Yuffie Kisaragi
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character in the Final Fantasy
video game series. She was first introduced as a secret character
in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII
in 1997 and since then also made appearances in the CGI
movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, the Final Fantasy VII spinoff games Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
, in the Kingdom Hearts
action crossover series as well as several other video games. The character gained a high popularity, especially in Japan.
seeking Cloud and Sephiroth while having a bounty put on her head herself. Yuffie's job class was originally listed as "ninja (assassin
)" and she was supposed to be a daughter of the long-deceased Kasumi Kusanagi. The Wutai subquest was also entirely different.
(her martial arts style is called "Ninjyutu") and a thief
, wielding an oversized shuriken
. She is a fiercily patriotic daughter of the leader of Wutai, the culture of which is based on real-world East Asia
, who feels her country has lost its former glory and has become a resort town. Yuffie has a spunky and tomboyish personality and obsessively steals and collects Materia; she is also tends to be short-tempered and prone to motion sickness
.
One of two secret characters in Final Fantasy VII
, Yuffie (as "Mystery Ninja") ambushes the AVALANCHE party in a forest. If the player defeats her in combat and then chooses the correct series of dialogue during a conversation with her, she will join the party as a player character
. Yuffie is very spirited and mischievous, and can be a smart-aleck at times. Though she calls herself a materia hunter, she is, in fact, a materia thief, albeit the reason behind her thieving is for a noble cause brought to effect in a misguided manner. After Yuffie joins the party and they enter Wutai, Yuffie steals their materia and hides, only to be kidnapped by the crime lord Don Corneo. After being rescued, she returns the stolen materia and continues working with the party. In another sidequest, she will prove herself by beating the bosses of Wutai's five story pagoda, the last of these battles being against her own father, Godo Kisaragi. These fights and the sequence of conversations following them enable both father and daughter to understand the other's reasoning. Godo then asks the main character Cloud Strife
to take Yuffie with him on his quest. It is possible for the player to set Cloud up on a date with either her, Aerith Gainsborough
, Barret Wallace
or Tifa Lockhart
.
In the 2004 action-RPG Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
, taking place six years prior to the events of the main title, Yuffie encounters the Shinra corporation's Turks team in Wutai and they are forced to work together in order to survive. After losing to Midgar, Wutai's ruling figure Godo Kisaragi, Yuffie's father, began to turn their home into a tourist attraction for outsiders. This did not suit Yuffie who eventually began running off, stealing Materia from unaware travelers.
In the 2005 film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Yuffie reunites with the group to fight against Bahamut SIN; the box of materia Cloud kept in the church was hers, which she left behind for safekeeping. In the film's prequel novella "Case of Yuffie" details how Geostigma spread to Wutai and the measures Yuffie took to find a cure. In the short story "Case of Barret", it was mentioned that Yuffie teaches wushu
to the children in Wutai and she, Cid and Red XIII kept in touch with each other.
Yuffie returns in the 2006 sequel third-person shooter Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
to help Vincent Valentine
and aid the World Regenesis Organization in their fight against Deepground. One year after the events of Advent Children, Yuffie leaves home and joins the WRO in charge of espionage and intelligence gathering. In the game, she is able to infiltrate Mako Reactor Zero deep within the ruins of Midgar and shut off the reactor as Vincent defeats the other members of Deepground.
The at first 9-year-old Yuffie also makes brief cameos in the 2007 prequel action-RPG Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
, attempting to undermine Shinra forces' invasion of her homeland. After Zack Fair
encounters her, she enlists his help to find treasures in several side missions.
who had destroyed her world. She also appears in the Olympus Coliseum in an optional fight with Leon or alone. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
, the Yuffie appearing is actually a projection from Sora's memories in Traverse Town. In Kingdom Hearts II
', Yuffie aids Leon and the others as part of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee to protect her world, this time appearing in her Advent Children attire. In both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, Yuffie is also featured as an opponent in the Olympus Coliseum.
Yuffie is a playable character in the PlayStation version of the fighting game Ehrgeiz
, appearing as an unlockable character alongside other characters from Final Fantasy VII. She makes an appearance in the board video game Itadaki Street Portable for the PSP
as one of the playable Final Fantasy VII characters, in a chibi-style design that is similar to her model during the exploration gameplay mode of Final Fantasy VII .
Yuffie also makes a cameo appearance in the 2008 action RPG/fighting game Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor of the in-game manuals.
as parts of Final Fantasy VII Play Arts Vol. 2 series in 2008 (the original game version) and Final Fantasy VII Movie Advent Children Series 2 in 2009 (the film version). Other merchandise include a small figurine of her in SD
version (as she appears in Itadaki Street Portable) in Final Fantasy Trading Arts Mini Vol. 4 and a wall scroll in Final Fantasy Poster Vol. 5. Yuffie's FFVII musical theme "Descendant of Shinobi" appears in a vocal form on the album Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba.
magazine's award as the 42nd best PlayStation
character. In 2010, readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu
voted her as the 48th best video game character of all time.
In 2008, IGN
ranked the "cute" and "funny" Yuffie seventh on the list of top 10 Final Fantasy VII characters, stating that she "belongs in the Wacky Sidekicks wing of the RPG
hall of fame"; althrough IGN commented that Yuffie can be sometimes "a pain in the neck", she became such an appealing sidekick character that Square would use the "Yuffie formula" with Rikku
from Final Fantasy X
. Edge
commented that Yuffie "created a new anime stereotype -- the, uh, giddy girl ninja". In 2010, GamesRadar
also included the appearance of the "hyper-annoying" Yuffie and the other FFVII characters in Ehrgeiz among the 55 best character cameos in video game history, and 1UP.com
placed her in the category "The Perky Idiot" alongside Rikku and Final Fantasy VIII
s Selphie in their Top 5 Final Fantasy Character Types article. In 2011, UGO Networks featured her in the article highlighting the 25 most sexy ninja girls in all media for her appearance in Advent Children, stating "That third-dimension certainly adds something."
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
video game series. She was first introduced as a secret character
Secret character
A secret character can be a player character or a non-player character in a video game that must be unlocked by completing a goal within the game...
in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
in 1997 and since then also made appearances in the CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, the Final Fantasy VII spinoff games Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
is a Japanese action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2004. It was the first original game to be produced by Square Enix exclusively for mobile phones, and was released on NTT DoCoMo's FOMA iMode line of phones on a monthly subscription basis...
and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
is an action role-playing third-person shooter video game developed and published by Square Enix in 2006 for the PlayStation 2. It is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII metaseries, a multimedia collection set within the universe of the popular 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII...
, in the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
action crossover series as well as several other video games. The character gained a high popularity, especially in Japan.
Design and development
During the game's development, the staff thought of removing both Yuffie and Vincent Valentine due to time constraints. Eventually, the two made it as hidden characters. Event planner Jun Akiyama had a close attachment to Yuffie's character and thus he was responsible for the large number of cutscenes featuring her and her actions during fights. Yuffie was very different character during the early development of the game, as she was envisioned as a 25-year-old ex-SOLDIER bounty hunterBounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
seeking Cloud and Sephiroth while having a bounty put on her head herself. Yuffie's job class was originally listed as "ninja (assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
)" and she was supposed to be a daughter of the long-deceased Kasumi Kusanagi. The Wutai subquest was also entirely different.
In the Final Fantasy VII series
In Final Fantasy VII, Yuffie is a 16 years old ninjaNinja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
(her martial arts style is called "Ninjyutu") and a thief
Thief (character class)
The Thief or Rogue is a character class in many role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft and many MMORPGs. Thieves are usually stealthy and dextrous characters able to disarm traps, pick locks, and perform backstabs from hiding...
, wielding an oversized shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
. She is a fiercily patriotic daughter of the leader of Wutai, the culture of which is based on real-world East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, who feels her country has lost its former glory and has become a resort town. Yuffie has a spunky and tomboyish personality and obsessively steals and collects Materia; she is also tends to be short-tempered and prone to motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
.
One of two secret characters in Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
, Yuffie (as "Mystery Ninja") ambushes the AVALANCHE party in a forest. If the player defeats her in combat and then chooses the correct series of dialogue during a conversation with her, she will join the party as a player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
. Yuffie is very spirited and mischievous, and can be a smart-aleck at times. Though she calls herself a materia hunter, she is, in fact, a materia thief, albeit the reason behind her thieving is for a noble cause brought to effect in a misguided manner. After Yuffie joins the party and they enter Wutai, Yuffie steals their materia and hides, only to be kidnapped by the crime lord Don Corneo. After being rescued, she returns the stolen materia and continues working with the party. In another sidequest, she will prove herself by beating the bosses of Wutai's five story pagoda, the last of these battles being against her own father, Godo Kisaragi. These fights and the sequence of conversations following them enable both father and daughter to understand the other's reasoning. Godo then asks the main character Cloud Strife
Cloud Strife
is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Square's role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. His original design was created by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura...
to take Yuffie with him on his quest. It is possible for the player to set Cloud up on a date with either her, Aerith Gainsborough
Aerith Gainsborough
— spelled Aeris Gainsborough in the English releases of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics — is a player character in Square's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII...
, Barret Wallace
Barret Wallace
is a player character in Square Enix's role playing game Final Fantasy VII. Created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, he has since appeared in the CGI film sequel, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children as well as other games and media in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series...
or Tifa Lockhart
Tifa Lockhart
is a player character in Square Enix's role playing game Final Fantasy VII. Created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, she has since appeared in the fighting game Ehrgeiz and cameo appearances in other titles, as well as the CGI film sequel to Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children and related games...
.
In the 2004 action-RPG Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
is a Japanese action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2004. It was the first original game to be produced by Square Enix exclusively for mobile phones, and was released on NTT DoCoMo's FOMA iMode line of phones on a monthly subscription basis...
, taking place six years prior to the events of the main title, Yuffie encounters the Shinra corporation's Turks team in Wutai and they are forced to work together in order to survive. After losing to Midgar, Wutai's ruling figure Godo Kisaragi, Yuffie's father, began to turn their home into a tourist attraction for outsiders. This did not suit Yuffie who eventually began running off, stealing Materia from unaware travelers.
In the 2005 film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Yuffie reunites with the group to fight against Bahamut SIN; the box of materia Cloud kept in the church was hers, which she left behind for safekeeping. In the film's prequel novella "Case of Yuffie" details how Geostigma spread to Wutai and the measures Yuffie took to find a cure. In the short story "Case of Barret", it was mentioned that Yuffie teaches wushu
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...
to the children in Wutai and she, Cid and Red XIII kept in touch with each other.
Yuffie returns in the 2006 sequel third-person shooter Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
is an action role-playing third-person shooter video game developed and published by Square Enix in 2006 for the PlayStation 2. It is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII metaseries, a multimedia collection set within the universe of the popular 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII...
to help Vincent Valentine
Vincent Valentine
is an optional player character in Square Enix's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. Designed by Tetsuya Nomura, he also appears in various titles from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of prequels of and sequels of Final Fantasy VII, and is the protagonist in the third-person...
and aid the World Regenesis Organization in their fight against Deepground. One year after the events of Advent Children, Yuffie leaves home and joins the WRO in charge of espionage and intelligence gathering. In the game, she is able to infiltrate Mako Reactor Zero deep within the ruins of Midgar and shut off the reactor as Vincent defeats the other members of Deepground.
The at first 9-year-old Yuffie also makes brief cameos in the 2007 prequel action-RPG Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. First released in 2007, the game is a prequel to the video game Final Fantasy VII and is also the sixth installment in metaseries Compilation of Final Fantasy VII which includes products related to the game...
, attempting to undermine Shinra forces' invasion of her homeland. After Zack Fair
Zack Fair
is a fictional character from the Final Fantasy series by Square Enix. He first appeared as a non-player character in the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. In the story, Zack is a late member from the paramilitary organization SOLDIER developed by the megacorporation Shinra Electric Power Company...
encounters her, she enlists his help to find treasures in several side missions.
Other appearances
In Kingdom Hearts, a younger Yuffie acts as a supporting character within Traverse Town to defeat the HeartlessHeartless
-Books:*Heartless , a 2011 novel in the New York Times best-selling "Parasol Protectorate" series by Gail Carriger*Heartless , a 2010 novel in the "Pretty Little Liars" series by Sara Shepherd-Film:...
who had destroyed her world. She also appears in the Olympus Coliseum in an optional fight with Leon or alone. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Japanese studio Jupiter and published by Square Enix in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. The game serves as an intermediary between the two larger-scale PlayStation 2 games in the Kingdom Hearts series. It was one of the first GBA games to...
, the Yuffie appearing is actually a projection from Sora's memories in Traverse Town. In Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts II
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
', Yuffie aids Leon and the others as part of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee to protect her world, this time appearing in her Advent Children attire. In both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, Yuffie is also featured as an opponent in the Olympus Coliseum.
Yuffie is a playable character in the PlayStation version of the fighting game Ehrgeiz
Ehrgeiz
, fully titled Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring, is a 3D fighting game developed by DreamFactory and published by Namco in 1998 for the arcade platform. It was first ported to the PlayStation and published by Square Co...
, appearing as an unlockable character alongside other characters from Final Fantasy VII. She makes an appearance in the board video game Itadaki Street Portable for the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
as one of the playable Final Fantasy VII characters, in a chibi-style design that is similar to her model during the exploration gameplay mode of Final Fantasy VII .
Yuffie also makes a cameo appearance in the 2008 action RPG/fighting game Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor of the in-game manuals.
In merchandising
Two large Yuffie action figures were released by Square EnixSquare Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
as parts of Final Fantasy VII Play Arts Vol. 2 series in 2008 (the original game version) and Final Fantasy VII Movie Advent Children Series 2 in 2009 (the film version). Other merchandise include a small figurine of her in SD
Super deformed
Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...
version (as she appears in Itadaki Street Portable) in Final Fantasy Trading Arts Mini Vol. 4 and a wall scroll in Final Fantasy Poster Vol. 5. Yuffie's FFVII musical theme "Descendant of Shinobi" appears in a vocal form on the album Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba.
Reception
In 2007, Yuffie was given Japanese Dengeki PlayStationDengeki PlayStation
is a Japanese gaming magazine published by ASCII Media Works . The magazine originally featured information pertaining to PlayStation video games, but since then has also incorporated information from PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable games...
magazine's award as the 42nd best PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
character. In 2010, readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
voted her as the 48th best video game character of all time.
In 2008, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked the "cute" and "funny" Yuffie seventh on the list of top 10 Final Fantasy VII characters, stating that she "belongs in the Wacky Sidekicks wing of the RPG
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
hall of fame"; althrough IGN commented that Yuffie can be sometimes "a pain in the neck", she became such an appealing sidekick character that Square would use the "Yuffie formula" with Rikku
Rikku
is a player character in the Final Fantasy series, and a protagonist in both Final Fantasy X and X-2.-Concept and creation:Rikku was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, who also designed other characters from Final Fantasy X and X-2. She is voiced by Tara Strong and Marika Matsumoto in the English and...
from Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square as the tenth title in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 2001 for Sony's PlayStation 2, and will be re-released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2012...
. Edge
Edge
- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...
commented that Yuffie "created a new anime stereotype -- the, uh, giddy girl ninja". In 2010, GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
also included the appearance of the "hyper-annoying" Yuffie and the other FFVII characters in Ehrgeiz among the 55 best character cameos in video game history, and 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
placed her in the category "The Perky Idiot" alongside Rikku and Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
s Selphie in their Top 5 Final Fantasy Character Types article. In 2011, UGO Networks featured her in the article highlighting the 25 most sexy ninja girls in all media for her appearance in Advent Children, stating "That third-dimension certainly adds something."