Cloud Strife, the protaganist may seem to have a silly name. However, it makes sense. A cloud, when seen from outside, seems to be a single thing. But inside the cloud, all that can be seen is a jumble of unrelated images. In much the same way, Cloud Strife at first seems to be a unified person, but as the game progresses and we look in his mind, we see a jumble of confused imagery. His identity is not real at all, but merely an aggregate of unrelated things.
It is possible that Cloud's name is a reference to the creation story of the Zohar, where the first Sephiroth is described as coming "out of a cloud", whereas in the game Cloud is at some points believed to be a clone of Sephiroth.
Also, Cloud is an atmospheric reference, which is common to many characters in this game.
Aeris Gainsborough aka Aerith Gainsborough. The second spelling is more correct, since it includes the word "earth" in her name. Final Fantasy VI had female leads called Celes and Terra, Heaven and Earth. Aerith's name, and indeed it could be demonstrated Aerith's personality are a combination of air and earth. Her name includes both of these elements.
Strangely enough, her real last name is Gast, or Gas, and her adopted name is Gainsborough, which could refer to either a borough (a piece of land) or the landscape artist named Gainsborough.
And again, her name includes the atmosphereic element in it.
Sephiroth aka The Great Sephiroth, full name Sephiroth Valentino is the villain of the story. Explaining what the Hebrew term Sephiroth means here would be very difficult, even if I did know. Even more complicated on top of that is explaining the names in term of the traditional meaning of the name, or the way the name was used in Japan post-Evangelion.
Needless to say, Sephiroth's name has any number of cosmological connoctations. In many ways the Sephiroth could be interpreted as similiar to the cosmological worlds of Norse tradition, such as Midgard or Nifelheim, or of the worlds of Buddhist cosmology.
The literal meaning of Sephiroth, however is "numbered", which could be a reference to the fact that Sephiroth's various clones have tattoos numbered on them.
As a last note, I would usually say that no actual people of Jewish background name their children Sephiroth, (or after a Sephiroth) since it would be like naming your child God, but strangely enough I do know someone named after a Sephiroth.
Tifa Lockheart. I wouldn't think of it if we didn't already have Sephiroth, but since we do, I think that Tifa is perhaps a short form of Tifereth, which means beauty (which Tifa certainly is!), and which is the central one of the Sephiroth. It is the Sephiroth that balances out creation and destruction, which perhaps relates to one of the many themes in the game.
Her last name, Lockheart, represents the fact that her feelings have been "locked" away deep in her heart, it has been suggested, which definitly makes sense given Tifa's shy nature.
Her name could also perhaps be short for Typhoon, another atmospheric reference.
Cid Highwind, the pilot is named with another mythological reference: this time to the mythology of Final Fantasy itself. And his last name is another atmosphereic name.
Shinra, the evil corporation resposible for poisoning the earth, perhaps gets its name from Shinran, a Japanese monk who founded a form of Buddhism ao popular it was debased, based on chanting the name of the Amita Buddha so the chanter could be reborn in the pure land, which perhaps relates to the fact that The Shinra, like everyone else, are looking for the Promised Land.
Heidegger, the enemy general, is named after the great philosopher Martin Heidegger, the founder of existentialism and a man whose theories on how people relate to nature could be a great influence on the game. There is a character that seems to share Heidegger's theories, but it is not the character named Heidegger, it is Bugenhagen, the scientist at Cosmo's Canyon.
Midgar and Nibelheim, the poisoned metropolis where the story starts, is named after Midgard and Nifelheim, the Norse name for Earth and Hell. This could be somewhat ironic, Midgar is more like Hell then Earth, and Nibelheim is more Earth like then Hell. Of course, Nibelheim is burnt down, becoming an inferno; and there is a chance that Midgar is named that as a suggestion that this hellish state is the "normal" one for people, that people will always create a hell for themselves.
It is possible that Cloud's name is a reference to the creation story of the Zohar, where the first Sephiroth is described as coming "out of a cloud", whereas in the game Cloud is at some points believed to be a clone of Sephiroth.
Also, Cloud is an atmospheric reference, which is common to many characters in this game.
Aeris Gainsborough aka Aerith Gainsborough. The second spelling is more correct, since it includes the word "earth" in her name. Final Fantasy VI had female leads called Celes and Terra, Heaven and Earth. Aerith's name, and indeed it could be demonstrated Aerith's personality are a combination of air and earth. Her name includes both of these elements.
Strangely enough, her real last name is Gast, or Gas, and her adopted name is Gainsborough, which could refer to either a borough (a piece of land) or the landscape artist named Gainsborough.
And again, her name includes the atmosphereic element in it.
Sephiroth aka The Great Sephiroth, full name Sephiroth Valentino is the villain of the story. Explaining what the Hebrew term Sephiroth means here would be very difficult, even if I did know. Even more complicated on top of that is explaining the names in term of the traditional meaning of the name, or the way the name was used in Japan post-Evangelion.
Needless to say, Sephiroth's name has any number of cosmological connoctations. In many ways the Sephiroth could be interpreted as similiar to the cosmological worlds of Norse tradition, such as Midgard or Nifelheim, or of the worlds of Buddhist cosmology.
The literal meaning of Sephiroth, however is "numbered", which could be a reference to the fact that Sephiroth's various clones have tattoos numbered on them.
As a last note, I would usually say that no actual people of Jewish background name their children Sephiroth, (or after a Sephiroth) since it would be like naming your child God, but strangely enough I do know someone named after a Sephiroth.
Tifa Lockheart. I wouldn't think of it if we didn't already have Sephiroth, but since we do, I think that Tifa is perhaps a short form of Tifereth, which means beauty (which Tifa certainly is!), and which is the central one of the Sephiroth. It is the Sephiroth that balances out creation and destruction, which perhaps relates to one of the many themes in the game.
Her last name, Lockheart, represents the fact that her feelings have been "locked" away deep in her heart, it has been suggested, which definitly makes sense given Tifa's shy nature.
Her name could also perhaps be short for Typhoon, another atmospheric reference.
Cid Highwind, the pilot is named with another mythological reference: this time to the mythology of Final Fantasy itself. And his last name is another atmosphereic name.
Shinra, the evil corporation resposible for poisoning the earth, perhaps gets its name from Shinran, a Japanese monk who founded a form of Buddhism ao popular it was debased, based on chanting the name of the Amita Buddha so the chanter could be reborn in the pure land, which perhaps relates to the fact that The Shinra, like everyone else, are looking for the Promised Land.
Heidegger, the enemy general, is named after the great philosopher Martin Heidegger, the founder of existentialism and a man whose theories on how people relate to nature could be a great influence on the game. There is a character that seems to share Heidegger's theories, but it is not the character named Heidegger, it is Bugenhagen, the scientist at Cosmo's Canyon.
Midgar and Nibelheim, the poisoned metropolis where the story starts, is named after Midgard and Nifelheim, the Norse name for Earth and Hell. This could be somewhat ironic, Midgar is more like Hell then Earth, and Nibelheim is more Earth like then Hell. Of course, Nibelheim is burnt down, becoming an inferno; and there is a chance that Midgar is named that as a suggestion that this hellish state is the "normal" one for people, that people will always create a hell for themselves.
