Fortunately, she is coming back this year, starring in her own DLC chapter as a part of the PS5 re-release, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. We just hope every Final Fantasy fan can find a PS5 before then. While waiting for the chapter’s June 10th release date, we decided to take a look at the character and find some facts about everyone’s favorite materia thief that even hardcore fans might have missed out on.
10 She Is 16 In Final Fantasy VII
JRPGs have a weird thing with ages. Characters often look and act way older than they are supposed to be. For an example of this, look at Legend of Legaia, where the three party members are 18, 14, and 12 years old. Similarly odd is Yuffie’s age in Final Fantasy VII. It is a different world, but 16 seems a little young for a thieving ninja.
9 Voiced By Christy Carlson Romano And Mae Whitman
For Advent Children and the first Kingdom Hearts the character was voiced by Christy Carlson Romano, perhaps best known for playing Kim Possible on the similarly titled Disney channel show.
In all other works she is played by Mae Whitman, whose face is more recognizable from TV shows like Arrested Development or the cult classic film Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. Still no word on who is voicing her in the upcoming game, however.
8 Her Two Theme Songs
Yuffie’s theme song, “Descendant of Shinobi,” really catches the ear and stays there for a while. What many may not realize is another piece, “Stolen Materia,” is musically connected to it. The melody is very similar, only in a minor key and with a few different notes. “Descendant of Shinobi” is in G major, while “Stolen Materia” is in E minor, the relative minor of G major. The G major and natural E minor scale share the same notes, making these tunes feel similar except for the notably opposite vibes.
7 She Is In Ehrgeiz
Ehrgeiz is an often forgotten cult classic on the original PlayStation. While mainly a fighter, it also includes a dungeon crawling Quest mode and multiple minigames. In the roster, one will find a slew of characters from Final Fantasy VII, including Yuffie Kisaragi. The game has freer movement than other one on one fighters, being the spiritual predecessor to The Bouncer. Ehrgeiz is fairly difficult to find these days, as it is not available on the PlayStation store or the PS classic.
6 She Was Originally A 25-Year-Old Bounty Hunter
Thanks to the Final Fantasy Ultimania book series, fans know more about the series and characters than they ever did before. They are also beautiful books to display on a shelf or coffee table. When covering Final Fantasy VII, the book tells us some plans about the party members that never came to pass, like Yuffie Kisaragi being a 25 year old bounty hunter. She runs into the party trying to collect a bounty on Cloud Strife, and ends up joining Avalanche instead.
5 Her Impossible Line Of Dialogue
While considered a secret character, recruiting her into the party is fairly common knowledge to anybody with even a slight familiarity with Final Fantasy VII. She is located in the forests around Junon and Gongaga. So why does she have dialogue for the scene involving the impaled Midgar Zolom, taking place at a time when it is impossible to have her in the party? Perhaps it was planned for recruitment to be possible significantly earlier.
4 Her Name Means February
To some, the names the developers pick for characters might seem completely random, but there usually is some meaning behind the choice. Of course, translation can sometimes change the meaning of a name or the entire name itself. Yuffie’s last name, for example, is the word for February in Japanese. February is often a cold month, which does not exactly match her lively personality.
3 She Calls Tifa And Cid Some Weird Names
Most will go for Yuffie right away, but players can obtain her at any point during the long adventure. In fact, wait until Tifa is the party leader to fight her and she will refer to Tifa as “boobs” upon their first encounter.
Do it when Cid is the leader and she will call him a “bow-legged ol’ man.” Neither term is very nice or respectful, but this is just what fans would expect from the mischievous ninja.
2 Jun Akiyama Really Liked Her
Going back to the original Final Fantasy VII, it is interesting to see how secondary Vincent Valentine feels. On the other hand, Yuffie has a lot of dialogue, a fleshed-out side quest, and can even go on the date with Cloud in the Gold Saucer. According to Yoshinori Kitase, this was mostly due to Jun Akiyama, the game’s Event Planner, having a strong attachment to the character.
1 She Was Almost Cut From The Game
During the three year development, Final Fantasy VII went through a whole slew of changes. A lot of planned content ended up on the cutting room floor. The two hidden characters were extremely close to receiving the axe, too, since a lot of people on the development team felt there was no time to include them. Fortunately, they made it in and are now considered as vital to the main party as everybody else.
Next: 10 Pieces Of Content Cut From The Original Game