The latest trailer for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis featured a scene that appeared to show a new character. The identity of the character is easy to work, based on the clues in the trailer, and statements made by people at Square Enix. Ever Crisis is an upcoming mobile title that will retell the entire Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, from The First Soldier to Dirge of Cerberus.
FF7 started out as a standalone project, but its popularity led to several spin-off projects, including novels, games, and movies. This meant that characters and scenes were retroactively added to the lore of FF7, such as Genesis being partly responsible for Sephiroth's descent into madness, and members of the Turks being present during Cloud and Sephiroth's battle in the Nibelheim reactor. All of the projects combined are known as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, though the FF7 Remake series is considered its own entity, even though the events of games like Crisis Core and Before Crisis are referenced in the story.
There was a new trailer for Ever Crisis revealed during the Final Fantasy VII Anniversary Celebration livestream, though it has been overshadowed by the announcements of FF7 Rebirth and Crisis Core Reunion. The trailer showed the famous scene of Sephiroth standing in front of the flames, yet he is replaced by a different character. The character turns around, but the viewer can only see his mouth in the shot. The identity of the character isn't revealed in the trailer, but it's clear who it is, especially when considering an interview from the past.
Nomura Mentioned That Young Sephiroth Will Appear In Ever Crisis
Ever Crisis and FF7 Remake creative director Tetsuya Nomura mentioned in an interview with Famitsu that Ever Crisis will feature scenes with a young version of Sephiroth. The character in the trailer appears to be a younger version of Sephiroth, with much shorter hair. He appears to have the same pauldron design, with three holes in the same position. The character also appears to be wielding a katana, though it's clearly not the Masamune, meaning that it's possible that Ever Crisis will show Sephiroth acquiring the sword.
The idea of exploring Sephiroth's backstory is an intriguing one, as it's what fans originally assumed The First Soldier was about when the trademark for its name leaked online. The fact that young Sephiroth is shown in the same circumstances as when he destroyed Nibelheim and is covered in blood suggests that he might have gone on a similar rampage in his youth, which was covered up by the Shinra executives. The glimpses of Sephiroth seen before the Nibelheim incident show him to be a calm and reserved person, but this might not always have been the case, and Ever Crisis might reveal a hidden darker side to Sephiroth that didn't come to the fore until he learned the truth about his origins.
Source: Famitsu