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| “ | You're a SOLDIER, aren't you? Which, of course, would mean that I own you. | „ |
| ~ Rufus upon meeting Cloud Strife.
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| “ | Cloud: I could end this, here and now. Rufus: No, not quite. Tonight marks a new beginning for Shinra! |
„ |
| ~ Shinra's declaration to Cloud as he retreated aboard a helicopter. |
President Rufus Shinra is the secondary antagonist of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
He was the Vice President of the Shinra Electric Power Company, and was the sole legitimate son and heir of its President. After his father's assassination, Rufus assumed control of the corporation as its new President.
He is voiced by Tōru Ōkawa in Japanese and by Josh Bowman in English. Ōkawa has also voiced Kureo Mado in Tokyo Ghoul.
Synopsis[]
History[]
Born in 1977, Rufus Shinra was the son of the President of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a corrupt megacorporation that controlled much of the world thanks to its extensive private military and advanced technology. Shinra made use of mako, the life energy of the planet, to further their technological and scientific advancements, as well as to fuel their cities and bases across the world. Shinra's capital was Midgar, a gigantic and highly industrious city. The company's extensive headquarters, called the Shinra Building, was located in the center of Midgar.
Shinra had a brother named Lazard Deusericus who served as the Director of SOLDIER, a Shinra program tied to its military that genetically enhanced Shinra Security Officers using mako to transform them into super soldiers known as SOLDIERs. Despite Deusericus's position of power in the company however, he was an illegitimate child of the company President and as such was not recognized as a potential successor to the Shinra name. In December of the year 2000/0000, Rufus Shinra, at age roughly twenty-three, was named Vice President of the Shinra Company and departed on a business trip abroad for the foreseeable future.
New Beginning for Shinra[]
On December 14, 0007, an eco-terrorist faction called Avalanche that was against Shinra's abuse of the planet attacked the Shinra Building. President Shinra was assassinated during the chaos by Sephiroth, a third party and former SOLDIER believed to have died years prior. Wanting to face the Avalanche insurrectionists himself, Rufus Shinra summoned Reno and Rude, two of the Turks, and had them fly him to his father's executive suite at the top of the Shinra Building aboard a helicopter where an Avalanche helicopter was attempting to extract five of their allies who had infiltrated the building earlier that day.
The Vice President arriving to confront Avalanche.
The Shinra helicopter shot down the Avalanche helicopter and landed on the helipad outside the suite. Reno voiced his misgivings about the Vice President personally handling such a dangerous matter, though Rufus just ignored him and exited the helicopter with Darkstar and four Shinra Elite Public Security Officers flanking him. Shinra directed the Security Officers to move in on the Avalanche infiltrators, though the ringleader of the infiltrators stepped forward and stunned all four of them with a powerful strike from his broadsword. Rufus noticed that the ringleader had mako-infused eyes, indicating that he was a SOLDIER.
The VP joked that, as an operative of the SOLDIER program, the ringleader was his property. The ringleader, whose name was Cloud Strife, corrected Rufus that he was an ex-SOLDIER rather than an active member. Rufus then sent the Security Officers to apprehend the rest of Strife's team, while he and Darkstar dealt with the ex-SOLDIER personally. The Turks remained on standby in the skies around the Shinra Building, making sure that no one interfered in the battle. As they began their duel, Rufus allowed Darkstar to take the lead while he offered support by countering Strife everytime he attacked the canine.
Not long into the fight, the Turks were diverted from the scene to deal with incoming Avalanche aerial hostiles. Realizing that he was temporarily without backup, Rufus began taking a more active approach to the fight by employing his trick coins. Darkstar eventually became exhausted after sustaining significant damage from the ex-SOLDIER, so Rufus ordered him to retreat. The Vice President began using his shotgun to blast himself around the helipad at high speed, hoping to misdirect Strife. Despite keeping his distance and countering the ex-SOLDIER's attacks, Rufus was eventually pushed back to the edge of the helipad and disarmed.
Shinra dangling off of the bottom of his helicopter.
Although defeated, Shinra knew that the Turks were returning to extract him and managed to grab onto the bottom of the helicopter as it arrived to pick him up. As he hung from the bottom of the helicopter, he declared to Strife that tonight would mark a new beginning for Shinra under his leadership. His helicopter made a strafing run on Strife with its machine guns before flying away from the Shinra Building. Strife and his fellow infiltrators were then able to reach the bottom of the building and escape onto the Midgar Expressway. Rufus returned to the executive suite with Tseng, the leader of the Turks, by his side.
While Rufus walked through the executive suite, countless mysterious spectres began appearing before his eyes. Despite the spectres flying all around the building's interior and exterior, only Rufus was able to see them. Tseng, not realizing anything was awry, informed Rufus that Shinra forces were on standby. Rufus told Tseng to give the order to capture the Avalanche escapees, though they were ultimately unable to do so. Not long afterwards, the spectres vanished as mysteriously as they'd arrived. Shinra then summoned the company executives to the executive suite where he formally assumed the presidency of the company.
Equipment[]
- Shotgun: Shinra's weapon of choice was a shotgun custom-made for him by Shinra. It fired high velocity rounds capable of stunning powerful opponents, and Rufus could use the force behind the blasts to burst himself around a battlefield at high speed. Additionally, the shotgun could split into two smaller automatic hand cannons that allowed the President to pelt his enemies with rapid fire salvos. The weapon could also absorb lightning magic and use it to create single-use beams of electricity.
Darkstar[]
| “ | Just the two of us. Well. Maybe three. | „ |
| ~ Rufus referring to Darkstar before his battle with Cloud.
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Darkstar.
Rufus Shinra was in possession of a unique military canine named "Darkstar." Genetically modified by Shinra's Research & Development Division, Darkstar possessed a number of physiological advantages over unmodified members of his kind. Not only was Darkstar stronger, more intelligent, faster, and more durable than regular military canines, but he was also able to use magic.
He could use healing magic spells such as "curaga" to regenerate physical damage inflicted on himself or Rufus, and could use lightning magic spells such as "thunder" to imbue Rufus's weapons with electricity or strike opponents. Lastly, Rufus Shinra possessed a psychic link with Darkstar that ensured the canine followed his instructions unquestionably and followed him whenever he desired it.
Themes[]
Rufus Shinra by Nobuo Uematsu & Shotaro Shima[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Rufus Shinra was based off of the character of the same name from the continuity of the original 1997 Final Fantasy VII video game, in which he appeared as an antagonist.
- According to Yoshinori Kitase, the game director of the original Final Fantasy VII, the name "Shinra" was derived from "shinwa," the Japanese word for myth.
- It is heavily implied that Viceroy Sarruf is in fact Rufus himself, acting as a secret agent that supports the anti-Shinra movement in Wutai. His last conversation with Glenn seems to suggest this to being the case and the name in question appears to be an anagram of Rufus' name.
External Links[]
- Rufus Shinra on the Final Fantasy Wiki
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