The entire cast of Final Fantasy VII is iconic. Sephiroth’s creepy head turn in Nibelheim. Tifa sitting by the water tower. Aerith looking up at the skies from the streets of Midgar. All great moments. But no one ever talks about Red XIII. Or at least, he’s never quite broken into the top half of the cast in terms of popularity. With FFVII Rebirth, that’s about to change.
Red XIII’s origin story and his ties to Cosmo Canyon are still intact in FFVII Rebirth. The return to his clan, the revelation that his real name is Nanaki… All of that’s still there, and all of it still great. But with this retelling of the FFVII story, we also get to see a much goofier and comical side to Red that we never quite got in the original. It’s a nice contrast to his introduction in Remake, where he makes his debut as a tortured experiment subject with a tragic story, especially as it becomes clear that Square Enix isn’t afraid to get a little crazy with him.
It all starts with your first foray into the open-world in FFVII Rebirth. The Grasslands region is vast and beautiful, you make your way to the chocobo ranch to get your first mount, and everyone gets a chocobo. And I mean everyone.
At some point, while I was happily trotting around the Grasslands on chocobo-back, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It was Red, who was also riding a chocobo.
I stopped, turned around, and angled my camera so I could get a better look at him. Then I entered photo mode to capture him in all his glory.
It’s literally a dog riding an oversized chicken. This should be physiologically impossible but Square Enix said, nah it’s possible just roll with it. And it’s actually brilliant. Just the visual of it is wonderful. This is an image that will be forever seared into my brain, and I am a better person for it.
The comedy doesn’t end there, because later on in the story, Cloud and co are stuck on a cruise ship with nothing to do as they make their way to Costa Del Sol. And when you have nothing better to do, you take part in a Queen’s Blood tournament of course.
Apparently your entire party loves Queen’s Blood, because they all waste no time in signing up. This, of course, includes Red, who also tries to sign up but is promptly denied because animals aren’t allowed to take part or some nonsense like that. Blasphemy, I say. This is a doggo who rides an oversized chicken. He should be allowed to do whatever the hell he wants, including taking part in a card game tournament and beating up evil moogles if he so chooses.
Anyway, if you manage to make it all the way to the end of the tournament and beat the champion, FFVII Rebirth throws one final curveball your way. You’re faced with a surprise challenger who claims to be your ultimate Queen’s Blood adversary. You can’t see his face. All you see is that he’s dressed in SOLDIER garb –helmet and all– and he’s got some slick dance moves. He spins around, jabs a finger at you, then sits at the challenge table, legs crossed. What a classy man.
In case it wasn’t abundantly clear already, that’s Red. Sitting at the table with his legs crossed. Again, seems physiologically impossible, but just roll with it.
While it’s easy to put all these things together and call them cringy, surprisingly enough I found myself charmed by how entirely ridiculous the whole thing was. Not only was Red getting a lot more screentime than he did in the original game, it was genuinely nice to see a lighter side to the character, while also being reminded of the fact that Final Fantasy games used to be funny.
I think it became especially clear with the release of Final Fantasy XV and XVI that Square Enix wanted to opt for a darker, more mature tone for the series. And while those games are great in their own right, FFVII Rebirth has served as a fantastic reminder that this series used to embrace humor and a bit of slapstick comedy here and there. Ultros from FFVI comes to mind, as does Gilgamesh from FFV.
The point is, humor adds to the charm of the series, and that’s exactly what Red XIII has done for FFVII Rebirth. Is it absolutely silly? Yes. Is it also funny? Also, yes. Red’s goofiness doesn’t take away from Rebirth’s intricate narrative either; it just adds more flavor to it and gives depth to his character.
Perhaps that was the biggest surprise of all in Rebirth –that Red XIII actually shined as a dynamic character that also cut through the tension of Rebirth‘s twisted story with his charm. And I, for one, wouldn’t object to even more silly shenanigans in my Final Fantasy games going forward.
