History Anime / FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren

**

--> '''Tifa:''' Stop running! I know, even if you find the kids, you might not be able to help them. Maybe something would happen that can never unhappen that scares you, doesn't it? But you need to think about now, really dig it in. Look at you, you think you got it so dang hard! Well you hate being alone, so let people in. Sure, you might not answer the phone, but I don't see you throwing it away either. Which is it? ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion A memory or us?]]''

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Nope, guys. Just because you saved the world, it doesn’t mean all the problems and hardships you have gone through will just disappear in a thin air. If anything, years of peace will give you a lot of things to think about. Especially if you put in Cloud’s shoes, as he spends much of the movie thinking about his failures from the original game (his backstory, his FakeMemories, being mind controlled by Sephiroth multiple times, his SurvivorSGuilt…), which is admittedly a lot of things to work out, and it needs much time to manage it, let alone overcome it.
*** To add the insult to the injury, being contracted with a contagious, lethal illness with no known cure is a good reason to be in a bad mood.
** No matter how good and strong you are, spending years not actively engaging in combat will definitely make you rusty and weakened. This is shown by the party's performance: Cloud has isolated himself while continuing to throw himself into conflict actively while the others have been spending their time either trying to move on with their lives or finding a cure for the Geostigma crisis without actually doing any fighting themselves. Cloud thus has had plenty of time to grow much stronger, while the rest of the party has instead grow weaker. It shows itself as Tifa is defeated by Loz while Cloud alone can take on Loz, Kadaj, and Yazoo by himself while weakened by Geostigma, though realistically he is overwhelmed due to suffering the disease and also being outnumbered. The rest of the team thus end up simply supporting Cloud against Bahamut Sin, who is the one who deals the finishing blow to the summon, rather than actually helping Cloud kill it, and upon learning that Sephiroth will return, they decide against fighting Sephiroth and choose to leave it to Cloud, as they will probably only get in the way against someone as powerful as Sephiroth.
** Cloud and Sephiroth's duel in this movie, which has both of them in prime condition, pretty much confirms once and for all that Cloud's previous defeats of Sephiroth was owned solely due to Sephiroth being weakened on both accounts Cloud killed him and in a fair fight, Cloud truly doesn't have any chance of winning against Sephiroth using his own abilities. Despite his growth in strength and experience and being deemed the only one who could take him in a fight with his friends weakened and rusty and no other fighter being enhanced or able to handle such high-level opponents, Cloud has ultimately just been fighting for a few years while Sephiroth has spent his entire life training and fighting in wars as Shinra's greatest SOLDIER. As such, Sephiroth is able to easily counter anything Cloud throws at him and whenever he attacks Cloud is put on the ropes the entire time, clearly toying with Cloud like a seasoned swordsman toys with a tough but ultimately less experienced swordsman just to show he is the better warrior. It ultimately takes a HeroicSecondWind for Cloud to finally finish off Sephiroth and only by revealing his newly-developed Omnislash Version Five.
*** Likewise, in Complete, Cloud tries to use Omnislash to defeat Sephiroth once more, only to fail miserably. As it was the same move that was used to take down Sephiroth in their second battle when they were fighting on the Lifestream with Sephiroth weakened from being beaten as Safer-Sephiroth, Sephiroth's previous experience with the attack makes it easy for him to not only block all of Cloud's attacks, but he ends up using Cloud's attempt to deliver the finishing leaping blow to instead stab Masamune through Cloud's stomach. The Fusion Sword Cloud was using not being nearly as long as Sephiroth's Masamune, the move works spectacularly on Sephiroth's favor and completely negates Cloud's attempted attack before it can even come close.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: In ''Complete'', Cloud really had a lot of time to [[spoiler:talk with Zack while Sephiroth was approaching from the sky]]. Sephiroth himself indulges in this a fair amount as well. [[spoiler:With Cloud, it's at least partially justified; the sequence in which he talks to Zack is probably taking place in his head, where time may be passing by slower. With Sephiroth, he's just really into crazy monologues and everyone seems happy to indulge him.]]

* TradeYourPassionForGlory: The entire cast save Cloud. That's why defeating [[spoiler:Sephiroth]] [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself Is Something Cloud Has Got To Do Himself]].

* WorfHadTheFlu: Tifa gets her butt handed to her by Loz once he stops holding back. She later remarks to the others that in the two years since Meteorfall they all lost the level of strength they once had and that only Cloud has managed to regain it.

* BlockingStopsAllDamage: The first thing Sephiroth does is block Cloud's swing so dead that he and his sword suspend in midair for awhile. More easily justified than most, as his strength is so much higher that blocking is almost a formality. The force of Cloud's blow was enough to crush the metal pipe Sephiroth was standing on, but of course does nothing to Sephiroth himself.
* BloodierAndGorier: The ''Complete'' recut. While the characters didn't recieve apparent battle damage in the original version of the movie, ''Complete'' shows characters getting dirty as they fight, as well as damage being done to Bahamut SIN (e.g. some armor breaking off the face, revealing flesh and blood). The biggest change is toward the end of the fight between Cloud and Sephiroth, where Sephiroth stabs Cloud repeatedly in mid-air--to the point that Cloud becomes a bloody mess who is barely able to stand.

* WhatTheHellHero: A few characters (such as Tifa, Marlene and Vincent) gives Cloud one for his inability to let go of the past (and Aerith's death) and for shutting them out all the time and not paying them any attention.

* CurbstompBattle: Kadaj gets stomped by Cloud once the latter has his Geostigma infection healed.

* NoSell: Sephiroth casually blocks Cloud's initial attack and easily parries Omnislash, the attack that killed him when they last fought.

* ShowyInvincibleHero: Going through the SOLDIER process really makes one a badass. Tifa, Yuffie, and the rest are badass, but Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo are ''superhuman'', and it takes the three of them working together to make a match for Cloud.

** Cloud and Sephiroth's duel in this movie, which has both of them in prime condition, pretty much confirms once and for all that Cloud's previous defeats of Sephiroth was owned solely due to Sephiroth being weakened on both accounts Cloud killed him and in a fair fight, Cloud truly doesn't have any chance of winning against Sephiroth using his own abilities. Despite his growth in strength and experience and being deemed the only one who could take him in a fight with his friends weakened and rusty and no other fighter being enhanced or able to handle such high-level opponents, Cloud has ultimately just been fighting for a few years while Sephiroth has spent his entire life training and fighting in wars as Shinra's greatest SOLDIER. As such, Sephiroth is able to easily counter anything Cloud throws at him and whenever he attacks Cloud is put on the ropes the entire time, clearly toying with Cloud like a seasoned swordsman toys with a tough but ultimately less experienced swordsman, just to show he is the better warrior. It ultimately takes a HeroicSecondWind for Cloud to finally finish off Sephiroth and only by revealing his newly-developed Omnislash Version Five.
*** Likewise, in Complete, Cloud tries to use Omnislash to defeat Sephiroth once more, only to fail miserably. As it was the same move that was used to take down Sephiroth in their second battle when they were fighting on the Lifestream with Sephiroth weakened from being beaten as Safer-Sephiroth, Sephiroth has clearly seen through the attack and not only does Sephiroth block all of Cloud's attacks, he ends up using Cloud's attempt to deliver the finishing leaping blow to instead stab Masamune through Cloud's stomach. The Fusion Sword Cloud was using not being nearly as long as Sephiroth's Masamune, the move works spectacularly on Sephiroth's favor and completely negates Cloud's attempted attack before it can even come close.

*** That said, Cloud's defeats of Sephiroth was owned solely due to Sephiroth being weakened on both accounts Cloud killed him. This time around, Sephiroth has been revived fresh and at full strength and while Cloud has also been cured of his Geostigma and has grown much more competent in his own right, their fight has both of them on prime condition and Cloud proves to be unable to defeat Sephiroth with his own abilities. Despite his growth in strength and experience, Cloud has ultimately just been fighting for a few years while Sephiroth has spent his entire life training and fighting in wars as Shinra's greatest SOLDIER. While Cloud is the only one who could take Sephiroth in a fight with his friends weakened and no other fighter being enhanced or able to handle such high-level opponents, at the same time the difference in their skill and strength becomes evident as Sephiroth easily counters anything Cloud throws at him and overwhelms him and is clearly not going all-out, opting to toy with him to show who is the better warrior. Even Cloud's Omnislash doesn't work at all as it was the very move that was used to take down Sephiroth in their second battle when they were fighting on the Lifestream with Sephiroth weakened from being beaten as Safer-Sephiroth, and Sephiroth easily counters it due to having experienced the attack before. It ultimately takes a HeroicSecondWind for Cloud to finally finish off Sephiroth and only by revealing his newly-developed Omnislash Version Five.

** Or ''regained'' levels, more like. Tifa comments during Cloud's fight with Kadaj how they all got weaker since the end of the game, but Cloud's retained much of his edge due to his isolation, and after entering single combat with Kadaj, seems to once more become "the man who killed Sephiroth"...''twice.''

** Cloud never really had proper time to mourn Aerith and Zack's deaths in the original game due to the world being at risk. Once the threat is taken care of, things started to finally sink in and Cloud is in severe SurvivorsGuilt by the time the film rolls around.* MessiahCreep: Try watching [[spoiler:the baptism scene at the end of the movie]] and tell us that's not what's happening with Cloud.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Everyone seems a lot more concerned about Sephiroth's return than the silver-haired men kidnapping every single child in Edge. Somewhat justified in that Sephiroth nearly destroyed the entire world, but still.

** ''A memory or us?''

* {{Bishounen}}: Cloud, Sephiroth, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Vincent.

* ContinuityLockout:
** Though there is a recap at the beginning, the movie really requires you to play the game if you want to make sense out of it. The DVD (and Blu-ray) come with a recap of key events, though.
** ''Complete'' comes with an additional feature that recaps the events of the other spin-offs, although ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' is glanced over, as it is set a year after ''Advent Children''.
* CoolBike: Cloud's Fenrir, which gets bonus points for having a built-in sword rack to hold his new CoolSword.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
** Reno possibly qualifies.
** [[spoiler:President Shinra turns out to be a Crouching Cripple, Hidden Badass.]]

* DiscOneFinalBoss: Kadaj is TheHeavy of the film; he even engages Cloud in a SwordFight near the end. But he is still just ThePawn in Jenova and Sephiroth's endgame, moreso when Sephiroth resurrects using Kadaj's body.
** [[spoiler:Kadaj suspects his status as a pawn the whole time; he even voices his distress to Rufus.]]

* KarmaHoudini: ''Reno''. In ''Complete'' he has a conversation with Rude where he admits that he's happy helping people now, but he isn't quite sure if any one of them can really make up for what they did what with the whole almost destroying the world thing.

* ResurrectionRevenge: Ever since his death, Sephiroth has kept himself from being assimilated by TheLifestream, by focusing on his hatred of the one who killed him: [[TheHero Cloud]] [[ArchEnemy Strife.]] So his first order of business upon coming back to life, was to settle the score. But Cloud defeats him a second time, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyPlwtBTXpk after a hard fought battle.]]

* TheEndOrIsIt: Sephiroth's last words seem to indicate he believes this.
--> ''"I will...never be a memory..."''

** The stinger for ''Complete'' directly references this - [[spoiler:The first shot is of the spot Zack died, with flowers growing, and Denzel asking if it was someone's grave. Cloud replies that it was where "a hero began his journey". After this, the shot fades to Aerith's church, where the sword has been moved to and been restored.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Tifa gives a minor one to Cloud for being stuck in the past and not focusing on what's going on in the present.

* MessiahCreep: Try watching [[spoiler:the baptism scene at the end of the movie]] and tell us that's not what's happening with Cloud.

* RealityEnsues: A few in regards to people with poor mental health like Cloud.
** In general, finding one's resolve doesn't mean one will never relapse.
** Cloud never really had proper time to mourn Aerith and Zack's deaths in the original game due to the world being at risk. Once the threat is taken care of, things started to finally sink in and Cloud is in severe SurvivorsGuilt by the time the film rolls around.

** Right after Tifa [[IAmNotLeftHanded seemingly]] defeats Loz, the classic ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' victory chime [[ThemeTuneCameo starts playing in the background]]. It turns out to be [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn the ringtone to Loz's cellphone]]. Bonus points for the music in their fight scene basically being a piano cover of the game's standard fight theme.

** Right after Tifa [[IAmNotLeftHanded seemingly]] defeats Loz, the classic ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' victory chime [[ThemeTuneCameo starts playing in the background]]. It turns out to be [[SorryILeftTheBGMOn the ringtone to Loz's cellphone]]. Bonus points for the music in their fight scene basically being a piano cover of the game's standard fight theme.

* AscendedMeme: Sephiroth never actually had a wing in his human form until ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. It appears during the finale here. Also counts as a ShoutOut.

* IconicSequelSong: While Sephiroth's {{Leitmotif}} "One-Winged Angel" is present in the original game, the film's rendition of the song is the most frequently used in his {{crossover}} appearances and other promotional material(s).

** Tifa uses several of her special moves against Loz at the Sector 6 Church, including Somersault and Meteor Strike.
** Barret unleashes what seems to be Big Shot straight to Bahamut SIN's face.

* VocalEvolution: Just listen to Mena Suvari's performance here when compared to ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', you'll notice an immediate difference.

* {{Deuteragonist}}: Tifa gets the most development after Cloud, with her being the one who fills him on what's happening. Her voice actress gets second billing in every language.

* DownerBeginning: The film opens with a flashback showing Aerith's iconic death scene, particularly her underwater burial. It then follows with a text stating a two-year TimeSkip has happened since the end of the game, which then shows Cloud being very depressed over everything that has happened. It is then quickly revealed that many people (including Cloud) are currently suffering from a new disease called the Geostigma.

* IconicSequelOutfit: Cloud and Tifa's outfits in this film has appeared in several {{crossover}}s and has become just as recognizable as their original outfits.

** When the rest of AVALANCHE shows up as TheCavalry, the ones Denzel asks Tifa about are vincent and Yuffie, a.k.a. the optional party members.

* ArtEvolution: An "all-at-once" example. The original game had a very anime and cartoony design, even beyond the silly Lego-people polygons. Following the trend of the main series as a whole, Square Enix decided that in FFVII's next generation, they should go as realistic as possible. The new style stuck, and the entire Compilation has been near-photorealism since. (This also extends to the remake of the game.)

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Cloud and Tifa, whose relationship is not in the best place at the beginning of the movie. She loves him and has been trying to make it work, but he's still hung up on his feelings of guilt about Aerith's death and trying to seperate whatever feelings he may have had for Aerith from Zack's. Poor Tifa finally (quietly) snaps and tells Cloud she can't do this anymore.

* CastingGag: The voice actress for Marlene in both Japanese and English (Creator/SumireMorohoshi and Creator/ArielWinter, respectively) shares the voice for characters in other Creator/SquareEnix works: [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2 Mog]] and [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep young Kairi]], who are also cute, small characters. Andrea Bowen, who played the Moogle Girl, was also upgraded to voicing Aerith in ''Crisis Core''.

* DualWielding;

* ArtEvolution: An "all-at-once" example. The original game had a very anime and cartoony design, even beyond the silly Lego-people polygons. Following the trend of the main series as a whole, Square Enix decided that in FFVII's next generation, they should go as realistic as possible. The new style stuck, and the entire Compilation has been near-photorealism since. (This also extends to the in-the-works remake of the game.)

** Some posters and Blu-ray covers feature [[http://www.deathfall.com/forums/images/movies/427.poster an impending clash shot]] between Cloud and Sephiroth.

''Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children'' is {{the movie}} sequel to the seventh entry in the [[RunningGag magnitude-describingly]] popular ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series and a part of the ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII''.

* MissingTrailerScene: The first 2 trailers are infamous for being made almost entirely of test footage, none of which was used in the final movie (save the scene relating to Aerith's death). Interestingly, some screenshots of these scenes are actually on the back of the original DVD box.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: The original CE of the movie was available only in a limited run in Japan, and equated to around $300. It included the ''Last Order'' OVA, a cap and t-shirt with the Fenrir symbol printed on each, a Play Arts ''FFVIIAC'' Cloud with Fenrir, the voiceover script, a special reprint of the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII original game]] and the movie itself, complete with director's commentary and a special features disc. An American equivalent would be released much later, with many of the physical extras (save for the OVA) removed. ''FFVIIAC Complete'' also somewhat qualifies, considering the approximately 20 minutes of new footage and the ''On The Way To a Smile'' OVA.

* BackFromTheDead: [[LateArrivalSpoiler Sephiroth]] is resurrected by Kadaj eating Jenova cells. [[spoiler:Cloud gets shot in the back and caught in an explosion after the Sephiroth battle, but is stopped from entering the Lifestream by Zack and Aerith; he emerges in the Lifestream-infused pond in Aerith's church.]]

* BadassNormal: Rude. In a world where just about every fighting adult can practically fly, and even Reno has crazy climbing skills, Rude manages to hold his own against Loz with nothing but fists and a pair of sunglasses. [[spoiler:He also manages to stop Loz and Yazoo with his homemade bombs.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: In ''Complete'', Cloud arrives in time to see Denzel about to be devoured by Shadow Creepers and a collapsing building falling on a stunned Tifa. He [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throws]] parts of his [[BifurcatedWeapon bifurcated]] Fusion Sword and tags all three Shadow Creepers, saving Denzel. He then ''[[AbsurdlySharpBlade slices a building in half]]'' to save Tifa from being squashed.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Reno possibly qualifies. [[spoiler:President Shinra turns out to be a Crouching Cripple, Hidden Badass.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: This is basically everything involving the children. They all qualify as being [[LittlestCancerPatient cancer patients]], but then it goes FromBadToWorse when they are kidnapped by the silver-haired men, who have some questionable attitudes towards them. And there is also their baptism by Cloud.

* DualWielding; Cloud's [[BifurcatedWeapon Fusion Swords]], being six different blades, naturally get this treatment all throughout the film. [[note]](1) One base blade, (2) one hollow blade, (3/4) two back blades, (5/6) two side blades. In order: 1 -> 2 -> 1 & 2 -> 1+2 -> 1+2 & 3 -> 1+2+3 -> 1+2+3+4 -> 1+2+3+4 & 5 -> 1+2+3+4+5 -> 6 -> 1+2+3+4+5 & 6 -> 1+2+3+4+5+6 -> 1+3+4+5+6 & 2 -> 1+2+3+4+5+6 -> [[UpToEleven 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6]][[/note]]

* EasilyForgiven:
** Not so much [[ForgivenButNotForgotten "forgiven" as "forgotten"]], but everyone's attitude towards working with Shinra is basically "meh". Even [[WellIntentionedExtremist Barret]] is without complaint, and he saw Shinra personally kill his original team and drop the Sector Seven plate on the slums. That being said, [[DemotedToExtra he wasn't the focus of the movie]].

* {{Flanderization}}: Cloud's angsting went from pretty minor in the original game to taking over his characterization here. At the end of the game, he mostly seemed to have resolved his issues. But WordOfGod says that depression is a standard side effect of Geostigma--and Sephiroth was also [[MindRape screwing with Cloud's head]] the whole time. Then again, WordOfGod also says that they deliberately regressed Cloud's emotional state so he would feel more "familiar" to viewers (even though the movie actually makes him far ''more'' angsty than he was in the game), which turns the Geostigma side effect into a justification.