FF7 Remake's Jessie Compared To The Original Final Fantasy 7 - Screen Rant

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To many fans, Final Fantasy 7 features some of the greatest characters in not only the Final Fantasy series but in all of gaming. The core party of Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith, alongside villain Sephiroth, are gaming royalty. Each is iconic in their own way, but Final Fantasy 7 Remake goes above and beyond by taking minor characters from the original, such as Jessie, and transforming them into characters worthy of their own game.

There is no greater example of this than the group of characters that make up Avalanche. A collection of characters gone within the first few hours of the original game, FF7 Remake's eco-terrorist group plays a large role in Cloud's development and could, potentially, still have a role to play in future FF7 Remake installments. Jessie, in particular, stands tall above the others, having become a new fan favorite.

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But what is it, exactly, that makes FF7 Remake’s version of Jessie so different from the classic 1997 JRPG? Receiving almost an entire in-game chapter dedicated to fleshing out her backstory, as well as a significant amount of one-on-one time with Cloud that didn't exist in the original, here’s how FF7 Remake’s Jessie compares to her pixelated past.

[Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for FF7 and FF7 Remake.]

How FF7 Remake’s Jessie Is Different From The Original

Jessie asks Cloud to make a choice in Final Fantasy 7 Remake

A few of Jessie's core characteristics are present in both games: She is fond of tinkering, computers, and hacking, as it’s Jessie who supplies her Avalanche cell with bombs and access to Shinra facilities. Her feelings of guilt over the death and destruction caused by the explosion of Mako Reactor No. 1 are also consistent across both games, serving as a primary motivation for her character.

Aside from the above and her physical appearance, FF7 Remake's version of Jessie has far more going on, primarily in regards to her relationship with FF7 protagonist Cloud and the way she became involved with Avalanche. Early on, it becomes clear Jessie is attracted to the mysterious former SOLDIER, fishing for details about his relationship with Tifa and even gifting Cloud with his first piece of materia for saving her. She even visits Cloud’s apartment shortly after, asking for his help on a mission to the Sector 7 plate. Jessie rides on the back of Cloud’s motorcycle to the plate, flirting with him along the way.

It’s upon arriving at the plate that Jessie’s character becomes far more fleshed-out than in the original game. Seeking to acquire a weaker blasting agent for their next reactor mission, Cloud accompanies Jessie to her family home, where players are tasked with stealing her dad’s Shinra ID cards. Fellow Avalanche members Biggs and Wedge then reveal Jessie’s tragic backstory, one of a talented actress who aspired to perform at FF7's prestigious Gold Saucer. She was even offered a leading role, but just before opening night, her father - a maintenance engineer at Shinra - suffered an accident and fell into mako storage. Though he survived, he emerged in a comatose state. Blaming Shinra for the incident, Jessie turned her back on her acting career and began to study planetology. Over the course of her studies, she became opposed to Shinra’s harvesting of mako, later joining Avalanche as a means of opposing Shinra’s plans.

All of this backstory is brand-new to Jessie’s character, and it serves to add a melancholy undertone to her and Cloud’s interactions over the course of FF7 Remake. After their mission to secure the blasting agent, Jessie rewards Cloud with a kiss on the cheek and begs him to come over to her place the following night, as her roommates will be gone. Cloud, of course, refuses.

Compared to Jessie in the original game, FF7 Remake’s Jessie feels like a living, breathing character - one with hopes, dreams, aspirations, and a need for companionship. But Final Fantasy 7 Remake doesn’t change anything about Jessie’s original character. Instead, it builds upon and enhances it, in the process elevating a minor character few thought twice about into one fans are hoping to see more of in future installments.

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About The Author

Cameron Koch (8 Articles Published)

Cameron Koch is a Denver, CO based writer who's writing on gaming has appeared on sites like Game Informer, Gamepedia, and now Screen Rant. On the rare occasion he's separated from a keyboard or controller, he enjoys fencing (the sword-fighting kind) and obsessing over the latest kaiju film.