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Character: Sephiroth
Canon: Final Fantasy VII
Version: Crisis Core, but years pre-game
Canon Point: His childhood, in Shinra's laboratories, in the custody of Professor Hojo
Age: 7 (approximation; date of birth classified)
Gender: male

History: Wiki link: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Sephiroth
There is not a great deal of information about Sephiroth's childhood explicitly stated in canon, but to supplement the wiki entry, the following facts are clear:

❇ He is the child of Professor Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent. Though some do speculate that Vincent Valentine, who had feelings for Lucrecia at the time may have been Sephiroth's actual biological father, there is no proof of this, and Hojo seems to believe that Sephiroth is his actual son.

❇ Before his birth, he was exposed, in the womb, to genetic material from the entity known as Jenova. At the time, it was believed that Jenova was one of the Ancients, or Cetra, a race of unknown but presumably great power that used to inhabit the Planet. However, Jenova was not a Cetra, but was in fact an alien being who fell from the sky thousands of years ago and was responsible for wiping out the Cetra. Sephiroth is never told that his mother was Lucrecia, and she is never able to see him. He is told instead that his mother's name was Jenova, and that she died.

❇ Exposure to Jenova's genetic material, as well as to radiation from a substance known as Mako had an effect on Sephiroth's development both before his birth and throughout the years of his early development.

❇ He was born in the town of Nibelheim, and he spent at least some time in the Shinra Mansion there when he was a child. It is not known how long he was kept there, but it was long enough that when, years later, he returns, he finds the countryside oddly familiar.

❇ Professor Hojo was responsible for beginning the experiments on Sephiroth, his son. However, at the time they began, the head of Shinra's Science Research Division was Professor Gast. According to the Ultimania, Gast left the project and Shinra approximately three-four years after Sephiroth's birth, and he clearly does remember time spent with him, at one point wondering aloud why Gast didn't tell him his origins. Even years later, Sephiroth speaks highly of Gast, and he is one of the few people Sephiroth is ever shown to admire.

❇ Professor Hojo, however, he refers to as "mass of complexes" and a poor scientist. He has a clear dislike and lack of respect for him, going so far as to be dismissive when Hojo is in danger of being kidnapped, saying to forget about him, unusual for someone known to be quite conscientious otherwise.

❇ Sephiroth proved to have extraordinary abilities and potential as a powerful fighter at such a young age that Shinra began a program based around him to produce stronger warriors, years before Sephiroth himself would be old enough to enter that program.

Personality:
In the games, we see Sephiroth throughout his twenties. This Sephiroth is more than ten years younger, so undeniably there are differences, but it is possible to extrapolate what he was like as a child. An individual's personality is already distinct by Sephiroth's age (approximately 7-8, though his exact date of birth is unknown and likely classified), and one can already see the adult self forming within the child. Sephiroth in particular was a rapidly-maturing prodigy, referred to as a genius, and a child of exceptional skills and awareness. He would already be closer to his adult self than most children his age. As he himself later says: "I knew ever since I was a child, I was not like the others. I knew mine was a special existence. But not this kind."

It is clear that he had socially interacted with his peers at this age, if he knew enough about other children to consider himself a person apart. However, considering the way Hojo treated his "specimens", and how important Sephiroth was to Shinra, it is undeniable that his upbringing was not that of an ordinary child. We know that he was born in Nibelheim, injected with cells thought to be Cetra while still in his mother's womb. Even though he was Hojo's own son, and he was Hojo's prize experiment, he was still treated like an experiment. He was taken away from his birthplace at such a young age that he cannot remember it, although when he returns to Nibelheim, he finds the countryside vaguely familiar. He has spent much of his life in a laboratory, raised by scientists with the intention of making him into a superior warrior. He does not play ordinary childhood games, but games designed to hone his fighting and strategy skills. He has no sense of belonging anywhere, nowhere he considers home, as he later expresses when asking Cloud how it feels to come back to his hometown, stating that he doesn't know because he doesn't have one, a fact he considers important.

The defining aspects of Sephiroth's personality are curiosity, coldness, courtesy, and confidence. These would not have been absent in him as a child.

Curiosity:
Like any precocious child, Sephiroth wants to know things. He wants answers to his questions. In his case, he is given precious few of them. He is told little about his origins and his nature, and as he admits to Genesis in Crisis Core, he has been searching for information about these things all his life.

Sephiroth has clear views about the scientists who worked on the project he was a part of. Professor Hojo he considers a hack, a walking mass of neuroses. Yet Professor Gast, who left the project so early on, is one of the few people Sephiroth admires. Sephiroth has a great interest in the sciences, and being the person he is, likely read anything he could find by this man he admires. His choosing Gast over Hojo also emphasizes his strong dislike for the latter man, as Gast was Hojo's rival. Gast was a scientist who was much more ethical and rational. This choice and admiration for Gast illustrates his interest in the sciences. As a boy in a laboratory, he is surrounded by scientific study at all times, and it is no wonder that he would pick up an enthusiasm for the field, especially since he is aware of the fact that that might be the way to answer the questions he has about himself (later, he does use that knowledge in Nibelheim to read through all Gast and Hojo's reports).

One of the few times Sephiroth speaks about Hojo is when he relates a story about a disagreement they once had concerning the use of the term "magic". Sephiroth questioned him continuously, and ultimately won the argument, although Hojo was unwilling to admit that fact. Sephiroth is someone who asks questions, pursues arguments, thinks independently, even when dealing with an important authority figure.

He wants to know everything, and while he already has a fair amount of knowledge concerning mathematics, science, and warfare, where society and interpersonal relationships are concerned, he yet has a great deal to learn. Curiosity is one of the driving forces in his life, and when exposed to new people or experiences, he reacts with eager interest rather than trepidation.

Coldness:
Sephiroth is not entirely human, and there is something in him that sets him apart from others. This would partly be the due to the Jenova cells within him. They effect his appearance, and Jenova has become part of his genetic makeup, integrating her DNA with his. His emotions and instincts, then, much like himself, are not purely human, but are informed in part by the instincts of an alien apex predator that consumes worlds.

The extent of Jenova's influence on his personality may be unknown, but where matters of nature vs nurture are concerned, Hojo's treatment of Sephiroth, and Sephiroth's lack of any clear parental figures or family structure, must have contributed to his aloofness and sense of difference.

This can make him seem cold and remote to others. Canonically, the only two people Sephiroth was ever truly close to or formed strong emotional bonds with were Genesis and Angeal, two men he met later in life, who had also been exposed to Jenova cells earlier in their development. Therefore, at this time in his life, Sephiroth has not yet made any friends. It also suggests that Sephiroth possibly finds it more difficult to relate to ordinary humans in general, let alone becoming friends with them. Yet at the same time, it is these later bonds that prove he is capable of such attachments, even if he may not find it as easy as others do.

Courtesy:
He is being raised to be the perfect war machine, so it is only natural that he would be taught to be polite and obedient. In canon, before his life begins to destabilize and his friends desert him, he follows the orders he's given, rarely questioning them, acting in Shinra's best interests. He was expected to enter SOLDIER and fight for Shinra, and that is what he does. He is efficient and polite in his dealings with others.

Young Sephiroth is as polite as his older counterpart, but more stiff and formal, even wooden in manner, as he has not yet been well-socialized by the time he'll spend in the army. For this same reason, he is somewhat less likely than his adult self to assert himself and defy authority, as he has not yet had that experience of independence, but his will is nonetheless already quite strong. Because of his training, he is rather difficult to upset, and some might find him oddly unemotional for a child. Due to his upbringing, selective socialization and lack of emotional sensitivity, he doesn't necessarily realize when certain direct questions or comments are impolite, and he can be blunt or too inquisitive, but he does his best to be as mannerly as possible with the knowledge he does have.

Confidence:
As the sole human subject of Project S and the focus of the attention of all the research around him, Sephiroth is in many ways the center of the universe in which he lives (although Hojo is the one who controls it). He is taught to believe in and rely on his own strength, and he grows up believing that there are none stronger than he is--a belief some would call arrogance, but as it is true at the time, it is a warranted arrogance, an accurate assessment of his abilities. As a child, too, he is confident and fearless. He has always been physically powerful due to the experiments performed on him, and he has never had any danger to fear. This leads him to be rather sure of himself. Even as a child, though nowhere near becoming a general, he won't hesitate to tell someone what he thinks they should do, or to try to take charge of a situation, not even if people discount him because of his age. These, too, are things he's being trained to do.

Fears: At first glance, one might say that Sephiroth has no fear. However, this isn't the case. He's been trained and conditioned to feel no fear, which isn't the same. It is clear enough in the game that all the feelings that Sephiroth was taught not to display are still present, if suppressed, which is part of the reason why his anger eventually explodes with such force. Sephiroth does have buried anxieties. He doesn't like being subjected to tests or controlled. Though he may be used to such things by now, he found them as alarming as any child would, especially as, when Gast left the project, there was such a jarring change in how the project was run and Sephiroth was treated, as Hojo was no longer being kept in check. Later, he will be haunted by such memories, and by his childhood as a whole and all its mysteries. Sephiroth fears being immobilized or helpless or made to do things against his will. In his strong dislike of Professor Hojo, there is also a measure of fear. Because of his drive to learn everything, he also fears being left in the dark, figuratively speaking. He senses that unknowns can be dangerous, in part because of the information about himself he doesn't know and is already searching for in some ways. Also, Gast, the one person Sephiroth has had any affection for so far, disappeared completely from his life early on. This adds to his difficulty in forming attachments, and if he does manage to form a connection with someone, losing them would have a large impact on him, and he would fear that possibility.

Weaknesses: He is powerful, but he is still a child. While in some ways this makes little difference physically, since he's stronger than any normal adult and an intellectual prodigy; emotionally, he is unable to read others well, and so could be manipulated or misled. He likes to fight because he thinks it's fun, and he doesn't have a strong moral sense, as he hasn't been encouraged to develop one. His only morality is based on the fact that SOLDIER, which he hopes to join someday, is billed as the protectors of the people, the heroes of children, and he wants to emulate SOLDIERs. He is intelligent and well-trained in strategy, but is not fanciful or imaginative at all, and so problem-solving involving creativity that is not combat-related presents a problem for him. While he has been socialized, it's been in a rather staged way, and what he learns is monitored and controlled, so his social skills and social knowledge are not finely honed. Nuances that even other children would pick up on are lost on him, though he makes up for this by being as polite as possible. Also, he is very stubborn and reluctant to ask for help, determined to do things on his own.

Mundane Strengths/Abilities: Sephiroth's strength, speed, and agility are already much greater than that of the strongest adult human. He is capable of leaping so high and for such lengths that the ability is similar to short-range flight.

Sensitivity/Magical Ability: He can teleport for brief distances (though not through matter), and he is capable of energy attacks, even without the use of Materia (which is the tool people use to access magic in his world). Sephiroth has special attacks he is depicted as using or is said to use during Crisis Core: Heartless Angel, Octaslash, and Super Nova, as well as the beams of energy he can focus with his sword. It's doubtful that he would already be able to use these at full strength, but as he has been trained and tested as the basis for SOLDIER, which has already begun, and his abilities were innate, he likely has weaker and less controlled versions of these attacks. Though not as powerful as he will later become, he is already formidable fighter and force to be reckoned with, especially for a child of his age.

Supply List: He has only his clothes and a practice sword.

Game Transfers: n/a

Sample RP post:
The halls are dim and quiet, the lights set low. Sephiroth knows he shouldn't be out here. He should be in his quarters at night, but he wasn't able to resist the temptation to emerge. He's read all his current books, and he's restless. He doesn't need to sleep a great deal. He wants something else to do, and he has an idea of what that might be. He flits down the corridor, ears alert to every sound. He can leap and teleport, traveling in blinks and jumps, which makes it easier for him to travel unseen than it would be for an ordinary child. If he's caught by the Professor or one of the researchers, he'll be reprimanded. He doesn't like that. He prefers to succeed in all things, to be praised for his successes. But he can't help wanting to do certain things, find out more...

He knows where the archives are housed, and he manages to make his way there without being detected, although once or twice he has to dart quickly out of the way when he hears the sound of footsteps approaching. Fortunately, he's much quicker than other humans. It isn't truly wrong, what he's doing. He wants to learn more. A SOLDIER must know as much as he can. There is no way to tell what might be useful in a combat situation. When he's in SOLDIER, he's going to be the best SOLDIER. He should learn as much as he can now. This is a part of his necessary education.

The particular papers he's looking for are hidden away. It takes him some time to locate them. Too long? The longer he stays away, the more likely it is someone will check to see if he is where he's supposed to be. Yet he won't give up. At last, he finds the box of books and folders full of slightly yellowed pages, pushed into a dim corner, shadowed by a metal shelf and a towering file cabinet. He sits and takes out one folder first, for a start, and skims over the papers within. Professor Gast's work. He can't stay here reading it all, but he can read for a little while, and maybe take some of it with him. He'll hide it somewhere he can retrieve it more easily.

Professor Gast. Sephiroth remembers him, dimly, as a tall man who smiled and smelled like mint. Once he gave Sephiroth (at three years old) a game, and when Sephiroth had asked, What's it for? he'd replied, For fun. No one says things like that anymore.

For fun. He remembers that. That's another reason he's reading. It's fun. His bright green eyes flicker over the page, take in the words and figures, eagerly, almost hungrily. He's soon all but lost in his illicit scientific reading, but he turns at the sound of the door opening, instantly on his feet. The only change in his expression is the widening of his eyes.

It's the professor. Of course. Sephiroth's widened eyes narrow, and his pupils narrow to slits.

"So here you are," says Professor Hojo, smiling. "Out and about. Whatever will I do with you?" His smile, which wasn't sincere in the first place, fades when he sees what Sephiroth is reading, and he snatches the papers out of his hand. "Not this again. I don't see why you're so fascinated with this tripe. Gast was a failure. A hack."

Sephiroth doesn't miss the vitriol in Hojo's words. He could snap back or make excuses. Maybe another child would. Instead, he watches the scientist and says, "I wanted to read them." For fun, comes the rebellious thought, something like Gast would have said. But also, for science, for knowledge.

"Don't look at me like that," says Hojo, as if something in Sephiroth's expression, or lack thereof, bothers him. "I should lock you in," he adds, thoughtfully.

Sephiroth considers him for another moment before deciding, "You won't."

Hojo frowns. "You're so sure about that?"

He nods, though he doesn't explain why. He thinks the professor would have locked him up already, if he were going to. Hojo knows he could break the lock. But if he says either of those things, Hojo won't like it. Sephiroth addresses the other subject instead, carefully. "If he was a hack, you should let me see why."

Hojo sighs, as if he's been defeated. He gives the papers back, then throws up his hands. "Take them. If you want to pollute your mind--I won't stop you!"

"Thank you," says Sephiroth politely, but under that politeness, he feels the same annoyance Hojo displays. He holds the papers tightly, because he knows Hojo will change his mind eventually and take them away again. He already knows his guardian well. They know each other.

"Come," says Hojo. He doesn't reach out a hand. There's almost distaste in his tone, as he exits the archive and starts down the corridor, head bowed, leaning forward, as if he's already thinking of something else. Sephiroth picks up a few more of Gast's notebooks, then follows. He chooses his battles, and this is one he's already won.