Palmer

Director of Shinra's Space and Aeronautics Division. His division, originally founded to exploit extraterrestrial resources, has all but folded since the advent of mako energy. Because division activities have been suspended indefinitely, Palmer finds himself with lots of time on his hands.

Final Fantasy VII Remake loading screen

Palmer is a supporting antagonist in the Final Fantasy VII series. He is a minor antagonist in Final Fantasy VII, with an expanded role in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. He is also mentioned in other entries of the extended universe, including Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-.

Palmer is the executive director of the Shinra Electric Power Company's Space and Aeronautics division, a department whose funding has been suspended. He is childish and incompetent, lacking the knowledge on space required for his position and having no say in company matters. He also excessively drinks tea.

Palmer is fought twice in the series. He is battled at Rocket Town in Final Fantasy VII and while piloting the Anuran Suppressor in Corel in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

History[]

Before Final Fantasy VII[]

Palmer was born in 1943. At some point, he was appointed head of Shinra's Space and Aeronautics department.

During "Onward to the Distant Heavens" in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, Palmer was responsible for the failed launch of Shinra No. 26. As a result, funding for the space program was frozen.^[2] Sometime later, Palmer recorded a segment for the Shinra Building's Memorial Museum, introducing the Space and Aeronautics division and explaining it was on hold due to the company's plentiful mako supply.^[3]

Original continuity[]

Jenova War[]

During "Storming the Shinra Building" in Final Fantasy VII, Palmer attended a board meeting after Sector 7 collapsed, cheered for increased mako rates, and requested more budget for the space program. He was disappointed by Scarlet's and Reeve Tuesti's divisions dividing the extra income. A frightened Palmer later witnessed Sephiroth kill President Shinra, begged an arriving Cloud Strife's party for mercy, and revealed what he saw.^[4]

During "A Sleeping Village Dreaming of Outer Space", Palmer traveled to Rocket Town with Rufus Shinra and was rudely greeted by Cid Highwind, who asked an unsure Palmer when the space program would resume. He tried to ask for tea from Cid and later Cloud Strife's party but was ignored. Palmer was ordered to steal the Tiny Bronco, recognized the party from the Shinra Building, reluctantly fought them, and was hit by a truck.^[5]

After Sephiroth summoned Meteor, Palmer attended a board meeting regarding the huge materia and how to deal with Meteor during "Struggle for the Huge Materia".^[6] Palmer later informed Cloud's party about Shinra No. 26's auto-lift off via transmission and gleefully launched them into outer space in "Toward the Sea of Stars", but they secured escape pods before the rocket hit Meteor.^[7]

Remake continuity[]

Avalanche–Wutai conflict[]

During "The Town That Never Sleeps in Final Fantasy VII Remake, Palmer skipped a scheduled meeting and went to Wall Market with his assistant. He had fun with a honeygirl at the Honeybee Inn but was disappointed upon his assistant reminding him of work the next day.^[8]

During "The Belly of the Beast", Palmer complained about his tea on the way to a board meeting. He saw Sephiroth pass by, dropped his cup out of fear, and hurried to the meeting. He told the president and directors about the sighting, who dismissed his claims, and he later laughed at Professor Hojo's proposal to psychologically torture Aerith Gainsborough.^[3] Sometime after President Shinra's death, during "Destiny's Crossroads", Palmer lined up with the other executives before Rufus as the latter became the company's new president.^[9]

Pursuit of Sephiroth[]

During "Those Left Behind" in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Palmer attended a board meeting about the Magnus Materia Project and the newly-emerged Weapons, covering his mouth in shock when Rufus called out the executives for never opposing his father.^[10]

During "All That Glitters", Palmer was flown out to the Gold Saucer by the Turks to distribute Avalanche wanted posters. He questioned his orders, stating he had a division to run, but Elena believed he was where Rufus wanted him. Upon checking in at the Haunted Hotel, he brushed off their room cancellations and demanded tea. Dyne targeted Palmer for assassination, but he survived a shooting due to a restroom break. He later bet on Joe in the chocobo races and enjoyed a butterscotch parfait with female Gold Saucer staff under Rude's protection.^[11]

Palmer eventually learned about Dyne attempting to kill him and was frustrated by Cloud's party sabotaging him, discovering them in the Corel Desert. He clumsily piloted the Anuran Suppressor mecha, demanded respect from Cloud's party for being a Shinra executive, and fought them, but the mech was heavily damaged. Palmer then chased their buggy across the desert and the mech was damaged further, causing it to malfunction and shoot down Rude and Elena's chopper.^[11]

During "The Long Shadow of Shinra", Palmer attended a board meeting about Glenn Lodbrok's broadcast from Wutai declaring war on Shinra. He justified Wutai's fight for freedom, citing increased uprisings since the Republic of Junon's fall, driven by a new oppressor. Palmer expressed that Wutai's hatred for Shinra was only natural considering their past actions, but quickly stopped talking as the executives glared at him.^[12]

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

In both his appearances in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake, Palmer is an older man with a short and portly build, fair skin, grayish blue eyes, and thinning gray hair. He wears a light brown suit with a white dress shirt, a yellow bowtie, and dark brown dress shoes.

Field model from Final Fantasy VII.

Concept art by Roberto Ferrari for Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Personality[]

Oh dear, oh dear... A man of my refined tastes running out of butter! Shorn of its proper accompaniment, this tea...might as well be boiled pond water!

Palmer, Final Fantasy VII Remake § "Reach for the Skyview Hall"

Palmer is graceless, cowardly, and immature with a bizarre chuckle.^[4][3][1] Despite his executive position and age, Palmer is not very intelligent and knows little about space.^[13] He has no responsibilities within the company and the other executives view him as an incompetent and poor leader, partially cutting his funds as a result, as well as dismissing and criticizing him during meetings.^[14][3] Palmer's obsolete position allows him plenty of free time and he sometimes visits Wall Market.^[8][15] He also knows Cid well enough to trade quips.^[5][14]

Palmer is a tea snob, preferring his with a lot of sugar, honey, and especially butter. He is uninterested in reevaluating his eating habits and believes that tea without butter tastes like "boiled pond water".^[14][1]

Gameplay[]

Palmer is fought as a boss in Rocket Town and can use Mako Gun to cast either Fire2, Ice2, or Bolt2 on the target.

Palmer is also fought as a boss while piloting the Anuran Suppressor during "All That Glitters" in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Palmer's battle model in Final Fantasy VII.

Other appearances[]

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Behind the scenes[]

Shortly after Palmer is defeated, he narrowly evades being chopped to bits by the Tiny Bronco. This is similar to a scene in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark in which a German mechanic is chopped to bits by a Luftwaffe Flying Wing's propeller during a fight with Indiana Jones.

Dummied content for the original game, featuring Palmer in an unused version of the Honey Bee Inn lobby, exists in the first Japanese release. By hacking the game, a scene that can never be viewed in the actual game can be played out. The scene's data was removed from all International releases, as well as the Japanese International Version release, which is based on the North American version.

The music unique to this scene is not used anywhere else in the game. The theme was previously unearthed from the game's PC version by hackers, but it was unknown for what scene it was intended. In the scene itself much of the dialogue reads as gibberish, as the game displays the wrong kanji. In the scene, Palmer encounters an undercover Shinra Manager who claims to be visiting the Inn for "marketing purposes". This backfires on him as the Honey Bee lady accompanying Palmer implies he is a regular, something that infuriates Palmer and makes him chase the man out of the establishment, followed by the lady.

According to character designer Roberto Ferrari, Palmer's hand-in-jacket pose in the remake is intended to evoke the French military and political leader Napoleon Bonaparte.^[16]

Palmer's consumption of overly garnished and embellished tea can be considered a tacky and tasteless trait; this may owe itself to Japanese etiquette on food, where it is emphasized that "all things must be taken as they are". It is also considered a sign of unprofessionalism and insincerity within Japanese tea ceremonies and customs to actively embellish servings, as well as a sign of dishonesty and betrayal within the social aspects and setting of such meetings.

Palmer in a VIP lounge.

Palmer at the directors' meeting.

Voice[]

Palmer is voiced by Naoki Tatsuta in the Japanese releases of the Final Fantasy VII remake project and by William Salyers in the English releases.

Etymology[]

[view · edit · purge]Palmer is a name that can be either a surname or given name that means a pilgrim to the Holy Land, named from the palm worn to signify the journey. Whether there is any intended association with Shinra looking for the promised land is unknown.

Citations[]

References[]

Video games

• Square Co., Ltd. (1997). Final Fantasy VII [Game]. Square Co., Ltd.. PlayStation.
• Square Enix (2004). Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- [Game]. Square Enix. NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i Series.
• Square Enix (2008). Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- [Game]. Square Enix. PlayStation Portable.
• Square Enix (2020). Final Fantasy VII Remake [Game]. Square Enix. PlayStation 4.
• Square Enix (2024). Final Fantasy VII Rebirth [Game]. Square Enix. PlayStation 5.

Movies and television

Bibliography

• Studio BentStuff (1997). Final Fantasy VII Kaitai Shinsho The Complete [Book]. ASCII Corporation. ISBN 978-4-8936-6678-9.
• Studio BentStuff (2005). Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega [Book]. Square Enix. ISBN 978-4-8936-6678-9.
• Studio BentStuff (2007). Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania [Book]. Square Enix.
• Studio BentStuff (2020). Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania [Book]. SE-Mook. ISBN 978-4-7575-6586-9.
• Studio BentStuff (2020). Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania [Book]. Square Enix. ISBN 978-4-7575-6869-3.

Template:Navbox characters FFVIIR2 [[Category:Antagonists]