With the Final Fantasy VII: Remake finally getting some real coverage we are getting to see all the new and amazing things that are being added to the game. One of the most notable and perhaps unliked is The watchmen of fate. While we have no confirmation of what they are beyond the incredibly corny and ill-fitting name for Final Fantasy VII we still can try and figure out what they are.
Warning– As of Jan 1st 2020, there are FFVII Leaks everywhere. None are in regards to this topic.
UPDATE-If you are looking for spoilers, they are here ‘Square Enix Is Lying About Final Fantasy VII Remake.‘
So lets get to it!
The watchmen of fate (the black mist in the trailer) are mysterious beings that appear before the party wherever they go. I hope that even those who have played the original game will enjoy the new elements.-Gematsu
The name is translated somewhat oddly with others translating it as Guard of Fate or even Keepers of Fate. Which are both rather vague as the original.
Design/Appearance-
The watchmen of fate have a cloak like appearance and are very ghost like, they are largely empty and put off a strange almost spore like mist.
They do seem to each have their own unique shapes though, which is interesting. This implies some sort of uniqueness to them. One keeps the cloak like shape better than the others, while one bends more. Not sure if intentional, but it is there. You can see them in full on slow-motion below.
In Story
In the trailer is appears only Aerith can see them, at least until she touches Cloud. So this is where the theories and info begin.
The ancients(Cetra)- Yes they are long gone and dead as can be. But that didn’t stop them from communicating with Aerith in the original. In the original game, Aerith heard crap that no one else could. This could easily be that.
While the party can find the spiritual manifestations of some Cetra in the Temple of the Ancients, which take the form of creatures with bulbous purple bodies and long beards, Aeris explains they are simply “spirit bodies” left aeons ago to protect the temple, having lost their true forms. They don’t have minds of their own and lost their ability to speak, but can still communicate with Aeris.-Cetra
One important thing of note is these seem very new to Aerith, and what else is new here for her? Cloud. This is where my personal theory comes from, those are dang Jenova cells hanging around. Following Cloud as a form of Sephiroth based stalking. Now I am not basing this off nothing after all. We all know Cloud has treated by Hojo with Mako and Jenova cells, this is what allowed him to be screwed with all the time. But how exactly does this tie in, well we got to look at a canned idea from the Original Final Fantasy VII, there was an unused idea for the Sephiroth Clones see it below-
In an early version of the game script, the Sephiroth Clones were not people, but, rather, parts of Jenova floating in the air covered by their cloaks. During important plot points they would reveal themselves to be pieces of Jenova’s body: her right arm, heart, etc. They also replaced Sephiroth in several scenes, such as the pivotal one in the Forgotten City.
Sound oddly familiar? I mean the cloaks are half empty, so it seems oddly right. Now to top it off, in the trailer there are a total of four watchmen. You know what else has four cloaked figures?Nibelheim, the hometown of both Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart. You know, the beginning of this lovely terror of a story. The coincidence is huge to say the least. This is literally where Cloud became what he is now. Where his connection to Jenova and Sephiroth was made.
Everything ties back to Nibelheim, to cloud and zack and more importantly to Sephiroth. While this isn’t confirmed by any means, it all does make sense. But I guess we will have to see when the Final Fantasy VII: Remake finally comes out in 9 months.