- This article is about Sephiroth's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Sephiroth
Sephiroth is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and is the third fighter in Fighters Pass Volume 2 and the ninth downloadable character overall. His inclusion as a playable character was revealed on December 10th, 2020. He is the second fighter from Final Fantasy VII to join Smash, alongside protagonist Cloud, and the third from Square Enix alongside Cloud and Hero.
Sephiroth was released on December 22nd; however, if a player successfully defeated him in the Sephiroth Challenge event from December 17th - 22nd, they were able to acquire him early (this is only exclusive to those who purchased the Fighters Pass or Challenger Pack 8). Sephiroth is classified as Fighter #78.
Moveset[]
Attributes[]
- Sephiroth can unfurl his lone black wing when he is at high damage to enter Winged Form in a similar manner to Terry's Desperation mechanic; it will be signified when he says either "่บซใฎ็จใ็ฅใ" ("Know your place") or "็ฎ้ใใ " ("Annoying" / "Pathetic"). Once his wing is active, his stats will be powered up much like Cloud with a full Limit Meter.
- In his Winged Form, Sephiroth gains super armor when performing a Smash Attack as well as a third mid-air jump.
- Though the wing can be activated at high percentages, this situation can greatly vary. For example: if Sephiroth has more Stocks than his opponent, the wing will be activated much later. If he is drastically behind in Stocks, the wing will be activated much earlier in an attempt to level the playing field.
- Sephiroth can lose his wing when he has either KO'd an opponent or himself be KO'd.
- Sephiroth wields his iconic blade, Masamune. It is currently the longest sword in the game, far outclassing Shulk's Monado and Corrin's Dragon Fang. As such, it possesses wide range but slow attack speed. Much like Marth's Exalted Falchion and Roy's Sword of Seals, much of Masamune's strength is centered on a specific area of the blade, though it depends on the attack:
- For slash attacks, the power is concentrated at its middle. The second-strongest part is the tip, and then finally the weakest being the hilt.
- For stabbing attacks, the power is transferred to the blade's tip, then the middle, and then the hilt.
- Sephiroth is one of the tallest and lightest characters in the game, making him very easy to launch at early percents.
- Much like Corrin, Sephiroth can grapple onto walls by stabbing into them with Masamune, increasing his recovery capabilities
General Moveset[]
- Jab: Two fast kicks from his leg followed by a hit from the base of Masamune's handle.
- Grab: Traps the opponent in dark energy.
- Pummel: Hits the opponent with bursts of energy
- Edge Attack and Floor Attack: A sweeping kick.
- Dash Attack: A swipe of dark energy from his hands.
- Tilts:
- Throws:
- Up Throw: An upward cleave of Masamune
- Forward Throw: Thrusts the opponent forward with levitation
- Back Throw: Teleports the opponent behind Sephiroth
- Down Throw: Slams the opponent to the ground with gravity
- Aerials:
- Neutral Aerial: A pulse of dark energy that emanates from him.
- Up Aerial: A wide overhead backflip slash. Visually similar to his Up Smash.
- Forward Aerial: A forward poke of Masamune from his side. This move allows him to grapple onto walls.
- Back Aerial: A wide reverse-slash of Masamune.
- Down Aerial - Hell's Gate: A stall-and-fall where Sephiroth will stab straight down to the ground. Due to the length of Masamune, it can pass through platforms and even prevent ledge grabs. It can also inflict a Meteor Smash. Taken from his moveset in Dissidia Final Fantasy, which itself is based on the infamous scene from Final Fantasy VII where he fatally stabs Aerith Gainsborough from above.
- Smash Attacks:
- Up Smash: A wide overhead swing of Masamune
- Forward Smash: A wide backhanded-swing of Masamune.
- Down Smash: A downward-angled stab of the ground from Masamune. The tip can break shields.
Special Moves[]
| Sephiroth's Special Moves | |
|---|---|
| Ultimate | |
| Standard Special | Flare / Megaflare / Gigaflare |
| Side Special | Shadow Flare |
| Up Special | Blade Dash / Octaslash |
| Down Special | Scintilla |
| Final Smash | Supernova |
On-screen Appearance[]
Idle Poses[]
Taunts[]
- In Sephiroth's Up Taunt, Sephiroth beckons his opponent and says "ๆฅใใใใ" ("Come on.").
- His Side Taunt references his usual fighting stance that he takes in almost all of his appearances, first seen in Final Fantasy VII during his brief time as a party member.
- The dark aura in his Down Taunt is a callback to his entrance prior to his boss battle in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Up Taunt
Side Taunt
Down Taunt
Victory Screens[]
- All of Sephiroth's victory screens surround him in flames, a direct reaction of the infamous Nibelheim Incident from Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core, as well as Cloud's first hallucinations of him in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
- Much like Joker, Sephiroth will have a special pose in Team Battle victory screens where he is not the leader, which is him with his back turned towards the camera and moving his head to the side.
- For the first screen, after his name is shown and the screens of the other opponents come up, Sephiroth will turn his back towards the camera, chuckle, and walk into the fire until he disappears.
- For the second screen, he will say "ไฝๅบฆใงใๅฐใใฆใใใใ" ("I will usher you as many times as you want."), a reference to his role in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
- For the third screen, he will say "ใใฎ็ใฟใง็งใๆใๅบใใ" ("Remember me through your pain.") as he draws his sword and his wing pops out.
- If Cloud was one of his opponents in the match, he has a chance of saying "ๆใๅบใซใฏใชใใชใใ" ("I will never be a memory.") in any of his victory screens, which is his final line of dialogue in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Classic Mode: The Chosen Ones[]
Sephiroth's congratulatory picture
Sephiroth's Classic Mode is very unique among every other fighters; instead of fighting other characters, Sephiroth's Classic Mode acts like a boss rush, and are against all of the bosses normally found in other characters' routes and in World of Light (outside of Galeem and Dharkon), harkening back to Boss Battles mode. This is reference to him being a boss himself in Final Fantasy VII and in subsequent appearances. The song "JENOVA" will play during the end credits.
| Round | Opponent | Stage | Music |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rathalos | Rathalos' Stage | "Roar/Rathalos" |
| 2 | Galleom | Galleom's Stage | "Boss Battle - Super Smash Bros. Brawl" |
| 3 | Marx | Marx's Stage | "Vs. Marx" |
| 4 | Dracula | Dracula's Castle | Phase 1: "Nothing to Lose"
Phase 2: "Black Night" |
| 5 | Ganon | Ganon's Stage | "Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form" |
| 6 | Giga Bowser | Final Destination | "Giga Bowser" |
| 7 | Bonus Stage | ||
| Final | Master Hand and Crazy Hand | Northern Cave (Omega form) | "One-Winged Angel" |
Palette Swaps[]
Black |
Based on his original appearance in Final Fantasy VII, with his black wing taken from the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, as well as in other appearances such as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. |
|---|---|
Purple |
References Ultima Weapon, one of the Weapons that awakened after Sephiroth summons Meteor using the Black Materia. |
Green |
References Emerald Weapon, one of the Weapons that awakened after Sephiroth summons Meteor using the Black Materia. |
Red |
References Ruby Weapon, one of the Weapons that awakened after Sephiroth summons Meteor using the Black Materia. |
White |
References Diamond Weapon, one of the Weapons that awakened after Sephiroth summons Meteor using the Black Materia. |
Blue |
References Sapphire Weapon, one of the Weapons that awakened after Sephiroth summons Meteor using the Black Materia. |
Coatless |
Based on his appearance during the final battle against him in the original Final Fantasy VII. This also appears as one of his alternate costumes in the PSP Dissidia Final Fantasy games, dubbed there as his "Executioner" outfit. |
Coatless Violet |
N/A |
Gallery[]
Sephiroth's splash art
Sephiroth's unlock notice
Sephiroth final smash.
Pose he makes during one of his victory screens.
Sephiroth's Amiibo
Videos[]
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate โ The One-Winged Angel! - Nintendo Switch
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Mr. Sakurai Presents "Sephiroth"
Trivia[]
- Sephiroth loses his voice overseas, being restricted to his Japanese voice, like Cloud Strife.
- Sephiroth's codename within the game's files is "edge", likely a reference to either his sword Masamune or the town built on Midgar's ruins in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
- Sephiroth is the first:
- Third-party primary antagonist to become fully playable, with Kazuya following suit.
- Character from an already-represented third-party universe to not be an Echo Fighter.
- DLC character representing a DLC universe (albeit DLC from the previous game).
- DLC character that needs to be fought first to be acquired (albeit optionally through a limited-time mode).
- Character to fight all the Classic Mode bosses in their route, as well as to not face any fighters at any point.
- He is also one of four characters to fight a boss outside of the final round, following Bowser, Mega Man, and Hero.
- He is also the third character to face Master Hand and Crazy Hand outside of Final Destination, following Donkey Kong and Joker.
- Whose victory screen is in a pre-rendered setting.
- Sephiroth is the second character:
- Revealed in a non-Nintendo-related event, being The Game Awards. He follows Joker, who was also revealed in The Game Awards during the 2018 ceremonies.
- Coincidentally, both have unique solo victory poses, unique fanfares, and a secret team pose.
- Whose trailer is directly set during World of Light, following Hero.
- Coincidentally, both are DLC Square Enix characters.
- Revealed in a non-Nintendo-related event, being The Game Awards. He follows Joker, who was also revealed in The Game Awards during the 2018 ceremonies.
- Sephiroth is the third:
- DLC character to come from an already-represented universe, following Piranha Plant and Byleth.
- Enemy DLC character, following Piranha Plant and Zombie & Enderman.
- DLC character to not be fought in any Spirit Battles, following Piranha Plant and Terry.
- Almost all of the CG portions of Sephiroth's trailer make many references to Advent Children:
- His line "Now, I shall give Smash despair" is a variant of "Shall I give you despair?", a question he asks Cloud during their final battle.
- The scene where Sephiroth turns the skies dark green after his act of slicing Galeem's heart in half is a direct recreation of a similar scene from the film as their final battle begins (which is also referenced during their final battle in Final Fantasy VII Remake).
- The silhouetted shot where he seemingly stabs Mario is a near exact recreation of a similar shot where Sephiroth impales Cloud on his sword.
- Their sword fight and Cloud's triggering of Omnislash Ver. 5 is an abridged version of their final battle in the film, where Cloud deals the finishing blow to Sephiroth. In fact, several brief shots during the sequence, such as the zoom-in on their faces and Cloud flying up to Sephiroth, are exact recreations of similar shots from the film.
- Their final dialogue in the trailer ("Stay where you belong, in my memories." "I will never be a memory.") is ripped straight from the film, where Cloud successfully defeats Sephiroth.
- Sephiroth cloaking himself in his wing before activating his Final Smash is also how he disappears after being defeated in the film.
- Cloud is in his Advent Children outfit through the entirety of the trailer, specifically the variant that exposes the ribbon tied to his arm that commemorates Aerith Gainsborough. This version of the outfit is fitting, as the sleeve covering it was torn off during the battle against Bahamut SIN by the time Sephiroth reveals himself in the film.
- Another reference to Aerith can be seen during the trailer's gameplay portion, where Sephiroth can be seen piercing the ground with his Down Aerial next to Zelda, referencing the infamous cutscene from the original Final Fantasy VII where he kills Aerith. It also continues the same reference from Cloud's own reveal trailer, where Zelda is also used as a stand-in for Aerith.
- The song heard throughout the trailer, "Advent: One-Winged Angel", is taken from the film's score, which also played during Cloud and Sephiroth's final battle in the movie.
- Outside of the trailer, the sixth image on Sephiroth's page in Ultimate's website also holds another reference to the film, as it is a recreation of the Blu-ray cover for the Director's Cut.
- Sephiroth's trailer marks the first appearance of Cloud in CGI, as all of his previous appearances in other characters' trailers were during the gameplay portions.
- Sephiroth's trailer is the first to feature appearances from previous DLC characters in CGI, being Hero (specifically Erdrick) and Banjo & Kazooie.
- Interestingly, Sephiroth's official render for Ultimate doesn't show the full length of Masamune, instead being shortened to reach the same height as his wing. However, it is possible that this could actually be the effect of forced perspective. Given that his coatless variant, which shows him in a different pose, does show the full length, this is likely the case.
- The usual fighting stance Sephiroth takes in almost all of his appearances (such as the render for his shirtless palette swap) is now his side Taunt, while the stance he takes in Ultimate is instead the one Kadaj uses in Advent Children.
- In keeping with his character, all of Sephiroth's KO voice clips are nothing more than very short grunts.
- Sephiroth is one of six characters whose fanfares are direct rips, the other five being Sonic, Bayonetta, Joker, Hero, and Steve.
- Sephiroth is the ninth character to have unique dialogue in a victory screen when a specific character is present, the other eight being Fox, Falco, Wolf, Palutena, Dark Pit, Robin, Lucina, and Simon. In his case, Sephiroth will say, "I will never be a memory." if his opponents included Cloud Strife.
- This makes him the first DLC fighter to have this Easter egg.
- Much like Cloud, Super Smash Bros. is Sephiroth's third appearance in a fighting series, following Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring and the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
- Sephiroth has the Final Smash with the longest duration, with his Final Smash being at eight seconds. Before Sephiroth was included, the Dragon Quest Hero held this title, with his Final Smash, Gigaslash, lasting seven seconds.
 Final Fantasy universe
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | Cloud Strife (3DS/Wii U ยท Ultimate) Sephiroth (Ultimate) | |
| Side Characters | Mii Fighter Costumes | Chocobo ยท Tifa Lockhart ยท Aerith Gainsborough ยท Barret Wallace |
| Stage Hazards | Bahamut ZERO ยท Ifrit ยท Leviathan ยท Odin ยท Ramuh | |
| Stages | Midgar ยท Northern Cave | |
| Music | List of Music (Final Fantasy VII) | |
| Collectibles | Trophies | 3DS Trophies ยท Wii U Trophies |
| Spirits | List of spirits (Final Fantasy series) | |
| Related universe | Kingdom Hearts | |