Official Club Banner

- Click here to see the Nanaki - Red XIII Fanclub thread on the forums -

The Nanaki - Red XIII Club Anthem

This is a club for the fans to honor the great Cosmo Canyon protector, and hero of the Jenova War. Being so powerful, he continues to live 500 years later with his own family, making him the oldest surviving war hero from Final Fantasy 7.

By creating this club in his name, we hope to offer a fan dedication to this memorable character.

Nanaki's Details:

Age: 48
Weapon: Headdress
Birth place: Cosmo Canyon
Occupation: Protector of Cosmo Canyon

Just like his name says, he is an animal with fire-red fur. But under this fierce exterior is an intelligence surpassing that of any human's. His sharp claws and fangs make him good at close-range fighting, but other than that, not much else is known about him. It's not even certain "Red XIII" is his real name. A real enigma.

Original artwork by Tetsuya Nomura

Nanaki's Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy 7:

Level 1:
Sled Fang- Automatically activated. Red XIII dashes at and attacks a single enemy.
Lunatic High- Activated after using Sled Fang 9 times. Red XIII casts Haste on the whole party.

Level 2:
Blood Fang- Activated after defeating 80 enemies with Red XIII. Red XIII dashes at a single enemy and his Hit Points and Magic Points are regained according to the opponent's Magic Points.
Stardust Ray- Activated after using Blood Fang 8 times. This involves Red XIII sending 10 star-shaped things at all enemies.

Level 3:
Earth Rave- Activated after defeating another 80 enemies with Red XIII. In this limit, Red XIII casts Haste, Berserk and some sort of power increase on himself and randomly attacks enemies.
Howling Moon- Howling Moon � Activated after using Earth Rave 6 times. Red XIII�howls at the moon (yes, like the name) and then hits up to 5 enemies at once.

Level 4:
Cosmo Memory- Located in the ShinRa Mansion. Go to the safe at the top left part of the second floor. Press the ok button on it and you will now have 20 seconds to open the safe. Go right to 36 and press the ok button on it, then go left to 10, press ok, then right to 59, press ok and finally, right to 97. After that the safe will unlock and you'll fight the boss Lost Number. If you�re at a low level it will be difficult, as the guy has 8000 HP and can attack with some high damage. After beating it, you get Cosmo Memory. This limit involves Red XIII attacking all enemies once for very high damage.

Gaming appearances:

Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII

When the Shinra Company's Turks arrive at Cosmo Canyon, Nanaki is captured and taken to Shinra's headquarters, where Professor Hojo referred to him by the codename "Red XIII" during his experiments. The nickname stuck when he joined Cloud Strife's party in Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII

Red XIII joined Cloud's group while they were rescuing Aerith Gainsborough from the Shinra building, where Hojo was attempting to breed Aerith with Nanaki in order to preserve what he believed to be two endangered species of animal. When the group later visits Cosmo Canyon, they meet the village elder, Bugenhagen, whom Red XIII refers to as his "grandfather." Here, Red XIII learns the truth about his father, Seto, who had actually fought the Gi Tribe when they were attacking Cosmo Canyon by way of a secret path. He managed to fight and defeat the Gi Tribe by himself, protecting the people of Cosmo Canyon, even as they fired poison arrows into his body, which soon turned him into stone. Finally knowing the truth of his proud heritage, Red XIII, with some encouragement from Bugenhagen, gains the courage to rejoin Cloud's party for the rest of their journey, during which he proves himself to be a valuable asset and friend.

Shortly before the game's ending, the player can return to Cosmo Canyon, where Bugenhagen � having lived to the age of 130 � lies on his death bed. Before passing away, Bugenhagen suggests to Red XIII that he may yet discover a mate, indicating that Red XIII is not the last of his kind. In the epilogue to the game's ending, he is shown 500 years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, looking over Midgar, now aged into adulthood and accompanied by cubs, confirming Bugenhagen's prediction.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

Red XIII's role in Advent Children is rather minor. He first appears in the opening cinematic of the film, which is a CG rendering of Final Fantasy VII's epilogue. He attacks Bahamut SIN with the other party members, while Cait Sith rides on his back, rather than an animatronic moogle, as he had in Final Fantasy VII. Red XIII also displays very high physical abilities.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Red XIII also makes a very brief appearance in Dirge of Cerberus.

Did you know?

* It was previously a subject of debate amongst fans as to whether or not Bugenhagen is Red XIII's biological grandfather. This issue was further confused by Hojo's apparent attempt to breed Red XIII with Aerith Gainsborough. This is more obvious in the original Japanese, where the term grandfather is used affectionately without necessarily implying relation.

* Some fans have suggested that the names 'Nanaki' and 'Red XIII' are an allusion to Anakin Skywalker and Red Squadron from the Star Wars films, in keeping with other Star Wars references in the Final Fantasy series.

* Nobuo Uematsu, music composer for the Final Fantasy series, stated in a 2004 interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly that he always envisioned veteran actor Sean Connery providing the voice work for Red XIII.

* Django, an animal fighter in Squaresoft's Ehrgeiz, bears a striking resemblance to Red XIII when using his alternate color scheme.

* Square Enix confessed that the only reason that they haven't given Red XIII more air time in Advent Children is because his fur is extremely hard to animate.