A super belated Happy New Year, O Readers!

With 2025 being the Year of the Snake and Sephiroth having gotten a New Year’s outfit last year in Ever Crisis, I knew I had to make a piece to commemorate these occasions. It was also an opportunity to have an 80s flashback and listen to lots of Whitesnake.

Anyway, a year ago I posted Sephiroth’s Ever Crisis Battle Lines as his were the ones I was most interested in, and a fellow Seph-fan friend asked me what he was saying. I’ve come across some interest in other characters’ lines in the time since, so I figured I’d do another battle lines post.

In the course of prepping said post, I discovered that most if not all of the voice lines from the OG cast, including Zack, are recordings from Remake and Rebirth. For quick reference, we can hear this in this video from a YouTuber going by Cloud Strife that has all the Rebirth victory lines. So for now, I’m focusing on the cast of The First Soldier, as they don’t appear in battle in the R games so far.

Like my original post for Sephiroth’s lines, this is all by ear. So while my translations are accurate translations of what I think the Japanese lines are, it’s possible I’m hearing the lines incorrectly to begin with. I’m confident what’s here is at least 95% accurate though. The things I was unsure about, I didn’t write here at all.

I got most of these lines as I played myself, but videos from Zachriel137 on YouTube showing individual skills, such as this one for Gigantic Shield, were super helpful as they allowed me to replay lines multiple times in a short time.

One last note: previously, I’d assigned certain lines to specific limit breaks and attacks. However, watching videos and paying closer attention during my own playthroughs, I realized that most limit break lines can go with any of that character’s limit breaks. This is true for Lucia, Glenn, and to a lesser extent Sephiroth, but I’m tempted to say it’s not the case for Matt, because I’m pretty sure I’ve only heard him use the below lines with the one specified limit break listed here.

Anyway, on to it!

MATT WINSORD

Before battle

「敵を確認。排除する」(teki wo kakunin. haijo suru.) “Enemies confirmed. Eliminating now.”

「状況把握。応戦する」(joukyou haaku. ousen suru.) “Situation understood. Engaging enemies.”

「これより戦闘状態に入り」(kore yori sentou joutai ni hairi) “Activating combat mode.”
(Literally it says “now entering combat mode” but…same thing.)

Various attacks during battle

「取る！」(toru!) “Got you now!”
(Literally, “take!”)

「そこだ！」(soko da!) “That’s it!”

Switching to (or back to) controlling Matt

「直ちに応戦する」(tadachi ni ousen suru) “Engaging immediately.”

「状況は把握した」(joukyou wa haaku shita) “Situation understood.”

Victory

「よし、想定通り」(yoshi, soutei doori) “Alright, as expected.”

「当然だ」(touzen da) “‘Twas a matter of course.”

Limit Breaks

「１、２、３、５、８、１３！」(ichi, ni, san, go, hachi, juu-san!) “One, two, three, five, eight, thirteen!”
(He’s reciting the Fibonacci sequence. I wanna say this is for Valiant Attempt only.)

「３．１４１５９２！」(san ten ichi yon ichi go kyuu ni!) “Three point one four one five nine two!”
(He’s reciting Pi – π. Is this exclusive to Gigantic Shield?)

「１．４１４２１３」(itten yon ichi yon ni ichi san) “One point four one four two one three!”
(He’s reciting the square root of two. Vanquishing X only?)

Game Over

「どこで読み誤った？」(doko de yomiayamatta?) “What did I misread?”

GLENN LODBROK

Before battle

「運悪いね！」(un warui ne!) “You’ve got bad luck!”

「はい、こんにちは！」(hai, kon’nichi wa!) “Well hello there!”

「先輩、よろしく！」(senpai, yoroshiku!) “Good to see you, brother!”
(This is a sarcastic greeting/taunt composed of two “untranslatable” words. To translate super literally, it says “be nice to me, person who is older or has been doing something longer than me!” So my translation is just one possibility for a good translation.)

「楽しませてくれ！」(tanoshimasete kure!) “Entertain me!”

Various attacks during battle

「騒げ！」(sawage!) “Make some noise!”
(This might be for Rising Strike specifically? The attack that the weapon Slay the Day does.)

「踊れ！」(odore!) “Dance!”

Limit Breaks
(The first one I’ve heard for both Blazing Onslaught and Hell on Wheels, while the second I’ve only heard during Blazing Onslaught.)

「はい、注目！」(hai, chuumoku!) “Heads up!” / “Pay attention now!”

「待ってくれ、ばあちゃん」(matte kure, baa-chan) “Wait for me, nana.”
(I still hold that Glenn would call his grandmother by some cutesy name, but felt “nana” at least was better than “granny.”)

Taking heavy damage

「これがスラム魂よ！」(kore ga suramu damashii yo!) “I’ll show you slum spirit!”

「ここからここら！」(koko kara koko kara!) “We’ll cinch it from here!”
(Literally, “From here, from here!” Though I feel like this would be changed to something like “I see you!” or “Bro packs a punch!” or something like that.)

「な〜んてな」(naaante, na) “LOL What?” / “You gotta be kidding!”
(I can’t remember if he laughs before or after the “nante” but he definitely does.)

Victory

「おばあちゃん、やったぜ」(obaa-chan, yatta ze) “Nana, I did it.”

「う〜、最高」(wuu, saikou) “Whew, that was the best!”

「このスリル、たまんねー」(kono suriru, taman’nee) “Nothing like the thrill of the fight!”

Game over

「ばあちゃん．．．」(baa-chan…) “Nana…”

Miscellaneous

This isn’t dialogue, but I recently learned that Glenn’s weapon Ultimatic is called イルマティック (Illmatic) in the original Japanese, which is the same name as rapper Nas’ debut album. I wonder why this was changed, especially since Jiggy Fam was left as-is. Did they think Nas would come for them but Will Smith wouldn’t?

And I went down the rabbit hole and learned that there was a rumor Nas wrote “Gettin’ Jiggy with It.” Ooooh let me stop.

LUCIA LIN

Before battle

「君は運が悪いね」(kimi wa un ga warui ne) “You’ve got bad luck.”

「いい的見つけた」(ii mato mitsuketa) “Oooh, a good target.”
(Literally, “I found a good target.”)

「退いてもらうかな」(doite morau kana) “Wonder if they’ll get out the way…”

「こんにちは、さようなら。」(kon’nichi wa, sayounara). “Hello, goodbye.”

Various Attacks in Battle

「ご機嫌よう！」(gokigen’you!) “Farewell!”
(This is very polite language. See the first post for Seph’s lines linked to at the top of this post for an explanation of the grammar.)

「ご馳走」(gochisou) “A treat for you!”

「おやすみ！」(oyasumi!) “Good night!”

「バイー！」(baiii!) “Byeeee!”

Healing / Defensive Moves

「余裕をもって」(yoyuu wo motte) “Gotta have some wiggle room.”

「メリハリが大事だ」(merihari ga daiji da) “Balance is important.”

「生きる、な」(ikiru, na) “Stay alive!”

「念のため」(nen no tame) “Just in case.”

Switching to (or back to) controlling Lucia

「まとめて仕留めてやる」(matomete shitomete yaru) “I’ll shoot you all dead.”
(It’s so funny to me that this line is so direct when all her other lines are euphemistic. Like dang Lucia chill out! LOL)

Limit Breaks

「召し上がれ」(meshiagare) “Eat this!”
(This is also used for weapon abilities.)

「お気に入るといいな」(oki ni iru to ii na) “I hope you like it.”

「ほら、逃げるなら今のうち！」(hora, nigeru nara ima no uchi!) “Last chance to run away!”
(Cheering Shots only?)

「残念だったな」(zannen datta na) “Too bad…”
(Something like “what a shame” would be fine here too. Maybe even “sucks to be you.”)

Victory

「次だ。早く次へ。」(tsugi da. hayaku tsugi e.) “Next, quickly to the next one.”
(I’d change this to something more natural in English though, like “Let’s go, let’s go!”)

「実戦って最高」(jissentte saikou) “Real fighting’s the best!”
(It’s possible that “jissen” is 実践 instead, which means “put to practice” or “to apply [theory, training, etc.].” It would still make sense as the comparison would still be between the actual battlefield and training.)

「私の居場所だな」(watashi no ibasho da na) “This is where I belong.”

「この感じたまらない」(kono kanji tamaranai) “Can’t get enough of this feeling.”

Defeat

「居場所なくなる」(ibasho nakunaru) “I’ve lost my place [where I belong].”
(I actually only hear “basho nakunaru,” but I’m assuming she says “ibasho” since one of her victory lines uses that word.)

YOUNG ANGEAL

Before battle

「始める！」(hajimeru!) “Here we go!”
(Literally, “it’s starting!”)

「全力で来い！」(zenryoku de koi!) “Come at me with all your strength!”

「真っ向勝負だ」(makkou shoubu da) “It’s a head to head fight.”

「手加減しないぞ」(tekagen shinai zo) “I don’t pull any punches.”

Victory

(I can’t make anything out over the whooshing of his sword when he throws it for his victory pose.)

Limit Breaks

「剣に誓った誇りにかけて」(ken ni chikatta hokori ni kakete) “On the pride I vowed to this sword!”

「夢のために」(yume no tame ni) “For dreams!”

「夢を抱きしめろ！」(yume wo dakishimero!) “Embrace your dreams!”

YOUNG SEPHIROTH

Before Battle

「始めましょうか」(hajimemashou ka) “Shall we begin?”

「殲滅します」(senmetsu shimasu) “I’ll annihilate them.”

「排除します」（haijo shimasu) “I’ll eliminate them.”

「さ、来い」(sa, koi) “Come on!”
(I think “Bring it!” would be more natural though.)

Healing

「念のためです」(nen no tame desu) “Just in case.”

Switching to (or back to) controlling Seph

「終わらせましょう」(owaresemashou) “Let’s finish this.”

「参加します」(sanka shimasu) “Joining in.”
(I think “Taking the lead” would be a better choice though, because to me it’s odd to say “joining in” when you’ve been in the battle from the beginning.)

「速やかに対処します」(sumiyaka ni taisho shimasu)
“I’ll deal with this quickly.”

Firaga A
「無駄だ」(muda da) “It’s useless”
(“It’s pointless” would also be good, but I feel like “Waste of time” would be more natural here.)

Limit Breaks
(The first two I’ve heard with Astral Gate and Ardent Flare, whereas the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines I’ve heard with both Ardent Flare and Heliacal Rising.)

「突破」(toppa) “Break through!”

「極みの彼方に」(kiwami no kanata ni) “[Go] beyond the limit!”

「果て無き力！」(hate naki chikara) “Endless strength!”

「無限の果てに！」(mugen no hate ni!) “To the end of infinity!”

Victory

「訓練と同じですね」(kunren to onaji desu ne) “Just like practice!”

「さ、次」(sa, tsugi) “Ok, next.”

Defeated / Game Over

「こんなこと、ありえない」(konna koto, arienai) “No way…”

「やりなおし．．．だめですか」(yarinaoshi…dame desu ka)
“Can’t I…do it over?”
(This is the only defeat line so far in polite form. So it’s like he’s talking to himself in the others, but this one, I get the feeling is something he said frequently, perhaps to Hojo.)

「ゆるされない」(yurusarenai) “Unforgiveable…”

「どこで間違えた？」(doko de machigaeta?) “Where did I go wrong?”

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Image note: The image in the header consists of screenshots I took in Ever Crisis collaged together using Pixlr. (I didn’t feel like switching to my work computer to use Photoshop. LOL) I actually liked this one below better, but Matt and Glenn end up pretty cropped out:

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