What's ahead for 3 key characters in Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2

Now that was a galaxy-brain ending.

Nearly five years since it was announced at E3 2015, Final Fantasy VII Remake has finally arrived. While the first installment of the epic story ends largely where and when series die-hards had expected, a massive twist opens up huge possibilities for where Cloud, Aerith, and their companions will go next. It’s clear FF7 Remake Part 2 will depart from the original story in some pretty significant ways.

One of the biggest changes in FF7 Remake is the expanded role of Avalanche, and it’s likely the eco-warriors will play an even bigger role in the upcoming sequel (or sequels). There’s also the matter of a certain person from Cloud’s past that we definitely didn’t expect to see. We’ve put together our best predictions for what we might see from three of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s most memorable and surprising characters in Part 2, from Inverse’s squad of fans and first-timers.

Major spoilers ahead for the ending of FF7 Remake, right after the Stamps.

Zack

While I haven’t beaten the original Final Fantasy VII or its spin-off titles, I know that Zack is a pivotal character to the entire story and recognized his cameo appearance at the end of the game. His inclusion was well-hidden by the development team, but has also caused the most speculation since the game’s launch. There’s one question on everyone’s minds now: is Zack alive in this version of the story?

At the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a glimpse of Zack's fateful battle with an overwhelming number of Shinra soldiers. This plays out similarly to Crisis Core’s ending – Zack even repeats the same lines of dialogue – but. It appears that due to Cloud and his pals meddling with destiny in the finale of FF7 Remake, Zack was able to overcome the force that originally beat him and walks off with Cloud.

If these events are literal, they have major implications for Final Fantasy VII Remake’s continuing story. Zack’s death sparks Cloud’s identity crisis, and shapes Aerith’s personality and behavior as well. Cloud and Aerith’s conversation in the playground of Evergreen Park seems to suggest Zack did die in FF7 Remake’s timeline, which muddies the waters.

One theory is the most plausible: an alternate timeline or dimension has been created due to Zack’s survival. The linchpin of this theory is that Stamp, the Shinra mascot depicted in Avalanche graffiti throughout Midgar, looks very different in one of Zack’s ending scenes. Alt-Stamp is a terrier, while every other time we see him in FF7 Remake, Stamp is a hound.

The ending of FF7 Remake makes it clear that alternate dimensions are fair game for the sequel, and Zack’s survival is one of the biggest indicators of that. Now that he is alive though, what role will he serve? That depends on how closely Square Enix wants to tie him into Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2’s plot.

I could definitely see a greater emphasis on an alternate dimension where Zack lives in the sequel, or for him to somehow hop dimensions thanks to Aerith’s powers. Once he does that, he could even become a party member if Square Enix really wanted to deviate from the original. All of the time travel and alternate universe shenanigans of FF7 Remake’s ending can make your head hurt, but no matter how Zack’s survival ends up being explained you can be damn sure it will be a focal point for the sequel.

Basically, Final Fantasy VII Remake has gone full Kingdom Hearts. Thanks, Tetsuya Nomura. – Tomas Franzese

Biggs

After playing the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo, somebody told me with confidence that every Avalanche member but Barret was going to die, as they did in the original. That didn’t happen. Following his somber coda, Biggs re-appeared in the orphanage where he once worked, patched up and walked about.

The implication is that Biggs will appear in at least one other FF7 Remake title. You don’t save a character from death just to feel good. Perhaps he’ll even be playable in future installments, slotting into the role of a character from the original game.

There’s one particular character who would make a great fit for this: Cid. How could this happen? All 15 Final Fantasy games have a Cid, and they all share some common characteristics.

Biggs could lose his memory, as Cids often do in the Final Fantasy-verse. Amid his amnesia, he’s given a new name and objective to help with engineering. We’ve already seen his mechanical skills in play. Biggs was the one who performed all the door-hacking during the first Mako Reactor raid. He clearly knows his way around circuitry, just like FF7’s original Cid. His headband works as almost a pair of starter goggles. What’s more, letting Biggs pinch-hit as the quippy tech whiz in FF7 Remake Part 3 would conveniently sidestep the minefield of Cid’s creepy, abusive relationship with Shera in the original game.

Retconning Biggs into Cid would give the Midgar section of the story more meaning than it once had. FF7 Remake Midgar isn’t just the beginning act, but a seedling for the entire cast of characters who will join us on our unknown journey. Not everything will be the same this time around, that even applies to character identities. Besides, who doesn’t want to see Biggs with a spear and a wrench? – Just Lunning

Wedge

At the end of the Midgar section of the original FF7 story, Wedge is very, very dead. He falls from the Sector 7 plate, a jumble of flailing polygons. It’s the epitome of an inglorious end.

Final Fantasy VII Remake casts Avalanche’s kitty-loving lieutenant in a better light. He’s still comic relief, but he’s brave and kind too. He survives and convinces the Shrinra sentries to allow the residents of the Sector 7 slums to escape, saving an untold number of lives. He heads back home to save his beloved trio of kitties as the plate falls, but emerges alive after falling into Shinra’s underground lab. He makes another dramatic return by sending in a chopper from “Avalanche HQ” to rescue our heroes from the Shinra building. The last we see of him, he’s surrounded by the Whispers of Fate on the 64th floor, and as the screen fades to black we hear a window shatter. Wedge apologizes to Cloud and says, “just tell me that I made a difference.”

I’m not convinced this means Wedge is dead, although the writers clearly want us to think so. Here are two reasons why:

1. Final Fantasy characters survive falls from a great height all the time. Cloud did it earlier in this very story, when he fell through the roof of the Sector 5 church. Biggs’s surprise ending in FF7 Remake also proves that not even the wombo combo of a heartfelt farewell speech, terrible wounds, and a fall from a great height are enough to keep a character from popping up again.
2. There are hints throughout FF7 Remake that Avalanche has a much bigger global presence than it did in the original game. Wedge seems to be the go-between for dealing with Avalanche HQ, and the group’s involvement in the attack on the Shinra building suggests he has a warm relationship with them.

Wedge might have been tossed out the window, but I wouldn’t be shocked to discover he was saved by a fast-moving Avalanche chopper pilot. It’s safe to assume Avalanche and Wutai will have bigger roles in the remake’s version of the story, since the eco-terrorist organization is rumored to have links to Wutai’s government. That probably wasn’t just empty Shinra propaganda. I predict Wedge will be back in Part 2 to introduce Cloud and his friends to Yuffie, the daughter of Wutai’s leader and an optional party member in the original game. (We wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a senior leader of Avalanche this time around, instead of a materia-crazed pickpocket.) – Jen Glennon

The sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake is in development.