From the spiky-haired Cloud Strife, to the loud and plucky Cait Sith, Final Fantasy 7 features some of the series' most iconic and strangest characters. Gamers for years have been stumped by what type of creature the stoic Red XIII actually is, but the director of Final Fantasy 7's remake, Tetsuya Nomura, shares what they think he is.
Red XIII, or Nanaki, joins Cait Sith as the only non-human members of the player's party in Final Fantasy 7. The maroon animal hails from Cosmo Canyon, and joins the player's party early into Final Fantasy 7 (or late into Final Fantasy 7 Remake) during the party's seige on Shinra headquarters to save Aerith Gainsborough. As the last of his kind, Red XIII was captured by Shinra and experimented on by Professor Hojo, the crazed scientist ultimately hoping to interbreed him and Aerith in order to preserve both their species. After the events of Final Fantasy 7, and at what is considered the end of the game's timeline, Red XIII appears with his cubs overlooking the ruins of Midgar.
According to an interview of Nomura, Final Fantasy 7's Red XIII is actually a feline despite pervading fan beliefs. Reddit user Aliasis shared a quote from Nomura to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake subreddit where they explain the origins of a scene in Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children where Cait Sith can be seen riding Red XIII. Nomura details that during the creation of Parasite Eve, they wanted to make a game without any human characters, where the player controlled a cat that rode on the back of a dog, in turn inspiring the scene in the film. Despite this, Nomura states in translation, "But I guess since Red XIII is a feline of sorts, it would actually be a cat riding on a cat in this case," before laughing.
It is unknown how old this quote of Nomura's is, but it is nonetheless strange how Nomura's thoughts contradict some of Red XIII's depiction in the time since Advent Children's release. The most obvious example is an iconic line from Final Fantasy 7 Remake where Red XIII himself states that he is a "lab rat dog," something Barret tried deciphering just a few scenes prior. Fans more generally have described Red XIII as mix between a lion and wolf, as he has the physical characteristics of both, like the tail of a lion but the snout of a wolf.
There is obviously still ambiguity regarding Red XIII as a creature, considering Nomura's own vagueness with their "of sorts" answer. However, this lends a further sense of comedy to all of the scenes where Red XIII is perceived as a dog, knowing that the original creator has a more feline-envisioning of him. Hopefully players will be able to take advantage of Red XIII's feline-like qualities in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 through platforming or combat.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is out now for PC, PS4, and PS5.