| “ | 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 inevitably 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. | „ |
| ~ Rufus’ Shinra’s Declaration to Kadaj. |
| “ | A good son would have known. | „ |
| ~ Rufus taunting Kadaj before tossing Jenova' head off the roof. |
Rufus Shinra is a major antagonist in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. He is the son of the President Shinra who sought to overthrow his father and Rule the Shinra company and sought to find the Promised Land. After a near-death experience and the near end of the world, Rufus Shinra sought help heal the world and prevent the return of Sephiroth.
What makes him Magnificent?[]
In general[]
- Despite being in charge of the corrupt Shinra which is slowly killing the planet he utterly lacks the cruelty and senseless loss of life that his father caused and is a very pragmatic villain in all that he does.
- He is without a doubt one of the most cunning FF7 characters being able to outplay his father and even Sephiroth with nothing but his wits at times.
- Even at a young age he was shown to be intelligent as he had the forest to realize that his dad's office would need a secret exit something that would save his own life years later.
- While originally very arrogant upon his near-death experience he becomes a much more sarcastic and fearless manipulator who despite his underhanded means does genuinely seek to help heal the Planet.
- Despite initially seeing the Turks as little more then pawns he grows to care and have genuine faith in them showing anger at them be harmed by Kadaj and being willing to gamble his own life by jumping off the roof because he knew they would save him
Before Crisis[]
- He secretly funded a terrorist organization known as Avalanche to undermine his father and make him look weak so that he could eventually usurp him, these schemes included
- A staged attack on Midgar via the Sister ray.
- An assassination attempt on his father.
- Tricking his father into thinking Verdot was a mole for Avalanche.
- Having the deaths of Avalanches leaders faked by sacrificing their base in Wutai so they could continue their plans in secret
- Sabotaging the Rocket Launch to make his father look weak and presenting himself to the board as a more capable leader than his father.
- Even when put under house arrest for his crimes he manages to make a comeback by leveraging the location of Elfe to the Turks in exchange for their enteral loyalty giving him powerful allies to use against his father upon his return to Shinra.
Final Fantasy 7[]
- When the Weapons were attacking the city of Junon Rufus had the guts to fight them off something even Barret who hated him respected.
- He manages to use the Sister Ray Cannon to destroy Sapphire Weapon.
- He comes up with a plan to destroy the meteor by stealing Huge Materia, and putting it in a rocket in the hopes it would blow it up.
- He has Sister Ray Cannon moved from Junon to Midgar to power it up using the Mako reactors to fire at the Northern crater to try and kill Sephiroth.
- While it failed to kill Sephiroth it did kill the Diamond Weapon and destory the barrier in the Northern Crater allowing for Cloud and friends to confront Sephiroth.
On The Way To Smile/The Kids Are Alright[]
- Rufus manages to escape the Shinra Building before it blows up via a hidden chute which he suggested to be installed all those years ago.
- He prevents Mutten from killing him by convincing him he would not be able to draft a reconstruction plan for Midagar and it's surviors without his resources or expertise
- He shows genuine concern for the sickly Pamela and is disgusted by Killmister using some of the drugs used to relieve Geostigma on himself.
- He manipulates Killmister into going to the Turks for help by leveraging his drug addiction so the Turks could free him.
- Rufus manages to keep himself and 2 other of Geostigma patiens alive in the flooding cave by using makeshift rafts to keep them all afloat.
- He has a monument constructed in the city of Edge supposedly honoring the planet but also secretly using it to have Shinra establish its claim on the new city.
- When Kilmister makes it clear he has no intention of trying to cure any of the patients he has Judd kill him to avenge Pamela while keeping his involvement in his death a secret.
- He allows his half-brother Evan to escape with his life and friends by pushing him into taking him hostage so that the Turks would not kill him and even helped him look less pathetic in front of his love interest despite having no pragmatic reason to do so.
Advent Children/Dirge of Cerberus[]
- He manages to successfully obtain and hide Jenova's head from Kadaj by hiding it under his wheelchair and faking the severity of his illness to draw away suspicion causing Kadaj to search around aimlessly for Jenova and never suspecting where she was hidden.
- He nearly succeeds in convincing Cloud to help him fight Kadaj by appealing to his care for the children only failing due to Reno talking about rebuilding Shinra.
- He triumphantly reveals Jenova head to Kadaj once he sees Cloud back in action and after taunting him throws it off the roof and fearlessly leaps off the building and shoots the Cannister, damaging Jenova even though Kadaj manages to save it.
- While jumping off the building could be seen as overly reckless it was a calculated risk as he trusted his Turks to save him.
- He has the Turks backup Cloud and prevent Loz and Yazoo from assisting in the final battle, making way for Cloud to defeat Kadaj and Sephiroth.
- He continues to secretly help the planet recover by funding the World Regenesis Organization as part of his atonement for his crimes
What makes Him a Baddie?[]
External Links[]
- Rufus Shinra (original) at the Villains wiki
- Rufus Shinra at the Final Fantasy wiki