Jenova

Jenova is an extraterrestrial lifeform in Final Fantasy VII. She also appears in a retelling of a section of the game in the animated film Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, and in flashbacks in the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Jenova serves as one of the primary antagonists in the world of Final Fantasy VII, and experiments on its cells have produced many of the other antagonists as well, including Sephiroth.

Throughout Final Fantasy VII, Jenova is often referred to as "she", though Ifalna calls "her" a "he" (or "it" in the PC version). Jenova has a female form and is said to be the "mother" of Sephiroth. It is called the "calamity from the skies" or the "crisis from the sky" (空から来た厄災, Sora kara kita yakusai, lit. "Disaster which came from the sky"), or "Heaven's Dark Harbinger" by the cetra.

Symbology
Jenova's name is a portmanteau of "Jehovah" and "Nova". "Jehovah" is a widely-accepted romanization of the ineffable Hebrew name 'יהוה', one of the many names of the Abrahamic God. "Nova" is from the Latin feminine adjective for "New". Thus, Jenova's name means "New God", a point of symbolic significance, although this connection is not seen in the game. Additionally, a nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion of enormous proportions caused by the accretion of hydrogen onto the surface of a white dwarf star. Given Jenova's association with planetary and universal themes, this may or may not be a coincidence.

The 'jen' segment also hints at 'genetics', an important theme within the game. In this way, the name can be interpreted as 'gene-nova'.

All of these combine to form a name which alludes to planetary catastrophe (Meteor), genetic traits and experiments (Hojo's creations, Aeris's Cetra genes, Jenova's genetic 'children') and the birth of a new god (Sephiroth), making it very appropriate.

Sephiroth being Jenova's "son", as well as the implication throughout Final Fantasy VII that he had become one and the same as her, may refer to the Christian belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, yet also via the blessed trinity one and the same with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Appearance
Whenever Jenova is seen in a dormant state it appears as a gray-skinned woman (shown as blue-skinned in Final Fantasy VII, or only appearing blue through its container in the Mako Reactor on Mt. Nibel in other games). Although Jenova appears feminine its gender is ambiguous at best as it is an extraterrestrial lifeform whom the cetra never appear to refer to with a feminine pronoun; Jenova is known as "Calamity from the Skies" in the legends, and in Final Fantasy VII Ifalna (a cetra) refers to Jenova with either 'it' or 'he', depending on the version of the game. Jenova is bare (other than what appears to be an external biological system), with something resembling a heart at its feet. Connected to the heart-like organ are a number of ventricle tubes that reach to different parts of the body, the largest of which, pinker in color, inserts into its abdomen (or in Final Fantasy VII, an apparently empty space in its abdomen). On its back are similarly colored appendages along with what resembles a wing protruding from its left, and a stub of a wing from its right. Jenova has long silver hair parted through the center. Its left eye glows red and it has no right eye that is often unseen and covered by hair in all Compilation of Final Fantasy VII releases where the eyes are recognizable. Placed on Jenova's head is a headgear that links to her container and has an inscription which has had a different message between different depictions of the scene. Above the headgear, a brain is seen, lying within Jenova's cranium.

Jenova Doll
At Mt. Nibel Jenova's container is covered by what has been referred to as the "Jenova Doll." The doll is a presumably man-made metal construct that resembles the torso of an angel. The doll obscures Jenova itself while the wings cover the side of the container. Presumably connected to the roof are cables bearing the appearance of golden hair, offering to cover the higher areas of the container. A tube links from the chamber's entrance to the doll's midpoint, possibly meant to resemble Jenova who has a similar tube; whereas Jenova's tube leads to a heart-like organ, the area the doll's pipe leads to has tubes that resemble ventricles. The tube linking to the doll can also used as a path to reach the container. At the entrance to the chamber lies a sign reading 'JENOVA'.

Biology
Jenova's genetic structure is a two-way conduit; it can both take in the traits of its prey, and insert its own genes to turn other organisms into violent monsters. Once Jenova lands upon a new planet it will begin to destroy every form of life it finds. Jenova can absorb its prey's memories and form, hiding as their loved ones to destroy them. As stated in Professor Hojo's Jenova Reunion Theory, once Jenova's cells have been separated from the main body they will eventually reunite into one again. If they are inside a host body they can influence its mind and body to join the Reunion — sometimes so extremely the host organism is killed. For an unknown reason organisms affected by Jenova often grow a single wing capable of flight. The pupils of the affected can also change into a cat-like slit, though the rest of the eye remains unchanged.

Once Jenova has completely destroyed a planet it uses it as a vessel to travel the cosmos to the next unfortunate planet and this cycle may have been going for millions of years before the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. Jenova's age is unknown but since it can lay dormant for millennia if necessary it might be older than the planet of Gaia itself.

Arrival
Approximately two thousand years before the main events of Final Fantasy VII, Jenova landed on Gaia, having traveled through space on a meteor. The impact created a giant wound on the Planet's surface that would come to be known as the "North Crater". Jenova emerged from the crater and approached the cetra using its mimic abilities to destroy them. Those who were taken victim were infected with Jenova's cells and mutated into monsters. Jenova would take the form of the fallen cetra, and so get close enough to destroy their loved ones. Ifalna calls this process as Jenova giving the cetra "the virus".

Jenova destroyed most of the cetra civilization. Their daughter race, the humans, hid from Jenova while the cetra were nearly wiped out. The few cetra who survived banded together to defeat Jenova and quarantined it inside the North Crater where it would lie dormant for thousands of years. Despite their victory over the "Calamity from the Skies" their civilization was lost, and their numbers dwindled down to almost nothing while humans spread over the planet. As time wore on humanity forgot about Jenova and the cetra fell into legend.

Rediscovery
Two thousand years after the calamity's fall onto the planet all memory of Jenova had faded. The Shinra Electric Power Company ruled the planet with mako energy, but was ever looking for a more efficient way to harvest it. The cetra legend of the "promised land" piqued their interest, and the company delved into research into the race that was thought long extinct. Approximately 30 years before the main events of Final Fantasy VII, Professor Gast Faremis excavated Jenova's remains and mistakenly identified it as a cetra. Thus began the Jenova Project — an effort by a number of Shinra scientists to take Jenova's cells and create a human hybrid to produce a cetra who would lead them to the legendary promised land. Shinra was, of course, unsuccessful at creating a cetra with Jenova's cells, but the humans treated with Jenova's cells proved to be super-soldiers, which led to the members of SOLDIER, Shinra's elite military force, to be injected with Jenova's cells as well. Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos, and Angeal Hewley were born from the project during its first stages when Shinra was still trying to create a cetra. Most of the early research took place in Nibelheim's Shinra Mansion, and Jenova was kept within the Mako Reactor at Mt. Nibel.

Sephiroth
Sephiroth, the ultimate SOLDIER who was directly infused with Jenova's cells in fetal stage, was not told of his role in the Jenova Project. His biological father, Professor Hojo, told the young Sephiroth his mother's name was "Jenova" and that she died from giving birth to him. His real mother was Lucrecia Crescent. Many years later Sephiroth came to the Nibelheim reactor along with Zack Fair and Cloud Strife and found the reactor filled with mako-infused mutants; ordinary humans infused with such high levels of mako they had turned into monsters. Sephiroth began to suspect his origins may be similar, and ventured into the Shinra Mansion's basement and read all he could about the Jenova Project. The strain of these discoveries drove him insane.

Believing himself to be the descendant of the cetra, whom the humans had "betrayed," Sephiroth went on an angry killing spree. All of Nibelheim was burned to the ground, and Sephiroth went up to the reactor to get his "mother". However since Cloud had mortally wounded him, Sephiroth could only take Jenova's head and fell into the Lifestream below the reactor.

Shinra forces took over the reactor and used Cloud and Zack as a part of Professor Hojo's newest experiment to test the Jenova Reunion Theory. Sephiroth was deemed dead and the Nibelheim survivors became test subjects and were infected with Jenova to create the Sephiroth Clones. What remained of Jenova was taken to Midgar and placed in Hojo's lab in Shinra Headquarters. Due to Jenova's cells present in his body, the Lifestream was unable to absorb Sephiroth completely. Sephiroth's will traveled the Lifestream learning everything about Jenova, cetra, the circle of life and formulated a plan to be reborn as a god and built a new body for himself in the Northern Cave within the North Crater. At this point Sephiroth's will was stronger than Jenova's, and he could exert his influence on those injected with the Jenova cells, his plan to have them bring the Black Materia to him.

In Sephiroth's Form
Five years after the Nibelheim Incident, Sephiroth puts his plan into action and takes control of Jenova's main body housed in Shinra Headquarters and morphs it into a vessel in his likeness before having it massacre many people in the Shinra Building, including President Shinra. From there Jenova escapes into the outside world. Cloud and his party chase "Sephiroth" across the planet, unaware it is actually Jenova being controlled by him. Cloud follows Sephiroth to get revenge for Nibelheim's torching, but on subconscious level Cloud is being controlled by the Jenova cells inside him. Several times the cells take complete control of him and make him mentally unstable and Sephiroth uses his control of Cloud to make him give up the Black Materia. As the party follows Jenova's trail they run into parts of Jenova Sephiroth uses to hinder their pursuit and to keep them from discovering the truth. The first one, described as Jenova's arm, transforms into Jenova∙BIRTH and is fought on the Cargo Ship. Jenova∙LIFE manifested as Sephiroth when he murdered the last known cetra, Aeris Gainsborough, at the altar in the Forgotten Capital. A third battle with Jenova occurs in the Whirlwind Maze with Jenova∙DEATH. As Cloud and his friends defeat the final part of Jenova's original body, Cloud realizes what they had been pursuing wasn't the real Sephiroth. The party finds the real Sephiroth crystallized in hibernation. Being controlled, Cloud gives Sephiroth the Black Materia, letting him summon Meteor, the most powerful of all offensive spells, capable of harming the planet itself. Sephiroth's plan is to create a wound so great into the planet's surface the Lifestream would be summoned to heal it, giving him an opportunity to take control of the entire world.

Cloud recovers and throws off Sephiroth's influence. Together with his party, he travels down into the Northern Cave to defeat Sephiroth. Just before the final battle they fight Jenova∙SYNTHESIS, a form of Jenova composed of all the remaining Jenova cells and considered as the entity's true form. Once defeated, the party reaches an evolved Sephiroth and defeats him.

Remnants
Even after its main body had been destroyed, Jenova's cells remained within the Lifestream and infected thousands who came into contact with them during the time it washed over the planet to help destroy Meteor. This infection with Jenova cells manifested as the plague Geostigma, caused by the human body overcompensating to try to eliminate the cells, leading to the development of sores and scars. Not fully diluted in the Lifestream, Sephiroth manifest his remnants into being with Kadaj being the first to be created. Joined by his brothers Loz and Yazoo, Kadaj is compelled to find physical remains of Jenova to evoke a second Reunion to restore Sephiroth, abducting children infected with the Geostigma and turning them into "blood hounds" to find it, Rufus Shinra is in possession of Jenova's remains the whole time. Kadaj reaches Jenova's remains assimilating it as Sephiroth is reborn in his body. During his fight with Cloud Sephiroth, he unveils his intentions to assimilate the planet and journey to another world to repeat the cycle as Jenova had done before him. Sephiroth is defeated and Kadaj is left on the verge of death. Aerith's Great Gospel brings a healing rain down upon Midgar and Edge, healing those suffering from Geostigma while Sephiroth's Remnants cease to be. Due to Jenova's high adaptability and previous ability to survive, whether or not this is the end of Jenova remains is unknown.

Although in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Jenova's remains are explicitly referred to as "Jenova's head", Tetsuya Nomura has stated the remains are merely a few random clusters of its cells, but for lack of an official term to refer to the remains the term "head" stuck.