Final Fantasy 7 legend and Square Enix artist Tetsuya Nomura taks about Sephiroth’s sword and combat in this new interview.
Sephiroth ranks very high on the “cool” scale, and a huge reason for that is his ōdachi, the extra-long katana he wields, called the Masamune. He’s not the first Final Fantasy character to wield a sword that has this particular name, but he’s probably the most notable, not least because of a very infamous murder he commits with this sword at a key moment in the original FF7 (and also in FF7 Rebirth, although the scene plays out somewhat differently).
I’ve been both fascinated and amused by the ostentatious appearance of Sephiroth’s sword ever since I first saw cosplayers brandishing their versions of it at conventions in my teen years, and I’ve always wanted to know what went into its supremely impractical design.
So who better to ask than designer Tetsuya Nomura, the Square Enix visionary who first put this sword into Sephiroth’s hands? And so, in honor of Cool Sword Day, here’s Nomura explaining the sword’s backstory, its surprisingly variable length, and more.
Polygon: What led to the decision to name Sephiroth’s sword after the medieval blacksmith Masamune?
Tetsuya Nomura: The Masamune has appeared throughout the Final Fantasy series as the strongest sword. When thinking about equipping Sephiroth with a sword that is a worthy match for him, I figured there was no better option than Masamune.
Whose idea was it to give Sephiroth this specific type of sword, rather than a buster sword for example?
That would be mine.
