Vincent Valentine

Vincent Valentine was one of two hidden characters in the PlayStation RPG Final Fantasy VII, the other being Yuffie Kisaragi. He has also appeared in the fighting game Ehrgeiz, and will be the main character in the upcoming game Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus. A slightly redesigned Vincent will also appear in the CGI film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

He appears as a tall, brooding man with long, unkempt black hair wearing a ragged red cloak over black clothes. His left arm below the elbow has been replaced by a metallic golden claw. It is unknown whether the metal arm is an entirely mechanical prosthetic, or a gauntlet intended to cover up some injury or deformity. His cloak covers the lower half of his face and is held closed by a series of buckles. He is a popular example of a bishounen.

His stats are as follows, as given by the official instruction booklet:

• Age: 27
• Weapon: Gun
• Height: 6'
• Birthdate: October 13
• Birthplace: unknown
• Blood Type: A

To obtain Vincent as a playable character, players must follow a series of clues in the Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim in order to obtain the combination to a safe located there. Upon opening the safe, the party must fight a difficult monster called Lost Number. Once Lost Number is defeated, the player obtains the Odin materia, and a basement key. Once you have the key, you can speak to Vincent in the basement and convince him to join the party.

Vincent was once a Turk who worked for Shin-Ra, and fell in love with a scientist named Lucrecia who was working with Professors Gast and Hojo on the Jenova Project. Lucrecia, however, rejected Vincent and chose to enter a relationship with the insane Hojo. After Lucrecia became pregnant, Hojo used her as an experiment subject, injecting her with Jenova cells during the pregnancy. As a result, Lucrecia gave birth to Sephiroth.

Vincent objected to the use of humans - especially Lucrecia - as test subjects. As a result, he and Hojo quarrelled, and Hojo shot Vincent. Hojo then performed experiments on the unconscious (or, according to some sources, dead) Vincent. Afterward, Vincent slept in a coffin in the basement of the Shin-Ra mansion for thirty years (but see below), constantly reliving his "nightmare" as a self-inflicted punishment for being unable to protect Lucrecia from Hojo. Because of the experiments, he has a metal left arm and the ability to transform into various demons - some of which resemble monsters from famous horror films - in his limit breaks.

There is much fan speculation concerning Vincent, from his exact relationship with Hojo and Lucrecia to how long he was asleep in the coffin. An optional flashback scene strongly implies, but never outright states, that he was Hojo's rival for Lucrecia's affections and that Lucrecia chose Hojo over him. Many fans estimate that Vincent was in the coffin for only five years, although this would seem to mean that Vincent's confrontation with Hojo did not occur until approximately 20 years after Sephiroth's birth. Japanese sources from Squaresoft allegedly confirm that the actual duration was thirty years. With the release of his bio on the official Advent Children website, Vincent does indeed appear to not age. One popular theory holds that Vincent is actually Sephiroth's biological father rather than Hojo, but there is little to no evidence for this idea while there is much evidence against it.[1] (http://24.12.230.139/revival/index.php?gam=2&sec=703)

Vincent is named after both the actor Vincent Price and Saint Valentine. Hence, he is fittingly named after a legend of horror movies, and a martyr who had come to symbolize love.