Secrets & Mysteries | Inscription on Jenova's Helmet

During Cloud's Nibelheim flashback, a FMV sequence is shown of Sephiroth finding Jenova. Jenova's face is displayed up-close. What is peculiar about Jenova is she's wearing a metal helmet. On the helmet is a plate inscribed with English words. Take a close look at the pic below. Just what are those words?

The following interpretations have been gathered for reference. They cannot be confirmed as the 'true' writing on Jenova's helmet, though. What can be confirmed is the inscription is probably related to the origins of the FMV.

What we do know...

The game's coding was finished towards the end of 1996 in time for the Japanese release in January 1997, so the FMV must have been finished before then. With some confidence, I can conclude the FMV sequence was probably made in 1995 (according to the multiple entries containing this year). That's all we can really be sure of.

UPDATE: October 2005 - A higher-resolution version of the FMV featuring Jenova's helmet can be seen in the intro of "Distance", the FFVII:AC "making-of" featurette that's included on both the Japanese "Advent Pieces" bonus disk and the one included with the English-language version. Here is the best screenshot we could take of Jenova's helmet, as it appears in "Distance":



For the first time ever, we can clearly see that the helmet reads:

Jenova's Helmet in Advent Children and Last Order

Jenova's helmet can be seen in these two FFVII spinoffs, which were released in the Fall of 2005. Both times, the helmet appears in reinterpretations of FFVII's Nibelheim flashback, and the inscription can be clearly read. Here are screenshots of Jenova's helmet from these two spinoffs. Note that in both cases, the inscription does not seem to match the original from FFVII. While the AC inscription cuts the number of lines down to two and clearly displays two dates, the LO one seems closer the original, yet doesn't include a date at all.



Advent Children inscription:

The two dates listed seem to indicate when Jenova was first found (October 10, 1959) and when she was sealed away in the chamber in Nibelheim (July 2, 1967). According to these dates, it seems Shinra spent nearly eight years in between studying Jenova; Sephiroth's conception likely occured during that same time.

Special thanks to Lim Tung Ming for the kanji translation and insights.

Update (Nov. 2005): On the Forums, Strider Suzaku pointed out that these dates also appear (in the same format) in an FMV on the FFVII demo disk that came with the Japanese version of Tobal No. 1, as well as on the Perfect Guide which comes with FFVII International. This FMV seems to be from an early, unfinished version of the game, as many of the dates listed (not just the ones on the helmet) contradict with the FFVII timeline as we know it. The dates on Jenova's helmet in AC are likely a homage to this early FMV.



Last Order inscription:

Last updated November 2005.