FF7 Rebirth's Major Red XIII Change Is Really A Clever Easter Egg

's biggest change to Red XIII might seem jarring, but there's a perfectly good reason for it. The second chapter in the remake trilogy makes a lot of changes to the original 's story, not least of which are the changes to its characters. Although Red XIII debuted near the end of, he's playable for the first time in . The sequel also delves more deeply into the Shinra lab rat-dog's backstory, just as the equivalent section of the original does.

So, it's safe to say that Red XIII is more of a star in than he was in — he's been elevated from a guest companion to a fully controllable party member, and players even get a chance to explore his hometown of Cosmo Canyon. It's there that Red XIII undergoes a major change in personality. It can be confusing at first, but as it turns out, the original did something similar.

Red XIII's sudden voice change in is shocking, but it's actually a reference to a similar plot concept introduced by the original . Throughout and the early chapters of, Red XIII sounds like a gruff, grizzled warrior, with a deep, raspy voice and a measured, mature tone. However, as soon as he recognizes the gateway to Cosmo Canyon, he yelps with the crackling, high-pitched voice of an excited teenager. The guards seem to recognize him, although they call him Nanaki, and usher him right in.

Although the voices are markedly different, both versions of Red XIII are voiced by the same actor, Max Mittelman.

It almost seems like a voice acting mishap that someone forgot to correct, until Barret wonders, "" The rest of the party scarcely has time to acknowledge the sudden change, let alone ask Red about it — he dashes off immediately to meet with someone named Bugenhagen. This makes it clear that Red XIII's sudden change in personality was intentional, and as it turns out, the original Japanese version of used similar dialogue changes to reflect Red XIII's character development.

When the party arrives at Cosmo Canyon in the original game, Red XIII goes from using