Final Fantasy VII is one of the most important video games of all time. It was the game that helped propel the series to mainstream status in the west, while also helping the JRPG genre to find an audience outside of Japan.

The characters and story of Final Fantasy VII have been dissected more than any other game in the series. This is partly due to the fact that the game first became a hit when the Internet was becoming more prevalent in homes across America, which meant that it has had more of a chance to be talked about than the other titles in the series.

There are still some questions about Final Fantasy VII and its spinoffs that bother us. Luckily, we have the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake that could possibly give us answers to the plot threads that have been ignored since the days of the original PlayStation.

We are here today to ponder the unanswered questions of Final Fantasy VII. From the fate of one of the most important Shinra Executives, to the meaning of Genesis' quest.

Here are Fifteen Unresolved Mysteries And Plot Holes Final Fantasy VII Left Hanging!

15 Palmer's Unknown Fate

Via: Well-Rendered

The Shinra Executives are the secondary villains of Final Fantasy VII. Sephiroth's plan to crash a meteor into the planet takes up most of the party's attention throughout the course of the game. The people who work for the Shinra Corporation still remain a thorn in the player's side throughout the course of the game, until they are finally dealt with during the raid on Midgar.

One of the most notorious Shinra Executives is Palmer, who is the head of the failed Shinra Space Program. He uses the shuttle that is stationed at Rocket Town to try and destroy the meteor and is never seen again. We see the fates of the other high-ranking Shinra employees, so why don't we see Palmer's? He has yet to appear in any of the Final Fantasy VII spinoffs set after the original game.

14 The True Nature Of Minerva

Minerva from Final Fantasy VII
Via: YouTube
Minerva from Final Fantasy VII

The story of Final Fantasy VII is about reincarnation and being prevented from moving on. All lifeforms will eventually return to Lifestream and be reborn in a new form, in an endless cycle.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- threw the whole point of the Lifestream out of the window and created a goddess figure known as Minerva, who is supposed to represent the will of the Lifestream. Minerva actually prevents Genesis from dying, as his duty was not yet complete. It is even possible for Zack to battle a form of Minerva at the end of the game.

So what's the deal with Minerva? Why didn't she intervene during the events of Final Fantasy VII? Will she appear in the remake? Why did she save Genesis but not Aerith or Zack?

13 Reeve's Amazing Bluetooth Signal

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Cait Sith is revealed to be a spy working for Shinra. The true identity of Cait Sith's operator is Reeve, who is one of the high-ranking Shinra officials. It seems that Reeve has a change of heart over the course of the game and starts to genuinely work with the party... or at least he tries to. The average player is usually sick of seeing his stupid cat face and pink body in battle by that point and has dumped him out of the party as soon as possible.

We never learn how Reeve is able to perfectly control a robot over any distance. We also never learn how Reeve was able to maintain control after being imprisoned when his cover is blown later on in the story.

12 The Weapons Are Bad At Their Job

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When the Lifestream senses that the planet is being threatened, it dispatches five incredibly powerful monsters to deal with the threat. These five monsters were Diamond Weapon, Emerald Weapon, Ruby Weapon, Sapphire Weapon, and Ultima Weapon. It was their job to deal with Sephiroth before he became too powerful. The barrier that Sephiroth placed over the North Crater made him invisible to the five Weapons, so they just went on a rampage instead.

The Shinra Corporation use the Sister Ray to destroy the barrier protecting the North Crater. Why don't the three surviving Weapon monsters attack Sephiroth at this point? It's possible for Emerald, Ruby, and Ultima Weapon to still be alive at this point, but they just decide to roam around and do nothing.

11 Zangan's Injuries

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Zangan was Tifa Lockheart's martial arts instructor and a powerful warrior in his own right. He was one of the few people to survive the massacre at Nibelheim, whilst also being strong enough to avoid capture by Shinra forces.

After Sephiroth destroys Nibelheim, we know that Zangan went in pursuit of him to the Nibelheim Reactor. It is here that he found the badly wounded Tifa and escaped with her to Midgar so she could be treated.

We never learn about what happened to Zangan after he left Midgar. Tifa can find a letter from him in Nibelheim which suggests that he was injured, but we don't know to what extent. Was Zangan rubbed out by Shina in order to keep him quiet about the events at Nibelheim? Is he still out there somewhere?

10 The Truth Behind Nibelheim

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The image of Sephiroth walking through the flames is possibly the most iconic moment in the entire Final Fantasy series. This happened during the Nibelheim Incident when Sephiroth wiped out the population of the town of Nibelheim and burned it to the ground.

Every Final Fantasy VII spinoff game has had a different interpretation of the Nibelheim Incident. Crisis Core's version of the event gave Zack a much bigger role in the story, while Before Crisis had the Turks involved with trying to stop Sephiroth. The Last Order OVA showed Sephiroth willingly leaping into the Mako Reactor in order to take his own life, while Cloud throws him into it during the events of Final Fantasy VII.

So what exactly happened during the Nibelheim Incident?

9 An Inconsistent Truth

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Midgar is one of the most well-known cities in the Final Fantasy series. It was the location chosen to represent the game in Super Smash Bros. when Cloud became a DLC character, despite the fact that none of the Final Fantasy VII spinoff games appeared on Nintendo systems.

The Midgar section at the start of Final Fantasy VII is one of the best parts of the game. You then leave and travel to Kalm... which looks like a generic fantasy town. In fact, most of the cities in Final Fantasy VII don't appear to be suffering from the ill-effects of the destruction of the Lifestream. If the ecological situation is so dire, then why do most of the towns in the world look fine?

8 Sephiroth's Sparing Nature

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Sephiroth saved Cloud and the members of AVALANCHE from a terrible fate at the hands of the Shinra Corporation when he manifested into the world using the body of Jenova and cut a swath through the forces within the Shinra Headquarters. Cloud eventually finds the body of the Shina President, who has Sephiroth's sword plunged into his back.

It makes sense that Sephiroth would spare Cloud and the members of AVALANCHE at this point, as he still needs subjects to get the Black Materia for him, but why does Sephiroth leave so many prominent Shinra figures alive? He clearly has a beef with the Shinra President, but he leaves the other executives and Hojo alive, despite their role in his creation.

7 The Asbestos Shinra Mansion

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The Nibelheim Incident totally destroyed the town of Nibelheim, thanks to Sephiroth burning down all of the buildings. When Cloud returns to Nibelheim during the events of Final Fantasy VII, he finds that the town has been rebuilt, with all of the residents pretending that nothing had ever happened.

The truth can be found in the Shinra Mansion, which managed to escape the destruction of Nibelheim. We know this due to the clues left within the Mansion that you need to free Vincent. So how exactly did this giant house escape the total obliteration of Nibelheim? It makes sense for the underground portions to survive, but how did the rest of the house remain intact when it was mostly made from wood?

6 The Obnoxious Spy

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Cait Sith might be the most annoying character in the history of Final Fantasy. The addition of voice acting only made him even more intolerable, due to his grating Scottish accent. We can only pray that he remains mute in the Final Fantasy VII Remake. 

Cait Sith is eventually revealed to be the traitor within the group, who has been informing Shinra of their movements.

The most annoying thing about Cait Sith is that he is supposed to be a spy, yet he is the most visually noticeable character in the game. Wouldn't a spy try and blend in with his target, especially ones who are on the run themselves and likely wouldn't want to attract notice? The party never give a reason for allowing Cait Sith to join them.

5 The Truth About Ivalice

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Cloud has appeared in several different Final Fantasy titles, as well as other video game series, such as Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U and Chocobo Racing. 

It is actually possible for Cloud to join your party in Final Fantasy Tactics, as he is summoned to the world of Ivalice using a machine that is powered by a Zodiac Brave. This version of Cloud comes from the period of time when he became lost in the Lifestream and his memories are still hazy.

Was the version of Cloud that appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics the real deal? If so, then how did he manage to return to his world? Why doesn't he have any memories of his time in Ivalice, nor possess any of the abilities that he picked up there?

4 Jenova's Species

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The fate of the world of Final Fantasy VII was altered forever when an alien crashed onto the planet and threatened to wipe out every living being it could find.

Jenova is a mysterious alien creature that was able to travel to different planets using meteorites as a vessel. It took the combined might of the Cetra to wound Jenova enough so that she would be placed within stasis. She was later found by the Shinra Corporation and used for their ends.

We never learn what exactly Jenova is and why she came to the planet in the first place. Is she some skin of life form that is designed to purge planets in order to feed itself? Why does she resemble a human female? Does she take on the form of the local species in order to earn their trust?

3 The Fate Of Cissnei

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We only see a handful of the members of the Turks throughout Final Fantasy VII. The Turks are the agents of the Shinra Corporation who deal with problems in secrecy, which means that they aren't afraid to get involved in shady business.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- introduced numerous members of the Turks to the series, though only one made it into the other games. Cissnei was a member of the Turks who was very close with Zack Fair.

Cissnei was last seen trying to save Zack and Cloud from the Shinra army, but her mission fails. We never see her again in any of the games/movies set after Crisis Core. So, what happened to Cissney after her mission to save Zack had failed?

2 The Secret Of Destruct

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The Shinra Mansion contains a lot of optional quests. Some players missed these when they first played through Final Fantasy VII. These include finding the Odin materia, Red XIII's final Limit Break, and even the character of Vincent Valentine. You also have to face the Lost Number. This is one of the trickiest bosses in the game.

You need to journey to the basement of the Shinra Mansion and speak to one of the Sephiroth copies before you can continue the story. Sephiroth throws a Destruct materia into Cloud's stomach and then flies away.

So why did Sephiroth just give Cloud a materia? It's not as if he needed it to progress and it doesn't give any advantage over the next few bosses. The whole scene is just bizarre.

1 The Final Moment

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The ending of Final Fantasy VII baffled fans when they first saw it in 1997. The game wasn't clear whether Holy & the Lifestream were successful in stopping the meteor, as the city of Midgar is seen in ruins during the ending. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children would later clear things up.

The secret ending of Dirge of Cerberus was equally baffling. It shows Genesis finding Weiss' body and flying off with him. The Crisis Core Complete Guide claims that Genesis has returned to save the planet... but from what? He never tried to stop Sephiroth or the rampage of the Weapon monsters, yet he decides to return now?

What is it that Genesis needs to stop in order to save the planet? Why does he need Weiss to accomplish this task? We can only hope that the Final Fantasy VII Remake leads to a sequel that answers this question.