The introduction to Yuffie in the original Final Fantasy 7 comes off as a strange encounter with little context behind it when players first run into her. However, as Square Enix has done with many of the characters in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the recent Intermission DLC has expanded on Yuffie's motivations and backstory to better connect her with Cloud and the rest of the party.

Interestingly enough, this is accomplished by further expanding on the newly revealed AVALANCHE from Final Fantasy 7 Remake that the main party is now considered to be an offshoot from. By exploring some new characters and including some dialogue between Yuffie and another fighter from Wutai, the connection between her and the rest of the party is set up before they even meet.

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Yuffie Working With the Real AVALANCHE

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The start of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intermission DLC campaign follows Yuffie joining up with the real AVALANCHE, the larger eco-terrorist organization that Barret and his crew used to belong to. It's mentioned at one point that the others are referred to as a Splinter Cell, and that the main group doesn't approve of the reactor bombings and the collateral damage that results from the attacks. So, while these are still eco-terrorists looking to fight back against the Shinra Electric Power Company, their numbers are presumably much larger and tactics differ from the attacks players participate in during the base game.

It's made clear from the start that Yuffie is partnering with AVALANCHE as an official agent of Wutai, her home country and a foreign power that has been at war with Shinra for years. However, she seems apprehensive at first to really help them out, given the half-measures that they seem to take when it comes to fighting Shinra while also trying to do what's best for the people. While Yuffie does soften up a bit after interacting with Midgar citizens through Intermission's side quests and other story beats, she clearly has a more extremist view on bringing Shinra down.

Yuffie's Hatred of Shinra

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This motivation for Yuffie is something that always existed in the original game, but is much more prevalent in Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, the spin-off title that gave Zack Fair the spotlight. A major part of the Final Fantasy 7 backstory involves the Shinra-Wutai War, a years long conflict that introduced the development of the SOLDIER program and is where Sephiroth earned his status as a hero. Considering that Yuffie is from Wutai, that means that she was on the losing side of this war and had been trying to join the fight against Shinra since she was 9 years old.

Needless to say, her entire motivation when it comes to Shinra is revenge for what they did to her home during the war, specifically with the humiliation of being turned into a vacation resort and her father becoming a washed-up drunk. The original does explore these through a series of side quests that can occur if Yuffie has joined the party, but it's fairly disconnected from the main plot, since she was an optional character. Still, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's DLC goes to great lengths to make this a major part of Yuffie's character and the driving force for everything she does throughout the campaign.

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Sonon and Yuffie's Motives in Midgar

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Yuffie isn't alone in this hatred of Shinra, as Sonon, the new character Intermission introduces, also holds a great deal of animosity for Shinra in general and Scarlet in specific. As the story goes, they're both in Midgar in order to steal a supercharged materia from Shinra HQ that their spies have discovered Research and Development to be working on. While this is an excellent nod to the huge materia that dominates a large portion of the original game's third act, it also acts as a convenient excuse for Wutai and AVALANCHE to team up.

It's during this mission that Yuffie learns of Cloud and the Splinter Cell's escapades and their bombing missions in Midgar's mako reactors. A short exchange between Sonon and Yuffie even goes so far as to say that they might prefer to be working with this Splinter Cell, rather than the larger Avalanche group. So, even before any of these main characters actually meet, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is already setting up for why Yuffie would be willing to join the group in greater detail than a mere whim.

Yuffie Choosing the AVALANCHE That Best Fits Her Goals

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In the end, Yuffie's decision to go from supporting the AVALANCHE that is looking to strip Shinra of its power and create a peaceful democracy to the violent, reactor bombers is set up in layers. By showing players how Yuffie views Shinra and the people who live under the company's rule, it's clear that she isn't one for half-measures when it comes to taking them down. Then there's the double gut-punch that caps off the second chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's DLC, where she has to come face-to-face with the cruelty of Shinra as they drop the Sector 7 plate on their own people.

By the time Yuffie has made it through this mission and is ready to make her decision on where to take a stance in this conflict, she's much more on the side of Cloud and party. The "take down Shinra at all cost" motivation is absolutely a shared motif between the entire core cast by the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. So, from the standpoint that players now see Yuffie, it isn't a surprise that she might seek out and join this AVALANCHE Splinter Cell in their quest to stop Shinra.

Of course, this does leave out the rest of the party's motivation to stop Final Fantasy 7's big bad Sephiroth, but as mentioned before, he was made a hero by helping to destroy her home. It isn't much of a stretch to say that her hatred for everything Shinra would extend to the man who is credited as singlehandedly securing the company's victory over Wutai. She might still conflict with the rest of the group, who have been given a deep remorse for the destruction caused by the bombings in the remake. However, conflicts on motivation between party members like this might be exactly the drama that the Wutai side quest needs to make it stick harder into the next game's main story.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now for PS4 and PS5.

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