Rufus Shinra

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Rufus Shinra
Rufus Shinra in trademark white three piece suit.
Game series	Final Fantasy series and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
First game	Final Fantasy VII
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voice actor(s) (English)	Wally Wingert
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Toru Ohkawa

Rufus Shinra (ルーファウス神羅, Rūfausu Shinra^?) is a non-player character in Square's (Now Square-Enix) RPG Final Fantasy VII. His appearance is marked by neatly-groomed blonde hair, blue eyes and a white three-piece suit with a distinctive double-breasted jacket. At the beginning of the game he is the Vice-President of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a monopoly corporation and "de facto" world government. After his father's death, he becomes the president of the company. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a CGI film set two years after the end of the original game, Rufus reappears to the surprise of many as he appeared to be killed during the Diamond WEAPONs attack on Midgar. He is voiced by Toru Ohkawa in the original Japanese film and Wally Wingert in the English dub.

1 Personality
2 Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
3 Final Fantasy VII
4 Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
5 Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
6 Quotes
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Personality

In Final Fantasy VII, Rufus is depicted as callous, cold-hearted and ruthless. ^[1]His views on how Shinra should conduct its rule over the world — through fear and intimidation rather than money — were considered dangerous by his father, and great care was taken to prevent them from influencing the company's inner workings. ^[2]^[3]But by Advent Children it seems Rufus has reformed and is dedicated to helping the regeneration of the planet. He appears to enjoy subterfuge as much as he finds it useful, with his concealment of Jenova's head and use of deception in an attempt to overthrow his father. ^[4]

[edit] Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII

Rufus as he appears in Before Crisis

Appearing infrequently in Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Rufus is secretively supplying funding and information to AVALANCHE as an "anonymous benefactor," while suggesting to the Turks that there may be a leak in the company. He intended to use AVALANCHE to kill his father so that he could become President of the Shinra Company. The plan failed, though Rufus continued scheming.

Rufus is in attendance in Rocket Town during the first attempt to launch a rocket into space. It is here that Rufus and the President argue about Shinra's direction causing serious tension within the company.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII

Rufus as he appears in Final Fantasy VII

Rufus' role in Final Fantasy VII is mainly that of serving as a frequent antagonist for the heroes (the new AVALANCHE group), while simultaneously attempting to undermine the plans of the game's main villain, Sephiroth. When news of his father's death reached him, Rufus arrived at Shinra headquarters via helicopter, and greets Cloud Strife and his companions. While there, he quickly delivers his opening address as the new president, making it known that — with his father dead — he intended for the company to adopt his own philosophy. After a brief battle with Cloud, Rufus escapes, taking up pursuit of Sephiroth in the hopes of discovering the Cetra's fabled "Promised Land" first.^[5]

Throughout the game, Rufus dispatches the Turks to carry out various missions, including intercepting AVALANCHE's movements and guarding various operations. In the latter half of the game, Rufus ironically took up the role of defending the Planet's people from fear and chaos by attempting to destroy Sephiroth's Meteor spell and the Planet's own self-defence mechanism, the WEAPONs, which had gone on a rampage. One of these guardians (Diamond WEAPON) later appeared from beneath the sea and approached Midgar Though the WEAPON was unable to reach the city due to the interference of AVALANCHE it fired many energy blasts toward Midgar in the seconds before its demise-the Sister Ray fired a shot to destroy the barrier over the Northern Crater and it went straight through the Diamond WEAPON-, several of which hit the Shinra building. Among those areas struck were Rufus' office on the 70th floor, from where he was watching the proceedings. As far as the public-and the Shinra Board of Directors^[6]- knew at the time, Rufus was dead.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Rufus as he appears in Advent Children

Rufus soon made his presence known in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children when he summoned Cloud to act as a bodyguard. Cloud was shocked that Rufus was still alive but was not interested in how he survived the WEAPON’s attack on Midgar. Rufus became one of many to have contracted the fatal illness known as "Geostigma." Rufus claims that he has reformed and is seeking the restoration of the world since it was his company that so greatly contributed to its decay. However, as revealed by Reno of the Turks, this plan also involved the reconstruction of the Shinra Company. Cloud, already hesitant to help Rufus, rejects him outright upon this “revelation"^[7] Later, Kadaj approaches him personally telling Rufus that he doesn't like it when people lie to him. Rufus then accompanies Kadaj to Edge, and in a shock move reveals that he had the remains of Jenova with him all along.

Rufus spends most of the film seemingly confined to a wheelchair due to the energy draining effects of Geostigma and perhaps his injuries sustained in the Diamond WEAPON attack on Midgar. However Rufus later proves to be far more resilient than he was letting on. He ‘’is’’ able to walk, and the wheelchair was only part of his performance. However, it also served other practical uses. Rufus ’’did’’ suffer from Geostigma thus he would be weak and he could also use the chair to conceal Jenova’s head from Kadaj.^[8]. Rufus also spends most of the film cloaked with a white sheet ostensibly to hide the effects of his condition from others. In truth, however, the sheet was being used to conceal a box containing Jenova's remains.

In a defiant speech addressed to Kadaj, it is revealed that Rufus is sincere in his reformation, having learned of the Lifestream and acknowledged its authority over the Planet.^[9]

After a brief showdown with Kadaj, a worn-out Rufus is seen resting in his wheelchair once more, and is cured of Geostigma by Great Gospel, a cleansing rain sent by the spirit of Aerith Gainsborough.

[edit] Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Rufus' cameo in the opening of Dirge of Cerberus.

In the opening flashback of Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, we learned that after evading death, an unconscious Rufus was carried into an ambulance by rescue workers after Diamond Weapon's attack on Midgar.

As well, Vincent Valentine inquires to Reeve Tuesti as to the World Regenesis Organization's wealthy benefactor. Reeve honestly states that he doesn't know who the person is or care what their motives are, as long as he or she continues to cut the checks. When probed further, Reeve conjectures that whoever is funding the WRO is someone who feels "a debt to the planet," a near word-for-word quote of one of Rufus' lines from Advent Children,^[10] leading players to believe that not only was Rufus truly reformed in Advent Children, he is actively working to undo the damage done to the planet.

[edit] Quotes

That's right. I'll let you hear my new appointment speech. ...Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them.

People are ignorant. They'll feel better as long as someone is punished.

Whatever I say now is too little, too late. We must evacuate.

With things looking like this, you better be ready for pay cuts...

The nightmare returns... the Lifestream courses through our planet back and forth across the borders of life and death. If that cycle is the very truth of life then history, too, will inevitibly repeat itself. So go on, bring your Jenovas and your Sephiroths. It won't matter. We'll do as life dictates and stop you every single time.

Sorry? Why, I've never had this much fun.

[edit] References

^ Barret: Execution!? What're ya gonna get by executin' us? / Rufus: You are to be executed for causing this situation. People are ignorant. They'll feel better as long as someone is punished. / Barret: I take back what little praise I had for this damn jackass! / Rufus: Well, enjoy your last moments together. (Final Fantasy VII)
^ (2005) in Studio BentStuff: Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). Square-Enix, 56, 58. ISBN 4-7575-1520-0.
^ Rufus: ...Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. (Final Fantasy VII)
^ Kadaj: Please, sir, is that your excuse for going after mother yourself? You don't seem all that sorry. / Rufus: Sorry? Why, I've never had this much fun. (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children)
^ (2005) in Studio BentStuff: Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). Square-Enix, 58. ISBN 4-7575-1520-0.
^ Heidegger The President is dead! Now I'm doing things my way! Ghaa haah hah hah!(Final Fantasy VII)
^ Rufus Shinra: Kadaj said something, eh? Well, don't worry about that. Children always yearn for their mothers. So I heard you're living with the orphans. Wouldn't you want to see the children smile? ...Our ultimate goal is to restore life to the planet, Cloud. Cloud: I... Reno: Come on man! We're rebuilding the Shinra Company!/
^ Kazushige Nojima: The wheelchair he's in is actually part of his ruse, but on the other hand he did sustain a lot of injuries in the game, so he's not exactly in perfect shape. (2006) Final Fantasy VII Advent Children -Reunion Files- (in Japanese). Square-Enix.
^ Rufus Shinra The nightmare returns... the Lifestream courses through our planet back and forth across the boarders of life and death. If that cycle is the very truth of life then history, too, will inevatibly repeat itself. So go on, bring your Jenovas and your Sephiroths.It won't matter. We'll do as life dictates and stop you every single time.(Final Fantasy VII Advent Children)
^ Rufus Shinra I acknowledge that Shinra owes the planet a lot. It goes without saying that my company and I are the ones who put the world in the sorry state it’s in. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to set things right. (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children)