Thread: Mag überhaupt jemand Hojo??

Hojo.org schrieb:
According to Final Fantasy Name Origins: Goes back to a family of hereditary regents to the shogunate of Japan who exercised actual rule from 1199 to 1333. During that period, nine successive members of the family held the regency. The Hojo took their name from their small estate in the Kanogawa Valley in Izu Province. Hojo = power. There may be a more subtle meaning to this, but I fail to see it.

Hojo Unlike most of the names in Final Fantasy 7, Hojo's is not written in katakana. "Hojo" is written with two kanji. The first character means "treasure". The second means "reason". This ties in closely with Hojo's love for and dependance on science. One of the most important qualities in a scientist is logic or reason, and so Hojo's reason is his most valuable treasure.

(Randomly enough, a completely different kanji combination that also is pronounced "hojo" means fertility. I wonder if this is a pun Japanese players would have caught in reference to Sephiroth's creation?)

As for the Hojo clan itself, the Grolier Encyclopedia states that during the Kamakura Period in Japanese history, the Hojo clan wrested control of the shogunate and actual power in Japan, while the emperor remained a mere figurehead. This is rather similar to Professor Hojo's position at Shinra - he remains ostensibly under the control of the emperor (President Shinra) but is the one actually ruling the country (plot of the game) and could not be stopped by the emperor's forces if he chose to move against him.

Hair: Hojo's hair is long and black, and he keeps it pulled back into a neat ponytail. A few strands in the front, however, have pulled loose and hang in his face. This is a nifty little parallel to Hojo himself: he acts in control, especially throughout disc one, and seems to have all the answers, but there are little cracks of chaos in his personality that get in the way. They keep him from seeing clearly, and in the end his insanity is apparent.

Glasses: Glasses are a sign of intellectualism, power, and age. Hojo's glasses indicate all these things about him. The style of his glasses is interesting to note. They are small and round, and most people would first associate them with "John Lennon glasses", referring to the style of the late musician. However, in many pictures of Japanese elite at the turn of the century, this style of small, round glasses is apparent. Thus it seems likely that Hojo's glasses were intended to evoke the iconography of the high-level members of traditional Japanese business and government.

Hojo Hands: Final Fantasy VII was one of the first games to allow subtlety of movement in hand gestures and movement, due to it's use of polygonal characters. Hojo's movements reveal many things about him. First, he always walks with his hands behind his back, causing him to stoop over. This makes him look more evil and threatening. Most of the time, Hojo's gestures are careful and precise, as befits his scientific nature. When he becomes agitated and loses control, however, his movements become erratic and he sometimes tears at his hair.

Posture: Hojo's posture is very distinctive, and another feature that only became possible to convey with the polygons of the playstation. His hunched, shuffling walk is distinctive and very telling. Because of his walk, it is immediately apparent when you first see him enter the conference room that he is an old man, even though he does not have any other signs of age. Hojo's posture tells us about him as a person as well. He is a broken man, and this is apparent long before we know he's mad, or that he lost his wife and son.