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The whole RPG trope of non-human party members can be largely attributed to Final Fantasy 6, andFinal Fantasy 7continued the tradition. Throughout your exciting and emotionally draining journey, you’ll befriend a robot cat riding a giant doll, an experimental human who can turn into various monsters, and, of course, Red XIII.
Final Fantasy has never shied away from introducing new plant and animal designs, and Red XIII may be one of the most normal-looking. But even so, what kind of real-life species is he more closely related to, a feline or a canine? Let’s examine our fuzzy red buddy and find out.
When Does Red XIII Join Your Group?
The mysterious creature of Red joins us under some unusual circumstances.After Aerith is kidnapped by Shinra, Cloud, and his friends track down where she’s being held and break in to save her.
Upon doing so,they find Red in the same containment chamber as Aerithas part of an experiment to breed them. Red approaches Aerith in a menacing way which prompts Barret to shoot and break the tank, freeing them both.
Red immediately shocks everyone by speaking and apologizing for his behavior, as it was simply a trick to get Cloud’s party to break them out. He then calmly introduces himself as"Red XIII", which is the label thatHojo assignedto himbefore joining the party.
Red doesn’t leave until the group reaches his home in Cosmo Canyonbut then rejoins as a permanent and willing (no longer out of convenience) party following his journey and revelation.
What Is Red XIII’s Personality?
Based on his behavior,Red exhibits both stereotypical dog and cat behavior. He’s at first very soft-spoken and private, having disdain for humans, and rightly so, based on personal experience.
He also depicts someanti-social tendencies that contradict somewhat playful behavior, such as playing with a ball on his own, but when prompted to join a game, he becomes slightly aggressive.
His age is also a huge factor and, according to lore,Red’s agecan be compared to that of a human teenager in his species, which explains some of his angsty qualities. This continues up until the Cosmo Canyon arc is resolved, upon which he becomes much more relaxed and trusting, but still a bit shy.
Throughout his entire character progression,Red remains an honorable and proud warriorwho is driven by his desire to protect his home, his tribe, and eventually, the planet.
What Is Red XIII’s Background?
Red comes from a tribe of creatures with a long and established history, with the most notable aspect being their conflict with an enemy tribe known as the Gi.
The Gi were a race of aliens fleeing their homeworld after it was destroyedand decided to settle on Cosmo Canyon as their new home, challenging Red’s tribe for control. This led to an ongoing conflict that ended when Red was still quite young.
He watched as his father Seto seemingly ran away,leaving him and his mother to fend for themselves, the latter dying to protect her child. Before discovering the truth, Red felt a huge amount of shame and anger towards his father, reflected in his troubled personality.
Red’s tribe eventually defeats the Githanks to Seto who knowingly sacrificed his lifeto lure the Gi into a cave which was then sealed behind them, leaving them all to perish.
On the way to discover this revelation,we find that Red’s true name is Nanaki, but he continues to go by Red XIII after officially joining the party as that’s the name he first gave his new friends.
What Are Red XIII’s Abilities?
In terms of combat and gameplay, Red is one of the more popular characters that people tend to have in their active parties. This is because he comes close to Cloud’s stats,being balanced between offense and defense, and having access to decent magical abilities.
He’s also one of the fastest characters in the game, which allows him to set up support abilities early on, but he suffers a below-average MP score.HisLimit Breaksare mostly animalistic, typically involving him charging into enemies and tearing into them with his fangs.
Another frequent action ishis tendency to howl when using magic and some of his strongest Limit Breaks, sometimes depicting him howling at the moon… Quite wolf-like if you ask me.
So What Is Red XIII, A Cat Or A Dog?
The more you look at Red, the more you think that he’s some combination of lion and wolf,therefore combining both cat and dog features. Because of this and where he’s first encountered, it’s easy to think that Red is the result of genetic experimentation.
However, this is immediately disregarded after discovering that there’sa whole tribe of his species that’s been around for more than a few centuries. Additionally, the character’s creator, Tetsuya Nomura, has been quoted saying, “…I guess since Red XIII is a feline of sorts,“some years back.
Despite this, many of the other characters treat Red as a canine, withBarret calling him a “lab rat dog” in-game, a term that Red angrily denies. Although he ends up having a sense of humor about it, when the group is questioned by security later on, Red calls himself a lab rat dog.
Even with all the debate, Red’s species has no given name and neither does his tribe, they’re simply referred to as “Red XIII’s species” and “Red XIII’s tribe”. That being said, he’s obviously a wolf-lion, so, the case is closed.
