Cait Sith - Final Fantasy
Cait Sith is a playable character first introduced in Final Fantasy VII, an RPG game developed by Square and released on the Sony Playstation 1 in 1997. Cait Sith was designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Since his introduction in Final Fantasy VII, Cait Sith has appeared briefly in the feature film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and many other spinoff titles, remakes, and derivative titles including Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- as a summon. On March 3rd, 2020, Cait Sith will return in better than ever graphics in the much anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Description
Cait Sith is a remote controlled black cat with a white belly and face that rides on the back of a nameless, robotic moogle which he brought to life. He wears a red cape, gloves, a small crown and holds a megaphone in which he uses to give orders to his robot moogle. In comparison to the rest of Cloud’s party, Cait has lower stats besides his magic powers. He has two Limits Dice and Slots which are based on random luck, however his megaphones have Materia slots to take advantage of his magic and is essentially another mage for Cloud’s party.
He is a robot that can be remade and replaced and is controlled remotely by Reeve Tuesti, a Shinra employee who desired to sabotage and infiltrate Cloud Strife’s group. Cait eventually has a change of heart and decides on aiding the group. Cait Sith ends up sacrificing himself in order to retrieve the Black Materia that Sephiroth needed to summon the Meteor spell. He is voice acted by Greg Ellis in English and by Hideo Ishikawa in Japanese.
In later game releases after Final Fantasy VII of the Franchise series, he walks by himself or rides Red XIII. The design for Cait Sith was stated by Tetsuya in interviews to have been inspired for a game idea he once had with a cat riding on the back of a dog.
Backstory
Cloud Strife and his party meet Cait Sith at the Gold Saucer while searching for Sephiroth. He tells Cloud "What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear." Cait Sith forces Cloud to allow him to join the party. In truth, Reeve is simply using Cait Sith to collect information covertly on Cloud and his allies and report it back to Shinra. Cloud has suspicions that there is a rat among his party, but does not discover Cait Sith.
When the party returns to Gold Saucer to get the Keystone and enter the Temple of the Ancients, the area where the Black Materia is located, Cait Sith steals the Keystone while Cloud is not in his hotel room and gives it to Tseng, the leader of Turks. Cait Sith is caught red handed and admits that he is being controlled remotely by someone from Shinra, but doesn’t reveal their identity. Cait Sith then reveals that he has taken Barret's adoptive daughter, Marlene, as a hostage in a bid to remain with the group, directing them to the temple to make up for his betrayal. The Temple of the Ancients turns out to be a maze designed to kill anyone that takes the Black Materia. Cait Sith sacrifices himself in order to obtain the black materia after he tells Aerith her fortune one last time. Cait Sith dies in the temple, but Reeve sends an identical copy moments later.
After Sephiroth summons the Meteor and Shinra captures Tifa and Barret, Tifa is about to be put to death to act as a scapegoat for the whole crisis. However, before she is killed, a disguised Cait Sith incapacitates Scarlet, her executioner, with some knock-out gas and frees Barrett. Both Barrett and Tifa escape due to his help
In a change of roles, Cait Sith ends up spying for AVALANCHE and lets them listen in on Shinra's gatherings. He discloses important information about their activities, including their search for the Diamond Weapon and search for huge materia. After Rufus Shinra, now president of the company, is presumed dead from the Diamond Weapon's attack, Reeve is imprisoned. As Reeve pleads for AVALANCHE's help with Cait Sith, he reveals he is the cat’s master.
As the final battle approaches, Cait Sith goes dormant and remains in the Highwind until Reeve decides to take part in the battle and reactives Cait. After Sephiroth is dealt with and the Meteor is descending on Midgar, Reeve tells the party using Cait Sith that he evacuated the metropolis. Cait Sith worries it was not enough but Aeris uses the Lifestream to push back the Meteor so Holy can destroy it.
Trivia
- In the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie, Cait Sith no longer has his moogle and rides on the back of Red XIII. It is not explained as to why or how the moogle was removed. However the only other appearance outside of Final Fantasy VII made by the moogle is in the opening of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.
- The Japanese voice actor for Cait Sith is Hideo Ishikawa, who has also played other important voice actor roles in the Final Fantasy franchise. Ishikawa is also the voice actor for Auron from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. Also the main character of Final Fantasy VIII, Squall Leonhart in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.