OOC Post: Character History
Reeve joined the ShinRa Electric Company as a young man, eventually becoming Head of Urban Development. He was responsible for the mako reactor designs which changed the focus of the Company from weapons development to Mako conversion. Whether or not he was responsible for the initial build of Midgar is unclear, given his age; however it is clear that a lot of his concentration (and emotion) lay with the major city.
Before becoming an Executive he aided the Turks in their quest to help Veld, with whom he went ‘a ways back’ and Veld advised Tseng to trust Reeve as a 'good man' during their renegade missions. As early as this it was evident that he was somewhat moving to his own beat, not content blindly following Shinra directives... but Reeve would never be so blatant as to betray the company outright. His perceptive abilities had realised the potential in Rufus earlier than most of his colleagues.
During the original game, Reeve infiltrated the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE via Cait Sith. The automaton's peculiarities easily deflected from the truth, but the little cat was still exposed when caught handing the Keystone over to Tseng. In order to remain with the party Cait Sith let Cloud and Tifa hear the voice of Marlene who had been kidnapped - which revealed that Reeve is not above using underhand methods in order to achieve the outcome he requires.
However, the actions of Cait Sith shifted with Reeve’s perspectives. After AVALANCHE reached the Temple of the Ancients, the original model sacrificed itself in order to save the group from devastation. Concurrently, the mortally wounded Tseng was rescued and Reeve drew upon his relationship with Veld to ensure the other man's survival. As Tifa was in the process of being executed Cait Sith staged a rescue mission (whilst taking relish in putting the heebeejeebees up Scarlet). The cat then took on the role of a double cross, allowing AVALANCHE access to Shinra information.
Reeve was distraught at the decision to destroy sector 7 in order to place the blame on AVALANCHE. Having angrily voiced his concerns, he was criticised and undermined because of the outburst by fellow Executives and was told to take a vacation. He still harbours ill feeling regarding the outcome and anger at himself for being unable to prevent it.
Later Reeve tried to convince Hojo not to fire the Sister Ray canon, for in doing so, he could destroy the remainder of Midgar. During this conversation his 'true' identity was finally revealed to AVALANCHE and he was imprisoned by Scarlet and Heidegger. Just before Meteor came down, Reeve escaped and worked with both Turks and AVALANCHE allies to evacuate people to safety. Meteor was stopped from destroying the Planet - yet Midgar, his city, and the seat of Shinra, was torn apart.
Reeve moved to Junon before he set about assisting the build of a new city which was to be called “Edge” , and was in contact with Veld again at this point. He also founded the “World Regenesis Organisation” (WRO) the main purpose of which being environmental reclamation; the healing and protection of the Planet from further harm. To this effect and with his personal ideology in motion, Reeve became a competent leader of a substantial force, consisting largely of military units and scientists to further this aim. Yuffie and Cid were drafted as official members and Reeve snared Vincent Valentine to help in the fight against Deepground, during which his relationship with the gunman developed.
Just before Deepground, Denzel met with Reeve wanting to join the WRO to fight. After their conversation, wherein Reeve uncovers the fact that the boy was with his own mother in her last days, he refused to conscript the boy; saying the job of a child - to draw out the strength in adults - was far more important. Back in the game history (at the Honeybee Inn, no less) Reeve's parents discussed his filial piety and it is clear that the bonds of family run deep. One of his most treasured possessions is a pink floral handkerchief sewn by Ruvi.