Summary
There are a ton of great characters in Final Fantasy 7, and that’s not even getting close to all the unique characters in the expanded universe of the game. One character, though, is a little different from all the others; the cat and moogle combo of Cait Sith.
That’s not all there is to this character though, as he isn’t your average cat, or even your average moogle (which is a bit of a stretch anyway). So, just who is Cait Sith and how do they fit into the Final Fantasy 7 games?
Just as a heads up, there’s going to be major spoilers for the truth behind Cait Sith, so if you haven’t played the original Final Fantasy 7, you might not want to proceed.
Who Is Cait Sith?
When Cloud and the gangmeet Cait Sith for the first time, he’s a fortune teller at the Gold Saucer, a massive amusement park with all sorts of light shows, events, minigames, and more. He’s notoriously bad as a fortune teller though, making inaccurate predictions multiple times before strong-arming the party into taking him with them.
All this is done to deceive the party, however, as Cait Sith is a spy for the Shinra Electric Power Company. The gang suspected that they had a spy among them, but Cait Sith was able to deflect suspicion away from him, claiming that the only reason the party suspected him was because he was the newest in the group. This reasoning seemed to work on the group, even though he truly was the one to be leaking information back to Shinra.
Cait Sith does make one accurate prediction though. He tells Cloud, “What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear.” This prediction will tragically come true with the death of Aerithand the defeat of Sephiroth.
The cat and moogle combination reveals his true colors when he eventually is caught betraying the party before they enter the Temple of the Ancients and kidnapping Barret’s adopted daughter Marlene. Cait Sith isn’t entirely evil though, and he feels that their mission is for the good of the planet and that the Avalanche group is made up of good people.
As a gesture of goodwill and to align himself back with the Avalanch group, he brings the party to the Temple as well. When they realize that in order to take the Black Materia they’ll have to sacrifice one of their members, Cait Sith offers himself up to recover it, making his last act a noble one.
Who Really Is Cait Sith?
Except it turns out, that Cait Sith is really a robot, controlled by Reeve Tuesti, who works in the Urban Development department at Shinra. Reeve himself initially used Cait Sith as a spy for Shinra, feeding information on the party’s whereabouts and actions during his time with them. Part of Cait Sith’s act, having a thick Scottish accent and being a kinda goofy fortune teller, is all an act put on to divert attention away from him and to get closer to the party.
He began to feel for the group and the party’s actions, despite disagreeing with their terrorist acts, and eventually flipped sides, acting as a spy for Avalanche by letting them listen in on Shinra’s meetings. Reeve would even work to actively mislead Shinra by giving them false reports on the party’s actions and goals.
The party was unaware of who exactly was controlling Cait Sith until much later in the game, as he still did not want his identity revealed. It isn’t until Reeve is arrested under the suspicion of murdering the president of Shinra, Rufus, that his true identity is revealed to the group. Despite being arrested, however, Cait Sith is still able to operate and act independently.
Is Cait Sith Alive?
This is a difficult question to answer, as the games don’t really dive into much about Cait Sith and what exactly is going on with him. It is revealed that Cait Sith is actually a highly advanced and intelligent AI and that he’s also being controlled to a large degree by Reeve. There are plenty of times though, when Cait Sith operates with complete autonomy, indicating that he has his own thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
During the incident at The Temple of the Ancients, right before Cait Sith volunteers himself to be the sacrifice required for acquiring the Black Materia, he seems to talk to the party on his own, in a way that suggests that Reeve isn’t controlling him.Cait Sith gives Aerith a final fortune, telling her that she’s a perfect match for Cloud. Aerith, in response, gives him some encouraging words, which he enjoys.
If he were simply a robot controlled by Reeve, the notion would seem strange, since Reeve knows he’s a robot and can just send another one in to replace this model. In the original Final Fantasy 7, Cait Sith even says “There’s plenty of stuffed toys like my body around, but there’s only one me,” seemingly acknowledging that there are even other robots like himself out there, but he’s the only one like himself.
Does that mean that Cait Sith is sentient? That he has his own thoughts and beliefs and is his own individual being? It is unsure. What is known, is that there is a time near the end of the game that he goes completely dormant while Reeve is working to rescue the people of Midgar, seemingly implying that there is a level of control that he has to take to keep Cait Sith active.
