A Beginner's Guide to the Final Fantasy 7 series Turk partners Reno & Rude. ⚡️🕶️

Since the #FF7 Remake has rekindled my love for these two Turks, I compiled a list of moments for those new to the fandom that make Reno/Rude one of the most iconic pairings of the series.
This thread will cover moments for Reno & Rude throughout the history of the FF7 series, so if you wanna skip the details tldr;

-Been together as partners in Turk for 8+ years in canon
-Often calls e/o "Partner"
-Trust e/o w/ their lives
-Almost always seen together in spinoffs
I'll go through the info for Reno & Rude's moments chronologically as follows:

-Before Crisis
-Crisis Core/Last Order
-FF7 Original Game (the OG)
-Advent Children
-FF7 Remake
-Spin-Offs
First, character profiles.

Reno
-Been Rude's partner at ShinRa as a Turk for at least 8+ years
-2nd in command Turk
-Very agile & swift fighter
-Carries a lightning rod, uses lots of lightning spells
-Playful prankster personality
-Age is unknown but probably 28-30ish years old
Rude

-Works at ShinRa as a Turk for about the same time as Reno, been his partner for 8+ years
-Is actually Reno's subordinate
-Brute strength fighting style
-Quiet, serious, composed personality
-Rarely talks except when necessary or w/ Reno
-Age unknown, probably Reno's age
Also, "What are the Turks anyway?"

The Turks are an organized group within ShinRa Company that handles a lot of the company's dirty work. They're basically the equivalent of the CIA or secret service, doing sketchy stuff for ShinRa or carrying out assassinations on order.
"Where does Reno and Rude fit in all of this?"

Reno and Rude are super loyal to ShinRa and have been working for them for almost a decade (or longer). Even after ShinRa company falls during the latter part of the FF7 original game, Reno and Rude still stick with being Turks.
The first installment in chronological order of the Turks and Reno/Rude is Final Fantasy 7 Before Crisis. The game takes place 6 years before the events of FF7 happen. In this game, Reno & Rude are already partners and often go on missions together along with the Turk protagonist
Before Crisis Reno/Rude story arc involving Chelsea:

-Rude was seeing a woman named Chelsea in this game, who secretly worked for AVALANCE (the group against ShinRa who Cloud & co. join in the original FF7 game).
-Reno got (jealous) suspicious and followed Rude on his date
Before Crisis Moments (cont.)

-Reno finds out that Chelsea is trying to get insider info by going on dates with Rude, and he confronts Rude
-Rude already knows though, but Reno gets concerned and tries to convince Rude to stop seeing her

(Video credit to YouTube user Kain424)
Before Crisis Moments (cont.)

-Rude tells Chelsea to meet him on Christmas Eve to see the lights so he can confront her, but Chelsea doesn't go
-Instead, Reno and the protagonist (either male or female) approach him instead, and Reno suggest they spend Christmas Eve together
The rest of Before Crisis basically involves the Turks going on various missions, and at the end of it, basically *spoilers* all the Turks die besides Tseng, Reno, and Rude. Rufus (ShinRa President's son) spares them though, and they try to rebuild the Turks organization.
Final Fantasy Crisis Core/Last Order

Last Order is an anime about Cloud & Zack fighting Sephiroth at Nibelheim, which takes place before the beginning of FF7's story.

Crisis Core is a game about Zack's time as SOLDIER, which starts from 7 years before the game.
Reno & Rude in CC/Last Order

-Assigned on missions together, help Zack out before his last stand
Reno’s sentiments from the line “we always carry out all missions” in Last Order anime is repeated by Rude during Crisis Core’s ending scene “No mission is impossible for the Turks"
Reno & Rude's introduction in Crisis Core where they meet Zack. They've already been partners for quite some time up until this point
So now we move onto FF7 the OG game. The interesting thing about the OG game is that we actually don't know that Reno and Rude are partners or friends until AFTER the incidents that happen in Midgar.

There are 2 interesting/cute dialogue scenes at:
-Gongaga
-Wutai
FF7 OG Game Gongaga Scene

-According to Elena (another fellow Turk), Reno and Rude always discusses people they like or dislike, and Reno keeps asking Rude about who he's into (why? who knows), and Rude says "Tifa."

Reno then says, "Hmm, that's tough."
FF7 OG Game Wutai Scene

-The game establishes that Reno & Rude are long-time partners from an optional quest that takes place in Wutai where Reno tells Rude he's glad to have joined Turk and met him, and Rude says "To the Turks...To Reno...Cheers!"
FF7 OG Game Wutai Scene (cont.)

Elena is captured by Don Corneo. Reno&Rude split up to save her. When Rude comes to help, Reno compliments him. After they defeat Don Corneo, Reno says "the correct answer to Don Corneo's riddle was...?" to which Rude completes "cuz it's our job."
It's been years since I played the OG Final Fantasy 7, so I don't quite remember what other scenes happened, but I'm sure I'm missing some (sorry).

But let's move onto the sequel movie to FF7, Advent Children, which takes place 2 years AFTER the events of FF7 (original game).
Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children is where it's first made clear that Reno & Rude are very close, call each other partner, protect, and understand each other. Here are some clips from the movie that kind of cements the ship into a more tangible thing.

Reno: "Lookin' good, Rude!"
FF7 Advent Children (cont.)

Rude trying to comfort Reno after he voices his worries about their guilt and if their fellow Turk friends Tseng & Elena made it out alive after searching for Jenova's head and getting ambushed by Kadaj and co.
FF7 Advent Children (cont.)

Reno & Rude are pretty different in AC than their depiction in previous installments as they're mostly used for comic relief in the movie. Here's a clip where Rude catches Reno, and the on-going gag about his multiple sunglasses becomes a thing.
FF7 Advent Children (cont.)

Reno freaks out when he thinks that Rude fell out of the helicopter (and probably died) but is relieved to see he's okay lol. They're so stupid and such dorks in this movie omg
FF7 Advent Children (cont.)

The bombing scene in AC is pretty much where Reno & Rude's relationship comes to fruition (they've been partners for over 8 years in canon at this point) and ambiguously implies that maybe they're into each other with their rather obvious flirting...
FF7 Advent Children (cont.)

Here's the same scene, but the English dub version instead. Iunno, but the line delivery sounds kinda suggestive lol
Let's move onto the FF7 Remake. The Remake basically takes all of the lore of Reno & Rude from more recent installments (Before Crisis, Crisis Core, AC) and molds a more cohesive story surrounding their relationship. Most notably, we know from the get-go that they are partners.
FF7 Remake (cont.)

In the Remake, Reno and Rude are viciously protective of the other and want to avenge each other for getting hurt by Cloud. This does not happen in the original game, so this definitely adds another layer to their relationship.
FF7 Remake (cont.)

Reno and Rude both say to Cloud that fighting him is "nothing personal," but on the contrary, it is VERY personal. Because Cloud hurt their [significant other lol] partner. (Again, none of this dialogue happens in the original game, so uh yeah...)
FF7 Remake (cont.)

The Remake also depicts Reno & Rude understanding each other's feelings or communicating with each other through small gestures and body language. This is kind of touched upon in Advent Children, but made clearer through the Remake's scenes.
FF7 Remake (cont.)

Reno gives a fond smile thinking about how Rude is starting to adapt his own mannerisms. Rude isn't as impulsive or rash like Reno is in the original game, so seeing as how he's inherited some of his partner's antics is a nice detail in the remake.
FF7 Remake (cont.)

This scene where Reno thinks Rude died but is relieved to find him alive is probably a nod to the helicopter scene in AC where he freaked out too. Note that Rude was NOT present in the Sector 7 Pillar scene from the OG game.

(also maybe?? he's in love lol)
FF7 Remake (cont.)

It's interesting that the Remake changes the role of the person who pushes the button for the Sector 7 Plate drop. Rude sees Reno pass out and rushes to carry out the job. This entire scene is a complete revamp of the original storyline.
FF7 Remake (cont.)

Also this scene where Rude carries Reno to safety, which parallels Cloud saving Tifa. Square Enix went hard with the depiction of Reno & Rude's closeness lol.
So the Remake has added way more background + fleshed out Reno & Rude's characters than the OG game. We know that they care about each other a lot, they refer to each other as 'partner' endearingly, and they would kill for the other lol. None of this was clear in the original.
Moving on to a light novel.

The light novel called "Final Fantasy 7 Lateral Biography: TURKS -The Kids Are Alright-" takes place before the events of Advent Children happens, and Reno & Rude are undergo missions to help two characters named Evan and Kyrie (who's in the remake).
FF7 Light Novel Turks-The Kids Are Alright- (cont.)

In the light novel, they have the same relationship dynamic as their depiction in the Remake, which is very close, often calling each other "Aibou (partner)" and trust each other a lot.
FF7 Light Novel (cont.)

Most notable Reno/Rude line is this dialogue here:

Reno: You don't have any immediate family, right?
Rude: No, I'm just a cold blooded Turk.
Reno: Hey Ruuude, are ya mad at me?
Rude: You're the only one I have [...] we gotta get along well, partner.
FF7 Light Novel (cont.)

From this we can deduce that Rude thinks of Reno as close as family I guess (husbands?).

But that's not all! They also appear in a lot of random spin-offs together, like Final Fantasy Dissidia Opera Omnia, Airborne Brigade, etc.
ANYWAY tldr; on Reno/Rude:

-Partners in FF7 canon for almost a decade
-Might as well be married at this point
-Though Rude has a soft spot for Tifa, neither he or Reno have significant others (besides each other)
-Even if you don't ship it, you gotta admit they're bros for life.
I hope this thread helps those who are getting into the FF7 fandom to see an important relationship (Reno/Rude) that maybe doesn’t get talked about as much compared to the main ones involving Cloud. There’s so many other god tier pairings in this series tho, and all are valid!
Oh, one more thing- matching partner earrings. Gotta love this power couple lol.
Eh, thought this thread was pretty straightforward that it’s talking about moments that Reno and Rude share throughout the series, but some people are offended by it.

I personally ship them, but if you see these moments as platonic hetero bros being close, that’s valid too!!
There’s not really solid evidence to definitively say either or, unless you take Rude’s fondness/crush for Tifa as indicating he’s nothing but straight, but it’s pretty up to interpretation imho. Just my thoughts!
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