Sephiroth (SSBU)

Sephiroth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Universe	Final Fantasy
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Supernova

“	Sephiroth Descends to Battle!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Sephiroth (セフィロス, Sephiroth) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the third fighter from Square Enix after Cloud and Hero. He was confirmed as a playable character on December 10th, 2020 at The Game Awards 2020, and was released as part of Challenger Pack 8 on December 22nd, 2020 as the third downloadable character from Fighters Pass Vol. 2. However, he could also become playable as early as December 17th, 2020 by defeating him in the limited-time Sephiroth Challenge that was made available from December 17th-22nd. Sephiroth is classified as Fighter #78.

Toshiyuki Morikawa, who has voiced Sephiroth since Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, reprises his role as the character in all regions.

Attributes

Sephiroth's attributes are fairly polarized. He is a rather tall character, but is classified as a lightweight, being tied with Kirby, Mewtwo, Pikachu and Olimar as the 7th lightest character in the game. He has the 14th slowest walking speed, yet his dashing speed and traction are both above-average, with the former being marginally faster than Hero's. Despite his height, Sephiroth's crouch is deceptively low. In the air, Sephiroth's overall jumping force and air acceleration are both average, he has slow air speed and below-average air friction, and yet he has the 11th fastest falling speed and above-average gravity. Notably, Sephiroth's short hop is tied with Steve's for the lowest in the game, which aids him very well in the neutral game.

One of Sephiroth's two most defining traits is his range. He notably sports among the longest overall range in Ultimate, thanks to his signature weapon, the Masamune, and surpassed only by Min Min in this regard. Unlike other swordfighters, Sephiroth's sweetspot hitboxes differ between his stabbing and slashing attacks: his stabs (up tilt, down smash, forward aerial, and down aerial) have sweetspots positioned along the tip of Masamune (much like Marth and Simon's own tippers) with a mediumspot at the center of the blade, whereas his slashes (forward tilt, forward smash, up smash, back aerial, and up aerial) have sweetspots positioned along the upper center of its blade (similar to Roy's inverse tipper, but with better range overall) with mediumspots at the tip. This gives Sephiroth plenty of ranged options if opponents are reasonably within range of him. On the other hand, the handle of the Masamune also has sourspots, which means Sephiroth needs to be careful when spacing his attacks.

Sephiroth's other most defining trait is his unique fighter ability: the Winged Form. Like Aura and Super Special Moves, it is a comeback mechanic that activates when Sephiroth has received sufficient damage. However, the Winged Form's activation is also influenced by the score count/stock count; it activates at ≈90% when the score/stock count is even, though it will activate earlier or later if Sephiroth's score/stock count is behind or above the opponent's, respectively. Upon activation, Sephiroth's wing unfurls and grants him a third jump, a 1.3× damage multiplier, and much higher mobility overall. In particular, Sephiroth gains the 7th fastest dashing speed (tied with Zero Suit Samus'), the highest traction (surpassing Sonic's), as well as higher air speed, air acceleration and air friction.

Sephiroth's smash attacks also gain damage-based armor that can withstand up to 20%, making them incredibly risky to challenge, save for a few exceptions. However, the Winged Form dissipates when he gains a decisive lead against an opponent or is KO'd outright. This means that, compared to other comeback mechanics, more careful attack planning is usually necessary to score KOs easily. Regardless, the Winged Form's damage multiplier allows even mediumspotted attacks to become quite deadly under the right percentages.

Sephiroth's ground game offers him fairly crucial tools, and his sword attacks in particular are prime examples of long ranged attacks. Neutral attack, despite having the shortest range of his grounded moves, is Sephiroth's fastest move while having decent melee range for a neutral attack, making it one of his few reliable tools to quickly ward off an opponent. Forward tilt has incredibly long range (comparable to Simon's) and can be angled, making it a superb spacing option and a viable KO option at high percentages when fresh, especially in Winged Form.

Up tilt boasts incredible vertical range, a decently long duration, and renders his upper body intangible for a brief period. Although it can be difficult to land, it also sports a hitbox in front of him that launches opponents into the rest of the blade, much like Marth's up smash. Down tilt is Sephiroth's fastest tilt attack and, although it is slightly slower than Cloud's down tilt, it functions almost identically to his: it boasts great range by propelling Sephiroth forward and significantly lowers his hurtbox, giving him a way to punish more ranged attacks. Dash attack, despite being fairly punishable due to being his slowest melee attack, covers a lot of ground and has respectable power; as a result, it is useful as both a burst option and, when clean, a KO option.

Sephiroth's smash attacks also boast varying degrees of utility. Forward smash is a very long-ranged slash that is potent at punishing and spacing, yet also boasts excellent KO potential at the middle of the blade and, to a lesser degree, at the tip. Up smash is an overhead arcing slash, much like Ganondorf and Ike's up smashes. Although it is weaker than theirs and slower than Ganondorf's, it is Sephiroth's best anti-air option due to sporting more range overall, to the point that it allows him to cover an area wider than an entire platform of Town and City. Down smash only hits in front of Sephiroth, but it is faster than his forward smash and has the unique property of becoming even stronger if the Masamune's blade hits the ground. On an extended note, the combination of the Masamune's tipper and the debris that erupts when its blade hits the ground collectively enables down smash to deal immense shield damage. Thus, while it is somewhat outclassed by forward smash as a KO option, it has better shield breaking capabilities.

Sephiroth's air game also offers a similar repertoire of long-ranged options. Neutral aerial, in a similar manner to neutral attack, has the shortest range, but is his fastest option in the air, covers his entire body, and its overall low lag allows it to be used very flexibly, such as for warding off close-ranged opponents, including from out of shield, or for starting or continuing combos. Forward and back aerials serve similar purposes as spacing options in the air. Forward aerial comes out faster and is most useful when the opponent is farthest from Sephiroth, and it has a unique property where it can be used to pierce solid walls and perform a pseudo-wall jump up to three times in a row before landing, similarly to how Sword of the Creator functions. Back aerial, on the other hand, is Sephiroth's strongest aerial, making it incredibly deadly in Winged Form, even if used from a short hop. Up aerial, like up smash, covers a wide arc above Sephiroth, though its overall poor frame data means it should be used sparingly. Lastly, Sephiroth's down aerial, Hell's Gate, is a powerful stall-then-fall that is a meteor smash at the start; when combined with its massive range, it can reliably 2 frame punish an opponent.

While swordfighters generally have poor grab games, Sephiroth's grab game can be surprisingly effective. He holds the distinction of having three combo throws, all of which have their uses. Down throw is Sephiroth's most varied combo throw until mid-percentages, as it can lead into neutral, forward, back and up aerials, or be used for mix-ups. It also becomes even more effective in Winged Form in spite of rage, as Sephiroth's enhanced mobility can allow him to catch up to the opponent faster. At low percentages, up throw can set the opponent up for a neutral aerial or up tilt, the former of which can lead to longer combos and the latter of which can lead to juggling.

While both throws can lose their combo potential quickly after mid-percentages, especially with rage factoring in, back throw launches at a favorable angle while having low ending lag. This makes it notable for leading into follow-ups until high percentages, including an infamous KO confirm into back aerial, which becomes especially dangerous when he is in Winged Form. In stark contrast to his other throws, forward throw lacks combo potential, but is nevertheless useful. Thanks to being a semi-spike, it can be used to set up an edge-guard or a tech chase, which could potentially allow him to score an early KO.

Finally, Sephiroth has a strong set of special moves. His side special, Shadow Flare, is arguably his best special move: it is unique among chargeable projectiles in that, while the initial projectile deals little damage and cause flinching, it generates larger, darkness projectiles that do not immediately attack the opponent, but instead orbit around them and deal damage by homing in. Depending on how long it is charged, one to three projectiles can be generated by a single Shadow Flare, and up to five projectiles can be orbiting a single opponent at a time. Its range is also comparable to his sword attacks on top of having low lag all around, making it easily spammable and useful for spacing.

Sephiroth's neutral special, Flare, is a more traditional projectile that can be charged between three different projectiles of different properties: Flare is the quickest and travels slow but has the longest range; Megaflare is stronger overall and has a larger blast radius, at the cost of some range; and Gigaflare has the shortest range and the longest charge time, but has the largest blast radius and deals the most damage (enough to instantly break a shield while in Winged Form) and the strongest knockback, making it an effective way of pressuring at the edge for an edge-guard, or as a way to extend the damage the opponent takes as punishment from a shield break.

Sephiroth's up special, Blade Dash, is a dashing blade attack that functions differently depending on if the button was tapped or held. When tapped, Blade Dash is a single-hitting move that sweetspots edges easily. However, when held, it instead becomes Octaslash, which travels slightly farther, has huge range and hits multiple times, dealing higher damage and knockback at the cost of sweetspotting edges. Octaslash's large range particularly makes it a high risk, high reward combat option that can break the opponent's zone. Lastly, his down special, Scintilla, is unique among counterattacks in that it will always produce a hitbox regardless of whether or not any attacks were countered, while its multi-hitting nature allows it to pressure shields, and is one of the strongest counters in the game with a 1.5× damage multiplier. Although Scintilla only covers in front of Sephiroth and has a cap of 25%, breaking the cap will not damage Sephiroth and instead simply cause him to stagger. If his shield is heavily damaged, these traits can grant him a brief reprieve from exhausting his shield any further.

Thanks to his numerous ranged attacks, Sephiroth can play at a long range very effectively. By using said range to his advantage, he can gradually deter an opponent an opponent from approaching, and his attacks' various range and sweetspots also mean the opponent has to take care of how they approach Sephiroth. Sephiroth's extremely low short hop also helps him in the neutral game, as it allows him to mix up whichever attack he will use, allowing his other attacks to be kept fresh until he is in a prime position to use them. Said tools, combined with his grounded mobility, can sometimes even help him counteract opponents with good zoning games, such as Toon Link, Villager, or Simon.

Should the opponent be put on the defensive, Sephiroth's range can also allow him to gradually poke at the opponent's defense from afar until they are eventually put at a disadvantageous position from which he can easily go on the offensive to deal considerable amounts of damage, thanks to his highly damaging moves and his simple, yet effective combo game. Thanks to Shadow Flare, the opponent can also eventually be put into said disadvantage more easily at best, or simply force them to avoid the damage and thus reset the neutral game at worst. His Winged Form helps significantly on both regards, as his increased mobility allows Sephiroth to reposition himself more easily while also increasing the damage he can deal and, unlike other fighter abilities like Limit Gauge or Rebellion Gauge, it will not disappear until Sephiroth is KO'd or has inflicted a lot of damage, which can potentially lead to him turning the tables on the opponent should they try to play around him carelessly.

However, for as many strengths as he has, Sephiroth also possesses a notable amount of weaknesses. Perhaps the most notable of them is his frailty: Sephiroth's tall frame results in him being prone to get hit by most attacks, which is further compounded by him being a fast falling lightweight. Much like Mewtwo, these traits collectively result in Sephiroth being easy to combo and KO compared to many other characters of his size and/or weight. Adding to this is Sephiroth's recovery: his polarized air physics result in him covering a mediocre distance midair, meaning that careless use of his resources can lead Sephiroth to be easily edge-guarded or gimped, in spite of both of his recovery options having their perks.

Blade Dash is his quickest recovery option, but it does not cover as much distance and does not fully protect Sephiroth other than from the front, which can leave him vulnerable to sufficiently disjointed moves. On the other hand, Octaslash offers excellent protection that can deter opponents from edge-guarding Sephiroth because of its range and power making it useful for edge-guard breaking, but has the slowest start-up, leaving Sephiroth vulnerable to being put at a worse position in the air. Semi-spikes can also be especially deadly for Sephiroth, as his air physics do not give him too much air time.

Furthermore, Sephiroth's overall frame data is unimpressive, since his moveset possesses very few moves that start before frame 10. Even his fastest aerial attack, neutral aerial, has mediocre start-up for an attack of its kind. Despite the Masamune having among the longest and most effective range of any weapon in Ultimate, attacks involving it are also equally sluggish in both start-up and ending lag, especially in regard to his smash attacks, up tilt, back aerial, and up aerial. This means that opponents can easily punish Sephiroth if certain moves are spammed or used carelessly. On top of this, Sephiroth's sword moves at the base of the Masamune all deal poor damage, knockback, and pushback, meaning that if improperly spaced, Sephiroth's moves can be easily punished at close range.

Outside of neutral aerial, Sephiroth's melee-based moves also tend to have high ending lag, which results in him not having much in the way of mixing up his pressure at close range. Adding to this is Sephiroth's grab game, which is polarized in spite of its respectable utility; his grabs are short-ranged, his pummel is merely average, and his throws lack KO potential due to their meager damage outputs, average knockback, and/or unsuitable launching angles. All of these issues result in a poor close-quarters game that, when combined with his frailty, collectively culminates in Sephiroth being vulnerable to rushdown-based pressure if the opponent is able to keep up with his defense, such as Captain Falcon or Pikachu.

Another prominent issue on Sephiroth's moveset is his inconsistent KO potential. Due to his moves' sourspots, Sephiroth must always be at a distance from the opponent in order for them to KO reliably. His differing sweetspot mechanics can also work against him, due to how varied their locations are. His stab attacks possess narrow ranges and require the opponent to be at their longest range in order to be effective, which can result in them missing. On the other hand, his slash attacks do not require perfect spacing at long range to be effective, but their sweetspots are harder to land as a result of being located between the weaker sourspots and mediumspots. In regard to sword attacks, Octaslash should also be noted in that it only becomes consistently reliable for KOing while the Winged Form is active.

Outside of his sweetspotted sword attacks, Sephiroth does not have many reliable ways to KO an opponent. Although dash attack's clean hit KOs at reasonable percentages, its slow start-up can make it easily predictable. Flare's decent damage output is mostly counterbalanced by its middling knockback, which results in it failing to KO at reasonable percentages like Megaflare and Gigaflare. As a result, Sephiroth must be careful when it comes to being able to secure KOs in spite of his impressive damage racking potential.

Although Sephiroth's moveset remains solid overall, some of his moves are either highly risky or have notable flaws. Up tilt's incredible vertical range is counterbalanced by its extremely narrow horizontal range, even in spite its point-blank grounded hitbox, while its sourspots have minimal KO potential. Up aerial, on top of being Sephiroth's slowest aerial by a wide margin, sends at an unreliable angle for KOing due to being vulnerable to LSI, is notoriously difficult to properly sweetspot, and cannot auto-cancel other than from a double jump, making it a lackluster juggling tool if the opponent knows how to deal with it. Down aerial, due to being a stall-then-fall, is risky to use offstage, so careful positioning must be had to edge-guard opponents with it onstage to avoid inadvertently self-destructing.

As for his special moves, Flare and Megaflare's generally slow start-up and speed makes them easy to shield, absorb, or reflect. Although Shadow Flare has low overall lag, it still must be used wisely, especially if used by a character with a reflector, as it can result in Sephiroth being struck for high damage himself and allow the opponent to capitalize on it. While Octaslash covers a great distance on its own and is risky to edge-guard, characters with counterattacks can easily use this to their advantage, which can leave Sephiroth at an even worse spot for recovering. Finally, despite its animation suggesting otherwise, Scintilla cannot reflect projectiles whatsoever (although it can stop them without effort). It also does not directly protect Sephiroth (especially from behind) and its damaging hitbox is treated as a projectile, making it a double-edged sword if reflected.

Last but not least, Sephiroth's Winged Form suffers from its own limitations. Despite the wide array of benefits it grants, it only activates whenever Sephiroth receives damage, and is further dependent on his standing against an opponent. While the Winged Form can activate as low as 30% if Sephiroth is 2 stocks behind the opponent, it conversely activates as late as 110% if Sephiroth is 2 stocks ahead. Thus, the Winged Form suffers from consistency issues similarly to Aura in that Sephiroth will have to play very carefully if he is to keep his advantage, which is easier said than done due to his noticeable frailty.

Although the Winged Form's damage-based armor on Sephiroth's smash attacks can definitely help him power through incoming offense, reckless usage of his smash attacks can render him predictable. Additionally, Sephiroth cannot regain the Winged Form until he gets KO'd. As a result, if Sephiroth is not able to capitalize on its benefits properly, it can become harder for him later on to level the playing field when he is at a stock deficit, as it forces him to contest with his moveset's flaws. This also means that Sephiroth should actively avoid gaining the Winged Form when at a 2 stock deficit, as he will otherwise have no reliable way of turning the tide to his complete favor.

In the end, Sephiroth is arguably the most unique swordfighter in Ultimate, as his playstyle is a hybrid of the glass cannon and turtle archetypes, resulting in a high learning curve. His high overall damage output, immense range, varied sweetspots and effective projectiles grant him a respectably solid ranged melee playstyle, as it can become difficult for the opponent to approach Sephiroth should he consistently make the right choices, and it is equally difficult to surmount him should he break through the opponent's zone or defense.

However, Sephiroth's inconsistent KO potential, polarized grab game, and poor close-quarters game can leave a much-to-be-desired offensive playstyle, and he is just as susceptible to pressure as much as he can dish it out himself. The benefits offered from his Winged Form can seriously help him on this regard, as it can help him greatly recover from a deficit should he be able to survive long enough, but his frailty means he also must play carefully in order to retain this advantage.

Though opinions on Sephiroth's viability have been somewhat unclear due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash, his competitive reception has been mostly positive, as most people claim his pros outweigh his cons, and he is commonly considered to rest on a favorable spot. Additionally, smashers such as Mew2King, Tweek, Nairo and MKLeo have shown the desire to main him, and Zackray and Rizeasu have used him at offline Japanese tournaments to great success. His reception further improved when Ned notably placed 2nd using mostly Sephiroth at InfinityCON Tally 2021, the first offline national in North America in over a year.

Update history

Sephiroth was buffed slightly via update 11.0.0, in which the hitboxes of Scintilla's last hit were enlarged in order to make the move connect more reliably overall. Aside from this, Blade Dash's angle was adjusted and a glitch involving Shadow Flare was fixed.

As a result, Sephiroth's competitive standing has remained largely the same since he launched.

11.0.0

• Blade Dash has an altered launch angle (73° → 107°), but forces knockback towards Sephiroth's front instead of his back. As such, its effective angle remains unaltered, but it launches opponents facing the direction Sephiroth hit them from instead of the opposite.
• Scintilla's last hit has a larger hitbox (9u → 11u (not activated), 16-22u → 18-24u (activated)), allowing it to connect more reliably from the multi-hits.
• A glitch involving Shadow Flare and Pokémon Trainer causing the visual effects of moves to not play was fixed.

Moveset

• Sephiroth has a unique fighter ability called the Winged Form. While active, it increases his overall damage output by applying a multiplier of 1.3×, improves his mobility by applying multipliers to his attributes, and grants him both a third jump and damage-based armor to his smash attacks. The following moveset list details the properties of all attacks when the Winged Form is not active.
  • The conditions for Winged Form to activate can be seen on its page.
• Sephiroth wields his signature weapon, the Masamune, which possesses extremely long range, yet a relatively slow attack speed. It has different sweetspots depending on the attack used.
  • For slashing attacks, the sweetspot is located approximately at the middle of the Masamune's blade, while a sourspot covers the inner blade and handle, and a mediumspot at the tip. The sweetspot for slashing attacks is signified by a glowing area in the middle of the swing.
  • For stabbing attacks, the sweetspot is located at the tip of the Masamune's blade, while the mediumspot is at the blade.
    • For simplicity, if the handle deals 8.5%, the blade deals 10%, and the tip deals 11%, and that part of the attack has no other hitboxes, it is formatted on the table as 8.5%/10%/11%.
• Sephiroth's forward aerial lets him pierce walls and cling to them, similarly to Dragon Lunge. After piercing a wall, Sephiroth can choose to jump and boost his recovery by moving up or pressing the jump button/attack button, or let go of the wall by pressing away/down or waiting long enough.

For a gallery of Sephiroth's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	A mid-level roundhouse kick, followed by a mid-level side kick, followed by a forward thrust with the Masamune's pommel. It is Sephiroth's overall fastest attack; when coupled with its third hit having slightly above-average knockback and launching at the Sakurai angle, it is decent for setting up tech chases and also acts as way to escape pressure.. It is based on some of Sephiroth's moves from Ehrgeiz: the kicks resemble the second and third hits of his Jenova Linkage DEATH, while the pommel thrust is almost identical to his Hilt Attack.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt			7.5%/12%/9%	An outward slash. The move can be angled up and down. Has rather slow start-up (the slowest of Sephiroth's tilt attacks), but great KO potential at the middle of the Masamune's blade. Thanks to a combination of long range and its ability to be angled, as well as being safe on shield when connecting with the sweetspot, it is one of Sephiroth's most reliable spacing tools. It is almost identical to his Cruel Strike from Ehrgeiz.
Up tilt			1% (ground), 11%/12.5%/14% (clean), 7%/8.5%/10% (late)	An upward thrust. Its hitbox reaches very high, able to reach through the top platform of Battlefield, although its very narrow range makes it difficult to land as an anti-air. It has a weak grounded hit that has transcendent priority and launches opponents into the Masamune's blade, similarly to Marth's up smash. Its tipper is stronger than even Snake's up tilt, and KOs Mario at 85% from Battlefield's top platform, thus making it the third strongest up tilt in the game (surpassed only by Mega Man and Ganondorf's). It also lasts for a decent amount of time, making it surprisingly difficult to avoid if the opponent tries to challenge Sephiroth from above. Unique to Sephiroth's stab attacks, the tip and blade hitboxes have higher priority than the sourspot at the handle. Sephiroth's upper body is intangible while the clean hit is active. It is based on a rapid series of upward thrusts a flying Sephiroth performs against an airborne Cloud in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.
Down tilt			8% (clean), 6% (late)	A baseball slide. Has the fastest start-up of Sephiroth's tilt attacks, propels him a good distance forward, launches opponents vertically, and significantly lowers his hurtbox, allowing him to low-profile many projectiles and even mid-level attacks. However, its combo potential is limited due to the general slowness of Sephiroth's frame data; its only true combos are into up tilt and neutral aerial, both of which often require reads due to requiring specific timing. All of these traits make it very similar to Cloud's both aesthetically and mechanically, although its lower overall knockback makes it slightly more effective for setting up aerial pressure compared to Cloud's (especially while his Winged Form is active) at the cost of being slightly slower. It is almost identical to his Slide Charge from Ehrgeiz.
Dash attack			13% (clean), 7% (late)	A lunging, dark energy-infused palm thrust. Has somewhat slow startup and moderate ending lag, but it covers a decent distance. The clean sweetspot deals respectable damage and can KO at reasonable percentages, especially while his Winged Form is active. Although it is very similar to Mewtwo's dash attack aesthetically and mechanically, it is actually a magic attack instead of a darkness attack.
Forward smash			13.5%/20%/15%	A spinning, inward slash. Has the slowest startup of his smash attacks and considerable ending lag, but the sweetspot boasts powerful knockback and KOs at medium percentages at the edge. It also becomes one of the strongest smash attacks in the game in his Winged form, KOing even the heaviest characters at less than 30% at the edge when fully charged. The tip hitbox is somewhat safe on hit, but the sourspot at the hilt has below-average knockback, not KOing until around 80%. While in Winged Form, this move gains damage-based armor that has a maximum threshold of 20%. It resembles his Sudden Cruelty, which debuted in Ehrgeiz and is used throughout the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
Up smash			10.5%/15.5%/11.5% (early), 12%/17%/13% (clean)	Twirls to perform an overhead arcing slash. Similar to Ganondorf and Ike's up smashes in terms of functionality. Has fairly slow start-up, but covers an extremely wide area in front, above and behind Sephiroth, making it his best anti-air attack and giving him the ability to cover an entire platform with one move. Despite its incredible range, its relative ending lag is only moderate, which may make it very hard to punish at farther ranges. While in Winged Form, this move gains damage-based armor that has a maximum threshold of 20%. It resembles the second hit of his Heaven's Light from the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
Down smash			16.5% (piercing tip), 13.5% (debris), 10.5% (handle), 11.5% (blade), 13% (non-piercing tip)	A downward thrust. This stab attack is unique, as Sephiroth will pierce the ground in front of himself should there be any, making the move larger, stronger and giving the more powerful hitboxes higher priority. Otherwise, the move's hitboxes will behave normally, with the tip being difficult to land and the hitbox being narrow. Should the move pierce the ground, it deals immense shield damage, having the capability to instantly break a damaged shield if the tip and the debris connect. It also has the fastest startup of Sephiroth's smash attacks, though still slow for a smash attack, although its ending lag is somewhat short in relation to its power and startup; this makes it hard to punish when spaced. While in Winged Form, this move gains damage-based armor that has a maximum threshold of 20%. It is almost identical to the last hit of his Hell Quake Slash from Ehrgeiz. It also resembles the cutscene in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII in which Sephiroth stabs a downed Cloud.
Neutral aerial			8.5%	Snaps his fingers to emit a circular burst of energy around himself. Has the fastest start-up and ending lag of Sephiroth's aerials, as well as the lowest landing lag, thus making it his safest aerial. Although its hitbox also covers the entirety of his body, it is his shortest ranged aerial and its hitbox only lasts for 2 frames. Thanks to its launching angle and its overall lag being reasonably low (especially in regard to interruptibility), it is one of Sephiroth's best combo starters: it can combo into forward aerial, up aerial, Shadow Flare and back aerial, with the lattermost being a reliable KO confirm at around 40%-80% depending on the character's weight and DI. It can also combo into itself multiple times without the need to even land on the ground, similarly to Mario's up aerial. It resembles a combination of Heartless Angel's depictions in Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, albeit surrounding Sephiroth instead of the opponent, and is fittingly magical both in type and effect.
Forward aerial			8.5%/10%/11% (clean), 5.5%/7%/8% (late)	A forward thrust. Has somewhat slow start-up, but very long range in front of Sephiroth; as with other stab attacks, its hitbox is narrow. The tip can KO at high percentages at the edge. The move is also unique in that it lets Sephiroth pierce walls and cling to them, similarly to Dragon Lunge. After piercing a wall, Sephiroth can choose to jump by moving up or pressing jump or attack, or let go of the wall by pressing away or down or simply waiting long enough. Sephiroth can pierce a wall this way up to three times before landing on the ground, and the jump option does not use up his double jump. However, the move will fail to pierce a wall below a stage's camera bounds, or any wall that disables wall jumps, or is too close to a floor. It resembles his Sudden Strike from Ehrgeiz.
Back aerial			9.5%/14.5%/11.5%	Turns around to perform an outward slash behind himself. It has somewhat slow start-up and very high horizontal range like his forward aerial, while possessing more vertical range. Unlike forward aerial, it does not possess a lingering hitbox and its hitbox only lasts two frames. However, it is one of the strongest back aerials in the game, especially in his Winged form, often KOing very early when sweetspotted (it starts KOing middleweights at the edge at around 70%, and the KO confirms into it can happen potentially as low as 40%). However, it has an extremely strict auto-cancel window, only doing so on the first frame of Sephiroth's full hop without his Winged Form, and not at all with his Winged Form active, making it punishable to land with unless if spaced. It resembles his Flying Air Strike from Ehrgeiz.
Up aerial			7%/11%/8%	A backflipping overhead slash. Very slow start-up at frame 16, but its immense range covers a very wide arc above, in front of and even behind himself, making it exceptionally hard to avoid in the air if the opponent runs out of resources. It also possesses high knockback, with the sweetspot KOing at around 110% on Battlefield's top platform. However, it has the highest landing lag out of any up aerial in the game (22 frames), and it cannot autocancel out of anything but a double jump. As a result, while its early and late hitboxes can hit opponents while Sephiroth is landing, it is very punishable as a landing option compared to other aerials.
Down aerial		Hell's Gate (獄門, Prison Gate)	15% (clean blade), 10% (clean handle), 10% (late), 5% (landing ground), 7% (landing sword)	A downward thrust. A stall-then-fall aerial, it powerfully meteor smashes aerial opponents during its initial frames. The blade extends through the ground, allowing for opponents under platforms and edges to be hit by the move. It has excellent vertical range below Sephiroth, as it is able to pierce through the edges of Battlefield form stages, and even the entirety of Town and City. As a result, it can consistently 2 frame punish opponents with good timing and often KO them very early, even without the need to go offstage to land the move. Unlike other stab moves, it deals the same damage at the blade and the tip, making it more consistent. It also emits a unique stabbing sound on hit. Conversely, its landing hitbox is located at Sephiroth's legs and is indicated visually by small fissures of dark energy. It is based on his infamous murder of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII, while the landing hitbox's fissures are based on the massive fissures of energy that Hell's Gate emits upon hitting the ground in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series and Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Grab			—	Reaches out with his right hand, which is infused with dark energy. It has poor range despite Sephiroth's tall height, and its speed in comparison to other non-tether grabs is slightly below-average.
Pummel			1.3%	A burst of dark energy. Although very similar to Mewtwo's, it is actually a magic attack instead of a darkness attack. It resembles a spark of dark energy Sephiroth uses to render Cloud unconscious during a cutscene in Mobius Final Fantasy.
Forward throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Blasts the opponent away with dark energy. Due to being a semi-spike, it is very useful as a setup into an edge-guard or a tech chase. At mid-high percentages against most characters, Sephiroth has the opportunity to follow up with Octaslash for a KO, which covers nearly every possible option when timed correctly.
Back throw			3% (hit 1), 3.5% (throw)	Teleports the opponent behind himself, then pumps his fist to blast them away with dark energy. A unique back throw in that it lacks KO potential and it launches at a more vertical angle; it instead functions as a combo throw until mid-high percentages, leading into neutral aerial, forward aerial, back aerial or Shadow Flare until around 70%. If the opponent fails to DI the throw away in time, Sephiroth can connect a back aerial at around 50% for a true KO confirm. This combo is especially potent in Winged Form due to his higher air speed and damage output. It is based on Sephiroth's ability to teleport himself and others in Mobius Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy VII Remake, although its visual effects resemble the former's depiction.
Up throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	An upward slash. It has a collateral hitbox useful for fights with multiple opponents. Sends the opponent upwards and behind Sephiroth, which can reliably lead to an up tilt or neutral aerial at low to mid percentages. It also works as a 50/50 KO setup into up aerial at around 110%; the opponent's only escape route out of this combo is to jump out of it, which either gets caught by the up aerial's hitbox, or it puts them further into disadvantage due to Sephiroth's huge range being able to usually catch their landing afterwards. It is almost identical to the second hit of his Heaven's Light from the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
Down throw			4%	Telekinetically slams the opponent onto the ground. Its low damage and extremely low ending lag collectively grant it excellent combo potential at low to mid percentages. It can combo into Shadow Flare and neutral, forward, back and up aerials at low percentages, and at mid-high percentages, Sephiroth can perform a reverse aerial rush back aerial near the edge as a KO confirm, which is even more effective when in Winged form due to his increased mobility and power. It is also Sephiroth's strongest throw overall, but remains moderately weak as it fails to KO until around 210%. It is based on the cinematic in Final Fantasy VII Remake at the beginning of phase 3 of the boss fight against Sephiroth, in which he uses his Boundless Void to pin down Cloud and Tifa Lockhart/Aerith.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Kicks around himself with his left leg while getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Kicks around himself with his left leg while getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Kicks around himself with his left leg while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Kicks in front of himself while climbing up.
Neutral special		Flare / Megaflare / Gigaflare	Flare: 3% (hit 1), 10.5% (hit 2) Megaflare: 3.5% (hit 1), 3.7% (hits 2-5), 9% (hit 5) Gigaflare: 6% (hit 1), 3.7%/2.7%/2.0% (hits 2-7), 11%/8%/4% (hit 8)	Charges Flare, an explosive fireball, in his right hand that travels slowly when fired. A chargeable projectile as long as the special button is kept pressed, it can be charge canceled (but the charge is not stored). It has three different variations, each producing incrementally stronger projectiles with larger explosions, but also significantly lowers their travel distance. Tapping the button results in Flare, a scarlet flame that travels the most distance, but has the smallest explosion. Charging it for some time results in Megaflare, a blue flame that is more powerful, travels faster, and has a larger lingering explosion, but travels a shorter distance. Fully charging it results in Gigaflare, which causes the background to darken dramatically, and the music's volume to lower; the small, yellow spark fired travels an extremely short distance, but results in an immense explosion with extreme knockback, being capable of KOing most characters as low as 20% near a ledge, or even potentially KOing at 0% if in Winged form. Gigaflare has moderate ending lag, but when it explodes at its farthest ranges, Sephiroth has enough time to follow up with another attack, most notably forward smash which can most likely KO at 0%. However, it has extremely high startup across all versions, making it punishable if used as a conventional projectile. Despite Gigaflare being extremely slow to start, its very large hitbox makes it a notoriously effective edge trapping tool, allowing it to simultaneously cover nearly every option when timed correctly; against opponents with a reflector, Sephiroth can simply cancel the charge and punish the attack. All three versions can be reflected and absorbed; it should be noted that despite Gigaflare's extreme power, all three are relatively unrewarding to absorb due to their initial hits dealing very low damage. When releasing Megaflare, Sephiroth may say 行け ("Go."), and when releasing Gigaflare, he may say 焼き尽くす ("Burn to nothing.")
Side special		Shadow Flare	1.5%-4.5% (surge), 6.5% (sphere's explosion), 7% (sphere's orbit)	Snaps his fingers to emit a thin, short-ranged surge of dark energy at the opponent. If it connects, spheres of dark energy will orbit the opponent, then home in on them and explode after the spheres make at least two revolutions around the character. The initial surge can be charged, increasing its damage and range while creating more spheres on hit. An uncharged surge creates only one sphere, whereas a fully charged surge will create three spheres; up to five spheres can orbit an opponent at once. Sephiroth can also quickly turn 180° before firing Shadow Flare by quickly flicking the control stick in the opposite direction, similarly to B-reversing. The spheres can also hit bystanders while they orbit around the opponent, with each sphere being able to collide twice before disappearing. The spheres can be reflected and absorbed. If Pocketed, the sphere is thrown as a standard projectile. In comparison to Sephiroth's other moves, Shadow Flare is very spammable, thanks to its fairly low interruptibility, and it possesses unusually high priority against other projectiles, capable of destroying any projectile within its priority range despite the initial projectile's low damage. As a result, it can be used frequently without fear of retaliation, and allows him to set up follow-ups or condition the opponent into picking an option. However, the move has very low safety in close quarters even on hit due to it causing minimal hitstun and shield damage. When using the move, Sephiroth may say 目障りだ ("Pathetic."), 焼き付けろ ("Burn."), 跪け ("Kneel."), 滅びよ ("Perish."), くらえ ("Take this.") or simply chuckle.
Up special		Blade Dash / Octaslash	7% (Blade Dash), 2.3% (Octaslash hits 1-7), 7% (Octaslash hit 8)	An omnidirectional slash with a brief charge time, indicated by a directional arrow which points towards Sephiroth's travel direction before he begins moving. It travels similarly to moves like Fire Fox. Grounded versions of both moves will stop at edges, and the aerial versions can pass through platforms if down is held on the control pad. Its functionality changes based on whether the special move button is tapped or held. If the special move button is tapped, Sephiroth performs Blade Dash, which deals a single hit, travels less distance and can snap to the edge. It deals low damage, but has moderately low ending and landing lag, allowing it to be used as a movement option. If the special move button is held down, it becomes Octaslash, a dashing flurry of slashes that, true to its name, hits eight times, gaining significantly more power and slightly increased travel distance. It deals high damage and is an effective combat move, but has high ending lag and extremely high landing lag (one of the highest for an up special). It is unable to grab the edge until the attack has ended; however, its large hitbox can be used to deter opponents from camping an edge. If Sephiroth starts a midair Octaslash and aims diagonally at the ground, he will travel along the ground as he moves, similarly to Fire Wolf. If he aims directly down towards the ground, however, Sephiroth will cancel the attack and enter landing lag. Octaslash's hits also have significant hitlag for visual effect when successful, causing the move to slow down and last longer. Octaslash has great range overall, not only extending far in front of Sephiroth, but also having great reach above and below him; when combining this with the fact that every successive hit has only a 1 frame gap, this makes the move excellent for 2 frame punishing nearly every character when timed correctly. When using Octaslash, Sephiroth may say 消え去れ ("Disappear."), 愚かな ("Foolish."), or 恐怖を刻もう ("I shall carve terror.")
Down special		Scintilla	1% (hits 1-3), 5% (hit 4) 13.4%-30% (counter)	Erects a honeycomb-shaped barrier in front of himself. It hits multiple times upon counterattacking, yet only counters an attack that is in front of Sephiroth. It is unique for a counterattack in a few ways: for one, it will activate and deal minimal damage even if an attack does not connect with it, though it still grows stronger like a normal counterattack depending on the damage it has taken. Second, rather than growing stronger by multiplying the damage dealt by the attack that triggers it, a successful Scintilla's damage increases on a range starting from 13.4% off of an attack dealing 1% and caps out at 30% on attacks dealing 18% or more. Third, it has a damage cap of 25%, after which the barrier will shatter, negating the damage and causing Sephiroth to stagger briefly. Finally, the counterattack is considered a projectile, meaning it can be reflected and absorbed. Despite its appearance suggesting so, Scintilla cannot reflect projectiles. Like most counterattacks, Scintilla freezes the opponent right before the retaliating hit. Its unique properties make it excellent for edge-guarding any sort of recovery due to its ability to automatically trigger. This move can deter most opponents from sharking with their recovery move, making it effective against attacks that do not snap the edge as quickly. When using the move, Sephiroth may say 来い ("Come."). When performing the counterattack, he may say 目障りだ ("Pathetic."), 消え去れ ("Disappear."), 愚かな ("Foolish."), いい顔だ ("I like the look on your face."), 打ち砕く ("I will crush you."), 跪け ("Kneel."), or simply chuckle.
Final Smash		Supernova	7% (slash), 10% (Supernova), 15% (ending)	Performs a wide slash while announcing 星に帰れ ("Return to the Planet."). Up to three opponents hit by the slash will be trapped in a cutscene where Sephiroth transforms into Safer∙Sephiroth (his final boss form) to summon Meteor and trigger a supernova, wiping out the world and causing random status effects to foes who are not KO'd. These status effects include an automatic shield break, being slowed down, having reversed controls (indicated by a mushroom on the victim's head), having a flower planted on the victim's head, being put to sleep, or simply using the darkness effect alongside more knockback than usual (albeit still below-average for a Final Smash). Fighters caught in the Final Smash face towards him with their backs to the camera, much like Cloud and his party do in his final boss battle in Final Fantasy VII. The attack is also based on the attack of the same name in Final Fantasy VII. Once the move successfully concludes, Sephiroth assumes his fighting stance from Final Fantasy VII and then performs an animation based on his victory pose as a guest party member during the Nibelheim flashback.

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Slowly descends onto the stage while emitting a dark aura and losing a few feathers.

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  Sephiroth's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Uses his right hand to gesture to the opponent to approach him, saying 来るがいい ("Come after me.").
• Side taunt: Assumes the kasumi-no-kamae, a stance in kendo. It is based on his fighting stance as a guest party member in Final Fantasy VII, as well as the climax of the game in which the metaphysical Sephiroth takes the stance against Cloud before being defeated by him (more so apparent with his Coatless costumes).
• Down taunt: Shifts the side of his body forward and chuckles sinisterly, emitting a dark aura as he does so. The pose heavily resembles the one he assumed during the cutscene in Final Fantasy VII where he destroyed Nibelheim, while the dark aura is based on the one he emits during his entry cutscene before his boss fight in Final Fantasy VII Remake.

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  Sephiroth's up taunt.

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  Sephiroth's side taunt.

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  Sephiroth's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Holds his sword downwards with his opposite arm under it and his heel up.
• Shifts his position to the other side.

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  Sephiroth's first idle pose

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  Sephiroth's second idle pose

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer	File:Sephiroth Cheer English & French NTSC SSBU.ogg				File:Sephiroth Cheer English & French NTSC SSBU.ogg
Description	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!	Seph - i - roth!

Victory poses

All of Sephiroth's victory screens take place in a fiery area instead of the standard area where most of the victory screens take place. This is a direct reference to the Nibelheim Incident from Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Instead of having a colored background behind him when his name appears, the screen will be tinted red. If Sephiroth is the leader of a winning team, he will use his special victory screens without any of his teammates being seen, similarly to Joker.

If Cloud is present during the match, Sephiroth has a chance of saying 思い出にはならないさ ("I will never be a memory.") during any of his three victory poses. This is a reference to his final line of dialogue from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and, by proxy, his reveal trailer for Ultimate.

• Left: With his back turned, Sephiroth turns his head towards the camera while chuckling. He then turns around and slowly walks deeper into the flames until he disappears. It is based on the second scene of the Nibelheim Incident cutscene.
• Up: Slowly raises his head and glares at the camera, saying 何度でも導いてやろう。 ("I will usher you as many times as you want.") References the first scene of the Nibelheim Incident cutscene.
• Right: While turning his back to the camera, he swings the Masamune and unfurls his black wing, saying その痛みで私を思い出せ。 ("Remember me through your pain.")
• Team: In Team Battles where Sephiroth is not the leader, he faces to the side in the same pose as his up-inputted victory pose, keeping his face away from the camera. This resembles his victory animation in Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia.

The ending portion of "Advent: One-Winged Angel", taken directly from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Afterward, a droning note plays; it is unknown if it is from any source in particular, though it references the same droning sound that plays during the fiery cutscene from the Nibelheim Incident. Then, instead of the regular results theme, another droning note plays continuously, although it can be difficult to hear due to the sound of the flames.

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In competitive play

Initial reactions to Sephiroth have been positive overall: players such as MkLeo, Zackray, Dabuz and Tweek believed him to be a top tier. Dabuz and Tweek, in particular, claimed that Sephiroth could potentially be a top 5 character, citing his incredible range giving him excellent spacing, his unique, powerful projectiles and Scintilla bolstering his advantage state, and his Winged Form being a very strong comeback tool when mastered. However, other players such as Marss believed that Sephiroth's frailty, poor disadvantage state, inconsistency and generally slow frame data could prevent him from reaching such status. Although he was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sephiroth saw success in online play thanks to players such as Ned.

Following the return of offline competitive play, opinions on Sephiroth have mellowed a bit, with people noting his low weight and tall stature being notable downsides, as well as the fact that he is far more difficult to consistently play at top level than most characters, leading to a level of inconsistency. He also has a rather small player base compared to other top tiers, though KEN and Ned have given Sephiroth decent placements at majors, most notably KEN's win at Battle of BC 4 where he used only Sephiroth throughout top 8. The notably smaller player base outside of online play, along with the general inconsistency at higher level play, has caused the character to generally be considered low-high tier, though KEN believes the character to be top 10.

Most historically significant players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.

See also: Category:Sephiroth professionals (SSBU)

•  KEN (#16) - Co-mains Sephiroth alongside Sonic and is the best Sephiroth player in the world. Placed 1st at Battle of BC 4 and Sumabato SP 25, 3rd at WINNER! -Next Gen-, 5th at Crown 2 and Double Down 2022, and 7th Maesuma TOP 7, with wins over Shuton, Tea, and Nietono.
•  Ned (#37) - One of the best Sephiroth players in the world. Placed 2nd at both InfinityCON Tally 2021 and Mega Smash Mondays 240, 9th at Port Priority 6 and 25th at Riptide, with wins over Myran, Kurama, and MuteAce. Online, placed 5th at The Box: Lunch Box 10 and 7th at SWT: NA Northeast Ultimate Online Qualifier with wins over Maister, Chag, and Lui$. Currently ranked 19th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7.

Classic Mode: The Chosen Ones

Sephiroth's congratulations screen.

Uniquely, Sephiroth's route has him face off against all of the bosses in the game (excluding Galeem and Dharkon) in a Boss Rush, referencing his status as a final boss in Final Fantasy VII. The title of his route references his leitmotif from the original game, "Those Chosen by the Planet".

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Rathalos	Forest Hill	Roar/Rathalos
2	Galleom	Base	Boss Battle - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
3	Marx	Mysterious Dimension	Vs. Marx
4	Dracula	Dracula's Castle	Phase 1: Nothing to Lose Phase 2: Black Night
5	Ganon	Sacred Land	Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form
6	Giga Bowser	Final Destination	Giga Bowser
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Northern Cave (Ω form)	One-Winged Angel	References the final battle of Final Fantasy VII where multiple characters team up to defeat Sephiroth.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Sephiroth has JENOVA accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

The message that shows Sephiroth's availability in World of Light

Due to his status as downloadable content, Sephiroth does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, he is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition before downloading Sephiroth, he is immediately unlocked.

Interestingly, Sephiroth's trailer takes place during World of Light, where he makes his presence known by slicing Galeem in half and fighting the heroes himself. Additionally, other DLC characters that have no role in World of Light are present fighting Galeem before Sephiroth makes his entrance, including Erdrick, Banjo and Kazooie.

Spirit

Sephiroth's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Sephiroth has been downloaded. Unlocking Sephiroth in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

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  1,439. Sephiroth

In Spirit Battles

Sephiroth is not featured in any Spirit Battles.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Sephiroth's splash art.

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  Sephiroth's unlock notice after downloading him from the Nintendo eShop.

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  Sephiroth's appearance in the Sephiroth Challenge title screen.

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  Sephiroth standing and holding Masamune on Northern Cave.

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  Attacking Captain Falcon with Octaslash on Umbra Clock Tower.

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  Casting Flare on Dracula's Castle.

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  In his coatless alternate costume on Northern Cave.

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  Using Supernova against Ness, Bowser, and Robin.

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  Fighting Cloud on Midgar.

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  Sephiroth with Kazuya on Northern Cave.

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  Fighting Sora on Coliseum.

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  Fighting Cloud, Sora and Mario on Hollow Bastion.

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  Sephiroth with Sora and Cloud on Midgar.

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  Sephiroth alongside all of the other DLC fighters of Fighters Pass Vol. 2.

Trivia

The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate × Final Fantasy at the end of The Game Awards 2020 video.

• Sephiroth's internal codename is "edge", which is likely a reference to the Masamune, his signature sword, and Edge, the city of the same name that was built across from the ruins of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
• Sephiroth is the second character to be revealed at a non-Nintendo event/presentation, the first being Joker. Both of them were revealed at The Game Awards (Joker in 2018 and Sephiroth in 2020).
  • Unlike Joker's, however, Sephiroth's featured actual gameplay footage, was announced ahead of time, and was a standard world premiere trailer instead of an "intruding" announcement.
  • Oddly, Sephiroth's English trailer shown during The Game Awards is slightly different from the one uploaded to Nintendo's official channels later: the crossover card states Super Smash Bros. Ultimate × Final Fantasy during The Game Awards, whereas in later uploads it displays Super Smash Bros. Ultimate × Final Fantasy VII, in line with Cloud's trailer for Super Smash Bros. 4.
• If the Sephiroth Challenge is counted, Sephiroth has the shortest gap between his reveal and release of any DLC fighter in Ultimate, with only seven days.
• According to Masahiro Sakurai, Sephiroth was developed to feel like a boss character while having boss-like strength for players to enjoy when using him.
  • Sakurai also mentions during the development of Sephiroth, two problems were how to incorporate the Masamune into the game and make it easy for players to use his attacks.
• Sephiroth's inclusion makes Final Fantasy the third and final third-party universe to have more than one fighter in Ultimate, following Castlevania and Street Fighter.
  • Additionally, Sephiroth is the only secondary third-party universe fighter to not be an Echo Fighter, as Richter and Ken are Echo Fighters of Simon and Ryu respectively.
    • He is also the only one introduced through DLC.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Sephiroth uses one of his heavy knockback voice clips instead of his standard KO voice clip. He shares this trait with Mario, Dr. Mario and all vocal DLC fighters except for Joker, Banjo & Kazooie, and Byleth's Japanese voice.
• Sephiroth is the first:
  • DLC fighter from a universe that was introduced as DLC in a previous installment.
  • Ultimate fighter to be unlockable through an event before their official release.
  • Fighters Pass fighter whose game of origin was already represented by a fighter (in this case, Cloud). When counting all of Ultimate's DLC fighters, he is the second after Piranha Plant.
• Sephiroth is the second character whose trailer references World of Light, the first being Hero's.
  • Coincidentally, both are DLC fighters from Square Enix, and both fight opposing forces from the World of Light: Hero fought Dharkon and its controlled puppet fighters, whereas Sephiroth sliced through Galeem. Additionally, they each hail from one of the two companies that merged into Square Enix: Sephiroth comes from Squaresoft, and Hero comes from Enix.
• Sephiroth is one of three characters to fight Master Hand and Crazy Hand on a stage other than Final Destination in Classic Mode, with the others being Donkey Kong and Joker.
  • Sephiroth is the only one of the three who fights both Master Hand and Crazy Hand regardless of intensity level.
• Sephiroth's introduction tagline is a reference to his leitmotif, "One-Winged Angel". It may also reference one of his battle quotes in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Heart II in which he says, "Descend, heartless angel."
• Sephiroth's trailer makes several references to both the original Final Fantasy VII game, the game's remake, and the CGI-animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, with much of his and Cloud's dialogue being adapted from the latter, including him nearly impaling Mario using his Masamune. Several shots in the trailer are direct recreations of shots from Advent Children.
  • His introduction tagline pose references his official artwork from Final Fantasy VII.
  • His trailer also marks the first time that Cloud has appeared in CGI in the Super Smash Bros. series, with all of his other appearances in trailers and cutscenes using his in-game model. Cloud's CGI model is, notably, based on his Advent Children design.
• Like Cloud, the Super Smash Bros. series marks the third time that Sephiroth has been playable in a fighting game/series, with the first two being Ehrgeiz and the Dissidia Final Fantasy series.
• Sephiroth's render resembles a flipped version of his original Dissidia Final Fantasy render, albeit in 3D and with his wing displayed.
• Sephiroth is the first DLC character who must be unlocked through fighting him, although this is only for early access and not a permanent feature.
• Sephiroth is the only fighter whose Classic Mode consists entirely of bosses and, by extension, lacks any fighters as opponents.
  • His Classic Mode route is also one of only four to feature him fighting a boss outside of the Boss Round, with the others being Bowser, Mega Man and Hero.
• When fighting both Master Hand and Crazy Hand in Classic Mode, Sephiroth will start on the far left side of the stage instead of at center stage. This also occurs with Pyra, Mythra and Sora in their respective Classic Mode routes.
• Sephiroth is the only DLC character to have a unique quote when winning against certain characters. He is also the second third-party character with this distinction, following Simon.
  • Sephiroth, Wolf and Chrom are also the only fighters whose unique victory dialogue can be used during any of their three victory poses.
• Sephiroth, Meta Knight, Inkling, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, Pyra, Mythra, and Sora are the only fighters who use their walking animation when navigating through the map in World of Light.
• Sephiroth's victory screens load much faster than other characters, likely due to the fiery background being pre-rendered instead of a modeled setting.
• Sephiroth is one of only five characters to predominantly use his left hand to wield his weapon, sharing this trait with Young Link, Toon Link, the Ice Climbers, and Rosalina & Luma.
• Sephiroth is one of three fighters who are not featured in any Spirit Battles whatsoever, with the other two being Piranha Plant and Terry. This makes him the only fighter in Fighters Pass Volume 2 not to be in a Spirit Battle.
• With a weight value of 79, Sephiroth is the lightest newcomer in Ultimate, DLC or otherwise.