Rufus' Characterization (or lack thereof)

[Forsaken Lover]

So I actually had someoen try to argue with me that Rufus was a better antagonist than Sephiroth because he was "deeper". Now I'm no fan of Sephiroth (at least not post-FF7) but the appeal of Rufus has alluded me.

Now I realize he looks cool. In fact I love the boss battle with him where he jumps up and grabs the helicopter. That is pretty epic. But the fact remains that apart from his introduction speech to the party, the guy doesn't do much.

Which is why I find his antihero status iN AC to be all the more baffling. This is the guy who said his father's methods (the man who crushes the slums full of dozens or hundreds of innocents just to frame a handful of rebels) weren't harsh enough. This is the guy who was gonna have Barret and Tifa executed just to gain support of the masses.

He's not a good person. At all.

He's not a great villain either. He really does nothing fo rmost of the game except pop up now and then and he finally (we thought so anyway) dies. That's it. There isn't even much fuss made over his "death".

Rufus was really nothing in the end. A generic villain who got a ridiculous personality switch.

[seiferalmasy2]

I don't bring any of the spn offs into it cause they are cash ins and usually retcons.

Sephiroth does have a lot more depth than Rufus. people who use the word "deep" are usually the kind that are finding something in nothing and trying to appear intellectual....and failing.

We learn about Sephiroth's past, which is already more than we know about Rufus. Rufus is cool, but he is not expanded on, and he needn't be. He simply serves as the head of Shin-Ra

[Rostum]

The Shinra company itself has a lot of stuff going for it throughout the compilation; I guess they just needed to put a face to it after the death of Rufus' father.