Shinra Headquarters
From Final Fantasy Wiki
The Shinra Headquarters is the head office of the Shinra Electric Power Company in Final Fantasy VII. The most dominating sight in the Midgar skyline, this building is the staging ground of many of the major events in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. In addition to housing the headless body of Jenova after the Nibelheim incident, all of the company's department heads maintain their offices here. It acts as the headquarters of the army and nearly all of Shinra's scientific research.
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[edit] Entrance
The city entrance to the building is located in Midgar's Sector 0. There are only two methods of reaching the building during Final Fantasy VII - climbing up from Wall Market during disc 1, or through the underground rail passage on disc 2. Regular civilians are permitted to enter the lobby here, where two mirror-image staircases along either wall lead up to an elevator shaft. The ground floor houses a help desk, a directory-like information panel, and doorways to the Exhibit Room. On the upper level of the entrance, several bistro tables sit for guests. In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, a woman stands in the lobby, handing out potions for a small fee to guests (free for Shinra employees). During Final Fantasy VII, the player is given two choices of entering the building: one sneaking in via the stairway, the other a full, frontal assault on the building's entrance, where many soldiers from Shinra's army stand guard.
[edit] Structure
The Shinra Headquarters consists of no fewer than 70 floors with all floors above 59 requiring special clearance in the form of keycards. Only Shinra employees are generally permitted on the elevator to floors higher than the entrance level and exhibit room.
[edit] Basement Levels
The HQ has a number of basement levels, visited in the course of the side missions of Crisis Core and the main plot of Dirge of Cerberus. They consist of a network of steel corridors twisting through the plate interior.
[edit] Floors 1-3
This area consists of the entryway and shopping area. In the foyer are situated the front desks and two elevators that access all floors of the building. Through doors on either side of the front desk is an exhibit room displaying models of vehicles designed by the Shinra Company, including the Hardy-Daytona motorcycle and a photo of the airship Highwind. Sometime before Final Fantasy VII, the partition was removed, and the entrance foyer and the Exhibit Room were merged into one. Cloud and the party steal vehicles from the room before breaking out of the building. President Shinra's private entrance to Deepground is also located here, concealed beneath a display platform. On the second floor is the Shinra item shop which includes a video screen that showcases various Shinra products including automobiles. The third floor has very little except a set of elevators that grant access to the 59th floor, which it shares in common with the second floor.
[edit] Item Shop
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[edit] Floor 49
Introduced in Crisis Core, this floor is known as the "SOLDIER Floor." Located on this floor are the SOLDIER Training Room, Materia development room, mission briefing room and a lounge area for off-duty SOLDIER operatives. The Training Room activates a holographic image of a pre-programmed surrounding, complete with digital enemies to fight. Health experts also train and supervise the mako-enhanced SOLDIER members. The residents of this floor also get free equipment from the company for missions and sign up for extra missions in the briefing room antechamber.
[edit] Floor 51
This floor holds the SOLDIER Director's office. Although it is never openly stated, the Director's office is known to be on this floor since "Floor 51" is printed on a wall within the office. The office holds the Director's work station as well as a small library. The Director's floor is accessible at will by SOLDIER 1st Class members, and is used by Sephiroth after Director Lazard goes missing.
[edit] Floor 59
A very mundane, open area that has two sets of elevators (one leading back down to the bottom floors, the other that allows access to the higher floors) and access to the stairway. From this floor on, special keycards are required to ascend the building.
[edit] Floor 60
A sort of "buffer" floor under heavy guard during the time of Final Fantasy VII. It is unknown if this floor was ever used for any other purpose.
[edit] Floor 61
A break area made for Shinra employees. Features numerous tables and a large tree in the center of the area.
[edit] Floor 62
The Midgar government offices and Shinra research library are located on this floor. The library is separated into four rooms each of which is categorized by one area of research committed by Shinra. Also, on this floor is the office of Mayor Domino, who is just a powerless figurehead in the Midgar/Shinra structure, and actually decides to help the party by giving them his keycard.
[edit] Floor 63
This is a storage area containing many rooms for storage purposes. Access to these rooms is done through a complex security process that allows a single person to enter.
[edit] Floor 64
This is the Shinra company Recreational area. It includes a gym, locker room, showers, restrooms, and a rest area for employees.
[edit] Floor 65
The major feature of this area is the scale replica of Midgar, perhaps suggesting it is the headquarters of the Urban Development department. The floor is a large puzzle, where players must find the missing pieces of the Midgar model to open up the door to the next floor.
[edit] Floor 66
This floor contains the Shinra executive offices and meeting room. Also of note is the only other known restroom in the building, aside from Floor 64.
[edit] Floor 67
Floor 67 is the headquarters for Shinra's science department. Once headed by Professor Gast, and now by Professor Hojo, many primary experiments for important studies, and some studies themselves, were carried out here. Several prison cells occupy the floor, where Red XIII and Aerith Gainsborough were held once. "Specimen" waited there until Hojo decided they were to be used in experiments. There is also a specimen containment unit, which housed JENOVA's headless body, an office for data storage, and elevators for personnel and specimen transport. During Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Zack Fair is dropped off here during Genesis' attack on Midgar. These two, along with Hojo and Angeal discuss LOVELESS shortly on the next floor up, before Zack is forced to fight Bahamut Fury.
[edit] Floor 68
The 68th floor houses the main laboratory of the science department. There is a specimen containment unit and a control room. Further more, access to floor 69 is only possible by passing through three security fields. It is here that Zack meets Professor Hojo in Crisis Core, who seems very unconcerned with the attack, and continues his work.
[edit] Floor 69
This is yet another foyer area, and also an office space. Only the highest Shinra officials can gain access to this floor as there is no separation of the 69th and 70th floors by a security device.
[edit] Floor 70
The topmost floor of the Shinra building houses the personal office of the company president. It is decorated with red carpeting. There is an access door to an open air balcony that overlooks the city of Midgar.
[edit] Storyline
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Though but a man-made structure, Shinra Headquarters nevertheless plays an integral role in many of the events in Final Fantasy VII.
[edit] Role in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
In Episode 10 of Before Crisis, AVALANCHE, a ruthless and bloodthirsty terrorist organization out to destroy Shinra no matter what the cost, infiltrates the building and releases monsters from Professor Hojo's laboratory out into the Headquarters. Because the monster research is so highly classified, SOLDIER cannot be used, and the Turks are called in. Fuhito, a commander of AVALANCHE used the monster infestation as a diversion for him to visit his hero, the fellow mad scientist Hojo. Fuhito wants to show off his creation, the modified SOLDIERs known as the Ravens. Hojo is more than willing to betray Shinra and join with AVALANCHE - caring for nothing more than his research, but he is "rescued" by Sephiroth.
[edit] Role in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
In the game Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Shinra Headquarters is the main location of which the game is centered mostly around. During the events of the game, Headquarters is still under construction. Zack Fair is given assignments, and challenges here. The Shinra Building also has virtual training areas, where both Zack and Angeal Hewley begin their mission at the beginning of the game. Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth use the training room during a brief flashback to the times when all three of them were close friends. The building is attacked by Genesis' clones in Chapter 4; however, the amount of damage inflicted was minimal.
[edit] Role in Final Fantasy VII
[edit] Rescuing Aeris
Four years later, the Shinra Headquarters is the target of a second AVALANCHE's rescue attempt of Aeris. As they head up the floors, they overhear a staff meeting of the Shinra executives. President Shinra announces that Sector 7 will not be rebuilt, as the old city of Midgar will be abandoned to make way for Neo Midgar to be built in the fabled Promised Land, hoping that Aeris will lead the way. Professor Hojo, however tells him that Aeris' lifespan is far too short to be of use to Shinra. Instead he plans on breeding her with his other sample, the near-immortal Red XIII. Cloud and his party follow Hojo up to his lab, along the way they see Jenova encased in a pod. They attack and free both Aeris and Red XIII. As they try to escape, Rude captures them on the elevator.
The team is imprisoned in the 67th floor jail cells. Not long after does the team find themselves freed in a monster infested building following a path of blood leading from Jenova's containment pod to the 70th floor office of President Shinra. Upon their arrival, they discover that the President has been killed by Sephiroth as is evidenced by the Masamune sticking out of the corpse. Almost immediately, Rufus Shinra usurps his father's former position and on the balcony engages Cloud in combat with the aid of his pet Dark Nation. After being defeated, Rufus summarily retreats from by helicopter.
[edit] Weapon
Later in the story, Shinra becomes the major staging ground for Rufus's assault against Sephiroth in the Northern Crater. With the Sister Ray relocated to Midgar so that it may be powered by the city's six remaining Mako Reactors, AVALANCHE once again begins an assault on the city to stop the cannon from firing a second time. Before their assault begins, however, the first shot manages to impact the barrier surrounding Sephiroth to an apparently minimal degree. Instead, the discharge does manage to destroy the Diamond Weapon. Unfortunately, just a moment before it's destruction, a barrage of energy is unleashed by the Weapon. This barrage manages to find its way to Midgar and specifically the Shinra Headquarters. The upper floors are reduced to varying degrees of scorched debris appearing to take Rufus along with it.
[edit] Role in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
In the film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the Headquarters makes very few appearances. It is mostly seen as a defunct ruin from the distance of the city of Edge. However, it did make another use of itself as a weapon for Sephiroth against Cloud. Sephiroth cuts off large chunks of the buildings' debris and sends them hurtling down towards Cloud, making for one of the more intense (if short) action sequences in the film.
In Final Fantasy: Advent Children Complete, the building takes a larger role in the battle. More specifically, Cloud and Sephiroth find themselves locked in combat in the top floor of Shinra Tower (the Presidential Office), though it is only identifiable by its luxurious carpeting. Aside from the absence of the iconic Presidential Desk, the office lacked any sign of Diamond Weapon's brutal attack.
[edit] Role in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
The Shinra Headquarters was Deepground's home base during the battle between them and the World Regenesis Organization. The building is also the only way of access into Deepground. Vincent Valentine ends up at the remains of it after he defeats Rosso the Crimson, and must go through President Shinra's private entrance through to the basement of the Headquarters. Eventually making his way through the corridors, Vincent takes a lift down to the lower areas of the building where secret research was carried out, and also where the top-secret Deepground files were. At this time, there are many crystals and Materia in display cases around the area. During his time collecting these files and making his way through countless Deepground soldiers, Vincent faces off one final time against Azul the Cerulean on the lift before arriving in Deepground.
[edit] Enemy formations
[edit] Outside Main Doors
[edit] Floor 1
[edit] Floor 2
[edit] Floor 3
[edit] Floor 59
- 1x Mighty Grunt
- 2x Mighty Grunt
- 3x Mighty Grunt
[edit] Floor 63
- 1x Hammer Blaster
- 1x Sword Dance
- 2x Hammer Blaster
- 2x Sword Dance
[edit] Floor 65
- 1x Hammer Blaster
- 1x Sword Dance
- 2x Hammer Blaster
- 2x Sword Dance
- 3x Sword Dance
[edit] Floor 67 (Before Capture)
- 1x Warning Board
- 1x Moth Slasher
- 2x SOLDIER: 3rd
- 2x Moth Slasher
[edit] Floor 67 (After Capture)
- 2x Brain Pod
- 1x Brain Pod
- 3x Vargid Police
- 2x Vargid Police (Back-attack only)
[edit] Floor 68 (Before Capture)
- 2x Warning Board
- 3x Moth Slasher
- 3x SOLDIER: 3rd
- 1x Moth Slasher, 2x SOLDIER: 3rd
- 2x SOLDIER: 3rd (Back-attack only)
- Sample H0512, 3x Sample H0512-OPT (Boss)
[edit] Floor 68 (After Capture)
- 2x Zenene
- 1x Vargid Police, 1x Zenene
- 2x Brain Pod, 1x Zenene
[edit] Floor 69
- 1x Zenene
- 2x Vargid Police
- 1x Vargid Police, 1x Zenene
- 2x Brain Pod, 1x Zenene
- 2x Zenene (Back-attack only)
- 3x Vargid Police (Back-attack only)
[edit] Floor 70 (Outside)
- Rufus, Dark Nation (Boss)
[edit] Elevator
- Hundred Gunner, Heli Gunner (Boss)
