KADAJ

"I've never known Sephiroth. I just... I sense him there. It's unbearable to think that Mother might want Sephiroth more than..."
Kadaj said

Kadaj is the main antagonist throughout most of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The leader of the Remnants of Sephiroth, Kadaj's goal is to find Jenova, who he believes is his Mother, and conquer the planet. However, unknown to him is the influence of Sephiroth over Jenova's remains, and so Kadaj is unaware that he is merely a tool for Sephiroth's resurrection, although he knows that Sephiroth is more favored by Jenova.

Kadaj, above his brothers, is aware of the existence and plans of Jenova and Sephiroth, as neither Loz nor Yazoo even indicate they know Sephiroth exists. In spite of, or perhaps because of this, Kadaj's dedication to his Mother's cause is accompanied by a deep insecurity over his inferiority to Sephiroth in her eyes. Despite this, he is still a highly skilled warrior and a strong leader.

Character

"So what if I'm a puppet? Once upon a time, you were too!" he said to Cloud


Although Tetsuya Nomura wanted Sephiroth to appear in the film from early in production, a secondary villain just as evil and cruel was needed, if not a villain more evil due to the film's limited timeframe. It is for this role that Kadaj was made. Before Kadaj was given a name or his brothers were designed, the character model and artwork for Kadaj were called "Lost Name".

Kadaj embodies Sephiroth's cruelty and insanity. Kadaj was not given an exact age, but was given a young appearance and made the leader of the Remnants to give the sense of a psychotic, unstoppable child. Kadaj's voice actor Shotaro Morikubo in the original Japanese version of the film, helped shape his character as a lost and dazed youth with an insanity streak - Nomura describes him as "talking quickly, then speaking slowly or breaking into laughter for no apparent reason". Morikubo joked that Kadaj's lines were thus difficult to get right, and it was only after failing to get them right and "losing his cool" that the desired effects would be achieved.

Several of Kadaj's scenes, such as his death with Aerith's presence and his conversations with Rufus, expand on the plot and his character, and were original cut from the film. His death scene was meant to give a sense that he had found some sense of relief. The staff envisioned Kadaj as a reminder of what Cloud once was - a puppet to Sephiroth's will - which led to the inclusion of the line in which Kadaj reminds Cloud of this. The line endeared Kadaj to the staff, which led to the development of more scenes featuring him.