Vincent Valentine

"Cool, huh? I guess that's just the way I am... sorry."

- Vincent Valentine

Vincent Valentine is an optional playable character in Final Fantasy VII, and the main protagonist of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-. A former Turk with a mysterious past, Vincent's secrets tie him directly to several of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII's main antagonists.

Vincent wields handguns in battle and his Limit Breaks cause him to shapeshift as a result of the experiments Professor Hojo performed on him. His Japanese voice actor is Shōgo Suzuki, and he is voiced by Steven Jay Blum in English. Since his introduction, Vincent has become one of the most popular characters in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Appearance and Personality
Vincent is a man physically in his late twenties, and stands roughly six feet tall. He has crimson eyes and long black hair. He wears a red bandanna with his fringe emerging over it. Vincent's most distinctive feature is his red cloak, held in place over his shoulders and lower face by several buckles. Underneath his cape Vincent's attire is black with several straps and buckles. Vincent wears a holster for his gun against his right leg, and pointed sabatons on his feet. He wears a golden gauntlet on his left arm. His weapon of choice is the Cerberus, a three-barreled revolver. Vincent has kept this look in all his appearances, with subtle variations. Vincent was originally intended to appear in Kingdom Hearts alongside Cloud Strife, but was removed (see below), and aspects of his costume were incorporated into Cloud's design, including the tattered red cloak and gauntlet. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Vincent's cloak was meant to have an organic feel and was difficult to animate. The developers decided changing his costume would be conflicting with his character, so Vincent was the only character in the film to appear the same as he had in Final Fantasy VII, although there are minor changes, such as a full bodysuit, a tattered cloak and a glove completely covering his previously partially bare right arm.

In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, Vincent's Galian Beast and Chaos forms incorporate his design into them; Galian Beast is wearing a shorter version of Vincent's cloak as a kilt, while Chaos's feet resemble Vincent's boots.

Dark and brooding over his past experiences, Vincent conceals many secrets. He speaks in a cryptic manner, when he talks about his past, calling his traumas 'sins'. Despite his cold hearted personality, he is not uncaring; at a point where Cloud admits he thought Vincent does not care about the Planet, Vincent brushes off the remark. He has a soft spot for Lucrecia, referring to her as a beautiful lady. He fiercely despises Professor Hojo for his immoral actions, and it is the promise of meeting him that stirs Vincent to accompany the party in Final Fantasy VII. Vincent is reluctant to speak, although when he does, he typically has something important to say.

Kazushige Nojima has noted Vincent is naturally a loner, and had he not been a former ally of Cloud and his friends, it is unlikely he would have joined them in the battle with Bahamut SIN in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. His voice actor, Shōgo Suzuki, noted Vincent's few appearances have a profound impact and that Tifa's remark "they're our friends", after Vincent's arrival, shows his underlying warmth. He is noted to be similar to Cloud, only more mature, which influenced his character and voice work. Vincent was originally intended to appear in Kingdom Hearts with Cloud, but it was decided to remove him due their similar brooding personalities and aspects of his design were worked into Cloud's new design for the series, which has been used for all of Cloud's appearances in the Kingdom Hearts series thus far, with the exception of Kingdom Hearts II.