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Vincent Valentine is one of the most intriguing characters among the FINAL FANTASY VII cast, thanks to his mysterious and undeniably edgy fashion sense. Donning a sleek red cloak and a piercing stare, his mysterious past as a former Turk with secrets that tie him directly to several of the main antagonists makes Vincent truly stand out as a character.
Now that FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH was launched earlier this year with positive fanfare, we got an opportunity to speak with the one and only Matthew Mercer, the English voice of Vincent in the remake project.
You may have heard of Mercer’s voice, he is in many beloved video games and anime – most notably Cassidy in Overwatch, Leon in Resident Evil 6, and Goro Majima in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, just to name a few. He is also the Dungeon Master for the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role.
Without further ado, here is what Mercer had to say about his experience voicing the stern and mysterious Vincent Valentine!
Becoming Valentine
Vincent Valentine is a mysterious and enigmatic character. Regarding how Mercer captured Vincent’s brooding personality and complex backstory in his performance, we asked him if he ever played DIRGE OF CERBERUS: FINAL FANTASY VII to get a better understanding of the character
“I have indeed played DIRGE OF CERBERUS: FINAL FANTASY VII, and did so when it first came out!” Mercer responded.
“For me, brushing up on Vincent’s lore and considering the length of his tragic story helped anchor me to where he is emotionally when Cloud and crew first encounter him. He is far more guarded, untrusting, and cold because of his history and trauma, so I wanted to mark that starting point so we can enjoy his slowly opening to the others through this and the coming game. Understanding where he came from, and where he is to go, helped me dial into his mood and settle into his brooding properly.”
Favorite Limit Break Transformation
In the original game, Vincent has multiple transformations for his Limit Break ability. In regards to which is Mercer’s favorite, he quickly pointed out Chaos.
“It is hard to beat Chaos, not just for lore reasons, but the overall design is just AMAZING. Even just seeing what they did with Galian Beast in FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, I cannot WAIT to see where we get in the next one. And you bet I’ve already been playing with the type of sounds they might all have.”
Why the Sephiroth Cosplay?
For those who didn’t know, Mercer does dabble in cosplay. One of his most notable and truly impressive cosplays is Sephiroth, the main big bad in the entirety of FINAL FANTASY VII.
When we asked about his cosplay choice, Mercer explained, “Partially because I had an affinity for the character and his sleek design and dark, villainous persona. I wanted to recreate that and embody it. Mind you, it was for Halloween the same year FINAL FANTASY VII came out, and I had very little experience with costuming compared to where I was a decade later.”
“I was thankfully able to revisit my Sephiroth costume design later and make it closer to my mind’s eye. I also got to take a crack as Cloud! I would love to visit cosplaying as Vincent sometime. I mean… I’m now nearly age appropriate, hehe.”
A long while ago, but had so much fun making and inhabiting it.
What cosplay made you feel the most powerful? https://t.co/1Wrq3X98UZ pic.twitter.com/lsPZ2tPM52
— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) September 15, 2021
Dungeon Master into Performances
As mentioned, Mercer also serves as a Dungeon Master for the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role, narrating and guiding his fellow voice actors in campaigns. When asked about the art of being a Dungeon Master and whether it helps in voice acting.
Mercer said, “I think it can only help! It was my Dungeon Mastering in High School that helped me explore my range of voices, as well as practice performing and improvisational characterization.”
“Like a number of training methods, DMing can be an outlet for honing your craft as a performer. It is by no means a replacement for formal training, but it certainly doesn’t hurt!”
Here concludes our interview with Matthew Mercer, the voice actor of Vincent Valentine in FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH.
We would like to thank Matthew Mercer for taking the time to answer our questions. If you want to hear more from Matthew Mercer, you can follow him on X.
