Vincent Valentine

**Vincent** Sat Nov 15, 2008 10:01 pm

Name:Vincent Valentine A.K.A Vince
Weapon:Gun
Birthplace:Unknown
Date of Birth:October 13
Age:27 (physically)
55 (chronologically)
Height:6'0" / 184 cm
Blood Type:A
Appearance:Vincent is a man physically in his late 20s, and stands at exactly six feet tall. He has crimson eyes and long black hair that streams about a bit wildly at times. He wears a red band over his head with his bangs emerging over it. Vincent's most distinctive feature is his tattered red cape, held in place over his shoulders and lower face by several buckles. Underneath his cape, Vincent's attire is black with several straps and buckles. Vincent wears a holster for his gun against his right leg, and pointed metallic boots. He also wears a golden gauntlet on his left arm. His weapon of choice is the Cerberus, a three-barreled pistol. Vincent has kept this look in all his appearances, with subtle variations. His gauntlet was originally rumored to be a prosthetic claw, but newer artwork and information strongly indicates that it is simply metal armor covering a black leather glove.

Character
"Cool, huh? I guess that's just the way I am...sorry"
—Vincent

Dark and brooding over his past "sins", Vincent carries many burdens and secrets. Despite his cold personality, he is not uncaring: at a point where Cloud admits he thought Vincent was cold and didn't care about the planet, Vincent casually brushes off the remark. He also has a soft spot for Lucrecia, referring to her as a beautiful lady when meeting Cloud's allies. He fiercely despises Hojo for his various immoral actions, and it is the promise of meeting him that stirs him to accompany the party in Final Fantasy VII. Vincent is also not reluctant to speak, although when he does he typically has something important to say.

Story
"That was my sin, and this...this is my punishment."
—Vincent, referring to his inability to stop the Jenova Project.

Vincent was once a member of the Turks, then known as Shin-Ra "Department of Administrative Research." When he was assigned to supervise the Jenova Project in Nibelheim, he fell in love with a scientist named Lucrecia Crescent, an assistant to Gast Faremis. When he discovered her link to his deceased father, Lucrecia fled from Vincent, ultimately entering a relationship with her associate Professor Hojo instead. Lucrecia became pregnant afterwards, and Hojo planned to use the fetus as a test subject for the Jenova Project.

Vincent objected to the use of humans - especially Lucrecia - as test subjects. Even so, in the interest of science, Lucrecia proceeded with the treatment and became very sick as a result. Outraged, Vincent confronted Hojo in the Shin-Ra Mansion's underground laboratory and a heated argument ensued. Hojo ended it with treachery, pulling a gun from his lab coat and shooting Vincent in the stomach. He proceeded to use Vincent's half-dead body as the subject for experiments involving metamorphosis, enabling the body to transform into various monstrous forms. Vincent awakened on the operating table - Hojo nowhere in sight - and responded to his modified body with both anguish and rage.

Believing himself responsible for Lucrecia's illness after Sephiroth's birth, he locked himself inside a coffin in the basement of Nibelheim's Shin-Ra Mansion, where he slept mostly undisturbed for 28 years to atone for his "sins". He constantly relived his "nightmare" for these years as a punishment for his inability to stop Lucrecia from submitting to Hojo's experiment on her unborn baby.