Cait Sith

This article is about the Final Fantasy VII character. For the Scottish fairy, see Cat-sìth.

Cait Sith
Final Fantasy character
Cait Sith artwork by Tetsuya Nomura for Final Fantasy VII.
First game	Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Created by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voiced by	English Greg Ellis (Advent Children) Paul Tinto (Rebirth) Japanese Hideo Ishikawa
In-universe information
Weapon	Megaphone

Cait Sith (ケット・シー, Ketto Shī) is a character in Square Enix's role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII.

Conception and design

Named after the Scottish mythology fairy Cat-sìth, Cait Sith was designed by lead Tetsuya Nomura to be two characters combined into one, a concept he wanted to include since the beginning of development.

Cait Sith uses a megaphone to control the other half of his body; the higher quality the megaphone, the more effective his commands. During development Nomura was conflicted with using either a fat moogle or fat chocobo, two recurring creature types in the Final Fantasy series, for this aspect. He chose the former, with Cait Sith riding atop its shoulders while it walked by hopping and skipping along.

Cait Sith was intended to speak with a Kansai Japanese dialect, and they brought a specialist to assist with writing his dialogue properly. This was done to give his dialogue a "humorous" feel, even in the most serious scenes. However, when the game was released players remarked that his dialogue did not fit the dialect, so the development team instead called it "a Cait Sith dialect".

Appearances

Cait Sith is a robotic talking cat. In Final Fantasy VII, he rides atop an unnamed robotic Moogle; in later installments in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, he either walks by himself or rides Red XIII. As a robot, he can be rebuilt and replaced and is controlled by Reeve Tuesti, whose original intent during Final Fantasy VII was to infiltrate Cloud's group and sabotage their resistance efforts on behalf of his Shinra employers. After having a change of heart, he decides to help the group, even risking his life by destroying a version of himself to extract the Black Materia Sephiroth needs to summon the Meteor spell. He appears briefly in Advent Children and Final Fantasy VII Remake and as a supporting character throughout Dirge of Cerberus. Cait Sith is voiced in English by Greg Ellis in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus and by Paul Tinto in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. He is voiced in Japanese by Hideo Ishikawa.

Promotion and reception

C.J. Andriessen of Destructoid expressed a heavy disdain for the character, stating that while he initially assumed Cait Sith would be one of his favorites in Final Fantasy VII due to his design and choice of weapon, his perspective was soured his quickly by the double-cross. While he acknowledged the character sacrifices himself later on in the game's story, the betrayal caused him to develop a particular grudge for Cait Sith that lasted well after he had completed the game. Scott Baird of Gamepur shared similar sentiments towards the character's betrayal, but also criticized his design, stating he felt it was out of place and "stands out like the custom character in a cutscene every time he shows up." He further expressed that Cait Sith was not as entertaining as the other characters in VII, and found the decision to give him a Scottish accent in later entries related to VII to be "baffling" and "annoying", though felt he was spared of being the worst character in those games due to his limited usage compared to other equally disliked characters.

James Stephanie Sterling in her own article for Destructoid on the other hand defended the character, stating that "his character arc was perhaps the most resonant". She further calling Reeve a representation of most modern people and a good example of the regular salaryman in a business trying to do good for others despite his company constantly doing harm. Sterling further emphasized that while Cait Sith was Reeve's puppet, he was a puppet himself through the game for ShinRa's higher ups and their own ambitions, until he rebels and earned his redemption by standing up to them. She cited Cait Sith as an example of a reformed villain, a character archetype she felt many enjoyed, and pointed out that through much of the story he didn't have a choice in his actions, and quickly attempts to make amends afterward.

Sterling went further in her examination of the character, and stated that she was confused by the criticism towards Caith Sith's design. Sterling hadn't seen him as "annoying" or "trying to be a 'cool' mascot-type character" as seen in other games, but instead something that felt true to older Final Fantasy design in its levity, an element Sterling pointed out later games in the series emphasized and were celebrated for. Cait Sith to her had a "memorable, distinctive and comical look, something that was needed to offset the darker, rather po-faced appearance of the rest of the cast", and his humorous appearance helped offset how the rest of the party was shown as "brooding and containing their androgynous rage". This sentiment was shared by Zachari Greif of Game Rant, who called Cait Sith the "party's backbone", particularly in Rebirth. He pointed out that while the player was likely aware of his impending betrayal given the original game, the development team emphasized his cuter aspects. This helped to portray him as someone "there to bring smiles and lift the team up", often looking out for them and helping as needed, and further punctuated by the sacrifice of one of his bodies to ensure the party's safe escape from the Temple of Ancients.

Patrick Holleman in his book Reverse Design: Final Fantasy VII compared Cait Sith's relation to the rest of the group to a straight man in a comedy group, in that he provides contrast to the rest of the group and their survivor status. He felt that this was a deliberate choice as it helped solidify the group and what they had in common. He also felt it was necessary to not separate Reeve from him as a character, noting that while his manner of speaking was different from when he was in control of Cait Sith, he still had a vested interest in helping the party. He also emphasized how his role in ShinRa as a company diminishes during the course of the game until he is removed entirely, and stated that while Reeve didn't share the same connection to the past motivating him as he does the other characters, he shared another in how he outlived the context that gave him an identity.