Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: Jenova history explained

Jenova takes centre stage in Final Fantasy VII and the updated Remake and Rebirth. The Jenova project, headed up by Shinra’s Hojo, is central to the plot and our antagonist, Sephiroth.

“The calamity from the skies” is Jenova, as spoken by the Cetra, also known as The Ancients of which Aerith is one. Jenova is seen as a dangerous alien, a scourge on the planet of Gaia and while the Cetra saw that, Shinra tried to use Jenova’s cells to create super soldiers.

Jenova is hidden away in a mako reactor in Nibelheim, inside the basement of Shinra mansion. She’s found inside a type of cryo-chamber, we say she as she’s the mother of Sephiroth, but Jenova’s body is rather androgynous. She’s an alien though, that’s for sure. She landed on Gaia 2,000 years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, greeted by the Cetra who became monsters after the meeting.

Jenova destroyed nearly all of the Cetra, forcing the Ancients to go into hiding. Fast forward those 2,000 years and Shinra excavated Jenova and attempted to splice her cells with humans. After failed attempts Hojo tried with SOLDIERs who are already enhanced humans. These cells were transplanted into Sephiroth as a baby forcing him to believe Jenova was his mother (his mother is actually Lucrecia Crescent, friend of Vincent Valentine).

This catches us up to Sephiroth finding out he was given Jenova’s cells which bestowed a large amount of power onto his shoulders. Finding out his life to this point was a lie, Sephiroth burns down Nibelheim and starts his fall from grace. Sephiroth finds out that he is the perfect monster in a kind of Frankenstein path, created by Hojo and Shinra, he of course rampages against his creators, but also against the planet. Which brings us to the events of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Cloud, with his friends, chasing Sephiroth across the planet.