For the Korean kingdom, see Silla.

In the video game Final Fantasy VII, the , or simply the is a ruthless mega-corporation which controls most of the world . Shin-Ra is named after the family that runs the corporation.

Overview

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Originally a small weapons development company, Shin-Ra grew into a multi-conglomerate and de facto world government when mako power was developed. Mako Energy is created through the process of extracting a green etheral substance called "Spirit Energy" from the Lifestream and out of the Planet via mako reactors where it is then condensed into a liquid and processed into a source of fuel and electrical energy.

During an international war that had lasted several years, Shin-Ra Works developed the means of manufacturing mako and its by-product materia, small spheres that allow their wielders access to magical abilities. Investing in the marketing of this substance and the mass-production of a line of elite military units called "SOLDIERs" (individuals showered in mako and injected with the cells of the alien being Jenova), Shin-Ra quickly brought the war to an end, and in the post-war era, gained control over the world due to the people's ever-growing dependency on Shin-Ra's Mako Energy and materia. Reaping incredible profits from the development — and monopolization — of these technologies, they proceeded to build the city of Midgar, which became their capital. As the siphoning of Spirit Energy and the process of condensing it into Mako Energy within reactors is highly expensive, the greedy and ruthless President Shinra began searching for the fabled Promised Land, a place he believed to be abundant in naturally-rising mako, where a new city called "Neo-Midgar" could be constructed.President Shinra: "It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile. ...If the land is fertile..." / Barret: "Then there's gotta be Mako!" / President Shinra: "Exactly. That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is a necessity. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory..."(Final Fantasy VII)

Despite being classifed as a corporation, its operations resemble more those of a government than those of a typical company, as it has a standing military with various specialized operatives, and local politicians — such as Domino, the mayor of Midgar — are housed as employees within the Shin-Ra headquarters.

Shin-Ra is comprised of several departments: Urban Development (headed by Reeve Tuesti); Public Safety Maintenance (headed by Heidegger); Weapons Development (headed by Scarlet); Science (headed by Professor Hojo); and Space Exploration (headed by Palmer).

Shin-Ra owns and operates the infrastructure of Midgar, the Junon military base, the rebuilt town of Nibelheim and the various mako reactors scattered around the world of Final Fantasy VII. They also financed the building and operation of the Gold Saucer, a combined amusement park-casino entertainment complex. The mako reactors that appear in the game's story are the 8 mako reactors around Midgar, the Mt. Nibel reactor, the Corel reactor, the Gongaga reactor, the undersea reactor at Junon and the Fort Condor reactor. The Fort Condor reactor is no longer in operation by the time the story begins, and the Gongaga reactor suffered a meltdown sometime prior to the beginning of the game, suspending operations there. During the story, reactors 1 and 5 in Midgar are destroyed by AVALANCHE, but are later repaired.Gongaga resident: "It's been a while since the explosion, but you can still find pieces of it left all over town. Shinra built the reactor, without even thinking about the town's safety. And, this is the result. One day, there was a huge explosion. Many townspeople died in it..."(Final Fantasy VII)

Leadership

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Shin-Ra's leadership changes at several points in the plot of Final Fantasy VII. The first leader seen is President Shinra, but after being murdered by Sephiroth, he is succeeded by his son Rufus, who had served as vice-president until that time. Rufus himself is then seemingly killed late in the story, engulfed in an explosion at the Shin-Ra headquarters. Temporarily without a leader to control the company, the other executives attempt seizing control, in some cases turning on each other to gain momentary power. However, it was revealed in the CGI film Advent Children that Rufus survived his ordeal and has the intentions of restoring his company and undoing the damage it caused to the Planet. He is still followed by four members of the Turks (Reno, Rude, Elena, and Tseng), all of which are very loyal to him.

Military

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Shin-Ra maintains its own military (officially referred to as "the Department of Public Safety Maintenance"), which consists of units of various ranks, as well as the specially trained and elite SOLDIERs. Other notable aspects of Shin-Ra's everyday military forces include widespread usage of advanced robotics and hover technology.

Shin-Ra also employs their Turks operatives (officially entitled as "the Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department"), whose duties include the scouting of potential SOLDIER recruits, assassinations, espionage and serving as bodyguards for the company's executives.

Mako creations and uses

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Mako serves as Shin-Ra's main source of profit, as well as the basis for many of their weapons and inventions.

Mako Reactor

One of the primary uses of mako within Shin-Ra, the Mako Reactor condenses mako energy into liquid form for use as a fuel and as a source of electrical power, and by the time of the game have made Fossil fuels such as oil and coal obsolete. Shin-Ra used the growing dependence of the planets population on Mako energy as a way of gaining and strengthening their control of the world. Thirteen Mako reactors appear in the game - the eight in Midgar, the Mt. Nibel reactor, the Corel reactor, the Gongaga reactor, the undersea reactor at Junon and the Fort Condor reactor. At the time of the game, the Fort Condor reactor is no longer in operation and the Gongaga reactor had suffered a meltdown. Midgar Reactors 1 and 5 are destroyed by AVALANCHE early in the game, but are repaired in time to be used to power the Sister Ray along with the remaining six.

Junon Cannon/Sister Ray

The Shin-Ra naval base over the fishing town of Junon was equipped with an enormous artillery cannon (which was longer than the town itself) aimed out over the sea. It fired massive mako-enhanced artillery shells of extrordinary range and destructive power, as seen when the cannon destroys the Sapphire WEAPON with a single shot, when the WEAPON attacks Junon. After the destruction of the Sapphire WEAPON, it was rendered useless by the removal of Junon's huge materia, and was moved to Midgar, where it could be powered by the combined output of the city's eight mako reactors.

In its new form, the cannon was fired only once in attempt to destroy the energy barrier Sephiroth had erected around the Northern Crater, the recoil from the blast was strong enough to break all of the windows in the Shin-Ra Tower, and the blast itself was strong enough to destroy both the Diamond WEAPON (which the beam passed through as if it weren't there) and the energy barrier that was its target. Later, AVALANCHE infiltrated Midgar and disabled the Sister Ray to prevent an overload incited by Professor Hojo, Head of Shin-Ra's Science Department, that could have destroyed the entire city.

In _Advent_Children, set two years after the end of Final Fantasy VII, the Sister Ray still stands, though it has fallen into decay along with the rest of the city.

The matter of the cannon's name has led to some confusion. Though Scarlet 'names' the cannon the Sister Ray after it is transfered to Midgar, it is nevertheless seen to already bear this name on its barrel before the move. This may possibly be an error within the original script, or a result of one of many mistranslations present in the game.

Other uses

Mako was one of the two main components in enhancing members of SOLDIER (examples of individuals enhanced with mako include Zack, Cloud Strife and Sephiroth), and its by-product, materia, was a valuable source of income for Shin-Ra, as well as a powerful source of weaponry, used by both the Turks and SOLDIER. It was also used in a series of horrific experiments by Professors Gast and Hojo on living people. For additional uses of Mako, see the page on Materia.

Trivia

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• "Shin-Ra" is written with the Japanese kanji 神羅. This does not appear to be an actual Japanese surname, although its on-reading is the same as many others. The individual kanji mean "god"/"divine" and "snare"/"net"/"silk". The "Ra" is also often used to represent Rome. Exactly why this name was chosen and what it might imply are matters of some discussion among fans. One theory is that since the Japanese word "shin" can also mean "new" (although it is then not written with the same kanji as the "shin" in "Shin-Ra"), the name of Shin-Ra when spoken could be interpreted as "New Rome", and this would indeed fit the Shin-Ra company and the family's aspirations.
• The company's name is romanized as "Shin-Ra" in Square-Enix's official Japanese materials. This spelling convention — as opposed to the more straightforward spelling of "Shinra" — may simply be for stylistic purposes. In the English localizations of Final Fantasy VII, the name of the corporation appears in dialogue as "Shinra."
• In Final Fantasy X-2, a member of the Gullwings named "Shinra" proposes the concept of extracting the life energy from within the planet Spira.Yuna: "What are you looking at?" / Shinra: "Farplane data. The more I study it, the more fascinating it gets. There's limitless energy swirling around in there.... The life force that flows through our planet... I think. With a little work, we could probably extract the energy in a usable form...." / Yuna: "Think how much Spira would change if we ever got it to work! Maybe one day we could build a city full of light, one that never sleeps!" (Final Fantasy X-2) In the Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania guidebook published by Square-Enix, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X-2 scenario writer Kazushige Nojima stated that the character Shinra and his proposal are a deliberate nod to the Shin-Ra Company of Final Fantasy VII, and also revealed that he envisioned the events of Final Fantasy X-2 as a prequel to those in Final Fantasy VII. This connection had previously been hinted toward by Kitase and lead Final Fantasy developer Yoshinori Kitase during an interview in the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω guidebook, and was again detailed in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω — two other official publications of Square-Enix.
• The MMORPG 'EVE ONLINE' features a PVP orientated corporation holding the name 'Shinra'.

References

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See also

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• The Turks
• Rufus Shinra

External links

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• Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω Translations FAQ - Translations from the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω

Final Fantasy VII Megacorp Shin-Ra, Inc.