Some heroes are natural protagonists, being the faces of their respective properties and definitive culture icons. Others, however, mature over time, growing in the shadow of other characters while also gradually gaining favour with their audience. Spunky teen ninja Yuffie Kisaragi may have began her career as an optional side character, yet over the course of many years, she would grow into the heroine that fans wanted her to be, finally becoming the protagonist of her own side story.
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Conception
Yuffie was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, and was first introduced in 1997’s Final Fantasy VII as a young female ninja and thief. Having a close attachment to Yuffie’s character, Final Fantasy VII event planner Jun Akiyama was responsible for most cutscenes featuring her and her actions during combat. Though popular, she was originally an optional party member, and can be recruited through a sidequest. Yuffie reappears in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, which expands on her background and shows her before and after the events of the original game.
During the early development of Final Fantasy VII, Yuffie was envisioned as a 25-year-old ex-SOLDIER now working as a bounty hunter, seeking both the game’s protagonist Cloud Strife and its antagonist Sephiroth, while also having a bounty on her own head. This scenario was dropped and the bounty system never fully explained. Her job class was always intended to be a ‘ninja’ or ‘assassin’. Squaresoft changed Yuffie’s original design to include more realistic details while preserving the ninja aspects and Japanese style.
As with many character names in Final Fantasy VII, Yuffie’s name is subject to some translation errors. Like other affected characters, this stems from rushed international translations handled by multiple, non-communicating parties. Though not nearly as infamous as the dual-translated Aeris and Aerith situation, or Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s anti-Gaelic pronunciation of Cait Sith, Yuffie’s name is written as ‘Yufi’ in phonetic English translated from the original Japanese.
In all releases of the game, ‘Yufi’ is anglicised as ‘Yuffie’ instead, leading to many years of mispronunciation, particularly in Europe. In traditional English, the “ff” sound would soften the prior vowel, leading to Yuffie being pronounced as “Yuh-fee” rather than “Yoo-fee”. The correct pronunciation would only be confirmed in 2002 when Yuffie’s name was said aloud by voice actors featured in Kingdom Hearts.
Yuffie would step up to become a short-term guest protagonist in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Toriyama also said that he chose to give Yuffie her own story DLC over Vincent, stating that “Yuffie, the heroine of ‘Episode Intermission’ was not guaranteed to join your party in the original game, but that actually made her a character that we had more freedom to expand on the backstory for”.
Suzie Yeung voices Yuffie in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Yeung said: “I was actually surprised because I didn’t know to what degree Yuffie was loved and looked forward to, honestly, by the fan community. So, I actually watched some reaction videos to some of them. And it was so wholesome because you can really tell how much fans loved her. I was nervous, but also excited for them to meet her”.
Story: Materia Girl
Spoiler Warning: The following contains character-specific plot points from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII saga, including Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade’s Episode Intermission. Reader discretion is advised.
Yuffie was born in Wutai Village, one year prior to the onset of the Shinra-Wutai War, to her father Godo Kisaragi and her mother Kasumi Kisaragi. Yuffie grew up on stories of Wutai’s honour and mystique before Shinra’s arrival. The war dominated her youth, and Yuffie began training in ninjutsu to defend her country, however she proved to be something of a clumsy, slow learner, yet remained dedicated to her training in hope of someday impressing her elitist family who prided themselves on excellence and had little tolerance for failure, often mocking Yuffie’s mistakes.
Yuffie came to resent her family arguably more than she hated Shinra, and would often run away, preferring solitude to mockery. She quickly learned to survive on her own, skills which would prove invaluable when her mother died of a sudden illness when she was still young. In the closing months of the Shinra-Wutai War, a 9-year-old Yuffie approached Zack Fair when he participated in the invasion of Fort Tamblin, taunting Zack and proclaiming herself as “Wutai’s Greatest Warrior”. Zack played along with her antics until she eventually ran away.
After losing the war to Shinra, Yuffie’s father Godo, the leader of Wutai, turned their hometown into a tourist attraction. Yuffie resented this, and began thinking of ways to restore Wutai to its former glory. Yuffie began collaborating with Wutai’s more traditionalist government as a field agent, stealing Materia in order to amass a weapon stockpile for Wutai, usually taken from Shinra operatives moving through the region, including Zack Fair, and members of the Turks. Yuffie would grow in skill and confidence in the following years, eventually moving her activities further away from Wutai and even overseas.
Eventually, Yuffie would learn of a potential ally for Wutai, the anti-Shinra terrorist group, Avalanche. However, some cells of Avalanche were already collaborating with Wutai’s government, assisting with matters of reconnaissance, espionage, and intelligence. Yuffie came to Midgar under secret orders from the Wutai government to work with Avalanche to steal a rumoured ‘ultimate materia’ from Shinra, arriving in the city just after the Mako Reactor 5 bombing.
Shocked by the living conditions of Midgar’s slums, Yuffie’s hatred for Shinra would grow. Yuffie would join up with an Avalanche cell comprised of Zhijie, Nayo, Billy Bob, and Polk, with Yuffie partnered with fellow Wutai ninja Sonon Kusakabe, a former student of Yuffie’s father. Yuffie and Sonon also learned of Barret Wallace’s infamous splinter cell of Avalanche that also resided in the slums who were behind the recent attacks on Midgar’s mako reactors. Yuffie secretly thought they should have partnered with them instead.
After making their way through the slums, Yuffie and Sonon would sneak on to the last train headed topside. The fake IDs Avalanche had provided for the two worked and they passed unobstructed. The pair successfully entered the Shinra Building, which was swarmed by reporters. Yuffie and Sonon used their guises as Shinra employees to find a vacant elevator, however Scarlet, the head of Shinra’s weapons development, stepped into the lift with them. Realising Yuffie and Sonon were Wutaians, Scarlet sent the pair to her research department to use as test subjects against her latest mechs.
The duo made their way through the facility, destroying Shinra’s weapons and stealing supplies, however they could not find any ‘ultimate materia’. Scarlet followed their progress through security cameras before confronting the two via a hologram and soon after, in her personal war machine. After being defeated, Scarlet remained unfazed, disappointed that her creation had failed but recognising what needed to be improved in its design. Yuffie questioned Scarlet, who claimed Shinra did not have any ultimate materia as such projects had been postponed, prioritising the dropping of the Sector 7 plate.
Scarlet deployed Deepground SOLDIERs on Yuffie and Sonon and released Nero the Sable to pursue them. Yuffie and Sonon came upon a sight of carnage where Nero had killed his fellow Deepground SOLDIERs before turning his focus on them, and Yuffie was unnerved by their assailant’s mysterious powers. Though a difficult battle, the pair appeared to gain the upper hand and started making their way out, however Nero survived and Sonon sacrificed himself to ensure Yuffie escaped.
Outside, Yuffie saw the Sector 7 plate plummet to the ground before breaking down in tears. Though defeated, Yuffie quickly composed herself, fearing Shinra were still in pursuit, and fled Midgar on a chocobo. Not wanting to give up on her mission of fighting Shinra, stealing their materia, and restoring Wutai’s glory, she planned to ally with new companions. Yuffie travelled to Junon, where she was tasked by Rhonda to assassinate Rufus Shinra.
Yuffie’s first encounter with Cloud Strife and Barret’s Avalanche differs depending on which continuity is being seen. In the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continuity, Yuffie took a boat to sail off to reach Upper Junon when she was attacked by the Terror of the Deep and nearly drowned. Meanwhile, Priscilla found Cloud and the others to help her while Mr. Dolphin carried her to shore. Though Cloud was about to give her CPR, Yuffie awoke and became defensive, assuming he was a pervert, though Yuffie changed her attitude upon recognising Tifa and Barret, and slowly began to integrate herself into the group.
In the original Final Fantasy VII continuity, Yuffie was not in the water during the Terror of the Deep attack and Priscilla was the victim instead, though Cloud successfully revived Priscilla by performing CPR. Yuffie may join the party just prior to these events if the party explores the forests outside of Junon. Here, Yuffie would attack the party and try to steal their Materia, but upon being defeated, would attempt to guilt-trip Cloud into allowing her to join the group.
Relationships
Yuffie’s relationships are some of the most ambiguous in the compilation of Final Fantasy VII. With Yuffie’s initial role in Final Fantasy VII downgraded to little more than a guest character, Yuffie’s interactions and personal arcs are somewhat limited. This is even the case with her extended family who she battles and eventually defeats solo while climbing the floors of the Wutai Pagoda, earning her some respect, moreso with her father Godo, though she is still largely considered an outcast and troublemaker by her family.
Yuffie is occasionally paired with specific characters as a potential love interest based entirely on short-term partnerships with them. These are entirely speculated relationships with little basis for romantic development and are realistically closer to alliances than genuine friendships. Such instances include Sonon Kusakabe during Episode Intermission’, and Vincent Valentine in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII.
There is one possible romantic relationship available to Yuffie, though it is often a point of contention among players. While Cloud is regularly romantically paired with both Tifa and Aeris/Aerith in the game’s iconic love triangle, it is entirely possible for Cloud to date Yuffie in both the original Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, during which she will briefly kiss him.
With Yuffie being technically a minor when dating the 21-year-old Cloud, this pairing has often been heavily criticised by members of far-right groups and communities, labelling the pairing along with elements of Yuffie’s outfit an attempt to sexualise a minor. Such comments have been counter-criticised by members of the liberal media, accusing such a mindset of being ignorant of specific ages of consent, an attempt at age discrimination, and even a mask for body shaming.
Fans of the games and characters have taken to fan-fiction writing to further enhance arcs in Yuffie’s relationships, taking the liberal stance on the matter by implementing coming-of-age romantic or sexual drama in their works. Though not nearly as popular or frequent as iconic characters such as Tifa and Aeris, Yuffie is also regularly featured in erotic fiction, often pairing her with Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, and other characters in sexual encounters.
Legacy
Yuffie has been featured in other Square Enix games, most notably the Kingdom Hearts series where a younger Yuffie acts as a supporting character in Traverse Town, and is voiced in English by Christy Carlson Romano in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Mae Whitman in Kingdom Hearts II, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind, and Suzie Yeung in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Yuffie is an unlockable playable character in the PlayStation version of the 1998 fighting game Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring, appearing alongside other characters from Final Fantasy VII. She is also one of the playable characters in the 2006 board video game Itadaki Street Portable for the PlayStation Portable, in a chibi-style design similar to her model during the exploration gameplay mode of Final Fantasy VII, and in the 2013 action puzzle mobile game Pictlogica Final Fantasy, also in a chibi form.
She was the first DLC character released for the 2014 rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call. Yuffie also appears as a playable character in Final Fantasy Record Keeper (2014) and Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia (2017). Yuffie also makes appearances in some games as a non-playable character. In the 2008 action role-playing/fighting game hybrid Dissidia Final Fantasy, she appears as a tutor of the in-game manuals and an unlockable friend card. She is a ‘Legend’ type assist character in the 2012 social role-playing mobile game Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
Yuffie received a notably positive reception in Japan and overseas, being described as one of the best ninja and overall video game characters, yet her reception in Western media has been more divisive, more so in the USA where Yuffie was often sexualised in avenues not seen in Asian or even European culture. In his review for Advent Children, James Mielke of 1UP.com called her “as cutely jailbait as ever”, while the film itself was labellled “Ogling Legal-Age Yuffie” by Geson Hatchett of Hardcore Gamer.
Thankfully, not all media outlets were so misguided. Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) included “seeing Yuffie once again” as one of the greatest moments of Kingdom Hearts while giving it their Role-Playing Game of the Year 2002 award. David Smith from IGN included her on their top ten Final Fantasy VII characters, stating that she “belongs in the Wacky Sidekicks wing of the RPG hall of fame”. Smith also commented that she became such an appealing sidekick character that Square would go on to use the “Yuffie formula” with Rikku in Final Fantasy X.
According to Edge, Yuffie, being one of those characters that are “brands in and of themselves”, created a new anime stereotype, as a “giddy girl ninja”. As a result of calling her an unimportant character in Final Fantasy VII due to how difficult it is to get her, Paste regarded Yuffie’s portrayal in the remake as a far more entertaining take on Yuffie due to her role in the narrative, while Kotaku openly praised her, saying she’s “irresistibly charming”.
