Reno

Reno is a prominent member of the Turks who appears in the Final Fantasy VII series. His first appearance is in Final Fantasy VII, and has appeared in almost every media of the compilation: Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Final Fantasy VII Remake. He is often accompanied by fellow Turk and partner, Rude, and the two are implied to be friends despite their contrasting personalities.

Appearance
Reno has a lanky physique, blue eyes, unkempt red hair terminating in a long ponytail (though the ponytail is absent during Before Crisis and the first half of Crisis Core), and two symmetrical red marks on his cheekbones. He wears goggles pushed up onto his forehead, an unbuttoned suit jacket, and an untucked dress shirt.

Reno has red tattoos under his eyes. They are not visible on his original in-game character models, but appear in every depiction of the character, including his original artwork by Tetsuya Nomura, his Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- portrait, in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and in Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Personality
Reno is cocky, cynical, and somewhat lazy. He has a penchant for gossiping. Despite his appearance and attitude, he is regarded as a prominent worker; while second in command, he takes his job with pride and obtains skills that allow him to surpass many of his fellow Turks. He has a rebellious temperament and his actions can be sadistic, contrasting his laid back personality.

Reno possesses a distinct speech pattern in Japanese, speaking in a drawling, slangy manner and, most notoriously, ending most of his sentences with zo to (ぞ, と), yo to (よ, と), or simply to (と). Tifa receives a phone call near the beginning of Advent Children, and, although the caller's voice is not heard, the audience understands it is from Reno, as Tifa jokingly replies, "Oboeteru, zo to" ("I remember you, yo"; "Yeah, I remember you" in the English dub). The official page for the film also makes a nod to this. Speech patterns such as Reno's are impossible to translate directly into English and can only be approximated by attempting to capture the same "feeling" as the original, which the game's English translation and the movie did not attempt to do.

Reno and Rude primarily serve as the comic relief in Advent Children, exemplified by cartoon violence. Reno's design overhaul for the film eliminates the somewhat sly and shady air he had in the original game. He still acts in a sly manner, but is far more lighthearted and playful.

In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Reno's depiction as a combination between his original Final Fantasy VII incarnation and Advent Children, being arrogant and confident in his abilities, while also showing a child-like demeanor and impatience, specially toward Cloud following their duel. Despite this, he is a competent and professional individual, especially in battle.

Abilities and rank
Reno wields an Electro-Mag Rod in battle, a nightstick with a taser on one end. Reno is left-handed; even if he is occasionally seen holding his weapon in his right hand in promotional images, he only ever uses it left-handed in any media he has been depicted in. He can project magical pyramid-shaped traps that disable his opponents (although he only does that in one battle). Reno is a competent helicopter pilot.

In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Reno has lightning reflexes and speed, able to dart around and outmaneuver his opponents with his superior agility. He can also concentrate energy on the tip of his Electro-Mag Rod to shoot projectiles.

In Before Crisis, Reno is considered third in ranking in the Turks, Tseng being second, and Veld first. After Veld's leaving, Tseng took up Veld's position as the Turks' leader, bumping Reno up to second-in-command.

Combating Avalanche
Discovering Avalanche are intent on destroying the Sector 8 mako reactor, Reno is sent in to support the Player Turk of Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. They enter the reactor to prevent Avalanche from detonating their bomb. Reno encounters Shears for the first time in combat and is soundly defeated. As Shears also defeats the Player Turk, who had successfully prevented the bombing, he is ordered to withdraw to Junon where President Shinra is residing to hold a news conference. Noting their movements, Tseng sends Reno and the Player Turk to protect the President.

While the pair reach the President before the attack, the President's military escort proves ineffective against Avalanche's soldiers, who infiltrate and secure the President's hotel. As Reno stays with the President, the Player Turk clears the building before the President insists on leaving for the conference in spite of the danger.

Forced to act as the President's street escort when Reno is separated from them, the Player Turk protects the President from numerous attacks until they enter the conference building where, dressed as Shinra Electric Power Company troops, Avalanche dupes and momentarily captures the President before the Player Turk fights their way back to him as Reno returns to help. Cutting the power to the building and causing a black-out, Fuhito arrives to meet Reno and Shinra.

While Reno escapes with the President, the Player Turk is defeated by Fuhito while attempting to distract him, whereupon it is revealed Avalanche has hijacked the Mako Cannon. As Reno returns the President to his quarters, Rufus Shinra calls and notes the new Turk's progress before Veld informs them of the cannon's hijacking. The President sends Reno to liberate it, leaving him open for Fuhito to enter the room and shoot him. Still alive, the President orders Veld to send in Sephiroth to destroy Avalanche.

With Avalanche intending to use the Mako Cannon to destroy Midgar as a message to Shinra, Reno leads a contingent of Shinra troops against Avalanche's street forces and the Player Turk enters the cannon facility from an underground passageway. Led by Tseng over the PHS, they work their way through the facility's security countermeasures and Avalanche personnel into the control room to turn off the cannon. Coming across the sight of a massacre at the control room's entrance, the cannon is turned off mysteriously before the Turk gets to the control panel.

With President Shinra dedicating SOLDIER to deal with Avalanche, the Turks are instructed to locate new SOLDIER candidates. Reno, Rude and the Player Turk travel the globe, employing potential fighters for the SOLDIER program. During a sea voyage transporting said candidates to Midgar, the entire candidate population is killed by a sole candidate called Azul, whom the Player Turk confronts. Azul is suppressed by Rude. While on the docks, the ship is attacked by a contingent of Avalanche soldiers led by Shears who boards the ship and frees the SOLDIER candidates, defeating Rude while the Player Turk attempts to recapture them. As the Player Turk returns, Rude goes after Shears and, partnered up with Reno, defeats the Avalanche commander while a freed Azul returns to the Shinra ship willingly to finish his fight with the Player Turk and become a SOLDIER.

Following the theft of confidential documents from the 45th floor of the Shinra Building, Reno and Rude are sent to guard the room and search for clues to the missing files. While the pair continue their investigation, an intruder sets off the alarm and the Turks must defend themselves against the building's security system, which had been sabotaged by the intruder. While Shuriken (Female) looks into the sabotage, Reno and Rude continue their investigation. When Reno notices a bearded man in a lab coat watching them from the shadows, the pair chase after him; concluding the man was the person who stole the data.

Escaping into an elevator, Reno continues pursuing. He jumps onto the elevator roof only to discover the access door is locked. As Reno fights another malfunctioning security robot, the suspect escapes the building. Recalled by Veld, Reno and Rude are ordered to continue their investigation as well as help stop the malfunctioning security robots, which have escaped onto the streets of Midgar and begun attacking civilians.

On the streets of Sector 8, Reno and Rude split up. After finding and destroying a number of the machines, Reno helps out Rude, and they make their way to LOVELESS Avenue where they find Shuriken (Female) cornered by two Genesis Copies. Tseng arrives to assist along with newly promoted First Class SOLDIER Zack Fair, but Shuriken defeats the clones on her own.

Continuing their hunt for rogue robots, Reno and Rude again spot the man in the lab coat. Gaining Veld's permission to follow him, they chase him into the sewer systems where they are attacked by robots, which seem to take orders from the scientist, concluding it was the scientist who tampered with the Shinra control system. Cornering the man, they discover him to be Professor Hollander, but two Genesis Copies appear from a hidden passage and distract the pair, giving Hollander time to escape. Veld orders the pair to return to Sector 8 as SOLDIER has taken over the investigation of the stolen documents.

Curious over Rude's unexplained disappearances after work, Reno orders the Player Turk to follow after him in Sector 8 to discover he was going on dates with a woman named Chelsea. While the Player Turk deals with a monster infestation in the sector, Reno follows Rude to one of his dates and discovers Chelsea attempting to place a bug on Rude's PHS. Reno follows her from the date and discovers she works with Avalanche, but claims to her contact she was unable to place a wire tap on Rude's PHS in spite of Reno noting she had plenty of time to do so during the date. The next day Reno informs Rude of his girlfriend's affiliations, but Rude already knew.

President Shinra is growing impatient to destroy Avalanche. Veld sends Reno and Rude to gather information on Fuhito's new Ravens while the Player Turk is to gather new Turk candidates.

Conflict with Shinra
Four years after the Nibelheim Incident, the fugitives, Zack and Cloud, are hunted by Shinra. The Turks, along with Reno, attempt a Priority-S retrieval mission, but are unable to acquire them before the Shinra military ambushes them.

After Veld has been taken to Midgar to be executed, Tseng, Rude and Reno discern the location he is being held. While Reno, Rude and Tseng free Veld, the Player Turk commandeers a helicopter to chase after Avalanche before they use the support materia to summon Zirconiade. As the Player Turks chase after Fuhito along the construct created by Zirconiade's summoning, Tseng, Reno, Rude, Veld and an awakened Elfe are captured by the Shinra military.

Confronted with the offer that the Turks would be spared from capture and execution if Veld and Elfe are killed, Tseng turns his gun on the pair and pretends to kill them. As Tseng leaves with Veld and Elfe, Reno and Rude wait for their remaining comrades still fighting Zirconiade. The shockwave emitted from Zirconiade's destruction destroys the construct on which the Turks were standing; Reno and Rude watch in horror as the entire construction vanishes in an explosion of light.

Fighting the second incarnation of Avalanche
Reno is first encountered in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake when he comes to the Sector 5 Church with soldiers to capture Aerith, who escapes with Cloud. In the Remake, a battle ensues on the chapel floor, but invisible ghosts and Aerith stop Cloud from killing him after he is beaten. Reno develops a grudge against Cloud and alerts for his partner Rude to pursue Aerith instead. Reno later sets up the bombs to blow up the Sector 7 pillar (original)/start the plate separation procedure (remake) before being temporarily incapacitated from fighting Cloud, Barret, and Tifa. In the remake, Rude helps Reno during the plate separation mission and joins him in fighting this cell of Avalanche, but the two are still defeated and evacuate on a Shinra medical helicopter.

When Cloud, Barret and Tifa infiltrate the Shinra Building to rescue Aerith, Reno, Rude and Tseng spend time in the Turks' office when call comes in from Rufus. Reno and Rude's helicopter downs an Avalanche helicopter that was sent to extract Barret's group, and drops Rufus off to the roof of the Shinra Building where he duels Cloud. After losing, Reno and Rude's helicopter takes him away.

Reno and the other Turks would continue to pursue Cloud's group after they left Midgar to track down Sephiroth and stop him from destroying the planet with Meteor. Reno confronts Cloud's party outside of Gongaga with Rude to settle the score, but once again has to back down. Despite this rivalry, he is not beyond teaming up with Cloud and the others in Wutai, where both parties have a bone to pick with Don Corneo, who has taken Elena and Yuffie hostage. Despite company orders for Reno and Rude to track down Cloud and his group, Reno ignores the order because he is still on his day off. Reno and Rude can also be found observing the Sunken Gelnika.

Reno is encountered one last time when the Turks are in the Midgar subway tunnels after Diamond Weapon's raid on the city and Professor Hojo has gone rogue. Reno says he is "not really up for" fighting, even though he and the others were ordered to terminate Cloud and his party; if the player completed the Wutai sidequest, they have the option of not fighting them. Even if the player does fight the Turks, they depart after the battle and are not seen again.

In Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- it is revealed that during Meteorfall Reno oversees the evacuation of Sector 4 while Rude clears Sector 2 and Elena clears Sector 3. Moving to clear Sector 5 together with Tseng, the four are met by the previous Turks and Veld returning to assist in the evacuation of the citizens.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Reno flies the Shinra helicopter over the North Crater where the Turks are in search of Jenova's head. He escapes when Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz interrupt their investigation. Reno attacks Cloud when he first arrives at the Healen Lodge, although this seems halfhearted; Reno possesses no true hostility towards his former enemies after he was pardoned for the destruction of Sector 7 by Reeve Tuesti. Reno and Rude later find Cloud and Tifa unconscious in Aerith's church and bring them to 7th Heaven to recover and keep an eye on them.

Reno and Rude travel to Edge, where Loz and Yazoo are attempting to topple a monument in the center of the city in their search for Jenova. They dissuade the two remnants, but Kadaj calls Bahamut SIN] to destroy the monument anyway. Reno escapes the blast with a pair of children, who are still under the influence of Jenova, before personally engaging Yazoo in hand-to-hand combat.

After Cloud begins pursuing the remnants down the highway, Reno and Rude attempt to provide air support via helicopter, only to fail miserably. After being picked up by Tseng and Elena, Reno sets an ambush near the opening of a tunnel with Rude, and as soon as Cloud rushes by on his motorcycle, Reno drops a bomb. Loz, Yazoo, Rude, and Reno are all caught in the explosion, but survive it. Afterward, Reno and Rude accompany the surviving members of Shinra, witnessing Rufus's Geostigma being healed.

Final Fantasy VII
Reno can be fought four times during the course of the game. Only two to three of these fights are set. The fight at Gelnika is optional. The fight at Midgar, Sector 8, can be optional if the player has finished the Wutai side quest.

Final Fantasy VII Remake
Reno is fought twice: once in the church at the Sector 5 Slums right after Cloud meets Aerith, and again at the Sector 7 Slums Tower, alongside Rude.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Reno is fought in the Training Mode.

Other appearances
Reno has made appearances in the following canon works:
 * Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-.
 * Final Fantasy VII G-Bike as an assist character.

He has made appearances in the following series games:
 * Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
 * Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as an enemy.
 * Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a player character.
 * Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as an ally and a summonable Legend.
 * Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
 * Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
 * Final Fantasy World Wide Words.
 * Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.

Behind the scenes
During production of Advent Children, the film's staff were constantly tweaking Reno's movements and clothing to properly convey his attitude and personality, as he is a more energetic and excitable character compared to the rest of the cast. Director Tetsuya Nomura had a clear vision of how Reno should sound, and when he explained it to voice director Yoji Shimizu, Shimizu contacted Keiji Fujiwara, who had precisely the voice Nomura wanted. As Fujiwara recorded his lines, his mouth was video taped and superimposed on footage of Reno to make him feel closer to the character. Fujiwara and the film staff both noted there was a lot of pressure to make Reno look and sound good due to his popularity from the original game.

Voice
Reno is voiced by Keiji Fujiwara in Japanese. He shares his Japanese voice actor with Izana Kunagiri from Final Fantasy Type-0 as well as Ardyn Izunia from Final Fantasy XV, Ciggma Khint from Bravely Default and / from the Kingdom Hearts series. Fujiwara passed away at the age of 55 on April 12, 2020, two days after the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, due to cancer.

Reno is voiced in English by Quinton Flynn, who also voiced Isaaru from Final Fantasy X and Axel/Lea from the Kingdom Hearts series. Reno shares many similarities with the character Axel/Lea; they both have spiky red hair, facial markings near the eyes, similar personalities and the same voice actors in the English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese versions of their games.

Merchandise
Reno is the only minor character from Final Fantasy VII to have a Play Arts figure.

Etymology
Reno's name is depicted as "Leno" in early Japanese publications, such as Final Fantasy VII Official Establishment File, which include name romanizations. Leno is a Latin word meaning "pimp" or "seducer".