raisedbymoogles | Either way he's still a dickhead.

So apparently a new Ultimania for FF7R is out, and it reveals that Rufus Shinra... is 30?

I'm sorry what?

I'm really not sure if I can explain why I'm so thrown by this, but I'm thrown. I had him pegged as 25 but even that felt like it was too old. Guy's basically kicked out of the house but still apparently under his father's control via a meaningless title, he's up to so little that nobody on the ground knows anything about him, and he doesn't even show up until the Prez dies like his dad had that much control over him - like, a rich kid at 22 being under his dad's thumb to that extent is one thing, but by 30? Come on, man, buy a startup at least. Establish yourself as an independent human with interests other than living off the family fortune.*

Also he's a giant edgelord who's far too impressed with himself, that sits much easier on a young 20something than a 30-year-old man.

This really makes me less impressed with Tseng as well, not gonna lie. Apparently they're the same age, which, wild, I honestly thought the man was pushing 40 and had a kind of uncle-y relationship to Rufus, and also I've gathered from fanon osmosis that the Turks basically raised Rufus to be their candidate for President, with the Turks enjoying the perks (hah) of being the power behind the throne? I mean I guess it's more likely that Baby Rufus was Veld's project and Tseng is just continuing that, but I mean Tseng is supposed to be the scary competent guy to Avalanche's not knowing what's going on most of the time, and it's just disappointing that Tseng's master plan involves this absolute manchild ruling the world.

Don't mind me, I just gotta rearrange some mental architecture, omg. XP Why am I flailing over this so much? I don't even write Rufus all that much!

*(I'm trying very hard to not sound like I'm slagging off cultures where young adults aren't in such a hurry to move out, here. I'm not sure I'm succeeding. >_> If it helps I basically lived off my parents' fortune until I moved to a different country at 29, but I don't have delusions of running an energy monopoly.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...that's nuts, nope, i reject that canon entirely.

oh good, it's not just me. XD

not at all!

that is just beyond dumb.

Actually, I can see how it would work. It puts Rufus as having been born around the same time the Jenova experiments started out (which gives a good reason for Old Man Shinra to have been distracted away from his kid, even if wealthy-bastard brand sociopathy wasn't one already), and also gives him a good reason to resent the SOLDIER experiments as well. The other factor that needs to be mixed into the whole thing is Old Man Shinra's rather strong case of Dictator Decay - he has a son who can take over the business, which means he has not only a successor, but also a threat in the family. So I suspect a lot of Rufus' lack of maturity is because he's not been allowed to grow up (in much the same way the various SOLDIER experiment Generals weren't allowed to grow up either - or at least, not to attain full psychological maturity) because part of reaching full psychological maturity is recognising yourself as truly separate from the people who raised you. And therefore, not bound to their goals.

Rufus would have been getting a lot of that pressure from his father, but also a subtle form of it from the Turks. Plus, of course, he has more money than God (being a Shinra) and therefore has no need to really grow up either - the Peter Pan effect of lots of money is noticeable in the current crop of US financier-billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, where the things they're "investing" in are basically 1:1 scale kids toys.

Also Tseng being much the same age does strike me as believable - he's an active service agent, which means he's very much at the peak of his physical and mental prowess, which automatically means he can't be much older than about thirty-three, maybe thirty-five at most. Tseng putting Rufus in charge of everything is very much a function of "people in crisis situations tend to revert to the patterns of thinking they associate with stability", and if you've grown up in a country with a hereditary monarchy (like Wutai) then you're going to be looking at the next in line to the throne and trying to groom them into what you want, because that's really your only option. I would suspect Tseng is hoping the muting effect of the Shinra corporate bureaucracy will work its magic on turning "giant edgelord who's far too impressed with himself" into something bland and acceptable to the public by the time the orders filter themselves out from head office into the wider world. (I mean, it turns Old Man Shinra from "standard issue corporate-bastard sociopath" into "father of his country" in the publicity, so it could presumably work similar magic on Rufus).

Finally, let's not forget that the world of Final Fantasy 7 is definitely a dystopian one. So having the absolute ruler of a large chunk of the world being an absolute manchild who hasn't grown up fits in perfectly there.

I mean that last part is totally true and applies no matter what Rufus's age is, but the way in which Rufus is a manchild is still wierd to me. Like if Rufus is an Elon Musk, his name would be connected to at least one Tesla by now and people would have heard about it. This 'he basically doesn't exist until his dad's dead' business is the thing I'm stuck on. He's clearly already psychologically separated himself from his father (that 'I'll rule by fear' speech is 100% rehearsed and no one can tell me different), and even rich sociopaths' kids are generally expected to, like, buy some accomplishments before they're considered The Heir to their parent's bought accomplishments. Rufus being named VP without anything of that nature on his resume at all is very weird and it seems like the Board would at least be resentful of that and not treat him with the deference they show him in the OG.

(It doesn't help that Rufus totally has, like, Potter Puppet Pals!Draco Malfoy's voice in my head. Sorry, Rufus's actual voice actor, you did a fine job my brain just does this XD)

Also, are intel agents forced to retire at 35? That seems odd to me. I can accept Tseng being 30 a lot easier though - this is an FF game, 30 is positively ancient by their standards. ;P (and at least Tseng has demonstrable skills cough)

It's not so much that intel agents are required to retire at 35 - it's just that after about 35, your body starts slowing down and needing longer to recover from things (even with magic to help you along) - field agents tend to start needing to shift over to more desk-related roles at that point, because they're going to be spending a bit more time in between missions waiting for things to get back into condition. The same thing happens in other jobs as well - after 35, you start seeing the repetitive strain injuries (both physical and mental) show up as the body's recovery systems take longer to recover from the cumulative strain of each day's work. It's just that in very physical jobs, or jobs where you need to be at peak physical performance, like "intelligence agent" or "dirty tricks squad leader", you're going to see it hitting sooner and harder.

I think at least part of the whole "there's nothing else on Rufus' resume" thing could be explained away by the way Shinra appears to be pretty much the Sole Corporation On The Planet. Not just the biggest one - the ONLY one. It's pretty obvious there's no other corporations competing with them. (Actually, the surprising thing is Shinra is bothering to advertise at all - I'd presume they swallowed up their last competitor within the past decade or so, and the advertising remains as a result of sheer corporate inertia). The thing is, Shinra isn't just a corporation, it's also the One World Government (the only vestige of an alternative government we see anywhere is Godo Kisaragi over in Wutai, and I suspect the Wutai War was at least 50% about erasing any competition for the role of "governing body" as much as anything else). So when you stop thinking of Rufus as "corporate heir" and start thinking of him as "crown prince"... then things start to fall into place. He's never been Elon Musk. He's always been Prince Charles.

Advertising exists to create demand for the product, not just to divert demand from other producers' versions of the product.

Nope. Nope nope nope.

Rufus is obviously 23 and lying about his age to make himself seem more authoritative and permanent in his company position.

Edited 2022-05-19 03:10 (UTC)

you get me!

(deleted comment)

i mean Cloud's 21 and suffering from severe mental trauma and he still manages to come across the grownup of the two of them. Rufus is a spoiled brat who thinks he's Xanatos.

Either way he's still a dickhead.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject