Two Red XIII questions (minor spoilers)

Firstly, anyone who's played this game even once knows that Red's real name is "Nanaki"(sp?), but when he is asked his name when he is in the Shinra Tower, he simply announces that he was named here as "Red XII" and that Cloud can call him whatever he wants to. Why? Why does he not mention his real name until he gets home? Why couldn't his real name have been his gameplay-name?


Secondly, When you have to fight Hojo late in the game, you can talk to Nanaki before you go, and he'll mention that he has "scores to settle with Hojo" - is it me or did that come out of nowhere?! I can understand Vincent saying this line, as his hate for Hojo is explained completely. The only thing I can think of that hinted to a Hojo/Nanaki feud was their fight at the Shinra Tower, but that can't be it because; a) Nanaki attacked Hojo, so he started the fight, and b) Nanaki clearly won, so the fights already over.

I hope you understand my questions.

well, actually, yeah nanaki is nanaki
and secondly...Hojo wanted to breed Aerith with Nanaki..
we think thats revolting...wouldnt you?
and...yeah...i have a question for it too...why is Bugenhagen Nanakis grandad if hes human!!
D: SOMEONE EXPLAIN IT
there you go...

Maybe he was ashamed of his name because of the whole thinking his dad was a coward thing, or he just didnt care.

RedXIII hates hojo because he caged him up and its possible he did some experiments on him.

The grandad thing isnt literal, he's just an important figure in his life

If memory serves, he was given the tatoo of XIII by Hojo. Branding his test subjects with numbers was a common practice of his and it's very demeaning to do to intelligent beings.

Of his family, we clearly can see that Seto is of the same species. Presumably, his mother was also of the same species, although she's not mentioned by name even seen in flashbacks. Bugenhagen takes on the role of wise mentor to Nanaki, so it'd be natural for him to refer to him affectionately as grandfather.

i used the name nanaki once for his screen name.. you get funny conversations that go like: "why is he calling Nanaki Nanaki?" (not a real line, just an example)

still pretty funny though :)

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Firstly, anyone who's played this game even once knows that Red's real name is "Nanaki"(sp?), but when he is asked his name when he is in the Shinra Tower, he simply announces that he was named here as "Red XII" and that Cloud can call him whatever he wants to. Why? Why does he not mention his real name until he gets home? Why couldn't his real name have been his gameplay-name?

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He doesn't have a lot of faith in humans, and doesn't trust the ones he doesn't know - so he leaves it up to Cloud and co to call him whatever they want, rather than reveal his name to them. The trust thing isn't an issue later on, once the team's as close as family, but by then they're all used to calling him Red XIII anyway.

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Secondly, When you have to fight Hojo late in the game, you can talk to Nanaki before you go, and he'll mention that he has "scores to settle with Hojo" - is it me or did that come out of nowhere?! I can understand Vincent saying this line, as his hate for Hojo is explained completely. The only thing I can think of that hinted to a Hojo/Nanaki feud was their fight at the Shinra Tower, but that can't be it because; a) Nanaki attacked Hojo, so he started the fight, and b) Nanaki clearly won, so the fights already over.

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Like the others are saying - Hojo captured Nanaki, studied him, and tried to make him breed with Aerith. Any one of those might be considered a fate worse than death, so Nanaki would be out for blood.

Your answers make sense.

Thank you for answering everyone.

I'd agree with Big D on the first question.

On the second, I thought that it may have just been a general reference to the problems and adversity that Hojo has caused throughout the game as well as reference to the experiments Hojo wanted to/did perform on Red XIII.

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Originally Posted by BG-57

If memory serves, he was given the tatoo of XIII by Hojo. Branding his test subjects with numbers was a common practice of his and it's very demeaning to do to intelligent beings.

Of his family, we clearly can see that Seto is of the same species. Presumably, his mother was also of the same species, although she's not mentioned by name even seen in flashbacks. Bugenhagen takes on the role of wise mentor to Nanaki, so it'd be natural for him to refer to him affectionately as grandfather.

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I agree with both of these answers, reffering to bugenhagen as grandfarther makes me see a mentor role too.

I always imagined that Nanaki had jenova cells injected into him, as an experiment to see how an animal would react to them. Hence the tattoo similar to the other Sephy clones.

Injecting you with a heavy dose of something very likely to screw with your whole life would piss anyone off, hence the need for revenge.

The reason he didnt originally admit to his real name was perhaps due to the shame he felt for his family for his fathers actions (as far as he knew), so trying to avoid his real name might help him repress those feelings towards his father.

I usually name him Nanaki every time now, if no other reason than to see how weird it is that Nanakis real name is Nanaki, lol

Try not to read his name as "Red the Thirteenth", but as "Red Thirteen".

Nanaki may have a background a later game could explain...

Anyway, yeah, the answers are pretty much summed up.

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Originally Posted by Scarmiglione

Try not to read his name as "Red the Thirteenth", but as "Red Thirteen".

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I already do.

Here's a thought though, (if you want me to move it I will);

If he was marked as "13" does that mean that others of his species where captured too? I doubt it's the same number marking as the Sephiroth clones as they are all humans.

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Originally Posted by Lady of the sheep

and secondly...Hojo wanted to breed Aerith with Nanaki..
we think thats revolting...wouldnt you?

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Don't let Baloki catch you saying that.

Never mentioning his name? He wanted nothing to do with the team, that's why. He only wanted to stick around as long as it took to get home, and that was it. I don't recall him ever joining in saying "We're going after Sephiroth" until Bugenhagen told him to... I could be wrong about that though.

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Originally Posted by ReloadPsi

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Originally Posted by Lady of the sheep

and secondly...Hojo wanted to breed Aerith with Nanaki..
we think thats revolting...wouldnt you?

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Don't let Baloki catch you saying that.

Never mentioning his name? He wanted nothing to do with the team, that's why. He only wanted to stick around as long as it took to get home, and that was it. I don't recall him ever joining in saying "We're going after Sephiroth" until Bugenhagen told him to... I could be wrong about that though.

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i dunno, i never really got the vibe that he didnt care at all(although a lot less then the rest, remem the line "what an interesting story", more amused then impressed or something like that.. but i dont think he only did everything because budenhagen told him so

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Originally Posted by ReloadPsi

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Originally Posted by Lady of the sheep

and secondly...Hojo wanted to breed Aerith with Nanaki..
we think thats revolting...wouldnt you?

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Don't let Baloki catch you saying that.

Never mentioning his name? He wanted nothing to do with the team, that's why. He only wanted to stick around as long as it took to get home, and that was it. I don't recall him ever joining in saying "We're going after Sephiroth" until Bugenhagen told him to... I could be wrong about that though.

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No your not even when you talk to him while everyone stands outside Midgar he says "Im going back to my hometown.Ill go with you as far as that."

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Originally Posted by Lady of the sheep

well, actually, yeah nanaki is nanaki
and secondly...Hojo wanted to breed Aerith with Nanaki..
we think thats revolting...wouldnt you?
and...yeah...i have a question for it too...why is Bugenhagen Nanakis grandad if hes human!!
D: SOMEONE EXPLAIN IT
there you go...

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he means grandfather in a philisophical sense,
And maby they used the name Red XIII instead of nanaki because it sounds cooler, simple yes but maby even logical.

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Originally Posted by Lady of the sheep

and...yeah...i have a question for it too...why is Bugenhagen Nanakis grandad if hes human!!
D: SOMEONE EXPLAIN IT
there you go...

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When a daddy gets drunk at is a bit horny he gets slightly attratced to his dog... after a while the dogs becomes very uncomfortable and ... well you get the rest.

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Originally Posted by MJN SEIFER

If he was marked as "13" does that mean that others of his species where captured too? I doubt it's the same number marking as the Sephiroth clones as they are all humans.

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I doubt it because the only three of his species we're ever told about is Red, his mother and his father. I was under the impression during Hojo's tenure as Head of the Science Department, Red was the sole survivor of his species as we never see or are told of any others. Presumably if Hojo had captured more of Red's species then Red or Bugenhagen would've known about it since Cosmo Canyon seems to be their homeland.

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Originally Posted by Heath

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Originally Posted by MJN SEIFER

If he was marked as "13" does that mean that others of his species where captured too? I doubt it's the same number marking as the Sephiroth clones as they are all humans.

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I doubt it because the only three of his species we're ever told about is Red, his mother and his father. I was under the impression during Hojo's tenure as Head of the Science Department, Red was the sole survivor of his species as we never see or are told of any others. Presumably if Hojo had captured more of Red's species then Red or Bugenhagen would've known about it since Cosmo Canyon seems to be their homeland.

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Hojo seems to believe Nanaki is the last of his kind, too.
Obviously this is later proven wrong, but Nanaki's kind are definitely sparse.

More likely Hojo numbered him like he did the other Sephiroth 'clones'. I think Nanaki actually expresses concern about that at one moment in the game in the Great Crater.

I reckon Hojo just numbers all his important samples/experiments. I don't think Nanaki's tattoo is specifically related to the 'clones'. He does worry about that possibility - at the Gold Saucer recap before the date scene, he wonders if he's going to go mad like the tattooed folks in black capes. But since he never shows any adverse side effects at all, and doesn't find himself supernaturally strong compared to how he used to be, I'd say it's a safe bet that he wasn't used for Jenova cell experiments.

I suppose there's always the possibility that Jenova cells wouldn't affect his species, but I think, as D said, it's a pretty safe bet that he wasn't used for any Jenova experiment.

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Originally Posted by Big D

Hojo seems to believe Nanaki is the last of his kind, too.
Obviously this is later proven wrong, but Nanaki's kind are definitely sparse.

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i have another question
(i know, this isnt technically to do with the thread, but still, its a q to do withole Nanaki)
so, on AC, you see Nanaki has two sons (i have assumed their his...) so...maybe Hojo DID get Nanaki and Aerith to...
erhem...course, you shouldnt take that last comment seriously, only because i know that there MAY be more of his kind.....BUT Nanaki said there was none...
:(

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Originally Posted by Lady of the sheep

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Originally Posted by Big D

Hojo seems to believe Nanaki is the last of his kind, too.
Obviously this is later proven wrong, but Nanaki's kind are definitely sparse.

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i have another question
(i know, this isnt technically to do with the thread, but still, its a q to do withole Nanaki)
so, on AC, you see Nanaki has two sons (i have assumed their his...) so...maybe Hojo DID get Nanaki and Aerith to...
erhem...course, you shouldnt take that last comment seriously, only because i know that there MAY be more of his kind.....BUT Nanaki said there was none...
:(

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He had two offspring at the end of the game, too. That's exactly the same scene as the start of Advent Children. It's five hundred years later. We don't know who mothered Nanaki's children, but it cannot possibly have been Aerith since those babies weren't born until centuries after every other FFVII character died:p
Clearly, Nanaki eventually found others of his species, just like Bugenhagen said he might do. Hojo believed Nanaki was the last of his kind, and Nanaki seemed to think so too - but how could either of them be certain? Especially Hojo. Clearly, there were scattered survivors, and Nanaki eventually started a family with one of them.
It's kind of like how everyone believed that the Cetra vanished millennia ago, when in reality the bloodline was continued.

Or, maybe Hojo had captured more dog-lions at some point, whether when he captured Red or at an earlier time. These other dog-lions he killed off during experiments, but he still had DNA. Nanaki's unfinished business with Hojo is in part an attempt to acquire some of that DNA, which he later uses to clone a mate for himself.