The Mind of Sephiroth

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Character Breakdown: Sephiroth
The Sephiroth Workout
The Skills of Sephiroth
The Mind of Sephiroth

“A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of error or failure, even in the face of complex or intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks, or may regard personal opinions as unquestionably correct. The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges.” -Wikipedia

So before we go any further, let it be stated that “God complex” is not an actual clinical disorder.  What we’re talking about here, in Sephiroth’s case, is an extremely arrogant and self-entitled personality.  Some spoilers ahead, if you haven’t managed to play Final Fantasy VII yet(which you should).

Sephiroth was created by splicing human DNA with that of an alien being known as Jenova.  Jenova came to the planet, looking to take control of its lifestream and basically use it as an interstellar space ship to conquer other planets.  Sort of like a living, breathing death star.  Sephiroth has no idea of this at the start of his life, and finds out later on, leading him to extremely conflicted feelings and basically breaking his mind.  He goes on to think himself the inheritor of his “mother’s” work, trying to use Meteor to bring out the lifestream of the planet by injuring it deeply, and then merging with the lifestream to take control.

Basically, Sephiroth is an arrogant bastard who actually has the power to back up his claims.  Cloud ends up being the only one capable of defeating him, and even he does so only at great cost.  Sephiroth exudes confidence in his god-like abilities, and the haughtiness that comes with it.  His hubris, in a way, leads to his downfall, however.

Future supervillains and gods of the world take note, hubris will always be your downfall.  If you have a chance to just straight-up off the plucky hero, take it.

In all seriousness, though, there is efficiency and effectiveness in the ruthless attitude that Sephiroth approaches things with.  While he may take sadistic pleasure in hurting other people(like when he killed Aerith in front of Cloud) his main driving force is his overall goal.  Much like Kratos, he allows nothing to come between him and his final desired result.

Take a moment, and look at your life in the same way.  We frequently find ourselves chasing multiple goals and outcomes in our lives, which can divide our attention and focus.  Sephiroth doesn’t care about any of this.  He picks one goal, and he drives relentlessly towards it.  What frequently keeps us from approaching our lives like this is social obligations and constructs.  To focus single-mindedly on something typically leads one to brush off friends and family members, bruise feelings, and step on toes.  But, if you’re truly looking to Sephiroth as an example, you probably are willing to make a few sacrifices.

Great works can be accomplished through single-mindedness.  If you pick just one direction, one final goal, and spend every day working towards that one end, from dawn until dusk, you’ll be surprised how much progress you can make.  Not to say that you shouldn’t take occasional breaks.  Temporary diversions are necessary to keep your brain from stagnating and burning out.  Sephiroth’s temporary diversions are slaughtering innocents, I would recommend you pick something a bit more constructive, like playing with Legos or unwinding with a nice video game or two(I should hope you enjoy those if you’re reading this blog).

Regardless, though, the biggest lesson we can take from Sephiroth is that, to reach your greatest potential, be it godhood, or something else, you need to have focus, and you need to have drive.  Pick one, single thing.  Maybe it’s writing a book.  Owning a business.  Raising a child.  Amassing a fortune.  Whatever it is, pick it, write it down, assemble some semblance of a plan, and go for it.  That is your driving force, and you will stop at nothing to obtain it.

You’d be surprised how much you can do this way, and how much success you’ll enjoy.

That about wraps it up for Sephiroth.  I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.  Tomorrow we’ll be doing our normal character round up post, and the day after, who knows?  Maybe something new!  As always, make sure to follow me on Twitter,  like the blog page on Facebook, and check us out on Tumblr.  See you tomorrow, and until then, continue being awesome, you neophyte deity, you.

Dan “DaRatmastah” Wallace