So did humanity survive? (ending spoilers)

Yeah, unmarked spoilers ahead...

I've been wondering this for a few years now...

Lets ignore the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII for a moment and think back to the late 90s/early 2000s, when Final Fantasy VII was still it's own self contained storyline and the sequels hadn't been thought of yet...

At the very end of the game, after we see a giant explosion flash and the fate of our heroes unclear, we see the credits roll and then we see Nanaki and his two babies running through a canyon and howling over a scene of the remains of Midgar 500 years later, completely taken back by nature. We see birds fly over, the end. Absolutely no signs of humanity are to be seen after the credits roll, aside of some childish laughter over a black screen at the very end.

Okay, fine, Midgar has been destroyed, but we get a pretty panoramic view of the extensive landscape in the distance. Isn't it odd that all those people evacuated from the biggest city on the planet wouldn't have established a new city somewhere near by in that 500 years? No, all we see is lush greenery untouched by man. Not even any roads or anything, not a single sign of human beings present, only the ruins of Midgar signifying but a memory of humans.

So did humanity survive meteor's impact? Did they all die from that blast? Did they just die off over that 500 years, unable to recover from the post-meteor apocalypse? Or perhaps they died off from something else?

What message do you think the original development team had in mind?

The bigger mystery is how Nanaki reproduced if he was the last of his kind...

Mitosis.

Honestly, there's nothing in the original ending that indicates to me that humanity died. There's plenty to indicate that not only were you successful in saving the world from meteor, but humanity decided to back away from raping the planet so they could watch their TV programs.

As for Nanaki, I prefer to imagine he and Cid hooked up at some point. It's either that or his race wasn't really extinct (which is also possible).

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The bigger mystery is how Nanaki reproduced if he was the last of his kind...

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Life will find a way.

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Originally Posted by Tifa's Boobs

The bigger mystery is how Nanaki reproduced if he was the last of his kind...

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That was never said. Bugenhagen mentions Nanaki might find his partner and On the Way to a Smile (which was written afterwards, however) also mentions it.

Yes, life in general continued. The planet survived and so its "children". It is not just about humanity, it is all life. Life was able to remain, the Planet was able to win and so Sephiroth did not win.

Going by FF VII alone, I'd say the children's laughter at the end is a dead giveaway.

As I've said before, there's absolutely nothing to suggest that humanity ended. I always thought the ruined Midgar just meant that people had abandoned using Mako, like they were supposed to anyway.

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Originally Posted by nik0tine

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The bigger mystery is how Nanaki reproduced if he was the last of his kind...

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Life will find a way.

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http://www.thehighdefinite.com/wp-co...1/12/8yPA2.jpg

I think if the original developers wanted humanity to be dead at the end of FFVII, they would have had humanity be dead in AC.

then you have those that believe nobody survived and by making AC, totaly ruined the end of the original game...

i on the other hand have always contested that the childrens laughter at the end is all the proof i needed that humanity did survive after all, untill AC & DoC later proved me right... funny, children laughing, Advent Children, hmmm...

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Originally Posted by Elly

funny, children laughing, Advent Children, hmmm...

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It is "Advent Children" because Square wanted "children" to be in the title at any cost and the other word standing for Sephiroth's return.

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Originally Posted by Elly

then you have those that believe nobody survived and by making AC, totaly ruined the end of the original game...

i on the other hand have always contested that the childrens laughter at the end is all the proof i needed that humanity did survive after all, untill AC & DoC later proved me right... funny, children laughing, Advent Children, hmmm...

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Wasn't Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus set 2-5 years after the events of the first game, and the ending of the game set 500 years after?

While they obviously didn't die caused by Meteor, it's not impossible that humans would still have died at that point.

But they probably didn't.

yeah Seph, that's kinda what i was getting at... but, also suggesting that maybe the laughter at the end of the original game may have prompted or inspired them to want to use Children in the movie title years down the line... not saying they planned the title of the movie since the day they finished making FFVII the game, but years down were prolly inspired to use it due to the children laughing at the end of the original game, thus possibly proving the laughter meant people survived was the correct theory... they were setting it 2 years after Meteorfall and maybe chose the last thing anyone would remember after the final credits rolled to inspire the name of the movie...

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Originally Posted by Sephiroth

It is "Advent Children" because Square wanted "children" to be in the title at any cost and the other word standing for Sephiroth's return.

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Why did they want "children" to be in the title at any cost?

Oh, and here I thought this was going to be about that part where Bugenhagen said Holy would destroy anything considered evil and even points out that the Planet could deem humanity evil, thus Holy would wipe us out along with Meteor.

They attempted to leave it ambiguous, but I guess people just went ahead and assumed humanity survived.

the crux of that argument lies in the fact that not all of humanity is evil... in On The Way to a Smile - Case of Denzil, Denzil explains how Holy killed many people and left just as many alive, so Holy did spare many people for various reasons... now before the Compilation i never denied anyone died just the theory that Holy wiped out ALL of humanity, and there is the original question "Did Humanity Survive?"... even without the Compilation i would still say yes, just due to the children laughing after the credits roll... the children signifies a new beginning...

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Originally Posted by Roogle

Why did they want "children" to be in the title at any cost?

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I am not Square. Nomura wanted the word to express Sephiroth's part and Nojima wanted to mention the children. Both are important for the plot. The Ultimania mentions it.

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Originally Posted by Roogle

They attempted to leave it ambiguous, but I guess people just went ahead and assumed humanity survived.

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No, they didn't. Just that people eventually stopped using Mako. That is also explained in the Ultimania. They wanted to make it unequivocally without showing humans. Everyone saw the flash when the Lifestream hit Meteor and wanted to know what happened and of course if humanity survived. Then they showed Nanaki and his children and still did not say it. You just knew the planet was still there and also life. And then during the very last moment they used the laughter to finally say "here is what you were waiting for, the happy ending".

What I do like is the agnostic theme. How a meteor is heading towards the planet and nobody is making any real preparations. Why masses of people aren't in front of churches praying. Sitting at tables if you enter homes to nicer meals.

Yeah, the multimillion-dollar masterpiece of the time couldn't fit all the details. Whatcha expect. It's fiction.

I'm pretty sure humanity survives to answer the original question. There'd be no point in making a game where heroes have to save a planet truly doomed. According to the author/opinion of fans.

I interpreted the ending in a way that Holy/Lifestream is meant to eliminate all alien substances that are not a part of the Planet, or should I say, part of the Lifestream. Therefore, things like Meteor and Jenova cells get destroyed. However, humans are a part of Lifestream's cycle, so they survive.