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The Gi chanting “Steeped in our one desire… purest of materia no more… with pain and spite made black” while overlayed on Sephiroth…it’s him oh my god it’s him. He was so good, so impossibly good despite his circumstances, but finally under the pressure of everyone throwing their desires onto him with no care as to what he desired he finally snapped under all the pain and stress and the good turned to spite and hatred it’s himmmm
Remake 3 will settle the Sephiroth dad debate once and for all by making Jenova marry Gi Nattak. And somehow Gi Nattak will be the most emotionally present and supportive father figure in Sephiroth's life because HE actually wants to see his son succeed (in blowing up the planet)
Jenova, Minerva, LOVELESS, The Queen and the Gi connection, pt. 1
Another foray into theorycrafting. Here, you will find detailed notes exploring the intriguing connections between Jenova, Minerva, LOVELESS, the Gi, and other characters.
This line of thought was sparked by the holographic sequence in the Temple of the Ancients, as discussed in my previous analysis. In the vision recounting the Cetran battle against their "celestial adversary," Jenova transforms from a tentacled monster into a winged angel-like being resembling The Goddess, as portrayed by Jessie in Gold Saucer’s LOVELESS play.
This transformation hints at a strong connection between Jenova and The Goddess from LOVELESS, suggesting they may be the same entity. However, it contradicts the established lore in Crisis Core, which implies through Genesis that the Goddess from the epic is Minerva, the planet’s spiritual avatar.
While this could be a mistaken belief held by a desperate man, there may be more to it (more on that in the upcoming pt. 2).
Exploring the temple’s carvings reveals a depiction of Jenova, complete with her distinct, misshapen wings. The mural shows Jenova in the midst of transforming into a humanoid figure, or possibly the reverse transformation.
Interestingly, this humanoid silhouette bears a striking resemblance to (queen/princess?) Rosa from the LOVELESS play, particularly the dress and starburst-like headpiece.
Even more chilling is the Nibelheim flashback in Rebirth, which depicts the creature in the tube suspended in a state of partial transformation, half humanoid, and half monster, mirroring the imagery in the temple’s carvings and holograms.
These connections raise intriguing questions about the relationship between Jenova and the other characters, prompting further exploration. Did Jenova imitate the goddess to sow discord among humans? Is this yet another example of her shapeshifting and deceptive nature? Does the character of Rosa from LOVELESS bear any ties to this entity? Did Jenova somehow transform into Rosa’s character prototype, or did Rosa’s character prototype transform into Jenova? These fascinating possibilities are worth considering.
These theories, however, do not completely elucidate Jenova’s true nature beyond that of a celestial calamity.
Yet an intriguing parallel emerges as we explore the Cosmo Canyon region. According to Cetran lore, Jenova arrived with a meteor that had hit the world's northernmost region. This is also likely how Gi arrived on the planet (at the very least, there's no indication that Gi had once been a technologically advanced space-faring race). In an uncanny coincidence, Gi and Jenova have comparable visual characteristics. Both Jenova and the Gi share similarities in their blueish/grayish skin and pink eyes.
Jenova’s eyes in the tube appear cloudy and overheated, indicating exposure to high temperatures ("those who look with clouded eyes…" huh?).
Both combat versions of Jenova and the Gi appear to be wearing something like skull masks (??), or otherwise exhibit distinct skeletal features.
Sephiroth’s reading of excerpts from Gast’s journal in the mansion provides a glimpse of Jenova’s body, which was supposedly discovered at the dig site. Its bone structure is strikingly similar to that of a Gi, with elongated, claw-like fingers.
Cetran holograms depict Jenova and the Gi as tall and large entities. It is possible that size conveys importance (as the ancient Egyptians depicted their gods as giants). Moreover, not far from Northern Crater (the Crater itself and Whirlwind Maze), where Jenova is said to have landed, there dwells a (Gi)gas monster, adding to the strangeness. Similarly, the entity is tall and blue.
Did Jenova travel with the Gi on that meteor, which may have been the last fragment of the Gi’s dying world? If so, was Jenova once a member of the Gi tribe? Did Jenova somehow inhabit or infest the body of a Gi specimen? Were Jenova's actions responsible for the destruction of the Gi's home planet? Gi Nattak's description of their world's catastrophic demise seems to parallel the devastating effects of Meteor's impact, as well as Jenovaroth’s alleged merging of timelines to create "infinity."
"The earth shook, seas boiled, skies shattered, and time stopped."
"Earth shook, seas boiled, skies shattered" is strikingly similar to the looming Meteor illusions or hallucinations induced by Jenovaroth in both FFVII Remake and Rebirth. All the while "Time stopped" strikes uncomfortably close to how FFVII Rebirth emphasizes the alleged time dilation effects experienced by Zack and Biggs in one of the branching timelines.
Moreover, the Gi village contains a number of peculiar effigies, one of which is located in the water near the shore. This effigy resembles Minerva in full armor, holding a shield, and either a glaive or a trident (or whatever that weapon is).
As one ascends the trail, an unsettling discovery awaits them: a massive, creepy stone statue with fanged jaws that resembles one of Jenova’s skull-like forms. This imposing figure is situated directly behind the area where Gi Nattak guards the Shrine of Oblivion.
The site appears to be a sacrificial trail, where the effigies and petrified figures are meant to follow the path before reaching the shrine’s end, symbolized by the fanged statue. There's a peculiar video shared by deltasyn that explores the area.
Continued:
Jenova, Minerva, LOVELESS, The Queen and the Gi connection, pt. 2
07/07/2024
👋 @pen-and-umbra
I think something interesting to note is that the Cetra and the Gi have two completely different tellings of their history. But there's also some internal consistency between both factions.
The way the story is framed from Gi Nattak the Planet we know as Gaia was (potentially) the home world of the Gi.
"...until at last it was subsumed by your own." For context, in a literary sense, "star" and "planet" can be interchangeable. The Latin the Promised Land song from AC explicitly uses the term "star" to refer to Gaia/the Planet, and I believe that is the intention with this line. The Gi suffered a calamity upon their planet and the survivors were left to seek refuge on Gaia now that the Lifestream had come.
The Cetra, however, place and phrase things slightly differently. They say this after explaining that their purposes is to protect their Planet:
Given the order this sequence is played, it makes it sound like the Gi came to Gaia from somewhere else. Particularly after Jenova had been dealt with. I believe this is impossible however, and that the story the Cetra are telling is being told in reverse.
If we order the events like this:
- Gi's homeworld dies
- The lifestream arrives and a functionally new planet is made from the corpse of the old. This traps the remaining Gi in a state of undeath as the cannot be absorbed into the lifestream
- Untold amount of time. Gaia canonically has an entire pre-history and fossils layers so we do not know how long the lifestream has been here. The Cetra also create a place to commune with the Gi as explained by Bugenhagen during the trials
- The Gi steal a materia of some importance. A "sacred treasure" even before it was corrupted and turned black (of all notable colors in FF7 lore)
- The Black Materia is used for its purpose and summons a meteor that strikes the Planet. The Cetra learn what caused this, seal the Gi away deep below Cosmo Canyon, and take the Black Materia
- However, it was too late as Jenova came upon that meteor. Through means that can be speculated, given the Shadowblood Queen storyline and OG events, she manipulates Cetra and Human alike until there is a brutal war which eventually seals her away
- Human civilizations and Cetran one(s) eventually begin to clash which leads to deaths of many and eventually the collapse of the Cetra as a people entirely. There were those who settled in Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon for a time. But we know that eventually Aerith becomes the last person who can claim a cultural connection to the Cetra (if not the last Cetra entirely, but I have my own theories on that)
- Gaia's history continues on
A timeline emerges that many people within the fandom agree on, and is the best way to make both the Gi and Cetra accounts agree with one another.
This, however, also leads me to questions especially after Rebirth and connections pointed out by other people. There have been people on Tumblr and YouTube pointing out the connections between Jenova, the "Goddess" of Loveless and the depiction in the Temple, the card game storyline ect ect.
In my opinion, from the evidence I see, the Gi seem to be the ones who created Jenova in some way. If we go by the idea that Jenova arrived when the Black Materia was used (unless there just so happened to be two entirely different meteors or Jenova's meteor is completely unrelated to the singular purpose the Black Materia has been established as having since OG), that means that the Gi would have needed to create her in some way or called her to aid them.
Plenty of people have pointed out visual similarities between Jenova's forms, the Gi, and their many effigies around their village.
We know from Rebirth Sephiroth that the "real" Black Materia has a purpose beyond just a meteor and is related to resurrecting Jenova to her full self in some capacity. What was the Black Materia before its corruption? They obviously did not use any old materia for this purpose--that one was sacred, special.
Jenova herself is also aware, intelligent, and is operating with a purpose that we do not know at current. I do not believe, nor have I ever, that she is some space parasite trying to eat Gaia for no reason. Through both Sephiroth and Regina (because the Shadowblood Queen is Jenova), she claimed that the planet as a whole belongs to her by right or used to be hers.
Even if she is speaking through the guise of Cetran queen she took over (which I'm not entirely sure she is), that still raises more questions than it gives answers.
Jenova has some influence over the lifestream. Being able to create and empower fiends through corrupting it (notably some fiends are fossilized in the Planet's crust as old variations of the species, so this may be up for debate. However, Jenova's connection to the fiends is said multiple times in different sources), have intimate knowledge of all entities that have passed into it (see: Jenova's mimic abilities, ones possessed by Kadaj as well), and even corrupt it to where Sephiroth can control souls and Whispers (see: Lifestream Black and Remake/Rebirth). She/they can even corrupt it into sicknesses like Geostigma or whatever Kadaj was doing in AC.
The lifestream's complete rejection of all foreign entities is well established and restated by the Gi in Rebirth. If Jenova is 100% foreign, how could she have this much control over it and beings born from it even before Sephiroth?
If Jenova is being given visual similarities to Rosa or even the Goddess, who had previously been established as Minerva, then I have to ask: What is Jenova? Why is she so intimately tied to the Black Materia? What even was that materia originally? Who is, or was, Jenova?
rebirth hard mode update:
FUCK GI NATTAK!!!! THAT WAS SO SCARY :( AND DOOM??? i literally forgot about doom and got so nervous i dropped the controller and died :(((
btw reraise TOTALLY works. does gi nattak recast doom immediately? ...yeah. but MORE TIME!! IGNORE THE MP COST.
Gi Nattak Arranged by Shotaro Shima
Just a quick WIP sketch of Gi Nattak from FFVII I’m doing for someone who asked for it over on Reddit.
Which is where I’ve been spending most of my time lately.
