lazard, who usually only does desk work, make a rare trip to the battlefield in order to contact the Genesis Army?
Answer 8-2
It was to evaluate Zack. Officially, it was to evaluate his abilities as a 1st Class SOLDIER, but it was really a private inquiry to identify risks that could interfere with his plans for revenge against Shinra.
Question 8-3
At what point in time did Lazard and Hollander join forces?
Answer 8-3
This is right after Hollander treated Genesis’ injury.
Lazard was motivated by “To clear (“avenge”) his mother’s resentment towards his [President Shinra’s?] neglect” but he did not have a way to carry it out. He thought that if he could somehow use SOLDIER, he would, and he used his position to enter the Science Division many times. There he found Hollander, always hoping to regain his position, gloomy and complaining, but also incompetent.
That’s when Genesis was injured. When Hollander is treating Genesis’ injuries, he becomes aware of the copy phenomenon and informs Lazard. Taking advantage of Hollander’s contact, Lazard decides to use Hollander for his own revenge and reveals his plans for revenge against Shinra to him. In this way, the interests of Hollander and Lazard coincided, and they decided to join forces.
Question 8-4
When you clear [M8-5-6] Treasure Info 6, Yuffie says, “a blond guy came to visit my dad. He brought all these mail addresses… with him.” Is this “blond guy” referring to Lazard? Or is it referring to Rufus Shinra, based on the contents of BC?
Answer 8-4
We’ll leave it to your imagination.