Final Fantasy VII - Lore

The Shinra Private Military Academy is a controlled, elite training institution designed to produce disciplined military assets, strategic leaders, and loyal Shinra operatives. Functioning as both an academy and a filtration system, it emphasizes obedience, hierarchy, and psychological resilience over individuality or personal ambition. Through rigid rules, constant surveillance, enforced uniformity, and pressure-driven evaluation, cadets are conditioned to internalize Shinra doctrine as instinct. Instruction, living conditions, and discipline are all structured to ensure that only those who fully align with Shinra’s authority, values, and operational needs advance beyond the academy.

Project Revival was a secret Cetra restoration experiment conducted in Kalm from 1978 to 1979 by Dr. Quinn Carlisle and Dr. Belgemine, using preserved Cetra genetics and repeated implantation trials to revive the Ancient bloodline without Shinra’s mako or Jenova methods. Of twenty-six pregnancies, only two children survived—Faye and Joel—classified as Neo-Cetra, genetically Cetra but biologically unstable. Both can use magic without materia; Joel experiences overwhelming Planetary voices and visions, while Faye involuntarily absorbs mako in dangerous ways. The project was terminated after extensive miscarriages, mounting loss of life, and Carlisle’s realization that he could not “play god” without becoming what he opposed.