The Darkside of FF7

[Jaffer]

i can't explain why they didn't Kill Sephiroth before they left the crator, that's a question for the game creators (could have just been a plot device to keep the story moving)... but, it looked to me like they took off like an explosion, like they were launched out of their place of slumber... think of it like a volcano going off, the lava doesn't flow back into the volcano during it's eruption rather it flows out in a violent explosion... after waking up they prolly didn't just go straight to cleansing the planet, they may have been groggy and took a few hours before starting their rampage, they have been sleeping for a long time after all, technicaly they were just born, since they were stopped before their chance to be born after they were first created...

A good theory.
I always thought that they left the crator to stop Meteor, then realizing they couldn't get it (or get back in the crator) they just smashed up all other threats to the planet.
I still don't see what you mean by Diamond backing up to protect Sephiroth, looked like he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time - trying to go for the biggest threat to the planet that it could.

Not only did he attack from the only possible angle from which he could help Sephiroth, but when the Sister Ray charged it's beam, he went back a little, readied himself and tried to stop it. I have to assume that he was vaguely aware that they oly thing behind him was the one thing they were suppose to destroy.

[Elly]

i don't think the weapons are capable of complex thaught, if they were Saphire would not have been so easily shot in the face, all it was doing was steadying itself for a full on attack on Midgar... to say it was trying to protect Sephiropth is giving it far too much credit... as far as Diamond knew Midgar was getting ready to fire upon it...

[Crop]

i can't explain why they didn't Kill Sephiroth before they left the crator, that's a question for the game creators (could have just been a plot device to keep the story moving)... but, it looked to me like they took off like an explosion, like they were launched out of their place of slumber... think of it like a volcano going off, the lava doesn't flow back into the volcano during it's eruption rather it flows out in a violent explosion... after waking up they prolly didn't just go straight to cleansing the planet, they may have been groggy and took a few hours before starting their rampage, they have been sleeping for a long time after all, technicaly they were just born, since they were stopped before their chance to be born after they were first created...

A good theory.
I always thought that they left the crator to stop Meteor, then realizing they couldn't get it (or get back in the crator) they just smashed up all other threats to the planet.
I still don't see what you mean by Diamond backing up to protect Sephiroth, looked like he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time - trying to go for the biggest threat to the planet that it could.

when the Sister Ray charged it's beam, he went back a little, readied himself and tried to stop it.

Sounds like he was trying to brace himself for the shot from Sister Ray. He's big and slow so couldn't exactly get out of the way in time.
It's like if someone said, "I'm going to punch you in the chest" and you couldn't move out of the way, you'd step back and ready yourself for the punch.
And as Elly said; I don't think their capable of complex thaught, Saphire was a good example.

[Jaffer]

Still of the hundreds of angles to attack Midgar from he choose putting himself between the Sister Ray and the Northern Crater

[VeloZer0]

I always just assumed that was for convenience of plot.

And if you think about it, if Diamond Weapon came from the Northern Crater, made a B-line for Midgar, had a little nap in the ocean, then continued onward it would be directly in the line of fire.

[Elly]

Jaffer, you're just looking too hard for something that just isn't there, if the weapons were working for Sephiroth the Ultimania would have stated so...
true Sephiroth is controling JENOVA, but the Weapons are a product of Gaia to be used against JENOVA, why would the weapons of Gaia suddenly be turned to weapons of Sephiroth? it makes no sense, Sephiroth simply does not have the power to control the planet, he's trying to aquire that power by bringing it to the brink of death by using Meteor...
VeloZer0's theory is sound in this regard and makes a lot of sense, you also need to understand this game is from the ealy days of the PlayStation, it's not gonna be 100% geographicaly accurate as later additions in the FF series of games, honestly the Sister Ray could not be fired from Midgar without tearing through the mountain the Chocobo Sage lives on, there are allowances to be made on such an old title...

[Jaffer]

Jaffer, you're just looking too hard for something that just isn't there, if the weapons were working for Sephiroth the Ultimania would have stated so...
true Sephiroth is controling JENOVA, but the Weapons are a product of Gaia to be used against JENOVA, why would the weapons of Gaia suddenly be turned to weapons of Sephiroth? it makes no sense, Sephiroth simply does not have the power to control the planet, he's trying to aquire that power by bringing it to the brink of death by using Meteor...
VeloZer0's theory is sound in this regard and makes a lot of sense, you also need to understand this game is from the ealy days of the PlayStation, it's not gonna be 100% geographicaly accurate as later additions in the FF series of games, honestly the Sister Ray could not be fired from Midgar without tearing through the mountain the Chocobo Sage lives on, there are allowances to be made on such an old title...

Actually, Sephiroth may not have been stated to control the Weapons but he has been stated to be in control of the Lifestream. Even when he was a beaten dog after FF7 he could pretty effortlessly oust Aerith from her position and go back to his schemes again. He even expressed that he could just complete his objectives while remaining inside the Lifestream but there was things he wanted to do with his own hands.

Given that. I find a lot easier to assume that Sephiroth was manipulating the WEAPONS then that they were just designed to be as counterproductive as physically possible towards achieving the goal they are set out to do.

[Elly]

Sephiroth is not in control of the lifestream, he is trying to control it, otherwise the lifestream may not have been able to beat his attempt to harm Gaia with Meteor as displayed at the end of the original game and during "Case of Denzil"...

[Jaffer]

That was right after Sephiroth was defeated to the point tat he couldn't hold back Holy anymore either. He was dead at the time.

[VeloZer0]

Wasn't the whole point of summoning Meteor so that the Lifestream would all gather to heal the wound and he would absorb it all/become one with it? If he could control the Lifestream I don't see why this would be necessary.

[LusciousCrane]

Sephy cannot control the lifestream, therefore he did summon meteor, not only to destroy gaia, but uses north crater as a base and brings jenova there with him. This is important because jenova's presence in the crater is what makes the lifestream gather there so that sephy can control it (this is because jenova's fall/arrival on the planet is what created the North Crater in the first place). Basically he wanted to hold back the lifestream like he was doing to Holy. That way meteor (which is what he was doing with his own hands) could not be stopped.

Going back to the original topic of the thread though, I actually believe that the greatest villain (greatest in terms of most evil that is) would be Ultimecia from VIII. seriously though, whats more evil than a powerful sorceress who isn't content with conquering and controlling the world, but goes further to project her evil spirit into the past in an attempt to merge the two time periods of the world and control it as well?