Yuffie Kisaragi - Final Fantasy
Yuffie Kisaragi is a playable character that originally appears in Final Fantasy VII, but shows up in a number of other game titles, spinoffs and remakes, including Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. She also appears in Final Fantasy: Advent Children, a 3D computer-animated film that takes place after the events of the Final Fantasy VII, and in the Kingdom Hearts series.
Yuffie Kisaragi Profile
Yuffie is playable after the player completes a specific sidequest, and is best described as a female ninja, princess, and thief. Her character was conceived and designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Yuffie Kisaragi is a very popular character, and is a common choice for Final Fantasy cosplay enthusiasts and fan artists. Yuffie has also inspired a number of figures as well. On March 3rd, 2020 she is set to make another appearance in the much anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Creation and Appearance
Yuffie is the youngest member of the party and has short, black hair. She has large brown eyes and her favorite weapon of choice is a large shuriken. In her original design, she is given a white headband, a green turtleneck jumper, and tan shorts. On her left arm, she has a protective gauntlet that covers her entire arm, making it appear more like an elongated shield than a piece of clothing or armor. She also wears mesh that covers one of her arms and thighs while a small piece of armour protects her other thigh. A small gauntlet covers the wrist of her right arm as well. Yuffie is also seen wearing orange sneakers, white leg warmers, and orange, fingerless gloves.
Backstory
Yuffie is one of two secret characters in Final Fantasy VII. She is a 16-year-old ninja and thief is often using an oversized shuriken whenever in combat, which she is also able to use like a boomerang. She is a very patriotic daughter of Godo Kisaragi who is the commander of the Wutai, a society based in East Asia. Yuffie feels like her country has lost the greatness it once had in the past. After the Wutai lost the war against the Shinra Electric Power Company, Godo decided to make Wutai a town that catered to tourists, something that Yuffie highly disagreed with. Yuffie disliked this turn of events so much, she ran away from home. She then began stealing magical Materia from various travelers with the goal of gaining power and changing the situation that she disliked so much into something more favorable.
Yuffie is quite a tomboy and has a proud, arrogant personality that can often be interpreted as aggression. That said, she is often portrayed as a very helpful and optimistic character. She is also a skilled thief and is always stealing and collecting Materia from those she comes across in her travels. One recurring characteristic of Yuffie is that she often gets motion sickness whenever riding in a car or other vehicle. Yuffie also has a special Materia called "Throw", which allows her to throw various items during combat. As she levels up, another ability called "Coin" becomes available, allowing her to throw collected Gil, a unit of currency in the Final Fantasy series, at the enemy. Yuffie is first introduced when she attacks the protagonist Cloud Strife and his party in the Gongaga jungle or the forests near Junon, first showing up as the "Mystery Ninja".
Yuffie Kisaragi Joining Cloud’s Party
Upon first encountering Yuffie, if the player wins the battle and selects the correct chain of dialogue options, she joins Cloud’s party. Once in Wutai Village, Yuffie robs the party of their possessions and Materia before being kidnapped by a Midgar underworld boss named Don Corneo. The group rescues Yuffie and she returns the party’s stolen goods and continues working with the group. In another sidequest, Yuffie fights and tries to prove herself by fighting enemies in the five-story Pagoda, the last of which is Godo. These fights allow the father and daughter to make up and, at Godo's request, Cloud officially takes Yuffie with him on the journey.
In the case that Yuffie is present when disc 1 of the game concludes (when Aerith Gainsborough is murdered by Sephiroth), Yuffie breaks down in tears and falls into the arms of Cloud in an uncharacteristic display of emotion.
Yuffie's commitment to the team is questioned when Cloud temporarily breaks up his party before the confrontation with Sephiroth. Yuffie is the last to come back, and Barret Wallace suspects that she may abandon the team before she finally arrives. When Yuffie returns to the group she scolds Wallace for not believing that she would return.
Trivia
She was originally conceived as an ex-soldier turned bounty hunter targeting Cloud and Sephiroth. She was first intended to be the daughter of Kasumi Kisaragi. The Wutai sidequest present in the final version of the game is totally different from the developers had originally planned for Yuffie’s character.