This page was inspired, like lots of other stuff here, by a thread at the FFO Forums. It was a discussion about some other aspect of FF7, but another issue popped up: whether or not Jenova is actually a girl. It may seem a stupid question, but there's a lot of evidence in favour of both sides of the argument, so.....

(note: for the duration of this page, Jenova will be referred to as "she" since I'll only confuse myself otherwise. Enjoy!)

Remember: whether or not Jenova is truly female, she has the ability to shapeshift. This is why the forms of Jenova that you fight look nothing like what you see in either a) the pod in the Shinra headquarters in Midgar; or b) the tube in the Nibelheim Reactor. It's also why Ifalna says of Jenova, "It looked like... our... dead mothers... and our dead brothers. Showing us specters of their past." - Jenova was changing her shape to help herself destroy the Cetra.

1. Jenova has breasts, and the traditional "hourglass" shape that only women are expected to have. If she's really a guy, she's certainly a very girly one. Having said that, it's important to bear in mind that she might not be male or female: she is almost certainly an alien, remember.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Sephiroth constantly refers to Jenova as female. Although it's incorrect that he should refer to her as his mother, he may have reached the conclusion that she was female after seeing her body in the Nibelheim Reactor.
   
   
   
   
   
3. At one point (and one point only, as far as I know), Cloud refers to Jenova as being female:
   
   
   
   
   
4. Since Jenova is depicted as female in the game and is generally referred to as being an alien, it is safe to assume that she is a female of whatever race she belongs to.
   
   

1. Nobody in the game (except Sephiroth; and Cloud at one point - see above) ever addresses Jenova as being a girl. Whenever she is spoken about, she is always referred to as "it" and never as "she". Sephiroth is the only character to refer to Jenova as a girl, and even then it's only because he still believes she's his mother.
   
   
   
   
   
2. When she is being questioned in one of Professor Gast's home videos, Ifalna refers to Jenova as either "it" or "he" - depending on which version of the game you have. In the PC version, it's "it", but I've heard that in other versions it's "he". Below is exactly what Ifalna says about Jenova:
   
   "When the Cetra... were preparing to part with the land they loved..."
   "That's when it appeared!"
   "It looked like... our... dead mothers... and our dead brothers. Showing us specters of their past."
   "That's when the one who injured the Planet... or the 'crisis from the skies', as we call it, came."
   "It first approached as a friend, deceived them, and finally... gave them the virus."
   "The Cetra were attacked by the virus and went mad... turning into monsters."
   "Then, just as it had at the Knowlespole..."
   "It approached other Cetra clans... and infected them with... the virus."
   
   
   
   
   
3. Jenova*Birth and Jenova*Life seem to have beards. No, I'm not kidding. Here's the proof:
   
   
   
   
   

I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this issue. If you'd like to comment, drop me a line and I'll add your opinion to this page.