#shinra president

[crimson-sun]

A few of you might remember the Shinra photo book which I've been chipping at for almost eight years now...

Well, the end is finally in sight - I've formatted the images into a book, making updates to the oldest completed pictures, and adding the final new images to round off the pictorial narrative.

Ways to get copies of the book will be posted closer to release date. In the meantime, consider joining us on Patreon where there are more WIPs and insights, and all the finished 'photos' are available as prints on the higher tier.

Here's a little taste of the contents. More to come soon.

(As usual, please try not to nitpick the details depicted - this is a personal project foremostly and many characters, events, and dates do not adhere strictly to canon. Cheers.)

[johnbly]

[little-black-dress-zack-fair]

Veld: Fine, you can kill Hojo but it has to look like an accident.

Vincent: Say no more.

*later*

President Shina: *reading raport* "Looks like the killer beat them to death with a crowbar and placed a banana peel by the victim's feet."

[rivkae-winters]

[berabare]

Could we possibly get Shinra director fluff balls?

What do ya think about this fluffy gang?

[moldyycheese]

Y'all need to be taking tips from Sephiroth

I just realized I posted this on the wrong account

[demialwrites]

I was remembering discussing the missed opportunity of FF7 expanding on the faction of nobles/old money on Gaia with @cburambles and I had some rambly shower thoughts. I also may just be reading too many fantasy webtoons, but anyway...

I could absolutely see President Shinra feeling like he has to compete with and outdo the existing wealthy before, and while, Midgar was being built (unless he fucking lied about his background. I think it's possible). It would explain his awful and gaudy taste. The 70th floor office is something I am constantly horrified by. But the rest of the building is actually not that bad. It's like a combination of trying to be different than, better than, and the same as wealthy people with poor taste. His office is so high up, it's like he was trying to separate himself from everyone else. And perhaps, it was an effort to alleviate any insecurities when comparing himself to the established wealthy, because he doesn't have to be reminded of them.

I have considered the impact this may have had in Rufus growing up. That perhaps he tried to mould his son into something that's the same as, but also better than, these other people. An improved version, you could say. Another way to say "Shinras are better than these old snobs." By having him thoroughly educated (judging by how Rufus speaks), for example. Although, it's not clear how many of his current skills are because he was self-driven or not. It's possible that certain things were forced on him with no rational reason given (I can relate to this. Abusive parents don't explain, they just demand). But anyway, I think this would just further drive the two away from each other, because President Shinra wouldn't be able to relate to Rufus and whatever he's taken an interest in and exposed to. He seems to have an interest in fashion, judging by his clothes, for example. And it already seems like Rufus has quite a few different ideas than his father, judging by how he is in Before Crisis. It's hard to tell what is being rebellious and what is a result of being a different person.

I think President Shinra having a son he was constantly annoyed with is something he did to himself. Even if that wasn't true, these two were always going to clash. They are both driven and controlling individuals. I honestly think he felt somewhat threatened by Rufus. Why else would he bristle at Rufus questioning him during a meeting (again, in Before Crisis), while, in contrast, Reeve is thinking about what "a fine young man" Rufus grew to be. Unfortunately, Reeve is too young to be Rufus's father, even when Rufus was canonically 25 years old in FF7. :(

[owarinaki]

Rufus 's Indignation II

Final Fantasy VII : Rebirth [RUFUS RECAP Finale] part 31

Index gifs // Trailer recap // Rufus's Story recap 1 //2 // 3

Rufus Pic recap 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Others Tseng&Rufus , Hojo&Darkstar

[RUFUS RECAP] Other links

Ch.4 part 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 //10 // 11

Ch.6 part 12 // 13

Ch.8+9 part 14 // 15 // 16 // 17 // 18 // 22

Ch.10+11 part 19 // 20 // 21 / 23 // 24 // 25 // 26

Ch.12+13+14 part 27 // 28 // 29 // 30 // 31

Etc. : 32 // 33 // 34 // 35 // 36

Final Fantasy VII : Rebirth

RUFU GIFS RECAP [END]

[yangus]

I've been trying to collect my overall thoughts on Rufus Shinra in a document talking about how the whys of his personality. I'll likely make a proper video and/or share the full thing when I'm finished, but I figured I'd give a peek as to what my thoughts are, without considering Remake + Rebirth continuity. Wholly from what is revealed from OTWAS: Episode Shinra, as well as some tidbits in TKAA, and a lot of ground covered in Before Crisis. I hope someone out there can get some enjoyment out of someone on here caring about Rufus this much, haha.

Analysis (tidbits, but still substantial) under the cut!

To fully comprehend where Rufus comes from and why he is the way that he is, we have to go back to his childhood. In On the Way to a Smile: Case of Shinra, it’s outright stated that he didn’t see his father very often, and faced neglect. The few times his father did come home, he was typically very angry with Rufus and would tell him to go back to bed, as it was late. Rufus, in all likelihood, had no real parenting from his father. His mother seems to not have been a very present force in his life, either. Given President Shinra’s proclivities and tendencies to sleep around, particularly with his secretaries, as Rufus notes himself, this does not surprise me.

A particular instance that is detailed in Case of Shinra is one where Rufus is five years old. His father has, for once, let Rufus take part in talks about Shinra as a company. He was delighted when his father showed him the blueprints to the President’s office, but here we see the beginnings of a trait that would be a common thread in every action he takes henceforth. He looks at the blueprints and, instead of giving baseless praise, wants to find a way he can improve it. He wants to prove he’s intelligent, and wants to one-up his father in some small way. While here it isn’t malicious, later it would become as such. Here, it’s just a childish desire to seek praise for coming up with something that his father might not have thought of.

This backfires terribly, and Rufus redoubles his efforts to get out of the situation. President Shinra embarrasses him by implementing the idea Rufus had, but not for himself, notably. It’s for Rufus specifically, and it has a mark that Rufus cannot forget. ‘L’ for ‘Loser’. The idea that if he ever needs to run from his battles in the future, that’s a failure, and he’s a loser in his father’s eyes. That’s something imprinted early, and Rufus compensates by being able to be martially powerful, too. He learns to fight as well as the Turks in time, and outright battles Cloud atop Shinra Tower at the end of the Midgar segment of the game in the original.

What is also interesting here is the idea that even at five, Rufus has been told that the position of Shinra Company’s President is not promised to him. While I doubt he was aware of the fact that his father was producing heirs in case Rufus didn’t make the cut at this time, he becomes aware later on. Nothing is promised, and any one of Shinra Senior’s children could have taken Rufus’ spot had he proved impotent. This is highlighted later when one of President Shinra’s children, Lazard Deusericus, is made the director of the SOLDIER division of the military. As well as, when Rufus was around 6 years old, President Shinra had a child with someone more “special”, that Rufus posits was meant to be his replacement if Rufus himself didn’t make the cut, something he did not become aware of until many years later, but something President Shinra did nevertheless. This need to prove himself was drilled into him from a very young age.

---

Something notable within Chapter 9 of Before Crisis is that neither Veld nor President Shinra could fathom Rufus being the traitor. President Shinra wrongfully suggests it’s Veld, and when the activity continues despite Veld’s change in position, blame is then shifted to Hojo. Despite Rufus’ questionable actions thus far and clear resentment of his father, President Shinra still views him as wholly loyal. Whether this is because of some latent trust or whether he believed he “raised Rufus better” is left up in the air. Regardless, Rufus is not suspect yet at this point in time despite his clear questionable actions.

---

Interestingly, this is the first sign of Rufus being interested in the Promised Land as well. While Rebirth made it clear that Rufus has little to no interest in the Neo-Midgar project, I think that Rufus wants to find the Promised Land out of spite rather than any of the reasons his father wants it. He wants to find it before his father does to prove that he’s capable and different. That he isn’t less than simply because he’s younger.

He speaks about a plan to bring Aerith in using military force, talking to his father about the amount of resources and time wasted due to being “careful”. This is a more callous Rufus talking, one that’s more impatient. His father's dallying about Aerith’s situation makes it easy for Avalanche to come in and take what they want. Rufus, obviously, doesn’t actually want Avalanche to succeed. He uses Avalanche as a means to an end, to push President Shinra into action rather than sitting atop his heap of gil and growing complacent. It’s a push to get President Shinra to listen to Rufus about how the company should be run. An attempt to back President Shinra into a corner and get what he wants. Eventually, this turns into Rufus outright asking Avalanche to assassinate President Shinra. To cut out the middle man, so to speak, and give Rufus free reign to do what he wants without having to do these machinations behind the scenes.

---

I think more interesting than any of this though, is Rufus’ complete lack of understanding why Cid would want to fly his airplane before the rocket launch. Cid was meant to be the pilot of the rocket, and would be taking part. But he flew the Tiny Bronco because he enjoyed it, and Rufus can’t wrap his head around doing anything out of enjoyment, least of all with so much on one’s plate. Cid has a great deal of preparation to do before lift off, and Rufus views him as shirking his duties. He can’t fathom doing anything but work at this moment. I think this speaks again to how President Shinra must have raised him. Again, from a young age, President Shinra was trying to drive home how important “working hard” is. Rufus likely took this to heart, and has little time for “play”, as it were. It would do a lot to explain his rigid attitude. He doesn’t understand why you would choose to do something enjoyable or fun when there is the opportunity to work. Having been pushed into this mindset his whole life, he begins to look down on others who do this. Because if he can’t have fun, then no one should be able to, at least without criticism.

The full exchange Rufus has with Cid is enlightening, to say the absolute least, and speaks volumes to both of their values. Rufus tells Cid that he’s firmly against the space program, that it’s a waste of resources and time. That there are more efficient ways to expand business. And Cid, interestingly, says that Rufus is young, but lacks passion. Something, according to Cid, President Shinra has in spades. Whether President Shinra is doing this for the sake of his own dreams is still in question, but it’s interesting that Rufus is already so disillusioned from doing anything simply because he wants to. He views everything in terms of what is the most efficient way to achieve his goals. He doesn’t ever stop to think about things like morale, at least not here. It’s interesting to see how this stance changes later when Meteor is overhead, when he sees a panicked people and finally understands what these big, grand displays do, and what their purpose is. Especially because this is a point in time where trust in Shinra is low because of what’s happening with Avalanche.

It speaks to his immature view of the world that the only thing he has to say to Cid about what President Shinra has done with the company is to not bring his father up in front of him.

---

President Shinra is taken off the spot when Cid outright says he doesn’t care if he dies so long as he can achieve his dream. Rufus’ words once again go unheard, his ideas go ignored. Rufus, in honesty, likely didn’t care whether or not Cid lived or died. He put on this show to try and show how corrupt his father was in front of Cid, so that the rose-tinted glasses he has can fall off, and he can see how callous the president really is. This never happens, though. It’s Cid’s fervent wish to go to the moon, no matter the cost.

Upon hearing this, Rufus changes up his tactic. The immeasurable damage a failed launch would have upon the company. President Shinra is doing this launch for a morale boost and for trust to return to Shinra. Rufus sees this as a needless, pointless expense to keep favor. What Rufus proposes isn’t artificial trust. When he says he wants to run the world through fear, he means it. I don’t think he was truly interested in seeing Shinra succeed as a company. He wants to prove that he can do it better than his father, and that’s it.

Rufus doesn’t have enough experience to understand that ruling with an iron grip, with forcing people to respect and trust you, doesn’t work. This is blatantly evident with Rufus’ actions throughout this game, even. President Shinra ruled Rufus through fear. Raised him with fear, made Rufus afraid of him so that Rufus would, in turn, respect him. This simply didn’t work long-term, though. While it may have worked when Rufus was a child, Rufus is an adult now, and sick of being afraid. He revolts, thrashes, fights back in his own way. Shinra had no choice but to fall under Rufus’ leadership, because he has no idea what it really takes to be a leader. He sees failures, and sees from an outside perspective how to fix them, but without the burden of the public on him, he can’t imagine what it’s like. President Shinra, ironically, has a point with what he says to Rufus in this scene.

Rufus, thus far, has no idea how to run the company. The most efficient way is not always the most effective. President Shinra, during his time as president, understands this and does what he can to keep public favor alive so that the gil can continue rolling in. Actions that Rufus deems frivolous and unnecessary are necessary for the longevity of the company.

---

By the end of the game, the executives are still pushing for the Turks to be disbanded. Thus, they are put on trial in the president’s office, when none other than Rufus comes to put a stop to it and ask that his father reconsider.

While it isn’t wholly an altruistic decision, Rufus still does this because he, on some level, has grown to care about the Turks within the last four years. He knows their worth, knows how valuable they are to the company. He knows exactly how lost Shinra would be without them. He’s seen them work from within their headquarters, has talked to them, strategized with them. By helping them, he has earned their loyalty and respect. He knows that he can depend on them in the future. They’ve made sacrifices for each other, and the respect is mutual. Rufus sees in them a potential that President Shinra is blind to.

This is the very last thing Rufus has to say to the Turks before the end of the game. Trust in anyone is something he’s been lacking all his life. People he can depend on, people who elevate his strengths and can help make up for his deficits. This bond they all share isn’t something so easily erased. As we see, even post-FFVII, the Turks remain wholly loyal to Rufus. Even when everyone has turned his back to him, even when he gave each and every one of them an out, they stuck by him. This bond is something lifelong and runs deeper than blood. It’s beautiful to see a character like Rufus, who is so focused on efficiency and so stuck on what he can do personally, is able to forge these bonds. Of course, he still tries to do most things on his own. But when he can’t, he knows that his Turks have his back.

---

These are just my thoughts after a rewatch of Before Crisis, and I hope it proves enlightening somehow! I want to continue on to talk about how he is in FFVII proper, as well as all the supplemental material in time.

[altocat]

Would President Shinra sell Sephiroth for 62 cents?

Sephiroth is priceless in President Shinra's eyes. Precious. Cherished. Irreplaceable. Not for sale. He would never, ever discard him no matter what ❤️

No, he'd rather Sephiroth just continue fighting, killing, sacrificing, and exploiting himself for Shinra for the rest of his days. Or at least as long as he's useful. Then President Shinra will decide on whether to simply euthanize him or to put him out to stud in order to produce younger, fitter, more promising warriors. The next generation! Still might euthanize him afterwards, though. Depends on how the President is feeling that day.

Truly the healthiest, most devoted of relationships. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

...Oh wait, no. Those are actual tears 😭

[ittybittypixel]

He’s giving corporate shill, but HOT corporate shill 💅

[flummoxx]

elena and reno NEED to interact more during part 3

[accala]

When I first saw Remake (because this was my intro to FF7), I was like "Shinra kinda has that mafia-type feel to them." And then you look at OG Shinra character designs and it all makes more sense.

Rufus and the Turks:

President Shinra and Executive Board Members:

[little-black-dress-zack-fair]

President Shinra: You are not good enough for my son.

Tseng: You’re not good enough for your son.

President Shinra: Excuse me?

Tseng: You heard me.

[capdesuro]

¡Eternal Fantasy; 📨

[axnewxera]

// I love looking at the differences between Rufus and his father.

President Shinra is a cowardly man, who sits in his office and sends other people out to do his dirty work. When threatened, he begs and pleads and cowers until he can find some sort of upper ground. He smokes cigars even in executive management meetings and has absolutely no fighting skill, just a tacky gold pistol.

Rufus is IMMEDIATELY introduced as a character willing to get his hands dirty and jump into the action. He schemes and thinks ahead for every situation and does plenty of behind the scenes work, but also is a formidable and skilled fighter in his own right. Even his fighting style is very centered on deception. He has several weapons - Darkstar, his shotgun that can split into two smaller guns, his coins that seem to have a variety of different uses, he uses his shotgun as a means of transportation around the field...

We learn in On the Way to a Smile that Rufus survived FF7 thanks to an emergency escape hatch that he himself suggested to his father when he was 5 years old. President Shinra mocked the literal child and marked the escape hatch with an "L" for "Loser".

With that in mind, I headcanon that the hidden gun drawer that President Shinra cowers his way toward in his final scene in the Remake was also a Rufus idea.

Rufus had a mind for strategy and backup plans, and apparently took it VERY seriously even as a child, and President Shinra looked down on that. Yet when his life was in danger.... Look who saved his life (for a second until Sephiroth happened lol whoops).

Have I mentioned I LOVE Rufus's glow-up in the Remakes??????