Oh, all right!! You're persistent!
All right, I confess! I'm in love with Sephiroth.
I'm no different from any other female on the web... I think he's the most attractive person I've ever seen. My god, the man is absolutely gorgeous. Everybody knows that, though... ^_^;;; So I tried not to inundate this website with a constant commentary on how incredible he is. I know you're probably sick of hearing it. ^_^;;;;;;;
NO, that does not excuse any of his crimes. It does not mean he should have won in the end, nor should he have killed Aeris, or summoned Meteor, or burned Nibelheim... it just means he's beautiful.
At least he has honest-to-god motives. I think that he's the most realistically developed villain seen in a Final Fantasy game to date. He's got a reason for being the way he is; we see this reason and understand it. This makes him more realistic-- more possible-- and more scary.
I don't condone his actions in FF7-- but still, there is something about him that attracts me undeniably, and it isn't just his physical appearance. He's so famous that everyone's afraid of him... he's probably never had a real friend in his life. He must be terribly lonely... and think of what he must have gone through back in the Shin-ra testing labs. Talk about a messed-up childhood. -_- It seems as though, from the time he was born until he realized who he was, he was only a pawn, and never permitted to lead a real life of his own. He didn't place a very high value on human life, because he didn't understand how precious it was. Until he could learn to admire a sunset, eat ice cream, and laugh at being hit by a water balloon, he couldn't possibly comprehend why life could be so important to anyone. Most of all, he needed a friend to teach him these things. It was his loneliness and isolation that made him the unfeeling killer that he was.
In FF7, everyone else either had a happy ending, or at least got sympathy. But Sephiroth was the "evil villain". By the end, anyone who had feelings for the characters at all was angry at him, for killing Aeris and for all else he'd done. No one seemed to realize that terrible things had happened to make him the way he was. It doesn't excuse his actions, but it does require us to look at him as a person, and not just a psychotic berserker.
I know it may seem a bit hypocritical for me to criticize the fans who treat him like no more than a crush object, after admitting this. However, I believe that the difference here is a matter of respect for his character. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for who Sephiroth is. I love him the way he is, and I wouldn't want him to change in any way. I wouldn't depict him with a teddy bear, because it clearly isn't part of his personality, and if he were different I wouldn't love him so much. I don't view him only in terms of his looks; his personality is very much included in how I feel, and I tend to be a little put out when people ignore it. To me, it seems to be disrespectful to Sephiroth's internal character and an insult to his dignity. And insulting Sephiroth like that is one thing that deeply disturbs me, because as I've stated before...
I do love him.