Although not the primarily villains inFinal Fantasy VII, the Turks stand out as one of the most memorable antagonistic groups in the franchise. The first Turk, Reno, is met when players crash into the church in Sector 5, making for one ofFFVII’s most memorable setpieces. From there, Rude, Tseng, and Elena round out the Turks to make an immensely memorable cast.
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Most notably, the Turks starred in the first part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII–Before Crisis. With an obscure video game centered around them and some of the most colorful characters in the cast,Final Fantasy VII’s Turks are a franchise highlight.
10Before Crisis: The Game All About The Turks
AlthoughBefore Crisiswas the first entry in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, it’s also the only one that’s never been released internationally, and as it was a cellphone game, it seems very unlikely fans will get a chance to playBefore Crisisas it once was. Picking one of many different Turks to play as,Before Crisiswas both a prequel and an epilogue toFinal Fantasy VII.
Before Crisisgreatly fleshes out who the Turks are as an organization, their inner hierarchy, and the nuances of how they work in the context ofFFVII’s world. The prequel chapters (which take up the bulk of the game) greatly flesh out AVALANCHE while touching base with the party beforeFFVIIproper. The epilogue chapters center on how the Turks tackled Meteor.
9The Turks Respect Rufus More Than President Shinra
In the originalFinal Fantasy VII, President Shinra isn’t really alive long enough for him to develop a relationship and repertoire with the Turks. This is in contrast to Rufus, who the Turks seem to respect explicitly in the game. ComeAdvent Children, said respect was turned into devotion, butBefore Crisisactually fleshes this out even further.
Not only do the Turks generally respect Rufus, they actively conspired with him to undermine President Shinra. In the shadows, Rufus was using the Turks to destabilize his father’s position and overtake Shinra, something the Turks are more than content helping him with.
8Rude Has A Crush On Tifa
Of all the Turks in the originalFinal Fantasy VII, Rude is the least developed in large part because his catchphrase is “…” He’s not a talkative type, but he’s still expressive and has a personality. Notably, Rude has a crush on Tifa that prevents him from attacking her outright (something theRemakeplays with cleverly.)
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In battle, Rude will simply never attack Tifa. Even if Tifa is the only character in the party, Rude will hesitate, refusing to attack. Considering how easy the Turks are, it’s unlikely the player would stumble onto such a scenario, but it’s a charming easter egg.
7Elena Is Actually The Strongest Turk
Promoted to the Turks after Reno suffers an injury fighting Cloud and the party in Sector 7, Elena is consistently depicted as incompetent. She gives away classified information in her introductory scene, she gets kidnapped by Don Corneo during the Wutai sidequest, and Cloud can send her tumbling in Icicle Inn.
That said, this doesn’t stop Elena from having the highest stats of any of the Turks in the originalFinal Fantasy VII. She’s the strongest in combat, the most dangerous, and has the highest health pool of the three Turks. Of course, since Tseng never fights in the original game, there’s no way to check his stats.
6Tseng Doesn’t Die
Speaking of Tseng, the leader of the Turks notably gets stabbed by Sephiroth nearing the end of Disc 1. He’s left to die, and Aerith’s reaction (along with reflecting on her past with Tseng) greatly suggests that this is Tseng’s character exit. When taking into account the fact he never appears after this scene, it’s safe to assume he’s dead.
Some might call his sudden reappearance inAdvent Childrena retcon, but even the original game confirms that Tseng did indeed survive Sephiroth stabbing him. Elena mentions him in passing, in a way suggesting he survived. Why he doesn’t appear after this scene likely has to do with him only being relevant to Aerith’s arc.
5Veld, The Original Leader
Before Tseng became leader of the Turks, he was working under Veld, the leader during (some of) the events ofBefore Crisis. Notably, Veld has a strong anti-hero quality to him. He’ll get the job done, but he’s not particularly villainous. He’s also the father of one of AVALANCHE’s leaders, Elfe.
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Not only is Elfe one of AVALANCHE’s key leaders, she’s the one who primarily led the founder’s movement, serving as a central antagonist of sorts inBefore Crisis. It’s worth noting that this means AVALANCHE has a rather intimate connection to the Turks as an organization. Veld even resigns to try to reconnect with Elfe.
4Cissnei Originated In Before Crisis
One ofBefore Crisis’ defining features as a video game is allowing the player to select from a wide roster of playable Turks. Granted, they’re all named after their weapons with their genders in parentheses, but it’s still a cool gimmick. While a few have gone on to be named in ancillary material, Shuriken (Female) gets to become Cissnei inCrisis Core.
Cissnei in particular is notable for helping Zack and Cloud while serving as a secondary love interest for Zack himself. She features the exact same character design between both games, too. Shuriken (Female) and Cissnei are one & the same.
3Vincent Valentine, Former Turk
Vincent and Yuffie were both relegated to secret character status inFinal Fantasy VIIdue to time constraints, but where Yuffie got to have two questlines, Vincent had nothing beyond a few scenes with Lucrecia in a waterfall. That said, these scenes do quickly observe Vincent’s time as a former Turk.
Having a Turk in the party not only helps put into perspective how powerful the Turks are, Vincent’s history in the organization is interesting. Briefly Lucrecia’s bodyguard, Vincent falls in love only to find himself the victim of cruel experiments done by Hojo’s hand. Notably, when Vincent and Lucrecia reunite inFFVII, he tells her Sephiroth is dead.
2The Legend
Little is known about the Legend, a legendary member of the Turks, but what little informationBefore Crisisgives does paint an interesting picture. Once an intensely anti-Shinra citizen from Junon (to the point where he was infamous in Tseng’s eyes,) the Legend somehowjoinsShinra, becomes a Turk, and ends up killing enough enemies in the Wutai War to be deemed the “Death God of the Battlefield.”
Interestingly, while ridiculously strong, the Legend seems to have very little interest in actually doing work for the Turks. In his downtime, the Legend lives in Costa del Sol, only taking action again should players select him.
1The Turks Keep On Getting Nicer
Something worth pointing out about the Turks is the fact that they are not a heroic faction. In the originalFinal Fantasy VII, they drop a Plate onto Sector 7, killing thousands. Over the course of the game, the party is forced to work with the Turks, which helps make them likable, but never by downplaying their villains.
Since then, however, subsequent material has strived to make the Turks far more likable.Before Crisis,Advent Children, andCrisis Coreall depict the Turks as anti-heroes as best, which is far from their depiction in the original game. TheRemakekeeps Reno dropping the Plate on Sector, albeit with more remorse– a nice compromise moving forward.
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