Information
about the characters, games, etc.
Please be aware that the information below contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII was the first Final Fantasy game released for the PlayStation, way back in 1997. It was a huge step forward for the series, with what was then considered cutting-edge graphics and a complex and involved plot. It may look dated now, but it's still one of the most popular RPGs ever. Since then, it's spawned a feature-length animated movie (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children), an animated short (Last Order) and two other games (Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerebus, for cell phones and PS2 respectively).
The main plot of Final Fantasy VII concerns Cloud Strife, who claims to be an ex-member of SOLDIER, the elite army of the ShinRa Company. Cloud joins forces with AVALANCHE, a group of eco-terrorists, who want to stop ShinRa from destroying the planet with their Mako Reactors. Although Cloud starts off fairly cold and distant, the events of the game force him to discover more about himself than he realized was there, and in the end, he saves the planet from a man named Sephiroth, an ex-SOLDIER and genetic experiment who decides that the Planet needs to be destroyed and almost accomplishes it.
This fanlisting, however, is concerned with the boys on the ShinRa side of things: Rufus Shinra, the son of President Shinra, and Reno, a member of the Turks, ShinRa's, well, doers of not-so-clean deeds and general troublemakers for the good guys.
Advent Children
Advent Children is a feature-length computer animated film sequel to Final Fantasy VII. It came out in 2005, although rumours of it first started spreading at least a couple of years beforehand. The North American release of Advent Children will be in April of 2006. (Finally!)
Taking place two years after the end of the game, Advent Children shows the aftermath of Sephiroth's actions: the Lifeforce has been corrupted, causing people--mainly children--to come down with a mysterious disease called Geostigma. Adding to this, three mysterious silver-haired men (Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz) have shown up looking for Jenova, whom they call "mother". They turn out to be Sephiroth's clones, and Cloud once again gets dragged into a world-changing fight against his will.
Other Games, etc.
Before Crisis is a cell-phone based game taking place a few years before FFVII. It revolves around ShinRa and the Turks, with the player taking on the role of one of the Turks. Reno appears quite often in the game as the player's upperclassman of sorts. I'll have more on this later, once I've had a chance to go through transcripts of the game.
Last Order is an anime-style short that expands on Cloud's history with Zack and also slightly ties in to Before Crisis. It was included as an extra with the "Ultimate Edition" of Advent Children. Although Rufus and the Turks do appear in it, they don't really do much.
Dirge of Cerebus is a new sequel game to FFVII featuring Vincent Valentine, a fan favourite from the original game. It was released in Japan in January of 2006 and has yet to be released in North America. I have no idea if Rufus and the Turks show up in it. If anyone has more info on that, let me know!
Rufus Shinra
Rufus is cool, calm and ruthlessly efficient. Born the only son of the defacto ruler of his world, he's grown up expecting people to follow him without question. Rufus' world is the ShinRa Company; he is the Vice President as well as the son of the President. However, Rufus is a very different person than his father, even though they have many of the same goals. He has far less patience for the endless corporate messes and is much more actively involved in the various disputes he gets into.
In FFVII, Rufus inherits the ShinRa Company when his father is run through by Sephiroth and continues where his father left off in the fight against AVALANCHE. He, the Turks and the ShinRa company in general remain a major thorn in Cloud and co.'s sides through most of the game. Eventually, however, they find something in common: namely, that neither AVALANCHE nor Shinra particularly want Diamond WEAPON destroying the city of Midgar. When Sister Ray, Shinra's massive Mako-powered beam canon, fails to destroy Diamond WEAPON, Diamond WEAPON fires right back and destroys the Shinra HQ. At this point, it appears that Rufus has been killed.
However, Rufus won't give up that easily--he reappears in Advent Children, albeit in a wheelchair and with a bandage over one eye. In AC, Rufus walks a fine line: he has to appease the clones without being truly on their side, and he manages extremely well. It's Rufus who essentially sets up the last battle when he finally actively betrays Kadaj. Although he and Cloud are on the same side for this battle, Rufus has lost none of his focus; he does what he does for himself and Shinra as much as for the sake of the people around him.
Reno
Reno appears to be the exact opposite of Rufus at first: tempermental, lazy and cocky. However, when it comes down to it, Reno can be just as ruthless and effective as his boss. He's a member of the Turks, which means that he's highly trained, highly amoral and highly loyal. However, being a Turk is a job to Reno--he has no personal beef with Cloud or AVALANCHE, and is quite happy to ignore them if he runs into them outside of work.
Reno is a frequent enemy in the game, first showing up shortly after Cloud meets Aeris. His appearance usually means some sort of trouble for AVALANCHE, as the Turks are generally up to something of questionable intent. After the Diamond WEAPON destroys ShinRa's headquarters, Reno and the rest of the Turks appear one more time but have lost their interest in fighting Cloud and co. unless provoked (or unless you didn't do the Wutai mission. Tsk, tsk.)
In Advent Children, Reno plays a role much closer to comic relief than he did in the game. He and the rest of the Turks are by this time fairly outclassed by the people around them, but that doesn't stop Reno from trying to take on the clones, especially Loz and Yazoo. He's still working for Rufus and doesn't seem to have any intention of giving up his job any time soon.
The Relationship
Although Rufus and Reno barely interact in either the game or the movie, they obviously have a very strong relationship. Reno and the rest of the Turks remain loyal to Rufus even after what is essentially the fall of the ShinRa company, and Reno is allowed to talk to Rufus in a very familiar way during Advent Children.
This fanlisting, then, is dedicated mostly to the "what ifs" of their relationship. We know they work well together and that something in Rufus inspires Reno's loyalty. We know that their personalities, although opposing in many ways, are similar enough that they understand each other fairly well. As they aren't main characters at all, almost any kind of relationship is possible between them--but whatever it is, it's going to be interesting with those two involved.